Cast members who praising their time on a show.

[DS9]

Cast members who praise about their time on a show.

So, last night I watched the "Captains of Star Trek" on the Biography channel which I didn't think was that good with all the "which captain duked it out the most" stuff, etc. What I did think was good however were the interviews. As I was watching the interviews one person that really impressed me was Kate Mulgrew. She had a lot of good things to say about Star Trek in general, her character, her show etc. It always puts a smile on my face and makes me appreciate somebody who is a part of my favorite science fiction franchise of all time. It makes me like that person that much more. Whether it be Leonard Nimoy, Tim Russ, Jonathan Frakes, Ethan Phillips, Nana Visitor, Armin Shimerman (all actors who had good things to say about their roles or Trek) or whoever it is it always puts a smile on my face when an actor praises their roles and their time on a Star Trek series.

People like Robert Beltran, Garrett Wang, Brent Spiner, Avery Brooks, and others who complain or disprespect their characters or their shows to me is sad because you learn to love their characters and they turn around and reject it.

 

[M'rk son of Mogh]

Re: Cast members who praise about their time on a show.

People like Robert Beltran, Garrett Wang, Brent Spiner, Avery Brooks, and others who complain or disprespect their characters or their shows to me is sad because you learn to love their characters and they turn around and reject it.

Beltran, maybe, but the others?

Even recent convention appearances have them saying good things, and this is (for some) decades later.

Spiner and Brooks especially, I think. I don't get a disrespect for the franchise or characters at all.

 

[The Wormhole]

Robert Beltran and Garrett Wang have expressed their disapproval with how certain things developed on Voyager, but Brent Spiner and Avery Brooks?

Brent Spiner continued watching Star Trek on TV until Enterprise ended. In fact it was because he enjoyed the show that he agreed to play Dr. Soong in the Augments arc.

Avery Brooks admittedly hasn't had much involvement with Trek since DS9 ended. I don't think this is because he didn't like the show, in fact I always got the impression from interviews that he did enjoy being on the show. However, I think he viewed being on Star Trek as being a job, and now that job is done. I heard several years back (I think 2004 or 2005) he attended his first convention since the show ended and ended having a good enough time that he since tries to make regular convention appearances.

 

[T'Girl]

The misconception about Brent Spiner may stem from his decision to avoid doing conventions after some kind of unpleasant experience with a fan during one of he early appearances.

 

[DS9]

Well maybe I am wrong about Spiner, I'll admit that, however me and the rest of my closest Trek fans have discussed on numerous occasions on the fact that Spiner has had some discontent with playing Data, maybe that was years ago and he changed but maybe we are wrong, I don't know.

As far as Avery Brooks goes, if you watch the interviews on the DS9 DVDs when they do the interviews with him, I think it is from season 7, he was talking about the fact that he wanted to leave after season 3 and decided he wanted to come back. Unless I heard him wrong, I do believe I remember him saying that.

Don't get me wrong. I love Beltran, Wang, Brooks and Spiner (Avery is my favorite capatain) I am just stating things that I have heard about them.

 

[Shatnertage]

What's the story with Brent Spiner and the demented fan? I've heard it alluded to before around here. Did someone show up at his house and try to unscrew his head or something?

 

[Too Much Fun]

The thing I didn't like about Brent Spiner was that in an interview on the TNG DVDs, he said the main reason he was happy about the show getting renewed after the first season was because it meant he wouldn't have to worry about money anymore.

I mean, I understand the sentiment, but still, it just annoys me when people make it sound like they care more about money than the work they're doing. Of course all of the actors think of working on Star Trek as a job on some level and one of the reasons they're grateful for it is because of the steady paycheck it guarantees. Still, Spiner's statement just strikes me as someone not appreciating the good fortune of being involved with Star Trek.

I was listening to an interview with Brock Lesnar where he was asked if it upset him that the fans knew he was leaving the WWF before his last match and booed him for its duration as a result. "Nah, I got paid", he answered. People should care about how their work affects others instead of just thinking it doesn't matter as long as they get paid.

It reminds me of Spiner not only because of the money comment, but also his insistence that his character had to be killed off because he believed he was too old to keep playing it. I don't buy that excuse, and again it shows a lack of concern for how his decisions piss off fans. Him aging doesn't justify the choice or change the fact that it was a stupid one on his part.

 

[Anwar]

Well, William Shatner only did Star Trek for the money too. He turned down the role of Dr Kildare and then took the role of Kirk for financial stability.

 

[sonak]

The thing I didn't like about Brent Spiner was that in an interview on the TNG DVDs, he said the main reason he was happy about the show getting renewed after the first season was because it meant he wouldn't have to worry about money anymore.

I mean, I understand the sentiment, but still, it just annoys me when people make it sound like they care more about money than the work they're doing. Of course all of the actors think of working on Star Trek as a job on some level and one of the reasons they're grateful for it is because of the steady paycheck it guarantees. Still, Spiner's statement just strikes me as someone not appreciating the good fortune of being involved with Star Trek.

I was listening to an interview with Brock Lesnar where he was asked if it upset him that the fans knew he was leaving the WWF before his last match and booed him for its duration as a result. "Nah, I got paid", he answered. People should care about how their work affects others instead of just thinking it doesn't matter as long as they get paid.

It reminds me of Spiner not only because of the money comment, but also his insistence that his character had to be killed off because he believed he was too old to keep playing it. I don't buy that excuse, and again it shows a lack of concern for how his decisions piss off fans. Him aging doesn't justify the choice or change the fact that it was a stupid one on his part.

This is a highly unrealistic mindset.


Capitalism relies on the threat of economic insecurity to motivate people to seek employment to provide for their basic needs.


Until we live in a post-scarcity system, it will be the case that unless your are independently wealthy from family background or whatever and have escaped the rat race, people's primary goal will be to provide for themselves.


It doesn't mean they can't have other goals or interests, but food on the table, clothes on their back, and a roof over their heads will take precedence.


I have no problem with Star Trek actors and actresses appreciating the security their job brings.

 

[TheGodBen]

As far as Avery Brooks goes, if you watch the interviews on the DS9 DVDs when they do the interviews with him, I think it is from season 7, he was talking about the fact that he wanted to leave after season 3 and decided he wanted to come back. Unless I heard him wrong, I do believe I remember him saying that.

He said that early on he wanted to leave the show, that he found the work hard and that the Sisko character wasn't being developed, but he decided to stay as he had signed a 6-year contract and didn't want to set a bad example for his children by breaking a promise. However, in season 3, Sisko began receiving significant development and became much more interesting as a man. Whether this was enough to satisfy Avery, I can't say for certain, but it does seem to have been as he agreed to sign on for the 7th season when he was under no obligation to do so.

Bizarrely, Terry Farrell was the biggest Star Trek fan in DS9's cast yet she was the one that was forced to walk after her demands for more money caused her contract negotiations to collapse. (Allegedly.)

 

[Too Much Fun]

It doesn't mean they can't have other goals or interests, but food on the table, clothes on their back, and a roof over their heads will take precedence.

I have no problem with Star Trek actors and actresses appreciating the security their job brings.

Yeah, I have no problem with that, either. I'm just saying...if you're going to be interviewed on your thoughts about Star Trek, you sort of come across as a douchebag when the first thing you say is, "I was happy about the money". Fine, but keep that to yourself when you're being recorded for posterity to supposedly open up and say what's in your heart when it comes to being part of Star Trek.

In contrast, I love Terry Farrell's enthusiasm for the show. I was already a fan of her because I love her character and the way she played it, but she won my heart for life with her U.K. convention comments last year. Some idiot asked her if she felt a little down when she found out about being cast in a Star Trek production. Her response: "Fuck no! I was like, I'm on Star Trek!". That's the right attitude to have. She may have been cut from the show over a money dispute, but it's obvious she was very passionate about being a part of the franchise anyway.

 

[Subcommander R.]

I, for one, wish she'd stayed. I loved her character.

 

[Harvey]

The thing I didn't like about Brent Spiner was that in an interview on the TNG DVDs, he said the main reason he was happy about the show getting renewed after the first season was because it meant he wouldn't have to worry about money anymore.

An understandable sentiment, given the quality of the first season (even the reviews at the time were terrible), and the difficulties of finding work if you're a character actor like Spiner.

 

[sonak]

It doesn't mean they can't have other goals or interests, but food on the table, clothes on their back, and a roof over their heads will take precedence.

I have no problem with Star Trek actors and actresses appreciating the security their job brings.

Yeah, I have no problem with that, either. I'm just saying...if you're going to be interviewed on your thoughts about Star Trek, you sort of come across as a douchebag when the first thing you say is, "I was happy about the money". Fine, but keep that to yourself when you're being recorded for posterity to supposedly open up and say what's in your heart when it comes to being part of Star Trek.

In contrast, I love Terry Farrell's enthusiasm for the show. I was already a fan of her because I love her character and the way she played it, but she won my heart for life with her U.K. convention comments last year. Some idiot asked her if she felt a little down when she found out about being cast in a Star Trek production. Her response: "Fuck no! I was like, I'm on Star Trek!". That's the right attitude to have. She may have been cut from the show over a money dispute, but it's obvious she was very passionate about being a part of the franchise anyway.

OK, I see what you're saying. I can kind of agree with that.

 

[BillJ]

Avery Brooks admittedly hasn't had much involvement with Trek since DS9 ended. I don't think this is because he didn't like the show, in fact I always got the impression from interviews that he did enjoy being on the show. However, I think he viewed being on Star Trek as being a job, and now that job is done. I heard several years back (I think 2004 or 2005) he attended his first convention since the show ended and ended having a good enough time that he since tries to make regular convention appearances.

Must be getting hungry...

 

[Anwar]

I'd think being a tenured Drama Professor puts bread on the table...

 

[Harvey]

Not to mention his theater-work. Not to mention the Trek-residuals which are probably keeping him quite full.

 

[Solarbaby]

How do people know that Terry Farrel left because of a money dispute? I read that she asked to leave and Paramount got her a job in another show right after she left DS9

 

[Therin of Andor]

How do people know that Terry Farrel left because of a money dispute?

Because we had Richard Arnold as an annual guest at Australian conventions. AFAIK, when the cast's five-year contracts were up for renewal, Terry Farrell was the group's union representative and she rallied them to stick together and fight for greatly increased pay and conditions. Which they won.

When the seventh season contracts had to be renewed, she again rallied the troops but Paramount circumvented her attempts and tried the ol' Hollywood "divide and conquer" strategy to keep the budget as constrained as possible. They went to each actor and made offers they couldn't refuse (more money, bigger trailers, reduced makeup chair time, directorial opportunities), then they offered Farrell what amount to no increase at all. They reminded her that she was the most easily replaceable character, but she stuck to her price and Paramount couldn't (or wouldn't) match it, so she walked...

Then, they used her voice in a Season Seven episode, without first informing her agent that the standard royalty would be forthcoming. This put Paramount into an arbitration situation, meaning that the writers could not plan any Farrell flashbacks in other future episodes. Even though Farrell was on very good terms with the production team, and attended the final rap party alongside the new Dax, no footage of Farrell's Dax could be used in the final episode's flashback montage.

I read that she asked to leave and Paramount got her a job in another show right after she left DS9

Well, she essentially walked straight into the "Becker" pilot filming at Paramount, a resulting successful series in which - ironically - Farrell was released from her contract in a pay dispute, and replaced: almost identically to the DS9 situation.

 

[Cyke101]

Re: Cast members who praise about their time on a show.

People like Robert Beltran, Garrett Wang, Brent Spiner, Avery Brooks, and others who complain or disprespect their characters or their shows to me is sad because you learn to love their characters and they turn around and reject it.

This is essentially a rehash of the Voyager thread regarding Beltran and Wang, but frankly people have this problem grasping that maybe those in the creative field aren't as attached to characters the way the fans are. We're shocked (SHOCKED!) when an actor's favorite role differs from our perception of the actor, as if they personally owe us. People are allowed to dislike their jobs, but disliking the job has little bearing on the quality of work one produces with the right mindset (the non-profit field is a good example: a lot of NPO workers suffer from burnout and stress, but the effects they have on their constituents can rarely be overstated).

Now, with that said, I don't recall Beltran or Wang bashing their characters but rather the production crews on their shows, since they tend to be very gracious to their fans. Also, Wang was in "Of Gods and Men," which was publicly marketed as a celebration of the franchise. If he hated the show rather than the production crew, why do such a small scale project? The most I've heard of Brooks is that he got into a yelling match with Rick Berman that warranted the intervention of Majel Barrett herself.

Out of the four mentioned, it seems that Spiner is perhaps the most appreciative; he's certainly up there with Shatner, Nimoy, and maybe McNeill and Dawson in terms of branching out creative outlets through the show. Perhaps this perception of Spiner being "ungrateful" stems from his desire to stop playing Data, but that's more attributed to age and illusion than to stress -- after all, he took on additional duties for Nemesis and came back as Soong for Enterprise. To me that seems like a promotion or more afforded freedom, and such opportunities are rarely turned down in the professional field.