- Roddenberry Reveals His Choice For 'Questor Tapes' Star
- Here's a preview of what's to come Thursday on Alpha Waves Radio
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Eugene W. Roddenberry is working with Imagine Entertainment to revive his father's 1974 broken pilot "The Questor Tapes." But if the younger Roddenberry was ever asked who he thinks should take the title role of an android with damaged memory tapes looking for his creator, who would he choose?
That answer is simple.
"I'm not immersed in the industry right now, and I don't have a whole list of names I could pull out a hat," Roddenberry told Airlock Alpha during a segment appearing on Alpha Waves Radio Thursday. "I come from the point of view of a fan, a fan of Star Trek and a fan of Gene Roddenberry."
Yes, yes. But who, Rod? Who should play Questor?
"Brent Spiner did a fantastic job as Data [in 'Star Trek: The Next Generation']. The character was an android, yet there was something very human about it," Roddenberry said. "Perhaps it's my inability to be creative. Brent Spiner is who I fall back to when I think of Questor."
It's not clear if Spiner -- who played Data, a character itself modeled after Questor by TNG creator Gene Roddenberry, for more than 20 years -- would be interested in the role. But even if he was, it's not really Roddenberry's place to cast, and it's highly likely Tim Minear and Imagine would be looking a different direction to play the android, the creator's son said.
"I'm not suggesting that's the way we would go," Roddenberry said. "If you're asking the question who right now would I pick, it would be him because I really don't have anyone else that I am thinking of that has ever done a role like that convincingly."
Spiner played the type of character the older Roddenberry liked to create in Data, and is the type of character that has become a repeating motif in the various Roddenberry projects that were created since "Star Trek" in the 1960s.
"Every Gene Roddenberry production has had that character," the younger Roddenberry said. "The holographic doctor, Spock, Data, even Seven of Nine. Those alien characters who start off being very alien, but ended up being more human than human. They are the ones we all identify with because they are the ones who are making us think what it is to be human."
"The Questor Tapes" is still in development mode, although there is a push to start writing a script later this year. It's likely Imagine will approach Fox first on a potential series, and if they turn it down, to go from there.
Hear more about "The Questor Tapes" as well as Roddenberry's thoughts on Star Trek Online, whether "Questor" will end up with the same fate as previous posthumous Roddenberry projects like "Earth: Final Conflict" and "Andromeda," and whether his long-awaited documentary "Trek Nation" will be released anytime soon.
Alpha Waves Radio can be heard Thursday beginning at 7 p.m. ET at AlphaWavesRadio.com or downloaded anytime after 8:30 p.m. Thursday both on the Alpha Waves Radio site or through Apple's iTunes Store (simply search for Alpha Waves Radio to find the free download).
Also joining Alpha Waves Radio is, as usual, GateWorld's David Read, ready to discuss whether Time magazine was right to pick on Syfy for its rebranding, and if the new DVD set from "Stargate: Universe" is just the right price, or overpriced.
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About the Author
Michael Hinman is the founder and site coordinator of the BlipNetwork, including Airlock Alpha, Rabid Doll and Inside Blip. He writes out of Tampa, Fla.
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