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RIP Grace Lee Whitney

Well,there are lots of stories about why her character was cut, but the reality was problem several things, starting with money.

Yep. She had been signed to a 13-week contract, but the writers had been unable to feature her in every episode. She used to say how her two least favourite episodes were "Dagger of the Mind" (in which a meaty part for Rand had been given to Helen Noel in a rewrite) and "The Galileo Seven" (the 14th episode, in which Rand was suddenly... Yeoman Mears).

Uhura was a "day-player". Much cheaper!

Whitney had a contract to appear in 7 out of 13 episodes. She was never planned to appear in all 13.
 
Well,there are lots of stories about why her character was cut, but the reality was problem several things, starting with money.

Yep. She had been signed to a 13-week contract, but the writers had been unable to feature her in every episode. She used to say how her two least favourite episodes were "Dagger of the Mind" (in which a meaty part for Rand had been given to Helen Noel in a rewrite) and "The Galileo Seven" (the 14th episode, in which Rand was suddenly... Yeoman Mears).

Uhura was a "day-player". Much cheaper!

Whitney had a contract to appear in 7 out of 13 episodes. She was never planned to appear in all 13.

Some of her appearances were little more than cameos. We have her brief establishing episode in the Balance of Terror, a decent character piece in the Man Trap, Charlie X, and the Enemy Within, plus a large role in Miri, where she is annoyingly passive. I do love Helen Noel but what a Rand episode that would have been.
 
And in "The Corbomite Maneuver" she's basically just somebody to deliver Kirk's lunch and coffee and then be held close to him when they all believe they may be about to die at the hands of Balok. She has just a few lines in the entire episode and is nothing but background filler with a service tray.
 
And in "The Corbomite Maneuver" she's basically just somebody to deliver Kirk's lunch and coffee and then be held close to him when they all believe they may be about to die at the hands of Balok. She has just a few lines in the entire episode and is nothing but background filler with a service tray.

Yeah but if I had the technical skill I would go through seasons two and three to edit out all those coffee-toting wannabes and replace them with our glorious beehived goddess. We need a kickstarter project.
 
CBS/Paramount: get to work on this. You're obviously not doing much else of value outside the Trek franchise at the moment.
 
Reminds me of dubbing in Hayden Christensen in place of Sabastian Shaw at the end of Return of the Jedi. (Gag me).

Poor Shaw only gets so much face time in that movie, and Lucas stomps all over part of it.

Now you guys want to remove the only face time these poor coffee fetchers got. Oh, the humanity!
 
Majel was actually in three first season episodes! Naked Time, What Are Little Girls Made of and Operation Annihilate!
JB
 
Majel was actually in three first season episodes! Naked Time, What Are Little Girls Made of and Operation Annihilate!
JB

True! But I left that out as I think she was in it as a day player, not a guest star. :bolian:

Reminds me of dubbing in Hayden Christensen in place of Sabastian Shaw at the end of Return of the Jedi. (Gag me).

Poor Shaw only gets so much face time in that movie, and Lucas stomps all over part of it.

Now you guys want to remove the only face time these poor coffee fetchers got. Oh, the humanity!

If they wanted to be worthy of my respect, they should have worn better wigs.

I thought adding Hayden to SWVI was pointless but it pales in comparison to revealing Darth Vader's identity in SWIII and Greedo shooting first...
 
I thought adding Hayden to SWVI was pointless but it pales in comparison to revealing Darth Vader's identity in SWIII and Greedo shooting first...

But that was the main point of the Prequel Trilogy, though. By the end of Episode III you were going to learn how Anakin Skywalker fell to the Dark Side and became Darth Vader. That's not a bad thing at all. Now: how George executed the backstory and the transformation of Anakin into Vader? That's a fair debate.

Agreed on the Greedo thing, though. Dumbest and most nonsensical CGI change to any older movie - ever.
 
I thought adding Hayden to SWVI was pointless but it pales in comparison to revealing Darth Vader's identity in SWIII and Greedo shooting first...

But that was the main point of the Prequel Trilogy, though. By the end of Episode III you were going to learn how Anakin Skywalker fell to the Dark Side and became Darth Vader. That's not a bad thing at all. Now: how George executed the backstory and the transformation of Anakin into Vader? That's a fair debate.

Agreed on the Greedo thing, though. Dumbest and most nonsensical CGI change to any older movie - ever.

I like the back-story. I just can't see the point of spending the last half an hour spelling out stuff that will be revealed far more organically in the next trilogy (and in fact contradicting some of it). Leave Anakin burning on the volcano, presumed dead and move on. Why does Padme have to give birth there and then, let alone naming the children before inexplicably dying. Let the the brief glimpse of Vader sans helmet in ESB gives smart kids a clue to his identity before the reveal at the end. Leave the twin a secret. Don't ruin the surprises for first time watchers. Very irritating.

However, I genuinely feel that editing Janice into seasons 2 and 3 would be a worthwhile addition to TOS.
 
Majel was actually in three first season episodes! Naked Time, What Are Little Girls Made of and Operation Annihilate!
JB

True! But I left that out as I think she was in it as a day player, not a guest star. :bolian:

Reminds me of dubbing in Hayden Christensen in place of Sabastian Shaw at the end of Return of the Jedi. (Gag me).

Poor Shaw only gets so much face time in that movie, and Lucas stomps all over part of it.

Now you guys want to remove the only face time these poor coffee fetchers got. Oh, the humanity!

If they wanted to be worthy of my respect, they should have worn better wigs.

:lol:

I thought adding Hayden to SWVI was pointless but it pales in comparison to revealing Darth Vader's identity in SWIII and Greedo shooting first...

Greedo....shooting....first.....

:scream::scream::scream:

Lucas: Brilliant in some ways, idiot in others
 
I thought adding Hayden to SWVI was pointless but it pales in comparison to revealing Darth Vader's identity in SWIII and Greedo shooting first...

Greedo....shooting....first.....

:scream::scream::scream:

Lucas: Brilliant in some ways, idiot in others

Exactly. As bad as if in TMP as if the voice from Starfleet said, "We have them Enterprise, they're fine. Commander Sonak says he's decided not to join your crew after all though. Nobody told him the chicks aren't wearing mini skirts any more."
 
Thank you Grace Lee Whitney for much more than the many hours of entertainment you provided us fans; but for the role you will forever play in our hearts, minds and imaginations, and in our best and brightest human aspirations. Rest in the heavens where you have earned your eternal place of honor, Grace Lee Whitney.
 
Guys... the subject is the late great Grace Lee, not effing Star Wars or jokes about Sonak.

Sorry! But I always liked that Grace (and Rand) appeared quite mischievous. I don't like to dwell on the sad part. :)
 
First Leonard, and now her (in addition to Arlene Martell last year.) Sad to see some prime people of the TOS cast go to the great beyond.

R.I.P. Gracie.
 
Majel was actually in three first season episodes! Naked Time, What Are Little Girls Made of and Operation Annihilate!
JB

True! But I left that out as I think she was in it as a day player, not a guest star. :bolian:

I'm not sure what distinction you're making here.

Majel Barrett was paid $750 for three days of work in "Operation -- Annihilate!" This was the exact same deal she received for "The Naked Time." For her larger role in "What Are Little Girls Made Of?", Barrett received $1,250 for seven days of work.

A quick Google search provides this definition of a "day player."

In television, the term day player is used to refer to most performers with supporting speaking roles hired on a daily basis without long-term contracts.

With the exception of her work on the first pilot (after which her option was not picked up), Barrett never had a long-term contract of any kind on the original series. She was always a day player as I understand the term.

And in "The Corbomite Maneuver" she's basically just somebody to deliver Kirk's lunch and coffee and then be held close to him when they all believe they may be about to die at the hands of Balok. She has just a few lines in the entire episode and is nothing but background filler with a service tray.

Yeah but if I had the technical skill I would go through seasons two and three to edit out all those coffee-toting wannabes and replace them with our glorious beehived goddess. We need a kickstarter project.

The writers really didn't know what to do with the Yeoman role, which is one of the reasons Whitney was let go (she was being paid for days she wasn't working, because they couldn't come up with enough material -- "glorified cameos," as you put it -- but had to pay her nonetheless, per the terms of her contract). Once Rand disappeared, the yeoman role basically evaporated from the series, no?
 
The yeoman role became the role of that person was handing Kirk something to sign while he's talking to someone else on the bridge.
 
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