Which "main" character could have been eliminated?

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

  1. Lance

    Lance Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Interesting thing about eliminating Yar: the bizarre thing I found last time I watched thru season one of TNG that I hadn't ever noticed before is how completely inessential she was. I think it must be because she was conceived as something special, but when Justman and Berman started pushing Gene to include a Klingon marine character, Yar's usefulness to scripts effectively ceased, because everything you might reasonably expect Yar to do could be done better by Worf. This is never more overtly pronounced than in Hide & Q, where Q eliminates Yar from the game without her even being able to get off a shot at him, and for the rest of the episode the role she might reasonably have been expected to play down on the planet is instead taken... by Worf.

    Tasha Yar was basically made irrelevant from the start. Without Worf there, she would've been functional... but the series just wasn't big enough to sustain the both of them together.
     
  2. malfourmed

    malfourmed Ensign Newbie

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    By that definition...

    TOS: McCoy (other than Shatner, Nimoy and Kelley, nobody else was credited as a regular)
    TNG: Wesley
    DS9: Jake
    VOY: Kim
    ENT: Mayweather

    So, excluding TOS as a special case (only three credited leads), you can safely get rid of kids and ensigns and not damage the show...
     
  3. T'Girl

    T'Girl Vice Admiral Admiral

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    And you wouldn't have been able to rid the show of Kelley untik the second season, because iirc he wasn't in the opening credits in season one.

    Spock Must Die.

    Much of what she did standing behind the horseshoe could have been carried out by an extra in most episodes.

    My big problem with Yar is that I could never buy someone of Crosby's physical build as a officer who (apparently) was career security. Think about female police officers and marines that you've seen.

    Crosby was a stick.

    Her eventual replacement by Worf was almost a given from the start, Worf the Klingon warrior was originally conceived as a somewhat low level character, but he grabbed the fans interest, and while not at Stewart's skill level, Dorn's acting abilities fair exceeded Crosby's.

    Without the presence of Dorn, Crosby might have stayed and grew, she later became a good average actress in other roles, and that might have happen on Trek too. If she stayed.

    :)
     
  4. { Emilia }

    { Emilia } Cute but deadly Moderator

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    TOS: I respect that they had a black woman on the bridge but they might have as well replaced her with somebody who actually had some character development.
    TNG: Tasha Yar was really useless and the acting was poor. They should've just randomly killed her off at the hands of some bizarre monster. Oh...
    DS9: I have many issues with DS9 but I think all the main characters were central to the series. Oh wait, they simply shouldn't have added Ezri. That was a waste of screen time for the final season.
    Voy: Harry Kim.
    Enterprise: Mayweather.
     
  5. Sindatur

    Sindatur The Gray Owl Wizard Admiral

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    Surprised to see so many Jake votes for DS9.

    Is that just because you believe everyone else was so awesome, and someone needs to thrown under the bus, or did folks actually have a problem with Jake?
     
  6. { Emilia }

    { Emilia } Cute but deadly Moderator

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    I think people remember that he had little to do for much of the second half of the series. Personally I think he provided a much-needed background for Ben Sisko. And I really liked the fact that he prefered being a journalist/writer over joining Starfleet. It added something to the ST universe.
     
  7. T'Girl

    T'Girl Vice Admiral Admiral

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    I loved the father son relationship Ben and Jake had.



    :)
     
  8. TheGoodStuff

    TheGoodStuff Captain Captain

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    TOS: Uhura, Chekov, Scotty and Sulu [glorified extras anyway]
    TNG: Yar. Definitely Yar.
    DS9: Ezri. Jadzia was awesome.
    VOY: Kes. Seven was leagues better.
    ENT: Mayweather. [Glorified extra]
     
  9. The Old Mixer

    The Old Mixer Mih ssim, mih ssim, nam, daed si Xim. Moderator

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    Isn't it a bit against the intent to vote for Tasha or Kes? They were eliminated, too easy.

    TOS--Technically, only Kirk, Spock, and McCoy qualify...the rest were end-credits recurring characters. So I'd definitely have to abstain!

    TNG--Troi...Generally annoying, and her power only worked when they didn't need it.

    DS9--Jake...you can argue that he was essential to Ben's character, but he proved to be a waste of a main-credits character...he could just as easily have been a recurring character.

    VGR--So many to choose from...but probably Chuckles. I could have done without Seven entirely, though...if VGR had been canceled early, would that have been a terrible thing? It would have been putting Berman-era Trek out of its misery sooner.

    ENT--Mayweather conceptually had potential if they'd cast him with a stronger actor and used him more. I'll say Archer. I agree that Trip would have made a more interesting inexperienced captain character, and a better precursor to Kirk. The buddy character/engineer could have been a cooler-headed mentor figure. Honorable mention to Reed for being the Whiniest Security Officer Ever.
     
  10. Thestral

    Thestral Vice Admiral Admiral

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    To actually answer the OP;

    TOS - Either Chekov or Uhura, so go with Pavel.
    TNG - Wesley... oh wait. Tasha... oh wait.
    DS9 - Really none of them. Or demote Jake to recurring, I like that as a cheat.
    VOY - Harry. And Chakotay to make up for DS9? :devil:
    ENT - Travis.
     
  11. Danny99

    Danny99 Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Jake would've been fine if he was written so poorly in later seasons. The only time I found him tolerable was during the Dominion in control of DS9 when he was given something to do. Then you get episodes like Valiant, where he walks around pouting the entire episode.
     
  12. JiNX-01

    JiNX-01 Admiral Admiral

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    TOS: Chekov
    TNG: Wesley
    DS9: Worf (it's not that I dislike him, but he had a pretty good run on TNG)
    VOY: Harry
    ENT: Hoshi
     
  13. { Emilia }

    { Emilia } Cute but deadly Moderator

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    Nor the Battle to the Strong was a good episode. I don't think you're being fair.
     
  14. 2takesfrakes

    2takesfrakes Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    TOS: Uhura
    TNG: Barclay
    DS9: Worf
    VOY: Kim
    ENT: Phlox