September 21, 2025 • 52 mins
Connor Trinneer and Dominic Keating watch Star Trek: Enterprise's "Acquisition", joined by Ethan Phillips, everyone's favorite Talaxian... or in this case, Ferengi! Pull up your blue underwear because we're taking back the ship... and whatever you do, do NOT put Porthos in a box!
Each week, we explore and celebrate the lives that the Star Trek universe has forever changed. From former and future cast and crew members to celebrities, scientists, and astronauts whose personal and professional journeys have been affected by the franchise, we sit down and dive deep with a new friend, laughing and learning from their stories. Sit back, grab a drink, and join our hosts, Dominic Keating and Connor Trinneer, as we get geeky in The D-Con Chamber.
Let's get social! -
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🌐 Website: https://thedconchamber.com
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-d-con-chamber--6181422/support.
Each week, we explore and celebrate the lives that the Star Trek universe has forever changed. From former and future cast and crew members to celebrities, scientists, and astronauts whose personal and professional journeys have been affected by the franchise, we sit down and dive deep with a new friend, laughing and learning from their stories. Sit back, grab a drink, and join our hosts, Dominic Keating and Connor Trinneer, as we get geeky in The D-Con Chamber.
Let's get social! -
📘 Facebook: The D-Con Chamber
📸 Instagram: @thedconchamber
🐦 Twitter: @thedconchamber
⏰ TikTok: @thedconchamber
🌐 Website: https://thedconchamber.com
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-d-con-chamber--6181422/support.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
The show has begun with Carento. It's the.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Count, Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, Trekky's and Trekkers.
Welcome back to another watch party episode of the Decon Chamber.
I am here as always with my best friend, co
star and sometimes co defendant, dominic Eating.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
He's ever elier.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Today we're doing episode nineteen Acquisition, which brings to us
and our show The Ferenghi.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
This wayward.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Quartette of Marauders is led by Ethan Phillips. You all
know him as Neelix from Voyager and I mean a
thousand other things. And it was written by Maria and
Andre Jacques Benton as dom Likes to Say Yes, directed
(01:00):
by James Whitmore Junior, and he was the first time
we had him on our show. He directed several episodes
for us. He'd done a lot of episodes of Quantum
Leap with Scott and he became very very good friends.
Speaker 3 (01:14):
And this is a great wrong.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
Yeah it is. It's the four Stooges and the Keystone
Cops all wrapped and rolled up into one, isn't it.
And I think you must have had an absolute ball.
I guess the first thing, Ethan, you were used to
the makeup.
Speaker 4 (01:31):
Yeah, friendly makeups is not as Arman will argue with me,
but it's not as arduous as the Newlix makeup. Really, yeah,
it's as warm, but it goes on faster and comes
off much faster.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
It's just one big head piece, is it that goes on?
Speaker 4 (01:46):
Initially Neilis had pieces and a bag contacts and teeth
and every day it was it was, it was a
big I couldn't do it today. I mean they could
all really as an episode, I'm sorry, guys.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
Yeah to say, I mean I I did one episode.
I did too in in that sort of makeup. My my,
my sensitive Irish skin just did not like it.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
I could.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
I couldn't have done a regular role in it. It
would I was, it would have crucified me.
Speaker 4 (02:14):
Yeah, they take me because they would bring with you know,
this very dense oil called ice of purple mirror stames. Yeah,
your skin. But guest stars would come in and uh,
you know, they had to get them out fast. They
didn't want to do a lot of wave or forced calls,
and they'd take their swuf with alcohol, which was fine
for a week or two, but if you did that,
my skin would have been over.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
It'll ruin you after after some time. Absolutely did.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
It takes some practice to speak with the teeth.
Speaker 4 (02:41):
No, No, they were really well done. I I I
did it for Angie on Next Generation, and and that
when I did have a hard time with the teeth,
I found it a little like this. Yeah, with a
bit of a lift. It was not bad. But the
thing with those teeth you get emotional, they tend to
spit out of You have to be when you're into
(03:04):
a line that has any venom behind it, you've got
to make sure that you don't spit the teeth of
the lens.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
In that episode of the Next Gen. Was that the
first encounter that you know, the star Fleet was meant
to have had with Were you in the first episode?
The meeting of No?
Speaker 4 (03:20):
We were? That was season I think season three, all right.
I don't know whether it was the first encounter, but
they were. They were vicious in this episode and in
the one I did.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
Much meaner as it were.
Speaker 4 (03:34):
And very cruel people. All right, they flattened that out,
I think, I mean.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
We didn't know, but I mean all our fans that
were watching us were really up in arms about the
fact that we were meeting an unnamed species who were
the Ferengi in our you know, Timeline right really got
the you know, the officionados all up in arms. Fraindy
bugged them off when we did the bug episode apparently.
Speaker 2 (04:03):
So I will say that that that the four of
you worked together so well as a you know, it's
a it's a real subtle comedic. Yeah, that is set
for this episode. And and and you guys, you know
you were pros. Yeah, you all work together so well in.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
This Yeah, did you how did you? Did you come
together on the set and just magically bring.
Speaker 4 (04:28):
Up each other? I mean I knew Clint his dad
lived down the street from me, Clinton around his dad,
so Ranch Howard, who I had become friends with, And
I knew Clint just being in the business. And and
Michael Mike.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
Mike malloy, wasn't it Yeah, I think that much.
Speaker 4 (04:48):
The first time I met my his character made me
to laugh the most because you know, he's over at
me very And of course Jeff I've known for a
long time.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
Jeff, really I hear. It's a lovely performance. It wasn't
an rc you know, Jeff usually plays rses and this
was a really you know, vulnerable character, and uh, it
was a beautiful, beautiful performance.
Speaker 4 (05:13):
One of your rules number six. My cousin's going to
help me acquire my own ship. Something we don't watch.
I really I have stopped watching myself for years because
I always say, oh, I could have done that better.
And I said, why I don't even need that in
my life, Why don't need that anxiety? But acquisition happened.
(05:33):
I was with Jeff at a convention a couple of
years ago and it happened to come on TV and
we both watched it and we.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
Now with laughter, all right, yeah, yeah, no, it's a
beautiful it's a really well it's the four stages and
uh and as I say, the Keystone Cops one of
my the funniest images. I forget who it is is
who's taking Anthony's sliding seat into the turbo lift. I
just how with laughter and quite getting in is almost
(06:04):
using his foot to open the door.
Speaker 4 (06:06):
Yeah yeah, I just I just remember really enjoying ourselves
and everybody was very had a different personality, you know, yeah, and.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
Were well just think there really well they were well
defined because they could have easily just sort of melded
and they didn't you really, you know, found your own
individual characters that.
Speaker 4 (06:27):
Worked great directly show you.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
Gass us all to sleep. I said, it's the easiest
twenty five bucks I ever made. There's one shot of me,
you know, slumped. I think I don't think he was
even in it. I think he got his standard to
put his hand over the of the console and that
was it for him.
Speaker 4 (06:46):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
I love it.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
I love the beginning, the intro where it's just the
back of the Ferengey head. Yeah, yeah, in yeah, it was.
It was a really really good choice to do that
because everybody knew what that meant.
Speaker 4 (07:02):
Yeah. Yeah, Well, you know, the other great thing about
that show was our first a d was Jerry Fleck.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
Yeah, bless us his soul.
Speaker 4 (07:13):
He was. He was such a wonderful man and one
of the best first had ever worked.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
Was he really was.
Speaker 4 (07:19):
He never loved but he was always and we never said,
you know, those shows were tough, they were long, and
and he was always. But he did a very funny
thing in that ship. My character's name was Uless. He
put on my trailer useless.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
That's good. God, bless Jerry flat. He was really a pro.
And you and I have such fun memories of working
every every show he did was just way wait too, yeah,
wait too. He was. I mean he was like, I
mean it's awful. I mean he was six to eight
weeks away from retirement.
Speaker 3 (07:59):
He was like fifty six years old.
Speaker 1 (08:01):
Yeah, he had I think he had high pertension, was
what it was, wasn't it? And he just didn't wake
up one morning and it's it's a no Wood note
to self season? Was that?
Speaker 4 (08:15):
No?
Speaker 1 (08:15):
No, We've done shuttle pod one with him. I think
it was near the end. Man. I think you know,
he was close to retirement. I mean I remember going
to the memorial service. Not to get too heavy, but
his wife was, you know, she was angry, and she
was angry at Paramount and angry at the studio and
(08:35):
just used up her husband's life. And then it was tough.
He was undeserving of that and a beautiful man. So
we so you gas us all to sleep, and of
course Connor is come back from some away mission and
(08:56):
is you know, prostrate not just sitting but wait on
the decon chamber floor, which is in honor of our
podcast name. Now, yeah, and how shall I say? I mean,
you know, bearing all in blue panties. Well, he wore
(09:20):
a cup, as we now know, and he never told
me that. In the day, it wasn't a cup, it.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
Was they gave us dance belts.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
Was it sewn into the into the Nickers ballet dance belt?
All right? So he lifts and shoves up. Oh yeah, yeah,
there's a lot going on there.
Speaker 4 (09:39):
I mean, you guys, who are you guys?
Speaker 1 (09:44):
There's a lot. There's one shot later on where he's
standing next to my photon torpedo. I don't think it
was a mistake. I think Jimmy Whitmore thought, well, I'm
having this.
Speaker 4 (09:56):
Sense humor. Yeah, was a Venus guy, right, huh.
Speaker 1 (10:01):
Oh yeah, oh yeah, yeah.
Speaker 4 (10:05):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
It was a good director. And Scott brought him on
from if I can say that, not that he needed
to bring it on, but he came from Quantum leap at. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (10:17):
Did you know Jim for this?
Speaker 4 (10:20):
I had met Jim he directed. I believe he did
an episode of Voyager. I'm almost positive, but I'd worked
with him on something before that. Because we remembered each other,
I can't remember what it could have been, anything from
Father Dowling mysteries to you know, first a love American style.
I don't freaking know, but work together. Man's lucky he
(10:41):
did kill him, and you'll be lucky if the Kuraguayan
Embassy doesn't file harassment charges against you, sergeant. And I
remember him as being a very kind uh guy, and
a really good actors director, yes, very.
Speaker 2 (10:54):
And also someone who who as a director was like,
we were on time, Yes, we didn't work late. He
made sure he was old school in that, you know,
we're getting people home at a proper hour. Yeah, twelve hours.
It's going to take us twelve hours, and.
Speaker 3 (11:13):
When we're done, we're done.
Speaker 1 (11:15):
Rights. So the Clint Eastwood of of Star Trek directing, right,
you know, why use five shots when that one will do?
I quite like it. I mean I got used to it.
I mean I I don't know about you, Johnny, but
I and I could. I could do take after take
and think I could. But generally speaking, the first one
(11:35):
is you know, if it's generally the best.
Speaker 4 (11:40):
We feel like, I'll do another take. But when I'm
wearing them, when I'm in that makeup, I want to
kind of move along. Right, No ship, because one hundred takes.
I don't give a ship I'm getting paid to do
what I love, you.
Speaker 1 (11:51):
Know, yes, right, indeed, Yeah, that's that's the I mean,
honestly I think about that. I mean I I in
that respect, apart from the early work, I haven't really
worked a day in my life as it were. I mean,
they've been long hours, but today dominant.
Speaker 4 (12:07):
When I was doing that show Avenue five, I was
here for two seasons, they would never go over twelve hours.
Speaker 1 (12:14):
Never if they.
Speaker 4 (12:16):
Could be in the middle of a shot and they go, okay,
we'll catch just tomorrow. I mean, it was just fascinating.
They just you went home, you got home at a
decent hour. Great, but it was a very unlike where
we would be We could do eighteen hour day.
Speaker 1 (12:28):
Sometimes, I know, no kidding, I know, I mean there
would I mean I'd pat myself on the back when
you drive away from Paramount on Saturday morning at seven
thirty am and I've just done a sixteen and a
half hour day and you know, the last scene was
four pages and I had to really, you know, I
had to cry or I had to do you know,
it's like that is like, yeah, you're bringing it professional acting,
(12:52):
as they say. So you come aboard and you know
you've got I know, you've got one hundred and seven
three laws of acquisition. I think I'm writing saying in
this episode that's.
Speaker 5 (13:05):
Number forty five. I've memorized all one hundred and seventy three,
including the most important one.
Speaker 4 (13:10):
A man it's only worth the sum of his possessions.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
When they meet when you meet them. In the next generation,
there are two hundred and eighty five laws of ACQUISITIONINGI
of up there ante with the acquisition laws, but they're hilarious.
And yeah, and you so you're you're you're there. You
are leading this troop of pirates and was the boss?
I guess, yeah, there you were.
Speaker 4 (13:37):
It won't be harmed as long as you cooperate. Yeah, whip,
I had a whip.
Speaker 1 (13:42):
If you've got that electric whip. They loved using that
electric whip the FERENGI why aren't jewishly?
Speaker 2 (13:50):
I wish did it used more in the episode. I
think you only use it one time on on you?
Speaker 1 (13:56):
Yeah, use you on me? Oh yeah, yeah, it's okay.
Speaker 2 (14:03):
I've forgotten about it. It was a long time.
Speaker 1 (14:08):
Uh Connor, So Connor gets out of the decon chamber.
I love the fact that the engineer knows how to
tweet the button pad that's really cool and finds everyone
you know, fast asleep and gassed out, and you lot
(14:30):
come on with your you know, gas masks on.
Speaker 4 (14:38):
I'm trying to step something right. We're after something.
Speaker 1 (14:42):
You're after anything, after anything. When you think that this
ship's got a vault and there's going to be gold.
Speaker 2 (14:49):
What do you want?
Speaker 4 (14:50):
Where is the location of your fault?
Speaker 1 (14:53):
And that's when the captain, now you you bring him
back to consciousness, don't you? With a shot? So there's
another there's a bit that I noticed that the shot
of Scott asleep in his chair, in the captain's chair
and his hand tentatively poised over his loins as it were.
(15:17):
And Connor's not should we mention the book in your
laboratory in the house in Gramercy.
Speaker 3 (15:25):
It's called Hollywood Babylon.
Speaker 1 (15:28):
There's one section that says these guys have got big dongs,
and you know half of it's true. I think it
was pre Pete Davidson, So he was he was coming
into the well in own crowd, but he wasn't known then.
But David Dick Goovney's in there, and Scott Backler is apparently,
(15:49):
And I did get I got a pen. I went
to the kitchen and got a pen because I gone
for a pe and I'd had a look at this
book and I went right at the bottom. There was
room for me to write and lest we forget Donic casing.
Speaker 4 (16:06):
A funny story about well, you know, Milton, Milton Burrow
was fair.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
Yeah, oh yeah, very well and get it out, wouldn't.
Speaker 4 (16:12):
Hey, yeah, he would whip it out. And yeah he
was being roasted. And everybody was doing you know, big
dick jokes, and you know, I mean some really terrific ones,
which I remember, my favorite one being Milton's slang is
so large. His urologist was a shirpa.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
Ah.
Speaker 4 (16:33):
This went on for like five minutes. It's so big.
It has a sun deck, it graduated a year ahead
of him, it still has snow on, it has wings,
it has tusks, it has a dick. It can vote,
you know, on and on that. I mean, there's only
one comic left. And Red Buttons apparently turns to his
friend and says, there's no more big dick jokes. What
(16:53):
is this guy gonna say? The guy gets up in
front of the mic and he goes, you know, everybody's
talking about Milton Schlan Well, I got to tell I
saw it. I were in the same hotel. I went
down to the steam room last night. I saw Milton.
I thought he was with his son.
Speaker 1 (17:10):
A very hilarious hilarious So then Connor starts his uh,
you know, so June in his in his tidy whities
or tidy blueies. You moved very well, darling.
Speaker 2 (17:32):
I think it's a dance performance really for me.
Speaker 1 (17:35):
For the first half of the yeah, it is, yeah,
And there's one crouching moment and you're like, oh, it's
going to bust that out. You know, I wasn't looking
at the eyes anymore with all the teeth, right, did
you enjoy? I mean, were you how conscious were you
(17:56):
that you were, you know, in a you know, why
don't I something porn that.
Speaker 2 (18:01):
Was actually kind of grateful because they'd worked my ass off.
Speaker 1 (18:04):
Ass off you were looking you were a physicist f
u c K. Yeah you were.
Speaker 3 (18:08):
I mean so, yeah, I mean I was look, if
it's there, use.
Speaker 1 (18:14):
It, yeah, yeah, Well it's nicely done. And then so
you all come aboard and you're you're after anything you
can get. I mean you're literally, I mean, I love
the messl scenes when you're sniffing on the cake and
is it Jeff? I think he didn't like the cheesecake,
but he liked the apple pie. And that just goes
(18:35):
in the bag.
Speaker 4 (18:36):
Like Jeff was in it. And that God, they were
all terrific.
Speaker 3 (18:42):
They were just they were they were.
Speaker 1 (18:45):
I mean, so we get to the scenes. Really there
are there are sort of three main structures there aren't
there three main sort of uh relationships. But the one
that really stands out is the Captain Scott and Jeff
and got trying to turn Jeff's head. You know, he's
better than this, and that his cousin Ulyss is using
(19:06):
him like a like a job site.
Speaker 5 (19:09):
Even if your cousin does find the vault, what makes
you think he's going to share the gold with you?
Speaker 4 (19:17):
Well, he gets his payback at the end, doesn't he, Jeff.
Speaker 3 (19:19):
He does.
Speaker 2 (19:20):
Yeah, it's that he gets that great sort of obsessive
moment when he starts to take the ship back, you know, yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (19:28):
And the airporn, I mean that is some good stuff.
Speaker 4 (19:31):
To you know, how to perform well Mark.
Speaker 1 (19:38):
And the FERENGI loves saying the females.
Speaker 4 (19:42):
The females, the females. This female in the females, I know,
a bullying female.
Speaker 1 (19:50):
I don't refer to to anything else as the females.
The females with the point he is there.
Speaker 2 (19:56):
So you know, for the first scene at least that
you're all together, maybe the first two scenes you're speaking
for INGI now, was that an actual language?
Speaker 4 (20:06):
She died? You know, no, tran, you got me.
Speaker 1 (20:13):
I don't know. But how difficult was it? Because I
mean I was so fortunate whenever ho she had to
do this stuff. I was like, oh my god, how
difficult was it to learn that phonetically? Is it?
Speaker 4 (20:25):
Just like hard? It's hard. It's hard memoring nonsense. I
just like hard memorizing it scientific the garble. But you know,
I got it down. It's not as easy as it
is now at my age to remember his line. And so,
but that's what year was that, Dominic I.
Speaker 1 (20:47):
Would say two thousand. Yeah, we're still in two thousand
and one. We started in or automate two thousand and one, right, Yeah,
it probably adds it might have aired in early two thousand. See,
but I but I think we shot it before the
end of that year.
Speaker 4 (21:04):
So it's in my prime then, and and I could
pretty much tackle anything because I was still doing theater
and stuff, and but it once I hit seventy that ability, uh,
I mean, I can still memorize, but it takes me
three times as long.
Speaker 1 (21:19):
You know, isn't that?
Speaker 4 (21:21):
Yeah, it's scary.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
You know what what what?
Speaker 4 (21:24):
What?
Speaker 3 (21:24):
What do you use?
Speaker 2 (21:25):
Sort of technique wise? Then now that you know that,
is it just more time pouring over it and repetition.
Speaker 4 (21:31):
I read the side before I even start to memorize.
I read the sides if it's an audition, one hundred times, right,
not trying to memor just read it, read it, read it,
And then I find that I can and I can
start taking my time with it. I memorize a lot
of the way it looks on the page, so I
know the three sentences and one and one ends and
a hanging indent. Then I'll memorize that image as well
(21:55):
as the words, and then I feel safer too, but.
Speaker 1 (21:58):
Yeah, a bit so photographic, and then finding the emotional
connections between each speech, as it were. And that's why
I was found auditions for things like Charm were just
hard because the character just said shit out of nowhere.
It didn't you know what he said before had nothing
to do with what he said next, and you just
(22:20):
had to know that this is what he's going to
say next and.
Speaker 4 (22:23):
To get internal beat going, you know, if I memorize,
like I get a production of Imaginary Invalid about ten
years ago, with of all people, Peter Gingklin played My Maid.
That was an all male cash that.
Speaker 1 (22:36):
Would have been great.
Speaker 4 (22:37):
I was worried about the lines, and I spent three
months prior to that. When I came into rehearsals, I
was word perfect. But it helped me.
Speaker 1 (22:44):
It helped me does Yeah, it gives you confidence and
you're you're not struggling in rehearsal. I like it. I
like it a lot.
Speaker 2 (22:52):
I've had the luxury one time of doing a play.
Speaker 6 (22:56):
For an entire year.
Speaker 2 (22:58):
Yeah, and what I discovered was there, you know, there
there comes a point where your anxiety about your lines
kind of goes away. And then then you're in now
this wonderful forest on stage in front of an audience,
and you there's some nuances, there's some they won't even know.
Speaker 1 (23:24):
Your partnership, you know, and the partners and depending on
the audience's reaction to each moment in the play each night,
you can swim around that too.
Speaker 4 (23:34):
Do you practice your believable moments and you have got
because you know you can rely on. But then after
a month and a half, two months you're on stage,
then shit happens and you do it this way, who
the fuck cares it's gonna work? And always keeps things.
I've worked with an actor who who David Downing, terrific actor.
We end up playing Baltimore and I'll never forget coming
(23:55):
out opening night and he had put a little mold
on his cheek and I noticed it and I clocked it,
and after the performance, I said, Dave, what's up At
the most he says, it's just for me. It's just
signify his his his failings, his personal failings. I said, great,
will we come out the next night? And you got
it on the other shoe. The third night he's got
it on his chin. I'm purpose and I had to
(24:19):
change the blocking just to find the mole. It just
sent me to the scene that was very electric and wonderful.
Speaker 1 (24:26):
Those stories we should get back to some of our episodes.
Uh so it's not to you know, this is another
just an acting, right, you know, seminar.
Speaker 2 (24:36):
I wonder, I wondered how Archer. Because Archer he gleans
on the idea that the feringas, not knowing anything about them, are.
Speaker 3 (24:50):
Driven by grade and greed.
Speaker 1 (24:54):
Oh where the vault is?
Speaker 4 (24:57):
If you let me keep half the gold?
Speaker 2 (24:59):
It he felt sort of weird because the audience would already.
Speaker 3 (25:03):
Have known that, right, But I don't know why Scott did.
Speaker 2 (25:07):
Archer did?
Speaker 4 (25:08):
Yeah, what do you how do you think that worked?
Speaker 1 (25:11):
I think he obviously isn't there a moment in it
that he just says, what are you doing? And they're
they're just saying, well, we're just you know, with the
laws of acquisition come up, and he catches onto that
pretty quick. You know, what's the what's the twenty seventh
law of acquisition? I'm making that up, but he grabs
on pretty quick that these guys are, you know, driven
(25:33):
by greed and they can be divided by it. And
that's his play. You know, he plays it very well. Scott.
I love the way he befriends krem And and uses
that against him, as it were, that you know, he
could be doing better in this for you know, in
(25:54):
the FARRINGI game, as it were.
Speaker 5 (25:57):
I've seen the way the others treat you, one of
them said you have no talent for business?
Speaker 3 (26:04):
Why do not prove them wrong?
Speaker 4 (26:06):
I watched it, but I just found out about this yesterday,
I think, so I didn't even have time to rewatch it.
So a lot of my memory of it is unclear.
But but my main memory from that show was the
fun I had with everybody, Even with all that makeup,
we just had a gas.
Speaker 2 (26:23):
It was clear that you were all having fun. And
you guys were, you know, operating on a level plane
with one another.
Speaker 1 (26:31):
I mean, real prose, that's proacting. It really was, you know, timing,
the timing of everything was great. You didn't overstep the
humor of it right right, You didn't milk it. It
just it just flowed seamlessly. It was really Do you
remember did you do a lot of takes? Do you think?
Do you remember? No?
Speaker 4 (26:52):
I don't think we get a ton of them again, arjuice.
I don't remember being extraordinarily long art you was shooting all.
Speaker 2 (27:00):
I think because Whitmore knows, you know, being like an
old school director, he knew when he got it.
Speaker 4 (27:06):
He's very efficient, and if he's got it, he's moving on.
They're any longer than anybody else. And as you know,
this too, because we've all done it for so long.
When I hear moving on, I don't need anything else.
I didn't need a pat on the back or anything
that means right and we move on.
Speaker 1 (27:21):
You know, I got used to that. I mean, I
have to say and as the star Treks taught me
that lesson. But you know, don't question if they say
they've got it, they've got it, and walk away. Never
think about it again.
Speaker 4 (27:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (27:35):
I learned a valuable lesson one time, early on in
my career. I was doing an episode of I Forget
the Show, and I came up to the director after
the first scene and I was like, so, is this
kind of like the tone what we're sort of thinking about?
And he just stopped and he said, I hired you,
didn't I right? Yeah, he got yeah, okay, I get it.
Speaker 1 (27:59):
Yeah yeah, yeah, there you go. Whatever you did in
the audition was what I'm looking for. Do that now? Please?
Speaker 4 (28:06):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (28:06):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (28:07):
Absolutely? Yeah. Well that you you know, you get the
job because they know right away this guy can do it.
Speaker 1 (28:13):
Some point, I always say that the ninety of production
is casting, is getting the casting right.
Speaker 4 (28:19):
And hey, yeah, I get a play once where a
guy the direct well, I don't want to get in
an acting seminar. But the guy cast somebody as an offer,
and it turned out that he just wasn't doing what
he thought he could do, and he had to let
him go. And that's why people say, well, I hate
auditional issue. These people don't know you. They might know
your work, but they don't know all of your work,
(28:41):
and they don't know.
Speaker 1 (28:41):
What and you have the range to do this part,
you know, although it's the.
Speaker 2 (28:47):
Frustrating part about doing self taping that there's nobody in
a room to give you a note.
Speaker 1 (28:53):
There you go, and and the tape that that guy said,
then maybe is takes thirty eight and you know it
took him thirty eight takes to get a clean shot,
and then they hire him, and you know, suddenly you
all got thirty fifty people staring at you from the
other side of the camera. You're you've come on to
(29:14):
a set with a group of actors that have been
together for a year and a half on a show,
and you know it's it's pressure time and you can
either step up and do it or you can't. We
had a couple of guys that you know, freaked out,
didn't we bless that one guy that played the vulcan
that he left by lunchtime and never saw him. Was
(29:37):
it late? Was it? I'm glad. I'm very glad that
we had our time when we had it. I have
to say, I.
Speaker 4 (29:43):
Will we just at the very end of that kind
of TV time.
Speaker 1 (29:50):
Yeah, we enjoyed. I liked going into the room. It was.
It was it separated the men from the from the boys,
as it were. Can you bring it now in front
of these eight people?
Speaker 4 (30:02):
You know, it takes massive falls to get up in
front of people and pretend to be yeah, and and
but if you enjoy it, then it's.
Speaker 1 (30:09):
Not mass no exactly, And I did. I used to
enjoy it. I and I made I make a point
of having the size in my hand and then going yeah,
I don't I think I'll put them down if that's
all right, and they'll go you sure, I'm like, yeah, no,
I think I got it right, right. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (30:25):
Well, it's the opportunity to play that part, whether you
get the job or not. You know, you've got five
minutes to to the gig. You may have more time
if you get the job, but this is your chance,
so so prepare for your doing the job.
Speaker 4 (30:41):
Yeah, yeah, you put in the time for me, parroted
the fight whatever I get, and I don't get offered much,
so I have to audition for everything.
Speaker 1 (30:51):
And I'm still yeah.
Speaker 4 (30:53):
Five six hours because when it's time for me to
do that self tape or whatever, You're right, Connor, you've
got you gotta send it, and you've got to be
surprising and different and unique and all that ship and
then not feel any pressure whatsoever.
Speaker 1 (31:08):
All right, and forget about it, rode away. Do you
do the cell takes on your own, Johnny? I mean,
because Sarah, I'd be lost. I'm afraid do them.
Speaker 4 (31:18):
In fact, the first self tap I ever has to do,
I wrote my agent's back as a joke and said,
I'd love to do this. Can you get me a
cinematographer though, and somebody who's an it guy so I
can send it? And i'd love a lighting person. I
don't know how to do any of that stuff, and
and and I can't do it. I have my niece
(31:39):
come over. She helps me.
Speaker 1 (31:41):
You got a young person.
Speaker 4 (31:43):
She knows how to send it off and everything. And
so because I'm blocking computers and all that stuff.
Speaker 1 (31:52):
That's quite good. He's he's a bit younger and more adept. Yeah,
but I'm now I'm thank god I've Sarah's. Without her,
I wouldn't be auditioning it all.
Speaker 2 (32:04):
Man.
Speaker 6 (32:04):
There's a great story about when Josh Brolin is cast
in No Country for Old Men asked to send in
a tape and he was working on.
Speaker 2 (32:16):
A Richard Rodriguez project, I think, and I think Tarantino
was maybe the director of photographer something. Tarantino was involved
and he was there that day and Roland asked Tarantino
to shoot his audition, and the Coen Brothers apparently were like,
I mean, the audition is great, but who shot this?
Speaker 3 (32:41):
And he got the job?
Speaker 1 (32:42):
That's why? Well that's the angles you mean. They were like,
he was like, who it could be?
Speaker 4 (32:48):
There's so much fun. I remember I was at an
audition and the director was looking at my fretis. He said, well,
you've worked with some pretty good directors. I said, your
name can be on there too. With these people, you know,
they're not intimidating because they're just equal to you. They
do have a different craft than you.
Speaker 2 (33:08):
Do, and they desperately want you to be the right
ones with their jobs over.
Speaker 1 (33:15):
That's true. Exactly that they can trust what you're going
to do is what they need.
Speaker 2 (33:20):
They want every person walking in the room to be
the best.
Speaker 1 (33:24):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (33:26):
But yeah, now that was that was that was a hook.
My god.
Speaker 1 (33:31):
Joline was lovely and to that scene where she seduces
Krem is a really lovely scene and she played it artfully.
M hm.
Speaker 4 (33:42):
And this, yeah, Jillian still around.
Speaker 1 (33:50):
I hadn't seen you never hear from her, mate. She
showed up out of nowhere on Lower Decks, the animated
Star Trek show. They wrote a lovely letter, apparently email
they admired her work on our show and would she
like to come and voice to Paul on their show?
And she she showed up.
Speaker 4 (34:10):
She's still working. Does she still apart from that?
Speaker 1 (34:13):
I don't think so. She married very well, mate. She
married a man called Mike Rappini who is Live Nation,
and yeah, he's you know, he's half of the half
of the one percent. They have a pretty you know,
compound life somewhere. I think they were up in Nichols Canyon.
I don't know if they're still there. But yeah, she
(34:35):
had I think she had three boys in the end.
So she has been mom and.
Speaker 2 (34:39):
So is there a requirement for a series regular to
have at least some part of them, like you know,
Anthony's foot or you know, Linda's head or something.
Speaker 3 (34:54):
Is there is there a requirement in payment that like, no.
Speaker 1 (34:58):
Not for us. We were pay or play. You didn't
even have to be in the episode. You were just
going to get paid for it anyway. God bless you know.
That was probably one of the last of those contracts too.
Speaker 4 (35:09):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, we were pay play.
Speaker 1 (35:14):
I was in I think I was in all ninety eight,
but a feeling Anthony wasn't in all of them, but
he got paid.
Speaker 4 (35:22):
I missed one of how we did I guess one
hundred and seventy eight and I was not just one.
I wasn't in, right, But yeah, I mean, what a job,
What a fantastic job.
Speaker 1 (35:36):
It's it's it has been an extraordinary you know, of
all the jobs we could have gotten a series regular on,
you know, I mean I always say this, if we've
done four years of Lost, you'd have made pretty good
money for the episodes and then what you know, they
don't have Lost conventions as far as I'm aware.
Speaker 4 (35:56):
Conventions. Yeah, jobs, I didn't What was your last day?
Speaker 2 (36:02):
Like, what was what was your last day like on Voyager?
Speaker 3 (36:06):
What was it like when when you here the whole
thing to bed?
Speaker 4 (36:09):
It was I was in the penultimate show, my sendoff.
They sent me off because we encountered some other Telaxians
and I fell in love with this and she had
a child, and I had the opportunity to go where
they were living on some asteroid and be with my
own people. And I decided. I knew they were going
back to Earth, and so everybody was sending me off.
(36:31):
So when I walked down that hallway to get onto
that ship that was going to take me to my
new home, they had the the whole corridors were lined
with the crew, oh, all the extras. When I was
walking down, I was saying goodbye, not just to my cast,
but I'm to the crew and to the extras and
to everybody. You know, the hope I uh focused, guy focused,
(36:56):
And it was and I got to Tim, you know,
and then we did that little moment and it was
really emotional. Day. Yeah, Jeff Combs is called.
Speaker 1 (37:08):
Is he calling it?
Speaker 4 (37:09):
Yeah? Yeah, So and then in the second in the
final episode, I have a phone call was seven of
nine you know whatever. Anyway, but yeah, with Jerry. But yeah,
for me, I think I was really lucky. I think
my character got the best ending of all of them.
I always felt that I was very lucky to get
that that ending.
Speaker 1 (37:30):
Yeah, it was a beautiful ending. Yeah, yeah, you played
it beautifully. It was a it was a it was
a difficult part in many ways. Uh. And you you
certainly you brought the vulnerability and the likability for what
could have been a rather unlikable character.
Speaker 4 (37:48):
Yeah. I mean he he he was. He was not
and not every everything was aficionado of Neelix. But and
he could be obviously annoying, but he had his heart
on his sleeve.
Speaker 2 (37:59):
You know.
Speaker 4 (38:00):
Yeah, that's true, being good being Yeah, nothing but went
about him really and I enjoyed playing it. I don't know,
I don't, I don't know. You know, you look back
on you guys, look back in four seasons. It's only
then you can see, did my character have an arc?
Speaker 1 (38:17):
What was the art?
Speaker 4 (38:18):
You don't know day to day where they're going, you know.
Speaker 1 (38:21):
You don't, No, you really don't.
Speaker 2 (38:23):
It's why I appreciate that they killed Trip. Because I
had an actual arc. You didn't have to wonder about
what was going to happen. He's you know, he's gone,
And that was you know, I always get we always
get these questions about what the final episode was like,
and there's a lot of you know, brew haha about that,
(38:43):
and I always I think I surprised people when I
say that I was really happy with it. As the actor,
I had the opportunity of completing the story.
Speaker 1 (38:50):
Yeah, that's a dramatic way. I mean the fact that
we were you know, they used you as it were
because of the cancelation, let's go big, and they did,
you know, to kill off a main character that's so beloved.
Speaker 2 (39:05):
Yeah, that when and that's satisfying for the actor because
you know, especially in the theater, you do have an arc,
you do have a thing, and sometimes in television and
sometimes you don't have a part that really is explored
that much in a film or something. But I have
that opportunity to to get.
Speaker 3 (39:24):
That, you know, a life lived.
Speaker 1 (39:30):
Yeah. Yeah, my last shot of me riding the photon
torpedo I thought was fantastic.
Speaker 4 (39:38):
That's fantastic, right, sent shows uh ninety eight all told.
Speaker 1 (39:46):
Yeah, I mean you're going to do them all we are,
We're I guess we're that's that's the sort of route
we're taking now. We were very much a studio show
up until you know recently, but it was just so
expensive to shoot in the studio and have live guests,
which we really loved. We just didn't get Frankly, we
(40:09):
didn't get the Patreon support that we needed to to
actually make that a financially viable you know products. And
so we are we are.
Speaker 2 (40:24):
Having this be like, you know, some addendum to our
series where there's nobody else doing this for our show,
and then we have an opportunity to go through all
of our episodes and and hopefully have guests such as
you and you know and and and I think that
I'll be very proud when we have completed it.
Speaker 4 (40:45):
Did you have you talked Jeff?
Speaker 1 (40:47):
We asked him to come and do this, but he
said he wouldn't talk with you. He wanted his own platform.
You know what he's like, love you've worked with him.
Speaker 4 (40:59):
Very funny and.
Speaker 1 (41:05):
Before we get started to talk about Shran and that
what one off the performance that is we uh, I'd
love to you know, give applaud for your performances. Krem
the f ANGI may.
Speaker 5 (41:23):
Nowhere.
Speaker 1 (41:24):
Really it was it was a different sort of you know,
coloring of you. And it just shows how versatile you are, Jeff,
that you because usually you you you, you play the
asshole pretty well. Yes I can, and you can. And
this was such a vulnerable and lovely performance.
Speaker 5 (41:43):
It was just a little innocent leg doesn't really understand
what's going on, you know, and uh and kind of
beat down by his call by the great Ethan Phillips.
So yeah, it was a really nice different color. But
I have to say I sort of stole some of
that innocence from Max Kradentchik playing rock.
Speaker 1 (42:06):
You know.
Speaker 5 (42:06):
I kind of went, oh, it's in the vibe of
that kind of for RANGI.
Speaker 3 (42:10):
Workers of the world unite.
Speaker 2 (42:14):
You have nothing to lose but your change.
Speaker 5 (42:18):
Sweet, good hearted and completely useless to the rest of
the ruthless.
Speaker 1 (42:26):
Yeah, and then and then and then he's stepping up
at the end and finds, you know, some counas and uh.
Speaker 5 (42:32):
And he grows, he grows to become Yes, he evolves.
Speaker 2 (42:37):
It's really as a group with with U Clint and
Johnny and.
Speaker 1 (42:43):
Who is the other guy, Mat malloy. Matt molloy, What
a great grouping we had was terrific. Mate. It really was.
Speaker 5 (42:50):
It really was a lovely episode.
Speaker 1 (42:52):
But but we digress.
Speaker 2 (42:54):
No, no, not yet. Yeah, you you you guys, you
know it was the Forestooges, not the three.
Speaker 3 (43:03):
Yeah, and did was that just sort of like an easy.
Speaker 2 (43:07):
Sit to get into or did you guys talk about it?
Speaker 1 (43:12):
Well?
Speaker 5 (43:13):
You know, I think Johnny had played Ferengis before. Maybe
I don't know if Clint had, but I'm sure everybody
was aware of who the Ferengis were. What I loved
is this was the first time that that the I
mean the Ferengis according to the Bible, the Star Trek Bible,
(43:34):
they were the cannon. They weren't come across until maybe
next gen. I worked around that by like never naming
them in this episode. So there's sort of this lost
captain's log event. He did you know, Archer didn't even
know who these guys were?
Speaker 4 (43:55):
Who the hell are you? Who we are is a puny.
Speaker 5 (44:00):
So so that was the way they got around it,
which I thought was kind of clever.
Speaker 1 (44:05):
I thought it was clever too, But apparently it's still
pissed off the Officionados. And that was another nail in
the coffin of enterprise.
Speaker 5 (44:12):
You know, not everybody is ever going to be satisfied.
They're always going to find something that they know more
about than other people.
Speaker 1 (44:19):
But I think they probably thought that bringing back this popular,
you know, species was probably a good move. And and
and apparently.
Speaker 5 (44:31):
And it's a wonner.
Speaker 1 (44:32):
They never showed up one exactly, you know. And now
the conclusion, Uh, there's one shot in the in the
show that I even sort of cringe. That is when
they take that poor dog, Porthos and she's lifted up
and her tail goes underneath her legs like that and
then put in a box. I don't know that you
(44:53):
could get away with that any again. No, I mean,
obviously she was taken out of the box swiftly after
the shot taken, but you know, the idea is that
she's left in that bloody cargo box for at least,
you know, half the day. And yeah, I was like, oh,
that poor little doggie.
Speaker 4 (45:11):
You have a dog.
Speaker 1 (45:13):
No. I used to have two cats, Buddy and Elliott,
but they've they've since popped their clogs, blessed their hearts.
Speaker 3 (45:22):
I've got three dogs and three chair.
Speaker 1 (45:24):
Three dogs, three cats, and a bunch of kids in
the house. You soon coming, I tell you what was
lovely on the wedding cake that Sarah had made for us.
She has a dog, Panther, that she was absolutely in
love with when she was before she came to La,
and so she had a little, you know, porcelain miniature
(45:45):
made of her dog, and then two porcelains made of
Buddy and Elliott, and they sat on top of the cake.
Two porcelain dolls of me and her in our wedding outfits.
Were pretty lovely. And they're now sitting up there on
the on the shelf in the city. Yeah, I would
love him. Those two cats. They helped me through some
(46:06):
tough days. God bless them. Yeah, they're angels, they are.
What else was, uh, you get to keep your shirt on?
Speaker 3 (46:16):
How much further keep your shirt on?
Speaker 2 (46:19):
That was one of I only said that, which was
meant to be some kind of you know, series character
equipped that he would say all the time, and I
was surprised to hear it in the episode.
Speaker 3 (46:31):
To be honest with you.
Speaker 1 (46:32):
It was fun. I love that bit that they're negotiating
the price of Hoshi in bars of gold.
Speaker 4 (46:38):
What's your wife worth?
Speaker 5 (46:40):
Five bars of gold?
Speaker 3 (46:41):
Maybe six? Let them take Oshi and I'll give you ten.
Speaker 1 (46:46):
I don't know that you could get away with that
anymore hilarious. Uh and I love that wrap up when
with Joe, Lene and Scott at the end comes so
and she said, goes not that interesting, no sense of humor,
always complaining. It was very cute, cute ending. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (47:12):
Still it's still on, right, it's sharing all the time.
Speaker 1 (47:14):
Yeah, we uh we we got a little check the
other day that was like, Okay, someone's watching this somewhere. God, bless,
I know we're still I don't know, maybe we're maybe
maybe we've superseded the the ginger headed stepchildness of our
star Trek, you know, legacy.
Speaker 4 (47:32):
Uh now though I mean I couldn't keep I don't know.
Wasn't the one about the card and this one?
Speaker 1 (47:42):
Yeah? God? And then Deep Discovery and now they've got
New Strange World, Strange new world, a new strange world,
strange new Worlds, which is really good. I have to say.
The production value for that is excellent.
Speaker 4 (47:54):
Is the animated show.
Speaker 1 (47:56):
There's an animated one called Lower Decks.
Speaker 2 (47:59):
Yeah, was also that one for kids which Kate Yes
Prodigy show.
Speaker 1 (48:06):
I mean it's I watched a few episodes out of interest, right,
well animated you know a series.
Speaker 4 (48:15):
Doing a show too went now up in Toronto as
a holographic doctor.
Speaker 1 (48:22):
Oh gosh, yes, that's the new new one. Yeah, you're
absolutely right. Probably he's working with Paul Geomattian Hunter Olly Hunter,
well done. Yeah, it's it's it's actually a story that
they thought maybe our show was going to be, which
is staff Leet Academy and uh that's it's been knocked
(48:42):
around at Paramount for like twenty five years now and
they finally made it right right. Yeah, I'm sure he's
having a great time with Paul Geomatti. You know, top
notch stuff.
Speaker 4 (48:53):
Which is Nation cool. Yeah, called it a better me. Yeah, yeah,
I have to be in cold weather. This weather is?
Speaker 2 (49:05):
Is it good for me?
Speaker 4 (49:07):
I don't know how people can live in it, but
I'm I am.
Speaker 1 (49:11):
Do you have air con? Because I know a lot
of New York doesn't really do it, does it? I didn't,
it's not installed. Do you have air con?
Speaker 4 (49:18):
I do? We don't have what you call central air.
Speaker 1 (49:21):
But you've got a couple of things sticking out the
window of you.
Speaker 4 (49:24):
Yeah, in my in my living room. But tomorrow it's
going to be like one hundred here and I think
with the heat index, it could go to one hundred
and ten.
Speaker 1 (49:32):
That's hot in New York Man. That is uh ever sooner.
Speaker 4 (49:36):
But when I grew up in New York, when I
was a child, we would routinely every winter have three
or four snowstorms. And we're talking two three four feet right,
We have had one of those in two.
Speaker 1 (49:48):
Decades, no kidding, Yeah.
Speaker 4 (49:50):
Just don't happen. Shame in Maine where I go sometimes.
I have friends up in Maine, and we now have
ticks up there. Long I get tick, dog ticks, deer ticks.
They were not a child.
Speaker 1 (50:02):
Is that is that? That's the complication of a global
warming too, is that?
Speaker 4 (50:07):
Well, the ticks would be killed off in the winter
normally because it would stay cold for long enough, but
a blow freezing anymore. So the ticks are proliferated, and
it's become a real problem. People are getting really, you know,
getting sick, wine disease, lime disease, and and the rocky
mounted tick now can give you something called alpha gal syndrome.
(50:31):
A friend of mine got it. It's it's a tick
that was usually in the southeast. It's now migrated north.
You can't eat beef anymore. You can't eat red meat
anymore when you get bit by this tick. He was
bitten by it and two days later he had a hamburger,
had to be rushed to er. And that's the main
effect of this bite is no, you can't eat pork.
Speaker 1 (50:49):
Is there an enzyme in red meat that it doesn't
that something else.
Speaker 4 (50:53):
It's got a weird alpha gal syndrome and it's becoming
more and more prevalent now with these ticks.
Speaker 1 (51:00):
We upnor the very woke tick. It's been absolutely charming
talking to you mate. It's lovely to see you pal,
and uh we'll look forward to seeing you in about
a week in Vegas.
Speaker 4 (51:14):
Absolutely dominant, absolute pleasure to talk to you both.
Speaker 3 (51:17):
Yea man, thanks for coming on.
Speaker 1 (51:19):
Thank you very much. It's a big honor.
Speaker 4 (51:24):
An honor from me too. Thank you guys.
Speaker 1 (51:26):
Thank you all right, all the best, stay cool if
you can. And yeah, okay, I love you, love Okaye
Gate
The show has begun with Carento. It's the.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Count, Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, Trekky's and Trekkers.
Welcome back to another watch party episode of the Decon Chamber.
I am here as always with my best friend, co
star and sometimes co defendant, dominic Eating.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
He's ever elier.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Today we're doing episode nineteen Acquisition, which brings to us
and our show The Ferenghi.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
This wayward.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Quartette of Marauders is led by Ethan Phillips. You all
know him as Neelix from Voyager and I mean a
thousand other things. And it was written by Maria and
Andre Jacques Benton as dom Likes to Say Yes, directed
(01:00):
by James Whitmore Junior, and he was the first time
we had him on our show. He directed several episodes
for us. He'd done a lot of episodes of Quantum
Leap with Scott and he became very very good friends.
Speaker 3 (01:14):
And this is a great wrong.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
Yeah it is. It's the four Stooges and the Keystone
Cops all wrapped and rolled up into one, isn't it.
And I think you must have had an absolute ball.
I guess the first thing, Ethan, you were used to
the makeup.
Speaker 4 (01:31):
Yeah, friendly makeups is not as Arman will argue with me,
but it's not as arduous as the Newlix makeup. Really, yeah,
it's as warm, but it goes on faster and comes
off much faster.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
It's just one big head piece, is it that goes on?
Speaker 4 (01:46):
Initially Neilis had pieces and a bag contacts and teeth
and every day it was it was, it was a
big I couldn't do it today. I mean they could
all really as an episode, I'm sorry, guys.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
Yeah to say, I mean I I did one episode.
I did too in in that sort of makeup. My my,
my sensitive Irish skin just did not like it.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
I could.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
I couldn't have done a regular role in it. It
would I was, it would have crucified me.
Speaker 4 (02:14):
Yeah, they take me because they would bring with you know,
this very dense oil called ice of purple mirror stames. Yeah,
your skin. But guest stars would come in and uh,
you know, they had to get them out fast. They
didn't want to do a lot of wave or forced calls,
and they'd take their swuf with alcohol, which was fine
for a week or two, but if you did that,
my skin would have been over.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
It'll ruin you after after some time. Absolutely did.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
It takes some practice to speak with the teeth.
Speaker 4 (02:41):
No, No, they were really well done. I I I
did it for Angie on Next Generation, and and that
when I did have a hard time with the teeth,
I found it a little like this. Yeah, with a
bit of a lift. It was not bad. But the
thing with those teeth you get emotional, they tend to
spit out of You have to be when you're into
(03:04):
a line that has any venom behind it, you've got
to make sure that you don't spit the teeth of
the lens.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
In that episode of the Next Gen. Was that the
first encounter that you know, the star Fleet was meant
to have had with Were you in the first episode?
The meeting of No?
Speaker 4 (03:20):
We were? That was season I think season three, all right.
I don't know whether it was the first encounter, but
they were. They were vicious in this episode and in
the one I did.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
Much meaner as it were.
Speaker 4 (03:34):
And very cruel people. All right, they flattened that out,
I think, I mean.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
We didn't know, but I mean all our fans that
were watching us were really up in arms about the
fact that we were meeting an unnamed species who were
the Ferengi in our you know, Timeline right really got
the you know, the officionados all up in arms. Fraindy
bugged them off when we did the bug episode apparently.
Speaker 2 (04:03):
So I will say that that that the four of
you worked together so well as a you know, it's
a it's a real subtle comedic. Yeah, that is set
for this episode. And and and you guys, you know
you were pros. Yeah, you all work together so well in.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
This Yeah, did you how did you? Did you come
together on the set and just magically bring.
Speaker 4 (04:28):
Up each other? I mean I knew Clint his dad
lived down the street from me, Clinton around his dad,
so Ranch Howard, who I had become friends with, And
I knew Clint just being in the business. And and
Michael Mike.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
Mike malloy, wasn't it Yeah, I think that much.
Speaker 4 (04:48):
The first time I met my his character made me
to laugh the most because you know, he's over at
me very And of course Jeff I've known for a
long time.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
Jeff, really I hear. It's a lovely performance. It wasn't
an rc you know, Jeff usually plays rses and this
was a really you know, vulnerable character, and uh, it
was a beautiful, beautiful performance.
Speaker 4 (05:13):
One of your rules number six. My cousin's going to
help me acquire my own ship. Something we don't watch.
I really I have stopped watching myself for years because
I always say, oh, I could have done that better.
And I said, why I don't even need that in
my life, Why don't need that anxiety? But acquisition happened.
(05:33):
I was with Jeff at a convention a couple of
years ago and it happened to come on TV and
we both watched it and we.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
Now with laughter, all right, yeah, yeah, no, it's a
beautiful it's a really well it's the four stages and
uh and as I say, the Keystone Cops one of
my the funniest images. I forget who it is is
who's taking Anthony's sliding seat into the turbo lift. I
just how with laughter and quite getting in is almost
(06:04):
using his foot to open the door.
Speaker 4 (06:06):
Yeah yeah, I just I just remember really enjoying ourselves
and everybody was very had a different personality, you know, yeah, and.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
Were well just think there really well they were well
defined because they could have easily just sort of melded
and they didn't you really, you know, found your own
individual characters that.
Speaker 4 (06:27):
Worked great directly show you.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
Gass us all to sleep. I said, it's the easiest
twenty five bucks I ever made. There's one shot of me,
you know, slumped. I think I don't think he was
even in it. I think he got his standard to
put his hand over the of the console and that
was it for him.
Speaker 4 (06:46):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
I love it.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
I love the beginning, the intro where it's just the
back of the Ferengey head. Yeah, yeah, in yeah, it was.
It was a really really good choice to do that
because everybody knew what that meant.
Speaker 4 (07:02):
Yeah. Yeah, Well, you know, the other great thing about
that show was our first a d was Jerry Fleck.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
Yeah, bless us his soul.
Speaker 4 (07:13):
He was. He was such a wonderful man and one
of the best first had ever worked.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
Was he really was.
Speaker 4 (07:19):
He never loved but he was always and we never said,
you know, those shows were tough, they were long, and
and he was always. But he did a very funny
thing in that ship. My character's name was Uless. He
put on my trailer useless.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
That's good. God, bless Jerry flat. He was really a pro.
And you and I have such fun memories of working
every every show he did was just way wait too, yeah,
wait too. He was. I mean he was like, I
mean it's awful. I mean he was six to eight
weeks away from retirement.
Speaker 3 (07:59):
He was like fifty six years old.
Speaker 1 (08:01):
Yeah, he had I think he had high pertension, was
what it was, wasn't it? And he just didn't wake
up one morning and it's it's a no Wood note
to self season? Was that?
Speaker 4 (08:15):
No?
Speaker 1 (08:15):
No, We've done shuttle pod one with him. I think
it was near the end. Man. I think you know,
he was close to retirement. I mean I remember going
to the memorial service. Not to get too heavy, but
his wife was, you know, she was angry, and she
was angry at Paramount and angry at the studio and
(08:35):
just used up her husband's life. And then it was tough.
He was undeserving of that and a beautiful man. So
we so you gas us all to sleep, and of
course Connor is come back from some away mission and
(08:56):
is you know, prostrate not just sitting but wait on
the decon chamber floor, which is in honor of our
podcast name. Now, yeah, and how shall I say? I mean,
you know, bearing all in blue panties. Well, he wore
(09:20):
a cup, as we now know, and he never told
me that. In the day, it wasn't a cup, it.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
Was they gave us dance belts.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
Was it sewn into the into the Nickers ballet dance belt?
All right? So he lifts and shoves up. Oh yeah, yeah,
there's a lot going on there.
Speaker 4 (09:39):
I mean, you guys, who are you guys?
Speaker 1 (09:44):
There's a lot. There's one shot later on where he's
standing next to my photon torpedo. I don't think it
was a mistake. I think Jimmy Whitmore thought, well, I'm
having this.
Speaker 4 (09:56):
Sense humor. Yeah, was a Venus guy, right, huh.
Speaker 1 (10:01):
Oh yeah, oh yeah, yeah.
Speaker 4 (10:05):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
It was a good director. And Scott brought him on
from if I can say that, not that he needed
to bring it on, but he came from Quantum leap at. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (10:17):
Did you know Jim for this?
Speaker 4 (10:20):
I had met Jim he directed. I believe he did
an episode of Voyager. I'm almost positive, but I'd worked
with him on something before that. Because we remembered each other,
I can't remember what it could have been, anything from
Father Dowling mysteries to you know, first a love American style.
I don't freaking know, but work together. Man's lucky he
(10:41):
did kill him, and you'll be lucky if the Kuraguayan
Embassy doesn't file harassment charges against you, sergeant. And I
remember him as being a very kind uh guy, and
a really good actors director, yes, very.
Speaker 2 (10:54):
And also someone who who as a director was like,
we were on time, Yes, we didn't work late. He
made sure he was old school in that, you know,
we're getting people home at a proper hour. Yeah, twelve hours.
It's going to take us twelve hours, and.
Speaker 3 (11:13):
When we're done, we're done.
Speaker 1 (11:15):
Rights. So the Clint Eastwood of of Star Trek directing, right,
you know, why use five shots when that one will do?
I quite like it. I mean I got used to it.
I mean I I don't know about you, Johnny, but
I and I could. I could do take after take
and think I could. But generally speaking, the first one
(11:35):
is you know, if it's generally the best.
Speaker 4 (11:40):
We feel like, I'll do another take. But when I'm
wearing them, when I'm in that makeup, I want to
kind of move along. Right, No ship, because one hundred takes.
I don't give a ship I'm getting paid to do
what I love, you.
Speaker 1 (11:51):
Know, yes, right, indeed, Yeah, that's that's the I mean,
honestly I think about that. I mean I I in
that respect, apart from the early work, I haven't really
worked a day in my life as it were. I mean,
they've been long hours, but today dominant.
Speaker 4 (12:07):
When I was doing that show Avenue five, I was
here for two seasons, they would never go over twelve hours.
Speaker 1 (12:14):
Never if they.
Speaker 4 (12:16):
Could be in the middle of a shot and they go, okay,
we'll catch just tomorrow. I mean, it was just fascinating.
They just you went home, you got home at a
decent hour. Great, but it was a very unlike where
we would be We could do eighteen hour day.
Speaker 1 (12:28):
Sometimes, I know, no kidding, I know, I mean there
would I mean I'd pat myself on the back when
you drive away from Paramount on Saturday morning at seven
thirty am and I've just done a sixteen and a
half hour day and you know, the last scene was
four pages and I had to really, you know, I
had to cry or I had to do you know,
it's like that is like, yeah, you're bringing it professional acting,
(12:52):
as they say. So you come aboard and you know
you've got I know, you've got one hundred and seven
three laws of acquisition. I think I'm writing saying in
this episode that's.
Speaker 5 (13:05):
Number forty five. I've memorized all one hundred and seventy three,
including the most important one.
Speaker 4 (13:10):
A man it's only worth the sum of his possessions.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
When they meet when you meet them. In the next generation,
there are two hundred and eighty five laws of ACQUISITIONINGI
of up there ante with the acquisition laws, but they're hilarious.
And yeah, and you so you're you're you're there. You
are leading this troop of pirates and was the boss?
I guess, yeah, there you were.
Speaker 4 (13:37):
It won't be harmed as long as you cooperate. Yeah, whip,
I had a whip.
Speaker 1 (13:42):
If you've got that electric whip. They loved using that
electric whip the FERENGI why aren't jewishly?
Speaker 2 (13:50):
I wish did it used more in the episode. I
think you only use it one time on on you?
Speaker 1 (13:56):
Yeah, use you on me? Oh yeah, yeah, it's okay.
Speaker 2 (14:03):
I've forgotten about it. It was a long time.
Speaker 1 (14:08):
Uh Connor, So Connor gets out of the decon chamber.
I love the fact that the engineer knows how to
tweet the button pad that's really cool and finds everyone
you know, fast asleep and gassed out, and you lot
(14:30):
come on with your you know, gas masks on.
Speaker 4 (14:38):
I'm trying to step something right. We're after something.
Speaker 1 (14:42):
You're after anything, after anything. When you think that this
ship's got a vault and there's going to be gold.
Speaker 2 (14:49):
What do you want?
Speaker 4 (14:50):
Where is the location of your fault?
Speaker 1 (14:53):
And that's when the captain, now you you bring him
back to consciousness, don't you? With a shot? So there's
another there's a bit that I noticed that the shot
of Scott asleep in his chair, in the captain's chair
and his hand tentatively poised over his loins as it were.
(15:17):
And Connor's not should we mention the book in your
laboratory in the house in Gramercy.
Speaker 3 (15:25):
It's called Hollywood Babylon.
Speaker 1 (15:28):
There's one section that says these guys have got big dongs,
and you know half of it's true. I think it
was pre Pete Davidson, So he was he was coming
into the well in own crowd, but he wasn't known then.
But David Dick Goovney's in there, and Scott Backler is apparently,
(15:49):
And I did get I got a pen. I went
to the kitchen and got a pen because I gone
for a pe and I'd had a look at this
book and I went right at the bottom. There was
room for me to write and lest we forget Donic casing.
Speaker 4 (16:06):
A funny story about well, you know, Milton, Milton Burrow
was fair.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
Yeah, oh yeah, very well and get it out, wouldn't.
Speaker 4 (16:12):
Hey, yeah, he would whip it out. And yeah he
was being roasted. And everybody was doing you know, big
dick jokes, and you know, I mean some really terrific ones,
which I remember, my favorite one being Milton's slang is
so large. His urologist was a shirpa.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
Ah.
Speaker 4 (16:33):
This went on for like five minutes. It's so big.
It has a sun deck, it graduated a year ahead
of him, it still has snow on, it has wings,
it has tusks, it has a dick. It can vote,
you know, on and on that. I mean, there's only
one comic left. And Red Buttons apparently turns to his
friend and says, there's no more big dick jokes. What
(16:53):
is this guy gonna say? The guy gets up in
front of the mic and he goes, you know, everybody's
talking about Milton Schlan Well, I got to tell I
saw it. I were in the same hotel. I went
down to the steam room last night. I saw Milton.
I thought he was with his son.
Speaker 1 (17:10):
A very hilarious hilarious So then Connor starts his uh,
you know, so June in his in his tidy whities
or tidy blueies. You moved very well, darling.
Speaker 2 (17:32):
I think it's a dance performance really for me.
Speaker 1 (17:35):
For the first half of the yeah, it is, yeah,
And there's one crouching moment and you're like, oh, it's
going to bust that out. You know, I wasn't looking
at the eyes anymore with all the teeth, right, did
you enjoy? I mean, were you how conscious were you
(17:56):
that you were, you know, in a you know, why
don't I something porn that.
Speaker 2 (18:01):
Was actually kind of grateful because they'd worked my ass off.
Speaker 1 (18:04):
Ass off you were looking you were a physicist f
u c K. Yeah you were.
Speaker 3 (18:08):
I mean so, yeah, I mean I was look, if
it's there, use.
Speaker 1 (18:14):
It, yeah, yeah, Well it's nicely done. And then so
you all come aboard and you're you're after anything you
can get. I mean you're literally, I mean, I love
the messl scenes when you're sniffing on the cake and
is it Jeff? I think he didn't like the cheesecake,
but he liked the apple pie. And that just goes
(18:35):
in the bag.
Speaker 4 (18:36):
Like Jeff was in it. And that God, they were
all terrific.
Speaker 3 (18:42):
They were just they were they were.
Speaker 1 (18:45):
I mean, so we get to the scenes. Really there
are there are sort of three main structures there aren't
there three main sort of uh relationships. But the one
that really stands out is the Captain Scott and Jeff
and got trying to turn Jeff's head. You know, he's
better than this, and that his cousin Ulyss is using
(19:06):
him like a like a job site.
Speaker 5 (19:09):
Even if your cousin does find the vault, what makes
you think he's going to share the gold with you?
Speaker 4 (19:17):
Well, he gets his payback at the end, doesn't he, Jeff.
Speaker 3 (19:19):
He does.
Speaker 2 (19:20):
Yeah, it's that he gets that great sort of obsessive
moment when he starts to take the ship back, you know, yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (19:28):
And the airporn, I mean that is some good stuff.
Speaker 4 (19:31):
To you know, how to perform well Mark.
Speaker 1 (19:38):
And the FERENGI loves saying the females.
Speaker 4 (19:42):
The females, the females. This female in the females, I know,
a bullying female.
Speaker 1 (19:50):
I don't refer to to anything else as the females.
The females with the point he is there.
Speaker 2 (19:56):
So you know, for the first scene at least that
you're all together, maybe the first two scenes you're speaking
for INGI now, was that an actual language?
Speaker 4 (20:06):
She died? You know, no, tran, you got me.
Speaker 1 (20:13):
I don't know. But how difficult was it? Because I
mean I was so fortunate whenever ho she had to
do this stuff. I was like, oh my god, how
difficult was it to learn that phonetically? Is it?
Speaker 4 (20:25):
Just like hard? It's hard. It's hard memoring nonsense. I
just like hard memorizing it scientific the garble. But you know,
I got it down. It's not as easy as it
is now at my age to remember his line. And so,
but that's what year was that, Dominic I.
Speaker 1 (20:47):
Would say two thousand. Yeah, we're still in two thousand
and one. We started in or automate two thousand and one, right, Yeah,
it probably adds it might have aired in early two thousand. See,
but I but I think we shot it before the
end of that year.
Speaker 4 (21:04):
So it's in my prime then, and and I could
pretty much tackle anything because I was still doing theater
and stuff, and but it once I hit seventy that ability, uh,
I mean, I can still memorize, but it takes me
three times as long.
Speaker 1 (21:19):
You know, isn't that?
Speaker 4 (21:21):
Yeah, it's scary.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
You know what what what?
Speaker 4 (21:24):
What?
Speaker 3 (21:24):
What do you use?
Speaker 2 (21:25):
Sort of technique wise? Then now that you know that,
is it just more time pouring over it and repetition.
Speaker 4 (21:31):
I read the side before I even start to memorize.
I read the sides if it's an audition, one hundred times, right,
not trying to memor just read it, read it, read it,
And then I find that I can and I can
start taking my time with it. I memorize a lot
of the way it looks on the page, so I
know the three sentences and one and one ends and
a hanging indent. Then I'll memorize that image as well
(21:55):
as the words, and then I feel safer too, but.
Speaker 1 (21:58):
Yeah, a bit so photographic, and then finding the emotional
connections between each speech, as it were. And that's why
I was found auditions for things like Charm were just
hard because the character just said shit out of nowhere.
It didn't you know what he said before had nothing
to do with what he said next, and you just
(22:20):
had to know that this is what he's going to
say next and.
Speaker 4 (22:23):
To get internal beat going, you know, if I memorize,
like I get a production of Imaginary Invalid about ten
years ago, with of all people, Peter Gingklin played My Maid.
That was an all male cash that.
Speaker 1 (22:36):
Would have been great.
Speaker 4 (22:37):
I was worried about the lines, and I spent three
months prior to that. When I came into rehearsals, I
was word perfect. But it helped me.
Speaker 1 (22:44):
It helped me does Yeah, it gives you confidence and
you're you're not struggling in rehearsal. I like it. I
like it a lot.
Speaker 2 (22:52):
I've had the luxury one time of doing a play.
Speaker 6 (22:56):
For an entire year.
Speaker 2 (22:58):
Yeah, and what I discovered was there, you know, there
there comes a point where your anxiety about your lines
kind of goes away. And then then you're in now
this wonderful forest on stage in front of an audience,
and you there's some nuances, there's some they won't even know.
Speaker 1 (23:24):
Your partnership, you know, and the partners and depending on
the audience's reaction to each moment in the play each night,
you can swim around that too.
Speaker 4 (23:34):
Do you practice your believable moments and you have got
because you know you can rely on. But then after
a month and a half, two months you're on stage,
then shit happens and you do it this way, who
the fuck cares it's gonna work? And always keeps things.
I've worked with an actor who who David Downing, terrific actor.
We end up playing Baltimore and I'll never forget coming
(23:55):
out opening night and he had put a little mold
on his cheek and I noticed it and I clocked it,
and after the performance, I said, Dave, what's up At
the most he says, it's just for me. It's just
signify his his his failings, his personal failings. I said, great,
will we come out the next night? And you got
it on the other shoe. The third night he's got
it on his chin. I'm purpose and I had to
(24:19):
change the blocking just to find the mole. It just
sent me to the scene that was very electric and wonderful.
Speaker 1 (24:26):
Those stories we should get back to some of our episodes.
Uh so it's not to you know, this is another
just an acting, right, you know, seminar.
Speaker 2 (24:36):
I wonder, I wondered how Archer. Because Archer he gleans
on the idea that the feringas, not knowing anything about them, are.
Speaker 3 (24:50):
Driven by grade and greed.
Speaker 1 (24:54):
Oh where the vault is?
Speaker 4 (24:57):
If you let me keep half the gold?
Speaker 2 (24:59):
It he felt sort of weird because the audience would already.
Speaker 3 (25:03):
Have known that, right, But I don't know why Scott did.
Speaker 2 (25:07):
Archer did?
Speaker 4 (25:08):
Yeah, what do you how do you think that worked?
Speaker 1 (25:11):
I think he obviously isn't there a moment in it
that he just says, what are you doing? And they're
they're just saying, well, we're just you know, with the
laws of acquisition come up, and he catches onto that
pretty quick. You know, what's the what's the twenty seventh
law of acquisition? I'm making that up, but he grabs
on pretty quick that these guys are, you know, driven
(25:33):
by greed and they can be divided by it. And
that's his play. You know, he plays it very well. Scott.
I love the way he befriends krem And and uses
that against him, as it were, that you know, he
could be doing better in this for you know, in
(25:54):
the FARRINGI game, as it were.
Speaker 5 (25:57):
I've seen the way the others treat you, one of
them said you have no talent for business?
Speaker 3 (26:04):
Why do not prove them wrong?
Speaker 4 (26:06):
I watched it, but I just found out about this yesterday,
I think, so I didn't even have time to rewatch it.
So a lot of my memory of it is unclear.
But but my main memory from that show was the
fun I had with everybody, Even with all that makeup,
we just had a gas.
Speaker 2 (26:23):
It was clear that you were all having fun. And
you guys were, you know, operating on a level plane
with one another.
Speaker 1 (26:31):
I mean, real prose, that's proacting. It really was, you know, timing,
the timing of everything was great. You didn't overstep the
humor of it right right, You didn't milk it. It
just it just flowed seamlessly. It was really Do you
remember did you do a lot of takes? Do you think?
Do you remember? No?
Speaker 4 (26:52):
I don't think we get a ton of them again, arjuice.
I don't remember being extraordinarily long art you was shooting all.
Speaker 2 (27:00):
I think because Whitmore knows, you know, being like an
old school director, he knew when he got it.
Speaker 4 (27:06):
He's very efficient, and if he's got it, he's moving on.
They're any longer than anybody else. And as you know,
this too, because we've all done it for so long.
When I hear moving on, I don't need anything else.
I didn't need a pat on the back or anything
that means right and we move on.
Speaker 1 (27:21):
You know, I got used to that. I mean, I
have to say and as the star Treks taught me
that lesson. But you know, don't question if they say
they've got it, they've got it, and walk away. Never
think about it again.
Speaker 4 (27:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (27:35):
I learned a valuable lesson one time, early on in
my career. I was doing an episode of I Forget
the Show, and I came up to the director after
the first scene and I was like, so, is this
kind of like the tone what we're sort of thinking about?
And he just stopped and he said, I hired you,
didn't I right? Yeah, he got yeah, okay, I get it.
Speaker 1 (27:59):
Yeah yeah, yeah, there you go. Whatever you did in
the audition was what I'm looking for. Do that now? Please?
Speaker 4 (28:06):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (28:06):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (28:07):
Absolutely? Yeah. Well that you you know, you get the
job because they know right away this guy can do it.
Speaker 1 (28:13):
Some point, I always say that the ninety of production
is casting, is getting the casting right.
Speaker 4 (28:19):
And hey, yeah, I get a play once where a
guy the direct well, I don't want to get in
an acting seminar. But the guy cast somebody as an offer,
and it turned out that he just wasn't doing what
he thought he could do, and he had to let
him go. And that's why people say, well, I hate
auditional issue. These people don't know you. They might know
your work, but they don't know all of your work,
(28:41):
and they don't know.
Speaker 1 (28:41):
What and you have the range to do this part,
you know, although it's the.
Speaker 2 (28:47):
Frustrating part about doing self taping that there's nobody in
a room to give you a note.
Speaker 1 (28:53):
There you go, and and the tape that that guy said,
then maybe is takes thirty eight and you know it
took him thirty eight takes to get a clean shot,
and then they hire him, and you know, suddenly you
all got thirty fifty people staring at you from the
other side of the camera. You're you've come on to
(29:14):
a set with a group of actors that have been
together for a year and a half on a show,
and you know it's it's pressure time and you can
either step up and do it or you can't. We
had a couple of guys that you know, freaked out,
didn't we bless that one guy that played the vulcan
that he left by lunchtime and never saw him. Was
(29:37):
it late? Was it? I'm glad. I'm very glad that
we had our time when we had it. I have
to say, I.
Speaker 4 (29:43):
Will we just at the very end of that kind
of TV time.
Speaker 1 (29:50):
Yeah, we enjoyed. I liked going into the room. It was.
It was it separated the men from the from the boys,
as it were. Can you bring it now in front
of these eight people?
Speaker 4 (30:02):
You know, it takes massive falls to get up in
front of people and pretend to be yeah, and and
but if you enjoy it, then it's.
Speaker 1 (30:09):
Not mass no exactly, And I did. I used to
enjoy it. I and I made I make a point
of having the size in my hand and then going yeah,
I don't I think I'll put them down if that's
all right, and they'll go you sure, I'm like, yeah, no,
I think I got it right, right. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (30:25):
Well, it's the opportunity to play that part, whether you
get the job or not. You know, you've got five
minutes to to the gig. You may have more time
if you get the job, but this is your chance,
so so prepare for your doing the job.
Speaker 4 (30:41):
Yeah, yeah, you put in the time for me, parroted
the fight whatever I get, and I don't get offered much,
so I have to audition for everything.
Speaker 1 (30:51):
And I'm still yeah.
Speaker 4 (30:53):
Five six hours because when it's time for me to
do that self tape or whatever, You're right, Connor, you've
got you gotta send it, and you've got to be
surprising and different and unique and all that ship and
then not feel any pressure whatsoever.
Speaker 1 (31:08):
All right, and forget about it, rode away. Do you
do the cell takes on your own, Johnny? I mean,
because Sarah, I'd be lost. I'm afraid do them.
Speaker 4 (31:18):
In fact, the first self tap I ever has to do,
I wrote my agent's back as a joke and said,
I'd love to do this. Can you get me a
cinematographer though, and somebody who's an it guy so I
can send it? And i'd love a lighting person. I
don't know how to do any of that stuff, and
and and I can't do it. I have my niece
(31:39):
come over. She helps me.
Speaker 1 (31:41):
You got a young person.
Speaker 4 (31:43):
She knows how to send it off and everything. And
so because I'm blocking computers and all that stuff.
Speaker 1 (31:52):
That's quite good. He's he's a bit younger and more adept. Yeah,
but I'm now I'm thank god I've Sarah's. Without her,
I wouldn't be auditioning it all.
Speaker 2 (32:04):
Man.
Speaker 6 (32:04):
There's a great story about when Josh Brolin is cast
in No Country for Old Men asked to send in
a tape and he was working on.
Speaker 2 (32:16):
A Richard Rodriguez project, I think, and I think Tarantino
was maybe the director of photographer something. Tarantino was involved
and he was there that day and Roland asked Tarantino
to shoot his audition, and the Coen Brothers apparently were like,
I mean, the audition is great, but who shot this?
Speaker 3 (32:41):
And he got the job?
Speaker 1 (32:42):
That's why? Well that's the angles you mean. They were like,
he was like, who it could be?
Speaker 4 (32:48):
There's so much fun. I remember I was at an
audition and the director was looking at my fretis. He said, well,
you've worked with some pretty good directors. I said, your
name can be on there too. With these people, you know,
they're not intimidating because they're just equal to you. They
do have a different craft than you.
Speaker 2 (33:08):
Do, and they desperately want you to be the right
ones with their jobs over.
Speaker 1 (33:15):
That's true. Exactly that they can trust what you're going
to do is what they need.
Speaker 2 (33:20):
They want every person walking in the room to be
the best.
Speaker 1 (33:24):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (33:26):
But yeah, now that was that was that was a hook.
My god.
Speaker 1 (33:31):
Joline was lovely and to that scene where she seduces
Krem is a really lovely scene and she played it artfully.
M hm.
Speaker 4 (33:42):
And this, yeah, Jillian still around.
Speaker 1 (33:50):
I hadn't seen you never hear from her, mate. She
showed up out of nowhere on Lower Decks, the animated
Star Trek show. They wrote a lovely letter, apparently email
they admired her work on our show and would she
like to come and voice to Paul on their show?
And she she showed up.
Speaker 4 (34:10):
She's still working. Does she still apart from that?
Speaker 1 (34:13):
I don't think so. She married very well, mate. She
married a man called Mike Rappini who is Live Nation,
and yeah, he's you know, he's half of the half
of the one percent. They have a pretty you know,
compound life somewhere. I think they were up in Nichols Canyon.
I don't know if they're still there. But yeah, she
(34:35):
had I think she had three boys in the end.
So she has been mom and.
Speaker 2 (34:39):
So is there a requirement for a series regular to
have at least some part of them, like you know,
Anthony's foot or you know, Linda's head or something.
Speaker 3 (34:54):
Is there is there a requirement in payment that like, no.
Speaker 1 (34:58):
Not for us. We were pay or play. You didn't
even have to be in the episode. You were just
going to get paid for it anyway. God bless you know.
That was probably one of the last of those contracts too.
Speaker 4 (35:09):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, we were pay play.
Speaker 1 (35:14):
I was in I think I was in all ninety eight,
but a feeling Anthony wasn't in all of them, but
he got paid.
Speaker 4 (35:22):
I missed one of how we did I guess one
hundred and seventy eight and I was not just one.
I wasn't in, right, But yeah, I mean, what a job,
What a fantastic job.
Speaker 1 (35:36):
It's it's it has been an extraordinary you know, of
all the jobs we could have gotten a series regular on,
you know, I mean I always say this, if we've
done four years of Lost, you'd have made pretty good
money for the episodes and then what you know, they
don't have Lost conventions as far as I'm aware.
Speaker 4 (35:56):
Conventions. Yeah, jobs, I didn't What was your last day?
Speaker 2 (36:02):
Like, what was what was your last day like on Voyager?
Speaker 3 (36:06):
What was it like when when you here the whole
thing to bed?
Speaker 4 (36:09):
It was I was in the penultimate show, my sendoff.
They sent me off because we encountered some other Telaxians
and I fell in love with this and she had
a child, and I had the opportunity to go where
they were living on some asteroid and be with my
own people. And I decided. I knew they were going
back to Earth, and so everybody was sending me off.
(36:31):
So when I walked down that hallway to get onto
that ship that was going to take me to my
new home, they had the the whole corridors were lined
with the crew, oh, all the extras. When I was
walking down, I was saying goodbye, not just to my cast,
but I'm to the crew and to the extras and
to everybody. You know, the hope I uh focused, guy focused,
(36:56):
And it was and I got to Tim, you know,
and then we did that little moment and it was
really emotional. Day. Yeah, Jeff Combs is called.
Speaker 1 (37:08):
Is he calling it?
Speaker 4 (37:09):
Yeah? Yeah, So and then in the second in the
final episode, I have a phone call was seven of
nine you know whatever. Anyway, but yeah, with Jerry. But yeah,
for me, I think I was really lucky. I think
my character got the best ending of all of them.
I always felt that I was very lucky to get
that that ending.
Speaker 1 (37:30):
Yeah, it was a beautiful ending. Yeah, yeah, you played
it beautifully. It was a it was a it was
a difficult part in many ways. Uh. And you you
certainly you brought the vulnerability and the likability for what
could have been a rather unlikable character.
Speaker 4 (37:48):
Yeah. I mean he he he was. He was not
and not every everything was aficionado of Neelix. But and
he could be obviously annoying, but he had his heart
on his sleeve.
Speaker 2 (37:59):
You know.
Speaker 4 (38:00):
Yeah, that's true, being good being Yeah, nothing but went
about him really and I enjoyed playing it. I don't know,
I don't, I don't know. You know, you look back
on you guys, look back in four seasons. It's only
then you can see, did my character have an arc?
Speaker 1 (38:17):
What was the art?
Speaker 4 (38:18):
You don't know day to day where they're going, you know.
Speaker 1 (38:21):
You don't, No, you really don't.
Speaker 2 (38:23):
It's why I appreciate that they killed Trip. Because I
had an actual arc. You didn't have to wonder about
what was going to happen. He's you know, he's gone,
And that was you know, I always get we always
get these questions about what the final episode was like,
and there's a lot of you know, brew haha about that,
(38:43):
and I always I think I surprised people when I
say that I was really happy with it. As the actor,
I had the opportunity of completing the story.
Speaker 1 (38:50):
Yeah, that's a dramatic way. I mean the fact that
we were you know, they used you as it were
because of the cancelation, let's go big, and they did,
you know, to kill off a main character that's so beloved.
Speaker 2 (39:05):
Yeah, that when and that's satisfying for the actor because
you know, especially in the theater, you do have an arc,
you do have a thing, and sometimes in television and
sometimes you don't have a part that really is explored
that much in a film or something. But I have
that opportunity to to get.
Speaker 3 (39:24):
That, you know, a life lived.
Speaker 1 (39:30):
Yeah. Yeah, my last shot of me riding the photon
torpedo I thought was fantastic.
Speaker 4 (39:38):
That's fantastic, right, sent shows uh ninety eight all told.
Speaker 1 (39:46):
Yeah, I mean you're going to do them all we are,
We're I guess we're that's that's the sort of route
we're taking now. We were very much a studio show
up until you know recently, but it was just so
expensive to shoot in the studio and have live guests,
which we really loved. We just didn't get Frankly, we
(40:09):
didn't get the Patreon support that we needed to to
actually make that a financially viable you know products. And
so we are we are.
Speaker 2 (40:24):
Having this be like, you know, some addendum to our
series where there's nobody else doing this for our show,
and then we have an opportunity to go through all
of our episodes and and hopefully have guests such as
you and you know and and and I think that
I'll be very proud when we have completed it.
Speaker 4 (40:45):
Did you have you talked Jeff?
Speaker 1 (40:47):
We asked him to come and do this, but he
said he wouldn't talk with you. He wanted his own platform.
You know what he's like, love you've worked with him.
Speaker 4 (40:59):
Very funny and.
Speaker 1 (41:05):
Before we get started to talk about Shran and that
what one off the performance that is we uh, I'd
love to you know, give applaud for your performances. Krem
the f ANGI may.
Speaker 5 (41:23):
Nowhere.
Speaker 1 (41:24):
Really it was it was a different sort of you know,
coloring of you. And it just shows how versatile you are, Jeff,
that you because usually you you you, you play the
asshole pretty well. Yes I can, and you can. And
this was such a vulnerable and lovely performance.
Speaker 5 (41:43):
It was just a little innocent leg doesn't really understand
what's going on, you know, and uh and kind of
beat down by his call by the great Ethan Phillips.
So yeah, it was a really nice different color. But
I have to say I sort of stole some of
that innocence from Max Kradentchik playing rock.
Speaker 1 (42:06):
You know.
Speaker 5 (42:06):
I kind of went, oh, it's in the vibe of
that kind of for RANGI.
Speaker 3 (42:10):
Workers of the world unite.
Speaker 2 (42:14):
You have nothing to lose but your change.
Speaker 5 (42:18):
Sweet, good hearted and completely useless to the rest of
the ruthless.
Speaker 1 (42:26):
Yeah, and then and then and then he's stepping up
at the end and finds, you know, some counas and uh.
Speaker 5 (42:32):
And he grows, he grows to become Yes, he evolves.
Speaker 2 (42:37):
It's really as a group with with U Clint and
Johnny and.
Speaker 1 (42:43):
Who is the other guy, Mat malloy. Matt molloy, What
a great grouping we had was terrific. Mate. It really was.
Speaker 5 (42:50):
It really was a lovely episode.
Speaker 1 (42:52):
But but we digress.
Speaker 2 (42:54):
No, no, not yet. Yeah, you you you guys, you
know it was the Forestooges, not the three.
Speaker 3 (43:03):
Yeah, and did was that just sort of like an easy.
Speaker 2 (43:07):
Sit to get into or did you guys talk about it?
Speaker 1 (43:12):
Well?
Speaker 5 (43:13):
You know, I think Johnny had played Ferengis before. Maybe
I don't know if Clint had, but I'm sure everybody
was aware of who the Ferengis were. What I loved
is this was the first time that that the I
mean the Ferengis according to the Bible, the Star Trek Bible,
(43:34):
they were the cannon. They weren't come across until maybe
next gen. I worked around that by like never naming
them in this episode. So there's sort of this lost
captain's log event. He did you know, Archer didn't even
know who these guys were?
Speaker 4 (43:55):
Who the hell are you? Who we are is a puny.
Speaker 5 (44:00):
So so that was the way they got around it,
which I thought was kind of clever.
Speaker 1 (44:05):
I thought it was clever too, But apparently it's still
pissed off the Officionados. And that was another nail in
the coffin of enterprise.
Speaker 5 (44:12):
You know, not everybody is ever going to be satisfied.
They're always going to find something that they know more
about than other people.
Speaker 1 (44:19):
But I think they probably thought that bringing back this popular,
you know, species was probably a good move. And and
and apparently.
Speaker 5 (44:31):
And it's a wonner.
Speaker 1 (44:32):
They never showed up one exactly, you know. And now
the conclusion, Uh, there's one shot in the in the
show that I even sort of cringe. That is when
they take that poor dog, Porthos and she's lifted up
and her tail goes underneath her legs like that and
then put in a box. I don't know that you
(44:53):
could get away with that any again. No, I mean,
obviously she was taken out of the box swiftly after
the shot taken, but you know, the idea is that
she's left in that bloody cargo box for at least,
you know, half the day. And yeah, I was like, oh,
that poor little doggie.
Speaker 4 (45:11):
You have a dog.
Speaker 1 (45:13):
No. I used to have two cats, Buddy and Elliott,
but they've they've since popped their clogs, blessed their hearts.
Speaker 3 (45:22):
I've got three dogs and three chair.
Speaker 1 (45:24):
Three dogs, three cats, and a bunch of kids in
the house. You soon coming, I tell you what was
lovely on the wedding cake that Sarah had made for us.
She has a dog, Panther, that she was absolutely in
love with when she was before she came to La,
and so she had a little, you know, porcelain miniature
(45:45):
made of her dog, and then two porcelains made of
Buddy and Elliott, and they sat on top of the cake.
Two porcelain dolls of me and her in our wedding outfits.
Were pretty lovely. And they're now sitting up there on
the on the shelf in the city. Yeah, I would
love him. Those two cats. They helped me through some
(46:06):
tough days. God bless them. Yeah, they're angels, they are.
What else was, uh, you get to keep your shirt on?
Speaker 3 (46:16):
How much further keep your shirt on?
Speaker 2 (46:19):
That was one of I only said that, which was
meant to be some kind of you know, series character
equipped that he would say all the time, and I
was surprised to hear it in the episode.
Speaker 3 (46:31):
To be honest with you.
Speaker 1 (46:32):
It was fun. I love that bit that they're negotiating
the price of Hoshi in bars of gold.
Speaker 4 (46:38):
What's your wife worth?
Speaker 5 (46:40):
Five bars of gold?
Speaker 3 (46:41):
Maybe six? Let them take Oshi and I'll give you ten.
Speaker 1 (46:46):
I don't know that you could get away with that
anymore hilarious. Uh and I love that wrap up when
with Joe, Lene and Scott at the end comes so
and she said, goes not that interesting, no sense of humor,
always complaining. It was very cute, cute ending. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (47:12):
Still it's still on, right, it's sharing all the time.
Speaker 1 (47:14):
Yeah, we uh we we got a little check the
other day that was like, Okay, someone's watching this somewhere. God, bless,
I know we're still I don't know, maybe we're maybe
maybe we've superseded the the ginger headed stepchildness of our
star Trek, you know, legacy.
Speaker 4 (47:32):
Uh now though I mean I couldn't keep I don't know.
Wasn't the one about the card and this one?
Speaker 1 (47:42):
Yeah? God? And then Deep Discovery and now they've got
New Strange World, Strange new world, a new strange world,
strange new Worlds, which is really good. I have to say.
The production value for that is excellent.
Speaker 4 (47:54):
Is the animated show.
Speaker 1 (47:56):
There's an animated one called Lower Decks.
Speaker 2 (47:59):
Yeah, was also that one for kids which Kate Yes
Prodigy show.
Speaker 1 (48:06):
I mean it's I watched a few episodes out of interest, right,
well animated you know a series.
Speaker 4 (48:15):
Doing a show too went now up in Toronto as
a holographic doctor.
Speaker 1 (48:22):
Oh gosh, yes, that's the new new one. Yeah, you're
absolutely right. Probably he's working with Paul Geomattian Hunter Olly Hunter,
well done. Yeah, it's it's it's actually a story that
they thought maybe our show was going to be, which
is staff Leet Academy and uh that's it's been knocked
(48:42):
around at Paramount for like twenty five years now and
they finally made it right right. Yeah, I'm sure he's
having a great time with Paul Geomatti. You know, top
notch stuff.
Speaker 4 (48:53):
Which is Nation cool. Yeah, called it a better me. Yeah, yeah,
I have to be in cold weather. This weather is?
Speaker 2 (49:05):
Is it good for me?
Speaker 4 (49:07):
I don't know how people can live in it, but
I'm I am.
Speaker 1 (49:11):
Do you have air con? Because I know a lot
of New York doesn't really do it, does it? I didn't,
it's not installed. Do you have air con?
Speaker 4 (49:18):
I do? We don't have what you call central air.
Speaker 1 (49:21):
But you've got a couple of things sticking out the
window of you.
Speaker 4 (49:24):
Yeah, in my in my living room. But tomorrow it's
going to be like one hundred here and I think
with the heat index, it could go to one hundred
and ten.
Speaker 1 (49:32):
That's hot in New York Man. That is uh ever sooner.
Speaker 4 (49:36):
But when I grew up in New York, when I
was a child, we would routinely every winter have three
or four snowstorms. And we're talking two three four feet right,
We have had one of those in two.
Speaker 1 (49:48):
Decades, no kidding, Yeah.
Speaker 4 (49:50):
Just don't happen. Shame in Maine where I go sometimes.
I have friends up in Maine, and we now have
ticks up there. Long I get tick, dog ticks, deer ticks.
They were not a child.
Speaker 1 (50:02):
Is that is that? That's the complication of a global
warming too, is that?
Speaker 4 (50:07):
Well, the ticks would be killed off in the winter
normally because it would stay cold for long enough, but
a blow freezing anymore. So the ticks are proliferated, and
it's become a real problem. People are getting really, you know,
getting sick, wine disease, lime disease, and and the rocky
mounted tick now can give you something called alpha gal syndrome.
(50:31):
A friend of mine got it. It's it's a tick
that was usually in the southeast. It's now migrated north.
You can't eat beef anymore. You can't eat red meat
anymore when you get bit by this tick. He was
bitten by it and two days later he had a hamburger,
had to be rushed to er. And that's the main
effect of this bite is no, you can't eat pork.
Speaker 1 (50:49):
Is there an enzyme in red meat that it doesn't
that something else.
Speaker 4 (50:53):
It's got a weird alpha gal syndrome and it's becoming
more and more prevalent now with these ticks.
Speaker 1 (51:00):
We upnor the very woke tick. It's been absolutely charming
talking to you mate. It's lovely to see you pal,
and uh we'll look forward to seeing you in about
a week in Vegas.
Speaker 4 (51:14):
Absolutely dominant, absolute pleasure to talk to you both.
Speaker 3 (51:17):
Yea man, thanks for coming on.
Speaker 1 (51:19):
Thank you very much. It's a big honor.
Speaker 4 (51:24):
An honor from me too. Thank you guys.
Speaker 1 (51:26):
Thank you all right, all the best, stay cool if
you can. And yeah, okay, I love you, love Okaye
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