The One With Trektacular

To date, I’ve had two opportunities to meet various Star Trek cast and crew. I’ll be going to a Star Trek convention for the 50th anniversary soon, and I’ll have the chance to meet many more then. But, for now I’ve only had the tow experiences. 

One, when I met William Shatner a year ago, I wrote about here. The other was when I saw and met most of the TNG cast in 2014. I’ve been asked to write about my experiences meeting the actors, and this is something I’m happy to reflect on. The weekend where I met these folks was a bit of a whirlwind, and two years later, much of it is a blur. It also wasn’t exclusively a Star Trek convention, but I pretty much made it into one. 

I won’t bore you with a blow by blow agenda of my weekend, but there were a few highlights that still stand out to me today. These moments, and that whole weekend really, really solidified my Star Trek fandom. I’d always loved it, and I’d considered myself a Trekkie prior to attending. This brought it to a whole new level. 

Anyways, without further adieu…

2014 was the 20th anniversary of the airing of the TNG finale episode: All Good Things…. So, in honor of this anniversary, most of the TNG cast appeared at various ComiCons across the country throughout the year. In March of that year, nearly the entire crew descended on Planet ComiCon in Kansas City, Missouri. 

I know I’ve mentioned it once or twice or every blog post, but I’m a huge TNG fan. As I live roughly an hour from KCMO, I was not going to pass up the opportunity to see and meet the actors and actresses who played the characters I’ve spent months (probably years) of my life watching. It was a bonus that this was the first convention I had been to (comic, Star Trek, or otherwise). So, I got to check that off my bucket list as well.

Attending PCC that year were Jonathan Frakes who played Cmdr. William T. Riker; Marina Sirtis who played Counselor Deanna Troi; Michael Dorn who played Lt. Cmdr. Worf; LeVar Burton who played Lt. Geordi LaForge; Brent Spiner who played Lt. Cmdr. Data; Gates McFadden who played Dr. Beverly Crusher; Wil Wheaton who played Wesley Crusher; John DeLancie who played Q; and William Shatner. It was a veritable who’s who of TNG (with the glaring exception of Patrick Stewart). Throughout the weekend, some of them hosted panels alone or in groups, and they finished the weekend with a separately ticketed event where they were all on stage for an hour and a half. They called that last show “Trektacular.”

Throughout that weekend the opportunity to:

• Watch 3 panels with Star Trek actors in addition to the Trektacular event,
• Get autographs from Gates McFadden, Michael Dorm, and John DeLancie
• Get a picture with John DeLancie
• Get a picture with Michael Dorn, Marina Sirtis, and Jonathan Frakes
• Meet Wil Wheaton (he liked my shirt)

That is not an exhaustive list by any means, but it’s a pretty good indication of what my weekend entailed. 

Overall, there were really three things that left a lasting impression on me:

• Separate panels with Marina Sirtis and Wil Wheaton
• Meeting Gates McFadden
• Trektacular 

Marina Sirtis and Wil Wheaton Panels

The thing I noticed most from watching panels was how well the personality of the actors and actresses came through. Sure, these people act and create characters for a living, but it was still possible to get some idea of who the person behind the persona was in each of the panels.

The most disappointing part for me was the Marina Sirtis and Michael Dorn panel. Growing up, I watched TNG and the TNG movies an inordinate amount of times. As a young girl watching this show, there were really only two female characters I could latch onto, and I latched onto Counselor Deanna Troi. Troi, at least throughout most of the TV show, is probably not the greatest role model for a young girl (mostly because she’s very poorly written and is pretty much just there to wear skimpy clothes), but I always had a fondness for her over any of the other characters on the show. She does start to become a stronger character later in the series and in the movies, though. And I ‘shipped her and Riker together long before I even knew what ‘shipping was. 

I was, needless to say, quite excited to watch Sirtis and Dorn on a panel, and lo and behold, Sirtis was kind of a bitch. She had redeeming moments throughout the rest of PCC, and I’ve spent some time following her on Twitter, where I’ve learned she probably isn’t as terrible as she came off. However, that is still my lasting impression of Sirtis. She came out on stage and the first words out of her mouth were insulting folks from the Midwest. I think it may have been meant to be a joke, but it certainly didn’t land. And she spent most of the rest of the panel talking politics and throwing out insults. It was kind of painful.

But, if seeing Marina Sirtis was a disappointing surprise, watching Wil Wheaton host a panel on Saturday morning was the best kind of surprise.

  
Gates McFadden “crashed” Wil Wheaton’s panel on Saturday morning. There were plenty of jokes about “Space Mom” and”Space Son” to go around.

Of all the TNG actors I was looking forward to seeing, Wil Wheaton was definitely last on the list. Words really cannot do justice to the way I despise Wesley Crusher. So, getting to see him talk was pretty low on the list of priorities. However, I’d gone to the con with my friend Zach, and he was extremely excited to get to see Wheaton. 

And Wheaton was amazing. He’s a very genuine person, and he spent most of his time on stage discussing his struggles growing up. I had never really thought about it, but I can’t imagine how hard it would be for a kid like that to grow up in the public eye. He was candid about suffering from depression, and he spoke about never fitting in. He answered questions from the audience, and with every single question he answered, he made sure to give the person asking his full attention. He’s definitely one of those people who know how to do celebrity right.

It’s funny how interaction with these celebrities can shape your view of the characters they play. I mean, I still love Troi and loathe Wesley, but I have a bit more perspective on both now. 

Meeting Gates McFadden

In addition to the panels, I also had a chance to meet some of the TNG actors one-on-one by way of autograph or photo opportunities. Although these are probably the biggest expenses of a convention (except the vendors room, with all sorts of nerdy goodies, which acts as a figurative magnet to my money), they can also create pretty lasting impressions. I was pretty legitimately excited to meet all of the actors, and my experiences meeting them were all generally favorable. But of all the ones there, Gates McFadden definitely stood out for her kind and genuine way of interacting with fans.

I didn’t solely pick meeting Gates and getting her address because she was often the actor with the shortest/no line to get to her, but it factored into the decision. It was a good decision. Gates is definitely one of those actors who appreciates her fans, and she really has a way with people.

I wasn’t expecting much in meeting Gates. I figured she’d say hello, we’d exchange brief pleasantries, and she’d sign a photograph for me. This was, more or less, how my interactions with everyone else I met went. However, instead of just simple “Hi, how are you” exchanges, Gates actually asked me questions about myself. We discussed Kansas City briefly, and then she asked me what I did for a living. Our conversation actually lasted for four or five minutes, and she was nice enough to really personalize her autograph to me based on our conversation. 

  
The personalization reads “defend doctors. Yeah!” During our conversation, I told her my dream job as an attorney was to defend doctors in medical malpractice suits, and she really loved that answer. 

  
Gates autographed my Labyrinth DVD cover for me. She was pretty tickled that I asked her to autograph this one. I think her work with the Jim Hensen company means a lot to her.

Yes. I did come back the next day and had her autograph my Labyrinth DVD cover. Gates did choreography on the film, and so it seemed a really appropriate thing to do. She definitely got a kick out of it, and the DVD is proudly displayed in my living room with some other autographs and pictures I had taken.

I met several of the other cast members during the course of the weekend, but none of them made the lasting impression that Gates did. They meet hundreds if not thousands of fans over the course of a weekend at a convention, and many of them go to more than a dozen conventions over the course of a year. Each individual encounter with a fan doesn’t mean much to the actors, I’m sure. But Gates took the time to talk to me and make me feel special. It takes a rare person to appreciate their fellow humans, and Gates really met and exceeded that standard.

Trektacular

The weekend finished with Trektacular. All of the TNG folks attending the Con sat on stage, and William Shatner moderated the panel. Watching that was an experience I won’t soon forget. 

The cast of TNG is well known for the friendships they cultivated during the show. Unlike the other series which all tended to have varying levels of drama behind the scenes, TNG is notorious for the relationships of the cast and their on set shenanigans. The cast has generally maintained these relationships beyond the end of the show, and these relationships were so apparent when they were on stage together. These people seemed to all genuinely like each other, and they were often quite hilarious.

The cast answered audience questions and engaged in witty banter with each other. They know all the inside jokes, and they are happy to indulge the audience in those schticks. Jonathan Frakes performed The Riker Manuever when sitting down in his chair (a high-backed office chair). And I nearly fell out of my own chair in glee when Gates McFadden retorted “Shut up, Wesley.” to something Wil Wheaton had said. They were clearly having a great time, and the audience ate it up.  

One of my biggest takeaways from the Trektacular experience was how much Star Trek means to these people. I mean, obviously it continues to provide them with a pretty hefty paycheck, but their relationship with the franchise seems to be more than that. They all respect and understand Rodenberry’s vision. They are as bitter as the fans are that Jonathan Frakes was taken out of the director’s chair for the final TNG movie Nemesis. And they also spent a significant amount of time intelligently dissecting the problems with the JJ Trek. 

They aren’t fans by any means, and I’m sure they think those of us who go to these Cons are a bit crazy. But the cast of TNG at least seems to recognize that this phenomenon means a lot more to people than a simple television show. And it means more to them than “just a job” as well. 

I’m sure it’s a bit of a chicken vs egg discussion, but I don’t think Star Trek would be the lasting phenomenon it is without these conventions. These Conventions keep the discussion relevant, and allow us fans to see that this show means as much to them as it does to us. This certainly isn’t Galaxy Quest where the actors hate each other and the show and they simply show up to collect a pay check. That’s not to say that the paycheck isn’t a big driving force to their attendance at Cons, of course, but most of them really seem to look fondly on their time on the show. And they  are more than happy to engage in discussions about the show.

I think I’ve now covered all of my encounters with various Star Trek actors to date. Over the course of the rest of this year, I’m going to have the opportunity to cross all of the surviving TOS actors off of my list, and I will also have the opportunity to meet actors from all three of the reamining series. The 50th anniversary and my blogging decision seem to be coinciding quite nicely.

#LLAP