irwin@iago.caltech.edu (Horowitz, Irwin Kenneth) (07/02/90)
This past weekend was the big Creation Con in Los Angeles. I will attempt to summarize those tidbits of info that was mentioned by the various cast and crew members: On Saturday, Colm (pronounced "Colim") Meaney stated that he liked the name "Elmer" for his character. I don't know how the rest of you feel about this, but I think it isn't really appropriate (I personally like Seamus). He also would like to see his character better developed in the 4th season, perhaps with a romantic interest (but not Lwuxana Troi! :-)). John DeLancie made his first Con appearance, and was quite entertaining on stage. He talked at length about his difficulties with dyslexia, and how he got involved in acting. He doesn't know when Q will return next season, but the actors are always the last to know such things anyway :-). I missed both Grace Lee Whitney's talk as well as the special rally for "Alien Nation," so don't ask me about those events (I was in the dealer's room at the time). Both Marina Sirtis and Jonathon Frakes were wonderful. He commented on how his beard was permitted because it looked "Nautical" to GR :-). He said that he definitely wants to direct more episodes next season...and that he is glad that Riker has loosened up some over the three years (giving us some of his ramrod straight poses while saying this :-). Marina discussed her underwear that she wears to emphasize certain body parts (and how at the end of the day she laments:"Where did they go!" :-)). Richard Arnold showed a slide presentation on the five movies with the original cast and talked about plans for ST VI. According to him, as of now, Paramount is EXTREMELY interested in getting the movie out by the end of next year (for the 25th anniversary). They have both a director and a producer in mind (Richard wouldn't flat out state who they were, but my impression is that Shatner will direct). The BIG problem right now is that they do not have a story (kinda puts a crimp in the plans, huh :-)). They have hired two writers to come up with a story (again, no names were mentioned as to whom they may be). Nichelle Nichols was the last speaker on Saturday afternoon, and she concentrated mostly on her causes for NASA (and the National Space Society) and Amnesty International. (BTW, if I may interject here, and this is not related to ST in any way, the House sub-committee in charge of funding NASA has recently voted to cut all funding for Pres. Bush's Space Exploration Initiative and the future of the civilian space program is in grave danger unless the citizens of the US tell our representatives that we want to spend money on space. If your interest in Star Trek is more than it simply being an enjoyable bit of entertainment, and runs along the lines of wanting the future of humanity to become as enlightened as shown in the series, then we need your help now. If we keep saying that we'll do it next year, next year will NEVER come!. Sorry about this overly grim tangent, but this is something that I feel strongly about). Back to Nichelle, there is a group trying to work towards getting her a star on the Walk of Fame, and if you hear about it, try to help, because she truly deserves the accolades. Unfortunately, I missed the evening gala where Nichelle did a selection of songs from her one-woman show, and they had a big tribute to De Kelley. On Sunday, Richard Arnold again spoke, this time on TNG. He talked about why the Ferengi do not clothe their women (if you aren't in the know on this issue, rewatch "The Price" and watch the Ferengi in the background in Ten- Forward talking the human woman, and watch her reaction!). He also stated that he felt it would be a real copout to have the 4th season opener solved by the appearance of Q, so if he has any pull with the creative team... (BTW, it seems that Eric Stillwell, who was one of the writers on "Yesterday's Enterprise" is going to be on this team). He also tossed out the possibility that Nichelle Nichols may appear on TNG as either: a) Guinan's mother; or b) Guinan's daughter (how's that for a rumor!). As of now, the season opener has 3 of its 5 acts writen, so they still don't know how it will be resolved! (more on this later). After the trivia contest, Wil Wheaton made an appearance. He was soooo good up there, that Adam Malin (who runs the Con) had to turn off the lights in the room to get him off of the stage. If any of you get the chance to see Wil at a Con, you should definitely do so. He spent most of his time telling jokes about traffic in Southern California. In response to the question from one of the women, about how he felt about older women, he proceeded to drape himself over the couch in a rather unmistakable manner, and then stated that if said woman's name was Marina Sirtis, he had NO PROBLEMS with that:-). He also commented on the current controversy about the use of foul language by artists, and that he couldn't say certain things on stage, even though there was an Adult Establishment next door to the hotel! Wil was followed by Walter Koenig. I finally heard his version of when Khan met Chekov in Space Seed (very, very funny; ask him about it sometime). He also had written a script for ST VI, but the studio filed it because they were looking at the Academy script. Perhaps a campaign can get it reconsidered? He also had some anecdotes concerning the making of the movies. Majel Barrett Roddenberry talked about what it was like playing Mrs. Troi as well as being Gene's wife (she said that Gene recommended her for the part because she wouldn't need to ACT to play it :-)). As for the next season, she has heard that they have several scripts for episodes after the opener, and that certain elements of the cliffhanger may not be fully resolved for two or three episodes. Some people asked her about the possibility of Lwuxana marrying either: a) Q; or b) Riker's father (how about that!). Other's asked whether GR may make a cameo (ala Hitchcock) as one of her former lovers! As for next season casting, everyone except Patrick and Marina have signed contracts (this should not imply that either will be leaving, but that they are looking to get a raise). Paramount is also planning on a REALLY BIG Star Trek celebration next year in conjunction with the anniversary, which includes the release of ST VI; the development of a Star Trek opera (yes that was mentioned); the continuation of TNG (it has been signed up for at least 5 seasons and perhaps 6); and so much stuff that the general public will be inundated with Star Trek. De Kelley talked about his career and how he originally got the job of Bones. He also enriched us with a poem that he wrote during the filming of TVH, which had some predictions on TFF which were quite accurate. He talked about his appearance in EaF as "The Admiral" and how much he enjoys seeing the new series doing well (after all, the philosophy of IDIC says that we can enjoy both classic trek as well as TNG). Finally, the Con concluded with GR up there talking about what the past quarter century has been like for him. And we told him what it has been like for us... For my first Trek Con, I had a thoroughly enjoyable time (despite the fact that there wasn't any air conditioning in the room and I had a splitting headache by the end of the first day). I'm now looking forward to next year's 25th anniversary con here in LA! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Irwin Horowitz |"Suppose they went nowhere?"-McCoy Astronomy Department |"Then this will be your big chance California Institute of Technology | to get away from it all!"-Kirk irwin@romeo.caltech.edu | from STII:TWOK ih@deimos.caltech.edu | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- P. S.- if you see Patrick Stewart at a con, ask him if Wil Wheaton is going to buy a Jaguar... -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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