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Tough one. Liked them all. But probably .... Maya. Mostly because I loved Victor so much and missed him when she replaced the good Professor.
P.S.
And Helena Russell was ALSO my favorite character too. Strong woman, before her time, in a tough situation.
When the first few episodes of series two were shown (at least here in New England), the opening title sequence came after the opening scene (as it did on season one). I suspect they did that to ease the viewer into the changes made for season two. If you watch "The Metamorph" (without the opening title sequence) there's no background music at first, just a silent shot of Alpha as Helena begins her status report. Then the background music eases in and we see Command Center for the first time.
We didnt know Victor Bergman was no longer on the show until the opening titles, which by then the producers obviously hoped the viewer was already hooked on watching the show. I was appalled to discover Barry Morse was no longer there, but I was still glad there was another whole season ahead.
But other people might not have been as forgiving, which I believe is the reason they relocated the opening title sequence (they only did it for the first three or four episodes then put it up front where it was originally intended. Then after the commercial break I was glad to see the names Nick Tate and Zienia Merton - at least they were still there.
Helena.
The blank vacuous stare, and the lack of emotion. She has done better in other roles, I can only imagine the director insisted she play the part as though she was heavily sedated.
Her acting never bothered me except for an uncharacteristic moment of panic during "The Last Enemy" and an overly jovial attitude on many of the second season episodes (that was a fault the producers had thrust on Bain as well as other cast members; trying to have an optimistic view of the future a la Star Trek was absolutely inappropriate on a runaway moon - one of the aspects that makes season one far superior to season two).
sharePaul.
shareMaya. An unnecessary character to be certain.
I love first season Helena Russell and could never understand how she got the label of unemotional. She is every inch a professional woman, a doctor, a command figure, and like many on the moon she was trying to get a grip on their situation. She showed plenty emotion/fear in episodes like "Matter of Life and Death", "Mission of the Darians", and "Missing Link" among others. Like another said, she is a woman before her time. Good for her!
Maya was deifinitely unnecessary, but apparently Lew Grade (head of ITC) wasn't interested in renewing the show for a second season until Freiberger proposed the idea of Maya. And the great Catherine Schell made the character work.
And Helena was perfectly fine on season one (with the exception of the hysteria she experienced in one scene on "The Last Enemy", but Freiberger turned her into a sitcom character.
I have to go with Maya, too.
I never liked her much as a kid, despite the cool transformations, and don't find I like her any better as an adult, in viewing the series over.
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Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence - Carl Sagan
Maya. The basic premise of the show was silly enough; the last thing it needed was an alien with magic powers.
shareI agree, except Catherine Schell made the character work. I was a die-hard fan of the show before the ending credits showed up at the end of the premiere of "Breakaway".
I was psyched when a second season showed up, but I was outraged that Barry Morse was gone, and I was under the mistaken impression that this Maya character would only be on the first episode.
But Catherine Schell brought the character to life, and I actually knew people who started watching the show because of her.
Tony and the incessant 'banter' about his homebrew beer. Oh just p*ss off and crack open a bottle of meths.
"Someone has been tampering with Hank's memories."
Once I got used to Tony, he didn't bother me. Except that they often gave him too big a part of the action. Alan Carter was the action go-to guy on season one and they too often gave him a backseat to Tony.
shareAgreed. Tony got more screen time as season 2 progressed at the expense of Alan.
However, to answer the OP, my least favourite crew member was probably Sandra Benes, although I still liked her a lot. I would also rank Paul and Kono similarly to Sandra.
My least favorite character was Shermeen (couldn't think of a regular character). She acted like a four-year-old and was a pretty stupid bitch to do Vindrus' bidding. (Of course I may have a grudge against the actress for gold-digging poor Peter Sellers).
shareKono.. He was way too infatuated with Computer
shareI think you guys mean Kano. Lol.
shareQuestion, would there be as much hate for Maya if she had simply been an intelligent alien without the 'cure all' shape changing powers?
sharePossibly, but there were two other strikes against her; one was the obvious representation of the token alien (a la Spock), and the other was replacing the great Professor Bergman. The shape-changing ability added sort of a cartoonish aspect to the show.
I was outraged that Bergman was dropped from the show, but the talents of Catherine Schell made the character of Maya work.
Was Maya a token character? Sure. So was Victor Bergman. Both are Spock wannabees. To a lesser extent, so is David Kano. You can say that Barry Morse is the better actor than either Leonard Nimoy or Catherine Shell, and I won't argue that point, but Spock and Maya are much more believable and developed than Victor Bergman as they makes sense within their own context.
Victor Bergman and David Kano as written, are silly characters. If they have any value it's only because Barry Morse and Clifton Jones are decent actors. Replacing them with Maya was the right call to make.
Still, I stand with my statement that my least favorite character is Paul Morrow. When he doesn't whine, he broods. Replacing him with the dynamic and engaging Tony Verdeschi was again, the right call to make.
If you look at classic sci-fi movies (or even novels) there's always the sometimes quirky standout Professor character. So Bergman wasn't necessarily modeled after Spock.
I thought Paul Morrow was a good character. He wasn't always brooding. He was the second in command and took his job seriously. The difference between he and Tony was that Tony was given too much of the spotlight, overshadowing Alan Carter. Ironically, Tony Anholt had gone on record as saying that he wouldn't have returned if the show had been given the green light for the 13-episode third season.