What made Patrick Stewart so perfect as a starship captain?

[Joshonator]

What made Patrick Stewart so perfect as a starship captain?

I think it's his bald head. It makes him look futuristic. That coupled with decades of acting experience.

 

[Eckauskas]

Let's be honest here, Kirk was a smary git, who spent more time trying to get laid than actually doing any work.

Picard was eloquent, refined and a gentleman thrown into the bargain.

Best of all the captains for me, followed by Janeway.

 

[ReadyAndWilling]

I dunno, to me it seems like it's more than just his acting.

I'm of Indian heritage, but it seems like there's something more to Stewart in his capacity as captain than just acting. Could it be his British DNA? He looks perfect for the role without saying anything.

 

[Anji]

Stewart's stiffness in Season 1 and part of Season 2 has to be attributed to the fact he was finding his way in the character. Once he knew who Picard was he ran with it.

And did one fabulous job!

 

[Chaos Descending]

Let's be honest here, Kirk was a smary git, who spent more time trying to get laid than actually doing any work.

You should try watching Star Trek some time. You might learn something!

 

[Eckauskas]

Let's be honest here, Kirk was a smary git, who spent more time trying to get laid than actually doing any work.

You should try watching Star Trek some time. You might learn something!

I was never a fan of TOS, TNG is where I picked Star Trek up.

But I never liked Kirk, even in the few episodes I did watch.

 

[Weebam-Na]

i like how he is calm, calculated, commanding respect. never to be second guessed. most of the time his logic is best, but at times she shows his rage towards any that defies his will. he is best of humanity personified however fallable.

 

[Chaos Descending]

Let's be honest here, Kirk was a smary git, who spent more time trying to get laid than actually doing any work.

You should try watching Star Trek some time. You might learn something!

I was never a fan of TOS, TNG is where I picked Star Trek up.

But I never liked Kirk, even in the few episodes I did watch.

Ugh.

 

[varek]

As you others have said, Stewart's presence, his Shakespearean acting experience and his voice made him perfect for the role. I think the captain in the novels followed Stewart's portrayal more than the storyline might have done had he been a less-talented actor.

 

[Keith1701]

It was the actor not the character.

He was an excellant pick for the role of Capt Picard....

 

[Saquist]

It was the actor not the character.

He was an excellant pick for the role of Capt Picard....

Well he actually saved the show from the bad HAMMING of Gates McFadden and Marina Sirtis in the first two seasons.
When they mellowed out the show really took off.

 

[YARN]

It was the actor not the character.

He was an excellant pick for the role of Capt Picard....

Well he actually saved the show from the bad HAMMING of Gates McFadden and Marina Sirtis in the first two seasons.
When they mellowed out the show really took off.

Yes, it was the really terrible acting of the supporting cast that allowed him to shine. The worse they were, the more perfect he was.

How many characters could have been recast or even eliminated without harm to the show?

Yar - well, we know the answer to that one...

Crusher? They had another Doc for awhile and the show worked.

Troi?

Riker?

Worf?

You could pretty much rewrite, remix, or eliminate any of the supporting cast and still have had a solid show.

 

[Saquist]

He was an excellant pick for the role of Capt Picard....

Well he actually saved the show from the bad HAMMING of Gates McFadden and Marina Sirtis in the first two seasons.
When they mellowed out the show really took off.

Yes, it was the really terrible acting of the supporting cast that allowed him to shine. The worse they were, the more perfect he was.

How many characters could have been recast or even eliminated without harm to the show?

Yar - well, we know the answer to that one...

Crusher? They had another Doc for awhile and the show worked.

Troi?

Riker?

Worf?

You could pretty much rewrite, remix, or eliminate any of the supporting cast and still have had a solid show.

We would have missed Worf, he had some excelling sodes in TNG and gave use a brute force mannlyness to the show especially when he described Klingon flirting.

We SO could have done without WES.
The others weren't so much as bad but zeros....place holders. They added to show by digits but the acting was at it's best with Picard, Data. But honestly most of us didn't watch TNG for the acting but for the good and great stories.

 

[YARN]

Well he actually saved the show from the bad HAMMING of Gates McFadden and Marina Sirtis in the first two seasons.
When they mellowed out the show really took off.

Yes, it was the really terrible acting of the supporting cast that allowed him to shine. The worse they were, the more perfect he was.

How many characters could have been recast or even eliminated without harm to the show?

Yar - well, we know the answer to that one...

Crusher? They had another Doc for awhile and the show worked.

Troi?

Riker?

Worf?

You could pretty much rewrite, remix, or eliminate any of the supporting cast and still have had a solid show.

We would have missed Worf, he had some excelling sodes in TNG and gave use a brute force mannlyness to the show especially when he described Klingon flirting.

We SO could have done without WES.
The others weren't so much as bad but zeros....place holders. They added to show by digits but the acting was at it's best with Picard, Data. But honestly most of us didn't watch TNG for the acting but for the good and great stories.

I was not in love with the idea of Data as a character - the inverse Spock character doomed to rationality but yearning for humanity. That said, Spiner did a good job with the character.

As for Worf, he was all bluster. He got P'wned quite a bit for such a tough warrior. He blurts that no Klingon would ever taken prisoner, but gets take prisoner more than once. He was character trapped between cultures - he didn't seem manly so much as socially constipated. You could count on him to have a primitive violent impulse in a situation, which basically demeaned his character, but even worse he was kind of neutered because he rarely got to act on those impulses.

 

[Saquist]

I don't care so much about the prisoner thing...Trek can't hold it's Romulan Ale or it's continuity. That's a hard description of Worf's character but I can't say it's unwarranted but sometimes a sterotype is desirable and appropriate. Mostly though TNG was a group effort.

 

[YARN]

I don't care so much about the prisoner thing...Trek can't hold it's Romulan Ale or it's continuity. That's a hard description of Worf's character but I can't say it's unwarranted but sometimes a sterotype is desirable and appropriate. Mostly though TNG was a group effort.

Yeah, I think Worf's problem is that he is kind of written as a stereotype, the noble savage all over again.

He is a symptom of a larger problem. In TOS the Klingons were dusky Soviets. They were cunning and brutal, but intelligent. Moreover, you got the impression that they were an example of a tyrannical culture. They were Genghis Khans and Commies in Space. They were like what we could be under a different form of government and different cultural inflections.

When you get to TNG and beyond, however, the Klingon becomes a caricature. They dress like the opening act for KISS or Motley Crue. They are increasingly brutal, but less intelligent too. They quickly devolved into a race of space pirates. What's worse is that their identity is no longer cultural but racial in TNG. That is, it is in their blood to be violent and so on. Worf talks a lot about his racial identity and how he is different, despite the time he as spent among humans, as a biological entity.

Combine this with things like Q's heightened interest in humanity's superiority (and thus the threat they potentially pose) and his profound disinterest in the Klingon race, and you get the sense that humans are implicitly racially superior to the Klingons.

I think this is one of the most objectionable aspects of post TMP Trek (and this includes the aging TOS crew and their movies too).

 

[BXsainttj]

Stewart's elegance and class coupled with the shakespearen background presented an auora around him that is unmatched. For a relatively short old man he dominated every scene he was required to.

 

[ThomQ]

I agree, thirst thing I thought when reading the topic titel was his classical / theater background, that gave the role it's extra bit of believability..

 

[RAMA]

Stewart had a booming voice and authoritarian air which he backs up with intelligence. I know some people thought Picard was too cranky in season one but I didn't think so.

 

[Joshonator]

It was the actor not the character.

Yeah i agree, and his acting in star trek immortalized him in no way the theater ever could have.