Prosperous Mission Takei’s Sulu Keeps Pace With Next Generation

By the time the computerized operator with the monotone voice puts through George Takei’s collect call, the “Star Trek” actor could have beamed clear across the universe. And back.

“I hate this process,” says Takei when the phone line finally clears. “We are being reduced to having to wait for machines and take instructions from them. The future will not be like that.”

He should know. Veteran of the original television series (Sept. 8, 1966 to Sept. 2, 1969), the first six “Star Trek” movies, the Saturday-morning cartoon series and too many Trekkie conventions to count, Takei is a virtual icon of the future not so much as it will be but as it could be.

And the long-term future for Takei would be one that features less technology and more down time.

“I used to look forward to getting on a plane because that was getting away from telephones and all the pressure and demands of being on the ground,” he says. “But now, advanced technology has made that no longer possible. They expect you to make phone calls from up there.”

Short-term, Takei’s future includes a stop in Spokane on Sunday. He’ll be a featured attraction at a “Star Trek” festival that will be held from noon until 5 p.m. at Cavanaugh’s Inn at the Park.

But as with any performer who is determined to keep a career going, Takei (pronounced Tah-Kay) always concerns himself with the longer view. And the sad truth is that, at age 56, he and his original “Star Trek” co-stars have been supplanted by the newer generations of starship explorers.

Even so, Takei is convinced that the fans will stay loyal to stars of TOS (Internet jargon for The Original Series). They’ve done so many times before. Take 1990, for example. That was the year that Takei attended 12 weekend “Star Trek” conventions in a row, a grueling task that he undertook for the express purpose of foiling a Paramount producer’s novel concept for the series’ 25th anniversary celebration.

“His idea was to have a flashback story that would go back to our academy days,” Takei says. “So we would have all of the familiar characters but re-cast with actors who are younger. And this to celebrate 25 years, with people who were never there.”

Takei’s irritation is apparent as he explains how he spent those weekends acquainting convention-goers of Paramount’s plan. And his tone is triumphant as tells how he got results.

“I felt that my bosses - it’s the fans that I work for - should know about it,” he says. “So I told them what this hireling at the studio was planning. And they started writing in tidal-wave proportions, and very shortly he was off the Paramount lot and we had the right story - my favorite movie, “Star Trek 6: The Undiscovered Country.”’

It’s easy to see why Takei could prove so convincing. There’s something about his voice, the trademark baritone that resembles a voice-over artist hawking an expensive luxury car, that can state a case with power.

And Takei’s most important case involves “Star Trek” and his ongoing role as chief navigator - ultimately Capt. - Hikaru Sulu. In his 30-odd-year career, it’s by far the most important job he’s had.

There have been other jobs, to be sure. Movies such as “The Green Berets” (1968) and “Prisoners of the Sun” (1991) and guest spots on such television shows as, most recently, “3rd Rock From the Sun.”

But it’s Sulu for which Takei is best known. And it is as Sulu that he intends to continue.

That possibility arose from a segment of “Star Trek: Voyager” titled “Flashback” in which Sulu was a featured player. The call among Trekkies immediately went out for Sulu, an enduring character in many of the “Star Trek” novels, to star in his own series.

And Takei is happy to second the motion. In fact, he can’t understand why the studio is even hesitating (one report has it that Paramount wants first to film a pilot special).

“Frankly, I’m puzzled that they feel they need to have a pilot,” he says. “A pilot film is made with a brand-new concept, an unknown product. With ‘Star Trek,’ the audience certainly is identified. They know who Capt. Sulu is, they know what the chemistry is.”

Of course they do. And they know it largely because of the efforts of Takei and other “Star Trek” co-stars such as James Doohan, Nichelle Nichols and Walter Koenig to meet on a regular basis with their fans.

Meet with and, he emphasizes, thank.

“It’s like the congressman who has to go back to the district occasionally to press the flesh,” Takei says. “I think this is our way of saying, personally, to the fans, ‘Thank you for this extraordinary gift that you have given us.”’

Clearly, such gratitude wouldn’t sound half so good over the phone.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: 2 color photos

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: CONVENTION George Takei, Mr. Sulu of “Star Trek” fame, will appear at a special “Star Trek” festival to be held from noon to 5 p.m. Sunday at Cavanaugh’s Inn at the Park. Admission, which includes one Takei autograph, is $15 ($5 for children under the age of 8) and is only available at the door. For further information, call 326-8000.