Should any Trek actors from other series direct episodes of this series?

[fireproof78]

And I'm inclined to think that they should be judged on more than just their TREK episodes, which are invariably going to be their first stabs at directing. In the case of people like Frakes, McNeill, or Dawson, those early directorial efforts are at least a decade or two in the past. They've gained a lot more experience since then.

Also, Levar Burton. They do a lot more than just the Star Trek stuff, which is a whole different animal than directing film.

 

[KennyB]

I'm gonna go with NO

 

[Farscape One]

How about other previous STAR TREK directors who only directed?

People like...
James L. Conway... 3 TNG, 8 DS9, 4 VGR, 5 ENT= 20 episodes
LeVar Burton... 2 TNG, 10 DS9, 8 VGR, 9 ENT= 29 episodes (I add him because he is one of the only people to direct every spinoff.)
Mike Vejar... 1TNG, 7 DS9, 13 VGR, 11 ENT= 32 episodes
Allan Kroeker... 14 DS9, 14 VGR, 13 ENT= 41 episodes
Cliff Bole... 25 TNG, 7 DS9, 10 VGR= 42 episodes
Les Landau... 21 TNG, 14 DS9, 9 VGR, 1 ENT= 45 episodes
Winrich Kolbe... 17 TNG, 13 DS9, 19 VGR, 1 ENT= 50 episodes
David Livingston... 2 TNG, 17 DS9, 28 VGR, 15 ENT= 62 episodes

This list contains directors who directed every spinoff, and two people (Bole and Kroeker) who were so prolific they had to be added. Between them, they have directed a total of 321 episodes... almost half the entire franchise.

I would suggest that they would be qualified just from how much of a mark they left on STAR TREK. I can put in the names of all the episodes in a future post, if needed.

 

[Captain of the USS Averof]

If they're good enough for Game of Thrones and Westworld then they're good enough for Discovery.

 

[Tuskin38]

Based on Insurrection alone, Frakes should never direct anything again.

Yeah, I know. The script was banal. But so much of the direction was really terrible.

Based on the direction of some of the trek episodes directed by [previous] cast members, most of them barely registered as average. Some of them turned out to be fairly good directors, and if so, I see no reason not to have them work on Discovery.
However, the virtue of being a Star Trek Alumnus should not be the primary consideration to the showrunners - at best, that should only be the deciding factor if they'd have the same talent as anyone else considered.

With the exception of Leonard Nimoy none of the actors from the other series were very good directors.

Have you actually seen stuff they've directed outside of Star Trek?

Clearly they're decent directors if they're still directing. Some of them even directing in big name shows

 

[stardream]

Robert McNeil and Dawson were serious about moving on to directing while they were on Voyager, spending LOTS of time learning the ropes and have gone on to bigger and better things. McNeil is a producer who tried to get Dawson to direct an episode for his show but she was too busy because she is that much in demand. He did manage to snag Frakes for an episode.

 

[EnderAKH]

Personally I would like to see people not associated with Trek at all, like:
Cary Fukunaga
Thomas Schlamme
David Nutter
Jack Bender
Michelle Maclaren

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

Anson Williams (yes that Anson Williams) directed a few Star Trek episodes, not to mention lots of other shows' episodes.



I think the director can do a lot to get the best performance out of the actors & try to get the best out of each scene, but they can't magically make a bad script good. Only so much they can do.

 

[jaime]

With the exception of Leonard Nimoy none of the actors from the other series were very good directors.

Apart from those with directing careers now. McNeill, Dawson, Frakes, Burton. And Shatner was better cinematically than Nimoy. Nimoy is just Trek and 3 men and a baby no?

 

[Farscape One]

David Nutter is an excellent choice. With the exception of one, every single pilot episode he directed was picked up as a series... a total of 20, I believe.

THE X-FILES
SPACE: ABOVE AND BEYOND
SUPERNATURAL
ARROW
THE FLASH
SMALLVILLE
DARK ANGEL
MILLENNIUM
ROSWELL
TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES

And many other others. He has directed many episodes of various series and some in those, as well as getting an Emmy nomination for his directing of a GAME OF THRONES episode, which I believe he won.

 

[Farscape One]

Apart from those with directing careers now. McNeill, Dawson, Frakes, Burton. And Shatner was better cinematically than Nimoy. Nimoy is just Trek and 3 men and a baby no?

Nimoy also directed an episode of NIGHT GALLERY, and a couple other movies. Also the pilot to a UPN series called DEADLY GAMES.

He also directed a Bruno Mars music video... the one with 4 or 5 people dressed as gorillas in an apartment. I can't remember the name of the song, though.

 

[Jarvisimo]

~I'd love to see Dawson do an episode, consider this recent review on AV Club of 'Crossbreed' from season 5 of The Americans:

“Crossbreed” is the type of Americans episode that makes you want to grab an Emmy voter by the lapels and scream, “What do these people have to do to win a trophy?” Keri Russell, Matthew Rhys, and Frank Langella would all be justified in submitting it for the academy’s consideration this year; the Claudia-Gabriel interlude means that character actress Margo Martindale will actually have some screen time to show for her Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series award this time around. The director is an actor herself—former Klingon Roxann Dawson—and Stephen Schiff’s script provides meaty, moving material for Russell, Rhys, and Langella. Sweetening the deal: the jaw-dropper of Paige meeting Gabriel.

The episode's final sequence is quite a stunner, powered by the use and suppression of the gaze, in blue set to Peter Gabriel.

For an examination of how important a tv director can be, even on an episode-only-hire basis, this excellent article on Indiewire about The Leftovers was really good, if formalist in nature:

Over the course of its three-season run, “The Leftovers” has earned acclaim for Damon Lindelof and Tom Perrotta, as well as the ensemble cast, but it would be a shame to say goodbye to this series without spotlighting the men and women behind the camera.

“The Leftovers” and its point-of-view storytelling always allowed different directors to leave their mark on the series. Through memorable sequences and shots, these seven directors made “The Leftovers” an emotionally visceral and downright spiritual experience. It’s safe to say there won’t be another series like it for some time, but television is in good hands as long as these filmmakers are guiding it.

The seven they study are Peter Berg, Mimi Leder, Keith Gordon, David Sackheim, Carl Franklin, Nicole Kassell and Craig Zobel.

but for Discovery David Semel is pretty good hands. Alas Natali said he wasn't involved anymore :/

 

[Locutus of Bored]

^ I was also pleased to see that Roxann Dawson directed two episodes of the current season of House of Cards (Chapters 60 & 61, specifically).

 

[stardream]

McNeil did an episode of Blue Bloods not that long ago. I remember being surprised at seeing his name in the opening credits.

 

[Locutus of Bored]

McNeil did an episode of Blue Bloods not that long ago. I remember being surprised at seeing his name in the opening credits.

I wonder if he got flashbacks to the Voyager briefing room scenes when the Reagans all sit down to family dinner and discuss issues topical to the current plotline.

 

[Greg Cox]

Apart from those with directing careers now. McNeill, Dawson, Frakes, Burton. And Shatner was better cinematically than Nimoy. Nimoy is just Trek and 3 men and a baby no?

Nimoy also directed a few more feature films: The Good Mother, Funny About Love, and Holy Matrimony. The Good Mother, alas, was a big flop, which, as I understand it, pretty much killed his career as an A-list movie director. To be honest, I'd never heard of the other two until I looked it up a moment ago.

 

[fireproof78]

I wonder if he got flashbacks to the Voyager briefing room scenes when the Reagans all sit down to family dinner and discuss issues topical to the current plotline.

"Alright, Tom, you're going to suggest reversing the polarity, while Donnie adds something about the warp core, and Bridget, make sure to get angry about it because you're Klingon."

 

[Pippin]

There are lots of good directors; Roxanne Dawson comes to mind.
Me, I'm wondering if any alumni show up as actors. (I would cheerfully kill to see Connor Trinneer on TV again, especially in a semi-recurring role, like he did on Stargate: Atlantis.)

 

[Gibberish]

Looks like they got Frakes!

http://ew.com/tv/2017/06/27/star-trek-discovery-jonathan-frakes/