Chi-Trek Day 2: The Captains Onstage

     On the second day of Creation's Chicago Convention, the crowds came out in force for the main event. But before the day's main spectacle, there were other events going on. Starting off the day were two representatives from the Ferengi, Rom and Nog, who starred on Deep Space Nine. After that was the second auction of the weekend, which saw the selling of a fully signed photo from the original cast for $1,200.

     After that, I stepped out to the lobby for a second where I ran into a guy who is currently working on a documentary about Susan Oliver, one of the first guest-stars to appear on Star Trek(she was an Orion slave girl in the first pilot).  In addition to Star Trek, she had numerous other guest appearances in a 30+ year career, ranging from The Andy Griffith Show to M.A.S.H. to Magnum P.I. and so many shows in between.  More information about the movie can be found here.  Right after that(and with an impeccable sense of timing), John Tenuto returned to give the 2nd part of his talk on the production of The Cage, the first Star Trek pilot which Susan Oliver was a part of, which was produced 50 years ago this year.  After showing some more slides and providing some enlightening anecdotes, the stage was cleared and reset for the main event of the day.

     All of a sudden, William Shatner took the stage.  He would spen the next 40 or so minutes answering guest questions and regaling the crowd with tales.  Then, as he was in mid-sentence Kate Mulgrew walks out from behind the curtain and the crowd went wild.  After everybody calmed down, the two captains settled into a comfortable pattern of answering questions, telling stories, and swapping barbs for the next half hour or so until Shatner had to move on, leaving Mulgrew to do the final half hour by herself.  After Mulgrew left the stage to thunderous applause, John Tenuto came back up to do a presentation about Star Trek in Newspapers and how it has been portrayed in them throughout the years.  After that, some filler was provided by running a montage of fan-produced music videos for a few minutes before the costume contest.  This involved attendees coming down the aisle of the theatre all dressed up in their garb and getting judged on how good it was.  The top prize ended up being shared by a kid dressed up as the original transporter panel and a Klingon/Borg duo.  Finally, Kate and William signed autographs, and then that wrapped up Saturday.