Tasha Yar Presents: "Making Good Career Decisions"

[Doug Otte]

Roddenberry was upset that she was leaving, so had her character killed to avoid any possibility of her coming back.

Are you sure about that? When her character was brought back, it was in the third season, and Roddenberry, though not running the day-to-day operations, was still very much involved in reviewing the scripts and giving his approval. I base that on the fact that Michael Piller did not join the staff until the third season, but talks about the conversations he had with Roddenberry where Roddenberry was unhappy with a particular script and they had to rewrite it.

Yes; I'm sure about it, but not sure where I read it. Maybe it was in Engel's biography.

However, I can't explain about her reappearance in Yesterday's Enterprise. I think, by that time, Roddenberry was pretty uncommunicative, and so didn't have much input into the show. Any quotes from the cast and crew to the contrary were probably just propaganda for the fans.

Doug

 

[ALF]

I don't think there was any bad blood between Denise and Roddenbery. But who knows? I've read pretty bizarre things about Roddenbery... maybe he had a Captain Kirk side with the women?

 

[Joel_Kirk]

You know, the female Romulans of TNG onward were pretty much anti-sexy.

*cough* Donatra *cough*

Damn. Even I can't deny how hot Dina Meyer is.

Yes, Donatra was hot....but could have been more hotter....in a more interesting outfit...

Was always impressed they made sure to get her back for All Good Things...

Agreed, I read somewhere Denise had her hair grown out shoulder length and they'd made a wig for her that looked hideous, so she decided to chop it off so that she wouldn't look horrible forever in syndication!

ETA: If TNG ever gets an Abrams style reboot years down the road, I hope they give the Yar character a much better showing.

That's a very interesting idea... and I do subscribe to the theory that TNG will eventually get rebooted in our lifetime.

That should be interesting....

I seem to recall reading in a TNG magazine (maybe even the failed "Star Trek: The Magazine") that she was let go because they didn't have the bduget and Gene and/or the studio wanted to focus on Worf. And Gene regretted it.

Being a background character at the time, I imagine his salary went up as soon as he became a regular cast member.

Roddenberry was upset that she was leaving, so had her character killed to avoid any possibility of her coming back.

Doug

Yeah, that last part worked out real well.


I can't name another TV character, with some thought, that died, but still kept coming back.

Weyoun....(although, he eventually died 'for reals' )...

I would say Jason Voorhees, but he's a movie character....as is Mike Myers...

 

[CoveTom]

Any quotes from the cast and crew to the contrary were probably just propaganda for the fans.

Interesting. I never got the impression that Roddenberry was that far "out of the loop" for the third season. And it never seemed as though Michael Piller was one to just make up stories like that out of whole cloth for the purposes of "propaganda."

I remember one specific incident he detailed -- and this was years later, long after TNG that he was discussing it -- where Roddenberry was unhappy with a script. He called Piller in and asked him "what's this script about?" Piller started explaining the plot, and Roddenberry stopped him and explained to him that the script was a fine collection of action and plot twists, but that it wasn't really -about- anything. And Piller said that affected the way he looked at TNG writing from then on.

I always respected Piller as a writer for the fact that he was able to look at the restrictions imposed by Roddenberry's rules and view them as a creative challenge rather than a millstone around the neck, and never once sat around and complained about how tough it was to write for the Trek universe.

 

[Doug Otte]

Interesting. I never got the impression that Roddenberry was that far "out of the loop" for the third season. And it never seemed as though Michael Piller was one to just make up stories like that out of whole cloth for the purposes of "propaganda."

I don't have Engel's book, so I can't look it up. I'll try to pick it up and find the reference.

I do have "The Continuing Mission" which is an "official" ST book, so you won't find much controversy there. However, on p. 119 (regarding the 3rd season), Piller is quoted: "Gene was beginning to go into decline. Not that he was completely uncommunicative, but it was clear that he was not the same man that he had been." I infer from that statement that Roddenberry didn't have much input at that point, or it was sporadic at best. Maybe he just didn't care about Crosby's return by that time.

And, I wouldn't say Piller made up stories. To quote Spock, "It was an exaggeration."

Anyway, I'll have to retract my statement about Roddenberry wanting to kill off Yar out of anger until I can find a reference.

Doug

 

[CoveTom]

^ To be clear, I'm not unwilling to accept that Roddenberry may have felt that way and made the decision to kill off her character. I just found it interesting that Yar returned relatively quickly during a season in which Roddenberry apparently still had some cursory involvement. But he may have changed his mind by then, or he may not have cared about this "one off" appearance in the same way he would have cared about her returning as a series regular. Or you may be correct that he simply wasn't involved at the point of making "Yesterday's Enterprise."

 

[Kelthaz]

Yeah, that last part worked out real well.

I can't name another TV character, with some thought, that died, but still kept coming back.

Do you mean a character who dies and keeps coming back or an actor whose character dies, but they come back as a different character? Because I can think of many, many examples of the former.

 

[Guy Gardener]

I believe the phrase "I am Bing Crosby's grandaughter!" was used at least 47 times during her final conversation with management, but yes she quit.

So she would have had Dorn's "star trek" career is she stayed?

The love affair with deanna would have been humourous.

And what foe would have been at the fore of DS9 for Sisko to have said "If there's a blonde with a bad hair cut causing you problems, then you need your own blonde with bad hair cut!"

Then of course i would have been rivitted by her extensive courtship and marriage to Dax.

Though getting drunk at Dee and Will's wedding makes a lot more sense if she's still carrying a torch for Dee?

I wonder if she would have got the lawyering job in VI which Dorn got as hs own grandfather?

 

[DevilEyes]

I seem to recall reading in a TNG magazine (maybe even the failed "Star Trek: The Magazine") that she was let go because they didn't have the bduget and Gene and/or the studio wanted to focus on Worf. And Gene regretted it.

Being a background character at the time, I imagine his salary went up as soon as he became a regular cast member.

Roddenberry was upset that she was leaving, so had her character killed to avoid any possibility of her coming back.

Doug

Yeah, that last part worked out real well.


I can't name another TV character, with some thought, that died, but still kept coming back.

Haven't you seen Lost? Not to mention Heroes?

In the former, people are dead, but that never stops them from reappearing... in the latter, some people keep dying but don't stay dead!

And one can make a case for Battlestar Galactica, although that was 'came back' rather than 'kept coming back'...