From: mholtz@sactoh0.sac.ca.us (Mark A. Holtz)
Subject: From FidoNET: Brent Spiner at San Diego Con
Followup-To: rec.arts.startrek.misc
Keywords: SPOILERS
Organization: Sacramento Public Access Unix
Date: Mon, 14 Dec 1992 00:20:47 GMT


Another One.....This is a combination of two reports.....

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- Area: Star Trek: The Next Generation  --------------------------------------
  Msg#: 99              Sent K/Sent                  Date: 19 Nov 92  20:47:00
  From: Bryce Newall                                 Read: Yes    Replied: No
    To: All                                          Mark:
  Subj: Sd spiner con report
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sunday, November 8, I attended a Creation Convention here in San Diego. The 
featured guest was Brent Spiner. Co-producers (writers) Ronald D. Moore and 
Brannon Braga, and script coordinator Lolita Fatjo, also made appearances. I 
thought I would take a little time to write about the highlights of the
convention. Since I got all of the good stuff on tape (audio), I had a source
I could go back to and quote as necessary.

(A) Ron Moore & Brannon Braga

Ron was up there by himself for most of the time. Here's what happened, and
what we learned:

- We saw slides of previous episodes.
- One of the slides had Ronald Reagan with Patrick Stewart in one the
  Paramount offices. When the slide came up, Ron said, "This is the emperor of
  the Klingon empire." Lots of laughs on that one.
- Another slide in the same office with Rick Berman (executive producer),
  Ronald Reagan, Michael Piller (another executive producer), A.C. Lyles (a
  Paramount producer), and Patrick Stewart. When that one came up, Ron said,
  "This is the High Council of the Klingon empire."
- A slide was shown from "Relics", showing Scotty on the old Enterprise
  Bridge. Ron told us that they old set does not exist anywhere any more, and
  Mike Okuda had to rebuild a pie-shaped wedge of it, the part where Scotty's
  chair was.  Mike did everything himself, from the red railing to the
  computer screens (which Mike created on his Mac). He even had some of those
  old style data tapes sitting on his desk, and threw a couple of them onto
  the set. The rest of the Bridge was taken from old series footage.
- When season-ending cliffhangers are done, Part II is not written yet by the
  time Part I is filmed. They all go on vacation, and then according to Ron,
  come back and ask themselves what they have done, and how they'll resolve
  it... :)
- TNG will probably do a 7th season, and Ron, being a "betting man", thinks
  they will do an 8th season as well.
- Marina Sirtis is *not* pregnant. (Someone in the audience asked about this
  one.)
- Whoopi Goldberg has an enormously busy schedule. The TNG staff usually find
  out only one day in advance when Whoopi's going to be available, and they
  usually end up having to write someone else out of a scene (like Troi) so
  that they can write Guinan in.
- As we have pretty much known all along, the Riker/Troi and Picard/Crusher
  relationships will not be explored much further, if at all.
- Lursa and B'Etor, the sisters of Duras from "Redemption", will be in Deep
  Space Nine.
- There will be a 2nd Q show this season.
- Scotty on Deep Space Nine? As far as Ron knows, this rumor is *false*.

At this point, Ron asked Brannon Braga to join him on the stage.

- Brannon told us about how Joe Menosky, a former co-producer (writer), has
  never wanted to do conventions. So, Brannon actually called Joe up using his
  portable phone, told him where he was, and then said that the audience had
  something to say to him. Brannon then asked us all to "Booo" Joe on his
  machine, which we did. It was pretty funny! :)
- There will be several Romulan episodes coming up this season.
- We will see Barclay again this season.
- Remember Moriarty from 2nd season's "Elementary Dear Data"? He will be back
  this season.
- Moriarty and Barclay will be going head-to-head when they return.

(B) Lolita Fatjo

Here's what happened, and what we learned, from Lolita:

- If you want info on submitting a script to TNG, call 213-956-8301. That's
  the 24-hour script hotline.
- Close-ups of Data's hands are not Brent Spiner's hands, but are those of Guy
  Vardaman.
- There are no plans to have Kirk on TNG. (YAY!!!!!!)
- There will be a Q episode during the first season of Deep Space Nine.
- Vash will be on Deep Space Nine. She'll be with Q for the Q episode.
- Rumors about one of Guinan's children being in jail on Deep Space Nine: No
  character has been developed at this point.
- Someone in the audience asked about Patrick Stewart's mention of being in
  his Locutus costume on August 27 (3 days before his convention appearance
  here in San Diego on August 30). This will be a flashback sequence for the
  pilot of Deep Space Nine.
- Lwaxana Troi will be in Deep Space Nine (nothing new here).
- Lwaxana will also be appearing again this season in TNG.
- Someone asked about how Patrick Stewart didn't seem to be having much screen
  time this season. Lolita said that an upcoming two-parter called "Chain of
  Command" (not to be confused with the book called "Chains of Command") will
  be "The ultimate Picard episode".
- We would all love to know more about the Guinan/Picard relationship.
  Unfortunately, since Whoopi is so busy, it's doubtful that she'll be
  available long enough to do a story like this.
- Hugh the Borg: Rene Echevarria, the writer of "I Borg" (and "Rascals"), has
  been hired as a full-time writer. He would love to bring Hugh back.
- The afore-mentioned Moriarty episode will be called "Ship in a Bottle".

In the middle of answering one of the questions, Ron and Brannon came in and 
carried Lolita off the stage as a gag. After a few seconds, though, she came 
back up and proceeded to tell us a story from the day before: At the con in 
LA, Brannon sneaked a little patty of butter in the foil wrapper under 
Lolita's belt (he claimed she had something on her back, and slipped the 
butter in when we went to take the something off of her back). Eric 
Stillwell's mother found it when Lolita was signing people in for the writer's 
workshop. So, to get even, Lolita snuck the patty inside Brannon's folder, so
that when he opened it up, it had butter melted all over it. They have a lot
of fun, she said. :)

- Lal will not be seen again.
- Keiko will be a schoolteacher on Deep Space Nine.
- Michelle Forbes (Ensign Ro) wants to continue on TNG, but not too much,
  since she's also pursuing a film career.
- The Traveller will probably not be seen again.
- I asked if it was true that Robin Williams was originally slated to play
  Rasmussen in "A Matter of Time", instead of Matt Frewer.  Lolita said she
  wasn't sure, but she also said that Robin Williams was originally going to
  be the comic in 2nd season's "The Outrageous Okona" instead of Joe Piscopo.
- Besides Jonathan Frakes and Patrick Stewart, none of the other cast members
  have any directorial plans.

(C) Brent Spiner

What can I say? He was great! He didn't give any info on upcoming episodes (he
wasn't even asked about it). He's a real funny guy, though, with a quick wit.
It's hard to describe...you'd have to have been there. <grin>

Well, this post is probably already too long, so I'll call it quits here. The
next con in San Diego will be January 9-10, guest TBA.

                                       -- Bryce
                                   EchoTNGTriviaGod

... If I were human, I believe my response would be..."Go to hell." -- Sp
-!- Blue Wave/QWK v2.10

-!- GrayQWKMail 2.0
 ! Origin: STAR One BBS: Unofficial BBS of STAR San Diego (1:202/1313)

- Area: Star Trek: The Next Generation  --------------------------------------
  Msg#: 106             Sent K/Sent                  Date: 18 Nov 92  15:15:04
  From: Dixie Peterson                               Read: Yes    Replied: No 
    To: All                                          Mark:                     
  Subj: San Diego Con/Brent Spiner
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I guess it's beter late than never. The day that we had been discussing on
this echo for three months came and went ten days ago. And what a day! Brent
Spiner was everything I had hoped he'd be and more.

He was with us for barely an hour. Most of the topics he talked about were
covered in Cindy Hill's excellend report on Starcon, but not all. Here are
some of the highlights:

SEVENTH SEASON: Stacy Green and I both got the impression that this just isn't 
the issue with Brent that it is with the rest of us. A couple of hours before 
Brent arrived Lolita Fajo, the script coordinator for TNG was asked about a 
7th season and she responded that the producers were *definately* interested 
in a 7th season, but that *none* of the cast had been signed as yet. Some 
negotiations were now in progress. Then she added, "Perhaps you should ask 
Brent this question. It would be interesting to hear what he has to say." 
Well, he was asked. And he replied, "No one has talked to me about it yet." He 
went on to say that the entire cast had originally signed a 6 year contract, 
then suggested that perhaps we'd know about a 7th season by July. In other 
words, a very non-commital and diplomatic answer. This contrasts sharply with
what I heard from Patrick Stewart in August who said that TNG would continue
for a 7th season, but in an "altered" form. These guys really like torture us,
don'they?

BOB AND JUNE: Night Court characters Bob and June Wheeler were originally 
supposed to take over the candy and newspaper store and become regulars. But
then Brent got the part of Data during hiatus and the rest, as they say, is
history.

BROTHERS: Brent was asked about his triple role in this episode. The most 
difficult scene for him to do was the one where Dr. Soong makes Data follow a
pencil with his eyes. "That took *many* takes," he said.

HIS EYES: Someone asked Brent about the "real" color of his eyes. His 
immediate response was "brown". Then he quickly added that his eyes were a 
combination of colors.....brown, blue, and green, which is hazel. Well, I got
a close-up view of those beautiful eyes (more about *that* later) and I can
tell you with certainty that they are, indeed, hazel.

Immediately after he stepped on stage, Brent took an interest in a little boy, 
about 9 or 10 years old, who was standing in the center aisle taking pictures.  
As Brent looked on, his smile ever widening, the child continued snapping 
photos long after everyone else had had their fill. When he finally stopped, 
Brent crouched down and put his hand out to him. The boy took it, of course, 
and Brent pulled him up on stage beside him! This was to set the tone for the 
rest of the hour as several children were allowed to get "up close and 
personal" with Brent, some of them even receiving autographs. The cutest 
moment occurred when a tiny little girl, no more than 2 or 3, wondered away 
from her parents and toddled up the steps and onto the stage while Brent was
in the middle of answering a question. Her sheepish father went to retrieve
her. As they were leaving Brent waved "bye-bye" to her. She waved back!

Several adult female fans also made it up on stage. One woman asked Brent if 
he was "fully functional" and if he would marry her. Brent, who had always 
repeated questions into the microphone for the benefit of those who could not 
hear them being asked, told her that he wasn't about to repeat her questions 
and that if she wanted them answered she would have to come up on stage and 
repeat them into the microphone herself. She did. Brent's reply? "Yes and no." 
Another woman asked him for a hug. He responded that if he hugged her he would 
have to "hug everyone." Then he pointed to a man in the front row and said, 
"Do you really think this guy wants me to hug him?" [Much laughter] Then he 
suggested that they "hug mentally". But as he looked at her the woman burst 
into tears. "Well, if you're going to cry...," said Brent. Needless to say, 
she got her hug. So did a few others. One very young woman, probably in her 
teens, asked him if she could have her picture taken with him. Brent 
surprisingly obliged. But after the photo was taken, the girl turned and 
startled him with a bear hug. When yet another woman conned him out of a hug
he exclaimed, "This is a huggy group!

He could neither sing nor do impressions for us as he had a terrible case of 
laryngitis, and had lost "all control" of his voice. At one point he began
coughing and his voice really started to crack. For a long moment I was afraid
he wold have to cut his appearance short. But then he took a drink of water
and was okay.

Brent has no non-Star Trek projects going right now. He mentioned that a play 
he did in LA during February with several members of the cast will be taken to 
other cities next year. Unfortunately, I can't remember which ones. He would
like to continue with his music career, but doesn't have the time to spend on
it now.

For those of you who care about such things, he's a little fella. Some of the
women who hugged him were bigger than he is.

He seemed to genuinely enjoy being with us. He was warm, friendly, and just as 
cute as a button. When the emcee stepped up to the stage and reminded Brent 
that his time was about up he exclaimed, "What??? Already?? I haven't been 
here an hour, have I?" He hadn't. His appearance was originally scheduled to 
last an hour and 15 minutes, to be immediately followed by the writer's 
workshop. Unfortunately, Brent was about ten minutes late arriving and was 
forced to leave the stage earlier than he wanted to so that the workshop could 
begin on time. This annoyed me thoroughly because less than 20 forked over the 
50 bucks required to stay for the workshop and more than 1000 people were
there to see Brent. As he was the con's main attraction, he should have been
allowed to stay as long as he wanted. But that's just MHO.

I guess that's it. In the next message I'll relate my own personal story about
Brent. Bryce? Stacy? Lisa? Jaime? David? You guys want to add anything?

In the previous two messages [which I have combined and removed the message
headers-mholtz], I related some of the general highlights of Brent Spiner's 
appearance. Now, I'll tell you my personal story.

No, I didn't hug him! But I did give him flowers. I was sitting on the second 
row with Stacy Greene. Behind us were Bryce Newall and James Frey. When Brent 
started taking questions from the audience one of the first people he pointed 
to was Bryce. But instead of asking a question, Bryce told Brent about me 
wanting to give him flowers! At the urging of my friends I took the bouquet I
was clutching in my lap, walked up to the stage, looked up into the eyes of
the man responsible for bringing to life the character I love so very much
and....

Dissolved instantly into mush.

I desparately wanted to talk to him. But all I could do was stand there like a 
statue and blurt, "I'm from Houston." "You're from Houston?" he asked. I 
nodded. He noted the Texas Aggie T-Shirt I was wearing and said, "Did you go 
to A&M?" Another nod. "Well, how are you doing?" "Fine," I said, though I was
anything but. My knees were starting to wobble.

Somehow I made it back to my seat without falling on my face. Stacy says that 
when I returned she gave me a high five. I'll have to take her word for it 
because I don't remember it. What I do remember is that when I sat down I was
shaking like a leaf.

About 30 minutes later I realized that I hadn't asked Brent the question I had 
wanted to ask him. By then he had called on every echoer there who had wanted 
to talk to him. I raised my hand, but he was working the other side of the 
room. Finally, he came back around. He called on several people sitting around 
me. Then, just as he was about to leave, he chose me for his last question. I 
asked him about the time he was an orderly at St. Lukes Hospital and told him 
about my Dad working there. He seemed surprised that I would know about this 
(Hee! Hee! Thank you, Cindy!) and asked me about my Dad. Then he told the
story as Cindy related it and left.

Needless to say, I had a *wonderful* time. I took lots of photos...some of 
them are acutally quite good. If anyone is interested in reprints, I would be 
happy to send you some in exchange for something regarding Brent Spiner and/or 
Data I don't already have. I'm not NetMailable, but I plan to get that way 
soon, so don't send me your addresses yet. If you want to drop me a line via 
the echo and tell me that you're interested, that's fine provided Mike and 
Mark don't object. [Mike Beltzner and Mark Holtz (yes, that's me) are 
temporary co-moderators on FidoNet's STTNG Echo]

If you ever get the chance to see Brent Spiner in person, TAKE IT! And get
reserved seats, too. They're worth every penny.

Dixie  

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