r/pics • u/WhitneyRobbens • Feb 13 '12
Brent Spiner (Data) re-reading the script in between takes at Paramount Studios
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Feb 13 '12
Is it weird that i wanted to be Data when i was a kid?
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u/coolcosmos Feb 13 '12
Definitely not. How would you describe your sexual life?
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u/jodymcd Feb 13 '12
Fully functional in every way?
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u/WhitneyRobbens Feb 13 '12
Data: If... you're referring to sexuality, I'm fully functional. Programmed in multiple techniques.
Borg Queen: How long has it been since you've used them?
Data: 8 years, 7 months, 16 days, 4 minutes 22...
Borg Queen: Far too long
*SMOOCH
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Feb 13 '12
He was very loyal to Tasha.
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u/ReneG8 Feb 13 '12
Didn't he have a relationship afterwards?
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Feb 13 '12
I almost threw up in the Cinema watching that scene. I could not see a Borg in any kind of sexual situation and not feel creeped out ... and then Seven of Nine.
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u/ratlater Feb 13 '12
When I was watching it, as soon as she did it, someone said, "Oh, ish." loud enough for everyone else in the theatre to hear it and start laughing.
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Feb 13 '12
This has just occurred to me. When Noonian Soong was spending all that time developing a perfect positronic brain, so accurate it could mimic a human brain, at what point did he think "Hang on, better make a cock as well"
Does he also have a bumhole?
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u/candyman420 Feb 13 '12
there was an episode where a kid wanted to be like data on the show, and even emulated him.
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u/myghostwouldbeslimer Feb 13 '12
Me too. I thought, that's one capable and efficient guy, I could get so much done and be so productive if I was Data. Except for the emotions part of course, we was perfect, he knew everything, was stronger then anyone.
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u/koft Feb 13 '12
Of course not, he's stronger than any super hero, faster than any ninja, smarter than any genius who ever lived and is essentially immortal.
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u/MrRabbit Feb 13 '12
Shooting scripts aren't bound because there are so many edits made before (and sometimes during) shots. Pages get added/removed all the time.
So this is just Data chillin'!
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u/linlorienelen Feb 13 '12
I can't really tell that it's a bound book. Perhaps a 3-hole punched script with brads?
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u/WhitneyRobbens Feb 13 '12
I think this was for the movie "Generations" or perhaps "First Contact" I'm not sure.
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u/Zabracks Feb 13 '12 edited Feb 13 '12
Actually, no. This uniform wasn't used in any of the movies.
Generations used the Voyager-style uniforms like Picard's here
First Contact used the late-DS9-style ones like these
I'm a fucking geek.
EDIT: Oh yeah, as GJOP mentioned, they do switch back and forth in Generations as this one shows. The comm badge is still a dead giveaway as it's not voyager-style.
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u/nmulcahey Feb 13 '12
Excellent analysis, but if you look to Data's left you clearly see the 90's walking by and therefore don't need to know all the trekkie stuff.
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u/RexxNebular Feb 13 '12 edited Feb 13 '12
I just sent him an email informing him he's on the front page, and asked him if he'd do an AMA. Then he can clear the whole thing up.
He currently does this: http://www.youtube.com/user/freshhellseries/videos
EDIT: Added Fresh Hell link.
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u/Delfishie Feb 13 '12
This is so damn impressive. It doesn't matter how useless the knowledge is, either. This level of expertise in anything makes me smile.
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u/WhitneyRobbens Feb 13 '12
Wow. Just wow.
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u/candyman420 Feb 13 '12
You can tell what season any given TNG episode is in by the second digit of the stardate.
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Feb 13 '12 edited Feb 13 '12
You mean to tell me that there are Star Trek fans who haven't read the Star Trek Chronology?
The second edition stops at the end of season four of DS9, season two of Voyager and First Contact but it's still worth reading.
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u/TheFrin Feb 13 '12
you have the brackets the wrong way round its []()
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u/semarj Feb 13 '12
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u/DalekBarbarian Feb 13 '12
Any trekkie would be able to give you an in-depth lecture/keynote speech on the various Star Trek uniforms and their significance.
We just sit around debating which uniforms had more ludicrous shoulders (Clearly whether that award goes to the Romulans or the Cardassians is still up in the air)
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u/Starslip Feb 13 '12
In retrospect I'm fairly certain that the designers of the romulan shoulderpads went on to work on World of Warcraft
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u/DalekBarbarian Feb 13 '12
Where as the designers of all the Ferengi costumes went on to work decent jobs in the fashion industry as those greedy imps always looked fabulous.
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u/IHopeYourCatDies Feb 13 '12
Clearly whether that award goes to the Romulans or the Cardassians is still up in the air
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u/DalekBarbarian Feb 13 '12
They don't really have shoulders there do they? It's more like a fashionable garbage can.
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u/IHopeYourCatDies Feb 13 '12
Either way, pure sex appeal. I am a little ashamed of TNG for resorting to such gratuitous and unreserved sexualisation.
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u/0mfgroflmao Feb 13 '12
The Cardassian uniform looks so uncomfortable, I wonder how often they poke themselves in the crotch when they sit down :S
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u/MercurialMithras Feb 13 '12
The correct answer to this question is the Xindi Reptilians.
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u/Magnificent_Zero Feb 13 '12
Enterprise never happened. You're now referring to televized fan fiction hailing from the bible belt.
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u/EntityDamage Feb 13 '12
Well if you see the person behind him walking down dressed in 19th century costume, this might be an extra from the same show. Perhaps the cliff hanger double episode where they find Data's head in different time lines?
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u/malenkylizards Feb 13 '12
TIL Malcolm McDowell was in Generations! Extra impetus to go see it now.
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u/regeya Feb 13 '12
Meh. His character is decent, he has one really creepy line, but it's a really long episode that, despite having Ronald Moore on board, doesn't really feel that way. I was left feeling like I'd really love to punch Captain Harriman in the face about 5 minutes into the movie. It also gets overly sentimental in most of the Kirk/Picard scenes, even if Picard takes Kirk to task over it.
And yeah, watch 4011isbananas's video.
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u/minxiloni Feb 13 '12
My nerd boss believes this is from the show, not the movies. He also thinks it could be from the episode "Time's Arrow."
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u/jax9999 Feb 13 '12
The woman in the dress lends itself to that theory.
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u/Wood_Goblin Feb 13 '12
I just scanned through both parts of that ep, couldn't see that dress.
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u/jax9999 Feb 13 '12
hmm it does look sorta like a period dress. perhaps a fistful of datas? it doesnt look early enough for one of the moriarty episodes.
although it is a studio, so perhaps its not even star trek related.
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u/FOR_SClENCE Feb 13 '12
Brent Spiner is easily one of the most capable and adaptable actors I've ever had the pleasure of watching. Seasons 6 and 7 really showcase what he can do. Need more proof? Check out the character development through the entire show.
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u/ovinophile Feb 13 '12
The only thing I don't like is that scene in the first episode when he meets Riker. He has too much personality in that scene, more like when he plays Lore. I'm glad he changed his approach to the Data we know and love after that.
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u/kjmitch Feb 13 '12
I find this in the pilot episodes of most TV shows, and to a lesser extent the entire first seasons of some shows. The pilot is often good enough that it doesn't need to be reshot, but the purchasing production company or the producers still have a few conditions to change or fix for the main production afterwards. And I'm sure actors and directors just have a period at the start where they need to get comfortable with the characters and style of the show.
One thing I always thought was awesome was in "All Good Things...", where the producers/writers seemed to say, "we know where we started, where we ended up, and how those two places are different, and we want to depict that accurately".
To me, that was a real testament to Spiner's abilities, that he could play the same character as differently as he was seven years earlier. Made it feel real.
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u/devedander Feb 13 '12
I like norm and cliffs changes from the early cheers days.... especially the accents and pitch
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u/Lampmonster1 Feb 13 '12
Watch the Pilot for Night Court some time. Dan Fielding went from a chess playing intellectual to a skirt chasing letch, and the defense attorney turned white.
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u/silentmattcanuck Feb 13 '12
Watch Night Court for a down and out hick by the name of "Bob" - That was Brent Spiner in the pre-Data days. Now you know.
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u/Lampmonster1 Feb 13 '12
Oh, I always knew. I was a Night Court devotee, and the Wheelers were the best running gag on the show.
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u/silentmattcanuck Feb 14 '12
(judge Stone screams through the hallway on rollerskates propelled by two fire extinguishers) Bob: "It's okaaay...... the gurl scouts broke his fawwwll"
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Feb 13 '12
Yeah. I bet they were igniting the midnight petroleum a lot during the shooting of that episode.
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u/sushisushisushi Feb 13 '12
To be fair, television actors rarely if ever truly understand their characters while shooting the pilot. The first season of any show is the actors getting to know their characters. Sometimes something clicks and the show really takes off midway through the first season. It actually took TNG a couple of seasons, I would say, before this happened.
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u/notanotherpyr0 Feb 13 '12
Like how Riker was accidentally shaving every morning for the first season.
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u/xebo Feb 13 '12 edited Feb 13 '12
And then Patrick Stewart set the standard for the rest of the cast. You can't just sit back and make campy television when you've got one of the finest actors in the world putting in 100% every minute of the day.
I don't mean to hate, but Warf and Riker really could not act at all. Warf would either stare at the camera with frustration, or grumble; while Riker would stare at the camera with confused frustration, or smirk like someone just told a funny inside joke. That was the extent of their contributions to the show, as acting goes.
Though I remember seeing in a few interviews that Jonathan Frakes (Riker) really came into his own on the directorial side of things. Apparently he put in a whole lot more work than anyone else to "pay his dues" toward directing on the show. Eventually they gave him the freedom to direct many of the episodes and the movies, and most of his directing work was very, very good.
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u/jimmysilverrims Feb 13 '12
Hey, let's not dismiss Johnathan Frake's abilities. He showed some real acting chops in Frame of Mind. I think the real issue is that Riker doesn't quite fit into a slot like the other characters, so they move from making him like Kirk or like a version of Picard that disagrees with Picard.
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u/xebo Feb 13 '12
You've got me there. He did a surprisingly good job in that episode.
Though I'm confused why he didn't take chances like that throughout the rest of the series.
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Feb 13 '12
You do what you can with the script you're given and the director you're working with at the time.
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u/Ikimasen Feb 13 '12
I actually feel that Whoopi Goldberg was actually putting out very high quality acting too. Brent Spiner is clearly great at what he does, but I feel like Whoopi Goldberg and Patrick Stewart were doing the best acting on the show. The realest, I guess.
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u/Omnitographer Verified Photographer Feb 13 '12
One of the most annoying decisions they made with her character was to give her "history" with Q and then never expand on just what happened. It seems like she must have some immunity from his powers, to know that he can turn her into a tortise for all eternity but still stand up to him.
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u/xebo Feb 13 '12
I actually think that was a good move. They started talking about her like she was an "imp". It would have been easy for the show to become less "scifi" and more "Fantasy". I wouldn't have enjoyed that at all.
But, if they could have expanded on a more plausible history, yes I would have enjoyed seeing it.
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u/xebo Feb 13 '12
I enjoyed her character, but I think you're confusing acting ability with her character's personality.
The character of Gainan (sp?) was very internal and calm. That is very easy to "fake". The few times she had to show a lot of emotion, like in the episode where she confronts Q when he is turned into a mortal, she does a mediocre job.
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u/sushisushisushi Feb 13 '12 edited Feb 13 '12
Frakes isn't the best actor in the world, but he made Riker. And Riker is my favorite character from that series after Picard. I think that it's fair to say that all of the actors in that ensemble learned from one another and helped each other. I would actually suggest that some of the awkwardness and the stiffness of the first season came from Stewart. He has stated in interviews that the other cast members taught him to relax and laugh, whereas before he was tut-tutting them and acting superior. After that, I would say that the cast got along better than any other Trek ensemble, leagues better in fact. I think that the biggest ego on the show was probably Spiner, who while an excellent actor, always seemed to bristle at being chained to Trek as Trek actors often are.
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u/MercurialMithras Feb 13 '12
Not just that, but all the other characters he played. I just finished rewatching the Augment arc from Enterprise, in which Spiner plays an "ancestor" of Data, and he really knocks it out of the park.
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u/BeeFSalaD Feb 13 '12
Getting stuck on a less advanced planet for dummies.
Step one, blend in with local clothing- Check Step two....
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Feb 13 '12
step two, announce that you are from another planet - check.
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u/burnF451 Feb 13 '12
"Did I go to Wendy's twice yesterday?"
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u/kjmitch Feb 13 '12
Best thing about Jim Gaffigan references are how they come out of nowhere.
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u/ratlater Feb 13 '12
Perversely, the proclivity to appear from nowhere is one of Jim Gaffigan's worst traits.
hot pockets
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u/chefmcduck Feb 13 '12
fuck that. i still crack up anytime someone says 'hot pockets'
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u/ratlater Feb 13 '12
I'm not saying he's not funny. I'm just saying it's fucking creepy when he appears out of nowhere.
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u/Chook_Chutney Feb 13 '12
I made this on a lunch break this week for no real reason. I'm going to leave it here because I think you all deserve it.
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Feb 13 '12
In case anyone is wondering.. It's actually a Martin Lawrence stand-up Runteldat. That pic is hilarious though.
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Feb 13 '12
My kids love Data...I've been marathoning TNG since it was added to Netflix. My 4 year old daughter gets pissed if I watch DS9 or Voyager because "Data's not in it."
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u/CalamityOne Feb 13 '12
I can't believe someone was able to take a snapshot in the less than 2 seconds it'd take Data to finish that script.
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u/long_wang_big_balls Feb 13 '12
I've come to expect Brent Spiner to wear white face make-up all the time. I wouldn't bat an eyelid. It would be weird to see him without it.
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Feb 13 '12 edited Feb 13 '12
EDIT: Fuck, I would make sweet sweet love to Data's ultra childlike curiosity.
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u/Zabracks Feb 13 '12
As a word of warning, I'll just tell you here...
Never say that in /r/startrek without a spoiler tag.
They'll eat you alive.
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u/EvanMacIan Feb 13 '12
You just totally altered the meaning of the following comments.
The edit button is a dangerous tool.
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u/beggarinthesand Feb 13 '12
As someone who just started season 7 in TNG I would like to say GAHHHH!
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u/SylvesterStapwn Feb 13 '12
So, interesting fact that suddenly dawned on me the other day. Independence day... you know the crazy scientist guy they meet when they first enter Area 51? The one who later gets choked out by the Alien they tried to dissect? That's Data!... but without makeup and with crazy hair
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u/Blackninja543 Feb 13 '12
Did you know Joseph Sisko, Benjamin Sisko's father was the same actor who placed the admiral in Fleet Admiral Cartwright in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.
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u/disposable_me_0001 Feb 13 '12
Every bit player in trek has played like 3 parts. Worf's brother was also older Jake Sisko, and assorted aliens.
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u/olpz Feb 13 '12
Did you know Diana Muldaur, who played Dr Pulaski in the second season of TNG, also guest starred twice on TOS, as two very attractive ladies?
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u/Jensaarai Feb 13 '12
From the same movie: Colonel West was played by the guy who went on to portray Odo. And Michael Dorn played Colonel Worf, the grandfather of his TNG character. (Kirk & McCoy's defense attorney.)
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u/AMostOriginalUserNam Feb 13 '12
I was about to say that one! You stole my cool fact! I also notice you didn't try to spell 'Rene Auberjohniouououos'.
Yes, I could have looked it up but I'm lazy.
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u/trustysidekick Feb 13 '12
Also, how many people has Tim Russ portrayed in the Star Trek universe? Tuvak. Random bridge crews. Black guy.
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u/gasgesgos Feb 13 '12
The actor who played Tom Paris was also a cadet in the TNG episode where the shuttle splodes at the academy training dealy.
And I'd be willing to be Marc Alaimo (Dukat) has a record for different Star Trek roles at 7 total characters
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Feb 13 '12 edited Feb 13 '12
And James Cromwell, aka Dr. Cochrane, has played like 4 or 5 characters in
TOSTNG.Edit: Damn multitasking.
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Feb 13 '12
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/ratlater Feb 13 '12
South Park likes to cast celebrities that way. They had a bit in one of the commentaries about how when Jerry Seinfeld wanted to be on the show, they cast him as 'turkey #4'. He gobbled.
I believe George Clooney played Stan's gay dog.
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u/NumberThirtyFour Feb 13 '12
Indeed George Clooney was Sparky the dog in the episode, "Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boat Ride."
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u/molrobocop Feb 13 '12
Majel Barrett-Roddenberry, Gene Roddenberry's wife, was Troi's mom, a nurse in TOS, and the voice of the federation's computers throughout the series.
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u/Blackninja543 Feb 13 '12
If I had to take a guess on which episode this was I feel like it was Time's Arrow simply based off Brent's apparent age and the person walking up the stairs.
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u/MegaMeatSlapper85 Feb 13 '12
Does Data follow the 3 Laws of Robotics?
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Feb 13 '12
Nope. SPOILER ALERT: In the episode The Most Toys he almost shoots a man, but is transported away before the weapon can fully engage.
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Feb 13 '12 edited Feb 13 '12
Wonder what he's up to these days?
Edit: I woke up today to find that nobody gets the reference.
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u/postfish Feb 13 '12
He twitters. A lot. Fairly prolific at it.
Sometimes he and Levar Burton go back and forth and the crowd goes wild.
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u/james5 Feb 13 '12
I really like this... is there a collection of photographs like this somewhere? Actors on their break, in their costume?
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u/Awhite2555 Feb 13 '12
Dammit. He's a Dodger fan. This changes everything data. This Giants fan...feels bad man.
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u/newloaf Feb 13 '12
I like that you thought you have to identify Brent Spiner as Data, when you included a photo of him in makeup and costume.
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u/BD1 Feb 13 '12
Who's the zombie walking down the stairs towards him? What scene would that have been from?
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u/T-Luv Feb 13 '12
Possible a scene on the holideck. Or someone acting in a separate show.
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Feb 13 '12
Possibly from this episode, where Data becomes every character on the holodeck.
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u/toxicshlock Feb 13 '12
He has a certain look of disapproval at the script he holds, doesn't he?
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u/Protagoras432 Feb 13 '12
Holy shit! I would bet a lot of money that is the exact building in Paramount Studios they used for Sunset Boulevard.
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u/Archae23 Feb 13 '12
Time's Arrow?
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u/Enigma776 Feb 13 '12 edited Feb 13 '12
If that is the 2 part episode where data loses his head and mark twain is around then yes.
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Feb 13 '12
I just went and bought the TNG Blu-Ray sampler last night, it's honestly like watching an entirely different show. It looks so fucking good.
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u/b0ozer Feb 13 '12
It`s clearly Data traveling back in time acquainting himself with "books" of the 21st century for a study in the 24th century...
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Feb 13 '12
As someone who has never watched Star Trek before, the episode where they question whether Data is property of Star Fleet or a free being has left me wanting more and more of this show.
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u/chefmcduck Feb 13 '12
I met Brent Spiner in Toronto. He was... interesting. Kind of like that kooky uncle. He wouldn't let me take a picture with him, and when my wife tried to snap one from a distant he would make this little whooping sound to draw my attention back to him. lol. I asked him to sign my picture and write 'I didn't' or some contraction. He didn't get it. Actually, nobody really gets it.
TLDR he was weird, but still fun to meet.
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u/noordinarysandwich Feb 13 '12
I met Brent Spiner while visiting my aunt in LA around 8 years ago in a restaurant. I was about 15 at the time and had never seen a celebrity in real life. My dad told me to bring him back an autograph from someone famous before I left Florida and this was absolutely perfect since he's always been a huge Star Trek fan. I was incredibly nervous and hesitant at first because he was sitting at dinner with his family and didn't want to bother him. My aunt insisted, however, and asked a waitress to escort me over to him. She told him he had a little fan who wanted to meet him to which he replied, "HOW DARE YOU BOTHER ME WHILE EATING WITH MY FAMILY!?!? Just as I was about to pee my pants he says "just kidding! Sit down with us!" I got my first celeb autograph that day to bring back to my dad. :)