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 That Monday, she rescinded her resignation, and continued to make history.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!

Is The Marriage Ref Good for the Gays?

In all but five states of this union, gay people do not have the right to marry each other. But, according to Jerry Seinfeld yesterday at the Television Critics Association (TCA) convention in Pasadena, we gays will have The Marriage Ref.

The hourlong unscripted show sprang from the real-life marriage of executive producer Seinfeld, who once asked a friend to arbitrate a silly fight between him and his wife Jessica, who was in yesterday's audience. (For the record, Seinfeld says, he lost, and had to accept the friend's binding decision.)

He decided to turn the idea into a show, in which 3 to 5 real-life couples per episode will be videotaped at home, having the typical types of arguments that couples -- and yes, despite our supposed "alternate lifestyle," we gays, too -- have that run for years and tend to fester. One show, he explained, will show a wife whose husband prefers to park his Harley in the middle of the living room. Other issues may be less glaring. But in order not to trivialize or be flippant about serious issues like domestic abuse and child endangerment, none of the shows, the comedian emphasized, will go near issues "that makes you uncomfortable that the marriage might be in real trouble."

In the show's format, a panel of celebrity guests discusses each couple's video, and makes a case for one or the other of the complainants to judge Tom Papa, whose sole decision will be binding. And says Papa, a comedian whose previous TV work includes the short-lived (and New Jersey-set) 2004 NBC sitcom Come to Papa, his decision won't always be the obvious one. In the case of the Harley couple, for example, Papa hints that he may have found in favor of the husband. "She's yelling at him, 'You have a Harley in the living room!' And he's like, 'I understand that, dear.' He was so nice to her. I was like, 'What he is doing is completely insane, but how respectful is this guy? He's got to get points.'"

And of course, with the court case challenging Prop 8 about to begin here in California, it was on everyone's mind: For the Marriage Ref's services, what about gay marriages?

"Oh yeah, they're in," Seinfeld enthused.

"If you're married and you're fighting, send your tape," Papa added.

Not that there's anything wrong with that!

(The Marriage Ref will air a special sneak preview on Sunday, February 28, following NBC's coverage of the Closing Ceremony of the Winter Olympics, before settling into its regular Sunday time slot, from 8 to 9 PM beginning March 14.

The show will shoot episodes in New York starting Wednesday, January 27. So if you need help figuring out who should take out the garbage, call Jerry!)