jeri taylor star trek voyager

Star Trek: Voyager

Star Trek: Voyager is the fifth Star Trek series. It was created by Rick Berman , Michael Piller , and Jeri Taylor , and ran on UPN , as the network's first ever series, for seven seasons in the USA , from 1995 to 2001 . In some areas without local access to UPN, it was offered to independent stations through Paramount Pictures , for its first six seasons. The series is best known for its familial crew, science fiction based plots, engaging action sequences, and light humor. The writers often noted that many episodes had underlying themes and messages or were metaphors for current social issues. This is the first Star Trek series to feature a female captain in a leading role. However, Kathryn Janeway herself is not the first female captain to be seen within Star Trek as a whole. Additionally, the show gained in popularity for its storylines which frequently featured the Borg . Voyager follows the events of Star Trek: The Next Generation and ran alongside Star Trek: Deep Space Nine during its first five seasons.

• Main Title Theme  file info (composed by Jerry Goldsmith )
• 1 Series summary
• 2 Distinguishing Voyager
• 3 Reception
• 4.1 Starring
• 4.2 Also starring
• 5 Executive producers
• 6 Opening credits
• 7.1 Season 1
• 7.2 Season 2
• 7.3 Season 3
• 7.4 Season 4
• 7.5 Season 5
• 7.6 Season 6
• 7.7 Season 7
• 8 Related topics
• 9 Syndication
• 11 External links

Series summary [ ]

Launched in the year 2371 , the Intrepid -class Federation starship USS Voyager was a ship built to return to Starfleet 's founding principle of scientific exploration. It was fitting that the ship's captain , Kathryn Janeway , rose up through the science ranks rather than command. On the ship's first mission while departing the space station Deep Space 9 , which required it to find and capture a Maquis vessel that disappeared into the treacherous Badlands , the crew of Voyager , as well as that of the Maquis ship it was pursuing, were swept clear across the galaxy and deep into the Delta Quadrant . This was the doing of a powerful alien being known as the Caretaker . The seventy thousand light year transit cost the lives of over a dozen crew members. Captain Janeway was forced to destroy the massive alien array that housed the remains of the Caretaker. In doing so, she saved an alien race, the Ocampa , but stranded Voyager and the crew in the Delta Quadrant.

United in a common purpose, the surviving Maquis rebels joined with Janeway's Starfleet-trained crew on Voyager . Though a journey back to the Alpha Quadrant would have taken more than seventy years through unknown and treacherous territory , the crew of Voyager was well served by Janeway's skilled leadership and their own steadfast determination. Ultimately, Voyager returned to the Alpha Quadrant in seven years.

The crew's journey home was eventful. Voyager made first contact with over four hundred completely new species in the Delta Quadrant, discovered links to Earth 's early space exploration history , utilized and even pioneered new technologies, all the while engaging in countless other adventures. (" Distant Origin ")

The crew encountered species ranging from the violent and ruthless Kazon , the Phage -afflicted Vidiians , the colorful Talaxians and the ephemeral Ocampa . The crew's other encounters included run-ins with the temporal sophistication of the Krenim , the predatory Hirogen , the toxic Malon and the scheming Hierarchy . The crew picked up passengers along the way, including the wily but extremely resourceful Talaxian Neelix (who served, at times, as Voyager 's ambassador , morale officer , and even head chef ), along with the Ocampan telepath Kes (who, as a parting gift to the crew, used her powers of telekinesis to thrust Voyager 9,500 light years closer to the Alpha Quadrant).

Most memorable, however, were Voyager 's repeated clashes with the dreaded Borg . While each encounter posed grave danger, Voyager was able to prevail every time. At one point, Janeway actually negotiated a temporary peace with the Borg when they perceived a common threat in a mysterious alien species from fluidic space . (" Scorpion ") At other times, she was able to liberate drones from the Borg Collective , including Seven of Nine (who became a permanent member of the crew), Mezoti , Azan , Rebi , and Icheb . Other instances pitted Voyager against not only the Borg, but also against the nightmarish Borg Queen herself.

Several years after Voyager 's disappearance into the Delta Quadrant, Starfleet Command learned of the starship's fate. Subsequently, the Pathfinder Project was created, a Starfleet Communications project that attempted to communicate with Voyager through the MIDAS array , via a micro-wormhole and the Hirogen communications network . Thanks to the hard work and enthusiasm of Lieutenant Reginald Barclay , the communications technology improved to a level whereby contact could be made on a regular basis. In 2377 , the crew was able to receive monthly data streams from Earth that included letters from the crew's families, tactical upgrades, and news about the Alpha Quadrant.

By the end of the year, Voyager made a triumphant return to the Alpha Quadrant, under the guidance of Starfleet and the Pathfinder Project, by utilizing and then destroying a Borg transwarp hub , and after a turbulent trip, a celebration was held in honor of Voyager 's return back home.

Distinguishing Voyager [ ]

Despite the general prosperity of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , Paramount pressured Rick Berman for yet another Star Trek television series. Although it was decided very early on that the new series would be set aboard a starship once again, it was important for the writers to vary the series from Star Trek: The Next Generation in other ways. Berman stated, " When Voyager came around and we knew we were going to place the next series back on a starship we wanted to do it in a way that was not going to be that redundant when it came to The Next Generation . So we had a certain amount of conflict on the ship because of the Maquis. We had a different dynamic because we were not speaking every day to Starfleet and because we had a female captain. Those were the major differences that set this show apart from the others… It had the core belief of what Star Trek was all about, both in terms of the excitement and the action and in terms of the provocative elements of ideas that Star Trek has always been known to present to the audience. " ( Star Trek: Voyager Companion , p. ? )

The series' premise of being lost in deep space was itself a variation on a theme explored in The Next Generation . Michael Piller explained, " We remembered the episodes, many episodes, where Q would show up and throw one of our ships or one of our people off to a strange part of the universe. And we'd have to figure out why we were there, how we were going to get back, and ultimately – by the end of an episode – we'd get back home. But […] we started to talk about what would happen if we didn't get home. That appealed to us a great deal […] You have to understand that Rick, Jeri and I had no interest in simply putting a bunch of people on another ship and sending them out to explore the universe. We wanted to bring something new to the Gene Roddenberry universe. The fans would have been the first people to criticize us if we had not brought something new to it. But everything new, everything was… a challenge, in the early stages of development of Voyager." ("Braving the Unknown: Season 1", VOY Season 1 DVD special features)

Jeri Taylor concurred that Voyager had to be different from its predecessors. She stated, " We felt a need to create an avenue for new and fresh storytelling. We are forced into creating a new universe. We have to come up with new aliens, we have to come up with new situations. " Taylor also recalled, " We knew we were taking some risks. We decided, in a very calculated way, to cut our ties with everything that was familiar. This is a dangerous thing to do. There is no more Starfleet, there are no more admirals to tell us what we can and cannot do, there are no Romulans, there are no Klingons, there are no Ferengi, no Cardassians. All those wonderful array of villains that the audience has come to love and hate at the same time will no longer be there. This is a tricky thing to do. " ("Braving the Unknown: Season 1", VOY Season 1 DVD special features)

Differentiating the new series from what had gone before hardened the challenge of inventing the series' main characters. Jeri Taylor recounted, " It took a long, long time, it took us weeks and weeks and weeks, even to come up with a cast of characters, because we found that so many wonderful characters had already been done and we didn't want to exactly repeat ourselves. We'd come up with an idea then say, 'No, that's too much like Data ,' or, 'That's too much like Odo ,' or, 'That's too much like Worf .' So to try to find the right balance of characters, in terms of gender and alien species and that kind of thing, really took a long time. " ("Braving the Unknown: Season 1", VOY Season 1 DVD special features)

↑ John Van Citters listed "VGR" as the series' official abbreviation when announcing the "DSC" abbreviation for Star Trek: Discovery . [1] MA , among other venues, will continue to use the abbreviation VOY for Voyager , for historical reasons.

Reception [ ]

During its seven-year run, Star Trek: Voyager was nominated for 34 Emmy Awards , mostly in "technical" categories such as visual effects and makeup. It won seven, including "Outstanding Individual Achievement in Main Title Theme Music" for Jerry Goldsmith 's theme.

Main cast [ ]

Starring [ ].

• Kate Mulgrew as Captain Kathryn Janeway

Also starring [ ]

• Robert Beltran as Commander Chakotay
• Roxann Biggs-Dawson as Lieutenant B'Elanna Torres
• Jennifer Lien as Kes ( 1995 - 1997 )
• Robert Duncan McNeill as Lieutenant Tom Paris
• Ethan Phillips as Neelix
• Robert Picardo as The Doctor
• Tim Russ as Lieutenant Commander Tuvok
• Jeri Ryan as Seven of Nine ( 1997 - 2001 )
• Garrett Wang as Ensign Harry Kim

Executive producers [ ]

• Rick Berman – Executive Producer
• Michael Piller – Executive Producer (1995-1996)
• Jeri Taylor – Executive Producer (1995-1998)
• Brannon Braga – Executive Producer (1998-2000)
• Kenneth Biller – Executive Producer (2000-2001)

Opening credits [ ]

The opening credits for Star Trek: Voyager contained imagery of USS Voyager passing near various spatial phenomena.

Episode list [ ]

Season 1 [ ].

Season 1 , 15 episodes:

Season 2 [ ]

Season 2 , 26 episodes:

Season 3 [ ]

Season 3 , 26 episodes:

Season 4 [ ]

Season 4 , 26 episodes:

Season 5 [ ]

Season 5 , 25 episodes:

Season 6 [ ]

Season 6 , 26 episodes:

Season 7 [ ]

Season 7 , 24 episodes:

Related topics [ ]

• VOY directors
• VOY performers
• VOY recurring characters
• VOY studio models
• VOY writers
• Recurring characters
• Character crossover appearances
• Undeveloped VOY episodes
• Paramount Stage 8
• Paramount Stage 9
• Paramount Stage 16

Syndication [ ]

With five seasons, Voyager reached syndication in some markets airing in a daily strip on weekdays in most markets or as a weekly strip on weekends in selected markets, with the first cycle of episodes from the first five seasons began airing on 13 September 1999 , with the second cycle of episodes covering the 25 episodes of Season 6 and the final episode of Season 5 beginning on 13 November 2000 and the final cycle of episodes covering episodes of the final season and the final episode of Season 6 beginning on 25 October 2001 . Voyager was broadcast in syndication for four years until 12 September 2003 , with some stations continuing to carry Voyager after leaving syndication.

• Star Trek: Voyager novels
• Star Trek: Voyager comics (IDW)
• Star Trek: Voyager comics (Malibu)
• Star Trek: Voyager comics (Marvel)
• Star Trek: Voyager soundtracks
• Star Trek: Voyager on VHS
• Star Trek: Voyager on LaserDisc
• Star Trek: Voyager on DVD

External links [ ]

• Star Trek: Voyager at Wikipedia
• Star Trek: Voyager at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• Star Trek: Voyager at the Internet Movie Database
• Star Trek: Voyager at TV IV
• Star Trek: Voyager at StarTrek.com
• 1 Daniels (Crewman)
• 3 Jamaharon

Jeri Taylor

• Born June 30 , 1938 · Evansville, Indiana, USA
• Birth name Jeri Cecile Suer
• Screenwriter and producer Jeri Taylor has become best known for her association with the Star trek franchise. A graduate in English from Indiana University and holder of a Master's Degree from California State University, Taylor ran an acting workshop in L.A. and directed local stage productions before turning to screenwriting in 1979. Through an agent, she secured several assignments as a freelance writer, subsequently contributing a number of scripts to the popular forensic crime series Quincy M.E. (1976) , as well as becoming story editor and producer. She also worked as writer/producer on episodes of Magnum, P.I. (1980) , In the Heat of the Night (1988) and Jake and the Fatman (1987) . In 1990, on the recommendation of fellow Quincy collaborator Lee Sheldon , Taylor was contracted by the executive producers of Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987) . After completing her first assignment, a teleplay for the fourth season episode Suddenly Human, she became a permanent fixture on the show, first as staff writer and later as co-executive producer alongside Rick Berman and Michael Piller . She also became involved in other aspects of production, including casting, editing and post-production. Taylor was promoted to showrunner for the final season in 1993. During her tenure on TNG, Taylor attempted to put a stronger focus on the two main female characters (Troi and Crusher), elevating them from what she described as 'caretaker roles'. While many of Taylor's scripts were concerned with family issues and relationships, she also worked on notably edgy episodes, like Night Terrors, Silicon Avatar and part one of Unification, which featured Leonard Nimoy 's Spock. Her episode The Wounded introduced the Cardassians (make-up artist Michael Westmore had tasked her with finding a name for this race and Taylor initially came up with 'Carvillians' and 'Circassians', before tweaking the name). When TNG ended its run, Taylor joined Berman and Piller as co-creator of Star Trek Voyager, taking over as showrunner until the end of season four. After handing over the reins to Brannon Braga in 1998, Taylor continued on as creative consultant for another three years. Her management style has been described as approachable and easygoing, director Cliff Bole praising her as being "always available", while Jonathan Frakes commented "she's great to work with as a director and an actor" and she "cares about actors and writing and all aspects of the show". Jeri Taylor has authored several Star Trek novelizations, including 'Unification', 'Mosaic' (a back story for Voyager's Captain Janeway) and 'Pathways'. She is the mother of actor Alexander Enberg , who appeared in a semi-regular role on Voyager as the Vulcan Ensign Vorik. - IMDb Mini Biography By: I.S.Mowis
• Spouses David Moessinger (October 11, 1986 - October 26, 2018) (his death) Dick Enberg (September 19, 1959 - December 1975) (divorced, 3 children)
• Children Alexander Enberg Andrew Enberg
• Mother, with Dick Enberg , of actor Alexander Enberg , Andrew Enberg and Jennifer Jo Enberg (August 13, 1962-May 27, 2015 from ovarian cancer). Stepmother of actress Amy Moessinger .
• Parents: Robert Edward and Ruah Loraze (maiden name Brackett) Suer.

Contribute to this page

• Learn more about contributing

More from this person

• View agent, publicist, legal and company contact details on IMDbPro

More to explore

Recently viewed.

• June 14, 2024 | Podcast: All Access Shares Its Pain With Laurence Luckinbill From ‘Star Trek V: The Final Frontier’
• June 13, 2024 | ‘Star Trek: Section 31’ Actor Teases His “Very Intense” Character, Praises “Hero” Michelle Yeoh
• June 13, 2024 | Everything Must Go In Final Master Replicas Sale Of Eaglemoss Star Trek Ship Models
• June 12, 2024 | Alex Kurtzman Talks Avoiding Star Trek Fan Service And Explaining Floating Nacelles In ‘Starfleet Academy’
• June 12, 2024 | Anson Mount Says ‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ Season 3 Takes “Bigger Swings” Than Musical Episode

‘Star Trek: Voyager’ Documentary Gives Production Update; Releases Sneak Peek Video

| August 29, 2021 | By: Brian Drew 72 comments so far

The Star Trek: Voyager documentary To the Journey was featured on a panel at this month’s 55-Year Mission Las Vegas Star Trek convention that included details on where they are in production and what they have planned. They also showed  a sneak peek, which is now available online.

To the Journey production continues

After wrapping up a record-breaking $1.2 million crowd-funding campaign earlier this year, the documentary team set up a new studio to shoot more interviews in June . At the Las Vegas panel, producer/director Dave Zappone said the team was still “deep in production,” but had already completed a number of interviews. He mentioned a couple of standouts, including one with Star Trek: Voyager co-creator Jeri Taylor (who was a surprise guest on the panel), thanking her and saying “She had us up to her home in northern California and our crew took over her house. It was a wonderful interview and you could not have been more gracious.” He also mentioned Robert Beltran’s interview, saying he sat down for them for two and half hours and it “really blew me away,” adding the actor “was just so open, he is just a wonderful, wonderful guy.”

A number of interviews with members of the cast were done in 2020 during a Voyager  reunion on Star Trek: The Cruise. This summer they have been bringing in more people who worked on the show, including guest stars and behind-the-scenes creatives. In Vegas, the team played the following video to the crowd that showcased some of the people who had dropped by the studio over the summer.

Behind the scenes, bloopers, HD, and more

Zappone assured the audience that the doc will not just be talking heads, mentioning that they are working their way through archives to find more footage shot contemporaneously with  Star Trek: Voyager in the ’90s. There is some particular material he was interested in, saying, “I am looking for the infamous blooper reel. We are looking everywhere for that.”

Voyager actor Garrett Wang has also been helping out with the doc and was part of the panel as well. He talked about how he and others are contributing their own footage:

I do have some footage from my own camera… So that’s the plan. It’s not just myself. There are other people that have documented their time on Voyager . That can definitely supplement this documentary.

The team is also planning on shooting footage on the Paramount lot with Garrett Wang giving a tour of where Voyager was shot and what it was like during that time. And with the team headed to the Destination Star Trek Germany convention to shoot more footage, including a Voyager reunion panel, Zappone revealed they are also going to take some time out to accept an invitation from the European Space Agency to visit their facilities and put Wang through some astronaut training.

One of the stretch goals for the crowd-funding was to help the team convert original Voyager footage into high-definition, and Zappone talked about how this was still a goal of the doc. “We are planning to upres—hopefully—the original 35 millimeter [film] like we did with What We Left Behind. ”

Garrett Wang, Jeri Taylor, Lolita Fatjo, and David Zappone at 55-Year Mission convention, Las Vegas, August 2021 (Photo: TrekMovie.com)

Why Voyager ?

To the Journey is the latest of a series of Star Trek documentaries produced by Zappone and his production company. He talked about how he has been surprised by the fan reaction so far:

Having done what we did with What We Left Behind and partnering with Ira [Steven Behr] who was an amazing collaborator, I knew the love for Deep Space Nine . I guess I didn’t realize it was just as great for Voyager . The fans are just as rabid, just as passionate. That is my pleasant surprise.

In 2020, right before the pandemic hit, the team was able to shoot footage of a  Voyager cast reunion on Star Trek: The Cruise, which Zappone said was crucial to the doc, adding, “If we didn’t have that, I honestly don’t think we would have a film.” He also talked about how they got a lot of great footage from fans on the cruise and promised that they will use as much as they can, saying, “the emotional reactions and the impact Voyager had [on the fans], it just blew me away.”

From To the Journey footage filmed on the 2020 Star Trek: The Cruise

When a fan asked what made  Voyager different, the answers revealed some variety in what the team was looking at in terms of some of the themes of the doc. Co-producers Lilita Fatjo (who also worked on Voyager) offered her personal take:

As the only female on stage, I honestly have to say it was because there was a female captain. I had the privilege of working with Michael [Piller], Jeri [Taylor], and Rick [Berman] for years. And being part of two shows that were created– Deep Space Nine and Voyager –and just watching them create these shows and characters was amazing, but I would have to say it was because of Captain Janeway.

Zappone added on to that:

It’s not just Captain Janeway, it’s the strong women in general. Roxann Dawson and of course Jeri Ryan, and Jennifer Lien was also strong. So not just the captain.

Garrett Wang said he felt the show stood out for having “amazing chemistry” amount the cast from the start, but he also talked about the diversity of the show being a key differentiator. He he took some pride in his own contribution, pointing out how after George Takei, there were no Asian-Americans on TNG or DS9 in the main cast:

One out of every five people in this world is Chinese—not Asian, Chinese—that’s a lot. There should be an Asian in every Star Trek. Voyager [had a] Native American first officer, Asian-American ops officer, African-American Vulcan.

Zappone noted something that came up in Garrett’s documentary interview which was how at the time of the show in the 1990s, he was the only Asian-American series regular on television. Wang also told a story of later meeting Lost star Daniel Dae Kim who thanked him, saying he’d “paved the way.”

Kate Mulgrew from To the Journey

Hoping for a theatrical event and streaming

It’s too early to talk about how the doc will be released, but Zappone did say that in addition to being distributed on Blu-ray he was hoping to follow the same route as What We Left Behind and do a short theatrical release with Fathom Events, which he noted had sold out 1,000 theaters. After that, he said he expected the doc to become available for streaming, but wasn’t sure which service might pick it up.

To keep updated on the project, visit voyagerdocumentary.com .

More from Vegas

We still have some more from the con, so stay tuned to TrekMovie for updates. And don’t forget to check out the coverage we’ve already posted .

Find more  news on Star Trek documentaries .

Related Articles

Comics , DS9 , TNG , VOY

See B’Elanna Assimilated By Hugh To Fight Space Bugs In Preview Of ‘Star Trek: Defiant’ #15

Comics , Star Trek Universe TV , Trek on TV

IDW Celebrating 500th Star Trek Comic With Big Era-Spanning Anthology

Books , Review , Star Trek: Picard , VOY

Review: Action-Packed ‘Star Trek: Picard: Firewall’ Reveals Seven’s Compelling Quest For Identity

Conventions/Events/Attractions , Trek Franchise

Creation Brings Back Regional Star Trek Conventions Starting In San Francisco This Weekend, Chicago In Fall

That trailer was edited horribly. Why is it that these fan efforts always have such clunky production values?

I thought it was fine. It certainly wasn’t horrible.

It was definitely an awful trailer. Just a bunch of people sitting down.

Nothing about it made me want to watch the final doc. Where are the clips of the cast speaking? Where are the behind-the-scenes clips from the 90s they talk about? Where is the moment where someone teases something slightly intriguing, or dare I say– provocative? A funny moment from an interview, a dramatic moment where someone reveals tension on the set, an uplifting or emotionally inspirational moment; something, anything, to fascinate me and make me wonder what cool new things i’ll learn about the making of the show.

The trailer to “What We Left Behind” was way more intriguing, including ALL of the things I just mentioned; I suspect that’s because Ira Behr was involved. Go watch it. Teri Farrell is moved to tears, Marc Alaimo gets angry, Alex Siddig is inspirational, Avery Brooks speaks of what the role meant to him; Rene Auberjonois and Colm Meaney describe how hard they worked, DeBoer notes her awe at joining the show, and Michael Dorn mysteriously notes that “only those involved know the facts.” A bit melodramatic? Sure. But that’s what makes you want to see it. Great trailer to a great documentary.

After this trailer, I suspect the Voyager documentary will be a lot like the show: a watered down version of better docs that came before.

I don’t get the sense this was intended as an official trailer, just a casual sneak peek. Hence the title of the video.

Well then this is the worst sneak peek i’ve ever seen! Should at least had some cast members actually saying something– ANYTHING. This makes me LESS interested, not more.

Yeah, it was pretty bad.

So excited for this doc! I was literally watching an episode of VOY when I saw this article. I’m really really hoping it gets a theatrical release like ‘WWLB’ did. And I really love the fact they brought in so many other actors from the other shows. WWLB was strictly a DS9 affair, which was understandable, but it is cool to hear from other Trek stars on their thoughts on the show.

This is probably the most attention VOY has had since it went off the air, especially with all the characters appearing (or starring) in the multiple new shows and now this doc. It’s great to see for both old and new fans of the show! And imagine how many plates they can sell when it arrives! ;)

But no Kes 🥺

There’s a non-zero chance she’s in a mental institution or under conservatorship.

Well, WWLB did not have Avery Brooks participating on camera, and they made do with archival footage and anecdotes from other people. It worked, though in there case he was offering notes behind the scenes.

I hope Lien is getting the help she needs, I’m sure the doc will be an honest and respectful take on her time with the show.

There’s plenty of archival footage of Lien if they can clear it – Studio/Network EPK material from her time on the series, Entertainment Tonight, There was an E! BTS special early in the shows run, might be some convention footage out there – so there’s material available – they sure have enough of a budget to get SOMETHING.

Given the state of her health, why is that a surprise? Other cast members wishing her well is more then sufficient participation for her in this endeavor.

They should produce a plate of Boimler holding the Tom Paris plate to mark the occasion!

LOL! What’s funny is I could see someone at least considering it.

Anyone think Chakotay would sign my bowl?

I only recognized 3 of the people in that video…I guess most were behind the scenes or buried in makeup/prosthetics on-screen? They could have flashed their names at least. I love voyager and am looking forward to the doc, but this wasn’t very inspiring.

I totally agree … to assume that after all these years, and with many wearing prosthetics that totally changed their ‘real’ identities was silly. Their character image and/or name would have been very helpful. I only recognized the main characters and not the rest. Too bad, they deserved to be called out – maybe the final cut will do that.

This is a “sneak peak,” and I’m hoping that means that even the part we saw isn’t finished yet. Putting the names and functions of the people on the bottom of the screen (e.g. “Jeri Taylor, Executive Producer, 1995 – 1998”) would help a lot.

It’s very clearly not finished. But as a marketing person myself, if you have nothing intriguing to show, don’t show anything. Clearly some of these interviews have happened already, so they couldn’t find one or two good lines from them to get people interested? Awful job here.

Umm…where are the VOY cast??

When all the DS9 people turned up, I starting hoping Marc Alaimo would randomly appear for no reason.

I loved Armin Shimmerman’s reaction. “Why am I here?”

I suspect a lot of the audience will be asking the same thing as they watch the documentary!

He probably said the same thing on Insurrection.

It’s not just Captain Janeway, it’s the strong women in general. Roxanne Dawson and of course Jeri Ryan, and Jennifer Lein was also strong. So not just the captain.

Mulgrew and Ryan were strong. Dawson was average. Lien was weak, as was Wang. (Plus: an “African-American Vulcan”? Really? The actor, sure. The *character* had no human ancestry.)

It’s this kind of commentary that makes me think less of VOY; I’m glad we had a female captain, but cast diversity is not enough to compensate for poor characterization and writing. It certainly doesn’t compensate for the “Hollywood Indian” trope.

I believe that you are being unnecessarily harsh and hyper critical. Sounds like you didn’t watch the series but are here to comment for no apparent reason at all. Its confusing, did you watch the series or not? Sounds like you couldn’t stand it, yet you are here.

It’s called “literary criticism” for a reason. Criticism is the point.

I loved Dawson and thought she was very strong. But yeah I loved them all. ;)

I loved her too. Very under rated as an actress. Her character kinda disappeared into the background when Jeri Ryan came on the scene – that happened to most of the cast though – not her fault at all, that was the writers.

Maybe I’m just biased but I always loved Dawson and how she portrayed B’Elanna. Even though Worf was the most popular Klingon character, I liked B’Elanna because she was anti-Work or even Anti-Spock and really tried to be closer to her human side even though her Klingon side was always just underneath the surface. She played between the line very well. But I always love when her temper comes out lol.

But it’s all just opinions. People will like or hate different characters so completely understandable not every character or actors on these shows are loved by everyone.

Yep, Dawson nailed it as B’Elanna. She almost gets zero credit. She is the forgotten Voyager character.

TNG had already featured a Black Romulan.

The lack of diversity we sometimes see in alien races in science fiction is the problem. If the human race is anything to go by, and since the humanoids in Star Trek are supposed to be all related (again going back to TNG) then we should see more variations of skin color, not fewer.

Sigh. I guess I didn’t make my point clearly enough. I don’t have a problem with darker-skinned Vulcans; it’s just that they’re not “African-American Vulcans.” Africa and the Americas are continents on *Earth*.

What did you expect? It was a TV series produced in Hollywood. More chances than not the Black actor cast was going to be African-American. You know, that Hollywood that is located in America on Earth.

Oh, I see what you mean now. You wanted at least one cast member to be non-American. Well, we almost had that with the original actor cast as Janeway (her name escapes me at the moment), so you can’t fault them for at least keeping that in mind. But Tim Russ had already been cast at that point, so why single him out?

I don’t think it makes much sense to think “less of VOY” because the cast, crew, and fans of the show highlight it’s diversity as a positive, memorable, defining element of the show. And no one is saying that it compensates for failures in other areas of the production. The question wasn’t, “what element of Voyager balances out all the other mistakes of the show?”

As for the “Hollywood Indian” trope, I don’t think that you can lay all the blame on the Voyager staff (maybe 10-25%). The did hire a “respected Native American consultant” for the show – it just happened that that consultant was a fake and was conning Hollywood at large.

The “respected consultant” may have contributed to the problem, but he didn’t create the character, and he didn’t cast a non-Native actor in the role.

So sorry you were triggered by the mention of diversity and that someone different then yourself enjoyed seeing themselves reflected on the screen. Find something from the 1950’s on youtube that only features straight white men and take long, deep breaths.

In point of fact, I support diversity on Star Trek. I submit to you that VOY was the *least* diverse cast, and that the focus on the captain (and her ethnically ambiguous first officer, portrayed in blackface by a non-Native actor) were a way to deflect attention from this shortcoming.

Every other iteration of Star Trek has had at least one non-American human character in the main cast:

TOS: Chekhov (Russia), Scott (UK), Sulu (Japanese/Filipino, until TVH unfortunately retconned his ancestry a bit). TNG/PIC: Picard (France), LaForge (likely West Africa, possibly Caribbean); Worf’s roots on Earth were in Belarus; Yar (Ukraine/Lithuania). It was also lightly implied that Troi’s human ancestry was Greek; Rios (Chile). DS9: Bashir (Sudan), Miles O’Brien (Ireland) and Keiko O’Brien (Japan) (both also on TNG), Worf ENT: Sato (Japanese, possibly Brazilian-Japanese), Reed (UK) DIS: Owosekun (Nigeria), Detmer (Germany), Georgiou (Malaysia), Landry (likely India), Rhys (likely Hong Kong, but who knows?), probably others that I’ve missed, since the line between lead and supporting characters has grown blurred.

VOY had…*maybe* Annika Hansen from one of the Scandinavian countries. And that’s it. (And even she didn’t come until the fourth season.)

Chakotay, who was so “diverse” that they couldn’t name his tribal affiliation, doesn’t count; he was a Hollywood composite from nowhere (and alternatively implied he was born in Central America and Arizona, so who knows). The “diverse” captain was from…Indiana. “Farm country,” as she told us. Right next door to Kirk’s old stomping grounds, and not that different from wine country; only agrarian types make good captains, I guess. B’Elanna Torres was implied to be Mexican-American, not Mexican. Kim, whose actor now lectures us “every Star Trek series must have a Chinese character,” was clearly Korean-American, not Korean.

(Oh: and why? In Wang’s book, it’s OK not to have had a single Turkish, Indonesian, Argentine, or Congolese character in all of Star Trek, but we *must* have a Chinese main character in *every* series? By his standards, even Georgiou doesn’t qualify; she’s Straits Chinese. This is selective outrage at its finest.)

Then there were the little details. I can’t think of any VOY recurring or minor human characters who were non-American. In the other series, we had Khan Singh; engineer Singh (both in TOS and TNG); Xu (implied to be Chinese); Anaya (implied to be Bolivian); Admiral Komack (implied Iranian); Admiral Nechayeva (possibly Serbian or Croat); Fleet Admiral Shanti (West Africa); Rostov (Russian); Benayoun (possibly French, possibly Israeli).

I’ll also note that in-universe, VOY didn’t feature a single crew member from an unfamiliar Federation species. TOS gave us Vulcans, TNG Klingons and Bajorans (Ro was the first), DS9 Trill, ENT Denobulans and Andorians. VOY served slopppy seconds, warmed-over Klingons and Vulcans we’d seen before: an utterly disappointing lack of vision and creativity. The buffoonish Neelix (“Jetrel” excepted) and bland Kes (the implications of her short lifespan never examined) hardly counteracted this.

In short, VOY was easily the least multinational crew, and cast, in the history of Star Trek. (And VOY and ENT were filmed at the apex of post-Cold War globalization in the real world; TOS might have had an excuse for this, but VOY has none.) Say what you will about Gene Roddenberry, but he had a global perspective, no doubt from his military and Pan Am days, that Jeri Taylor absolutely did not. The VOY writers’ room hastily cobbled together a milquetoast set of characters (there was too much Trek on at once, and the lack of focus showed) and delivered lackluster storytelling for its first three seasons. To this day, its writers hide behind the one solid casting choice, Mulgrew, to deflect attention away from this weakness.

*I’m* the one triggered by diversity because I’m not a VOY fan? I must have the name of your occulist.

Oh, and all the above is before we get to the fact there wasn’t a single gay character on VOY. On a series that wrapped in 2001, not in the 1960s.

I read all of that above and as a Turkish person I agree with you about the need of Star Trek to have a Turkish crew member. If my memory doesn’t play tricks on me I think there was at least one Starfleet starship named after a Turkish historical figure but I’ll have to check Memory Alpha for that.

The obvious choice would be Sabiha Gokcen.

(Dollars to donuts Mr. “1950s on Youtube” above has zero clue who she is, at least not without consulting the Google.)

Ignoring the bit about Wang, but in terms of playing women with fortitude and strength, all four actresses did that. Torres and Kes may have gotten shortchanged at times, but the characters were strong women, haphazardly written.

I thought Roxann was wonderful in the series and as a director too. She went on to direct ten episodes of Enterprise. She broke ground for female directors of Star Trek. There aren’t a whole lot of them. They should be celebrated.

Whatever the merits of her acting on VOY, I’ve enjoyed her directorial work on THE AMERICANS, and she’s clearly vastly expanded herself in her post-Star Trek director career.

I don’t understand why the new Trek shows aren’t using her as a director. She always does very solid work with her directing, elevating the written material visually.

I find that weird as well. Maybe she is too busy directing other shows? No idea. But I’d like to see her name appear again on a new Star Trek episode(s)

Are you both ignoring the red elephant in the room?

Which is???

That the Discovery Team fired a black writer who used the N-word only as a quote in a story. If they are so sensitive about such things, why should they hire an AllLivesMatter hashtagger?

And if Dawson thinks it is decent to twitter anti-BLM, she would think Discovery is a show to her taste?

Come on have we really come to that time where what people post on twitter became more important than their talents and skills? This is probably a rhetorical question as everyone probably knows the answer. You know Odradek, you may have a point, I feel like this over-sensitivity was why Nick Meyer refused or didn’t work in Discovery after the 1st season.

A discovery actor? a couple of Ds9 actors? TOS? in a voyager Doc I would rather hear from the crew and cast of voyager rather than listening to people who was not involved talk about what voyager meant to them.

George Takei actually had a Captain Sulu episode so it is germane to the topic.

Yeah Voyager was the last tine Takei officially played Sulu as well. Hard to believe that was nearly 25 years ago now.

Andrew Robinson actually directed two episodes on VOY, which I only found out after I asked myself what he was doing there, so at least he has a connection to the show.

My personal guess is they included him (I don´t know how many other directors will be in the documentary) because Garak is so well known an loved as a character.

I would Like to buy the ds9 doc in europe…. Gut where

Same here, buddy…

I thought we weren’t supposed to share the trailers as it was backers only? I don’t get how this is exclisive content when it is distributed a week later to everyone.

What’s the point in a trailer that’s for backers only? The backers are already probably planning to watch the thing. They need to build up hype for general audiences.

I like the fact that they’re not putting the main cast up front. They usually tend to tell their small stories in such interviews, but its the backstage people who can talk about the meat and bones of the show. Color me interested.

Obviously it’s not that way but watching this made me feel like “those DS9 actors are always up for an interview huh, no matter how small the link might be”

Hopefully this is better than the ds9 documentary, where 1. Way too much Behr, he is annoying especially his cheesy sunglasses, and facial hair 2. It was odd to see them criticizing certain aspects of the show, for instance one case was in the use of gay characters. When they say that I think should remember the context that there were only three or four gay characters on TV when ds9 started and about 6 or 7 when ds9 ended.

Context like that needs to be remembered when they make comments about things.

But for a series that is part of a forward-thinking franchise that celebrates diversity, it was a black mark. I’m glad they did Rejoined, and little things like the rest of the crew not batting an eye over the idea of two women dating was appreciated, but this has always been an area where the franchise actually fell behind the curve.

There’s also a moment a lot of people overlook, in the episode “Rules of Acquisition”: before anyone knows that Pel is actually a woman– when everyone believes Pel to be a man– Dax says “it’s obvious hw you feel about [Quark]” meaning Pel’s romantic interest. This says that Dax found nothing odd about a Ferengi man’s attraction to another Ferengi man.

It’s a nice moment BECAUSE it doesn’t get highlighted, if you ask me.

Now it’s possible Dax saw it as no big deal because she is, essentially, a transgender species that does not prescribe to strictly heteronormative relationships, but I choose to believe that outside of Ferenginar– within the Federation– LGBTQ people are not seen as abnormal (and are perhaps even the norm, considering how many different alien races are members) in the 24th century.

There was a scene in Captain’s Holiday that seemed to me more progressiv, when I first saw it, than it really was. I saw it in dubbed version. When the Risean woman hits on Picard, Picard says his Horg’ahn for is his friend Riker. Now the woman assumes that Picard and Riker were lovers and because of the way Picard addressed Riker ln my language she would indicate that Riker is a man and she had to assume they were both gay. I expected the typical nervous ” no, no not that king of friend…” routine from Picard and was pleasently surprised when he was all non chalant about it. I thought :” How cool in the future no one cares about it orfeels the need to set the record straight if you are gay or not. I was a little disappointed after I saw the original version with no indication she thought Picard was gay.

I think you might be mistaken, because Picard very much does respond with the nervous “no, not that kind of friend” an even if you read it otherwise, the intent of the scene is clearly to make the audience laugh at a gay panic joke.

Actually, the woman says, “someone you love”, and Picard says, “I wouldn’t go that far”.

…which to be fair, was the point of “Rules of Acquisition” but the reaction of Dax was not meant to be a joke.

Star Trek should always be ahead of the curve when it comes to diversity. It is a shame that in this instance they were not.

To be honest, I found his self-criticism quite impressive. Believe me, Behr knew the context.

And why does it matter HOW MANY gay characters there were on TV in 1993 or 1998? The fact is, there were openly gay characters on mainstream TV as early as the 60s and 70s, in shows that discussed the issues facing LGBTQ people in a frank and serious way. Why Trek felt– even well into the 1990s– that they couldn’t include an open character, or make an existing character (like Garak) gay, is to me, an embarrassment to the franchise. Clearly Behr agreed, and I think that’s a GOOD thing.

I also felt that not using the Trill as a trans allegory, despite the VERY obvious parallels, to be a huge oversight (and one they finally followed through on in DSC) .

By the way, I find it rather odd that in the same paragraph as you hit back against the criticism of not representing LGBTQ characters, you mock the “annoying” sunglasses and facial hair of Behr; you seem to have some kind of inherent bias against people who are different.

I plan to get this on dvd just like I did the DS9 documentary and I sure hope they will do one for Enterprise

Star Trek: Voyager

Jeri taylor.

312 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published October 1, 1996

About the author

Ratings & Reviews

What do you think? Rate this book Write a Review

Friends & Following

Community reviews.

Join the discussion

Can't find what you're looking for.

Memory Beta, non-canon Star Trek Wiki

A friendly reminder regarding spoilers ! At present the expanded Trek universe is in a period of major upheaval with the continuations of Discovery and Prodigy , the advent of new eras in gaming with the Star Trek Adventures RPG , Star Trek: Infinite and Star Trek Online , as well as other post-57th Anniversary publications such as the ongoing IDW Star Trek comic and spin-off Star Trek: Defiant . Therefore, please be courteous to other users who may not be aware of current developments by using the {{ spoiler }}, {{ spoilers }} OR {{ majorspoiler }} tags when adding new information from sources less than six months old (even if it is minor info). Also, please do not include details in the summary bar when editing pages and do not anticipate making additions relating to sources not yet in release. THANK YOU

Jeri Taylor

Jeri Taylor was the supervising producer of Star Trek: The Next Generation from 1990 to 1992 before being made co-executive producer, and finally executive producer from 1993 to 1994 . Taylor also worked as a writer, producer, and editor for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager .

• Unification ( TNG , 1992)
• Mosaic ( VOY , 1996 )
• Pathways ( VOY , 1998 )

External Links [ ]

• Jeri Taylor article at Memory Alpha , the wiki for canon Star Trek .

Why Star Trek: Voyager's Threshold Episode Ignited An Army Of Outraged Fans

In the "Star Trek: Voyager" episode "Threshold" (January 9, 1996), the U.S.S. Voyager discovers a rare, extra-powerful version of dilithium, the crystal that is required to run starship engines. Using this new dilithium, the Voyager crew figure they can build an engine capable of passing the mythic warp-10 barrier, essentially allowing them to reach infinite velocity, passing through every point in the universe simultaneously. Such a breakthrough would allow the Voyager to return to Earth in a moment. 

When testing their new engine, however, something goes awry. Tom Paris (Robert Duncan McNeill) returns from a test flight ... altered. He begins to mutate and change, losing skin and spitting out his tongue. It seems that the infinite velocity flight somehow triggered his body's evolutionary genes and he is rapidly transforming into whatever creatures humans will evolve into in the next hundred million years. When Paris becomes an amphibian-like frog man, he kidnaps Captain Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) and forces her to take the infinite warp flight while unconscious. 

The episode ends with the Voyager crew locating Paris and Janeway, and discovering that they had evolved into fleshy, outsize newts. Also, they mated, spawning several efts. This was the apex of evolution. Big, weird newts. The Voyager's doctor (Robert Picardo) transforms them back into humans. 

It seems the newts weren't well-received by fans. In the 1996 book "Captains' Logs Supplemental: The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages" by Mark A. Altman and Edward Gross, "Voyager" producer Jeri Taylor talked about the negative fan mail the show received for "Threshold," and how awful those newts were. Fans were also angry at some of the technical details, feeling that "Voyager" crossed a line. 

The Warp 10 Barrier

Taylor, firstly, remembered the backlash over the warp-10 barrier, and it's easy to see why. While the ships on "Star Trek" can travel at tremendous speeds, even their fictional warp engines have to contend with the real-life enormity of space. Even the U.S.S. Voyager, one of the fastest ships ever built, requires 70 straight years of traveling at its top speed just to cross the Milky Way. The idea of a ship breaking that barrier and reaching infinite velocity would remove all the trekking from "Star Trek." It would be as if a starship could teleport, and what dummy would think to write a "Star Trek" series about a ship that can teleport?  

Taylor recalled hearing from angry Trekkies on the matter, saying:

"We're taking a lot of flak for that [...] There's been a real lashing out. I recognize that people who are on the Internet and who write us letters are a tiny portion of our audience, but when it is as overwhelming as it was on this episode, you begin to take notice. Some of this anger was misplaced, I thought. A lot of the ire seemed to be caused by the fact that we stated that no one had ever gone warp ten before, and people flooded us with letters saying. That's not true, in the original series they went warp twelve and warp thirteen." 

Taylor, of course, knew all about the history of Trek, and calmly pointed out the recalibration done with the franchise's lore. Ultimately, she was more concerned with the story than with explaining the history of Trek tech. Indeed, Trekkies would know about the recalibration anyway. Fans were just being snotty, it seems.

Staying away from big heads

She continued: 

"[I]t really was a recalibration of warp speed. Gene [Roddenberry] made the determination at the beginning of 'Next Gen' that warp ten would be the limit, and at that point you would occupy all portions of the universe simultaneously, which always seemed like a wonderfully provocative notion. Then the question is 'What happens if you do go to warp ten, how does that affect you?'"

That focus on the story led to some fun postulations about evolution. In many sci-fi stories, when humans find themselves suddenly evolving — at least to Taylor's recollection — they suddenly have larger heads and spindly bodies. Taylor and the show's writers wanted something different and unexpected. Hence the newts. Taylor said: 

"[We] came up with this idea of evolution and thought that it would be far more interesting and less expected that instead of it being the large-brained, glowing person, it would be full circle, back to our origins in the water. Not saying that we have become less than we are, because those creatures may experience consciousness on such an advanced plane that we couldn't conceive of it. It just seemed like a more interesting image. But it is not one that took with the audience."

A fine idea, but in execution, it seems that Trekkies were put off. At the end of the day, one is pointing a camera a giant newt puppets. Trekkies weren't happy with that. "The fact that we were turning people into salamanders," Taylor said, "was offensive to a lot of people and just plain stupid to others."

Braga's opacity

"Threshold" was credited to longtime "Star Trek" veteran Brannon Braga, notorious for writing the headier, more psychedelic episodes. Braga recalled the scientific notions behind the newts, but that he didn't bother to explain them with clarity. In an episode that was already hefty with technobabble and scientific dialogue about velocity and evolution, Braga felt he needed to pare things down a little bit. Sadly, in so doing, he chopped out something that would have made ultra-evolved space-newts more acceptable. He said: 

"['Threshold' is] very much a classic 'Star Trek' story. But in the rewrite process, I took out the explanation, the idea behind the ending; that we evolve into these little lizards because maybe evolution is not always progressive. Maybe it's a cycle where we revert to something more rudimentary. That whole conversation was taken out for various reasons, and that was a disaster because without it the episode doesn't even have a point. I think it suffered greatly. I got the note that it wasn't necessary, but in fact, it really had a lot to do with what the episode was about. Big mistake taking it out."

Indeed, evolution is a long-term transformation wherein organisms adapt to a changing environment. It is not necessarily a gradual movement toward a type of pre-determined complexity. "Threshold" possesses that idea, but it's not part of the dialogue. Not having a character speak it aloud leaves the episode's themes murky. Instead, audiences simply have to accept the absurd notion that two main cast members turned into amphibians. 

Fun trivia: "Threshold" was initially pitched by longtime Trekkie Michael De Luca, who, at the time, was best known for writing the screenplays for "Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare" and John Carpenter's "In the Mouth of Madness."  

Screen Rant

Kes actress jennifer lien’s star trek: voyager exit “a mystery,” says executive producer.

Your changes have been saved

Email Is sent

Please verify your email address.

You’ve reached your account maximum for followed topics.

1 Of Star Trek: Voyager’s Best Episodes Was Saved By Rick Berman

1 voyager episode hilariously poked fun at star trek’s holodeck problem, 1 criminal minds gold star theory could bring back a fan-favorite character.

• Jennifer Lien's departure from Star Trek: Voyager was due to unknown mental health concerns that affected her performance both on and off set. She struggled to communicate about her issues and did not seek help.
• Executive producer Jeri Taylor and others tried to reach out and offer assistance, but Lien would not open up or consider getting help. Her emotional struggles ultimately became more powerful than her and she was unable to continue.
• The original explanation for Lien's departure as a result of limited potential and underdeveloped characterization was a cover story crafted to protect the vulnerable actress. Kes' replacement with the more exciting character Seven of Nine seemed to support this explanation, but the real reason remains a mystery.

Star Trek: Voyager executive producer Jeri Taylor explains what she knows about the "mystery" departure of Kes actress Jennifer Lien. As the young, short-lived Ocampa, Kes was a series regular in Star Trek: Voyager' s first 3 seasons. She as a wide-eyed explorer with empathy and heart who had important relationships with Neelix (Ethan Phillips) and The Doctor (Robert Picardo) before Lien left the show at the beginning of Voyager season 4. At the time, Taylor and executive producer Rick Berman explained the reason for Lien's removal was that Kes was an underdeveloped character with limited story potential.

In "The Center Seat: 55 Years of Star Trek" by Peter Holmstrom, Jeri Taylor puts Jennifer Lien's departure from Star Trek: Voyager in a new light. While praising Lien's talent, Taylor described the "demons" the actress faced that she didn't want to communicate about or get help for. Read Taylor's quote below:

I think the reason people don’t talk to you about it is, they don’t know what to say. It was a mystery to everyone. Jennifer Lien, who played Kes in Voyager - a very, very good actor and the relationship between her and Neelix was working wonderfully. She began to become distracted, inattentive, there was just something off. I asked her to come into my office and probed gently to see if there was something going on in her life, something I could help her with, and she simply wouldn’t speak at all. This is what happened to everyone who tried to reach out and help her, including her agent. To this day, I don’t think anyone knows what’s going on, but clearly, there was something emotionally upset about her. She would not open up about it, she would not consider getting help about it, but clearly, it was more powerful than she was. And she was incapable of continuing. It’s such a loss when someone with that kind of talent who could have gone on to such heights was unable to overcome her demons.

Related: Star Trek: Voyager Cast & Character Guide

What We Know About Why Jennifer Lien Left Star Trek: Voyager

Jennifer lien struggled with unknown mental health concerns.

Executive producer Jeri Taylor's statements in "The Center Seat: 55 Years of Star Trek" center on the problems that Jennifer Lien began to experience while working on Star Trek: Voyager. Lien's mental health took a turn for the worse , which affected her performance on and off set, and though Taylor and other people close to Lien offered help, Lien was unable to articulate what was happening in her life or define the ways that anyone could help her. With Jennifer Lien's mental and emotional health in decline and no apparent improvement on the horizon, the best course of action for the future of Star Trek: Voyager was to write Kes off of the show.

Note: Star Trek: Voyager replacing Kes with Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) worked as it created renewed interest in the show.

Jeri Taylor's new explanation for why Jennifer Lien left Star Trek: Voyager, due to her struggles with mental health, indicates Taylor and Berman's willingness to protect Lien as an already vulnerable young actress by crafting a believable cover story. Kes leaving because of limited potential and underdeveloped characterization made sense, particularly since episodes that centered Kes were generally among the series' weakest. The replacement of Kes with Jeri Ryan's Seven of Nine as a more exciting character in Voyager season 4 seemed to corroborate the old explanation for Jennifer Lien leaving Star Trek: Voyager . However, as Taylor reveals, the real reason for Jennifer Lien's exit from Voyager remains a mystery.

Star Trek: Voyager is available to stream on Paramount+.

Source: "The Center Seat: 55 Years of Star Trek" by Peter Holmstrom

Star Trek Voyager

• Science Fiction & Fantasy
• Science Fiction

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required .

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

Image Unavailable

• To view this video download Flash Player

Follow the author

Star Trek Voyager: Mosaic Paperback – January 1, 1997

• Language English
• Publisher Pocket Books
• Publication date January 1, 1997
• ISBN-10 0671563122
• ISBN-13 978-0671563127
• See all details

Product details

• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0016FWO4S
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Pocket Books; First Edition (January 1, 1997)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0671563122
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0671563127
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 5.6 ounces

About the author

Jeri taylor.

Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more

Customer reviews

Our goal is to make sure every review is trustworthy and useful. That's why we use both technology and human investigators to block fake reviews before customers ever see them.  Learn more

We block Amazon accounts that violate our community guidelines. We also block sellers who buy reviews and take legal actions against parties who provide these reviews.  Learn how to report

• Sort reviews by Top reviews Most recent Top reviews

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. please try again later..

Top reviews from other countries

• Amazon Newsletter
• About Amazon
• Accessibility
• Sustainability
• Press Center
• Investor Relations
• Amazon Devices
• Amazon Science
• Sell on Amazon
• Sell apps on Amazon
• Supply to Amazon
• Protect & Build Your Brand
• Become an Affiliate
• Become a Delivery Driver
• Start a Package Delivery Business
• Advertise Your Products
• Self-Publish with Us
• Become an Amazon Hub Partner
• › See More Ways to Make Money
• Amazon Visa
• Amazon Store Card
• Amazon Secured Card
• Amazon Business Card
• Shop with Points
• Credit Card Marketplace
• Reload Your Balance
• Amazon Currency Converter
• Your Account
• Your Orders
• Shipping Rates & Policies
• Amazon Prime
• Returns & Replacements
• Manage Your Content and Devices
• Recalls and Product Safety Alerts
• Conditions of Use
• Privacy Notice
• Consumer Health Data Privacy Disclosure
• Your Ads Privacy Choices

A Legal Problem Forced Star Trek: Voyager To Change Captain Janeway's Name

F ew fictional characters conjure up as strong a mental image with just a mention of their name as the captains of the beloved "Star Trek" universe . Mention the word "Picard," and it's impossible not to think of Patrick Stewart's cerebral, near-Shakespearean leader , who oversaw years' worth of chaos and adventure in "Star Trek: The Next Generation" and its sequel series. The name "Captain Kirk" conjures up images of William Shatner in full hammy hero mode, sitting in his captain's chair or in the middle of the action — wearing an artfully torn uniform.

Every "Trek" captain conjures up these strong associations, but "Star Trek: Voyager" nearly ran into a problem with its captain's name when it turned out the original option was already taken. According to the book "Captains' Logs Supplemental" by Edward Gross and Mark A. Altman, which was published during that show's '90s run, Kathryn Janeway almost had a different name: Elizabeth. Before the series was shot or the main role cast, the commander of the U.S.S. Voyager was initially called Elizabeth Janeway, but that plan ran into a snag when someone realized it was the same name as a famous real-life feminist author and critic.

Read more: Why Khan Noonien Singh Casts A Shadow Over The Entire Star Trek Universe

The Character's Original First Name Was Already Taken By A Feminist Author

"There is a prominent Elizabeth Janeway, and we're not allowed to use names of prominent people because it can be sticky," longtime "Trek" writer and eventual "Star Trek: Voyager" showrunner Jeri Taylor said in an interview. The real Elizabeth Janeway would've been a great inspiration for a strong character like the one Kate Mulgrew would end up playing: in the 20th century, she penned several novels and books about second wave feminism and the lives of women, and also aided in major movements of the time including a 1940s General Motors strike and the fight for abortion rights. According to The Guardian , Janeway was a friend of prominent feminists like Gloria Steinem and Betty Friedan, and she also served as president of the Authors Guild, where she fought to protect the work of writers.

Janeway died in 2005, but according to Taylor, she may have heard through the grapevine about the "Trek" character who almost had her name. "We heard sort of secondhand that Elizabeth Janeway was flattered about it," Taylor shared at the time. After the "Trek" team decided to change the name to avoid any legal snafus, Kathryn wasn't actually their second pick. That was Nicole, a name chosen by actress Genevieve Bujold, who played Janeway for just two days before apparently quitting the show. "A Federation vessel is lost in space at the edge of the galaxy, without its captain, who has abruptly abandoned ship," a New York Times piece said at the time.

Janeway Was Also Nearly Called Nicole

According to Taylor, the name "changed again to Nicole at Genevieve Bujold's request, because that is in fact her given name and she wanted that." That change didn't last; Bujold left the show after two days of filming, with Gross and Altman's book citing two different reasons for her departure. While the authors note that the official reason for her exit was due to her discomfort with "the rigors of episodic television" (Bujold was a film actress first and foremost, starring in movies like "Dead Ringers" and "Anne of A Thousand Days"), another source from the show called her dailies "terrible." Either way, the name Nicole went out the door with Bujold.

"For two days it was Nicole Janeway and then when Kate came on board, it was Kathryn," Taylor said, though she noted that writers didn't actually pick that name with Mulgrew in mind. "In fact, [Kathryn was] the name we'd already chosen even before Kate was cast in the role," she explained. It's probably a good thing that Janeway ended up with the name she did; "Voyager" remains one of the most underrated "Trek" shows to date, and as it aired during the early internet age, it would've been tough for fans to talk about her online without plenty of search term confusion. Plus, I just can't picture latter-season Janeway letting anyone call her "Liz."

Read the original article on SlashFilm

If you're looking for the easiest way to keep up with all the major movie and TV news, why not sign up to our free newsletter ?