Why no Andorians in the TNG/DS9/VOY era?

[issreliant]

So andoria is one of the founding members of the federation, and one of the earliest aliens humans met, so why dont we see more of them in starfleet, we see Klingons, Vulcans, and other TOS aliens, so why no andorian love, i think an andorian officer on one of the shows would have been a great idea, like instead of worf going to DS9 we could have had a andorian , or instead of torres on VOY, A half human/andorian, instead of the over used klingon idea? is there a reason andorians are not in starfleet? is this a good idea?

 

[Michael]

Rick Berman didn't want them in the 24th century show, because he thought they looked goofy. Trek lore has it, that originally, Captain Rixx (from TNG's Conspiracy) was going to be Andorian, but in the last moment they abandoned the antennae and thus the Bolians were born.

Therin of Andor can probably tell you more about this ...

 

[-Brett-]

Is there any particular reason we needed an Andorian character?

 

[The Trekster]

Probably because they are really silly looking. Not that Bolians were much of an improvement :/

 

[Pauln6]

Andorians are cool not silly. Betazoids are silly. If they were wiped from Trek lore I'd be happy but leave andorians alone!

 

[clint g]

Well, luckily for us Ent was able to make Andorians who didn't look all that silly It's too bad that we didn't get to see more of them, the Andorians in Ent were very well done

 

[Red Ranger]

Figures Berman was responsible for nixing Andorians appearing in the 24th century ST shows. ENT showed they could be handled well. Issreliant, I like your idea re: Torres from VOY being half-Andorian instead of the already showcased human/Klingon hybrid. She still could've been a hot-tempered engineer with Andorian blood runnng through her veins. As I recall, they only showed an Andorian female in one TNG ep, when Lal is narrowing down her choices on what she's to look like.

 

[NickInABox]

But, Mr. Red Ranger, that Andorian looked HORRIBLE.
Horrible.

 

[USS Excelsior]

And we didn't see any Tellarites from the era either. And TOS movie era stock footage used in TNG doesn't count!

 

[Anwar]

Actually, the reason Berman didn't want Andorians in TNG+ was because at the time makeup FX hadn't advanced to the point that they'd look good enough.

I mean, look at the Andorian model we saw in "Offspring"!

By the time of ENT, makeup tech had advanced to the point they didn't look as goofy anymore so they could be on screen and not laughed at.

 

[RegFan]

Well, luckily for us Ent was able to make Andorians who didn't look all that silly It's too bad that we didn't get to see more of them, the Andorians in Ent were very well done

Shran was planned to join Archer's crew in Season 5.

 

[Therin of Andor]

Therin of Andor can probably tell you more about this ...

There are most certainly Andorians in Starfleet:

"Yesteryear" (TAS)

ST:TMP (two in the rec deck scene)

ST IV (two admirals in the Council)

But yes, Rick Berman considered them "hokey" 60s aliens, and in the 80s and 90s no TV budget was ever able to achieve high quality, convincing antennae until ENT and then, only because miniaturization had occurred for using remote control components to create moving antennae. The original script for "The Andorian Incident" was going to feature the Gorn, but Brannon Braga fought to do Andorians - at long last - because the Gorn was a first contact alien race in TOS. But Berman insisted the antennae had to be convincing.

http://andorfiles.blogspot.com/2009/10/tng-rogues-gallery.html

 

[ChadHydro]

I personally LOVED the way Enterprise handled Andorians. Especially Shran, but that's probably just due to Jeffrey Coombs' brilliance...

 

[Anji]

Combs took it to a new level. He made being a villain cool.

 

[Arpy]

I have a love/hate relationship with the Andorians. When I first saw them as a child I thought they were weird. Then I think I liked them for sentimental reasons. When ENT brought them back I was impressed...much like with the series premiere "Broken Bow," but then quickly got over it. I guess I too feel the antennae are kind of silly on otherwise normal light blue humans. Worse was Combs' slight Southern accented, out-of-shape warrior Shran.

I guess I would have preferred more complex make-up for them. Contact lenses, latex, teeth, hand make-up, weird skeletal protrusions under their uniforms, some more androgynous actors for different members of the four different sexes, and different accents...maybe similar to Shras's(?) from TOS's "Journey to Babel" - yeah they have different accents throughout their planet/memberworld but not just not Combs'. ...My $.02.

 

[Nerys Myk]

A lot of planets have a South.

 

[Admiral Shran]

The reason was that Berman thought they looked goofy. But, I've said it before and I'll say it again - the NUMEROUS aliens whose only difference from Humans was an attachment to the forehead looked much more goofy.

 

[Arpy]

Come on guys... I simply have a different opinion.

I was obviously talking about the 1) Earth 2) American "South."

Foreheads alone don't make for realistic aliens but they often help, as does other latex. Plus, the Andorians on ENT did have latex foreheads additions.

 

[Michael]

... guys ...

 

[Anwar]

The reason was that Berman thought they looked goofy. But, I've said it before and I'll say it again - the NUMEROUS aliens whose only difference from Humans was an attachment to the forehead looked much more goofy.

Yes, but if you looked at the best Andorian they could come up with on TNG's budget in "The Offspring" Berman was right to think they wouldn't look that good for anything more than a cameo. By ENT the FX tech they had was able to make them better looking.