“A woman as second in command wouldn’t really be believable”: The First Lady of Star Trek Has Such an Insane Legacy Amazon Originally Named Alexa after Her

The Star Trek franchise has cemented its place among the most influential science fiction universe that began with the original television series in 1966. Created by Gene Roddenberry, the franchise expanded to become what we know it today. While the creator surely put significant efforts into making the successful franchise, his wife, Majel Barrett, also played an integral role in the franchise’s success.

Majel Barrett’s Influence on the Star Trek Franchise

Majel Barrett’s role in the Star Trek universe is quite significant as she gained prominence for portraying Lwaxana Troi in The Next Generation (TNG) and Deep Space Nine series.

Her bold and dramatic interactions with the crew helped her gain spotlight. However, the actress’s role could have been different had NBC not rejected the pilot episode of The Cage.

She played Number One, the executive officer and second-in-command of the Enterprise under Jeffrey Hunter’s Captain Christopher Pike. However, the role was not continued in the subsequent episodes as her son, Rod Roddenberry told IndieWire,

They thought a woman as second in command wouldn’t really be believable, I guess, at the time, or at least accepted by a general audience.

The character was considered among the first strong female portrayals in the sci-fi TV series but the network assumed that the audience would not find it credible to have a woman in an authoritative position.

However, it didn’t limit her scope in the franchise as she assumed the role of Nurse Christine Chapel in The Original Series (1966-1969) and The Animated Series (1973-1974). While she made sure to steal the limelight with her screen presence in the saga, it was just the tip of the iceberg as the franchise’s First Lady left an indelible legacy with her iconic auditory presence.

Majel Barrett’s Star Trek Legacy Inspired Alexa

Since the franchise’s First Lady had great contributions with her on-screen presence, the franchise creator, Gene Roddenberry found an interesting role that heavily contributed to strengthening Barrett’s legacy.

She went on to become the voice of the Starfleet computer, which continued for the next four decades in various TV series and movies from the franchise. Her son commented,

I’m assuming since my father took the role away from her of being Number One, second in command, he did everything he could to give her as many parts as possible to keep her happy.

With time, her voice deepened a bit, and started to sound more like a personal voice assistant than just “an electronic brain.” Her son further reflected that he once had a conversation with his mother about how her auditory presence can be used on “everything automated on this planet.”

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Hence, they approached a “professional audio crew” to record her voice “to get everything phonetically from her, as well as some key ‘Star Trek’ phrases.” He added that they would approach companies like Amazon, Google, and Apple to utilize her voice, that were developing their voice assistants at the time. He continued,

They actually approached her to do that. And for whatever reason, she turned it down at the time.

Prior to her demise in 2008, she was approached by those companies to be the actual voice. However, the actress chose to turn it down. Still, her indelible legacy in the sci-fi saga influenced real technological advancements, which further solidified her status as the First Lady of the franchise.