Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987) – Commander William Riker (Jonathan Frakes), Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis) |
One of the most memorable characters on Star Trek: The Next Generation was Deanna Troi’s lovely cleavage. It started as a cameo role in the first episode but became a regular cast member by the sixth season. Over the years, the character of Counselor Troi (played by Marina Sirtis) has been maligned and hated for her chest. Most loved it, but anyone that ever hated on Troi mentions the neckline.
Some fans even called her “Counselor Cleavage.” Of course, there are lots of characters in Star Trek that displayed their bustline. The Klingon sisters Lursa (Barbara March) and B’Etor (Gwynyth Walsh) also displayed their ample chests. Captain Picard went shirtless in “Captain’s Holiday” and naked in “Chain of Command.” Seven of Nine had a very prominent chest.
But, for some reason, Troi gets the blame. But did you know the story behind Counselor Troi’s cleavage is as twisted as any alien character on the show? We can learn a lot about sexism in the industry by focusing on that one aspect of her character.
1. Troi Almost Had Four Breasts
According to the book Gene Roddenberry: The Myth and the Man Behind Star Trek, Lt. Commander Troi was supposed to have a whole lot of cleavage. Originally, creator Gene Roddenberry imagined Troi as “a four-breasted, oversexed hermaphrodite.” Writer Dorothea “DC” Fontana convinced him to change the character. Fontana wrote,
“I honestly believe you will offend most women, and maybe a lot of men with this character. Besides, how are you going to arrange those four provocatively shaped breasts? Four in a row? They had better be small. Two banks of two? Do you know how much trouble women have with the normal number—keeping them out of the way of things, I mean. Four straight up and down? Don’t be silly.”
In the end, they decided to give her a standard cleavage but kept the eye candy.
2. The Pilot is the Only Time Troi Didn’t Have Cleavage
Marina Sirtis was a young actor who had done a number of topless roles, like The Wicked Lady (1983), but not in the first episode of Star Trek.
In the pilot episode of Star Trek TNG “Encounter at Farpoint” Troi wears a “skant” from the original series which was a “unisex” one piece skirt which had no cleavage. “We inherited my cosmic cheerleader outfit in the very first episode from the original show.” Sirtis told BBC, “It was ‘can we get Marina’s skirt any shorter than this?’ Fortunately, they decided that the outfit didn’t suit my character and we lost it by the second episode.”
3. Star Trek: The Next Generation Season One – The Next Generation of Cleavage
Through seasons one through six, Troi wore two uniforms that accentuated her impressive décolletage. The first, was a variety of unitards in various colors, the other was a turquoise variant with a long skirt. Marina Sirtis talked about her ample neckline at DragonCon 2010 and how it affected her character by saying,
“There are certain rules in Hollywood. One of the rules is not written anywhere, but you just know: if you’re doing an action-adventure show, you gotta have chicks on the show for the boys to look at when they’re not blowing up other spaceships. Second rule: if the chick has a cleavage, she cannot have a brain.
“So, [after wearing a uniform in the first episode] I got a cleavage, and all my gray matter departed. Which was sad, because originally (I know this is gonna shock you), Troi was supposed to be the brains of the Enterprise. So when the cleavage came, all that left, and I became decorative, like a potted palm on the bridge.”
At 5’5″ she reportedly sported an impressive 34C bra. Sirtis insists that, while she was blessed with natural assets, the outfit added some bounce. The Deanna Troi costume dress had what she called “the Industrial Strength Starfleet Brassiere,” and when she took it off at night would think, “Oh blimey, where did they go?”
4. Troi Stops Running With “Her Boobs Hanging Out”
Troi’s fine bustline was on display for six years, but then a remarkable change happened. In the Star Trek episode “Chain of Command” Captain Jellico (Ronny Cox) temporarily takes command of the Enterprise, He demands that Counselor Troi change into a Starfleet uniform instead of her grey unitard because he’s used to “a certain formality on the bridge.” This is how we know Jellico is evil. He removes Troi’s cleavage!!
Cox said, “I think there were a lot of things that [Jellico] did that were really important for that show. Having Troi put on a d**m uniform? Give me a break! This is an officer on a ship and she’s running around with her boobs hanging out?” Yes, after all those years, only Jellico had a problem with Troi’s lovely cleavage.
Behind the scenes, producer Ronald D. Moore wanted to experiment with changing Troi’s costume and Sirtis was ecstatic about it. She said, “So I put [the Starfleet uniform] on, and by then I was skinny, and the director and all the producers were like ‘she looks good in that, why wasn’t she been wearing that for the last six years?’
“So I started to wear my spacesuit. I was thrilled to finally be in a spacesuit. First of all, my pips – cause I had a rank, you know. And then, it was very flattering actually, it looked really good. Suddenly, I was smart again. My cleavage had gone. My gray matter came flooding back. I was on away teams! I was the leader of one away team! I had a medical tricorder! And unlike Beverly, I seemed to know what was wrong with people.”
Related Post: 25 Things You Didn’t Know About Star Trek’s Enterprise-D
5. The Return of Cleavage
In the movies Star Trek Generations, Star Trek: First Contact, Star Trek: Insurrection and Star Trek: Nemesis, Troi wears sensible clothing. There was an episode of Star Trek where the cleavage returned, though. The Voyager episode “Inside Man” has a guest appearance by Troi conveniently vacationing on a beach. The cleavage made another appearance as well.
6. The Toys Had Cleavage Too
Numerous toys were made from the Next Generation cast and there are a number of figures with “Counselor Cleavage.” Playmates created five figures of Deanna Troi and three of them have a plunging neckline. It wasn’t until 1999 that she got a Starfleet uniform that covered her chest.
Related Post: 16 Most Surprising Klingon Transformations
7. Sirtis’s Real Cleavage is Mostly Fake Now
In later life, Marina Sirtis was seen out of uniform with an impressive cleavage again, but she admits she has help. The 58-year-old is adamant against plastic surgery but opted to get breast enhancement surgery. “I had beautiful boobs,” Sirtis told Kougar Magazine, “But as I got older, of course, they got softer and they didn’t stay where I wanted them to stay so I went and had my boobs done. It is the worst thing I ever did; I regretted it from day one, which is maybe why I’m so adamant against everything else now because I hate ’em.
“And because I hate them, people ask, ‘Why don’t you have them taken out?’ Because I think that again is feeding into that whole thing of let’s fix it, let’s fix it, let’s fix it. You don’t have to fix it. I made a decision, I’ve made my bed, I’m lying in it.”
Marina Sirtis currently stars as Orli Elbaz, the Director of Mossad, on the CBS police procedural drama series NCIS. No word on if her cleavage will make a guest appearance.
What did you learn about Deanna Troi’s cleavage?
Images via fanboy.com, trekbbs.com, trekcore.com, 16bit.com, dorkdimension.com, startrekreviews.blogspot.com
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<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="34883 ">41 Comments
What was that? I was too busy staring at the cleavage. I think they learned from this as none of the main characters in the other series went around with their boobs hanging out. Just Seven of Nine wore that real tight jumpsuit. Yeah, baby.
She's fifty-eight? I feel old…
Didn't mind the cleavage.
And I've met her in real life. She was almost a stick figure she was so skinny. The camera definitely adds weight.
For years everyone complained about Seven and T'Pol. And every time I wanted to reference Troi. This whole posting makes it obvious why.
I try not to think about other women's boobs. I've been known to comment on male cleavage now and then. lol
I remember watching some episodes with my wife after I had kids and thinking "Man, I don't remember Troi having so much cleavage…Was I really not paying any attention back then?" I guess as a kid I was so enthralled with the technology and the adventure I didn't even consider "Commander Cleavage".
I never noticed it either to be honest. I guess I liked “shiny things” back then.
For sure MPax. But I’m sure you appreciate how ridiculous it was behind-the-scenes now. We men are so gullible sometimes.
Yeah, at least those two got to cover themselves Tony. Although Seven had a pretty serious corset going.
I’m glad you got to meet her Alex! Her DragonCon panel is hilarious, so I’m sure she’s fun to meet. And yeah. Me too. 8-(
There’s an optical illusion Pat. If you stare at the first image long enough, then Riker appears. I always thought Jeri Ryan’s Borg High Heels were hilarious but I never complained about the costume design Man.
I only watched TNG for one reason: NCC-1701-D
I am enjoying the whole read here, then I realized there was words… mmmmm, cleavage… I was going to say to "NCC-1701-DD…
yes, well…she still looks nice, like Riker with the beard.
Troi is one of the reason most of us guys watched the show.
Great pictures! They should think about writing an article or something.
I don't know Beverly was my TNG crush.
I saw this cleavage at Denver Comic Con. I had no complaints.
No complaints indeed Tom
ROFL up voting that one
Hi guys. While I appreciate that you credited my blog (thevalkyriedirective.tumblr.com) you should know that I sourced all the images from trekcore.com, whom you've already credited. So I'd appreciate it if you removed my blog from your credit list. Thanks 🙂
Next up : We discuss her camel toe.
Wow that was real "bizarre". Boobs on tv, who knew!
Thanks for the heads up! We’ll remove your credit and thank you for your honesty!
It would take 2 hours for Jerry to get into the 7of9 uniform. It was that tight.
Forget Deanna, what's up with her MOM?? lol I kid I kid..although we all know her mom WAS a freak…
Anyway, even though I was in high school at the time of TNG, I didn't care about her cleavage. I acknowledge she was looking good no doubt, but I didn't like the character and I didn't even want her on the screen most of the time.
The story would be unfolding, and then here comes Troi, "I think we have to examine how they're feeling because blahblahwahhwaaah…"
…and I be like "Ohhhhh!! Whyyyy..?! Shut up, Wesley, er, I mean TROI!"
But she is right, I did notice when she started wearing the uniform again she became more interesting and intelligent. And I distinctly remember reading an interview when she said something about her husband wanting her to cover up more on the show.
I've still gotta go back and do my marathon of TNG, those were some good times.
blahblahwahhwaaah LOL Her Mom may have shown more cleavage than she did! Marathon TNG sessions! Good times.
I remembered when the change happened. It was strange no one until that point said: "why is a Starfleet officer not wearing a Starfleet uniform?"
It just suddenly dawned on people.
It made the show more realistic.
I never noticed it either at the time Rollo. It was like she was just lounging on the bridge in a bathrobe before. Then she’s suddenly promoted! It made her character stronger and the show much more realistic.
She had a rank before she got promoted. That's the thing. They just had her in those outfits for sex appeal, like T'Pol's outfits in the last horrible seasons of Enterprise.
It's not that big. . But but the pilot?!
Me either, I never cared about the cleavage as a kid… I just loved everything about the show. What people wore had no impact on what I thought of them.
I want to bugger Marina Sirtis (as the bird was in 1973 when the bird was 18, not as the bird is now obviously).
she's keeping those bad ole fake boobies to teach herself a lesson!
right, I TOTALLY believe it!
oh that's just that broad from Steinfields
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Gene Roddenberry, "progressive", obviously preferred his womens dress like tarts and reveal their tattas.
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