Agreed. I believe that in 1992-3, it was more progressive to put two women higher in the command hierarchy than would previously be seen in TV in general, not just in Trek. Nevertheless, the gender imbalance did hurt the series somewhat.
Terry Farrell and DS9 Season 7
- Thread starter SicOne
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In what way? TNG was gender imbalanced for nearly its entire run, but it hardly hurt the show in any way at all. I'm no fan of the PC mentality of having women in a show just to tick boxes. If their roles serve purpose within a show, get 'em in. If they don't, get 'em out. It's exactly the same with men in female orientated shows eg Sex and the City, L Word etc etc
I won't get sucked into an ideological mudfight. If you want to disagree with political correctness, don't do it on my comment. I'm here to talk Trek.
Unfortunately, ST in general has always been notorious for it's gender bias. That's really too bad since on most every other issue it was known for being rather progressive, multi-cultural, including a Russian in spite of the cold war... etc. No other show of that magnitude dared to anticipate a future were races and the old communist block would be included in a planetary institution.
It's weird how Trek predated milestones in Americam politics.
Put a Russian on the bridge predicted an Austrian Governor of a large state.
Then we had a black captain, then we had a female captain, which predicted the order of Obama and Hillary!
TOS was 60s TV at its best approximation of a socially progressive show, in a "let's don't really offend anyone" sort of way.
I think if GR really had his way, he'd have been paid a ton of money to have naked pool parties and bed all the women. Like Hugh Hefner. Gene wanted to be Hef.
Hey, I might be on to something here ...
I think if GR really had his way, he'd have been paid a ton of money to have naked pool parties and bed all the women. Like Hugh Hefner. Gene wanted to be Hef.
Hey, I might be on to something here ...
It was basically having her fall into an elevator shaft when the writers are mad because she didn't want to continue her role. It was a complete slap in the face to Terry especially there was an episode prior to her end the writers created a full on ceremony for a character who was NOT even a cast member.
I don't think the death meant much to the horrible series finale. Worf didn't cast his vengeance on Dukat, nor did he have a flashback of Terry's moments. It was as if she never mattered on that show. The writers and producers literally SNUBBED her out of the show.
There obviously was some bad blood between her and the powers that be. They did a total erasure of her character, they only mentioned her (very discreetly) when there was no other way to continue the story.
Jeez. I never knew that this was the reason for Jadzia's death in season 6...
Not really, many 7th season episodes mentioned Jadzia. Even whole scenes. Remember the scene between Ezri and Worf, "I bet Jadzia could have done it."? Just erasing a character is like Ritchie Cunningham's brother in Happy Days, just never mentioned anymore as if he was in a superseded timeline.
Of course they're not going to advertise Jadzia's absence in every episode. If you're Quark and your suppliers can no longer get you 2309 blood wine, do you go on and on to your customers about how sad it is that you don't have that vintage to sell, or do you talk about what you do have? So if you're writers and you don't have one character to work with anymore, you work with the characters you have.
I agree that it would have been a lot better if What You Leave Behind included some flashbacks with Jadzia, though.
Yeah, the Jadzia/Ezri debate is like Star Trek's Ginger/Mary Ann debate, as far as I'm concerned.
Was Jadzia hotter? Yep. But personality-wise, I much preferred Ezri, I think.
As for the actresses themselves, I think Farrell kind of showed her true colors on that one, which was green for greed. Granted no acting job is a prison sentence, and if an actor or actress wants out, they should be allowed to go. Also, there is nothing wrong with asking for a raise if you are worth it OR if you think you might get it even if you aren't worth it. But, I am also not upset when actors/actresses who think too highly of themselves get the boot, when the only thing that stands in their way of completing the final season of their show is their own greed. I don't buy the "I don't want to be typecast excuse, because she was ALREADY typecast for having been on for 6 years, anyway.
It shows poor form and a lack of commitment to their work, and it also shows that it is all about the paycheck, and they could care less about the fans that help make their jobs possible in the first place. All she had was one season left, and she was going to be receiving residuals and royalties and also would have a fan following for a very long time...long after many people would even know what DS9 was, and if things really got lean, the ability to do conventions. That is more than 99.99% of the world population ever get. All she had to do was stick out 20 some odd episodes,which she was going to get paid for in more ways than one, and more money than most people ever see in a lifetime.
So, when Farrell's time was up, it didn't exactly break my heart. It was Tasha Yar all over again, as far as I am concerned. And like Denise Crosby, Farrell found that Star Trek went on just fine without her, not even missing a beat.
She wanted off the show. What were the writers supposed to do, have other characters constantly say stuff like, "Jadiza will be back later, she had to go to the head"? and we just conveniently never see her again?
No, she did that herself. Clips of Jadzia weren't able to be cleared for use in the finale. Apparently she was annoyed that they had used her voice without permission or compensation earlier in the season and put the kibosh on clips for the finale.
I'll never not be a little annoyed that the montages in the finale weren't all they could be. No Jadzia, clips from episodes that only just happened an ep or two earlier, and (worst of all) characters remembering things that they shouldn't be able to.
On the other hand, I try to remind myself that the finale is mostly awesome, and I'm thankful that it's not These Are The Voyages or Endgame.
STEPHon IT is speculating ... and coming to incorrect conclusions. The producers were not committed to completely effacing Terry Farrell from the series. Even Farrell admits that her agent and the show's producers negotiated overnot just having footage of her in WYLB, but even filming new footage of Jadzia for that episode. There are several interviews in which Farrell discusses her relationship with the show. One of the best is from the Delta Quadrant podcast from 2013. I recommend you (and STEPHon IT) track it down.
The problem with an interview from an actor, though, is that they generally have a bit (by "bit" I mean "a lot") of a bias. She probably doesn't want to bring up some of the dirtier sides of negotiation tactics that she is known to have implemented on Becker to similar results. The boot.
Yes, it is the actress' perspective, but I don't think should could legitimately paint the producers in a worse light. Indeed, what she has to say largely confirms ISB's perspective:
It's kind of ironic that she was, in a sense, the most replaceable cast member, the one whose character had an in-built recasting gimmick. If it had been, say, Nana Visitor who hadn't wanted to continue for the final year it might have been a bigger blow. When your character is set up at the beginning to have the ability to reincarnate, which would be an intriguing idea to explore some day, it might not be a good idea to cause too much of a fuss.
My understanding based on interviews over the years with actors,writers and producers who worked on the show at the time was that when Farrell's contract was up at the end of season 6 her people attempted to negotiate a large salary increase and a reduced episode commitment so she wouldn't have to be available for all 26 episodes in season 7. In basic terms she was asking for more money for less work.
When Paramount offered her a counter-proposal Farrell turned it down and basically said she would walk if her terms weren't meant. I believe Paramount's counter offer was really their final offer and did not attempt to negotiate with Farrell's representatives anymore and simply allowed her contract to expire (this is done fairly often in Hollywood when an actor is perceived as being difficult or making ridiculous demands).
If you read the DS9 Companion it's clear the writers didn't really know if Farrell was leaving or not until writing for the season finale was underway. It appeared there was still hope behind the scenes that she was bluffing and would settle with Paramount at the 11th hour. When it became clear she was leaving word came down from Berman that Jadzia was to be killed off and the writers basically hurriedly incorporated her death into the sixth season finale.
I don't think Farrell left DS9 on terrible terms with Paramount as Becker was a Paramount produced show. If the studio disliked her so much, she would never have been hired on Becker. It was however he behavior on Becker that got her fired there and likely ended her career.
I do know for a fact Farrell was not held in high regard by many of her cast mates. I know Armin Shimerman has said some less than flattering things about her at conventions and I was at a convention where Marina Sirtis was a guest (she's close friends with Farrell) and she said that she was sure many of members of the DS9 cast were ready to help Terry pack her bags.
When Paramount offered her a counter-proposal Farrell turned it down and basically said she would walk if her terms weren't meant. I believe Paramount's counter offer was really their final offer and did not attempt to negotiate with Farrell's representatives anymore and simply allowed her contract to expire (this is done fairly often in Hollywood when an actor is perceived as being difficult or making ridiculous demands).
If you read the DS9 Companion it's clear the writers didn't really know if Farrell was leaving or not until writing for the season finale was underway. It appeared there was still hope behind the scenes that she was bluffing and would settle with Paramount at the 11th hour. When it became clear she was leaving word came down from Berman that Jadzia was to be killed off and the writers basically hurriedly incorporated her death into the sixth season finale.
I don't think Farrell left DS9 on terrible terms with Paramount as Becker was a Paramount produced show. If the studio disliked her so much, she would never have been hired on Becker. It was however he behavior on Becker that got her fired there and likely ended her career.
I do know for a fact Farrell was not held in high regard by many of her cast mates. I know Armin Shimerman has said some less than flattering things about her at conventions and I was at a convention where Marina Sirtis was a guest (she's close friends with Farrell) and she said that she was sure many of members of the DS9 cast were ready to help Terry pack her bags.
That is weird, and untrue. Terry Farrell was ONLY contracted for 6 seasons. Her agent negotiated for a raise and the studio decided not to deal. The writers and producers went hellbent on giving a character who was not even seen on camera in an episode BEFORE Jadzia's demise and gave her a heart warming ceremony. Jadzia didn't get anything when she died. I expected something of value and respect for a character who was around for 6 seasons. The writers decided to do what they do when THEY DON'T get their way or get what THEY WANT.
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