They should of done George Tekei's show.

[Mr. Scott]

I wish they would have done a Star Trek with George Tekei as Captain. I wished they would have done this show instead of TNG.

They could have done a proper TOS type show with the proper budget. There was no reason to put the TNG show so far into the future, and thus divorce the original characters from appearing on the series, (although my Scottish decendent Mr. Scott did an episode.)

I would have loved to see a Captain Sulu series over a 7 year span. I think it would of been a better series than TNG. Not that TNG wasn't great. But Tekai's show could of taken in a Klingon second officer. Tim Russ' Tuvok would of made a great third officer.

The show could of had Patrick Stewart as the second officer. Stewarts character is somewhat like Picard, but he is more militeristic and more battled hardened. Someone Sulu listens to for guidance and a second opinion.

Make the enginering officer a woman. Maybe Majel Barrett. Or Diana Muldar. Muldar as an engineering officer would have been golden. Many complain that she was a female McCoy, and yes she was. And this is why I liked her character. I would of loved a time travel episode with Pulaski and McCoy meeting. Especially drinking shooter of Romulan Ale. Would they hate each other or a match made in heaven? Who am I, Gene Roddenberry? Write your own script!!!!

Most of the TOS crew could of made appearances. They can all hitch rides and get into an emergency and they somehow find the way out.

Sulu was something of a jerkwad Captain. He did outwit Kang.

I don't know how George would of handled meeting Sulu's wife. I can see him in his deep voice, "It was that one time, and yes damnit, I love my daughter!" We could of had the first divorce in Star Trek history. Or Sulu could have been divorced from his wife for 20 years before the series. The actress who was in Generations could have been on the show to resolve daughter issues......

Captain Sulu knew his $#!t though.....maybe.

If I was on a helm officer when Praxis blew up, I would of sent the ship into the wake instead of against it. I could of turned into the wake and then pressed the gas to Warp 2 to outrun the explosion. But, to fly against the explosion means damage to my deflector and shields.

In aviation, it is much more dangerous to come into a storm than to outrun it. Why would Star Trek be different?

(Note: I had a few drinks in Quarks. Well not that cool, but I live in China and i drank with people from all over the Wolrd. We even have a Harry Mudd. No lie.)

 

[Danny99]

For a post about him, one would think you could spell Takei correct once in your entire post.

 

[Mysterion]

It would have been interesting if "The Next Generation" had literally been so. Take Saavik and David Marcus along with a more established character or two (i.e. Captain Sulu) and go from there. You would have been in a time frame where if you wanted to have Kirk and the rest show up for an episode or two, you wouldn't have to jump through really big hoops storywise for it to work.

 

[Maurice]

Re: They should [have] done George [Takei's] show.

George hasn't the screen presence to play the lead in a series like that. It was all wishful thinking on George's part. He seems to have gotten this idea that the rank of his character had something to do with getting a better role. What it got him was a few closeups in a handful of scenes in TUC. Big whoop.

And re the title (which I corrected for this reply) it's "should've", not "should of".

 

[FalTorPan]

The specific actors and characters are almost irrelevant. The story's the thing.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

No, actually the specific actors and characters are more important in many ways than the story in getting an audience to embrace and follow a television series - any television series. Particularly the actors.

 

[Potemkin_Prod]

Re: They should [have] done George [Takei's] show.

George hasn't the screen presence to play the lead in a series like that. It was all wishful thinking on George's part. He seems to have gotten this idea that the rank of his character had something to do with getting a better role. What it got him was a few closeups in a handful of scenes in TUC. Big whoop.

Sadly, I have to agree. George didn't (and still doesn't) have the talent to play a lead. Sorry, but there, I've said it.

 

[jgalley]

I like sulu and george. but I can't agree with this. it woulda been cool to see. but instead of TNG? no thanks.

 

[Pauln6]

George has plenty of screen presence - it's Sulu that was never given enough presence. Take a look at George in Heroes - he has a lot of gravitas when the part demands it. Also the New Voyages (Phase II) story featuring Takei was heart-rendingly well played. Whether they could have given Sulu enough oomph is another matter.

If they had struck while the iron was hot, we could have had some Sulu stories for a few years - about 3 would have been fine. Saavik, David, Rand, and Muldaur (playing engineer and astrobiologist Ann Mulhall) would indeed have been cool. I think the show's overall dynamic would have dicated how successful it would have been but I can't see that it would have done as well as TNG - for all that I like Gorgeous George, Patrick Stewart is in a different league.

 

[Potemkin_Prod]

I look at "Flashback" as a sort of example of how Excelsior would work as a show. And it didn't do it for me; I thought the acting was sub-par (especially Grace Lee Whitney's performance which I've seen high school kids doing a better job of acting). Tim Russ outshown both Takei and Whitney by far. Throwing in the robotic Robin Curtis would not be good for the mix, either. Some may have liked her performance in "The Search for Spock," but not me. I thought she was terrible. Merritt Butrick might actually have been fairly talented as an actor (I daresay he might've been the most talented of the four--Takei, Whitney, Curtis, Butrick), but his passing in 1989 would've meant recasting the role. I think that this would've been a weak entry into the Trek mythos had they gone forward with it.

 

[Maurice]

I've seen George in both NV/Phase II and Heroes and still don't think he's leading man material. He just doesn't have that je ne sais quoi that you need to be a series lead/star.

 

[Forbin]

Yes, they should of.

 

[Solarbaby]

Re: They should [have] done George [Takei's] show.

And re the title (which I corrected for this reply) it's "should've", not "should of".

Haha that's my pet hate.

 

[WRStone]

I've always thought a "Captain Sulu" series would be fun, particularly after they sort of did an episode on Voyager.

The real problem, of course, is that by 1987, Roddenberry had gone thoroughly nuts, believing his own press about what a creative genius he was. He approached Star Trek as an auteur with a mission rather than just trying to tell great stories.

Frankly, I think any Trek series with GR as the producer would have had problems. TNG didn't take off until season 3, by which time GR had pretty much dropped out of the production for health reasons.

It's no accident that the show got better when the auteur with a 'tude left. Taking his attorney with him, I might add: everyone who talks about it says that GR's attorney, Leonard Maizlish, made things considerably more difficult for the production than was necessary:

And as far as I was concerned, it was like, "You know, I've fought this battle, I don't particularly like fighting it any more. Because I can't win. Because if I fight it, all that's gonna happen is I get them angrier. The angrier they get, the harder their positions. The less likely they are to film it." And because they'd already decided not to film it, there was nothing I could say or do to get them to change their mind.

And the reason they're not going to film it is, very simply, that Leonard Maizlish, scumbag lawyer, wanted to hurt me. He bragged about it.

In short, by 1987 the problem with Star Trek was Roddenberry himself. I don't think a Captain Sulu show with GR at the helm would have been any better than the first two years of TNG.

Better we not know how GR might have messed with late TOS-era Trek in his auteur period.

Dakota Smith

 

[caisson2delta]

The big question is this, would the fans really want to see the adventures of Captain Sulu and crew or just the ship, itself, on a weekly basis? I tend to think it is the second choice. I have heard many fans, friends, and others state their opinions that they would've loved to have seen the Excelsior as the hero ship in a series.

 

[Botany Bay]

I would have been interested in a Sulu/excelsior show in the mid 90's as well. A return to the TOS era might have refreshed modern Trek after hundreds of stale Next Gen era shows.

I'm sure the powers that be closely watched that Excelsior based VOY episode for its potential for a spinoff of some sort, but, sadly the episode didn't quite come off, and Takei et al let themselves down badly in that episode.

Maybe it was nerves? It's been a decade since I watched it, but my lasting impression was that it was a golden opportunity missed for an actor who always struck me as incredibly enthusiastic about his work and who seems, in his dealings with fans anyway, to be a helluva nice guy.

 

[Forbin]

Would of.

 

[RandyS]

Is this a joke?

No, seriously.

Is this a joke?

 

[22 Stars]

Safe to say the original poster will never post again in this thread. How could he, he won't remember posting it after he wakes from his alchoholic stupor he was obviously in.

 

[Hober Mallow]

I wouldn't care for a Sulu series, but I thought Takei was great as the main villain of Space Cases.