WEBVTT 1 00:00:05.120 --> 00:00:10.359 The show has begun since your phasers, the fun you 2 00:00:10.919 --> 00:00:12.599 ry for. 3 00:00:13.000 --> 00:00:17.800 Trip Trip Trip trips Indo Dcon. 4 00:00:18.039 --> 00:00:24.440 With Carridom It's the d Conchamber. 5 00:00:28.120 --> 00:00:32.679 Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, Trekky's and trekkers, welcome 6 00:00:32.759 --> 00:00:36.039 back to a very special episode of the Decon Chamber. 7 00:00:36.520 --> 00:00:39.039 I'm your co host Dominic Keating, joined as always by 8 00:00:39.079 --> 00:00:42.119 my best mate and my fellow co host mister Connatraneers 9 00:00:42.159 --> 00:00:46.880 in the house here today on the Decon Chamber. We 10 00:00:47.039 --> 00:00:50.399 are so delighted and honored to be joined by mister 11 00:00:50.719 --> 00:00:54.840 Robert Picardo himself. He first appeared as the Doctor on 12 00:00:54.920 --> 00:00:58.399 Star Trek Voyager in nineteen ninety five, over thirty years ago. 13 00:00:58.439 --> 00:01:01.280 If you can believe that there were seven seasons. That 14 00:01:01.399 --> 00:01:04.959 character went from a short term emergency hologram to a 15 00:01:05.040 --> 00:01:08.519 complex character with a defined identity and a place in 16 00:01:08.560 --> 00:01:12.040 the crew. Quickly became a fan favorite and has since 17 00:01:12.120 --> 00:01:14.400 returned to the Star Trek universe more than once, with 18 00:01:14.480 --> 00:01:17.280 appearances in First Contact, Deep Space. 19 00:01:17.120 --> 00:01:19.840 Nine, and Prodigy. I'm not at all jealous. 20 00:01:20.200 --> 00:01:22.439 Today we're speaking to him as part of the cast 21 00:01:22.480 --> 00:01:25.599 of Star Trek's newest show, staff Leet Academy where he 22 00:01:25.680 --> 00:01:28.959 reprises the role of ill doc Drre now hundreds of 23 00:01:29.040 --> 00:01:31.680 years older and in some ways wiser, though as it 24 00:01:31.719 --> 00:01:33.799 turns out, he still has some growing to do. 25 00:01:34.359 --> 00:01:36.239 He's serving as chief medical. 26 00:01:36.000 --> 00:01:39.920 Officer on the USS Athena under Academy Chancellor Nala Ake, 27 00:01:40.599 --> 00:01:43.840 played by Holly Hunter. Season one's just aired in its 28 00:01:44.040 --> 00:01:46.439 entirety and we're now so looking forward to seeing what's 29 00:01:46.439 --> 00:01:49.239 in store for season two, which is just rapped. 30 00:01:49.719 --> 00:01:51.640 We're so pleased to have you with us, Bob, and 31 00:01:51.799 --> 00:01:52.680 welcome to the show. 32 00:01:52.760 --> 00:01:56.000 Pal. Thank you very much. It's a pleasure to talk 33 00:01:56.040 --> 00:01:59.680 to both you guys. You are terrific interviewers that I 34 00:01:59.680 --> 00:02:03.319 remember that from last time, and we are longtime friends, 35 00:02:03.359 --> 00:02:07.519 colleagues and brothers in the Star Trek family. 36 00:02:07.799 --> 00:02:12.000 We're sure so was a sort of dendum, and the 37 00:02:12.039 --> 00:02:15.680 news came out yesterday although season two, and we're looking 38 00:02:15.680 --> 00:02:20.840 forward to seeing that. Sadly, the snip came from the 39 00:02:21.319 --> 00:02:24.159 higher ups yesterday. So you got the call on Sunday 40 00:02:24.199 --> 00:02:25.840 am I rising thinking I. 41 00:02:25.840 --> 00:02:28.680 Would say the baby has been thrown out with the bathwater. 42 00:02:29.439 --> 00:02:33.159 We just found out yesterday. In other words, the day 43 00:02:33.199 --> 00:02:36.400 before we're recording this, we found out yesterday that the 44 00:02:36.479 --> 00:02:39.360 show will not be going forward, that season two, which 45 00:02:39.400 --> 00:02:42.639 we have completed, will be our last season. When we 46 00:02:42.800 --> 00:02:48.159 chatted before we started recording this podcast, I said, let's 47 00:02:48.280 --> 00:02:53.000 deal with the eight hundred pound gorilla immediately rather than 48 00:02:53.680 --> 00:02:57.280 talk about it as if it hadn't happened. We got 49 00:02:57.919 --> 00:03:03.400 the whole cast, got an email from Alex Kurtzman's assistant 50 00:03:03.680 --> 00:03:06.400 saying that all the producers would like to have a 51 00:03:06.479 --> 00:03:09.960 zoom meeting with us this past Sunday at four pm. 52 00:03:10.000 --> 00:03:13.439 And it sounded a little ominous, a little sad, and 53 00:03:13.520 --> 00:03:15.960 it turned out to be the moment we saw everyone's 54 00:03:16.000 --> 00:03:18.360 face on the zoom with all of the cadets, by 55 00:03:18.360 --> 00:03:21.159 the way, with one exception. The cadets were all together 56 00:03:21.439 --> 00:03:25.479 in one of their apartments in Los Angeles, all sitting together, 57 00:03:25.719 --> 00:03:29.639 which just shows their tremendous solidarity and affection they developed 58 00:03:29.639 --> 00:03:33.240 over the course of shooting the two seasons and Alex 59 00:03:33.479 --> 00:03:38.199 our leader, Alex Kurtzman, along with no Glandau, Guya Violo, 60 00:03:38.439 --> 00:03:42.840 and the other producers Tunday and Aaron Byers, all of 61 00:03:42.879 --> 00:03:47.159 the team at Secret Hideout, which is Alex Kurtzman's production company, 62 00:03:47.199 --> 00:03:50.159 were there and as I said, it was written all 63 00:03:50.199 --> 00:03:52.759 over their faces that we were getting some bad news 64 00:03:52.800 --> 00:03:56.879 that was going to drop the next day Monday, which 65 00:03:56.960 --> 00:04:00.400 is only yesterday as of this moment, that was speaking 66 00:04:01.000 --> 00:04:03.199 that the show was not moving forward. It was sad, 67 00:04:03.560 --> 00:04:06.199 he said. He made it very clear that he was 68 00:04:06.240 --> 00:04:10.919 delighted with the show. He felt so strongly about the 69 00:04:10.960 --> 00:04:14.199 work we had done, how beautiful the show was, how 70 00:04:14.280 --> 00:04:18.279 everyone was doing their best work, and it had nothing 71 00:04:18.319 --> 00:04:21.759 to do with equality of the show. Not enough people 72 00:04:22.000 --> 00:04:26.120 had found us, he said, you know that the reason 73 00:04:26.160 --> 00:04:28.959 you'll hear is that we never cracked the top ten 74 00:04:29.160 --> 00:04:33.600 shows in streaming, which is true. However, they gave us 75 00:04:34.160 --> 00:04:41.000 literally two weeks or less after we aired our tenth episode. Now, 76 00:04:41.040 --> 00:04:44.800 often people have their own viewing habits and streaming, they 77 00:04:45.240 --> 00:04:47.720 sometimes wait so that they can binge watch the show. 78 00:04:48.120 --> 00:04:50.720 Maybe they wouldn't have heard about it because there was 79 00:04:51.360 --> 00:04:56.560 really a no advertising push behind our show. There was never, 80 00:04:56.680 --> 00:05:00.519 to my knowledge, a commercial on any broadcast television channel, 81 00:05:00.920 --> 00:05:04.600 on any other outlet. And I talked to so many 82 00:05:04.639 --> 00:05:06.800 people who said, oh, yeah, you have a new show. 83 00:05:07.519 --> 00:05:11.279 Where is it. I haven't found it. So in any case, 84 00:05:11.399 --> 00:05:16.680 for whatever reason, perhaps because our show was created during 85 00:05:16.720 --> 00:05:25.319 a prior administration at CBS Paramount. For whatever reason, they 86 00:05:25.639 --> 00:05:29.040 decided to take a pause in new Star Trek, and 87 00:05:29.079 --> 00:05:33.600 that Star Trek will be reintroduced again after a period, 88 00:05:33.680 --> 00:05:36.759 a fallow period, which, as we all know, is what 89 00:05:36.879 --> 00:05:38.560 happened after your guys. 90 00:05:38.360 --> 00:05:42.839 Show Crazy to the QUI mate, now that we know 91 00:05:42.920 --> 00:05:47.399 the smart of cancelation, well before it's time, that's for sure. 92 00:05:47.959 --> 00:05:50.399 I feel like the cooler Bob because a couple of 93 00:05:50.439 --> 00:05:53.839 years ago I interviewed Doug Jones on the ship and 94 00:05:54.199 --> 00:05:56.759 they had found out and I are an hour previous 95 00:05:56.879 --> 00:06:01.759 to that that they had been canceled, And now talking. 96 00:06:01.519 --> 00:06:06.319 To you, so h Connor, Connor, Angel of death Trenier. 97 00:06:08.160 --> 00:06:11.360 He wields his mighty what is it a sight or something? 98 00:06:11.560 --> 00:06:14.160 Yes, oh it's right here. I can grab it. 99 00:06:14.439 --> 00:06:22.319 The killer franchise killer anyway, so I listen. I also, 100 00:06:23.040 --> 00:06:26.680 speaking of killing franchises, I was also in uh uh 101 00:06:26.959 --> 00:06:29.160 Stargate Atlantis. 102 00:06:28.839 --> 00:06:28.959 Uh. 103 00:06:29.319 --> 00:06:32.000 I was a season regular the season before that got 104 00:06:32.000 --> 00:06:34.399 canceled too, So it might not just be you, Connor. 105 00:06:34.439 --> 00:06:35.959 It could be the two of us working together. 106 00:06:36.160 --> 00:06:37.839 You stink of cancelations. 107 00:06:39.600 --> 00:06:42.240 Well, I have to say I saw the whole show 108 00:06:42.480 --> 00:06:44.959 season one, and I really liked it a lot. 109 00:06:45.040 --> 00:06:45.399 It took me. 110 00:06:45.480 --> 00:06:47.000 It took me, so I've gotta be I'll be honest 111 00:06:47.000 --> 00:06:49.160 with you. It took some warming up for me. 112 00:06:49.879 --> 00:06:53.959 The first three episodes, I was like, Okay, this is 113 00:06:54.000 --> 00:06:57.160 a bit c W in space. There were two scenes 114 00:06:57.160 --> 00:06:59.439 at the end of episode three that got my attention 115 00:06:59.600 --> 00:07:02.759 when the the war faction and the Cadet faction was 116 00:07:03.040 --> 00:07:06.199 sort of set up and I started to see the 117 00:07:06.240 --> 00:07:08.000 planning and where this was going to go. And I 118 00:07:08.040 --> 00:07:11.519 got to say, by the end of it, it truly 119 00:07:11.600 --> 00:07:14.480 got my attention, and there was some, as you say, 120 00:07:14.920 --> 00:07:16.560 just fabulous acting going on. 121 00:07:17.959 --> 00:07:20.920 Tell me, Bob, when did they come to you and 122 00:07:20.959 --> 00:07:22.399 say what are you doing? 123 00:07:24.079 --> 00:07:29.040 It was a while ago. It was during the after 124 00:07:29.079 --> 00:07:32.160 we had hit the peak of the COVID pandemic and 125 00:07:32.199 --> 00:07:36.560 we were on the downward curve. I want to say, 126 00:07:37.399 --> 00:07:43.279 I guess it was March of twenty twenty three. It 127 00:07:43.319 --> 00:07:46.360 was shortly before the actors strike, so that was the 128 00:07:46.439 --> 00:07:49.519 year that we went out on strike. In July, so 129 00:07:50.279 --> 00:07:55.600 I got a call from my voiceover agent saying that 130 00:07:55.759 --> 00:07:57.439 they want to have a conversation with you about a 131 00:07:57.480 --> 00:08:00.000 new Star Trek series and I'm thinking Prodigy is only 132 00:08:00.160 --> 00:08:02.920 on now. They want to put me in another animated series, 133 00:08:03.720 --> 00:08:07.920 and so I had the voiceover agent call the production 134 00:08:08.000 --> 00:08:10.079 company and say, no, this is for a live action. 135 00:08:10.199 --> 00:08:12.560 I said, they want me in a new live actions 136 00:08:12.560 --> 00:08:16.680 That doesn't sound right. So I had a zoom meeting 137 00:08:16.759 --> 00:08:21.800 with Alex Kurtzman and Noga Landau and the showrunners to be. 138 00:08:22.240 --> 00:08:24.759 They told me about Starfleet Academy. They told me about 139 00:08:24.800 --> 00:08:27.360 their idea of bringing the Doctor back, that it was 140 00:08:27.399 --> 00:08:32.919 eight hundred years beyond Voyager's future in the thirty second century. 141 00:08:33.559 --> 00:08:36.360 They schooled me because I had seen some discovery, but 142 00:08:36.440 --> 00:08:40.320 I wasn't strong on what the burn had been. The 143 00:08:40.360 --> 00:08:43.480 Burn when there's this terrible thing where all of di 144 00:08:43.600 --> 00:08:49.039 lithium goes nuclear and millions and millions of people died, 145 00:08:49.240 --> 00:08:55.279 and warp travel was eradicated, and basically all of our 146 00:08:56.559 --> 00:08:59.919 star Trek's imaginary future of space travel was set back 147 00:09:00.600 --> 00:09:04.759 hundreds of years by this terrible tragedy. And this Starfleet 148 00:09:04.759 --> 00:09:07.559 Academy it was now one hundred and twenty years after 149 00:09:07.600 --> 00:09:10.480 the Burn, and it was reopening, and it was the 150 00:09:10.480 --> 00:09:14.240 first entering class in that long a time. And my 151 00:09:14.440 --> 00:09:20.080 character was an eight hundred year old, continuously activated artificial intelligence. 152 00:09:20.080 --> 00:09:24.360 He was Voyager's doctor, not a backup program, because it 153 00:09:24.360 --> 00:09:26.480 could have been a backup program that was launched in 154 00:09:26.519 --> 00:09:29.000 the future. That's what some fans thought it was going 155 00:09:29.080 --> 00:09:32.320 to be, because we did a Voyager episode where another 156 00:09:32.399 --> 00:09:35.440 version of my program was sent into the future. So 157 00:09:35.559 --> 00:09:38.519 everybody knows that's in the same timeframe. 158 00:09:38.320 --> 00:09:41.879 Seven hundred years. What about my ship? What happened to 159 00:09:41.919 --> 00:09:44.080 my crew? It's safe to say the long. 160 00:09:43.960 --> 00:09:47.679 Dead, long story short. They pitched me a concept. They 161 00:09:47.720 --> 00:09:50.159 told me what the arc of the first season would 162 00:09:50.159 --> 00:09:53.840 be and how the Doctor would basically become a parent 163 00:09:54.759 --> 00:10:00.519 to the one hologram Cadet, and it sounded in interesting 164 00:10:00.639 --> 00:10:03.240 and you know, and she was, by the way, the 165 00:10:03.279 --> 00:10:10.480 first Cadet cast, Caris Brooks, wonderful fire, very magical actress 166 00:10:10.519 --> 00:10:16.080 with this incredible energy and zest that just bursts out 167 00:10:16.120 --> 00:10:18.480 of her. She was the first one cast. And they 168 00:10:18.559 --> 00:10:24.720 had this idea that my character would, through a technological reason, 169 00:10:25.279 --> 00:10:28.720 would parent her, would have an accelerated she would go 170 00:10:28.759 --> 00:10:32.519 through an accelerated childhood. That would be the eighth of 171 00:10:32.559 --> 00:10:33.960 the ten episodes. 172 00:10:34.080 --> 00:10:37.399 Well, they already had that mapped out that storyline. 173 00:10:37.039 --> 00:10:42.080 That's why my character was so resistant to her in 174 00:10:42.120 --> 00:10:46.600 the pilot. You're our first holographic student, the first of 175 00:10:46.639 --> 00:10:50.960 our kind, at least no one's mentor. She assumes that 176 00:10:51.080 --> 00:10:54.440 because I'm a hologram and she's read all about me, 177 00:10:54.559 --> 00:10:59.000 and she comes from a planet of only holograms. Interesting backstory, 178 00:10:59.559 --> 00:11:04.080 her plan and all of the organic beings that created 179 00:11:04.120 --> 00:11:09.559 these holograms to basically assist them, serve them, these artificial intelligences. 180 00:11:09.559 --> 00:11:15.120 There was a terrible some sort of a tragedy like 181 00:11:15.159 --> 00:11:18.039 a pandemic, because remember this was all conceived during the 182 00:11:18.120 --> 00:11:20.960 end of the COVID pandemic that wiped out all the organics. 183 00:11:21.360 --> 00:11:25.720 So her planet was nothing but holograms living together, developing 184 00:11:25.720 --> 00:11:30.200 their own society, living in isolation. Because he didn't quite 185 00:11:30.279 --> 00:11:33.360 know what to do, and they were sending her out 186 00:11:33.360 --> 00:11:35.000 as an emissary. 187 00:11:34.799 --> 00:11:37.639 And made you they're amissary. 188 00:11:39.000 --> 00:11:44.759 It is as the first effort to make contact with 189 00:11:44.919 --> 00:11:49.919 this newly reconstituted starfleet to see if they wanted to 190 00:11:51.720 --> 00:11:55.240 basically be part of the federation rather than live in isolation. 191 00:11:55.519 --> 00:11:56.720 That was the backstory. 192 00:11:57.080 --> 00:12:00.440 It reminded me of the Edo period in Japanese history. 193 00:12:00.639 --> 00:12:03.759 That those two hundred years where they just cut off 194 00:12:03.799 --> 00:12:05.679 from the rest of the world, and that this was 195 00:12:05.720 --> 00:12:09.200 the first, as you say, necessary reaching out to see 196 00:12:09.240 --> 00:12:10.399 if they were going to rejoin. 197 00:12:10.519 --> 00:12:13.360 It was very clever writing. 198 00:12:13.519 --> 00:12:16.320 So of course, very rude to her. That was the 199 00:12:16.360 --> 00:12:21.159 beginning because people couldn't understand why I was being so dismissive, 200 00:12:21.440 --> 00:12:25.000 and you know, but they they wanted to plan that, 201 00:12:25.120 --> 00:12:29.279 to lay that in that something was bothering my character, 202 00:12:29.519 --> 00:12:32.200 that we couldn't know what it was, but it would 203 00:12:32.240 --> 00:12:36.360 make sense later. To be honest, it's never my purpose. 204 00:12:37.440 --> 00:12:39.919 Well, it was always going to heart back to the 205 00:12:39.919 --> 00:12:43.360 there's a couple of episodes from Voyager Real Life in particular, 206 00:12:44.039 --> 00:12:49.159 which is a very fantastic episode where you have a 207 00:12:49.240 --> 00:12:54.840 hologram family goodbye, all goodbye, and then of course a 208 00:12:54.879 --> 00:12:55.759 blink of an eye. 209 00:12:56.080 --> 00:12:59.360 For each second that passes on Voyager, nearly a day 210 00:12:59.399 --> 00:12:59.879 goes by. 211 00:12:59.840 --> 00:13:03.919 On the planet because the time changed on Cask. 212 00:13:04.000 --> 00:13:05.200 Every three days on it. 213 00:13:05.200 --> 00:13:11.320 It was five years in that he had a lifetime 214 00:13:11.399 --> 00:13:15.440 of experience, a human lifetime of experience in what was 215 00:13:15.480 --> 00:13:19.200 eleven or twelve minutes it was, you know, he married, 216 00:13:19.559 --> 00:13:20.320 he had a child. 217 00:13:20.320 --> 00:13:22.159 They never explained to me how he could father a 218 00:13:22.279 --> 00:13:24.279 child that was glossed over. 219 00:13:24.679 --> 00:13:25.200 He was my. 220 00:13:26.919 --> 00:13:29.080 Son, but drew hologram. 221 00:13:29.279 --> 00:13:30.200 It's a long story. 222 00:13:31.360 --> 00:13:34.039 I don't know how a hologram would be anatomically correct. 223 00:13:34.080 --> 00:13:36.519 I don't know what kind of emergency medical procedures they 224 00:13:36.559 --> 00:13:39.720 were envisioning if they had given him. But that was 225 00:13:40.000 --> 00:13:43.240 we couldn't We couldn't quite address that, whether he whether 226 00:13:43.279 --> 00:13:48.240 one of his talents was being a sexual surrogate. When 227 00:13:48.320 --> 00:13:52.200 in my forties it excited the imagination somewhat now at 228 00:13:52.200 --> 00:13:58.559 my present age, I really but in any case, yes, 229 00:13:58.679 --> 00:14:01.360 blink of an eye, this same thing, and that's a 230 00:14:01.440 --> 00:14:05.279 Star Trek you know. That's a time game that they've 231 00:14:05.279 --> 00:14:08.639 played in many Star Trek episodes, in other iterations of 232 00:14:08.679 --> 00:14:12.200 Star Trek, where time passes at a different rate of 233 00:14:12.240 --> 00:14:16.000 speed so that you can have all these experiences and 234 00:14:16.039 --> 00:14:18.399 then return to your ship. I mean, let's face it, 235 00:14:18.480 --> 00:14:23.480 when we send someone off to Mars and back again, 236 00:14:23.519 --> 00:14:26.559 I'm the worst person is figuring out but a lot. 237 00:14:27.039 --> 00:14:31.080 Once we go beyond Mars, we're capable of doing that time. 238 00:14:31.600 --> 00:14:37.639 When we can travel at warp speed, you'll come back 239 00:14:37.679 --> 00:14:40.879 to a planet that you were, all of your colleagues 240 00:14:40.919 --> 00:14:47.320 and friends and family have died, So that's always been 241 00:14:47.360 --> 00:14:50.720 part of the Star Trek writer's imagination. I think different 242 00:14:51.360 --> 00:14:54.559 rates of speed in different environments, and then you come 243 00:14:54.600 --> 00:14:57.120 back and you've had a whole lifetime in a few minutes, 244 00:14:57.240 --> 00:15:02.960 or in the case of the Starfleet Academy, I think 245 00:15:03.000 --> 00:15:08.320 it's like twelve or thirteen days where seventeen years have passed. 246 00:15:08.360 --> 00:15:13.960 Eighteen years right, right, and you've become her parent. And yeah, 247 00:15:14.519 --> 00:15:16.240 there's some lovely acting in that episode. 248 00:15:17.399 --> 00:15:23.200 Please, you're absolutely right. It referenced both those episodes, but 249 00:15:23.360 --> 00:15:27.840 especially real life, and in fact, they showed little images, 250 00:15:27.960 --> 00:15:32.600 wispy images of the daughter that I had created eight 251 00:15:32.679 --> 00:15:36.080 hundred years prior. Bell from the moment you first walked 252 00:15:36.159 --> 00:15:39.679 up to me at the Operacle of Booth with the sweetest, 253 00:15:40.120 --> 00:15:41.279 most hopeful smile. 254 00:15:44.159 --> 00:15:49.840 I saw my daughter and the way she used to smile. 255 00:15:50.919 --> 00:15:56.120 And in this randomized program, a tragedy happens and I 256 00:15:56.200 --> 00:16:00.519 cannot save her life, and I have a deathbed scene 257 00:16:01.240 --> 00:16:04.480 with her. And when the writer of that episode, I 258 00:16:04.519 --> 00:16:07.840 believe was Joe Minowski, said, this is the birth of 259 00:16:07.919 --> 00:16:11.840 the doctor's human soul, is what he told me. This 260 00:16:11.919 --> 00:16:16.279 episode because of this tragedy and the depth that that 261 00:16:16.360 --> 00:16:21.399 it opened up feelings that the depth of which he'd 262 00:16:21.440 --> 00:16:28.320 never had before. Gone yes, and they built on that 263 00:16:28.840 --> 00:16:32.039 they wanted. Alex Kurtzen made it very clearly said we 264 00:16:32.159 --> 00:16:35.480 want to see I don't know how he phrased it, 265 00:16:35.519 --> 00:16:38.679 but we want to see a level of emotion that 266 00:16:38.759 --> 00:16:42.240 we have never seen in your character before. 267 00:16:42.720 --> 00:16:45.440 It really worked. I teared up at the end of 268 00:16:45.480 --> 00:16:47.480 that episode. I thought, I thought, both, you know, the 269 00:16:47.480 --> 00:16:50.960 A and the B story were fantastic. Yeah. 270 00:16:51.080 --> 00:16:53.440 Yeah, it was very interesting to use the thorough good 271 00:16:54.360 --> 00:16:59.639 the the play Our Town as a as a sort of, 272 00:16:59.759 --> 00:17:00.120 you know. 273 00:17:00.399 --> 00:17:04.480 Be story, but also a backdrop to the whole story that. 274 00:17:04.440 --> 00:17:07.519 You were going through, and that each one of the 275 00:17:07.519 --> 00:17:12.279 cadets their story was kind of referenced in that play too. 276 00:17:12.920 --> 00:17:16.359 It was some of the cleverest star trek writing i've ever. 277 00:17:17.319 --> 00:17:21.519 I agree, it was very deep. It's an American classic, 278 00:17:21.599 --> 00:17:26.200 that play. Just the notion that a play that the playwright, 279 00:17:26.279 --> 00:17:29.559 even in our moment in time, the playwright is long 280 00:17:29.680 --> 00:17:32.480 dead and the play is still done. It was being 281 00:17:32.519 --> 00:17:35.319 done on Broadway as we were shooting that episode, as 282 00:17:35.319 --> 00:17:39.079 we were about to and to their great credit, Alex 283 00:17:39.160 --> 00:17:41.839 Kurtzman and his company brought all of us to New 284 00:17:41.920 --> 00:17:46.160 York to see Jim Parsons from Big Bang Theory playing 285 00:17:46.240 --> 00:17:49.319 the stage manager and to see that production, and then 286 00:17:49.319 --> 00:17:52.359 we met the cast after, so we were all we 287 00:17:52.480 --> 00:17:55.359 not only you know, re read the play, but we 288 00:17:55.400 --> 00:18:00.319 saw it produced and then as a framing device with 289 00:18:00.519 --> 00:18:04.000 my character being starting out as the stage manager, but 290 00:18:04.079 --> 00:18:08.039 then the stage manager kind of becomes our chancellor Nala 291 00:18:08.160 --> 00:18:10.880 at the end, because the doctor has gone from being 292 00:18:10.920 --> 00:18:16.240 an observer of life to a participant in life by 293 00:18:16.359 --> 00:18:21.920 accepting this challenge, by daring to be a parent and 294 00:18:22.000 --> 00:18:24.240 to be part of the story rather than an observer 295 00:18:24.359 --> 00:18:27.000 of the story. All of that was very I thought, 296 00:18:27.119 --> 00:18:29.400 very smartly rendered. 297 00:18:30.359 --> 00:18:31.160 And the call. 298 00:18:31.319 --> 00:18:34.359 How did you feel about some of the vernacular? 299 00:18:34.759 --> 00:18:35.960 They were so modern and. 300 00:18:37.680 --> 00:18:40.839 Not what we're used to hearing in Star Trek, and 301 00:18:41.400 --> 00:18:43.400 some of it jumped out and smacked me in the face. 302 00:18:44.000 --> 00:18:47.400 What was your feeling generally speaking about that aspect. 303 00:18:47.079 --> 00:18:50.519 Because we are all from the Rick Berman generation of 304 00:18:50.559 --> 00:18:53.799 Star Trek where we spoke in this futuristic you know, 305 00:18:53.960 --> 00:18:57.279 mid galactic speech is what I called it. And in fact, 306 00:18:57.400 --> 00:19:00.400 your show had Hipper. You seem to have hip or 307 00:19:00.440 --> 00:19:03.119 speech on your show than we ever had on Voyage, 308 00:19:03.839 --> 00:19:08.079 So they were kind of moving in that direction, you 309 00:19:08.119 --> 00:19:11.880 know a little bit. But yes, it's a huge difference 310 00:19:11.920 --> 00:19:14.519 from what we're used to. My character had a scripted 311 00:19:14.640 --> 00:19:18.440 you know, said chicken shit in so three or something, 312 00:19:18.480 --> 00:19:24.039 and I literally went ooh, that'll be And obviously none 313 00:19:24.079 --> 00:19:25.920 of us I know you guys well enough to know 314 00:19:25.960 --> 00:19:30.000 that none of us are prudes with language without language 315 00:19:30.000 --> 00:19:32.920 in any way in our regular lives. But because of 316 00:19:32.960 --> 00:19:37.200 that instinct, we had that inner, you know, Star Trek 317 00:19:38.079 --> 00:19:41.680 motor that we were used to speaking a certain way 318 00:19:41.759 --> 00:19:46.519 from that generation of Star Trek that now is totally different. 319 00:19:46.559 --> 00:19:50.240 And it was a decision, obviously a creative decision made 320 00:19:50.680 --> 00:19:56.440 starting in Discovery. It's almost like the universal Translator is 321 00:19:56.480 --> 00:19:59.599 being used on us, the audience. Right, we don't know 322 00:19:59.640 --> 00:20:02.039 how to talking eight hundred years in the future, but 323 00:20:02.160 --> 00:20:06.720 it sounds like this to you now because it's contemporary 324 00:20:06.720 --> 00:20:09.359 speech for eight hundred years in the future. So why 325 00:20:09.359 --> 00:20:13.279 shouldn't it sound contemporary to you watching the show. I mean, 326 00:20:13.400 --> 00:20:15.000 I don't know how you want to justify it, but 327 00:20:15.039 --> 00:20:17.480 the point is it was an adjustment for me some 328 00:20:18.480 --> 00:20:21.279 old school Star Trek fans do not like it. They 329 00:20:21.279 --> 00:20:24.359 don't like the contemporary language. They made that clear to me. 330 00:20:25.000 --> 00:20:27.960 They also, I mean, let's face it, there we're in 331 00:20:28.000 --> 00:20:31.160 a moment in this country, a culture and political moment 332 00:20:31.200 --> 00:20:35.759 that's very different from three years ago when this show 333 00:20:37.359 --> 00:20:43.759 was conceived, right, and I think that it can safely 334 00:20:43.880 --> 00:20:50.359 be said that our show was out of step perhaps 335 00:20:50.519 --> 00:20:56.839 with the cultural and political moment that we are in now. 336 00:20:59.720 --> 00:21:04.559 Start tres core print. Value of diversity has always been 337 00:21:04.559 --> 00:21:11.359 the engine in my opinion, and now with diversity under 338 00:21:11.400 --> 00:21:16.240 attack and the whole notion of DEI having been kind 339 00:21:16.240 --> 00:21:20.640 of slimed, you know, diversity equity inclusion, which was an 340 00:21:20.680 --> 00:21:24.960 important goal and important value. Now it's being used as 341 00:21:25.000 --> 00:21:32.039 an excuse to say, oh, that person didn't deserve their job, 342 00:21:32.240 --> 00:21:35.480 they had an unfair advantage, they took a job away 343 00:21:35.559 --> 00:21:39.359 from this person, all of that stuff, which has nothing 344 00:21:39.440 --> 00:21:43.720 to do with the values of diversity, equity inclusion. It's 345 00:21:43.799 --> 00:21:47.319 like you're just taking a word, and like a word 346 00:21:47.480 --> 00:21:50.839 like woke and turning it into a dirty word. Who 347 00:21:50.920 --> 00:21:53.319 doesn't want to be woke? Who would rather be asleep 348 00:21:53.839 --> 00:21:57.759 during life? I would like to be aware, I would 349 00:21:57.759 --> 00:22:00.279 like to be aware of important values in life. I'd 350 00:22:00.279 --> 00:22:02.759 like to be aware to kindness, I'd like to be 351 00:22:02.799 --> 00:22:06.559 aware of equality. So I think woke is a good thing. 352 00:22:06.640 --> 00:22:09.480 But you can take any word and turn it into. 353 00:22:09.839 --> 00:22:14.200 It's been weaponized and uh and the it's been othered 354 00:22:14.559 --> 00:22:16.599 and and that's a shame. 355 00:22:17.640 --> 00:22:20.200 Well, it happened to be in the nineteen eighties with 356 00:22:20.279 --> 00:22:23.759 the word liberal. Liberal used to be a rule. Is 357 00:22:24.119 --> 00:22:25.440 God's love is liberal? 358 00:22:25.559 --> 00:22:28.359 You know geez, when you actually say that out loud, 359 00:22:28.359 --> 00:22:29.559 it's laughable, isn't it. 360 00:22:29.839 --> 00:22:30.079 Yeah? 361 00:22:31.640 --> 00:22:35.359 Liberal, Yeah, they had to change it to progressive and 362 00:22:35.400 --> 00:22:38.240 now they're now progressive being made in a bad word. 363 00:22:38.240 --> 00:22:44.640 But yes, I think that Star Trek's core values are diversity, equity, inclusion. 364 00:22:44.720 --> 00:22:47.920 When you remove when you surgically remove them, I don't 365 00:22:47.920 --> 00:22:51.680 think it's Star Trek anymore. But that's uh, that's just me. 366 00:22:52.799 --> 00:22:56.720 Hey everyone, Connor Trenier here, Hey guys, Dominate Casing here. 367 00:22:56.839 --> 00:22:58.839 We want to thank you all for tuning into our 368 00:22:58.880 --> 00:23:01.039 Star Trek podcast, the Decon Chamber. 369 00:23:01.200 --> 00:23:03.720 We've officially opened our merch shop and we wanted to 370 00:23:03.759 --> 00:23:05.720 show you some of the T shirts you can get 371 00:23:05.720 --> 00:23:06.359 there right now. 372 00:23:06.680 --> 00:23:10.319 There are many designs, including these two wonderful ones. 373 00:23:10.960 --> 00:23:14.359 I went to Riser and all I got tied up. 374 00:23:14.240 --> 00:23:17.680 In a basement with him. And let me tell you, 375 00:23:17.759 --> 00:23:20.000 this is just the beginning. We've got so much more 376 00:23:20.039 --> 00:23:20.359 to come. 377 00:23:20.559 --> 00:23:22.319 If you want to check them out, head to the 378 00:23:22.400 --> 00:23:25.920 dcon chamber dot com slash shop and if you. 379 00:23:25.880 --> 00:23:29.519 Are a patroon you get a discount on all of 380 00:23:30.079 --> 00:23:32.279 It's a great way to support the show and wrap 381 00:23:32.319 --> 00:23:34.079 the decon Chamber at the same time. 382 00:23:34.400 --> 00:23:35.359 And you no new. 383 00:23:40.240 --> 00:23:40.519 Bob. 384 00:23:40.920 --> 00:23:45.640 Can you speak to the similarities and differences between the 385 00:23:45.759 --> 00:23:51.000 two sets, two shows wherein you played the same character. 386 00:23:51.400 --> 00:23:54.720 What's that? Of course? Well, you know, I thought it 387 00:23:54.759 --> 00:24:00.720 would seem really weird and to go back thirty years 388 00:24:00.799 --> 00:24:06.720 later and in many ways it's completely different. Our magnificent 389 00:24:06.880 --> 00:24:12.920 Atrium set. You could have taken every set of Voyager 390 00:24:13.400 --> 00:24:17.279 and not filled and not filled that one major set 391 00:24:17.319 --> 00:24:23.720 that we had. It was stunning. It was it gave 392 00:24:23.759 --> 00:24:28.119 you sometimes when we were shooting with a steady cam, 393 00:24:28.359 --> 00:24:31.319 you just you couldn't see the light. You felt like 394 00:24:31.359 --> 00:24:34.759 you really were in that world. It wasn't. And of 395 00:24:34.759 --> 00:24:37.839 course all of the things we used to do shooting 396 00:24:37.880 --> 00:24:40.200 in front of green screen, never seeing what we were 397 00:24:40.240 --> 00:24:43.000 actually looking at whether it was a planet surface or 398 00:24:43.039 --> 00:24:45.720 a giant monster. We all, you know, I remember when 399 00:24:45.720 --> 00:24:48.240 I'm in a Voyager episode when I'm supposed to be 400 00:24:48.319 --> 00:24:54.799 fighting this evil creature. The visual effects guy said, I said, 401 00:24:54.799 --> 00:24:56.200