Trek Cast Recycling

[Kryton]

Actors have been re-used in different roles time and again in Trek (Mark Lenard, David Warner and John Schuck immediately come to mind, but there are actually dozens).

BUT (and this was bugging me last night for some reason)...sometimes it's kind of jarring. Example: Merritt Buttrick and Judson Scott, each of whom had notable big screen deaths (TSFS and TWOK respectively) co-starring as drug-addicted aliens in the TNG episode "Symbiosis".

Kirk's son and Khan's right-hand man appearing together really took me out of that episode when it first aired.

Any others that sort of "throw everything off" by just being there come to mind?

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Casey Biggs in "Damage" (ENT) - I definitely was seeing Damar - but I'm not sure that was a bad thing.

 

[USS Excelsior]

Vaughn Armstrong has been used to play at least 13 different characters.

Jeffrey Combs has also had a number of significant roles like Shran and Weyoun.

And I also remember Gul Dukat appeared in the TNG Time Arrow episode where he gets cleaned out in that poker game.

 

[M'Sharak]

Any others that sort of "throw everything off" by just being there come to mind?

I grew up on 60s and 70s television. That sort of thing happened all the time, and it doesn't bother me at all.

(Actually, what was really weird was seeing Elisha Cook in Trek, and his character was still alive at the end of the episode. I mean, that never happens!)

 

[Kryton]

You're just out to kill Cogley, ain'tcha?

 

[Rex Racer]

Seeing Gowron threaten Dixon Hill is always a little jarring for some reason.

 

[Tulaberry whine]

I think Aron Eisenberg (Nog) popping up in Initiations on Voyager is easily the wost example I can think of.

 

[erastus25]

Weyoun appearing a bajillion times always threw me off a bit. I agree with the poster above that the Symbiosis pairing was a little distracting as well.

Something that I never noticed happening that would have totally thrown me off would be if extras were recycled across Voy and DS9. If I did happen, I never noticed and I'm glad.

Also, the casting of famous people throws off my suspension of disbelief. Frasier as a captain was cool, but distracting. Jason Alexander did pretty well, although that could have been the make up. But the biggest distraction to me was The Rock's appearance on Voyager. I love The Rock, but he had no place on Star Trek while he was still wrestling regularly.

 

[omnirad]

I was only slightly perturbed by the fact that a horny lithium miner (Ben Childress) grew up to become in charge of a starbase full of Binars (Cmndr. Quinteros).

Gotta give it to Gene Dynarski for that trans-generational promotion! (Venus drug enhancement?)

 

[Finn]

Weyoun appearing a bajillion times always threw me off a bit. I agree with the poster above that the Symbiosis pairing was a little distracting as well.

Something that I never noticed happening that would have totally thrown me off would be if extras were recycled across Voy and DS9. If I did happen, I never noticed and I'm glad.

Also, the casting of famous people throws off my suspension of disbelief. Frasier as a captain was cool, but distracting. Jason Alexander did pretty well, although that could have been the make up. But the biggest distraction to me was The Rock's appearance on Voyager. I love The Rock, but he had no place on Star Trek while he was still wrestling regularly.

Agreed about The Rock and Jason Alexander. As for Kesley Grammer, I didn't even realize it was him even after several viewings (I watched Cheers often then), until I read somewhere that he played Captain Bateman. Same for a friend who has the STar Trek Time Travel DVD that has TNG's Cause and Effect.

 

[STIntergalactic]

Reusing past actors doesn't bother me as much as recasting roles already filled by someone else, like with Saavik.