STV: Happy 50th from Star Trek crews past

YES! Finally, new Trekland video—and a brand-new intro! But the 50th celebration has only just begun ... for a whole year, yes?
 
So here's some faces and voices I've been holding back for the Happy 50th party—just the kind of behind-the-scenes insight that I love recording and revealing... from the TNG Companion where I met many of them, to our deep-diving Portal 47 today. Some you know; most you will not. (A few have been P47 guests; many others will be, too.)

For all or part of 18+ years, various teams of skilled show-biz folk brought us 737 hours of TV and films from Gene Roddenberry's universe...and could not help but form their own bonds of workaday friendship as well as professional pride.

With social media to help, the group held its third reunion in six years on May 22 in LA's Griffin Park—and it seemed natural to record for posterity some shoutouts for the 50th. I only regret that this was the smallest turnout of the three, and I did not get more folks on camera—to represent even more of the older series, or more of the various departments that go into getting an episode made.

Of course they have all gone on to other shows, other projects or even other careers now... but you can tell how most would agree that their working Star Trek years were something special, if not the highlights of their resume.

And that they are all fans, too.

STV: Mimi Craven tells tales of the Voyager Vaadwaur

After 18 years, you bet that a lot of faces have appeared across the "modern" Star Trek TV incarnation, not to mention the whole 50+ year saga. By now, even those with a one-off guest role, especially with a long credit list elsewhere behind it, get sought out by fans. It's all part of the sparkling Trek tapestry. 

One of those gems is Mimi Craven—she of many fan-favorite roles over the years even outside of Trek. At a recent signing show in Burbank, I chatted with her about her unusual turn on Voyager as the ill-fated female Vaadwaur, Jisa, in "Dragon's Teeth."

The Vaadwaur were designed to be a new culture with much backstory, intended to be a leading face in the last year of the show and launched with a two-parter—but those plans went for naught. 

Mimi wore it proudly, though, and has some great moments to share as she was the test case for the makeup, even before shooting her scenes. Find her at a con and she can add insider stories from the original Nightmare on Elm Street, and many more. Good stuff! 

One more for Voyager's 20th birthday: It's a SIGN!

Seen across the street from Paramount on a cloudy January day—exactly 20 years ago this week:

A goofy promo theme, and symptomatic of what would dog the two UPN shows as "marketing" for their entire lives.... as many of you will recall.

TWENTY years ago? A pitch you can't 'Prophecy'

Well, THIS is a moment locked in time for me...and it was exactly 20 years ago today that we rehearsed for it:

This sale memo, from Voyager's Jeri Taylor and signed under fellow exec producer Michael Piller's
reply, was about our pitch called "Reflections," or "Descendants," or "Alliances Undone," or "Birds of a Feather"... whatever... that SOLD... then got bumped for 4 years, sank into the unused "sold" pile, but then finally got plucked out to produce (with update) seven years later as "Prophecy."

It's been an anniversary memory for me all week, exactly (gulp) two decades ago: The TNG Companion was two years old, our new home home in L.A./Burbank was into its fifth month, Janet's six-week Voyager temp job had just been made permanent, and the extended contact from all our new opportunities had won us an invitation to pitch stories.

Yes, Dec. 12  was the night we rehearsed our 3 or 4 pitches with script coordinator and buddy/boss Lolita Fatjo at Micelli's in Hollywood, and got her notes; the very next day, we met with Jeri in her Hart Building office to try them all for real. And it was all, of course, still six weeks or so until the world at large would even see Voyager and meet its denizens on TV.

I had heard all the TNG writers tell of their own pitch experiences—of the nerves and mistakes in both their own as writers, and of the hopefuls they heard ideas from—and thus Lolita's gentle reminder that "no one sells on their first pitch" had been well taken.

Which, of course, was all the more weird when we DID do just that—and with the one idea, of course, we thought the least of: our "token 'Klingon in the Delta Quadrant' story, to mess with B'Elanna's Klingon half" idea. Thank you, Jeri—and thank you for being gentle with the rookies. And you too, Michael, wherever you are—bedecked in Dodger blue, I'm sure).

It was hardly the last time we pitched to either show—back in the day of Michael's revolutionary but time-consuming open-door policy for non-agented writers and spec scripts—but it was the only time we ever sold. Of course. (The old maxim about "you never get to do the teleplay for your first story sale," however, came perfectly true.) I even found out later we weren't even the first ones to pitch a "Klingon generational ship" story for Voyager.

March 1995: A "bottle show" no longer...

We used to tell the full story at convention talks—the prep and pitch, the writer meetings, the directed enlarging and then shrinking of the bottle story scope as the show and staff evolved, its disappearance and then final-season resurrection—as a snapshot of the outside-writer process, and how wacky a "textbook case" of off-staff TV selling and writing can actually be, and over several years. I've told parts of the saga on a couple of podcast interviews, but any of you new fans want us to pipe up about it for a current con, just let me know. (For the right rum mixture, I'll even share all the better concepts we pitched on either "middle show" that didn't sell.)

But for young Okie kids getting a tad later start in the biz than usual, it was three fast days in a week I'll always remember.

RIP Cliff Bole: Modern Trek's prolific, hard-working director—and blue-guys namesake

I've been meaning to share a few thoughts these past busy weeks about prolific director Cliff Bole, 76, who passed away Feb. 15 and may well go down in history amid a long career best known as the most prolific TNG director of all (25 hours)—with 42 hours of Trek in toto, with 7 more on DS9 and 10 on Voyager. Cliff died at his home in Palm Desert, Calif., after a long battle with cancer. 

As a sign of his impact, no other Trek director is also the namesake for a species (the Bolians, debuted in the episode "Conspiracy" he directed) or a landmark (the Cliffs of Bole, from DS9's "Invasive Procedure" that he did not direct).

Atop that long list of Trek credits, of course, will always and forever be "The Best of Both Worlds"—both parts. When I first met Cliff during my second trip to L.A. in 1993 (above), settling in to do research over two weeks as a "tourist" and not under the gun of a cruelly close deadline, Cliff eagerly returned my call for an interview—Trek had not been done to death by then, and no Internet yet!—and he invited me out to his house in the Valley. As I recall now, that was actually my first "trip" there, outside the Glendale/Hollywood "axis" my two annual book research trips had revolved around so far.

Car-crazy Cliff and the '41 Mercury
he showed off to me in 1993

That's where we snapped the shots I share here, including his then-current car project ... and all in Cliff's no-nonsense, plain-spoken, gruff-around-the-edges language that didn't hold back on the honesty or the fun memories at all. He was upfront about his resume, called a dog a dog as well as a hit a hit, and took the blame or credit as much as anyone in TV directing can do. He threw a lot of insights at me that I was only then beginning to appreciate, and going back through that first, long interview I'm reminded of how much Treklanders like him taught me about not only the well-oiled Trek machine, but Hollywood in general.

Along with the "BOBW"s, too, he also admits to the "Aquiel"s of the bunch, as well. For TV directors, it's always a mixed bag and a bit of the "luck of the draw" when scripts are being cranked out in a long season. Here's some of what he told me about that upon our first meeting back in March 1993:
“There were a couple I thought might be my last! The crew works so damn hard and you try, but you just can‘t come to bat every time and hit a home run. You try to at least get on base, first."

"It was one helluva ride!"

He began all the way back with only the series’ seventh show, "Lonely Among Us": "I managed to survive the first year—which in itself I’m proud of! The most dangerous thing about episodic directors: if you stay around too long you‘re going to fall through some of the cracks. I don’t care how good the writers are, there’s going to be one episode that doesn‘t have it all. But you’re going to fall through the cracks and the chances are that they’re going to say, ‘Well, get rid of this bum!’ It’s going to happen and it‘s happened to me on a lot of series, and it’s dangerous. The best thing to do is hit a couple of episodes and get out.”

But not so with TNG, and he praised onetime Warner Brothers contact Rick Berman for the stability he brought to the production—even the "regular irregulars" like himself were made part of the family. Flight enthusiast Michael Dorn convinced him to get his own license again after a 20-year lapse in the air; special effects man Wil Thoms once towed Bole’s restored 1940 pickup truck to a friend who bought it in Seattle, using a trailer loaned by one of the set grips.

“We had so much fun. We had some uptightness, but God, this was a family; we had marriages, divorces—I got divorced in the middle of it; people had kids and family. More than anything I’ve ever experienced, there’s major family stuff going on here.”
Cliff had thoughts on all his TNG shows for me, but of course everyone wants to hear about BOBW—as he told me, in 1994:  “Mike Westmore (makeup designer) called me up one night and he said, ‘I‘ve got this idea for a laser’ and I said ‘Jesus Christ, that sounds great! Do it! Do it! Do it!’ He said, ‘where do you want to put it?’ And I said, ‘Right here, man, on the side of the head—and every time he looks in the camera it’s there.’ I went to grammar school with Mike; we started out in kindergarten together! 

And then this, about the pre-sir Patrick Stewart: “I remember once I said ‘OK, we’re finished for the night—I don’t think I need this close-up of Patrick’...And he looked down at me—we’re all dead tired—and gave me one of those great English eye looks, from up on his pedestal in the lab. And then I said,  ‘Well, I guess I’ll shoot a close-up of Patrick here!’ ” 
 
According to his full obituary biography as submitted by family—where you can leave your own thoughts on his work, online—Clifford John Bole was born in San Francisco on Nov. 9, 1937, but grew up in the San Fernando Valley of north L.A., turning his interest in the biz into a life as a "set rat," sneaking in with friends to watch productions in progress on location or the nearby studios.

Bole (left) consults on-set on DS9
with script supervisor Judi Brown
and Rene Auberjonois

"I've been here since I was 4; my dad in vaudeville, ran theaters in San Francisco, and he always said 'Don't get into this end of the business!' In the old Valley, we had studio backlots bigger than Burbank—Universal, Warners, Republic...9, 10, 15 streets. They used to shoot on Saturdays, and at 6 o'clock Saturdays we were on our bikes, crossing the LA River on a raft to watch 'em." Breaking in as a script clerk and starting out as the on-set script supervisor for McHale's Navy, Cliff has credits as a director on Baywatch, Charlie's Angels, Fantasy Island, MacGyver, M.A.N.T.I.S., Matt Houston, Mission: Impossible, Scarecrow and Mrs. King, Spencer for Hire, Strike Force, The Six Million Dollar Man, The X Files, T.J. Hooker, and Vega$. 

In 2005, Cliff was recognized with a Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs Walk of Stars, and turned to his car crush to complete Cars Under the Stars, a documentary showcasing the popular El Paseo Cruise Night event there. He was also an avid pilot, boater, golfer and dirt bike rider, where he shared close ties with the stunt community and counted Ronnie Rondell, Roy "Snuffy" Harrison and the late Hal Needham as close friends. He was also an Army vet and was stationed in Korea; survivors are his wife, son, daughter, and two grandchildren.

The family suggests that friends wishing to honor his memory contribute to a cancer research organization of their choice, or visit his star in Palm Springs. A celebration of life will be held later in the year; I hope to be able to go, and share some of the mentions from the day with Trekland.
 
Official startrek.com had a memorial post with reflections on Cliff and his work by many of his Trek colleagues.

Voyager/BSG's Michael Taylor talks SyFy's DEFIANCE debut tonight—Pt. 1

Writer-producer Michael Taylor, who I've known since the later Voyager days, sat down with me last summer for an EXCLUSIVE early chat about the unique and potentially historic TV/game crossover project called DEFIANCE—whose TV incarnation on SyFy debuts tonight at 9 ET/PT.

Here's just Part I of our chat—where we're just getting started on the idea... and how the heck a busy TV staff can interface enough with a game staff to make the revolutionary concept work. Coming in future TREKLAND segments: details on the development of the characters and setting—a future Earth where eco-damage from an aliens/human war on Earth has repaired by terraforming where they all must now work together.

Mike, of course, also wrote some great episodes on Ron Moore's Battlestar Galactica and was involved with both Caprica and Blood and Chrome (as well as the late Michael Piller's breakout Dead Zone on USA). Later on, we'll reminisce about those years as well—and there's more below the video fold here, too:


Yes, there's more—like this FYI: In case any of you are out there grousing about getting invested in an expensive and risky genre series only to see it cancelled after one year—apparently, series exec producer Kevin Murphy is letting on that the series' second season is already into production. We'll try to update with Mike on that as well.

Meanwhile, in case you haven't seen it, here's the extended trailer for the TV series:



AND the first 14 minutes of Monday's pilot (sorry for the embedded ad)...

NO April Fools—this actually existed...

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Okay, who wants to guess the approximate timing and occasion?
(I mean, there's no prize or anything, but ...)

STV: Tim "Tuvok" Russ is back for indie "Renegades"

So many great Kickstarter projects out there, as you know ... but STAR TREK: RENEGADES is not only an all-star follow-up to Tim Russ and Sky Conway's OF GODS AND MEN epic that you know, but it's on funding deadline and just went over bigtime.

"I am excited to see the fans of Trek pitching in to help us get this project off the ground," director/actor Tim told me today after the $200,000 goal was topped by $20,000 (congrats!). "We will do our best to deliver an exciting film."

I initially caught Tim for a vidchat (below) on the day he and Walter Koenig shot the trailer you can now see at the Kickstarter site ... where the toteboard as of this posting now shows three days left to get the new extra bonus goal of $250,000—by 7 A.M. Monday, Nov. 27. The extra raised will  be spent on boosting visual effects, sets, locations, or anything that had to be trimmed initially to make a do-able campaign budget.

In recent days, J.G. "Martok" Hertzler himself has signed aboard to play the main villain of the piece, and so many cast and crew veterans from "Of Gods and Men" are back, too. But wait—let's let Tim talk about it as you watch his Vulcanness dissolve right before your eyes ...

"Klingon love machine god"? We're on The Ready Room

The log line should say:
 "For the first time in years, Larry Nemecek talks about his experience in selling, developing, mourning, and then watching the resurrection of their Season 1 Voyager story idea that finally became Season 7's 'Prophecy'."

But a chunk of this "The Ready Room" Episode 52 on Trek.fm is, um, wacky as well, with Chris and Greg. I've been tardy to tell of it here, delayed by SoonerCon & Sooner State travels.

I wonder if THAT qualifies as The Other Side of the Room? (Oh, you have to listen...The TRR News is great, then we come on at the 53:23 mark—if you don't do chapters via an iTunes download.)

Look who's 10 today! Our phoenix Voyager, "Prophecy"

When you've got 700+ hours of TV and 12 movies piled up from over 45+ years, the anniversaries can come at you thick and fast, and from any direction.

So I should hardly have been surprised at my own shock when I realized only a few days ago what was coming up in Trekland today, Feb. 7.

For it was on this date exactly 10 years ago—a Wednesday then, of course— that we rented a big-screen and hosted a view party for the first-air premiere of our Voyager episode "Prophecy."

Alas, I have no party pics from that night—but the story of "Prophecy" began long before that night, of course—and I mean long. Each of those 700+ hours of Trek in turn have their own tale of coming-to-be—some straight and  easy with one name attached, some over a twisted and agonizing path with more hands involved  than the WGA can ever know about.  Of course, many, many folks have actually sold a story idea to Trek over the years—and, unless they were a seasoned veteran or an on-the-cusp up-and-comer, they never got the script assignment. Most of you know I enjoy telling those "how-to" story tales—my TNG Companion and many, many hours of interviews and writing over the years attest to that.

But this time, it was personal.
 

Plenty of other stories and sellers, yes— but if nothing else, our story is in contention for the title of Longest Gestation—as we used to relate in detail to con fans and script students alike. Its official lifeterm runs from the time of our pitch to Jeri Taylor on Dec. 14, 1994, a month before Voyager even premiered, to the time when last-season show-runner Ken Biller pulled it out of the file six years and seven season later for a big, fat update. (That's Michale Piller's scrawled "OK" on Jeri's memo, right.)

What started out as our token, easy "Klingon B'Elanna" idea  about a generation ship of Klingons deep in the Delta Quadrant, back when all the characters were just babies and the format was in its infancy, was a surprising sell when all our more elaborate ideas went nowhere. First story meeting, though, Michael Piller wants to change our cheap, shipbound "bottle show" idea into an elaborate, planet-bound adventures where we see these Kirk-era Klingons actually subjugate another colony world (even with subtitles for the poor natives' dialogue, with a newly created language).

But by the time of THAT story rewrite, there had been Romulans and Ferengi and one "split B'Elanna" story—and any further Alpha Quadrant aliens like Klingons were pushed back a year to give the Delta Quadrant denizens some room... and then it became two years. And then came Worf and the Klinogns to DS9... another year held back. By then I knew: we'd been paid, but the character were fast maturing, and we'd never see the show on our TV screens. It did indeed sit on the pile another three years—until Ken cleaned out the dead pile for Season 7. Or rather, asked me if I had my original notes on it, since nothing could be found in the Paramount archives. (I swear I saw that box next to the Arc of the Covenant crate...) Of course, by then B'Elanna had been wedded up with Paris over Chakotay and found herself with child—so our tale needed serious updating...and two more pairs of names on the credits. Still, the generational Klingon ship crew and B'Elanna as a focal point was at the core—and the Voyager writing staff was good enough to keep us in the credits.

Finally, we were thrilled that the old custom of a set visit for first-time sellers was revived for us. I'd had my share of on-set onlooking for research, of course, and Janet had previously been right there with the writers in the Hart Building—though they rarely could or would get a hall pass to go over to the sets. This time, though, it was not just any show, it was our show—with six years' worth of updating, of course—and that was a thrill to be another member in that club of famous names and one-hit wonders alike.  Can you spot who signed our script cover (right) that day—Nov. 15, 2000, the eighth and last day of the shoot, ?


There's plenty more tales to tell about the whole process and the rest of the shoot; you'll have to ask us next time we cross paths at a con, or I decide to take my "Star Trek: Between the Cracks" show into our own slant on the world of "Prophecy." But the irony, of course, is that a big, expensive Klingon bridge set and funeral that was supposed to open the show all got cut for time—meaning you never saw this solemn moment, or the Klingon skyward howl of warning to Sto'Vo'Kor that was included:

We went on to pitch many times over the years, and still regret that some of the stories—especially on DS9— never got bought and produced. But "Prophecy"—aka "Reflections," aka "Untitled Klingon Story" ... aka "Now THAT would made B'Elanna really kick-ass in Season 1, if she has to choose whether to shoot either Chakotay or her Klingon lover" ....that will always be ours. Aboard the good ship IKV Nemecek.*



*Sorry. You'll just have to hunt me down and ask for THAT story, too.