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

[rcjames]

Overall the cast of TNG is excellent. When we talk about the likes of Wheaton, Sirtis and Crosby, they were very ordinary early on, but everyone had their issues at the start of the series. Look at some of the writing they had to deal with. It wouldve been hard for any actor. Sirtis and Wheaton did get better as the show went on.

 

[suarezguy]

I think Sirtis is the weakest of the cast (although only a bit weaker than Burton and in terms of ranking characters Troi and LaForge are reversed), she didn't have a lot of material and did well in some of what she was given but too often she felt just bland or a bit too annoying or somehow more incompetent than the character was meant to be and not really deserving the win she gets in the story.

 

[ThatChapThere]

Having recently finished the first series of TNG, I think that other than Wesley the worst acting by far came from McFadden. She was supposed to be some sort of scientific genius, but came across as utterly cringey. Of course, she improved incredibly across the series, as did most of the cast. I think that Crosby may have been able to improve in a similar way if she had stayed. I actually quite like the Yar character, although her overpowered unarmed combat abilities were hilarious if anything. Dorn, Burton, Sirtis and McFadden all got a lot better at acting during the run of TNG, while Picard, Data and Riker were perfect from the start. Although Riker changed, like any human(oid) does, his acting skills (in my opinion) were pretty decent all along.

 

[Neetza512]

I don't think any of the actors were really doing all that great (other than Patrick Stewart who can and has pulled off Shakespeare and who as the Captain often got the best scenes), but I think a lot of that has to do with writing. The writers of TNG have gone on record saying they felt limited by Gene's vision of the future and his insistence that all the starfleet people get along at all times. The peace of the Federation is great but it doesn't provide much room for really good conflict / story-telling. DS9 was better in that regard. A lot of the characters weren't IN starfleet. I think Voyager could have done a lot more with the Maquis struggle to integrate.

 

[gillmanjr]

I think Frakes is the worse actor. There are moments of his that are tremendously forced. The biggest example I can think of off the top of my head right now is in the episode "The Pegasus". Its when him and Pressman beam aboard the Pegasus to retrieve the cloak and Riker is talking about how many of the crew are buried in the rock. Right after he says that there is a moment when he leans against the railing that is pretty bad acting IMO.

 

[DamarsKanar]

Unfortunately I do think TNG suffered from weak actresses overall. For me, Crosby, McFadden and Sirtis are all varying degrees of awkward, stiff or cringeworthy (although McFadden in particular improves as the show goes on - probably Crosby could have too). Some of this might be that they didn't always have the best material to work with.

I actually really like Troi as a character in theory - I think it's great to have an empathetic, nurturing character on board - but Sirtis...she can be charming and I can't bring myself to actively dislike her, but...Sometimes it just feels as if she's on another planet (!) to the other actors. There's something otherworldly but not in a good way, like her lines are dubbed over afterwards and don't really gel with whoever she's talking to or with what we're seeing on screen. It makes it hard for me to connect with her as a character or actress a lot of the time and makes many of her scenes (and especially Troi-centred episodes) terribly awkward. Something just doesn't flow right.

Stronger performances (and of course writing) might have actually made these three, who on paper seem like good characters, really shine and connect with audiences more - so that the women on TNG weren't always outshone by certain high-class actors (particularly Stewart, Spiner and later Dorn).

Still, I can't bring myself to truly dislike any of them just in the sense that there is something distinctive and iconic even in bad performances at times.

 

[Infern0]

Surprised at people saying Frakes, i always thought he was a strong performer. He was excellent in best of both worlds.

My vote has to go to Sirtis although she got better towards the end.

 

[Tundra Saint]

Either Yar or Troi.

 

[UnknownSample]

Probably the women are the least interesting actors in Next Gen. In Voyager, the women are the most interesting actors. McFadden is just so generically lovely and wonderful and unflustered and detached all the time that it's hard to take.
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None of them seemed good early on, when the writing just wasn't there yet. I think Riker as a character really took off in season 2, only. If he gets wooden lines, he'll do wooden acting.

 

[Paradise City]

I think they are all generally on par with the exception of Stewart who's a jump in front of them I suppose. I think Dorn might nudge ahead in 2nd place. He gives subtle touches to that character that you don't see with, say Sirtis and Burton. It's hard to actually assess Spiner who is w/o emotions and just has to look bewildered (and deliver technobabble). Spiner shines when he plays Soong though and performed very well in the Fajo episode. Both Burton and Spiner give efficient delivery of the technobabble -- which is no mean feat.

Sirtis was quite excellent when Troi lost her powers. Wheaton only shined after he left the show!.

It's also about giving them opportunities. Crusher for example is a character that's written to "get on" with the staff whereas Pulsaki was partially written to inject a little bit of tension there.

McFadden is not particularly stellar as an actor but it's unfair too run after her too much simply for delivering the sedate role that was written for her. That said, I think McFadden acquitted herself well in Ethics and was a plausible Captain in Descent.

Neither Frakes nor Burton are implausible in their respective roles. They are efficient actors. The writers torture Burton with some abysmal LaForge story-lines with women though. In his turn, Frakes did well in Frame of Mind and Pegasus.

Crosby worked well in Yesterday's Enterprise. That's how that character would've turned out had she stayed. Her approaching Picard to go on that fatal mission was as good a acting as you are going to get.

 

[Vger23]

Gates McFadden my be the least-impressive actor. She was just there...hanging around...with zero personality. Painful.

 

[Trekfan12]

I didn't like Denise Crosby, I was glad her character got killed off.

 

[suarezguy]

This is probably more the writing than acting but I thought Crusher seemed somewhat static because she seemed pretty content with where she was in her life while Troi seemed somewhat static not because of that but just because the writers didn't know what to do with her and were pretty afraid of change.

 

[ThatChapThere]

Surprised at people saying Frakes, i always thought he was a strong performer. He was excellent in best of both worlds.

My vote has to go to Sirtis although she got better towards the end.

I agree completely. I think Burton had a bit more of a problem convincing me Geordie was a real person. Riker I felt could have stepped seamlessly into my living room.

 

[TheAdmiralty]

Crosby. If she doesn't count than probably Sirtis. The other actor I'd consider is Dorn. He was effective as Worf but for some reason I get the idea he wasn't a great actor on the whole. The rest of the cast are good.

 

[ThatChapThere]

Crosby. If she doesn't count than probably Sirtis. The other actor I'd consider is Dorn. He was effective as Worf but for some reason I get the idea he wasn't a great actor on the whole. The rest of the cast are good.

Worf just got few lines since Klingons aren't terribly chatty. I would agree there was room for improvement though, and that certainly happened in the later seasons. It's the same old story, since except for Whoopi Goldberg, Patrick Stewart and Johnathan Frakes it was the actors' debut as serious TV actors.

 

[Negatronic]

Gates .....all day then marina...sorry ladies. Not a a gender thing. But gates mcF was so bad at times it was uncomfortable.

 

[ThatChapThere]

Gates .....all day then marina...sorry ladies. Not a a gender thing. But gates mcF was so bad at times it was uncomfortable.

I have to agree. At least Sirtis managed to do something that vaguely resembled acting. One weird thought though: Why should other aliens in the galaxy behave like humans? Maybe it looks like bad acting just because Betazoids actually behave like that in everyday life anyway.

 

[Gary7]

Gates McFadden my be the least-impressive actor. She was just there...hanging around...with zero personality. Painful.

I have to agree. When you look at the range of character stresses, Dorn and Sirtis actually held up pretty well. Even Frakes. But McFadden? I found her flat. Not believable. Very pretty and pleasant voice. But she had terrible range. She was OK for scenes where the doctor had a supporting role for a scene.

 

[Mojochi]

I honestly think the only reason they brought Beverly back was because the Pulaski thing was such a huge misstep, & they had little elsewhere to turn, especially with Wes still hanging around. It would've been mighty awkward for season 3 to have a third new doctor. So her return was more out of necessity than out of seeing the error of their ways. Clearly they canned her for a reason, & her coming back was basically the lesser of two evils. She mothered Wesley for several seasons, & then when that ran dry, she ran dry with it

I'd have given anything if they'd have put Selar as the CMO in season 2, & avoided the whole Pulaski nonsense. The idea of a compassionless Vulcan doctor is not without its intrigue, & while it might have been a tough sell, given they already had an emotionless character on the show, it also could've been a really interesting way to handle the topic. One of them who suppresses emotion willfully, & one who either doesn't have it, or doesn't realize they have the capacity for it, & invests themselves in trying to obtain it or an understanding of it. Their scenes could've actually been really interesting, imho

Plus, I was never crazy about Suzie Plakson's stuff as K'Ehleyr. She could've been much better as a regular playing Selar, if you ask me. However, for some reason, TNG had a real phobia of having Vulcans around in any substantial way, like they were afraid they'd be seen as retreading TOS turf