Deep Space Nine

• Richard Arnold began with a run-through of the Deep Space Nine episodes thus far, which I will skip since you all know about them already. He showed slides from episodes already shown and the ones that have already been filmed.
• Who Mourns For Morn - Morn, sadly, is killed when the ship he is travelling on explodes. Quark holds a memorial service since he is considered Morn's closest friend on the station, and also would be an opportunity to make a profit. In Morn's "will," he leaves Quark everything he owns, which turns out to be nothing. However, Quark is hassled by Morn's (unknown) widow and family members who insist that their dearly departed possesses a secret stash of latinum). On the B plot, the crew finds a nebula in which everything inside it shrinks at the molecular level. The Defiant sends a runabout in the nebula, tethering it to itself with a tractor beam. Unfortunately, the Jem Hadar conveniently come by and sever the tractor beam, causing the runabout to become lost in the nebula. Before long, the runabout has shrunk to the size of about 4 inches. The crew on the runabout manage to tag onto the Defiant, only to find that the Defiant has become over-run by Jem Hadar. Directed by Victor Lobel.
• Far Beyond the Stars - Anticipated to be an episode as "fun" as Trials and Tribble-ations, this episode involves a unique and intriguing plot. Sisko becomes delusional, and envisions himself in 1953 New York, where most of this episode will take place, as a sci-fi writer. He looks out the window, and in the reflection, he sees a man named Benjamin Sisko who is an officer of a great Federaion, and he begins writing numerous stories of the futuristic "fictional" setting on Deep Space Nine with Bajorans, Cardassians, etc. In this episode, each of the characters, regulars and guest stars alike, play key roles in Sisko's "dream." We will also see many roles in which Michael Dorn acts without the Worf make-up. This truly looks to be a dynamic episode in which we see a different side of each character/actor. Directed by Avery Brooks.
• Honor Among Thieves - O'Brien goes undercover to search for the source of a leak of information from the Federation to the Dominion.
• Change of Heart - While Worf and Dax are on their way for their honeymoon, they end up on an undercover mission on which Dax becomes injured. The Jem Hadar follow them, and Jadzia's injuries become so painful that she begs Worf to leave her behind and come back for her when their mission is complete. This episode was shot on Stage 5, built with 22 separate jungle sets (same sound stage used for the Genesis Cave in Star Trek: II).
• Wrongs Darker Than Death or Night - Major Kira receives some questionable information from Dukat about her family history. From what she can interpret, Dukat was involved with her mother. Consulting the Orb of Time, she travels back to when she a young child. There, she finds that Dukat was much different from how she knows him. For example, he helps her mother heal a nasty scar on the side of her head with much more compassion and caring that she would ever expect. And despite how much she hates him, she can't help admit the fact that her mother seemed very happy. Directed by John West.
• Inquisition - Starfleet sends officers to Deep Space Nine, accusing the station's officers of leaking information to the Cardassians. Directed by Michael Dorn. Filmed during week of 1/25/98.

Voyager

• Due to strain on time, Mr. Arnold had to rush through Voyager and did not give as much information out as he could have. Very unfortunate ... But then most of the spoilers can be found from other sources. I apologize for errors; I don't keep up with the spoilers on the 'net. I'm a good girl. =) He didn't have any slides from the episodes to show, but he just showed slides of pictures of the cast. (And I'm disappointed to say that no one in the audience clapped for any of them! Especially when he mentioned Paris and Torres getting together. I believe I, along with fellow Collectivite, Becca, were the only ones cheering for P/T!)
• Robert Beltran has his big episode this season: Nemesis
• Roxann Dawson's pregnancy created a challenge for the producers who had to find ways to hide her growing belly. She had to be hidden behind chairs, tables, counters and other furniture. In the beginning, the writers considered writing in the pregnancy, using it as a major factor for bringing together Paris and Torres. However, that idea was dumped since they didn't want to rush or complicate their relationship any more than necessary. In an upcoming episode, however, the writers managed to come up with a storyline in which they could show Roxann towards the end of her pregnancy without needing to hide her. As many people know, Roxann gave birth to a baby girl on Friday, January 16, 1998.
• Robert Duncan McNeill's wife, Carol, also gave birth to a baby boy on Wednesday, January 21, 1998. This is their third child, I believe.
• Speaking of babies, Denise Croby (Lieutenant Tasha Yar on TNG) is currently five months pregnant.
• Bob Picardo often ad-libs his lines. In the recent episode, Message in a Bottle, he ad-libbed the lines with Andy Dick:
  EMH-1: "Quit breathing down my neck."
  EMH-2: "My breathing is simulated!"
  EMH-1: "Well, so is my neck! Stop it anyway!"
• Tim Russ will have an upcoming episode in which Tuvok will be allowed to shine.
• A significant reaction resounded from the audience when Mr. Arnold asked for our opinion of Seven of Nine. (Gosh, how surprising ...) Jeri Ryan's silver skin-tight suit was scrapped after four episodes due to some distraction it caused. To quote Bob Picardo: "*They* were very distracting." 'Nuff said ...

  Upcoming Episodes

• Hunters - Voyager is pursued by the aliens they encountered in Message in a Bottle known as the Hunters. Also, Seven of Nine discovers a block of hundreds of letters addressed to the crew from home, one being a specially coded message for Captain Janeway.
• Prey - The return of Species 8472 from Scorpion. Guest starring Tony Todd who played Worf's brother Kurn in TNG.
• Retrospect - Seven of Nine is kidnapped by an alien species, tortured and abused, has her memory wiped, and is returned to Voyager. But soon after, she begins having flashbacks of the time she was being held captive and of being tortured.
• Killing Game - A group known as the Hirogem holds Paris and Torres in a holodeck simulation of World War II. Paris and Torres, however, have no idea who they are or why they are there. Roxann will be shown as a pregnant WWII Resistance fighter. Shot at Universal Studios.
• Vis à Vis - This is one episode I am looking forward to (due to the high Paris and P/T content), but I subconsciously must have not picked up all that was said about this one, because I don't remember much. Paris' body is hijacked by an alien life form, and attempts to masquerade as the real Paris.
• Omega Directive - Captain Janeway and Seven of Nine discover that an alien race is attempting to put an end to subspace, which would result in putting an end to warp drive.
• Unforgettable - No information picked up.

Michael Dorn and Marina Sirtis

All quotes are paraphrased.

• The first matter they touched upon was about Star Trek: IX. It will definitely have a much more romantic quality to it that all the previous ones. They mentioned that the Troi/Riker relationship would be brought back, along with some Picard/Crusher stuff that hasn't been dealt with yet.
• Marina said she's often asked if she goes online often. She said she doesn't have a computer, period. And if she did, she would get blamed for leaking information out to the public because she's always blamed for everything. So as long as she's involved with Star Trek, she won't own a computer.
• Marina couldn't imagine being Worf. She brought up a story about the filming of the series finale. Up until then, Dorn always griped about how much he hated wearing the Klingon make-up and prosthetics. Well, everyone else expected that, while they were feeling sad and depressed about the series ending, Dorn would be happy about not having to wear the make-up anymore. But in the last scenes of filming, it suddenly hit him about how much he would miss everyone on the show. At that point, Dorn was the most emotional, wailing and sobbing about missing people, even those he didn't particularly like. Marina said it was so pathetic; Dorn was crying so much that his prosthetic nose began to slip off and hung off his real nose!
• Dorn joked that he wouldn't wear the make-up again for Star Trek until he heard how much money he would get for doing DS9. "I hate make-up," he mocked himself. "I'm never wearing it again. It's -- How much money?? ... I *love* make-up! It's so wonderful!"

  Fan Questions

• Will we see Worf and Dax having professional conflict while at work?
  Michael mentioned that there would be some newlywed bickering. (Who doesn't?) Marina joked that while being on the set during filming, she wanted to jump into the Troi character and counsel the two about their marital arguments.
• Will Worf and Dax be expecting to have a child?
  (Marina feigns jealously about a question being directed towards Michael and not her. She asks one fan, "How did I know you were going to have a question for Michael?")
  Michael didn't get a clear answer out before Marina suddenly jumped in asking, "How *do* Trills have babies?"
  Michael didn't answer that either, but said it could happen, seeing that a seventh season of DS9 is very likely.
• A fan commented on liking Deanna Troi's eyes on the show, and Marina said that the almost black color isn't her real eye color. She was wearing contact lenses throughout the series. She really has grey-green eyes, which she let the fan get up close to see.
• Will there be a chance of Troi showing up on Deep Space Nine or Voyager?
  She said no, especially since Voyager was "way the hell out there in the Delta Quadrant." Suddenly, she jumped off-topic about why Voyager hasn't been able to make it home yet. "We on the Enterprise were able to make the Borg take a nap to rescue Picard from them. Now, why can't Voyager make the Borg take a nap so they can steal a map or something?"
  Michael said, "Well, then the show would only be an episode long."
  Marina replied, "So? What's your point?"
• Suddenly as an unexpected appearance, Jonathan Frakes runs on stage, surprising the Michael, Marina, and the audience. He stayed on stage to hug them before running offstage again.
• Will Marina be doing any other television projects?
  This week she actually will be filming something for "Diagnosis Murder" and will air in February. She mentioned how excited she is to get to work with Dick Van Dyke.
• A fan said that she was from Greece and asked if Marina was full Greek. Marina explained which parts of Greece her parents are from. For Michael, the fan asked if Klingons are supposed to be like the Spartans. Micahel said he didn't really know and joked that they probably more resembled the Russians.
• A fan asked why Klingons hate Tribbles, but Michael didn't know. The second question was whether there would be a chance of Worf and Troi getting back together. Since Worf and Dax got married, that prospect would be highly unlikely.
• A fan asked if Michael was planning to do any other televion work. Probably not, but he mentioned that he hosted a show called "World of Wonder" on the Sci-Fi Channel.
• Of all the roles the two actors have played, which one was their favorite? Marina said Troi, and Michael said Worf. They said their characters were very deep and well developed. The fan commented on Marina's role as Demona on Disney's cartoon, Gargoyles. Marina corrected her, saying that Gargoyles is *not* a cartoon, but an *animated series*.
• Question for Marina: What was it like to work with Majel Barrett on the show?
  Marina said that they were all very nervous about having the boss's (Gene Roddenberry's) wife coming on to the set. The actors knew they had a tendency to be very mischievous while on the set, and they were afraid that Majel was coming in to spy on them and report whatever they did back to Gene. Therefore, they tried to be on their best behavior. But after only 10 minutes on the set, they found Majel to be just has naughty and mischievous as ALL of them put together!
  And to answer a question that they are both asked very often: No, neither of them were completely naked while filming of Menage à Troi. However, she noticed that whenever any episode "of that sort" is being filmed, the set is always FULL.
• Question for Michael: What is the silver sash that Worf always wears supposed to symbolize?
  "It's to hold up my pants ..." Seriously, it's a family heirloom that's passed down from a father to his son to his son to his son, and so on.
• Question if Marina would be interested in directing: No, because it's not a type of work she's interested in. Directing- acting is a lot of hard work, and it's so demanding that it often takes away from an actor being on screen much.
  Michael, on the other, hand said that he didn't mind directing, but after a week of directing an episode, he wants to get back to acting only for a while. He knew, being an actor himself and knowing what it's like, that actors tend to give directors a harder time than the directors would like. Marina said Michael was especially bad about that, particularly when Patrick Stewart was directing. Patrick would always tell him something, or send him a note about it, and Michael would always return with, "Why?"
• A kid comes up to the microphone showing Michael that it was an action figure of Worf. Marina takes a closer look and says, "Hey, Michael, that doll is doing the splits. Can you do that?" Michael refuses to even try, but puts Marina on the spot by telling the audience that she can do the splits. After a bit of encouragement from the audience, Marina kneels down to the floor and does a 2 second left split. As she gets up, she notices that her husband was encouraging her from backstage.
  Then the kid asks Michael if he can have a hug, and he gets it!
• Question for Michael: Does Worf have lifts in his shoes to make him taller?
  No, Michael's already 6' 3.5" tall. Why would he need lifts? Jonathan Frakes is 6'4".
• A fan asked why Troi didn't look happy in First Contact when Worf came to the bridge.
  It was originally written in for Picard, Riker and Troi to smile and look happy when Worf comes on board, but Michael had given Marina a suggestive wink, which the camera didn't catch. But the camera did catch Marina's somewhat put-off look, and kept it. (Remember, at this point, Worf was not yet with Dax.)
• Question for Marina: What was her favorite episode with Majel Barrett? Answer: Half a Life
  The fan commented that Michael had a very sexy voice (and then Michael did a very Worf-like voice). Then she asked why Klingons looked different in the old Star Trek.
  Michael explained that essentially, the writers wrote themselves into a corner with that one with no easy way out. Jokingly, he said that in Trials and Tribbleations, they just covered Worf's forehead with a bandana and set it up so that they hoped the fans would forget.
  Then Marina said that it was similar with her so-called Betazoid accent, which Michael attempted to mimic. At the very beginning of the show, the producers had her create an accent, but never required neither Lwaxana nor Deanna's father to use. "Mother was from the "American" sector of Betazed, and my father is from Idaho."
• Question for Michael: Why didn't Worf take Alexander with him to DS9.
  Michael jokes that he did, and that Alexander's just been hiding in the closets.
  Marina jokes that it's a good thing because she "hated" him. "That's the difference between me and Troi. See, Troi would have asked him to sit down and talk about it. I, on the other hand, would have gone, "Smack you, you little brat!"
• The next comment came from a person who wanted to be a flight pilot but couldn't because he was blind in one eye. He said that Michael Dorn inspired him because Michael also is a pilot and has a vision handicap. Marina feigns crying, "Oh, that's so touching!"
  But Michael is a good pilot and flew himself, Marina and her husband up to the convention.
• Question for Marina: Which episode was the most fun to film? A: A Fistful of Datas. However, she said that movies are a lot more fun. There's more time to do things, more money, more time to goof off ... But the best times are always on the bridge or the observation lounge whenever the crew is all together. There were 2 times where she ended up literally rolling on the floor laughing: one in the observation lounge and one in sickbay. The one in sickbay was in Parallels. Data was supposed to come into sickbay and ask the doctor if he could speak with Geordi. Apparently, Marina found it hilariously funny because the way they were standing, Brent Spiner was looking *straight* at Levar Burton lying on the biobed as he was saying his line. Marina then made up her own reply to Data: "Yes, you can speak to him, but I can't guarantee that he'll talk back."
• Question for Marina: What was her favorite hairdo of all the ones she had on the show?
  Her favorite was the style she had in First Contact because it looked and felt like real hair (and it was). Some of the older styles she didn't like because her hair was often *wider* than she was. "Just give me a pair of boots and a guitar, and I could be a country singer." She joked that whenever she fainted, her hair would fan out perfectly behind her. And when people asked how she did that, she replied, "It was all those English Shakespeare classes!"
• Question for Michael: How long does it take to memorize lines?
  "If the episode isn't about Worf, I never learn them." Marina says it doesn't take more than 10 or 15 minutes out of a day.
  Then Michael told a story about filming Parallels. In the scene in Worf's quarters where Troi is supposed to nearly be in tears saying, "It's hard to believe that there's another reality where you don't love me ...": While they were filming Michael's lines, Marina was in the meantime apathetically running that line over and over, but as soon as the camera turned to her, she got into hysterics and practically sobbed the line out over-dramatically.
• The next question was for Michael: "What is it like to "beam up" with Terry Farrell, if you know what I mean?"
  Michael gives the dude a look and asks, "You *do* know this is just a TV show, right?"
• A cute little kid asked Michael why Worf broke up with the Klingons.
  Michael answered that it was because the Klingons were at war with everyone and Worf didn't want to have to be involved with that.
• Question for Marina: Did she have to do a lot of preparation prior to the show to play the role of a counselor?
  She said she subscribed to "Psychology Today," and said she was serious about that when a few people laughed. Then she reverted back to her joking stage and said it wasn't all that hard. "All you have to do is sit there and say, 'Well, what do you think?' and listen, trying not to look bored." Back to her serious side, she said she talked with and consulted professional psychologists. Then she made a remark about Troi being a Freudian psychologist.
• The last question for Marina was whether or not her hair on the series was real.
  What she wore was called a "fall" which was, in essence, half a wig.

  By then, time was up and they had to be called offstage. And I don't remember what they said as they finished up.

Jonathan Frakes

All quotes are paraphrased.

• Again, the first thing discussed when he got onstage was about Star Trek: IX. We can expect the movie to be released on November 20, 1998.
• He recently saw Patrick Stewart earlier that week and Patrick shaved his head. "Not like anyone can tell." He told Patrick that if he's going to be Captain Picard again, he would have to grow back the tufts around his ears.
• He said it feels great to be back in Sacramento, which is also Levar Burton's hometown. Jonathan called out to the audience to see if Levar's mother was out there, and managed to spot her. "She's such a sweet lady. She gave my son a blanket for when he was born, and now he won't part with it. It always has to be, 'I want my Blankie!' That's what he calls it now. 'Blankie, Blankie, Blankie!' Thanks so much ..."
• He said he doesn't sign autographs at conventions because he can never get to everyone in the auditorium, and would leave some people very angry. He wants to avoid that disappointment, but he will autograph items if fans send them to Paramount. "You won't get them back the same day, but you will eventually."
• Jonathan commented on Michael and Marina being on stage earlier. He said not to take anything Marina said seriously because she's not from this country. And then he kept calling Worf "turtlehead".

  Fan Questions

• More about Star Trek:IX. He confirms that there is going to be a return of the Troi/Riker relationship. And he's doing that because he wants to get "turtlehead" out of Troi's life.
• A kid asked why Picard pulled the manual release for Engineering in First Contact. "Because it was in the script."
• A fan had heard a rumor about him wanting to have a grittier, "more testosterone-ridden" style for both First Contact and ST:IX, and asked if that was true. Jonathan said he hadn't heard of that particular rumor, and though it was somewhat true for FC, ST:IX will definitely have a lot more romantic aspects to it than all the other ST movies.
• Another rumor: this one about Picard getting written out and Riker taking command of the ship.
  "You heard that, huh? Must have been a rumor I spread." He said it's not true, especially after Riker turning down three chances at command already.
• The next question: "How long does it take to make a Star Trek movie?"
  He said it takes writers about six months to come up with a story idea and a script. All together, it's about a year-an-a-half process from the start of writing to the release.
• The next question was if the actors are getting paid more money for the movie, will that take away from the special visual effects?
  Jonathan laughed, then said, "Can you believe Patrick Stewart is getting paid $12 million for this movie? (screamed) TWELVE MILLION!?!?!?!?!? And Brent Spiner is getting $5 million? FIVE MILLION?!?!?!?!?!"But getting back to the question, he said he hopes their larger salaries don't take away from the visual effects.
• A fan asked what he thought of Star Trek: The Experience at Las Vegas.
  He said it was a spectacular ride, and just waiting in line is like being in a Star Trek museum.
• The next question asked whether or not Tom Riker would be back on Deep Space Nine.
  He doesn't really know, but said he should get back into action after sitting in prison for all this time. His idea is that Kira should go save him or something. Then he joked that Marina thinks Tom Riker is cuter anyway. "What does she know? She's not even from this country."
• The next question was about whether or not events from the previous Star Trek films will be involved in the next movie's story.
  He said no, and that each movie should be one on its own.
• Jonathan said that he got along with the entire cast very well. "We were like one big family. We even ate together!"
• He was asked which fans he liked better: his fans, or fans of his wife?
  He said he pretty much likes both, though he's very proud to be "Mr. Genie Frances." They both get recognized on the streets a lot.
• The next question was if he liked working on that one episode Voyager ... the one where Q zapped him on board. He had a lot of fun on that episode, and it's always fun to work with a character like Q.
• He's going to be doing a "Little House on the Prairie" type show with his wife coming soon.
• What does he like to do to relax?
  "What do I like to do to relax, huh?" he repeated. "I haven't relaxed in three years. I have a three year old son, and you parents out there know what I'm talking about. And also have an 8-month old daughter. But when I do find time to relax I like to watch movies, read, listen to jazz ... play tennis with Michael Dorn and get my butt kicked."
• A fan came up and asked if he remembers a convention in Saratoga where he walked into the wrong hotel. She was the receptionist at that hotel.
• He said it would be great to get Sinbad in on a Star Trek movie. He was on Vibe a few nights before, and had gotten Sinbad to say on air that he would do a Star Trek movie. "Sinbad would make a great Klingon, don't you think? He'd also have a great Ferengi character, but definitely a Klingon. Or even a Q!"
• What was it like to kiss all those women? "I had a lot of women, I guess, but nowhere near as many as Kirk. It's a dirty job, but someone has to do it!"
• A fan asked if he really knew how to play the trombone. He said he plays, but not very well. One time at a convention in Minneapolis, a fan brought up to the stage a trombone, and they played a duet for a while!
• The next question started with, "Rumor has it ..." and Jonathan said, "You know, I don't like questions that start with 'Rumor has it,' but go ahead. The fan had heard that Brent Spiner would retire from Star Trek after this movie.
  "Retire? Now? With FIVE MILLION DOLLARS??? Not likely." He brought up Brent's spectacular performance on his current Broadway role, and is more than likely to get nominated for a Tony Award, whereas he didn't even get nominated for his roles as Data, Lore and Dr. Soong! He couldn't believe Patrick Stewart didn't get nominated for his role as Picard either, after such a stellar performance. Jonathan mimicked, "I SEE FOUR LIGHTS!! I SEE *FOUR* LIGHTS!!"
• There was a rumor going around about Q being in the next movie. He said no, but you could never tell with Q.
• If he could have chosen to be any animal in Genesis, what would he be?
  After a bit of thinking, he settled with a Tyranosaurus Rex.
• A fan asked what would be the name of the next movie.
  Laughing, he said he would name it Star Trek: Nine of Ten. That way, he avoid the "curse of the odd-numbered movies" and pay tribute to Seven of Nine at the same time. Then he mentioned Generations: "Two great captains looking for one great hairpiece."
• The next question was whether TV or movies were easier. He said TV, though it was more strenuous, it was more fun and it guaranteed him a steady job.
• His first acting job, that paid actual money, was a play at Harvard called "The Penny Opera." The role was played by Christopher Reeve, but he had to be out of town during one rehearsal, so they asked Jonathan to take his place. (The play also had Catherine Hepburn in it.) He said he remembered having to lie in fake fiberglass snow which he got up in his nose.
• As his final story before having to get offstage: "Here's what happened for 182 episodes, for seven years, on the bridge. Here were are sitting on the bridge and the ship is getting rocked with endless phaser fire. Marina is sitting over here, rocking back and forth, her hair all perfect and everything. 'Turtlehead' is up back there. And here I am, rocking and tossing myself back and forth. And in the middle, here's Patrick, tossing himself back and forth in his chair, screaming, 'Jonathan! Jooooonnnaaathhaannnn! Jooooonnnnnnaaatthhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan! Jooooooooooonnnnnnnnaaaaaaaaaathhhhhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaannnnnnnn! Twenty five years! Twenty five years with the Royal Shakespeare Company, for THIS!!!'"