Majel Barrett Roddenberry Interviewed

John C. Snider at Sci=Fi Dimensions has put up an interview with Majel Barrett Roddenberry, wife of the late Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, and also famous for her roles as Number One, Nurse Chapel, Lwaxana Troi and the Computer on Trek. In the interview, she first talks about the new series 'Andromeda', saying series star Kevin Sorbo might well surprise us:

... He's capable of so much more than he was doing before, and he's actually an extremely fine actor, and he's pushed all the buttons on this one. He's really bringing a true, honest character to the thing, which was another one of Gene's big things. He said it isn't just action that made the shows like Star Trek, it was the characters, that delving into the character and finding out how these people respond to one another. And I think [lead writer Robert Hewitt Wolfe has] gone way to the bottom of the deck on this one, and pulled out everything that he possibly can. The characters on paper are believable, let alone once they get out and get performed.

sfd: What is your current level of involvement in the direction of the Star Trek franchise?

MR: I have absolutely nothing to do with the Star Trek franchise. I haven't had for many, many years. Gene sold out all of his rights to Star Trek way back fifteen, almost twenty years ago. So, they ask nothing. I volunteer nothing. They invite me to a few of their shindigs. I'll bet you I haven't been on that lot in two years.

[...]

sfd: That's right. It is your voice. Now, there are all sorts of rumors and speculations flying around about a possible new Star Trek series. And I don't know that there's any particular concept that's won out yet, but if you had your way, what would you do with the show?

MR: I would do exactly what they are doing. There's no anticipation of putting it out before September of '01, and I think that's the date that they are aiming at. So, they've got a whole year plus, you know, and they've got a concept that they like, and nobody has objected to it, so, they'll move along as quickly as they can. And that makes some sense. So at least there will be something on television that says Star Trek. Right after this one [Star Trek: Voyager] goes off, the other will go on. And of course, the rest of them - Good Lord in Heaven, I mean, you're just going to see those in reruns around, probably, through your lifetime and your kids'.

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