Who created M'Ress?

True, there is that. Only two arms, though, so probably not.

 

The chest area is obscured often enough. Or they have two and three arm subraces.

 

If we accept the bio originally sold through LE and reprinted at Danhauser's site (linked on the previous page), then M'Ress has at least three "litter-mates".

Alan Dean Foster actually provided names for these siblings and her parents in the Log novels. (I had jotted them down a years ago for "quick" reference, but Mogg only knows where I left that slip of paper.) She either has 1 sister and 2 brothers, or maybe 2 sisters and a single brother; I'm not sure. But I do know all three were not the same gender. Foster also implied M'ress was the eldest since her "Mater" (the term ADF used) stated they "looked up to her as something of a role model.

Oh, Christopher, thanks for your input. It does sound reasonable. Is Stephen Kandel still alive? It would be interesting to get his feedback.

Sincerely,

Bill

 

Nope. Alnschloss K'Bentayr was a Monchezkean, according to behind-the-scenes material. And I see little resemblance to Edoans/Edosians.

As far as Memory Alpha and IMDb are aware, yes.

 

I have to admit Arex always creeped me out. The arm coming out of his chect and gauntish features gave me the heebie-jeebies (made me want to donate money to TAS so they could bring back Chekov).

 

I did these for one of Kail Tescar's TAS comics a few years ago.

 

At Star Trek: Phase II starting at the 7 minute mark of this video...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JzExIBdSgY&feature=player_embedded#!

Even if we don't see him or his species in the next movie, I personally feel that Greg Schnitzer and the rest of the production crew of Phase II have done the Edoan admirable justice!

Incidentally, in the thread that showcased this preview, I asked Greg Schnitzer if there might be the slightest chance in h3ll that M'Ress might get a glimpsing cameo in a future production. I presented my query with post # 88 found on page 6 of that thread.

http://www.trekbbs.com/showthread.php?t=184286&page=6

It started with a reserved, "Well it would be gimmicky," but by page 8, other fellows associated with the production were pondering the technical aspects. That does NOT necessarily mean they will do it, but the feedback was a bit more positive than a "Get the ^&*% outa' here, you freak!"

Sincerely,

Bill

 

Arex must be the proverbial man with three buttocks.

 

^^ It does make you wonder what else he has three of.

 

Arex is probably the most devout Christian of all the extraterrestrials portrayed in TREK, even more than the Children of the Sun from BREAD&CIRCUSES.

Why?

Because he can turn the other cheek, and then turn ANOTHER cheek (ba-dum-DUM.)

(Okay, it's ba-dum-DUMB, but I couldn't resist.)

 

Do the Caitians show up in STID, as was rumoured?

 

Discussing "Mudd's Passion" has reminded me of something.

About halfway into the story, Mudd tries to flee the ship via shuttlecraft. Chapel corners him and Mudd tries to bribe her with more love crystals. She slaps them from his hand and they scatter upon the deck near a ventilation intake. The crystals crack ane leak their fumes into the vent which distributes the vapors throughout the ship. Ignoring the assumption the air system should filter this stuff, the trace gases start affecting the crew, including the bridge staff which includes Scott and M'Ress.

Why M'Ress? Unlike "The Practical Joker" when M'Ress occupied the station because Uhura was trapped in the rec' deck (a proto holo-deck), there was no real narrative necessity for M'Ress to be there instead of Uhura. Nichelle not available to record her lines? Anything is possible, but since some of the cast recorded their lines "on the road", being "away" should not have been that big a problem.

But consider, this was 1973 and it was Saturday morning programming aimed, in general, at a younger audience. True, primetime had started to make headway in the area of sensitive subjects, this was the era of Norman Lear, but "kid vid" material was (and still is) held to tighter guidelines. Is it possible the "guideline" managers considered the idea of Scotty, a character implied to be of European descent, becoming enamoured with Uhura, a woman of African ancestry, a bit too controversial and recommended another character be substituted?

I'm not claiming this WAS the case; I'm just wondering IF "guidelines" might have been the reason. And, IF this was the reason, there is a certain irony "standards and practices" found it more acceptable for Scotty to cozy up to a "cat" girl rather than a human woman who just happens to have dark skin.

Sincerely,

Bill

 

Maybe Kandel (or Fontana or Scheimer or Sutherland) just wanted to showcase the alien characters.

 

Could well be. That's why I stressed those caveats in my last paragraph. I don't claim to know with any certainty; I'm just pondering.

Oh, good catch, Therin! I forgot Nichelle voiced "Mamma Bear" in that episode. So availability was NOT an issue.

Sincerely,

Bill

 

^Not to mention that the actors just had the scripts mailed to them and recorded their lines wherever was convenient. So availability wouldn't really have been an issue at any point in the series.