Neelix as the "break out character"

Discussion in 'Star Trek: Voyager' started by The Overlord, Oct 27, 2012.

  1. The Overlord

    The Overlord Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    An October 1994 issue of TV Guide had an article about Voyager, where Neelix was expected to be the breakout character. That clearly did not happen, with many viewers simply not liking him. So what went wrong? What could the writers have done to make him more popular with the audience? What didn't work for the character and how could these problems have been corrected?
     
  2. teacake

    teacake Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    I blame his girlfriend.
     
  3. EyalM

    EyalM Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    What I always wondered is why the writers didn't try to fix Neelix. Even if they didn't want to let the actor go, why not "reboot" him? It's science fiction, they could have done it in any number of ways.
     
  4. teacake

    teacake Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    I thought the actor was great, the character humorous and used very well to contrast with the crew.

    I don't have to like him to think he worked well, LOL
     
  5. Innoda

    Innoda Cadet Newbie

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    There was no reason to "reboot" Neelix. He may not have been my favorite character, but he worked well in the series exactly the way he was. If the entire crew were filled with flawless supermen the show would get dull very fast.
     
  6. The Overlord

    The Overlord Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    Quark was not a flawless superman, but he was certainly a fun character to watch. Neelix just seems like someone who is a danger to himself and everyone else around him. It was often counter productive to have him on board. It seems like he was playing a role similar to Gilligan.
     
  7. R. Star

    R. Star Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Make him not be an annoying jerk who forces himself on every situation? Remove the jealous stalker behavior with anyone who looks at Kes? Make him stop harassing Tuvok for no reason? I dunno, it'd require a complete rewrite of the character really.
     
  8. teacake

    teacake Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    He'd just become Harry with tufts of hair.
     
  9. R. Star

    R. Star Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Harry wasn't an annoying jerk. He was just pathetic. :p
     
  10. teacake

    teacake Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    That's what I meant, if you took away the annoying jerk and stalker traits you get Harry, with tufts of hair.
     
  11. Innoda

    Innoda Cadet Newbie

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    Well that's simply not fair. Neelix didn't fall head over heals for every other female that he encountered. :p
     
  12. The Overlord

    The Overlord Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    While maybe the writers should have made both Harry and Neelix more compelling from the start.
     
  13. teacake

    teacake Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    I don't know, annoying jerk and stalker traits were not the usual Trek fare. I think he was a bold new direction for Star Trek.
     
  14. Guy Gardener

    Guy Gardener Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    They did fix him.

    Nelix started off as Han Solo and they turned him into Luke Skywalker back when he was killing small animals on the moisture farm.

    They fixed him wrong.
     
  15. teacake

    teacake Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    But Han Solo is everywhere! We don't need any more Han Solos!
     
  16. Guy Gardener

    Guy Gardener Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Who did we need? More Landos'?
     
  17. teacake

    teacake Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    More Leias.

    Just turn all the slack ass males on Voyager into women.
     
  18. Guy Gardener

    Guy Gardener Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    You can't have a crew of nothing but alphas. They'd kill each other before anyone cleaned a toilet.
     
  19. teacake

    teacake Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Okay we can have some Harrys, for domestic use.
     
  20. R. Star

    R. Star Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Now if Janeway had frozen Neelix in carbonite and hung him in her ready room she might've been my favorite captain ever. ;)