DBWI: Lloyd Bridges not in Star Trek!

[Glen]

The What If here is simply this....

What if Lloyd Bridges did not accept the offer to play the Captain of the Enterprise in the original Star Trek series?

Who would have been cast in his stead?

Would the series have run longer or been a flop from the beginning (many series from this time did not go past a few episodes)?

Would Bridges have still ended up playing Commander Cain in Battlestar Galactica (which some called a mere characterature of his previous role, and others an homage)?

It somehow seemed fitting that Bridges dies a few years after filming Star Trek: Generations, but what would have happened if a different actor in the role had died earlier, or even was still living now?

Thoughts? Questions?

 

[mattep74]

Maybe Leonard Nimoy, the sci-fi writer. Its said that he tried out for the role as the sciense officer but didnt impress the writers and then he quit acting for writing.

You know the singer Bill Shatner? He actually tried for the part but the people responsible for the show didnt want to risk anything on him. I think that the only part he has played was the shortlived LA Hooker about a policeman.

 

[ColeMercury]

You know the singer Bill Shatner? He actually tried for the part but the people responsible for the show didnt want to risk anything on him. I think that the only part he has played was the shortlived LA Hooker about a policeman.

OOC: I don't think Shatner auditioned - they asked him.

 

[Vextra]

Its possible they'd have got Deforrest Kelly to play him... He was auditioned, I think, and Gene had worked with him before. However, his casting as the garrulous Ship's Doctor was more in line with his previous experience. Thats not to say he couldn't have played a different role, of course, but that, given the pressures Roddenberry was subject to, he had to play it very carefully who he had as his main character.

Lloyd Bridges was probably a safe bet, and he seemed to please the suits. Of course, other casting decisions he wanted to make are the stuff of legend. Apparently he wanted a black woman as a Communications Officer, of all things. Thats not to say Yeoman Rand wasn't a fine character, but given the politics of the time, I can't imagine how he'd have ever have gotten a black woman actress to be taken seriously.

 

[WilyBadger]

Pity they couldn't have gotten Jeffery Hunter. I hear they wanted him to play the captain in the original pilot before they hired Fred McMurray. I think Hunter might've made for an interesting captain.

 

[jmberry]

OOC:Who's Lloyd Bridges?

 

[Mr_ Bondoc]

Well, without Lloyd Bridges , there certainly wouldn't have been a "Commander Will Decker" played by Mark Goddard (OOC: Major Don West on Lost in Space). Apparently he was brought onto the show because of Bridges reluctance to do stunt work and action scenes after some injuries experienced on Sea Hunt, plus it didn't help matters that he was already entering into his early fifties. Apparently the "away team" concept was created by Roddenberry to allow for characters including Commander Decker to enter into some new and dangerous situation....

 

[ColeMercury]

Well, of course that's what the away teams were for! Star Trek wouldn't have been much of a show if they'd stayed on the ship all the time. Still, if that's why Captain Kirk rarely went on away teams then I'm kinda glad Bridges insisted on it, because logically you wouldn't want to put the ship's captain in a potentially hostile environment.

About DeForest Kelley - did you know he was the first person they asked to play Spock? It's true! Personally, I can't see him as anyone other than Dr McCoy. And I can't really see anyone other than Gary Lockwood as Spock, either.

Pity they couldn't have gotten Jeffery Hunter. I hear they wanted him to play the captain in the original pilot before they hired Fred McMurray. I think Hunter might've made for an interesting captain.

Mike Brady as Captain Kirk? Heh. I suppose he has the right look...

OOC:Who's Lloyd Bridges?

OOC: Actor. Father of Jeff Bridges and Beau Bridges. Actually was considered for Kirk.

 

[Mr_ Bondoc]

Well, of course that's what the away teams were for! Star Trek wouldn't have been much of a show if they'd stayed on the ship all the time. Still, if that's why Captain Kirk rarely went on away teams then I'm kinda glad Bridges insisted on it, because logically you wouldn't want to put the ship's captain in a potentially hostile environment.

According to the biographies of the stars, the hiring of Mark Goddard as "Commander Will Decker" also had a dramatic effect on the cast. Apparently Grace Lee Whitney (a.k.a. "Yeoman Rand") had an ongoing sexual affair with Goddard throughout the run of the series. Apparently when the series ended, Whitney fell into drug addiction in the 1970s. Goddard was the first to make sure that she moved to Middleboro, Massachusetts for a substance abuse program in 1976. In her autobiography On The Away Team (1983), she says that if it hadn't been for her future husband, she would have most likely dead today because of her substance abuse problems, or on the streets as a prostitute...

 

[WilyBadger]

Mike Brady as Captain Kirk? Heh. I suppose he has the right look...

I once heard a rumor they were planning to hire Robert Reed for the role of Mike Brady. I can't see that. Every time I see him, I think of him as Darin on "Bewitched". Well, the second Darin, obviously, after Robert Mitchum.

But back to Trek stuff, did you know they'd actually offered the role of Scotty to James Doohan? Yeah! The first James Bond as Scotty, and he's not even Scotish. Glad they went for Connery as Scotty instead.

 

[ColeMercury]

I once heard a rumor they were planning to hire Robert Reed for the role of Mike Brady. I can't see that. Every time I see him, I think of him as Darin on "Bewitched". Well, the second Darin, obviously, after Robert Mitchum.

But back to Trek stuff, did you know they'd actually offered the role of Scotty to James Doohan? Yeah! The first James Bond as Scotty, and he's not even Scotish. Glad they went for Connery as Scotty instead.

(OOC: GAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! American Bond! Totally implausible American Bond!

I mean, at least all the other things were plausible. Lloyd Bridges was offered the role of Kirk. Mark Goddard was in a '60s sci-fi series. Jeffrey Hunter almost did get the role of Mike Brady. Gary Lockwood had previously starred in "The Lieutenant", a series written by Gene Roddenberry, and went on to guest star as Gary Mitchell. But Sean Connery as Scotty, and James Doohan as Bond? What are you smoking?)

 

[WilyBadger]

But Sean Connery as Scotty, and James Doohan as Bond? What are you smoking?

(OOC: I believe it is what is technically called "crack". Anyhow, Doohan was Canadian, and, frighteningly enough, at one point Adam West was considered for the role of James Bond. Which reminds me...)

You know, the whole Bond thing could've been a lot worse. Rumor has it that at one point Adam West, mayor of a town called Quahog, was planning to be an actor. Imagine what kind of Bond that nutter would've made! :O

 

[ColeMercury]

(OOC: And with that, this DBWI officially dies. Damn - we didn't even make it to Page 2.)

 

[WilyBadger]

Heh. Sorry, didn't mean to kill it. I'll exercise more restraint in the future.

 

[ColeMercury]

Heh. Sorry, didn't mean to kill it. I'll exercise more restraint in the future.

Don't roll your eyes at me.

Look, WilyBadger, "DBWI" is not code for "put as much stupid shit into this thread as possible". If done right, DBWIs can be brilliant. I find it very engaging and interesting to imagine things from an ATL's point of view, and it can be really good to see the picture of an ATL come together through the collaboration of many members. Doing as you did, with that stupid Family Guy reference, ruins DBWIs. Once again I repeat: "DBWI" does not mean "anything goes"!

And the above rant applies to everyone who misuses DBWIs in this way. You know who you are.

 

[WilyBadger]

Hey, as I said, I'm sorry and I'll exercise more restraint in the future. I was mostly doing the eye-rolling thing directed at myself anyhow. If you prefer next time I'll just use or leave it out entirely, so as to avoid any possibility of offense.

 

[bard32]

The What If here is simply this....

What if Lloyd Bridges did not accept the offer to play the Captain of the Enterprise in the original Star Trek series?

Who would have been cast in his stead?

Would the series have run longer or been a flop from the beginning (many series from this time did not go past a few episodes)?

Would Bridges have still ended up playing Commander Cain in Battlestar Galactica (which some called a mere characterature of his previous role, and others an homage)?

It somehow seemed fitting that Bridges dies a few years after filming Star Trek: Generations, but what would have happened if a different actor in the role had died earlier, or even was still living now?

Thoughts? Questions?

Was Lloyd Bridges considered for the role of Captain Kirk in Star Trek?
[/I]

 

[bard32]

The What If here is simply this....

What if Lloyd Bridges did not accept the offer to play the Captain of the Enterprise in the original Star Trek series?

Who would have been cast in his stead?

Would the series have run longer or been a flop from the beginning (many series from this time did not go past a few episodes)?

Would Bridges have still ended up playing Commander Cain in Battlestar Galactica (which some called a mere characterature of his previous role, and others an homage)?

It somehow seemed fitting that Bridges dies a few years after filming Star Trek: Generations, but what would have happened if a different actor in the role had died earlier, or even was still living now?

Thoughts? Questions?

Was Lloyd Bridges considered for the role of Captain Kirk in Star Trek?
I remember him from the original Battlestar Galactica.

 

[ColeMercury]

All right, WilyBadger, you're forgiven.

If you prefer next time I'll just use

Yep, that's better.

Was Lloyd Bridges considered for the role of Captain Kirk in Star Trek?

Yep. So was Jack Lord.