Chalmers: Directing Fun Trek
2 min read
Chip Chalmers is known to Star Trek fans for his work on four The Next Generation episodes as well as two of the better Deep Space Nine episodes.
The episodes Chalmers directed include: Captain’s Holiday, The Loss, The Wounded, Ethics, The Magnificent Ferengi and Take Me Out to the Holosuite.
Chalmers came to Star Trek fresh from his assistant director work on Miami Vice, courtesy of Rick Berman. “…I sent Rick Berman a copy of the episode of [Miami] Vice that I directed and he watched it,” said Chalmers. “Rick was the person who said ‘yes’ to me directing my first episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation.”
Captain’s Holiday, the first episode directed by Chalmers, remains his favorite. [Captain’s Holiday was] so much fun, so unique and so many interesting characters,” he said. “We all truly had a great time.”
Chalmers “got lucky” when it came to working on the episode. “This script was brilliant.”
After The Next Generation, Chalmers moved on to other projects until a 1997 call brought him back to Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, where he directed The Magnificent Ferengi and Take Me Out to the Holosuite. Chalmers knew that both episodes were good, partly because “they didn’t take themselves seriously.”
“It was just fun,” he said about the two Deep Space Nine episodes. “I think that’s why they are fan favorites. The series is much like a dramatic play. Every once in awhile you need to have a beat of comic relief or the show just doesn’t hold up. Let the audiences breathe a little bit. The scripts were self-explanatory.
“How is it possible that I get two DS9‘s that are fun to make and involve so many interesting actors? I smiled all the way through every read.”
Chalmers moved to Florida ten years ago and taught film directing at Florida State University, but is now back in Los Angeles where he plans on directing theater productions.
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“Take Me Out to the Holosuite” is a big favorite for me. “All right, let’s hear some chatter out there!” “Swing, batta, batta,” “Swing, batta, batta,” “DEATH to the Opposition!” Still cracks me up every time.
Two of the better Deep Space Nine episodes? I don’t think I would go that far. They are fun, but a little bit too much on the cheesy side for me. I love DS9 though.
I love these episodes. They’re both hilarious and TMOTTH is my favorite DS9 comedy ep. Writer’s bias. 😉