First of all, sadly, this is not going to be much of a report this year. There were a spate of cancellations by some TOS actors just prior to the con, and I’d like to wish those who couldn’t make it all the best and a speedy recovery.
I was fortunate enough to meet Don Marshall (Mr. Boma), who is just the nicest guy you could ever meet, and radiates genuine gratitude to his fans. He spoke about his struggle to get comfortable with his role on “Galileo Seven”. The director kept urging him to “act like James Dean”, but Marshall felt Boma was a scientist. The situation resolved itself when Leonard Nimoy pulled Marshall aside and asked if everything was okay. Marshall explained his thoughts on the character to Nimoy who said “You’re right…let me fix this”. After Nimoy spoke with the director the problem was solved, and Marshall got to play Boma his way.
Michael Dante (Maab) spoke of the challenges of filming “Friday’s Child” out at Vasquez Rocks in 110 degree temperatures. Bags of ice had to be placed atop the cameras to keep them running it was so hot. Imagine running up and down hills in those Capellan outfits in that heat!
David L. Ross (Galloway/Johnson) spoke of his friendship with Gene Roddenberry, who gave him a contact for his recurring role as the redshirt who cannot die. Roddenberry actually asked Ross to do TMP (I’m kicking myself I forgot to ask him what role he was going to play), but he declined the part. He regretted turning Roddenberry down, and asked him if he could be a part of TWOK, but this time GR, apparently upset with him, turned him down.
William Shatner, as usual, was the highlight of the convention for me. What an entertainer this guy is. His introductory montage was a long clip of the “risk is our business!...great…great…great Grandfather” speech from “Return To Tomorrow”, and he came out on stage and re-enacted it…one of the top ten geek moments of my life right there!
Shatner had me choking back tears for the second time at the convention (I actually lost it during the two hour Leonard Nimoy tribute the day before when they played his final convention appearance speech) when he spoke so warmly of his late friend. You get the feeling Shatner doesn’t get genuinely close to many people, but you can tell he had a bond with Nimoy. Shatner recalled a limo ride with several TOS colleagues when they all made a pact to stop smoking and threw their packs out the window. Unfortunately Leonard couldn’t keep off them, and later would ask Shatner “Why didn’t you make me quit too?”. Shatner also expressed his sadness at the passing of Grace Lee Whitney (who was also honoured at the convention), and also Maurice Hurley, a producer of TNG who Shatner was quite close with.
Unfortunately the Shatner/Takei feud bubbled to the surface again when a fan asked if there’s any chance of burying the hatchet with Takei. Shatner’s response : “Where? In his head?”. After everyone stopped laughing, Shatner made a lengthy, emotional response to the Takei situation. He explained that he and Takei barely know each other. He’d see George perhaps two days a week during TOS, while any spare time Shatner had during the show was spent either learning lines (Perfecting the “great…great…great Grandfather” as he put it) or doing promo work for the show. There was just no time to socialise outside work hours. Years later during the films, his relationship with Takei was much the same : George would work a few days a week, they’d get on cordially and then that was it. About this point Shatner became quite emotional and said that over the years Takei started attacking him with increasing regularity. He was initially bemused by it, but at this point his feelings are “if there is a single person in this auditorium who thinks any less of me because of his lies, it saddens me deeply”. And that was that.
George Takei, looking fantastic, and enthusiastic as ever took the stage the next day, and, regrettably the feud came up again. Takei finds it ridiculous that Shatner is now claiming they barely know each other, and repeated the often told story of the wedding invitation the Takeis extended but Shatner denied ever receiving. For what its worth, Takei has invited Shatner to the premiere of his Broadway show “Allegiance”, which you sense is a very important project for George, dealing with his internment as a youth in World War II.
My take on the feud? Who knows who is at fault. You get the feeling at one point they both may have been fanning the flames to get publicity for their various projects, but sadly at this point there is deep animosity between them. I’d always assumed Shatner couldn’t have cared less about it over the years, but even Captain Kirk is not invulnerable. He’s clearly been hurt by it.
Walter Koenig is always a highlight for me. He is a terrific storyteller and you get the feeling his IQ is off the charts. He’s a thoughtful, interesting guy, and if he hadn’t had a career as an actor you’d put money on him being a college professor. He retold the Khan bathroom story (I’d read it many times before, but the way he tells it is hilarious). He mentioned he’s going to appear as Chekov twice more in upcoming fan films, then he’s retiring the character.
That was about it from the modest amount of TOS programming at the con this year. Hopefully there will be more TOS next year.
If I can recall anything else I’ll post it up.
I was fortunate enough to meet Don Marshall (Mr. Boma), who is just the nicest guy you could ever meet, and radiates genuine gratitude to his fans. He spoke about his struggle to get comfortable with his role on “Galileo Seven”. The director kept urging him to “act like James Dean”, but Marshall felt Boma was a scientist. The situation resolved itself when Leonard Nimoy pulled Marshall aside and asked if everything was okay. Marshall explained his thoughts on the character to Nimoy who said “You’re right…let me fix this”. After Nimoy spoke with the director the problem was solved, and Marshall got to play Boma his way.
Michael Dante (Maab) spoke of the challenges of filming “Friday’s Child” out at Vasquez Rocks in 110 degree temperatures. Bags of ice had to be placed atop the cameras to keep them running it was so hot. Imagine running up and down hills in those Capellan outfits in that heat!
David L. Ross (Galloway/Johnson) spoke of his friendship with Gene Roddenberry, who gave him a contact for his recurring role as the redshirt who cannot die. Roddenberry actually asked Ross to do TMP (I’m kicking myself I forgot to ask him what role he was going to play), but he declined the part. He regretted turning Roddenberry down, and asked him if he could be a part of TWOK, but this time GR, apparently upset with him, turned him down.
William Shatner, as usual, was the highlight of the convention for me. What an entertainer this guy is. His introductory montage was a long clip of the “risk is our business!...great…great…great Grandfather” speech from “Return To Tomorrow”, and he came out on stage and re-enacted it…one of the top ten geek moments of my life right there!
Shatner had me choking back tears for the second time at the convention (I actually lost it during the two hour Leonard Nimoy tribute the day before when they played his final convention appearance speech) when he spoke so warmly of his late friend. You get the feeling Shatner doesn’t get genuinely close to many people, but you can tell he had a bond with Nimoy. Shatner recalled a limo ride with several TOS colleagues when they all made a pact to stop smoking and threw their packs out the window. Unfortunately Leonard couldn’t keep off them, and later would ask Shatner “Why didn’t you make me quit too?”. Shatner also expressed his sadness at the passing of Grace Lee Whitney (who was also honoured at the convention), and also Maurice Hurley, a producer of TNG who Shatner was quite close with.
Unfortunately the Shatner/Takei feud bubbled to the surface again when a fan asked if there’s any chance of burying the hatchet with Takei. Shatner’s response : “Where? In his head?”. After everyone stopped laughing, Shatner made a lengthy, emotional response to the Takei situation. He explained that he and Takei barely know each other. He’d see George perhaps two days a week during TOS, while any spare time Shatner had during the show was spent either learning lines (Perfecting the “great…great…great Grandfather” as he put it) or doing promo work for the show. There was just no time to socialise outside work hours. Years later during the films, his relationship with Takei was much the same : George would work a few days a week, they’d get on cordially and then that was it. About this point Shatner became quite emotional and said that over the years Takei started attacking him with increasing regularity. He was initially bemused by it, but at this point his feelings are “if there is a single person in this auditorium who thinks any less of me because of his lies, it saddens me deeply”. And that was that.
George Takei, looking fantastic, and enthusiastic as ever took the stage the next day, and, regrettably the feud came up again. Takei finds it ridiculous that Shatner is now claiming they barely know each other, and repeated the often told story of the wedding invitation the Takeis extended but Shatner denied ever receiving. For what its worth, Takei has invited Shatner to the premiere of his Broadway show “Allegiance”, which you sense is a very important project for George, dealing with his internment as a youth in World War II.
My take on the feud? Who knows who is at fault. You get the feeling at one point they both may have been fanning the flames to get publicity for their various projects, but sadly at this point there is deep animosity between them. I’d always assumed Shatner couldn’t have cared less about it over the years, but even Captain Kirk is not invulnerable. He’s clearly been hurt by it.
Walter Koenig is always a highlight for me. He is a terrific storyteller and you get the feeling his IQ is off the charts. He’s a thoughtful, interesting guy, and if he hadn’t had a career as an actor you’d put money on him being a college professor. He retold the Khan bathroom story (I’d read it many times before, but the way he tells it is hilarious). He mentioned he’s going to appear as Chekov twice more in upcoming fan films, then he’s retiring the character.
That was about it from the modest amount of TOS programming at the con this year. Hopefully there will be more TOS next year.
If I can recall anything else I’ll post it up.
