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87-446: The Doctor , an Emergency Medical Hologram (EMH) , is a fictional character portrayed by actor Robert Picardo in the television series Star Trek: Voyager , first aired on UPN between 1995 and 2001. He is an artificial intelligence manifest as a holographic projection , and designed to be a short-term adjunct to medical staff in emergency situations. However, when the USS Voyager

174-651: A pre-medical student, but opted to act instead. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in drama from Yale University. Picardo is an accomplished singer. While he was at Yale University, he was a member of the Society of Orpheus and Bacchus , the second longest running undergraduate a cappella group in the United States. Also while at Yale, he had a major role in the 1973 European premiere production of Leonard Bernstein 's "Mass" in Vienna, conducted by John Mauceri . The production

261-567: A "sentient being". Thus he is forbidden to make any subsequent changes to the holonovel. Captain Janeway 's efforts result in The Doctor being accorded the status of "artist", although not a "person". This permits him to rewrite the novel. Four months later, it is known throughout the Alpha Quadrant as a very thought-provoking piece of work. Several other EMHs, now relegated to mining duty, experience

348-805: A 1977 episode and Taxi in a 1979 episode. He made his feature film debut as Eddie Quist, the serial killer werewolf in the Joe Dante film The Howling (1981). He also had a recurring role in the sitcom Alice and played a doctor on an episode of The Golden Girls . He played a number of roles in Dante's family science fiction film Explorers (1985), and later appeared in Dante's Innerspace (1987), The 'Burbs (1989), Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990), Matinee (1993), Small Soldiers (1998) and Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003). Picardo often plays roles under layers of prosthetic latex, having also played

435-415: A bad idea." This was one time when I was clearly wrong and the producers were absolutely, a hundred percent right. I conveyed to him exactly what I described to you earlier, that the character's differences define him and make him interesting to the audience. If I'm not limited to the sickbay or the holodeck, then I'll just be like anybody else. I'm glad they did it, as it gave me many more stories. But because

522-522: A computer-generated hologram became a commonplace idea – even a convention – in subsequent fiction". In a minor role in the movie Star Trek: First Contact , Picardo plays the emergency medical hologram of the USS Enterprise -E . Doctor Beverly Crusher activates it/him, albeit reluctantly, as a means of distracting the Borg while she and other crew members escape from the besieged sickbay. He replies, "I'm

609-526: A defective piece of equipment. The Doctor submits a holonovel titled Photons Be Free to a publisher on Earth, detailing the manner in which holograms are sometimes treated by Starfleet. His characters are closely based on Voyager ' s crew, but exaggerated to appear more intense and vicious, creating fears among the crew their reputations would be ruined. Tom Paris convinces The Doctor to make adjustments without sacrificing his theme. The Doctor lacks legal rights as Federation law does not classify him as

696-724: A desire to learn from the Doctor. Later, on an away mission, Paris visits the planet Banea with Harry Kim to find a replacement collimator . Once Voyager arrives to pick them up however, they learn that Paris is accused of murdering a well-known elderly engineering physicist after allegedly being caught flirting with the latter's wife. As punishment, the Baneans imprint the scientist's final moments leading up to his death in Paris' brain, which Paris has to relive repeatedly, slowly causing permanent brain damage . Tuvok conducts his own investigation to determine

783-762: A doctor, not a doorstop", an homage to Doctor McCoy 's catchphrase line " I'm a doctor, not a ... " In the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode " Doctor Bashir I Presume ", Picardo portrays Zimmerman, who here attempts to develop a Long-Term Medical Hologram. (The EMH also was a feature in the defunct Star Trek: The Experience amusement exhibition at the Las Vegas Hilton .) In 2019, Picardo said CBS producers had expressed interest in also having him in Star Trek: Picard as either The Doctor or his creator, Lewis Zimmerman . Several other versions of

870-500: A doctor, not a nightlight! " (Picardo was initially afraid that he might have ruined his chances—ad libbing, he explained, was something that one just "did not do" in an audition.) The Doctor begins his service on the USS Voyager as the standard Emergency Medical Hologram (EMH) built into almost every newer Starfleet ship's sickbay . The EMH is to be used should the ship's doctor be incapacitated or require emergency assistance. In

957-492: A hologram with density. So I got the part without knowing at all what I was in for." Picardo initially auditioned for Neelix . Despite Ethan Phillips ' getting the part, Picardo was asked by the producers to come back and audition for The Doctor—something that shocked him, because usually actors would be passed over completely. During his audition for the role of The Doctor, Picardo was asked only to say, "Somebody forgot to terminate my program." However, he then ad libbed , " I'm

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1044-475: A holoprogram featuring a 1957 Chevy for the Doctor to use when the latter had an attraction to a Vidiian patient. During Paris' childhood, he had an interest in the sea as well as naval ships; in one instance, Paris was scolded by his father for playing with ancient sailing ship models instead of doing his homework. This interest later pushed Paris to do everything in his power to save the Moneans' planet, which

1131-486: A name (see below) and marries a human female named Lana. In the final episode of Star Trek: Voyager , a future version of Janeway also informs him of his later invention of a device known as a "synaptic transceiver", something that fascinates The Doctor; he is cut off by the "present" Janeway, who is abiding by the Temporal Prime Directive, before he can learn more. The "Emergency Command Hologram", aka "ECH",

1218-424: A name during episode S1E12 Heroes and Demons, "Schweitzer". (This name did not carry throughout the entire series.) The Doctor becomes the chief medical officer, with Kes and Tom Paris at various times acting as nurses. Attempting to develop a realistic personality, the Doctor not only manufactures a holographic family (" Real Life "), he also has an increasing number of other "human" experiences. This results in

1305-550: A name to him, and initially, the Doctor claims that he does not want one, until the episode " Eye of the Needle ", when he asks Kes to give him a name. He later adopts such names as "Schweitzer" (after Albert Schweitzer ); "Shmullus" (in " Lifesigns " by Vidiian patient Dr. Denara Pel); "Van Gogh"; "Kenneth"; "Jones"; and several others. His friends suggest the famous historical Earth doctors " Galen " and " Spock ". The captioned dialog of early episodes, and early promotional material for

1392-433: A planet for three years. During the episode " Blink of an Eye ", he asks an associate to inquire further about his progeny. A recurring theme are the ethical aspects of an artificial, yet apparently sentient, being. In the episode " Latent Image ", treating two patients with an equal chance of survival, with only enough time to treat one, The Doctor chooses Harry Kim, a friend. The other patient, Ensign Jetal, dies. The Doctor

1479-626: A shuttle he was piloting near Caldik Prime, killing three other Starfleet officers. Afraid he would lose his commission, Paris falsified records to conceal the cause of the accident. His efforts to cover up his pilot error succeeded, but overwhelmed by guilt and regret, he confessed. He was court martialed for his actions and dishonorably discharged from Starfleet. This caused a major rift between Paris and his father. Following his discharge, Paris left San Francisco for Marseille , where he started spending his time drinking and playing pool in Sandrine's,

1566-410: A usable backup of its image. The Doctor's entire program uses 50 million gigaquads (" Lifesigns " and " The Swarm " mention these limitations). The episode " Living Witness " depicts a future Delta Quadrant civilization building a museum around Voyager artifacts, including its redundant EMH photonic processor. A recurring theme in the Doctor's life is his lack of a proper name. Starfleet did not assign

1653-687: A waterfront bar that he frequented during his academy days. There, Chakotay , a former Starfleet officer now serving with the Maquis , recruited him to serve as a mercenary pilot for the Maquis Rebellion against the Federation. This adventure went no better than his earlier stint in Starfleet as Paris was captured by Starfleet while piloting his first mission for the Maquis. Tried and convicted of treason for aiding

1740-438: A way that reduced the loss of water. The attack is foiled by Voyager at the last second, preventing a massive catastrophe. As Paris spends 30 days in the brig, he dictates his whole situation in his personal access display device in the form of a letter to his father to pass the time, later instructing the computer to transmit the letter to his father once Voyager is within range of Earth. During Voyager 's last few years in

1827-442: A young officer on his first mission who defied his crewmates to befriend Paris. Eventually Paris is accepted by the crew and becomes one of Janeway's most valued officers. As Voyager begins its journey home, Paris is involuntarily selected to be an auxiliary medic on Voyager as he had previously studied two semesters of biochemistry at Starfleet Academy. He is initially joined and eventually replaced by Kes after she expresses

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1914-588: Is destroyed and its crew joins the Federation crew on Voyager . The marooning of Voyager in the Delta Quadrant provides Paris with a new beginning. Janeway gives Paris a field commission as a Starfleet lieutenant and makes him the chief helmsman of Voyager . He had a rough start, however, as Starfleet and Maquis alike viewed Paris with suspicion due to his previous affiliations with both organizations. Paris worked hard to earn his crewmates' respect. During this time, he became best friends with Ensign Harry Kim ,

2001-414: Is first coined by The Doctor in the episode " Tinker, Tenor, Doctor, Spy ", in which he creates a program which allows him to daydream, such as adding routines which allow him to take command of Voyager – including a command uniform – in the event of the command crew being incapacitated. At the end of the episode, Captain Janeway promises to consider the idea. In the following season episode " Workforce ",

2088-442: Is overwhelmed with guilt, believing that his friendship influenced his choice. When the stress nearly leads to his program breaking down, Captain Janeway has his memories of these events deleted. When The Doctor later discovers clues as to what had happened, Captain Janeway is convinced by him and others that he has a right to learn to come to grips with the guilt in the manner of any other sentient being rather than be treated merely as

2175-453: Is stranded on the far side of the galaxy without medical personnel, he is forced to act as the starship 's permanent chief medical officer. In an example of the Star Trek franchise's exploration of artificial intelligence, a simple software program becomes a major character in the show. In a 2020 interview, Picardo said his agent told him that he was selected from 900 actors who auditioned for

2262-427: Is successful at deceiving the rest of the crew to the point where Neelix, believing that Paris was going to leave Voyager for good, gives a tribute speech on his own onboard show. Paris later manages to sneak on board a Kazon ship and discover the spy. In the season 3 premiere, " Basics ", Paris takes back Voyager with the assistance of the Doctor, crewman Lon Suder as well as several Talaxian ships after Voyager

2349-457: The Holodeck , the mobile emitter allows The Doctor to move about freely, making him ideal for missions where the environment would be harmful or otherwise fatal to the crew. In one notable incident, when an away team is trapped on a radioactive planet, The Doctor is able to infiltrate the people and almost single-handedly rescue the team because, as he points out, being a hologram renders him immune to

2436-481: The transwarp barrier, achieving warp 10 and becoming the first known person to do so. However, this later causes Paris to experience an accelerated state of evolution that would normally take humans millions of years. During this, Paris kidnaps Janeway in a shuttlecraft and brings her on a warp 10 flight. Voyager later finds the duo on an uninhabited planet and discovers that they had evolved into amphibian -like beings and had reproduced. The Doctor manages to reverse

2523-405: The 22nd best character of Star Trek overall, noting the character as a "sarcastic, overworked hologram", one that also had time for jokes and helping fellow crewmates. In 2016, Wired magazine ranked the character as the 16th most important character in service to Starfleet within the Star Trek science fiction universe. In 2016, SyFy ranked "The Doctor/Voyager EMH" as the second best of

2610-423: The 26th most important character of Starfleet in 2016, while Comic Book Resources ranked Paris as the 19th best Starfleet character in 2018. In 2020, ScreenRant ranked B'Elanna Torres and Paris as the 3rd best romantic couple of all Star Trek . In 2021, they also felt that Paris' story arc was an interesting one, as he starts off on probation from Starfleet prison, but then returns to good standing over

2697-634: The ABC series The Wonder Years in the role of Coach Cutlip. He is among a small group of television actors to achieve notice on two television series at the same time. In 1993, Picardo had a brief role as Joe "The Meat Man" Morton, a butcher and neighbor to Tim Allen 's character on the sitcom Home Improvement . He also appeared in one episode of ER in 1995 as Abraham Zimble (Season 2 - Episode 6, "Days Like This"). That same year, he voiced Pfish in two Pfish & Chip shorts as seen on Cartoon Network's What-A-Cartoon! Show . From 1995 to 2001, he played

The Doctor (Star Trek: Voyager) - Misplaced Pages Continue

2784-595: The Alpha Quadrant and Earth in 2378, Torres gives birth to her and Paris' daughter, Miral Paris. Paris briefly appears in Star Trek: Lower Decks in the season 2 episode "We'll Always Have Tom Paris", set approximately three years after the end of Star Trek: Voyager . In Lower Decks , Paris, who by then had been fully promoted to lieutenant, had been moving through various Starfleet ships and posts, conducting handshake tours and speaking of his experiences in

2871-891: The Cowboy in Innerspace , Coach Cutlip on The Wonder Years , and Captain Dick Richard on the ABC series China Beach . He is a frequent collaborator of Joe Dante and is a member of The Planetary Society 's Board of Directors. Picardo was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania , the son of Joe Picardo. Robert is of Italian heritage, with his father's family originating from Montecorvino Rovella , Salerno , and his mother's parents originally from Bomba in Abruzzo . He graduated from William Penn Charter School in 1971 and originally entered Yale University as

2958-463: The Delta Quadrant, Paris is repromoted to lieutenant junior grade in the season 6 finale " Unimatrix Zero " after a year of exemplary service. As Paris and Torres' relationship grew deeper, they marry during an interstellar race. Later that year, when it is revealed that Torres had become pregnant , Paris manages to convince Torres to let their baby inherit Torres' Klingon characteristics when she did not want them. As Voyager makes their return to

3045-684: The Delta Quadrant. In one instance, Paris visits the USS Cerritos , the show's focus ship, much to the excitement of one of the show's main characters. In the non-canonical Voyager relaunch novels, written by Christie Golden , Paris was promoted two steps in rank, like many of the Voyager crew, and is now a lieutenant commander . He is serving as the first officer of Voyager , under the command of now-Captain Chakotay . In Star Trek: Voyager – Elite Force , published by Activision in 2000, Paris appears in

3132-402: The Doctor's program evolving to become more lifelike, with emotions and ambitions. He develops meaningful and complex relationships with many members of the ship's crew. The Doctor also develops talents as a playwright , artist, and photographer, and even becomes a connoisseur of opera . He has multiple other experiences with "family", including having a son with a "roommate" while trapped on

3219-456: The EMH can form a personality over time if used a lot. Mariella Scerri and Victor Grech have proposed that the EMH is "an examplar of strong AI " (a philosophical position on artificial intelligence according to which "computational states are functionally equivalent to mental states"). Another author observed that consequent to the EMH's portrayal in Voyager , "sentient computer programs embodied in

3306-528: The EMH have appeared onscreen. The EMH Mark II, a new and upgraded EMH, is played by Andy Dick in the Voyager episode " Message in a Bottle ". Star Trek: Picard features an EMH called "Emil", part of a holographic suite aboard the ship La Sirena , modeled after Captain Cristobal Rios and played by Santiago Cabrera . Star Trek: Discovery features a 32nd-century EMH known as "Eli", played by Brendan Beiser . In 2018, The Wrap ranked Voyager's EMH as

3393-459: The EMH in the 1996 film Star Trek: First Contact and the 1997 Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode " Doctor Bashir, I Presume? " He also played Dr. Lewis Zimmerman , the creator of the EMH, in episodes of Deep Space Nine and Voyager . In 2002, Picardo authored The Hologram's Handbook , published by Pocket Books . In 2007 and 2008, Star Trek: The Music was a multi-city tour with John de Lancie . Picardo and de Lancie narrated around

3480-567: The Green in 2008, with William Devane, Jeremy London and Ryan Hurst. Picardo appeared on four episodes of E-Ring , as an enraged father in Cold Case , and as a police officer in CSI: NY . He was a recurring guest star in two episodes of Season 7 of Smallville , and appeared on a season 6 episode of Supernatural titled "Clap Your Hands if You Believe", as a leprechaun . Outside of acting, Picardo

3567-519: The Maquis Rebellion, Paris was sentenced to serve time in a Federation penal settlement near Auckland , New Zealand. While serving time, Paris is visited by Kathryn Janeway , captain of the starship USS Voyager . Voyager 's first mission was to travel to the Badlands and locate a missing Maquis ship commanded by Chakotay, which also has Janeway's chief of security Tuvok aboard as a spy. Janeway recruits Paris due to his previous experience working with

The Doctor (Star Trek: Voyager) - Misplaced Pages Continue

3654-583: The Maquis, obtaining his temporary release. In return, Paris would serve as an informant during the mission. Janeway and the crew of Voyager , while searching for the Maquis ship, are thrown into the Delta Quadrant by a massive energy wave created by an alien known as the Caretaker. Once there, they successfully locate the Maquis ship docked at the Caretaker's array. The survivors of the incident become stranded about 70,000 light-years from Earth. The Maquis ship

3741-517: The Moneans, who lived on a planet where the entirety of its surface area was covered in water. Paris, who had an affection for the sea, had become concerned with the planet's gradual loss of water. Upon discovery by Paris that the Moneans' own oxygen-mining operations are to blame for the loss of water, he goes in the Delta Flyer with a Monean in order to target the oxygen refineries so that they could be temporarily taken out of operation and redesigned in

3828-419: The auto-destruction sequence. One member of the crew with whom Paris initially had a somewhat difficult relationship was Chakotay because of their history in the Maquis . Paris also expressed dislike of Chakotay's leadership as he felt that Chakotay was not flexible regarding Starfleet protocols, insisting that he overruled most of the other officers' suggestions and opinions. These tensions even escalated to

3915-430: The character had been kind of a break-out character   ... whenever somebody plans to mess with a winning formula, I think anyone's reaction would be, "Are we sure we want to do that?" The Doctor's programming evolves from his first romance, Dr. Denara Pel, to the point where he falls in love with Seven of Nine , though she is unable to reciprocate. In an alternate future episode, " Endgame ", The Doctor finally adopts

4002-545: The character of Nicolas Locarno as a template for Tom Paris, a previous similar character played by McNeill in the Next Generation episode " The First Duty ". Voyager ' s writers created an entirely new character sharing many of Locarno's attributes. One reason for this is that the writers wanted to have the character be a story of redemption, and they did not like the backstory established for Locarno. Paris' character has two backstories. The original backstory, and

4089-432: The crew during time travel incidents. Paris had also shown an interest in cars ; he was well-versed with 20th-century automobiles and even created his own holoprogram where he would tinker with cars from that era. This interest was also shown when Voyager encountered a Ford truck that originated from 1936 floating in space, as Paris was able to identify the car model and even the year it came from. He also programmed

4176-415: The dullest role in the show to believing I may have the best role in the show. That was a little daunting." He added that he first learned what a hologram was from being selected for the role. "I was confused, I didn't know what it meant for him to be a hologram or a computer program. I didn't understand enough about Star Trek 'science,' which is based on real science, although we still don't know how to make

4263-519: The evolution process using antiproton treatments. Later that year, Paris also participates in a plot organized by Janeway and Tuvok in order to flush out a possible traitor aboard Voyager that had been feeding information to Seska and the Kazon , one of Voyager 's enemies. However, this negatively impacts Paris' relations with first officer Chakotay as no one else had known of the plan, all being deceived by Paris' apparent tardiness and attitude. The plot

4350-527: The film Our Last Days as Children . Picardo provided the voice of Loki in the Xbox 360 video game Too Human . In 2009, he appeared in Pushing Daisies , Chuck and Castle , and had the lead role in the independent psychological thriller film Sensored . In 2010, he had a cameo in the final episode of Persons Unknown , as a member of "the program"'s governing board. He also voiced Robert McNamara in

4437-446: The former's often fraternizations with Kes , who was Neelix's girlfriend. Neelix felt jealous of Paris as the latter had given Kes a special locket for her birthday. They later resolved their differences after taking care of an alien baby together while on an away mission. When Paris appeared to be departing the ship in the episode " Investigations ", Neelix was shown to be greatly concerned for Paris. When he later found out that Paris

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4524-435: The game as the ship's helmsman. In Star Trek Online , a massive multiplayer online role-playing game developed by Cryptic Studios , Paris is active as a Starfleet captain in the early 25th century. Paris makes his first appearance in the game in 2015, with McNeill reprising Paris and voicing him. Paris had a deep interest in 20th-century Earth pop culture , often utilizing such in his holo-programs. This knowledge helped

4611-417: The idea is realized when the crew is forced to abandon ship, and The Doctor takes over command functions. The Doctor's program requires a custom-built photonic processor, and Starfleet outfitted Voyager with only two. This hardware itself also cannot be replicated, hence the Doctor cannot be easily backed up, restored, or copied. Voyager' s computers cannot help run his photonic program, and cannot contain

4698-476: The name "Joe" after his new wife's grandfather (and Picardo's own father ). Tom Paris remarks about this choice: "it took you 33 years to come up with ' Joe ' ?". Before the arrival of the mobile emitter, The Doctor's holo-program was confined to sickbay, holodecks, and other areas equipped with holographic systems. Depending on the availability of suitable holographic patterns and the capacity of his pattern buffers, The Doctor can alter his appearance. This

4785-415: The novel. The Doctor's standard greeting is "Please state the nature of the medical emergency" when activated, though later modified to say whatever he chooses. In " Jetrel ", it is revealed that he was given the ability to activate and deactivate himself. The Doctor later acquires a mobile holographic emitter from the 29th century (" Future's End "). Although he has previously been confined to Sickbay or

4872-454: The only one acknowledged onscreen, cast Paris as a disgraced officer dishonorably discharged from Starfleet for covering up pilot error following a shuttle accident on Caldik Prime. In her published novel, Pathways , Voyager producer Jeri Taylor provided an alternative story much more similar to Locarno's, moving the accident to Paris' Academy years and making his fellow cadets the victims of his recklessness. An unproduced Voyager script

4959-420: The orchestral performance, explaining the history of the music in Star Trek . In 2015, Picardo reprised the role of Dr. Lewis Zimmerman in the pilot episode of the fan series Star Trek: Renegades . In 2024, he reprised the role of the EMH in the second season of Star Trek: Prodigy , and will also appear as the Doctor in the upcoming series Star Trek: Starfleet Academy . In 2004, he began playing

5046-490: The others after they break into the prison. Relationships-wise, Paris grows closer to B'Elanna Torres. In one instance, Torres experiences symptoms similar to the Vulcan pon farr and aggressively pursues Paris as a result. Knowing that Torres was in a delirious state, Paris does not engage with her, angering the latter as she knew of Paris' advances. The year after, Paris and Torres are on an away mission which had gone wrong. As

5133-407: The pair float aimlessly in space in their environmental suits , the duo confesses to each other their true feelings. Fortunately, they are saved by Voyager in time. As the rest of the crew are unaware of the duo's relationship, they try their best to keep quiet about it. During that year, Paris also returns to being a field medic after Kes departs Voyager in " The Gift ", serving regular shifts in

5220-486: The point where Paris had to be placed in the brig after pushing Chakotay to the floor. However, it was later revealed that these tensions were all a ruse in a plot to expose a traitor on Voyager , though unbeknownst to Chakotay. Fortunately, throughout Voyager ' s seven-year journey home, Paris and Chakotay reconciled (in part due to Paris having earned Chakotay's trust) and became good friends. Initially, Paris and Neelix also often got into personal conflicts due to

5307-413: The radiation, stating that "being a hologram does have its advantages." In a 2020 interview, Picardo recalled his initial reticence to the concept of a mobile emitter: I remember I was in [Voyager producer] Brannon Braga's office when he told me. He said, "Your character is so popular, we need to be able to put you in more scripts, in more situations and settings. What do you think?" I said, "I think it's

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5394-460: The recurring role of International Oversight Advisory (IOA) member Richard Woolsey in both Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis . His first appearance in those series was in the Stargate SG-1 episode " Heroes (Part 2) ". On February 5, 2008, it was announced that Picardo would be joining the regular cast of Stargate Atlantis full-time for the series' fifth and final season. He took over

5481-471: The regular medical staff is unavailable or incapacitated. EMHs are a standard feature onboard all Starfleet ships, but they are there only to supplement the living medical crew during emergencies, not replace it. Programmed with all current Starfleet medical knowledge, The Doctor and all Mark I programs are equipped with the knowledge and mannerisms of historic Federation doctors, as well as the physical appearance of their programmer Dr. Lewis Zimmerman. However,

5568-520: The role in the 2019 episode "Home" together with John Billingsley who played Doctor Phlox in Star Trek: Enterprise . Picardo appeared as himself in an episode of Schooled . Tom Paris Initially recruited by Captain Kathryn Janeway as a Starfleet "observer" on Voyager 's first mission into the Badlands, Paris was reinstated as a Starfleet officer by Janeway and took on

5655-662: The role of being Voyager 's helmsman after the original helmsman was killed during the ship's turbulent displacement from the Alpha Quadrant. The character's middle name, "Eugene", is a tribute to Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry . He of all the crew is not dismayed by the cruel fate which has befallen them: what does it matter that they're at the ends of the galaxy? He's flying a ship and having adventures – that's just what he wants to be doing and it doesn't matter particularly to him where it happens. Rick Berman , Michael Piller , Jeri Taylor , Tom Paris' description, Star Trek: Voyager Bible , 1995 The writers planned to use

5742-599: The role of mission commander of the Atlantis Expedition. In 2001, Picardo guest starred in the 7 Days episode "Revelation", purporting to be a time traveler from seven years in the future. In 2007, he played Principal White in Ben 10: Race Against Time , and starred in the independent feature film by director Russ Emanuel , P.J. , alongside John Heard and Vincent Pastore . He also starred in Russ Emanuel 's Chasing

5829-470: The role of the Emergency Medical Hologram (EMH) in the television series Star Trek: Voyager . Before being accepted for this role, Picardo initially auditioned for the role of Neelix. He later also directed two episodes. In the series, his character finally chose the name "Joe", after both the name of his wife's grandfather and Picardo's own father. He played additional copies of the role of

5916-495: The role. "I got the part without understanding that the character would be the outsider, the Spock -like character. The character who initially inherited that was Data , who had no emotion and longed to be a real boy in the same way as Pinocchio. I thought that, because Tuvok was a Vulcan character, he would deal with those issues. Once I realized that I had gotten the plum role, it was a delightful surprise. I went from thinking I had

6003-404: The series premiere, refer to him as "Dr. Zimmerman", after his creator, Lewis Zimmerman. The Doctor is ultimately referred to as simply "The Doctor" and addressed as "Doctor" or "Doc", which he answers to without concern, and the issue of the Doctor's name virtually disappears over the course of the series. However, in the series finale , in an alternate future timeline the Doctor has finally chosen

6090-463: The series' first episode, Voyager ' s chief medical officer, along with his nurse, are killed, necessitating extended use of the EMH. The EMH eventually develops his own personality, although he generally maintains his acerbic wit and irritating "version one" bedside manner. As he was originally intended as a temporary medical backup system, not as a digital life form , Voyager ' s journey strains his programming to some limits. He gives himself

6177-509: The sickbay. The following year, Paris builds his own unique shuttlecraft which he named the Delta Flyer . The construction of the craft was authorized by Janeway as Voyager had to retrieve a multi-spatial probe that was lost in the atmosphere of a gas giant . Paris and the Delta Flyer manage to safely retrieve the probe. Later that year, Paris is demoted to ensign by Janeway and placed in Voyager 's brig for 30 days after disobeying direct orders to not interfere with another society, called

6264-510: The six main-cast space doctors of the Star Trek franchise. In 2013, Slate magazine ranked The Doctor one of the ten best crew characters in the Star Trek franchise. Robert Picardo Robert Alphonse Picardo (born October 27, 1953) is an American actor. He is best known for playing the Doctor on Star Trek: Voyager . He also appeared as Richard Woolsey in the Stargate franchise,

6351-511: The start and at times displayed protectiveness in the face of Harry's customary naiveté. In " Caretaker ", he rescues the ensign from Quark , a manipulative Ferengi . Kim later befriends Paris. The bond between both men strengthened after Kim protected Paris while they were imprisoned in a jail complex despite the latter destroying one of Kim's tools while in a delirious state. Paris also viewed Captain Janeway in high regard. As she recruited Paris to join Voyager on its initial first mission, he

6438-672: The swamp-dwelling Meg Mucklebones in Ridley Scott's film Legend . He also had a small role as a funeral director in John Landis's Amazon Women on the Moon . Picardo also portrayed the voice and face of the robotic Johnny Cab in Total Recall . During the 1988–1991 television seasons, Picardo was simultaneously seen on the ABC Vietnam series China Beach in the role of Dr. Dick Richard, and

6525-456: The true culprit, and discovers that Paris had been framed by the Baneans' enemies and is being used as a messenger, with the messages being imprinted in the recollection which Paris initially thought to be random letters and numbers. Upon discovery of Paris' innocence, the imprints are removed. During Voyager 's second year in the Delta Quadrant, Paris reconfigures a shuttlecraft with the help of Kim and chief engineer B'Elanna Torres and breaks

6612-472: The video game Call of Duty: Black Ops . He appeared in four episodes of The Mentalist from 2012 through 2013 as Jason Cooper, a lieutenant of cult leader Bret Styles. In May 2014, Cartoon Hangover announced Picardo as a guest voice actor in the second season of Bravest Warriors , in the episode "The Parasox Pub". In 2017, Picardo played Lt. Kitan's father Prof. Ildis Kitan in the first season episode of The Orville titled "Firestorm", and reprised

6699-479: The years 2371 to 2378. Most of Paris' backstory takes place prior to the 2370s. Tom Paris is the son of Starfleet Admiral Owen Paris , with most of his other family also hailing from Starfleet. Following his family's tradition, Paris attended Starfleet Academy sometime in the 2350s and majored in astrophysics. A gifted pilot, he earned an assignment to the Academy's honor squadron. His relationship with his father

6786-642: Was a member of the Board of Directors' Advisory Council of The Planetary Society from 1999 through 2015. Beginning in 2015, he was elected to serve on the Board itself. Picardo's other career highlights include performing in Leonard Bernstein 's Mass during its European debut tour, performing with the Yale University Society of Orpheus & Bacchus a cappella singing group as an undergraduate, and dozens of other television and film roles, including

6873-427: Was at times portrayed as feeling resentful toward his father, Owen Paris, due to the latter's words and actions which made Paris feel misunderstood and isolated during his childhood years. Their relationship improved substantially over the course of the series, due to Captain Janeway's willingness to offer him redemption, and later due to his relationship with B'Elanna Torres . He became good friends with Harry Kim from

6960-488: Was entirely water-based, as it was losing water due to the society's oxygen-mining operations. While serving on Voyager , Paris also nurtured a long-hidden talent for holo-programming, devising several programs for the entertainment of his fellow crewmembers. His most popular programs included a re-creation of Sandrine's bar, an Irish town called Fair Haven, and a 1930s-era sci-fi movie serial titled Captain Proton . Paris

7047-457: Was fatefully brought along to the Delta Quadrant. This made Paris felt like he had been given a second chance in life and was grateful to her for it. In one instance where all members of the crew were forced to abandon ship as Voyager prepared to self-destruct in order to destroy a missile from hitting an inhabited planet, Paris thanked Janeway for everything she has done before he left the ship in an escape pod while Janeway stayed behind to oversee

7134-468: Was illustrated especially in the episode " Renaissance Man ." The Doctor is also able to download his program and personality subroutines into a humanoid with Borg implants, indirectly "possessing" that individual and gaining control over its "host" body. Such was the case when he was forced to hide within the body of Seven of Nine in " Body and Soul ". The EMH is a holographic computer program designed to treat patients during emergency situations, or when

7221-517: Was not a good one; while Tom wanted to join the Federation Naval Patrol due to his love for the sea , Owen wanted him to enlist at Starfleet Academy. Admiral Paris often disapproved of his son's tendency to get into fights and his resulting punishments. After his graduation from Starfleet Academy, Paris was assigned to the USS Exeter . During his initial tenure at Starfleet, Paris crashed

7308-399: Was part of a plot to expose a spy aboard Voyager , he volunteered to take part in the plot to bring back Paris safely. When Torres' baby was announced during Voyager 's last year in the quadrant, Paris had initially thought of Neelix to be the child's godfather, though Neelix had to give the role to the Doctor as the former already had goddaughter Naomi Wildman . Wired ranked Paris as

7395-479: Was taken over by the Kazon. During Voyager 's third and fourth years into its journey, Paris is accused of bombing an alien world along with Kim and is sentenced to jail. Paris becomes gravely injured after being stabbed during a prison fight. Despite Voyager later discovering and bringing forward the true perpetrator, Paris and Kim are denied release due to the society's laws. Both men are later saved by Janeway and

7482-1036: Was televised by ORF and broadcast on PBS during the 1970s. His singing was also incorporated into his role in Star Trek: Voyager . After earning his degree, he enrolled at the Circle in the Square Professional Theater Workshop. He waited tables for a few years until his theatrical work started to take off around 1976. His first breaks were appearing in the David Mamet play Sexual Perversity in Chicago , and with Diane Keaton in The Primary English Class . In 1977, Picardo made his Broadway debut. He appeared in Gemini (1977) and Tribute (1978). On television, Picardo appeared on Kojak in

7569-504: Was to have had a flashback to his time attending Starfleet Academy, and shown that Ro Laren , the Bajoran character from Star Trek: The Next Generation was among his classmates. The non-canon Stargazer novel series shows that his uncle Cole Paris served with Jean-Luc Picard during his command of the USS Stargazer. In the Star Trek fictional universe, Star Trek: Voyager takes place in

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