Neelix as the "break out character"

[The Overlord]

An October 1994 issue of TV Guide had an article about Voyager, where Neelix was expected to be the breakout character. That clearly did not happen, with many viewers simply not liking him. So what went wrong? What could the writers have done to make him more popular with the audience? What didn't work for the character and how could these problems have been corrected?

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

I blame his girlfriend.

 

[EyalM]

What I always wondered is why the writers didn't try to fix Neelix. Even if they didn't want to let the actor go, why not "reboot" him? It's science fiction, they could have done it in any number of ways.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

I thought the actor was great, the character humorous and used very well to contrast with the crew.

I don't have to like him to think he worked well, LOL

 

[Innoda]

There was no reason to "reboot" Neelix. He may not have been my favorite character, but he worked well in the series exactly the way he was. If the entire crew were filled with flawless supermen the show would get dull very fast.

 

[The Overlord]

There was no reason to "reboot" Neelix. He may not have been my favorite character, but he worked well in the series exactly the way he was. If the entire crew were filled with flawless supermen the show would get dull very fast.

Quark was not a flawless superman, but he was certainly a fun character to watch. Neelix just seems like someone who is a danger to himself and everyone else around him. It was often counter productive to have him on board. It seems like he was playing a role similar to Gilligan.

 

[R. Star]

Make him not be an annoying jerk who forces himself on every situation? Remove the jealous stalker behavior with anyone who looks at Kes? Make him stop harassing Tuvok for no reason? I dunno, it'd require a complete rewrite of the character really.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

He'd just become Harry with tufts of hair.

 

[R. Star]

He'd just become Harry with tufts of hair.

Harry wasn't an annoying jerk. He was just pathetic.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

That's what I meant, if you took away the annoying jerk and stalker traits you get Harry, with tufts of hair.

 

[Innoda]

Well that's simply not fair. Neelix didn't fall head over heals for every other female that he encountered.

 

[The Overlord]

That's what I meant, if you took away the annoying jerk and stalker traits you get Harry, with tufts of hair.

While maybe the writers should have made both Harry and Neelix more compelling from the start.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

I don't know, annoying jerk and stalker traits were not the usual Trek fare. I think he was a bold new direction for Star Trek.

 

[Guy Gardener]

They did fix him.

Nelix started off as Han Solo and they turned him into Luke Skywalker back when he was killing small animals on the moisture farm.

They fixed him wrong.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

But Han Solo is everywhere! We don't need any more Han Solos!

 

[Guy Gardener]

Who did we need? More Landos'?

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

More Leias.

Just turn all the slack ass males on Voyager into women.

 

[Guy Gardener]

You can't have a crew of nothing but alphas. They'd kill each other before anyone cleaned a toilet.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

Okay we can have some Harrys, for domestic use.

 

[R. Star]

They did fix him.

Nelix started off as Han Solo and they turned him into Luke Skywalker back when he was killing small animals on the moisture farm.

They fixed him wrong.

Now if Janeway had frozen Neelix in carbonite and hung him in her ready room she might've been my favorite captain ever.