They killed Kelso!

[MarsWeeps]

I just re-watched "Where No Man Has Gone Before" and wondered why they killed off Kelso. I know, it was just a pilot and no guarantee that the series would be approved.

I thought Paul Carr did a great job and thought the character of Kelso would have been an asset to the series.

 

[Kirby]

Hey use the spoiler tag pal; I haven't gotten to this one yet!

 

[GSchnitzer]

I just re-watched "Where No Man Has Gone Before" and wondered why they killed off Kelso. I know, it was just a pilot and no guarantee that the series would be approved.

I thought Paul Carr did a great job and thought the character of Kelso would have been an asset to the series.

Well, I think the character was slated to die in the script even before the role was cast. It's too bad a good actor had to play a character that would die. The alternative, of course, would be to intentionally hire a crappy actor for the role that no one would be dissapointed to see die.

 

[Mytran]

That's television for ya! I would imagine it suits some actors quite well - a juicy role, a fun death scene and no weekly grind of a serial.

 

[ZapBrannigan]

According to his interview in STARLOG (June 1990), Paul Carr loved doing WNMHGB, thought it was a fun job, and thought the show would be a winner. And he was very unhappy about being killed off.

 

[Christopher]

I just re-watched "Where No Man Has Gone Before" and wondered why they killed off Kelso. I know, it was just a pilot and no guarantee that the series would be approved.

The same reason they killed Mitchell and Dehner. It's simply a function of the way '60s TV worked. They didn't have many ensemble shows; a lot of shows just focused on one or two leads surrounded by various one-shot guest stars. The classiest dramas of the time were anthology shows, and that was thus the ideal that drama producers aspired to; but shows with continuing leads helped draw in ratings, and shows with standing sets, costumes, etc. cost less to make. So a lot of ongoing series were designed to fit a pseudo-anthology model, with the regular characters getting caught up in the stories of different guest characters each week. You can see in the first season how the episodes tended to focus heavily on guest characters, whether crewmembers like Mitchell, Bailey, Riley, Boma, and the like or outsiders like Harry Mudd, Charlie Evans, the Romulan Commander, etc.

So Kelso was just there to be a friend of Mitchell's, someone whose murder would show that Mitchell had lost his humanity and become a danger to everyone. He existed only to serve that particular story and was never a candidate for continuation any more than Mitchell and Dehner were.

 

[BoredShipCapt'n]

It was nice to see Paul Carr get a regular role in the second season of Buck Rogers. Almost like having Kelso back again.

 

[Use of Time]

Poor guy never saw it coming.

 

[Ssosmcin]

According to his interview in STARLOG (June 1990), Paul Carr loved doing WNMHGB, thought it was a fun job, and thought the show would be a winner. And he was very unhappy about being killed off.

I guess he wasn't that crazy about his recurring role as Clark on Voyage? He did come back in the 2nd season of that series as benson and got killed at the end. Poor guy never catches a long term break. He did a few episodes of Buck Rogers, too.

 

[C.E. Evans]

"Where No Man Has Gone Before" remains one my favorite Trek episodes, period, and I do periodically think about TOS continuing with that crew (Sulu as a science officer, Alden as communications officer, Piper as doctor, etc.).

I didn't see this episode until I was a kid sometime in the late 1970s, but I remember seeing how Kelso died and going "That is so cool..."

 

[Duane]

If you think Kelso, or Gary Mitchell for that matter, died in this episode, you clearly did not read the short story 'Return to Where No Man Has Gone Before' which I wrote in the 9th (grade circa 1979. )

Come to think of it, no one read it except myself and the teacher. I think I got an 'A!" : )

 

[MarsWeeps]

As far as Mitchell being killed off, was he really? We see him fall into the grave and a huge rock falls on top of it. It looked to me like the rock just covered the top of the grave and didn't necessarily crush Mitchell to death.

They could've done a follow up where Mitchell returns and this time he's REALLY pissed off!

 

[C.E. Evans]

Star Trek: The Wrath of Gary?

 

[Wingsley]

If you think Kelso, or Gary Mitchell for that matter, died in this episode, you clearly did not read the short story 'Return to Where No Man Has Gone Before' which I wrote in the 9th (grade circa 1979. )

Come to think of it, no one read it except myself and the teacher. I think I got an 'A!" : )

Fanfic as a school writing project? Really?

 

[Marsden]

As far as Mitchell being killed off, was he really? We see him fall into the grave and a huge rock falls on top of it. It looked to me like the rock just covered the top of the grave and didn't necessarily crush Mitchell to death.

They could've done a follow up where Mitchell returns and this time he's REALLY pissed off!

Really! The guy took a full phaser rifle blast to the chest and it didn't even bother him, I doubt a rock, no matter how big, would have really hurt him. Let's assume Dehner's force lightning weakened him enough for the rock to win.

 

[Christopher]

Let's assume Dehner's force lightning weakened him enough for the rock to win.

*head spins at the cross-franchise anachronistic reference*

 

[Marsden]

Let's assume Dehner's force lightning weakened him enough for the rock to win.

*head spins at the cross-franchise anachronistic reference*

You're Welcome! It's a good think Lucas doesn't sue for something he used 20+ years later

Really, though, Gary could have been in there evolving, maybe he joined the Q.

 

[Silvercrest]

As far as Mitchell being killed off, was he really? We see him fall into the grave and a huge rock falls on top of it. It looked to me like the rock just covered the top of the grave and didn't necessarily crush Mitchell to death.

They could've done a follow up where Mitchell returns and this time he's REALLY pissed off!

"Let me be very clear about this, Mister Chekov. Do not go to the Delta Vega system. Ever. Do not let any ship you are serving on go there. Do not let any ship rumored to be considering it go there. You are to commit mutiny and premeditated murder if that's what it takes to prevent any captain from going there. Is that clear?

"Yes, I know you weren't on the Enterprise when it happened, but that didn't stop you with the Ceti Alpha system."

 

[Nerys Myk]

If you think Kelso, or Gary Mitchell for that matter, died in this episode, you clearly did not read the short story 'Return to Where No Man Has Gone Before' which I wrote in the 9th (grade circa 1979. )

Come to think of it, no one read it except myself and the teacher. I think I got an 'A!" : )

Fanfic as a school writing project? Really?

Why not? I wrote a short story about Supergirl in 7th grade English.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Let's assume Dehner's force lightning weakened him enough for the rock to win.

*head spins at the cross-franchise anachronistic reference*

You're Welcome! It's a good think Lucas doesn't sue for something he used 20+ years later

Really, though, Gary could have been in there evolving, maybe he joined the Q.

DATA: Odd, the name on the stone does not match the record of who is buried here.

RIKER: I'm more worried by the fact it's empty.