Fan poll for character cameo in STVI:TUC

[JonnyQuest037]

I remember reading years ago that there was some sort of fan poll for which TOS character should be brought back for a cameo in TUC. Grace Lee Whitney as Janice Rand won, and so Rand became the communications officer for Captain Sulu's Excelsior.

Does anyone have more information about this fan poll, where it ran, and who some of the other choices were? I have a vague memory that a couple of the other candidates were Majel Barrett as Dr. Chapel and Bruce Hyde as Kevin Riley. Were there any others? Would the winner have been the Excelsior communications officer no matter what, or would they have found a place for them elsewhere in the film?

Anyone know for sure?

 

[Therin of Andor]

Does anyone have more information about this fan poll, where it ran, and who some of the other choices were? I have a vague memory that a couple of the other candidates were Majel Barrett as Dr. Chapel and Bruce Hyde as Kevin Riley. Were there any others? Would the winner have been the Excelsior communications officer no matter what, or would they have found a place for them elsewhere in the film?

It was at a Creation Con, I think. Probably New York, IIRC. It was possibly ran by the ST VI publicist - Bob Hoffman? (I once saw ST III's publicist, Eddie Egan, present a slideshow at a New York Creation Convention.)

Richard Arnold told an Australian convention about it. Bruce Hyde definitely came in second. I think John Winston was also suggested and probably other minor TOS characters suggested by the audience. It wouldn't have been Majel. The script already determined they were casting for Sulu's communications officer.

Some of Rand's "Communications Officer" lines were taken away from her at the last minute and given to Christian Slater, whose mother was casting director, Mary Jo Slater.

 

[JonnyQuest037]

Some of Rand's "Communications Officer" lines were taken away from her at the last minute and given to Christian Slater, whose mother was casting director, Mary Jo Slater.

Right. That bit I knew about. I like the low key way that Meyer and his cinematographer shot Slater's cameo. It's in such low light that the first time you see it, you're going, "Wait, is that...?" rather than, "Hey, look! It's Christian Slater!"

I remember George Takei commenting in a Starlog interview that his childhood dream was to be Robin Hood, or one of his Merry Men. Slater had just done that (He played Will Scarlet in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves), but his childhood dream was to be on Star Trek!

 

[JonnyQuest037]

It was at a Creation Con, I think. Probably New York, IIRC. It was possibly ran by the ST VI publicist - Bob Hoffman? (I once saw ST III's publicist, Eddie Egan, present a slideshow at a New York Creation Convention.)

Richard Arnold told an Australian convention about it. Bruce Hyde definitely came in second. I think John Winston was also suggested and probably other minor TOS characters suggested by the audience. It wouldn't have been Majel. The script already determined they were casting for Sulu's communications officer.

So this sounds like it was more of an informal asking of the audience at one con, rather than an organized poll where people filled out a ballot. Is that correct?

 

[Therin of Andor]

So this sounds like it was more of an informal asking of the audience at one con, rather than an organized poll where people filled out a ballot. Is that correct?

Yes, it was a show-of-hands at a very large convention.

 

[JonnyQuest037]

Yes, it was a show-of-hands at a very large convention.

Wow, that's even less formal than what I'd imagined.

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

Let's hope if they decide to do something like that again they use TrekBBS!