FedCon Day 2: Bakula On Star Trek 2009 & Promised Enterprise Movies + Sirits On Crashing Enterprise(s) + Robbie McNeill, Paul McGillion & Richard Dean Anderson

Friday was epic at FedCon XX with Scott Bakula talking about JJ Abrams Star Trek and promised Enterprise movies, Marina Sirtis explaining crashing the two USS Enterprises, Paul McGillion lobbying for return to Star Trek, Robert Duncan McNeill and Garrett Wang bantering and Richard Dean Anderson talking about hopes of a collaboration with Jonathan Frakes. Dive in for all the details below. 

 

FEDCON XX – DAY 2 (Friday)

Welcome back to FedCon: Day 2 at Hotel Maritim Düsseldorf in Germany!

Scott Bakula talks Star Trek 2009 & promised ‘Enterprise’ movies

The Star Trek headliner for Friday was Star Trek Enterprise’s
Scott Bakula, who took the stage to a very warm reception tonight, and MC Garrett Wang immediately asked if he would do a bit of singing for the crowd. He promised that he would sing before the night was over, and did in fact deliver by singing a bit of “Volare,” “Imagine” by John Lennon, and even a bit of the Star Trek: Enterprise theme song.


Scott Bakula takes the stage

Scott also talked about his recent trip to Australia with William Shatner.

"He is somethin’ else!” said Bakula, “Regardless of chronology, he was the first captain. He was my first captain.”

When an audience member noted the nod to Captain Archer in the JJ Abrams Star Trek, Bakula said,

“I’m not anticipating a role in the next Star Trek movie. I was shocked that Archer was even mentioned in the last one!”

In fact, says Scott, he didn’t know that Archer or Porthos were referenced in the film until he was watching it in theaters. On the future of Enterprise in movies, he said:

"We [Enterprise] were going to be the next movie franchise. Going in that’s what we were told.”

But, he says that due to the changes that happened in Hollywood and with the show, he was not anticipating any Enterprise movies.

Bakula did a double take once or twice when Enterprise-themed costumed fans stepped up to the mic to ask him a question. “I keep seeing people in our uniforms!” he said. “And, I keep thinking someone is coming from engineering to ask me a question.” All in all, Scott Bakula brought down the house as usual and put on a great show for his fans. I leave you with a great quote from tonight: “Star Trek crosses all borders, it crosses all history, it crosses all races,” said Bakula, truly embracing IDIC.

Paul McGillion on Star Trek Scotty Audition – Ready to return for Star Trek sequel

Paul McGillion, best known for his portrayal of Dr. Carson Beckett on Stargate: Atlantis, took the stage Friday evening donning a cast & crew tee shirt from JJ Abrams Star Trek. The observant sci-fi fan would know that McGillion in fact had a small role in the new movie as the barracks leader at Starfleet Command. He told us tonight that he originally read for the part of Scotty, but was delighted to get something small when he didn’t get that part. “JJ Abrams is brilliant and a class act,” said McGillion. Of course, he would "love to be back" for the 2012 Star Trek sequel.


McGillion (sporting Star Trek shirt) says he is ready for the sequel

Paul also took a lot of questions about Stargate, speaking about his characters’ relationships and funny moments in the show. “The best part about Carson is the humanity that he has. The worst part was kissing [co-star] David Hewlett.” says McGillion. “His lips are like sandpaper.”


McGillion talks about Stargate

Robert Duncan McNeill’s Voyager banter with Garrett Wang + Chucki

Star Trek Voyager’s Robbie McNeill, whose last visit to FedCon was nine years ago, was introduced on stage by his Voyager co-star (and FedCon MC) Garrett Wang. Their banter on the toss (and throughout the panel when Garrett continued to barge onto the stage offering his take on an anecdote that Robbie was telling) made it obvious to everyone that the deep friendship they created on Voyager is still strong today. When asked about Paris’s relationship with Harry Kim on the show, McNeill said, “The relationship with Kim made [Paris] feel responsible; made him grow up. I think that relationship was very important for Tom to grow up and mature.” McNeill noted that Paris was one character that changed and grew dramatically during Voyager’s seven-year run. He described young Paris as a rebel and a troublemaker, but noted

“[Paris] came so far. The journey from the beginning of Voyager was a huge change.”


Garrett Wang introduces Robbie McNeill


McNeill talked a lot, of course, about his current work as the producer and director on NBC’s Chuck, which is currently “on the bubble” meaning that everyone is still waiting to hear whether NBC will renew the show for a fifth season. “Chuck is on the bubble every year,” said McNeill. “We’re close to 100 episodes, which is a milestone.” Robbie suggested that, if Chuck doesn’t get renewed, he hopes they can find a way to make the episodes anyways and sell it directly on the internet. “That seems to be the modern way to distribute shows.”

On the fan campaign to save Chuck after it looked like it may not get renewed at the end of the third season, “Yes, thank you! All of you fans made that happen.” McNeill talked about new ways that they have used corporate sponsorship to help fund the show, and noted that it’s the fans that really make that strategy work. “The fans of Chuck are loyal to Chuck and they’re loyal to the companies that support it,” said McNeill, speaking specifically of the partnership between the show and Subway. As far as Season 5 goes, McNeill says they won’t now whether the show will be renewed until mid-late May.


Robbie gave out a Chuck tee shirt, “The real nerd herd”


Robbie talks about Trek and Chuck

Marina Sirtis, Deanna Troi (TNG)
As the self-appointed “Queen of Conventions”, Marina Sirtis is no stranger to the convention stage. As usual, she came dancing onto the stage and delighted the audience with anecdotes about Star Trek and about her life. Plus, she took lots of questions from convention goers. She did retell the story of the worst question she ever received at a convention, which was “Why is it that all the guest star aliens on Star Trek were humanoid in shape?” To which Sirtis had answered, “When we start auditioning actors that aren’t humanoid in shape, that will change.”


Marina takes the stage

Marina talked a lot about her relationships with various cast members of Star Trek, including Patrick Stewart who she recently accompanied to the SAG awards. “[Patrick Stewart] thanked me for coming,” said Sirtis, “He said ‘I would have gotten drunk in a corner without you there’.” She poked fun at Stewart a bit throughout the panel, saying “[The cast’s] favorite thing to do when we’re with Patrick is make fun of Patrick.”


Marina introduces her family who travelled to FedCon from Greece

Of course, Marina was chided as she often is at conventions for crashing the Enterprise not once, but twice as Deanna Troi. On crashing the ship in Star Trek: Generations she said, “That planet just came out of nowhere!”. And, as for Nemesis

“Old Baldy ordered me to crash the ship. And, don’t you dare tell him that I called him Old Baldy!”

She closed the evening by thanking the fans for their dedication to the show. “[Star Trek] was one of the biggest things in my life. I feel very blessed to have been on that show. You guys are the most loyal fans in the history of show business. Everything I have I owe to you… Thank you!”

Richard Dean Anderson on Stargate, MacGyver & Frakes partnership?

Richard Dean Anderson took the stage to thunderous applause. The iconic MacGyver and Colonel Jack O’Neill (two l’s!) from Stargate: SG-1 was a big name at FedConXX, and he spoke to a full house. To honor his work, all of the fans at FedCon dressed in Stargate uniforms took the stage. No official count was made, but from the looks of it the number was in the 100s. A General Hammond look alike even presented Anderson with a SGC-Deutschland patch and mug. It was quite moving to see all of these people whose lives have been affected by a sci-fi show thanking the man that is the representation of that show. Although he was the original leader of SG-1, RDA left the cast after seven seasons. He said it took him a couple of years to really miss the show, and said that salvaging his relationship with his daughter was his reason for leaving Stargate.


RDA poses with 100s of Stargate fans


General Hammond look alike presents RDA with SGC-Deutschland patch

When asked what was the bigger influence on his life, MacGyver or Stargate, RDA instantly replied, “MacGyver wins.” Anderson says that his time during MacGyver was an incredible learning experience for him, and that it is what gave him the know-how to produce a show like Stargate: SG-1.

Anderson then suggested an interesting partnership with a Star Trek veteran:

“You know what I’d love to do?” asked RDA, “A very dear friend of mine is Jonathan Frakes. You know what would be really nice? If [Frakes] and I did some sort of a sci-fi show. It would be a lot of fun!” Anderson noted that Frakes could direct in this dream project of his. “I doubt that anything would ever happen, though. I’m too lazy. But, If we did some project together it would be really nice. Us on a spaceship somewhere, perhaps in cowboy boots.”


Richard Dean Anderson wants to do a sci-fi show with Star Trek’s Jonathan Frakes

Carel Struycken talks Mr. Homm

Friday kicked off with Carel Struycken who played Mr. Homm, Lwaxana Troi’s assistant on Star Trek: The Next Generation. He talked about what a pleasure it was to work with the wonderful Majel Barrett Roddenberry. "In a way, she was very much liker her part in Star Trek," says Struycken. "She always gave very large parties at least three times a year!"


Mr. Homm takes questions

Struycken noted that, because he was only on the set of TNG one week per year, he was in a unique position to observe how relationships between cast members grew and changed over the years. “At the end it must have been very hard for the director,” remarked Struycken, “It was like a school outing. Everyone was playing practical jokes on each other all the time!”

More FedCon XX at TrekMovie

TrekMovie is at FedCon all weekend. Stay tuned for more reports.

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You are getting your trek fix arent’ ya?

I don’t know if its the lighting or the camera, but everyone actually looks pretty good!

If we act quick, a final TNG product could still be done, if done like TUC.

Love the Marina Sirtis news and pictures!!! Thanks so much!

I desperately crave an Admiral Archer (Bakula aged like McCoy in “Encounter A Farpoint”) cameo in the Star Trek sequel, just him over the conn yelling at Scotty about atomizing Porthos (and, unbeknownst to him, Porthos is yapping at Scotty’s feet, having re-materialized from the matter stream like he did in the novelization).

Same here Bucky. It would be nice to see Archer again.

Bakula, his worthless co-stars, and the “creatives” guiding Enterprise for its first three seasons are why we had to endure a long Trek drought, and why the franchise was nearly consigned to oblivion.

I’d rather see a blank screen than see Bakula rewarded for his lightweight skills and those four seasons of Trek drivel.

i say that with all due respect, of course. :)

I would love to Scott Bakula do a cameo as Admiral Archer offering Captain Kirk one of his prized beagle bitch’s puppies, after that poor beagle was rescued from the transporter mishap and found to be pregnant. The prized beagle snarls, growls and barks at the very mention of Scotty’s name…

Each to his own, jeff.

I have to agree with Jeff – Trek got weaker with every iteration. The stories became bland (even as far back as DS9) and I can’t say I liked any cast member of Enterprise – not a single actor was good, with the possible exception of the Doctor. Come to think of it, the only truly interesting character on Voyager was the Doctor as well, though Geri Ryan added some much needed sex appeal. The rest of the cast members were bland, bland, bland, throwing out lines. Unimaginative directing, cookie-cutter stories, over-reliance on technobable (about 10x more than TOS ever had). Other than TOS, only TNG had consistently high quality.

Of course there were some good story arcs, the Borg always added excitment on Voyager, and the last season of Enterprise finally brought back some excitement, but ironically they had to resurect TOS stories for that (the Augments and Mirror Mirror) – even so, both attempts lacked the adventure film like presentation of TOS.

I thought the headline ‘crashing Enterprise’ referred to showing up in the series finale!

Looks like a fun event.

Great coverage, guys.
The spirit of Starlog salutes you.

I met Scott Bakula two years ago at the ‘Quantum Leap’ 20th anniversary con in LA. (He even signed my QL manuscript that won 2nd place in the int’l fiction contest!) Bakula is a genuinely nice, enthusiastic person, a real joy to talk with. All of his co-stars at the con said the same thing, pointing out how incredibly rare it is to find someone like that in Hollywood. From Kayla’s report above, it appears he’s still a humble and appreciative guy.

Con reports are the highlight of trekmovie for me…

All these older women who are getting the Brazillian hairdo look great!

Scott Bakula, Marina Sirits, Garrett Wang and Robbie McNiell, I will see you all in August at the Star Trek Convention in Las Vegas. You guys look great!

To: RDM

Your name is now Robbie? You 5 years old again? No, you an adult, homie. Your name is Robert. Also, lay off them donunts.

Love,
Amorican

A scifi show w/ Jonathan Frakes & Richard Dean Anderson? Love the idea!

Robert Duncan MacNeill looks more like Drew Carey in those pics.

Paul McGillion would have made a MUCH better Scotty. He actually holds a passing resemblance to Doohan and isn’t suffering from premature balding (they REALLY couldn’t have gotten a toupee or something for Pegg? I mean, really guys…).

#17

Anyone other than Simon Pegg would have been great.

I can’t stand what he did. I wait to see how his stupid comedic portrayal of Scotty will ruin the next film.

Everytime he opened his mouth it went from Star Trek to Doctor Who.

If people weren’t so annoyed with the Bud engineering I am pretty sure his terrible version of Scotty would be top of the pile of annoyances.

I was surprise to hear Archer and Porthos get a mention too!
Is McNeill on the Shat Diet by any chance?

I hope we’ll see much more of Scott Bakula, Richard Dean Anderson and Robert Duncan McNeill on TV again and maybe even in Stargate, Star Trek or new SciFi shows.

MacGyver, Quantum Leap, Stargate SG-1, Star Trek ENTerprise and CHUCK are my all time favorite series.

Great to see Scott Bakula on the convention circuit and hear that there were even a few fans in the audience with ENT costumes on.

The road got a bit rocky halfway through Enterprise’s first season, and didn’t let up until near the end of the second year. But I’d seen worse television and frankly, worse Star Trek… while previous generations were finding their feet.

Enterprise’s third and fourth years were up there with anything produced during TNG, DS9 or VOY’s same distance out of the starting gate. I dare say a fifth season would’ve surpassed their equivalents.

But the show did well enough for me given the circumstances. The only Star Trek series I tend rewatch more than ENT is the Original.

Frustratingly, I still potential in movies coming out of the 22nd Century and tying the storylines into both the Original and the Abramsverse. The Romulan War and Birth of the Federation are still hugely important to the Star Trek Universe and only vaguely referenced.

If the Star Trek sequel took a few cues from “Balance of Terror”, that would open up a whole second life for Enterprise and backstory that needed exploring… indeed it was, the week the cancellation decision was made.

Greece? I’m pretty sure most of Ms Sirtis’s family live in Tottenham…

Guess she thought north London didn’t sound cool enough… Mind you, it does seem like she’s one of those actors who goes to America & then tries to distance themselves from Britain as if they’re ashamed of it… ¬_¬

I would have preferred Paul McGillion too as Scotty. Would have been much more fitting. And Marina looks awesome!

@9
Lol same here.

@21
Couldn’t agree more, even if they gave us a few TV movies at least we could get some answers.

@ #6

Wow all the Enterprise bashing
If you didn’t like the show you should have voted with your remote.
Yes it got a little weak in season two.
TNG was wobbly as well its second season.

Ive been re watching the Enterprise eps. Halfway through season 1 now.
Give them another try- you’ll see some nuances you missed the first go round.

Connor Trinneer as Trip was the heart and soul of the show.
Bakula was great as captain.
Would love to see more of Enterprise

The reason for “Robbie”

Imagine you get cast on Star Trek and there are two other actors named Robert on it and your the third one with the same first name, how do you tell one another apart if someone on the production, lets say a director or a AD or whoever calls you over and says

“Hey Bob, I want you too look at this line in the script we wrote for you”

Which BOB do you think they’d be talking about when there are 3 of them on the show ?

I often called Voyager “My 3 Bob’s” as a joke, because it’s true

seeing a cameo of Bakula in the new Star Trek movies would be soooooo coooooooooooooooool

6. jeff – April 29, 2011

Lighten up a bit. Blaming the actors for Enterprises issues is kind of like blaming the busboy if the restaurant screws up your meal. You are also ingnoring that the last couple of films underperformed as well, Top it off with a portion of the fan base that goes ape s*** when a creative teams suggests something different, and it was not hard to see things happening the way they did.

#15: If you listen to the other castmembers interviews from back in the day you’ll notice they all refer to him as “Robbie”.

As for his weight, why would that be any of your business?

@29. It shouldn’t, but some people feel it’s fodder for the message boards. Jennifer Lien was savaged a while back when some pics showed up of her that showed off a wider waistline.

I wouldn’t mind a few Stargate SG-1 style movies from Enterprise, anything to give that show better closure than “These are the Voyages.” Bakula is a wonderful actor and I enjoy him in almost anything I see him in (the only thing I don’t like is Men of a Certain Age, could never get into that show). Sadly, that’s how showbiz goes – Stargate movies recently suffered the same fate as Enterprise movies. I’d kill for a Bakula appearance in Trek XI. I want him more than Shatner, since he was already written into the Trek XI universe.

Hope Chuck gets renewed, this season has been brilliant, much better than season 3, Linda Hamilton and Timothy Dalton of course steal the show. I would think NBC would want to renew Chuck since it has a following while their new genre shows The Cape and The Event tanked. Also, when are we going to see a guest appearance from Robbie in Chuck????? Maybe in the 100th episode??

Damn, Marina Sirtis is a whole lot of woman. Mmm mmm!

Man, Paul McGillion would have made a terrific Scotty.

@34- Really. But too old- looking?

Good work Kayla. And thank you Marina Sirtis.

I like Bakula’s work especially QL and Men of a Certain Age. He’s a talented actor but was given mostly lame scripts and direction in ENT. He had his moments on ENT but the problems certainly weren’t due to his skills as an actor.

Anderson and Frakes? Excellent idea!

Sirtis? Classy lady!

Scott Bakula’s the king. Just about the most genuinely good and kind person you’ll ever meet in show business.

Give him a cameo!

I think an Enterprise Romulan War mini-series would be a good idea, even if it was direct-to-DVD. I still think that series was the most under-rated and was just plagued by things like the temporal cold war.

As much as I hate and despise ENT, I admire and respect the actors who were hired to be in the show, especially Scott Bakula. People shouldn’t blame the actors for ruining a show…they only perform (to the best of their sometimes significant ability) the lines that are written for them. If you want to blame someone, blame Brannon Braga and Rick Berman. They’re the hacks who ruined Trek.

My wife said “Robbie” looked like Drew Carey too!!!

There’s a trilogy waiting to be made using the ENT timeline and characters.

Battle LA showed how much money could be made off of SF war films that were NOT as hideous as Starship Troopers.

ENT was supposed to lead in to the Romulan War at the end of the Fifth Season that Never Was.

Were I JJ, and I wanted to pocket some of that B-Movie Firefly type change, I would make a three-parter of the Romulan War to wrap up ENT.

It would sell.

#31 the thing is McNeill is so obviously much bigger than he was its the first thing that you notice.
Of course its not a crime that he has packed it on, but you can’t blame a person for noticing. He was very trim and slender back in the day. You have to wonder why he let that go.

Well, once people get into their forties and fifties, their metabolism slows down. Even with a strict dietary regimen it can be hard for some people to avoid getting larger, while there are other people who can’t seem to keep any weight on no matter what they eat.

And it may be that since he no longer acts, Robert Duncan McNeill may no longer feel the need to work out.

Funny since drew carey has lost a lotta weight a long time ago, but everyone still mentions him as big drew—robbies weight–i agree not anyones business people change with time we all get older khan—

I asked the question to Scott about anticipating a Scotty Archer reunion on the Star Trek sequel, I was at Fedcon and yes, Scott is a really nice guy. I am very surprised by his answer. Didn’t he say he wanted to beat William Shatner to be on the sequel, or was it a joke I hope not! I really want him in the sequel! Admiral Archer in Star Trek 2012 movie is a must, like bringing back Paul Mc Gillion and Leonard Nimoy.

I grew up with MacGyver and Quantum Leap…
Bakula n RDA are partly responsible for who I am today…
I speak your names!!!

Wow – Marina is still all kinds of hot!

And, this is embarassing…but I thought Carel Struycken died a few years back! I must have him confused with another actor.

6 and 15.

The trolls / haters are out in force. Enterprise had a charming cast, from Bakula on down. It was a show with a lot of potential which never got exploited.

I will never forgive TPTB for killing off the best character in Enterprise in the FINAL SHOW. WTF?