Rick Berman Caught Flies for John Lennon and Talked Gene Roddenberry Into Casting Patrick Stewart
Rick Berman says there were three strikes against the job: it was science fiction at a time when nobody made science fiction for television, it was a sequel, and it was going out in syndication instead of on a network. He and his wife Liz talked it over and, by his own count, it took about six…
Two moments from this episode
Groucho and the Jell-O mold
Rick Berman worked sound on a promotional film shot at Groucho Marx's house, and one evening a small group sat down to dinner together. Groucho, quite old by then, was eating a Jell-O mold that kept sliding off his spoon, and the woman beside Rick offered him a fork.
“And he just looked at her and said, your place or mine.”
Whoever says it first wins
At the first cast read-through of the pilot, Patrick Stewart said the name of Brent's character one way and Brent had been saying it another. Brent stopped and asked Gene Roddenberry which was correct, and Gene's answer became the rule for the whole series.
“And he said, well, whoever says it first, that's what it's called.”
Names dropped in this episode
92 names come up in this episode, in the order they are mentioned. Tap a timestamp to jump straight to that moment.
William Campbell
0:57American actor Wikipedia ↗
Gene Roddenberry
0:57Eugene "Gene" Wesley Roddenberry Sr. was an American television screenwriter and producer who created… Wikipedia ↗
Corey Allen
1:26American film and television director, writer, producer, and actor Wikipedia ↗
Mel Brooks
4:48Comedy legend, producer and star of To Be or Not to Be Wikipedia ↗
Photo: Angela George · CC BY-SA 3.0
Patrick Stewart
5:17Captain Picard on Star Trek: The Next Generation Wikipedia ↗
Photo: Gage Skidmore · CC BY-SA 3.0
Mel Harris
5:45American actress best known for her role as Hope Murdoch Steadman in the ABC drama series… Wikipedia ↗
Photo: thepaparazzigamer · CC BY 3.0
Harold Lloyd
7:16American actor, comedian, and stunt performer who appeared in many silent comedy films Wikipedia ↗
Stephen Macht
10:05American retired actor, rabbi, and professor Wikipedia ↗
Loudon Wainwright III
11:06American singer-songwriter and occasional actor Wikipedia ↗
Photo: Carl Lender · CC BY-SA 3.0
John Knoll
12:35American visual effects supervisor and chief creative officer at Industrial Light & Magic Wikipedia ↗
Photo: Star Wars · CC BY 2.0
Avery Brooks
15:22American actor, director, singer, narrator and educator Wikipedia ↗
Photo: X-PRIZE · CC BY 2.0
Armin Shimerman
15:22American actor who played Quark the Ferengi in the Star Trek franchise, appearing as the character in… Wikipedia ↗
Photo: John Manard · CC BY-SA 4.0
René Auberjonois
15:22René Marie Murat Auberjonois was an American actor Wikipedia ↗
Photo: Rene-Auberjonois-by-kyle-cassidy-DSC_8245.jpg: · CC BY-SA 3.0
Whoopi Goldberg
15:52Caryn Elaine Johnson , known professionally as Whoopi Goldberg , is an American actor, comedian… Wikipedia ↗
Photo: PhilipRomano · CC BY-SA 4.0
Wil Wheaton
17:21Richard William "Wil" Wheaton III is an American actor and writer Wikipedia ↗
Photo: Kevin Paul · CC BY 4.0
Michael Piller
18:17Star Trek: The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine writer-producer Wikipedia ↗
Brannon Braga
18:17American television producer, director and screenwriter Wikipedia ↗
Photo: Gage Skidmore · CC BY-SA 2.0
Manny Coto
18:47Cuban-born American screenwriter, television and film director, and producer on various films and… Wikipedia ↗
Photo: Gage Skidmore · CC BY-SA 2.0
Ira Steven Behr
19:44American screenwriter and television producer, best known for his work on Star Trek, especially Star… Wikipedia ↗
Photo: Gudlyf · CC BY 2.0
Kerry McCluggage
19:44American television and film production executive who developed and produced TV series like Miami… Wikipedia ↗
Photo: Eagledj · CC BY-SA 4.0
Lenny Bruce
21:34Leonard Alfred Schneider , better known by his stage name Lenny Bruce, was an American stand-up… Wikipedia ↗
Willie Mays
22:39Willie Howard Mays Jr. , nicknamed "the Say Hey Kid", was an American professional baseball center… Wikipedia ↗
Babe Ruth
23:09George Herman "Babe" Ruth was an American professional baseball player whose career in Major League… Wikipedia ↗
Eleanor Roosevelt
23:09American political figure, diplomat, and activist Wikipedia ↗
Photo: FDR Presidential Library & Museum · CC BY 2.0
George Gershwin
23:39American composer and pianist whose compositions spanned jazz, popular and classical music Wikipedia ↗
Elizabeth Taylor
25:13British and American actress Wikipedia ↗
Carol Grace
25:13American actress and author Wikipedia ↗
Walter Matthau
25:42American actor, known for his "hangdog face" and for playing world-weary characters Wikipedia ↗
Lucy Saroyan
25:42American actress and photographer Wikipedia ↗
William Saroyan
25:42American novelist, playwright, and short story writer of Armenian descent Wikipedia ↗
Richard Burton
25:42Welsh actor Wikipedia ↗
Naren Shankar
30:06Narendra Kanakaiah "Naren" Shankar is an American writer, producer and director of several television… Wikipedia ↗
Photo: Gage Skidmore · CC BY-SA 3.0
René Echevarria
30:37René Echevarria is an American screenwriter and producer Wikipedia ↗
Photo: Gage Skidmore · CC BY-SA 3.0
Michael Dorn
33:28American actor best known for his role as the Klingon character Worf in the Star Trek franchise… Wikipedia ↗
Photo: Super Festivals · CC BY 2.0
David Livingston
34:30American politician and a Republican member of the Arizona House of Representatives representing… Wikipedia ↗
Photo: Gage Skidmore · CC BY-SA 3.0
Jerry Goldsmith
39:20American composer, conductor and orchestrator with a career in film and television scoring that… Wikipedia ↗
Photo: fuxoft · CC BY-SA 2.0
Colin Powell
39:20Colin Luther Powell April 5, 1937 – October 18, 2021) was an American U.S. Army general, diplomat, and… Wikipedia ↗
Bryan Fuller
42:08American writer, TV producer, and film director, best known for creating the television series Pushing… Wikipedia ↗
Photo: Gage Skidmore · CC BY-SA 2.0
Abraham Lincoln
46:0016th president of the United States, from 1861 until his assassination in 1865 Wikipedia ↗
Irving Berlin
52:05Russian-born American songwriter and composer Wikipedia ↗
Noah Wyle
54:00American actor, television director, producer and writer Wikipedia ↗
Photo: Kevin Paul · CC BY 4.0
LeVar Burton
54:26Geordi La Forge on Star Trek: The Next Generation and host of Reading Rainbow Wikipedia ↗
Photo: Super Festivals · CC BY 2.0
Isa Briones
54:51American actor and singer, born in London and raised in Los Angeles Wikipedia ↗
Photo: PhilipRomano · CC BY-SA 4.0
Connie Francis
55:18Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero , known professionally as Connie Francis, was an American singer and… Wikipedia ↗
Bobby Darin
55:18Walden Robert Cassotto , known by the stage name Bobby Darin, was an American singer, songwriter, and… Wikipedia ↗
Groucho Marx
55:18Julius Henry "Groucho" Marx was an American comedian, actor, comic vocalist and game show host who… Wikipedia ↗
Bud Cort
56:16Walter Edward Cox , known professionally as Bud Cort, was an American actor, known for his unorthodox… Wikipedia ↗
Photo: Unknown author · CC BY-SA 2.0
Adam West
56:16William West Anderson , known professionally as Adam West, was an American actor Wikipedia ↗
Zeppo Marx
56:16Herbert Manfred "Zeppo" Marx was an American comedic actor and businessman Wikipedia ↗
John Lennon
58:13English musician, songwriter and activist Wikipedia ↗
Yoko Ono
58:13Japanese retired artist, musician, and peace activist Wikipedia ↗
Photo: Secretaría de Cultura de la Ciudad de México · CC BY-SA 2.0
Sean Lennon
61:12Sean Tarō Ono Lennon is a British and American musician Wikipedia ↗
Photo: Pablo029 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Lainie Kazan
63:56American actress, singer and classical composer Wikipedia ↗
Photo: John B. Mueller · CC BY 2.5
Anne Bancroft
63:56Oscar winner and Mel Brooks' wife Wikipedia ↗
Duke Ellington
64:26Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous… Wikipedia ↗
Christy Mathewson
64:26Christopher Mathewson , nicknamed "Big Six," "the Christian Gentleman," "Matty," and "the Gentleman's… Wikipedia ↗
Isabella Rossellini
64:52Italian and American actress and model Wikipedia ↗
Photo: Kalai Ramu · CC BY-SA 4.0
Ed Wynn
65:22Isaiah Edwin Leopold , better known as Ed Wynn, was an American actor and comedian Wikipedia ↗
Marlon Brando
66:17American actor Wikipedia ↗
Sherry Lansing
66:17Former Paramount Pictures studio chief Wikipedia ↗
Photo: John Mathew Smith & www.celebrity-photos.com · CC BY-SA 2.0
Dwight Schultz
67:40Actor, Murdock on The A-Team and Barclay on Star Trek Wikipedia ↗
Photo: evil_cotton · CC BY 2.0
Patrick Swayze
68:11American actor, singer-songwriter and dancer Wikipedia ↗
Photo: Alan Light · CC BY 2.0
Paul Newman
69:37American actor, filmmaker, racecar driver, philanthropist, and entrepreneur Wikipedia ↗
Glenn Close
70:00Acclaimed actress of Fatal Attraction and Jagged Edge Wikipedia ↗
Photo: Max Surprenant · CC BY 4.0
Howard Hughes
73:00American aviator, aerospace engineer, business magnate, film producer, and investor Wikipedia ↗
Gregory Peck
73:59American actor Wikipedia ↗
Rod Steiger
75:00American actor, noted for his portrayal of offbeat, often volatile and crazed characters Wikipedia ↗
Kirk Douglas
75:00American actor and filmmaker Wikipedia ↗
Meryl Streep
78:22Mary Louise "Meryl" Streep is an American actress Wikipedia ↗
Photo: Ministry of culture, sports and Tourism- Lee J · CC BY-SA 4.0
Sarah Jessica Parker
78:22American actress and television producer Wikipedia ↗
Photo: PhilipRomano · CC BY-SA 4.0
Jack Palance
79:22American actor Wikipedia ↗
Jack Black
79:52Thomas Jacob "Jack" Black is an American actor, comedian, and musician Wikipedia ↗
Photo: Raph_PH · CC BY 2.0
Terry Matalas
82:23American television writer, director, and executive producer, best known for co-creating and… Wikipedia ↗
Photo: Kevin Paul · CC BY 4.0
Ronald D. Moore
American screenwriter and television producer Wikipedia ↗
Photo: Rosiestep · CC BY-SA 4.0
Photographs from Wikimedia Commons.
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