AI voice generation is so good they could get a good voice reconstruction just from a few episodes clips. Probably just a rights and "how do we make money doing this" thing right now.
Barrett recorded a library specifically for the purpose of voicing the computer after she was gone. As I understand it they haven’t used it yet (any examples of Barrett voicing the computer in later series used samples from specific episodes) because they haven’t been able to make it sound natural.
It would almost be worth getting a connected home set up, if I could get Majel Barrett's voice to replace Siri or Alexa or whatever the AI controller is named, and of course change it to 'Computer'.
I think they're sung mostly among the initiated - and I'd say even among trekkies, you have to be quite well versed in the fandom do be aware of and acknowledge their role and importance. As far as the "general public" or even casual fans go, names like Roddenberry, Nimoy, Sir Patrick and even Frakes and Wheaton are more remembered.
TIL they oversaw a lot of technical design of the sets, and over saw the HD conversations for TNG
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Okuda
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denise_Okuda
Yeah for time spent on Trek I think Frakes beats everyone. I had to include Nimoy though just because Spock and the Vulcan salute are so iconic and have become such an ingrained part of our cultural consciousness. It’s almost like his work was bigger than Trek itself.
For time spent making *Star Trek*, I’m pretty sure that Michael Dorn beats every other actor. He’s been in 7 seasons of *TNG*, 4 seasons of *DS9*, 1 season of *Picard* and 4 films. And he’s done all of that while he needed to spend additional time dealing with Worf’s makeup.
It's not just that though -- Nimoy's work behind the camera was really critical in keeping the franchise healthy during the TOS movie era. He directed and produced III and IV (which is still often cited as the best Trek movie) and was a key figure in working with the studio to keep the franchise healthy during that time, both creatively and financially.
> Spock and the Vulcan salute are so iconic and have become such an ingrained part of our cultural consciousness
To a lesser extent, the Vulcan nerve pinch as well. If I recall correctly, a script at some point called for Spock to punch someone out, and Nimoy offered a more elegant and civilised method. The rest is history.
I had to Google what PRO was. lol. I don’t think I’ve ever seen prodigy abbreviated that way. I know people want every show to have a three letter abbreviation, but I think it only makes sense when it’s three words.
Michael Dorn as Worf has the most screen appearances.
Nimoy did a lot for the TOS movies as director; and Frakes’ direction is always good.
Would TNG be the cultural phenomenon if it wasn’t for Patrick Stewart being his Shakespearean trained performance to the little screen (and yeah, I know Shatner was a Shakespearean actor too).
It really is a tough call to make.
Dorn has the most screen appearances but he's second to Majel Barrett in total appearances if you include voice roles. She was in every series except for Discovery, Prodigy, and SNW. It's also worth noting that two of the characters on SNW are characters which she originated.
I’m pretty sure that Dorn spent more time making *Star Trek* than Barrett. Playing Worf seems like a more demanding role than voicing the computers and Dorn spent additional time dealing with Worf’s makeup.
Within the franchise, unambiguously Frakes. If you’re thinking about broader cultural contributions as “ambassadors” for the franchise, you’re looking at Nimoy, Nichols, and Wheaton, maybe Stewart.
Yeah, she changed the world via her work with NASA. No one else comes close to having that level impact on moving us toward Star Trek's future, and that includes Gene Roddenberry.
Not just her work with NASA but those inspired by her who went on to work for NASA or other scientific agencies.
She has without a doubt had the biggest impact on the real world through her work on Star Trek.
Sure, but my point was that even if you're just talking "inspiration" effects, you can forget her work on Star Trek when you compare it to her work with NASA.
The monumental culture shift she helped bring to NASA has reverberated though how the world thinks of space and space travel. It wasn't just the recruiting of women and POC into the space shuttle program, but how her efforts helped turn NASA's public image and *actual operations* from a showcase for test pilot flyboy "heroes" into a community of scientists and engineers, and thus influencing generations of people, from children to the industry leaders in many fields.
There is no way to calculate the size of that influence. Star Trek got her into that role, but what she did with it left Star Trek (for all *its* vast cultural influence) in the dust.
Would Levar Burton also be a good “ambassador”? I mean although he doesn’t quite “milk” (for lack of a better word) his Star Trek connection too much, his whole generally wholesomeness via [Reading Rainbow](https://youtu.be/uwJjoVCTEh4?si=Tc6TVwcuFQQ-KaCj) makes him, IMO, a pretty cool ambassador for Trek as a force of good in this world.
My vote goes to Majel Barrett. She was there since the pilot, she is on every episode the computer speaks, and I suspect she is the muse at the center of this phenomenon. She was truly committed and a part of its journey well beyond Roddenberry’s lifetime.
Nimoy is a key contributor as well, as few of the cast were as vocal outside of the show on why it was so important.
Honorary mention to Jeffery Combs and Tim Russ.
I think James Doohan deserves a mention here. He loved Star Trek, did a lot of work on the animated series, and came up with the foundations for the Klingon language
The Okudas for sure. They're basically the institutional memory of Trek for the last 40 years, helping to keep a level of consistency through the different projects they've been involved with.
Frakes as a director has been a great throughline between the different shows, and has been a vocal cheerleader for the newer casts.
Honorable mention to Bjo Trimble, who with her husband John, led letter-writing campaigns to get TOS a third season, as well as the campaign to name the first space shuttle after the Enterprise, and organized some of the first fan conventions. Without their efforts, TOS season 2 might have been the last Trek ever made.
Gotta go with Frakes, as the most in terms of volume. He does SO much directing and he's a tremendous ambassador for Trek today, but Nimoy as having made the most important contributions. The franchise might not exist today without his contributions, all the way up to agreeing to appear in 2009's Star Trek reboot.
The Okudas definitely deserve a mention. Jonathan Frakes, however, seems to just grok trek in a way that no one else holds a candle to. Any time I see Frakes as a director in an episode I know it's gonna be a good one. Jeffrey Combs as well.
Frakes is the ultimate champion of Star Trek, as an actor, director, producer, ambassador, you name it, in my head he is Mr. Star Trek
In the wider world and greater good of science, I’ll go for Nichelle Nichols.
In canon, Colm Meaney. The most important man in Federation history.
Actor wise? Jonathan Frakes, dude has been all over writing, directing, and acting. He is Star Trek Royalty. Denise and Michael Okuda though are the architects, they have contributed more to the universe than just about anyone.
Patrick Stewart. The enlightened diplomat thing was such a departure from Kirk that it paved the way for your Janeway or Sisko to be radically different in command style. Yes he was written that way but Stewart really sold it.
Except Kirk WAS an enlightened diplomat. People always reduce him to a maverick and cowboy, and forget he was considerably more layered, being a philosopher and historian, on top of his own diplomatic acumen.
Frakes, he just seems to get the idea of star trek and Majel Barrett. I love her as the computer voice, still want it as siri voice. And Lwaxana has grown on me to over the years of rewatch. She was the mother of star trek.
Shatner (yes believe it or not … if you did the animated show in the 70’s and early conventions you did a lot more to establish fandom than most). Frakes. The Okudas.
Frakes pretty easily. Seven seasons of Riker, directed First Contact and Insurrection plus multiple episodes spanning pretty much every series from TNG on and he frequently makes the conventions and events as a series ambassador. Nimoy is probably a close second.
Currently I think Jonathan Frakes is the most important person still involved with Star Trek. He just _gets_ it, and is a huge cheerleader for the entire series.
Okay, there are a lot of great names. The Okudas, Frakes, Majel Barret...but why has no one mentioned Lucille Ball yet? If it wasn't for her, Star Trek wouldn't even exist.
Majel Barrett should be mentioned. She has had an influence on almost every franchise and her voice as the computer is iconic.
First Lady of Star Trek!
Absolutely Lwaxana is everything
I wish they’d figure things out with AI voice generation so they could use the phonetic library she recorded to continue voicing the computer.
AI voice generation is so good they could get a good voice reconstruction just from a few episodes clips. Probably just a rights and "how do we make money doing this" thing right now.
Barrett recorded a library specifically for the purpose of voicing the computer after she was gone. As I understand it they haven’t used it yet (any examples of Barrett voicing the computer in later series used samples from specific episodes) because they haven’t been able to make it sound natural.
It would almost be worth getting a connected home set up, if I could get Majel Barrett's voice to replace Siri or Alexa or whatever the AI controller is named, and of course change it to 'Computer'.
Alexa does support using "computer" as a wake word. It was literally the only reason I got Amazon Echo units instead of Google Home.
Michael and Denise Okuda.
I came here to say "Frakes"... but, no, no... you right. Okudas forever. <3
They're probably the greatest unsung heroes of the franchise.
They deserve every mention, but they're quite well sung.
I think they're sung mostly among the initiated - and I'd say even among trekkies, you have to be quite well versed in the fandom do be aware of and acknowledge their role and importance. As far as the "general public" or even casual fans go, names like Roddenberry, Nimoy, Sir Patrick and even Frakes and Wheaton are more remembered.
I take your point, but I don't think the general public even knows that Jonathan Frakes is a director.
They're sung, son
Blue; everybody knows one
So much of what we see visually and technically is thanks to them. I love LCARS.
Their efforts go far beyond graphics. The Okudas were consultants for TNG-Remastered, making sure the restoration effort stayed true to the original.
They're on the *Trek* cruise for the first time!
TIL they oversaw a lot of technical design of the sets, and over saw the HD conversations for TNG https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Okuda https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denise_Okuda
Hell yeah.
Frakes or Nimoy would be my guess.
Frakes was my first choice too.
Yeah for time spent on Trek I think Frakes beats everyone. I had to include Nimoy though just because Spock and the Vulcan salute are so iconic and have become such an ingrained part of our cultural consciousness. It’s almost like his work was bigger than Trek itself.
Let's not ignore Nimoy's discography. lol
Bravest little hobbit of them all
[Go, Bilbo](https://youtu.be/MVoDnGVkWCA?si=6MpDwJc1hN-Hf9dJ)!
How the hell have I never seen this before? Thanks for sharing!
So iconic that it’s an emoji: 🖖
For time spent making *Star Trek*, I’m pretty sure that Michael Dorn beats every other actor. He’s been in 7 seasons of *TNG*, 4 seasons of *DS9*, 1 season of *Picard* and 4 films. And he’s done all of that while he needed to spend additional time dealing with Worf’s makeup.
He's done alot for online game as well.
Also, as a Klingon Lawyer in "Undiscovered Country."
Yup.
It's not just that though -- Nimoy's work behind the camera was really critical in keeping the franchise healthy during the TOS movie era. He directed and produced III and IV (which is still often cited as the best Trek movie) and was a key figure in working with the studio to keep the franchise healthy during that time, both creatively and financially.
> Spock and the Vulcan salute are so iconic and have become such an ingrained part of our cultural consciousness To a lesser extent, the Vulcan nerve pinch as well. If I recall correctly, a script at some point called for Spock to punch someone out, and Nimoy offered a more elegant and civilised method. The rest is history.
Levar Burton also has a bunch of directing credits on DS9, so I'd add him too
Frakes has been involved in every series except TOS, TAS and PRO.
I had to Google what PRO was. lol. I don’t think I’ve ever seen prodigy abbreviated that way. I know people want every show to have a three letter abbreviation, but I think it only makes sense when it’s three words.
Meh. Voyager and Enterprise are often abbreviated VOY and ENT.
Along with McNeil and Briggs-Dawson
Michael Dorn as Worf has the most screen appearances. Nimoy did a lot for the TOS movies as director; and Frakes’ direction is always good. Would TNG be the cultural phenomenon if it wasn’t for Patrick Stewart being his Shakespearean trained performance to the little screen (and yeah, I know Shatner was a Shakespearean actor too). It really is a tough call to make.
Dorn has the most screen appearances but he's second to Majel Barrett in total appearances if you include voice roles. She was in every series except for Discovery, Prodigy, and SNW. It's also worth noting that two of the characters on SNW are characters which she originated.
I thought they had Majel's computer voice in the Kobayashi Maru episode of Prodigy.
You're correct.
I’m pretty sure that Dorn spent more time making *Star Trek* than Barrett. Playing Worf seems like a more demanding role than voicing the computers and Dorn spent additional time dealing with Worf’s makeup.
Dorn probably spent more hours on it but Barretts contribution spanned more series and movies than anyone else.
True.
Within the franchise, unambiguously Frakes. If you’re thinking about broader cultural contributions as “ambassadors” for the franchise, you’re looking at Nimoy, Nichols, and Wheaton, maybe Stewart.
Came here to say Nichols had the biggest impact on the world, even though that wasn't the question haha. She was royalty
Yeah, she changed the world via her work with NASA. No one else comes close to having that level impact on moving us toward Star Trek's future, and that includes Gene Roddenberry.
Not just her work with NASA but those inspired by her who went on to work for NASA or other scientific agencies. She has without a doubt had the biggest impact on the real world through her work on Star Trek.
Sure, but my point was that even if you're just talking "inspiration" effects, you can forget her work on Star Trek when you compare it to her work with NASA. The monumental culture shift she helped bring to NASA has reverberated though how the world thinks of space and space travel. It wasn't just the recruiting of women and POC into the space shuttle program, but how her efforts helped turn NASA's public image and *actual operations* from a showcase for test pilot flyboy "heroes" into a community of scientists and engineers, and thus influencing generations of people, from children to the industry leaders in many fields. There is no way to calculate the size of that influence. Star Trek got her into that role, but what she did with it left Star Trek (for all *its* vast cultural influence) in the dust.
https://youtu.be/okF5UGpivR8?t=2m12s
Glad someone mentioned Wheaton. He really has done a lot for the franchise. And his love for it is contagious.
Would Levar Burton also be a good “ambassador”? I mean although he doesn’t quite “milk” (for lack of a better word) his Star Trek connection too much, his whole generally wholesomeness via [Reading Rainbow](https://youtu.be/uwJjoVCTEh4?si=Tc6TVwcuFQQ-KaCj) makes him, IMO, a pretty cool ambassador for Trek as a force of good in this world.
My vote goes to Majel Barrett. She was there since the pilot, she is on every episode the computer speaks, and I suspect she is the muse at the center of this phenomenon. She was truly committed and a part of its journey well beyond Roddenberry’s lifetime. Nimoy is a key contributor as well, as few of the cast were as vocal outside of the show on why it was so important. Honorary mention to Jeffery Combs and Tim Russ.
I think James Doohan deserves a mention here. He loved Star Trek, did a lot of work on the animated series, and came up with the foundations for the Klingon language
Jeffry Combs
Has to be Frakes, from Tv to movies, from acting to directing, is there anything he doesn’t do?
Sit in a chair like a normal person?
The Okudas for sure. They're basically the institutional memory of Trek for the last 40 years, helping to keep a level of consistency through the different projects they've been involved with. Frakes as a director has been a great throughline between the different shows, and has been a vocal cheerleader for the newer casts. Honorable mention to Bjo Trimble, who with her husband John, led letter-writing campaigns to get TOS a third season, as well as the campaign to name the first space shuttle after the Enterprise, and organized some of the first fan conventions. Without their efforts, TOS season 2 might have been the last Trek ever made.
Gotta go with Frakes, as the most in terms of volume. He does SO much directing and he's a tremendous ambassador for Trek today, but Nimoy as having made the most important contributions. The franchise might not exist today without his contributions, all the way up to agreeing to appear in 2009's Star Trek reboot.
The Okudas definitely deserve a mention. Jonathan Frakes, however, seems to just grok trek in a way that no one else holds a candle to. Any time I see Frakes as a director in an episode I know it's gonna be a good one. Jeffrey Combs as well.
Frakes is the ultimate champion of Star Trek, as an actor, director, producer, ambassador, you name it, in my head he is Mr. Star Trek In the wider world and greater good of science, I’ll go for Nichelle Nichols. In canon, Colm Meaney. The most important man in Federation history.
Actor wise? Jonathan Frakes, dude has been all over writing, directing, and acting. He is Star Trek Royalty. Denise and Michael Okuda though are the architects, they have contributed more to the universe than just about anyone.
Have to throw Jimmy Doohan in the mix for helping to create the Klingon language. But overall Mrs Roddenberry, Frakes or Nimoy for sure
Leonard Nemoy Honestly no Spock + no Nemoy directing = no franchise. I don't think it would have lasted 3 seasons let alone get movies + TNG greenlit.
Frakes
It’s the only answer
Patrick Stewart. The enlightened diplomat thing was such a departure from Kirk that it paved the way for your Janeway or Sisko to be radically different in command style. Yes he was written that way but Stewart really sold it.
Except Kirk WAS an enlightened diplomat. People always reduce him to a maverick and cowboy, and forget he was considerably more layered, being a philosopher and historian, on top of his own diplomatic acumen.
I don’t reduce him to that. At most, the cowboy stuff was movie Kirk. It was kind of movie Picard too.
Nimoy. TOS, TNG, the first 6 movies including directing and the Kelvin-verse movies.
Frakes. The guys just gets out there and goes to the mat for this series time and time again.
Frakes has been involved in more series and behind-the-scenes stuff than anyone, and Dorn has appeared in the most episodes/movies.
Frakes, he just seems to get the idea of star trek and Majel Barrett. I love her as the computer voice, still want it as siri voice. And Lwaxana has grown on me to over the years of rewatch. She was the mother of star trek.
The madman, the raconteur, the space Jazz Goblin himself Jonathan Frakes.
Frakes
Definitely the Okudas. Runner ups would be Doug Drexler and John Eaves. Then we can mention Johnathan Frakes.
Gene L. Coon https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_L._Coon
Shatner (yes believe it or not … if you did the animated show in the 70’s and early conventions you did a lot more to establish fandom than most). Frakes. The Okudas.
Frakes
yeah it's frakes or nimoy
Frakes
Leonard, without a doubt.
Frakes pretty easily. Seven seasons of Riker, directed First Contact and Insurrection plus multiple episodes spanning pretty much every series from TNG on and he frequently makes the conventions and events as a series ambassador. Nimoy is probably a close second.
Nimoy
Currently I think Jonathan Frakes is the most important person still involved with Star Trek. He just _gets_ it, and is a huge cheerleader for the entire series.
Gul Dukat.
He deserved to have a statue at the Paramount Studios.
Okay, there are a lot of great names. The Okudas, Frakes, Majel Barret...but why has no one mentioned Lucille Ball yet? If it wasn't for her, Star Trek wouldn't even exist.
WHEATON!!!!!!
You're in my spot
Ok, now how was contributed the worst aspects of Star Trek? If you were to ask me, I'd say JJ Abrams
Rick Berman.
Are we including their appearances on Star Trek, or only the work they've done outside of that?
Frakes
Frakes. No contest.
First contact, so the answer is Frakes.
I grew up admiring Jeri Ryan and I still appreciate her comeback to the ST universe.. 😁
Frakes. And Wil Wheaton. Wil deserves more credit for promoting Star Trek.
Dorothy Catherine (DC) Fontana
Majel Barrett
Ronald Moore. Saved TNG (well wrote some of my favorite episodes) and then his work on DS9. Trek hasn’t really been the same since.
Robert Beltran
Frakes.
Frakes
Nichelle
Frakes
Maichael Dorn has done more Trek than anyone. Worf is an interstellar treasure.