Fans are overjoyed Star Trek: Strange New Worlds returns for a new season on Paramount+, though it's bittersweet without Hemmer. The Aenar and Chief Engineer of the USS Enterprise didn't survive an encounter with the Gorn. However, stepping into his role is Lieutenant Commander Pelia, played by Emmy-award-winning Taxi actor Carol Kane. She brings a classic TV pedigree to a series that owes its existence to Star Trek's first failed pilot.
While Gene Roddenberry struggled to get Star Trek on TV in 1966, young Carol Kane was making her name as a stage actor. She was nominated for an Academy Award after playing Gitl, a Jewish immigrant wife and mother, in the 1975 film Hester Street. In the film, her character speaks mostly in subtitled Yiddish. Recently, she's appeared on the Prime Video drama Hunters and played a prominent role in Netflix's The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. In fact, Pelia's loose-cannon demeanor feels similar to her character Lillian. However, the Lanthanite accent isn't reminiscent of Gitl, but rather Simka Dahblitz, later Gravas, from the classic 1980s sitcom Taxi -- cast full of superstars from Christopher Lloyd to Danny DeVito, her character was in love with the late Andy Kaufamn's Latka.
Carol Kane Stands Shoulder-to-Shoulder with Taxi's Biggest Stars
Andy Kaufman was an alternative comic in the 1970s, famously hosting the first episode of Saturday Night Live. In his act, he performed a character known as "Foreign Man," who was eventually incorporated into Taxi as Latka Gravas. Kaufman's fictional immigrant mechanic came from an unspecified country and spoke in a comedic accent that he created. So, when Kane was cast as Simka, from his country, but the southern region, she had to keep pace with one of TV's most unpredictable comics. Not only did she succeed, but she stole every scene she appeared in, whether paired with Judd Hirsch, Marilu Henner or Tony Danza.
Everyone who worked with Kaufman called him a genius, but Latka wasn't a real character until Simka showed up. She humanized him in ways that made the character more relatable. The audience loved Latka because he was an innocent character and hilariously funny. But they came to care about him when the show's writers began to give him a life beyond the main cast. In fact, one of the last episodes ever produced for the series was one all about Simka. Carol Kane didn't just make Kaufman's character better; Simka herself is an indelible part of Taxi's legacy.
Carol Kane Appears In Dozens of Iconic Films and TV Series
In 1982, Carol Kane won the best lead actor in a comedy series Emmy Award and was nominated for a supporting role the next year. When Taxi finally ended, nearly everyone in the cast went on to massively successful careers. Unfortunately, Kaufman died about a year after Taxi ended from lung cancer; still, his legacy looms most of all. Jim Carey immortalized him further by playing Kaufman in the biopic The Man on the Moon, in which Kane played herself. She has appeared in dozens of movies running the gamut of genres. She may not have done much science fiction before Strange New Worlds, but she appeared in 1979's When a Stranger Calls. She also appears with Billy Crystal in the "he's just mostly dead" scene in 1987's The Princess Bride.
Kane continued to work in television as well as film. She appeared on other classic sitcoms like Cheers and played the Penguin's mother on Gotham. She's also provided the voice to animated characters in films like Kung-Fu Panda and shows like Phineas and Ferb and Dora the Explorer. Chances are, if a person is between the ages of 50 and 10, Carol Kane appears in at least three things they love.
Strange New Worlds is the venerated actor's first foray into true science-fiction. Her ability to bring eccentric characters to life is essential to what makes Lt. Cmdr. Pelia work. Hemmer was beloved, both among the characters and the audience. However, Carol Kane is beloved by generations of people, and joining Star Trek brings her into a much more prestigious club than Oscar winners.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds debuts new episodes Thursdays on Paramount+.