# Star Trek:TNG "Sub Rosa" - Ripoff of Anne Rice or original as claimed? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 12, 2010, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tng-sub-rosa-ripoff-of-anne-rice-or-original-as-claimed/528779 "2010-02-12T21:06:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![iguanas.com](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c4cdca/32.png) [@iguanas.com](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iguanas.com)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2020, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tng-sub-rosa-ripoff-of-anne-rice-or-original-as-claimed/528779/21 "2020-02-03T04:39:15Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > Like the DS9 episode where Miles O’Brian finds out _he’s_ the robot. > > That’s just a ripp off of that short sci-fi story. They eventually made it a movie around '00 or so. > > Jeez! I wish I could remember the name of the movie. I don’t know the name of the movie version but you mean the Philip K. Dick short story “Imposter”. Terry Nation adapted it for the BBC before writing for a new BBC series called _Doctor Who_. he wrote the second-ever serial of the series, which starred aliens he created called the Daleks. ---
**Author:** ![galen\_ubal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galen_ubal/32/4440_2.png) [@galen\_ubal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galen_ubal)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2020, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tng-sub-rosa-ripoff-of-anne-rice-or-original-as-claimed/528779/22 "2020-02-03T05:41:48Z")
> [@medstar](#): > > > [@jayjay](#): > > > > This is probably only going to be one that fans of either Rice or Star Trek are going to bother reading, but it’s something I’ve thought of on and off for years now. > > > > The TNG episode “Sub Rosa” has Beverly Crusher inheriting an heirloom candle from her grandmother upon her death. The candle houses a “spirit” (really an “anaphasic alien lifeform”) > > I know why the spirit survived for so long. He (it?) was played by Duncan Regehr. Very handsome man who very easily could have persuaded any number of women to do anything he wanted. Check out the “Last Days of Pompeii” miniseries from the mid-80’s and you’ll see what a stud he was.😃 Interesting that this should pop up today - I’ve come across a link to an interview with Mr. Regehr today. [Here it is.](https://trekmovie.com/2020/02/01/interview-duncan-regehr-on-his-star-trek-roles-ghost-lover-and-resistance-leader/) And a good quote from the interview: > [@](#): > > ML: The Gothic romance episode “Sub Rosa” is one of the most polarizing of TNG episodes, as it is so off-format. It’s often described with affection—or derision—as the “sex candle ghost” episode. How do you feel about it today? > > Regehr: “Sex candle ghost”? I didn’t know it was called that, but I like the title, and love the notion that the episode is both affectionately lauded and critically derided… gives it an air of notoriety, very Hollywood headline-sounding. Sex Scandal Ghost… haunts bedrooms, ignites darkest passions!” ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2020, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tng-sub-rosa-ripoff-of-anne-rice-or-original-as-claimed/528779/23 "2020-02-03T06:00:16Z")
In fairness, Anne Rice stole the idea originally from Harlan Ellison, who was very disappointed by the adaptation. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2020, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tng-sub-rosa-ripoff-of-anne-rice-or-original-as-claimed/528779/24 "2020-02-03T06:45:25Z")
> [@iguanas.com](#): > > I don’t know the name of the movie version but you mean the Philip K. Dick short story “Imposter”. Also [Imposter](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0160399/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_26), starring Gary Sinise. Not a good movie. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2020, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tng-sub-rosa-ripoff-of-anne-rice-or-original-as-claimed/528779/25 "2020-02-03T08:32:02Z")
Why anyone would want to take credit for “Sub Rosa”, I have no idea. ---
**Author:** ![RioRico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f04885/32.png) [@RioRico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RioRico)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2020, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tng-sub-rosa-ripoff-of-anne-rice-or-original-as-claimed/528779/26 "2020-02-05T06:03:48Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > In fairness, Anne Rice stole the idea originally from Harlan Ellison, who was very disappointed by the adaptation. Creators steal or at least adapt. The trick is to grab some idea and develop it well. Cf. Shakespeare, JS Bach, Disney, Colin Chapman, et al. The cult of originality is a rather recent conceit about who sells what to whom and how quickly. Space / Soap / Horse operas, pulp fiction, penny dreadfuls, bosom-heaving romances, are more fast-food entertainment than immortal art. Make it; sell it; make another; sell that and more before the lawyers come for you. Most drama still embodies Mark Twain’s 3-act structure: 1) Send them up a tree; 2) throw rocks at them; 3) see if they come down. Setup; conflict; resolution. What, a spirit haunts a family line? That can be played many ways till we concoct our desired ending. Just don’t multiply your Daleks unnecessarily. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Q](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/898d66/32.png) [@Johnny\_Q](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Q)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2020, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tng-sub-rosa-ripoff-of-anne-rice-or-original-as-claimed/528779/27 "2020-02-07T03:12:55Z")
Given the times, was it the blowing or his silence which assured his passage? ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2020, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tng-sub-rosa-ripoff-of-anne-rice-or-original-as-claimed/528779/28 "2020-02-07T16:59:19Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > In fairness, Anne Rice stole the idea originally from Harlan Ellison, who was very disappointed by the adaptation. > [@Jasmine](#): > > Aren’t there numerous books/movies about spirits inhabiting objects or homes or being a historical part of a family? It’s just my feeling that you don’t have to “steal” that idea or similar ideas because they’ve been around for a very long time. There are only twelve stories. Harlan Ellison has written seven of them. * * * P.S. I was going to add my own riff on the “haunted bellows” meme, but I couldn’t think of anything good. 😛 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tng-sub-rosa-ripoff-of-anne-rice-or-original-as-claimed/528779.md?page=1)