Why was Mabel Barret really dropped as Number One?

[PCz911]

I think I would put Blalock's T'Pol right behind Nimoy's Spock and Lenard's Sarek as far as Vulcans go. My only knock would be this teeth grinding thing she would do.

Agree... (Funny, I never noticed the teeth grinding before)

 

[Nerys Myk]

Agree... (Funny, I never noticed the teeth grinding before)

Now it will be the only thing you see.

 

[T'Arwen]

Fine. Here you go:

Spock had the advantage of having internal conflict. That's why Tuvok and T'Pol were both so dull by comparison.

Now, I'm curious. Did you see an absence of conflict in T'Pol or did you think it just wasn't executed well?

 

[JonnyQuest037]

Did you see an absence of conflict in T'Pol or did you think it just wasn't executed well?

Yes.

 

[T'Arwen]

I don't think we would have got the trellium addiction or the will-they-won't-they with Trip if T'Pol didn't have any internal conflict.

 

[JonnyQuest037]

You're certainly entitled to your opinion, but I really have no interest in debating this. There's a reason I don't visit the ENT forum.

 

[Nerys Myk]

You're certainly entitled to your opinion, but I really have no interest in debating this. There's a reason I don't visit the ENT forum.

The same reason I don't visit the VOY forum?

 

[In_Correct]

There's some talk in the Too Cerebral thread about why Majel Barret was really dropped as Number One from The Cage to Where No Man Has Gone Before. I had always heard that it was because it was thought that people at that time wouldn't have excepted a female first officer. But now people in that thread are saying that is an urban myth and that it was really because of her performance and the fact that she was Gene Roddenberry's mistress. Still, others in that thread propose that the non-exceptance of a female first officer might still have been a factor.

So I'm wondering what the truth is about this.

That seems to be the official reason, but there are probably many other reasons. I don't think that they were too happy that Gene was having an affair being the qualification for an actress being part of the cast. Majel ended up restyling her hair, changing her hair colour, and snuck in as Christine Chapel. They were very careful with Christine Chapel who made very little appearances. But by season 3, her appearances increased even if some of them were just cameos. Uhura became the new woman on the bridge, and it also made Star Trek look good because she is Black also. (and I read somewhere that Nichelle and Gene dated and so she was cast as Uhura.) And Uhura took the place of a man in Where No Man Has Gone Before, another Black Person, who ended up starring in Room 221.

Uhura being a telephone operator and Chapel being a nurse suggests that Somebody whether it was test audiences, executives, ... preferred women to be in stereotypical roles. Diana Muldaur's characters appeared to be an exception of because they were both intellectual women. Perhaps that is why she only guest starred two times. There was a ship's psychiatrist in Where No Man Has Gone Before. In an episode with a new psychiatrist, the new woman was stereotypical. She was able to fight off the man ... barely ... and then shoved him into the High Voltage.

Chapel at times became as hyper as L'Waxana Troi, but she also fell in love with Spock, who now has a calmer personality similar to Number One. I always thought her unusual love for Spock was part of the compromise for keeping both Spock and still having a similar character for Majel Barrett.

Number One was never mentioned again. Perhaps for two reasons: Star Trek was not syndicated at the time. It was cancelled, and Gene was attempting to make another programme or film of it. The other reason is that Majel has two new characters for TOS and L'Waxana for TNG) As long as she has a character then she is happy and not worrying about her original character Number One.

One of her characters was The Computer. Number One was the first officer for Robert April of The Yorktown and The Enterprise, and Christopher Pike of The Enterprise. After being First Officer for a long time, she was due for promotion and was promoted to The Computer Sciences Department At Star Fleet Headquarters, where she designed (and lent her voice to) many of the computer systems. She was then promoted again as "Admiral Primus". I made most of that up since there isn't any other explanation.

I like Star Trek The Motion Picture. It is very similar to The Cage. with its Brushed Metal look, cool-colour uniforms with Away Team Jackets. And Chapel's personality was similar to Number One. Her stern behaviour also carried over to Star Trek IV.

I never found Tuvok to be boring. Especially during the episodes where he went insane. But as for your Conflict Character debate, I would say that Tuvok does not like Chakotay and Tuvok believes that he deserves to be First Officer, not Chakotay. Also remember that Tuvok left Star Fleet for many years, because of The Excelsior. He is a devoted married man, but his wife and children are in The Alpha Quadrant during the entire programme.

Yes I ended up reading the entire thread and commented from memory instead of quoting lol.

 

[In_Correct]

I forgot to mention something.

The original pilot was criticized for being too cerebral. Perhaps in addition to wanting stereotypical women as guest stars (for the captain to interact with) they also wanted more comedy. When McCoy joined the cast then there is a strong character development of Kirk, Spock, and McCoy. Focusing on these three characters would reduce the programme's budget (The co-stars were often absent) and provide the most memorable three characters. It is fun to watch the three argue and insult each other. Keeping both Number One and Spock on the same ship together should not be offensive to anybody, but it might have resulted in a completely different programme.

However, there did appear to be bickering between Number One and Yeoman Colt.

 

[Spock's Barber]

Majel was still Number One in GR's heart....at least until the next Trek Babe came along.