Paramount
The episode “Descent, Part I” of “Star Trek: The Next Generation” begins with Data (Brent Spiner) enjoying his leisure time on the holodeck. He has set up a poker game with three of the most brilliant minds in the history of science. Sir Isaac Newton (John Neville) is portrayed as arrogant and impatient. Albert Einstein (Jim Norton) is friendly but a frustrating poker player due to his struggle with basic arithmetic. Across from Data, Stephen Hawking, playing himself, is making scientific jokes and teasing Newton and Einstein.
Hawking delivers the first line of the episode, finishing a story: “But then I said, in that frame of reference, the perihelion of Mercury would have precessed in the opposite direction.” Einstein finds it amusing, and Data attempts to explain the humor to Newton, who is unfamiliar with the concept of the relativistic curvature of space-time. Newton dismisses Data’s explanation, claiming that he invented physics.
Just as Hawking becomes the poker champion — with four sevens — an emergency call sends Data to the Enterprise bridge. The holodeck is turned off, and the intellectual titans disappear. It’s a short but unforgettable moment in “Star Trek” history.
This scene is unique among “Star Trek” guest appearances. Stephen Hawking is the only person in “Star Trek” history to have played himself. In 2018, Ron D. Moore, the writer of “Descent,” spoke with The Wrap about Hawking’s visit to the set. He revealed that every writer and crew member wanted to meet Hawking, despite the fact that writers were seldom allowed on set. In this case, several exceptions were gladly made.
OMG, it’s Stephen Hawking!
Paramount
“Star Trek” is known for its careful inclusion of contemporary references. It’s been reported in /Film that modern pop music is typically avoided on “Star Trek” due to its commercial nature and the writers’ reluctance to assume that certain pop acts would endure into the 24th century. When it comes to celebrities and the arts, “Star Trek” tends to stick to classical and ancient references. These are not only public domain but are also deeply embedded in Earth’s culture, making it reasonable to assume their memory would continue for many more centuries.
However, an exception was made for Hawking. His groundbreaking theories about astral physics revolutionized the scientific community during his lifetime. Moreover, all the science enthusiasts and space fans watching “Star Trek” would undoubtedly be thrilled to see Hawking and Data interacting. When Moore considered writing Hawking into his script, the Paramount executives readily approved. Fortunately, Hawking was willing to visit the “Star Trek” set and share a joke about the perihelion of Mercury.
Moore remembered that the actual filming required the usual camera operators, actors, etc., but everyone else crowded the set, hoping to meet a hero. Moore said:
“Only the people involved in filming the scene were actually allowed in the room. […] Everyone else was crammed out in the hallway peeking in. It was a really exciting scene and one that had never been done before on ‘Star Trek.'”
It appears that executive producer Rick Berman was able to contact Hawking thanks to a previous set visit by the renowned physicist. Hawking’s number was already in Berman’s Rolodex.
The Errol Morris connection
Paramount
Back in 1991, Hawking visited the Paramount lot to introduce a screening of Errol Morris’ biographical documentary “A Brief History of Time.” Rick Berman found out that Hawking was a Trekkie and arranged a mutually beneficial geekout by inviting Hawking to the set. During the visit, Berman discovered that Hawking would love to be a TV star. Hawking, of course, was a busy man — he was the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge — so it took several more years before everything could be arranged. As Moore recalled:
“After that visit, we learned that Hawking would be interested in doing a cameo on the show, and there was a window of time when he was going to be back in Los Angeles, and I was going to write the episode they were going to film during that window. […] So I got the call and they told me, ‘We need you to write a scene with Stephen Hawking,’ and I’m like, ‘Wait, WHAT?!’ But they told me to do something on the holodeck, maybe with Data.”
The resulting scene opened “Descent,” the final episode of the show’s sixth season. Moore was able to come up with the scenario, but he wasn’t well-versed enough in physics to write an appropriately brainy science joke for Hawking. Moore admits that he reached out to fellow Trek writer Naren Shankar, who had three degrees and a deeper understanding of perihelia. Moore said:
“Naren had a Ph.D. in applied physics, so I brought him in, and he was also tickled at the idea of writing lines for Stephen Hawking. So he was the one who came up with the idea of the joke being that Stephen keeps busting the chops of the other scientists and that Isaac Newton is a jerk and that Einstein and Stephen keep bagging on him. Once we had that, the scene just wrote itself.”
Everything fell into place beautifully. Hawking was pleased, the creators of “Star Trek” were pleased, and Trekkies were pleased. Sometimes, nerd crossovers work out.
Credit: www.slashfilm.com
