bateman@iago.caltech.edu (Bateman, Craig Robert) (07/02/90)
Well, I attended my first Star Trek Convention this past weekend in Los Angeles. I thought I'd pass on some of the _stuff_ I heard from stars, writers, producers, and directors. First the Best of Both Worlds clifhanger may require two episodes to resolve. Majel Barrett and Gene Roddenberry said that the final scenes still haven't been written for next season's opener. It is true that Patrick Stewart hasn't signed a contract yet, but neither has Marina Sirtis. They fully expect them to sign, they're just holding out for more money. As it stands, everyone has been written into next season's opener. For you Wesley Crusher/Wil Wheaton fans, Will just graduated from High School and plans to attend college. He's very different from his character on Star Trek. For and eighteen year old Republican he comes off as a _Surfer Dude-Bart Simpson_ kind of guy. Marina Sirtis is outrageous. She showed up in Black leather and skin tight pants. Between her mop of hair and her cockney accent she was definetly the hit of the con. Jonathan Frakes was there. He mainly discussed his hair loss and the possibility of getting a toupe. As he said, _It's not as if the precedent hasn't been set._ Colm Meaney was ther, but I didn't get to hear much of what he said. The producers are still trying to come up with a first name for his character. By the way, If you're like me you didn't know his first name is pronounced like _colomn_. John De Lancie was the first speaker on Saturday. He talked about the hardest scene he's yet played on Star Trek. It was the final scene from Deja'Q with the Mariachi Band. They had been filming since 7 a.m. and it was 11 p.m. on Thanksgiving eve when they finally got to the scene. He realized that he hadn't learned the lines yet and he had to fake playing the trumpet. It took several takes. Also, yes, he was nude for the opening scene. They tried different ways to do the scene, but nothing really worked so he finally just stripped. It worked. Walter Koening was there. They have rejected his idea of a cadets story line for Star Trek VI. Grace Whitney was there. She was a little too perky for me. When she came out on stage i thought she was going to lead a Star Trek Cheer. Give me an S... Finally Majel Barrett and Gene Roddenberry were last on the bill. They discussed the need for scripts. At present they only have one writer on the staff and only four possible scripts for the next season of TNG and no scripts for STVI. Majel loves her role as Llwuxana (it is spelled with a u) and hopes to do a couple of more episodes. The best part of the convention was the showing of Best of Both Worlds which they showed at 11 a.m. This was a jump on the rest of the west coast since it didn't air until 5 p.m. in Los Angeles. They showed the episode twice more during the day. There was lots more, but I can't remember it all now. Just be assured Star Trek will be back next season and probably the season after that. -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Edited by Jim Griffith - the official scapegoat for r.a.s.i. Email submissions to trek-info@scam.berkeley.edu or ...!ucbvax!scam!trek-info