Tasha Yar Development

[RandyS]

I, for one, really liked Tasha's first-season haircut. The shape of Denise Crosby's face just doesn't work that well with longer hair, but with really, really short hair, she was attractive.

I just never cared for short hair on women, but I'll say this, her hairstyle in season one was much more attractive than when she was in "Yesterday's Enterprise".

But her appearance secondary to the fact that I wish she had stayed on the show, or at least several years longer than she did.

 

[Falcor5]

She would've wound up on Deep Space Nine instead of Worf. -- RR

I personally think that the producers would have had either Worf or Yar leave TNG when DS9 came on the air and had one of them join the cast of DS9 right at the start of the first season. Would have totally changed both shows.

 

[RaymondJames]

I suspect that if Tasha had stayed security chief, Worf would've probably taken over permanently at conn when Geordi transferred to engineering.

Worf, the poor red suit klingon of Season 1 who had no where to go until after episode 23

If we had Yar for all seven seasons, I don't think we would have as many klingon episodes and Worf would have had almost nothing to do, I wouldn't of been surprised if Dorn would hae been let go eventually or cut back to Special Guest Star. Chances are he would have been on Deep Space Nine after eother.

 

[Christopher]

Worf, the poor red suit klingon of Season 1 who had no where to go until after episode 23

His job was "bridge watch officer." That meant he manned the conn when the captain and first officer were away and filled in as necessary at other posts. It's a real naval position, just not one ST has generally used.

 

[RaymondJames]

Worf, the poor red suit klingon of Season 1 who had no where to go until after episode 23

His job was "bridge watch officer." That meant he manned the conn when the captain and first officer were away and filled in as necessary at other posts. It's a real naval position, just not one ST has generally used.

Oh I know but how much can one do with a charcater like that. He was a Lieutenant Junior Grade like Geordi in Season 1 and I feel it would have been very hard to shine any light on Worf.

 

[Christopher]

His job was "bridge watch officer." That meant he manned the conn when the captain and first officer were away and filled in as necessary at other posts. It's a real naval position, just not one ST has generally used.

Oh I know but how much can one do with a charcater like that.

A character who can perform any possible function, including commanding the whole ship? I'd imagine you could do quite a lot.

After all, it's not like Trek characters were always defined by their jobs. Data was technically the operations manager, which meant he was responsible for allocating ship resources and scheduling their usage. Pretty dull stuff. But he functioned as the de facto science officer and was also the second officer, putting him in the chain of command. Harry Kim was also an ops manager and de facto science officer. And look at Chekov. Why did Kirk keep bringing his navigator along on landing parties?

Besides, it wasn't Worf's job that led to his popularity, it was Michael Dorn's appeal as an actor. The producers increased the size of his role in response to that popularity. They would've done the same even if he hadn't become security chief. Heck, look at how big a role Colm Meaney's originally nameless "Transporter Chief" grew into because of the actor's popularity. No other transporter chief has ever gone on to become a major character. So it's not about the job, it's about the performer.

 

[Mysterion]

I thought her hairstyle fit the character who would probably want something practical, easy to take care of, and short enough to not be in the way.

 

[RaymondJames]

His job was "bridge watch officer." That meant he manned the conn when the captain and first officer were away and filled in as necessary at other posts. It's a real naval position, just not one ST has generally used.

Oh I know but how much can one do with a charcater like that.

A character who can perform any possible function, including commanding the whole ship? I'd imagine you could do quite a lot.

After all, it's not like Trek characters were always defined by their jobs. Data was technically the operations manager, which meant he was responsible for allocating ship resources and scheduling their usage. Pretty dull stuff. But he functioned as the de facto science officer and was also the second officer, putting him in the chain of command. Harry Kim was also an ops manager and de facto science officer. And look at Chekov. Why did Kirk keep bringing his navigator along on landing parties?

Besides, it wasn't Worf's job that led to his popularity, it was Michael Dorn's appeal as an actor. The producers increased the size of his role in response to that popularity. They would've done the same even if he hadn't become security chief. Heck, look at how big a role Colm Meaney's originally nameless "Transporter Chief" grew into because of the actor's popularity. No other transporter chief has ever gone on to become a major character. So it's not about the job, it's about the performer.

The Question is however, could Dorn have showed off his acting chops and rise to fan status (he is my favorite) if Crosby had not left the cast and Worf had never worn the Gold/Yellow uniform as Chief Tactical Officer & Security Chief? I agree that if they wanted to they could have done things with him, but for him to be placed in charge of the Bridge Picard, Riker, & Data (Yar as well?) would need to be off the ship or unavalible to commande, her not their shift or for some strange reson Worf being given the bridge while Data was right there.I just really feel that Dorn/Worf didn't reach cult status until after Yar died and we saw him up there where he stayed from the remainder of Season 1-Season7

 

[Christopher]

Scripts are written to make the best use of the actors, particularly the popular ones. Michael Dorn has consistently been one of the most popular ST cast members -- he probably would've been more popular than Denise Crosby even if she'd stayed and been well-served by the writing staff. So the producers would've found ways to use him.

And we've seen plenty of episodes with subplots concentrating on a supporting character in command while the captain and first officer are away. Scotty in "A Taste of Armageddon," "Friday's Child," and others; Geordi in "The Arsenal of Freedom"; Beverly in "Descent Part 2"; Tuvok in "Resolutions"; etc. So much the better if it's actually his job to be in command in those situations.

 

[DGCatAniSiri]

If the issue is that Worf wouldn't have developed as much as a character if Tasha were still the security chief, I have a solution - have her begin to show an aptitude for command, eventually transferring to the command track (like Ezri did in the post-finale DS9 novels). Hide and Q kind of indicated that Tasha was looking to Picard as a father figure, so have her start being like his protege. The suggestion has been made around here that it would have been a good position for her in the first place, so make it part of her character evolution - her life on Turkana IV made her into someone who fought to survive, so security was a good starting place, but does she want to continue making the violent part of her past into a dominant force in her life? It would have been interesting to see, in my opinion.

 

[Thestral]

If the issue is that Worf wouldn't have developed as much as a character if Tasha were still the security chief, I have a solution - have her begin to show an aptitude for command, eventually transferring to the command track (like Ezri did in the post-finale DS9 novels). Hide and Q kind of indicated that Tasha was looking to Picard as a father figure, so have her start being like his protege. The suggestion has been made around here that it would have been a good position for her in the first place, so make it part of her character evolution - her life on Turkana IV made her into someone who fought to survive, so security was a good starting place, but does she want to continue making the violent part of her past into a dominant force in her life? It would have been interesting to see, in my opinion.

Not a bad idea... and that would take a couple years... by which point Ro would come on board, who had a not-entirely-dissimilar background and was written into the role of "Picard-protege."

 

[Christopher]

If the issue is that Worf wouldn't have developed as much as a character if Tasha were still the security chief...

I don't think that's the issue here. As I said, it's not the job that matters; if an actor proves popular with the audience and the writing staff, they'll find more for that actor to do regardless of his or her job (even if it's a lowly transporter chief like O'Brien or a bar employee like Rom). I don't think Worf had to be security chief to become a prominent character. If anything, he was the one on the command track in the first season; watch officer is a post that includes commanding the bridge, and that trains an officer for familiarity with all aspects of the ship, something a prospective commander needs. I think it would've been nice to keep Worf on the command track, or maybe make him the chief engineer instead of Geordi -- get away from the "Klingon = fighter" stereotype and take him in a different direction that put him more at odds with his self-image as a warrior. Which is kind of what they eventually did with him in DS9. And the fact is, Worf had a lot more character growth as a command-track officer on DS9 than he ever did as a security chief on TNG.

 

[DGCatAniSiri]

I suppose I should have phrased that as 'if the issue is that people believe that Worf wouldn't have been developed...' I do think Worf would have still been developed and liked by the audience if Tasha were still around, but it felt like there was this argument being presented by some that Worf could only develop in the security chief position and would have been stunted by Tasha remaining.

 

[Red Ranger]

As much as I hate to admit it she would've ended up as Data's girlfriend. I site the treatment (and humiliation) of Beverly Crusher and Deanna Troi.

I would've loved to see her paired up with Picard. You gotta admit, there were sparks.

^Definitely saw it in Hide and Q, when Yar says, "Oh, if you weren't a captain." -- RR

 

[Thespeckledkiwi]

You know, as shown in the books; there is security and there is tactical. I wonder if they could have split the parts...with Tasha taking on tactical and Worf taking on security. Or with Data, transferring him primarily as the chief operations officer and second in command and having Worf/Geordi as the chief science officer. Which would have been very interesting.

 

[Kira Nerys]

I just can't envision her for all seven seasons.