Dragon*Con 2009 - Trek Trak
This seemed to be the year of the Trek at Dragon*Con with Shatner, Nimoy, Stewart, and Mulgrew anchoring the con. I didn't make it to Kate Mulgrew's panel, but I did get to see the others. Here's a link to the photo album with all my picture from both Shatner-Nimoy and Stewart.
Shatner and Nimoy had a panel together first thing Friday morning and 2 things were immediately apparent: 1 - William Shatner is as much of a character as you would expect him to be 2 - Leonard Nimoy knows exactly how to get Shatner to do what he wants.
I took notes during the panel, but it's really hard to follow them because for the first 30 minutes or so it was just the two of them ragging on each other. Shatner didn't want to let go of the fact that he wasn't in the 2009 Star Trek movie when Nimoy was. Below are some snippets from their back and forth.
LN - "44 years I've been listening to him!"
WS - "And it's getting harder to hear me."
LN - "Seen any good movies recently"
WS - makes a face and some fuss
LN - "I wasn't referring to any particular movie"
WS - fusses some more
LN - "nobody's saying it's a good thing you weren't in the movie, just that ppl saying that are dickheads"
WS - "my dearest friend is calling me a dickhead"
LN - "I'm not calling you a dickhead - you're the one who said ppl are saying it's a good thing you're not in the movie"
WS - has 28 books including his autobiography titled "Up Til Now" as opposed to Nimoy's book which would have been "Down Before"
LN tries to prop WS up by asking about Emmys.
WS - "It's glorious to win an Emmy!"
WS has not seen the movie. He still hasn't seen much of TNG. In fact when TNG was starting WS and his wife had dinner with PS and his wife. WS's wife looked from WS to PS and asked "how can you be the captain if he's the captain?"
WS - "Pretend for a moment, in the realization of your wildest dream, you're me" and you go to the movie - what do ppl say to you as you try to go to the movie? And that's why I haven't gone to the movie.
Then they finally took some questions. The first Questioner asked about bloopers.
Apparently this was a big deal back in the day. TOS only ran for 3 season and for each of the 2 the cast and crew Christmas parties the editors put together 10-15 minutes of out takes which the cast expected would be burned. 6 or 7 years later "someone" did a lecture tour (for which they charged $) about Trek and showed the bloopers. WS, LN, and other objected because it wasn't professional and because they weren't being compensated for what they thought basically amounted to extra performances.
The third question went to Nimoy at which point Shatner did NOT pout!
They asked about Nimoy's favorite/most memorable "In Search of" episode which was an episode on telepathy in which a young boy was incredibly accurate in their testing. Nimoy didn't follow up after the episode which Shatner couldn't believe. Shatner decided to get in Nimoy's face for that.
The next question was to Shatner about his work in Incubus which was a film done in Esperanto.
Shatener said it was interesting experience. The director decided to use Esperanto because there was a built in audience with the 17 million Esperanto speakers in the world. The cast was given English dialog and learned phonetic translations. By the time Shatner got to see in at a film festival several months later, the film had been subtitled in Italian and he couldn't remember or understand a word.
Another question was asked about Shatner's nonTrek work and someone yelled out "Priceline". WS flipped them the bird and then after some prompting by Nimoy said "I mean Priceline is a very good company."
Shatner spoke about how cool it was to get to interview Rush Limbaugh and Larry Flint on the same day for his show "Raw Nerve".
Nimoy chimed in to say he was very concerned about the talk show host who are doing nothing bu saying inflammatory and dangerous things instead of engaging in civil debate.
Someone asked about cameos in future New Trek movies.
Shatner pouts some more but Nimoy says they're currently crafting new stories and does not expect to be asked again. Nimoy also says Shatner should be proud of the character he created and Pine has interpreted.
The TrekTrak director did a song and dance to mess around with Shatner and Nimoy.
The final question went to Nimoy about the influence of Spock on ppl ways of dealing with conflict particularly with parents of different backgrounds.
LN - Some people work for $ and some ppl work to influence.
WS - which do you work for?
LN - Spock has been a useful figure, had an impact on ppl t rying to figure out how to balance logic with emotion. Kirk has also been influential on ppl trying to figure out how to explore where no man has gone before.
To close out LN say "Live long and prosper!"
Shatner and Nimoy exit the stage to a standing ovation.
Saturday Patrick Stewart did a panel by himself for which the line was crazy long and very disorganized.
PS seemed to be a little wound up, nervous, and flustered even if he's not the only one on stage and only taking questions from the track director and a TNG former employee.
He flew to NY from England and then took the train down to Atlanta. He considers himself to be a "modest environmentalist" and he loves trains because flying is becoming less fun and more stress. He found it to be a "real adventure" to get to watch the Eastern seaboard go by. He was surprised that Atlanta didn't have more in the way of a train station and was glad when he asked to hear that it was because the Yanks had burned it - not the British. Because if there had been trains when the British came through they probably would have burned it.
Q - What would you like to be best known for?
PS - "For not having died" He knows everyone has their time, but he'd like to think he has not yet done the work for which he will be best remembered. He has been working as an actor for 50 years and still has a list of things he wants to do. However if he had to go soon and he'd spent his last few hours at Con he'd be very content to be remembered as Picard.
Q - What do you look for when choosing roles?
PS - listens to something an agent told him long ago and waits to feel the blood coursing more intently in his veins. It's a very visceral thing for him because he's finally come to admit, with apologies to his family, that what he does is his real life...it identifies and defines him.
Q - Talk about the episodes in which Picard got to be vulnerable.
PS - It was something he pushed for because Picard had to be captain first and foremost - had to rule as democratically as possible, but the more complex and contradictory a character is the more human they become. He wanted the character to be more human than iconic and he embraced opportunities to play that part as frequently as possible to the point of suggesting where more moment could be added. His favorite episode however is Frakes' directoral debut with the show "Offspring".
Q - Were you aware of the Trek phenomenon when you were first approached?
PS - Getting the job was all an absurd accident, a fluke. He was originally spotted and championed by Robert (Bob Justman?) and the cause was taken up by Rick Berman until the finally wore down Gene Roddenberry and Paramount. Stewart knew almost nothing about Trek as he was doing stage work at the time and getting home only a few hours in the evening between shows to see his kids. The kids new more about the show and made all the expected jokes, which he didn't understand. He was nervous about signing a 6 year contract but everyone he knew in Hollywood said there was no way the show would last, that they'd be lucky to make a full season so he took the job.
Q - Is there room (given New Trek) for one last appearance as Picard?
PS - He was disappointed that Nemesis was the end for TNG particularly as Brent Spiner and John Logan had a brilliant idea for one more film. He thinks JJ's reboot is absolutely terrific and he enjoyed it immensely, but doesn't think the legacy of Picard needs adding to. He's not sure he or the character would benefit from another go and might consider it if asked, but generally feels he has moved on from the character.
A Mr. Clean joke was made here. Personally I think they should have played the New Trek/lens flare D*C TV bumper for him instead. That doesn't seem to have been posted yet so I'll distract you with a link to Shatner of the Mount instead.
Q - What was it like working with the legendary Nimoy and Shatner?
PS - Wants to know if one can be both legendary and alive. To which the moderator replies affirmatively. He then wants to know if he himself is legendary. To which the answer is "abso - damn - lutely". PS knows that the work of Shatner and Nimoy was the launch pad for everything TNG got to do and they were all in awe of Nimoy when he came to set. On the other hand -- "Mr Shatner *shakes head* he's a piece of work isn't he?". However he feels in the end that Shatner is "a gentleman, a humorist and just awesome".
Q - Talk a little bit about the costumes.
PS - For the first 2 season the wore spandex 1 pieces which were cut one size to small so they would stretch over the contours of the body. PS played with this one for a while, making various stretching motions and gestures to certain areas of his body much to the amusement of the audience. But apparently wearing a 1 piece body suit tends to make you want to fold in on yourself and the effort required to hold back and maintain proper posture was causing back problems. PS's own doctor wrote in and got the costumes switched to the much more comfortable 2 piece wool uniforms. He still has a full set, complete with decorations in his house.
Q - Is there a future for him as Professor X, the X-men in general?
PS - He has been told there is a future for him and the professor which was not hurt at all when audiences reacted positively to the cameo in Wolverine. He thinks it's great that ppl reacted to him and that "a little bit of humility would do Hugh Jackman a lot of good" even if Hugh is actually delightful, cute and sweet despite being Australian. There is a project in development which should include Professor X. Further, for the last 7 months PS and Sir Ian McKellan have been working in a show together and sharing a dressing room and have both decided that they'd like to see the relationship between X and Magneto further explored on screen.
Q - the final question was what would PS say if he was to address the cardboard cutout of Picard on stage?
PS - (to moderator) "When did you become my therapist? I know the answer to this Jean-Luc Picard was a fictional character and I will not address myself to a card board cut out even for you".
Patrick Stewart too was led off to a standing ovation.
All in all I found both panels to be enjoyable, informative, and worth the time spent in line, despite not knowing much about TOS or TNG.
Shatner and Nimoy had a panel together first thing Friday morning and 2 things were immediately apparent: 1 - William Shatner is as much of a character as you would expect him to be 2 - Leonard Nimoy knows exactly how to get Shatner to do what he wants.
I took notes during the panel, but it's really hard to follow them because for the first 30 minutes or so it was just the two of them ragging on each other. Shatner didn't want to let go of the fact that he wasn't in the 2009 Star Trek movie when Nimoy was. Below are some snippets from their back and forth.
LN - "44 years I've been listening to him!"
WS - "And it's getting harder to hear me."
LN - "Seen any good movies recently"
WS - makes a face and some fuss
LN - "I wasn't referring to any particular movie"
WS - fusses some more
LN - "nobody's saying it's a good thing you weren't in the movie, just that ppl saying that are dickheads"
WS - "my dearest friend is calling me a dickhead"
LN - "I'm not calling you a dickhead - you're the one who said ppl are saying it's a good thing you're not in the movie"
WS - has 28 books including his autobiography titled "Up Til Now" as opposed to Nimoy's book which would have been "Down Before"
LN tries to prop WS up by asking about Emmys.
WS - "It's glorious to win an Emmy!"
WS has not seen the movie. He still hasn't seen much of TNG. In fact when TNG was starting WS and his wife had dinner with PS and his wife. WS's wife looked from WS to PS and asked "how can you be the captain if he's the captain?"
WS - "Pretend for a moment, in the realization of your wildest dream, you're me" and you go to the movie - what do ppl say to you as you try to go to the movie? And that's why I haven't gone to the movie.
Then they finally took some questions. The first Questioner asked about bloopers.
Apparently this was a big deal back in the day. TOS only ran for 3 season and for each of the 2 the cast and crew Christmas parties the editors put together 10-15 minutes of out takes which the cast expected would be burned. 6 or 7 years later "someone" did a lecture tour (for which they charged $) about Trek and showed the bloopers. WS, LN, and other objected because it wasn't professional and because they weren't being compensated for what they thought basically amounted to extra performances.
The third question went to Nimoy at which point Shatner did NOT pout!
They asked about Nimoy's favorite/most memorable "In Search of" episode which was an episode on telepathy in which a young boy was incredibly accurate in their testing. Nimoy didn't follow up after the episode which Shatner couldn't believe. Shatner decided to get in Nimoy's face for that.
The next question was to Shatner about his work in Incubus which was a film done in Esperanto.
Shatener said it was interesting experience. The director decided to use Esperanto because there was a built in audience with the 17 million Esperanto speakers in the world. The cast was given English dialog and learned phonetic translations. By the time Shatner got to see in at a film festival several months later, the film had been subtitled in Italian and he couldn't remember or understand a word.
Another question was asked about Shatner's nonTrek work and someone yelled out "Priceline". WS flipped them the bird and then after some prompting by Nimoy said "I mean Priceline is a very good company."
Shatner spoke about how cool it was to get to interview Rush Limbaugh and Larry Flint on the same day for his show "Raw Nerve".
Nimoy chimed in to say he was very concerned about the talk show host who are doing nothing bu saying inflammatory and dangerous things instead of engaging in civil debate.
Someone asked about cameos in future New Trek movies.
Shatner pouts some more but Nimoy says they're currently crafting new stories and does not expect to be asked again. Nimoy also says Shatner should be proud of the character he created and Pine has interpreted.
The TrekTrak director did a song and dance to mess around with Shatner and Nimoy.
The final question went to Nimoy about the influence of Spock on ppl ways of dealing with conflict particularly with parents of different backgrounds.
LN - Some people work for $ and some ppl work to influence.
WS - which do you work for?
LN - Spock has been a useful figure, had an impact on ppl t rying to figure out how to balance logic with emotion. Kirk has also been influential on ppl trying to figure out how to explore where no man has gone before.
To close out LN say "Live long and prosper!"
Shatner and Nimoy exit the stage to a standing ovation.
Saturday Patrick Stewart did a panel by himself for which the line was crazy long and very disorganized.
PS seemed to be a little wound up, nervous, and flustered even if he's not the only one on stage and only taking questions from the track director and a TNG former employee.
He flew to NY from England and then took the train down to Atlanta. He considers himself to be a "modest environmentalist" and he loves trains because flying is becoming less fun and more stress. He found it to be a "real adventure" to get to watch the Eastern seaboard go by. He was surprised that Atlanta didn't have more in the way of a train station and was glad when he asked to hear that it was because the Yanks had burned it - not the British. Because if there had been trains when the British came through they probably would have burned it.
Q - What would you like to be best known for?
PS - "For not having died" He knows everyone has their time, but he'd like to think he has not yet done the work for which he will be best remembered. He has been working as an actor for 50 years and still has a list of things he wants to do. However if he had to go soon and he'd spent his last few hours at Con he'd be very content to be remembered as Picard.
Q - What do you look for when choosing roles?
PS - listens to something an agent told him long ago and waits to feel the blood coursing more intently in his veins. It's a very visceral thing for him because he's finally come to admit, with apologies to his family, that what he does is his real life...it identifies and defines him.
Q - Talk about the episodes in which Picard got to be vulnerable.
PS - It was something he pushed for because Picard had to be captain first and foremost - had to rule as democratically as possible, but the more complex and contradictory a character is the more human they become. He wanted the character to be more human than iconic and he embraced opportunities to play that part as frequently as possible to the point of suggesting where more moment could be added. His favorite episode however is Frakes' directoral debut with the show "Offspring".
Q - Were you aware of the Trek phenomenon when you were first approached?
PS - Getting the job was all an absurd accident, a fluke. He was originally spotted and championed by Robert (Bob Justman?) and the cause was taken up by Rick Berman until the finally wore down Gene Roddenberry and Paramount. Stewart knew almost nothing about Trek as he was doing stage work at the time and getting home only a few hours in the evening between shows to see his kids. The kids new more about the show and made all the expected jokes, which he didn't understand. He was nervous about signing a 6 year contract but everyone he knew in Hollywood said there was no way the show would last, that they'd be lucky to make a full season so he took the job.
Q - Is there room (given New Trek) for one last appearance as Picard?
PS - He was disappointed that Nemesis was the end for TNG particularly as Brent Spiner and John Logan had a brilliant idea for one more film. He thinks JJ's reboot is absolutely terrific and he enjoyed it immensely, but doesn't think the legacy of Picard needs adding to. He's not sure he or the character would benefit from another go and might consider it if asked, but generally feels he has moved on from the character.
A Mr. Clean joke was made here. Personally I think they should have played the New Trek/lens flare D*C TV bumper for him instead. That doesn't seem to have been posted yet so I'll distract you with a link to Shatner of the Mount instead.
Q - What was it like working with the legendary Nimoy and Shatner?
PS - Wants to know if one can be both legendary and alive. To which the moderator replies affirmatively. He then wants to know if he himself is legendary. To which the answer is "abso - damn - lutely". PS knows that the work of Shatner and Nimoy was the launch pad for everything TNG got to do and they were all in awe of Nimoy when he came to set. On the other hand -- "Mr Shatner *shakes head* he's a piece of work isn't he?". However he feels in the end that Shatner is "a gentleman, a humorist and just awesome".
Q - Talk a little bit about the costumes.
PS - For the first 2 season the wore spandex 1 pieces which were cut one size to small so they would stretch over the contours of the body. PS played with this one for a while, making various stretching motions and gestures to certain areas of his body much to the amusement of the audience. But apparently wearing a 1 piece body suit tends to make you want to fold in on yourself and the effort required to hold back and maintain proper posture was causing back problems. PS's own doctor wrote in and got the costumes switched to the much more comfortable 2 piece wool uniforms. He still has a full set, complete with decorations in his house.
Q - Is there a future for him as Professor X, the X-men in general?
PS - He has been told there is a future for him and the professor which was not hurt at all when audiences reacted positively to the cameo in Wolverine. He thinks it's great that ppl reacted to him and that "a little bit of humility would do Hugh Jackman a lot of good" even if Hugh is actually delightful, cute and sweet despite being Australian. There is a project in development which should include Professor X. Further, for the last 7 months PS and Sir Ian McKellan have been working in a show together and sharing a dressing room and have both decided that they'd like to see the relationship between X and Magneto further explored on screen.
Q - the final question was what would PS say if he was to address the cardboard cutout of Picard on stage?
PS - (to moderator) "When did you become my therapist? I know the answer to this Jean-Luc Picard was a fictional character and I will not address myself to a card board cut out even for you".
Patrick Stewart too was led off to a standing ovation.
All in all I found both panels to be enjoyable, informative, and worth the time spent in line, despite not knowing much about TOS or TNG.