Kate Mulgrew Reveals The Conditions She Gave Alex Kurtzman For A Return As Live-Action Janeway

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In recent months, there has been a lot of talk about Kate Mulgrew coming back to live-action to play Kathryn Janeway from Star Trek: Voyager, a character she is currently voicing on Star Trek: Prodigy. The actress herself has even been dropping hints. It was also discussed earlier this month on stage at New York Comic Con by both Mulgrew and executive producer Alex Kurtzman. Now Mulgrew reveals what she has told Kurtzman it would take to get her to do it.

Mulgrew wants taut stories, adventure, exploration… no bun of steel

When Kate Mulgrew was in Bloomington, Indiana last weekend to visit the Janeway Memorial, she did a fan Q&A event and of course, the subject of returning to live-action came up. At first, Mulgrew recounted her version of the events of the NYCC panel when Kurtzman hinted at an “idea” for the return of Janeway, with her reaction:

[Alex Kurtzman] said, “I think it’s in discussion.” You know, in Hollywood, what does that mean? That’s like a man saying to you after a date, “I’ll call ya.” There’s been a hue and a cry of late. I was in Europe doing a tour and there was a lot of that too, “When are we going to see Janeway live-action?” There seems to be something interesting going on. You know, I didn’t think I would, because I’m a certain age now. Just as I was a certain age then, right? But I’m very strong and still full of life and I adore this character. So why on earth wouldn’t I bring her back?

When asked if she had specific ideas about Janeway’s story for a given series, the actress said she didn’t because she doesn’t want to be “crushed,” but did reveal what she told Alex Kurtzman she wants:

I said this to Kurtzman. The writing is going to have to be absolutely exquisite and as tight—I mean so tight. I want that language to just burst! And I want the story to be so tenuous and taut. I said, “No languishing.” I don’t want peaks and valleys. I want a Janeway that everybody can say, “That’s what she’s become. I’m with her! This is great!” Right? And I think some sort of extraordinary adventure. Even greater than Voyager. Even greater than the Delta Quadrant.

Later, when talking about storylines she wanted to see more of on Star Trek: Voyager, Mulgrew mentioned the idea of “the loneliness of command,” pointing to the episode “Night,” as a “brief” example of executive producer Rick Berman’s reaction to her desire for more exploration of the personal sacrifices Janeway had made. She then turned the discussion of the past around to return to the idea of her possible future return:

If I come back live-action, that will be a moot point, because the flip side of it was: Yes, I missed the turn in the Delta Quadrant. But secretly, privately after I cried on the bridge and said, “We’re all lost in the Delta Quadrant,” I think I went to my quarters and went, “Yes!” Because the scientist—the explorer is so alive in Janeway. She just loves it. She was made for it. So we would get into that a little more with the older Janeway. And no more of those buns on my head.

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Star Trek: Janeway or Janeway in another Star Trek?

Alex Kurtzman is no stranger to making accommodations for a legacy Star Trek star, having made Patrick Stewart an executive producer on Star Trek: Picard and given him input on its development. Paramount+ currently has three live-action shows, but by this time next year, they will be down to two following the third and final season of Picard. While Strange New Worlds is just getting started, Discovery is likely past its halfway point with production soon to wrap up on the fifth season.

There have been indications that Paramount+ is ready to move forward with a new live-action show. Alex Kurtzman confirmed at SDCC that there were at least two in active development, hinted to be a Starfleet Academy show and a Michelle Yeoh-led Section 31 show. Picard showrunner Terry Matalas has said he hopes to see a spin-off of that show set in the early 25th century and members of the cast have indicated they’re eager to be on board, including some former Star Trek: The Next Generation stars. In theory, Admiral Janeway could be part of such a series, but it isn’t known if Mulgrew would be satisfied with a recurring or supporting role for her return to live-action. For now, fans will have to settle for animated Admiral Janeway (and Hologram Janeway) on Star Trek: Prodigy.

Admiral Janeway with her USS Dauntless crew in episode 11 of Prodigy


Keep up with news for the Star Trek Universe at TrekMovie.com.

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Again, it seems like it’s only a matter of when and not if she returns to live action. Clearly the fans wants Mulgrew back in a uniform barking commands so make it happen. But I actually have faith in Kurtzman over this. He listened to people who wanted Pike back after his stint on Discovery and he’s already said he knows how badly fans wants to see Mulgrew on a live action show so I think it will definitely happen. Especially since there will be a dozen more Trek shows probably and this would be a no-brainer to get fans to subscribe.

Dude, you keep saying that in a way that is coming across like you speak for most fans. I just don’t think that’s the case.

I’m not really hungry for this, and I have a number of Trek fan friends who I attend conventions with who aren’t really blown away by this idea either. I think perhaps half of of Trek fans might be into this, but I don’t think this is as big a slam dunk to fans wanting this as you are imagining it is?

Would I watch a new Voyager series? Sure. Do I need a new Voyager series? Not really.

Agreed! Kate has become overexposed. I like her in PROD and don’t think its necessary to bring her back in live action.. But, everyone needs their member berries.

Exactly. She already got her new series…we don’t need ANOTHER one.

It’s DS9’s turn anyway.

Yes but not a LIVE ACTION show, thats what many (Janeway) fans really want.

And who says there won’t be a DS9 spin off show? I’m sure all these ideas are on the table. How many will happen, who knows, but they are making more shows, I think they will go with whatever they think has the wider appeal.

Everywhere else, you have been defending the idea that animated shows (chiefly Lower Decks) are equal in quality, or indeed surpass, to the live-action shows from the Berman era.

Why do you now say that an animated show is insufficient for Mulgrew?

LOL, I am not remotely implying that. It’s an odd thing to even suggest.. And it’s amazing how often basic logic constantly dies online. I have also said I want to see more legacy characters on LDS and Prodigy as well EVEN though they are on stuff like Piccard and SNW. So am I now suggesting the live action shows are ‘insufficient’ because I want more Riker on Lower Decks like I want him on Picard? Logic man.

And dude, everyone knows your issues with the animated shows. You don’t have to watch them. Problem solved.

Well you have sort of implied that the animated shows are on equal ground with the live action shows, right? And if that’s the case, then Janeway’s covered with the Prodigy series and doesn’t really need a live action series, right?

I think this is a fair point regardless of River Termarc’s known agenda of pushing people’s buttons on this site…lol

I want to see the characters on as many shows as possible AS a fan. I think I made this pretty clear lol. I’m the guy who wants Riker on every show so he can keep his record for the Star Trek character appearing on the most shows. That includes the includes both live action and animation. ;)

Again, bizarre logic.

Fair enough.

OK great! And I want to add these points as well. This is NOT aimed at you or anyone, just the general topic. But three points.

A. Janeway started as a live action character. For people who grew up with her or became fans of hers after Voyager went off the air, that’s how they know her so naturally they just want to see her in that format again. They want Mulgrew in the costume because that’s how the character was presented for 7 seasons. If she was always just an animated character then no I don’t think most would care.

B. Yes, Janeway is in another show, but it’s a KIDS show and for some older fans, it’s just not as appealing to them as an adult drama would, animated or not. For us, we don’t care, but there are probably many casual fans out there who love Janeway but have no interest in this specific show due to that issue. So I will say on that level Prodigy is not equal to the live action shows. This show is designed to appeal to a younger base and that will put off some people.

I mean I can speak to that personally but with Star Wars. I loved characters like Obi Wan, Anakin, Yoda, etc, but I had zero interest to watch them in TCW because it was a kids show to me. I eventually did, but that wasn’t until just 3 years ago and this was years reading how great that show was. But I consider myself more of a casual Star Wars fan so I can clearly see the same issue if you’re only a casual Star Trek fan. I still haven’t watched The Bad Batch yet.

C. Many want to see where Janeway is in the 25th century like we are seeing Picard, Seven, Riker etc right now. I consider the Picard show the ‘present day’ of Star Trek right now since it’s in a period where all the legacy actors can appear as their own ages like when they originally played their characters. So people want to know what THAT Janeway is up to as well since Prodigy is 15 years prior to Picard (well…we think anyway ;)). Now if there was no Picard show, it would probably be different. And yes because Seven is also around in the 25th century that makes the motivation bigger for people who want them reunited.

So these are valid reasons why they want the character outside of Prodigy. Again IF you are a fan of Janeway. And yes there is D, people just want more Janeway, period.

You laid it out perfectly bro. I love Prodigy so far, one of the best shows since Voyager for me. Almost as good as Lower Decks too. But it would probably be way more popular if it was a live action show with Mulgrew in it and not geared for 10 year olds.

I think it’s great Janeway is there to get the youngins into Star Trek for the first time, but a lot of us grew up with the live action version first and got new fans like me into the franchise when I was still a teenager when Voyager was on.

So a lot of us want that again. I don’t even know if I would be a Trek fan without Janeway. That’s how much this character means to me for over 20 years now.

You don’t have to watch them

I’m not. I’ve cancelled my Paramount+ subscription until the live-action shows return next year. If I have a free evening at that time, I may check them out (and in fairness, Prodigy wasn’t awful, even if it’s not going to remain in the cultural zeitgeist the way TOS and TNG-era Trek did), but it’s also not a product I have any desire to spend money on.

OK great. That’s all you can do.

To me, I’d prefer that people who don’t watch stuff do not come in here and comment about it. What’s the point of them commenting if they haven’t even bothered to watch the show they are criticizing?

Of course it’s their right to do it, but in my opinion those comments are rather useless and a waste of everybody’s time, including their own.

For me it was these animated shows that got me to love the franchise again. It certainly wasn’t Discovery, Picard or JJ verse. 🙄

But if you asked me before they started I didn’t think I would be interested in them at all. It’s crazy. I rewatch Lower Decks as much as I watch TNG, DS9 and VOY. Just love it. It has the same vibe of those shows. It’s a big reason I think it’s so popular now.

But I gotcha. I can’t get my own girlfriend to watch Lower Decks for more than 10 minutes. She really hates it lol! Can’t stand Mariner and Ransom (but she does love Tendi which is why we are still together lol). But she loves Prodigy. Mostly because of Janeway and she’s hoping Neelix will show up since they are back in the Delta quadrant and she loooooves Neelix. Don’t get it either but that’s what makes the fan base interesting, everyone has different taste! But it’s so much Star Trek today it’s something for everybody. 😎🖖

Maybe in the future you will enjoy them more! If not you tried! 👍

Hell yeah

Mulgrew own words in the article:

There’s been a hue and a cry of late. I was in Europe doing a tour and there was a lot of that too, “When are we going to see Janeway live-action?” There seems to be something interesting going on.

We’re only talking about this because MANY people are talking about this now.

And of course I don’t mean EVERY fan. I mean if you’re already a fan of Voyager and Janeway, right? Nuance is hard on the internet but that’s all I mean. Clearly you’re not a big Janeway fan. you made that pretty clear yourself many times. I think I saw you made a list someway the other day where Janeway was further down on it as favorite captain. Which is obviously fine, but I’m talking about the millions of fans like me who loves that character and would have no issues with a show. But if there is no Janeway show, I will live.

And how many conventions do you go a year man lol. And it’s funny how all your friends and associates seems to back you up on your thoughts on all of your opinions at these conventions lol. I don’t go to conventions man and that’s all just anecdotal stuff anyway true or not. I just read the internet like I’m guessing most do. and most seem into the idea than not, agreed?

Over the last three decades I have been to approximately one Trek convention per year (not including the 2020-2021 COVID period). I have a about a dozen friends that I coordinate with on going to conventions with, and a little broader network about I would say between 40 and 50 fans who I keep in email and phone contact work. The first convention I went to was in 79.

Also, I didn’t say all of my personal Trek friends agree with me…I very clearly said, “a number” of them did.

Can we also agree that the fans who want this a lot are much more likely to post on articles like this one supporting this new series versus the fans who are ambivalent on the need for this new series?

OK dude, but that’s not really something you can base around if a show should happen or not lol. Yes you and ‘a number of your friends’ are split on it. Fine and you and your number of friends will all be watching just the same and Paramount knows that too.

No one is going to lose sleep if we don’t get a Janeway show lol. But we’re FANS! You had no problem telling everyone you wanted a Pike show when the idea was thrown around 100 times on these boards, correct? This is what we do as fans. And frankly I hardly see any resistance on it anywhere online. I posted the Trekmovie article about it when Mulgrew said there was discussions about it last month, it got over 2000 likes and most were excited over the prospect.

Again, it doesn’t mean everyone, clearly it’s people who are fans of that character, but that’s how it always works lol.

No worries. I will point out that so far two people have responded to my post here, and one of you is in favor, and one not so much…that’s 50% ;-)

LOL, ok.

And I have said this before, I don’t think everyone is begging for a Janeway show in itself, just have the character back in live action, which is a no-brainer. So I think most would just be happy with that.

The thing about Janeway is that she is, by far, the most inconsistent Trek captain. One moment (“Alliances”), she’s a Kantian moralist, the type who today would be happy to see nukes fly in Ukraine rather than concede a scintilla in negotiations. The next (“Scorpion”), she’s the ultimate Kissingerian pragmatist, willing to overlook genocide to ensure survival.

I attribute this inconsistency more to poor writing than to design. Still, it’s not necessarily a bad thing in a character — but the rub is that they need to *explore* it, and outside of “Equinox Part II,” they rarely did. If a hypothetical Janeway series did this, and looked into how Starfleet treated Seven and the Maquis post-return to Earth, it might be interesting. If it’s a reunion show, well, I have no interest in seeing Neelix again.

I don’t disagree with hardly any of that, I still love the character just the same. Hopefully she will be written more consistently. But yeah it was just sloppy writing unfortunately. We’ll see how well they handle her on Prodigy. She’s been barely in it so far but I know she’s going to be a big part of the show the rest of the season.

And maybe they will do some flashbacks with what happened when they arrived back to Earth but based on Lower Decks, Picard and Prodigy it just sound like they all became official Starfleet officers, got promotions and moved on (well OK, Kim is probably still an Ensign ;)).. But Chakotay is now a captain and that was two years after returning to Earth. Paris is still in Starfleet as we saw in Lower Decks which was also about two years later. I don’t remember if he got promoted or not. I have to assume B’Elanna is still in Starfleet and they are happily married. I would be curious why Seven had such a rough bout by the time we saw her in Picard when she got home. But even she is now part of Starfleet. I think overall they all landed on their feet.

I’m keeping my fingers crossed a few turn up in Picard season 3. Maybe we will hear more if they do!

And who said it would be another Voyager show?? Is Picard another TNG show? Well the first two seasons aren’t anyway. ;) Is Prodigy a Voyager show? Definitely has Voyager elements in it but it’s mostly its own thing. I imagine the same would be for a new Janeway show.

Good point!

I’d love to see Seven and Janeway reunite. They need to save the galaxy from a new treat from the delta quadrant, maybe Species 8472 The Doctor, Harry Kim and the rest of the crew, even Reg Barclay, what are they all doing now? Endgame gave us a glimpse of a possible Voyager future but what really happened after Voyager got home? There is a lot of story to tell there.

Honestly I think a big reason why people want Janeway in live action is to reunite her with Seven. Obviously people just want to see her again but now that Seven is so prominent in Star Trek again, of course they want to see that relationship on some level. There is no Seven without Janeway. She freed her from the collective and made her an individual again.

And of course I would love to see all the Voyager characters reunited in some fashion, but I don’t know how realistic that is. But if you asked me five years ago if I could’ve seen the TNG characters all reunited I would’ve said a hard no and here we are.

I had trouble seeing ANY of those characters back to be honest outside of a cameo somewhere. But that’s only because I assumed they would just go much farther in the timeline (50+ years) once we finally got a post-Nemesis show or movie. But now since they went the opposite of that and put all these shows in the TNG era again, it’s all possible now.

And that’s probably the point. ;)

Yep, Seven and Janeway like peas in a pod! “There are three things to remember about being a starship captain: keep your shirt tucked in, go down with the ship, and never abandon a member of your crew.” – Janeway will always be there when her crew ‘family’ needs her, that’s why Prodigy is so good.

…and if you have to make a deal with the Borg that will cause tens of millions of assimilations to get your 141 crew members back to Federation space, do it.

If they can put Janeway and Seven in just one scene together on Picard I would be happy. ;)

I was disappointed that there was no romance for Janeway and Chakotay. I’ll watch if there’s a live action Janeway series and can’t ya talk Chakotay into coming back?

The fans that want Jane way back are the ones who grew up on Voyager they were too young for TNG and DS9 was over their heads and they’ve never seen good Star Trek everyone who wants Janeway back needs to go watch the rest of Star Trek and then rewatch Voyager to realize how bad it is

May the force be with you

I think they want to do it but I also think they want a Sevin of Nine show and they’re may not be room for both. We’ll see.

I think that’s a possibility as well. I do see a lot of people on other boards say just make a show with both of them which seems like a great twofer. And I think 1 or 2 TNG characters could be involved as well.

It’s crazy though that 20 years after Voyager ended we’re now talking about a possible Seven or Nine or Janeway show. Who would’ve thought this would even be remotely a possibility two decades later lol. Power of Star Trek fandom I guess.Or more importantly Paramount liking the smell of $$$$ since they know fans will happily pay to watch them two decades later. ;)

But I actually have faith in Kurtzman over this. He listened to people who wanted Pike back after his stint on Discovery”

But completely ignored the majority of fans who have been telling him for years that Disco and Picard are terrible and how it could change for the better

I have ZERO faith in the man

The writing is going to have to be absolutely exquisite and as tight—I mean so tight.

Would you settle for a dog instead? Maybe some wine? A vineyard even? Oh, maybe a coffee farm? But you’ll have great hair, that we can guarantee.

[looks at Patrick Stewart] Did I mention the dog?

LOL, yeah let’s go that route instead doing a new series. :-)

Well said!

Given all those conditions she is dictating to Kurtzman, my advice to him would be to smile, say, “we will consider all of these,” and then seal them in a crate in the DOD warehouse from the end of the Raiders of the Lost Ark movie…and never revisit this series idea again. :-)

All she is asking for are good stories and writing, that should just be a given lol. And I don’t think asking for no hair bun is some big demand, especially since Janeway already lost it completely by the third or fourth season of Voyager 20 years ago. And I’m guessing all these actors have made demands. That’s why they negotiate before signing on.

Anson Mount made it clear he wouldn’t sign on to a Pike show unless it was more upbeat, optimistic and episodic like TOS was and fortunately he got his wish. And we know the kinds of demands Stewart wanted to play Picard again. That show is basically designed around where he saw Picard 20 years later and was adamant about not being in a Starfleet uniform again.

And to give Kurtzman credit, he listened to all of it and made it happen. So I don’t see a big difference here if they are considering a Janeway show.

Least you forget, there are people out there that are firm in the belief that Kurtzman can’t hit the floor with a hat. Hence, the smart ass-ery.

Yep!

Yeah true. But I’m just talking about the RATIONAL fans out there. Even if they still don’t like Kurtzman’s direction on the franchise or some of the shows (but I am personally loving it even though I don’t love every show myself), they are open minded enough to judge each show on their own merits.

The people in places like Youtube screaming Kurtzman is the devil who should be fired, all the shows are not ‘real’ Star Trek but a travesty to the brand, etc, they’re not going to reach those people on any thing at this point no matter what they do.

People pile on the ending of Enterprise, but was an ending ever good outside of TNG? Of course we would like to see more of every captivating character.

By and large, DS9’s satisfied me.

I was thinking the same thing.

Imagine being a writer and getting the note “No peaks and valleys but tenuous yet taut.”

Have Janeway on as the antagonist to s31. She tries all sorts of legit ways to expose or derail them, then finally sacrifices herself by ramming their priary base and knocking it right out of orbit. She gets to go out standing for the virtue of doing the right thing, even if there is almost nobody around to know she did it.

I don’t think you’re going to kill off Section 31 by destroying a base though. That’s like suggesting you kill off America because you destroyed the White House. And as we literally saw on Discovery, Control basically wiped out most of Section 31 when he was trying to take, well, control and they just regrouped after that and still around 100 years later.

I’d watch the hell out of this! Even if it doesn’t kill off Section 31, it’ll at least destabilize it or at least prevent some harm from being done… doing the right thing might be “insignificant” in the grand scheme of things, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t matter.

Section 31, at least the real version from DS9, likely operates via cell networks. No way destroying one base or anything like that would get rid of them.

Wasn’t talking about getting rid of them, was talking about hitting them hard.

Janeway’s return: YES. Starfleet Academy: Yes. Michelle Yeoh Section 31: Yawn.

I would much rather a Michelle Yeoh vehicle than a college melodrama (which is what Starfleet Academy is almost guaranteed to be given the people developing it).

This… I feel like Starfleet Academy would just feel like Riverdale with a sci-fi twist.

Yep

Or how about neither? Discovery completely wrecked what Section 31 is supposed to be and I have no desire to see a series based on that. But yes I don’t need Star Trek: 90210 either.

Really hoping for the Yeoh series myself.

I had the privilege of meeting her when I worked at Paramount Pictures back in the 90s and I have to say the woman is a CLASS ACT all the way! One of THE nicest people on that lot, with the only person coming close to being nicer was Jonathan Frakes. =) I truly hope that they give her the opportunity to return in live action again with the stipulations that she’s pointed out.

You might want to go back and read how she treated Jeri Ryan in the ’90s.

Frankly, she reminds me of William Shatner… A lot of good there with the public face, but a number of reports of her treating some of the actors on her cast in a crappy way. Wang also brought this up in interviews years back (although he has his own issues).

I don’t really consider this a big deal, but let’s not get carried away and annoint her the Mother Teresa of Trek…lol

Now Jonathan Frakes, that dude is the good guy real deal, and I can personally attest to that having met with him and talked with him.

No one’s perfect and we should remember that while to us this is entertainment, to them it was work. Work can be sometimes be stressful and think it would be correct to say we all react and deal with it in different ways, and not always the right way in reteospect. It seems to me that whatever issues they had were not terminal or abhorrent but more common tension found in any long running ensemble cast. They seem to have buried the hatchet too for the most part.

Exactly! They worked it out and made up years ago. It’s not the ridiculous Takei/Shatner beef that’s been going on for what, 40 years now?

Mulgrew has not only apologized, she has said she was the one in the wrong at conventions and Ryan has accepted that. What else can be done?

I listen to the podcast Delta Flyers and both Wang and McNeil has said nothing but positive things about Mulgrew. McNeil trailer was next to hers and he said they hung out and talked all the time, has not said a single bad thing about her.

Maybe when I get to the season Ryan shows up there will be more about their issues, but everything they say about her seems to be someone they like and respect for someone they known for nearly 30 years at this point.

Tried to respond, but for some reason I can’t figure out my response got labeled as spam. Hopefully it shows up later today after the mods review it.

Like I said, it doesn’t really bother me that much. Heck I feel the same way about Shatner and I’m buying his new biography and I’ve paid to see him in person.

My point was simply that let’s not lionize her as a paragon of friendly virtue given there’s been some documented issues similar to Shatner‘s.

Will happily take this over Starfleet academy with Silly Tilly

Given Lower Decks, maybe we get the first Trek Sitcom, “The Warp 10 Theory” with Janeway, Seven and Tilly sharing an apartment and being instructors at Starfleet Academy.

Its pretty obvious we going to be getting a Star Trek Janeway series as Picard ends

Yep, they don’t want to announce yet because it will steal Picards final season thunder. My guess is soon after the conclusion of season 3 there’ll be a announcement of a Janeway show. There’s been too many hints now for it not to happen.

Lol. We’ll see,

Hope so bro! Hope so! 😎👍

Would make sense to me too! A 25th century Janeway show would be sooo sweet! Give Mulgrew whatever she wants!

Don’t watch kid’s cartoon Trek so a Live Action return is vital to me!

Mulgrew bringing up “Night” as being something of an attempt to address her desire for an exploration of how Janeway handles her lonely burden is interesting.

At the time, “Night” didn’t really work because it was an isolated incident. It’s not properly set up since the only Janeway we’ve ever really seen in the one the crew sees – resolute, firm but empathetic and compassionate, curious, enthusiastic and even at times rather self-righteous. There was almost no dramatization of her inner life or how she handled the stress of her job in her off-hours beyond the holodeck. So “Night” comes along four years into the run and suddenly she’s massively depressed because there’s nothing to explore to take her mind off of their situation. And then they get in a big space battle and find stars at the end so all is well for her and it’s barely addressed again until Endgame. It doesn’t play well.

Now, if they’d had the fortitude to actually show Janeway struggle with her responsibility and guilt in private while putting on a different side to her crew, that could have been incredible. Instead we got a character who was flawed yet also written to be infallible since she’s meant to be the wise captain everyone turns to – the burden of that on her was not important to anyone besides Mulgrew. So an episode like “Night” or “Equinox Part 2” would only be an aberration, not something to build on, Par the course for how most of the characters bar Seven and the Doctor were handled. I think the writers were so resolved to not let the first female captain display aspects of character which could be construed as emotional weaknesses, they closed off a lot of avenues which would have given her real depth.

I’d be interested to see that addressed in a show but don’t know if it’s easily retconned.

My impression — going back to the first interview I saw with her about the show, which I think was around the time of the early phage episode — was that the actress is smarter than the character, and certainly more articulate. I only lasted halfway through VOYAGER’s run — though I saw the Ransom eps (very good!) and the finale (still wtf?) — and my departure was largely over frustration with how Janeway was mishandled, at least IMO. Ian’s take on how they could have gone is a solid one, and probably would have kept me watching.

Yeah, Janeway was always uneven. That episode where she goes Ahab on Ransom could have led to something very compelling, but in the next episode the slate is wiped clean and even Chakotay never brings it up again.

Despite its premise, by season 3 it was a show which declined to explore many consequences of the actions of any of its characters. It wanted to be TNG 2.0 and that meant backgrounding the reality of the lost in space idea in order to have more exciting adventures of the week with tidy reset buttons. In keeping with that, Janeway ends up being somewhat inscrutable and all over the place. She’s only ever worked by way of the sheer force of will Kate Mulgrew’s performance exuded.

So “Night” comes along four years into the run and suddenly she’s massively depressed because there’s nothing to explore to take her mind off of their situation. And then they get in a big space battle and find stars at the end so all is well for her and it’s barely addressed again until Endgame…Now, if they’d had the fortitude to actually show Janeway struggle with her responsibility and guilt in private while putting on a different side to her crew, that could have been incredible.

Yes — say that again. It’s absolutely symbolic of the overall problem with Voyager: there are no consequences to anything, and it’s a massive re-set button each week, far more than even TNG was.

And this issue is also a rejoinder to all of those people ululating about how great episodic television is and how wonderful SNW is for (allegedly) returning to it. Janeway’s depression was one-and-done, never foreshadowed, never spoken of again. It stuck out like a sore thumb.

It’s a bit like the Airiam complaints we heard on DISCO; the friendship between Airiam and the rest of the crew was similarly never foreshadowed. Still, it’s a lot easier to accept an offscreen friendship between a few junior officers than it is offscreen depression in the series lead.

Pike, Spock, Uhura, and M’Benga got fairly consistent building development compared to the likes of Janeway, Torres, Paris, Chakotay, Tuvok and Kim who all basically went into stasis after season 2. I remember RDM’s disbelief at being told that “Barge of the Dead” didn’t need to focus on Torres’ relationship with Paris because that didn’t really matter much to the show. SNW at least has character arcs while making the stories be self-contained. That’s the big difference in the approach and why I’m a little less worried it will fall into the Voyager trap.

Airiam was hugely problematic, not only for not having been developed until her last episode, but also because her existence retreaded an ugly “woe is me, if only I weren’t disabled” trope. A dear friend who uses a wheelchair found both that storyline and DS9’s “Melora” to be highly frustrating and I could really see why.

Star fleet academy show between TOS and TNG era

This site’s filters are still awful. I had a big thing about “Night” and Janeway filtered out as spam. Thanks.

Can’t be bothered to rewrite it, just will say that it’s worth noting a show that explores Janeway’s inner life and struggle to deal with her burdens while putting on a brave face for everyone else might be interesting – Voyager barely did that beyond “Night” and “Endgame” so it rang false at the time. They were so obsessed with having the first female captain look strong and infallible that they robbed her of having real depth.

Me too…spam for no reason on a reply I had to Tiger2.

Dar, and it finally got through. Ah well. I suppose I could have waited longer to see if it showed up, but as with any message board, there’s a short window when a conversation can happen then we move on!

So as I read some of the comments about whether or not Janeway should be brought back to live action I just want to add: Why the heck not?????

I’m a Star Trek fan from the Original Series all the way to Strange New Worlds. I’m so big of a fan that a conscientious and clever coworker built and hung an impressive looking model of the original Enterprise over my work cubicle for my birthday once!

With all these years under my belt the one thing that hits me the hardest is the drought of no Trek that followed the cancellation of Enterprise. I never want to see that happen again.

So I’m at a point where anything Trek related that at least attempts to stay in canon is good news to me. More Trek is always better than no Trek.

And lets face it. Beauty has always been in the eye of the beholder. People gave Deep Space Nine a very hard time. But now its revered as legacy Trek just like everything else. So as to the arguments about how bad it was at the time – who cares now? We just like the show.

Every Trek that comes out will have both lovers and haters. But the only thing Hollywood cares about are dollars. People can “say” this or that to reinforce their positions, but as long as these shows bring in money for Paramount Plus (or whatever its called at given moment) – these shows will be made.

I’ve never been happier to have so much Trek! So for me – TOS, TNG, DS9, VOY, ENT – all prior characters are welcomed as far as I’m concerned. Show me Sulu, Dr. Crusher, Major Kira, Harry Kim, Malcom, or anybody else you can come up with. A rich history just waiting to be explored!

Am I the only one who doesn’t watch the show for the captain, but for the SHIP? heck, Torres was my favourite on Voyager.
But I watched the show for the Intrepid Class starship.

Data was my favourite on TNG. But I watched the show for the Galaxy Class (and then Sovereign class) ship.

Quark and Odo were my favourite on DS9. But I watched the show for the awesome station, the wormhole and mystery beyond it. Also for the Danube class runabouts that landed on pads that retracted into the station. Oh and the Defiant! DUH

Actually… I do like Strange New Worlds for Captain Pike. But that’s because he’s handsome as heck.

But largely, myself and many other Trekkies/-ers watch the show for the ships. We don’t much care about the Captains. I think.

There’s a reason Trek Yards is a popular YouTube channel, people love the ships.

I don’t feel as connected to Discovery in part because the VFX are darker, murkier, dirtier and more frantic than the old Trek aesthetic established by TMP. Times change, they aren’t beholden to lower budgets that necessitate the same half dozen stock shots of the ship exteriors (that certainly bred familiarity with us). Still, we lost a lot of the grace and elegance of the designs from back then along with beauty shots that lovingly show off these ships which often ARE characters, I agree. Strange New Worlds lingers a bit more on the Enterprise, but between the lovingly animated sequences and the characters cooing about the Cerritos, it’s Lower Decks which best recaptures that emotional connection.

I don’t feel as connected to Discovery in part because the VFX are darker, murkier, dirtier and more frantic than the old Trek aesthetic established by TMP.

Yes. I hate the poor lighting. The fact we never got a *really* thorough look at 1701 — something akin to the TMP flyby scene, or the opening scene of “Encounter at Farpoint” — also detracted from the last few TNG movies.

GIVE US A JANEWAY SHOW KURTZMAN!!!!!!

I love Prodigy but I only cared about it when it was announced when Janeway was coming back on it. I think that’s why a lot of people watched it. A kid cartoon usually doesn’t interest me much!

So 100% I want a live action Janeway show! It would be crazy not to do it! 😄 🖖

Meh. I’d rather see someone pick up the idea that floated around a few years ago about an anthology Trek series, where each season focuses on a different story, cast, and time period.

I really don’t have any interest at all in the Starfleet Academy show.

The Section 31 show, with Yeoh, who was my favorite Discovery character (along with Pike) has some potential.

I just wonder whether some of these shows diverge too far from the starship basis that has been the root of the Star Trek franchise. Yes, Deep Space 9 obviously worked, thanks to Behr, Moore, Pillar and the rest, but I’m not even sure if a Section 31 show can work and they want to to SF academy? Why?

Some show with Kate Mulgrew’s Janeway is something I can get behind.

How about this idea. It picks up on a dropped plot point from the TOS ST films. Originally, the reason for Saavik remaining on Vulcan in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home was that she was pregnant with Spock’s baby, which was conceived when he went through Pon Farr on the Genesis planet. That was the original plan, but Nimoy didn’t like it, so he had the lines dropped from the screenplay. I can’t recall his reasoning exactly, but it may have been because he didn’t want Spock to look like a deadbeat dad or something like that. I think that was a shame, since this could’ve been an interesting dramatic wrinkle for Spock, even though they only had 2 films after that with the TOS characters. We also heard from Picard in “Sarek” that Picard was present, in some capacity, when Sarek’s son was married? Unless Sarek had another son, that was Spock getting married. Who too? Saavik would be a logical choice if he had a son with her.

In any case, it would be cool to have some sort of post TOS film show with this new character, Spock and Saavik’s son or daughter, as a character. You could include appearances by George Takei and Walter Koenig. Or, you could even have the aged child in a new Janeway show. I just think that could be a cool legacy character idea that could be a callback to the original show and Spock.

Mulgrew says: “There’s been a hue and a cry of late. I was in Europe doing a tour and there was a lot of that too, ‘When are we going to see Janeway live-action?’ There seems to be something interesting going on.”

Everyone who attended her convention talks in Germany knows it was Mulgrew herself who kept bringing up the idea of live-action Janeway and telling those in attendance to post to social media to say they want her to return. I hope Kurtzman runs away.