Tasha Yar Presents: "Making Good Career Decisions"

[CoveTom]

Keep in mind, too, that at the time everyone was being told that TNG was not going to last. The actors were signed to 5-year contracts because that is a standard in television, but were all told "don't worry, this thing won't make it past the first year." And, at the stage in the game they were when Crosby left, I can understand why she might have thought that.

Plus, as others have pointed out, the writing for her character -was- terrible. She had great potential, but it was never used. When she was used, it was written so badly it was painful, especially the dialogue she was given.

So, yeah, in retrospect it was a bad move for her to leave. And if I were a struggling actor, I'd probably hang on to a steady series gig as long as I could unless there was a -real- good reason to leave. But that's just me. Other actors feel differently. Her character was being badly written and underused, and everyone thought the show wasn't going to last. I can't really blame her for her decision.

[billcosby]

Can't see why she couldn't have waited out the 3 more episodes to finish the season, though. The Neutral Zone wasn't much of a cliffhanger.

[Praetor]

Alrik wrote:

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*cough* Donatra *cough*

Damn. Even I can't deny how hot Dina Meyer is.

[milo bloom]

Longtime fan of Yar, always thought her leaving was a bad idea. I've wondered if they couldn't have made an effort to bring her back to the main timeline when they were trying to get a new semi-permanent bridge officer in the later seasons and Michelle Forbes wouldn't commit to Ro.

Was always impressed they made sure to get her back for All Good Things...


ETA: If TNG ever gets an Abrams style reboot years down the road, I hope they give the Yar character a much better showing. Though of course she'll probably end up like Gary Mitchell did in the new movie.

[billcosby]

Milo Bloom wrote:

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Was always impressed they made sure to get her back for All Good Things...

Agreed, I read somewhere Denise had her hair grown out shoulder length and they'd made a wig for her that looked hideous, so she decided to chop it off so that she wouldn't look horrible forever in syndication!

Milo Bloom wrote:

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ETA: If TNG ever gets an Abrams style reboot years down the road, I hope they give the Yar character a much better showing.

That's a very interesting idea... and I do subscribe to the theory that TNG will eventually get rebooted in our lifetime.

[Doug Otte]

Milo Bloom wrote:

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ETA: If TNG ever gets an Abrams style reboot years down the road, I hope they give the Yar character a much better showing. Though of course she'll probably end up like Gary Mitchell did in the new movie.

"...like Gary Mitchell did in the new movie..." - do you mean "nonexistent"? I don't remember GM being even mentioned in the Nu movie.

Doug

[tharpdevenport]

Doug Otte wrote:

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Roddenberry was upset that she was leaving, so had her character killed to avoid any possibility of her coming back.

Doug

Yeah, that last part worked out real well.


I can't name another TV character, with some thought, that died, but still kept coming back.

[Nick086]

They needed good writers in the first season. I didn't like her character's background. From what I could remember she was raised somewhere where rape gangs and crime ran amoke on some planet. If only the writers in the series could at least given her character a decent personal background and bio.

[CoveTom]

Doug Otte wrote:

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Roddenberry was upset that she was leaving, so had her character killed to avoid any possibility of her coming back.

Are you sure about that? When her character was brought back, it was in the third season, and Roddenberry, though not running the day-to-day operations, was still very much involved in reviewing the scripts and giving his approval. I base that on the fact that Michael Piller did not join the staff until the third season, but talks about the conversations he had with Roddenberry where Roddenberry was unhappy with a particular script and they had to rewrite it.

[Unicron]

Nick086 wrote:

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They needed good writers in the first season. I didn't like her character's background. From what I could remember she was raised somewhere where rape gangs and crime ran amoke on some planet. If only the writers in the series could at least given her character a decent personal background and bio.

It was a failed Federation colony. I didn't mind the unpleasant background so much as (and my memory could be shaky) there never really being a good explanation for why the Feds didn't make a better effort to restore order.

[Doug Otte]

CoveTom wrote:

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Are you sure about that? When her character was brought back, it was in the third season, and Roddenberry, though not running the day-to-day operations, was still very much involved in reviewing the scripts and giving his approval. I base that on the fact that Michael Piller did not join the staff until the third season, but talks about the conversations he had with Roddenberry where Roddenberry was unhappy with a particular script and they had to rewrite it.

Yes; I'm sure about it, but not sure where I read it. Maybe it was in Engel's biography.

However, I can't explain about her reappearance in Yesterday's Enterprise. I think, by that time, Roddenberry was pretty uncommunicative, and so didn't have much input into the show. Any quotes from the cast and crew to the contrary were probably just propaganda for the fans.

Doug

[billcosby]

I don't think there was any bad blood between Denise and Roddenbery. But who knows? I've read pretty bizarre things about Roddenbery... maybe he had a Captain Kirk side with the women?

[Joel_Kirk]

Praetor wrote:

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Damn. Even I can't deny how hot Dina Meyer is.

Yes, Donatra was hot....but could have been more hotter....in a more interesting outfit...

billcosby wrote:

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Agreed, I read somewhere Denise had her hair grown out shoulder length and they'd made a wig for her that looked hideous, so she decided to chop it off so that she wouldn't look horrible forever in syndication!

That's a very interesting idea... and I do subscribe to the theory that TNG will eventually get rebooted in our lifetime.

That should be interesting....

tharpdevenport wrote:

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Yeah, that last part worked out real well.


I can't name another TV character, with some thought, that died, but still kept coming back.

Weyoun....(although, he eventually died 'for reals' )...

I would say Jason Voorhees, but he's a movie character....as is Mike Myers...

[CoveTom]

Doug Otte wrote:

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Any quotes from the cast and crew to the contrary were probably just propaganda for the fans.

Interesting. I never got the impression that Roddenberry was that far "out of the loop" for the third season. And it never seemed as though Michael Piller was one to just make up stories like that out of whole cloth for the purposes of "propaganda."

I remember one specific incident he detailed -- and this was years later, long after TNG that he was discussing it -- where Roddenberry was unhappy with a script. He called Piller in and asked him "what's this script about?" Piller started explaining the plot, and Roddenberry stopped him and explained to him that the script was a fine collection of action and plot twists, but that it wasn't really -about- anything. And Piller said that affected the way he looked at TNG writing from then on.

I always respected Piller as a writer for the fact that he was able to look at the restrictions imposed by Roddenberry's rules and view them as a creative challenge rather than a millstone around the neck, and never once sat around and complained about how tough it was to write for the Trek universe.

[Doug Otte]

CoveTom wrote:

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Interesting. I never got the impression that Roddenberry was that far "out of the loop" for the third season. And it never seemed as though Michael Piller was one to just make up stories like that out of whole cloth for the purposes of "propaganda."

I don't have Engel's book, so I can't look it up. I'll try to pick it up and find the reference.

I do have "The Continuing Mission" which is an "official" ST book, so you won't find much controversy there. However, on p. 119 (regarding the 3rd season), Piller is quoted: "Gene was beginning to go into decline. Not that he was completely uncommunicative, but it was clear that he was not the same man that he had been." I infer from that statement that Roddenberry didn't have much input at that point, or it was sporadic at best. Maybe he just didn't care about Crosby's return by that time.

And, I wouldn't say Piller made up stories. To quote Spock, "It was an exaggeration."

Anyway, I'll have to retract my statement about Roddenberry wanting to kill off Yar out of anger until I can find a reference.

Doug