Robert Iscove (born 4 July 1947; age 77) is the Canadian director, producer and choreographer who directed the Star Trek: The Next Generation second season episode "The Icarus Factor". Iscove was interviewed by Edward Gross for the article "Robert Iscove – Inventor of "The Icarus Factor", published in The Official Star Trek: The Next Generation Magazine issue 19, p. 25.
Before becoming a director, Iscove was a choreographer for the films Jesus Christ Superstar (1973), The Duchess and the Dirtwater Fox (1976), and Silent Movie (1976), as well as a number of variety shows and musical TV specials. His early directorial efforts were televised dance specials such as 1983's Romeo and Juliet on Ice, which earned him a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement in the Performing Arts – Directing.
Iscove went on to direct for such popular television programs as Miami Vice, Alfred Hitchcock Presents (two episodes written by Jim Beaver), 21 Jump Street, Wiseguy, and The Flash. He also directed numerous made-for-TV movies, including four installments of the Frank Janek movies starring Richard Crenna. Included among those are 1990's Murder in Black and White (featuring Caroline Kava and Tom Wright), 1992's Terror on Track 9 (featuring Stephen McHattie), 1994's The Forget-Me-Not Murders (co-starring Vaughn Armstrong and Stan Ivar), and 1994's Janek: The Silent Betrayal (starring Star Trek: The Original Series' William Shatner and co-starring Jude Ciccolella). TV movies he both directed and produced include Without Consent (1994, featuring Paul Sorvino) and Without Warning (with Ron Canada, John de Lancie, and Marnie McPhail) and It Was Him or Us (1995, starring Next Generation regular Wil Wheaton.
Iscove received an Emmy Award nomination for directing Cinderella (1997, starring Next Generation actress Whoopi Goldberg and Star Trek: Voyager guest actor Jason Alexander). In 1998, he directed his first mainstream feature film, She's All That, which opened in January 1999 and featured Gabrielle Union in the cast. His next film was Boys and Girls (2000). Afterward, Iscove directed Malcolm McDowell in the Sci-Fi Channel's Firestarter: Rekindled (2002). He then directed From Justin to Kelly (2003), a failed attempt to capitalize on the success of the widely popular singing contest American Idol by casting that show's winner (Kelly Clarkson) and runner-up (Justin Guarini) in the leads. For his work on this film, Iscove received a nomination as Worst Director from the Razzie Awards.
Iscove directed Val Kilmer in The Ten Commandments: The Musical, which was filmed live at the Hollywood Kodak Theater and released on DVD in 2006. In 2009, he directed the swing-dancing romantic drama Love N' Dancing.
Other Trek connections[]
Other projects directed by Iscove which featured Star Trek performers include:
- Faerie Tale Theatre production of Puss in Boots (1985, starring Brock Peters, John Schuck, Ben Vereen, and Alfre Woodard)
- Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode "Conversation Over a Corpse" (1987, with Barbara Babcock)
- The Incredible Ida Early (1987 TV movie, starring Ed Begley, Jr.)
- The Prodigious Hickey (1987 TV movie, starring Zach Galligan)
- Probe (1988, with Clive Revill)
- Shattered Dreams (1990 TV movie) starring Stan Ivar, Ken Jenkins, and Michael Nouri
- Mission of the Shark: The Saga of the U.S.S. Indianapolis (1991 TV movie, featuring Vaughn Armstrong, Gordon Clapp, Bob Gunton, Jeffrey Nordling, Andrew Prine, and Cary-Hiroyuki)
- Miracle on Interstate 880 (1993 TV movie, starring Len Cariou and featuring Roger Cross)
- Behind the Camera: The Unauthorized Story of Diff'rent Strokes (2006 TV movie, with Saul Rubinek)