Mission: Uhura...

[Warped9]

Presently, while also revisiting TAS and DS9 I've also started to watch Mission: Impossible. I had somewhat forgotten how cool this series was and how much more enjoyable it is even after all these years compared to the Tom Cruise film remakes.

But in particular I enjoy watching Greg Morris on the show. Seeing how prominent he was, particularly for the era, makes me wish Nichelle Nichols could have been given more to do in Star Trek. It would have been a two-fold exposure for blacks and women at the time, but more so for Uhura it would have fleshed out her character more.

The same could also be said of Sulu.

 

[Pauln6]

I think a few more espionage based Trek stories would have been really cool. Uhura rocked in Mirror Mirror doing that sort of spy stuff.

 

[Forbin]

I noticed that in my recent run thru of M:I too - Barney was absolutely one of the team, every mission, right up there with the rest of them. He wasn't "the black guy on the team" at all - it was almost never even pointed out. (Of course whenever they needed someone undercover as an African or Carribean, he kinda had to play to it).

I've also started watched "The Rookies" from the 70s. George Sanford Brown's character is also very much part of the team, but, being the 70s, he spends an awful lot of time pointing out that he's black and getting in people's faces about it.

Slight differences, I guess, in each show's treatment of the equal rights movement. M:I showed a guy well-integrated with his friends and coworkers. The 70s were a bit more militant (maybe 'cause subtlety wasn't working very well?).

 

[marksound]

Linc from the Mod Squad grew up to be a Jem Hadar.

Just sayin'.

 

[evilnate]

Presently, while also revisiting TAS and DS9 I've also started to watch Mission: Impossible. I had somewhat forgotten how cool this series was and how much more enjoyable it is even after all these years compared to the Tom Cruise film remakes.

But in particular I enjoy watching Greg Morris on the show. Seeing how prominent he was, particularly for the era, makes me wish Nichelle Nichols could have been given more to do in Star Trek. It would have been a two-fold exposure for blacks and women at the time, but more so for Uhura it would have fleshed out her character more.

The same could also be said of Sulu.

Unfortunately, Nichelle Nichols had two things working against her - she was black and she was a woman. If you look at other shows of the time, black men were starting to be featured promenintly, not just on M:I, but I, Spy comes to mind as well. I can't honestly think of a strong black female recurring character on TV at that time. She was given a greater chance to build her character in the earliest episodes of TOS, such as "The Man Trap" and "Charlie X", as I pointed out in the thread I started recently. That said, she still managed to have good moments throughout the series where she managed to go beyond "Hailing frequencies open". I'm thinking of some of the nasty looks that she would give when she was angry about something, especially to Kahn's henchman who slapped her. She looked like she was about to take him down! Those were the moments that continued to build her character, even when the number of lines that she would be given per episode were reduced.

As an aside, M:I was a great series, but I never got over what the first Tom Cruise movie did to the character of Jim Phelps. That just left a bad taste in my mouth.

 

[Wingsley]

While I agree that it would've been great to see Uhura featured more prominently in TOS, she could've been doing things other than espionage. Uhura, Sulu, Chapel, Checkov and O'Reilly could've been used in "Galileo Seven"-style expeditions, as the mission commander or XO.

In Uhura's case, she doesn't even have to leave the Enterprise. We never saw the communications department she apparently headed. It would be interesting to see her visit some kind of cryptography center or communications lab or at least have a department staff meeting in the Briefing Room, showing her in command over her subordinates.

 

[Forbin]

If you look at other shows of the time, black men were starting to be featured promenintly, not just on M:I, but I, Spy comes to mind as well. I can't honestly think of a strong black female recurring character on TV at that time.

When did Diahanne Carroll's TV show "Julia" start airing?
*flees to IMBD*
Ah! - 1967-71!

There was also Mannix's secretary Peggy (Gail Fisher) beginning in his second season.


Ummm.... Get Christy Love?

 

[evilnate]

If you look at other shows of the time, black men were starting to be featured promenintly, not just on M:I, but I, Spy comes to mind as well. I can't honestly think of a strong black female recurring character on TV at that time.

When did Diahanne Carroll's TV show "Julia" start airing?
*flees to IMBD*
Ah! - 1967-71!

There was also Mannix's secretary Peggy (Gail Fisher) beginning in his second season.


Ummm.... Get Christy Love?

I forgot Mannix, but I've never heard of Julia.

 

[Scrambo]

i think it was more down to the network. She does mention in her book that they wanted Uhura's character to be taken out of the show but Gene had put his foot down and said no. Plus wasnt she going to quit star trek because she didnt like the way her character was given hardly any lines until she met Martin Luther King who helped changed her and a good thing too.

Maybe we can say because of nichelle's role in Star Trek this helped other black actresses to become more noticed and helped them to gain better roles.

 

[evilnate]

i think it was more down to the network. She does mention in her book that they wanted Uhura's character to be taken out of the show but Gene had put his foot down and said no. Plus wasnt she going to quit star trek because she didnt like the way her character was given hardly any lines until she met Martin Luther King who helped changed her and a good thing too.

Maybe we can say because of nichelle's role in Star Trek this helped other black actresses to become more noticed and helped them to gain better roles.

It's hard to say what the truth of the Martin Luther King story is, since that's a story that's been changed over the years. As far as the network goes, I'd imagine that they might of wanted to tone her character down, but NBC is the same network that the year prior to Trek begain airing I, Spy, which is probably the most racially progressive show of the 60s, in that Robinson and Scott are truly equal and hardly any mention is made of Scott's race. My gut feeling is that any network objections over Uhura were based less off her race and more on her gender. Of course, that doesn't apply to objections over the scene in "Plato's Stepchildren".

 

[Nerys Myk]

IIRC both the studio and the network wanted greater representation of minorities on their shows. Its why Sulu and Uhura were added in the first place. How Uhura was used ultimately falls to GR and the rest of the Star Trek production team.

 

[Wingsley]

One letdown in "Journey to Babel", after the Orion attack vessel self-destructs, was when the injured Captain Kirk passes control of the Bridge to Ensign Chekov instead of Lieutenant Uhura. Every time I see that, I want to see Kirk give HER the conn.

 

[A.V.I.A.F.]

IIRC both the studio and the network wanted greater representation of minorities on their shows. Its why Sulu and Uhura were added in the first place. How Uhura was used ultimately falls to GR and the rest of the Star Trek production team.

I think that GR cast most of the women on the show according to the same criteria regardless of their race: how hard of a woody they gave him.

The fact that Uhura was black and in a "command" position are happy by-products which certainly have reaped benefits. But I don't think GR was so altruistic when it came down to casting her and so that's why her role is limited when we look at the overall series.

 

[Harvey]

Well, it's no secret that Roddenberry carried on affairs with all three of the women who were recurring featured players on Star Trek (Grace Lee Whitney, Majel Barrett, and Nichelle Nichols).

The problem with Uhura is that her position on the bridge was simply one-dimensional. She occasionally breaks away from only getting to speak the words, "Hailing frequencies open," but not very often.

And, like Sulu, she was never important enough to be given a first name during the series. When Nichols was busy during the filming of "Turnabout Intruder," she was replaced with a white actress, and it made no difference. Besides a few brief moments during the first season, as a human being, Uhura was nothing but a cipher.

And, since this is an Uhura thread, I can't help but point out the half-assed way Roddenberry introduced the character onto the series in "The Corbomite Maneuver." All he did in his re-write was give her some of the lines that were intended for Bailey (which results in some oddities during the episode in which Bailey seems to be acting as the communications officer).

 

[Warped9]

Some of my favourites moments for Uhura are not even onscreen but in print. First in James Blish's adaptation of "Balance Of Terror" she gets quite a bit to say that illustrates Uhura's knowledge and expertise. The second instance is in Blish's novel Spock Must Die! where she gets another good run showing off her abilities.

 

[T'Girl]

When Nichols was busy during the filming of "Turnabout Intruder," ...

I was wondering, "busy" how?

 

[JustKate]

You bring up something that I've thought whenever the concept of how "advanced" Trek was in various ways, because although it kind of was, it wasn't nearly social leader that we fans like to think it was. MI was far more forward-thinking in its treatment of blacks and women, and The Avengers, while it didn't feature many minorities as far as I can recall, it did have Emma Peel, and her job definitely was more interesting than Uhura's.

Nichols did do a lot with her small role, though - she really gave that role a lot more dignity than was in the script. And that's greatly to her credit.

 

[Warped9]

It's a sad reflection of the time that Nichelle Nicholls was a woman as well as black. That said white women really didn't fare much better than she did on TOS unless they were the love interest. And yet all it would have taken was to have given her a few more choice lines and occasionally something more interesting to do. No one was asking for her to be one of the "big four" of the cast, but just to give her character a little more legitimacy.

I, too, noted in "Journey To Babel" that when Kirk left the bridge near the end of the episode he should have given the nod to Uhura and not Chekov. That one little change would have meant a world of difference to a lot of fans and viewers because it would have legitimized her position and status. Today no one would blink, but back then some folks would have noticed and thought, "Holy crap! Did he just put the black woman in command? Far out, man!"

Better yet imagine if Uhura's focus in TAS' "The Lorelei Signal" had happened live-action in TOS. That would have really legitimized her position. But since it happened in TAS hardly anyone (non fan) knows of it or really thinks of it.

Greg Morris' role on Mission: Impossible was that of an equal on the IMF team. Given the focus and nature of Star Trek that sort of status wasn't at all likely for Uhura. But she could have been granted more legitimacy with but a few small changes. Look how inspirational she was to so many with what little she had. Imagine what effect she could have had if she'd been given just a little more.

I think part of her impact (and Sulu's) was the fact that Star Trek was a serious minded science fiction series. And it dared to show an inclusive future setting...even if the producers were hedging to some extent. But it did show minorities in responsible positions requiring professionalism and technical expertise.

 

[Harvey]

When Nichols was busy during the filming of "Turnabout Intruder," ...

I was wondering, "busy" how?

According to Memory Alpha, she had a singing engagement at the time.

 

[Pauln6]

One letdown in "Journey to Babel", after the Orion attack vessel self-destructs, was when the injured Captain Kirk passes control of the Bridge to Ensign Chekov instead of Lieutenant Uhura. Every time I see that, I want to see Kirk give HER the conn.

Didn't they do the same thing in NuTrek where Chekov is a mere 17-year old and that was written in the 21st century. La plus ca change...