Writers Workshop

One of things that we hadn't realized would be happening until it was announced on Saturday, was a Writers Workshop for hopeful Star Trek Script writers, to be run by Script Coordinator Lolita Fatjo and Eric Stillwell. (Next Gen writer and production assistant.) What a bonus! It was held Sunday morning, appropriately for a writer's workshop, at the hotel bar.

We had just come from the main event room upstairs where we had picked up the Voyager script we'd bought at the auction the night before. (Good thing to, as one of the pieces of advice was to get yourself a Voyager script and use it as a guideline.) There were perhaps a dozen or less people there. We shelled out our twenty-five bucks each. (A cut rate deal, by the way.)

First off it wasn't a Workshop to teach people how to write. If you don't know the basics there's not much sense in submitting a script. The Script Guidelines handed out were a little out of date, including as they did Deep Space Nine which is no longer accepting scripts. But this is part of the reason we got a discount. Lolita Fatjo went through the guidelines and described some of the process a script went through.

It is of course very rare for a spec script sent in by a new writer to actually be bought by any Star Trek program. (Most other shows won't even look at unagented spec scripts.) But it does happen that some writers who send in scripts are asked to pitch ideas to the producers. Eric Stillwell filled us in on what happens in a pitch session.

The workshop was very informative and helpful. We left our names at the end, so Lolita could send us the more up to date Voyager Guidelines. (So far we still haven't received them. But we're not that easy to get rid of. We'll still submit our script. Well... as soon as we're done writing it.)

Lunch With Alexander Siddig and Andrew Robinson

Lunch was buffet style again, though at least they had some ice tea set out to drink. Andy and Sid took a little while to arrive and we spent the time talking to people at our tables. I was sitting beside a young lady who was a big Sid fan. She asked me what color I thought Sid's eyes were. (For fan-fiction purposes). I ventured a guesss of blue. I wouldn't say she was disappointed to be at Andy's table, only that she might have gotten whiplash when Sid sat down at his table almost directly behind her. It soon became apparent that the only vacant seat left at Andy's table was immediately to my right, which left me halfway between pleasure and panic.

Sure enough Andy sat right down beside me. He said hello to everyone. Then awards were given out to various event organizers and fan club officers. Either Andy or Sid would run over and hand them a rose or small floral arrangement.

Lunch was a barbecue, including meat, corn on the cob, conrbread, etc. Most of what was discussed at Andy's table was gone over again in his Q and A that follows. Towards the end of the meal everyone on the far side of the table started getting up. I was puzzled at first and thought everyone was leaving. But they gathered behind us so that the photographer, whom I had not observed, could take a picture of the group. As they started to sit back down, I mentioned to Andy that I had thought everyone was just leaving. He laughed and asked if I had thought it was something I had said.

I went out of the room briefly and ran into Sid who was coiming back in. Since I was so close I observed some pertinent details. I went back in and informed the Sid fan that his eyes were definitely grey.

Auction and Raffle

Andrew J. Robinson - Question and Answer

Andy: (as he puts on a microphone) I'm wired. Yeah, so we can start the Q and A. I'll give an answer and somebody ask the question. Gul Dukat found religion in what…?

[He's interrupted. There are ahs from the audience. Presumably, he's just been lei-ed.]

Andy: All right, anyway, so, questions please.

Question: Asks him to do his "proud papa routine" in reference to his daughter Rachel's recent appearance on ER.

Andy: You wanna hear it? I'm a poor version of a proud papa. I missed it, because I was working that night and my VCR went south on me. I felt really, fairly stupid. But we had to encourage her, because she was so in awe about the fact that her scenes were going to be with George Clooney. We had to encourage her not to be nice to him. We were like "go after that sucker." You know, the guy puts on his underpants like anyone else. But I am very proud of her. I really am. I think she's an amazing actor. I really do.

[Same audience member comments on Rene's discussion of his children the day before.]

Andy: You know, it always… it's a dicey thing parenthood. But she's going to… She did this film last year. This is an independent film. It's her first lead in a film called Lose or Love. And so she's going to New York in a couple of weeks to see the screening of it. So she's very excited and scared. I hope it's a hit.

[Audience member wishes her well.]

Andy: Thank you very much. [He takes another question] Yes. The "boithday" girl.

Question: Re: If we'll ever learn the truth about Garak.

Andy: I hope not. I hope we never find the truth about Garak, I really do. I don't think so. I don't see how they could do it, but I'm hoping not for a lot of reasons. One very selfish reason is that, as I was telling someone earlier, I think it was at lunch, whatever they don't tell about Garak, I'm going to make it all up, because I already have all the answers anyway, to all of his secrets and his mysteries. You know, what I think is true. So I'm hoping that they don't come up with a version, then my version could wash.

Question: Re: What his theory was on how Garak learned to sew.

Andy: Well, you see, that's actually in one of the very first diaries that I wrote. When he was exiled to Terok Nor, it was such an humiliating experience that they all expected him to fold, because it was really a fall of the mighty. I mean this guy was very high up in the organization, The Obsidian Order, which is probably up there in the government with… what is it? The Central Command, the group which actually runs things. But it's like say if Bill Clinton was sent to wash out the Men's washroom. (There's lot of people who want to send him there.) And they thought that Garak was through. They gave him this little shop and the whole purpose was that he was now going to mend ripped Cardassian soldiers uniforms and he decided to get back at them by being really good at it. So I think he's totally self taught. There was a while when I thought he was lousy tailor, but now I think he's probably a great tailor.

Question: Questions him further on this point convinced there must be some sewing in Garak's past.

Andy: No, no, not at all. Unless he took brain surgery as an elective in school. Somebody had a hand up over here.

Question: Re: His recent project, directing Jack Klugman in Death of a Salesman..

Andy: For those of you who didn't hear the question, I just finished directing a production of Arthur Miller's play Death of a Salesman and the star the leading actor was Jack Klugman, who plays Willie Loman, and what's it like to direct him? And the second question was?

Question: Repeats her original question.

Andy: How does a theatrical production get put together? Let me answer the second question first. They had a director. They fired him the first week. So a friend of mine, Raphael Sbarge, who played Biff, who is a wonderful, wonderful young actor, and he's brilliant in this play, he went to the producers, actually went to Jack Klugman, and said, "listen…." Because they didn't know what the hell to do now. They were in a lot of trouble. They lost their director in the first week. So, my friend Raphael went to Jack Klugman and said "I know the guy who can direct this. It's Andy Robinson. You should meet him." So I met with Jack Klugman and we had a great meeting. We liked each other and then he hired me.

But, you see, in this case the production was already in place. They already had a cast. I had no say about the cast and it was a question of me getting up to speed and becoming familiar enough with the play where I could actually help actors, you know, do it. What usually happens, is in a company like the Matrix theater company, which a number of you have heard about, that I belong to in Los Angeles, is, we'll start thinking about plays that we want to do. Then we'll pick a play and usually it's whoever is closest to the play, in terms of who has a feeling for that kind of play, who will direct it. Then, since we have a company, we cast it out of that company. It depends. If it's commercial theater, somebody's producers will throw a lot of money for a play and then the producers will hire the director and have a large say in who's cast and try to get stars.

I will now probably start working on a two-character play where they want stars, because that's what they want. You know, that's one of the thing that happens. They want stars because they want to get fannies in the seats. It's Jack Klugman [starring in the play] because of, you know, Odd Couple and Quincy and a lot of things, people will come to see him.

One of the things that I want to do, and I was just talking to Sid about this, is that Irene and I want to produce a play with Star Trek actors. The actors have expressed a lot of enthusiasm for that: Ethan Phillips and Picardo, Rene, Armin, Sid and Robby McNeil. Actually Robby McNeil, in a sense, was kind of instrumental. I've been thinking about this for a long time and Sid has been thinking about this for a long time, but Robby McNeil called me a few weeks ago and said, "I want to do a play. What are you doing? I want to do a play with you." That's when I realized, oh, now is the time to do this. So, hopefully, this spring we'll get something together.

But Jack Klugman is a magnificent man. I don't know how many of you know this…. This is ridiculous [referring to the table behind him] this… this thing here. Having this behind me, I feel like there's somebody goosing me. [He moves] You know, so we can still see each other. I can sit here. [He takes up Rene's position from the day before, perching precariously on the edge of the table.] And if it falls down we'll all have a good laugh. Jack Klugman, as most of you know, had throat cancer and he was left with one vocal cord and basically thought that he would never act again. Hs friend, Tony Randall, obviously they spent many years together on Odd Couple, was running a theater in New York and said, "Just get the thing operated on and come back to work." And basically Jack was frightened to death. He thought he'd never act again. Tony Randall, who's obviously a very decent man and a good friend, said "Just forget about it. Get it rebuilt." They got a play. They did, I think it was, the Kaufman /Hart Play Beggar on Horse Back and he went back to work.

He's now since done several plays. For a while he had a box in his throat. But now they've actually rebuilt it in such a way that he really is operating with his own vocal equipment, his chords and so forth. [He imitates Jack's voice for the following sentence.] But it's a voice that sound like this. It sort of like sounds… it sounds like Odo sometimes. It's uncanny. So you have to mike him, but it's not for the volume. You can hear him. Like, we could all hear him very well in this room. But they mike him for clarity, to get rid of some of the gravely interference. But he wanted to play this role.

This play is fifty years old. It was done, come this February, fifty years ago, for the first time, with Lee J. Cobb on Broadway and Jack saw that production and ever since then he's had a passionate desire to play that role for fifty years. And now is his chance. And the guy is brilliant. He was like a kid at these rehearsals. He's a 76-year-old man. And he just was taking charge and leading the other actors into it, you know. As a result the performance is so passionate and so heartfelt and even his voice works for him, because he's playing a man who's desperately trying to communicate, who's desperately trying to be heard in the world. He's a little man. He's a little salesman who lives in Brooklyn. And he wants to be known. He wants to make it, be a winner in the American dream. So you have an actor with that voice [he imitates him again] who's desperately trying to be heard and to communicate with people with that voice. And so it's incredibly moving. Any of you who are in the Los Angeles area….

Question: [tells him they like his Jack Klugman imitation.]

Andy: Yeah, I know it, yeah. I do a great imitation of ] Jack. As a matter of fact, I had him on the floor the other day. But if you're in the neighborhood, come and see it. It's a treat. It really is.

Question: wants to know where it's showing.

Andy: It's at… It's at… Gary Marshall built a new theater in a part of Los Angeles called Toluca Lake. Some of you are from Toluca Lake here. It's called the Falcon Theater and it's playing through the end of this month, through the end of October.

[Long pause.]

Andy: What's your question? What have you always wanted to ask a know it all like me?

Question: Re: his range of roles, citing Dirty Harry and the Liberace TV movie.

Andy: They're two roles that I love a lot. Two of my favorite roles were the Scorpio Killer in Dirty Harry and Liberace, obviously. And it's interesting that you should mention those two roles, because no two people on Earth could be more diametrically opposite: 180 degrees removed. And it's one of the things that I think baffles people in this business. Well… how do you say this without sounding totally egotistical? Well, screw it. I'll just say it. Basically, when you're an actor and you have that kind of range where you can play a gay, sweet, amazing piano player like Liberace and this homicidal murderer like the Scorpio Killer of Dirty Harry, it confuses people in the business. Because they really figure, "Oh, yeah he's this psychopathic killer. Wait a second. He just played this gay piano player. What do we do with this guy?" Clint Eastwood is not Liberace. That's all I'll say about Clint. Other than the fact that I like him a lot. He's a really good guy. He's a good guy, for a movie star, you know.

Question: asks what sort of roles he is now being offered.

Andy: It's interesting. The reality is that this is the last season of Deep Space Nine and we all have to get real here and realize we're going to have to punch our meal ticket in some other restaurant. Knowing that I had a job that was going to pay the bills for a while, I really concentrated on directing. I wasn't looking for acting work and I spent most of my time in the theater because in the theater you don't make any money. And so when you've got a job that is going to pay the bills, that's a great time to do theater.

So, it's only now that I'm really getting serious about looking for other acting work and getting my acting career back on a track and moving on to whatever the next phase is. I mean, right now I'll get offered, you know, not terribly decent kind of stuff. I did this film last year, as I said to some of you last night, that's going straight to the back row of the video store, where it should go, quite honestly. It's sad, but true. Then the television stuff that I'm offered is so uninteresting to me. Quite honestly, I'm not one of these people who goes around moaning and groaning, but I find…. Have any of you seen the new shows this season?

[Audience groans.]

Andy: We're in a lot of trouble, I think. We're in a lot of trouble. I'm trying to take charge of my own life at this point. I really am. Like Irene and I've talked about producing this Star Trek production and with the directing, I'm trying to do stuff that I want to do, that I feel proud about doing.. You know a Garak doesn't come along but rarely. I mean that's one of the reasons I come to rooms like this and talk to you all about this, because it's worth it. I'm absolutely proud of it. And as I've said a number of times, and many of you have heard it, it's some of the best work I've ever done in my life as an actor. And it's the perfect character. It's so terrific and so compelling. That's why I get involved in those diaries. And I could do those diaries forever and read those diaries at the drop of a hat, because I love the character. And the writers laid down a wonderful base for that character and a great premise for a guy who you just never know. It's like watching a pool of water. Basically it just rippling and it's on the surface and you know that there is something underneath it, but you don't know what the hell it is. So it's…it's so amazing at 56 years old to say I'm still finding myself, but I am. I'm still reinventing myself.

Question: Re: His writing efforts.

Andy: Andy Robinson the writer has always wanted to write and has always loved reading and writers and has always been frightened to death of writing, because Andy Robinson the writer never had what my friend, the very good writer Michael Ventura, called "The Talent of the Room." And the "Talent of the Room" is the ability to walk into a room, shut the door, sit down, pick up a pen, look at a piece of paper and stay there in front of that piece of paper for several hours, even when nothing wants to come out and get written on that paper. That's the first talent about writing is to be able to do that. I'm a very talented writer, but that's the one talent I have not had. Thankfully, there are a few things…. I mean, you know, because I've written stuff sporadically over my life, plays and so forth, but these diaries Garak's Diaries have sort of blown fresh air in to me. Hopefully, not hot air. I feel that this is opening up a whole new area for me. I even thinking doing a theatrical piece that I like that I'm going to start working on. But the talent of the room, it's a tough one. [Taking another question] Yes?

Question: Re: If he'd like to do Garak's Diaries on stage.

Andy: Well, somebody mentioned this earlier today. And I've got to tell you that last night…. You see one of the great things about The Promenade, this weekend, is that it's a fairly intimate affair and the reading of the Garak Diaries always work a lot better with a smaller group. And last night I got a feeling that…. I've always dismissed the idea of doing it on stage because I didn't want to go on stage in makeup. I do not want to get into all that, you know, with the whole thing with Paramount and all that stuff. But I realized last night, it doesn't make any difference whether I have the makeup on or not, because after a while you just accept it, that this is a Garak. It's not "the" Garak that we see on the little box. But it is a version of Garak, that's just as valid and certainly just as dramatic. So, I am considering that, especially if that guy from Simon and Schuster never calls back.

Question: Re: If he'd be willing to read the diaries at the upcoming CopperCon.

Andy: I'll tell you what, I will if we do it like a staged reading. You give me a couple hours with an intermission. I'll do it. And then what I'll do is, I'll give you guys an arc of the whole thing. So there'll be a beginning, a middle and an end. So, if you're willing to give that kind of commitment to me, I'd commit to you.

Question: Says she'll ask the UFP.

Andy: The UFP and the powers that be, yes.

Question: Suggests an audiocassette.

Andy: I'd love to do an audiocassette. That's what I think ideally would be the best thing. But again, it's the legal hassle and I have no idea what that hassle involves. That's why I've tried to go via the route of Simon and Schuster, because if I do a book for them then very easily that could translate right into an audio tape. But I think an audio tape is the idea. It really is. And especially since, for those of you who hadn't heard the new stuff, I go on about that school he goes to and there's a whole world in that school that's really wonderful. And the imagination, just listening to that you'd be able to see that much better. [He takes another question.] Yes.

Question: Comments at length about how effective his performance was.

Andy: You know, I agree. That's why I think the idea of the CopperCon would give me a chance to do a dress rehearsal of an idea of…. I could do a first draft of a staged reading to take it towards a one-person show

[The UFP representative continues negotiations.]

Andy: That's it. All right. Actually, I've been hired (?)

Question:Re: What his favorite type of literature is.

Andy: It's fiction and… and… [he consults Irene in the audience] What's that book that we read recently that just knocked me out?

Irene: The Thomas Cahill book?

Andy: That's it, yeah. There's fiction and then there's this guy Thomas Cahill who wrote some books: How the Irish Saved Civilization and The Gift of the Jews. Those two books are wonderful. They're amazing, because it's sort of speculative history. It's philosophical history. It's someone who's thinking about how we got where we are as a people. And, of course, the first book deals with the Irish during the darkest part of the Middle Ages. There were these monks, Irish Monks, living on the west coast of Ireland living in these caves, you know, with barely enough to eat and clothe themselves, who were copying out the great books of civilization and saving them, while other people were going around Europe burning them up or using them as toilet paper. There were these guys who were saving literature. And then the other book, which is The Gift of the Jews, which is where he takes the first five books of the Bible and traces what the Jews of the Bible and those incredible people who wrote the Bible, you know, what there gift is to us now. And it's a living gift. It's extraordinary stuff. As well as, you know, novels. I love good novels.

Question: Re: The chronology of Garak's Diaries

Andy: Well, you know, I go back and forth. I've done him as a kid right up to the present. And like last night, when I was reading, it takes off from right after In the Pale Moonlight, you know to where he is reminiscing about when he was a kid in this school. But that's what I want to do, eventually, when the whole thing is done, is to give you a complete picture of the man, from the time he was a kid right up to school, as a young man in the Obsidian Order, the various expeditions and adventures. Basically, my idea about him is that he spent many years away from Cardassia because he was always a loner. He never had a family and he was so trusted by Enabran Tain that he was sent on these very long-term assignments, where he would be in another part of the Galaxy for many years. [He takes another question.] Yes?

Question: Makes another comment on Garak's Diaries.

Andy: Yesterday was not really fair, because it doesn't pay off, that thing. But the reason I chose the chunk that I chose yesterday, is because it really deals with the man's sense of alienation. He feels like an Alien. It's not just on Deep Space Nine: he's felt like an alien ever since he was a kid, because something was always weird about his parents. And we later find out…. Well, you know what happened about that, because, indeed, his father is not his father. And his sponsor….. Obviously you can guess who his "sponsor" is to the Bamaran Institute, simply because his mother and this guy, Enabran Tain… and so forth. I'm telling you, this would be great Soap Opera. Could you see that? As the Cardassian Turns.

Tracy: I was looking at your credits and you're listed as having been on Days of our Lives as Cousin Yuri.

Andy: I did one episode as this crazy Czech artist.

Tracy: Whose cousin were you?

Andy: You see, I don't know the show. So they sent me this thing. I said, "No, I don't want to do that." And then I saw he wears a beret. He wears a beret and he talks in this weird accent. So, I don't know, it was Days of Our Lives. So there are a few people who were at home with a hangover who turned on the television and caught it. So basically, it's like I don't know a Czech accent from a sczmech accent even though like Baklakpavel? is one of my favorite people on earth. So I basically went in talking…. And, of course, it's a Soap Opera, you know, they're not serious about using a serious accent.

[Tape Ends. But he said it was a lot of fun and he got to chase someone around a desk for three days. Later we learned that Cousin Yuri was indeed, as we suspected, the cousin of Ivan G'Vera, hired by Vivian to make an unflattering sculpture of Kate.]

Andy: Moving right along.

Question: asks him if there is any question he's never been asked.

Andy: No. This Star Trek crew is very thorough. I mean, by the time they finish, you know one of these Q and As, or certainly by the time you've done several of them, you've been picked through. There isn't much left that's a secret or a mystery to anyone.

Question: [Gives him an inaudible example of a possible secret.]

Andy: Well, that kind of secret, I mean, well, you know, but… Actually, when I first started doing these, the very first one was in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania in 1994. I think it was October of '94. [Irene confirms this.] It was '94, right. And the very first time I did it I had no idea what to expect, I mean it was a terrifying experience, because I knew nothing about Star Trek and I was facing a group of people, like yourselves, who knew everything about everything. So, the only thing I could do was just admit my ignorance and throw myself on their mercy and they were very kind to me. But then I asked at that point, I said, "Do ask me questions about what I do know." And that's what's happened ever since. People ask me stuff about acting and about theatre and so forth, in that area. And it's really helped me get clear about a lot of things, about my work. I've understood a lot of stuff about my work that I never really understood before, because I've never had to meet my audience before like this. They're people who watch the shows that I act in. It's such a unique experience for all of us who are actors on the shows.

Question: Brings up the unpleasant subject of the Creation Con type of event.

Andy: [quips] The evil empire type.

[Laughter.]

Question: Continues at length on the subject and expresses concern at one point about not being diplomatic.

Andy: No, no. Don't be diplomatic, please.

Question: Goes on asking if Star Trek Celebrities are aware of the poor way Creation treats fans.

Andy: Yeah, we're aware. I mean, as you know, Sid doesn't do Creations anymore. [Applause] And that was basically because they treated him very badly. They treated him like a commodity, like a piece of meat, you know, and he was absolutely right in his response. The reason Armin, Rene, Sid and myself do this [Weekend on the Promenade], and willingly and happily, are a couple of reasons. One is, obviously, because we know that we're going to be able to raise a lot of money for those charities that we have gotten involved with. The other is that we do feel a great deal of responsibility…. Responsibility is not the word, it's….in other words it's…. you have supported us a great deal. You have, as well as running the fan club and doing all of that work for absolutely nothing, just simply supported us and you've appreciated our work. I can't speak for anyone else beside the four of us, but I do know that other actors, if they were given the same opportunity, Gayle, that they would respond to something like this. They would also want to participate in events like this.

Now, as for the other kind of event: that to me is a paycheck. They call me up and they say, "We're going to give you X amount of dollars to come speak and so forth." I get on a plane. I go to this place. I try to be polite and as friendly as I can be. I look out at the convention and I think, this is a zoo. What the hell is going on here? But they will exist as long as people plunk down their 25 and 35 dollars and go to them. And they'll always be a great deal of disappointment with them. There can't help but be. I mean, some people are perfectly satisfied. Some people come from Japan, they come from Europe, they come from wherever, because they do want to just at least see these people that they watch on television, in person. But other people are perhaps expecting something different. There are people who come back time after time.

So basically, as you well know, as long as these guys feel there is an audience out there and they can turn a buck from it they'll keep on having them and we will keep on going, because we will not kick that money out of bed. It's as simple as that. But there is a balance to it and that's why, in terms of the pictures that I sell, I will turn that money over to charity, because I've already been paid for my appearance. When convention people call me up and say, "Listen, we'd like to offer you a little amount of money, but you know there are going to be a lot of people here, so you're going to be able to sell a lot of pictures." I explain to them, "No. I want the money from you, because the pictures go to the charities." Most of the time they pass and go and get someone else. But, you know, these guys run a business and as long as people keep showing up at the door, they will continue to do that business. But as long as these [fan run] events happen in good faith, there are a group of us who are more than willing to participate in them and we prefer them. We have a much better time. We don't get paid anything for it, but that's not the point. The point is we are all taking our money and we are putting it into those areas that we think are important, that need it. You know, it's a tough one Michelle. I know what you're saying, but this is America and it's free enterprise and a free market and we can gouge as much as we can gouge as long as we don't break the law or get caught or whatever. Don't get me started on that.

Question: Continues the discussion, emphasizing the part community plays in the fan run event.

Andy: Exactly right, community. Isn't that the Star Trek ideal, anyway? Isn't there a sense of community built in to what Roddenberry's original idea was? I mean, God knows we've got a long way to go. I mean racism, poverty, greed, all of that shit is still having it's day, but groups like this that get together, pockets like this really do hold back the night for a little bit longer.

Question: Begins to ask a question, but Andy is distracted.

Andy: I like your friend, Joan. I can see it out of the corner of my eye and I think, who's that in her lap?

["That" is a doll of some sort.]

Joan goes on with her question regarding whether he's having as much fun as we are.

Andy: Oh, absolutely. And I'll tell you, because Gayle's organization gets better and better. You see the better organized it is the more fun we have. I think it's true for you, too. I think it's true, because, you know, the fatigue factor. Sometimes like, and I'm not putting him down, but the FantastiCon, that Bill Campbell thing, the first one I went to, I thought they were going to carry me away laid in a straightjacket. It drove me crazy. You know, it was a charity event, but it was like a badly run Creation con. So it was like bizarre. Then a whole bunch of us said, "Pal, get your act together or we're not coming back." And he did. This last one was a lot better. But something like this weekend, like last night, was such a pleasure. I love listening to Armin, who's such an intelligent, decent human being. I mean, I love hearing him talk and it's only in a situation like this where I hear him say things, like the asterisks on the scripts.

Question: He doesn't pull any punches.

Andy: No, no, he doesn't. When he said, "I don't need anyone to encourage me to tell the truth." He's absolutely right. He doesn't. And when Rene gets going too. Yeah, we do have fun. Yes?

[Takes another question.]

Question: Re: If he has seen the Cardassian Baby Doll.

Andy: No.

[The Doll is held up for his inspection.]

Andy: Oh, that's scary. Actually, it's cute. Can you imagine even Garak looked like that once. That's very funny.

Question: asks another question regarding Creation Cons.

Andy: You see, they've always treated me well. They really have always treated me well. I have no complaints with how they've treated me. I do know with Sid and with other actors, that has not been the case, and I do know, I've seen their treatment of fans. And I've gotta tell you, I once went and lodged a complaint. And I got into an argument, I won't mention who it was with, but he and I got into a very serious disagreement. And, basically he told me it was none of my business and I said, "You know something, it is my business." You know, I'll leave it at that, but I can imagine how they treat volunteers. And with the kind of money that they make I don't know why they are asking for volunteers anyway. They should pay people.

Question: [Makes an inaudible sarcastic remark.]

Andy: They don't make enough? Yeah, and pigs can fly. It's a business. Let's move on from that. I really don't want to talk about it.

Question: Re: What the dream episode would be for him.

Andy: You know, once in a while they come up with…. Like the one episode I shot this year. It's really a wonderful episode. It's Garak as a human being again, as opposed to Garak in In the Pale Moonlight, Garak as the conniver. This is now Garak in duress, Garak with a big problem. And once again the despised Starfleet comes through and helps him. You know, it always galls him. All these problems and the people he dislikes the most are the people who come to his aid. But the dream episode? I don't know. I'll tell you the episodes I don't like are the episode where he comes in and just sort of like throws off a couple of one liners and then disappears. I feel like… well, that's not a very polite expression, but I feel pretty useless in those episodes. You know, what a dream episode would be? I would love to see him with his mother. You know, we've done the thing with Tain and they did show, and even though they never said that was his mother, I'm convinced that that woman, Nila, was his mother. No question. She was Tain's general factotum, whatever.

[Takes another question]

Question: Re: Andy's Nothing Sacred appearance.

Andy: Yes, yes, I thought you'd never ask. Nothing Sacred was the show about the priest which really was a beautiful show and that was such a great script. It was a small role. Basically, what it is, is that, I can't remember the character's name, but the older priest, who is the regular on the show, you know father.…?

Question: [provides the name.]

Andy: Father Leo. Good. Right. He's accused of having molested this kid. And this kid now comes forward. He was molested and he comes forward and makes this complaint and says that it was Father Leo. But then it turns out that it wasn't Father Leo. It was another priest. The kid is now a man and the trauma and so forth, you know, has confused his memory. And so I play a parish bishop and he's a very political guy and he wants to sweep it under the rug and pay the kid off. Whereas the young kid, who's the lead in the show and Father Leo himself want to bring this matter out and publicize it, you know to get it out in the open. So that the Catholic Church is not, you know, sweeping things under the rug. They are trying to clean up their act. It's a very dangerous, very excellent episode. It's the kind of television you should see more of and then they go and cancel it. Go figure. It was dealing with good stuff. I mean important stuff.

Question: Re: How Garak is used on the show.

Andy: That has happened a number of times.

[The question (inaudible) goes on. Noise level has increased since many people have noticed that Alexander Siddig is in the room.]

Andy: No, no, nothing. Because I hear it literally the way you hear it. Basically it's like, for instance, there's an episode shooting now that I was originally in and I was taken out for the exact same reasons, you know. But that's okay.

[Sid comes forward.]

Sid:: Is he boring you yet?

Sid and Andy's Q and A

Sid: The guy I most prefer to be on stage with.

Andy: You know, I was just bitching about the fact that they let our relationship go.

Sid: Keep going. Don't mind me.

Andy: You've come at a perfect time, actually.

Sid: You go on.

Andy: No, I've gone on. I have gone on and then some.

[There are a few moments of commotion during which Sid and Andy try to get settled comfortably up front together and a jet plane zooms overhead. This attracts Andy's attention.]

Andy: I see an airplane taking off up there. There's a story about the airport I want to tell, but I can't tell it.

[Meanwhile Sid is presented with his lei as a small knot of his special fans declare in chorus "You've been lei-ed, Sid!"]

Sid: Does any one have any questions for the two of us?

Andy: And we'll answer it together. Yes?

Question: Re: The strangest thing they've ever been asked to sign is.

Andy: The strangest thing we've ever been asked to... sign? I've been asked to sign body parts.

Sid: Body parts are standard. I haven't had any thing real strange. Underwear. Things that can't be washed. Food. Nothing really strange. What's the strangest thing you've asked somebody to sign?

Audience Member: A picture of my dogs.

Sid: A picture of your dogs? Oh, I understand.

Andy: I once had a beer in a restaurant that was adjacent to a convention. And I put the glass down and I went back, this was in Germany, and then somebody came up in the reception line with the glass of beer, just the glass and asked me to sign it.

Sid: Empty now?

[Sid is not yet miked so he's nearly impossible to hear. He apologizes for interrupting Andy's Q and A.]

Andy: No, no, you didn't. Not at all. These people were so bored with me. They were working hard to think of questions.

Question: Re: some plot point from season opener Image in the Sand.

Sid: It's a story line I haven't followed closely. I have to be frank. I don't know much about this.

Andy: Boy, Sid. We're lost here. We're in trouble.

Sid: I'm sorry to say. I mean, I loved the actor that played him. You were foolish enough to ask a Star Trek question. We're the people who don't know the answers.

Andy: Well, you know we should be asking you these questions.

Sid: Garak is no longer a friend of his anymore. He's the Doctor on Deep Space Nine. I know he's not the hologram.

Andy: And he's got five o'clock shadow.

Question: If you could leave one episode as a legacy for your children which one would it be and why?

Sid: I could include Seinfeld in that?

Question: Star Trek! Something you're in.

Sid: Something I'm in. Gosh. As far as my children are concerned, and something with both of us, and I don't suppose that it's necessarily a qualifier, but one that they'll probably enjoy for their mother, too, is Our Man Bashir. I think they'd enjoy that. And I don't know at what age you outgrow that kind of fun. Out of all the ones we've done there are obviously more worthy choices. More, I don't know, more controversial, but Our Man Bashir is the one I'd leave to children. I still think of children as ants, you know. My children are still ants and they get into everything.

Andy: Actually, one of the episodes, obviously The Wire is one that I'd be in, but one that I wasn't in that I would leave would be one that Nana and my friend Harris Yulan did, Duet, which I found really effective and personally means a lot for me.

Question: Re: Voyager.

Andy: I don't know. I don't think so. I mean except.... What was the one that Tim directed about the museum? Living Witness, yeah. That had certainly a very serious foundation to it. But still the thing about those shows is that you get a script and then you get performances that really lock in, like what Sid and I were doing in the Wire and what Harris and Nana were doing in Duet. That's when it becomes a complete package.

Sid: [listening to an Audience Member's film rewind for what seemed a very long time] This camera had like 64 shots in it because it is...

Andy: It's Karen's way to gain attention.

Sid: My god. It must have Energizer batteries.

Andy: [enthusiastically, about Sid] This is my energizer battery. You see how the room has picked up, man.

Sid: [taking a question] Yes?

Andy: You know, those of you on the periphery, if we're ignoring you just scream, "Hey, idiot!"

Question: Re: The final season's story arc.

Sid: A couple have. Our writers aren't the sort of writers who write the entire season before the show begins airing or even shooting. Our writers, whatever you can say about them, tend to like... they write on the fly.

Andy: They write on the fly.

Sid: It's a very small script. They might have two or three shows, obviously, but they don't know what is going on from one moment to the next. I don't know that they have a complete story arc at all. I think that's a little case of glorification. That would be wishful thinking.

Andy: I think so. That's true. That's absolutely what it is. You know they try to make themselves.... They tell you these things.... They have these things with Rick Berman. Who is the guy in the magazine who has the column with Rick Berman? Eric?

Sid: That Ian fellow?

Andy: One of those guys. Anyways, it's, "Now, we're going to ask Rick these questions tonight." So this guy calls up Rick Berman. He asks him these questions and Rick says the first thing that comes out of his mouth, you know. It's totally reactive and it's totally fiction.

Sid: When Rick did the last interview, he said, "By the end of the seventh season, the last show, we're thinking of having Deep Space Nine finally making it home."

Question: Re: the Garak/Bashir relationship and if anything will be done with it in the final season.

Andy:: No, no. You know, I just don't know. I would think that they would try, just as a tip of the hat to the relationship, that's obviously a very popular one and a very successful one, try to have something that would be at least a valedictory scene between the two of them, you know, a good-bye. It's too late; they missed the opportunity to get this relationship to the next level after Our Man Bashir. They missed that boat entirely. So, I don't know.

Sid: They have a wonderful opportunity, if they want to use it, with Section 31.

Andy: Who mentioned that? Someone did mention that earlier.

Question: Re: if they intend to bring back Section 31.

Sid: They say Section 31 is coming back, but they said Our Man Bashir was coming back and they said that on air. So I don't know if they really mean it, to be honest. I don't know how it works... yet.

Andy: [In producer mode, deciding the order of questions] Yes, one. Stephanie, two and three.

Question: asks if there's been any talk about a spin off show or a movie.

Sid: No talk about movies. Well, there's always talk about everything, especially movies, but they don't actually mean it. From what I've heard is going on, I think they are going to, I should imagine, stop for a while. It did them a lot of good, before Next Generation came out, to just stop for a little while, for about fifteen years. They might just give it a rest and say, "Well, lets just generate some interest again in the whole franchise and come back with something really new I wouldn't be surprised if they just stopped. At least until they know who's going to run it. They're trying to work out movie ideas, but they do that to have movie ideas. [Sid continues for a little while on the subject of movies, but it's inaudible.]

Andy: I'm going to bow out and let you takeover.

[Applause]

Andy: I'm going to leave you one thing before I go. [Handing over the mike.]

Question: But, Andy, my question was for you, too.

Andy: Oh, was it? Well, ask it.

Audience Member: begins her question, but is interrupted by the now clearly audible Sid.

Sid: We were that close to getting rid of him.

Question: continues question regarding Terry Farrell's absence and how much they miss her.

Andy: Yeah, I do. There was such a sweetness about Terry. And I'll be honest with you. When I first worked with Terry I thought, oh God, she's not up to the rest of the cast. But then I realized that she brought something that the rest of the cast did not have, which was a vulnerability, a sweetness. She's a genuinely good person. And it got to the point where not only did I look forward to working with her, but my dream episode, somebody asked me about my dream episode.... My dream episode, and I even pitched it to the writers, was a Cyrano version, which they did, but I actually directed, with Armin and Grilka and Worf. But I did it for Garak and Dax and so forth. Garak falls incredibly, hopelessly in love, but I did it with Bashir. But then Garak is this incredible lyric poet that's writing poetry for.... .

Audience Member: Put that in the diaries.

Andy: Yeah, I'll put that in the diaries. See you.

[Andy leaves. We have to note here that all during Andy's Q and A he had been meticulously sorting by color and then stacking all the raffle tickets, which had been left on the table. He had then given one to Sid when Sid came in. During Sid's Q and A, Sid quickly put the carefully stacked tickets into disarray.]

Alexander Siddig - Question and Answer

Question: And you, Sid?

Sid: Sorry? What was the question?

Question: repeats original question re: If he misses Terry Farrell.

Sid: Oh, yes. Oh, yeah, I do. I got lost into my dream episode. I was thinking I didn't have a dream episode, but Andy did. And I was thinking, I wish I had a dream episode. He gave me this as I came in. A ticket. I hate to think somebody might be losing something because I've got it.

[Audience slyly suggests he has to give an unspecified prize to the person whose name is on the ticket.]

Sid: Oh, I do? [He turns to Gayle for confirmation.] Gayle? Is this like Lord of the Flies? Is there something I've got to do? Or are they telling me there's something wrong here? Do you mean I really am supposed to read it?

[The audience assures him otherwise.]

[A staff member at this point shows him where the rest of his Pepsi is. This has been poured into a cup for him since he's an extra special guest]

Sid: Oh, thank you. I was like, "Hmm, has somebody finished it?" I didn't realize there was a cup back here. Oh, okay. I thought it was something like Andy's beer. I needed that [the Pepsi] because I was like totally asleep about twenty minutes ago. So, I'm up now. I was asleep on Andy's sofa upstairs, actually. Thank you, Andy.

Uh, well yes, dream episode. No, Dax. Yes, I miss her. I felt it today, when I saw some photos today. I don't know why, but it struck me, because someone gave me some photos and it was Dax and Bashir walking along in the show that Rene directed and I thought, oh, look. I miss that. It is interesting not to have that, in a sad way. There is something missing in the show and I wish she was still there. She did bring something to the show. And we were together for six years. And certainly for our characters the first two years were intense. The way we were always wondering whether or not we were going to get together or not get together ourselves. I suppose after all that time and now her not being there anymore and now there's another Ezri... another Dax, who I don't associate at all. She is very sweet and I like her. Nicole de Boer is an excellent person, but she's not Terry Farrell. It's like they could have brought her on and Terry Farrell could still be there. As far as I'm concerned they didn't necessarily need a replacement. But it was an inevitable split and she ended up laughing all the way. She's very happy and she's still on the lot and she's working with the same people with whom negotiations collapsed when they were doing negotiations, except she's starting again on a new show at a far higher rate than she was when she left. There probably like, "Should've left her on Star Trek." And so, I think she's very happy. I haven't really talked to her I have to say. But I ....

Audience Member: asks him to give her our best when he does talk to her.

Sid: I will. I will. Yes?

Question: asks what was up with Nana's hair in the season opener.

Sid: No, no, it's interesting. Everybody's been asking me, "What's with Kira's hair?" I don't know. Like most men I didn't notice till it was mentioned. I still don't notice anything odd about the hair, but I do, now that I've thought about it, think it might have changed, but it doesn't seem odd to me now and we're in the seventh or eighth show. So I'm not sure. What was it? It had a big braid?

[Audience Members try to explain why Kira/Nana's hair looks different. We think it must be those new high definition TVs. The hair looks fine on our 15-year-old set.]

Sid: I think it does that. I think it still does that, but it's a bit more... I don't know. I really don't know. I kind of don't care. I mean, I don't totally care. I don't know whether or not men always do that, but you know, wives come back home and they're platinum blonde and the husbands are, "Oh, hi, honey, there's some baseball on. I'll be over here." And they don't notice anything different. You know, there are sitcoms about this. I'm sure I'm one of those guys.

You know, it didn't really occur to me. Normally, when somebody has a new hair-do on the show it's a huge deal. They have to get photographed. They come back again. They go to the make up department. They try it with cream colored clothes. They try it with purple clothes. They bring photographs back. They go to Rick Berman's office. It's the most exhaustive process, but this time it just happened that the hair-do changed. I must say I think it looks better in real life than it does on screen. I'm only assuming it doesn't look good because everyone's mentioned it. She's has these really wonderful braids, you know, and they are really kind of more appropriate for a Bajoran and they are pretty unusual and weird. They look good in real life. So I'm not sure and I'll hold my judgement until get a look at it on screen.

Question: Re: Take Me Out to the Holosuite.

Sid: We had a good time making Take Me Out to the Holosuite. We had a good time. We went to this public diamond down in Santa Monica and we played baseball for four days. Well, we didn't really play baseball. That was the point. I mean Bashir.... I'm always very angry, well, not angry, but I'm always remarking, when Bashir is supposed to be this remarkably genetically enhanced human being and we play baseball with the Vulcan's and Bashir doesn't even make a hit. And I'm like, "Well, actually, I'm not sure that could happen. At least show him throwing the ball, because he could throw it pretty rapidly or at least pick it up pretty rapidly. Well, anyways, he didn't they're like, "Well not in this one." You'll see him miss a ball, several times. So, you assume he's a second season Bashir. Odo's the umpire and he's like, "You're out!" and "Safe!"

Audience Member:[remarks] "He could be home plate."

Sid: Good. I know. I know. It's really a not very logical thing to challenge our cast to a game of baseball. Not only do we have this genetically advanced person with amazing eye hand coordination, we have a Captain whose baseball history is forever and ever and ever. We have Colm Meaney who...There's Cirroc. There are some extraordinary people on the team. Nevertheless they made a match of it. I'm sure it will be a good show to watch. I'm sure it will be funny. I think it was supposed to be funny.

[Audience Member points out the possible metaphoric qualities of such a show.]

Sid: There's a whole metaphor thing going on. And also, the holosuite's already screwed up for me now. I don't know what the holosuite does anymore. I used to know. I used to go. "Okay, you going to the holosuite?" You ask it for what you need. It appears. You do it. And then you leave and it goes. But now we leave and Vic's still there like looking at his nails. The holosuite goes on when we leave. What is that? That's extraordinary to me. It's like looking in the mirror and leaving and there's still a person in there. But I'm not sure. It's not for me to argue about the technicalia of the holosuite program. I'm sure they'll come up with a very good excuse if I do say anything about it.

Question: Re: the function of the holosuite.

Sid: The suite has an awful lot of functions as far as I'm concerned. I've had a lot of storylines there. Anytime Bashir has a storyline it's pretty much through the holosuite. Bashir Through the Holosuite is my character's storyline. So I love that. And it gets us out of the old costumes and into some nice clothes. Well, some different clothes.

Question: [Inaudible]

Sid: Yeah, I think that we just tried to do that. For those of you who remember the Melora storyline, I don't know but I think we just did it again, but I can't be sure about that. But frankly I think that we might have just done Melora once again. Just with a different past. Except me was the same, but hopefully it's a good show anyway. We just shot it a couple of weeks ago, so it won't be out for a while, but then it will be on every day. [Sid takes a question saying] Yes, ma'am.

[Audience Member is confused by the appellation and looks back to see if there is an older woman behind her.]

Sid: Yes, even you.

[Audience Member complains about the practice of Ma'am-ing.]

Sid: Oh, no. Is Ma'am equated with age?

[The audience members give their various opinions on the subject simultaneously.]

Sid: It is? Well, what's non age specific? Miss? Ms.? Yes, Miz?

[MIZ Audience Member puts forth her theory that Bashir actually wrote the Vic holosuite program.]

Sid: Oh, interesting. Interesting.

Question: Re: Vic being a "genetically enhanced" hologram created by Bashir.

Sid: Yes, he is a genetically enhanced holoprogram. I think it makes sense. I mean it would make more sense than Vic just appearing, because Vic is too extraordinarily super enhanced for a holosuite program. He's an unusually developed holosuite program, more so than just about anybody in the history of Star Trek, I think. I mean this guy is totally spontaneous.

[MIZ Audience Member speculates that if this is true and Bashir did create Vic he would in fact be it's "father".]

Sid: Did you just call me ma'am?

Question: Re: The Actor Formerly Known as Malcolm McDowell, but always referred to during the weekend as "Sid's Uncle" and his new series Fantasy Island.

Sid: Always, always. I saw a rough cut, a pilot cut, and it's terrific. I mean it was a very rough cut. I hear around that certainly the news is very favorable, that it's a terrific show. So I don't know. It sounds great and it's right up his street. He gets to play Faust's devil or Prospero or whatever it is you want to say he is. And that's totally the dark side of Malcolm McDowell. He loves that sort of character.

[End of our tape.]
But we do recall some of the other happenings during Sid's Q and A. There was some charming interaction with the live baby in the crowd, belying his previous comparison of children to ants. And there was some discussion of what kind of pet Dr. Bashir would have. The crowd thought a cat, and while Sid is not personally a cat lover, he agreed that Bashir probably would be. Another audience member suggested Bashir could have a canary. This led to a little story from Sid, about his canary, Agamemnon escaping from his cage one day, and one of the children, declaring "'Memnon Sky!"

There was a great deal of conversation about "Profit and Lace" and what Sid had orginally directed, and how they had made him change it. In particular he mentioned the scene between Quark and Ishka, where she has her heart attack. Originally it had been a very realistic scene, difficult to watch because it was like being there for a real argument between family members. He said he did have his own Director's cut of the show, but that for legal reasons, it would be impossible to release.

Autograph Session

Things were running a little late again, because, as you can see Andy and Sid had a lot to say. Judging from the day before, we guessed that it could take quite a long time to get around to Miz 110 and Miz 111, so we took a little walk to the San Diego Bay, and back. When we arrived back at the hotel the line was still fairly stationery. Like Armin the day before, Sid lavished time on his fans. Shortly after we arrived they swung our line around to the other side of the door. This was now the line going in to Andy's table and then they brought out Sid's line which wound around, practically to where we'd been moments before. We weren't too worried, there was still a few hours before our flight.

It took awhile, but eventually we got in. We bought another picture for Andy to sign. (You can't have too many autographed black and white, 8 by 10 photos... or can you?). We had Andy sign the script that we'd bought at auction the day before.

We went out and got at the end of Sid's line. And we patiently waited. And hour or so later, we were a little less patient. That flight was going to be leaving soon, and we certainly didn't want to miss out on getting Sid's autograph. So we waited some more, because we were nearly to the door of the autograph room. Crunch time. No closer and only moments remained before we had to catch the shutttle for the airport. Reluctantly we availed ourselves of Gayle's earlier offer to skip us in line should we have a flight to catch. We hadn't thought it would be necessary, but there we were.

If looks could kill we would have been vaporized, as we were put at the front of the line. Consequently, we tried to rush through the autograph process as quickly as possible. Which was a crying shame since Sid seemed to want to talk with us. We had him sign everything to Teresa or without a personalization. So as we turned to leave he asked what my name was. Did I answer? Hard to say as I only recall looking directly into those big bright(grey)eyes. [Okay, that's as close as you get to a drool session from us.]

We rushed out and caught our shuttle and our flight, ending one of the best fan weekends we've ever attended. Kudos to the organizers and the guests for a job well done.

Day One includes:

• Brunch with Rene Auberjonois
• Rene's Q and A
• Rene and Armin Shimerman's Q and A
• Autograph Session
• Dinner
• Garak's Diaries
• Armin's Q and A
• Auction etc.
• Day One Photo Gallery

Number of people who were worried about flying out of the San Diego airport:

This page hosted by Get your own Free Home Page