Posted Thu May 24, 2012 at 02:05 PM PDT by Tom Landy
By Tom Landy
As this year marks the 25th anniversary of 'Star Trek: The Next Generation' (expect the complete first season to debut on Blu-ray on July 24th), the bridge crew from the TV show have even joined in on the celebration. On the last weekend of this past April, all nine principal cast members beamed down to the annual Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo held in Alberta, Canada.
The first 'Star Trek' panel High-Def Digest was able to attend during the Expo was with Gates McFadden and Denise Crosby -- the U.S.S. Enterprise-D's Dr. Beverly Crusher and Security Chief Lt. Tasha Yar. Since 'Star Trek: The Next Generation,' both actresses have starred in several films and TV shows, and they continue to work together on stage in Gates' L.A. theatre company.
Below you'll find a transcript of the panel that I attended which was moderated by Teddy Wilson -- one of the hosts of "Innerspace" on Space (Canada's sci-fi network).
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TW: Please welcome Denise Crosby and Gates McFadden!
(Applause)
TW: Here are some microphones for you. There you are. Ladies how are you?
DC: Dandy.
GM: Jim Dandy!
DC: Wow this is like being a rock star here.
GM: So were these seats up in front too expensive?
(Laughter)
GM: Oh! There are people sitting there!
(Laughter)
TW: (Inaudible) ... a lot of TNG cast members see each other from time to time, but you two especially since you work together in theatre in L.A.. So is it a bit strange to do that and then to come here and be with each other in this different context?
DC: No.
GM: No.
DC: Theatre is really normal.
GM: Theatre is very normal.
DC: I mean, not that this isn't normal, believe me, but I mean it's very much a part of who we are as actors and what we like to do as artists and it was just this unique, rare opportunity. I don't know anybody else who's had the chance to do a kind of iconic television show and then years later do... you know.
GM: I remember...
DC: She's my boss! She's the artistic director of the theatre company that I, you know, get to belong to and work in.
GM: It's been really fun. You should Google our company 'cause actually we'd love to hear feedback from you and you can always e-mail us and everything, EST-LA Ensemble Studio Theatre Los Angeles and we just built -- there's another sister company in New York City and I'm a member of that and some of us migrate back to L.A. for television shows, and so we built, we started...
DC: we built a new space.
GM: The company's been going for about 15 years (inaudible) so we just did our first year of (inaudible) this past year and won lots of awards and Denise, I directed Denise in a play and she was AMAZING!
DC: Thank you.
(Cheering)
DC: And Gates was an amazing director. I truly -- I was just thinking about this last night, you know, I really want to say this and I want to say this in front of everyone, that you really brought us as actors into finding our own (inaudible). A very extraordinary original play we did about JonBenét Ramsey and, I don't know if you guys, I'm sure you know of her as well. She was a young beauty queen in Colorado in America and was found murdered in her own home and they never discovered who did it. So it was an extraordinary look…
GM: Denise wore one of my wigs. Seriously. She played--
DC: I played the mom. And boy did I use that wig that Gates happened to have lying around by the way. But anyway, you were just an extraordinary director and I really regret that I didn't get to be on the next (inaudible) that you were directing because that would've been extraordinary.
GM: Actually, I think that was my favorite time in the whole seven years was directing that episode. Genesis, yeah. I know it wasn't the classic Star Trek episode, but I mean seriously, I got to direct an iguana and a Spot really...
(Laughter)
GM: And it was kind of a cool, like creepy fun show. I don't know, the makeup was extraordinary what Michael Weston did. He really should have won an Emmy for that.
TW: Which is harder to direct: a cat or an iguana? Or Denise Crosby?
DC: Or me? With a wig on.
GM: No, no. I don't want to hurt her feelings. The iguana -- I just felt I had trouble reaching the iguana.
(Laughter)
GM: I thought he was very, you know, I was just like okay fine, just do it your way.
(Laughter)
GM: But with Spot, Spot I could definitely, you know we did a little. Whatever. And he always helps. Always helps..
TW: Okay we're going to ask the floor for some questions and the way it's going to work is there are a number of intrepid mic runners running around. Give it up for the mic runner volunteers.
(Cheering)
TW: So if you want to put up your hand just put it up and they will find you with the microphone. So don't be shy and feel free to toss in a question.
Q: I want to ask, you've probably got a fun answer to this, and I want to ask you as well Denise, you've both gone on to do amazing work. Was there one thing that you took with you that you learned in your roles on 'Star Trek: The Next Generation' that you really carried with you as an actor?
DC: Never wear spandex!
(Laughter)
GM: And I actually really learned how to handle that spaceship. So that's helped me in a lot of things I've done since then.
(Laughter)
GM: No I actually had someone, seriously, who said where do they park the spaceship when they aren't using it?
(Laughter)
GM: And I said, oh no, it's pretend. Well I know it is, but where is the ship part when they aren't using it? Like okay...
(Laughter)
TW: I'm sorry I just never thought about it before that's why I asked you.
DC: At Paramount!
TW: Okay so we got a question on the floor and it's mic #4. And it's to the right -- Joseph. Can you give us a big wave so we can see you there? Where are you Joseph? Oh there! Hey Joseph!
GM: Hi Joseph.
DC: Hi Joseph.
Q: Denise the question is for you, was, was, was your death... planned on the show?
DC: I'm sorry, what? Was it planned my death?
Q: Yeah, when your character diiiiied.
(Laughter)
DC: Wow (laughing) yes it usually is! When someone dies it's planned. Once it was decided--
GM: They just decided to kill her that day.
DC: Right. You know, I'm going to break it to you. I would not sleep with Gene Roddenberry so...
(Laughter)
DC: You guys are the first to hear it and I've been sitting on it for 25 years and it's finally come out.
TW: Well that explains why Gates was not killed off.
(Laughter)
DC: I'm not touching that.
GM: You gotta do what you gotta do. Thanks for bringing it up.
DC: (Inaudible) for women, OK? You do what you got to do. No, once it was agreed upon that I was leaving the show Gene Roddenberry had the idea that he wanted to kill this character. Not to punish me, per se, but to make it so radical and dramatic as no regular character had ever been killed. But, I wasn't really killed... as we saw. I mean, I'm still here now, right?
(Laughter)
TW: What was it like to come back in the Yesterday's Enterprise episode when you came back in that alternate timeline?
DC: You know, first of all that episode, for me, was my favorite episode that I did. But also (inaudible) it was a complete a surprise and was so well written and I just had so much fun. And I never thought that would ever happen. And so it just opened the door for the character Sela, and so you know, I just got to keep on being a part of it in a way that I had never anticipated and in a way that made a lot of sense for me.
TW: What did you think when you read the script for Skin of Evil -- the episode where Tasha Yar dies?
GM: I thought it was about time.
(Laughter)
GM: No, I thought but I can SAVE her! Just give me a chance! I can save her! I brought someone else back, some other creature from some planet, but they just didn't let me use that vial. Remember all those vials I had in sickbay? There were very interesting things in those vials. But you know.
DC: A true alchemist.
GM: It was actually a memorable night because we were all there, we stayed really late so we could all, you know, (inaudible) by the camera, like our scenes had already been shot and she was there looking at us and it was nice. It was nice. But you know what was really interesting, and we talked about this, we didn't know each other very much at all on the show because it really wasn't written for women to have scenes together and we were kind of like something else, and it was the guys, we had scenes with the guys or my son, and so I didn't really know Denise and we got to know each other later. And then she became a member of the company and both worked together. It's been a blast. And we were like, why didn't we get scenes together? You know? It was interesting. And now we're really close friends. But then, you know, we didn't have any scenes together.
DC: Then I was dead.
(Laughter)
DC: She tried to save me. She did her best.
(Laughter)
TW: We've got another question on the floor, mic #5 on the left, it's Sherry. Hey Sherry!
Q: Hello. I was just wondering if there was a certain genre that you guys like to act? Do you still do drama or do you like to do comedy, or what do you really enjoy doing now in theatre?
GM: In theatre? Specifically in theatre?
DC: Or anything? Wow. You know, to me it's about the writing. And what is provocative writing and what I can bring to this that excites me and I'm excited about and can transfer to the audience. And so if it's comedy it doesn't matter.
GM: And I echo that. I think a lot of the work that we've done -- Carol Churchill -- a play in New York, a lot of different things actually, even Taking Care of Business, I like it when it's mixed, when there's some comedy and there's drama. I don't think they have to be separate. I also do happen to really love stupid comedy -- I love slapstick. And so I like to do all that kind of stuff.
DC: Yeah, I mean, that's so true with Gates. I mean she has a clown background so, you know, what was wonderful about the play we did together, this specific one, was finding the humor in absurd dark moments. I mean, I loved when that would happen and we were able to find some very uncomfortably weird comic moments in some very dark material.
GM: And yeah, and we got to do things, dark things, and there'd be this funny little car that would actually drive on stage and there was lots of multimedia and I worked with an animator from Seattle named Drew Christie -- he's totally brilliant you should check out his animation he's a brilliant guy, and we had animation because it was a very dark subject matter and I wanted people, it wasn't to be so much of the story of Patsy -- I mean JonBenét Ramsey, it was more looking at the way parents exploit their children in these child pageants. It was also about bullying, there was another character who was bullied by these gorgeous looking men called the Apollonian Boys, and everyone just always looked at how beautiful they were and all the athletics they did so they never saw how they were also bullies. So anyway, it's things like that, it's subjects that matter that really gets me. And I love it when it's -- that's what I love about Star Trek. Star Trek was the same thing. We're in a morality tale and deal with things that really make you think. Like what would I do in that situation? What if there wasn't money anymore? What if? What if? And that's what gets people to think. And it's a good thing, I think.
(Applause)
TW: Uh, mic #2, right there. Yes?
Q: Hello Beverly and Lieutenant Yar...
(Laughter)
Q: I was just wondering in the period you and the other actors were in Hollywood did you have trouble sometimes finding other jobs because people thought they would identify you with your characters on Star Trek? And also what does it take to get into your theatre company? Do you do lessons and stuff for actors?
GM: The theatre company you have to kind of be (inaudible) by us. You have to participate we have to see, know your work. I would say it's a very high level. We have a lot of people who've done a lot of stuff -- Broadway, off-Broadway, film, television, but we're always open to new members and we also have an affiliates program where people can audition and take classes but it's generally people who have already done a fair amount of work. And for me, the other part, when I didn't come back in the second season I went off and did a play in New York and did a movie. I mean, I think yes there are times when that happens, but I think for me it had more to do with I had parents who were ill and I was raising my son so therefore I wasn't going out on jobs that much because, you know. I don't think it really held most of us back for being seen in these roles. Maybe, I don't know. But I don't think so. I didn't feel that.
DC: I think that Hollywood tends to compartmentalize easily. And if you're known for comedy, they oftentimes write you on the comedy list. If you're known for drama, well she can't come in and read for this because she does drama. Which is absurd. So there's always a kind of trying to prove them wrong going on quite a bit. For me personally, with Star Trek, once I left I fortunately got work right away. You know? Right away I went and did Pet Semetery. Then I did another series called Key West which was a very odd comedy. So I was trying to shake it up quite a bit. What I didn't do was go right back into a sci-fi thing. But I've had times where people have just made assumptions, well she's so fierce or strong or driven like Tasha Yar (inaudible) so I've encountered that a little bit.
GM: But it is fun, right after I did Star Trek, I did a series, I think they showed the first season, it was Richard Greico and myself, and it was like this is a real boohoo story, they sent me to Hawaii. I had never been to Hawaii. And they put me up in an incredible house right on a protected reef. And we had to shoot in a gorgeous location every day and they had to pay me a lot of money and I had my three year old and he could come with me every day because it was so beautiful there. It was so amazing. I love the island. And I fell in love with the island and the people and then something happened and they didn't go on with the series. And I can't believe the life that we had. It was extraordinary to first have done the cast with Next Gen and we are friends and we do get along and we see each other and it's really fun. You know? We do a yearly Christmas thing. We often see each other during the year and Brent supports the theatre, Patrick is a big supporter of the theatre and donates money. And it's really great. And I go over to see Patrick. LeVar and I went to go see him do The Merchant of Venice which was, to me, absolutely brilliant. It's my favorite thing I've ever seen Patrick do was The Merchant of Venice. It really was incredible. So I don't know, I feel very blessed with everything that's happened and I think it's still going on, you know? There's like new material we're reading, we're talking about next year what we're going to be doing, it's great. Life is good, we've been very lucky.
TW: You got through that tough assignment.
GM: I got through that tough assignment.
TW: What do you guys do at Christmas when you get together?
GM: Well we usually, one of us has the party and then we, you know, it's just casual. It's like friends and we sort of do the Star Trek...
DC: We try to reenact a couple episodes.
(Laughter)
GM: We pull out our action figures...
DC: We take out our action figures and play with each other.
(Laughter)
DC: And, you know, it's what you guys do.
(Laughter)
GM: You know, that new action figure of me, I swear to god, that face looks like Erin Gray. I swear to god! It's got my uniform on, but I don't know...
DC: You should talk to Erin. She's here.
GM: I'm going to have to. Yep.
(Inaudible)
DC: I look like a transgender gone wrong.
(Laughter)
DC: So we need to talk whoever these people are. Something's gotta give here, folks.
TW: We'll make a call.
DC: Okay.
TW: There's another Eric, on mic #4 on the right. Is this a new Eric? A new Eric!
GM: Hi! You're so far back. Yes?
Q: Hi folks. As women in Star Trek, I know that if we go back to the sixties, the short dresses and such, how do you feel you portrayed the role of women on Star Trek: The Next Generation? Do you feel you guys were role models for women looking forward to the future (inaudible)?
GM: I think we were more role models for men.
(Laughter)
GM: You know, I absolutely, I mean to be serious listen, I've met so many, so many women who were inspired to go on and be nurses or doctors and I think it was fantastic to have female role models in the way they were in the show. I know that's true because there were so many little girls who are now full adults and I'm just an old lady...
(Laughter)
GM: And I see that it really has made a difference. In the same way that I think it's extraordinary that people of my son's generation really don't see color in the way I grew up people saw color. I don't know what color, he's got friends of every color, and everyone's color blind which is FABULOUS. So go Star Trek! I think the world's getting better hopefully that way.
(Cheering)
TW: Have you met any security chiefs? (To Denise) .
(Laughter)
DC: Um, the last time I spoke to NASA, you know, I mean look, that was a great way to go to make the chief of security a woman. I mean, there's no question, you're bending, gender bending at that point. However, I feel that... they didn't go far enough, personally. You know? I don't think it's enough to say that it's 1987 or whatever and of course a woman should be made chief of security, but you still better make her ass and tits look good. And there's gotta be some... some... and I'm not against sexuality! You want to be sexy and you want to still have that color in your rainbow, of course. (Inaudible). But you also want to actually do your job and be a decision maker and I don't feel that we went far enough.
GM: I think, we've talked about this, I agree with you about this, it's a wonderful having iconic roles for women. But on the other hand, when you look at the scenes, whenever the women would be together, like they finally put Troi and I in a scene and we were like exercising in a workout place. You know, it's like come on?
(Laughter)
GM: And I have to say that one of the reasons I've argued with one of the producers and that was one of the reasons why I fired was because after the first season I felt I was a mother and I've taken care of children a lot in life, I was a governess and I taught for 40 years -- that's how old I am. Oh my god. But at any rate...
TW: You started when you were two...
(Laughter)
GM: Yeah, I know. It was amazing. But I think (inaudible) people don't, like the way the relationship with Wil Wheaton's character was, I felt it was always the men giving him sage advice, yet my character was the one who raised him. Single, single raised him. And obviously there was advice he could have come to me for because, you know, he only just met these guys and he was always saving our ass every single episode...
(Laughter)
GM: So I felt why am I only the worried mother kind of thing? What about also really having a talk like the way my son would and the way your son would which is really talking about things that mean a lot? And I felt that was always given to one of the male characters. So there definitely were places...
DC: Yeah.
GM: In fact we didn't have a scene. On the other hand, I think I did get, as Dr. Crusher I did get to have authority and I got to fly that ship a couple of times anyway and that was fun.
DC: Yeah, yeah. I got to kick some butt on occasion and that was okay. And it wasn't just about that, though. You know? But anyway. We always brought all that we could to these roles and that was our job as actors and, you know, intelligent actors looking in that direction. What I always like to do with these things is I always call it acting in white spaces. It's not really the lines, it's what is going on in between there so we try to fill these characters with complex personalities.
GM: And also I don't know if anybody realizes it, but one of the hardest things as an actor, I would think most people would agree with this, when you have a lead character come on and give lots of speeches -- yes, it's a lot of things to memorize, yes. But to have a clear through line and it's very clear the intention you're playing, when you just have an occasional line here and there, there's a lot of that white space and it's actually really hard to stay part of it and think the intention. To have a tiny role at something can be actually really challenging. You know, like sometimes. Right?
DC: Yep.
GM: Or boring.
(Laughter)
TW: Um, mic #3 to your left. We have Sarah. Hey Sarah!
Q: It's Sar-rah actually.
TW: Oh Sar-rah. We're using this intense Microsoft word system.
DC: Wow.
TW: The future is now. It's like Star Trek.
DC: Very.
Q: Um thank you both so much for coming and I was wondering what your favorite episodes were to be in and why?
GM: For me, let's see, it sort of shifts sometimes, I think one of the ones I really had the most fun doing, as I said, was directing Genesis. But then I loved doing, I loved the dancing doctor and I was almost four months pregnant when I did that so it was fun to do something different. That was, the choreography, we had this amazing tap dancer Chance, I forget his last name who was Brent's double, and he was awesome.
TW: And you were pregnant?
GM: I was pregnant, yeah. (Inaudible). But then I really loved the one, I keep forgetting titles pardon me, but the one (inaudible) what is love? The one that introduced the Trill, I thought that was a beautiful episode because it really did question what is the nature of love? I also love the episode that I hardly had any part in called First Contact which later, you know we went further with the movie. And I think the philosophical questions that got brought up by the shows were quite wonderful. So anyway those were two of my favorites.
DC: Uh for me, as I mentioned before, Yesterday's Enterprise for me as an actor was the most fulfilling and complex sort of storyline for my character and kind of gave me some redemption. Apart from the fact that I had such a great time working with Christopher McDonald who played my love interest in that, we went on to do two -- one movie and one other series together. Yeah, we played husband and wife in (inaudible) film called The Divorce -- a contemporary western, and then he was doing a law series where he was a lawyer -- not Private Practice but LA Practice or something and I was a guest star. We had one of those relationships where we couldn't look at each other without cracking up. It was really bad and we actually broke up one of Patrick's long speeches in the back, we weren't even in this scene with him we were in the background and Patrick had this long monologue and I started pretending I was coughing and Chris covered for me. It was really... scary.
TW: How did Patrick react?
DC: Patrick just thought I was choking to death but little did he know I was laughing my ass off and wetting my uniform.
(Laughter)
DC: Over nothing, over just looking over at this man's face. So Yesterday's Enterprise was great for me, but I also like the pilot oddly enough, Encounter at Farpoint, only because it's so tacky.
(Laughter)
DC: And we didn't know what we were doing. And if you look at some of those early episodes, I, at least for myself, our designer Michael Okuda, who designed all the props and gizmos and bridge stuff, and we were so deliberate. I remember the first time I pulled out my phaser I dropped it. And then I pulled it out a second time and actually made a sound: Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz! Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!
(Laughter)
DC: And you know, I didn't know what...
TW: You made a sound?
(Laughter)
DC: I made a sound! It was soooo ridiculous.
GM: The prop stuff was really hard. And like with the medical stuff you had to press something that no one was supposed to know you were pressing so you couldn't hold it like you really were pressing it but that's the only way the light would come on. And then you'd have to do something and couldn't touch the plastic because for some reason anything you hit that was plastic you'd have to reshoot, you'd have to dub it.
DC: I used to push like a bazillion buttons on the horseshoe and Michael Okuda finally said to me, " I believe by then you'll only have to hit one."
(Laughter)
DC: To launch first strike, or something. Okay Captain, I've got it! (Pushing lots of buttons). And then later in the season, I would just go aye-aye, Captain. (Only pressing one button).
(Laughter)
DC: We didn't know what we were doing. Pressing communicators...
GM: That too.
DC: You had to press them so hard.
GM: It really was bad because in The Naked Now, I got in so much trouble for unzipping the front of my spacesuit because zippers don't exist in that century and I didn't know that.
(Laughter)
GM: So I was just like, what can I tell you? And they were like, NO ZIPPERS! Don't ever do that again. And I'm like, okay sorry.
TW: What were you thinking??!
DC: Speaking of The Naked Now, that outfit was like literally glue and spit so I couldn't even...
GM: Oh come on, the chief of security for Obama wears the same thing.
(Laughter)
DC: Exactly. Exactly.
GM: No, those were the prostitutes...
(Laughter)
GM: They work with Obama. I know, I know. (Inaudible)
(Laughter)
TW: You've been talking about cracking up on set was there another regular cast member that you had that same dynamic with?
DC: We all did.
GM: It was very funny. We would do things, the hours were LONG, especially when you to cover for everybody, so we would be looking at the same thing and there was this guy named (inaudible) who was adorable and he would read every... alien... like... this... and he would do all of the alien voices and we would be having to react and he was so slow we were like, we'd just start laughing. We'd be pretending we're looking at something like (inaudible) and one director took a stick and would have us look at it and we're all in a line, all of us and we'd be like this (looking up and down and up and down). And we did it for about 30 seconds, you know, and we just all lost it.
(Laughter)
DC: Oh god. My favorite of course was when the ship encountered a storm and got hit and you had to go... (shakes back and forth).
(Laughter)
DC: And everyone had their own thing with that. So that, you know, Jonathan would barely, would just go (barely shakes).
(Laughter)
DC: Everybody would have their own wiggle. I can't tell you how idiotic it felt.
GM: But then you'd go out, go to the ocean or something, and you would lay down and maybe you were in Maine or I don't know where, maybe Alberta, and you'd look up and I'd see all these stars and go, "oh my god!" It's like (inaudible).
(Laughter)
GM: Are there really Rockies around here? Because when I came in I swear to god there were none. There was nothing but fog. My son said there were Rockies and everyone has told me but there aren't really, are there? Are there?
(Cheering)
GM: Are there? Okay. Because I have not seen them I just want you to know, okay? I'll go on your word.
TW: Holodeck mountains. We've got to wrap up. Time flies, unfortunately. But I wanted to ask you after all of these years, it's been 25 years since the first episode back in 1987, what is your fondest memory -- what's the one thing that you've really kind of carried with you, is there one thing or one event or (inaudible) that after all of these years you look back on and it kind of fills your heart?
DC: Um...
GM: No.
(Laughter)
GM: Actually I'd say it was absolutely because I was involved with the show, but I think it was when we had a Make-A-Wish child -- we had quite a few Make-A-Wish children who came in -- but there was a particular six-year-old who came in and was a huge fan. And he loved the doctor. And he was so happy and parents were so happy. And I just got, I wanted to be able to do what Dr. Crusher did, to fix him up but I couldn't and I just realized -- his parents said, "that's okay he just believes in it, that's all right." And I just felt wow that's pretty cool that that could help someone who's going to die and they could still believe in a future like that, the parents. I was so impressed by this little kid that I've never forgotten. And that would not have happened had I not done Star Trek. So I had a lot of things like that that really changed my life.
(Applause)
GM: And you know what? And also when I did a (inaudible) tour in Bosnia, I did it solo by the way, and it was incredible to see soldiers who had carried Star Trek stuff on their backs, like a book of Star Trek things or something, and to see how important it was to people really blew my mind. And I felt kind of privileged to be involved in something I hadn't appreciated until I started meeting some of you all. And I hope to meet more of you today.
(Applause)
DC: You know, that I thank you for saying that because I really you know, doing the show as an actor is one thing, I've been so grateful to be able to earn a living in the profession, the only profession I've ever really wanted to be in. And I'm always, always grateful whenever I continue to work. And I thank you you guys for that. So that's that, but then there's this whole other aspect to doing this particular show and that is the interaction with the fans. And it's been an ongoing, and will continue to be, relationship. And when you mentioned Bosnia, it reminded me -- one of the most profound things that happened to me and I actually hadn't left the table because I was so emotionally moved by this -- was when I was making 'Trekkies' the documentary...
(Cheering)
DC: Thank you. Thank you. I had the unbelievable gift of going to Serbia to shoot, and when I was first contacted by some fans because I put it out on the Internet that I was looking for unusual fans, big fans who wanted to tell their stories about Star Trek, I got an e-mail back from a guy in Serbia. And I thought... really? Because this was just after NATO had lifted the embargo in the world -- United Nations, you know, people were allowed to go back into Serbia. So I began this relationship with this group of Star Trek fans in Serbia which then led me to get there with my film crew. And they of course had never had a Star Trek convention, nor did they ever believe they would ever have a Star Trek convention. And they set it up in the university in Belgrade, and I was the only person there and in begins to walk some Serbian fans. And in comes this giant guy. I mean, his hands were the size of catchers' mitts. And he was a Serbian farmer. And he comes up to me and shakes my hand with this grip and looks me in the eyes with tears... (tearing up) and said that they were being bombed... and that this show saved their lives. And it was right then when I realized this is not just a TV show. This is -- this reaches into people's hearts and into their minds and it keeps them going. He told me that the show gave him faith in humanity. That this bombing would eventually stop and people would find peace because it said so on the TV show. If they can do it, we can do it!
(Cheering)
DC: And (inaudible). So I thank you. All of you.
GM: Thank you everybody very much for coming and listening to the panel. And come see us and I'll be, there's a special (inaudible) from the theatre company Denise and I have and all the proceeds go to the theatre so check it out if you want to.
DC: Yes, please come to our table...
TW: Thank you so much for coming.
(Applause)
(Pictured left to right: Denise Crosby, Gates McFadden, and Teddy Wilson)
If you're a big fan of 'Star Trek: The Next Generation,' be sure not to miss our previous Q&A transcripts with Jonathan Frakes (2011 Central Canada Comic-Con) and Michael Dorn (2012 Winnipeg Comic and Toy Expo).
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