Which "main" character could have been eliminated?

Discussion in 'General Trek Discussion' started by Jedi_Master, Feb 19, 2014.

  1. Jedi_Master

    Jedi_Master Admiral Admiral

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    Although Star Trek is considered to be in some respects an ensemble show, we all know there is at least one main character that could have been excised in each series and no major damage done.

    Let me know which main character in TOS, TNG, DS9, VOY, or ENT that could have been eliminated and the show would not have suffered for it in the slightest and may have even been improved (the Kes Effect)

    For definition purposes, we are limiting "main" characters to those names appeared in the credits every week, and not Guest Stars.
     
  2. AverageWriter

    AverageWriter Lieutenant Red Shirt

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    TOS- Chekhov
    TNG- Tasha or Wesley Crusher
    DS9- Worf
    Voy- Everyone in the whole damned show except the Doctor.
    ENT- Archer
     
  3. Nerys Myk

    Nerys Myk A Spock and a smile Premium Member

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    Janice Rand....oh, wait.
     
  4. F. King Daniel

    F. King Daniel Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    TOS - Chekov
    TNG - Deanna and Beverly.
    DS9 - Kira and the entire planet of Bajor
    VOY - Chakotay (overall winner by far)
    ENT - Travis, Archer (at least for S1 and 2)
     
  5. AverageWriter

    AverageWriter Lieutenant Red Shirt

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    But when they got rid of Crusher we'd be stuck with Pulaski for the full TNG run... You sure you would be willing to take that leap? :)
     
  6. Jedi_Master

    Jedi_Master Admiral Admiral

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    TOS: Chekov. Even in the movies he seemed an expendable character. Even though we would never have "nuclear wessels" - one of the best lines in the movies.

    TNG: WESLEY CRUSHER! I have a tremendous admiration for Wil Wheaton but the character was dud from the start. There are no major story lines that would have suffered from his absence. Even the Traveler story line would have been far more interesting if he had interacted with Data.

    DS9: Have a hard time with this one, maybe Rom? The showrunners for DS9 did a nice job of making everyone important.

    VOY: Kes ;) and Harry Kim

    ENT: Travis, and Porthos :klingon:
     
  7. C.E. Evans

    C.E. Evans Admiral Admiral

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    Not much of a choice when it comes to TOS that way.
    :lol:

    TOS: Sulu & Chekov
    TNG: Yar (taken care of)
    DS9: Worf
    VOY: Chakotay, Neelix, Kes, Kim
    ENT: T'Pol
     
  8. F. King Daniel

    F. King Daniel Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Definitely. Pulaski may have been a blatant McCoy knock-off, but she was excellent, IMHO.
     
  9. Bad Thoughts

    Bad Thoughts Vice Admiral Admiral

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    TOS: Chekov
    TNG: The Crushers
    DS9: Jadzia Dax
    VOY: Tom Paris
    ENT: Montgomery
    nuTrek: nuKirk
     
  10. AverageWriter

    AverageWriter Lieutenant Red Shirt

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    I love differences of opinion! This is an awesome site!

    What I do know is that, in-universe, it seemed pretty clear that Picard absolutely HATED the woman. That in and of itself created boundless opportunities for comedy, as their two opposing wills kept bouncing off each other during the course of the season.

    Remember when Picard woke up and found out just who it was that had saved his life? The first thing out of his mouth- "What the hell are you doing here?" :)
     
  11. Gov Kodos

    Gov Kodos Admiral Admiral

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  12. Cascades

    Cascades Ensign Red Shirt

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    TOS: Chekov
    TNG: Wesley
    DS9: Dead Jadzia (as in don't kill her (yes i liked her :) ))
    VOY: Nelix
    ENT: Archer
     
  13. T'Girl

    T'Girl Vice Admiral Admiral

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    I for one would.

    Never use the same actor/actress as the ship's head doctor more than three (or so) episodes, constantly change them. The same way TNG did the ship's chief engineer the first season.

    Picard is continually saying "welcome aboard, you must be the new doctor." Kind of like Murphy Brown and her never ending new assistants.

    :)
     
  14. maneth

    maneth Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    TOS: Chekov. Much as I like the character, it's not as if he had any crucial story lines...
    TNG: Yar. Oh, wait...
    DS9: Keiko! Or if she's not main enough, Ezri Dax. They should have let Dax die with Jadzia.
    VOY: Seven. She's single-handedly responsible for ruining the best villain in the entire sci-fi genre.
    ENT: Mayweather. A poorly written character.
     
  15. Jedi_Master

    Jedi_Master Admiral Admiral

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    I almost said Keiko, but she is a guest star... she does win the award as the most annoying and non supportive life partner EVER in Trek.

    I liked the concept of having a "free" Borg on the Voyager crew, but having that character be a Glamazon just felt forced and pandering.

    Chekov in my mind is the quintessential "expendable" character. He is in so many shows, and movies, but never DOES anything. Even in nuTrek he is just a way for them to do cultural jokes about Russians, oh and people with accents.
     
  16. Vandervecken

    Vandervecken Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    TOS: Nurse Chapel. Painful to watch.
    TNG: Troi. BOR-RING.
    DS9: Sisko, if we can replace him. What a Johnny One-Note actor Avery Brooks was for this part.
    Voy: Neelix!!!!!
    Enterprise: All of Them
    NuTrek: Everyone but Urban. No, on second thought, everyone. And no replacements.
     
  17. T'Girl

    T'Girl Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Is Q enough of a main character (considering how often he was on the show) to be "eliminated."


    F
     
  18. Vandervecken

    Vandervecken Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    You're kidding me! You'd eliminate John de Lancie/Q?!?
     
  19. Sam_I_Am

    Sam_I_Am Captain Captain

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    TOS: Sulu. They did without Chekov for a year so I can't pick him. They needed Scotty to keep the ship together and Uhura because she was really the symbol of diversity in the future... much more than Sulu was.

    TNG: Deanna

    DS9: Bashir

    VGR: Chakotay or Kim

    ENT: I didn't watch it.
     
  20. MacLeod

    MacLeod Admiral Admiral

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    DSN: Dax oh wait a minute they did only to replace with Dax. Many of the technobabble lines could have been given to O'Brien

    ENT: Mayweather. he was main in name only

    TOS: Chekov, Uhuru or Sulu.

    TNG. Wesleey, I didn't hate the character, but he wasa bit of a Mary Sue character.

    VOY: Controversly perhaps, but Chakotay or Kim. Yes the show later seemed to become the Janeway, EMH and Seven of nine show. But characters like Chakotay and Kim were underused.