Ensign Rivers serves on Commander Tucker's engineering team in the Season 3 episode 'The Forgotten,' and then evidently transfers along with Tucker to the starship Columbia in the episode 'Affliction,' one year later. In 20, MacFarlane appeared on 'Enterprise' as a Starfleet engineer, only receiving a name - Rivers - on his return visit. Naturally, Hawking wins.īefore he invested his money and reputation in what is essentially his own, big-budget 'Star Trek' fan series, MacFarlane also cameoed in two episodes of the real deal. A scene was written in which the android Data (Brent Spiner) plays poker with holograms of Hawking and fellow scientific icons Sir Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein. In 1991, while visiting the Paramount lot, Hawking accepted an invitation to tour the set of 'Star Trek: The Next Generation.' According to an interview on the 'Next Generation' Blu-ray set, Hawking even sat in the captain's chair, which he called 'rather more comfortable and a lot more powerful than wheelchair.' During his visit, Hawking mentioned to executive producer Rick Berman that he'd like to do a cameo on the show. Sometimes called 'the world's smartest man' (a title he himself rejected), Hawking dedicated his life to the study of space and time, and to making these incredibly complex scientific topics digestible via books and films such as 'A Brief History of Time.' It's no surprise, then, that Hawking was a lifelong fan of 'Star Trek,' a franchise that has long prided itself on the celebration of science. Thankfully, 'Top Chef' would come calling just two years later, putting her career back on track.

While one might be hard-pressed to find anyone who could make this hackneyed script into something memorable, Lakshmi definitely wasn't up to it. Kaitaama is the center of the episode and a pretty demanding role for an untested actor.

'Precious Cargo' is a weak episode overall, and Lakshmi's performance doesn't do it any favors. Kaitaama is rescued from captivity by Enterprise's Chief Engineer, Charles 'Trip' Tucker, and the two struggle to survive on a hostile planet where they quickly develop a brief 'opposites attract' romance.

For one of her very first television roles, Lakshmi guest-starred in the 2002 'Enterprise' episode 'Precious Cargo' as Princess Kaitaama, who is kidnapped and placed in suspended animation on the eve of her ascension to the throne of Krios Prime. But before her life as a host, producer, author, and activist took off, Padma Lakshmi was merely - merely! - a supermodel looking to launch an acting career.

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