Voyager

[Mel]

On the Reddit board, there is a link to an article about 10 people who were almost cast in Star Trek. Most of it I knew about, but there were some things I hadn't known (or I forgot I knew) particularly about Genevieve Bujold vs. Kate Mulgrew, found on the final page of the article. Anyway, I thought it was interesting.

UPN wanted a male captain; the producers wanted a female. The finalists were Nigel Havers (Chariots of Fire) and Bujold. Without auditioning Bujold, the producers offered her the role.

As we know, that didn't work out. The show was already in production; the scripts and costumes were for a female captain. Given that, the producers offered the role to Kate Mulgrew.

The article:
whatculture.com/tv/star-trek-10-actors-nearly-cast-iconic-roles.php/9

I couldn't stand her Mulgrew's voice, and I hated Janeway's decision to stay in the Delta quadrant, so I probably never gave Mulgrew enough credit for what she brought to the role. But after having watched parts of Caretaker with Bujold vs. Mulgrew, wow, Mulgrew won hands down.

The scenes:

[TrekBeatTK]

I'm surprised you didn't know about the Bujold debacle. I'm with you, I never liked the sound of her voice (to this day, the way she says "pecan pie" gives me shivers). But at least she was engaged in the role. Bujold looked like she was sleeping through it, but mostly because she didn't really want to be there as captain. She just wasn't right for the role, and they were foolish not to audition her first.

-TK

[CRAMBAM]

The problems with Voyager had more to do with writing than Mulgrew.

Janeway was an idiot.

[Mel]

Nov 14, 2013 17:39:54 GMT -5 TrekBeatTK said:

I'm surprised you didn't know about the Bujold debacle. I'm with you, I never liked the sound of her voice (to this day, the way she says "pecan pie" gives me shivers). But at least she was engaged in the role. Bujold looked like she was sleeping through it, but mostly because she didn't really want to be there as captain. She just wasn't right for the role, and they were foolish not to audition her first. - TK

I knew Bujold was awful, but I don't recall seeing the scenes until now. Also, I thought the final two were Bujold and Mulgrew. I didn't know it was Bujold and Havers. That surprised me.

[Mel]

Nov 15, 2013 7:37:44 GMT -5 CRAMBAM said:

The problems with Voyager had more to do with writing than Mulgrew. Janeway was an idiot.

We are in agreement about that. Janeway was a terrible character, an idiot and a mass murderer.

[TrekBeatTK]

Like G7 was a couple weeks ago, I was asked to do the weekly episode discussion over on the reddit Trek board. So here's a link if anyone's interested. I chose to do "The Gift" because I had just watched it recently, and because it gave me opportunity to discuss Janeway's unilateral decision-making.

-TK

[StarFuryG7]

Sept 3, 2014 19:15:31 GMT -5 TrekBeatTK said:

Like G7 was a couple weeks ago, I was asked to do the weekly episode discussion over on the reddit Trek board. So here's a link if anyone's interested. I chose to do "The Gift" because I had just watched it recently, and because it gave me opportunity to discuss Janeway's unilateral decision-making.

-TK

I responded to your post over there a little while ago.

Yes, it appears our friend TK is becoming quite the redditor of late, guys.

I just wish there was more of an appreciation of classic Trek over there.

[CRAMBAM]

Been so long since I've watched them. I'd watch again, but that would require actually sitting down to watch them and I didn't do anything to deserve that.

Though I did read your review, and I don't agree about Janeway being conservative. She is anything but, especially as a squeamish leader.

[TrekBeatTK]

Sept 5, 2014 12:48:43 GMT -5 CRAMBAM said:

Been so long since I've watched them. I'd watch again, but that would require actually sitting down to watch them and I didn't do anything to deserve that.

Though I did read your review, and I don't agree about Janeway being conservative. She is anything but, especially as a squeamish leader.

I don't know that Janeway is particularly conservative in her leadership, but I do think this particular instance was one of the series/franchise being more conservative than it is usually touted to be. That probably wasn't clear. I think Janeway does whatever she does to suit herself first, in the name of protecting her crew. I think she's actually a lot like Jellico in her leadership style, except that he was a reasonable tactician, and she is not.

-TK