50 Years of Star Trek Page #10

Led me to an Academy Award, you know.

And that's all because of "Star Trek."

Narrator:
Coming up, the

battle of the episodes.

The cast reveal their favorites.

This episode is brilliant.

My favorite episodes

were always the ones...

Personally, 'cause, you

know, I was doing 'em.

- Mm-hmm.

- Were the ones where Seven

was really exploring her humanity.

So I think it was "Someone

To Watch Over Me"

where the doctor's

teaching Seven how to date.

- Oh, that's a great one.

- And I just...

I thought that was so

lovely and so touching,

and it just broke my heart at the end

when he's kinda falling

in love with Seven

and she's like, "Yeah, there's

nobody here for me."

I hated that moment.

That's where you break the

exoskeleton if I'm not mistaken.

- Yes!

- The lobster.

The creature has an exoskeleton, yes.

[laughter]

So that was one of my

favorites, definitely.

Well, a truly great "Star Trek" episode,

in my opinion, has a

list of ingredients.

It's an equation.

And that equation includes:

a great high concept

that provides cool character dynamics

and conflict, but also is a parable.

It has some deeper theme.

"Devil in the Dark"

I thought was a wonderful episode

about... about fear of the unknown.

How we fear... and even hate

something that we don't

know anything about.

Learn who your enemy

is and maybe then...

Maybe then it's no longer your enemy.

Interesting episode.

You know, I remember the

"Devil in the Dark" episode

with the Horta. That really left

a big impression on me as a kid,

that he didn't kill the monster

and that the monster was a mother

and had all these eggs.

They're eggs, aren't they?

Yes, Captain. Eggs.

And about to hatch.

"A City on the Edge of Forever"

which is, of course, the

episode of "Star Trek"

that is the one that everybody

knows is a great one.

It's a little bit... it's

an eccentric episode.

I love also the two-parter.

The repurposing of the original pilot

into "The Ca..."

What is it, "The Cage:

Part one and two"?

And that's brilliant... we

refer to these shows all the time

on "Breaking Bad" in the writer's room.

We prefer to, you know, Tranya.

We refer to Captain Pike

with his... with the light.

I mean, which, you

know, couldn't even think of

as being a little bit

like a Hector Salamanca

when he's in the

wheelchair and he's got the bell.

I really loved "Yesterday's Enterprise."

It was a spec script that I had

that had gone through a

couple of drafts already.

Then I took a pass at it

and reconceiving the

story and kinda making it

a much more darker

universe on the other side

and emphasizing the war aspect of it.

And the tragedy of it.

My favorite is my

favorite because it's just brilliant.

Brilliant writing. Brilliant directing.

Brilliant acting.

And it's called "Far Beyond the Stars."

It's where all the series regulars

appear as humans,

and the episode has to deal with racism.

It's not just good "Star Trek."

It's not just good science fiction.

It's great literature.

[Star Trek:
The New

Generation theme music]

Well, you know, I think I'm the last

character Gene created.

I think I'm the last

one that he actually created

based on Texas Guinan.

Guinan her name

was. After Texas Guinan

who was a famous card

player and gambler,

or whatever she was.

And Whoopi showed up in

the show and brought in

this... this aura.

And the wild... remember

the shovelhead hats

she used to wear? That beautiful face

with those big eyes and

that gorgeous skin

and the voice. And she

played it so straight.

Guinan was great, again,

'cause Whoopi's playing it.

Guinan was a

strange, mysterioso character

that no... none of us really understood

what the hell she was.

When we started really

getting into "Next Gen"

in the later years, what we said was,

"It's really about her

relationship with Picard.

Yes, she's the bartender

and, yes, she listens

to all their problems and

gives insight to people

for various issues, but

she has some back-story

with Picard, and it's a personal

relationship with him

that drives that character forward.

And it's the only

reason she's on the ship.

It's the only reason that

she really matters on the show."

In my mind, always believed that

Guinan was the great-great

great-great-great-

great-great-great-great-

great-great-great-great-great-

great-great-great-great-great...

couple more greats

grandmother of Picard.

And the reason she's on the

ship is just to see how he's doing.

'Cause, you know, she can

go anywhere at any time,

and she just irritates the hell outta Q.

Which made me very

happy. John is wonderful.

You know him?

We have had some dealings.

Those dealings were

two centuries ago.

This creature is not

what she appears to be.

She's an imp, and where she goes

trouble always follows.

You're speaking of

yourself, Q, not Guinan.

Guinan? Is that your name now?

Guinan is not the issue here. You are.

I ended up doing six

episodes of "Next Generation."

Anytime there was an

episode with Q in it,

I loved because

whenever he was in an episode,

he was, you know, he was Agent Mayhem.

He was... it was going to

be something really intense,

and he was seemingly unstoppable.

And so it was always really

fascinating to watch.

Jonathan Frakes used to say to me,

"You're the litmus test.

You come back once a year."

I always looked forward to

come back, but I never asked.

It's a little bit like asking

whether you're gonna

be invited to somebody's dinner party.

The character of Q... that omnipotent,

Machiavellian,

cunning, bitter,

nasty, mean-spirited,

controlling character...

I can't even fathom anybody else

doing as much with it.

Painting that canvas as completely

as de Lancie did and

does with all his characters.

Have you any idea how far we'll advance?

Perhaps in a future that

you cannot yet conceive,

even beyond us.

The character on the page

is just not as entertaining.

You give it to John de Lancie,

and it becomes this other thing, right?

And everyone enjoyed writing for him.

It really... people would just write

scene after scene after

scene for Q in any of those shows,

and many of them were too

silly or too over-the-top,

but you just really enjoyed it.

You really couldn't

wait to dig your...

Dig into a Q episode.

Internally, what we

said all the time was,

"Q is in love with Picard."

That was the

fundamental of the relationship.

He's in love with him. He just is.

He loves Picard.

It's a particular

relationship with this one human

and this omnipotent

being that's bizarre,

but that's really what's

at the heart of it.

Narrator:
Coming up, Kirk versus Picard.

Who will win the battle of the captains?

"Star Trek" is so character-oriented,

and there were so many great characters.

So many people got a chance to shine.

But I think that my favorite character

- is "Mcskirk."

- "Mcskirk"?

"Mcskirk."

Which is McCoy, Scotty, and Kirk.

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