Fanboy Forum: Happy Birthday to the Emmissary....

Happy Birthday Commander Benjamin Sisko, (or a Captain Called HAWK, as my Mother likes to refer to his as)

Yes, my Mother is also a member of Starfleet Command. Brigadier Admiral Annie Russell....oh yes, if you say that your mom is a member of Starfleet...and she agrees wither her title, yeah, you both might be Fanboys!)

By far the mellowest Captain of all the series, and at one point we all were hopping that Robert Urich would show up on the Promenade, and Sisko would see him and shout "SPEN-SAH" (you see kids, Avery Brooks also played the role of HAWK in the TV show SPENCER: FOR HIRE- September 20, 1985 – May 7, 1988

. He was the modern day "KATO" to Robert Urich's "GREEN HORNET".

Brooks went on to Star in a show of his own aptly titled " A MAN CALLED HAWK"January 28, 1989 – May 13, 1989, a spin off of Spencer for Hire.)

Avery brooks, born on this day of the Prophets 1942. The first Black commander of a Star Trek Series (also the first AMERICAN actor to play the role, as a captain.(remember William Shatner is Canadian, and of course Patrick Stewart is Britsh.)

Originally somewhat reluctant to play the role of Commander Ben Sisko, the orininal serries Lt. Nyota Uhura (Nichelle Nichols) Conviced Brooks to take the gig.

**Fanboy fact** Nichelle Nichols was involved in the first interracial kiss on national television..The episode entitled "Plato's Stepchildren,"

which aired on November 22, 1968, when Captain Kirk (William Shatner) kissed Lieutenant Uhura (Nichelle Nichols). Some stations in the South (U.S.) originally refused to air the episode.**

A little Avery Brooks Trivia -

He is an Associate Professor of Theater Arts Rutgers University, New Jersey [1976-present]

In 1993 he was inducted into the Rutgers University Hall of Distinguished Alumni.

He served as Artistic Director of the Atlanta, Georgia-based "National Black Arts Festival" from 1993 to 1996.

He is a tenured professor of Theatre at the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University.

Taught courses for Rutgers University while working on "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" (1993).

He videotaped his lessons for his students at the studio, occasionally while still in his character's uniform!

Benjamin Sisko, Brooks's character on "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" (1993), was ranked #50 in TV Guide's list of the "50 Greatest TV Dads of All Time" [20 June 2004 issue,

Has a very, very close relationship with Cirroc Lofton, the actor who played his son on "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" (1993)

He was the only actor to appear in every episode of "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" (1993).

Deep Space Nine debuted on January 3, 1993, and aired through June 2, 1999. Benjamin Sisko is the Starfleet officer placed in charge of Deep Space Nine. At the start of the series, he is a grieving widower (his wife having been killed by the Borg at the Battle of Wolf 359) and the father of a pre-teenage son, Jake. He and Jadzia Dax discover the Bajoran wormhole, which the Bajorans believe is the home of the Prophets, their gods and protectors. The Bajorans hail Sisko as the Emissary of the Prophets, an exalted religious status that initially makes him very uncomfortable. Due to his exemplary leadership, at the end of the third season, he is promoted from commander to captain and becomes a key leader of Federation forces against the Dominion. We also find out that his biological mother was a Prophet who possessed a woman who was his father's first wife, who (after Sisko's birth) left the woman's body and when she came to herself, she just left Sisko's dad. Sisko was actually raised by his stepmother and father; however, he was led to believe his stepmother was actually his (as he called her) "Mama".

Unlike the other Star Trek programs, DS9 took place on a space station instead of a starship, so as not to have two series with starships at the same time (the starship USS Defiant was introduced in season 3, but the station remained the primary setting for the show). This made continuing story arcs and the appearance of recurring characters much more feasible. The show is noted for its well-developed characters and its original, complex plots. The series depended on darker themes, less physical exploration of space, and an emphasis (in later seasons) on many aspects of war.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AVERY BROOKS!

** Star Trek...bigger than racism.

***Also, DS9 was almost the first show to air the first lesbian kiss on national television(U.S.).In the episode titled "Rejoined"

		Jadzia Dax and Lenara Kahn (Susanna Thompson). Lenara Kahn never re-appears on the series as the same character. As joined Trills, a previous male host of Dax and female host of Kahn had been husband and wife 90 years earlier.

But was beat out by...