Good morning. This one took me a bit longer to get out than I’d hoped, but here they are – the answers to this month’s Battle Pass contest. Once again, I was impressed by the quality of answers that I got this month.
Question 1
The injury that either didn’t, or did, kill Geordi in the TNG episode Parallels.
So the episode here is Parallels, the one where Worf is hopping between realities every time he gets near Geordi’s VISOR. Early in the episode, Geordi is injured by Plasma Burns when Worf arrives in a new reality to find the controls on his station have changed, and he can’t raise the shields. In another jump, Geordi died from the same injury.
The couple in the photo is the Vaudeville/Radio/Early Television comedy team of George Burns and Gracie Allen. You can find a lot of episodes on YouTube, and they’re fantastic. Gracie Allen’s work is so good it should be studied. The illogical logic that she had to deliver is astounding.
Here are just a few of my favorite Gracie Allen lines.
- “A friend asked her doctor if a woman should have children after thirty-five. I said, “Thirty-five children is enough for any woman.”
- “They laughed at Joan of Arc, but she went right ahead and built it.”
- “When I was born I was so surprised I didn’t talk for a year and a half.”
So the correct answer is Plasma Burns and Allen.
Question 2
Wrote Deep Space Nine for Incredible Tales Magazine.
The episode in question is the DS9 episode Far Beyond the Stars. I’m not sure I can do justice to describing just how good Avery Brooks was in this episode playing Benny Russell, so I’ll put a clip here, and let you see for yourself.
I’m sure this episode and the amazing performances of Brooks will come up a great deal more as we get to Deep Space Nine.
The violinist above is Benny Kubelski, known to the world as Jack Benny. The Jack Benny Program debuted on the NBC Blue radio network (the forerunner of ABC) in 1932. It ran on radio until 1955, overlapping with the television version, which ran from 1950 until 1965. Jack was the master of the reaction pause. It was a style later copied by Johnny Carson. It was Jack’s ability to pause that made him one of the greats.
Combining the two, you get Jack Benny Russell.
Question 3
Species that made their debut in their debut at The Last Outpost. The laser whips were awful.
It was the Ferengi who debuted in the TNG episode, “The Last Outpost.”
The picture is the great Don Knotts, playing Barney Fife on The Andy Griffith Show.
So smash the two together, and you get Barney FiFerengi.
Question 4
The first episode to feature a Bajoran.
The debut of the Bajorans came in the TNG season five episode, Ensign Ro. It’s also the first appearance of Mot the Barber. Ro was originally intended to be a main character on Deep Space Nine, but when actress Michelle Phillips turned down the series, the role was remade as that of Major Kira.
The picture, obviously, is the amazing Elizabeth Montgomery, playing Samantha Stevens on Bewitched.
And in case you’ve ever thought I spend too much time on things like this, there’s one guy who’s made a list of all the animals that appeared on Bewitched. Really. And it’s a blessing on the world that he did.
So the answer here is Samantha StevEnsign Ro.
Question 5
Station commanded by Gul Dukat.
The station that Gul Dukat commanded was Terok Nor, the Cardassian name for Deep Space Nine.
As to the picture clue. So I messed up. And it bugs me. Some people went with Robert Hogan, and they all got credit for that as a right answer. But one overlapping letter wasn’t really what I was going for.
The answer I was looking for was Major Hochstetter, played by Howard Caine. The wonderfully over-the-top performance of Caine was always a highlight.
Here’s a great Hochstetter montage.
The answer was Major HochstetTerok Nor, but I reluctantly accepted Terok NoRobert Hogan.
Question 6
DS9 episode where Sisko, O’Brien and Odo go undercover to infiltrate Ty’Gokor.
The episode was a great DS9 offering, Apocalypse Rising. Apart from Michael Dorn relishing seeing his fellow actors Avery Brooks, Colm Meaney and René Auberjonois putting on the onerous Klingon makeup, it was notable for the death of the changeling Martok, and the General Chang statue.
The image is that of actor Tim Reid as WKRP deejay Venus Flytrap. If you haven’t seen WKRP (the original, not the awful reboot,) it’s worth your time. Really underrated series.
Another thing. This question was originally supposed to be about Dr. Johnny Fever, as a remembrance of Howard Hesseman, who we just lost last month. But I couldn’t find anything to smash with Fever. I suppose I could’ve looked for something ending in – doc, or -doctor. Anyway, Hesseman was a really funny guy, and another actor from my childhood who’s now gone.
So the answer to question 6 is Venus FlytrApocalype Rising.
Question 7
On the other side of the mirror, they control Earth. And a lot of other things as well.
I’ve never been a huge fan of the mirror universe episodes, but they’re a fun concept. They also gave us one of the more interesting MST3K episodes.
The photo is that of Gabe Kaplan as Gabe Kotter. Welcome Back, Kotter was based on Kaplan’s standup routine.
So the answer for question 7 is Gabe KotTerran Empire.
Question 8
Vulcan science officer who didn’t live long… fortunately.
The text hint is a referent to Star Trek the Motion Picture, and one of the more disturbing scenes of any Star Trek film. Where the Enterprise is attempting to beam up Commander Sonak and a female officer, and it goes… badly.
Sonak was played by an Egyptian immigrant, Jon Rashad Kamal. Kamal was the great-grandson of the second to last Ottoman Sultan, Mehmed V. Mehmed was the Sultan during World War I. I’m pretty sure that this is the first reference to the Ottoman Empire on this site. Could be the last. Who knows.
The picture is one of my favorites, Nicholas Colosanto, playing Coach Ernie Pantusso on Cheers. And this was the joke that will instantly make you love the character.
Colosanto, by the way, was decorated for his service in the US Navy during World War II and was planning on being an accountant after the war.
The answer here is Ernie PantusSonak.
Question 9
Worf’s debut episode on Deep Space Nine
Again, I messed up on this one a little bit. The episode is The Way of the Warrior, and in my head, it was just Way of the Warrior, leaving out the “The.” This didn’t trip many people up, but it bugs me that I missed it.
The photo is from the 80s NBC series, ALF. Growing up in the 80s, the pilot for ALF was one of the few prime time shows that I vividly remember everyone talking about at school the next day. Rewatching it, it doesn’t really hold up, but you have to give it to ALF creator Paul Fusco, he made an entire career from a puppet he had lying around his house.
By the way, here’s the theme song to the ALF animated series, which is, like every 80s cartoon theme song, a massive earworm, so listen at your own risk. And whatever you do, don’t listen to the Gummi Bears theme.
Question 10
Romulan Commander of the Narada
The text here was obviously Nero.
So this one hurts a bit. Seems like a lot of the familiar comedians from my childhood are passing away lately. Norm Macdonald hurt a bit last year, and Bob Saget stings too.
He had a great appearance on Gilbert Gottfried’s Amazing Colossal Podcast back in 2014 that I encourage you to listen to.
The picture of Saget is as Danny Tanner on Full House.
So the answer her is Danny TanNero.
Tiebreaker Bonus Question
Not an Answer Smash. Which Hockey Hall of Famer did I let into a Northeastern University Hockey game in 1999, when the co-op student working will-call didn’t recognize him?
Bobby Orr with NU’s Bunny Solomon in 1995.
During the late 1990s, and early 2000s, when I was in college at Northeastern, I worked in the Sports Information Department for the great Jack Grinold. I was working a Northeastern Hockey game, and going from my desk in the SID office, through the will call room by the main lobby, and headed up to the press box. (The Matthews Arena press box is still the best view I’ve had a sporting event anywhere, ever. You’re over the ice.)
So as I’m going through the will-call ticket office, I’m stopped in my tracks by a face that any kid who grew up in New England from the 1970s to the 2000s knew instantly. That of one, Mr. Robert Gordon Orr.
To be fair, he played his last game for the Bruins before I was born, but my dad would talk about him all the time. So I knew the face from his ever-present commercials for BayBank.
But as it turned out, the work-study girls working the desk didn’t know who he was and were flipping through the list trying to find his name. I managed to find my voice and managed to say, “Mr. Orr, you can head right in.”
The answer here is the great Bobby Orr. Thanks for playing, and congratulations to this month’s winners: GELF, Worf79, CptnPlanet, Stookey, and Doris.
Thanks to everyone who competed.