Via Julian Sanchez, Nichelle Nichols explains how Martin Luther King convinced her to stay on Star Trek:
It sounds bizarre at first glance, but as she lays the story out it makes perfect sense.
« Ricochet | Main | George Saves Dallas »
How MLK Saved Star Trek
14 Feb 2008 11:23 am
Comments (18)
Nichelle Nichols - terrible actor. But she did large amounts of behind-the-scenes and unheralded work during the 1970s and 1980s in recruiting women and minorities into science and engineering careers.
Did I mention she was a terrible actor though? Except when she is opposite William Shatner when for some weird reason each one's terribleness cancels the other's out - somewhat - and they have an OK scene or two.
Cranky
I do wish there was a way to get transcripts of videos for people who can't watch them for whatever reason
Pathetic! They played the wrong theme song. That was the theme music from TNG, not TOS... what were they thinking!!!
Not that I'm one of those Trekkie people or anything....
Just another reason to love MLK.
Well the TNG theme music actually originated as the theme music for 1979's Star Trek: The Motion Picture, which of course featured the original cast including Nichelle Nichols. So not really a mistake.
GreenVTster,
It's easy to forget, but that music was first used for the movie versions of the original trek, then carried over to TNG.
One of the better decisions the franchise made was ditching the uber-cheesy calypso/theremin of the original tv theme music, while hanging onto the cool quartal-chord intro.
Is that Rawls in the audience?
Martin Luther King may have persuaded her, but it was LBJ who put in the laws that made her continuation on Star Trek possible.
My apologies to TLM, who said this first! I didn't see his/her comment at the tippy-top. Credit where credit is due :)
TLM, MLK may have persuaded her to try and stay, but it was LBJ that actually made it happen.
Hmmm. So now I have to weigh all of MKL Jr's accomplishments against his saving of Star Trek. Hmmm.
OK, but who buttonholed Nimoy into sticking with it?
El Cid, he didn't save it, he just made it better. Cause Nichelle Nichols is awesome.
What about the idea of Barack Obama as Captain Sisko and Hillary Clinton as Captain Janeway? I'm not the only one with this mindset:
http://messagero.wordpress.com/2008/01/19/janeway-and-sisko/
What about the idea of Barack Obama as Captain Sisko and Hillary Clinton as Captain Janeway? I'm not the only one with this mindset:
http://messagero.wordpress.com/2008/01/19/janeway-and-sisko/
FWIW, this story isn't new. I had the pleasure of hearing Nichelle Nichols speak, oh, probably about fifteen years ago and she told this story. Not that I'm complaining about her reusing it. It's a good story.
Speaking of TV analogies, anybody notice that on Terminator we have a fairly cool, humorous, black, male FBI agent (brilliantly played by Richard T. Jones) saddled with a crabby, self-important, conventional, white, female FBI agent (brilliantly played by Catherine Dent of "The Shield" fame)?
Obama and Hillary comparisons?
Comments closed February 28, 2008.
| 
Heads in the Sand
Hillary Clinton told me it was LBJ who convinced her to stay. LOL.
Posted by TLM | February 14, 2008 11:29 AM