It wouldn't have been that hard to keep track of 150 or so people and if one died, just indicate it on the sheet that had died. As for what TOS did, VOY was made in the 1990's not the 1960's. Shows like DSN and B5 whilst maybe not trailblazers were part of the shift that was happening towards more serialised shows. VOY leaned more towards episodic, swimming aginst the tide so to speak. TOS only had 3 main cast members, VOY had what 7/8?
Long ago, there was a site that I used to use for reference which kept track of the lowerdecks crewmen. It's gone now, but the tally at the top of the page by the end of season 7 was something like 92 crewmen Named... 50 living in obscurity! One of the hilarious things was that the writers couldn't keep track of genders, so that twice, there's this NPC off camera crewman they talk about whose gender is variable. The website explained it away that of course these persons of exactly the same rank with exactly the same names where nudoubtedly different people, and possibly siblings and there's an out side chance that they're all twins. Which if you count that Vorrik and Taurik are also twins... Does Janeway have a fetish for twins she made manifest when putting this crew together?
The premise may have already been difficult to deal with as Trek shows usually involve communicating with Star Fleet while dealing with various groups.
I mean writing down all those names, giving each one a specific duty and position, etc. And then going by the show's "We can't survive if anyone dies" thing, that means they can't kill anyone without violating the premise since they'd never be able to get a replacement (including getting alien help). They were too hamstrung by the constrained premise. So if it'd been clear that VOY would only have 3 main character, would anyone have complained as much?
By the end it was very clear that Voyager only had three leads. Seven, the Doctor and... Why exactly did Mulgrew get top billing and paid more than the rest?
I disagree they weren't hamstrung by the premise, loss of crew over the years would have had an impact on everyone. Aside from the Pschological impact, what about the physical. Those duty shifts that the crew who had been lost would have to covered, so people would have to do longer etc... There was plenty they could have done, I think rather than being hamstrung by the the premise they failed to embrace the premise and all the problems that would come with it.
I was talking about the actress, not the character. No slight against the woman, but if the writers are not writing scripts for her then she is not leading and therefore not the lead. In the beginning sure she was the lead, but post Ryan?
But Picard's presence was consistent, Worf got brought up from the minors, Yar was benched, they switched in and out the chief medic, and then in and out again, and misplaced that Weasel kid, and no matter what the ensemble cast remained around about even, even though Levar was the Celebrity with the massive star appeal. Jeri displaced the waters titanically, cutting into everyone's air time with out mercy like a parasite with an eating disorder. What I am saying is that Jeri did all the work, and Kate got a scooch more dosh than she should have because the paradigm shifted when she wasn't looking. Question: Did Jeri Ryan get paid more than Kate Mulgrew?
How much DID they all get paid? According to Wang it was something really insulting. I bet he wishes he was on that insulting wage right now though. And yes, Jeri "displaced titanically" or as her detractors would say tit-tantically but god it was great stuff to watch them all drowning under her powers. Especially Janeway.
Jeri earned what she got and deserved it, but Voyager was a finite ecosystem, and someone was going hungry.
Do you really think they paid Lien and Ryan the same amount of money considering they planned on making Ryan work about 10 times harder? If they did, if Lien got paid Jeri Ryan money to say two or three lines most episodes, that tiny child was an evil sexy genius. Double at least, surely? Besides I was stressing lines/time being more intensive than money paid for said work. Remember, it doesn't matter what they do in an episode of Voyager, the cast always gets paid the same, even if all they do is walk through the background and cough audibly. Jeri was taking scripts and air time on screen from the rest.
Oh right, screen time. Yes many complain that everyone else "went hungry" as far as that goes once 7 showed up. As to money, I have no idea why Ryan was worth more than Lien at the start of their roles.
"Hi, Jennifer, you're going to a get a minimum of 4 or five lines per script, with a guarantee of 2 scripts per year that will focus squarely on your shoulders which you will be expected to carry. For this we'll pay you 18 grand an episode or you can file for unemployment. Are we good?" Vs. "Hello Jeri. We want you to be responsible for half the dialogue in every script, especially the ones which are focussing on the little people I can't seem to fire, and if you're not busy, we think that 15, no 16 episodes a season should spotlight your character and her search for humanity, and if that uncomfortable sock we have you wearing maintains the illusion of nudity, I'm sure that your parents and children will not be embarrassed, bunches up just work through the pain... We were thinking about giving you 18 grand an episode? Oh. And you have to sleep with Brannon too. If you'd just initial your contract here, here and here. Thank you."
When they signed Lien up did they know she would have so little to do? Did they have it all planned out who would have more episodes focused on them?
I haven't read the bible, but I once held it my hands and thought, no this isn't worth ten dollars, but the producers must have decided on the division of labour before they started casting, with each producer screaming and baying that their pet character would be the break out star... Kes was the Dark Horse. Stupid morons thought that we'd all be clambering for Neelix Lunch boxes early on.