What characters from the TV shows were underused in the movies? It seems Dr. Crusher didn't get to do much of anything in the TNG films.
Characters who were under used in the movies
- Thread starter The Overlord
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For the TOS Movies I would say it was (in order from most underused):
Uhura, Sulu, Chekov, Scotty
And then for the TNG Movies (in the same order):
Crusher, La Forge, Troi
Of course if you're including guest appearances just for the films there are a few others that could be added to the list: Ilia, Decker, Hawk (are the main ones I always think about).
Uhura, Sulu, Chekov, Scotty
And then for the TNG Movies (in the same order):
Crusher, La Forge, Troi
Of course if you're including guest appearances just for the films there are a few others that could be added to the list: Ilia, Decker, Hawk (are the main ones I always think about).
Kyle and Rand.
George Takei pushed for his character to get a promotion. By doing so, he also basically ensured that he would not be part of the main action of the film and cut his screen time. Not the best move.
Uhura was criminally underused throughout the films in general, but the same was true in the series.
Chekov fared a little better at least. We saw less stagnation from him than we did from the other characters. He was chief of security in TMP, then he was first officer of the Reliant in TWOK, then he took on both communications and science officer roles to help his friends in TSFS, and then he got some really good scenes in TVH. Unfortunately, he was back at his navigator station in TFF and TUC, which made absolutely no sense.
Uhura was criminally underused throughout the films in general, but the same was true in the series.
Chekov fared a little better at least. We saw less stagnation from him than we did from the other characters. He was chief of security in TMP, then he was first officer of the Reliant in TWOK, then he took on both communications and science officer roles to help his friends in TSFS, and then he got some really good scenes in TVH. Unfortunately, he was back at his navigator station in TFF and TUC, which made absolutely no sense.
OTOH he got a couple of scene where he was the lead and not standing in Shatner's or Nimoy's shadows, and he's the first face you see int he movie, so it may have worked out for him after all.
I think if the writers had felt more confident in splitting up the crew it would have given us a better dynamic and more scope to introduce the next generation of characters. Chekov's role in STII gave him plenty of time to show his stuff and he did quite well in STIV too. Sulu and Rand's appearances in STVI were cool and it is a shame that it was decided that the Enterprise (Spock & McCoy) had to save the day instead of Sulu using the Excelsior's equipment for detecting gaseous anomalies established in the opening scene. Spock and McCoy saving the day looked cheesy and self-indulgent (they have 400+ crew including a number of scientists and weapons experts but McCoy helps Spock work on a torpedo...?). Uhura's big scene in STIII was more memorable that her enitre appearances in STII or STIV (the fan scene in Star Trek V is memorable to say the least - lol - and all joking aside, I thought it was nice to see Uhura get to do a bit more in STV).
I would have preferred it if they could have seen their way to work the supporting cast into the script in ways that allowed them to shine briefly rather than sit in the background for the whole movie. I really Loved Grace Lee Whitney's cameo in STIII and would have liked to see Chapel and Rand get some peripheral scenes where they could at least have been the focus of attention.
I think all the supporting cast felt peripheral to Picard and Data in the TNG movies but Riker, Crusher, and Troi felt a little more so. Troi did ok in Generations but I would have liked to see a bit more fire in Bev's belly in First Contact.
I would have preferred it if they could have seen their way to work the supporting cast into the script in ways that allowed them to shine briefly rather than sit in the background for the whole movie. I really Loved Grace Lee Whitney's cameo in STIII and would have liked to see Chapel and Rand get some peripheral scenes where they could at least have been the focus of attention.
I think all the supporting cast felt peripheral to Picard and Data in the TNG movies but Riker, Crusher, and Troi felt a little more so. Troi did ok in Generations but I would have liked to see a bit more fire in Bev's belly in First Contact.
Yeah, I think Sonak and Maurice are both correct in this case (also, re: Sonak's point: I'd never thought of that before, but you're right.). I'd bet that if you asked George Takei if he could choose between having more screen time of following orders and punching buttons, or having less screen time and captaining his own ship, he'd choose the latter. Quality over quantity, as it were. No joke, but it worked for Robau in XI and Nimoy in TSFS, and hey, Takei got to yell at Christian Slater (who would ever turn THAT down?
). Trading statue for screen time was a good move, and it was good to see our favorite characters in the process of actually progressing. The only real progression we saw was Kirk's promotion to Admiral, Spock becoming a teacher, and McCoy retiring. The others may have jumped in rank but retained essentially the same jobs throughout the movies. Sulu getting his own ship showed an actual, large achievement on the character's part.
Plus Takei was at that point really starting to push for his Sulu show, so he likely figured less screen time in exchange for the chance of a leading role in a TV series was a fair exchange.
Though he's not as underused as, say, Crusher, I always found the relative lack of Worf in three of the four films a bit odd. First Contact is the only one to give him something that isn't either bad comedy or looking grumpy, yet he was only behind Picard and Date in the recognisability and popularity with the more general TNG watchers, so you'd almost expect a good sized piece of the action for him in each film.
Generations is especially odd on that score, the opening 24th century scene that's specifically intended to introduce the characters, their relationships and overal role in the grand scheme of things to film audiences is all about his promotion and makes it look as if he is indeed a major character for the forthcoming events.
He then proceeds to do nothing except growl "Plasma coil" and "Romulan" every now and then for the rest of the running time. Despite the fact the secondary villains are his personal arch nemeses (something you wouldn't even guess from just watching the film).
Though he's not as underused as, say, Crusher, I always found the relative lack of Worf in three of the four films a bit odd. First Contact is the only one to give him something that isn't either bad comedy or looking grumpy, yet he was only behind Picard and Date in the recognisability and popularity with the more general TNG watchers, so you'd almost expect a good sized piece of the action for him in each film.
Generations is especially odd on that score, the opening 24th century scene that's specifically intended to introduce the characters, their relationships and overal role in the grand scheme of things to film audiences is all about his promotion and makes it look as if he is indeed a major character for the forthcoming events.
He then proceeds to do nothing except growl "Plasma coil" and "Romulan" every now and then for the rest of the running time. Despite the fact the secondary villains are his personal arch nemeses (something you wouldn't even guess from just watching the film).
Troi got to run the ship into a planet, get drunk, talk about the firmness of her breasts
and have telepathic nookie with the villian.
She was definitely used.
This! Although it was hard enough to get enough screen time for the classic characters from the series, adding in more regulars would have really condemned them to the back.
A shame, really, since they were all created as very dimensional, intriguing characters.
As an aside, I wonder if George Takei's motivation for Sulu's promotion wasn't motivated in part by the chance to have screen time without Shatner. Just wondering.
To be fair, all the characters in TOS except Kirk, Spock, Bones and possibly Scotty werent needed at all in the movies, since their characters werent really a big part of the show. Those actors should really just that their lucky stars they got into the movies at all.
I agree. In fact, I 'resurrected' Decker, Ilia, and everybody on the Epsilon IX station for my online comic. I decided it might be fun to explore what that might mean for them personally, how they might be viewed by other crewmen, and how non-Federation races might view them as near-mythical beings who had been beyond the mortal world and returned as prophets, seers, angels etc. Plus it allows me to explore themes about their 'humanity' are they really Decker and Ilia or just biological probes sent back by V'ger? Were they sent back for a particular reason? And so forth. Ieven did the maths and, assuming that Saavik was the same age as Kirstie Alley in TWoK, she could just about be a midshipman or ensign around the time of the second 5-year mission so maybe I'll go the whole hog and feature her too.
