Why didn't they just keep their characters?

[TheSubCommander]

Spock had to do a double-take when he first saw the Romulan Commander in BOT. He looks a lot like his dad!

Sisko must have been shocked when he noticed his dad looked like a certain traitorous Admiral from TUC.

I wonder what would have happened if Liquidator Brunt met Weyoun?!

 

[Pavonis]

Why didn't they keep Marc Alaimo's character Gul Macet, in TNG's "The Wounded" instead of creating DS9's Gul Dukat or keep Robert Duncan McNeill's character Nick Locarno in "The First Duty" instead of creating Tom Paris? They were basically playing the same characters, why the switch?

Any other similar actor as same character roles?

If I recall correctly, a different actor was cast as "Gul Dukat" originally, but the producers didn't think the character was working out the way they wanted. I guess they decided to go back to Marc Alaimo, who originated the Cardassians with his appearance as Gul Macet. Alaimo managed to give both Macet and Dukat some charm with hidden menace, which I imagine is what they wanted from Sisko's sparring partner.

 

[Kevman7987]

Although, when it came to Tom Paris and Nick Locarno, even the writers of Voyager occasionally mixed them up and there were a few instances where Tom talks about his past as though he were Locarno.

Not to mention Admiral Paris for some reason has a picture of Locarno in his office.

I read somewhere that the writers originally wanted RDM to play Locarno again in VOY, but at the last minute decided that Locarno was too irredeemable to use. Not wanting to recast the role, they simply renamed the character and white-washed his background so that RDM could play him the same way.

 

[Belz...]

Read the rest of the topic.

That's not very nice.

I did, by the way. Doesn't answer my question.

 

[Anwar]

The rules about using characters like this was something like this:

- If the character appeared once and only once, then it's the intellectual property of the writer and thus Royalties must be paid for further usage.

- If said character/idea/concept was used more than once in the series it originated in, it's now the property of the series and not the individual writer.

If Locarno had appeared more than once in TNG, he's be the property of the series and thus no Royalties would be paid.

It's the same reason we rarely if ever saw the Tholians or Gorn or various TOS one-shot aliens again. We did see them in that ENT episode, but that was because they were willing to pay for short-term use.

 

[Shawnster]

They didn't want Nick Locarno in "The First Duty" because using him as a main character on VOY would mean Paramount would have to pay "The First Duty" writers every time they used the Locarno character. They didn't want to do that so they created Tom Paris for Robert Duncan to play.

Wouldn't any character they wrote for the series be property of Paramount at the time ? Isn't that standard practice, that the stuff you write for the series isn't yours, like programs you code for a company aren't yours ?

We'd have to see the particulars of the contract to know for sure. Perhaps we'll be fortunate and some of our resident writers will chime in and help clear the mud.

 

[Greg Cox]

We'd have to see the particulars of the contract to know for sure. Perhaps we'll be fortunate and some of our resident writers will chime in and help clear the mud.

That could be interesting.

For the record, I understand book publishing. I don't pretend to know how TV contracts work.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Macet and Dukat were retconned as relatives or something, in the novel series, I think

Yep. They're cousins.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

And Rom was actually that Ferengi in Captain's Holiday, and maybe Tuvok was actually that guy from Starship Mine undercover and he somehow transported away before the baryon sweep got him!


I don't think Nick Lacarno was unredeemable. He was reckless and got a teammate killed, and then he covered it up. An act of recklessness followed by an act of fear. How many real people do you know who, if they really screwed up, would come forward and admit it? If he served his time in prison, then he learned from his mistake and worked earnestly to make up for it, he could absolutely be redeemed.

 

[R. Star]

Lacarno was a pilot who caused an accident that killed someone and then covered it up, but took responsibility when he was narced on by Wesley.

Paris was a pilot who caused an accident that killed some people and then covered it up, but later confessed to it.

Two way different characters!

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ Exactly. Locarno only confessed because Wesley made him do it. If Wes hadn't spoken up, Locarno would have continued to cover it up.

Paris came clean for what he did all on his own. That alone makes the difference.

 

[Anwar]

That, and Locarno tried to pin the blame on the guy who got killed. Did Paris try to blame what he did on the folks he got killed, or just say "it was an accident" before he owned up to his mistakes?

 

[YJAGG]

with Dukat- he was the overseer of Bajor- and had established history to then Gul a ship from time just (to me seems odd)

 

[Captain Clark Terrell]

Sisko must have been shocked when he noticed his dad looked like a certain traitorous Admiral from TUC.

Not cannon, but how do we know that Sisko's not related to Cartwright? Nothing's ever mentioned about Sisko's grandparents that I can remember. Maybe one of them was Admiral Cartwright's son or daughter.

--Sran

 

[Third Nacelle]

I'm pretty sure they meant for us to think Vorik and Taurik are the same person, or at least identical twins.

As for Locarno and Paris, Locarno was expelled from the Academy. Janeway would never have use for a guy like that. Paris having actual Starfleet experience makes more sense.

 

[Captain Clark Terrell]

As for Locarno and Paris, Locarno was expelled from the Academy. Janeway would never have use for a guy like that. Paris having actual Starfleet experience makes more sense.

Attending the Academy isn't the same thing as earning a commission, but it should still qualifty as Starfleet experience. Lacarno would have basic knowledge of ship design and bridge operations. I don't know that he'd have been given a commission as quickly as Paris was, but he did have some experience.

--Sran

 

[Dream]

I don't think Nick Lacarno was unredeemable. He was reckless and got a teammate killed, and then he covered it up. An act of recklessness followed by an act of fear. How many real people do you know who, if they really screwed up, would come forward and admit it? If he served his time in prison, then he learned from his mistake and worked earnestly to make up for it, he could absolutely be redeemed.

I actually think it wold have been more interesting if Tom Paris had been more like Nick Lacarno.

Tom always felt like a nice guy that made a mistake. They tried to paint him as the anti-hero in Caretaker, but after a few episodes he became just a nice as everyone else in the cast.

Someone like Nick would have had a harder time on Voyager, maybe with more of the crew hating him, which would have been more entertaining. He could have been more of a bad guy trying to be a good guy. Also having Janeway mistrust him much more would have been interesting.

 

[Charles Phipps]

^ Exactly. Locarno only confessed because Wesley made him do it. If Wes hadn't spoken up, Locarno would have continued to cover it up.

Paris came clean for what he did all on his own. That alone makes the difference.

Paris then became a Marquis terrorist. The whole point of Paris is he's a bad guy who becomes a hero.

Where is the idea redemption doesn't exist coming from?

 

[Pavonis]

Were the Maquis really terrorists? They always came off as a paramilitary organization. Their goal was to fight the Cardassians as a military. They weren't killing civilians, were they? I certainly don't recall any obvious terrorism type attacks, something that Kira and Shakaar really did commit. With all the ex-Starfleet people in the Maquis, it's hard to believe they'd attack civilian targets.

 

[Dream]

Were the Maquis really terrorists? They always came off as a paramilitary organization. Their goal was to fight the Cardassians as a military. They weren't killing civilians, were they? I certainly don't recall any obvious terrorism type attacks, something that Kira and Shakaar really did commit. With all the ex-Starfleet people in the Maquis, it's hard to believe they'd attack civilian targets.

The Maquis on VOY were the nicest terrorists ever.

The Maquis from TNG and DS9 actually felt dangerous.