10 Biggest Behind The Scenes Star Trek Mistakes That Ever Happened
5. Repeating What Worked On Deep Space Nine Ended Up Causing A Lot Of Hurt On Star Trek Voyager
When the ratings had begun to slip on Star Trek Deep Space Nine, the producers decided to introduce the character of Worf to the station's roster. This worked a treat, boosting the ratings but also allowing Michael Dorn to become a true part of the ensemble that had built up with the rest of the cast. Worf worked perfectly in the show, thanks in equal parts to great acting and great writing.
Over on Star Trek Voyager, the third season faced a similar issue of slipping ratings and the decision to simply repeat what had worked on Deep Space Nine - introduce a new character - was reached. Thus, Seven of Nine was created as a character (and Jennifer Lien was dropped from the show).
This was already the beginnings of issues. First, Lien had been greatly liked by the rest of the cast, so their backs were already up. Then, Jeri Ryan was cast as Seven of Nine. While Ryan was a fantastic addition to the show on-screen, there were deep divisions behind the scenes.
Kate Mulgrew had spent three years being the leading lady on Voyager, pioneering for women in Star Trek by being the Captain of the ship and being the general boss. Ryan was younger, more attractive and was quite suddenly one of the leads on the show. Shoving her into the roster the way that was done did nothing to foster the same unity backstage as had occured on other Star Trek series.
While the show would last another four seasons, it is only in relatively recent years that any sort of camaraderie seems to have built up between the actors.