Ah, Scott-101, I've been trying to catch up with you after the comments you've made on the BP forum.
From what I've heard, people who've met Jeri in person have felt that she is a very nice and good humoured woman, who likes jokes and is very kind to her work collegues and son. So we've got that "she's a nice person in private" thing out of the way.
I believe she's a decent actress, but not the greatest actress, but I believe she's a lot better than given credit for. I think she did a good job, given the material on both Voyager and Boston Public. I rate her as an actress and not just eye candy. And her additions to shows certainly do not make them "Jump the Shark", although Boston Public "Jumped the Shark" when Jeri signed up, even though it's not directly her fault.
Anyway, here is a post on my interpritation on why Boston Public fell apart, Scott-101, it is adressed to you, Scott-101, on the Boston Public forum. I posted here for you read, if you missed it the first time:
(*** "I don't think Jeri Ryan ever made Voyager and Dark Skies "Jump the Shark" as far as I'm concerned, Scott-101. Yes she often plays the role as eye candy, I'm a hot blooded male and I'm not blind. But Jeri Ryan proved herself to be a decent sometimes even talented actress on both sci-fi shows. And her Trek character, Seven of Nine, proved to be one of the most dynamic and interesting female Trek characters in recent years.
However that said, I partially agree with you, Scott-101, that Boston Public "Jumped the Shark" when Jeri Ryan hopped on board at the Season Two, even though it was not directly her fault and was more to do with very bad timing on Jeri's part. The writing and story quality already started to go down hill as early as Season Two and the addition of Michael Rapaport and Jeri Ryan simply fanned the flames of discontent. You see, David E Kelly has a very bad habit in sinking his shows by overcooking the stories and having unnecessary cast changes that always backfire badly (see earlier post for reference) and Boston Public was no real exception.
And yes, Scott-101, Jeri Ryan's character, Ronnie Cooke, was not a particularly good character. I mean how can a high payed lawyer suddenly ditch her richly rewarded career and become a teacher at a drop of a hat? I don't think is was that far fetched, but merely a good idea poorly executed by the script writers. Jeri Ryan's character was uncompelling, lacking proper depth and realistic credibility. Michael Rapaport was annoying but entertaining at times, but even he had a character that was more interesting and fleshed out than Jeri's. Boston Public was starting to go off the rails in Season Two, what with the bizarre exploits of Kathy Baker's Hook Lady, the dumbing down of the script and the unexplained musical numbers eroding away the realism of the once gritty school drama.
Also, Scott-101, the departure of major characters sealed the fate of Boston Public in the long run. The daparture of major characters such as Harry Senate (especially Harry Senate) and even Lauren Davis (her sudden departure was off putting) left a major void. A void that Ronnie Cooke, Danny Hanson or any other character had no hope in hell of filling. Also David E Kelly turned his back on the show for good in Season Three and handed over the writing and producing aspects to less qualified hands and BP plummeted still. Harry Senate was a very important character that provided a lot of spark and energy for the first two seasons and he became Boston Public's lynch pin character. He had more pathos and depth than Ronnie Cooke ever had and Jeri came off as boring in comparison. Once Harry was gone, the show lost it's essence and soon fell apart, and Jeri had impossibly big shoes to fill in Nicky Katt's absence. Jeri did all she could within the contraints of her weak character, but it was not enough to salvage an *already* declining series.
The addition of Jeri Ryan and Michael Rapaport did stir the pot and push aside Nicky Katt and Jessalyn Gilsig, but that was the fault of the writers who mismanaged the show's solid cast. If Jeri was given a better written character, if the script quality remained good, if there was a equal story balance between Jeri Ryan, Michale Rapaport, Jessalyn Gilsig and Nicky Katt, then Boston Public would have endured. No, Scott-101, I do not blame Jeri Ryan for Boston Public's demise. Accusing Jeri Ryan of ruining Boston Public is a very malicious and snide statement tinged with a degree of absurdity, Jeri Ryan just turned up the *very* moment the show took a nose dive and she got caught up in the middle of it. And she is not a bad actress, she is a good one, it's just a shame that her detractors cannot look much past her busty exterior, Scott-101. David E Kelly and his writing team were the real culprits in sinking Boston Public and not Jeri Ryan, who was just screwed over by the terrible writing and being used as an innocent scapegoat by the show's malcontent fan base, which quite frankly, makes me physically sick.
To simplify my take on this, Scott-101, I summing up my main points in the decline of Boston Public:
Awful writing in Season Two + Jeri Ryan given badly written character + Nicky Katt leaving + Big void that Jeri Ryan and Michael Rapaport cannot replace + Even worse writing and progressively silly plots in Season Three = Boston Public goes down the crapper
That's my take on it." ***)
As for the Voyager cast being weak, well I can partially agree with you, but there were some good character actors found in the Voyager cast, with Robert Picardo being the prime example. Ethan Phillipes, Tim Russ and Kate Mulgrew were honourable mentions as well. So Jeri held her own against older and more experienced stage actors on the show, so that tells me alot.
And as for that farce, Boston Public: I preferred Jeri Ryan overall to Jessalyn Gilsig and Michael Rapaport and I liked her alongside Nicky Katt. However, I felt Jeri was nowhere near as good as Chi McBride, Anthony Heald or Lorette DeVine, first rate character actors that formed the core of the show. And I also disliked her poorly conceived Ronnie Cooke character, besides that, her character in looks and behaviour stuck out like a sore thumb. So Jeri never got accepted by Boston Public's fickle fan base and was an easy target for criticism. But I don't blame Jeri directly for ruining Boston Public since she came to the show at a very bad time, when the show was starting to go into melt down, a fate shared by most David E Kelly dramas that last more than a season or so. Jeri Ryan was dissapointing not because she was awful herself, it was the writing itself that was bad and like you said, Scott-101, the writers were already recycling plots as early as Season Two and Three.
Anyway, Boston Public is a done deal and Jeri Ryan is moving onto another show, The OC. We'll see if she can handle this role differently. From what I heard, The OC is a good series and the character written for her sounds alot more interesting than the flat character written for her in Boston Public.
Oh and as for that cheesy catsuit; well I saw Jeri in a normal Starfleet uniform and she still looks stunning all the same, so that makes little difference in terms of the costumes she wore.
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