Adalind Schade/ Claire Coffee

[irukandji]

One thing I have been wondering about is if it's the nature of Grimm that slowed her career. There have been discussions here on what Grimm really was, fantasy, police procedural, horror, or science fiction. I have always looked at it as science fiction. I was thinking about Star Trek and some of the other science fiction series. Using Star Trek as an example, I know that William Shatner had a difficult time finding work after it ended. He feared he'd been type cast as Captain Kirk. Now, Shatner is heads above Claire, actually over the entire cast as far as acting chops are concerned, but I can see that fear as a real issue. We all know him as Captain Kirk. He also did a few made for television movies and some commercials for Buick, I believe. But he's still Captain Kirk and it really hit home when he went into space months back.

Shatner and the cast got a very lucky break with the Star Trek movies, but that almost went south with that bomb of a first movie. I think what saved them is that fans were so happy to see that cast back together that a second movie was a sure bet. The second movie had a terrific story and a villain from the original series to boot. We all know it was a winner and paved the way for more movies. But who knows what would have happened if the Star Trek movies had never been made. The cast would have faded into the past, maybe showing up now and them for a guest spot.  

With Netflix, Prime, Hulu and Tubi, I have been able to catch up on old science fiction series and I don't really recall the actors in them making successful transitions to other series. All of the series I watched were not one ups that lasted only one season. They ranged from four seasons up to eleven. Aside from Star Trek, Stargate seemed to have the most spin offs.

Claire would have been crazy to pass up Grimm, but it may have hurt her career, along with the rest of the cast. David and Elizabeth are fortunate, for now, but that could end for them as well. Ironic that the network for Grimm and Star Trek was NBC.

I know fans have been petitioning for Grimm to be renewed on Netflix, but I'm not so sure that would save the series. I watched a science fiction series called, Another Life, which I liked a lot. It was cancelled after two seasons. Lost in Space went for three seasons on Netflix, but it was specifically limited to a three season series.

[FaceInTheCrowd]

The actors in Star Trek definitely had to deal with becoming typecast, because the series and films they were in became iconic titles and grew into massive franchises. Their characters became household names worldwide.

Grimm did neither of these things, and outside of its fanbase (which from the traffic in these forums lately, is possibly just you and me), my guess is that the average TV viewer has already forgotten the names Nick Burkhardt and Adalind Schade.

[irukandji]

Shatner's fear of being typecast was not because of the movies. The first movie didn't come out until well after 10 years after the series cancelled. He was afraid of being typecast as a result of the original series. To some extent, he was right, although I do remember him doing commercials, guest spots, and made for television movies to keep his family going. He has written about the time he was homeless and had to sleep in his truck while looking for work.

After the movies came out, I doubt any one of the cast cared if they were typecast or not. The movies rocketed them to iconic status. Prior to that, they were just like the actors of Grimm. Had the movies not been the huge success they became, I very much doubt we'd have heard much about the cast.

[FaceInTheCrowd]

Nimoy had the softest landing after Trek, moving pretty much directly over to Mission: Impossible. Shatner apparently went into a personal tailspin for a while, as his first marriage collapsed around the same time Trek got cancelled, and it took him five years to come back with another series.

Everyone else seems to have had mostly forgettable careers, at least on screen, until the Trek movies.

[irukandji]

Are you talking about T.J. Hooker? That was a successful series for him, but didn't come until 1985. He was also in a series called Barbary Coast, but that was unsuccessful, only lasting one season and was in 1975.

[FaceInTheCrowd]

I was referring to Barbary Coast. It didn't make it as a series, but it was still a star billed role and I'd say the high point of his 70s outside of Trek.

[irukandji]

It was a series that had 14 episodes, which is only one more than the Grimm series finale. I would call Barbary Coast unsuccessful. Shatner is far above Claire as acting chops go, but even he couldn't make a go of a series after Star Trek, until the Star Trek movies movies made him famous. Then he signed on for T.J. Hooker.

[FaceInTheCrowd]

I remember Barbary Coast as a Wild, Wild West knockoff that was so bad that it would have failed no matter who was playing Shatner's character. Probably didn't help any that the other star was Doug McClure, either.

[irukandji]

I didn't even watch it. The name was enough to turn me from becoming a viewer.