Thursday, July 21, 2005
It's Green
That headline may be one of the funniest lines ever delivered in science fiction. (click here and give it a listen) It was delivered by Enterprise engineer James Montgomery Scott in the episode "By Any Other Name" of the original Star Trek. So funny was this joke that in "The Next Generation" series -- the episode featuring Scotty ("Relics") -- they went to the trouble to set it up so Commander Data could have the same joke at Scotty's expense.
Scotty was often reduced to a joke, but he was far and away my favorite character. My favorite episode in the original series was "Bread and Circuses" In that episode, with Kirk, Spock, and McCoy trapped on the planet below, Scotty is in command of the Enterprise and he proves himself to be as tactically cagey as Kirk -- or Picard -- ever were.
Much of Scotty was from the heart of James Doohan, the actor that portrayed him. It was Doohan that decided the character should be a Scotsman, and it was Doohan that portrayed the character that was at times a clown, at times the best engineer ever seen, and at times a true leader of men.
Alas, James Doohan has passed away. He was and is an American icon. He entertained me over and over again. Thankfully, he will be available in reruns for the forseeable future, but the original has forever passed away, and there will never be another like him.
I cannot think of a more fitting memorial than that which he planned for himself. He is sending his ashes into space.
