Would you rather meet the actors or writers?

[TheLobes]

It always strikes me as funny how fans are so desperate to meet the actors from trek, but nobody ever talks about meeting the writers. Im the exact same way, Id love to meet a bunch of the actors, but I never think of wanting to meet the writers, even though they have way more to do with the show than the actors did.

Im just wondering how common this is, and why people feel a greater affinity towards the actors. Is it just that its easier to feel a connection with someone youve seen in a role over a number of years, is it because they seem more interesting, or some other reason?

 

[T'Girl]

Well the actors are the face of the show, the writer might be interesting to talk to, maybe. But many fans could just as easily be more interested in the people who design the ships or the shooting sets.

Not everyone holds "The Writers" up on some kind of pedestal.

 

[Gov Kodos]

If it were the likes of Bloch, Ellison or Sturgeon, I would certainly want to meet them. Their Trek work and so much else would make it a great pleasure to chat with them. Most of what comes to the screen, though, would have little impact without the actors who bring the parts to life. That is true of any show, really.

 

[Bobanort]

I'd rather meet the writers myself. Not that I have any grudge against the actors, and some of the stories I've heard from a few of them were hilarious, but I'd rather get into a discussion about the construction of a particular episode and why the author wrote it they way they did. I never used to care about meeting the writers as much as the actors until Voyager. There were a few episodes where you have this very educated character come out with some of the most senseless lines. It would be interesting to get the writer's perspective. Was it even something they intended? Or was it a modification to the script during production? That would really fascinate me now.

 

[{ Emilia }]

I still think some of those old AOL chats with Ronald D. Moore are interesting to read today and say more about DS9 than talking to the actors would achieve.

Having said that I think I'd prefer to have a coffee with Jonathan Frakes or Patrick Steward compared to Brannon Braga and Ira Steven Behr.

I'd love to have a long talk with Rick Berman tbh but his ego worries me. I'm not sure he'd enjoy the conversation.

 

[BlobVanDam]

I wouldn't care about meeting the writers, but I'd rather meet some of the art guys than the actors. Actors are great, but I think the behind the scenes guys often have more love for what they did, and more interesting.
I'd rather meet Mike Okuda, Rick Sternbach, or Doug Drexler etc than any particlar actor from Trek.

 

[barnaclelapse]

I'd like to meet some of the writers from TNG and DS9. I always have, and I'd say I'd be up for that just as much as meeting the actors I'd like to meet. That would be a hell of a lot of fun.

 

[C.E. Evans]

Writers. I think they can better tell me how an episode changes from initial idea pitch, to drafted scripts, to finished production.

 

[BillJ]

The writers. Really wanna kick Brannon Braga in the nads.

 

[Kirby]

Writers => Director => SFX staff => Actors

I've always been more interested in the production aspects of a show. That's where the real time and work is done.

 

[Rom's Sehlat]

I would rather meet the actors. I know the writers designed the basic characters and wrote the storylines, but the actors are the ones I see all the time. They have to capture whatever emotions are required for the scenes.

 

[SchwEnt]

I've been saying this since I went to cons in the 80s. It's the writers, stupid!

For every fan that stands up to ask a question and it turns out to be "In episode 77 when the Klingons were trying to beam down to the planet, why didn't the crew yadda yadda yadda ???"

Or maybe "When are we gonna hear Morn say something?" "Is (special guest star) gonna come back in a later episode?" or any of these type of questions.

Want answers to these questions? Gotta ask the writers who come up with this stuff!

Same thing with "How does the transporter work when beaming through subspace fields with tachyon interference and... ???" You don't ask the actors.

I'd really enjoy a panel of Drexler and Sternbach and Zimmerman and Moore and Behr and all the off-camera folks.

OTOH the actors are professional entertainers, so they usually put on a more enjoyable performance on-stage at the cons.

 

[bgrummer]

writers

 

[Shatnertage]

Writers. Just to see how things changed from the original conception to what we got on screen.

 

[KJbushway]

I would meet the writers, becuase they have the real imagination. I could understand star trek better just by listening to them talk.

 

[Shatnertage]

I think I'd get a kick out of talking to anyone involved with the show at any level. I once worked with a guy who worked on the show building sets, and he used to tell stories about what it was like. I think pretty much everyone has something interesting to say.

 

[ngc7293]

If there was a very good writer involved, then I think people would want to talk with them. For example, J. Michael Straczynski did B5, comic books and several other things. A guy like that would be very interesting to talk to. Let's say you had a regular writer for Trek novels that wrote a script. That person would be interesting to talk to if you were a fan of the books.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

I'd rather meet whoever at CBS has the power to greenlight a new series and hold them hostage until they agree to my demands.

For the writers, I'd like to hear about specific things, like how the Borg were invented and developed. But that was Michael Piller, right? And he's passed on.

Not too interested in meeting actors, I guess...

 

[Admiral James Kirk]

I'd rather meet whoever at CBS has the power to greenlight a new series and hold them hostage until they agree to my demands.

For the writers, I'd like to hear about specific things, like how the Borg were invented and developed. But that was Michael Piller, right? And he's passed on.

Not too interested in meeting actors, I guess...

Well, Maurice Hurley created the Borg and to my knowledge he's still alive.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Did Hurley create the original technology-gathering Borg, and then Piller added the species-assimilating/zombie-vampire aspect?

I've heard vague stories about this, but never got the full scoop.