Why was Robert Hooks Replaced with Brock Peters in TVH

[trevanian]

I agree it would have been better with Hooks, but Peters did a good job as a replacement Admiral.

Rather, it would've been better if Peters had been in ST III in the first place. He was a much more powerful and interesting actor than Hooks.

Powerful, yes, more interesting, I disagree. I've seen Hooks in a lot of TV down through the years, though I guess he is better known for Shakespeare stuff, and he brings a Robert Culp level of credibility to even the dumbest (can you say PASSENGER 57?) of productions. In SFS, despite his character's plot-driven shortsightedness, Hooks still conveys a genuine starship command type presence that nobody else in the movies manages, not even Winfield, who on any other day I would hold up as the gold standard, just for his sterling work in TWILIGHT'S LAST GLEAMING.

also, I kind of wished they saved Peters just for DS9, because he really IS Sisko Sr.

 

[trevanian]

During Kirk and McCoy's trial-scene on Q'onoS -- Klaa (or rather, Todd Bryant, the actor who played him in TFF) acts as one of the interpreters, relaying General Chang's Klingonese-dialogue in English.

At least, I consider him to be Klaa, making a reappearance...he's not explicitly credited as playing that character, per se, but he looks and sounds exactly the same, and I have no trouble with considering him as actually being Klaa in that scene.

Makes for some nice inter-film continuity on Nick Meyer's part.

Either that or he is a deepcover agent a la Arne Darvin, considering how he looked in Meyer's TWOK, which was blonde and human and running like a scared jackrabbit out of engineering.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

@dub: Why do you say that Ellenstein's character didn't like Klingons? No evidence of that. Indeed, Hiram Roth (as the novels call him) was supposed to be a very popular and well respected President, not exactly given to Styles-level racism. Roth sure didn't act prejudiced in the film, either.

 

[dub]

@dub: Why do you say that Ellenstein's character didn't like Klingons? No evidence of that. Indeed, Hiram Roth (as the novels call him) was supposed to be a very popular and well respected President, not exactly given to Styles-level racism. Roth sure didn't act prejudiced in the film, either.

I thought I'd throw in an unlikely sort, though honestly I haven't read the novels. "I don't think he liked Klingons" was just a little joke.

 

[jpv2000]

IIRC you get to hear him serving as translator, saying something along the lines of, "That Enterprise fired on..."

I -think- it's between Chang opening speaking in Klingon and him continuing in English.

Thank You and Leto II both. I will be sure to catch this when I rewatch.

 

[The Old Mixer]

Would have been nice to see Morrow again just so Kirk could rub a little "Vulcan mysticism" in his face. "I'd like you to meet my buddy Spock...you might remember him, he used to be dead." The whale probe incident gets all the credit for getting Kirk off the hook, but I think that bringing Spock back alive would have also been a factor...smaller scale, but even more impressive in its own way.

 

[jpv2000]

The whale probe incident gets all the credit for getting Kirk off the hook, but I think that bringing Spock back alive would have also been a factor...smaller scale, but even more impressive in its own way.

True and Sarek has a lot of pull with the Council and Federation President so his efforts had a lot to do with it.

 

[Christopher]

I wonder if the Genesis scandal forced Morrow to resign.

 

[DonIago]

Maybe that along with Enterprise being stolen from Spacedock and Excelsior being sabotaged?

I might enjoy being a fly on the wall for the ensuing discussion of Starfleet security procedures and how they were lacking.

 

[Grant]

If you read the TSFS script you will see that Hooks part was cut quite a bit.

In the 'inspection scene' they cut the prologue where is welcomed aboard and hugs kirk and is shown to be a close friend---instead they cut to him in mid-speech.

The scene in the lounge was nearly cut in half as well and in it he also professes his friendship for Kirk, saying, .."if a had a best friend you be that as well..."

So maybe he thought, that if it was so brief a reprise and since they had cut his first appearance to the bone in TSFS what's the point?

As others have already pointed out "Cartwright" does very little in TVH anyway.

 

[Tom]

Cartwright should have had the cameo in TFF instead of Harve Bennett trying to get some screen time.

 

[Praetor]

I always assumed the Enterprise incident (ha) combined with the Excelsior troubles to be precisely what caused Morrow to step down.

 

[Workbee]

I think the Enterprise incident is more likely -- specifically the fact that that renegade starship showed itself at the restricted area that had already created a political clusterf**k. The magnitude is comparable the Enterprise showing up at Khitomer in TUC, but instead of saving the peace process, they effectively took a wrecking ball to it. Yes, this is probably the best in-universe reason why we don't see Admiral Morrow in subsequent films.

 

[Captain Clark Terrell]

I wonder if the Genesis scandal forced Morrow to resign.

That's what I think. Even though Morrow didn't make the decision to take the Enterprise to Genesis, everything surrounding the disaster at the planet (both before and after its creation) happened on his watch. There's also the matter of how and why Kirk and crew got aboard Enterprise in the first place. I realize Starfleet is supposed to be an organization where trust is assumed, but would it have killed Morrow to assign a small security detail to the ship in the event Kirk decided to take matters into his own hands? It's clear from the distant expression on Kirk's face that he's not listening to Morrow as the latter is imploring him not to wreck his career by running amok through Federation space trying to save Spock.

Maybe Morrow was too preoccupied with George Costanza spilling grape juice on his new couch. I always laugh when I watch that episode. If there's one thing Robert Hooks can't do, it's keep his own house clean and free of incident.

--Sran

 

[dub]

Sounds like a good fanfic for someone to write!

 

[The Old Mixer]

The scene in the lounge was nearly cut in half as well and in it he also professes his friendship for Kirk, saying, .."if a had a best friend you be that as well..."

I'm glad they cut that much out...it would have seemed very contrived.

 

[Captain Clark Terrell]

Sounds like a good fanfic for someone to write!

[Shameless Plug]Funny you should say that. The continuity I've been writing about in which Will Decker commands the Enterprise during the V'Ger mission establishes that Morrow was Decker's commanding officer on the USS Boston, where Decker served prior to being placed in charge of the Enterprise refit.[/Shamless Plug]

--Sran

 

[Grant]

The scene in the lounge was nearly cut in half as well and in it he also professes his friendship for Kirk, saying, .."if a had a best friend you be that as well..."

I'm glad they cut that much out...it would have seemed very contrived.

Yes, because to find out any new information about kirk's relationships with other Starfleet members would be bad.

 

[shivkala]

The scene in the lounge was nearly cut in half as well and in it he also professes his friendship for Kirk, saying, .."if a had a best friend you be that as well..."

I'm glad they cut that much out...it would have seemed very contrived.

Yes, because to find out any new information about kirk's relationships with other Starfleet members would be bad.

Without seeing it filmed, it's hard to judge, but I agree with The Old Mixer, as it does seem a bit contrived to suddenly have someone we've never seen or heard about profess that Kirk's the closest thing to a best friend that he has.

It teeters on the line between learning new information about Kirk's relationships with other Starfleet members and something shoe-horned into the plot for convenience.

Perhaps if we'd seen Morrow in The Motion Picture greeting Kirk and questioning his decision to take the demotion to Captain. Or if Morrow was in The Wrath of Khan, talking to Kirk before Kirk and crew left for the Enterprise inspection, then the scene you described would seem less contrived.

Or if the scene in The Search for Spock scene was a little less sounding like a "bro-mance" forced into the script. If Morrow instead said something along the lines of, "Jim, I've enjoyed our chats over the years, you've been a good friend and I'd hate to see you throw all of that away," it would have sounded more natural.

Again, without seeing it filmed, it's hard to judge, as it could have been a nice addition, allowing us to see Kirk's circle of friends extend beyond his senior officers. It would also serve as a way to give us insight into Kirk's years as an Admiral, where, presumably, due to Spock going off to Vulcan, McCoy retiring, and the others overseeing the refit, as well as Kirk's own duties as an admiral, he wouldn't have been able to see the Enterprise crew that often.

 

[Workbee]

Someone should mention this in CaptainBearClaw's deleted scene thread. Seems like part of this might have been filmed.

As for Cartwright -- TVH suffers from having to resolve not only its story, but the overarching story started in TWOK. There was a lot of stuff shoehorned into the 23rd century bookends that already make it a little top-heavy. TVH was the first film I remembered seeing in the theater, and I recall being bored with the trial sequence at the beginning -- granted I was very young, but the movie does take a while to get going because of the need to service plots from prior films.