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By Chris Snellgrove | Published
Beyond arguments about which shows and movies were better, it’s pretty easy for Star Trek fans to agree on one thing: that the ’90s were the franchise’s golden period. this was when The next generation keep up, fan-favorite spin-offs Deep space nine and Traveler were launched, The original series The movies ended and even the smaller towns had their own conventions. However, Journey to the stars: Voyager Actor Garrett Wang’s latest comments about the producers’ snub are a grim reminder that the franchise’s “golden” era was remarkably dark.
Recently, the Star Trek veteran sat down with CineBlend to talk about his happiness at returning to the franchise in Lowe Coversbut Garrett Wang was pretty blunt about what a long road this has been. He described watching co-stars like Jeri Ryan and Robert Duncan McNeill receive invitations back to the franchise and counted at least seven different wasted opportunities for his character, Harry Kim, to return to the fold. Interestingly, he would have returned to the franchise sooner if he hadn’t been taken away from an opportunity, but he’s staying tight-lipped about the details.
Apparently there was some kind of unnamed Star Trek project in the works that would have somehow brought back Garrett Wang’s character from Traveler even before his recent appearance in Lower covers. According to the actor, “something happened, but then something else happened outside of my control… And that offer was rescinded somehow.” Possibly because of a confidentiality agreement or possibly because he didn’t want to spill the replicated tea, the Harry Kim actor ended this line of thought with a simple, “That’s all I can say.”
As long-time Star Trek fans know, Garrett Wang has never before hesitated to reveal how he was mistreated by TravelerThe producers. For example, he alleges that he was prevented from directing an episode, something other Trek lead actors had always been able to do on request. He was also upset by the fact that his character never got a promotion, and told a sob story to CinemaBlend in which he became so desperate about this that he once appeared outside Kate Mulgrew’s trailer and begged her to help Harry Kim get finally get a promotion.
Perhaps the ugliest Star Trek story Garrett Wang told was that he and Robert Duncan McNeill were singled out and ridiculed for gaining weight during the show’s production. This culminated in the two actors finding girdles in their trailers one day and their characters even engaged in a dialogue where they mocked each other for being out of shape.
When Wang rejected this insulting dialogue, executive producer Brannon Braga allegedly told him in front of the cast and crew: “if you and your fellow actors follow the same path of eating as you have for the last two years, we will move on.” . having to change the name of the show to ‘Star Trek: Voyager – Pigs in Space’. This terrible body shaming is an example of the fact that the golden age of Star Trek is hauntingly dark and bleak.
Despite how much he enjoyed his time on Star Trek, Garrett Wang has never been afraid to name names when it comes to those who wronged him. This includes Brannon Braga’s body shaming and another alleged incident in which Braga explained that Kim was never promoted with a cheerful “well, someone has to be the ensign.” He had a particular problem with notorious executive producer Rick Berman, who he claimed told the cast to “underplay our human characters” (i.e., act boring) to make the aliens seem more realistic.
Now, it’s worth mentioning that these guys are basically Star Trek royalty: As writer-producer Braga worked The next generation, Travelerand Company while helping to write Star Trek: Generations and Star Trek: First Contact. Fellow producer and frequent writing partner Rick Berman was an even bigger part of the franchise, executive producing TNG before co-creating DS9. Travelerand Company. Berman is also a highly controversial figure, having been accused by veteran Trek writer David Gerrold of being a “raging homophobe” and accused by Jadzia Dax actor Terry Farrell of being “very misogynistic” towards women and its appearance.
Fans who found out about this have often debated who the “real” Braga and Berman are. After all, they’ve created some of the best Trek content ever created (including TNG’s epic finale “All Good Things”), but it also seems like they’ve hurt some of our favorite actors. This includes Star Trek’s beloved Garrett Wang, and his own accounts of these producers are a reminder that these men can be both talented and flawed, capable of great creative energy, and capable of causing great pain.
The golden age of Star Trek has a hidden dark side, but the men who supposedly caused it have already given us the perfect way to examine their creative legacy. In First contact (co-written by Braga and produced by Berman), Commander Riker gives Zefram Cochrane some advice from his future self: “don’t try to be a great man, just be a man… and let history make its own judgments” . The golden era of Trek has passed into history, and only time will tell how future fans and creators remember its greatest and most flawed architects.
