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Who do you think was the worst actor among the TNG cast?

They were all cringe worthy at times, particularly the first season. But Denise Crosby and Mirina Spirits stood out as delivering some truly horrible performances to start.

But they all got better, too. It's just Denise didn't get much better, and I wasn't sorry to see her go. Nor Wil Wheaton, when it came to it, but that may not have been his fault so much as the character's. Diana Muldaur annoyed me, too.
 
Just watched "Yesterday's Enterprise", which shows Crosby could do a good job given better material. I agree she was bad during her brief time on the show, but she neither got the benefit of the better writing that showed up later in the series, nor the greater amount of time to get comfortable with her character.

I don't understand people's dislike for Wheaton. I thought he played his role adequately, particularly given it was one of the least well developed.
 
Denise did do a better job later, as a guest star in Yesterday's Enterprise, and as the Romulan commander.

I think many dislike Wheaton since they just dislike the know-it-all, Wunderkind, character more than the actor. Harder to relate, I guess. It's been so long, though, but IIRC, it was more the parts given him than his acting that annoyed me.
 
I suppose if you are already well acquainted with his other work, it would be harder. I'm not sure how much other work he had then, or how well known it was, so while watching him, it's harder to tell what is naturally the actor, and what is the acting that differs from his own personality. But it's just an opinion.
 
Just watched "Yesterday's Enterprise", which shows Crosby could do a good job given better material. I agree she was bad during her brief time on the show, but she neither got the benefit of the better writing that showed up later in the series, nor the greater amount of time to get comfortable with her character.

I don't understand people's dislike for Wheaton. I thought he played his role adequately, particularly given it was one of the least well developed.
IDK - Her line delivery is "Yesterday's Enterprise" was still as stilted as it had been in Season One. I mean she's still not as bad as Marina Sirtis, but she never came across as having much ability to act - just read her lines and give empty stares.
 
IDK - Her line delivery is "Yesterday's Enterprise" was still as stilted as it had been in Season One. I mean she's still not as bad as Marina Sirtis, but she never came across as having much ability to act - just read her lines and give empty stares.
Maybe that's why she was more suited to a romulan than a human.
 
I always liked the Tasha Yar character because of her role as security chief, it was probably Tek's first real portrayal of a woman in authority on a ship. I even think she got some somewhat juicy scenes, compared to how bad it COULD have been.

One thing I recently noticed that is silly though----Sela looked just like Tasha. The voice, face, hair, everything. I know the show was going for the big reveal thing, but they should have altered her face and hair color and voice, and let the audience wonder, "hey, wait, is that Tasha?".

It just seems silly when you think about it.
 
When I thought about it, I came to the conclusion that despite what some say, these interspecies procreations probably take medical assistance to work and a fair amount of genetic manipulation. Even Spock, the product of a human and vulcan, likely was a test tube baby, of sorts, though transplanted back into his mother after some genetic tweaking. And any story involving rape might include, beyond the actual initial act of violence, genetic material taken by force and without consent. They just don't go into details. So if a romulan really liked Tasha, he might have requested certain genetic traits regarding her appearance be passed along to his daughter.

And there you have it.

Just a thought, though.
 
I can't believe ppl think tasha yar is better than deanna troi, no way. I read the title of this thread and tasha came to mind immediately. Good thing she doesn't last. Wikipedia says she left b/c she didn't have a big enough role... by the time she left though, how many other supporting cast members had a bigger role than she got in Code Of Honor? WTF was she expecting as security chief?

"THE RAPE GANGS"! /eyeroll

She doesn't even sound convinced of it herself. What were the writers thinking with that? "Let's give her a backstory but say no more than a line per episode about it." I'm grateful though, the small part her backstory played was minimal enough not to detract too much from the episodes.

Overall, did TNG have the weakest cast? It's possible. Star Trek deserved better than this.
 
The worst actor among the cast is easily Denise Crosby as Tasha Yar. She might have grown into the role if she had stuck around, but even her return as Sela is rather bad, which leads me to believe that Crosby doesn't really have the best acting chops. She's not always bad, just not consistently good.

Marina Sirtis on the other hand I would consider a decent actor, though her delivery is sometimes so awkward (especially in Season One), but with the put-on accent and everything she really sounds like she's going for her character coming off as something uniquely alien. And it kind of works. She sort of hams it up at times, but that's forgivable in Star Trek, and her performance evolves and eventually makes Troi act more human as the series and movies go along. Sirtis' problem seems more to do with the writing, but she does well enough with the material that she's given, and even that isn't as bad as some people say.

The worst actor in the series apart from Crosby has got to be Gates McFadden. She definitely has the Dr. Crusher/Mom thing down pat, but it really seems to be the same thing for the entire run of the series and movies. I guess she sort of sharpened her performance as time went on, it was sort of ironic that she was the ship's drama teacher, but overall I found McFadden's chops to be very bland and one-noted. It's not like I can recall any scenes where her acting completely ruins the on-screen drama, that rarely if ever happens in Star Trek, but I equally cannot recall a time when her acting ever engaged me from an audience perspective. I would miss Dr. Crusher's presence if she wasn't there (*ahem*), but she doesn't add anything for me beyond a passable performance as the ship's Chief Medical Officer.
 
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