Captain Sulu Goes Where No Man Has Gone Before

rickyjames writes, George Takei, aka Sulu of Star Trek : TOS, is now one of the “continuing regular gang” on the new Howard Stern / Sirus satellite radio show. A mere 40 minutes into the show, Takei was discussing his first gay experience… I don’t think it’s news that Takei is gay, but the fact that he’s shilling for Stern might be amusing to some. But, heck, let’s face it, he does have one heckuva radio voice.

11 replies on “Captain Sulu Goes Where No Man Has Gone Before”

  1. A man has gone there before :)
    I know George’s coming out was a shock, but he really *didn’t* invent being gay. :)

    -Joe

    • Re: A man has gone there before :)
      Maybe I shoulda titled it Captain Sulu: Where Men HAVE Gone Before…

      Apparently he just "came out of the closet" a few months ago. News to me, but bully for him. I think Takei is a good actor, and I’ve always ben a fan of his post-Star Trek work. I still remember (at least, I think it was him) his spectacular oversize-aquarium-busting scene as a Miami Vice guest-star in the late 80s, with Don Johnson and co-guest star Melanie Griffith for that ep, as I recall. Ah, those were the good old days of TV, a mere 15-20 years ago…

      • Re: A man has gone there before :)
        I believe it was more of a ‘came out internationally’ vs. ‘everyone who knows me and most people have guessed’ type of thing.

        Honestly more power to him, though I’d probably skip that show anyway. Not a big fan of Stern’s humor, but a supporter of what he did to the FCC and moving to Satellite to give them all the finger.

      • Re: A man has gone there before :)

        Apparently he just "came out of the closet" a few months ago. News to me, but bully for him.

        He just came out publicly, but it’s been an open secret for over 15 years…(at least that’s when I first heard about it)

      • Re: A man has gone there before :)

        Maybe I shoulda titled it Captain Sulu: Where Men HAVE Gone Before…

        Apparently he just "came out of the closet" a few months ago. News to me, but bully for him. I think Takei is a good actor, and I’ve always ben a fan of his post-Star Trek work. I still remember (at least, I think it was him) his spectacular oversize-aquarium-busting scene as a Miami Vice guest-star in the late 80s, with Don Johnson and co-guest star Melanie Griffith for that ep, as I recall. Ah, those were the good old days of TV, a mere 15-20 years ago…

        LOL! I was teasing you. :) I like that "where men HAVE gone before", but then someone would have probably been offended. There’s no pleasing everyone. :)

        I suspect that if Takei’s coming out wasn’t the end of any possibility of Captain Sulu officially returning to Trekdom, his talking about his first gay experience openly on Howard Stern’s show probably drove a few nails in Sulu’s coffin, at least in today’s rabid (pro and con) environment.

        Then again, I remember watching Patrick Stewart in "Jeffrey" and thinking "so much for Picard …" and the powers that be never even blinked, good for them. I realize there’s a difference between being a real doctor, and playing one on TV (e.g. being gay, and playing someone who is), but it seems to me like most known gay actors (exceptions being Nathan Lane, and Ellen DeGeneres, who had to reinvent herself) seem to face some typecasting and resistance once their orientation is publically known.

        By the way, lest anyone construe me as a homophobe — I’m gay. I’m just throwing in my two cents regarding what I perceive as reality. :)

        -Joe

        • Re: A man has gone there before :)
          FYI, <A href="http://marksfriggin.com/news06/1-9.htm#mon">here's some details on Takei / Stern’s first day on Sirus</A> and that blog continues day-to-day to follow their continuing voyages. Personally, I’m not a fan of Stern because I think nonstop shock leads to numbness and is therefore a pretty useless communications tool. However, I am a very strong advocate of free speech, so Go Howard Go.

          I’m not a homophobe either, just a hetero who wishes everybody’s sexual orientation could just slink back under the covers and into the dark where it belongs. The only thing I’ve got against gays is I wish David Gerrold would hurry up and get the next Chtorr novel out. I’m tired of waiting.

            • Re: A man has gone there before :)

              Huh. How we do links now?

              bracket url = {url} close bracket link name bracket slash url bracket

              or click on the supertages enabled link under your posting response box to see

          • Re: A man has gone there before :)

            FYI, <A href="http://marksfriggin.com/news06/1-9.htm#mon">here's some details on Takei / Stern’s first day on Sirus</A> and that blog continues day-to-day to follow their continuing voyages. Personally, I’m not a fan of Stern because I think nonstop shock leads to numbness and is therefore a pretty useless communications tool. However, I am a very strong advocate of free speech, so Go Howard Go.

            I’m not a homophobe either, just a hetero who wishes everybody’s sexual orientation could just slink back under the covers and into the dark where it belongs. The only thing I’ve got against gays is I wish David Gerrold would hurry up and get the next Chtorr novel out. I’m tired of waiting.

            LOL! I’d like to hear Takei’s work, but I won’t subscribe to Sirius just to hear Howard Stern. I never listened to Howard Stern on regular radio for exactly the reason you cited, he’s mind-numbing after a while.

            As for orientation, I kinda wish people could just be people, and everyone would stay out of everyone else’s business, and we could just work on getting along, kinda how things usually work in here on these forums. I haven’t seen a rabid disagreement on Bureau 42 in quite a while. :)

            Peace,

            Joe

      • Re: A man has gone there before :)

        I’ve always ben a fan of his post-Star Trek work. I still remember (at least, I think it was him)

        Looking at his Guest Appearances on IMDB.com he was in an episode called ‘By Hook or by Crook’ so you might be remembering right.

        My parents wouldn’t let me watch the show, so I don’t know.

        • Re: A man has gone there before :)

          My parents wouldn’t let me watch the show, so I don’t know.

          It was truly my fav. Absolutely you should check it out now on DVD, truly a top 20 classic everybody should see. So many special moments worth talking about – like when Sonny’s original black convertible got blown up by the stinger missile. Oh, I loved that car as much as he did, so cool. Sometimes when I play my Miami Vice CDs on the road today I daydream my current 1998 black Chevy Cav was that one.

          I never let my little kids watch it back then either, WAY too violent for the time (almost quaint now) but the day after every episode I’d pick my two year old daughter up and hold her like a shotgun and chase my 5 year old "drug dealer" son around, blasting him with her. He always had a squirt gun. They both always enjoyed that enormously.

          Sigh. That was before my divorce, and before my daughter and I became the strangers we are today, much to her mom’s actions and my deep regret. Sigh.

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