Filming Seasons vs. Broadcast Seasons

[Daddy Todd]

I recently bought the Voyager series on DVD and want to watch it again (for the first time since its UPN run.)

I know that 4 episodes originally broadcast during Season 2 were filmed during Season 1, and likewise 4 Season 3 episodes were filmed as part of Season 2.

What I haven't been able to find is documentation of which season(s) filmed fewer than 26 episodes to make up the difference -- because there weren't 4 extra episodes at the end of Season 7.

How many episodes were shot in Seasons 3-7? Can anyone point me at the answer?

 

[tomalak301]

I recently bought the Voyager series on DVD and want to watch it again (for the first time since its UPN run.)

I know that 4 episodes originally broadcast during Season 2 were filmed during Season 1, and likewise 4 Season 3 episodes were filmed as part of Season 2.

What I haven't been able to find is documentation of which season(s) filmed fewer than 26 episodes to make up the difference -- because there weren't 4 extra episodes at the end of Season 7.

How many episodes were shot in Seasons 3-7? Can anyone point me at the answer?

4 episodes of season 3 were supposed to be a part of Season 2? That's news to me. Which episodes?

 

[Daddy Todd]

4 episodes of season 3 were supposed to be a part of Season 2? That's news to me. Which episodes?

I don't know if "supposed to be" is the correct way to describe the situation; Voyager shot 20 episodes for its first season, then UPN decided to hold 4 of them back and premiere them in Season 2: Projections, Elogium, Twisted and The 37's were shot as the last 4 episodes of Season 1.

Season 2 went ahead and shot 26 more episodes; 22 were broadcast, along with the 4 Season 1 holdovers. Sacred Ground, False Profits, Flashback and Basics, Part II were filmed at the end of Season 2, but not shown until Season 3. By this time, the production team knew they were pre-filming episodes for the next season, so they were designed with that in mind -- and they included the resolution of the season-2-ending cliffhanger, although three other episodes were filmed between Parts I & II of Basics.

what I'm trying to determine is, did they only shoot 22 episodes in Season 3, or were there episodes shot at the end of Season 3 that rolled over into Season 4?

 

[Christopher]

what I'm trying to determine is, did they only shoot 22 episodes in Season 3, or were there episodes shot at the end of Season 3 that rolled over into Season 4?

To the best of my knowledge, the former. The practice of holding episodes back to the following season was only done for the first two seasons, so season 3 technically only had 22 episodes produced as part of it.

 

[Tosk]

From what I recall, it was done completely intentionally. As in, the episodes weren't held over for season 3 so much as they were specifically planned and filmed knowing that they would actually be for season 3. Unlike The 37's, which was intended to be in season 1 and later bumped to season 2.

 

[Christopher]

^Yes, exactly. The first time, it was sprung on them unexpectedly, but the second time, they had advance warning. The point, though, is that it didn't happen a third time.

 

[LeadHead]

That's right, "The 37's" was to be the Season One finale. Because of the unexpected nature of the adjustment, "Learning Curve" was the last episode of Season One, although not consistently advertised as such. I remember Kate Mulgrew appeared on a talk show around that time and they showed a clip from "Learning Curve" and described it as the season finale. However the promo at the end of "Jetrel" just said "All New Episode."

It's good that they got that worked out, but I'd have been fine with them having that situation in Season 4, might've made Kes' departure less sudden.

 

[tomswift2002]

I remember reading years ago that "Nemesis" was shot at the end of Season 3, but held until Season 4. Considering that it was the third episode of season 4 broadcast, and it contained no scenes with Seven of Nine, nor was she referenced in the episode.

 

[LeadHead]

^ Not according to what I've read. I think it was actually filmed before after The Gift and before Day of Honor, but they switched up the viewing order. That's why in Revulsion Tom says only like 3 days have passed since B'Elanna told him that she loved him. When it should have been at least a week, considering the events of Nemesis, plus I doubt Janeway or The Doctor would have let Chakotay go back on duty that quick after his experience.

 

[Daddy Todd]

The episode numbers clearly show that Nemesis (171) was the next one shot after The Gift (170) but before Day of Honor (172).

However, they don't tell us if it was shot during the Season 3 production period, or the Season 4 production period. I'm starting to suspect that Scorpion II and The Gift were shot as part of Season 3 and held over till Season 4, and that season 4 production commenced with Nemesis, but as yet I have no evidence other than speculation on Jennifer Lien's motivation for doing 2 episodes at the start of Season 4.

I mean, if I were being fired from a show, I wouldn't come back months later to shoot two more episodes at the beginning of the next season; I'd be out auditioning for new gigs. But maybe that's just me.

So, my current working theory is that Seasons 3 and 4 shot 24 episodes each, which made up for the "extra" episodes left over following Season 1.

 

[LeadHead]

Scorpion 1 and 2 weren't filmed back to back. Between parts 1 and 2, Tuvok and Kes look noticeably different. (at least to me)

Also, Jeri Ryan joining the cast wasn't set until the hiatus period.

As for why Jennifer Lien would come back for two episodes? A paycheck is a paycheck. Also, given the hype they were building around the premiere, she'd be seen by millions of viewers and possibly be in a higher profile to get her next acting gig than if she just died in an explosion offscreen during a battle or something.

 

[Daddy Todd]

I'm halfway through my rewatch of Season One, and I'm enjoying it a great deal more than I expected. Kate Mulgrew is awesome. And Jennifer Lien is great, too. There's a lot more Harry Kim than I remembered -- at this point, he seems more important than Chakotay or Tuvok, and maybe even more so than Tom Paris. Interesting.

I presume most of the Season One episodes were written, shot and finished before the show ever premiered, thus network micromanaging was probably minimal, at least as compared to later seasons. I wonder if I'll be able to tell when UPN started demanding changes.

Based on "Caretaker" through "Prime Factors", this is a great series. On to "State of Flux".

ETA: I don't think I could possibly despise Neelix any worse than I do. Who thought he was a good idea?

 

[Daddy Todd]

I finished Season 1 last night (as produced, not as broadcast). "The 37's" is a very effective season-capper, and "Elogium" and "Twisted" are far more tolerable as late-season budget-stretchers than as early second-season new episodes.

There is a slight sag in the mid-season episodes, but they came back for a very effective season-ender (the aforementioned "37's").

The series does change somewhat -- not for the better -- about midway through the season. I suspect that was UPN starting to muck around with the show. Their decision to truncate the season and save 4 episodes for the next year did the show no favors. "Learning Curve" is an incredibly shoddy episode to use as the season-ender. UPN management were pretty much idiots from the day the network premiered till the day they pulled the plug.

All in all, I enjoyed the season far more than I expected to, and, I think, far more than I did on the initial run 19 years ago. But despite "Jetrel", I still dislike Neelix intensely.

Onto Season 2.

 

[Daddy Todd]

Season 2 starts of with the underwhelming "Initiations" which I keep turning off. I was going to watch Voyager all weekend, but couldn't even get through this one episode.

Season 1 was a lot better than I remembered; "Initiations" is every bit as bad as my recollections of the series as a whole. Maybe the "rot" started in Season 2, and I just forgot that I liked Season 1 when it aired...?

I need to read the credits and see who came on board (and, more importantly, who left) between seasons. Something sure changed.

ETA: Which episodes should I definitely watch, and which should I definitely avoid in Season 2?

 

[Tosk]

I feel the same way about Initiations.

Which episodes should I definitely watch, and which should I definitely avoid in Season 2?

I personally don't like much from season 2, only Maneuvers, Resistance, Alliances, Meld, The Thaw, and Tuvix. And a small handful of others that aren't terrible, but are very forgetable.

Twisted, Elogium, and Parturition are particularly stinky. And it probably goes without saying, but avoid Theshold at all costs.

 

[Melakon]

I've always liked "Twisted", so I don't know what all these other people are talking about.

 

[Daddy Todd]

Twisted, Elogium, and Parturition are particularly stinky. And it probably goes without saying, but avoid Theshold at all costs.

I watched Projections, Elogium, Twisted and The 37's at the end of Season 1, since they were produced as part of Season 1. Seen as late-season budget balancers, the middle two of the four weren't too bad. And The 37's was reasonably effective as a season-capper. Not awesome, but I see what they were trying to do. It never worked at all as a season opener.

 

[Tosk]

I should note that I am not, by any stretch of the imagination, a VOY fan. So take my comments on it (or opinions of episodes) with a grain of salt.

 

[Lord Manitou]

I think the writers did an exceptional job introducing Voyager ship and crew in Season 1.
The series ends with Learning Curve which begins with some rather conjectural technology with Janeway on the hollowdeck as Miss Davenport in and old english rural setting. Then that started the jelpack problem which began the platoon sergeant socio animatronics. The episode ended well with another close encounter that might have ended the ship.
The ship again receives the edge where everyone gets saved.

 

[Daddy Todd]

I should note that I am not, by any stretch of the imagination, a VOY fan. So take my comments on it (or opinions of episodes) with a grain of salt.

I've never considered myself a Voyager fan, either. Quite the opposite. I loathed the show by the end of the initial run, and haven't watched a frame since. So, I wasn't expecting much when I decided to give it a second chance (based on the price of the complete series on DVD finally getting semi-affordable last month.)

I was really surprised by how much I enjoyed the first season. And very let down by how badly the second season starts out.