Great interview with LeVar Burton over on Hero Complex. He talks about “Star Trek,” “Reading Rainbow” and “Roots.”

On castmates:

PKD: Who do you see the most?

LB: Brent [Spiner] and Marina [Sirtis]. Jonathan travels a lot directing. Patrick infrequently. I go over there or he comes over here. Gates [McFadden] is busy with her theater. Michael Dorn is out spending his money.

On fans:

PKD: Any notable fans?

LB: Jimmy Fallon is a big fan of the show. He does all of these singer impersonations and a couple of months ago he did Jim Morrison singing the “Reading Rainbow” theme song. It’s really good.

On race:

PKD: It seems like Geordi always got shot down by women. Constantly. Did you ever bring that up to the showrunners?

LB: Mm-hmm. It was frustrating to me. I mean from a writer’s perspective, I get that it was the idea that the nerd or the geek is inept around the feminine form. But I was never comfortable with it. And I also thought there were some other things going on. Sociological things. Everybody had a sexual identity, even Data the robot. But Geordi didn’t. The Klingon did. But the black man didn’t. You’d have to be a black man to have the perspective, because you see that pattern repeated throughout popular culture, so it becomes a familiar pattern that you notice readily.

Bonus nerd thing: Just realized Times’ staffer Patrick Day’s initials are PKD.

Photo: Astronaut Mae Jemison appears in an episode of “Star Trek: The Next Generation” with LeVar Burton. Credit: Robbie Robinson / Paramount Pictures

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   Yeah I just did that.

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   Let’s think a little bit about how LeVar Burton just talked about Shatner’s use of identity magic. I think I shall meet...

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    Geordie turns out to be a horrible character, along with Troi & Crusher. My theory? Writers who projected themselves...

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    [via latimes]: Even in space, nerds can’t catch a break with the ladies.

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