R.I.P. Kirstie Alley

[Monterey Jack]

One of my first "older woman" MILF crushes as a teen, and an underrated comic actress.

[AndyDursin]

Fantastic debut in Wrath of Khan. A shame they couldn't work it out for her to return. (Saw someone tonight claim on Twitter they didn't realize she had been replaced for III after having watched it...do you need new glasses or a different brain? Lol.)

Her work on Cheers was so vital to that shows huge run. Solidified the ensemble and propelled it beyond the Sam and Diane years into something special.

She did a good interview with Tucker on his Fox Nation show that was worthwhile about a year ago...very sad.

[Monterey Jack]

Fantastic debut in Wrath of Khan. A shame they couldn't work it out for her to return. (Saw someone tonight claim on Twitter they didn't realize she had been replaced for III after having watched it...do you need new glasses or a different brain? Lol.)

In an eerie coincidence, I re-watched the Trek movies on the UHD set over the last week. Search For Spock definitely suffered from Alley's absence. And wasn't Kim Cattrall's character in The Undiscovered Country supposed to be Lt. Savvik, but they just changed it to a different Vulcan character?

[AndyDursin]

That's the rumor though I dont know...if they had wanted the Cattrall part to be Saavik they could've just called the character that. May have been the original idea before they changed it around.

I just remember them making this big deal about Robin Curtis and she ended up literally in an Alpo commercial within a short time of III's release.

[Paul MacLean]

A wonderful actress -- beautiful, unpretentious and funny (a rare combination).

Despite playing an emotionless Vulcan in Star Trek II her comedic charm was able to come through in certain moments (like her conversation with Spock regarding Captain Kirk, and her amusingly curt, abrupt message to Lt. Uhura from Regula One).

[AndyDursin]

It's probably the biggest disappointment with III and onwards that they couldn't figure out what to do with the most exciting addition to the cast in that series. Obviously not retaining her was the major issue and I thought it was a money thing despite whatever or not they all publicly said.

Either way, I agree Paul, she's so good in II. Talk about getting it right where they misstepped with, say, a model (with scant acting experience) like Persis Khambatta on TMP.

[Eric W.]

I was definitely a fan. RIP.

[mkaroly]

It's probably the biggest disappointment with III and onwards that they couldn't figure out what to do with the most exciting addition to the cast in that series. Obviously not retaining her was the major issue and I thought it was a money thing despite whatever or not they all publicly said.

Either way, I agree Paul, she's so good in II. Talk about getting it right where they misstepped with, say, a model (with scant acting experience) like Persis Khambatta on TMP.

I thought Khambatta did a really good job in ST:TMP personally. I agree that it is too bad that they couldn't keep Kirstie on as Saavik moving forward in the series. Kirstie Alley was a strong actress - I especially liked the way she used her voice (which is a bit on the deeper side) so expressively to great comic or dramatic effect. She will be missed.

[AndyDursin]

Also worth noting is the paydirt Alley hit with 1989's LOOK WHO'S TALKING, which also marked a big Travolta comeback in the '90s after some lean years. Amy Heckerling's original was a bona-fide sleeper hit (the kind we don't get anymore) and was pretty well-reviewed at the time also -- it's actually kind of fun, even though its rep was dragged down by two terrible sequels (in 1990 and 1993).

[Eric Paddon]

It's the fact that she was so iconic in Trek II, that it's yet another reason why III and IV are so lacking for me in that everything good and positive about II was basically undone in the two subsequent films.

Had a sexy turn in her supporting role in "Runaway" where she totally blew away the film's leading lady, the bland Cynthia Rhoades.

I admit though because I was such a big Shelley Long fan I just couldn't watch Cheers any more after she left, though I'm sure Alley did a great job for those who kept watching.

It's amazing how her career didn't get started until she was already past 30. Here she was just two years before WOK as a game show contestant calling herself an "interior designer from Wichita."

[AndyDursin]

That's awesome Eric!

Runaway is a good call I need to rewatch that.

I was never a big Long fan and I thought Cheers improved as a show after Diane left. You had Alley and a much larger reliance on giving the ensemble characters their own stories which broadened and IMO enhanced the overall comedy. I watched the entire run with my Dad back at the time and he had grown tired of the Sam/Diane soap opera, so having the side characters take over appealed to him . I also felt watching reruns that story had played itself out as well. Either way the writing was consistently good for quite a while until it got a little worn out the last season(ish).

Alley was great as well working off Danson and the other established cast members. It speaks to her talent that not only did she do a superb job on the series but that it continued to flourish with her for years thereafter.

[Eric Paddon]

I gave "Runaway" a look tonight (freebie of the import Blu-Ray). I hadn't seen it since the late 80s, and my memories were correct. In her brief screen time, Alley totally blows away the film's female lead Cynthia Rhodes (playing Selleck's cop partner) who honestly can't act her way out of a paper bag. The film then totally wastes Alley (and makes Selleck and Rhodes look like incompetent cops) by giving us scenes of them going to great lengths to protect her from baddie Gene Simmons, but all Simmons has to do is then nab the not very bright Rhodes, force Selleck to trade Alley for Rhodes and naturally Simmons then just kills Alley within seconds. If they'd really been smart they would have made Alley the film's leading lady, given Selleck a male partner who gets killed by Simmons and make the film about bringing Selleck and Alley together (then we would have been spared the stupid end credits of Selleck and Rhodes kissing and his fascination with touching her nose).

[Paul MacLean]

One of my first "older woman" MILF crushes as a teen, and an underrated comic actress.

That gif is really nice find, Jack. It really shows-off her charm and disarmingly attractive screen persona.

[Monterey Jack]

That gif is really nice find, Jack. It really shows-off her charm and disarmingly attractive screen persona.

This is the scene that really drove me wild at the age of fifteen:



I remember professing my crush on her to my high school chums not long after that movie came out, and got incredulous "She's old!" reactions.

Philistines.