Lt. Charlene Masters

[Melakon]

Robert Brown isn't famous. If he had made Star Trek, Barrymore's career might have gone differently, but I doubt it would have made him "famous."

Yeah, but Robert Brown did Here Come the Brides after Star Trek. It didn't help that there was an older, British actor with the same name who did One Million Years B.C. in 1966.

 

[LMFAOschwarz]

I saw Robert Brown on Bewitched once, if that means anything.

 

[diankra]

Once I'd heard the production background, I'd always assumed that the 'romance' was just something that would have been implied by the chemistry of the acting, but got lost in the panic to actually get the episode made.
And while hardly brilliant, Robert Brown's performance had always struck me as one of the better aspects of the episode as it ended up - even more so once you know how he basically took over at a day or two's notice.

 

[Jonas Grumby]

I wonder what effect (if any) having John Drew Barrymore as Lazarus would have had, if everything else was the same. I can't remember seeing him in anything.

The only thing I can recall offhand seeing him in is a couple of episodes of Gunsmoke (although he has quite a few credits on IMDB).

IMO, his Gunsmoke performances were nothing special. A bit hammy and over-mannered in that "Hey, I'm a serious actor" kind of way. That, and the fact that he got as much work as he did with his reputation for flakiness, makes me think he was probably just coasting on the name most of the time.

 

[Botany Bay]

And while hardly brilliant, Robert Brown's performance had always struck me as one of the better aspects of the episode as it ended up - even more so once you know how he basically took over at a day or two's notice.

Agreed - he did very well in the circumstances.

Apparently he was a friend of Shatner's, who Shatner recommended when Barrymore walked. Brown was called in on the morning of the second day's shooting (ironically his birthday, November 17 -- happy birthday!), and a panicked Roddenberry hired him on the spot based on Shatner's word he could handle the part, and the fact Barrymore's costume fit him.

Brown sensed the chaos around him, and was unsure if he could pull it off, given he would have to start performing immediately, so Roddenberry paid him extra money out of his own pocket and put him in a motel near the studio for the duration.

As for Barrymore, Roddenberry wanted him, apparently for publicity. The only memo I've seen that sheds any kind of light on why he quit on November 16 (Day 1 of shooting -- talk about leaving people in the lurch!) is the following from casting director D'Agosta to studio boss Solow :

Between 4 and 5p.m., [Barrymore] sent word that he did not want to do the role and refused to accept a work call for filming the following morning, November 17. With the cooperation of his agent and lawyer, I told him that he was committed and had to report to work. Mr. Barrymore then became unavailable and out of reach. His reasons were that the script changes had altered his character.

 

[Marsden]

I'm happy they deleted the "Lazerus/Masters romance" part, not that it's a great episode without it, but it really would have reflected very badly on Masters. Yuck.

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

Wish we could have seen a little more of her character.

In another thread on her episode, I posted:

Agreed-- Janet MacLachlan's performance as Lt. Charlene Masters was not the average supporting role; one would think she was intended for more appearances (considering her sharp her character), but was a missed opportunity. I've said it elsewhere, but she would have made a fine addition to the cast, portrayed as a serious female officer just as effective as any of the bridge crew.

Other than Kevin Riley, I cannot see another TOS guest star that had so much potential to be a regular.

 

[bbailey861]

Wish we could have seen a little more of her character.

In another thread on her episode, I posted:

Agreed-- Janet MacLachlan's performance as Lt. Charlene Masters was not the average supporting role; one would think she was intended for more appearances (considering her sharp her character), but was a missed opportunity. I've said it elsewhere, but she would have made a fine addition to the cast, portrayed as a serious female officer just as effective as any of the bridge crew.

Other than Kevin Riley, I cannot see another TOS guest star that had so much potential to be a regular.

That's just it, isn't it. She was a serious female officer just as effective as any of the bridge crew AND during her brief portrayal she made a significant contribution. She would certainly have made a fine recurring/semi-recurring regular. That, and she was 'pleasing to the eye'.

 

[PCz911]

Thank goodness they didn't use the original idea for Alternative Factor where Masters was seduced by Lazarus to give up the dilithium crystals or we probably wouldn't be remembering her as fondly.

Ahh, but it would have been one of the first interracial romances on TV (or the first?), and maybe the episode -- and the actress -- would have gone down in history.

As usual when threads come up about this topic, I always pose these two questions :

1. Who decided to make Coon cut this element of the plot out at the very last minute, leading to the disaster we ended up with?
2. Did Barrymore quit the Lararus role in protest?

1. Apparently they were worried about the reaction of southern broadcasters.

2. Barrymore just flaked. So no connection to the cut romance plot.

Wow, didn't know that about this episode!

 

[Stevil2001]

Is there a source for the cutting of the romance plot due to the interracial dimension? I remember this coming up on Memory Alpha and no one ever presenting anything convincing.

 

[Joel_Kirk]

If there is concrete evidence, I would also like to see the reason for cutting the romance aspect between Lazarus and Masters. However, with that said, I think Masters had more chemistry with the redshirt subordinate, or at least the subordinate seem to show interest in Masters.

 

[EnsignTOS]

Is there a source for the cutting of the romance plot due to the interracial dimension? I remember this coming up on Memory Alpha and no one ever presenting anything convincing.

Because it was the 60's? That's my best guess.

 

[Mytran]

The fact that the plot function of the romance subplot (wherein the guest star seduces a female officer to get what he wants) would have basically been repeated in a soon to be filmed episode has always seemed reason enough for me as to why it was dropped. Besides, Space Seed did it better than The Alternative Factor ever could have done, IMO.