By Chris Snellgrove | Published
Over time Star Trek: Voyagerwe learned a lot about Kate Mulgrew’s Captain Janeway, including how she liked to relax. The first season introduced her beloved holonovel where she played a governess in a Gothic setting from the 19th century. However, as it turns out, this holonovel was originally going to be a Western, which imagined Janeway as a pioneer girl.
Kate Mulgrew Didn’t Want to Ride a Horse
The holonovel in question has been haunting the first two seasons of the show, and was introduced in the season 1 episode “Cathexis.” It was originally planned by executive producer Jeri Taylor, and she wanted to make Janeway a heifer full of princes in a pioneering scenario meant to mimic the captain’s experience in the Delta Quadrant. However, Kate Mulgrew’s fear of working with horses, combined with potentially high production costs, was enough to make the show’s producers scrap plans for this fun Western setting.
Originally, the holonovel (or “Janeway Lambda One” for you purists) was going to portray our captain as a whale girl compared to earth. Taylor envisioned this adventure as one where Janeway was heading West in a covered wagon, facing various challenges along the way while tending to the needs of her husband and children. Such an adventure would force this future Starfleet officer to master skills like firefighting, all of which Taylor thinks are perfectly suited to Voyager’s critical situation.
It’s like the Wild West
However, what the heck does Janeway being a cowgirl have in common with being a captain? In short, Voyager’s thrust into the Delta Quadrant makes its captain and crew resemble the explorers and settlers of the Old West. As a typical pioneer woman, Janeway must deal with being far from home and solving unexpected problems, while dealing with a group that often feels more like family than subordinates.
It’s Too Expensive to Make a Movie
However, Jeri Taylor eventually realized that she and the other producers would have to abandon Janeway’s cowgirl dreams because “we’ll probably be saying over and over again, ‘We can’t afford that this week, we’re going to have to do something else.'” As for why this would be a budget nightmare .
Speaking like this, the lady who played the role of Janeway had no problem with her character missing out on being a cowgirl. It is reported that he was determined not to work with horses when he was producing the show. Unlike Janeway’s colleagues like Kirk and Picard, Mulgrew had no real love for horses…at least, not enough to work with regularly.
As much as we enjoyed Janeway’s holonovel Star Trek: Voyagerit’s hard not to think that a cowgirl theme would have been more fun. Jeri Taylor had the right idea: because this game represented the Starfleet equivalent of exploring the Wild West. Moreover, considering that The Next Generation gave us several different variations of the cowboy Commander data, it’s disappointing that we never got to see Janeway put on the boots to move on once in all the seven seasons of Voyager.
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