If history is any indication, this is the year for “Star Trek: Voyager.”
Fans of the previous two incarnations of the original “Star Trek” series may remember that neither “The Next Generation” or “Deep Space Nine” were anything to go into warp speed over when each first came on the scene.
It wasn’t until their third seasons that both shows found their individual voices and just the right rhythms between the respective casts and their characters.
“I think we should just be allowed the time to find our own (voice), what makes us unique among the `Star Trek’ franchise,” said Robert Picardo, who plays the holographic Doctor on the Federation starship, which is stranded in a section of the galaxy so far away it will take it more than 70 years for it to get back home.
Picardo pointed out that, even though it is perceived his cast generated “more chemistry . . . more cohesion . . . from the beginning (of the show’s run) than of any of the previous `Star Trek’ casts,” they still heard “the lament that we’re not fulfilling our early promise enough or quickly enough.”
But in its third season on the air, there is something different about this latest spinoff of the popular outer space franchise. The UPN network’s flagship series (8 p.m. Wednesdays on WPWR-Ch. 50) seems to be packing more action this season than it did in its first two. And that is by design, according to another star of the cast.
“Every show, they have been pumping (the action) up a lot more,” said Ethan Phillips, who plays the alien Talaxian Neelix on “Voyager.”
“What I’ve heard from some of the fans is that they felt the show got a little cerebral, and they wanted more humor; they wanted more action,” added Phillips, who was in town recently with Picardo at a Channel 50 bash for the new season.
Both Phillips and Picardo feel the fans’ wishes have been fulfilled.
“I think it is good for the show,” said Phillips, 41. “They’ll still have their characters’ stories and their bottle stories, where things just take place on the ship and you see more intimate kinds of narratives. But I think they deem that action’s what is wanted out there, and I guess they’re right. I’m all for it.”
Phillips, who was a regular on ABC’s “Benson,” is a veteran guest of several television shows. He said another issue about “Voyager” has been addressed– that of the crew going on and on about being forever trapped on the other side of the galaxy with no possible chance of ever making it back home.
This season will find the crew “a little less whiny, and away from that `we’re lost in space, wah, wah. . .’, ” he said.
The fact that Voyager was commissioned to be a ship of exploration, much like the starship Enterprise of the original “Star Trek,” made this series so promising in the first place, according to Picardo.
Phillips added that Voyager will get more into that mindset of exploring strange new worlds and seeking out new life and new civilization.
“I think the spirit of being in a new and unexplored part of space for characters that originated in the Alpha Quadrant has taken us closest to the original series,” said Picardo, who celebrates his 43rd birthday Sunday, and at one point was seen on two ABC shows at the same time: “China Beach” and “The Wonder Years.”
Picardo strongly believes “this is going to be our year. Everybody is a lot looser, the writers are challenged but really up. We still have the same cohesiveness, but the energy is still there. And I think it’s going to be a tremendous year.”
– Where’s the new stuff: For a few days this week, Rerun Fever is striking a little early in the young season. For instance, UPN is repeating several of its shows on both Tuesday and Wednesday (with episodes of Monday night shows “Malcolm & Eddie” and “Goode Behavior” getting special showings on Tuesday between 8 and 8:30 p.m. on Channel 50).
Two old episodes of “The Nanny” are running on CBS at 7 and 8 p.m. Wednesday (WBBM-Ch. 2), and a repeat of “3rd Rock From the Sun” is on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. on WMAQ-Ch. 5. And horrors of horrors, Thursday’s “ER” is a rerun!
What gives? It could be happening because Fox is broadcasting the World Series this week, and networks are conceding the ratings victory to the Fall Classic, and saving fresh episodes in the process– although ratings for the playoffs have been lower than expected.
– Where’s the remote: CBS is getting a really big jump on the November sweeps, which start next week, by showing three hours of ice skating, always a sure ratings winner. The World Team Championships are 7 p.m. Tuesday on Channel 2.
