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whoopi goldberg

I love Whoopi in TNG. That was the point at which I decided to watch more things she's been in, and enjoyed some of them.
 
So when the producers found this out I beleive they asked her ( she may have asked them).

All through Season One she sent messages via LeVar Burton that she wanted to be on the show, and they all assumed it was Whoopi being a prankster. When she heard that they'd just lost a female cast member (Yar), she made more serious efforts to be heard.

Sadly for Marina Sirtis, any time Whoopi notified Paramount she was free to do an episode, often a very short notice, it was usually a key Troi scene that was hastily rewritten for Guinan.

You can also sometimes tell where a Whoopi scene was written, and she was suddenly unavailable. For example, Ben, the young bartender in "The Lower Decks", gets to play Guinan's lines in that episode.
 
Not sure if this has been said, if so, apologies.

Whoopie Goldberg always had a soft spot for Trek, due to the TOS series she remembered being young and seeing Uhura on the bridge and calling "Mom, mom! (mum for non americans) Came watch, there's a black woman on tv and she ain't no maid!"

So she was more than happy to guest as a reoccuring role on Star trek due to that childhood memory of hers.
 
Whoopi Goldberg was a Huge fan of the show and i beleive some what inspired by Nichelle Nichols Lt Uhura.
So when the producers found this out I beleive they asked her ( she may have asked them).
She and Levar (sp?) are friends she told him she liked the show and wanted to be on it Whoopi bugged him about it. So Levar eventually went to the producers and told them Whoopi Goldberg would like to appear on the show, the producers thought he was joking. Time passed by and Levar went to the producers again this thime they did not think he was joking and that's how Whoopi got cast in TNG
 
all explained in a later episode. I don't want to spoil it for you so i'll just say "datas head".I loved guinan.remember her conversations with ensign Ro. I loved it when they became children again and guinan was jumping on the bed while she had the chance to play again. And her phaser ability is the best!
 
I wasn't sure about her when she first started but boy did she do a great job. She made her niche and moved right in. Absolutely wonderful.

As for her political views and the View; I don't agree with much I've heard her say.

But she is a person of integrity. She recently publicly apologized to Bill O'Reilly for an incorrect accusation she made on his show. I respect her even more for doing so.

Amen--to all points. I don't think Joy would ever willingly admit that she was wrong....

And she defended Sean Hannity when Joy started slamming him. Great gal, overall!
 
She's a better counselor than Troi. Heh.

Ha! so true, thats exactly what i think. People go to Guinan just as often as Troi for advice, and Guinan isn't even a telepath. what does that say about Troi's abilities as a councellor?
To be fair though, Guinan has centuries more life experience, so she has encountered most life problems people can face i guess.
 
I loved Guinan, and as far as where she came from, wasn't it obvious? Earth, late 19th century. ;)

Anyway, she was probably my favorite character on the show. Very off topic, but if anyone watched the Oscars last night, is Whoopi Goldberg pregnant?
 
I started wondering something, possibly subconsciously inspired by the Mark Lenard thread. Has anybody ever heard of Whoopi Goldberg attending any sci-fi or Star Trek conventions? I imagine she'd be an unlikely guest since unlike so many of the guests at those things, she's had a career in which she is mostly known for roles besides the one she had in Star Trek.
 
I loved Whoopi, when she was on TNG.

But then she joined "The View", and everything that comes out of her mouth is shit.
She's better than Joy Behar, I can tell ya that....:rolleyes:

Still...I thnk Whoopi as Guinan on "The View" would've been DANG good.

Next time Elizabeth offers Joy "Kool-Aid" (inside joke), Whoopi could reply, "How about prune juice?"

Excellent character, over all.


She could have given Tasha Yar some Whoopi wisdom

"Yar.....you in danger girl"
 
Slightly off-topic, but not really given the title of the thread - what did people here think of Whoopi Goldberg on Star Trek? I personally believe it was the best role I've ever seen her in, although I've only seen her in '90s and 2000s movies, which were mostly lame (I'm sure "The Color Purple" is much more impressive). I love her caring and sympathetic, but also affectionately mocking interactions with the crew when she's giving them advice and the way she gave dramatic weight to key events in some of the most intense episodes with her ominous warnings in "Q Who", "The Best of Both Worlds", and "Yesterday's Enterprise".

Does anyone have favourite Guinan scenes? I think mine is when she stabs and insults Q in "Deja Q"...a big reason for why that's one of the episodes I love most. I also love the fact that she introduced Worf to prune juice and her conversation with his earth parents. She and Riker teaching Wesley how to woo a woman is one of my favourite early season moments on Star Trek.

"Shut up, kid! Now tell me about my eyes."

Here she is with Riker teaching Wesley how woo a (Wo)Man. I thought you might like it. And I do like how she stabs Q with a fork to see if he really is human.
 
I'm a big Whoopi Goldberg fan. I love her in "The Color Purple", "Ghost", "Boys on the Side" - just off the top of my head. And I absolutely loved her on Next Generation. When DS9 first aired there were rumors that she would appear in an episode and I wish that appearance had been filmed. Her character is so great. She appears in many of the best episodes of the series, and improves some of the lesser episodes just by appearing in them.

I've heard the story from many sources about how in the original script for "The Offspring" (a great episode), when Guinan is explaining love and relationships to Lal, Guinan was supposed to say "When a man & woman grow close" or something to that effect - but Whoopie refused to say the line. She said this is the 24th century and sexual identity and gender discrimination will be a thing of the past, and to pretend that man/woman couplings are the only options is unacceptable and irresponsible. The line was then changed to "When 2 people". I didn't know that when I saw the episode, but when I heard about it later it really touched me, and it's stayed with me ever since - which only made me love Guinan (and Whoopie) more.

I heard she would have been in the latest season of Enterprise if it hadn't been cancelled. That would have been interesting. At the same time, I think it might have also shown, like "In a Mirror, Darkly", that the show couldn't really excel unless it was feeding off the rich history of previous Star Trek series.

I don't think that's a fair statement. I thought that Season 3 was Enterprise's strongest season, and that it excelled just fine on it's own; much better than the Mirror Universe episodes. In fact, my least favorite episode of the series featured Riker & Troi. Besides the fact that all the Trek series since the orignal have 'fed off the rich history of previous Star Trek series" - Next Generation included.
 
Does anyone have favourite Guinan scenes?

My favorite Guinan scene that hasn't been mentioned yet is from "Night Terrors":

GuinansBFG.jpg


:techman:
 
Oh, dear. I guess I'm going to be the lone voice of dissent in this thread. I don't actually like the character of Guinan. I find her to be annoying. The reason I find her annoying is that she often offers unsolicited advice. That would drive me up the wall. The character also stole from Troi. They started using Guinan in the father-confessor, sage role, and neglected Troi. Troi and Guinan are different, though. So are their roles, or should be. People say that Guinan is a better counsellor than Troi. The writers don't really know what a counsellor is. What it isn't is someone who offers advice. It's someone who helps you assess what's bothering you, make sense of it on an emotional level. They are faciliatators when you can't help yourself emotionally. Guinan just offers advice, tells people what to do. She gives insight to the universe, but it's her perspective.

So, that's the reason I don't really care for Guinan.
 
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