Patrick Stewart (Jean-Luc Picard) and his Next Generation co-stars recently took the opportunity to dispel some myths about Trek fans while in London for the British premiere of 'Star Trek Nemesis.'

"There are a tiny percentage of Star Trek fans who might be categorized as obsessive," Stewart told Reuters, putting paid to the stereotypical image of Trekkers as inarticulate loners who live in their parents' basement.

"I know fans who would not dream of missing an episode who are vice chancellors of universities, internationally famous classical musicians, opera singers, celebrities, members of President Bush's cabinet, high-ranking members of the military. These are not people that you would want to be apprehensive about. They are fascinating to meet."

Brent Spiner (Data) joined Stewart in defending the legions of fans the franchise has garnered in the past thirty-six years. "I think Trekkies get a really bad rap," he said. "For some reason, they have this reputation for being really peculiar. I don't think they are."

"I can't say anything bad against them," said Marina Sirtis (Deanna Troi), who couldn't be more grateful for the years of work Star Trek has given her, ranging from seven years on The Next Generation to guest appearances on Voyager and four Trek feature films. "Because of them, I have a really nice house in Los Angeles, I drive a Porsche, I have nice clothes, I have my lovely American husband and all the bits that go with it. So I say, 'God bless them for turning on their television sets every day.'"

The original Reuters article can be found at this page. Thanks to 'Enterpriser', Jeremy Gibbons and 'CharlieZ' for this!

Discuss this news item at Trek BBS!
 Add TrekToday RSS feed to your news reader or My Yahoo!
Also a CSI: Crime Scene Investigation fan? Then visit CSIFiles.com!