Whar happened to Kreig, and Ortiz and other crew members? - SeaQuest DSV (1993) Discussion

[–] destructo-2 18 years ago

Krieg was as annoying as wet-steaming-dog-poo on the bottom of your shoe. Dr. Westfalen was also irritating, but at least I didn't feel the need to strangle her on a constant basis. Oritz never really got any character development.

But basically, all three either didn't want to do the show any more or were canned so that the execs could re-target the show to try and get better ratings. Actors are selfish, rightfully so, and want their character to grow in importance and they want the show to do better and help the careers of all the cast... but when writing changes and a few cast changes doom the ship... thus the old line:

When the bow's under the waves, follow the rats.

I.e. jump ship before the show digresses into utter crap.

Or, if you're still in the bar at last call, you're the ugly one.

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[–] lgmak83 18 years ago

I can understand the whole problem with actors wanting more money and screen time but what really bothers me is when a character disappears from the show with no explination. I mean, did they ever say what happened to Westphalen? She was a pretty big deal in the first season. She was the main science person on the boat and she also was something of a love interest for Bridger. I think the viewers atleast deserved an explination of where she went.

"Right... Where are we going?"

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[–] 18 years ago

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[–] destructo-2 18 years ago

One problem they'd have is, she probably decided to leave after filming of Season 1 and before Season 2, so they couldn't film anything to show her departure... then all they're left with is TALKING about it... and considering so many people left... perhaps they didn't want to waste any time explaining why it wasn't the old show and reinventing for the new show... because it was a new show.

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[–] Chocolua 18 years ago

FYI... They got around the cast changes from the 2nd to 3rd seasons by saying that 'not everyone made it' during the battle on Tobias' planet (so that's what happened to Marco Sanchez and Rosalind Allen's characters). So for Dr. Westphalen, she so would not have fit into season 2 anyway, it was no big loss. Unfortunately, Henderson made it...

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[–] 18 years ago

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[–] celankenay 18 years ago

The show was one big experiment, in terms of creating a show, anyway. I can't think of any other series that was virtually a different show every season. A whole lot of actors either got cut or quit to fit the vision I think. Too bad a lot of really good/potentially good characters dropped from the series. That and some truly bad, erratic ideas in screenwriting led to its demise. They didn't find out what worked until it was a bit too late.

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[–] TesubCalle 18 years ago

IIRC, production locales changed. Universal Studios in California to Florida instead, for whatever reason. Several cast members balked and walked. I sure wouldn't be too peachy keen on moving clear across the country to shoot a TV show, since TV is a pretty fickle business.

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[–] dawsonbot 18 years ago

In terms of the show's continuity:

Lieutenant Krieg left the navy following seaQuest's tour of duty, and eventually tried to run for president. He eventually ended up on an iceberg with a bunch of refugees and was saved by Lucas. (He briefly returned to the seaQuest, but, soon left.)

Lt. Commander Hitchcock became captain of another UEO boat. (It had also been offered to Commander Ford.)

Chief Crocker retired from the navy after seaQuest's tour ended and his wife left him.

Dr. Westphalen was never heard from again, but, my theory is she had a falling out with Bridger during the construction of seaQuest-II and opted not to sign back on for another tour, hence, why Bridger pursued a relationship with Dr. Smith.

Miguel Ortiz and Wendy Smith were killed on Hyperion.

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[–] Heather_24 18 years ago

yeah unfortunately being the correct word..........if they wanted to go from 10 to 8 cast members or whateva then they could have got rid of hendersen (she wanted literally all of the guys onboard, dated o neil, got jelous over ortiz, offered herself to lucas and finally ended up with ford!), o neil or captain hudson! ford could have been captain, ortiz could have stayed, i was begining to really like him in the second series! i like piccolo and dagwood, they were the only 2 newcomers that were any good! brody was an older version of lucas and didn't really do much and fredricks was just there to drive about in a small submarine thingy. plus in season 3 it went all political...boring! I like season 1 alot and 2 was also good, maybe not the giant crocodile ep but that was still entertaining! Shame about jonathan brandis, he was a great actor, i would have definately hired him.
heather x

Whats the point in signatures?!

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[–] lynnpougher 18 years ago

I read somewhere that Ortiz was axed from the show, was because of money. It's also why Brody was killed off. The reason Krieg was axed, was because he was deemed too old. Bloody hell, if he's old, then I'm a dinosaur!

Lynn

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[–] 18 years ago

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[–] ray-bayliss 18 years ago

I heard that they canned most of the actors from season 1 because they were deemed "too old" at age 30+. Dr Westphalen left because the actress was not willing to relocate to Florida where they started production in season 2. As for Ortiz and Brody, the budget was slashed and the producers wanted more actress' on the show to attract more male viewers.

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[–] foxypoetmeg 16 years ago

Marco Sanchez (played Miguel Ortiz) was gone from the show due to cutbacks (atleast that is what I hear). I guess we were to assume he didn't make it.

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[–] abby0315 16 years ago

I have this small theory about Ortiz, that he did make it back, but couldn't stomach working for Hudson. The only reason I even watched the third season was for Ford, Lucas, Piccolo, Dagwood, and the three episodes that Bridger were in. Other than that, it made no sense and the heart of the show was gone when the second season started. Also, the barely there use of Darwin as a character in the third season. That made me real sad, the ship was built around Darwin, not the ego of a man who was in "Quest" of his own to find a ship that has been gone for ten years. Get over it and move on.

I went shopping for camouflage gear, but I could not find any.

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[–] Polaris01313-1 15 years ago

I don't blame Roy Scheider for leaving the series after the disasterous second season. To this day, I still commend him for his decision. The show had utterly gone down hill after that, and...well to quote William Francis Nolan, "When you know a ship is about to sink, you don't stay on board."

Hard to believe that is has been fifteen years since SeaQuest first aired on NBC.

NBC and Universal had a wonderful thing going. Then they just !@#$%^ it all up.

May God damn them to hell for their sins!

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[–] urbanoperative 15 years ago

i read on another post that hitchcock wanted off the show, wephalen refused to move to FL and left the show, crocker and krieg were dumped. then brody wanted out and was killed off, ortiz wanted to stay but was dumped

season one: science under the ocean, season 2: science fiction under the ocean, season 3: fiction under the ocean.

I really missed krieg and ortiz. i was 12 when this originally aired and i couldn't understand why the people left. it killed me. i had no idea about contracts and neilson, etc. I blamed hudson for the downfall of the show. to this day whenever i see michael ironside on tv, i get really upset. yes, i NOW know it's not his fault, but now it's stuck in my psyche. sorry michael

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[–] aeruynh 15 years ago

Well - personally I preferred the two first seasons to the third one. Nothing bad about mr. Ironside - I loved him in Starship Troopers, but he didn't fit in my sense of SeaQuest.

I mean the entire show turned from science (which , yes, evolved into speculative history and sci-fi , but I sort of liked that - a bit unnerving at first - but understandable to get higher ratings.) and ended up in the third season as a semi political military hobgew.

I only watched the last season because - well I cant not watch the last seasons, but mostly because lucas, ford, O'Neill, pikkolo and dagwood was still there. The fact that Darwin got less screentime was really *beep* up, and I seriously didnt like Cpt. Hudson attitude concerning the whole thing - he seems to only want to have the renowned SeaQuest for his own little Quest - and not to further Science and keep the peace.

I really missed Westphalen though - I assumed she didnt return to SeaQuest on the next tour when she wasnt there - but I would have liked a reason - we didn't get one for Krieg either - but he was a smaller character - and annoying. It wasn't the same without her - they put in wnedy smith instead - which is ok I guess - but I stil missed her. and pikkolo seemed to be the comical part of the show, like krieg weas the first season.

But yeah, as a couple of others have said - not everyone survided on Hyperion - and the missing crew (Ortiz, Smith etc.) was because they didn't survive.

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[–] urbanoperative 15 years ago

it wasn't their fault that they died. who the hell takes the psychic doctor and the sonar guy on your secret assault team?!? bridger should never have listened to the aliens.

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[–] ilpl 15 years ago

"In the first season finale, Bridger sacrifices the seaQuest to prevent an ecological disaster, and for a short time it was not known if the show would be renewed for another season. When it was decided the show would return, NBC and Universal used this opportunity to tinker with the show's format. Both Royce D. Applegate (Chief Manilow Crocker) and John D'Aquino (Krieg) were released by NBC as the network wanted a younger cast for the second year (D'Aquino subsequently returned for a guest appearance in the third season). Stacy Haiduk (Hitchcock), who was not happy with her character's development, informed producers she did not wish to return if the show went on to a second season. Stephanie Beacham, who as Dr. Kristin Westphalen was one of the first season's strongest characters, had been asked back for the second year; however, she quit when it was decided the show would move production from Los Angeles to Florida.[2] (The move also changed the show's location from Pearl Harbor to New Cape Quest; a fictional city in Florida). Beacham also blamed continued fighting between the network and the show's producers as a major reason why she did not return."

i pulled it off the wikipedia article... take what you will from it.

Captain Awesome

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