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Janice Rand: TOS vs. VGR

Rush Limborg

Rush Limborg

Vice Admiral
Admiral
Good evening, Thrill Seakers, Trekkers, Trekkies, Trecknecks, and Conversationalists all across the fruited plain!:techman: It it I, El Rushborg, with another epic reflection....

So, I was blogging in the lit. forum (see "Janice Rand Novels?") and I couldn't help but notice the general opinion seems to be... that GLW's acting in "Flashback" was...mediocre at best. I found nothing wrong with it, but of course, that's just me. (Maybe I've basked in Yeoman Rand's charisma one too many times or something.:p)

Anyway, I've noticed that no one seemed to have any real problem with her TOS appearences (or movie appearences, for that matter). Why the difference in opinion? Do you think the "Flashback lack" was a result of bad script writing, or was it poor Grace having a "senior moment"? (Scary thought.) Was there a "Flashback lack"?

Any thoughts?
 
She did well in every other trek, but ... I don't know, her acting in flashback sucked. Probably out of practice.
 
Rush,
You mentioned that it may have been the line "ready to protect the Federation from gaseous anomalies" and how that may have been the problem, but I disagree. I am in a semi-responsible job, and we say stuff similar to that all the time. It is meant to be more sarcastic, than funny. She should have delivered it, a little bit more nonchalantly. Not that I'm an actor or even pretend to be. I just know how one of my smart ass co-workers would have said something similar.
Or... I could be way off the mark here.
 
Rush,
You mentioned that it may have been the line "ready to protect the Federation from gaseous anomalies" and how that may have been the problem, but I disagree. I am in a semi-responsible job, and we say stuff similar to that all the time. It is meant to be more sarcastic, than funny.
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I know.;) I said something similar to this effect in the book thread. But as I said, I'm usually not big on sarcasm (courtesy of my Cherokee blood, likely as not...).

So... you an astronomer? I mean, if you're used to this line....:cool:
 
She should have delivered it, a little bit more nonchalantly. Not that I'm an actor or even pretend to be. I just know how one of my smart ass co-workers would have said something similar.
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I've had some experience in acting. And... I hear you.

But then, different actors bring different interperetations. For the line in question, I probably would've delivered it a bit dryly, with a snicker at the end.

But then, most of my roles have been comedy. I kinda know how to deliver lines with the right timing to get laughs.

While Grace has delivered some good humor before (To a stalker: "Why don't you go chase an asteroid?"), not to mention her appearence in Batman and Some Like it Hot, she may be a little out of practice, comedy-wise, to deliver this kind of line.

Though, I certainly don't doubt that she can pull off something that allows freer interperetation.

Or...maybe the director should've encouraged a different take on the line. Y'know, "Okay Grace, that delivery was okay, but it wasn't quite what we're looking for. Let's do it again, with a more nonchalant tone."

Or... I could be way off the mark here.
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Nah. You're fine.;)
 
I think Grace Lee was just a bit out of practice.

She actually wasn't too bad as Janice Rand in last year's Star Trek New Voyages episode "World Enough and Time."

You can see her performance (and George Takei as Sulu, of course) here:

http://scifi.dragonfly.com/stp2/

(Just select "World Enough and Time" from the dropdown list of episodes at the bottom of the screen--I think it currently defaults to the "To Serve All My Days" episode with Walter Koenig as Chekov unless you change the episode setting).

Greg Schnitzer
Gaithersburg, Maryland
 
Her acting was better in the 60's, but I'm sure that's not the only part of her that was better back then.

Joe, used up
 
Her acting was better in the 60's, but I'm sure that's not the only part of her that was better back then.
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Amen, bro. Yeoman Rand, I swear, is a BABE, as the real Rush would say.

And you usually don't hear something like that from me --I'm all but sworn to celibacy!

Isn't that pathetic. The only gal I'd ever fall for IS A TV CHARACTER!:lol:

But then, as I said, I've basked in her charisma one too many times....
 
Rush Limborg said:
She should have delivered it, a little bit more nonchalantly. Not that I'm an actor or even pretend to be. I just know how one of my smart ass co-workers would have said something similar.
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I've had some experience in acting. And... I hear you.

But then, different actors bring different interperetations. For the line in question, I probably would've delivered it a bit dryly, with a snicker at the end.

But then, most of my roles have been comedy. I kinda know how to deliver lines with the right timing to get laughs.

While Grace has delivered some good humor before (To a stalker: "Why don't you go chase an asteroid?"), not to mention her appearence in Batman and Some Like it Hot, she may be a little out of practice, comedy-wise, to deliver this kind of line.

Though, I certainly don't doubt that she can pull off something that allows freer interperetation.

Or...maybe the director should've encouraged a different take on the line. Y'know, "Okay Grace, that delivery was okay, but it wasn't quite what we're looking for. Let's do it again, with a more nonchalant tone."
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And maybe that's exactly what happened - or the other way around - and the editor chose to use this take regardless.

Accusing someone of "bad acting" is something I always find problematic if there are multiple takes that you don't get to see. The only way to to really accuse someone of bad acting is if you have many takes and many projects and he/she consistently acts below what should be.
 
I never really took it as bad acting. Keep in mind, "Flashback" mostly took place inside Tuvoks head and was all memories of events roughly eighty years in the past (TUC). The "bad acting" might've been on purpose to mean that Tuvok might not remember things too clearly and not everything is the way it happened. This is possibly confirmed by the fact that the very same scenes in TUC are not the same as in "Flashback" plus someone who supposedly died in "Flashback" is alive and well at the end of TUC.:rolleyes:
 
...someone who supposedly died in "Flashback" is alive and well at the end of TUC.:rolleyes:
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Mr. Valtane? Yeah, about that...

I find it interesting that no one seems to go for the alternate explanation offered by the Encyclopedia.

Theory: The man at the end of TUC is Valtaine's BROTHER!

Proof: In the early Excelsior adventures (Fearful Summons, Captain's Daughter, and the novelizations of TUC and Generations), the first officer is identified as Commander Masoud Valtane.

Problem? Isn't Valtane a lieutenant? And isn't his first name Dimitri?

Nooooo problem. Just make "Masoud" Dimitri's twin brother, thus explaining the Valtane we see at the end of TUC. No sweat!:techman:
 
Johnnyracefan said:
Timewalker said:
Maybe she should have worn a basket on her head... :vulcan:
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cool Avatar Timewalker, where did you get it?
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Thanks. :)

There's a nifty smiley and animation site run by a very cool Swedish lady. She does all the artwork herself, and they're really adorable. She even takes requests (she did a nice Albert Einstein one for me).

You can find her work at http://www.millan.net/ . She's got other Star Trek-themed smileys, and some cute Star Wars animations as well.
 
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