Whoopi Goldberg Wants In To Abrams Trek + New Sci-Fi Web Series Online

In the last week Whoopi Goldberg (Star Trek The Next Generation’s Guinan) premiered Stream, a new sci-fi web series on FEARnet. Goldberg has been doing press for the new show and our friends and fellow Trek geeks at UGO got Goldberg talking about JJ Abrams new take on Trek, and she is all for it…so much so she wants in.

Goldberg: put me in JJ
Excerpt from UGO’s interview with Goldberg:

UGO: We’re all really big Trek nerds here, and we wanted to here your thoughts on the new movie.

Whoopi: I can’t wait. I’m like, “Let’s Go!” I’m ready to see it. It’s JJ. Anything JJ Abrams does, I’m ready to watch.

UGO: You’re ready to watch, but we don’t know how old the El-Aurian race is. Do you think there could be a Guinan sighting in any new movies?

Whoopi: If I could convince him…And we know that she’s if not older than Q, she’s as old as Q. So we do know that she’s quite old. And she’s been traveling around. She’s been around. And because I believe in my heart that Picard is one of her great-great-great-great-great-great-grandchildren. So, you know, I know we’re not starting with Picard, but maybe she’ll show up with Spock.
more at UGO

We do know that Guinan is very very old. Before her time aboard the USS Enterprise D in the 24th century, Guinan was on Earth in the late nineteenth century (TNG "Time’s Arrow") and was seen on the Enterprise B in the 23rd century as a refugee escaping the Borg ("Star Trek Generations"). Like Spock, Guinan could possibly appear in the post Nemesis era, or the pre-TOS era. As the film is in the can, it is far too late to work her in to JJ Abrams 2009 Star Trek movie, but there are always possible sequels.


Goldberg as Guinan in "Times Arrow, Part 2"

Goldberg’s Stream Online now
Stream, the new six-part web series on FEARnet, chronicles the struggles of a woman who spends her lifetime wrestling with her personal demons and trying to gather the strength to face her first fears. Whoopi Goldberg, who is also the producer for the show, stars Jodi Quinn. Thanks to a drug she took when she was seventeen, moments from various points in Jodi’s life become intertwined, effectively letting her experience two moments at once.


Goldberg in ‘Stream’ on FEARnet

Stream snaps back and forth through three phases of Jodi’s life: her past as an intelligent but headstrong teen; her present in a psychiatric facility, and her future as an adult clinging to a normal life after years of tribulation. The story unfolds in and around New York City, as viewers travel with Jodi from the wealthy suburban home of her youth to the nebulous world of an institution, and the unforgiving streets of the South Bronx as she confronts the traumatic, fearful images and demons that have tortured her throughout her life. More info on the show and cast can be found at the official site.

The first five minute webisode of Stream is available online now at FEARnet.com (USA Only) and also available On Demand with most cable networks. New installments will be made available over the next five Thursdays.

Here is a trailer for Stream.

 

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we want whoopi!! well i do anyway! star trek XII :)

1,
Agreed! I love Whoopi. Having her back in Trek would be great. And even better, no one can argue canon! It also wouldn’t have to involve time travel since she’s….. very very old.

Well, she was around in Sam Clemens time, so she could concievably show up.

GAH!!! I’m sorry, but Guinan drove me up the proverbial wall. The sanctimonius, mysterious, wise, old sage bit grew increasingly tiresome with each appearance. I know she’s likable and all, and Guinan has her fans, but I found her even more grating than Wesley Crusher.

I wouldn’t begrudge her appearance, and think that she’s a good actress, but I was never big on the Guinan character. Of course, she’s so recognizable, it would be insane to cast her as anything but Guinan.

So I guess I fall into the “if so, great, if not, no big deal for me” category. Like I said, she’s a good actress, so if it worked out either way, cool.

MORE grating than wesley crusher, lol wow u must really dislike Guinan, coz i know how i felt about wesley crusher, grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr :P

Ah, Wesley is one character I can live without.

I love Whoopi, so I’d be perfectly happy seeing her!

Go away Whoopi.

If they couldn’t put Shatner in, you ain’t gettin’ in.

Yeah we need sum1 who can actually act apart from NImoy Urban and Bana in this abomination of Star Trek.

WHOOPI!!!!!

Heck with the Shat.

(Ooooh……)

Guinana was one of the only characters that Really appealed to me each tme we saw her. I’d love to see her again.

#10

“Abomination”?!?!?!

Why do you read these articles, then, if you’re not interested?

“she’s as old as Q”

NO

WRONG

FAIL

There is not too much known about El-Aurian race… A lot of mystery with them… Why not?

Whoopi actually drives me nuts as a person… but I looooove Guinan, and I think Ms. Goldberg did a *fantastic* portrayal of her. It would be marvelous to see her back in Trek again.

#10 – That was unnecessary (and without merit.)

#14

How is it fail? We don’t know a whole hell of a lot about the El Aurians to make one determination or another. She’s been around for atleast 400 years.

Q (John de Lancie) has been a member of the Q Continuum for quite some time as well, however we do not know when he became a member of the continuum. TNG showed that not all members of the continuum are born in the continuum, and that they join the continuum in their adolescent years. Q and Guinan have some history between them which has never been explored in any episodes, apart from Guinans obvious hatred toward him during his brief period as a flesh and blood human.

Would love to see both Ms Goldberg and Mr de Lancie to appear in a future Star Trek movie, regardless of what era its set in. As a Q, he could appear in any time period, posing as a human, albeit likely with an assumed name, such as the suicidal Q, Quinn.

I’d love to see her in a future film — while she is certainly significant for Trek fans, she would also work, I suspect, for new movie-goers as the Enigma, the spectator from outside of time and the human scale of universe. If used correctly, she’d lend both gravity and a sense of wilderness to Trek’s cosmos.

I doubt we’ll see her, but it would be fun. I hope Goldberg enjoys the film!

#2

At this point to argue about canon is a waste of time. It’s screwed and the result of it is dumb. Thanks Abrams.

A Guinan cameo would be great in Trek 12 so long as shes in the background (like the ETs in the senate in Episode 1) …but please no hanging out with Spock.

No more TNG characters- TNG is obsolete and over with. Heck, if I was Abrams I would make TNG (and ENT) nothing more than a bad dream!

First of all, I love Star Trek.

However, one of the things that bothers me to no end about the universe of Star Trek as presented by the movies and books especially is how they all have to feature crossover characters from other incarnations. I realize that writers and producers love to try to squeeze in all the characters they can, and it’s gonna be absolutely GREAT to see Mr. Nimoy on the screen again, but c’mon! A cameo for cameo’s sake is not great storytelling, which is one reason most of us has come to accept William Shatner’s absence from the upcoming film.

That’s my two cents, anyhoo.

Of all the characters to cameo why would it be Guinan? I’d rather see a much more substantial character like Picard or Riker.

I’d love to see Whoopie in a future prequel sequel.

Very interesting…. Between the 19st and 24th centuries, where was she? Back on El-Auria, or still – for the time being – on Earth during the “rebirth” after World War Three…? Did she become enthralled at our world’s population’s powerful drive to overcome their past [such as electing Barak Obama as the 44th Pres. of the USA, and other encouraging events] and begin a new life here? Did she ever meet anyone such as Z. Cochran or Lily Sloane — or, 100 years later, Jonathan Archer and the NX-01 crew? What about Shran? T’Pau of Vulcan?

Guinan DID eventually (IN THE NOVELIZATION, at least) meet Scotty [in “Relics”], after the ENT-D crew rescued him from the crashed Janolan’s jury-rigged transporter loop – which, evidently, he thought of after remembering that ADMIRAL Archer’s dog was caught in a transporter loop not long before (according to what we’ve heard will be in ST-XI) he first met James T. Kirk on that ice planet….

So, where was Guinan during all those hundreds of years? Not just tending bar, that’s for sure. ‘Too boring in such a tremendously transitional time for Earth. Perhaps she had far more extensive admiration for Mankind than we have heard so far. And besides that, she obviously wanted to stick around to, eventually as she knew would occur centuries later, meet Picard.

A [potential] canon reference on the Memory Alpha website, within Star Trek: Enterprise’s “The Would-Be Season Five” text, is a back-story reference about her time on Earth in Archer’s time – even though that hasn’t yet been filmed. But it’s right there on what is considered, by many, to be canon. (Or is it? Bob and Alex apparently have thought so, if any of what they have been saying about their referencing that website during the writing of ST-XI was taking place is true. I choose to trust their judgement on that topic.)

Did Guinan ever meet everyone’s favorite Andorian, Shran? Or Spock’s grandfather, Skon? Did she introduce Amanda Greyson to Sarek? (Doubtful, but an interesting notion.) Or George Kirk to Winona? (Again, doubtful.) What about Robert April? Christopher Pike? ‘Lots of possibilities there for Guinan’s inclusion in Star Trek-XII and ST-XIII, aren’t there? All it takes is imagination, and cross-referencing back-story for ideas that lend to the stories that will be crafted for the next two films.

Character crossover appearances from show to show, as well as across multiple eras, have occured in Star Trek’s multi-century eras: McCoy, Spock, and Scotty on TNG – and Kirk at the end of the 7th movie …. and other characters appearing on multiple episodes of TOS, TNG, DS9 and VOY – each, with a nod to viewer-continuity, portrayed by the same actors! (And then there’s that potential [Season Five] ENT 2-parter with Guinan.)

To quote Spock, “THERE ARE ALWAYS POSSIBILITIES.” I tend to believe that writers Bob and Alex would agree, and so I must say that I HOPE we will see Guinan in either or both sequels to ST-XI.

I love Whoopie! She could totally pull off a cameo in the new movies…

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Please… flames on the Enterprise… a K/S subtext….Gary Coleman as Spock… a Barry Manilow theme song…. I would put up with anything in the new movie…ANYTHING… ANYTHING but WHOOPI GOLDBERG!!!!

Guinan was the most contrived obnoxious deus ex machina ever foisted on Trek! No more metaphysical spiritual crap in Trek!!!

dare we mention the nexus in this thread

I think it’s really awesome whenever they can tie the old with the new! Why not? I think it would be very cool!

#29

Noooo, we won’t – arrrgh – big, ugly CGI-thingamabob having “plot device” written all over it… words can’t tell how much I despise “GENERATIONS” …

#28

I would even put up with a souped up dance version of “Faith of the Heart” (Enterprise Theme)

Whoopi was one of the truly great characters in Next Gen, I would welcome her in any Star Trek.

29/31 – i kinda liked Generations….ok its not the best Trek film by any means and something like Yesterdays Enterprise wouldve made a much better cross over movie but its certainly not the worst film of the 10..MacDowell is always good and this was no exception – all the Picard/Soran scenes were great, The Ent B opening while abit silly with the inept captain was good fun as was the destruction of the Ent D…and who can forget the big screen debut of Spot acting his little pads off (even if people in the audience i saw it kept wondering why Datas cat was called Spock)

I also particulaly liked the concept of the nexus and the FX…i just didnt like the end…pretty much from when echo Guinan shows up in the Picards Xmas bit…everything from then on including the anticipated Picard Kirk meeting and the 3 way fight wasnt too good…and it seems no one likes Kirks death

Guinan and Star Trek go way beyond anyone’s understanding. Beyond friendship, beyond family. I would Love to see Guinan make an appearance. Great Job in TNG, and subsequently in Generations in ’94. I was glad she made an appearance in Nemesis, and besides she’s got 23 marriages under her belt at that time, so there’s gotta be more to tell about her. – besides there are secrets about Data and Picard she’s got from the 19th century too.

In Yesterdays Enterprise Guinan was the only one who could sense a change in the time stream. Wouldn’t it be cool if she showed up in Trek XI and sensed the change here as well.

28 – I find that I must side with you.

While Ms. Goldberg is a talented actress and comedienne, she, like many other celebrities, reached a media saturation point — at least in my book. I can’t say as I need to see her again in Trek, but it certainly appears that there are a number of posts in this thread that point to the contrary. To each their own, but to me Guinan was never a very appealing character.

I would love to see her in a sequel! Please at least think about it :D I would love to see Guinan again in Star Trek :)

Putting Ms. Goldberg in another Star Trek film would not be wise. She’s not mainstream enough now, nor is she likely to be in the future. Putting her in would cause unnecessary confusion in the young movie goer. Let the new crew stretch in the next.

Would not be surprised if an alternate timeline can explain why Guinan was on 19th century Earth and yet on an El Aurian ship in the late 23rd century. And Star Trek 12 might explain that inconsistency.

With how many times we have seen the characters enjoying an adult drink over the past 40 + years of Star Trek to date , I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if NCC-1701 we’re to stop at starbase or space station between missions and they head to the staion/base’s bar and find Guinan serving up Chatuea (sp?) Picard and a bit of wisdom here and there . Even if she didn’t have a major part in the film . Just pours a drink says something that may sound a little vauge to the TOS crewmembers but we the audiance know exactly what she’s talking about .

It would be IMHO an awesome nod to continuity .

#40 If we can figure out why Guinan was on Earth in the lat 20th and early 21st century masquerading as Caryn Johnson, that would be good to know, too. ;)

Guinan was the better addition to the TNG season 2. Lest we forget the other addition, Dr. Pulaski. If anything, Guinan’s presence was validated by her importance in Yesterday’s Enterprise. Canonically, there are many possibilities. She might have a daughter named Nyota, for example.

Another thought: Guinan’s function in YE could be used again in Star Trek XII. Guinan (to Kirk and Spock): “Something’s not quite right about you two, but I think it will still turn out okay.” Kirk: “What.do.you.mean?” Spock: “I assure you, madam, that nothing has ever been quite right about the two of us.” Or something like that. It would be the perfect cameo.

Whoopi ROCKS! :)

Oh for the love of God no!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I love Whoopi but…………….NO.

Wow, never realized there was such a big divide between Guinan fans and haters. Seems just a vicious as the TOS/TNG rivalry. Id love to see her have a spot in the movie, but yeah, didnt happen, but I think it could have without damaging the story unlike having the Shatner in there. Maybe she’ll be in the next one, though Im still against another prequel and wish they’d move forward already with Star Trek.

Bring Guinan in, that would be awesome, and make sure she has a new hat every few minutes.

I think she was one of the best characters on TNG, I know how grating Wesley was and Guinan was one of the best, not worse than Wesley, infact the only person I couldnt stand more than Wesley was Troi.

Not interested- she had her time at bat already… bring on the new faces please.

#9: “Go away Whoopi.

If they couldn’t put Shatner in, you ain’t gettin’ in.”

Fortunately, you don’t get the deciding vote.

And Goldberg is probably more reasonable to negotiate and work with than Shatner, which gives her an advantage.

Sure, put Guinan in the next one. No problem. And let Shatner focus on his talk show.

Guinan was more of a Mary Sue than Wesley.