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Future's End (episode)

View history
1.2 Act One
1.3 Act Two
1.4 Act Three
1.5 Act Four
1.6 Act Five
2 Log Entries
3 Memorable quotes
4.1 Story and Script
4.2 Cast and Characters
4.3 Production
4.4 Effects
4.5 Continuity
4.6 Reception
4.7 Video and DVD Releases
5.1 Starring
5.2 Also starring
5.3 Guest Stars
5.4 Special Guest Star
5.5 Co-Stars
5.6 Uncredited Co-Stars
5.7 Stunt Doubles
5.8 Stand-ins
5.9.1 Other references
5.9.2 Meta references
5.10 External links

Summary [ ]

Henry Starling

On Earth , in the High Sierras in the year 1967 , a young hippie with a tattoo on his left wrist is camping in the mountains , listening to music on his portable radio . He begins to tap his canteen and pots with makeshift drumsticks along with the music, when his radio loses its frequency . Suddenly, in the sky, he spots a strange phenomenon: a starship seems to be crashing to Earth. It impacts on the surface very near to him. " Far out ," he remarks.

Act One [ ]

In the 24th century in the Delta Quadrant , Captain Kathryn Janeway is practicing her tennis serve in the ready room on the USS Voyager , when Lieutenant Tuvok enters. He catches her tennis ball in his right hand. She tells her chief of security that she is planning on taking up tennis again after 19 years but she says she is a little rusty as she lost her first match in straight sets in a novice tournament on the holodeck . Tuvok tells her that her serve would be more effective if she maintained eye contact with the ball at the apex of its trajectory. Moving to official ship business, Tuvok tells the captain that he has completed his monthly security evaluations and is about to show her his PADD when first officer Commander Chakotay calls for Voyager to go to red alert and requests that Janeway come to the bridge . Tuvok follows her.

Voyager has encountered a graviton disruption, a distortion in the space-time continuum . Ensign Kim tells the captain the rift seems to be artificially generated. Then, a small vessel emerges from the distortion. According to Kim, it is a Federation vessel. Janeway orders it to be hailed but Tuvok announces it is charging weapons. Chakotay orders the shields raised but Voyager is hit, knocking out the helm in the process, temporarily disabling the ship. The smaller vessel is firing a subatomic disruptor , which is tearing Voyager 's molecular structure apart. Chakotay orders that Tuvok send out a high energy polaron pulse from Voyager 's navigational deflector to disrupt the firing vessel's weapon.

A ship emerges from the disruption

The plan works and the ship hails them. The pilot of the timeship , Captain Braxton , says he is from the 29th century and his vessel is the timeship Aeon . He further claims that Voyager will be responsible for a temporal explosion in the 29th century that will destroy the entire solar system . He asks the ship to disengage its deflector pulse and let him destroy their vessel. Captain Janeway responds with force to Braxton's tactics and eventually Voyager overpowers the timeship, causing Braxton to lose control of it. The graviton field begins to collapse and both ships are pulled into it. When the ship emerges from the rift, a shaken Kim announces that it has closed. Chakotay asks where they are. The viewscreen shows they are inexplicably in orbit around Earth . " Home ", a startled Tom Paris announces. Janeway theorizes that the rift must have originated in the Terran solar system . She asks to be put through to Starfleet Command . However, Tuvok cannot pick up a response on standard frequencies but is getting a multitude of EM signals. When patched through, the signals are most certainly not from the 24th century. " The question isn't where we are… but when", Janeway says. Ensign Kim announces, according to his astrometric readings – the year is 1996 , the late 20th century .

To avoid Voyager being detected by surveillance satellites, Janeway orders that the ship be placed in high orbit and has the shields modulated to scatter radar. Tuvok informs Captain Janeway that low frequency subspace readings are emanating from the city of Los Angeles . The readings are no doubt coming from Braxton's ship as the technology for it should not exist for close to a hundred years. Janeway decides they must find Braxton so they can return to their own time. She chooses Chakotay, Tuvok, and Paris to transport to the surface with her, leaving Ensign Kim in command of Voyager . Recalling Lieutenant Paris as an aficionado on the 20th century, Janeway asks what they will need to pass as locals of the current era. " Simple. Nice clothes, fast car, and lots of money ", he says as the turbolift doors close.

In Los Angeles, the away team from Voyager looks upon the colorfully dressed 20th century inhabitants of the city. " We could have worn our Starfleet uniforms . I doubt if anyone would have noticed ," Tuvok observes dryly.

Act Two [ ]

Chakotay, Janeway, Tuvok and Paris in Los Angeles

The away team blends in to the 20th century

Through Janeway's tricorder , she finds that the subspace readings they detected are within a hundred meter radius of their position but she cannot localize the source. She orders Tuvok and Paris to search the shoreline and that she and Chakotay will take the boardwalk . " Well Kathryn, you got us home ", Chakotay tells his captain. " Right place, wrong time. But it is good to be back, nevertheless ", she says. Chakotay thinks of looking up one of his ancestors from the 20th century, a teacher in Arizona . Janeway remarks that she has no clue what her ancestors were doing in this time, when a rollerblader runs into them. " For all I know, she could be my great-great-great-great grandmother ", Janeway says of the woman. " She does have your legs ," Chakotay says.

Janeway asks Chakotay if he has ever been to Southern California , and he says he has not. Janeway recalls that the entire region in Los Angeles sunk under two hundred meters of water during the Hermosa Quake of 2047 and became one of Earth's largest coral reefs. It became home to thousands of different marine species. " Some interesting species in this century," Chakotay says as a couple of individuals with colorful mohawk hairstyles pass by them.

Meanwhile, Paris and Tuvok are walking together on the beach . Paris encourages Tuvok to remove his shirt and enjoy the sunshine but the Vulcan declines, not wanting to risk exposing himself to dermal dysplasia . Paris notes that deep down, all Vulcans are hypochondriacs. Elsewhere, Janeway has finally detected the source of the subspace readings – they are coming from a homeless man scavenging from garbage cans.

Elsewhere in Los Angeles, a young astronomer is sitting in her laboratory in the Griffith Observatory when her computer emits a beeping noise. " No way ", she says. With her computer's keyboard on her lap, she enters a few commands. " Way ", she now says. In another location, a man named Henry Starling is laying a computer chip on a glass table. " It's crap ", he says to a man called Jim . As Starling continues to complain about the lack of sophistication of the chip, including its color, he tells Jim that the HyperPro PC will be introduced within the next six months. With a chip like the one his company has come up with to drive it, they will have to change the name of the computer to Edsel . He tells Jim to leave, lose sleep over this problem, and give him a full report by the middle of next week . When Jim leaves, an employee of Starling's named Dave pages him through Starling's intercom . When told he does not want to be interrupted during meetings, Dave tells him one Rain Robinson from Griffth Observatory has urgent news for him. She is put through.

Robinson recalls that Starling was to be notified when a certain kind of gamma emission matched a frequency profile that he gave her. She reports her findings to Starling. Robinson excitedly tells Starling that the source is in orbit, 20,000 kilometers above North America and she is not picking up anything from the standard search parameters – meaning that no one as of yet has discovered it. " We've got to call NASA ! ", she says. She offers to send a message to it but Starling tells her not to reveal her discovery to anyone else until they have more data. He humorously asks her if E.T. likes Chateau Coeur but Robinson assures him that if he does not, she has a six pack of beer in her fridge. They end their phone call and Starling goes to get a drink, revealing the tattoo on his left wrist, showing him to be the hippie who saw the starship crash back in 1967. Back at the observatory's laboratory, Robinson ignores Starling's instructions and sends a message anyway to whatever is in orbit.

A message directed at Voyager

On the bridge of Voyager , chief engineer Torres reports to Kim that the trip they took through the rift damaged several key systems. Weapons, three EPS conduits and the main transporter buffer are all offline. Kim asks how close Voyager will have to come to the surface to initiate a transport. Torres informs him they will have to be at least within ten kilometers . Just then, Ensign Kaplan reports that she is picking up an EM signal directed towards their coordinates . Kim orders it on screen, which then shows a standard SETI greeting sent from Robinson's observatory. When Kaplan asks if they should respond, Kim gives the order " Absolutely not! "

Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, Janeway and Chakotay tell Tuvok and Paris that the homeless man lives on the street, with a cart containing his belongings. Chakotay notes that he seems to spend most of his time posting "End of the World" signs. Janeway is contacted via her combadge beeping, which confuses nearby people into thinking their cell phones are ringing. Kim informs his captain that Voyager has been sent a message from Earth and they have tracked the signal to a nearby observatory. Janeway orders that Tuvok and Paris be beamed there but Kim informs her that the transporter's pattern buffers are currently inoperative. Instead, she has the address uploaded to Tuvok's tricorder and tells him and Paris to find out who sent the message and how many people know about Voyager . Paris tells her he and Tuvok will have to find " some wheels ".

Afterward, following the subspace readings, Janeway and Chakotay walk into an alleyway and find the homeless man they've been watching, who rants and raves about social workers constantly bothering him with their surveys. He is about to continue ranting when he stops, moves towards Janeway and remembers her and Chakotay. "Voyager! This is all your fault, all your doing! " Janeway finds a 29th century Starfleet combadge in the homeless man's clothes. She realizes it is Captain Braxton, aged nearly thirty years. " I told you to turn off your deflector pulse but you wouldn't listen to me. Voyager . Fools! "

Act Three [ ]

Braxton explains that he was trapped on Earth thirty years ago, in 1967, when his timeship crashed in the mountains. He initiated an emergency beam out but was unable to reach his ship in time and instead it was found by Henry Starling, who began exploiting its 29th century technology , beginning the microcomputer revolution of the 20th century on Earth. Braxton believes it's too late and that "the future's end" is inevitable. He explains the paradox he believes will occur.

Braxton explains that he now knows Voyager did not cause the explosion in the 29th century, but Henry Starling will use Braxton's stolen ship to fly into the future without properly recalibrating the temporal matrix then that could cause the kind of explosion he witnessed in the 29th century. Braxton has been tracking Starling, but can't get close to him. He appears somewhat deranged, but makes his point.

Chakotay and Janeway offer to help him but he says they are part of the problem; Voyager will also be destroyed by the explosion, hence why he found part of the ship's hull in the 29th century. The LAPD arrive to talk to Braxton for posting his various "End is Near" posters around the city. " You stay away from me, you quasi- Cardassian totalitarian! ", he yells at the officer. Braxton continues to say he came from the future, and tells LAPD officer Sims that Chakotay and Janeway followed him in a starship, also from the future. In no position to help, Janeway simply shrugs as the officer decides to take Braxton away, and he calls her a traitor . He runs away from them and the police chase after him. Shortly after this, Janeway and Chakotay decide they have to try to reach Starling themselves.

Starling is in his office at Chronowerx Industries , complaining to his assistant because Robinson has contacted other astronomers and now several people know about the orbiting gamma source. He says she is a security risk , and he may have to use "the weapon."

Meanwhile, Tuvok and Paris have "acquired" a Dodge Ram truck they "borrowed" for a test drive from a car dealership. The drive it to the observatory that detected them. They enter Robinson's lab and Paris begins to shuffle various papers on Robinson's desk. Tuvok complains because Paris is not replacing things exactly as he had found them. Paris holds his tricorder up to her PC and notes that they have indeed detected Voyager 's warp emissions from the ship's nacelles . Just then, Rain Robinson enters with a pizza box and discovers them. She chides them for being in a restricted area. Paris tells her that he and Tuvok took a wrong turn and got lost. Robinson gives them directions and asks them to leave. Paris informs Robinson that he finds her lab to be " pretty groovy ". Robinson mocks his use of the outdated term and again asks the two of them to leave.

When telling her her " curves don't look so great ", referring to her fourier spectral analysis , Paris suggests that she use a theta band filter for better resolution. As he talks, Tuvok moves behind them, discreetly pulling out his tricorder and conducting further scans. Robinson tells Paris that he seems to know quite a bit about astrophysics for someone who got lost in an observatory. Paris says he majored in it at Starfleet Academy – an east coast school – he notes. After connecting with her further over her apparent love of B-movies , such as Orgy of the Walking Dead , Tuvok suggests they leave. Robinson suggests they come back to the observatory on Tuesday for a planetarium show she hosts. They decline, saying they're both busy and leave. Robinson returns to her computer and sees it completely crash on her. Outside the observatory, Paris and Tuvok walk back to the truck. As Tuvok tries to ask Paris of the meaning of the word "groovy", Robinson emerges from the door, yelling and running after them. " Red alert! ", Paris says as he and the Vulcan race to the vehicle.

She angrily asks what they did to her computer's hard drive, as it is wiped clean. When she inquires to Tuvok about " that thing in your pants ", Paris sees a man in a suit with a weapon in his hand approach them. " Get down! ", Paris shouts. The man fires his weapon and vaporizes the truck. Tuvok turns around and fires his hand phaser , beginning a shootout. Paris asks Robinson if she has a car they can leave in; she says yes. Tuvok and Dunbar continue their phaser fight. Tuvok tries to make a run for it, just barely missing a phaser hit. Rolling and losing the bandana that covered his Vulcan ears , he fires again and succeeds in hitting Dunbar's weapon, knocking it out of his hand. Tuvok regains his bandana and puts it back on his head in time to escape in Robinson's Volkswagen van .

Act Four [ ]

On board Voyager , Kes and Neelix are monitoring Human television broadcasts in the ship's briefing room for any mention of their vessel. The Ocampan woman and Talaxian man get swept up in a televised soap opera . Kim says it just seems flat and unengaging compared to a story in a holonovel , but Neelix and Kes continue to watch, engrossed in the drama on television. Meanwhile, Janeway and Chakotay break into Starling's office using a tricorder to deactivate security. Janeway notices Starling seems to have a "massive ego", observing his numerous awards and a photo of himself shaking hands with President Richard Nixon . They begin downloading his database , hoping to find where the timeship is being kept. Janeway finds this turn of the millennium technology she is using akin to " stone knives and bearskins ".

Paris tells Robinson he and Tuvok are secret agents, but she doesn't believe him. Tuvok says her life may be in danger. Paris claims the orbiting signal is from a KGB satellite, but Rain reminds him the Soviet Union broke up five years earlier . He says, "That's what they want you to think." Tuvok says they can't tell her anything else, it's classified. She says she still doesn't believe him, and asks about his ears, which he claims are a "family trait." Tuvok keeps trying to reach Voyager without success.

Janeway hunts for information on the timeship

Chakotay and Janeway continue to study Starling's computer, and realize that much of their own history is based on the technology he released in the late 20th century. They try searching for information on the timeship's location. They discover a file called "Timeship Security Portal." There is a flash from the window next to them, and they walk over to look down into a large room where the timeship is stored. Just then Starling and his assistant walk in. The assistant aims a gun at them. " I see you've made yourselves at home. Welcome to the 20th century ", Starling tells Janeway and Chakotay.

Act Five [ ]

Starling says he knows they are from the future and that they are there to take the timeship. Janeway and Chakotay tell him that if he launches the timeship he will cause an explosion that will destroy the solar system.

Janeway's combadge beeps. Harry Kim says they have an uplink established and Janeway tells him to start. Starling grabs the combadge and orders Kim to abort the download or he will kill the captain. Kim knows the captain is in trouble and he complies with Starling's order. After a brief discussion with Torres about how the transporters were damaged by the rift, Kim orders the ship into low orbit for emergency transport, directly contrary to Janeway's earlier order. The danger of this is that someone may see them, but he feels they have to risk it to rescue the captain and first officer.

Back in the office, Starling says Janeway won't be able to stop him. Janeway says she has a starship in orbit that can vaporize the entire building. Starling says they'll die, too, and Janeway replies, "If necessary". " Captain… you've got some cojones", Starling says. Just then, she and Chakotay start to dematerialize. Starling orders his assistant to shoot them, but it's too late.

Back on the bridge, Janeway gives orders to try to remove the force field around the timeship and transport it onboard as well. She tells Kim he has done well for his first time in command. Starling sees the force field is down, then blocks their attempts and uses his stolen 29th century technology by converting Voyager 's transporter beam as a downlink to obtain over twenty percent of the ship's database. Voyager suffers minor damage in the attempt.

Starling contacts Janeway, quoting information he has read about Voyager , and is surprised to learn that Voyager is from the 24th century rather than the 29th as he has assumed… as a result, he has the " home field advantage " of more advanced technology. Kes then calls the bridge from Sickbay to tell them The Doctor 's program has gone missing, as The Doctor suddenly and mysteriously finds himself in Starling's office. Starling welcomes his unexpected visitor.

Unfortunately, the worst damage is soon realized as Neelix alerts the bridge to a news broadcast coming from the surface. Watching on the main viewscreen, Janeway is deeply troubled to learn that someone in Los Angeles videotaping a backyard barbeque has shot Voyager flying through the sky. The newscaster commenting on the video says " the massive, unidentifiable object does not appear to be a meteorite , weather balloon , or satellite and one aviation expert we've spoken to has stated that's definitely not any kind of US aircraft currently in use. We're awaiting investigation by local authorities and we'll keep you updated as news develops on this incredible story. "

Janeway looks at the viewscreen in shock, knowing that she and her crew may have just potentially altered history .

Log Entries [ ]

Operations Officer's log, supplemental. We've been on full sensor alert, looking for signs that anyone else has detected Voyager. As a precaution, I've also asked Neelix and Kes to monitor all media broadcasts.

Memorable quotes [ ]

" Far out. "

" We could've worn our Starfleet uniforms. I doubt if anyone would've noticed. "

" My mission is your destruction. You must not resist! "

" For all l know, she could be my great, great, great… great grandmother. " " She does have your legs. "

" No, no, no! No more questions! No, no more surveys! Damn social workers coming around all the time! "

" Shall I respond, sir? " " Absolutely not. "

" Come on, take off your shirt. " " And risk dermal dysplasia? No, thank you. " " Aww, Vulcans. Deep down you're all a bunch of hypochondriacs. "

" It's crap. The component density is too low, the voltage variance is out of spec, and I don't even like the color! "

" Your curves don't look so great. "

" I can't wait to see if Blaine's twin brother is the father of Jessica's baby . "

" Who are you, and what's that thing in your pants? " " I beg your pardon? "

" What does it mean, "groovy"? "

" Time travel. Ever since my first day in the job as a Starfleet Captain I swore I'd never let myself get caught in one of these god-forsaken paradoxes. The future is the past, the past is the future. It all gives me a headache. "

" I've got a starship in orbit that can vaporize this building in the blink of an eye. " [Chortles] "And you along with it! " " If necessary. " " Captain… you've got some cojones . "

" Ensign Kim, you have an impeccable sense of timing. Not bad for your first day in the big chair. "

" USS Voyager , Intrepid -class , much bigger than I expected and much less advanced. Says here your ship was launched in the year…2371? You're from the 24th century? And here all this time I thought you were from the 29th. Looks like I have the home field advantage. "

Background information [ ]

Story and script [ ].

This episode begins the second two-parter in Star Trek: Voyager 's run, after " Basics, Part I " and " Basics, Part II ", the two-parter that bridges the series' second and third seasons .
Despite being credited solely to Brannon Braga and Joe Menosky , this episode's two-parter, according to Braga, also involved the input of other writers from Voyager 's writing staff. " It was really a group effort, " Braga explained. " It was me and Rick [Berman] and Joe Menosky and the group of writers we had there, at that time. We all had a lot of things we wanted to do. " ( Braving the Unknown: Season Three , VOY Season 3 DVD special features)
Brannon Braga was intent on using this episode's two-parter to set a trend. He recalled, " One of the things I knew I wanted to do was… I got this crazy idea in my head that we would do, we would make it a tradition to do great, epic two-part episodes. " ( Braving the Unknown: Season Three , VOY Season 3 DVD special features) Braga also stated, "Voyager started its turnaround for us, personally and creatively, when we did the very first two-parter because we said to ourselves let's start having fun. What's fun to write is fun to watch and we've been toiling with the Maquis storyline and we've been having these angst-ridden characters deal with being lost and it's not much fun to write anymore and we felt that it couldn't possibly be all that fun to watch. Let's let it all hang out and do something insane… What seemed more insane back then – but if you hear about it now it sounds ridiculously antiquated – Voyager in 1996! And we conceived of big action sequences and big concepts with an epic villain […] Things that we never would have thought of even attempting on The Next Generation or in the early days of Voyager. It's crazy, but we did it and we pulled it off. " ( Star Trek: Voyager Companion (p. ? )) Braga also remarked, " It was a romp. It was intended to be […] The fun of the episode is seeing the Voyager people in a society we all recognize as 1996. We wanted to see our folks walking along Venice Beach. We wanted to see our folks getting into trouble with contemporary people. " ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 29, No. 6/7, pp. 109 & 110)
Executive producer Jeri Taylor noted the complexity of the episode's two-parter: " It was very high-concept. " ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 29, No. 6/7, p. 84)
The final draft of this episode's script was submitted on 5 August 1996 . [1]

Cast and Characters [ ]

Brannon Braga was ultimately very proud of the creation of the Henry Starling character. " Henry Starling was our first great Voyager villain, " Braga declared. " It sounds like a pat on the back, but I think we created great single individual villains and that was the first one, played by Ed Begley Jr. . " ( Star Trek: Voyager Companion (p. ? ))
In fact, Ed Begley, Jr. was one of Hollywood 's most notable environmental activists. Executive producer Rick Berman remarked, " Who better to play a man willing to destroy the environment of the solar system than the most committed conservationist in Hollywood? " ( Star Trek Monthly issue 22 ) Begley was also a Star Trek fan. Regarding the "Future's End" duology, he himself enthused, " They were really perfect episodes for me to do. " ( The Official Star Trek: Voyager Magazine issue 11 ) He also noted, " It was about time that I finally did one of the Star Trek shows. " ( Star Trek Monthly issue 26 , p. 60)
Ed Begley held the episode's plot in high esteem, being particularly fond of Starling's role in the installment's two-parter. " I thought the script was a lot of fun and very inventive, " he enthused. " I loved that it suggested that Starling caused the whole late 20th Century computer boom by cannibalizing the equipment from a starship. I loved that it's Starling who created this whole time warp thing that could cost billions of people their lives. I loved the idea that the USS Voyager crew had to come to the 20th Century to try and stop [him]. " ( Star Trek Monthly issue 26 , p. 60) In addition, Begley said of the episode's duology, " They were examples of the kinds of stories that Star Trek has done so well over the years, in films and on the TV series, in which they present the moral dilemma of how an action committed today can have profound implications on the future. " ( The Official Star Trek: Voyager Magazine issue 11 )
Ed Begley reveled in his malevolent role, particularly the fact that the character of Starling was totally unlike his own personality. " Most people probably figured I'd play a good guy if I ever did a Star Trek episode, " he reckoned. " I liked the idea that I was playing someone completely unlike me, who does things I could never live with were I to do them myself. I was obviously quite pleased that the Star Trek producers were willing to cast me as Starling, because he is, I guess, completely opposite to me. " ( Star Trek Monthly issue 26 , p. 60) Of his role, Begley also commented, " What was interesting to me was that I got to play the villain. I loved that. I loved that it was my character's actions which force the Voyager people to deal with the impact on the future, that it was my character's actions which force the audience watching the show to think about how what happens now can have tremendous cause-and-effect implications on the future; our own, very real future. I loved that in the beginning I was this hippy and later, I'm this slick guy. " ( The Official Star Trek: Voyager Magazine issue 11 )
Years previous to appearing here, Begley had twice acted alongside Chakotay actor Robert Beltran – namely, in the movies Eating Raoul and Scenes from the Class Struggle in Beverly Hills .
On the other hand, Ed Begley was initially unfamiliar with Janeway actress Kate Mulgrew . " I didn't know Kate Mulgrew before doing the shows, " he noted. ( The Official Star Trek: Voyager Magazine issue 11 )
Joe Menosky once described the character of Rain Robinson as "this late 20th century alterna-chick." ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 29, No. 6/7, p. 109)
The opportunity to perform material that was unusual for her drew comedian Sarah Silverman to accept the role of Rain Robinson. " I'm a stand-up comic too, " she remarked, " so I am always sent situation comedies. I saw so much more potential for real humor in this Star Trek , [and the opportunity] to act a little bit more in the realm of reality than in a sitcom […] I'm unhappy with almost one hundred percent of all sitcoms that are on. I'm just not interested in them […] but to be able to do a show which is an hour long that takes itself seriously enough that I can look at this character realistically, was just exciting. This was a person that you could go in a few different directions with, instead of like on a sitcom where the roles are so familiar already. " ( Star Trek Monthly issue 25 , p. 61)
After she was cast as Rain Robinson, Sarah Silverman found that she could relate to the character's unfamiliarity with the Voyager personnel. " I was on the outside looking in as Sarah Silverman on the show, so it was kind of pure and neat to be a character in the show that was also on the outside looking in, " Silverman reminisced. " There was a reality to it for me because I played somebody who didn't know these people and didn't know their lifestyle, and I was that in real life too. " ( Star Trek Monthly issue 25 , p. 61)
The precision expected of her dialogue, in this episode's two-parter, took Sarah Silverman somewhat aback. " I remember I wanted to change one word in the line, " she recalled, " and they got the cell phone out. They called the producers. They called the writers. It was wild. " ( Star Trek Monthly issue 25 , pp. 61-62)
Although she shared no scenes with Kate Mulgrew, Sarah Silverman was admittedly a fan of hers. " We would work 16-hour days, and they'd say, 'Okay, you can leave,' and I would stay to watch her, " Silverman commented. " They'd say, 'How can you not go home?' but I feel like you have to take opportunities to see people when their work is really good. She's really an excellent, professional actor. " ( Star Trek Monthly issue 25 , p. 62)
Tuvok actor Tim Russ thoroughly enjoyed this episode for its plot. " It was a great story, " he raved. ( Star Trek: Voyager Companion (p. ? )) He also commented, " Those two shows are one of my favorites because the concept, again, the story's great. Time travel's always fun. " ( Braving the Unknown: Season Three , VOY Season 3 DVD special features)

Robert Duncan McNeill and Tim Russ with director David Livingston

Paris actor Robert Duncan McNeill enjoyed appearing alongside Tim Russ in this episode's two-parter (as well as the later third season outing " Worst Case Scenario "). " He and I sort of have this odd-couple relationship that […] surfaced in the two-parter last year, " McNeill stated, during Voyager 's fourth season. " We have a comic side that comes out of both of us when we share the screen, so those episodes were a lot of fun. " ( Star Trek Monthly issue 37 , p. 44)
Despite only featuring in a single scene of this episode, Robert Picardo later stated, " I had a great deal to do in the Venice Beach shows. " ( The Official Star Trek: Voyager Magazine issue 10 )

Production [ ]

Filming for this two-part episode included five days of location shoots around Los Angeles, the Griffith Observatory exteriors being filmed on 14 August 1996 . ( Star Trek Magazine issue 143 ) Another location used was the Santa Monica Pier, near Venice Beach. ( Star Trek: Voyager Companion (p. ? ))
Partly due to this episode's location work, the episode was a favorite among the cast and crew, especially with Tim Russ. He related, " What's even more fun [than the two-parter's storyline] is to be able to go to the beach and work. I enjoy doing that. I mean, I kind of miss it because the shows I worked on prior to that, we were always on location. So, we were always at different places all the time, which gives you, you know, you don't get tired of it. There's something that's always a new challenge, a new space to work in. We had a dozen locations, and we could play in those environments in a different period in time. It was fun, it was a lot of fun, and I enjoyed that tremendously. " ( Braving the Unknown: Season Three , VOY Season 3 DVD special features) Russ also reminisced, " I'd have to say that 'Future's End' was the most fun episode to shoot. Those were two great weeks. We were outside the studio. We were in the city. We were running around all over the place, different locations and that's just a blast because shooting inside gets to be kind of boring sometimes […] It was just a lot of fun to shoot that episode. " ( Star Trek: Voyager Companion (p. ? )) In addition, Russ related that the fun he took from this episode was "because we were on location in the city of Los Angeles with beautiful weather." ( Delta Quadrant , p. 148)
Other elements of the production that Tim Russ enjoyed were the departure from his usual clothes and make-up that the two-parter's plot allowed him. " I was able to wear casual clothes, " he recalled. " And, because I wore a cap, I didn't have to put the ears on. Which took less time in the make-up chair in the morning. " ( Delta Quadrant , p. 148)
According to the unauthorized reference book Delta Quadrant (p. 150), the set of Starling's office – in this episode and the next – included light fittings that were reused after having appeared in Lidell Ren 's Banean home in the first season Voyager installment " Ex Post Facto ". While identical-shaped light fittings appear in both productions, they seem to be additionally covered by a metallic-looking framework in this episode's two-parter.
The black-and-white photo of Nixon and Starling shaking hands is actually a retouched one of Elvis Presley and Nixon from 21 December 1970 . (The original version of the image can be found here .)

Effects [ ]

Those who went on location around Los Angeles included members of Voyager 's visual effects team, who were tasked with capturing shots of such sights as the exterior of Chronowerx headquarters and the timeship bay that is, according to the story, inside that building. Visual effects supervisor Ronald B. Moore recalled, " We went out and shot [background] plates. I enjoyed doing this […] because I was able to bring out my old 4" × 5" camera from school and shoot a lot of stills on big 4" × 5" negative. Then we could go in and manipulate the buildings. We did the Transit Building , downtown L.A. It became the [Chronowerx] building […] We looked all over. [The story includes] a place where we were up in Starling's office and he looks down, and you can see the timeship inside. We tried to get into TRW, which we thought was cool because they shot some of the original series there. I thought it would be fun to go back down, but we couldn't find a place that we liked that they would let us shoot in. So, we finally found a [laboratory] down in Long Beach [or Seal Beach] where we went in, and it was just this real high-tech… Outdated for that, I guess, but we had lots of wires and pipes and big tanks and stuff. And Dan [Curry] and I went out with still cameras and shot all of this, and then we took it back and then added CG ships, and what-have-you, to that. " ( Red Alert: Amazing Visual Effects , VOY Season 3 DVD special features; Cinefantastique , Vol. 29, No. 6/7, p. 98) Moore elaborated, " [With] CGI we added the timeship, and the stands that it's sitting on, and the hoses it's connected to. " ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 29, No. 6/7, p. 98)
According to the unauthorized reference book Delta Quadrant (p. 148), the timeship Aeon was constructed around a shuttlecraft studio model and a life-size prop.
CGI Effects Director Ron Thornton extremely enjoyed the creation of shots involving Voyager 's interactions with a contemporary Earth in this episode's two-parter, such as the newsreel footage at the end of this installment. " We were able to do Voyager flying over Los Angeles, and that was great fun, " Thornton enthused, " doing some nice hand-held shots that were supposedly shot with a video camera of this UFO, which was really Voyager flying over LA. " ( The Official Star Trek: Voyager Magazine issue 16 )
Ed Begley, Jr. was impressed by the effects of this episode's two-parter. " I got a kick out of the special effects, " he raved. " For a TV show, they really pour it on. They certainly have the best computer graphics on TV. It's film-quality stuff. " ( The Official Star Trek: Voyager Magazine issue 11 )

Continuity [ ]

This episode marks the first mention of a future Starfleet that monitors and repairs the timeline . In this case, it is the 29th century Starfleet using a timeship . As is established in TNG : " A Matter Of Time ", timeships exist as part of Starfleet beginning in the 26th century if not sooner. However, all mentions prior to this episode pertain only to Federation historians using the ships to study the past. The earlier-produced DS9 : " Trials and Tribble-ations " establishes that, as of at least 2373 , a unit known as the Department of Temporal Investigations exists as part of the United Federation of Planets , for purposes of investigating and reporting on all incidents of time travel involving Federation citizens. This department may very well have been the precursor, in Star Trek 's chronology, to the 29th century Starfleet depicted in this episode.
The cockpit of the Aeon was later reused as the cockpit of an Kovin's ship in " Retrospect " and as Kes' starship in " Fury ".
This episode is one of four Star Trek productions that involve a crew traveling back in time to a strictly contemporary setting, with the other three such productions being TOS : " Assignment: Earth ", Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home , and SNW : " Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow " The episodes TOS : " Tomorrow is Yesterday " and ENT : " Carpenter Street ", and most of Season 2 of Star Trek: Picard , all feature an almost-contemporary setting, set respectively in 1969 (although it was first aired in 1967 ), 2004 (despite the episode originally airing in 2003 ), and 2024 (with the season airing in 2022). Regarding this episode, Jeri Taylor stated (shortly prior to the installment's original airing), " That will be the first time we've done a contemporary location. " ( The Official Star Trek: Voyager Magazine issue 10 ) It would not, however, be the last; other than the second half of this episode's two-parter, a subsequent Voyager episode to involve a near-contemporary setting is " 11:59 " (which is set in the days leading up to the year 2000 but first aired in 1999 ).
In this episode, Voyager 's crew discovers that they are in the past because they cannot pick up Starfleet signals, but are receiving radio transmissions. The same occurrence helps Captain Kirk and his crew determine that they are in the past in the episode TOS : " Tomorrow is Yesterday ".
Although this two-part story is mostly set in 1996 , there is no allusion made to the Eugenics Wars which, according to both TOS : " Space Seed " and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan , took place at this time. Prior to this episode's first airing, Jeri Taylor told a convention audience, " I think that those of us who entered into the Nineties realize the Eugenics Wars simply aren't happening and we [the writers] chose not to falsify our present, which is a very weird thing to do to be true to it. " ( Star Trek Monthly issue 22 ) Furthermore, in an audio commentary for Star Trek: First Contact , Brannon Braga states that it was decided not to have the Eugenics Wars in this episode because "it would just be kind of strange." This decision was also made, however, because Voyager 's writing staff didn't want to bog the "Future's End" two-parter down by having to explain the Eugenics Wars to the majority of the audience (who, according to the series' research, were irregular viewers of Voyager and not hard-core fans of the series). The DS9 episode " Doctor Bashir, I Presume " (produced soon after this one) mentions the wars as having taken place in the 22nd century and not the 20th century , which may account for the wars' exclusion from this episode's two-parter (although writer Ronald D. Moore himself admitted that the DS9 episode's dating of the wars was merely an error on his part–recalling the already iffy "two centuries" quote from " Space Seed " and then forgetting that the DS9 episode took place 106 years later, despite Joe Menosky suspecting differently). Ostensibly regarding the Eugenics Wars, Moore also admitted, " I was a little surprised when they didn't mention them in the Voyager episode. " ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 29, No. 6/7, pp. 110 & 50) The novel series Star Trek: The Eugenics Wars later sought to retcon them as a secret history in which various Augments , largely fighting amongst one another, were responsible for numerous real-life calamities from the early 1990s, making seemingly isolated events all part of one wider conflict; ironically, Los Angeles, the city whose untouched-by-war appearance brought their existence into question, is actually portrayed as an EW "battlefront", its 1992 race riots being one such incident.
Despite no explicit allusion to the Eugenics Wars here, Rain Robinson has a toy model of the SS Botany Bay near her window and a photograph – stuck to a filing cabinet in her office – that depicts the same sleeper ship 's launch; the Botany Bay is established, in "Space Seed" and Star Trek II , as having been launched very soon after the Eugenics Wars. Robinson also has, on her desk, a Talosian action figure, which was released as part of the Star Trek 30th anniversary line-up from Playmates Toys .
There's a very subtle gag in this episode involving the communicators . Right after Voyager receives the "Greeting from Earth" message from Rain Robinson, Harry Kim proceeds to contact the away team on the surface. As the captain's communicator beeps, all of the native Angelenos walking past the away team immediately reach for their cellphones to answer them.
Although this episode contains no direct references to Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (which is set only ten years prior to it), Tuvok's question to Tom Paris as they exit the observatory, " What does it mean, 'groovy'? ", is very similar to a question that Spock asks James T. Kirk after they are ejected from a bus in that film: " What does it mean, 'exact change'? "
Chronowerx Industries' name is misspelled as "Chronowerks" on a wall in the laboratory where the timeship Aeon is kept.
This episode features the only occasion in the series where Tuvok addresses Tom Paris by his first name, in the lab when they are talking with Rain Robinson.
Captain Janeway's original hair bun hairdo which was first used in the series premiere " Caretaker ", makes its last regular appearance in this episode. However, it was seen again in six subsequent episodes with scenes set either in a holodeck simulation or in 2371 as a result of time travel: " Before and After ", " Worst Case Scenario ", " Relativity ", " Pathfinder ", " Fury ", and " Shattered ".
Janeway's new regular hairdo, a hair-clipped ponytail, makes its first appearance here. This hairdo remains for a year, until the Season 4 episode " Scientific Method ". For the remainder of the third season, Janeway wears a different style, shape, and color of hair-clip. In the fourth season, she alternates between previously-seen hair-clips, until the introduction of her short loose hairstyle in " Year of Hell ". This hairstyle remained until the series finale " Endgame ".
This two-part story marks the only time that Neelix and Kes visit the Alpha Quadrant .
During the broadcast in which it is stated that a man using his camcorder during a barbeque caught incredible footage (of Voyager ), closed-captioning reads the footage was recorded by a cameraman during a live broadcast of the Dodgers-Giants game .
Janeway refers to late 20th century technology as " stone knives and bearskins ", a remark which echoes Spock 's appraisal of 1930s technology relative to that of the 23rd century in TOS : " The City on the Edge of Forever "
In the Star Trek: The Original Series novel From History's Shadow , James Wainwright watches the news report about Voyager flying through the sky over Los Angeles on 6 November 1996. This was the same day that this episode aired.

Reception [ ]

Shortly before this episode's first airing, Jeri Taylor said of the episode's duology, " We're all very excited about it, it's gotten a lot of good 'buzz', and we think it will be a great two-parter. " ( Star Trek Monthly issue 20 ) She particularly liked the present-day setting that the members of Voyager 's crew find themselves in, noting, " I like the idea of our people landing in Venice Beach and seeing what is truly an alien culture. " Taylor also cited this particular episode as one of several that she collectively referred to as "some very fun adventures in our November sweeps period" (another such installment being " The Q and the Grey "), noting that they were airing due to her conviction that Voyager 's crew members, in the third season of Voyager , should have more fun than they had had in the previous two seasons. ( The Official Star Trek: Voyager Magazine issue 10 )
This episode's duology was the first of several two-parters that were produced to air during the all-important sweeps period, soon to become an annual event on Star Trek: Voyager , and eventually led to two-hour movie nights in future seasons of the series. ( Star Trek: Voyager Companion (p. 121))
This episode achieved a Nielsen rating of 5.6 million homes, and a 9% share. [2] (X)
After but in the same week as the episode's initial broadcast, Jeri Taylor commented that the installment "did spectacularly well." She also related that the success of the character dynamic between Tuvok and Paris here did not go unnoticed and that their relationship would continue to progress along those lines in subsequent episodes. ( Star Trek Monthly issue 23 )
This episode was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Drama Series.
Cinefantastique rated this episode 3 and a half out of 4 stars. ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 29, No. 6/7, p. 95)
Star Trek Magazine scored this episode 5 out of 5 stars, defined as " Gold -pressed latinum !". ( Star Trek Monthly issue 25 , p. 60) It was the first time that the magazine awarded an episode of Star Trek: Voyager such a high rating.
The unauthorized reference book Delta Quadrant (p. 150) gives this installment a rating of 8 out of 10.

Video and DVD Releases [ ]

UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video ): Volume 3.4, 10 March 1997
In feature-length form, as part of the UK VHS release Star Trek: Voyager - Movies : Volume 1 (with "Basics"), 14 August 2000
As part of the VOY Season 3 DVD collection

Links and references [ ]

Starring [ ].

Kate Mulgrew as Captain Kathryn Janeway

Also starring [ ]

Robert Beltran as Commander Chakotay
Roxann Dawson as Lieutenant B'Elanna Torres
Jennifer Lien as Kes
Robert Duncan McNeill as Lieutenant Tom Paris
Ethan Phillips as Neelix
Robert Picardo as The Doctor
Tim Russ as Lieutenant Tuvok
Garrett Wang as Ensign Harry Kim

Guest Stars [ ]

Sarah Silverman as Rain Robinson
Allan G. Royal as Braxton

Special Guest Star [ ]

Ed Begley, Jr. as Henry Starling

Co-Stars [ ]

Susan Patterson as Ensign Kaplan
Barry Wiggins as Policeman
Christian R. Conrad as Dunbar

Stunt Doubles [ ]

Irving Lewis as stunt double for Tim Russ
Dennis Madalone as stunt double for Robert Duncan McNeill
Linda Madalone as stunt double for Sarah Silverman

Stand-ins [ ]

Debbie David – stand-in for Robert Duncan McNeill and Christian R. Conrad
Sue Henley – stand-in for Kate Mulgrew
Susan Lewis – stand-in for Roxann Dawson and Sarah Silverman
John Parsons – stand-in for Ed Begley, Jr.
Lemuel Perry – stand-in for Tim Russ
J.R. Quinonez – stand-in for Robert Picardo
Jennifer Riley – stand-in for Jennifer Lien
Richard Sarstedt – stand-in for Robert Beltran and Christian R. Conrad
Simon Stotler – stand-in for Ethan Phillips and Allan G. Royal
John Tampoya – stand-in for Garrett Wang

References [ ]

1473 ; 1543 ; 1738 ; 1822 ; 20th century ; 1967 ; 1969 ; 1991 ; 1996 ; 21st century ; 2047 ; 24th century ; 2354 ; 2371 ; 29th century ; 51-50 ; 247-Baker ; action figure ; Aeon ( Model HB-88 ); airline flight 47 ; alley ; alligator ; alternate dimension ; amateur video ; Arizona ; astrophysics ; aviation expert ; "B" movie ; B-Movie Poster Art ; backyard ; barbarian ; barbecue ; Barstow ; beach ; Benetton ; " big chair "; Blaine ; boardwalk ; BMW 3 Cabrio ; bonnet ; boom box ; Botany Bay , SS ; Bride of the Corpse ; bumper ; California ; Caltech ; camcorder ; campfire ; campus ; car ; Cardassian ; career ; cellular phone ; CEO ; Chakotay's schoolteacher ancestor ; champagne ; Chateau Coeur ; chronometric data ; Chronowerx Industries ; Chevrolet Caprice ; circuit ; classic ; classified ( classified information ); Close encounter ; cojones ; coffeemaker ; cola ; color ; computer ; continent ; Copernicus, Nicolaus ; coral reef ; Corleone's ; current events program ; cycle of causality ; damage ; damage report ; dealership ; debris ; deflector pulse ; demagnetizer ; demonstration ; density ; dermal dysplasia ; Dodge Ram ; downlink ; downtown ; Drake equation ; DY-100 class ; Earth ; East Coast ; Edsel ; EM signal ; emergency transporter ; empire ; energy weapon ; English language ; entrepreneur ; e-mail ; episode ; EPS conduit ; E.T. ; ethics ; eye contact ; family trait ; Federation ; filing cabinet ; Firepower ; flock ; Fourier spectral analysis ; force field ; French language ; frequency profile ; fridge ; Frilled-neck lizard ; Galilei, Galileo ; gadget ; gamma emission ; German language ; gigabyte ; globe ; goose ; graviton matrix ; great-great-great-great-grandmother ; Griffith Observatory ; groovy ; Guillotine ; Halley's Comet ; hard drive ; Hawaiian ; headache ; hemisphere ; Hermosa Quake ; Hebrew ; Herschel, William ; high orbit ; high school ; High Sierras ; Highway 101 ; Hipparchus ; hippopotamus ; Hollywood ; holodeck ; " home field advantage "; Honda Accord ; Hot Dog on a Stick ; Howdy Doody ; HyperPro PC ; hypochondria ; impulse drive ; Indianapolis Colts ; inertial damper ; isograted circuit ; Japanese language ; Jessica's baby ; JPL ; Jack ; Jessica ; KGB ; Lankershim ; Lada ; laser ; lava lamp ; leisure suit ; lemonade ; literature ; little green men ; Los Angeles ; Los Angeles Dodgers ; Luna ; main computer core ; marine species ; Mars ; matter stream ; McCoy ; Mercedes-Benz S-Klasse ; meteorite ; Mexican food ; mile ; media broadcasts ; meeting ; mental institution ; Mexican ; Milky Way Galaxy ; money ; Monjak, Ekaterina ; motorcycle ; mountain range ; NASA ; Nixon, Richard ; non sequitur ; North America ; Nuptse ; offline ; one way sign ; online ; orbit ; Orgy of the Walking Dead ; Pacific Coast ; paradox ; parking ; party ; patriotism ; pattern buffer ; pencil ; pharmaceutical ; philanthropist ; pictograph ; pinball ; pizza ; planetarium ; polaron ; Poland ; Polish language ; post-industrial ; power grid ; power line ; primary system ; public transportation system ; punk ; pushcart ; RADAR ; radio ; radio telescope ; radio wave ; red alert ; report ; rose ; San Francisco Giants ; Sangre del Mumiaazteca ; Santa Cruz ; satellite ; Saturn ; science fiction ; secondary hull ; secret agent ; security evaluation ; semester ; Sena ; sequel ; SETI ; SETI greeting ; Sharon ; shirt ; shoreline ; six-pack ; skateboard ; skirt ; Smutkov, Alexander ; snow globe ; soap opera ; social worker ( those bothering Braxton ); soda ; Sol ; Sol system ; Soviet ; Spanish language ; space-time continuum ; spy satellite ; Starfleet Academy ; Starfleet uniform ; stone knives and bearskins ; street ; student ; subatomic disruptor ; subspace reading ; surveillance satellite ; tachyon signal ; taco ; Talosian ; tattoo ; taxicab ; tear gas ; teddy bear ; telephone ; teleport ; telescope ; temperature ; temporal matrix ; temporal rift ; tennis ; test drive ; thermal radiation ; theta band filter ; totalitarianism ; Toruń ; Toyota Corona ; traitor ; transporter ; transporter beam ; transporter buffer ; transporter range ; transistor radio ; transtator ; treehouse ; tricorder ; truck ; Tuesday ; Turn-of-the-Millennium Technology ; Twinlab ; typing ; UFO ; ultraviolet radiation ; Uncle Sam's Psychic Readings ; United States of America ; University of California, Santa Cruz ; Uplink ; USSR ; Vampire Vixens ; van ; vaporize ; Volkswagen Type 2 ; voltage ; Vulcans ; walk ; weapon ; weapons array ; weather balloon

Other references [ ]

1990 ; 1992 ; Advanced Technological Sciences ; Astronomical Sciences ; Bachelor of Science ; California State Aerospace Society, The ; Collector's Emporium ; International Memorabilia and Collectors Club ; Lara, Reuben ; Los Angeles County ; Minnesota Society of Certified Professional Accountants ; Office of Science and Technology Policy ; Partners in Science ; Philanthropology Honors Society ; Silicon Valley ; Technological Studies Honors Society

Meta references [ ]

External links [ ].

"Future's End, Part I" at StarTrek.com
" Future's End " at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
" Future's End " at Wikipedia
" "Future's End, Parts 1 and 2" " at MissionLogPodcast.com , a Roddenberry Star Trek podcast
3 Ancient humanoid

Ed Begley Jr. Played One of Star Trek's Most Important Characters on Voyager

Ed Begley Jr.'s Star Trek: Voyager character Henry Starling was meant as a fun cameo - but became one of the most important in canon history.

Some Trekkies are angry at Star Trek: Strange New Worlds for diving into Star Trek 's biggest history problem . In The Original Series episode "Space Seed," Spock told the Enterprise crew that Khan Noonien Singh took power in 1992 and was sent into space in 1996. Strange New Worlds Season 2 fixed that, placing Khan in the near-future of the 21st Century. If this means the Prime Timeline no longer includes The Original Series , then that began with Star Trek: Voyager -- because in Voyager Season 3's "Future's End," the crew traveled back to 1996.

In that episode, a model of the SS Botany Bay was seen on the desk of Rain Robinson, with an image meant to be its launch on the wall behind her. But the ship didn't have that name, nor did it carry Khan and 72 other genetically augmented war criminals. Since Strange New Worlds ' La'an Noonien Singh found her ancestor at the Noonien Singh Institute, fans can infer Khan came from a rich, ambitious scientific power. That power was delayed by Henry Starling's Chronowerx company, which created the computer age -- making Henry Starling quietly one of the most important figures in Star Trek canon.

RELATED: Voyager's 'Dark Frontier' Episode Foreshadowed Picard Season 3

How Star Trek: Voyager Incorporated Real History Into the Prime Timeline

When Gene L. Coon and Carey Wilber wrote "Space Seed" in the late 1960s, they never expected anyone in 1996 to care about Star Trek . But Voyager decided to visit the time period -- and made the conscious choice to avoid the Khan question. That would've bogged down an already high-concept episode. By not mentioning it, they scrambled Star Trek canon. However, they did clearly show that viewers' present wasn't the 1990s the characters in The Original Series "remembered." The storytellers also found a clever answer for why 1990s technology was more advanced than the "23rd Century technology" of TOS .

A decade before "Future's End," the incredibly dated Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home sent the TOS cast to California in 1986. While there, Scotty gave a 1980s manufacturing company the formula for 23rd Century technology. However, Voyager started its story even earlier. A time-travel agent from Starfleet's future made a huge mistake, dragging Voyager to the 1990s and himself to 1967. There, Starling found the agent's crashed timeship and stole it -- using the advanced technology to essentially create the computer boom that took off in the 1990s. Janeway said it wasn't supposed to happen, but she and her crew were powerless to undo the mistake.

Star Trek: Picard Season 2 introduced a dusty file called "The Khan Project" with a 1996 date in the desk of Dr. Adam Soong. His great-great-grandson Dr. Arik Soong would continue that work in Enterprise . Perhaps, since Chronowerx was at the forefront of technology in microchips and other such technology, the Noonien Singh Institute didn't have the money to build their super-tyrant. In between then and when La'an and an alternate James T. Kirk visited the past in Strange New Worlds Season 2, Episode 3, "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow," the Institute was able to achieve the success that eluded it before. If that's the case, it would mean Ed Begley, Jr's Voyager antagonist inadvertently slowed down Star Trek 's greatest villain by decades.

RELATED: The Next Generation's Q Exists Because of a Real-Life Star Trek 'Villain'

Rewriting Star Trek History Can Still Mean a Cohesive Canon

None of the folks responsible for any of the augment or time-travel stories above made their choices on purpose. In the DVD special features for Star Trek: Voyager Season 3, Brannon Braga admitted that the writers just punted on Khan. Star Trek storytellers tackle a bit of a canon problem at a time. Picard connected the Soongs to the augments. Chronowerx threw a wrench into how the Prime Timeline's 1990s were supposed to play out. Strange New Worlds confirmed there was a Khan Noonien Singh and that he was going to take power sometime in the mid-21st Century.

In the Voyager special features, series co-creator Jeri Taylor said producers made the decision to present humanity's present unaltered. It was the right call because it kept Gene Roddenberry's aspirational future in fans' timeline, too. Voyager depicting a different 1990s would've undermined part of what makes the franchise special. Fans can still imagine the Star Trek future -- or some version of it -- will be a reality. It's definitely more forethought than The Original Series writers gave it, unable to envision home video or streaming keeping the show alive for 57 years and counting.

Star Trek 's current storytellers are doing a more subtle version of what they did with the Kelvin Timeline. Instead of kickstarting a whole new reality, subtle changes are being made to bring canon in line and mesh the mythology of multiple series together over decades. This doesn't erase TOS or whatever Star Trek series fans love. They still happened. It's just that now, fans can imagine the original Enterprise bridge looking a bit more like Strange New Worlds than TOS . No one is rewriting Star Trek history to erase it. They're doing it to keep the franchise alive.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds debuts new episodes Thursdays on Paramount+ .

The Best One-Off Characters In Star Trek: Voyager

Across its seven seasons , "Star Trek: Voyager" followed the crew of the titular Starfleet vessel as it traversed the faraway Delta Quadrant to return home to Federation space. Led by Kate Mulgrew as Captain Kathryn Janeway , "Star Trek: Voyager" featured a memorable ensemble cast as the starship braved dangerous territory throughout its long journey. However, as beloved as the principal cast is, there are plenty of one-off guest stars on"Voyager" that helped elevate the show to new heights .

From formidable adversaries and villains to supporting characters that brought new dimensions to "Star Trek: Voyager," there is no shortage of excellent guest roles. Featuring a mix of prolific character actors and big-name stars, these characters not only enhanced their respective episodes but brought out the best in the main cast. With all that in mind, we've narrowed it down to the 12 best one-off characters from "Star Trek: Voyager's" 172-episode run,

Telek R'Mor (Vaughn Armstrong) — Eye of the Needle

Stranded in the Delta Quadrant, Voyager often turned to help from unlikely sources, including the Romulans in the first season episode "Eye of the Needle." Finding a wormhole capable of relaying messages back to the Alpha Quadrant, Voyager is surprised when the first presence they make contact with is Romulan Captain Telek R'Mor (Vaughn Armstrong). Janeway strikes a rapport with Telek, and the two captains overcome their mutual distrust for one another in a gesture of cooperation and good faith.

At this point in "Star Trek" history, the Romulans hadn't enjoyed the evolution into allies of the Federation that the Klingons had, and Telek brings a heightened level of tension and paranoia to the proceedings. However, this gives way to a touching chemistry between Telek and Janeway, a rare foil for the seasoned, no-nonsense Starfleet officer that makes Telek stand far above most guest stars on the show. As with most things "Voyager," this budding dynamic would take a bittersweet turn, but Telek is one of the more memorable one-off characters in the series early years that would help set the overarching tone.

Quinn (Gerrit Graham) — Death Wish

The second season episode, "Death Wish," as the title would suggest, is oddly morbid but also fits in the exploration of the human condition that "Star Trek" is known for. The Voyager is visited by Quinn (Gerrit Graham), one of the omnipotent Q Continuum, who pleads for the right to end his life after his long cosmic existence. As Q (John de Lancie) arrives to bring Quinn back to the Continuum to ensure this doesn't happen, Janeway becomes an arbiter between the two demigods.

As a god who has grown tired of his existence after witnessing untold eons pass, Graham brings immense world-weariness and end-of-life serenity to Quinn. Quinn's argument to be allowed to die before in an impromptu trial overseen by Janeway on a moral question with no easy answer is a standout scene. Juxtaposed against de Lancie's mischievously manic Q, Quinn's old soul performance is elevated all the more, balancing determination with melancholia in equal measure.

Henry Starling (Ed Begley, Jr.) — Future's End

The Voyager managed to arrive on Earth in the two-part Season 3 episode "Future's End," albeit with a time-bending twist. The crew is transported to Earth in 1996 rather than the 24th century. A time traveler that had been pursuing Voyager accidentally opens a temporal rift, with unscrupulous businessman Henry Starling (Ed Begley Jr.) harvesting technology from the time-traveler's ship and passing it off as his invention. As the Voyager moves to stop Starling from disrupting history further, they must contend with their presence threatening to upend the timeline.

Begley is a beloved character actor who has played numerous kindly, paternal figures throughout his extensive career and effectively plays against type as Starling. Starling is one the most conniving and manipulative antagonists in "Star Trek: Voyager," playing on the crew's sympathies to his advantage. In an age filled with egotistical technocrats with delusions of grandeur, Starling is one "Star Trek: Voyager" character that has aged particularly well and is certainly a worthy enemy for the crew.

Rain Robinson (Sarah Silverman) — Future's End

Ed Begley, Jr. isn't the only memorable guest star to appear in "Future's End," with comedian and actor Sarah Silverman getting in on the two-part time-travel action. Silverman plays Rain Robinson, an astronomer hired by Starling to keep an eye out for any additional starships passing near Earth. However, after making contact with the Voyager crew, Robinson finds herself targeted by an assassin hired by Starling to maintain the secret behind his ill-gotten technology empire.

What makes Silverman's performance as Robinson so enjoyable is her character's on-screen chemistry with Tom Paris (Robert Duncan McNeill) and Tuvok (Tim Russ). More than just providing comic relief, Silverman lights up the proceedings whenever she's on the screen. She plays particularly well off McNeill. If Begley is playing against type as the villainous Starling, Silverman, quirky and funny without overstaying her welcome, leans into her natural strengths as Robinson's world is completely turned upside-down.

Belle (Lindsey Haun) — Real Life

Throughout the entire run of "Voyager," the Doctor (Robert Picardo) developed a burgeoning sense of humanity as he became more autonomous from his base emergency medical hologram programming. Perpetually curious about the human experience, the Doctor programs an elaborate holodeck program that gives him a suburban family to come home to in the episode "Real Life." This descends into outright tragedy as the Doctor's programmed daughter, Belle (Lindsey Haun), has an accident that leaves the Doctor to discover the pain of enduring death.

"Real Life" could've very easily been one of the more distractingly melodramatic episodes of "Star Trek: Voyager" if it wasn't for Picardo and Haun giving this familial relationship a firm emotional foundation. If there was ever a character to remind audiences of the genuine human stakes behind the virtual realities on the Holodeck, the Doctor is the best suited to make that argument. Haun stands out from the rest of the guest cast to underscore the sense of heartbreak that the Doctor suffers as he faces the most traumatizing aspect of his newfound fatherhood.

Annorax (Kurtwood Smith) — Year of Hell

The Season 4 two-part episode "Year of Hell" perfectly captures the stranded premise and occasionally desperate tone of "Voyager." After taking a detour, Voyager is dogged by constant attacks for a year, incurring heavy damage and casualties to the starship. Leading the hunt is a maddened scientist named Annorax (Kurtwood Smith), who obsessively believes that destroying Voyager will undo fluctuations in the timeline and restore his deceased wife.

As Annorax, Smith pulls off the tricky feat of playing a pursuer as single-mindedly driven as Captain Ahab but with enough sympathy that we feel for the guy, even as he plots to destroy Voyager. "Year of Hell" is easily one of the best episodes in the entirety of "Star Trek: Voyager," and much of that elevated quality comes from the earnest intensity of Smith's performance. While Voyager may still be far from home by the episode's ending, Annorax has the best possible happy ending, giving the show a surprisingly heartfelt and hopeful note.

Quarren (Henry Woronicz) — Living Witness

"Star Trek: Voyager" has the benefit of largely taking place in a quadrant of the galaxy unfamiliar with Starfleet and the Federation, making the starship and its crew strangers in a strange land. "Living Witness" from Season 4 flips the perspective on Voyager's exploits through a museum exhibit approximately seven centuries in the future. The museum activates a backup copy of the Doctor, who is appalled by how Voyager is depicted and recounts to museum curator Quarren (Henry Woronicz) how history truly unfolded.

In Quarren, "Star Trek: Voyager" receives a somewhat impartial observer who puts the starship crew under scrutiny, with the Doctor serving as his friends' defender. With established history challenged, Quarren has to choose whether he stands with his people and what they've grown up to believe about Voyager or side with the Doctor's account. "Living Witness" is a unique transposition of Voyager's place in the Delta Quadrant in the eyes of those affected centuries later, with Quarren providing a point of view for the audience that is elevated by Woronicz's dynamic with Picardo.

One (J. Paul Boehmer) — Drone

"Star Trek: Voyager" continues themes of looking at trauma inflicted by the Borg Collective introduced in "Star Trek: The Next Generation" while humanizing the relentless enemy. These themes are primarily explored by Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan), who finds a surprising kinship with a newly formed Borg drone, played by J. Paul Boehmer in the fifth season episode "Drone." Known simply as One, the drone is formed by nanobots from Seven interfacing with the Doctor's 29th-century technology during a transporter accident, with the Borg Collective hunting him to assimilate this advanced tech.

One helps Seven of Nine understand her status as a former drone liberated from the Collective, making their own observations about the Borg and humanity. Although the Borg are among the most menacing races in "Star Trek," Boehmer brings a sense of innocence to One as a drone naive to their nature and place in the galaxy. Innocence quickly gives way to tragedy when One, recognizing his entire existence poses a threat, must destroy the pursuing Borg. The moment is a beautiful full-circle scene, as a drone partially born of Seven reminds her of her resilience as he makes the ultimate sacrifice.

Kashyk (Mark Harelik) — Counterpoint

From the start of "Star Trek: Voyager," Capt. Janeway faces crisis after crisis as she maintains command over a composite crew and ship stranded without support from Starfleet. The fifth season episode, "Counterpoint," shows just how keenly strategic Janeway is as a commander. As Voyager passes through a sector with a ban on telepaths while secretly transporting refugees to safety, they are dogged by Inspector Kashyk (Mark Harelik), who takes a strong interest in human culture — and Janeway.

Janeway rarely gets an overt romantic foil, and Kate Mulgrew's dynamic with guest star Harelik makes for a gripping game of cat-and-mouse as both characters size each other up. More than just making eyes at each other, Janeway and Kashyk are playing mental chess with lives hanging in the balance. As Kashyk thinks he has finally tricked Janeway into lowering her guard, the captain reveals she has been playing him all along. This interplay is only made possible by Harelik being a credible opponent and love interest for Janeway, and the two actors take full advantage of this.

Noss (Lori Petty) — Gravity

Virtually every actor portraying a Vulcan in "Star Trek" has to convey the bulk of their character's repressed emotions through subtext and nuance. Tim Russ mastered this as Tuvok in seven seasons of "Star Trek: Voyager." The fifth season episode, "Gravity," gives Tuvok a love interest in Noss (Lori Petty). When Tuvok, Paris, and the Doctor are stranded on a remote planet (with the added wrinkle of their universal translators being broken), they struggle to find a way to contact Voyager. Tuvok keeps his emotions in check rather than admit his mutual attraction to Noss. This is made all the more complicated by the language barrier between them.

Having to speak primarily in an alien language and pretend to learn English is a thankless task for any actor and carries the risk of venturing into outright camp. In addition to deftly pulling off this daunting assignment, Petty creates a character charming enough for us to believe that Noss could compromise Tuvok's typically unflappable facade. Petty brings a steely resilience to Noss that cuts through her usual higher-pitched vocal delivery and demeanor, blending vulnerability with a determination that plays superbly opposite Russ.

Hirogen (J.G. Hertzler) — Tsunkatse

This might be a hot take, but while Dwayne Johnson's guest-starring appearance in the sixth season episode, "Tsunkatse," is the show's most memorable, it's not the best guest performance in the episode. This isn't a slight to Johnson so much as it is a compliment to the other guest stars appearing in "Tsunkatse," one of whom is "Star Trek" veteran J.G. Hertzler, whose character is simply credited as a Hirogen hunter. Of the two opponents that Seven of Nine takes on in the episode's central gladiatorial spectacle, Hirogen outshines the Champion (Johnson) because of the complexity Hertzler brings to the role.

When Seven of Nine is forced to fight in a series of mixed martial arts fights, she is mentored and healed by the Hirogen, who offers his sage wisdom to the new combatant. Of course, the Hirogen ends up being the final opponent Seven of Nine faces, with Hertzler displaying the quiet turmoil his character endures during the brutal duel. Hertzler excelled as noble Klingon leader Gen. Martok in "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" and brings a more understated sense of honor as the Hirogen as a grizzled teacher and a tragic pugilist.

Penk (Jeffrey Combs) — Tsunkatse

J.G. Hertzler isn't the only "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" alum to appear as a different character in "Tsunkatse," with fan-favorite Jeffrey Combs playing the conniving fight coordinator Penk in the episode. Penk captures Seven of Nine and Tuvok, coercing Seven of Nine to fight in the eponymous mixed-martial arts competition in exchange for life-saving medical treatment for Tuvok. Manipulative and sadistic, Penk revels in his dark side in contrast to Combs' more stoic antagonist Weyoun in "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine."

Like Hertzler, Combs is heavily made up for his "Voyager" role and scarcely recognizable. He clearly relishes the chance to play a much more gleeful villain. The sense of fun Combs' performance brings carries through the entire episode. Penk is as calculating as he is vicious. The Champion and the Hirogen may provide "Tsunkatse" with its physical opponents, but Penk stands out as the primary adversary.

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The Greatest 'Star Trek: Voyager' Guest Stars (That You Probably Forgot About)

Did you know these actors had boldly gone to the Delta Quadrant?

How has it been 20 years since Star Trek: Voyager ended? The fourth live-action show in the franchise has found a resurgence in fans of late thanks to streaming, and rightly so. Star Trek: Voyager has its flaws, but the show also has a diverse cast, some fascinating storylines, and cool guest stars.

Star Trek as a franchise is known for its surprising cameos and guest performances. Since there are so many shows and characters, you’d be forgiven for forgetting a few notable actors who appeared during Star Trek: Voyager ’s seven seasons. If you’re wondering which names you’re missing, here are nine famous faces who appeared on the show.

RELATED: 'Star Trek: Picard' Season 2 Trailer Teases Some Wild Returns and Twists for the Paramount+ Show

Michael McKean as The Clown

Michael McKean is a veteran actor who has appeared in… just about everything. Before his recent critically acclaimed work on Better Call Saul , McKean was perhaps best known for his role in This is Spinal Tap , and has had a formidable career as a comedian. His role in Star Trek: Voyager Season 2, Episode 23, however, is anything but a laugh riot. In “The Thaw,” Harry Kim ( Garrett Wang ) and B'Elanna Torres ( Roxann Dawson ) are trapped in a computer program with the Clown (McKean) and his cohorts. Harry spends the entire episode being terrorized by this maniac, while the crew of Voyager try and figure out how to save him. The episode is an obvious attempt to subvert the expectation of both McKean’s presence and the circus iconography. Let’s just say, if you have Coulrophobia, this episode will likely exacerbate it.

Ed Begley Jr. as Henry Starling

Multiple Emmy nominee and Golden Globe nominee Ed Begley Jr. has had a prolific career playing so many different kinds of characters that it’s hard to keep track of them all. Begley Jr. guest starred in the Season 3 two-parter “Future’s End,” and boy, was he evil. He played Henry Starling, a futurist from 20th century Earth who becomes embroiled with Voyager, as the crew is trapped in the past, but can’t return to their own time without stopping Starling and correcting the timeline. Star Trek loves a time travel storyline, and an insidious villain like Starling ups the stakes considerably. He’s smarmy and considers himself the smartest person in the room, but he’s also extremely nasty. The scene where he captures the Doctor ( Robert Picardo ) is brief but still distressing to watch all these years later.

Sarah Silverman as Rain Robinson

She's a household name nowadays for her comedy, but one of Sarah Silverman ’s earliest on-screen acting roles was as Rain Robinson, also in the Season 3 two-parter “Future’s End.” Rain is a scientist in the 20th century who is the first person to spot an anomaly in the skies (Voyager’s warp signature). This information puts her life in danger, but luckily Tom Paris ( Robert Duncan McNeill ) and Tuvok ( Tim Russ ) come to her aid. Despite Tom and Tuvok’s attempts to disguise their true identities as time travellers, Rain deduces that there’s something fishy about them, and helps them on their mission against Starling. Silverman played the character with her quintessential wry humor and sarcasm, and her easy chemistry with Duncan McNeill made their characters’ budding and brief romance an adorable subplot in the episodes.

John Rhys-Davies as Leonardo da Vinci

John Rhys-Davies has such a towering presence that I could have sworn he appeared in several Star Trek: Voyager episodes. Turns out, he only starred in two of them, the Season 3 finale “Scorpion” and Season 4’s “Concerning Flight.” Rhys-Davies played the holographic version of Leonardo da Vinci, Captain Janeway’s ( Kate Mulgrew ) mentor, on the holodeck, pulling out his best Italian accent to take the captain under his wing. Leonardo acted as the captain’s confidante, as well as a sounding board for her ideas; while the character’s appearances were more ponderous than plot specific, “Concerning Flight” did give Rhys-Davies more work to do when the holographic character was accidentally transported to an alien planet. Hilarity definitely ensued.

Lori Petty as Noss

Lori Petty has such a wide-ranging filmography, but somehow her Star Trek: Voyager guest appearance is still a surprise. When Tom Paris and Tuvok are stranded on a mission in the Season 5 episode “Gravity,” they cross paths with Noss (Petty), an alien scavenger, and the trio form an unlikely bond as they remain trapped for months in the desolate landscape. Noss even learns to speak English to communicate better with Tom and Tuvok, after their universal translators are destroyed upon landing. It’s not long before Noss becomes attracted to Tuvok – his enigmatic, Vulcan aloofness was always appealing – but despite Noss’ overtures, Tuvok remains dedicated to his wife and family. Petty’s performance is more in line with her Point Break character Tyler; she’s sweet and naïve but can hold her own in difficult circumstances.

Jason Alexander as Kurros

For many, Jason Alexander has become synonymous with Seinfeld , but his role in the Season 5 episode “Think Tank” was far removed from his signature character. Alexander plays Kurros, the leader of a group of highly intelligent aliens. The Think Tank, as they call themselves, claim to have a way to prevent dangerous bounty hunters from pursuing Voyager. But the group soon show their true colors when they insist on recruiting crewmember Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan ). Alexander plays against type here — the episode would have been completely derailed if Alexander had been over the top, but instead he plays Kurros as calm and sinister, which makes the character even scarier.

Daniel Dae Kim as Gotana-Retz

In the Season 6 episode “Blink of an Eye,” Voyager gets accidentally trapped in a planet’s orbit, thereby inadvertently altering the planet’s history forever. The planet experiences a time differential which causes years to pass on the surface without much time going by for Voyager’s crew. As the generations are influenced by Voyager’s presence, two astronauts land on the titular ship. Daniel Dae Kim ’s Gotana-Retz survives the landing and although his character is mostly offscreen, he plays a significant part in helping Voyager break free. Dae Kim only appears in the fourth act, but his character arc is remarkably memorable. The last shot of his character remains a bittersweet moment in the show’s history. Star Trek has been at the forefront of diverse casting choices, and Dae Kim is part of a still short, but brilliant, list of Asian guest stars in the franchise.

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson as The Champion

Dwayne Johnson is one of the biggest movie stars today, but his road to stardom had an unlikely pitstop aboard the starship Voyager. Admittedly, the role of the Champion in the Season 6 episode “Tsunkatse” wasn’t very different from playing The Rock on Monday Night Raw. In the episode, the crew of Voyager are invited to watch a gladiatorial tournament, but their excitement dissipates when one of the fighters is revealed to be their own Seven of Nine. She and Tuvok had been captured by aliens, and Seven is subsequently forced to fight in the match in order to save Tuvok. Johnson is very much in his element in this role, playing to his strengths as a famed wrestler. It's more of an extended cameo than a role, but you will still be on the edge of your seat waiting to see if The Rock can beat a Borg.

Mark Sheppard as Leucon

As prolific character actors go, Mark Sheppard is high on the list. He’s appeared in everything in every genre, so why would a Star Trek show be any different? Late in Season 6, Sheppard guest-starred as Leucon Icheb, the long-lost father of Voyager’s latest resident, Icheb ( Manu Intiraymi ). Icheb was a child who had been assimilated by the Borg before being rescued by the crew of Voyager. In “Child’s Play,” Voyager locates his parents on the Borg-ravaged Brunali homeworld. Sheppard is infamous for playing morally ambiguous characters, and this episode plays to his strengths as it keeps you guessing about Leucon’s actions and motivations. In the end, this is a heartbreaking installment, and much of that comes down to Sheppard’s scene-stealing turn as a parent with a difficult decision to make.

Star Trek: Voyager is streaming on Paramount+, Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Hulu.

KEEP READING: 7 Sci-Fi Shows to Binge If You Love ‘Star Trek’

Ed Begley Jr. on Blunt Talk , St. Elsewhere , and Spinal Tap

Welcome to Random Roles , wherein we talk to actors about the characters who defined their careers. The catch: They don’t know beforehand what roles we’ll ask them to talk about.

The actor: If you want to start a career as a thespian, it never hurts to have an Academy Award-winning actor as your father, but Ed Begley Jr. really had no clue what he was getting himself into when he first stepped in front of the camera. But it didn’t take him long to figure it out, which enabled him to work steadily throughout the ’70s. But despite spending the decade bulking up his list of “that guy” roles, it wasn’t until 1982 that Begley’s star truly began to rise, thanks to his work on NBC’s St. Elsewhere . To date, Begley has racked up over 100 film credits and is rapidly closing in on 200 television credits, including Starz’s Blunt Talk and—in the near future—Netflix’s Lady Dynamite , starring Maria Bamford.

Blunt Talk (2015)—“Teddy”

Ed Begley Jr.: There was not an audition involved. They called me up and asked if I wanted to do it, and I jumped at the chance because I’m a fan of Jonathan Ames, I’m a fan of Jacki Weaver, and I’m a fan of Patrick Stewart. And Michael Lehmann, who’s a dear friend. I’m a fan of his and we’d worked together on several things over the years. He was involved, and I suspect he might’ve had a hand in the decision to ask me to do it, but I was elated. And the scripts were sensational, so I was ecstatic when they asked me.

The A.V. Club : How would you sum up Teddy in a nutshell?

EBJ: Teddy’s a guy I can relate to: he’s having a bit of memory trouble, and lord knows I go into the garage a lot and wonder what I came in for. [Laughs.] He takes it a step further, though. He really starts to wander around, and he loses keys, so he has to take an Uber everywhere. He’s a little more advanced than me, perhaps. But my wife might beg to differ.

AVC: Have you enjoyed working with Patrick Stewart?

EBJ: He’s amazing. Sir Patrick Stewart is a trained Shakespearean actor, and I’ve been a fan of his for many, many years. I worked on Star Trek: Voyager , but I love the whole Star Trek franchise, and he was brilliant in Star Trek: The Next Generation . He was great in X-Men , he’s great on stage. I’m a big fan of his movie work, his TV work, his stage work. He’s awesome. And Jacki Weaver, when I first saw her in Silver Linings Playbook , I thought she was from Jersey or something. But she’s a brilliant Australian actress, and the idea of being married to her, if only on screen, was a great treat.

AVC: So is there potential for Teddy to return for the second season of Blunt Talk , or is he likely to just wander off, get lost, and never return?

EBJ: That’s a good question. I hope I remember to show up at the studio. [Laughs.] But, yeah, it seems we’re headed toward having more of my character. Teddy seems to be someone they’re planning to visit more in the next season. And they didn’t have the nail-biting of wondering if they were going to have a second season, because the second season was something that was planned all along. That’s a great luxury. That falls on Patrick’s largesse and Jonathan and Seth MacFarlane: They got two seasons out of Starz. And I’m very happy to be part of it as long as they want me to do it.

My Three Sons (1967)—“Marv”

AVC: It looks as though your first on-camera role was in an episode of My Three Sons .

EBJ: That was my very first role, that’s correct. I wanted to be an actor my whole young life. My dad was an actor, obviously—he won an Academy Award [for Sweet Bird Of Youth ] — but I had no idea what was involved. I had all the wrong ideas about acting. “I’m kind of charming. Hand me a TV series, Dad. I want to do a Perry Mason . I want to do a Gunsmoke . Get me a job!” I had no idea you had to train and work the way you do in any craft. Imagine the son of a plumber saying, “I want to be a plumber today! So you just fit the pipes together, right?” No, you have to train and apprentice. So I did that for awhile, and then finally I started to get some work when I took some training.

AVC: By virtue of your parentage, you obviously were at least aware of the concept of acting as a career, but was there a specific point when you realized exactly how much effort was involved?

EBJ: I had the luxury early on of being able to learn lines quickly, and I took advantage of that talent, and I would sometimes be ill prepared early in my career. I could learn the lines in the makeup chair before we began to film. But that’s no way to approach a character. Fortunately, I had a dear friend by the name of Bruno Kirby, and Bruno was an actor who truly prepared. He was a wonderful actor, as I’m sure you know, and he did lots of great movies— The Godfather Part II , lots of wonderful Barry Levinson movies, Donnie Brasco. Early in my career, Bruno became a friend of mine, and he was all about the preparation and research. So I started to do a bit of that, and I started to get better work and do roles that I never thought I could do.

The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes (1969)—“Student” (uncredited) Now You See Him, Now You Don’t (1972)—“Druffle” Superdad (1973)—“The Gang”

AVC: Was the first time you worked with Bruno Kirby on Superdad ?

EBJ: Yes, exactly. We were friends before that, went up for auditions together and separately, and hung out sometimes. But the first time we worked together was on Superdad , and we became very close friends.

AVC: Superdad was one of what would end up being numerous Disney films in your back catalog, but it looks like your first—not just your first Disney film, but your first film, period—was The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes . You weren’t credited, but you were in it.

EBJ : You and IMDB are both very good. [Laughs.] Yes, that’s correct. I don’t know if I had a name or not. I may have just been “Student.” But I was part of a college-quiz thing. Kurt Russell was playing a college student who somehow had interacted with a computer and I can’t remember the plot exactly, but he had all of this knowledge in his brain.

Interestingly, my first film role and my first TV role were both computer-related. I never really thought about that, but the My Three Sons episode was called “Computer Picnic.” We were being matched up by a computer, and I had a girl I was trying to pawn off on Stanley Livingston’s character, and he had a tall girl, and we thought we could match better amongst ourselves, so I wanted to trade my date for his. But it turned out that my girl had a broken arm, so I was trying to pull a fast one on him and send him to a picnic with a girl with a broken arm. [Laughs.]

AVC: You also worked with Kurt Russell on Now You See Him, Now You Don’t . What was it like working in the Disney stable in those days?

EBJ: It was so great. Disney was a wonderful place to work then, as it is now. I’ve worked there recently, too. But it was very much a family thing. You’d hang a right at Goofy Drive and turn left at Mickey Lane and walk to the studio. [Laughs.] And Kurt Russell would be out there throwing the ball around, because he was a great baseball player as well as a great actor. It was very much a family studio.

Auto Focus (2002)—“Mel Rosen”

AVC: Thanks to doing Superdad , you must’ve been one of the few people in the cast of Auto Focus— maybe the only person—who’d actually worked with Bob Crane.

EBJ: I might be the only one. He was a great guy, a wonderful guy. I knew nothing about that more tawdry side of his life. You know, he was a Disney star. Had they known, I’m sure things would’ve been very different. But it was great working with him. I was a big fan of Hogan’s Heroes . Bob Crane was quite a legend of TV and film. But I didn’t know anything about that other side of his life. I certainly discovered it with Auto Focus , though!

Cockfighter (1974)—“Tom Peeples”

AVC: Your tendency toward mixing it up with the types of roles you do was prevalent even back then. For example, you did Superdad in ’73, and then in ’74 you did Cockfighter , which was not exactly what you’d call a family film.

EBJ: [Laughs.] Yeah, but I’ll be real honest: There wasn’t a lot of career planning there. I took what roles were presented to me, what roles I could audition and get, and what roles were offered to me. There have been a few roles offered to me, but at that early in my career, it didn’t happen. After St. Elsewhere , I started to get offered stuff, but then I’d have to audition for roles, and some I’d get and some I wouldn’t, but I took what I could.

Roll Out (1973-74)—“Lt. Robert W. Chapman”

AVC: Roll Out was your first time as a series regular. Did you feel a sense of stability, at least during the course of that one season?

EBJ: Yeah, it was a dream come true! I wanted to have a TV series, I wanted to have a regular job, so I did that show in 1973, and I was hoping and praying that it would last forever. It lasted all of 22 episodes? It might’ve only gone 13. I don’t remember that important detail! But we had a bit of a problem. Back then, there were only three networks, so it was a big deal to be on a show, beyond anything you experience now.

But the night before we premiered on CBS, Stu Gilliam—the star of the show—got into an altercation on La Cienega called The Lobster Barrel, I think? It was owned by Alan Hale Jr. of Gilligan’s Island . And Stu thought he was being made to wait too long for a table, so he got in a fight and went out to his vehicle and got an ax. He had camping equipment, and he apparently came at the Skipper with a little hand ax. And, uh, that did not play well in America in 1973. I mean, you can’t go after the Skipper—Alan Hale Jr.—with an ax! [Laughs.] And, you know, maybe there was some legitimacy to his beef. Maybe because he was an African-American gentleman with a Caucasian woman, they made him wait. I don’t know any of that. I wasn’t there. But it looked bad, so we were kind of doomed from the first night.

AVC: Yeah, when we talked to Garrett Morris for this feature, he indicated that Gene Reynolds basically had to cancel the show because of that incident.

EBJ: Yeah, and it’s so funny when that kind of thing happens. You go on the set one day, and you’ve got a Hollywood Reporter and a Variety i n front of you, and you look at them, and they say, “ Roll Out Canceled.” The morning paper’s there on the set, and that’s how you find out about it. You read it, and you go, “Wow, uh, that’s weird.” Then the producers come down—or s omebody comes down, maybe some executive from the studio or something—and they say [Angrily.] “Now let me tell you something: I saw that article in the Hollywood Reporter , and I’m telling you right now that it is complete bullshit . We are not canceled. We are not! I don’t know why they’d say that. I don’t know who would say such a thing. Canceled? I don’t know how that happened. Of course we would’ve come to you first. We are not canceled! That’s crazy! You forget about that. I’m suing the Hollywood Reporter . I’m personally going down there with my lawyer today!” And, then, of course, you learn within 24 hours that are you are canceled.

AVC: Welcome to Hollywood.

EBJ: [Snorts.] Yeah. But it was a great experience. And it was great getting to know Garrett Morris, who went on to great success on Saturday Night Live . But to have a series… I did quite a few pilots. I kissed a lot of frogs over the years, but not many princes. Not until 1982.

St. Elsewhere (1982-88) / Homicide: The Movie (2000)—“Dr. Victor Erlich”

EBJ: I auditioned for a part on St. Elsewhere and didn’t get it. It was the part of Dr. Peter White, which Terence Knox got, a character who ends up getting shot in the second or third season. But they threw me a bone and gave me this character Erlich that wasn’t really anything. He had, like, two lines. And they merged him with a character named Stanton or something who had another two lines, but unfortunately one of the two lines had him talking to Erlich. So I was talking to myself as a character. [Laughs.] So I was, like, “How’s this going to go? Wow!” But I wanted to be on the show, so I was just glad that I got to do it. And then it was, “Wow, they want me to do a second episode, and a third episode!” Pretty soon they made me a regular, and I worked for six wonderful years on the show.

AVC: How did you enjoy the evolution of Erlich as a character? Did you feel that they gave him enough facets over the course of the run?

EBJ: Oh, yeah, they gave me wonderful stuff to do as Erlich. It was a real treat. It was Tom Fontana and John Masius and Bruce Paltrow, and Mark Tinker and Josh Brand and John Halsey, these wonderful, wonderful writers. And great actors: Bill Daniels , who I know did an interview with you, and Ed Flanders, Bonnie Barlett, Christina Pickles, and Denzel Washington, for God’s sake! It was just great.

AVC: Did you have a favorite Erlich storyline or plot arc during the run of the show?

EBJ: Yeah, where I meet this woman at a bar and I take her home. It was based on some urban legend, probably an apocryphal tale that never occurred, but in the show, I take her home, and she’s into kinky stuff, so I tie her up. But then I say, “Oh, I don’t have any protection, let me go out to the car.” But when I come back, I can’t get back in her apartment! And then in the apocryphal tale, the guy who this supposedly happened to, he meets the girl again at the bar a month later or so, and he goes, “Oh, my God, I’m so sorry! I went back to your building, but I didn’t know what number you were in, and even if I could’ve pushed the button, you couldn’t answer, so I couldn’t get back in!” And she supposedly says, “Far out,” which is exactly what you’d say after you’ve been tied up for that long without food or water or whatever. [Laughs.] I can’t remember what she said in our version, but I ended up marrying that girl on the show, so that was a bit of fantasy!

AVC: Several years after the show wrapped up, you popped up in Homicide: The Movie playing a doctor, and even though your character’s actual name is never said aloud, you’re credited as playing Dr. Victor Erlich.

EBJ: Oh, that’s right! They did a TV movie to kind of wrap up Homicide: Life On The Street , and they had me play a doctor, so I played Erlich, who was suddenly living in Baltimore. [Laughs.] It was a Tom Fontana show with Barry Levinson, so they kind of took that liberty, which was fine by me!

Eating Raoul (1982)—“Hippie” Scenes From The Class Struggle In Beverly Hills (1989)—“Peter”

AVC: How did you find your way into Paul Bartel’s camp?

EBJ: Through Paul, appropriately enough. [Laughs.] He was an acquaintance of mine. And I knew Mary Woronov , and I still know and love Mary. But Paul was a friend, and he just approached me one day. I was working on Cat People at Universal, so that would’ve been ’81. He came on the lot. I don’t know he got a pass or maybe I got him a pass—I don’t know how that happened—but he showed up when I was doing Cat People . We had been in New Orleans a bit, but then we were at Universal, so Paul came over, came into my trailer, and said, “Hey, I’m doing this movie with Robert Beltran. Do you know him?” And I didn’t at the time, but he told me a little bit about the movie, and I said, “Absolutely! When do we do it?” And he told me the dates, and we did it. It happened that way. And it happened because of my friendship with Paul.

Blue Collar (1978)—“Bobby Joe” Hardcore (1979)—“Soldier” Cat People (1982)—“Joe Creigh”

AVC: It’s funny that you mention Cat People filming in New Orleans. John Heard discussed that shoot a bit during his Random Roles interview.

EBJ: John Heard is wonderful. What a great actor. I’m a big fan of John Heard’s.

AVC: He indicated that he was, uh, imbibing a bit during the course of the Cat People shoot.

EBJ: I think that’s true. I think that’s very true.

AVC: He said that Paul Schrader finally put him in the penalty box, which meant that he could only drink in the bar by the hotel.

EBJ: [Laughs.] That’s funny. I did a couple of other Paul Schrader movies in the ’70s: Blue Collar and Hardcore . By the time I did Cat People , I had gotten sober, but before that I was a party-hearty wild man, and on Blue Collar … Yeah, I was definitely a party child.

AVC: Did you get to party with Richard Pryor?

EBJ: Richard did not party on that movie. He might have secretly, but I didn’t know about that. Later he got into freebase and stuff, which was quite dangerous, as we know the outcome to that. But at the time, he had his trainer, Rashon, who was there, and he worked out and was in good shape. We played poker one evening—somebody put together a poker game, maybe it was Schrader—but it was me and Richard and Paul and some other actors from the movie. I think Borah Silver, maybe Harry Northup. I can’t remember who all was there as well.

Because I was such a huge fan, and he had worked with my dad on a movie called Wild In The Streets , I thought I had an in. But he kept to himself, so my moment of giving him the praise I so wanted to came when I had him kind of captive at the poker table. So I said, “Richard, I just want to say, I’m such a fan of your latest album.” [Starts to laugh.] He knew very well what I was talking about. He said, “What’s the title of that, again?” And you might know the title of that . But there was no way I was going to say the N-word, so I immediately said, “ That Black Man’s Crazy !” And he laughed. And he said, “You’re all right.” I passed the test. I didn’t get flustered. It was like I was prepared for it. So he and I spent time together after that, and he was a great talent. What a huge talent Richard was. I was the biggest fan you could imagine and still remain the biggest fan you can imagine.

Goin’ South (1978)—“Whitey Haber”

A VC: Not to dwell on your party-hearty wild man years, but if ever there was a film that demanded that we stay on that topic, it would seem to be Goin’ South . Based on what’s been written, that definitely seems to have been a party film.

EBJ: I’ll just speak about myself, because I don’t want to incriminate others. It’s kind of well-known what John Belushi and I got up to, because that’s written about in a book called Wired , so I’m not giving any information on that, but let me tell you how out there I was on Goin’ South . I was 27, not quite 28 years old, so I thought I could drink with impunity. And I was on such a tear, I was trying to outdrink Jack Nicholson’s father-in-law, this guy Shorty George Smith, who was this guy who worked for the railroad in Jersey, and he was kind of Jack’s father figure, if you will. And Shorty George was a professional drinker.

I was an amateur. I was not even a journeyman at this point. I mean, I could drink a quart of vodka, but Shorty could outdrink me. And I was there trying to outdrink this man who was, like, at that point 50 years old or something. And I’m twentysomething and trying to outdrink this guy. And at some point John Belushi comes and drags me out of the bar, saying, “This is crazy! You’re gonna kill yourself! You can’t drink that much!” I was too far gone for John Belushi, is the point. [Laughs.] John and Judy Belushi—it wasn’t just John—grabbed me by each arm and took me out. We took a drive around the countryside, saw some of Durango, and had a nice afternoon. But they thought I needed to leave the bar. There was too much drinking and partying for John Belushi. So that’ll tell you all you need to know about my years of the ’70s and what I was up to.

Still The Beaver (1983)—“Whitey Whitney”

EBJ: Yeah! They approached the guy who played Whitey, and he couldn’t do it for whatever reason. I think he worked as a policeman in Van Nuys and didn’t want to do it. I can’t remember his name. Do you know it?

AVC: Looking it up right now.

EBJ: I should know it. I knew it for most of my life, and now I don’t remember. But he was working in law enforcement and didn’t want to do it, so they got somebody who certainly fit the bill for a character named Whitey. [Laughs.] And that was me. So I played his character 20 years after the Leave It To Beaver era.

AVC: Actually, having just found the actor’s name—Stanley Fafara—on Wikipedia, I think maybe you might’ve mixed him up with Ken Osmond [Eddie Haskell], who was a policeman.

EBJ: Oh, you’re right!

AVC: Stanley Fafara, meanwhile, was on the wrong side of the law .

EBJ: Yes, now that you mention it, I think you’re right on that, too!

AVC: So had you been a big Leave It To Beaver fan growing up?

EBJ: Big time. It was a big moment for me in high school—in Notre Dame High School, in Sherman Oaks—when I got to meet Jerry Mathers. Jerry went to school there, and so did I. But meeting the Beaver… I kind of touched on this earlier, but back then, if you met somebody who was on a network series, it was like meeting God. There were only three channels, and if you got a job like that, you felt like you had died and gone to heaven, and if you met somebody—like meeting Dick Van Dyke for the first time when my dad did an episode, or meeting Mary Tyler Moore when her show was in its prime—I mean, I was speechless. I was just speechless. And even though my dad was in the business and I was around it, you met people like that and you still could barely get a word out.

Star Trek: Voyager (1996)—“Henry Starling”

AVC: Was knowing Robert Beltran from Eating Raoul what got you onto Star Trek: Voyager ?

EBJ: I think it was completely coincidence. As I recall, Robert was very happily surprised to see me there. [Laughs.] But that was just great. It was a good show, it was a really good part, and to be part of the Star Trek franchise, even years on from the original show, which I was a huge fan of. Back when the original show was on, I was in my mid-teens. I was the perfect Trekkie candidate. I loved the show. Not so much that I actually went to conventions or anything, but I sure did love it. So to be on Star Trek: Voyager , I felt really blessed.

Battlestar Galactica (1978-79)—“Flight Sgt. Greenbean”

EBJ: That was fun. And that was a good job, too. You would do one day’s work on that show, and you’d wind up getting three for every day’s work you got. Why? I was not a contracted player on that. I was not a regular. I was just a returning character. But it proved to be a great job because you’d do one day as a fighter pilot, as Greenbean, and they’d call you back a day or two later and say, “We’ve got to do it again. You’ve got to be going left to right instead of right to left in the cockpit.” “Uh, okay.” You’d think they could just flip the negative or whatever, but these were greater minds than mine. [Laughs.]

Then after you’d come back and do that, they’d go, “There was a problem with the sound. You’ve got to go and do a day’s looping.” “Okay.” So every one day you had, you’d wind up with three days. It was a great job. I’d just had my second child, and I wanted to name him Battlestar Galactica Begley. [Laughs.] Or even just Greenbean or something. It was before St. Elsewhere , but it was my first somewhat regular job since Roll Out , and it was good money. So, yeah, I also considered naming my son Glen Larson!

Happy Days (1974)—“Hank” Laverne & Shirley (1979)—“Robert ‘Bobby’ Feeney” Young Doctors In Love (1982)—“Lyle August”

AVC: Was the first time you worked with Ron Howard on Happy Days ?

EBJ: Correct! That was in, what, ’74? When it was a one-camera show.

AVC: You clearly found yourself in the Garry Marshall camp after that: You also did a few episodes of Laverne & Shirley .

EBJ: I was very good friends with Cindy Williams. She and I were great friends for many years. Still are. And she put my name up for that, and they said “Yes,” so I got that job totally because of her, no question about it.

AVC: How did you end up in Young Doctors In Love ?

EBJ: That was a last-minute thing. I was definitely not their first choice. So much so that when I went on set and saw the call sheet… They called me and said, “Can you work tomorrow for Garry Marshall?” I said, “Absolutely!” So I went there, and there was somebody else’s name on the call sheet. Actually, it was the call sheet from the previous day, but somebody had clearly gotten sick or something. So I wasn’t the first choice, but believe me, I was not unhappy. I was there with a smile. Garry gave me some good work.

This Is Spinal Tap (1984)—“John ‘Stumpy’ Pepys” A Mighty Wind (2003)—“Lars Olfen”

AVC: Had you known Michael McKean prior to appearing on Laverne & Shirley ?

EBJ: Yeah, I knew him through Cindy, and I knew him through [satirical comedy team] The Credibility Gap and David L. Lander and Harry Shearer. I was a big fan of The Credibility Gap, so to meet Michael McKean and then to work with him on Laverne & Shirley and Young Doctors In Love . I love working with him whenever I get a chance!

AVC: Was Michael your entryway into Christopher Guest’s films, or had you already known Chris before you appeared in This Is Spinal Tap ?

EBJ: I met Chris Guest through his sister, Elissa, and I met Elissa through Harry Gittes. I met Chris in the early ’70s, and to meet him was like meeting God, too. Chris Guest, Michael O’Donoghue… These people from the National Lampoon, it was like meeting God. I had every magazine from the first issue. I met Chris in the studio. He was playing guitar or doing something for the National Lampoon Radio Show . They’d had that album out already called Radio Dinner , a brilliant comedy album, so to meet Chris Guest was extraordinary.

AVC: I’m sure you had no clue that your brief appearance in This Is Spinal Tap would go on to be legendary.

EBJ: I know! I mean, it’s a very small part, but it’s one of the best movies I’ve ever been in.

AVC: Do you have a particular favorite moment from within your work in the Guest filmography?

EBJ: I think the riff in Yiddish in A Mighty Wind is one of my favorite moments.

AVC: Was that something that was scripted, or was that all you?

EBJ: It was totally spontaneous. I just came up with it before we rolled. I don’t know what I was thinking. It was entirely inappropriate to do that, because I’m a Swedish American producer. Why Yiddish? [Laughs.] And my angle, I guess, was that I was trying to ingratiate myself to [Bob] Balaban’s character, Steinbloom. You know how goyish people pepper their dialogue with Yiddish to try and curry favor with someone of that persuasion? That’s what I was doing. And Bob Balaban was looking at me like, “What are you doing ?” And I think Bob Balaban the actor was also looking at me like, “Where did this coming from?” [Laughs.] ”He didn’t do this in the rehearsal!” But Bob made up for it. His reaction to that is just sheer brilliance.

Greedy (1994)—“Carl”

AVC: You’ve worked with Bob Balaban a few times, but I’m particularly partial to Greedy .

EBJ: That was one of the best times I’ve ever had on a movie. Michael J. Fox, Kirk Douglas, Phil Hartman, Jere Burns, Bob, and a very young Kirsten Dunst! She had just one line, but everyone knew even back then. “Look at that girl! That girl’s gonna be a star!” She had one line! [Laughs.]

Meet The Applegates (1990)—“Richard P. Applegate”

AVC: At least one of our readers said they’re still convinced that they dreamed this movie.

EBJ: [Laughs.] That was a great treat, working with Michael Lehmann. I had seen Heathers and was a big fan of his, and everybody wondered what he was going to do next. Well, he and this guy, I think his name is Redbeard [Simmons], they wrote that script, and it was out there. They got Stockard Channing to do it, and I think he asked me, “Would you call your friend Dabney and see if he’d do it?” He was a big fan—as I am—of Dabney Coleman . So we got Dabney to be in it. That movie holds up really well for me. I like that movie. It’s a real original. There’s nothing like it from that period.

AVC: Because of that, you were probably surprised that it became more of a cult film than a box-office smash.

EBJ: Right, it didn’t do a lot of box-office business, but it has a following. People saw it during that period and saw it later and they really thought it was worthy. I certainly think it’s worthy. I’ve worked with Michael Lehmann a lot lately on Blunt Talk and this show we did for Amazon called Betas . So I love working with Michael. He’s a great director, and he’s directing lots and lots of wonderful television.

Veronica Mars (2006-07)—“Cyrus O’Dell” Party Down (2009)—“Bruce Nesbitt”

EBJ: Rob [Thomas] is so talented, and Kristen Bell is so talented. I just saw her last night. She sang at this thing for Oceana, and she is a world-class great singer. Most people know this from Frozen , but I didn’t really know it because I knew her mostly in the context of Veronica Mars and that she was a really talented actress. But what a singer! I just think the world of her, and Rob is just a great producer, great writer, great director. That was a great arc I had on Veronica Mars , and what a smart show. A smart, funny, interesting show. And then after that I got to work on Party Down , the show that he did after Veronica Mars , and that episode I did with Jane Lynch and a lot of other wonderful people is one of my better moments in episodic television. I just love that episode of Party Down , as I love the stuff in Veronica Mars .

George Burns Comedy Week (1985)—“Tiny Timothy” Amazon Women From The Moon (1987)—“Griffin”

AVC: How did you first meet Carl Gottlieb? You worked with him on Amazon Women On The Moon , but before that you also appeared in a sequel to A Christmas Carol that he directed for George Burns Comedy Week .

EBJ: You are very wise to ask that. Nobody’s ever asked me that. Carl Gottlieb has been a dear friend for very many years. I was a fan of his and of all of the members of the group called The Committee, this improv group with Howard Hesseman and Carl and Garry Goodrow and all these very talented actors. Lee French, Julie Payne, these wonderful people. They started in San Francisco then came to L.A. and worked at the Tiffany, and Carl was one of the mainstays of that fine group. I knew Carl socially, too. He was a friend of Samantha Eggar’s, and I’d see him around and we’d schtickle together and just kind of make each other laugh.

And then his wife, Allison Caine, had a loop group, an ADR group that did looping and dialogue enhancement for movies, so suddenly I’m working thanks to Carl and Allison on Jaws 2 , on Slap Shot , Ordinary People , Rollercoaster … All these movies that I’m not in! [Laughs.] But you get residuals because you did a SAG job of doing a voice on it! So Carl and I were friends for years, we did some improv things together, and he hired me as a writer during the actors’ strike in 1980. I was broke, I didn’t know what I was going to do, I had a young family, and he gave me a job on The Smothers Brothers Show . Carl is a very talented guy, and he’s one of my dear friends for life.

Transylvania 6-5000 (1985)—“Gil Turner”

EBJ: At that point in 1985, I had never been offered the lead in a movie. That just didn’t happen. They wanted Jeff [Goldblum] to do it, and I think I was kind of the bait. They knew Jeff and I were friends, so they figured, “Well, we’ll try to get Begley to do it, he’ll probably do it, and then that’ll lure Jeff in.” And I think that’s kind of what happened. They offered the movie, I said “Yes,” and then I kind of said, “Jeff, I’m doing it! Are you going to do it? Jump on in, the water’s fine!” And he—correctly—went, “Well, what about the script? Do you think it really works?” “We’ll make it work! It’ll be great!” And it’s actually a very charming, fun, wonderful movie. It was a very happy experience for me doing that movie, so I’m glad I did it, in every way.

Arrested Development (2005-13)—“Stan Sitwell”

EBJ: Stan Sitwell was a great character. I saw the first season of that show and flipped for it. Jeffrey Tambor is a dear friend of mine, as is Ron Howard, and Jason [Bateman] I knew a little bit before that. So when they called me up and asked me if I wanted to play this character with alopecia, I jumped at the chance.

I’m working with Mitch Hurtwitz again right now. I’m doing the new Maria Bamford show, if you know Maria Bamford. She’s a wonderful comedienne. I’m playing her father on a thing called Lady Dynamite , and Mitch is producing, directing, writing… He’s doing everything.

AVC: Do you have a favorite Stan line or scene?

EBJ: I just remember trying to do some scenes with Will Arnett, and one of the eyebrows kind of stuck to him when we were doing some sort of embrace. I’m giving him a hug or something, and one of my eyebrows sticks to his face or shirt or something, and we were just. Maybe it was scripted that that was supposed to happen—it may have been because of Mitch’s genius that that happened, as most things are on that set—but it was so goddamned funny when we did it. Mitch is unbelievable. I’m just so happy to work with him again.

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Published Nov 13, 2014

18 Years Later... Voyager Two-Parter "Future's End," with Sarah Silverman

And then there was that time Sarah Silverman was on Star Trek ... Wait, what? Sarah Silverman was on Star Trek ? Some of you are saying, "Come on, everybody knows that." And, sure, longtime Trek fans, Voyager diehards and, of course, Sarah Silverman aficionados surely know that the funny lady appeared on Trek, but for those who don't... yes, a very young Silverman played Rain Robinson in the Voyager episodes, " Future's End, Part I " and " Future's End, Part II ," back in 1996. In fact, "Part II" debuted 18 years ago today. The character was a human scientist tasked with searching for extraterestrials as part of Earth's SETI program, and it was she who picked up Voyager's warp signal, triggering a series of events involving Henry Starling (Ed Begley Jr.), the timeship Aeon, Earth's possible destruction and a kiss between Robinson and Tom Paris.

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Sarah Silverman's Star Trek Role Was More Pivotal (And Tragic) Than Fans Remember

Between hundreds of episodes across roughly a dozen distinct TV shows, it's easy to forget some of the celebrities that have appeared in the Star Trek franchise . Season 3, Episodes 8 and 9 of "Star Trek: Voyager," notably, introduce a character named Rain Robinson portrayed by stand-up comic Sarah Silverman, who was at that point at the very start of her acting career. Despite this short run, her role is more pivotal than some fans may remember.

Kicking off this two-episode storyline, a time traveler named Captain Braxton (Allan Royal) sends the USS Voyager back in time to the year 1996. Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, Robinson is actively searching for evidence of extraterrestrials and locates the anomalous Voyager. She shares her discovery with her boss Henry Starling (Ed Begley Jr.), but instead of celebrating the find, he urges her to keep quiet.

As it turns out, Starling encountered Braxton's ship decades earlier. With futuristic technology Starling extracted, he plans on traveling to the 29th century to obtain even greater technologies he can bring back with him. Traveling into the future, however, will destroy the entire solar system in the 29th century. Once this plot comes to light, Robinson teams up with some members of the Voyager crew and stops Starling's scheme, helping save the inhabitants of Earth in her distant future.

Rain Robinson's story ends on a strangely tragic note

Just before the conclusion of her two-episode "Star Trek: Voyager" arc, Sarah Silverman's Rain Robinson kisses crewmember Tom Paris (Robert Duncan McNeill). Nothing comes of their romance, however, since Robinson remains in the past and Silverman never appears on "Star Trek" again.

This moment was perhaps a remnant of a plan the "Voyager" producers once had for Robinson to join the Voyager crew full-time and serve as a sort of audience surrogate in the show's futuristic environment. "It was [co-executive producer Brannon Braga's] desire to bring Rain on board because he enjoyed writing for Sarah and the freshness she brought to the show," producer Bryan Fuller told TrekMovie.com after previously revealing plans for her expanded role on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Robinson does show up briefly in a few additional "Star Trek" novels including "The Rise and Fall of Khan Noonien Singh, Volume Two" and "Hearts and Minds." In the story of the former she starts working as an assistant to Roberta Lincoln (played by Terri Garr in one episode of "The Original Series"). In the latter book, however, readers find out that Robinson resigned after finding out her predecessor as Earth's supervisor Gary Seven (originally played by Robert Lansing) could have prevented 9/11 and decided not to. Since Robinson lost her father in the attack, she takes this personally. This marks her most recent canonical appearance.

Screen Rant

Breaking bad legend's forgotten star trek role explained.

Walter White's best Breaking Bad enforcer once faced off against Commander Sisko in a very early episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine featured notable guest stars including Breaking Bad actor Jonathan Banks, who portrayed Golin Shel-la in a powerful episode about the futility of war.
Banks, known for his role in the crime procedural Wiseguy, brought gritty depth to the character and added to the overall allegorical message of the episode.
There are several connections between Breaking Bad and the Star Trek universe, including shared actors and the involvement of creator Vince Gilligan, who had previous ties to The X-Files.

Years before Breaking Bad became a TV sensation, the actor behind one of its best-loved characters faced off against Commander Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) in a forgotten episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine . Having existed in one form or another since 1966, Star Trek has paid host to a wealth of acting talent over the decades, many of whom have taken a role purely because they love the franchise. For example, Whoopi Goldberg signed on to Star Trek: The Next Generation after her role in Steven Spielberg's The Color Purple was nominated for an Academy Award, out of sheer love for the original series.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine was no exception, and its recurring guest stars included Oscar winning actress Louise Fletcher as Kai Winn, and The Princess Bride 's Wallace Shawn as Grand Nagus Zek. They weren't the only actors with impressive resumes cast in Star Trek: DS9 season 1 , and the quality of guest stars would continue throughout its seven seasons. One actor who was cast in DS9 would go on to become a big star in Breaking Bad , a show that made a virtue of the very storytelling techniques that the forward-thinking DS9 introduced to Star Trek .

Frasier's Kelsey Grammer In Star Trek TNG Explained

Breaking bad's mike's forgotten star trek role explained.

In Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 1, episode 13, "Battle Lines", Commander Sisko and an away team are thrown into a never-ending war on a nightmarish planet where it's impossible to die. Introduced to the Ennis faction, Sisko meets their leader, Golin Shel-la, who was played by Breaking Bad 's Jonathan Banks. Golin is convinced by Sisko to negotiate a ceasefire with their rival faction, the Nol-Ennis. Tragically, a peaceful accord could not be made, and the never-ending war continued, despite both parties recognizing how futile it was. "Battle Lines" is a classic Star Trek allegory for the futility and horror of war, lent some additional grit by Jonathan Banks' performance.

This was far from being a "before they were famous" gig for Banks, who had been a professional actor since the 1970s. When his Star Trek: Deep Space Nine aired in 1993, Banks was best known as Frank McPike in 74 episodes of the crime procedural Wiseguy between 1987 and 1990. However, he also had roles in some of the 80's most memorable cult movies like The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across The 8th Dimension , which also starred the future evil Star Trek admiral , and Robocop actor Peter Weller.

Jonathan Banks Isn't The Only Link Between Breaking Bad And Star Trek

There's a surprisingly large number of connections between Star Trek and Breaking Bad that go beyond Jonathan Banks' guest role as Shel-la. In terms of actors, John de Lancie had a memorable role in Breaking Bad seasons 2 and 3 as the tragic Donald Margolis, a family man whose daughter Jane (Krysten Ritter) lost her life due to the scheming of Walter White. Other actors with roles in both Breaking Bad and the Star Trek universe include Hector Salamanca actor Mark Margolis, who played Dr. Nel Apgar in Star Trek: The Next Generation season 3, episode 14, "A Matter of Perspective".

Given the links between Star Trek and The X-Files , it's probably no coincidence that Breaking Bad creator and X-Files veteran Vince Gilligan cast so many Trek actors in the show. This connection continued into Better Call Saul with roles for Star Trek: Voyager guest stars Ed Begley Jr. and Michael McKean. Breaking Bad 's most overt reference was the drug-fueled pitch for an episode of Star Trek: The Original Series involving a pie eating contest and a transporter malfunction, with horrific and hilarious consequences. All of which proves that Jonathan Banks' appearance in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine wasn't a simple one-off.

All episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine are available to stream on Paramount+.

Ed Begley Jr.

IMDbPro Starmeter Top 5,000 577

Contact info
2 wins & 13 nominations total

Ed Begley Jr. and Michael Richards in St. Elsewhere (1982)

Ed Mulgrave
Ed Begley Jr. type
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In Production
Sava Kosanovic
In Development

Annie Potts, Lance Barber, Zoe Perry, Raegan Revord, Montana Jordan, and Iain Armitage in Young Sheldon (2017)

Dr. Linkletter
33 episodes

Willa Fitzgerald in Strange Darling (2023)

General Bill Meekins

Ed Begley Jr., Derek Cecil, and Adrienne Wells in A Ghost Story (2022)

Clifford Main
14 episodes

Winston Beaumont

Holly Hunter, Ted Danson, Bobby Moynihan, Kyla Kenedy, Mike Cabellon, and Vella Lovell in Mr. Mayor (2021)

Chet Danville

Alive & Well with Michelle Harris (2003)

Rock T. Puss (voice)

Jason Priestley and Melissa Joan Hart in Dear Christmas (2020)

Randy Morgan

John Lehman

Mr. Whistler (voice)

26 episodes

Jason Kravits, Jeff Bergman, Allie Levitan, James Adomian, Matt Rogers, Nathan Min, and Kate Villa in Our Cartoon President (2018)

Bruce Mann (voice)

Personal details

Ed's World
6′ 4″ (1.93 m)
September 16 , 1949
Los Angeles, California, USA
Spouses Rachelle Carson-Begley August 23, 2000 - present (1 child)
Children Hayden Carson Begley
Parents Ed Begley
Relatives Thomas Martin Begley (Sibling)
Other works (10-11/05) Stage: Appeared in the David Mamet play/Atlantic Theatre Company production of "Romance" at the Mark Taper Forum, Los Angeles, CA.
2 Print Biographies
1 Interview
1 Magazine Cover Photo

Did you know

Trivia He keeps his father's Oscar (for Sweet Bird of Youth (1962) ) at home and proudly displays it.
Quotes People are overwhelmed looking up at the Mount Everest of environmental challenges that we face. But you put one foot in front of the other and you recognize that not everyone is Sir Edmund Hillary.
Trademarks Has a slight lisp to his voice
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Q&A - Ed Begley, Jr.

Actor and environmental activist Ed Begley, Jr. talks about living green

Lyndon Stambler

The first Earth Day, 1970, inspired then-struggling actor Ed Begley, Jr. to dedicate his life to lessening his impact on Earth. Even as he earned six Emmy nominations for his portrayal of Dr. Victor Ehrlich on St. Elsewhere and appeared in such movies as A Mighty Wind and Batman Forever , he became known for his environmentalism as much as his acting. People laughed when he rode his bicycle to the Oscars. But as gas prices approach $4 a gallon, they're not laughing any more.

Begley and his wife Rachelle Carson (pictured above) matched wits in their domestic reality show Living with Ed , which ran for two seasons on HGTV.

"He has a genuine concern for the planet, then on top of that he wants to see [how little] energy we can consume," says Carson, an actress named after Rachel Carson, the late biologist whose landmark book Silent Spring (1962) warned about the indiscriminate use of pesticides. "He re-insulated the house and got our energy down even more. He blames me because I use a blow drier, God forbid."

With his book, Living Like Ed (Clarkson Potter, $18, printed on recycled paper) Begley, 58, has been sharing a secret he learned long ago: you can save money by going green.

How did you become an environmentalist? After 20 years of living in smoggy LA in the ‘50s and ‘60s, on the first Earth Day, I decided to do something. I bought an electric car, I started recycling. I started composting. I started buying biodegradable soaps and detergents. I changed my diet. Not only did it feel good, but much to my surprise I was saving money. I did it to save the environment but when I realized I was saving money, I went, wow, I've got to stick with this.

What keeps you going? Since I started this in 1970, we have four times the amount of cars in LA and yet we have half the smog. That's a big deal. We had another success with ozone depletion. In the ‘70s, we banned CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons) from spray cans. Then we got really serious about it after the Montreal accord in 1987. Now the ozone hole is smaller. The Hudson River was so polluted for years you couldn't fish there. Now it's a productive fishery because of the Hudson River Keeper and the Clean Water Act. I believe we can do it on every front. We just have to get cracking.

How do you minimize your impact on the environment? I urge people to pick the low hanging fruit. Do the stuff that's cheapest and easiest first. I couldn't afford solar panels in 1970. I was a struggling actor. I started recycling and composting. I bought an electric car for $950. But I found quickly it was cheaper to charge it than it was to buy gasoline. There was no tune up, oil change, or smog check. I made my house very energy efficient with good insulation. Compact florescent bulbs, an energy saving thermostat, good insulation, double pane windows. I did that first. That was much cheaper than solar panels. So you do that and then you move up the ladder. I get by on solar power and I buy renewable energy out in the marketplace.

My favorite form of transportation is walking. I live in a neighborhood where you can walk to restaurants, banks, and shops. Number two is my bicycle. Number three is public transportation. My electric car [a Toyota Rav-4 with an 80-mile range] is a distant fourth. My wife's hybrid is fifth. Then sixth, if I have to be in LA on Monday and DC on Tuesday, I get in a plane like anybody else but I avoid it at all costs.

Are you off the grid? No, it was an elusive goal I've never quite achieved. When I was single, I was down to $100 of power a year. Now there are three of us [wife Rachelle and daughter Hayden, 8] so there's $300 a year worth of green power I buy from the LA Department of Water & Power Green Power Program. I owned a wind turbine in the California desert as an investment, part of a wind farm. So I've put out many homes' worth of power since 1985. I buy a Terra Pass [carbon offsets] for my air travel or for my wife's tailpipe emissions on her Toyota Prius and for my home energy use.

I do as much as possible with solar on my roof, buying alternative energy as an investment and carbon offsets. I live in a little house, which is part of the good news. But there's just not enough roof space to produce enough electricity. One day, if I can build a second story and get my panels up in the clear I'll be off the grid.

People know they should use compact fluorescent light bulbs and insulate their homes, but how do they overcome their inertia? Just start. Do something. People are overwhelmed looking up at the Mount Everest of environmental challenges that we face. But you put one foot in front of the other and you recognize that not everyone is Sir Edmund Hillary. You get to the base camp and get acclimated and see how high you can climb. That's what I recommend, that people take the first step.

What is the first step? Getting out of your car would be the best single thing that anybody could do. It could mean walking in your neighborhood, taking public transportation., or riding a bike if weather and fitness permit.

Are enough people making these changes? I think enough people are doing it for today. Now we need more people to do it tomorrow.

People in Hollywood once called you a fanatic. How did that feel? I didn't mind so much. The dog barks but the caravan moves on. Let people say what they want. I knew what I was doing made sense. Not only did I feel I was doing something for the environment but I was saving money. I'm not a wealthy person because I was never a star. I was a working actor and a supporting actor. But I have something that's as good as having a lot of money. My bills are very low because of all these investments I've made in my future.

Did that hurt your career? According to my manager and my agent in the ‘90s, people were hesitant to hire me because they thought I'd make trouble on the set. I never did make trouble on the set but people were fearful of that. People on the set would come up and say, "Please, Ed, don't be angry. We're going to take care of it. Just bear with us until lunch."

"What are you talking about?" I'd ask.

"We'll have the recycling bins."

"Okay, get the recycling bins."

You were 40 years ahead of Leo DiCaprio and even Al Gore. How does it feel to be a green celebrity? It feels good that people are doing the right things to clean up the air in cities like LA and Houston and Bakersfield to lessen our dependence on Mideast oil and to put money in all our pockets. Whatever reason people are doing it, I'm just happy it's happened.

Is your TV show ( Living With Ed) going for a third season? We're talking to other cable venues. It won't be on HGTV. I'm doing lots of speaking engagements. I'm lobbying the halls of Congress. I'm doing a Woody Allen movie. I've got an HBO movie called Recount out in May and a Seth Rogen movie called Pineapple Express out in August. I'm not sure I have time for a reality show.

What's the most unusual response you've gotten to your book or show? The most unusual response to the book is "$18?!" and to the TV show it's, "That woman's too good for you."

One of the show's themes is that your wife, Rachelle, finds your environmentalism annoying. Does that reflect reality? It does. She thinks what I do is kind of wacky. At the end of the day she cares about the environment, she's just not quite as zealous as I am. There is friction. It's not put on. But we mostly laugh about it. That's the most important thing. You've got to laugh.

We hear such dire reports about global warming and ice shelves collapsing and predictions of doom. Can we avert disaster? Yes, if we do something now. People said we couldn't do something about the smog in LA and we did. People said it would be many decades before we turned around the ozone depletion. They said we'd never be able to clean up the Hudson River. Lake Erie was dead. The Cuyahoga River was just going to catch fire. People said the [Berlin] wall was never going to come down, apartheid was never going to end. I don't buy it. I think we can turn this one around too. It's a big one, and I think we can do it.

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Star Trek Voyager "Ed Begley Jr. Eats It"
Star Trek: Voyager (1995)
Ed Begley Jr
Star Trek: Voyager (1995)
Star Trek: Voyager (1995)
Future's End (1996)

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Ed Begley, Jr, Actor and Activist
Doom Spending
Why Ed Begley Jr. Ended His Friendship with OJ Simpson
26 Hours With 1 Guest Talking Murders, Manson, OJ Simpson, John Lennon & Seinfeld’s Michael Richards

COMMENTS

"Star Trek: Voyager" Future's End (TV Episode 1996)
Future's End: Directed by David Livingston. With Kate Mulgrew, Robert Beltran, Roxann Dawson, Jennifer Lien. A timeship from the future who tries to stop Voyager gets thrown with Voyager into the twentieth century. His timeship is found in the 1960's and Voyager finds a company that has benefited from its technology exists in 1996.
Ed Begley, Jr.
Ed Begley, Jr. (born 16 September 1949; age 74) is an actor from Los Angeles, California who played Henry Starling in the Star Trek: Voyager third season episodes "Future's End" and "Future's End, Part II". He is one of the few people to have participated in both Star Trek and Star Wars, providing the voice of Boba Fett in the radio drama of Return of the Jedi. Outside of Star Trek, he is best ...
Future's End
Voyager and its crew are also pulled into the rift and find themselves on Earth in 1996. Braxton crashes in 1967, where Henry Starling ( Ed Begley Jr. ) finds Aeon and copies its technology, allowing him to found a company, Chronowerx Industries, and start the micro-computer revolution.
Future's End (episode)
In fact, Ed Begley, Jr. was one of Hollywood's most notable environmental activists. ... Voyager Magazine issue 16) Ed Begley, Jr. was impressed by the effects of this episode's two-parter. "I got a kick out of the special effects," he raved. "For a TV show, they really pour it on. They certainly have the best computer graphics on TV.
"Star Trek: Voyager" Future's End: Part II (TV Episode 1996)
Future's End: Part II: Directed by Cliff Bole. With Kate Mulgrew, Robert Beltran, Roxann Dawson, Jennifer Lien. As the Voyager crew pit their 24th century technology against Starling's stolen 29th century technology, Chakotay and Torres fall into the hands of paranoid white supremacists.
Who Played Henry Starling in Star Trek: Voyager?
Ed Begley Jr. Played One of Star Trek's Most Important Characters on Voyager. By Joshua M. Patton. Published Jul 29, 2023. Ed Begley Jr.'s Star Trek: Voyager character Henry Starling was meant as a fun cameo - but became one of the most important in canon history. Some Trekkies are angry at Star Trek: Strange New Worlds for diving into Star ...
"Star Trek: Voyager" Future's End (TV Episode 1996)
"Star Trek: Voyager" Future's End (TV Episode 1996) Ed Begley Jr. as Henry Starling. Menu. Movies. Release Calendar Top 250 Movies Most Popular Movies Browse Movies by Genre Top Box Office Showtimes & Tickets Movie News India Movie Spotlight. ... Voyager Episodes a list of 32 titles created 19 Apr 2022 Top 25 Star Trek: Voyager Episodes
The Best One-Off Characters In Star Trek: Voyager
Henry Starling (Ed Begley, Jr.) — Future's End Paramount Domestic Television The Voyager managed to arrive on Earth in the two-part Season 3 episode "Future's End," albeit with a time-bending twist.
Star Trek: Voyager: Season 3, Episode 9
Paris and Tuvok seek help in Los Angeles as evil Henry Starling (Ed Begley Jr.) takes The Doctor hostage and prepares to launch the time ship. ... Watch Star Trek: Voyager — Season 3, Episode 9 ...
Star Trek: Voyager: Season 3, Episode 8
Reviews The Voyager crew time-travels to 1996 Los Angeles to help prevent an event that could alter the future; guest Ed Begley Jr. Read More Read Less Watch on Vudu Premiered Sep 26 Buy Now Where ...
Star Trek: Voyager (Season 3, Episode 8)
Available on Paramount+, Prime Video, iTunes. S3 E8: Both Voyager and a 29th century Federation Timeship, the Aeon, are pulled back in time to Earth in the late 20th century. Sci-Fi Nov 6, 1996 45 min. TV-PG. Starring Sarah Silverman, Ed Begley Jr., Allan Royal.
Ed Begley Jr.
Edward James Begley Jr. (born September 16, 1949) is an American actor. He has appeared in hundreds of films, television shows, and stage performances. He played Dr. Victor Ehrlich on the television series St. Elsewhere (1982-1988). The role earned him six consecutive Primetime Emmy Award nominations and a Golden Globe Award nomination. He also co-hosted, along with wife Rachelle Carson, the ...
The Best Forgotten Star Trek: Voyager Characters
Multiple Emmy nominee and Golden Globe nominee Ed Begley Jr. has had a prolific career playing so many different kinds of characters that it's hard to keep track of them all.Begley Jr. guest ...
Ed Begley Jr. on Blunt Talk, St. Elsewhere, and Spinal Tap
Blunt Talk (2015)—"Teddy". Ed Begley Jr.: There was not an audition involved. They called me up and asked if I wanted to do it, and I jumped at the chance because I'm a fan of Jonathan ...
Star Trek: Voyager (TV Series 1995-2001)
Star Trek: Voyager (1995-2001) Ed Begley Jr.: Henry Starling. Showing all 7 items Jump to: Photos (7) Photos . See also. Release Dates | Official Sites | Company Credits | Filming & Production | Technical Specs. Star Trek: Voyager (TV Series) Details. Full Cast and Crew ...
18 Years Later... Voyager Two-Parter "Future's End," with Sarah
In fact, "Part II" debuted 18 years ago today. The character was a human scientist tasked with searching for extraterestrials as part of Earth's SETI program, and it was she who picked up Voyager's warp signal, triggering a series of events involving Henry Starling (Ed Begley Jr.), the timeship Aeon, Earth's possible destruction and a kiss ...
Begley'S `Voyager' Role Is a Case of Future Shock
It seems appropriate that Ed Begley Jr., an Emmy Award-nominated actor and devoted, outspoken environmentalist, would venture into space on "Star Trek: Voyager." " `Star Trek,R…
Sarah Silverman's Star Trek Role Was More Pivotal (And Tragic ...
Sarah Silverman had a small role in "Star Trek: Voyager," but her character originally had greater ambitions and has even appeared later in the canon. ... (Ed Begley Jr.), but instead of ...
Breaking Bad Legend's Forgotten Star Trek Role Explained
This connection continued into Better Call Saul with roles for Star Trek: Voyager guest stars Ed Begley Jr. and Michael McKean. Breaking Bad's most overt reference was the drug-fueled pitch for an episode of Star Trek: The Original Series involving a pie eating contest and a transporter malfunction, with horrific and hilarious consequences.
It's not your imagination: Ed Begley Jr. is everywhere
Begley's Walden talk is online now. The son of New England-born actor Ed Begley, Begley Jr. lives so infamously green in L.A. he was Simpsonized, not to mention starred in the mid-2000s reality ...
Ed Begley Jr.
Ed Begley Jr.. Actor: A Mighty Wind. Ed Begley Jr. was born on 16 September 1949 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for A Mighty Wind (2003), Pineapple Express (2008) and Whatever Works (2009). He has been married to Rachelle Carson-Begley since 23 August 2000. They have one child. He was previously married to Ingrid Taylor.
Ed Begley, Jr. (St Elsewhere, Star Trek: Voyager, and much more
I was very lucky to get Ed Begley, Jr (star of St Elsewhere, guest star on Star Trek, and in dozens of other films and television shows) to make a video to s...
Q&A
April 13, 2008. Brentwood Communications International, Inc. The first Earth Day, 1970, inspired then-struggling actor Ed Begley, Jr. to dedicate his life to lessening his impact on Earth. Even as ...

Future's End (episode)

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Act Five [ ]

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Ed Begley Jr. Played One of Star Trek's Most Important Characters on Voyager

How Star Trek: Voyager Incorporated Real History Into the Prime Timeline

Rewriting Star Trek History Can Still Mean a Cohesive Canon

The Best One-Off Characters In Star Trek: Voyager

Telek R'Mor (Vaughn Armstrong) — Eye of the Needle

Quinn (Gerrit Graham) — Death Wish

Henry Starling (Ed Begley, Jr.) — Future's End

Rain Robinson (Sarah Silverman) — Future's End

Belle (Lindsey Haun) — Real Life

Annorax (Kurtwood Smith) — Year of Hell

Quarren (Henry Woronicz) — Living Witness

One (J. Paul Boehmer) — Drone

Kashyk (Mark Harelik) — Counterpoint

Noss (Lori Petty) — Gravity

Hirogen (J.G. Hertzler) — Tsunkatse

Penk (Jeffrey Combs) — Tsunkatse

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Michael McKean as The Clown

Ed Begley Jr. as Henry Starling

Sarah Silverman as Rain Robinson

John Rhys-Davies as Leonardo da Vinci

Lori Petty as Noss

Jason Alexander as Kurros

Daniel Dae Kim as Gotana-Retz

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson as The Champion

Mark Sheppard as Leucon

Ed Begley Jr. on Blunt Talk , St. Elsewhere , and Spinal Tap

Blunt Talk (2015)—“Teddy”

My Three Sons (1967)—“Marv”

The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes (1969)—“Student” (uncredited) Now You See Him, Now You Don’t (1972)—“Druffle” Superdad (1973)—“The Gang”

Auto Focus (2002)—“Mel Rosen”

Cockfighter (1974)—“Tom Peeples”

Roll Out (1973-74)—“Lt. Robert W. Chapman”

St. Elsewhere (1982-88) / Homicide: The Movie (2000)—“Dr. Victor Erlich”

 Eating Raoul (1982)—“Hippie” Scenes From The Class Struggle In Beverly Hills (1989)—“Peter”

Blue Collar (1978)—“Bobby Joe” Hardcore (1979)—“Soldier” Cat People (1982)—“Joe Creigh”

Goin’ South (1978)—“Whitey Haber”

Still The Beaver (1983)—“Whitey Whitney”

Star Trek: Voyager (1996)—“Henry Starling”

Battlestar Galactica (1978-79)—“Flight Sgt. Greenbean”

Happy Days (1974)—“Hank” Laverne & Shirley (1979)—“Robert ‘Bobby’ Feeney” Young Doctors In Love (1982)—“Lyle August”

This Is Spinal Tap (1984)—“John ‘Stumpy’ Pepys” A Mighty Wind (2003)—“Lars Olfen”

Greedy (1994)—“Carl”

Eating Raoul (1982)—“Hippie” Scenes From The Class Struggle In Beverly Hills (1989)—“Peter”