Wonder if something like this exists (as a list or something) out there…
You have a TV series where someone is with the show a long time when they should have been looooooonnnnnnngggggg gone advancing their career.
The 2 top of mind at this time are Commander Riker (hopefully spelling that right) from Star Trek - where there is even an episode where Picard is grilling Riker with ‘WHY ARE YOU STILL HERE!?’ - He should have had command long ago.
NCIS - what’s his name - the movie fanatic. He should have had his own team long ago - His boss even says so and even his bosses boss but he sticks around.
It’s like they think ‘I know the whole universe is just this show and if I leave it I will die’
Commander Chip Morton in “Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea.” For four years, he basically did nothing but stand at the periscope and say “Aye-Aye, Captain.”
No only that, but when Chief Curly Jones was replaced with Chief Sharkey (Henry Kulky having died), Sharkey go to do all the fun stuff with the captain. Commander Morton is still stuck at the periscope just saying “Aye-Aye.” Heck, I could have done that acting job.
How about Judge Harry Stone, who spent at least 8 years presiding over Night Court? you’d think he could have gotten a day job in all that time… Not to mention Dan Fielding, who was the night prosecuter for that same time frame.
I recall this phenomenon actually being addressed on Hill Street Blues. Lt. Ray Calletano, Captain Furillo’s right-hand man for years, got restless and fought for a promotion. When he finally made Captain, he turned out to be lousy at it and, IIRC, confided in Furillo that he wished he’d stayed a Lieutenant.
I may be misremembering this, because it’s been over a decade since I watched it, but I think in the last episode of Night Court Dan got to become a judge. I do remember him saying “I am going to send people to JAIL!”
IIRC, Dan ended up quitting his job and moving to Washington, DC, to pursue Christine, who had been elected to Congress.
Harry had quite a few options to mull over, including teaching law at CUNY and going on tour with Mel Torme. He decided he loved being a judge and stayed where he was out of love for getting justice for people.
Lampshaded, intentionally or not, in ST: TNG. In one episode a high-ranking Starfleet officer complained to Picard that, “This is the third time we’ve pulled out the captain’s chair for William Riker, and he won’t sit down in it.” Riker apparently did not want to leave the Enterprise even if he could advance in his career by commanding a different ship. Of course, Riker leaving the Enterprise would have meant Jonathan Frakes leaving the show, at least as a regular.
Sometimes it’s tough leaving a job for a promotion because, in the current position, you really like the folks you’re working with, and you just know you would end up missing them.
*In late 2366, William Riker was offered the command of the Melbourne. While Jean-Luc Picard described her as “a fine ship,” Riker decided not to pursue the commission at that time, choosing instead to remain aboard the Enterprise-D. (TNG: “The Best of Both Worlds”)
Soon after, the Melbourne formed part of the forty-strong Federation task force that stood against an invading Borg cube at the Battle of Wolf 359, and was destroyed in the battle. Lieutenant Gregory Bergan was among the Melbourne’s crew at that time. (DS9: “Emissary”; VOY: “Unity”, “Infinite Regress”)
When the Enterprise-D arrived in the system a few hours later, the wreck of the Melbourne was one of the vessels recognized by Commander Shelby. (TNG: “The Best of Both Worlds, Part II”) * - Memory Alpha
I was going to say “everyone in Beetle Bailey”, but then I realized that Camp Swampy is the Army’s dumping ground where careers go to die, so no surprises there.
I don’t think Tony DiNozzo quite qualifies. When he was offered his own team, and ultimately demurred because he was worried about Gibbs (and implicitly didn’t trust Ziva and McGee to take care of the True Boss in the field properly), it was made explicit that he would likely have to wait years for another such opportunity. I don’t think NCIS has nearly as many personnel as Starfleet.
Answering the question: it’s not clear to me why Benson & Finn are still detectives on SVU. I mean, yeah, Eliot’s a ticking time bomb who should never be in charge of anybody, and Munch clearly doesn’t want it, but you’d think the other two would have moved up the hierarchy by now.
This was one of the things I loved about Babylon 5: People really did get promoted and re-assigned off the show. Admittedly, in most cases, it was because of contract disputes with the actors, but they made good lemonade out of that.
Uh… spin-off, anybody? Riker would have been a great wartime captain during the Dominion wars, (or Klingon v Cardassians? I stopped watching DS9 before they got too far into that stuff.)
I can’t find it now, but I read that Colonel Potter was over-experienced and/or over-ranked for his command when the character joined MASH*. I think they kinda just fudged around that part by not drawing attention to it and hand-waving it with some unusual circumstances talk.
From what I remember, a MASH unit was an assignment where he could wind down the last few months of his career. A military sinecure of sorts. And he was a doctor, which made him a logical choice.
I just watched an old episode of The Streets of San Francisco in which they obliquely addressed the idea that Mike Stone had been on the force way too long to still be a Lieutenant. They indicated that he had been offered promotions to Captain but preferred to be “on the streets”.
For some reason, I remember this episode vividly - Dan was expecting to be named a judge and started celebrating early (“I’m going to wear a black robe and send people to jail!”) - indeed, everyone seemed to think he was a shoe-in since he got a singing telegram before the announcement (“Now you’re a judge in municipal court and not some stinking DA!”). Sadly he was not made a judge - Christine was. And she hated the job (eventually quitting to return to being a public defender).
Colonel Wilhelm Klink ran the toughest POW camp with no successful escapes at Stalag 13, yet the Germans in “Hogan’s Heroes” never promoted him to General.
