To sitcom fans, he’ll always be Bobby Wheeler, Taxi’s bouncy-haired aspiring actor. But science-fiction fans are bringing Jeff Conaway to Chicago: The 47-year-old actor, who plays security chief Zack Allan on “Babylon 5,” is in town for Visions ’97, the annual sci-fi TV convention being held today through Sunday at the Hyatt Regency O’Hare in Rosemont (call 847-882-8575).
Q. Are you a science-fiction fan?
A. I watched Star Trek and had my fantasies about that when I was a kid. Back in my 20s, I used to meet with some friends in my living room on Saturdays (to watch) Star Trek. We’d sit there and watch it together and call each other “commander” and “captain.”
Q. When you bump into cast members from other science-fiction shows, do you compare notes?
A. Not really. Nobody wants to start talking about the shows because the “be true to your school” thing is going to come up. I don’t want to get into that stupid contest about whose show is better.
Q. You don’t want someone saying, “`Voyager’ kicks `Babylon 5″s butt!” or something like that?
A. I could show them all the numbers that say it doesn’t. If you talk about (“Babylon 5” like that), I’m going to protect it. Especially when “Voyager” sucks.
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