To Boldly Write… 6 Star Trek Actors Who Wrote for the Franchise
Since J.J. Abrams left the Star Trek universe for the Star Wars galaxy in 2013, the behind-the-scenes on the new Star Trek films has been mild chaos. Recently, among other changes (include the replacement of Robert Orci as director with Fast Five’s Justin Lin), it has been confirmed that actor Simon Pegg (who played Scotty in Star Trek and …Into Darkness) will co-write the screenplay for the next big screen outing of the Enterprise. Pegg’s previous writing credits are totally legit—he co-wrote the cult geek TV series Spaced, not to mention Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, and The World’s End, with Nick Frost.
But it’s hardly the first time Star Trek actors have written for Star Trek. Here are 6 times it has happened before.
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Leonard Nimoy
Around the time Star Trek: The Motion Picture went into production, Leonard Nimoy’s involvement as Mr. Spock seemed tenuous. Earlier plans for a new TV series called Star Trek: Phase II did not involve the character. Still, producers won him over, at least for a little while, agreeing to kill him off in The Wrath of Khan in 1982. When that movie turned out to be a creative, critical, and commercial smash, though, Nimoy was coaxed into returning again—with the promise that he’d be able to direct. He wound up shepherding two films (The Search for Spock and The Voyage Home) and had writing credits on both, as well as Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.
Leonard Nimoy
Around the time Star Trek: The Motion Picture went into production, Leonard Nimoy’s involvement as Mr. Spock seemed tenuous. Earlier plans for a new TV series called Star Trek: Phase II did not involve the character. Still, producers won him over, at least for a little while, agreeing to kill him off in The Wrath of Khan in 1982. When that movie turned out to be a creative, critical, and commercial smash, though, Nimoy was coaxed into returning again—with the promise that he’d be able to direct. He wound up shepherding two films (The Search for Spock and The Voyage Home) and had writing credits on both, as well as Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.
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Tim Russ
Vulcans be writing! Most famous for playing Lt. Tuvok on Star Trek: Voyager, Russ was a huge fan prior to joining the show. (He had guest spots an episode of The Next Generation and in the film Generations). During the run of Voyager, Russ wrote the season four episode “Living Witness,” which considered how Voyager might be perceived 700 years in the “future.” He didn’t let it stop there, either, as he personally penned and starred in the “fan film” Star Trek Of Gods and Men.
Tim Russ
Vulcans be writing! Most famous for playing Lt. Tuvok on Star Trek: Voyager, Russ was a huge fan prior to joining the show. (He had guest spots an episode of The Next Generation and in the film Generations). During the run of Voyager, Russ wrote the season four episode “Living Witness,” which considered how Voyager might be perceived 700 years in the “future.” He didn’t let it stop there, either, as he personally penned and starred in the “fan film” Star Trek Of Gods and Men.
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Brent Spiner
Spiner played the android Lt. Commander Data on Star Trek: The Next Generation. Obviously, he reprized this role in the four TNG feature films, too, but it wasn’t until his swan song in Star Trek: Nemesis that he received a story credit. It’s not a fan favorite, but it would have been interesting to see what Spiner could have done if he wrote additional TNG movies. After all, Nimoy’s The Search for Spock wasn’t an instant classic, but his next one was. Maybe Spiner deserved another go at it.
Brent Spiner
Spiner played the android Lt. Commander Data on Star Trek: The Next Generation. Obviously, he reprized this role in the four TNG feature films, too, but it wasn’t until his swan song in Star Trek: Nemesis that he received a story credit. It’s not a fan favorite, but it would have been interesting to see what Spiner could have done if he wrote additional TNG movies. After all, Nimoy’s The Search for Spock wasn’t an instant classic, but his next one was. Maybe Spiner deserved another go at it.
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William Shatner
After Nimoy directed and wrote two films in the franchise, Shatner wanted his turn. The result was Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, widely regarded as one of the low points of the series. Still, it possesses some great scenes of the same camaraderie between Kirk, Spock, and Bones that made the original show so watchable. It was also suffered from budget cuts and unfortunate casting snafus (Sybok was supposed to be played by Sean Connery!). But Shatner’s Trek ideas didn’t die with The Final Frontier—he also wrote (with the help of Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens) a series of novels about Captain Kirk coming back from the dead, fighting the Borg, and messing with the Mirror Universe. The books started with Ashes of Eden and are often referred to collectively as the “Shatnerverse,” as their continuity doesn’t exactly match up with the universe of the “regular” Star Trek novels. All of the books—including The Return and the Mirror Universe adventures—are unbelievably fun.
William Shatner
After Nimoy directed and wrote two films in the franchise, Shatner wanted his turn. The result was Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, widely regarded as one of the low points of the series. Still, it possesses some great scenes of the same camaraderie between Kirk, Spock, and Bones that made the original show so watchable. It was also suffered from budget cuts and unfortunate casting snafus (Sybok was supposed to be played by Sean Connery!). But Shatner’s Trek ideas didn’t die with The Final Frontier—he also wrote (with the help of Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens) a series of novels about Captain Kirk coming back from the dead, fighting the Borg, and messing with the Mirror Universe. The books started with Ashes of Eden and are often referred to collectively as the “Shatnerverse,” as their continuity doesn’t exactly match up with the universe of the “regular” Star Trek novels. All of the books—including The Return and the Mirror Universe adventures—are unbelievably fun.
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Walter Koenig
When Star Trek became an animated series in the early 1970’s, one character from the original run wasn’t present—Pavel Chekov. In his place was a three-armed alien navigator named Arex. No one really seems to understand why this happened, but the actor who played Chekov, Walter Koenig, did write an episode of the show. His script was called the “The Infinite Vulcan.” Sadly, it did not feature Chekov trying to sneak back aboard the Enterprise in animated form. Koenig also wrote one issue for D.C.’s Star Trek comic book series, “Chekov’s Choice,” explaining why Chekov left the Enterprise in-between the first and second films.
Walter Koenig
When Star Trek became an animated series in the early 1970’s, one character from the original run wasn’t present—Pavel Chekov. In his place was a three-armed alien navigator named Arex. No one really seems to understand why this happened, but the actor who played Chekov, Walter Koenig, did write an episode of the show. His script was called the “The Infinite Vulcan.” Sadly, it did not feature Chekov trying to sneak back aboard the Enterprise in animated form. Koenig also wrote one issue for D.C.’s Star Trek comic book series, “Chekov’s Choice,” explaining why Chekov left the Enterprise in-between the first and second films.
Star Trek The Next Generation: I, Q
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Star Trek The Next Generation: I, Q
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John de Lancie
Probably most recognized these days for playing Jane’s dad in the second season of Breaking Bad, actor John de Lancie will nevertheless forever be worshipped by geeks for embodying the meddling all-powerful “Q.” He also personally wrote two stories about Q, one for D.C. comics called “The Gift,” which weirdly parallels the storyline of the episode “Deja Q,” and a full-blown novel (with Peter David) called I,Q. If Q were to ever to make a big screen crossover with the new Enterprise crew (as he did in a recent IDW series), maybe de Lancie could be brought in to help with the script!
Who is your favorite science fiction creator who is also appears in said entertainment?
John de Lancie
Probably most recognized these days for playing Jane’s dad in the second season of Breaking Bad, actor John de Lancie will nevertheless forever be worshipped by geeks for embodying the meddling all-powerful “Q.” He also personally wrote two stories about Q, one for D.C. comics called “The Gift,” which weirdly parallels the storyline of the episode “Deja Q,” and a full-blown novel (with Peter David) called I,Q. If Q were to ever to make a big screen crossover with the new Enterprise crew (as he did in a recent IDW series), maybe de Lancie could be brought in to help with the script!
Who is your favorite science fiction creator who is also appears in said entertainment?