Imagine being a young actress in the 1980s, well before Star Trek: The Next Generation even existed, but meeting an icon from The Original Series in a serendipitous moment that involved oysters and stage acting!
This is exactly how Denise Crosby, who played Tasha Yar on TNG, met Majel Barrett-Roddenberry, wife of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry and a fine actress in her own right. Who doesn't adore Lwaxana Troi? Crosby recalled the moment at Trek Talks 5 by saying (per TrekMovie.com):
“And every Sunday, so it, this was about, you know, five o’clock, we started to see this very elegant woman at the same time, on Sunday come at doing the same thing, eating oysters. And so after a couple of weeks of this, we started to befriend each other and talk and share what we were doing."
Crosby continued by saying:
"And she introduced herself as Majel Roddenberry. And I said, ‘Roddenberry, Roddenberry… Are you related to Gene Roddenberry?’ And she said, ‘Yes, that’s my husband.’ I’m like, 'Holy s**t, really?' Oh my god. Well, you know, that’s incredible.”
It's not every day that you meet someone like Majel Barret-Roddenberry over something like oysters!
Those who are not familiar with the Star Trek franchise might wonder why fans gather to hear these tales, even almost 40 years later.
Comments like "It's just a TV show" and "You know it's not real, right?" are common, but lore matters to people who love the universe the franchise has built over the last 60 years.
We want to understand not only the relationships between the characters but also between the actors. Who got along with whom, who experienced tension with other actors in a series, and how those relationships affected the show are important threads that we fans love to pick at.
It's an amazing facet of the franchise, and the fact that Crosby and other series actors still discuss these memories today only cements their significance.
You can stream The Next Generation in its entirety, along with other franchise series, now on Paramount+. And for more Star Trek content, visit the Redshirts Always Die Facebook and X pages.
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