Normally, I wouldn’t post something like this at Get Rich Slowly — this is why I have a personal blog — but I’m getting a lot of tweets and e-mail from folks about a piece of ephemera that has surfaced on the internet. It seems that somebody’s stumbled upon a list of the folks who were in the running for the various parts on Star Trek: The Next Generation. And who was up for the part of Wesley Crusher? Why, J.D. Roth was.
Here’s the thing: I’m not that J.D. Roth. That J.D. Roth is the former host of Fun House, the voice of Jonny Quest, and now the producer of The Biggest Loser. If I were that J.D. Roth, I’d be rich! I wouldn’t have to write about building wealth.
So, I wanted to put the rumors to rest. I was never up for a part on Star Trek: The Next Generation. My acting skills were never that good. (They extended to playing the part of “townsman” in our high-school production of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. I got to carry an axe.)
This (non-)story is sort of fun, though, for several reasons.
- First, I was a huge fan of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Back before the web even existed, I hung out in BBS rooms and posted episode reviews to USENET.
- I also had every episode of the show on video and audio tape. (I taped them myself.)
- Plus, I had elaborate checklists that I filled out when watching each episode.
- Plus, everyone used to tell me I looked like Jonathan Frakes (who played Commander Riker).
- Plus, a couple of years ago, I tried to contact the publicist for the entertainment-industry J.D. Roth. I thought it would be hilarious to interview him for the site: “J.D. Roth interviews J.D. Roth!” Nobody answered my e-mail.
So, yes, I would have loved to play Wesley Crusher in the Trek universe, but I was never up for the part. At that time, I was a goofy college freshman. Note to producers: Since Wil Wheaton is so busy blogging now, I’d be happy to play the role of Wesley in any future Star Trek films. Just FYI.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
This article is about Administration, Funny Money
“Everyone used to tell me I looked like Jonathan Frakes”
Ha! Now that you mention it…
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I saw THAT J.D. Roth in Heathrow Airport about 6 months ago. He didn’t looked too thrilled with the flight delay we had back to the States.
Man, Fun House was the bomb back when I was a kid.
I couldn’t see him in Star Trek, though…
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I had the same thought as Mike! You do sort of remind me of him.
Thanks for sharing this J.D. I got a laugh.
Only one thing though…you said, “If I were that J.D. Roth, I’d be rich! I wouldn’t have to write about building wealth.” That sounds strange to me. I thought you wrote about building wealth because you wanted to – not because you have to.
I understood what you were saying there, but maybe it’s a subconscious thing. You do still love writing about personal finance, right?
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I saw this on Gizmodo and actually did wonder if it was you.
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Haha, I saw this on a forum and immediately thought of this site. Even though I knew there was another J.D. Roth, it was still the first thing that came to mind.
And yeah, you should totally try out for the next movie!
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Um, I had a little crush on Wesley Crusher when I was a kid. So no offense, JD, but I’m kinda glad you didn’t get the part that you were never actually up for. (awkwarrrrd!)
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“Plus, I had elaborate checklists that I filled out when watching each episode.”
Wow.
Was Kris present for the “making audiotapes and filling out elaborate checklists while watching Next Generation” phase of your life?
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Kris often had to fill out my elaborate checklists or run the audiotape recorder when I was busy. What a good wife. (Actually, TNG ended before we were married, I think. So, I guess I should say, “What a good girlfriend.”) She’s tolerated a lot of my geekinesses over the years. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go upstairs to inventory my comic books…
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Hahaha, you’re a lucky man, J.D.! That elaborate checklist phase wouldn’t normally overlap with a girlfriend phase.
I think you can be absolutely confident that Kris really loves you!!!
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L.O.L. too funny!
Before I got married and changed my name, there were two different women working in national broadcasting who had the same name as me.
Not that there was any chance of anyone confusing us, but I often thought it must be a PITA for *them*!
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Anyone else notice Wesley Snipes was up for Geordi? Hahaha
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I love that all the related articles at the bottom are on Roth IRAs!
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Lol, you have a bit of a mountain to climb with your personal brand then but don;t worry you can do it. Do you want me to hunt down and assassinate this other JD Roth?
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It’s so funny you posted this, I JUST had this conversation with the BF yesterday. We were going through the lists and I was like, “JD Roth, JD Roth that sounds familiar I must have seen him in something,” and then we googled and I was like, “nope, I guess not… WAIT!”
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LOL hilarious, love this post. I also like TNG hehe, my bf and I had an TNG marathon a few months ago.
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A lot can happen because of a name. We have a family locally whose last name is Hittler, just like you-know-who, but different spelling. They have 9 children, several of which changed their surname after they got into professional life, because of the unending “are you related to???”Thats sad.
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Too funny. Nobody else has my name, which is why I try not to use it online. Though I don’t remember what I was going by in my USENET days
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Wow – Funny Stuff – Star Trek: The Next Generation was a fantastic show, the Borg had to be their most formidable enemy by far, the “Resistance is futile” seems applicable to the vicious cyclical corporate rat race, where you stand at the precipice of the hamster wheel trying to fling yourself off to have some fun or do something purely for the reason of bringing you joy – oops I’m getting quite heave about this light post.
Does ANYONE recall the episode were La Forge forged (lol) a bond with one BORG and named him YOU (*Edit, his named was Hugh-all this time I thought it was YOU), I shed some tears with that one
I’ve digressed – have a great Saturday everybody
JD – checked out your personal blog, love the cat entries, thanks for linking Will’s blog, I had 4got about his role in TNG – but I do intend on visiting Granville island as a direct result of the breathtaking shot he has posted
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I would have loved to have seen Yaphet Kotto as Picard.
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Hey J.D., did you know you executive produce Master Chef?
We were watching Master Chef the other night after we met you and Kris for dinner, and Richard said “Hey, wait, that isn’t the guy we ate dinner with, is it?”
I chuckled.
-Erica
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Ok, I’m curious what this “elaborate checklist” had in it.
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Interesting!
I would have liked to see Yaphet Kotto as Picard. He later played Lt. Giardello on Homicide, Life on the Street — also one of my favorite shows ever. Patrick Stewart’s Picard was urbane, brainy, and wise. Kotto would have brought that, plus physicality and size: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aP30v71qeTU&feature=related.
I also notice the “JD Roth” credits, now. My name is far less likely to show up on something I’m not actually doing. BTW — I saw your book listed in the list of other books in my QuickBooks: the Missing Manual, and I know that *is* you!
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Hmm…Denise Crosby as Troi would have been interesting. She might even have lasted more than half a season in that role, who knows?
(For those not familar with TNG, she actually ended up in the role of Tasha. The actress who actually played Troi is nowhere to be found on this memo.)
Also, Clarence Gilyard Jr. as Geordi? Would they have cast Chuck Norris as Q then?
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I’m with Jim – what in the heck did the checklist have on it? Or is that something that only someone who doesn’t get TNG would ask?
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I have the same problem with people @danhill -ing me thinking it is that canadian pop star that sang “Somtimes When We Touch”.
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Hey J.D. tell us about your audition! Did you get to talk to Patrick Stewart?
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