Posts Tagged ‘Majel Barrett’
Star Trek Celebration in Hollywood Salutes the Women of Trek November 14
We were told that Star Trek would let us “boldly go where no man has gone before.”
But there were women who went into the unknown, too.
These are the women who traipsed among the stars.
Nichelle Nichols was one of the first. Playing Communications Officer Lt. Uhura on the Original Series, she showed women and racial minorities that there was a future for us. Nichols thought about leaving the show after the first series because her role wasn’t very substantial but after talking to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., she changed her mind. He told her that people needed to see a Black Woman when they envisioned the future.
Nichol’s role in space wasn’t over with the cancellation of the show. She has remained active with NASA, helping to recruit women and minorities to the space agency.
On the original pilot for Star Trek, Majel Barrett played Captain Pike’s Executive Officer, a position NBC executives in 1966 vetoed. Barrett was recast as Nurse Chapel in the original series and went on to become the only actor to have a role of some kind in every single Star Trek series.
On The Next Generation, there were two strong women who came to embody the series. While they were still in support roles, Gates McFadden as Doctor Beverly Crusher and Marina Siritis as Counselor Deanna Troi were active participants in the series. Dr. Crusher was gentle. Counselor Troi was insightful.
By the time Deep Space Nine rolled around, it was time to give women a leadership role. Nana Visitor played the prickly Kira Nerys. No longer were women always sweet, all the time, Visitor had a more complex personality.
And then came Voyager. Women made up a large portion of the cast starting with Captain Kathryn Janeway played by Katherine Mulgrew, was a take charge, no nonsense leader who had to guide her motley crew of Starfleet officers and Maquis rebels through the Delta Quadrant back home.
She was assisted by several other strong women. One was B’Elanna Torres played by Roxanne Dawson. Torres was a Maquis rebel who was half Klingon and half human. She was forever battling the two sides of herself.
Jeri Ryan came on mid show playing the famous Borg defectee Seven of Nine. Ryan continues to be among the most popular Trek personalities.
Enterprise had some notable female characters. Jolene Blalock served as T’Pol, the Vulcan science advisor who was onboard to guide the humans. While just an advisor, she was supposed to be the wise advisor. The humans on the crew often chafed under her direction, though. And the Captain Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula) often disregarded her advice.
Star Trek women faced the challenges of being women in the 20th century as well as in the 23rd century. That they did it with as much compassion and humanity as they did is a credit to both the actresses who played the role and the men who created them.
On Tuesday, November 14, Majel Barrett Roddenberry joins son Eugene “Rod” Roddenberry and writer/director Nicholas Meyer for a special 40th Anniversary “Star Trek” Celebration at the world famous Grauman’s Chinese Theatres Complex in Hollywood, California following a screening of “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan” as part of the “Story Makers Studio” series at the Chinese. Tickets are available at the Chinese Theatre’s box office and online at www.stiylagency.com/startrek
Beverly Crusher, Captain Kathryn Janeway, Counselor Troi, Deep Space Nine, Delta Quadrant, Dr Crusher, Dr Martin Luther, Dr Martin Luther King, Dr Martin Luther King Jr, Gates Mcfadden, Kira Nerys, Lt Uhura, Majel Barrett, Maquis Rebels, Marina Siritis, Nana Visitor, Nbc Executives, Nurse Chapel, Racial Minorities, Star Trek Series |
Movie reviews: Star Trek: The Motion Picture
Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979) Starring William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Stephen Collins, Nichelle Nichols, Walter Koenig, Deforest Kelley, James Doohan, George Takei, Persis Khambatta, Mark Lenard, Majel Barrett.
Directed by Robert Wise.
Running time: 143 minutes.
Rating: G
Legendary intergalactic hero James Tiberius Kirk (Shatner) regains command of the U.S.S. Enterprise overstepping the aspirations of promising young officer Commander Decker (Collins) to investigate the phenomenon of alien lifeform known only as V’Ger. Its origins hit a little too close to home as V’Ger threatens to destroy Earth. The crew of the Enterprise is once again called upon to complete an impossible mission. This time that mission is to save Earth.
A decade in syndication had given Star Trek a massive following by the time this film was released and it also came out when science fiction was back in vogue.
Star Wars, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Battlestar Galactica, Buck Rodgers in the 25th Century, Jason of Star Command, Project UFO were all out during the late 1970s. Far from oversaturating the market for science fiction those productions actually complimented what Star Trek had done unlike schlock sci-fi series such as Lost in Space which had not.
A film version after the box office success of Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind or at least another try at the series was probably inevitable. In fact had it not been for the enormous difficulties caused by Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry a Star Trek movie might have come along much sooner.
By the time Robert Wise was brought on board as director the production team decided it could not go forward without Leonard Nimoy reprising his role as Spock. Nimoy’s long-simmering feud with Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry was an impediment that they worked through. He remained a hard sell when it came to the sequels.
The miserable, disastrous year long shoot with a bloated budget that also went overschedule resulted not merely in frayed nerves amongst members of the production team but in an overly long and remarkably dull film overall. You will find comparatively few critics that enjoyed this take but in the end it is Star Trek fans who matter most and they went to see the film in droves when it was in theatre and still do on DVD. It did not have to be of superior quality to the best of the television episodes to be just what fans had been waiting for and it wasn’t.
Star Trek: The
Alien Lifeform, Battlestar Galactica, Box Office Success, Buck Rodgers In The 25th Century, Creator Gene, Deforest Kelley, George Takei, James Doohan, James Tiberius Kirk, Leonard Nimoy, Majel Barrett, Mark Lenard, Nichelle Nichols, Persis Khambatta, Project Ufo, Sci Fi Series, Star Trek Creator, Star Trek The Motion Picture, Walter Koenig, William Shatner |
Movie previews: Star Trek (2009)
I’ve watched Star Trek since high school. Ever since then, I have been hooked on it. I have watched all of the series’ and movies. Some I have watched more than others, but in the end they all have their charm. They all build off of each other even if you do not realize it or not. Everyone has different opinions when it comes to what are good and bad with Star Trek. Some people say Star Trek Nemesis is great and yet others say that it’s the worst Star Trek movie that ever lived.
When I was a little kid, I could not stand Star Trek. Star Trek is something that can grow on you depending on who you are. I am not going to say for everyone that Star Trek will grow on you because that is not always the truth. Some people just cannot stand science fiction at all so no matter what you tell them, it’s not going to change their minds.
I have looked at the trailers that have to do with the movie. From what I can tell, it does look great. We really don’t get to see too much of it, but we do get a gist of what the movie is all about. It’s a pre TOS movie. Looking though the cast and crew of the movie, there is only one person from the original that is also in the movie. That is Leonard Nimoy. If you want to count the computer’s voice that would be two from the original which belongs to the departed Majel Barrett Roddenberry.
There are also some well know actresses in the list and yet there are many actors and actresses that I have never heard of before. From what I can tell of the movie is that it may be great. Sometimes the trailers are deceiving to how great or bad the movies may be. From what I can tell is that it will be a great movie. The previews look exciting and if the movie is as good as the previews, I won’t be disappointed. It’s time that Star Trek gets another movie out even if it’s a prequel. Like anything, prequels do not always do as well compared to going forward. There are a few examples of cases where prequels do well, but it slips my mind on what movie did well and it was a prequel.
From what I have read about this movie, this is supposed to bring on a new generation of trekkies. I really do hope that the movie does well and maybe if it does well enough, we will be introduced to a new star trek series on television. I know there are plenty of possibilities you can go when it comes to Star Trek. The imaginations can go wild. I look forward to see how this movie pans out to the Star Trek franchise.
Actors And Actresses, Bad People, Cast And Crew, Gist, Leonard Nimoy, Little Kid, Majel Barrett, Majel Barrett Roddenberry, Movie Previews, Movie Star, Prequel, Prequels, Science Fiction, Star People, Star Trek, Star Trek Nemesis, Trailers, Trek Star, Truth |
Roddenberry: The only actor to star in every Star Trek show ever made – Part 1
There have been only one actor that has starred in every Star Trek show that has ever been made. This actress has starred in the original pilot, “The Cage” that was rejected, the original Star Trek series, she played the computer voice on almost all the series that aired, and she played a recurring character on Star Trek: TNG, and Deep Space Nine.
This actress was Majel Barrett Roddenberry and she was also the wife of Gene Roddenberry. Majel Barrett first starred in the original pilot for Star Trek, “The Cage” as the character, Number One. She was the second in command to Captain Christopher Pike on the starship Enterprise. When the pilot was rejected and the new pilot was reworked for the new show, her character became Nurse Christine Chapel and she played her for 33 of the episodes. She also starred in a few of the Original Star Trek movies. Her character, Christine Chapel, came onto the starship Enterprise, at first to search for her missing finance, Roger Corby. When it appeared that he was a lost cause, she decided to sign on as nurse to Doctor Leonard McCoy. Her character had a soft spot for the Vulcan character, Spock and fell in love, but he was unable to reciprocate her feelings.
The next role that she played was the voice of the computer, which she played throughout Star Trek: The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine and Voyager. Whenever one of the shows were on and in any given situation, her voice would be heard. As her role of the computer, her voice was heard 98 times in the Next Generation, 25 times on Deep Space Nine, 70 times in Voyager, and 2 times on Enterprise. She also played the computer voice on the Defiant, the Deep Space Nine starship.
The other role that she played was Laxwana Troi, the mother to Deanna Troi on Star Trek: The Next Generation. She was a recurring character on that show and on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Her character was introduced in the first season episode, “Haven”, where she came on board to marry her daughter off. Her character was a full Betazed with full telepathic abilities. She would continue to recur on the show throughout the seven years that the show was on. She was mainly an annoyance to Captain Picard and to Commander William Riker. She tended to speak her thoughts just to get a rise out of her daughter. She had tender feelings for Picard, but he tended to feel annoyance more than anything for her. She would also recur on Deep Space Nine throughout the years that it was on. She annoyed the Deep Space Nine crew also, but she helped one crew member immensely when he needed it. She fell in love with Odo, the security chief on the station, but it was not a relationship that they could continue with. She did fall in love with an alien ambassador but it was cut short by the fact that he had to commit ritual suicide.
I am pretty sure that there have been actors who decided to play different alien species and they played them in all the series, but when it comes to the main characters of Star Trek, the only actor or actress to have ever starred in every series was Majel Barrett Roddenberry.
Captain Christopher Pike, Character Number, Christopher Pike, Computer Voice, Deanna Troi, Deep Space Nine, Doctor Leonard Mccoy, Gene Roddenberry, Leonard Mccoy, Majel Barrett, Majel Barrett Roddenberry, Nurse Christine Chapel, Season Episode, Star Trek, Star Trek Deep Space Nine, Star Trek Series, Star Trek The Cage, Star Trek The Next Generation, Star Trek Tng, Starship Enterprise |