23 years ago today, James Doohan reprised his iconic “Star Trek” role as Montgomery Scott when he appeared in an episode of “Star Trek: The Next Generation.”
In that October 12, 1992 episode, written by Ronald D. Moore, the crew of the Enterprise discover Scotty”s life form on a Federation transport ship that”s been missing for 75 years. Rematerialized aboard the Enterprise, Scotty raises a glass to his absent crew members. We raise a glass to sci-fi logic that gives us the return of characters who should be long-dead.
It was the first “Star Trek” episode directed by Alexander Singer, who went on to direct several more “TNG,” “Deep Space Nine” and “Voyager” episodes. “Having Jimmy Doohan there, I felt I was in the middle of some kind of mythic experience,” he later said.
Other notable October 12 happenings in pop culture history:
•1969: The “Paul is dead” conspiracy took off when a caller named Tom called into WKNR-FM in Detroit and said, “I was gonna rap with you about Paul McCartney being dead. What”s this all about?”
• 1971: Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice”s “Jesus Christ Superstar” opened on Broadway.
• 1978: Sex Pistols bass player Sid Vicious was arrested and charged with the murder of his girlfriend Nancy Spungen.
• 1987: George Harrison released his cover of “Got My Mind Set On You,” which went on to top the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
• 1990: Harry Connick Jr. made his film debut when “Memphis Belle” opened in U.S. theaters.
• 1994: The long-awaited reunion between Jimmy Page and Robert Plant occurred when their MTV project “UnLedded” aired.
• 2001: At the request of President George W. Bush, Fox aired an episode of “America”s Most Wanted” featuring 22 wanted al-Qaeda operatives.
Birthdays: “X-Men” actor Hugh Jackman (turns 47 today), “Pretty Little Liars” actor Tyler Blackburn (29), “Growing Pains” actor Kirk Cameron (45), “The Hunger Games” actor Josh Hutcherson (23), Dixie Chicks fiddler Martie Maguire (46), “The Good Dinosaur” voice actor Raymond Ochoa (14), “Revenge” actor Hiroyuki Sanada (55), “A Nightmare on Elm Street” actress Lin Shaye (72)