So what if instead of O'Brien coming over from TNG...

[Worf'sParmach]

... the station got Barclay instead? Don't get me wrong, I love Chief O'Brien, but I think this could have worked as well. Reg's only way to improve his mediocre career is to take a job on a rickety Cardassian station in the middle of nowhere. I wonder if this is an option the producers considered when planning DS9.

 

[SeerSGB]

I don't know. Barclay is okay in small doses, and I do like the character, but I don't think the character's personality would have worked for seven years.

 

[Photon]

... the station got Barclay instead? Don't get me wrong, I love Chief O'Brien, but I think this could have worked as well. Reg's only way to improve his mediocre career is to take a job on a rickety Cardassian station in the middle of nowhere. I wonder if this is an option the producers considered when planning DS9.

Don't know what he'd do; he can't hold chief's jock strap in engineering. I'd like to see him assist chief and be there for comic relief, esp w/Quark.

Love to see Kira or (a mad) Sisko get a hold of him. That would be gold

 

[JB2005]

I think Barclay would have had some interesting character development over on DS9...

Would have been more interesting if he'd been on Voyager instead of Kim I think...

 

[Kelthaz]

I think it could have worked out well. He could have been like Wesley on Angel.

 

[arch101]

I think the more thought-provoking idea is: what if the early rumors were true and James Doohan's Scotty had joined DS9 as their Engineer? As far as I remember, this idea was just floated for discussion and never went anywhere. Still, makes me think...

 

[DeepSpaceWine]

No! Barclay only works in small doses. What O'Brien brought was the everyman perspective. He was down to earth, a family man and was perfect fodder for the screw with O'Brien episode series- lets infect O'Brien with a deadly bio-weapon and have him hunted, lets turn the entire universe against O'Brien, lets put O'Brien on trial on Cardassia, let's have O'Brien watch himself die and be the only one to stop a secret plot vs. the station, let's sentence O'Brien to 20 years in prison inside his mind, let's turn Keiko into a manipulative Pah Wraith. He seemed to get off easy in Season 6-7, though they turned his child from a sweet little girl into a feral wild child teenager one time.

Barclay was too quirky/eccentric. The character was fine on A-Team, but not at all in Star Trek outside of TNG & "Projections". Voyager used him far too many times, shoehorned him in, forced him upon the viewers to be an 'honorary' member of Voyager. "Endgame" was "These are the Voyages..." ahead of its time. It wasn't about the crew, Admiral Janeway stole the most limelight, Barclay hogged a share too.

 

[CorporalClegg]

I think the more thought-provoking idea is: what if the early rumors were true and James Doohan's Scotty had joined DS9 as their Engineer? As far as I remember, this idea was just floated for discussion and never went anywhere. Still, makes me think...

It's a weighty subject....

 

[Nerys Myk]

.

Barclay was too quirky/eccentric. The character was fine on A-Team, but not at all in Star Trek outside of TNG & "Projections". Voyager used him far too many times, shoehorned him in, forced him upon the viewers to be an 'honorary' member of Voyager. "Endgame" was "These are the Voyages..." ahead of its time. It wasn't about the crew, Admiral Janeway stole the most limelight, Barclay hogged a share too.

Can't say I've ever thought of Barclay and Murdock as the same character.

 

[tafkats]

I like that there was one person -- really, the only main character in the entire Trek canon -- with a spouse, children and something close to a normal family life.

O'Brien gave us that; no other TNG crossover would have.

 

[JustKate]

.

Barclay was too quirky/eccentric. The character was fine on A-Team, but not at all in Star Trek outside of TNG & "Projections". Voyager used him far too many times, shoehorned him in, forced him upon the viewers to be an 'honorary' member of Voyager. "Endgame" was "These are the Voyages..." ahead of its time. It wasn't about the crew, Admiral Janeway stole the most limelight, Barclay hogged a share too.

Can't say I've ever thought of Barclay and Murdock as the same character.

I was wondering the exact same thing. What did you mean, DeepSpaceWine?

I think Barclay would have been great on DS9 - that's a character that could really have stood some fleshing out. That said, I wouldn't have wanted him instead of O'Brien because that character was such a great addition to the ensemble, for the very reasons that Tafkats mentions.

 

[SeerSGB]

I like that there was one person -- really, the only main character in the entire Trek canon -- with a spouse, children and something close to a normal family life.

O'Brien gave us that; no other TNG crossover would have.

Yeppers. One of the great things about O'Brien is that you can somewhat relate to his life. He's not perfect, he's not a high-ranking Starfleet officer, he's not out for glory or really adventure, he's just wants to take care of his family and do the best job that he can.

 

[DeepSpaceWine]

Can't say I've ever thought of Barclay and Murdock as the same character.

It's clear the actor got his fame from the Murdock role though he did refine it for TNG. Both characters are very eccentric, such that they can be considered not all there or socially impaired. They are, however, eccentric in very different ways. Murdock is more the manic eccentic with very wild & crazy ideas and actions, Barclay is more of a subdued eccentric, a shrinking violet, but his emotional behavior is very manic. Barclay is much more the classic nerd/programmer/engineer with difficulty relating to/understanding other people. I see the two characters as variation on a theme. It's not 100%, but a clear piece of it is there. He turned all the Murdock character's eccentrities inward to create a very intelligent but awkward engineer with a wild degree of fears & insecurities, Barclay. They're like the yin & yang of the same set of underlying concept (smart vs. not too bright, introverted vs. extroverted, fearful vs. fearless)

One can see similarities between Sisko and Hawk (A Man Called Hawk, the series that put him on the map, though it was a spinoff of his role on, what was that, Spenser or The Equalizer?). A number of actors don't tread very far from what makes 'em famous (not many, but more than a few). There are some similarities between Hannibal & Banacek for example, a certain smartass aspect, even though the 2 characters are very different (ah, now I have The A-Team theme stuck in my head). I think they feel if it played well over how many seasons, it should continue to play well or they feel uncomfortable not having an element of that character around, unsure they can achieve popularity without some piece of that earlier character.

 

[Saito S]

Voyager used him far too many times

6 episodes? Not really that many, IMO...

"Endgame" was "These are the Voyages..." ahead of its time. It wasn't about the crew, Admiral Janeway stole the most limelight, Barclay hogged a share too.

I'm no fan of "Endgame", and agree about Admiral Janeway, but comparing it to TATV is way too harsh, if you ask me.

I think the more thought-provoking idea is: what if the early rumors were true and James Doohan's Scotty had joined DS9 as their Engineer? As far as I remember, this idea was just floated for discussion and never went anywhere. Still, makes me think...

It's a weighty subject....

One might even say it changes the laws of physics!

I like that there was one person -- really, the only main character in the entire Trek canon -- with a spouse, children and something close to a normal family life.

O'Brien gave us that; no other TNG crossover would have.

Agreed. I wouldn't have wanted to see Barclay instead of O'Brien, personally. Barclay was a good guest character, and I didn't have any problems with his VOY appearances, but O'Brien is a much better character in my view.

One can see similarities between Sisko and Hawk (A Man Called Hawk, the series that put him on the map, though it was a spinoff of his role on, what was that, Spenser or The Equalizer?).

It was Spenser. And I dunno... I honestly don't see much in common between Hawk and Sisko, beyond a couple of expressions/gestures that Brooks used which were sort of vaguely reminiscent of his previous role. Overall, the characters had basically nothing in common in terms of temperament, manner of speaking, their job/role in each respective show, etc.

 

[Mysterion]

A Barclay on DSN character arc might have had some possibilities.

On the Enterprise he was the odd man out, the anomaly. On DSN he'd just be one more misfit-toy in a group of misfits. We would have seen him develop into this very capable, but still a bit off engineer, confident in his own way. Plus, imagine the stuff with Barclay and Rom fixing problems on the station. Woulda been pure gold.

 

[GemHaters]

... the station got Barclay instead? Don't get me wrong, I love Chief O'Brien, but I think this could have worked as well. Reg's only way to improve his mediocre career is to take a job on a rickety Cardassian station in the middle of nowhere. I wonder if this is an option the producers considered when planning DS9.

Didn't I just say this not two weeks ago?

I totally agree!

 

[Worf'sParmach]

... the station got Barclay instead? Don't get me wrong, I love Chief O'Brien, but I think this could have worked as well. Reg's only way to improve his mediocre career is to take a job on a rickety Cardassian station in the middle of nowhere. I wonder if this is an option the producers considered when planning DS9.

Didn't I just say this not two weeks ago?

I totally agree!

Sorry! There I was thinking I had an original idea

On the Enterprise he was the odd man out, the anomaly. On DSN he'd just be one more misfit-toy in a group of misfits. We would have seen him develop into this very capable, but still a bit off engineer, confident in his own way. Plus, imagine the stuff with Barclay and Rom fixing problems on the station. Woulda been pure gold.

See, that's what I was thinking!

I just imagine a production meeting where they were discussing bringing someone from TNG over to help transition viewers into DS9. Who else would have been on that list besides O'Brien? I can't help but think Barclay would have been a contender also. And even though I love the Chief and I definitely like the family aspect that he brought (and a complete family at that, not where one parent is dead).

 

[JustKate]

Can't say I've ever thought of Barclay and Murdock as the same character.

It's clear the actor got his fame from the Murdock role though he did refine it for TNG. Both characters are very eccentric, such that they can be considered not all there or socially impaired. They are, however, eccentric in very different ways. Murdock is more the manic eccentic with very wild & crazy ideas and actions, Barclay is more of a subdued eccentric, a shrinking violet, but his emotional behavior is very manic. Barclay is much more the classic nerd/programmer/engineer with difficulty relating to/understanding other people. I see the two characters as variation on a theme. It's not 100%, but a clear piece of it is there. He turned all the Murdock character's eccentrities inward to create a very intelligent but awkward engineer with a wild degree of fears & insecurities, Barclay. They're like the yin & yang of the same set of underlying concept (smart vs. not too bright, introverted vs. extroverted, fearful vs. fearless)

One can see similarities between Sisko and Hawk (A Man Called Hawk, the series that put him on the map, though it was a spinoff of his role on, what was that, Spenser or The Equalizer?). A number of actors don't tread very far from what makes 'em famous (not many, but more than a few). There are some similarities between Hannibal & Banacek for example, a certain smartass aspect, even though the 2 characters are very different (ah, now I have The A-Team theme stuck in my head). I think they feel if it played well over how many seasons, it should continue to play well or they feel uncomfortable not having an element of that character around, unsure they can achieve popularity without some piece of that earlier character.

Honestly, I don't mean this to sound snotty, but while I'm quite sure it's clear to you, it's SO not clear to me, at least in the case of Murcock and Barclay (although I do somewhat agree regarding Hannibal and Banacek). I just think you're seeing far more similarity than is actually there, but hey, different strokes, etc.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Was Barclay written Schultz in mind? I would think Barclay's characterization would originally come from the writers not the actor. Schultz would add various physical and verbal ticks to what was put on the page, but that why its called acting. I can't see the writers or casting folks looking at Schultz's turn as Murdock and thinking "this guy should play Barclay!".

 

[Skywalker]

A Barclay on DSN character arc might have had some possibilities.

On the Enterprise he was the odd man out, the anomaly. On DSN he'd just be one more misfit-toy in a group of misfits. We would have seen him develop into this very capable, but still a bit off engineer, confident in his own way. Plus, imagine the stuff with Barclay and Rom fixing problems on the station. Woulda been pure gold.

I agree. I think the DS9 writers could have done some amazing things with Barclay. But I do like the everyman and family man perspectives that O'Brien brought to the show, too, so it's difficult to say I'd rather have seen Barclay than the Chief.