Walter Koenig's interview

[Tenebrae]

I just watched this, and felt like sharing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2GVL3TdMXs

I really loved how he said "My job on Star Trek was to say: 'Captain, I don't know what's going on', and then someone would explain to me what was going on"

He felt underused as Pavel Chekov on Trek, which is surprising for me as his character remains iconic. I seldom watched the show though (too young) so I cannot say either way.

However, there is no question he really shone as Alfred Bester, an excellent antagonist in a better show than Star Trek, namely Babylon 5

 

[milagros317]

The actual role of his character, Pavel Chekov, was to be the foolish, boastful Russian member of the crew. He served as a foil to the wise, modest, American Captain Kirk. The original series was made during the Cold War.

 

[Tenebrae]

The actual role of his character, Pavel Chekov, was to be the foolish, boastful Russian member of the crew. He served as a foil to the wise, modest, American Captain Kirk. The original series was made during the Cold War.

Ohh I see! Thank you for this explanation. Believe it or not, I had never read it before.

Kirk never struck me as "wise and modest", to be honest; those are terms I'd more easily apply to Jean-Luc Picard, the britishest of Frenchmen in the universe

 

[The Internet]

I never heard of Chekhov described as being a foil to Captain Kirk; I certainly never saw him that way. He was an underling, right next to Sulu. The two were practically interchangeable. They followed orders. I never remember him being foolish or boastful, definitely not any more foolish than any of the other crew. If anything, the idea that Russians and Americans were working side by side was the point. (ditto Lt. Uhura. The vision in Star Trek was that we would have progressed past all that.)

The whole reason they created the Chekhov character in the first place was because George Takei had movie commitments, if memory serves me right. (That makes them even more interchangeable!) If I remember correctly, in the early episodes it's Sulu and someone else sitting in the front; then Chekhov and someone else, and then the two together.

 

[milagros317]

Chekov was frequently foolishly chasing women. He was also often boasting that anything under discussion had been invented in Russia. He was extremely boastful about his native Russia and its accomplishments. He was not at all like Sulu in both of these areas. Sulu was reserved and much quieter.

 

[BlasterMaster]

Alfred Bester was the villain we LOVED to hate on Babylon 5 and Walter Koenig played the part AMAZINGLY!

As for Walter being snubbed in the 1st series of Star Trek, yeah, unfortunately they put watch to much emphasis on Kirk.

But then again Shatner got a LOT of the cast upset at him for hogging the screen time.

 

[BlasterMaster]

Chekov was frequently foolishly chasing women. He was also often boasting that anything under discussion had been invented in Russia. He was extremely boastful about his native Russia and its accomplishments. He was not at all like Sulu in both of these areas. Sulu was reserved and much quieter.

He was portrayed a lot better in the movies.

 

[Tenebrae]

He was also often boasting that anything under discussion had been invented in Russia. He was extremely boastful about his native Russia and its accomplishments.

Lol that sounds like my own Russian colleagues. I'd say the writers went for cold hard realism here

Alfred Bester was the villain we LOVED to hate on Babylon 5 and Walter Koenig played the part AMAZINGLY!

As for Walter being snubbed in the 1st series of Star Trek, yeah, unfortunately they put way to much emphasis on Kirk.

But then again Shatner got a LOT of the cast upset at him for hogging the screen time.

We SO agree on Bester Love to hate the guy; Koenig portrayed him so well, I wanted to slap him across the face every time he uttered a line in his weasel's voice. It was grinding against my nerves. And yet he was no buffoon, dangerous and powerful as he was.

As for Shatner, I heard he got a lot of hate from his fellow cast members, especially George Takei. But perhaps the worst feud I ever heard of on a Star Trek set was the one between Kate Mulgrew and Jeri Ryan. While their fans were lovingly writing lesbian romances about them, Kate was bullying Ryan and she justified her unprofessional behavior with a bad faith of a magnitude I have rarely seen. The gist of it being (paraphrased by me): "I was so proud to be the first female captain that I became furious against Jeri when she was brought on board; suddenly all the focus was shifting away from me. That was so unfair!"

 

[milagros317]

He [Pavel Chekov] was portrayed a lot better in the movies.

Aha. I never saw the movies, only the TV series.

 

[BlasterMaster]

Aha. I never saw the movies, only the TV series.

You've never seen Wrath of Kahn, The Search for Spock, The Journey Home, The Final Frontier, the Undiscovered Country (etc etc)?

Wow, your missing out dude.

 

[milagros317]

You've never seen Wrath of Kahn, The Search for Spock, The Journey Home, The Final Frontier, the Undiscovered Country (etc etc)?

Wow, your missing out dude.

Nope, I was never much interested in movies inspired by TV series.