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Majel Roddenberry Dies At 76

unassimilatible writes "If there was ever a sad day for nerds, it's today, as Majel Barrett-Rodenberry has passed away. The widow of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry is best remembered as the gorgeous Nurse Christine Chapel from the original series, the pesky and officious Lwaxana Troi from The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine, and of course the ubiquitous voice of Star Trek computers in movies, TV, and animated films (who hasn't used her voice as a system sound on their PC?). Majel also attended Star Trek conventions yearly and was a producer of Andromeda. Fortunately, Majel just finished her voice over work for the computers in J.J. Abrams' latest Trek movie. I have to admit, this made me sad, just having caught up on the entire TNG and DS9 series on DVD."

16 of 356 comments (clear)

  1. Who will replace her? by iSzabo · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Her voice was unique - ironically I don't think a digital voice would do the computer justice, and posers ain't cool. :(

    1. Re:Who will replace her? by WCLPeter · · Score: 3, Insightful

      so we're destined to have 15 Enterprise movies now (to make up for the DS9 & Voyager movies that we haven't had yet, and now can't have). Crap.

      Whether it's "Crap" or not depends on if they ignore the first three seasons. If they do, movies based on Enterprise could be good.

    2. Re:Who will replace her? by bigstrat2003 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Lots of people loved DS9, and it's widely considered a contender for the best Trek, along with TNG. And I, for one, thought Voyager was good, and I know I'm not alone.

      --
      "16MB (fuck off, MiB fascists)" - The Mighty Buzzard
    3. Re:Who will replace her? by UncleTogie · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Originally, the Borg were a ruthless, conscience-free enemy that could not be reasoned with -- diabolical. In Voyager, not so much.

      Are Hugh sure? ;)

      --
      Don't tell me to get a life. I'm a gamer; I have LOTS of lives!
  2. A fitting epitaph by dr_dank · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Computer...

    End program.

    --
    Where does the school board find them and why do they keep sending them to ME?
    1. Re:A fitting epitaph by OpieTaylor · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Without Majel Barrett, there can never be another Star Trek movie or show. It is forbidden.

      --
      Thanks a lot, big brain. (K. Vonnegut, "Galapagos")
  3. "Death is that state... by Azgaard · · Score: 5, Insightful

    in which one exists only in the memory of others." - Natasha Yar

    Thankfully we have DVDs.

    God speed Majel. Say hi to Gene for us.

  4. Iconic... by sirroc · · Score: 4, Insightful

    My wife and I were just discussing her the other evening; while watching WALL-E. Feeling sad that pixar didn't cast her as the voice of the ship's computer. Instead we got a vague homage to Alien in Sigourney Weaver.

    What I am now coming to realize by digesting this sad news; is that playing the voice of such a seemingly mundane role -of a starship's computer, Has become an icon of the Sci-Fi genre. While certainly not the first to play such a role. She certainly changed the entire paradigm of how the role was portrayed.

    Her efforts to continue her husbands work and support of the genre will be sorely missed.

  5. Here's to Ms.Lwaxana Troi by Bananatree3 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    "Every one of us has a thousand different kinds of... of little people inside of us. And some of them want to get out and be wild, and some want to be sad or happy or inventive or... or even just go dancing. That's why we all have so many different urges at different times. And all those different little people inside of us... we must never be afraid to take them with us, wherever we go."

    "Life's true gift is the capacity to enjoy enjoyment."

    Thank you for your humor, your kindness and quirky insights into life.

  6. Re:c'mon ppl,this is really sad,please hold the jo by M1rth · · Score: 5, Insightful

    No shit.

    The best way to memorialize someone isn't to cry boo-hoo over the fact that they died... but to celebrate what they gave us in their life. I'm sure there are an absolute ton of wonderful stories about her, and if you feel the need to make a joke related to her career... you validate her career and life by doing so.

    "She's dead, Jim." But at the same time the memories of her live on, and all she contributed to our lives will not be soon forgotten.

    Raise a glass and make a toast: to Majel Barrett-Roddenberry, who Boldly Went Where No Woman Had Gone Before starting at the very beginning.

    --
    If you can read this sig, congratulations, you have your glasses on!
  7. Re:c'mon ppl,this is really sad,please hold the jo by shanen · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I agree with the reasoning, but I still can't manage it. The news does fill me with sadness and makes me feel quite old, too. Shatner/Kirk is relatively well preserved--and sometimes he looks ancient.

    I regard TOS as a great epoch and a total fluke that it was associated with NBC. The production of TOS was practically a war with their ostensible sponsors, and now they great people of those days are leaving us. Meanwhile, NBC staggers on with such brilliant strategies as dumping prime time on Jay Leno. Hey, if you can't win, you might as well get out of the game, eh?

    Anyway, I want to be optimistic about the future. I actually think part of the optimism of TOS was related to the idealism that ran amok during the Kennedy period. Now I wonder if Obama can create such an atmosphere on the wreckage that Dubya is leaving behind? The wild oscillations of America's political system seem to be completely out of control these days...

    --
    Freedom = (Meaningful - Coerced) Choice != (Speech | Beer^2), and sad sock puppets' bad mods avail them naught.
  8. Things like this... by patryn20 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ...make you realize just what you take for granted. That voice was the same from day one. Yet it never dawned on me there was a person (and, it turns out, a relatively prominent one) behind that sound. Another talent gone. Another memory created. Another ubiquitous item in our lives that will have to be replaced. The voice will never be the same. Godspeed, Majel.

  9. Re:Roddenberry by TwilightXaos · · Score: 4, Insightful

    We shall honor the dead how we wish.

    Perhaps you need to lighten the fuck up.

    Lame and rude? Like she cares now.

    Do you seriously think she wouldn't laugh at these jokes, if she were here?

    If that is the case, then I am glad she is gone. Those that can't laugh at themselves are the poorest souls, and life in it's wonder is lost on them; death is better.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlBiLNN1NhQ&feature=channel

  10. Re:Number One! by Ethanol-fueled · · Score: 4, Insightful

    She probably didn't back in the day when "beaves" were fashionable, but later on when she became the sexy ol' cougar Lwaxana, she seduced the oedupus in all of us. I might even say that she was a prototype of Samantha from Sex and the City.

    Later, in an unexpected departure for her, it was revealed that she lost a child and almost died of her own guilt and sorrow.

    Later in DS9 she was seen as the MILFy chick who always tried to seduce the lovable, virginal social retard in all of us: Odo.

  11. Re:c'mon ppl,this is really sad,please hold the jo by CharlieG · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It's OK if you can't manage it. I remember when Dad passed, some folks had funny stories about Dad (including a time he was arrested that I didn't know about!! - and I was in my 30s when it happened - charges dismissed). I was unable to make the jokes Dad would have appreciated, but I myself appreciated hearing them

    --
    -- 73 de KG2V For the Children - RKBA! "You are what you do when it counts" - the Masso
  12. Re:Number One! by profplump · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Guys, we all need to stop eating and switch to IV-delivered glucose. Poop is gross, and your digestive tract is mostly unnecessary with modern technology.

    I'm not against a hair styling -- be it head, face, or otherwise -- but to suggest that a standard bit of anatomy is "gross" and must be entirely removed is absurd.