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Jonathan Frakes Photo: Sherry Lipp
The Official Star Trek Convention in wrapped up Sunday, December 14 with its third day at Bellevue’s Meydenbauer Center. For Next Generation fans it was a nearly nonstop parade of highlights. Jonathan Frakes kicked off the day with a casual, funny appearance that found him taking a personal call onstage at one point, sitting in the audience at times, and reading dramatically from host Richard Arnold’s notes. All told, an hour of unpredictable fun that served as a highlight of the entire weekend.
Frakes addressed the elephant in the room right away: the “Bring in Riker” hashtag that Trek have been using in hopes of persuading Paramount to choose Frakes as director of the next Star Trek film. Basically, he’d love to do it and is deeply touched by the outpouring of fan support, regardless of the outcome of the “Bring in Riker” campaign and Paramount’s final decision.
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Tim Russ (Tuvok on Voyager) was the only non-Next Generation celebrity appearance of the day. Russ delivered a very serious-minded update on his unauthorized Star Trek “fan film” Renegades, a follow-up to his 2007 film Of Gods and Monsters. Among the topics covered were the complicated intellectual property issues involved in creating what is, essentially, a piece of professionally-produced fan fiction.
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From that point on, day three was a TNG celebration. Marina Sirtis and Michael Dorn shared the stage, fielding questions about their years of portraying Troi and Worf. Sirtis, known for her brash persona during convention appearances, offered a very sincere tribute to the fans. “I’ve been poor, Michael’s been poor,” she told the assembled Trekkers, “But we have good lives.” She thanked all Trekkers for their loyal support. Beyond Trek, Sirtis had great things to say about working on NCIS. Dorn spoke enthusiastically about his recurring role on Castle, as well as his passion for aviation.
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John de Lancie had considerably more on his mind than his iconic role as Q, the omniscient being who appeared in a dozen episodes spanning TNG, Deep Space Nine, and Voyager. A very young attendee asked if he had fun voicing Discord in My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. As de Lancie shared, the director’s oft-repeated mantra during his voice sessions for that animated series was, “Twice the speed, twice the intensity.” Working with Peter Weir and Jeff Bridges on Fearless and playing Donald Margolis on Breaking Bad were among the other topics covered.
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Closing out the convention, Denise Crosby revealed that the Next Generation cast members had been invited by Seahawks owner (and sci-fi buff) Paul Allen to raise the 12th Man flag at Sunday’s game. Alas, the game time conflicted with the convention, so it wasn’t to be. Crosby spoke not only about her roles as Tasha Yar and Sela on TNG, but also her recent roles on The Walking Dead and Ray Donovan. She was extremely gracious with the fans and appreciative to see so many still in attendance at the end of a long weekend of Star Trek-related activity.
For information on upcoming Star Trek and other sci-fi conventions, visit Creation Entertainment.
Photos: Sherry Lipp
Frakes addressed the elephant in the room right away: the “Bring in Riker” hashtag that Trek have been using in hopes of persuading Paramount to choose Frakes as director of the next Star Trek film. Basically, he’d love to do it and is deeply touched by the outpouring of fan support, regardless of the outcome of the “Bring in Riker” campaign and Paramount’s final decision.
Tim Russ (Tuvok on Voyager) was the only non-Next Generation celebrity appearance of the day. Russ delivered a very serious-minded update on his unauthorized Star Trek “fan film” Renegades, a follow-up to his 2007 film Of Gods and Monsters. Among the topics covered were the complicated intellectual property issues involved in creating what is, essentially, a piece of professionally-produced fan fiction.
From that point on, day three was a TNG celebration. Marina Sirtis and Michael Dorn shared the stage, fielding questions about their years of portraying Troi and Worf. Sirtis, known for her brash persona during convention appearances, offered a very sincere tribute to the fans. “I’ve been poor, Michael’s been poor,” she told the assembled Trekkers, “But we have good lives.” She thanked all Trekkers for their loyal support. Beyond Trek, Sirtis had great things to say about working on NCIS. Dorn spoke enthusiastically about his recurring role on Castle, as well as his passion for aviation.
John de Lancie had considerably more on his mind than his iconic role as Q, the omniscient being who appeared in a dozen episodes spanning TNG, Deep Space Nine, and Voyager. A very young attendee asked if he had fun voicing Discord in My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. As de Lancie shared, the director’s oft-repeated mantra during his voice sessions for that animated series was, “Twice the speed, twice the intensity.” Working with Peter Weir and Jeff Bridges on Fearless and playing Donald Margolis on Breaking Bad were among the other topics covered.
Closing out the convention, Denise Crosby revealed that the Next Generation cast members had been invited by Seahawks owner (and sci-fi buff) Paul Allen to raise the 12th Man flag at Sunday’s game. Alas, the game time conflicted with the convention, so it wasn’t to be. Crosby spoke not only about her roles as Tasha Yar and Sela on TNG, but also her recent roles on The Walking Dead and Ray Donovan. She was extremely gracious with the fans and appreciative to see so many still in attendance at the end of a long weekend of Star Trek-related activity.For information on upcoming Star Trek and other sci-fi conventions, visit Creation Entertainment.
Photos: Sherry Lipp
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