The best first officer in the Fleet?

[Warped9]

Fans questioned less back in the day. And there were less means to fact check the veracity of things people sometimes claimed and asserted as truth. But lots of materiel has come out over the years disapproving some of Roddenberry’s assertions and other myths regarding Star Trek.

Start here:
https://startrekfactcheck.blogspot.com/
https://www.facttrek.com/

 

[Mres_was_framed!]

I might even go against conventional thinking and propose that Kirk has spent a couple of years on the Enterprise at that point and at the start of season one they are two years in.

Actually, since that is the way it is shown in the Star Trek Chronology, it could qualify as "conventional thinking," lol.

I don't see the Enterprise as Kirk's first command since I doubt that Starfleet would give anyone their "first" command on the most important ship in the fleet, rather, they should have proved themselves on other command(s).

I could see that except that Kirk has a special relationship with the Enterprise akin to what Scotty calls "first love," in "Relics." Although it makes sense Kirk has been a captain before, it makes more dramatic sense in the series if this is his first ship, or at least his first really significant ship.

It also adds more weight when Dehner says of Mitchell that Kirk asked for him aboard his first command, if they are in that situation right then and there.

Starfleet's practice to refit it's Starships every five years, but again, that's another topic

There are episodes in which the Enterprise-D and Voyager need extensive work after 5-6 years, so maybe there were 5-year missions, and eventually longer missions became the standard, with repairs/retrofits being done over a period of time that is close to 5 years, but allows the ship to stay in service and not be in drydock for as long a time.

 

[Holopat]

to return to the question of Uhura having the con, she seems to have it when Spock has been shot in A private little War. Scotty and Kirk are in the transporter room, while McCoy and Mbenga are working on Spock. Uhura calls a red alert and battle stations for all decks. When Kirk asks her what is going on, she relates that they have a Klingon battle cruiser on the screen. She seems to be the senior officer on the Bridge at the time.

 

[blssdwlf]

to return to the question of Uhura having the con, she seems to have it when Spock has been shot in A private little War. Scotty and Kirk are in the transporter room, while McCoy and Mbenga are working on Spock. Uhura calls a red alert and battle stations for all decks. When Kirk asks her what is going on, she relates that they have a Klingon battle cruiser on the screen. She seems to be the senior officer on the Bridge at the time.

That's a good find. However, Chekov is on the bridge standing next to the helm station when Kirk and Scotty arrive. He doesn't return to his navigation station until after Kirk sits down. When Kirk gives the yellow alert order it is Uhura that relays it over the comms. Is it possible that she's relaying Chekov's orders? Or that she was in charge and Chekov got to the bridge ahead of Kirk and Scotty?

 

[Holopat]

That's a good find. However, Chekov is on the bridge standing next to the helm station when Kirk and Scotty arrive. He doesn't return to his navigation station until after Kirk sits down. When Kirk gives the yellow alert order it is Uhura that relays it over the comms. Is it possible that she's relaying Chekov's orders? Or that she was in charge and Chekov got to the bridge ahead of Kirk and Scotty?

That's a possibility, but Kirk doesn't ask Chekov or some other officer holding the con for his analysis of the situation. He asks Uhura. So it seems she's got it. of course she's not sitting in the chair, but then Spock often holds the con from his science station

 

[ZapBrannigan]

That's a possibility, but Kirk doesn't ask Chekov or some other officer holding the con for his analysis of the situation. He asks Uhura. So it seems she's got it. of course she's not sitting in the chair, but then Spock often holds the con from his science station

It would have been daring to put her in the captain's chair back then. Uhura had to wait about six more years, and for every man aboard to be incapacitated, before she indisputably took command of the Enterprise.

 

[Warped9]

It would have been daring to put her in the captain's chair back then.

No more daring than having Number One in “The Cage. And the only reason she got yanked was because the network knew Majel Barrett was Roddenberry’s extramarital girlfriend and they objected to his blatant nepotism. If Number One had been recast she could have stayed.

 

[Henoch]

Still, what's an M. Leigh-Hudec?

Majel Barrett (born Majel Leigh Hudec) was an American actress...

 

[Holopat]

At least the Number One role had potential which Chapel never really had. Still, what's an M. Leigh-Hudec?

Was Chapel deliberately written to be saccharinely nauseating? Or was it Majel’s lack of acting ability that portrayed her like a lovesick idiotic tween?

 

[Warped9]

Was Chapel deliberately written to be saccharinely nauseating? Or was it Majel’s lack of acting ability that portrayed her like a lovesick idiotic tween?

The role of Chapel might have worked in a different era, like from TNG onward. But in the 1960s there was no way she was going to get some decent air time and story. The one feature she did have—“What Are Little Girls Mad Of”—was again focused on a lost love interest.

I think Majel Barrett could have delivered an acceptable performance if required. But she just wasn’t given anything of real substance to do. She might have been fine as Number One, but Roddenberry sabotaged her chance by playing favourites casting her in that role. Maybe if not everybody had known she was Roddenberry’s extramarital mistress NBC mightn’t have balked.

 

[Holopat]

Given Hollywood, movies and TV were rampant at the time with roles being traded for sexual favors I'm not sure why Majel Barrett should have been cited an exception to this common practice. It might be an excuse now, but I really don't think that was all it was. After all, Roddenberry is reported to have slept with many of the women he gave roles to, Nichelle included. I just don't believe that's the whole story. To me Majel's acting was just poor. Wooden as Number One. And overly maudlin as Chapel. Seems she couldn't portray normal reactions either of someone in command or someone in love and went to the extreme each way. The woodenness was I guess okay for the computer voice but lets face it, it was obsolete even for the mid 1960s. HAL which was contemporaneous with Star Trek didn't have a wooden voice.

 

[Warped9]

It’s also possible the network misinterpreted Number One’s cool demeanor as a lack of acting ability on Majel’s part. Number One doesn’t project much warmth or range in “The Cage” and that could be taken as icy or wooden.

The one thing I don’t buy is Roddenberry’s explanation that the network balked a a woman second-in-command.

 

[Holopat]

It’s also possible the network misinterpreted Number One’s cool demeanor as a lack of acting ability on Majel’s part. Number One doesn’t project much warmth or range in “The Cage” and that could be taken as icy or wooden.

The one thing I don’t buy is Roddenberry’s explanation that the network balked a a woman second-in-command.

well, they were pretty right on the lack of acting ability. Chapel appeared as maudlin, sappy, as portrayed by Barrett. If it wasn't written that way, then her repeated portrayal as so maudlin was not a great interpretation of a character. I haven't seen her in anything but Roddenberry productions (which says something as well). But when she was in Genesis II as one of the Councillors or whatever of Pax, she was pretty wooden there too.

 

[Ronald Held]

You are saying Number One was not suppose to be that wooden?

 

[Holopat]

You are saying Number One was not suppose to be that wooden?

Assuming your question isn't sarcastic, why should someone in a command role be wooden? None of the command personalities in TOS were automatons or had a single range of motion as a character. Or a voice that rarely inflected. Even Spock (before the movies where Nimoy himself often seemed wooden and inflectionless) had his expressions and infections. Being a woman in a command role doesn't mean divesting oneself of expression or inflection. I'm sure she had some, but to me, she seemed wooden.

 

[Warped9]

^^ And that might be what the network suits thought. Majel had been directed to be this somewhat emotionless character and thats what she did. Given time she might have found a better take on the character, but in a pilot you get only one take. And it didn’t click. Read Gene Roddenberry’s description of Number One in his initial Star Trek pitch and Majel did what the character was described as being.

I don’t think Majel was terrible or even wooden as Number One, but she didn’t have that much to do.

Funny how it works. Nimoy took a few episodes before he fully had a handle on Spock. I found Jeffery Hunter could be a bit stiff at times. But William Shatner nailed it from the get-go.

 

[Holopat]

^^ And that might be what the network suits thought. Majel had been directed to be this somewhat emotionless character and thats what she did. Given time she might have found a better take on the character, but in a pilot you get only one take. And it didn’t click. Read Gene Roddenberry’s description of Number One in his initial Star Trek pitch and Majel did what the character was described as being.

I don’t think Majel was terrible or even wooden as Number One, but she didn’t have that much to do.

Funny how it works. Nimoy took a few episodes before he fully had a handle on Spock. I found Jeffery Hunter could be a bit stiff at times. But William Shatner nailed it from the get-go.

Shatner did nail his version of the character from the get go. And given Nimoy adapted Spock to be less emotional in response to Shatner's emotionalism, it proved a great contrast. But it's hard to fault Hunter, because the bio on the Kirk character indicated he was supposed to be a sort of Hornblower type. And Hornblower was introspective, reserved and emotionless (to his crew). " Ha-hmmmm" was all he generally allowed himself in response to conversation with his officers and crew. Hornblower loathed the idea of being a "popular" Captain, that is, currying favor with the hands or officers.

We don't know how much info Hunter was given on the character or, that if he was given that information, whether he knew enough about Hornblower to even try to incorporate any of that into his portrayal. But it does give some explanation for his stiffness as a Captain, true or not. Shatner, OTOH, has a somewhat "large" personality. Given his propensity for grabbing lines, he wasn't going to portray a captain of few words. Fortunately, Nimoy could adapt his character accordingly, and they both worked out a good rapport between the character's various personalities.

 

[Warped9]

I’ve seen Hunter in a few other roles and he did have range, but the Pike we were introduced to was on a downer emotionally—tired out and thinking of resigning. Not a great upbeat way to introduce your hero.

And note Trek went that route again when they introduced Sisko in DS9.

 

[Nerys Myk]

No more daring than having Number One in “The Cage. And the only reason she got yanked was because the network knew Majel Barrett was Roddenberry’s extramarital girlfriend and they objected to his blatant nepotism. If Number One had been recast she could have stayed.

They could have cast Nichols as Number One....oh, wait.

 

[Warped9]

They could have cast Nichols as Number One....oh, wait.

In 1965-66 that would have been something. Mind you around that time women were getting feature roles in television, but there weren’t many for black women. The only one I know of was Julia in 1968 and in that Diane Carroll played a nurse and single mom—not exactly an action-adventure drama with a woman in command over men.

In 1965 we got Honey West, a female private investigator and the show’s lead character. She was the American equivalent to Cathy Gale (Honor Blackman) and Emma Peel (Diana Rigg) in the British series The Avengers. And in 1966 we got Cinnamon Carter (Barbara Bain) in Mission: Impossible. So Roddenberry’s idea for Number One was not bucking convention given women were getting distinctive and dynamic roles around that time. Roddenberry’s mistake was who he cast in the role.