Here's a Paramount memo about TNG's casting from April of 1987.
http://www.lettersofnote.com/2010/08/star-trekcasting.html
http://www.lettersofnote.com/2010/08/star-trekcasting.html
What Could Have Been...
- Thread starter Squiggy
- Start date
Wait... KEIKO was a contender for Tasha Yar? Holy crap.
Wesley Snipes as Geordi would have been interesting, even though I can't picture it. And is that Reggie "Mr. October" Jackson, or another Reggie Jackson? I can't imagine either of those guys wearing the visor. And Jackson was the front-runner for Geordi? I didn't even know that he was an actor.
Tim Russ, I could picture, though I'm glad he got the chance to play Tuvok.
Tim Russ, I could picture, though I'm glad he got the chance to play Tuvok.
OK, Agutter wouldn't have made me erect (slight biological impossibility, if nothing else
), but I think she would have made a better Crusher. I never took to McFadden.
Wow, this is a find!
Yaphet Kotto will always be Al Giardello from Homicide to me, so it's a trip to think of Gee commanding the Enterprise-D. It's also interesting to think of Rosalind Chao as Tasha.
Wasn't Bill Campbell one of the finalists for Riker along with Jonathan Frakes? I wonder if this is before he came into the picture (and it's also before Wil Wheaton & Marina Sirtis came along, apparently).
Yaphet Kotto will always be Al Giardello from Homicide to me, so it's a trip to think of Gee commanding the Enterprise-D. It's also interesting to think of Rosalind Chao as Tasha.
Wasn't Bill Campbell one of the finalists for Riker along with Jonathan Frakes? I wonder if this is before he came into the picture (and it's also before Wil Wheaton & Marina Sirtis came along, apparently).
Actually, women have as much erectile tissue in that region as men, just obviously distributed differently.
Interesting memo, also interesting that Brent Spiner got the role during subsequent rounds (apparently no one sold it as Data that week).
I don't know about you, but a world in which Yaphet Kotto has a hard-on for Jenny Agutter while Wesley Snipes pilots a starship with a hairband across his eyes is a world I want to be a part of.
Jenny Agutter was such a fox. After watching "Logan's Run" and "American Werewolf in Paris" for the first time in the same period a few years ago, I couldn't help but think WHO IS THAT BABE-O-RAMA AND WHY ISN'T SHE IN MORE MOVIES?
Would have loved to see her in 100 something episodes of Star Trek, but I loved Gates too. Too bad there wasn't another role she could play. To me, Yaphet Kotto will always be the cop hilariously pissed off at Robert De Niro in "Midnight Run", I don't know if I could take him seriously in a Star Trek role.
Would have loved to see her in 100 something episodes of Star Trek, but I loved Gates too. Too bad there wasn't another role she could play. To me, Yaphet Kotto will always be the cop hilariously pissed off at Robert De Niro in "Midnight Run", I don't know if I could take him seriously in a Star Trek role.
++ what a gorgeous woman...
I"ve come to think of the TNG characters as integral to their players as much as the TOS characters, but, no offense to Gates McFadden, her character could have been portrayed by any number of different people. The only issue with Jenny is that she would have been a parent to Wesley*...
*for the record, I don't have any problem with Wesley, despite how popular it is to hate him...
Last edited:
They had a second Brit with Marina Sirtis, so I doubt that was a reason.
Nardpuncher
Rear Admiral
Think of the breakfast cereal possibilities with Yaphet Kotto and Jonathan Frakes!
You could get Kotto Puffs and Frosted Frakes at the supermarket!
You could get Kotto Puffs and Frosted Frakes at the supermarket!
But that's what gave it its charm.
Eric Menyuk was high on their list. That's why he got the role of the Traveler when the Data role ended up going to Spiner.
Similar threads
