Uhura Celebrates Equality

I had seen the ever-beautiful Nichelle Nichols just two years back, as she appeared at the closing night ceremony for Outfest, the Los Angeles LGBT film festival. The pioneering actress, who as Star Trek's fourth-in-command Lieutenant Uhura was the first African-American actress on TV not playing a maid or other servant, was on stage as a star of the 2008 film Tru Loved, and to receive the ACLU's Liberty and Justice award from her Trek co-star, George Takei.

Today at the Television Critics Association convention in Beverly Hills, Nichols joined a panel promoting PBS' special, Pioneers of Primetime, along with four other amazing actors: Robert Conrad, from Hawaiian Eye and Wild Wild West; Mannix's Mike Connors; Mission: Impossible's Martin Landau; and Linda Evans, of Big Valley and Dynasty.

We reporters asked each actor for his or her favorite memory from their iconic series, and Nichols' was by far the most affecting. At the time she was making history, she remembers, she actually felt frustrated that Star Trek was keeping her from the career she'd always dreamed of in musical theater. And so, at the end of season 1, she submitted her resignation to that show's legendary creator, Gene Roddenberry.

But that very night, as she appeared at a fundraiser for the NAACP, Nichols was told that her "biggest fan" wanted to meet her. And there, approaching from across the room, was Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr. King reminded the actress of the importance of the image she was portraying for America, as a positive role model inspiring millions. That Monday, she rescinded her resignation, and continued to make history.

At a reception after today's panel, I had the pleasure of meeting Ms. Nichols. And after hearing her speak so eloquently about civil rights, I also had the pleasure of breaking the news to her of today's court decision overturning California's Proposition 8. (The news had only begun to break on the internet just as the five actors were taking their seats on stage.)

Below, the words of this groundbreaking icon, at today's historic moment:

Must-Hear TV: Here we are, invoking the name of Dr. King on what turned out to be an important day for Civil Rights. How do you feel about hearing that Prop 8 was overturned?

Nichelle Nichols: Amen! America has another chance to be America. Everything you see on TV is the “No” party saying "No, no, no." The Republicans shape the news and say this, and everybody repeats it. They said this would never happen. So all the commentators repeated it like little parrots. I’m so sick of the TV news, I could cry.

MHTV: Do you feel that the LGBT civil rights struggle is following the same arc that African-Americans did 40 years ago?

NN: I don’t think there’s a comparison. There are lesbians and gay people in every lifestyle and community. And to deny it is ridiculous. As black people, our thing was totally different.

MHTV: True. You can’t be in the closet.

NN: Exactly. Nor would I ever want to. But understanding what you’re talking about, I think that eventually everyone will win. Because we all deserve to be who we are.

MHTV: What a great way to end. From your lips to God’s ears.

NN: And She is listening!

I saw it in the window and just couldn't resist it!

If you watched PBS' excellent recent multi-part series, Make 'Em Laugh, you saw a clip of one of TV's longest sustained laugh breaks in history, from CBS' classic The Carol Burnett Show (1967-78).

Interestingly, the laugh came not from a punchline, but from an ingenious visual, as, in one of their beloved movie parodies, Carol and company sent up Gone With the Wind in 1976.  In "Went With the Wind," "Starlet," in order to impress "Rat" Butler, frets over what to wear.  Of course, she ends up wearing the drapes -- thanks to a brilliant idea from costume designer Bob Mackie, curtain rod and all.

Now, 33 years later, Mattel has come out with a strikingly lifelike doll of Starlet and her famous green velvet curtain ensemble.  This limited edition collectible from the Barbie Pink Label collection is 11.5 inches tall, with an outfit re-created by Bob Mackie to match his famous original.  Click here for a link to the doll on amazon.com.

I have a few of Mattel's Barbie-as-Lucy dolls, and I hadn't known that the company was even planning on issuing a likeness of another of TV's great comediennes, Carol Burnett.  But, to quote Starlet, "I saw it in the window and just couldn't resist it!"

17 Years In The Life

Last night, at a cocktail gala at the Neue Gallerie on Manhattan's Upper East Side, the groundbreaking PBS gay and lesbian newsmagazine In The Life celebrated the start of its 17th season.

The affair raised $110K for In The Life -- a show which, ITL Media Executive Director Michelle Kristel explained, receives no funding for its production from the government or from PBS. But last night's tally is enough, she said, to pay for two episodes of the informative -- and for gay and lesbian teens, sometimes quite literally life-saving -- program.

In other ITL news, Kristel also announced that the show will once again return to a half-hour format, partly in order to accommodate changing media habits, such as viewing many of the show's reports individually online. And, even more noteworthy, this year, the show will produce new episodes each month, leading up to the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots in June 2009.

No more endless repeats, Kristel promised -- and that was good news for the night's honoree Kate Clinton, the legendary lesbian comic and author who was the program's first host when it debuted in 1992. "I've been on LOGO more times than The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert," she joked at the podium as she accepted In The Life's first annual Pioneer Award.

In her short but incredibly funny speech, Clinton -- who continues this month on her nationwide, political-themed "Hilarity Clinton" tour -- joked about the banking bailout, where "the only thing left to my bank was the free pen." "People said that gay marriage would end the world," Clinton teased. "But we didn't do this!"

But Clinton turned serious and incisive when it came to stressing the importance of In The Life and the effect the show has already had on the U.S. and the world. After last week's shameful Vice Presidential debate, when both Joe Biden and (unsurprisingly) Sarah Palin took such cowardly stands, polls in California showed a four point increase in support for that state's anti-gay marriage Proposition 8. When such hatred is "legitimized" from the top, Clinton noted, voters feel more comfortable taking bigoted stands themselves. But luckily, she enthused, there is In The Life, which has produced several videos in support of gay marriage, which in the age of the internet will spread virally and hopefully help defeat the hateful ballot measure.

Clinton's remarks were cheered by the well-heeled New York crowd, which included former ITL host Katherine Linton and the show's newest (adorable!) face, that of Sirius' OutQ's own Michael Billy (pictured with partner Matthew Argenti.) Michael makes for an amazing host both on air, and as she showed last night in emceeing the proceedings, off as well. I look forward to many more seasons of Michael and the very enlightening Life!