# Who would you like to have seen as a starship captain? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 24, 2011, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-like-to-have-seen-as-a-starship-captain/583000 "2011-05-24T12:15:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-like-to-have-seen-as-a-starship-captain/583000/21 "2011-05-24T16:17:23Z")
Ripley, I mean, Sigourney Weaver. She’d be believable in the Captain’s chair. "You let Mudd sell you WHAT? An unknown alien organism? Let me see one! Oh, they’re adorable! Now, go collect them all and shove them out of Airlock three! ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-like-to-have-seen-as-a-starship-captain/583000/22 "2011-05-24T16:30:22Z")
> [@Evil\_Captor](#): > > Now, go collect them all and shove them out of Airlock three! Now I want to see how Edward James Olmos would operate within the constraints of a Starfleet commission. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-like-to-have-seen-as-a-starship-captain/583000/23 "2011-05-24T17:20:43Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > Oh, and to the OP, my answer is the same as it almost always is when hypothetical casting questions come about: > > James Garner > > (Admit it, \*Enterprise \*would have been _so much_ more fun with Capt. Rockfish.) And Evelyn Martin as first officer. “Fire a warning shot across her bows, Commander Angel.” BLAM “Dammit Angel, I said across her bows!” “Lucky Shot, Jimmy! Besides, they might have shot back.” ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-like-to-have-seen-as-a-starship-captain/583000/24 "2011-05-24T17:30:35Z")
> [@carlb](#): > > Chekov’s a bit of a mystery. Besides getting beat up a lot in the movies, I’m not really sure what his niche or his ambition was. I suppose since he always wore the gold shirt he could wind up in command some day, but I don’t know that he really had the drive or the stomach for it. He was Exec on _Grissom_, but after the events of _Wrath of Khan_ he went right back to just a sort of utility player. Chekov, as I understand it, was navigator, weapons officer and back-up science officer so… yes, kind of a muddled career path. But he was the exec of the _Reliant_, which was destroyed in the second film, not of the _Grissom_, which was destroyed in the third. I’d’ve been happy with the mirror-universe bearded Spock in command. What the show really needed was some tough-guy ruthlessness, but don’t take it to cartoonish lengths where people are getting assassinated left and right. ---
**Author:** ![blindboyard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blindboyard/32/2833_2.png) [@blindboyard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blindboyard)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-like-to-have-seen-as-a-starship-captain/583000/25 "2011-05-24T17:53:03Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > Samuel L. Jackson, cuz he’d get tired of these motherfuckin anomalies and shit… More, “I have had it with these motherfuckin tribbles on this motherfuckin shuttlecraft.” But, Neelix, I wants Captain Neelix. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-like-to-have-seen-as-a-starship-captain/583000/26 "2011-05-24T18:01:46Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Chekov, as I understand it, was navigator, weapons officer and back-up science officer so… yes, kind of a muddled career path. I would have to review _TOS_ closely to be confident about this, but I took his move to Tactical Officer aboard _Enterprise_ (_TMP_) and later _Reliant_ (_TWOK_) as a career advancement for him. _TOS_-era Enterprise had no tactical position, suggesting that Starfleet had not yet specialized that position. Weapons control seemed to fall to either the navigator or the helmsman\* depending upon the whim of the episode writer. By _TMP_’s refit of _Enterprise_, there was a separate bridge station and, consequently, a bridge officer position just for Tactical. Since we’d seen plenty of evidence that _extremely_ junior officers could fill the navigator position by then, I assumed that it was a step up. As to being backup-science officer, that’s clearly a role he fulfilled on every ship he served on. I’m guessing he minored in science officer at the academy. 😉 - Or, if the plot really demanded it, someone down in auxiliary control. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-like-to-have-seen-as-a-starship-captain/583000/27 "2011-05-24T18:08:02Z")
> [@blindboyard](#): > > But, Neelix, I wants Captain Neelix. But…Dear G-d man, his feet! ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-like-to-have-seen-as-a-starship-captain/583000/28 "2011-05-24T18:43:21Z")
> [@blindboyard](#): > > More, “I have had it with these motherfuckin tribbles on this motherfuckin shuttlecraft.” “Man, _you_ the one that should be on Spock’s _Brain_ detail!” ---
**Author:** ![Death\_of\_Rats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@Death\_of\_Rats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Death_of_Rats)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-like-to-have-seen-as-a-starship-captain/583000/29 "2011-05-24T19:03:58Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Chekov, as I understand it, was navigator, weapons officer and back-up science officer so… yes, kind of a muddled career path. > > But he was the exec of the _Reliant_, which was destroyed in the second film, not of the _Grissom_, which was destroyed in the third. Chekov was tactical officer in ST:TMP and had some sort of Security responsibilities in the later movies. Oddly, he is the one who responds with the security team to the phaser demonstration in the mess kitchen and dismisses them when it is a false alarm, but has to have a cadet explain the alarms. (It’s plot exposition, it has to go somewhere!) ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-like-to-have-seen-as-a-starship-captain/583000/30 "2011-05-24T19:05:20Z")
Captain Jack… Sparrow or Harkness - either would be fun. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-like-to-have-seen-as-a-starship-captain/583000/31 "2011-05-24T19:17:12Z")
In ST:TNG “The Best of Both Worlds, Pt. 2,” as Riker and Shelby are looking over the debris of the Starfleet task force at Wolf 359, Shelby referred to the wreck of the USS _Chekov_, but it was later overdubbed to become the USS _Tolstoy_. Too bad. It would’ve shown that Chekov really went places in his career - probably an admiral, or an esp. noteworthy captain: [USS Chekov | Memory Alpha | Fandom](http://memory-alpha.org/wiki/USS_Chekov) Among the non-Trek actors who I think could’ve done well in the big chair: Jeff Daniels Angie Harmon Denzel Washington Judi Dench Mark Harmon Dana Delaney Edward Woodward Ingrid Bergman (she lived until 1982 - it could’ve happened!) ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-like-to-have-seen-as-a-starship-captain/583000/32 "2011-05-24T19:20:07Z")
> [@Death\_of\_Rats](#): > > Chekov was tactical officer in ST:TMP and had some sort of Security responsibilities in the later movies. Oddly, he is the one who responds with the security team to the phaser demonstration in the mess kitchen and dismisses them when it is a false alarm, but has to have a cadet explain the alarms. (It’s plot exposition, it has to go somewhere!) Poor Chekov. There’s an Urban Legend about his role on the TV series: [Was Star Trek's Chekov Inspired by Pravda? | Snopes.com](http://www.snopes.com/radiotv/tv/chekov.asp) With that muddled background, I guess it’s no wonder he floated about as a senior sidekick. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-like-to-have-seen-as-a-starship-captain/583000/33 "2011-05-24T19:24:33Z")
> [@Arkcon](#): > > One episode of \*Voyager _and the film The Undiscovered Country referenced Tuvok’s early career under Captain Sulu_. Many years later, I thought, “Wait, did everyone achieve the rank of Captain?”, 'cause I would have like to see more episodes of Captain Sulu, or Captain Checkov, or even Captain McCoy, Captain Uhura, Captain Scott .. they must have be real hardasses, and we know their back-story, so it would have been perfectly justifiable … they’d say “Why in my day we used to …” and you go, “Oh yeah, I remember that episode.” > Yes, I know, Tuvok isn’t a Vulcan in the movie, but it’s still Tim Russ, so patayto - patahto. Scott got to the rank of captain, but I don’t believe he ever commanded a ship. McCoy is an admiral in the TNG premiere (yeah, I know they never say his name, but it’s DeForest Kelley in the demeanor in the role makes his identity obvious), so at some point he was presumably a captain, though I doubt he ever commanded a ship. I tend to think Uhura & Chekov retired as commanders. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-like-to-have-seen-as-a-starship-captain/583000/34 "2011-05-24T19:39:24Z")
I’d say [Brian Blessed](http://www.giraffeboards.com/showthread.php?p=586084), but that may not count as he’s perfect for just about any role. What about Paul Reubens? Out of the PeeWee character he’s a good actor and can pull off the serious setups. In character, well, that would be awesome. “WE ARE THE BORG” … “I know you are but what am I?” … the Borg would eventually implode. Bonus: we all know what the holodecks are used for anyway. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-like-to-have-seen-as-a-starship-captain/583000/35 "2011-05-24T19:42:34Z")
Mr Bean 😛 ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-like-to-have-seen-as-a-starship-captain/583000/36 "2011-05-24T19:53:29Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > And Evelyn Martin as first officer. > > “Fire a warning shot across her bows, Commander Angel.” > BLAM > “Dammit Angel, I said across her bows!” > “Lucky Shot, Jimmy! Besides, they might have shot back.” I heartily agree with the idea of Capt. James Rockford. He’d be the only captain capable of barrel rolling the Enterprise and leaving skid marks in the ship’s wake. First Officer Martin, on the other hand, would trade the Enterprise to Harcourt Fenton Mudd for two shiny Buffalo head nickels in a get rich quick scheme. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-like-to-have-seen-as-a-starship-captain/583000/37 "2011-05-24T19:58:17Z")
> [@mlees](#): > > Poor Chekov. There’s an Urban Legend about his role on the TV series: [Was Star Trek's Chekov Inspired by Pravda? | Snopes.com](http://www.snopes.com/radiotv/tv/chekov.asp)… I wish, after all these years, some Russian-speaking Trekker would actually go and look in the _Pravda_ archives of 1966-69 to find the legendary editorial that supposedly led to the creation of the Chekov character. ---
**Author:** ![carlb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carlb/32/5930_2.png) [@carlb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carlb)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-like-to-have-seen-as-a-starship-captain/583000/38 "2011-05-24T20:27:24Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Anybody who made a good captain in today’s Navy. Imagine Scott Glenn (who did a sub captain in **Red October** or Ed Harris (who lead a team aboard the undersea base in **The Abyss** ) – no-nonsense tough-guy achievers. I agree. Both of these actors would make excellent captains. > [@kunilou](#): > > Jane Lynch. No-nonsense but with a streak of compassion, a sense of humor, and I can totally see her blowing a Romulan ship to kingdom-come. See, this is the kind of outside-the-box thinking I was hoping for. I think she would be fantastic! > [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > But he was the exec of the Reliant, which was destroyed in the second film, not of the Grissom, which was destroyed in the third. :smack: Godsdamnit, I should know better than to throw out ship names off the cuff. I knew Chekov was Exec of _Reliant_. I think I was so fixated on what a lousy skipper Captain J.T. Esteban was that I mixed them up in my head. My apologies to the late Captain Terrell. > [@KneadToKnow](#): > > Oh, and to the OP, my answer is the same as it almost always is when hypothetical casting questions come about: > > James Garner > > (Admit it, Enterprise would have been so much more fun with Capt. Rockfish.) You know, all kidding aside, I can see that. He’d have a little bit of the Jim Kirk fake-it-til-you-make-it about him. I could totally see him coming up with the Corbomite Maneuver. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-like-to-have-seen-as-a-starship-captain/583000/39 "2011-05-24T20:34:14Z")
A weekly television show is beneath either of them, but I’d have loved to see either Jodie Foster or Julianne Moore in the Kate Mulgrew role on _Voyager_. Of course, I’d also have liked Janeway to not have been written as a bipolar, delusional, occasionally murderous harpy. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-like-to-have-seen-as-a-starship-captain/583000/40 "2011-05-24T20:51:05Z")
> [@zamboniracer](#): > > First Officer Martin, on the other hand, would trade the Enterprise to Harcourt Fenton Mudd for two shiny Buffalo head nickels in a get rich quick scheme. Well, yes, that’s the point. You can’t make every episode about time travel or the holo deck. Rockford: "You gave Mudd _what_? Martin: “Just the ah…ahem. warp core.” Rockford: "For _ **tribbles?!?!** _ Martin:“Aw, Jimmy, they’re adorable! Girls love them! We’ll be able to clean up at Star Base 12!” Rockford:“And just how are we going to get there?” Martin: “Aw, you’ll think of somethin’, Jimmy.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-like-to-have-seen-as-a-starship-captain/583000.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-like-to-have-seen-as-a-starship-captain/583000.md?page=3)