What happened to Jennifer Lien?

[Guy Gardener]

Would you have been okay with the original plan to replace Wang with Ryan?

Jeri wasn't in People Poll that year, so the zeitgeist had already established that he was hotter than she was,

[Infern0]

Guy Gardener wrote:

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Would you have been okay with the original plan to replace Wang with Ryan?

Jeri wasn't in People Poll that year, so the zeitgeist had already established that he was hotter than she was,

I never really minded Wang all that much, I just think he got the shaft with rubbish storylines and character development.

but yeah, I think Lien's character had more to offer than his on a number of levels.

[Guy Gardener]

People don't talk about it, but Kathryn was in a coma too, which means that Mulgrew between Scorpions must have been dancing around the axe too.

Unless they were just lulling Wang into a false of security before they bushwhacked him?

"Of course you're coming back next year Garret, it's Kate who should mind her step."

[Infern0]

Guy Gardener wrote:

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People don't talk about it, but Kathryn was in a coma too, which means that Mulgrew between Scorpions must have been dancing around the axe too.

Unless they were just lulling Wang into a false of security before they bushwhacked him?

"Of course you're coming back next year Garret, it's Kate who should mind her step."

To be honest they could have iced anyone and I don't think it'd have been a huge loss.

I suppose Picardo and McNeill were the most charismatic, but other than those two nobody would have been that big a loss.

[USS Firefly]

Too bad that they didn't let Mulgrew go.
Would be interesting to see Chakotay as captain, and fire up tentions between Starfleet an the maquis.

[Deckerd]

USS Firefly wrote:

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Too bad that they didn't let Mulgrew go.
Would be interesting to see Chakotay as captain, and fire up tentions between Starfleet an the maquis.

Was she really likely to go or are you just playing along with Guy's fancifulness?

[Takeru]

DeepSpaceWine wrote:

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If they got rid of Wang, I'm not sure who they planned to be an Ops. Random yellowshirt?

The obvious choice would have been Seven.
They should have gotten rid of Neelix, even if the mess hall was a central set, was it really necessary to have a cook present? Even the answer is yes, grab a random extra that would otherwise sit at a table and have him stand behind some pots.

USS Firefly wrote:

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Too bad that they didn't let Mulgrew go.
Would be interesting to see Chakotay as captain, and fire up tentions between Starfleet an the maquis.

If they had gotten rid of Janeway, wouldn't Tuvok become Captain? Chakotay just had a provisional rank, he should not be able to succeed Janeway on a federation ship, the real officers should always come first.

[Guy Gardener]

Captain Chakotay in Before and After had pips. With her dying breath Janeway must have promoted him to a real officer.... No one knew/remembered about the provisional ranks and Chakotay was expected to take over in Scorpion which is why Janeway gave the Indian that little leadership speach.

Mulgrew was being difficult much later and they threatend to replace her with John Savage. Am I to beleive that she had in her life only ever been difficult once?

[Melakon]

USS Firefly wrote:

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Too bad that they didn't let Mulgrew go.

Voyager came at a good time for Kate. She was almost 40, a single mother with 2 kids, and on verge of losing her house. She proved she had the acting chops for the role, it just took the writers too long to nail down Janeway's personality.

[lurok]

Don't you mean multiple personalities?

[R. Star]

lurok wrote:

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Don't you mean multiple personalities?

I'm highly critical of the.... insanity... Janeway demonstrated at times, but that wasn't anything on Mulgrew... the writer just couldn't decide if they wanted a morally preachy captain or a "I don't give a shit" captain, so they alternated regularly.

[Lonemagpie]

R. Star wrote:

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I'm highly critical of the.... insanity... Janeway demonstrated at times, but that wasn't anything on Mulgrew... the writer just couldn't decide if they wanted a morally preachy captain or a "I don't give a shit" captain, so they alternated regularly.

It's interesting but probably unintentional that insane Janeway became prevalent after she'd learned that Mark got hitched to someone else and didn't wait for her...

[CorporalClegg]

Mulgrew was great given the material she had to work with.

I know people laud Stewart for his ability to turn shit into gold, but I think she could be just as good an alchemist.

I also think most people involved knew ditching Lien over Wang was a mistake and was most likely a studio decision. I have to think Berman had more sense than that.

[Lynx]

DeepSpaceWine wrote:

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This is a rather touchy topic given she has been in the news of late.

From what I heard, the show got rid of her because Paramount/UPN weren't willing to expand the budget (I presume they did a little, assuming Ryan was paid more than Lien), so someone had to go. First it was Wang, but a certain magazine saved his hide, so next up was Lien. Really, the only other potential fodder would be Neelix, and given how central the mess hall is (ship cafeteria) to scenes, it was unlikely he could be cut. Kes was just second fiddle in Sickbay and the cargo bay set was being replaced with Seven's Borgified cargo bay. If they got rid of Wang, I'm not sure who they planned to be an Ops. Random yellowshirt? There's no conspiracy, just new castmember + hard cap on the number of castmembers. And evidently it wasn't handled like DS9, where they could load up on supporting characters, some of whom appeared more than billed actors (i.e. Lofton).

As for her change, she was a minor actor who was out of the limelight for many years. For a lot of actors, one show is their only time in the spotlight and after that, they go back to obscurity. Look at Gabrielle from Xena for example (Renee O'Connor). Sidekick in every (?) episode of the top syndicated series for several years. And after that? Look at some of the movies she was in. Didn't star in much tv since. Even a show like Voyager, highest-rated show on UPN every show it was on (behind Smackdown, which I guess qualifies as a scripted show) didn't exactly send its cast onto great success (only Jeri Ryan seems to have continued her career, at least onto 2 series in the '00s). Heck, a lot of main actors disappear. The guy in Pretender? The guy in Highlander? How about some of the cast of Buffy, Angel, and Dawson's Creek, though WB was better at churning out actors able to get more gigs (Geller, Hannigan, Boreanz or however its spelled, Holmes). If you look closely, you'll notice a lot of castmembers of shows just fade away into the background.

Oh, they did load up with supporting characters on Voyager too. We had to stand characters like Vorik, Naomi and Icheb and they became more than just supporting characters. No problem with money when it came to them.

Funny that you did mention Gabrielle which is another favorite of mine. In fact, Renee O'Connor is one of the very few actors I could imagine in the role as Kes if the character was brought back in some way in a future movie or series if Lien wouldn't or couldn't participate.

Renee O'Connor seems to be doing well after all even if she isn't in the spotlight in the same way as before. She's been involved in a lot of movie work lately.

As for the Voyager actors, it's only Ryan who have had anything like a career after Voyager. Picardo and Mulgrew show up from time to time in some series or show but where are the others?

I guess that it's more difficult for actors on TV shows to keep up the work with different roles than it is for movie actors. TV shows often lasts for years and years and the actors "become" the characters. Look at Ed O'Neill and Larry Hagman. Can anyone think of anything but Al Bundy and J.R. Ewing wjhen they show up on screen. Not to mention many of our dear Star Trek favorites.

[teacake]

USS Firefly wrote:

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Too bad that they didn't let Mulgrew go.
Would be interesting to see Chakotay as captain, and fire up tentions between Starfleet an the maquis.

I know! Such depth of emotion and conflict should have been showcased!

Just check out how he reacts to Seska's betrayal in this video, it's a crime we never saw this man at the helm.