Wesley Crusher?

[Virgo76]

I was watching Star Trek the other day.
What was the deal with Wesley Crusher exactly?
I seem to remember he was very unpopular with the ST fan base for some reason? Why was that? He was an okay actor wasn't he? Was he forced off the show in the end?

[Sonny_Jim]

From what I remember, it all got a bit too much for him, so he left and became a sales rep for the Video Toaster.  Then did some NCISy stuff whilst becoming an early internet legend.  He was the only celebrity who actually ran his own website.

Oh and he did a great piece about how Shatner was a shithead to him (they've made up now)

[C_Larence]

This was the last i heard of him.
https://news.avclub.com/wil-wheaton-on-quitting-social-media-i-don-t-deserve-1828743467

Throughout Wheaton's essay decrying the online mobs of bad faith actors, there seems to be one glaring omission: Any mention of his friend Chris Hardwick. Following Chloe Dykstra's public account of the abuse she endured in a relationship with an unnamed "nerd mogul" who was pretty clearly Hardwick, a lot of people expected an outspoken feminist like Wheaton to publicly condemn the actions of his friend. At the time, Wheaton said that he needed "some time to process what's going on and put words to my thoughts." Those words never materialized, and a couple months later he was off Twitter for good.

[JaDanketies]

I've only just really started watching it but apparently he saved the day too many times without it fitting his character. It is a little glaring how much younger he is than everyone else and it makes him stand out.

[Alberon]

I've only just really started watching it but apparently he saved the day too many times without it fitting his character. It is a little glaring how much younger he is than everyone else and it makes him stand out.

I remember reading an interview with him in Starlog way back in 89 or 90 and he was saying that wasn't right even then.

[Buelligan]

Didn't like him or his mum.  Felt like you might pop round to theirs and get forced into joining a Prayer Breakfast with Pence or something.  Narrow, buttoned-up dolls is how I remember them.  Course it was all a very long time ago, maybe they've grown as people.

[pancreas]

A usenet group about wesley.crusher was the inspiration for the Guardian thread here with a similar title.

[Blumf]

The story is, Wesley was a self-insert character for Gene Roddenberry (middle name Wesley) and the writers didn't particularly take to it. As such, you've got a Mary-Sue with a really grating personality (whining all the time, always being right). Never really stood a chance.

There are glimmers of hope for the character. His relation with Picard, who was slowly taking the role of surrogate father figure, was working okay. And maybe his experience at Star Fleet Academy[nb]Being involved in the death of a class mate[/nb] could have been used to mature the character. But then he comes back from the academy as the ultimate grumpy teen, with an extra dose of arrogance. Fortunately, a Warp-paede comes along, grooms him, and whisks Wes away just as he's inflamed a tense situation between the Federation, Cardassia, and some Native American colonists, into a deadly fire fight. Bit of a stinker of an ending for young master Crusher there.

[earl_sleek]

He was a Mary Sue character - 'Wesley' was Gene Rodenberry's middle name. (EDIT: Blumf beat me to it!) Like JaDanketies said, he saved the day an implausible amount of times, often being right against much more experienced officers on Starfleet's flagship. He did get better towards the end of his tenure on the show I think.

IIRC Wil Weaton never even wanted to be an actor and was forced into it by his parents. I think he did a good job considering his age and what he had to work with, and he's well-liked by the fanbase.

[earl_sleek]

Didn't like him or his mum.  Felt like you might pop round to theirs and get forced into joining a Prayer Breakfast with Pence or something.  Narrow, buttoned-up dolls is how I remember them.  Course it was all a very long time ago, maybe they've grown as people.

In some areas of the fandom Beverley is known as 'blazing Bev' and reputed to be a lover of medicinal cigarettes...

[notjosh]

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

[Buelligan]

Nice to see dear old Ginyard in there.

[Sebastian Cobb]

Quite ironic that Mary Sue is believed to come from TOS fanfiction innit.

[Camp Tramp]

..and he was cut out of Nemesis. he was supposed to turn up naked when attending Picard/Beverley's wedding.

Probably a good thing he was cut out of that turkey

[Blumf]

Quite ironic that Mary Sue is believed to come from TOS fanfiction innit.

Not believed, fact!


(really hard to find a good image of that)

It's amazing how vibrant the Trek fandom was long before the Internet came along, even to the extent that fans were picking up on bad fanfic tropes amongst their fanzines.

[Malcy]

..and he was cut out of Nemesis. he was supposed to turn up naked when attending Picard/Beverley's wedding.

Probably a good thing he was cut out of that turkey

He's still visible in a couple of shots I think. Wearing that white and gold formal suit thing.

[Registering to lurk]

I was watching Star Trek the other day.
What was the deal with Wesley Crusher exactly?
I seem to remember he was very unpopular with the ST fan base for some reason? Why was that? He was an okay actor wasn't he? Was he forced off the show in the end?

According to Wil Wheaton, he quit after being messed around by producer Rick Berman.

Wheaton wanted some time off for a film between series 3 and 4, which would involve not being available for some of the early series 4 filming. Berman said this wouldn't be possible because Wesley featured heavily in the opening scripts. Wheaton couldn't do the role, and then found he wasn't being used on set anymore than usual, and the whole thing just appeared to be some weird power play.

[sevendaughters]

i just watched the episode (am watching from front to back for the first time ever) where he falls in love with a 10/10 princess who can shapeshift into a bear with bug eyes. State of Our Wes was interminable but he brought out some great laughs from sexpred Riker.

[Paul Calf]

He was semi-regular in The Big Bang Theory for 10 years.

[Famous Mortimer]

This was the last i heard of him.
https://news.avclub.com/wil-wheaton-on-quitting-social-media-i-don-t-deserve-1828743467

Looks like Chris Hardwick escaped that largely intact, right? (that article was from 2018). Or perhaps he didn't, I don't care enough to find out what he's still up to.

He hosts the Star Trek after-show on CBS's online thing, if the official Star Trek account on Facebook is to be believed. And seems like a decent enough fella these days.

I know this is more for Picture Box than here, but I think Dr Pulaski should have stayed and they should have binned both the Crushers off.

[Malcy]

He done this film recently too. I enjoyed it.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12274228/

[Icehaven]

He was semi-regular in The Big Bang Theory for 10 years.

Yeah I was going to say, he was on BBT loads of times, as himself.

[C_Larence]

Looks like Chris Hardwick escaped that largely intact, right? (that article was from 2018). Or perhaps he didn't, I don't care enough to find out what he's still up to.

He hosts the Star Trek after-show on CBS's online thing, if the official Star Trek account on Facebook is to be believed. And seems like a decent enough fella these days.

I know this is more for Picture Box than here, but I think Dr Pulaski should have stayed and they should have binned both the Crushers off.

Yeah he did, he's also married to William Randolph Hearst's granddaughter so I assume he has the resources to escape any scandal unscathed. Wheaton (and Hardwick to a slightly lesser extent) always felt to me like the personification of reddit and I find that extremely off putting.

[checkoutgirl]

IIRC Wil Weaton never even wanted to be an actor and was forced into it by his parents.

Coincidentally I watched a documentary directed by Bill from Bill and Ted (Showbiz Kids 2020) about exploited kids in Hollywood and Will Wheaton was an interviewee. He mentions his pushy parents and I thought he came across as fairly well adjusted in the circumstances.

[El Unicornio, mang]

[Ant Farm Keyboard]

According to Wil Wheaton, he quit after being messed around by producer Rick Berman.

Wheaton wanted some time off for a film between series 3 and 4, which would involve not being available for some of the early series 4 filming. Berman said this wouldn't be possible because Wesley featured heavily in the opening scripts. Wheaton couldn't do the role, and then found he wasn't being used on set anymore than usual, and the whole thing just appeared to be some weird power play.

The film was Valmont, Milos Forman's version of Dangerous Liaisons, and he was offered the part of Danceny, played by Keanu Reeves in the Stephen Frears take. As production took place in Europe, it wasn't compatible with the show. Henry Thomas got the part instead.

[sevendaughters]

his youtube channel about Tabletop gaming is good. I don't mind Wil Wheaton, just hate Wes Crusher.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

I prefer Wesley's siblings, Rock and Garlic.

[Sherringford Hovis]

Milburn's my favourite Crusher.

[Nobody Soup]

Star Trek: Discovery is running with the idea of revolving the entire show around Wesley if anyone wants to watch that.