My problem with Deep Space Nine...

[mikey2363]

The only acting I have any problem with on the show is the occasional overacting mode that Avery Brooks goes into, with the shaking and trembling voice. He looks like he's about to have an acting seizure.

Yeah, this.

The other bad acting culprit is Siddig El Fadil in the first season, though he got better over time.

Totally agree with that, his acting was terrible in the first series, definately got better though as soon as Bashir and O'Brien became mates

 

[OldManDax]

I was surprised that Robinson won the poll so convincingly - yes, he was great, but no more than several other people on the show...

It can't say it really surprises me, since to a large extent a poll like that will be a tweaked version of a "which is your favorite character" poll. Garak is popular among fans of the show (with good reason), especially the more hardcore forum-going ones, and will therefore do very well in a poll like this.

Andrew Robinson's acting was certainly very good for the most part, but did not outclass people like Shimmerman, Auberjonois, Visitor, Alaimo and Meaney by any means. Brooks is more erratic, but at his best certainly deserves to be mentioned right alongside those others. Robinson is actually guilty on occasion of the kind of awkward pauses and wierd emphasis that Brooks is sometimes derided for.

Garak definitely benefited from only appearing when the writers had something important for him to do, as you say, and I tend to think that in hindsight Quark might have worked very well as a semi-regular for similar reasons.

With some other characters... it doesn't always work, you read the dialogue and you aren't as impressed as when you are watching the actor delivering those lines.

That's true. In the case of Quark, this is a character who is very well-written as part of the ensemble, but who then has to struggle mightily with some really bad material in his own episodes. It's a pretty unique case in that sense, perhaps somewhat comparable to Jadzia, but more extreme. There's a whole litany of very mediocre to outright bad episodes that Shimmerman is forced to carry: Family Business, Prophet Motive, Bar Association, Ferengi Love Songs, Profit and Lace, etc. Shimmerman seldom got the material he deserved in the Quark-oriented shows.

Recently re-watched this episode in the Season 3 DVD's. Thought that scene where Quark confronts the Prophets and has to justify his love of "profit" - and the ways in which ambition to better onesself has helped human society advance - was brilliantly scripted, and brilliantly acted.

Shimmerman was one of the best actors in the show. I'd rate him about fourth among the regular cast (behind Auberjonois, Brooks and Visitor).

Oh, and Robinson (or maybe it's just Garak) i find a bit overrated. Just me.

 

[Bones2]

^
You'd rate Brooks above Shimmerman?

 

[CorporalClegg]

^
You'd rate Brooks above Shimmerman?

He also said this guy is overrated:

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2q4NPa56v0[/yt]

 

[Kathryn-janeway]

Kira was a wonderful character and Nana did a wonderful job.
Jadiza was a fantastic character and Terry did a brilliant job trying to figure how to make this character develop, its a shame terry left.. But these actresses did a wonderful job.

 

[iamtosk]

That's just crazy talk. She was great! Alexander Siddig, on the other hand. His delivery makes me cringe all of the time.

 

[jadzia_dax2369]

Really?

Not Terry Farrell? Because I always figured her for the show's weak link.

...is Nana Visitor.

She has to be one of the most horrific actresses I've ever seen on screen. Every time I hear her voice I'm reminded of the episode of Seinfeld where Kramer has seizures when he hears the voice of Mary Hart from Entertainment Tonight.

Absolutely ruins any entertainment value I get from the show.

I think she's terrific.

hey fellow niners


Terry Farrell was in no way dull, she just had poor episodes/ lines, jadzia was my fave out of her and Ezri , Ezri grew on me.

Nana was very good in season 7 this is were Kria was given some of the best episodes in the whole series.

neather were bad actress, its not easy to play a character when your not happy with the episode. (personal experience)

Deep space nine is one of the reasons i became an actress.

 

[Pemmer Harge]

Really?

Not Terry Farrell? Because I always figured her for the show's weak link.

...is Nana Visitor.

She has to be one of the most horrific actresses I've ever seen on screen. Every time I hear her voice I'm reminded of the episode of Seinfeld where Kramer has seizures when he hears the voice of Mary Hart from Entertainment Tonight.

Absolutely ruins any entertainment value I get from the show.

I think she's terrific.

hey fellow niners


Terry Farrell was in no way dull, she just had poor episodes/ lines, jadzia was my fave out of her and Ezri , Ezri grew on me.

Nana was very good in season 7 this is were Kria was given some of the best episodes in the whole series.

neather were bad actress, its not easy to play a character when your not happy with the episode. (personal experience)

Deep space nine is one of the reasons i became an actress.

Apologies in advance if I'm misunderstanding you, but what I said was a compliment!

 

[jadzia_dax2369]

Really?

Not Terry Farrell? Because I always figured her for the show's weak link.

I think she's terrific.

hey fellow niners


Terry Farrell was in no way dull, she just had poor episodes/ lines, jadzia was my fave out of her and Ezri , Ezri grew on me.

Nana was very good in season 7 this is were Kria was given some of the best episodes in the whole series.

neather were bad actress, its not easy to play a character when your not happy with the episode. (personal experience)

Deep space nine is one of the reasons i became an actress.

Apologies in advance if I'm misunderstanding you, but what I said was a compliment!

hey fellow niners


sorry, ive got alot on my mind, i read it wrong.

 

[PKTrekGirl]

Really?

Not Terry Farrell? Because I always figured her for the show's weak link.

...is Nana Visitor.

She has to be one of the most horrific actresses I've ever seen on screen. Every time I hear her voice I'm reminded of the episode of Seinfeld where Kramer has seizures when he hears the voice of Mary Hart from Entertainment Tonight.

Absolutely ruins any entertainment value I get from the show.

I think she's terrific.

hey fellow niners


Terry Farrell was in no way dull, she just had poor episodes/ lines, jadzia was my fave out of her and Ezri , Ezri grew on me.

Nana was very good in season 7 this is were Kria was given some of the best episodes in the whole series.

neather were bad actress, its not easy to play a character when your not happy with the episode. (personal experience)

Deep space nine is one of the reasons i became an actress.

Well, I like both Terry and Nichole - they were both good. I think that Nichole was fighting sort of an uphill battle when she came on the show during the last season, in the middle of a war that had a bunch of momentum going, replacing a character that a lot of people really loved....but I think she did amazingly well, considering what she was up against.

 

[PorthosShadow]

I completly disagree with you on this because when it comes to portraying strong woman on TV, period it's usually a hit or miss kind of thing. What ends up happening most of the time is the actress is trying to hard and offten times comes across as a bitch who is trying to prove her self equal to any man.

However, with Nana Visitor and her character of Kira it doesn't come across that way at all. She is a strong person, end of story and gender doesn't enter into it. From the pilot episode I as a viewer totally get her character and don't hate her for it. Also, I don't want to add to the anti Terry Ferrel fan club here but your asserssion is more apt towards said Terry Ferrel.

 

[PKTrekGirl]

^ You sort of raise a good point there, about Kira. Kira had been through a lot during the Occupation..and at the beginning of the series, was actually sort of a damaged person. Not her fault because her anger had originated in some very real and very hurtful experiences. I mean, you can hardly blame her for her lack of trust of the Federation, when they pretty much move in on Bajor before the dust had even settled from the Cardassian Occupation.

I can relate to Kira, because I understand what it's like to have your life ripped apart by someone else, through no fault of your own. The more times you are hurt or betrayed by others, the harder it gets to trust others...and in Kira's case, she had been hurt and betrayed a LOT. So why should she trust the Federation? Why should she trust anyone at all?

I actually think that Nana Visitor's portrayal of someone in Kira's position was right on target. But what was even better portrayed was the healing, really, that Kira experienced over the course of the show. It took her a while...but over the course of time, she was able to let her guard down again, once some of the other characters had earned her trust and/or respect.

 

[Praxius]

^ You sort of raise a good point there, about Kira. Kira had been through a lot during the Occupation..and at the beginning of the series, was actually sort of a damaged person. Not her fault because her anger had originated in some very real and very hurtful experiences. I mean, you can hardly blame her for her lack of trust of the Federation, when they pretty much move in on Bajor before the dust had even settled from the Cardassian Occupation.

I can relate to Kira, because I understand what it's like to have your life ripped apart by someone else, through no fault of your own. The more times you are hurt or betrayed by others, the harder it gets to trust others...and in Kira's case, she had been hurt and betrayed a LOT. So why should she trust the Federation? Why should she trust anyone at all?

I actually think that Nana Visitor's portrayal of someone in Kira's position was right on target. But what was even better portrayed was the healing, really, that Kira experienced over the course of the show. It took her a while...but over the course of time, she was able to let her guard down again, once some of the other characters had earned her trust and/or respect.

Your description also reminds me of Picard, where in the first couple of seasons of TNG, he was a hard-ball, hard-ass, no-guff old stuffy fellow who didn't let anybody close to him (perhaps due to his experiences on the Stargazer and losing a close friend, Bev's husband).... whatever the reasons, over the seasons, from him getting to know his crew, losing some of his crew, dealing with the borg, being assimilated by the borg, killing many with his knowledge as Locutus, picking up the pieces of his humanity afterwards, having to deal with those in Starfleet who hate him for what he did (ie: Sisko for a time)......

.... then spending an entire lifetime as an old man with a family on an old and dead planet...... then being captured by the Cardassians and tortured for an extended period of time, with his humanity once again being threatened.......

I mean his attitude was similar to Kira's in a way, and while Kira dealt with most of her traumas growing up and worked them all out over the series to become a rounded and more trusting/caring person..... Picard had similar hangups for different reasons and it was the Traumatic experiences he was shoved into over the series that brought him closer to his own humanity and to learn to open up and be a more trusting/caring person in the end.

Both had totally different lives, both didn't like anybody being close to them or their lives and both, in different ways, learned to open up and let people into their lives more.... in which traumatic situations in their lives had large impacts on their personalities and how they related to those around them.

 

[OldManDax]

^
You'd rate Brooks above Shimmerman?

Yep. Brooks DID get overly theatrical from time to time (I used to laugh during the breakdown scene in "FBTS'), but he could also be sublime. The way he'd use his eyes to convey suspicion/wariness or sometimes just "Sisko trying to figure something out"; the presence and sense of serious, steady leadership he'd have when sitting in the "Captain's chair" on board the defiant; the deep sadness he'd convey when someone he loved or cared for was hurt/died (Jake, Jennifer, Jadzia, etc.,); the way he conveyed passion and vigor when he gets obsessed ("Explorers", "For the Uniform"); and the way he cold be chillingly cold or single-minded when times called for it ("Rocks and Shoals", for example).

And it's always rewarding to watch the dance Sisko does with scheming type characters (Dukat, Winn, Weyoun, even Quark and Garak). Usually those characters are doing the majority of talking and expository gestures (i.e. you sense that they have an agenda), but Sisko is just observing and reading them.

He even has a very strong screen presence while he's essentially playing second or third fiddle to another character(s) in a specific scene.

Shimmrman did a very, very good job in the many emotional ups and downs that Quark experienced (loved that drunken scene in "Favor The Bold", for instance), but he never had to play the "breadth" of roles that Brooks had to take on as Sisko, and rarely had to convey depth of emotion, or nuance. So, yes.

 

[Nerys Ghemor]

Shimerman could convey emotion or nuance when the role called for it. Man, he is intense in "The Siege of AR-558." He also did quite well in "Far Beyond the Stars."