• Welcome! The TrekBBS is the number one place to chat about Star Trek with like-minded fans.
    If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Who should voice the Enterprise computer?

Speaking of...we have gotten to a point where a computer generated voice could work. Look at Siri.

I wonder - given how many lines of computer dialogue she must have done over the years, how hard would it be to imprint Majel's vocal patterns onto a Siri-style computer voice? That way the Enterprise's 'voice' could still be Majel (sort of).
 
Okay, the Fran Drescher suggestion made me laugh out loud and now I'm going to be hearing it in her voice no matter who does it. But as far as serious suggestions? George Takei, Terry Farrell, or Whoopi Goldberg would all be reluctantly acceptable if you wanted to have some cutesy connection. But as much as I have an irrational loathing of Stockard Channing, she seems to be the best suggestion I've heard yet.
 
Speaking of...we have gotten to a point where a computer generated voice could work. Look at Siri.

I wonder - given how many lines of computer dialogue she must have done over the years, how hard would it be to imprint Majel's vocal patterns onto a Siri-style computer voice? That way the Enterprise's 'voice' could still be Majel (sort of).
That technology doesn't exist. So, pretty hard.
 
Brent Spiner might be a bit obvious but...

Perhaps voice samples of Arik Soong, in an incredibly pissy and sarcastic mood.

Spock: "Transfer scans of new Klingon cruiser to the Science station."

Computer: "I'm busy."
 
I've often tried to think of actresses who had similar voices to Majel Barrett's, but her tones were pretty distinctive. I think Stockard Channing has a fairly similar voice -- maybe Susan Sullivan, a bit less so. Wendie Malick? Katey Sagal?
I like all of these

I think Stockard Channing has a fairly similar voice
Excellent suggestion, was just going to make it also. Nancy Pelosi'd be a great choice too. And Candice Bergen... definitely an older, classy lady.
Candice Bergen might be OK too.

Nancy Pelosi?

Kirk: Computer Scan that Nebula for it's makeup and calculate devastation spread if we blow up that ship
Computer: I'm sorry Captain, you'll have to blow up that ship before I can tell you what's in the Nebula
 
How about an actual text-to-speech synthesizer, using parameters to approximate Majel Barret's voice, monotone or otherwise?

I mean to say, I'd want to hear such things audition for the part, if I were running the show.
 
She has a British accent.

Not so much anymore, since she's lived in the US for 20 years. Here's a recent clip of her where her accent sounds like a mix of American and her original Cockney and maybe a few other things. Of course, as an actress, Sirtis is capable of doing multiple accents; the "British accent" she usually uses onscreen is more upper-class than her native East End accent, and of course Troi's accent was originally a made-up blend of various Mediterranean and Eastern European influences that evolved to become more mid-Atlantic by the end of the series. (If anyone doesn't know, "mid-Atlantic" refers to an accent that's indeterminately between English and American, sounding English to American ears and vice-versa; it's often used by supposedly English characters in American films and shows. In fact, Sirtis considers Troi's later accent to have been "American.") And she's done a full-blown American accent in various parts, like Margot in Gargoyles.
 
Dame Judi Dench. She possesses a commanding and knowledgeable voice.

Nancy Pelosi'd be a great choice too.
Or, we could just have someone repeatedly drag their fingernails down a blackboard and get the same effect.

:)
 
"I'm tired of all these muther:censored: tribbles on this muther:censored: starship!"

:lol: That reminds me of the Voyager episode Q2 when the younger Q reprograms the computer with an attitude.

Janeway goes to ther replicator to order her standard coffee, and in Barrett's voice the computer says, "....get it yourself."
 
If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Sign up / Register


Back
Top