Well, the 25th anniversary of Star Trek: The Next Generation is swiftly upon us. I can’t believe it’s been so long. I still remember watching the first episode, begrudgingly, because my mom wanted to watch it and we only had one TV in the house. You see I was a purist…it wasn’t the Original Series…so I didn’t want any part of it. Needless to say, at the end of those two hours, I was totally hooked. Now, fast forward seven years to the series ender. We swear we didn’t plan it this way, but “All Good Things…” just happened to be aired during our honeymoon. Being the fans that we were, we ordered in that night. There was no way either of us were going to miss that.

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Creation Entertainment announced today that Gates McFadden (ST:TNG - Dr. Beverly Crusher) and George Takei (TOS - Mr. Sulu) will be among the celebrity guests at this August’s Vegas Convention. They have a stellar (ya, we meant to do that) line up so far for the upcoming convention. Most of the captains (hopefully more to be added), tons of the series regulars and a whole bunch of episode special guests. Confidentially, we haven’t yet seen Gates in person because she doesn’t seem to attend quite as many conventions as some of the other cast so we’re pretty excited to see her in Vegas this year.

You can check out the current confirmed celebrity guest list here. If you have a favorite, make sure to jot down when they will be appearing, because not all guests will be there for the whole weekend.

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Here’s a mini Next Gen reunion for ya. Gates McFadden is directing a new play, in Los Angeles, called “House of Gold” whose cast includes fellow Star Trek: The Next Generation’s Denise Crosby. Let’s hope that Denise’s current character doesn’t go on any away missions this time.

Gates talks about her impetus for this particular subject matter and its relevance to today’s society.

"House of Gold is a hilarious, yet scathing critique of our culture, revealing dark truths about our values, and, ultimately, about ourselves," explains EST/LA artistic director Gates McFadden, who also directs. "Reading this play returned me to my own childhood. Like the character in the play, I was the ‘pleaser' child-performer. As an adult, my role on Star Trek was my parents' dream come true, but for me, it brought back a lot of childhood ambivalence."

She continues, "In American culture, reality TV is more real than real life. Parents think it's normal to exploit and humiliate their children on camera, if only to give their own dreary lives more meaning-‘my video got over a million hits on You Tube!' Children either receive too much parental attention or not enough. Something horrible in the news? Goodie! Let's get the details."

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Four measly years before she took on the role as Chief Medical Officer Beverly Crusher, Gates McFadden had the "leading role" in a National Enquirer commercial. Any child of the 80s will remember these ads, with their iconic "I wanna know" catch phrase.

Apparently Gates wants to know about "Johnny Cash's recent brush with death" and how she can "cheer up her wardrobe for under $10 this Christmas", in 1983. Check out the retro commercial flashback below.

Hat tip to The Korkster for recommending the video.

Over the years, we've all heard stories about certain actors who were up for roles on "Star Trek: The Next Generation", but for one reason or other didn't want or get the part.  Now, thanks to Sliceofscifi.com (via Lettersofnote.com), we have an April 1987 dated Paramount studio memo that sheds light on the actually prospects for the TNG crew.  

Among the many names listed, Yaphet Kotto was up for the role of Captain Picard, Ben Murphy (Alias Smith & Jones) was a candidate for Riker (spelled Ryker in the memo), Denise Crosby was considered to play Troi, & kid's game show host J.D. Roth was the only actor listed for Wesley.  Here's something that we learned at Vegas Khhaaan (that the memo confirms, Eric Menyuk (aka The Traveler from TNG) was a possibility for our lovable android, Data.

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