Clint Howard's Cut 'Star Trek: Discovery' Callback To Original Series Role

Original Star Trek Guest Star Reveals A Classic Callback Was Cut From Discovery By  John Orquiola Published 46 minutes ago John Orquiola is a New & Classic TV Editor, Senior Writer, and Interviewer with a special focus on Star Trek. John has over 4,000 published articles at SR, and he has interviewed the biggest names in Star Trek on the red carpet and VIP events, among other beloved shows, movies, and franchises. Sign in to your ScreenRant account Summary Generate a summary of this story follow Follow followed Followed Like Like Thread Log in Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents: Try something different: Show me the facts Explain it like I’m 5 Give me a lighthearted recap

Original Star Trek guest star Clint Howard reveals that a callback to his classic first appearance was cut from Star Trek: Discovery. At just seven years old, Howard played Balok in the Star Trek: The Original Series season 1 episode, "The Corbomite Maneuver," in 1966.

Clint Howard has played 5 roles in Star Trek and made guest appearances in every era, popping up in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine in the 1990s, and as a Ferengi in Star Trek: Enterprise episode, "Acquistion," in 2002. Howard also played Commander Buck Martinez in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2.

Appearing on The Transporter Room, Clint Howard tells hosts Chris Garis, Allyson Leach-Heid, and Linda Paiges that he joined Star Trek on Paramount+ thanks to Akiva Goldsman, who worked with Clint’s brother, director Ron Howard, on A Beautiful Mind and Cinderella Man.

At Goldsman's invitation, Howard cameoed in Star Trek: Discovery's season 1 finale, "Will You Take My Hand?", but a callback to Clint's previous role as Balok in Star Trek: The Original Series was cut from the episode. Read Howard's quote below:

“Akiva contacted me and said, ‘I’d really like you to be in Discovery. I’m the showrunner, and I’ve got this great idea for you.’ Oddly enough, as far as Discovery goes, they cut the idea out of the episode.

Originally… I play this creepy Orion guy. Kinda blueish green, paint and everything. It was an exotic episode. We were at this strip club, kind of, where there were dudes and ladies dancing. I play this lecherous guy, and the Ensign [Sylvia Tilly, played by Mary Wiseman], she goes to this place and ends up basically getting drugged.

I give her this stuff that is vapors. It’s vapors from a volcano, and it whacks her out… she literally faints. And it was me doing it to her. And I wasn’t taking advantage of her. I just thought she’d like to have some of this stuff.

So in the original script, you meet me, and I’m the creepy guy who hands her the vapors, and she takes a whiff, and she passes out. Well, she comes to, and I’m standing her looking at her, and I turn around, and I grab a glass, and I go, ‘Tranya?’

That’s why they flew me up to Toronto, to do that bit. They must have ended up deciding [that] the Tranya thing was cutting a little too close to the bone. They didn’t want to throw their episode in that direction.”

Watch Clint Howard on The Transporter Room below:

In Star Trek: Discovery's season 1 finale, Ensign Sylvia Tilly joins Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) and Emperor Philippa Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh) on Q'onoS, the Klingon homeworld. Clint Howard's creepy Orion appears in a seedy nightclub before the Starfleet Officers learn Georgiou plans to detonate a hydro bomb and destroy the planet.

Tranya is, of course, an orange-colored beverage that's prized by the First Federation, the civilization Balok belongs to in Star Trek: The Original Series. Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner), Dr. Leonard McCoy (DeForest Kelley), and Lieutenant Dave Bailey (Anthony Call) were the first humans to enjoy Tranya.

A drugged version of Tranya was served to Dr. Bruce Maddox (John Ales) in the Jonathan Frakes-directed Star Trek: Picard season 1, episode 5, "Stardust City Rag." Very cold Tranya was also ordered by Constable Odo (Rene Auberjonois) on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, but not in the same episode Clint Howard appeared in.

Clint Howard's "Tranya?" line would have been a welcome in-joke, especially in Star Trek: Discovery season 1, which was lambasted by longtime Trekkers for its many divergences from classic Star Trek. Howard's opinion that the callback was excised for being "too close to the bone" is likely on the money.

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  Like Follow Followed Star Trek: Discovery Sci-Fi Adventure Drama 7/10 91 7.4/10 Release Date 2017 - 2024-00-00 Showrunner Alex Kurtzman

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  Like Follow Followed Star Trek: The Original Series TV-PG Drama Action Adventure Sci-Fi 8/10 287 9.0/10 Release Date 1966 - 1969-00-00 Network NBC

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  • William Shatner James T. Kirk
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