Why was Mabel Barret really dropped as Number One?

[The Old Mixer]

Mabel had a thing for Doctor Spock when she played Nurse Temple.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Ah yes, Kristen Temple. She was the fiancee of Richard Cory.

 

[JonnyQuest037]

"Space... The last place we need to explore.
These are the journeys of the space-ship Corporation.
Its half-decade purpose: To explore weird new planets,
To look for new creatures, and new cultures.
...TO BRAVELY GO WHERE NO OTHER PERSON HAS BEEN PREVIOUSLY!"

 

[ZapBrannigan]

Good old Doctor Spock.

No, I believe the doctor was called Boney.

 

[The Old Mixer]

Holds up hand with middle two fingers pressed together and outer two fingers spread apart.

 

[Shawnster]

I know someone beat me to this...

Probably "Bajel Marret." Greg will not try too hard!

Tamar Temple
Maheera Mosque

 

[Nerys Myk]

No, I believe the doctor was called Boney.

Isn't that the Engineer? Templeton "Boney" Brennan.

 

[Therin of Andor]

"Star Track fans. Don't you guys paint yourselves with blood and dance by the moonlight?" [Journalist covering a convention for the last two minutes of the weekend evening news.]

 

[ZapBrannigan]

"Star Track fans. Don't you guys paint yourselves with blood and dance by the moonlight?" [Journalist covering a convention for the last two minutes of the weekend evening news.]

For real?

I called it Star Track when I was a little boy. I had a dim-witted buddy who still called it that in high school, and he wasn't kidding.

 

[Shikarnov]

Has anyone ever said it was?

Not overtly, of course. But it's easy to infer the kind of feedback Roddenberry received concerning Number One (and to lesser degrees, Yoeman Colt, and Dr. Dehner) based on how women are depicted between the pilots and the actual series.

She appeared in one episode...she hardly had time or occasion to do all of that if she wanted to.

A fair point, indeed. One wonders what they might have done with that crew had they been given more time. Though my gut tells me we wouldn't have seen too much camp. The Cage was pretty serious stuff, as was WNMHGB.

Good point. Did Uhura scream in her first appearance? And she never melted over a man. And who knows what kind of plots or situations they might have thrown at Number One had she been retained as a character? (Heck, even Spock melted a few times over the course of three seasons.)

Honestly, to give Uhura (and TOS) their due, her infrequent "Captain, I'm scared" moments are far from the norm for her. Most of the time, she remains cool and professional under pressure and is no more tense or anxious than the rest of the bridge crew when the ship is in danger.

The writers let her down on occasion, but they got it right more often than not.

Also fair points. But I would like to think the plots for Number One would be more like in your recent Legacies novel -- which was amazing, by the way.

 

[Greg Cox]

Also fair points. But I would like to think the plots for Number One would be more like in your recent Legacies novel -- which was amazing, by the way.

Thanks! There's a lot more Number One in the next two books.

 

[Marsden]

And why the alien blonde in "Taste of Armageddon" was a twin of the alien blonde in "Plato's Stepchildren."

(Yes, I'm too lazy to look up the characters' names, although they were both played by Barbara Babcock.)

Not only did they look the same, Trelaine's mom and Commander Loskene sounded like her, too!

Good point. Did Uhura scream in her first appearance? And she never melted over a man. And who knows what kind of plots or situations they might have thrown at Number One had she been retained as a character? (Heck, even Spock melted a few times over the course of three seasons.)

Honestly, to give Uhura (and TOS) their due, her infrequent "Captain, I'm scared" moments are far from the norm for her. Most of the time, she remains cool and professional under pressure and is no more tense or anxious than the rest of the bridge crew when the ship is in danger.

The writers let her down on occasion, but they got it right more often than not.

I'm not sure if I'm disagreeing or not, but I don't think the writers let her down, the 2 times she said that were very scary situations. One time the entire Federation ceased to exist and the other she was about to be raped by her captain for the entertainment of those controlling him. I think those qualify as scary.
The time I thought the writer let her down, but maybe it was the director really, was in Arena when she screams in terror after Kirk disappears,( she also saw Kirk disappear in the episode before and not only didn't scream but acted appropriately), she also makes the panicky expression with her hand over her face when she sees the Gorn on the view screen, like she can't handle being that scared. That stood out as a bad moment in a (otherwise) great episode.

 

[johnnybear]

Yep. It was in the same episode that explained why Sarek looked so much like the Romulan Commander from "Balance of Terror," why Stonn looked so much like Decius, and why Dr. Ann Mulhall looked so much like Dr. Miranda Jones.

Was that the same show where they explained why Dr.Simon Van Gelder looked so much like Captain Ronald Tracey and why Trelane was a doppleganger for Captain Koloth? Or why The Melkot sounded like the Thasian, or why Hortas and The Excalbian ate the same silicon chips? And why Dr.Sevrin and Melakon exchanged sub space radio messages too?
JB

 

[tim0122]

I swear, a guy mistypes a thread title (that I can't find a way to edit after it is posted) and he never hears the end of it. Come on, guys, I'm the world's biggest fan of Space Expedition starring Commissioner Kirk and Dr. Spook. Give me a break.

 

[scotpens]

Was that the same show where they explained why Dr. Simon Van Gelder looked so much like Captain Ronald Tracey and why Trelane was a doppelganger for Captain Koloth? Or why The Melkot sounded like the Thasian, or why Hortas and The Excalbian ate the same silicon chips? And why Dr. Sevrin and Melakon exchanged sub space radio messages too?

Or why the Metron, Nomad, and the Halkan leader all sounded the same?

 

[The Old Mixer]

I swear, a guy mistypes a thread title (that I can't find a way to edit after it is posted) and he never hears the end of it. Come on, guys, I'm the world's biggest fan of Space Expedition starring Commissioner Kirk and Dr. Spook. Give me a break.

You just can't put Mabel back in the bottle.

 

[tim0122]

You just can't put Mabel back in the bottle.

No one puts Mabel in a corner.

 

[The Old Mixer]

That's the spirit!

 

[johnnybear]

Or why the Metron, Nomad, and the Halkan leader all sounded the same?

Or why some of Starfleets Admirals looked alike, like Komack and Westerviliet? Or why Klingon and Vulcan voices sounded similar? Or why some of the Ensigns kept changing their names? Or why a Barber in the old western town of Tombstone looked a lot like a Ship's surgeon from the USS Exeter or a rotting youth who liked to play with kids bikes? Or why an Android from Exo-Three sounded like a baldheaded puppet and a reptillian Gorn?
JB

 

[JonnyQuest037]

I swear, at this point I'm starting to believe that the TOS universe was populated by about six people.