Star Trek: Enterprise 5

Prologue
  • Following a post in another thread, let's see how far we can take this ...


    c. 12th September 1986



    Gene Rodenberry had been invited to the studio for an informal chat. Also present was Greg Strangis who had been writing a pitch for a new Star Trek series, tentatively titled Star Trek: The Next Generation.

    After the troubled development of Star Trek: Planet of the Titans, the aborted Star Trek: Phase II and the relative box office failure of Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Rodenberry had been encouraged to step away from the production of the franchise and watch as money from royalties and convention appearances rolled in.

    But the studio was more than aware that a series without Rodenberry involved would be subject to the wrath of the fans. Bjo Trimble had led a campaign to get the original series renewed for its third and ultimately final season, and had been part of the campaign to get the first space shuttle named Enterprise, after all. So with Strangis and his series pitch in hand, the studio invited Rodenberry in.

    Later studio rumour would be that the show pitched by Strangis had been a fake out, a pitch intended to convince Rodenberry that any Trek produced without him would be awful, so that he would come back in and get involved with the development of the show.

    If that were the case, it backfired.

    Rodenberry listened for the duration of the pitch, nodded, and wished the production crew good luck and left the room. He would have no more involvement in the production of the show other than the occasional memo that the studio usually ignored. Star Trek: The Next Generation as it was still known that September afternoon, began casting a month later ...

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    Casting - Part 1
  • c. October 1986

    A casting breakdown for the new series was sent out to agents, actors were put forward for consideration. Producers had their own wishlist and the shows Casting Director, Mary Jo Slater, reached out to the agents of those they had in mind directly. However, casting soon became a problem for one character specifically - Captain Rhon.

    Rhon was - to all intents and purposes - a retread of Spock. A full Vulcan who had been in Starfleet for long enough that he had embraced some of humanities emotional quirks.

    Producers wanted Yaphet Kotto for the role, but negotiations were proving harder than expected.

    In contrast, the casting of the new First Officer, Commander Richard Kincaid, and Chief Medical Officer, Doctor Karen Hart, were the first two casting choices agreed, with Jenny Agutter signing on as Dr Hart whilst James Horan was recruited as the Kirk-like Commander Kincaid after studio chiefs determined that "(Billy) Campbell doesn't give the sense of someone you wanted to follow into battle ..." and Jonathan Frakes rejected the offer when his contract on Falcon Crest was extended.

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    Horan said in later interviews that he would become acutely aware during filming that he was the studios third choice for Kincaid.

    Later, the character of Dr Hart was renamed (not an altogether unusual practice, in itself, but this rename happened the day filming was due to begin) and became Doctor Beverley Crusher. Similarly the intended relationships between Crusher and Chief Engineer Gage, and Kincaid and Cadet Helen Joyce were adjusted so that Kincaid became a mentor to Joyce rather than a lover, and the romantic relationship was between Kincaid and Crusher - allowing producers to broaden the age range in their casting of Chief Engineer Gage.

    To that end, Gage became a grandfather figure to the crew and a contemporary of Captain Rhon, rather than a similar age to Kincaid and Crusher.

    Roscoe Lee Brown was subsequently given the role as the final cast signing of the month, with three other regulars still to be cast and the negotiations with Yaphet Kotto still ongoing ...
     
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