Imagining alternate Captain Sulu in the movies... TWOK shuttle scene: Kirk:"By the way congratulations on your new captaincy Mr Sulu. The Excelsior isn't it.." Sulu: "Thank you Admiral.. " TSFS: Sulu: 'ah Mr Scott calling it a night?' then later: Sulu: 'Admiral don't do this..'..... Kirk: 'warp speed' TVH: Sulu: 'what do you make of it?'....'come in please..' TFF: away on a mission to the Gamma Hydra system
If Sulu got the captaincy in 2, it would have looked like he wanted OUT of the movies, promote my character, I'll come back for a cameo or 2, but I'm done.
I can't understand for an actor to not bask at the opportunity to have deserved screen time in a movie than have bit parts in a major motion picture. Despite Sulu getting promoted, I still see the character on par as the other background characters from TOS with fewer lines.
How so? It's not like he was a producer. TV adventure series of the time were lead driven, not ensembles. Nichelle was overpaid at the start and they had to redo her salary and cut back her hours. Grace Lee Whitney was let go because of an assault and never replaced. George was originally going to be the lead in the romantic subplot of This Side of Paradise but the writing staff thought Spock would be a better choice because 1) Nimoy was a better actor 2) Spock was the breakout character and 3) Nimoy was the co-star. It was when Nimoy proved to be more popular that Shatner got his back up and starting counting lines. However, as far as the supporting cast, they were there to do exactly that: support. Shatner was the lead, each story had to be about Kirk's dilemma. Even early episodes, like Miri, What Are Little Girls Made Of? and Dagger of the Mind were missing most of the supporting cast. Star Trek was never designed to be an ensemble. It was, though, supposed to have living, breathing characters populating the crew. Yes, the series evolved, but I've yet to see evidence that Shatner was responsible for changing the format from a group effort to a lead-driven show. From what I've seen, it was more of a budget thing. Even Doohan was expansive. It was cheaper to focus on the core two or three leads and use the supporting cast sparingly.
Oh I dunno, Sulu choosing to sacrifice command of his ship while at the pinnacle of his career would have been a serious wrench demonstrating an incredible sense of loyalty. I realise that they had to get on with the movie but stealing the Enterprise was a glorious indulgence. I think that allowing each of the characters a chance to contribute from their own unique skill set would have been more fun so: Chapel helping to break out McCoy, Rand at the transporter station, Uhura scrambling the security response, Sulu and Scotty in the Excelsior Turbolift together (Stiles being the XO), Chekov releasing the bay doors.
It would seem more logical if Sulu was promoted to Captain in II; this would be a send off for the character and probably wouldn't see the character anymore. Could Bennett's Romulan idea spawn the Excelsior and Sulu in some plot in that story? I wish that had happened, would've been an appropriate extension to TWOK.
TOS was NOT an ensemble show, the "gang of four" should have understood that, and Shatner was not the source of all evil behind the scenes. That's it. That's all.
That’s perceptive. I’ve often told the story about how I remember watching The Man Trap the night Star Trek debuted. I was 6 1/2. But thinking about it recently, I realized what I now remember is telling the story, rather than the event itself. Damn, getting old SUCKS!
The older I get the more I realize that I don't actually have any memories of my younger life anymore. I have memories of my memories, and sometimes even a memory of a memory of a memory.
I admit, this is only second hand, but it comes from a friend I trust completely and who did speak directly with Shatner about it. Shatner's as mystified as the rest of us at the duration and vehemence of Takei's grudge, and he knows he's an easy punching bag for Takei. I think of George Harrison's late advice to Paul McCartney regarding Yoko Ono: "Just let it go. You don't want to be carrying that around for the rest of your life." Can the spirit of George tell George to let it go? I have no idea how Captain Sulu would have worked in Star Trek V. Either that would have been an early creative decision (in which case the shape of the script would have been very different than what we got) or a late rewrite to induce Takei to sign (which would either be an announcement of his promotion, like the cut scene from Star Trek II or removing him for little more than a cameo). Personally, I thought he had several good moments in the film ("Actually, it's my first attempt") that fit Sulu specifically.
I believe Doohan was as vitriolic against Shatner through the '90s and early 2000s so not every supporting cast member but also not super-unique to Takei. And it's likely that part of it was/is wanting to play up the feud for yes attention and convention-drama and -support.
I remember a long, long time ago (probably long enough that it's fallen off the board archives) reading someone here talk about Doohan having a convention anecdote about calling Shatner after hearing they were going to be coming back for a Star Trek movie (presumably, this is before it became a TV show, then became a movie again), and the first thing Shatner said was, "How did you get this number?"* Years later, this person saw Doohan at another convention and he gave the same story, but this time, Shatner was all, "How dare you call me, sir?! You, who are not fit to darken my door! Cease to disturb me, peasant!" (I don't remember the exact phrasing, but the idea is that in the telling, Shatner went from being aloof and disconnected to being enraged at Doohan calling him). In retrospect, I agree that these feuds were more of a way to grab a bit more limelight with some drama, though there's probably a kernel of truth there. Shatner, in his own telling, isn't shy about admitting to upstaging the supporting cast, on the grounds that if he hadn't jealously guarded his status as lead actor, the producers would've fired him, made Nimoy the captain with a token pay raise since Spock was already so popular, and pocketed the savings, though he doesn't make it sound malicious. Shatner himself leans into the persona, too, which could be the reason his twitter account is still (I assume?) being run by that 4chan weirdo who keeps picking fights with people. *Which, personally, I think is funny as hell.