Mission: Uhura...
- Thread starter Warped9
- Start date
Back around to the OP, it's hard for me to imagine an ep of TOS in which a supporting character (junior officer) would be playing a central or controlling role on any mission. "The Galileo Seven" was primarily a Kirk / Spock story. "A Taste of Armageddon", "Friday's Child", "Metamorphosis", "The Gamesters of Triskellion" and "Bread and Circuses" seemed to give Scott a little more substance as well.
But Sulu, Chekov, Uhura, and Chapel were each lucky to get the spotlight even once. I think they became more than just background characters only after TOS. (Actually, Uhura had some great scenes, but no eps.)
The novels and movies brought a more ensemble feel to TREK.
Having said all of that, it always seemed clear to me that Uhura was head of the ship's communication department. We never saw her report to anyone else but the captain or first officer, and she did show up at least once when department heads met.
But Sulu, Chekov, Uhura, and Chapel were each lucky to get the spotlight even once. I think they became more than just background characters only after TOS. (Actually, Uhura had some great scenes, but no eps.)
The novels and movies brought a more ensemble feel to TREK.
Having said all of that, it always seemed clear to me that Uhura was head of the ship's communication department. We never saw her report to anyone else but the captain or first officer, and she did show up at least once when department heads met.
W9, I took a break from TOS last year to watch other period pieces of the great '60s. In the end, I purchased the complete Hogan's Heroes set. HH did a great job of developing each of the seven characters. Looking at TOS, the Big 3 were well-developed, but the next four (Scotty, Sulu, Uhura, and Chekov) struggled for development. Yes, one is classified as a comedy while the other is a drama. However, cast development in the 30-minute comedy time slot seems stronger than the hour-length dramatic time slot.
As far as the issue of race, Kinchloe is played and written more serious than any other HH character. There are even a few references by Hogan to the fact that Kinchloe is the de facto executive officer of the barracks. While, yes, Newkirk, LeBeau, Carter, and Schultz get all the great funny lines. Kinchloe keeps the focus on the war being just that...war. I would love to know if Ivan Dixon made any special requests to keep his character as serious as possible.
Back to TOS cast development...It appears that we knew far more about Chekov in two years than we knew about Uhura and Sulu in three. Sure, it softened our opinions of Russians during the roughest parts of the Cold War, but we didn't discover enough about the other two.
As far as the issue of race, Kinchloe is played and written more serious than any other HH character. There are even a few references by Hogan to the fact that Kinchloe is the de facto executive officer of the barracks. While, yes, Newkirk, LeBeau, Carter, and Schultz get all the great funny lines. Kinchloe keeps the focus on the war being just that...war. I would love to know if Ivan Dixon made any special requests to keep his character as serious as possible.
Back to TOS cast development...It appears that we knew far more about Chekov in two years than we knew about Uhura and Sulu in three. Sure, it softened our opinions of Russians during the roughest parts of the Cold War, but we didn't discover enough about the other two.
You misunderstand. From what I can gather, if Gene insisted on being around for third season, there would not be a third season. His presence was what was going to get the show cancelled. When Paramount took over, they were pretty clear that he was not welcome.
He went from 'day player' to 'recurring'. I think some people have made a bigger deal of this than others. (Koenig is right on the money with this - the idea that he would bring in the Monkee's numbers never really seemed to the truth here. Paramount DID want a younger recurring cast member, though, and Koenig fit the bill.)
He fragin' used napalm to do it.
The fact that TMP was such a dissapointment made it easy to put him aside... but it was largely that he kept pissing off the money men. He was being a jerk, and believed in his own press.
Well, TNG was about to be cancelled. And, I hate to say it, but Roddenberry leaving the show because of his health was probably the only reason that Paramount gave it more time. He had remained healthy and in charge, TNG would have been cancelled after the first season, and that age of Trek would have died on the vine.
It got a lot of pre-ordered ads and investment thanks to the success of TVH. TOS was also, at the time, a huge money-maket for the syndication market and any station that wanted to keep TOS had to air TNG as well. New episodes of TNG would be effectively free, with reruns part of TOS's syndication deal. So, naturally, TNG had a huge launch for a syndicated show (27 million viewers, much larger than most hit network shows today). It set syndication records, accordingly.
After the first batch of episodes for TNG came out, however, it was decidedly not well recieved. Viewership dropped by over half and reviews were outright harsh. A lot of stations were, however, locked into keeping the show for the rest of the season (at least). Writing and production duties shifted for the second batch of episodes after mid-season hiatus.
Come second season, with Roddenberry out and the second batch of episodes better recieved, TNG became 'comfortable' and went on to do well. But there was a time that Paramount was about to give up on it. It's not an exaggeration to say that Rick Berman saved Star Trek. He actually did... before grinding into a fine mist a decade later...
I was just reading this today: http://www.trektoday.com/content/2010/04/stewart-on-trek-and-wheaton/
Despite his behavior towards the "suits," I've never got that impression. In fact, the prevailing attitude in most of the actor's memoirs is disappointment that Roddenberry didn't follow through with his promise to return to hands-on producing during the third season. What's your source on this? Even Inside Star Trek: the real story doesn't give this impression, at least not in my reading of it.
In the third season? I don't think so. Didn't he become a recurring player almost immediately in the second season? I'll have to check on this.
The series was a success out of the gate, so, no, it wasn't about to be cancelled after the first season. As I understand it, the show had an initial two year deal in syndication, anyway, so there's no way it would have ended after the first year (when Roddenberry really began to pull back his control).
Watch the more recent interviews on youtube. It's not so much that they're 'dishing out' these days, but that they don't feel as constrained to 'tow the line' as they used to. Stories slip out.
Nope, he was a day player in second, just like Takei.
For that period it peaked with the first episode and then insanely plummeted for the rest of the season. It wouldn't recover fully until the third season. SO, cancellation seemed a certainty, despite the contracts, for a period in first season... but money was up front, contracts were pretty solid and the syndication deals were made. With the costs sunk, they pushed on.
Which interviews? Youtube is crawling with material, so if you could guide me to something specific, it would be helpful.
Which brings me back to the question I had before, which is, where's your source that Koenig was promoted from being a day player to being a recurring one in season three?
Looking at the Nielsen Ratings listed on this page, for example, I don't see the plummet you're describing. The ratings were never as high as they were for the pilot episode, but that is not unusual, and after the pilot episode the ratings were pretty steady in their numbers.
in light of this, your claim that, "cancellation seemed a certainty," just isn't true. Yes, the reviews were lukewarm, but so had the reviews for the original Star Trek. Paramount wasn't about to cancel a series that was doing just fine financially.
There's a very recent four-parter that I watched on YouTube that I really would recommend, if I could just remember the fargin' name of it. (It doesn't help that a lot of these are similar names.) It was a video that was associated with one of the 'tell all' books. ...
Koenig.
Well, the staff and crew of the show disagreed, including the star, as referenced above. TNG had a hell of a contract deal for it, though, which kept it around.
If you find the interview, I'm very interested in seeing it.
It should be pointed out, though, that Stewart's comment mentioned above was made before he agreed to take the part. It has nothing to do with how the show actually performed nor Paramount's methods of financing it.
It should be pointed out, though, that Stewart's comment mentioned above was made before he agreed to take the part. It has nothing to do with how the show actually performed nor Paramount's methods of financing it.
Looking for it, I found a BUNCH more. One of the more telling ones is indeed "Inside Star Trek", particulary when talking about the two pilots. I've got some viewing to do in the next few days...
Oh, the pre-release predictions were hideous and grossly unfair. But, frankly, the idea of "Trek without Kirk or Spock" was already an insanely hard sell...
The "Captain's Table" interviews is actually very good about TNG's first-season dip and the fear about it. (Wil Wheaton's page is good too, and hilarious to boot, go read it.)
The Inside Star Trek: the real story clips i've seen (posted here) are great. I wish that had been included on the DVDs or Blu-Rays. If you find anything else, do share. Maybe there should just be a thread for this kind of stuff...
