Kurtzman intentionally killed Legacy?

[Allyn Gibson]

It's the complete reimagination of the character -- and Nimoy's direction to Curtis to not look at Alley's performance -- that leads me to conclude that Nimoy felt Alley's Saavik was somehow misconceived, so when the opportunity presented itself for the production to walk away with Alley's salary demand, he took it because it served his vision. The lack of a counteroffer and an attempt at negotiation, which her agent was surprised by, is also telling.

 

[Mudd]

Screen time devoted to the characters created by the ST II characters, who were intended to move the franchise forward, was time taken away from the other supporting cast.

It would be a shame to think thar Nimoy was too blinkered to see what Alley as Saavik had brought to the previous movie - or to have a "vision" so narrow that he didn't see that he was destroying her character viability along with Buttrick's.

But he was loyal, anyway.

 

[Dukhat]

STIII Saavik could have been a completely different character who coincidentally shares the same name with STII Saavik.

The thing is, the original intent after STII was that Alley’s Saavik and David would star in their own series of TV movies as a romantic couple. When that idea was nixed in favor of STIII, I think that Saavik and David’s core characterizations were changed to fit the script rather than using them as how they were portrayed in the previous film.

 

[Set Harth]

The thing is, the original intent after STII was that Alley’s Saavik and David would star in their own series of TV movies as a romantic couple.

Sounds like a dubious idea.

 

[Steve Roby]

STII's Saavik was an interesting character, not at all a stereotypical Vulcan (whether she was half Romulan or not), someone I would have liked to see more of. But we never did.

 

[Noname Given]

STIII Saavik could have been a completely different character who coincidentally shares the same name with STII Saavik.

That's what they did when they changed Saavik to Valeris in STVI:TUC (The original idea was to actually have the character of Saavik in the film.)

 

[Firebird]

(The original idea was to actually have the character of Saavik in the film.)

At least in the fourth and fifth drafts of the script prior to the shooting script, the character was not the Saavik of the earlier films, but a different character with the same name. There is a revision of the shooting script that makes this Saavik into Spock's daughter, but that was quickly removed during filming.

 

[Maurice]

The thing is, the original intent after STII was that Alley’s Saavik and David would star in their own series of TV movies as a romantic couple.

And what is that based on?

 

[Dukhat]

And what is that based on?

I read it in multiple sources which I don’t remember. If you have differing information I will happily stand corrected.

 

[Tomalak]

I don't know if that was ever an intention per se, but it was probably one possibility.

The Saavik (or Savik) character is in early drafts by various writers as a male Vulcan, so as with Xon before him, there was obviously a notion to replace Spock with a new Vulcan character.

The Saavik/David relationship is present in the scripts, but Meyer cut it all out of the final film. So I doubt there were any serious plans for a spin-off by that point.

Possibly Paramount was kicking around ideas to continue Star Trek as a cheaper TV format following the presumed end of the original cast's run with Star Trek II. But the film's theatrical success and Nimoy's change of heart put an end to that.

 

[TRON JA307020]

I read it in multiple sources which I don’t remember. If you have differing information I will happily stand corrected.

No there never were plans for a Savaik/David Marcus show. There were plans to possibly have Saavik as a crew member on tng. That would have made more sense than a show with the David Marcus and Savvik characters as a romantic couple. Cheers most likely stopped them from adding Kirsties Saavik.

 

[BillJ]

No there never were plans for a Savaik/David Marcus show. There were plans to possibly have Saavik as a crew member on tng. That would have made more sense than a show with the David Marcus and Savvik characters as a romantic couple. Cheers most likely stopped them from adding Kirsties Saavik.

I never before heard that Saavik was to be in TNG.

Any links?

 

[cooleddie74]

Saavik was originally planned to be Captain Morgan Bateson's first officer on the Bozeman in "Cause and Effect(TNG)," but I'm really glad they didn't do that. She would have traveled to and been stuck in the 24th century seven years before the events of TWOK and TSFS.

The plan was to have a bit of a Cheers reunion between Kelsey Grammer and Kirstie Alley, but never got past the idea stage. The in-universe chronology would have been an absolute mess, even by Star Trek time travel standards.

 

[BillJ]

Saavik was originally planned to be Captain Morgan Bateson's first officer on the Bozeman in "Cause and Effect(TNG)," but I'm really glad they didn't do that. She would have traveled to and been stuck in the 24th century seven years before the events of TWOK and TSFS.

The plan was to have a bit of a Cheers reunion between Kelsey Grammer and Kirstie Alley, but never got past the idea stage. The in-universe chronology would have been an absolute mess, even by Star Trek time travel standards.

I’m talking about as a season one character. I thought that was what @TRON JA307020 was talking about.

 

[cooleddie74]

I've never heard about Season 1 plans. Gonna call "nope" on that one unless shown evidence.

 

[TRON JA307020]

I never before heard that Saavik was to be in TNG.

Any links?

Oh yeah. Eddie's right. She was being considered for the cause and effect episode. Who knows it could have opened a larger role.

 

[Turtletrekker]

Saavik was originally planned to be Captain Morgan Bateson's first officer on the Bozeman in "Cause and Effect(TNG)," but I'm really glad they didn't do that. She would have traveled to and been stuck in the 24th century seven years before the events of TWOK and TSFS.

The plan was to have a bit of a Cheers reunion between Kelsey Grammer and Kirstie Alley, but never got past the idea stage. The in-universe chronology would have been an absolute mess, even by Star Trek time travel standards.

If I recall correctly, it was a scheduling issue with Alley?

 

[cooleddie74]

Might have been, yes. Assuming it even got past the "hey, wouldn't this be cool" stage and the pitch.

 

[Firebird]

Who knows it could have opened a larger role.

Extremely doubtful.

 

[TRON JA307020]

Extremely doubtful.

Probably not. But it would have been cool. An older Savvik. Still looking young and beautiful nearly 80 years later in the Enterprise D. Would have been really cool.