10 Notorious Star Trek Urban Legends
Beverly Hills Trek!?
Even in the absurd depths of fictional lore, there aren't many franchises out there with a universe as deep and bizarre as Star Trek. Taking us hundreds of years into the future, and sometimes even further into the past, an entire galaxy of civilization has birthed movies, books, TV shows, and whatever other outlets people can find for their creativity.
But if there's one thing that can match the murky depths of Star Trek fiction, it's the equally clouded history of Star Trek fact.
Hundreds of performers, writers, producers, directors, and studio big-wigs have been involved in some capacity over the decades, and with each of them comes the potential for a mythicized tale. Abortive plans, backstage disputes, you name it, there's been enough personalities and egos involved at every level to make it happen.
To borrow a phrase from another beloved sci-fi property though, the truth is indeed out there if you know where to look. From dramatically ground axes to things being very gently set straight, Star Trek's greatest urban legends can all be laid to rest in this wonderful information age.
10. Paramount Tried To Replace Deanna Troi With Seven Of Nine
One of the more positive moments in Star Trek: Nemesis (and there weren't many) was the brief cameo from Kate Mulgrew as Admiral Janeway. It was fun, it was seamlessly integrated, it was an all-too-infrequent reminder that these characters all form part of a rich and layered shared universe. However, it wasn't Paramount's original choice for incorporating Voyager.
In a tale that's been told, inconsistently, from numerous people, Paramount made more than one attempt to bring Seven of Nine into the movie at the expense of a principal member of The Next Generation's cast. Initially, this was believed to be Marina Sirtis who, when attempting to negotiate pay-parity with her male co-stars, was threatened with being removed from the film.
“When I was negotiating for Nemesis they said ‘We are going to fire you and hire Jeri Ryan. And I said ‘Well Jeri Ryan won’t do it for that money, that is for sure'. I quit smoking for six years but what got me started again was contract negotiations with Paramount. That is how bad it was".
However, Ryan herself stated that while she knew her name was being used in the negotiations, the Troi story was news to her. "They did offer a role in Nemesis, to replace a different character, but it was not Marina. There was absolutely no reason to replace this character with Seven of Nine, so obviously we didn’t do it".