Much of the response I have to your message on a personal level I've
said elsewhere, so I won't repeat it here. But to deal with a couple of
the things you mention....

"...because (I) knew this woman (Tamlyn, I) would use
her on this show regardless of what people unconnected with her
emotionally thought of her acting ability."

This is, frankly, untrue and a distortion of the facts. Prior to
casting Tamlyn, I had never before met her, and except at the screening of
the pilot and one live TV gig, have not seen her again since doing the
pilot. I am not "emotionally connected" to her. This is not nepotism.
What you are doing is taking a thread that was on another system and
distorting it. There were some very harsh, demeaning things said about
Tamlyn, many of them flat-out uncalled for...hurtful and ugly comments. I
stood up for Tamlyn as a performer. When we did a later analysis of the
pilot, our decision to recast the role of the lieutenant commander was
influenced not by anyone's individual performance, but by the synergy of
the performers as an ensemble.

Tamlyn is a terrific performer; if you've seen her in the Joy Luck
Club, or her appearance on Quantum Leap, or elsewhere, her skill is much
in evidence. She is a kind and decent person, and no, I wouldn't allow
her to be BBS brutalized by a certain small fringe element, and won't do
so now, and won't allow myself to be bullied by that small fringe. Any
decisions made will not be based on that kind of crap.

Nepotism doesn't enter into it. On that you're simply dead wrong.

On this "mental model" you've constructed of me based upon my many
posts here...I am not liable for your perceptions. A French writer once
observed, "A book is like a mirror. If an ass peers in, you can't very
well expect an apostle to peer out."

jms