By Steve Krutzler / 10:23, 22 February 2004 / TrekWeb Features

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Garrett Wang Reflects on Voyager
By Jacqueline Bundy

While STAR TREK: VOYAGER may have ended its run almost three years ago it is still widely viewed around the world in syndication and is now about to be released on DVD. The first season set of DVD's hits stores this coming Tuesday, February 24th. The recent Paramount salute to the space program also served as a launch party for the release of STAR TREK: VOYAGER on DVD.

With several of the cast members in attendance to celebrate the release, there was an air of reflection at the event as those actors looked back at the series they spent seven years filming. Among the guests was Garrett Wang, best known to fans as 'Ensign Harry Kim'.

When asked if there was anything he would have changed about the series or how his character, Harry Kim was portrayed Wang responded, "Now that it's all said and done I would say that there are certain things that I would have kept exactly the same and certain things I would have changed."

"For instance I think I would have pushed a lot harder a lot earlier in Voyager's seven-year run for more humorous interaction between Kim and the other characters. I think that's so key to a drama. Balancing all the dramatic life threatening moments with levity," said Wang.

When he expressed those thoughts to the producers Wang was ignored, however. "For some reason the producers had it in their mind that the only people who could be funny were 'Neelix' and 'The Doctor.' Each of the actors on the series has their own unique sense of humor and they are all very funny people. It would just kill me to see how we were all interacting when the cameras weren't rolling and I thought that those were some of the funniest moments I've ever seen or been a part of in my entire life. So if I had to a chance to change something I would have made it so that humor was a bigger of the show from day one."

A science fiction fan from childhood, Wang grew up watching many different science fiction programs, including STAR TREK. "The first Science fiction I ever saw was the first STAR WARS movie. After that I was pretty much hooked on any science fiction. Whether it was BATTLESTAR GALACTICA or STAR TREK. Anything that was sci-fi in space I watched."

Wang expressed some disappointment that there wasn't more of an effort to make VOYAGER stand out more from the series that preceded it. "When Roddenberry passed the reigns over to [Rick]Berman, unfortunately Berman kept the same formula. And he just kept plugging it in."

Wang went on to comment that to some extent he thinks that the same thing was done on TNG, DS9 and VOY. "That's something that I've always disagreed with," Wang said. "Maybe I'm not on Rick Berman's good list because of it but I've always said that risks should have been taken. Risks in terms of the way they film it in terms of where the storylines go, instead of just saying A + B = C for every single episode."

"So when I'm asked what made VOYAGER stand out...you are talking about the same overall formula so it doesn't. It has stayed the same for every single episode. But if you put that aside, what sets VOYAGER apart I think [is] the camaraderie among the cast was stronger with our cast than on the other series."

Speaking about the current state of the STAR TREK franchise and all the rumors that ENTERPRISE will be cancelled after the current season Wang said, "It would not surprise me."

"With any type of venture if you do the same thing for 21 straight years it gets old," he added. "People are bound to think--Would you please take some chances? Change it up a bit? That's what I think should have been done... That's human nature, everything needs to change periodically. Take the music industry for example and look at someone like Madonna. How many times has she reinvented herself? That's because she has to. You have to constantly reinvent yourself to stay interesting as a form entertainment, and it's the same thing with STAR TREK."

That being said however, Wang wouldn't be averse to appearing in an episode of ENTERPRISE if asked to do so. "Brannon Braga said something about that but with my rift with Berman I really doubt that will happen. But would definitely enjoy coming in as an alien. I love prosthetic work so I'd welcome that."

When asked what type of STAR TREK series he would like to see, Wang seemed to lean toward taking a new direction. "If you look at the newer shows today, the successful shows take chances in terms of the material they deal with and how they present the topics they are trying to deal with."

If it was up to him, the actor says that any new series would, "Add lot more humor. I would not being afraid of taking chances and I wouldn't stay status quo. You can't say that's good enough, it's our persona and we will settle for that. I wouldn't do that. That works for a little while but not for long. It's time for a change."

Wang wasn't particularly pleased with how the series ended. "I think the first hour was brilliant, absolutely brilliant," he said, but "the second hour seemed like the abridged version of the ending. That final hour really tied everything up in a nice neat little bow and ended it without anyone knowing what happened when we got home. All we saw was we're home-oh good-goodbye."

The final shot of the series was particularly dissatisfying for Wang. Speaking about what he was thinking during that final shot Wang said, "Janeway tells Paris set a course for home I was thinking that there was no real reaction among anyone here to the fact that we are home." That just didn't feel right to Wang, it seemed unnatural somehow that there wasn't more emotion from the crew on their homecoming.

"The last day of filming was very bizarre," he added. "Our last day was a bizarre kind of weird fog that everyone was in. Kate was very quiet and I think that set tone amongst everyone on the bridge."

Despite the current state of the franchise Wang is certain that STAR TREK will continue to inspire people to explore space and to work toward Gene Roddenberry's idealistic vision of the future. "I think it will always do that," Wang stated. "STAR TREK will run in syndication for infinity. All the shows, from the original series through ENERPRISE. They will always serve as inspiration for people to further space exploration and be excited about it. I mean that's the one big unknown out there."

Wang thinks that the fans of VOYAGER will be very happy to see it all again on DVD and that they will be very pleased with the special features the various sets will offer. Like all the cast members he was asked to film interviews for those special features. Something that will be a bit different with these DVD special features though is that "They go beyond the basic interview to try to incorporate different things." Sighting some examples Wang said, "They followed Roxanne Dawson around the set while she directed an episode of ENTERPRISE and asked me to take a video camera along on a STAR TREK cruise that I did. Those will be features on some of the other season sets coming out later this year."