Spoilers Strange New Worlds General Discussion Thread

[UssGlenn]

Heh, she's seated at the Conn in around fifty episodes and I've never once heard anyone say she needed any character development.

yeah, but she didn't get put in the group publicly photo of the bridge crew, like all the Discovery actors did.

 

[fireproof78]

Would anyone consider Yeoman Rand a developed character in TOS?

 

[cooleddie74]

She wasn't a developed character even by Lt. Kyle standards.

 

[UssGlenn]

Would anyone consider Yeoman Rand a developed character in TOS?

Well, you can only count up to when she left the show, and compared to everyone else at that point she was doing pretty good.

 

[fireproof78]

Well, you can only count up to when she left the show, and compared to everyone else at that point she was doing pretty good.

That didn't answer the question though, not really.

The standard put forward is "developed." Rand was featured in promotional pictures, along with bridge crew. Do we think Rand was developed?

To me this feels like moving goal posts to say that all bridge crew nowadays are to be developed. And I find the line to be nebulous at best.

 

[137th Gebirg]

Methinks the only reason Rand was featured in promo shots back then was that she was nothing more than ornamental eye candy. No development required. Just silently stand there on the bridge in a nightgown and look vulnerable and pretty for the camera. A shame, as she could have been a really interesting character to watch, being the Captain's shadow as a Yeoman. Telling a few "lower decks"-style stories from her POV would have made for some interesting episodes.

Instead, what we got 30-some years later was a very bitter Commander Rand on Voyager that was tantamount to character assassination. At least it felt like it to me, taking her delivery of the lines into account:

RAND: You're not going to have time to drink that, you know. You're due on the bridge in five minutes.
TUVOK: It's not for me. It's for the Captain. I've observed that Captain Sulu drinks a cup of tea each morning. I thought he might enjoy a Vulcan blend.
RAND: Oh, I see. Trying to make Lieutenant in your first month? I wish I'd have thought of that when I was your age. Took me three years just to make Ensign.
TUVOK: I assure you, I have no ulterior motive.
RAND: Whatever you say, Ensign. See you on the bridge.
JANEWAY: You've never brought me tea.

 

[Nerys Myk]

IIRC, Rand was supposed to be a regular on the same level as McCoy. So a step above characters like Sulu and Uhura. They soon figured out the yeoman character was pretty limited.

 

[Nerys Myk]

yeah, but she didn't get put in the group publicly photo of the bridge crew, like all the Discovery actors did.

Most of the ones that came up in search for DISCO1 tended to be this group

 

[137th Gebirg]

IIRC, Rand was supposed to be a regular on the same level as McCoy. So a step above characters like Sulu and Uhura. They soon figured out the yeoman character was pretty limited.

So, according to Teh Wikiz, there are several stories. Story 1:

Grace Lee Whitney was released during the filming of the first season. The official reason given for Whitney's departure from the show was that her character limited romantic possibilities for Captain Kirk.[20] This idea was supported by Whitney, saying: "They didn't want to give the fans the idea [Kirk] was in love with Janice Rand. That would limit him. They wanted him to go out and fool around. So, I was axed."[11]

Story 2:

But the real reason was that the production had financial issues, with the acquisition of new crew members and the increase in popularity of Doctor Leonard McCoy meaning that those salaries needed to come out of the original budget.[21] In Justman and Herb Solow's 1996 book Inside Star Trek, they stated that following a discussion between Roddenberry, Solow and Bernie Weitzman in which they discussed her contract, they decided to terminate it because of Whitney's limited appearances and the financial issues that the series was having.[20]

Story 3:

Roddenberry told Whitney that he did not want to lose Rand as he wanted her relationship with Kirk to continue.[26] In a memo to Gene Coon on October 27, 1966, Roddenberry suggested bringing Whitney back as Rand, albeit with a different hairstyle similar to the way she wore it in Police Story as this "made her look much younger and softer",[24] but she was never invited back to the series.[26]

But then, it appears we have yet another casualty of one of Roddenberry's infamous pissing contests, which he, of course, won. Story 4:

In Solow and Justman's book, there was also a reference to a "rift" between Whitney and Roddenberry that occurred just prior to her departure and was expected to ensure that she never returned to the series.[30]

My guess? She probably refused to put out for him. Quickest way for a woman to get shitcanned by her male boss back in the 60's.

TOS really seemed like a damn dark show to work on behind the scenes, with much of the ambient toxicity emanating from The Great Bird himself.

 

[UssGlenn]

Most of the ones that came up in search for DISCO1 tended to be this group

I was thinking of this one from the end of season1

 

[cooleddie74]

Bryce and Rhys got some development later on but nowhere near as much as Owo and Detmer would.

 

[Nerys Myk]

I was thinking of this one from the end of season1

That's the only one I found and it doesn't seem to be a PR shot.

 

[Campe]

I vaguely recall this coming from social media originally. But that was almost six years ago so my memory might be failing me. On top of that, the fact that there are wires at the bottom doesn’t make it seem exactly official. While it’s not impossible, it would seem like a professional photographer would take more care to remove all of that from the shot.

 

[137th Gebirg]

Here's the new one for the final season. They added Callum Keith Rennie as a rival Captain. The cast looks pretty good here, although I still viscerally hate those fussy little asymmetrical uniforms that DSC loves so damned much.

 

[Nerys Myk]

I vaguely recall this coming from social media originally. But that was almost six years ago so my memory might be failing me. On top of that, the fact that there are wires at the bottom doesn’t make it seem exactly official. While it’s not impossible, it would seem like a professional photographer would take more care to remove all of that from the shot.

The wood panel wall also. They usually shoot those things on one of the sets.

 

[The Wormhole]

I was thinking of this one from the end of season1

That was just a photo taken between takes while the finale was filmed which multiple websites have since treated as an official photo for some reason. You'll note the actual PR shots for the seasons like the ones for Seasons 1 and 5 in this thread or the one by the flag pole for season 3 never include the bridge crew. Because they're not main characters. Seriously how does everyone keep missing that key detail about Disco's bridge crew?

 

[Campe]

Tradition?

Seriously, because people just need to have something to complain about.

 

[137th Gebirg]

So… Trekkeeezzz!!

 

[cooleddie74]

Complaining has kept this board alive for nearly a quarter of a century. We put the "BS" in TrekBBS.

 

[Campe]

Complaining has kept this board alive for nearly a quarter of a century. We put the "BS" in TrekBBS.

Accurate.