And oh, for McCoy… I totally agree that Gary Sinise would have been PERFECT… if only he could pass for 30! (which I very much doubt…!) Well… nothing can be perfect, heh?

Perfect; I can read you, NotBob – Hailing frequencies open!

The line should read:
Also, I completely agree with you in that it was a big move to NOT only have a woman on the bridge on a sci-fi show of the 1960’s, but a black woman who has some authority.

I was only joking. I joke a lot. It’s kind of like someone–I forgot who–once said Sulu drove the ship and Checkov gave the directions.

All kidding aside, I looked up Chief Communications Officer on Memory-Alpha.org, the Star Trek Wikipedia site. It said:

“Comms officer is responsible for managing all incoming transmissions”

Translation: They operate the communications devices. To put it colloquially, they answer the phone.

It’s okay. It’s a required job. For example, the military has jobs that are necessary MOS (Military Operation Specialty) that are not exactly glamorous or adventurous. Or Dangerous, for that matter.

Also, I completely agree with you in that it was a big move to not only have a woman on the bridge on a sci-fi show of the 1960’s but a black woman. It probably did a lot for opening up viewer’s minds. And certainly, Nichelle Nichols, as well as Gene Roddenberry and the show’s writers deserve a lot of credit for this. There were a few times the character went on missions. And there was the first interracial kiss. But I feel that that credit should go to Nichelle Nichols, Roddenberry, the writers involved Bill Shatner and all involved in airing it in the 1960’s. Not so much to the character.

With that said, it’s 2007. And the film will show fictional characters in 22-65-2270 timeframe. I expect that the writers and director can now have her do more, i.e. play a bigger part of the adventure. Based on Abram’s comments I assume that will be the case.

And that’s one to grow on.

I was definitely thinking Holloway with a haircut. Plus, there’s something about his intensity that to me just seems right for the part.

Too bad Billy Bob ain’t about 20 years younger, though! He’d be great too.

Peace. Live long and prosper.
The Vulcanista }:-|

She was the communication’s officer, that’s not only “answering the ship’s phone”. I think there was more to her than meets the eye but it could not be shown to full extent because, man, that was the 60s. Star Trek did a lot for women’s lib (black woman on bridge etc.), but they had to draw the line somewhere. In this context, Star Trek XI will be able to proceed from where TOS had to stop.