This Week in Star Trek History: Dec. 13-17

Dec. 13

Christopher Plummer was born in 1929. Plummer may be best known to moviegoers for his role as Captain von Trapp in The Sound of Music, but he made quite an impression on Star Trek fans as well with his memorable turn as General Chang in The Undiscovered Country. Plummer reprised that role some time later in the video game Star Trek: Klingon Academy.

Nemesis opened in 2002. The film proved to be a box office and critical disappointment and, as a result, proved to be the final big-screen journey for the cast of The Next Generation.

Dec. 14

Star Trek: Legacy was released in 2006. The video game has the distinction of being the one and only title to feature all five series captains: William Shatner, Patrick Stewart, Avery Brooks, Kate Mulgrew and Scott Bakula.

Herbert F. Solow was born in 1930. Solow, in his position as Executive in Charge of Production at Desilu Studios, helped oversee the development of several seminal television shows, among them Star Trek. Solow latter penned to non-fiction Trek books, Star Trek: The Original Series Sketchbook (with his wife, Fern) and Inside Star Trek: The Real Story (with the late Robert Justman).

Dec. 15

Production began on the TNG episode "When the Bough Breaks." Among the guest stars in the episode was Brenda Strong, who played Rashella. Strong is still working regularly, but is probably best known for her voiceover/narrator role as the deceased Mary Alice Young on Desperate Housewives. This was also the only Trek episode directed by Kim Manners, went on to become a director-producer on The X-Files and, later, Supernatural. Manners passed away in 2009.

William Ware Theiss died in 1992. Theiss was a respected costume designer who earned three Oscar nominations during his career, and he was responsible for the costumes seen through the entire run of TOS. Theiss also contributed designs for TNG during that show's first two seasons, winning an Emmy for his work on "The Big Goodbye." He was only 62 years old when he succumbed to complications of AIDS.

Dec. 16:

The Voyager episode "Counterpoint" aired in 1998. The 10th episode of season five, it rated as one of series star Kate Mulgrew's favorites, probably in no small part because of the romantic interplay between Janeway (Mulgrew) and the Devore inspector Kashyk (Mark Harelick). Big Bang Theory fans may remember Harelick for his recurring role as Dr. Eric Gablehauser.

Ben Cross was born in 1947. Cross co-starred as Spock's father Sarek in Star Trek (2009). The British actor will soon be on view again in the TV movie Super Tanker and the feature Ice.

Dec. 17

The DS9 episode "The Magnificent Ferengi" aired in 1997. The popular episode, the 10th show of DS9's sixth season, sent Quark (Armin Shimerman), Rom (Max Grodenchik), Nog (Aron Eisenberg), Leck (Hamilton Camp), Gaila (Josh Pais) and Brunt (Jeffrey Combs) on a mission to save Quark's mother, Ishka (Cecily Adams), who's been taken prisoner by the Dominion.

David Waters was born in 1969. Waters served as the co-key second assistant director on Star Trek (2009). Nicknamed "Muddy" Waters, his most recent work includes episodes of the series Dark Blue and Law & Order: Los Angeles. One of his recent Law & Order: Los Angeles episodes, "Harbor City," featured several Trek guest stars, among them Jeff Kober (Voyager and Enterprise) and Daniel Hugh Kelly (Insurrection).