INTERVIEW WITH THE COMMODORE

(interview conducted by Ryan Huston on April 20th, 1997). This month, The Grunt Gazette is pleased to bring you an exclusive interview with Tucker Smallwood. SPACE fans will, of course, know him as Commodore Glen Van Ross. In this interview, Mr. Smallwood touches on Space: Above and Beyond, Golf, The X-Files, and many other topics.

GRUNT GAZETTE: So, what's new?

TUCKER SMALLWOOD: "Well, certainly the events at The Masters Tournament have been compelling. I think what happened at The Masters will carry a resonance, and have a great effect on many people across this country. Of course, I'm thinking of the larger picture, the human picture."

GG: I hear you're going to England?

TS: "Yes, this is something I'm very excited sbout. I'll be headed over for the Wolf 359 convention. I'm fortunate to correspond with someone who is involved with it, when they were considering people to be featured I was brought up. Fortunately, I could fit it into my schedule."

TS: "I'm told that's so. I heard that will be on-line some time next year, is that correct?"

GG: Yes. March, '98 (now January '98).

TS: "Well, obviously a month in our industry is a liftime. But, I'm hopeful that will happen, and I'm very pleased about it because it means that a lot of fans who missed the show the first time around will be able to pick up on it this time. I'm delighted that audiences around the world have responed to the show in the way that they have."

GG: How do feel about the possibility that the first season episodes airing again will lead to new episodes?

TS: "I would say that is less than likely. I don't think this was a good series...I thought it was a great series, and I think it suceeded in terms of the creative vision. I think that people in charge of communicating the show, in terms of promotion, were less than talented. This was not an artistic failure, it was a commercial failure. I suspect that it was a lightning bolt that came and went. Perhaps it will be appreciated in time to come. But, personally, I doubt that you will ever see it back in the way that you knew it."

GG: There's a rumor going around on the internet now about the possibility of a TV movie.

TS: "Well, the internet has a way of propagating, creating, and disseminating things that are less than true (laughs). I would be less than surprised, because of the show's success around the world, if they were to attempt something like a mini-series, or television film. But...for another season of episodes...well, nothing is impossible. Never say never."

GG: Have you kept in touch with the other cast members?

TS: "I'm fortunate to be in touch, from time to time, with James (Morrison). I've talked to Joel (de la Fuente) once in awhile. I sometimes speak to Glen (Morgan) and Jim (Wong). I'm always very pleased to see some of the other members doing some other work. But, you're talking about a group of very young, talented and attractive people that have their own careers. You get very close, as you work very intensely over a long period of time. But, it's a small town and it's a large town, too."

GG: That's been my experience with theatre. You try to keep in touch, but...

TS: "You express that and you mean it. But it just doesn't work out that way sometimes."

GG: Exactly. What would you have liked to see for Commodore Ross?

TS: "If I have any regrets, and they are few, other than the fact that we're no longer in production. It would be that we never had the chance to explore back story. There was hope of exploring that in the second season. It was touched on in the first season, with some insight as to where James had come from as an Invitro. I'd hoped that we could discover how Ross came to be in the position he was in"

GG: So, I have to ask, how's Rosilyn? (his guitar).

TS: "Rosilyn's doing just fine, thank you. She didn't go to Australia with me when I shot Flipper, but there was was a distant cousin of her's, a Gibson of the same vintage, that I played on that TV show."

GG: What model is she?

TS: "Rosilyn's a Gibson J-50, purchased in 1964 after a poker game."

GG: You're an avid golfer, what are some of your favorite courses?

TS: "Oh, I haven't been to that many but I think Pinehurst would rank very, very highly. PInehurst is a golf mecca in North Carolina. It's hosted a number of Tour Player Championships ans PGA events and it's a very famous and revered course designed by Donald Ross. I haven't played on that many high profile courses. One of my aspirations is to achieve sufficient celebrity (status) to be invited to some of these neat courses! (laughs) I enjoy the game, I enjoy the walk, I enjoy being alone with my thoughts and the experience of playing golf. It's something I enjoy doing with my father."

GG: What was your favorite episode of Space: Above and Beyond?

TS: "Well, it's a difficult question to answer. It's like asking me what my favorite movie about Vietnam. Vietnam was many different things to people. No one movie could tell the story of Vietnam, it could only tell it's own story. One of my favorite episodes of SPACE was one I wasn't even in: Pearly. I thought it was a charming episode, and I thought it showed the flexibility of SPACE. How far we could go with it, story wise and character wise. I think one of the more satisfying episodes for me was Sugar Dirt. Because it allowed me to explore something that's very dear to me as a Commander, or rather as a former Commander, and that is the well being of my people. That was always very important to me in Vietnam, and it's certainly important to Ross. Imean, we know what courage is. We know what fear is. We know what anger is and all of this, but rarely in film are you exposed to the consquences to Commanders. They carry a toll. Even when the missions go well, you lose people and there's a toll. When the missions go bad, it's much, much worse. And it has to be done every day."

GG: Our trademark question; if Janeway, Sisko, Picard, Kirk, and McQueen were dropped into a cage match, who'd win?

TS: "You know, it wouldn't be fulfilling for me to speculate on that. You could just as easily ask what would happen if you were to sit them down with a New York Times crossword puzzle, who'd finish first."

GG: Ok...who'd finish first?

TS: "Well, it's silly either way. But, (pause) I'd put my money on me! (laughs) You could even speculate on what would happen if you were to take Vansen, 'Phousse and Troi and put them in a basket. Who'd walk out? I guess it would be entertaining to somebody (laughs). Mrreow! Catfight!"

GG: I don't know who'd win, but you'd definitely sell a lot of tickets.

TS: "There you go! And there's your sub-plot. Sexist though it is...(laughs)"