Today we heard from Denise Crosby, Michael Dorn and Gates McFadden (whose heading to Australia for Oz Comic Con in two months fyi…) about The Next Generation, where Denise Crosby reminded us that she initially auditioned for Troi, Dorn quipped that he crushes all of his auditions – but Gates remarked that she IS Doctor Crusher… Michael remembered that he originally wanted to be a director, but fell into acting while McFadden is still waiting for the epiphany to drop as to why she wanted to become an actor.
Michael noted that the series really started to find it’s groove in the second season, to which Gates and Denise teased that’s when they had both left the show!
Also on the panel were the graphic design gurus Mike and Denise Okuda, Mike remarked on how Star Trek pulled him in by capturing his undying passion through its wisdom: “You’re sucked into the action adventure…the character of Mr. Spock is not just a weird alien but there is a depth to him.”
Elsewhere, as he stepped onto the stage for his first convention appearance, Rainn Wilson quipped “This is like Galaxy Quest come to life! It’s fantastic… are the Thermians here??” Rainn excitedly told the audience about his experience on set, “I got fire a phaser! I got to be teleported… I got to sit in the captains chart… I’m the only non-captain to record a captains log!” He teased that we haven’t seen the last of Harcourt Fenton Mudd. (Watch this space I guess…)
If you look hard enough, you will find them – only a few degrees of seperation for Trek alumni, Rainn was in Titus Androicus with Kate Mulgrew and he took a clowning/movement class from Gates McFadden at NYU!
Walter Koenig was on stage in the afternoon, on his novel the TOS alum remarked “I have to have an objective… I have to have something to do every day, I have to have a reason to get up in the morning.” He also wrote The Infinite Vulcan for The Animated Adventures. His opinion was sought on the Kelvin movies to which he replied that he’s not a fan of spectacle over story content, but he didn’t want to overly disparage them. He did say he was looking forward to Discovery.
Later in the afternoon, the team behind What We Left Behind held a panel about the forthcoming documentary. Ira Behr noted that they are at ‘picture lock’ and they’re working extremely hard to meet the 25th anniversary deadline (sometime this year.) On Avery Brooks, Behr noted that he is “basically done…he says he has said everything that he wants to say…I would love him to change his mind…”
The DS9 showrunner said that CBS has been very helpful in the making of this documentary, and he feels that the sales and performance of What We Left Behind may contribute to a decision on the remastering of the fourth installment in the Star Trek franchise. There have been some remastered shots completed, and “they will blow you away” according to Ira.
The emotion felt by the cast and crew while recounting their stories for the production surprised Behr, there is so much content to cram into the bluray too that they may need to include a “What We Left Out of What We Left Behind” special features addition.
I’ll leave the final word today to Ira:
“I know there is a lot of love in the room now, but for 7 years we did not get the love…to really understand Deep Space 9 you had to live Deep Space 9…it’s a wonderful thing to be around you people…to meet people who suddenly live Deep Space 9.”
