He’s come a long way since Stand By Me and Star Trek: The Next Generation. Wil Wheaton, now 42, wearing a tie and jacket and full beard, hosts The Wil Wheaton Project on Syfy, Tuesday at 10/9c. The 30-minute show is all about science fiction and “genre entertainment,” which means everything geeky (Comic Con, Kevin Smith, Weird Al). And yes, Wheaton does appear in Sharknado 2. Hint, look closely at all airplane passengers.

Wheaton is perfectly cast for the Syfy show – his fast talking persona is enthralling and charming – and for his role (as himself) on the #1 TV show in America, The Big Bang Theory. (‘Wesley Crusher’ can understand ‘Sheldon’ perfectly in English and Klingon.) Even off-camera, Wheaton nails it providing the voice of ‘Curtis the Lumberjack’ for the point-and-click video game Broken Age, with that other child actor-turned-superstar, Elijah Wood.