DS9 Fans: The Bane of Our Very Existence - Part 9,782
- Thread starter Thestral
- Start date
So if she is contracted to do half the workload over a season, a decision made by the producers at the start of the season before the contract is signed, they couldn't negotiate a fairer deal? Because I was not suggesting that the casting directors are paid by commission, I was saying that if she is being asked to do half the work then it is only natural that she should receive a pay cut, just like every other job on the planet.
Fair enough, I was just pointing out that I was under no illusions that the Voyager cast was on crazy money.
If your eyeballs can take it then please point out as many errors as you can find.
I prefer to be right rather than win through falsehoods.The contracts that regular actors seem to have had on Voyager meant that actors could be dropped if the producers wished to do so, which is exactly what happened to Jennifer Lien. They needed to free up money so they could afford to pay for Jeri Ryan, so they decided to axe somebody else, first it was going to be Wang but then they settled on Lien. Basically, what I was proposing actually seemed to have happened before, so it doesn't seem like the actor's contracts would have been a big deal, especially since Beltran supposedly wanted out but had to stay on because of his contract.
ETA: I looked into it a little more, it seems like all the actors (except Mulgrew) had three-year contracts and were up for renegotiation at the beginning of season 4 and their new contracts lasted for the final four years. That's how they got rid of Lien. Beltran agreed to the new contract then because the Chakotay character was still worthwhile at that point, he began to complain about the show and supposedly wanted out during the later seasons when his character wasn't up to much.
Last edited:
Why didn´t they cancel the show long before season seven then? Surely, about a hundred episodes would have been enough for syndicated reruns.
Actually, DS9 seemed to be renewed on a yearly basis just like TNG, there was no seven year deal and it takes exceptional circumstances for a show to have several seasons ordered in advance, such as Lost. If you read the chat-logs Ron Moore used to do back during the later seasons of DS9, he was constantly pointing out that the seventh season was unconfirmed right up until he broke the story that it had been renewed. Check it out: http://www.trekweb.com/RonDMoore/
That's not how the actors tell it.
I've heard Rene & Armin say that they(the cast) had a 6 year contract with the series and were asked to resign for s7. That's why Ferrell could opt out without breaking contract.
So what Moore says about the s7 is true but I question the facts about ordering seasons in advance. That's not my understanding of a show like DS9.
That's not how the actors tell it.
I've heard Rene & Armin say that they(the cast) had a 6 year contract with the series and were asked to resign for s7. That's why Ferrell could opt out without breaking contract.
So what Moore says about the s7 is true but I question the facts about ordering seasons in advance. That's not my understanding of a show like DS9.
Hmm... but why would you order six years of a program ahead of schedule with no guarantee of any success? What if it had been a total flop? Could there have been a possibility that they had the actors on 6-year "option" so to speak, where assuming the show was renewed their contract would still be in effect?
That's just how the business works sometimes. Actors, producers, etc know going in that just because they sign a 6 or however many year contract that nothing is guaranteed. However with the overwhelming success of TNG, they felt secure that they could have such a contract.That's not how the actors tell it.
I've heard Rene & Armin say that they(the cast) had a 6 year contract with the series and were asked to resign for s7. That's why Ferrell could opt out without breaking contract.
So what Moore says about the s7 is true but I question the facts about ordering seasons in advance. That's not my understanding of a show like DS9.
Hmm... but why would you order six years of a program ahead of schedule with no guarantee of any success? What if it had been a total flop? Could there have been a possibility that they had the actors on 6-year "option" so to speak, where assuming the show was renewed their contract would still be in effect?
Still if the show flops, that's why actors have agents to find them more work. "Entourage" maybe a TV show but Ari's job is pretty much how it works.
Nana Visitor said that she really enjoy working for 7 straight years because that's often very rare and as an actor you never know how long you'll work on a job for. So to have steady work as long as she did was a great gift.
A perfect example is TOS. While I'm not aware what type of contract they signed, the opening of the show states a "5 year" mission. So we can assume it was meant to run 5 years at least but it didn't. So the actors moved on to other work, if they could get it. So when folks say, these actor made great money, they only had 7 years to do it. After that, they're as hungry as the rest of us because they have no idea if they'll be working again. Plus the cash they made isn't shit considering the cost of living in L.A.
Last edited:
Looks like, in fact, DS9 didn't have a six-year order starting out. That is good points about acting and such, exodus, but apparently not applicable here?
Tying the actors into a six-year contract makes some sense if you think about it. At that point TNG was on the air for 6 years and they supposedly had trouble with Stewart and Spiner's contracts when they were up for renewal at the end of season 3. The producers clearly wanted to avoid that sort of thing happening on DS9, and they failed miserably in the Farrell situation because they decided to push on for the seventh season just like TNG.That's not how the actors tell it.
I've heard Rene & Armin say that they(the cast) had a 6 year contract with the series and were asked to resign for s7. That's why Ferrell could opt out without breaking contract.
Many successful shows get several seasons ordered in advance, Scrubs seasons 4 & 5 were ordered after the success of season 3, and ABC took the risk of ordering Lost seasons 4-6 at the end of season 3. But I've never heard of a situation where six seasons were ordered in advance, especially before the first episode even aired, that seems very unlikely.
DS9's renewal each season was rarely in doubt (even though it was constantly losing viewers) because it was profitable and still the #1 first-run syndicated show in the US, so there was no reason not to renew it every year. The reason why there was more doubt about season 7 is because of the actor's contracts running out so there was worries that many of the cast might have been looking for "unreasonable" money (as is rumoured with Terry Farrell), and some of the cast may have decided to leave the show for personal reasons (Avery Brooks famously wanted to leave the show since the very first season).
Didn't the commissioners of Farscape announce seasons 4 and 5 and then changed their minds? It makes sense to secure actors for as long as you might need them. On the other hand I seem to remember that Straczynski had wrapped his B5 story when he was suddenly given another season. That must have caused a bit of soul searching.
Exactly!Tying the actors into a six-year contract makes some sense if you think about it. At that point TNG was on the air for 6 years and they supposedly had trouble with Stewart and Spiner's contracts when they were up for renewal at the end of season 3. The producers clearly wanted to avoid that sort of thing happening on DS9, and they failed miserably in the Farrell situation because they decided to push on for the seventh season just like TNG.That's not how the actors tell it.
I've heard Rene & Armin say that they(the cast) had a 6 year contract with the series and were asked to resign for s7. That's why Ferrell could opt out without breaking contract.
Many successful shows get several seasons ordered in advance, Scrubs seasons 4 & 5 were ordered after the success of season 3, and ABC took the risk of ordering Lost seasons 4-6 at the end of season 3. But I've never heard of a situation where six seasons were ordered in advance, especially before the first episode even aired, that seems very unlikely.
DS9's renewal each season was rarely in doubt (even though it was constantly losing viewers) because it was profitable and still the #1 first-run syndicated show in the US, so there was no reason not to renew it every year. The reason why there was more doubt about season 7 is because of the actor's contracts running out so there was worries that many of the cast might have been looking for "unreasonable" money (as is rumoured with Terry Farrell), and some of the cast may have decided to leave the show for personal reasons (Avery Brooks famously wanted to leave the show since the very first season).
However, DS9 was loosing viewers compared to how many TNG pulled in. While it's was loosing it audience, it was still was pulling in strong numbers in it's time slot.
I'm not sure about the reports of Avery Brooks. The media seems to paint him as a very uptight person but upon meeting him in person he tells a very different story and says he didn't want to leave as is reported. He says he was asking for a more open door policy so he and his co-workers could still do DS9 as well as other acting projects.
Unfortunately, I never had the pleasure of meeting Avery Brooks in person, I was just repeating something he said on the season 7 special features. Here's what he said in the interview (November 2002):
ETA: That's not to say that he didn't like the show, in the rest of that interview he spoke very fondly of the show, his character and the production team. But there probably was doubts at the time whether or not he would sign on for the final year.
Gods, I love the way he talks.Avery Brooks said:
ETA: That's not to say that he didn't like the show, in the rest of that interview he spoke very fondly of the show, his character and the production team. But there probably was doubts at the time whether or not he would sign on for the final year.
You really should try and meet him, he's a very powerful speaker and inspriational too.Unfortunately, I never had the pleasure of meeting Avery Brooks in person, I was just repeating something he said on the season 7 special features. Here's what he said in the interview (November 2002):
Gods, I love the way he talks.Avery Brooks said:
ETA: That's not to say that he didn't like the show, in the rest of that interview he spoke very fondly of the show, his character and the production team. But there probably was doubts at the time whether or not he would sign on for the final year.
I love the way he speaks too but due to that people misunderstand him because they seem very cynical and look for negitivity. So to adlib Public Enemy:"Don't say you understand until you meet the man."
Species 8472 and the Vediians were not liked? I thought more should have been done with them, especially the Vediians. Only thing extra I wanted from 8472 was who they really were, instead of the borg designation. It would have been nice to if they played a role in the finale somehow.
Supposedly the reason they don't have a species name is because they're the only thing in Fluidic space, so they didn't need to distinguish themselves for anything else.
Me, I'm just happy Playmates made an action figure out of them.
Similar threads
