Brent is one of my favorite TNG cast members to see in person, because he's just so hilarious. I'd be happy listening to him talk about the show and his life for hours! It's too bad they don't let him talk that long at the Cons. Maybe he should do a standup comedy routine. *grin* I'd watch.

He was fantastic as the voice of Puck on "Gargoyles."

How many ST actors do voices on "Gargoyles" anyway? Every time I watch it I hear another familiar voice.

The short answer: lots of them.

The long answer: worth checking out the imdb.com or similar for a full list of credits. They include Jonathan Frakes, Marina Sirtis, Kate Mulgrew, Michael Dorn, Brent Spiner, Colm Meaney, as well as Trek guests John Rhys-Davies, William Morgan Sheppard, Paul Winfield, and David Warner.

Can Brent play the violin? or is that something that only Data does and Brent fakes it?

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He was in a tenth-season episode of Friends. Meh.

He also played himself in an ep of the short-lived Friends spin-off, Joey. Bleech!

I wonder why he took both those roles, I really do!

Brent also did the movies "Out To Sea" and "The Master Of Disguise". They both flopped, however.

And of course, he was the crazed alien researcher in "Independence Day". That was cool!

Brent was also the hick newsstand operator on "Night Court".

He did "Phenomenon", too.

Anyone else here get the notion Brent doesn't want to get typecast as Data?

You know, like Jason Alexander did with George Costanza, or how Randy Quaid did with Cousin Eddie?

But the big question is: are ANY Trek actors TRULY typecast? I wonder...

I wrote that over two years ago. And yes, it is absolutely true that Spiner was fearful of becoming typecast. So he indeed did lobby for his beloved character to get destroyed, because he had gotten older and wrinklier and put on quite a bit of weight. Especially when he and Wil Wheaton were on another Big Bang Theory episode recently, I could really see that Spiner has not aged well at all.

One of the worst movies from the last decade was "The Master Of Disguise", where Spiner plays the bad guy, whose schtick is to laught maniacally and then let out a prolonged fart. That's really a major step down from having played a character that people loved, and I learned that many other people felt the same way. Its not just me, many other Trek Geeks also wonder what the hell Spiner was thinking taking a role in a movie with such a retarded plot and then play a complete douchebag character. I was just, well, words pretty much fail me, quite frankly!

And yes, people dont like hearing things like this, but just like Nimoy wanting Spock killed off, it is absolutely true that Spiner was just plain sick of the role and choose the way out that he did for a reason. And for that, I commend him. WHen you get sick of a character, it's time to throw in the towel and get the hell out of there with as much of your dignity intact as possible.

Because I just found out that that's also what happened with "My So-Called Life", a show from the mid 90s struck down before it's time because it was too radical and too unconventional for the networks to accept. Oh and also because Claire Danes refused to do a second season, she threw in the towel and walked away from the show because ABC informed her that it was just going to be cancelled anyway, so she shouldnt even bother putting the effort in to shoot more episodes. Its just one of those things, just like "Freaks & Geeks" was in the 2000's, that were just simply ahead of their time, and maybe would have worked if they had debuted today. Maybe, we dont know, who can really tell about things like that, anyway.

Siggghhhhhh.....oh well. Life *does* go on. You know what I mean?

Well, I just saw a Frasier episode from the tenth season that Spiner guest-starred in. He had not become wrinkly or saggy yet, his hair wasn't grey yet, and he hadn't gained a whole lotta weight yet.

I didn't know that he was ever on Frasier. That's all I'm sayin.

Oh yeah, I just remembered. Spiner had a brief blink-and-you'll-miss-him role in "I Am Sam" as the shoe salesman, beside himself with frustration as Sam and his friends try to get his daughter shoes. And they dont have enough money for good ones. Well, we've all been there, haven't we? I know I have.

I sure was surprised to see him in that, that's for sure.