EXCELSIOR Campaign: A Convention Report

by  Thomas Jensen  

On February 5, I attended a Creation Star Trek Convention in Sacramento, CA.  As part of the EXCELSIOR Campaign, I spoke with fans, actors and anyone interested in seeing a new Star Trek Series with the Starship Excelsior, and Captain Sulu in command. This campaign hits a home run with those fans who grew up with the original show.  It seemed everyone over 35 years of age and upward wants to see the original players again!  Many I talked with support the idea.  It's actually the best thing for Star Trek.  We just have to nudge Paramount in the right direction.  So many of those I talked to still feel a special connection to the original cast.  There is a whole demographic of people who have grown up and have come full circle and want to experience the thrill of a new series with "Captain Sulu".

At this con, the most popular actor was Leonard Nimoy.  The guy just gets up there on the stage and becomes very real with audience.  He's at a point with all the fame and adulation, that he plays with the audience's questions in a lighthearted, kind and knowing way.  He's very funny, with quick witty comments for fan questions.  He joked with a girl about her nose ring for a few minutes, asking her, "Doesn't that hurt?".  And, "Why do you do it?"  He was relentless with her, but he was so funny in the process of bantering with her.  He really exudes warmth and appreciation for his fans.  You can tell from watching him that he enjoys his role as a founding member of the Trek experience.  He's a man also taking more time for family, and he is proud of his acting accomplishments.  And proud of Star Trek.

He's is at home on stage, wearing plain black workout sweats with tennis shoes.  Everyone could see that he was having a great time.  He looked fit and healthy. He was so great, talking about the old days of filming on the Paramount lot. I heard him joke more than once,  "That was when Paramount used to call me", when referencing the days of the movies.  He did that for many laughs.  He was asked if he preferred directing over acting and said he would act over directing.  He also told the audience that he wouldn't want to direct a picture now, "Because it would take a year of my time, or two, if it was a big special effects film".

I got the impression that he would do one more Trek movie again, but he left it mostly unsaid.   He commented many times that, "We respect the new series and what they have done, that they have continued the adventure we first started."  After any complement to the other Treks, he would always add, "But hey, wasn't Star Trek IV the best movie of all of them all, anyway?"

The audience roared, every time he said that!   Someone asked him what he finds most rewarding now, and he said, "Being with my family".  He is very different man than the Nimoy of the 70's on stage at a convention.  Even, the Nimoy of the 80's, he's now more relaxed in his life.  He seems to be a man who is happy with his career in a non-self aggrandizing way.

I was filled with emotion and respect, when listening to his thoughts on DeForest Kelley.  He told the story about, "The muffins and Shatner at the crafts table", during the filming of one movie.  He spoke of how kind DeForest was, he remembered De describing  himself as, "the laziest actor in Hollywood".  In his time on stage, he showed that he has many thoughtful memories of Kelley.  And he closed by reading from one of his poetry books;  telling the audience that he had been lately thinking of him.  His reading of the poem, he said, was for De.

But, most of the time I was laughing at his sly sense of humor, his stories and his perspective on the fans and the show.  He's a class act and he seemed very content at this time in his life.  The best part of the convention was seeing him speak again.  I felt so many memories of a great show and era....

I also was able to speak to Grace Lee Whitney.  I gave her an EXCELSIOR flyer and she told me that she and George Takei would love to be part of a new series.  She mentioned the campaign by name when she went onstage, too.  She stated that a fan (yours truly) told her that a campaign was forming to lobby for an EXCELSIOR series.

That was great publicity for the movement.  I can tell she would want to be in it, if a series materialized.   I talked with Celeste Yarnell ("The Apple") and  gave her a flyer, she also said that it would be a great idea and that she also wanted to be in it!   I met "Apollo", Michael Forrest, this guy is still in great shape!  He thought that using the original characters was a great idea.  And, there was the guy who played in, "The Way To Eden", Victor Brandt, who played Tongo Rad, he took one.

I don't know how many people know of the EXCELSIOR Campaign, but many more in Sacramento, CA are up to speed now!

So, as you can see, thousands of fans are rallying together to do something that has never been done in this way since the letter-writing campaign of the late 60's..we're trying to save Star Trek.  It's an on-line campaign that's just starting to take form.  TV guide on-line has an article on the campaign, and George Takei has joined the thousands of fans in this bold endeavor and we hope you will too. 

EXCELSIOR Campaign: A Convention Report

by 

On February 5, I attended a Creation Star Trek Convention in Sacramento, CA.  As part of the EXCELSIOR Campaign, I spoke with fans, actors and anyone interested in seeing a new Star Trek Series with the Starship Excelsior, and Captain Sulu in command. This campaign hits a home run with those fans who grew up with the original show.  It seemed everyone over 35 years of age and upward wants to see the original players again!  Many I talked with support the idea.  It's actually the best thing for Star Trek.  We just have to nudge Paramount in the right direction.  So many of those I talked to still feel a special connection to the original cast.  There is a whole demographic of people who have grown up and have come full circle and want to experience the thrill of a new series with "Captain Sulu".