# A Stupid Thing in Star Trek That Has Annoyed Me For Years (Add Your Own!) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 14, 2008, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-in-star-trek-that-has-annoyed-me-for-years-add-your-own/456414 "2008-07-14T09:53:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2008, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-in-star-trek-that-has-annoyed-me-for-years-add-your-own/456414/161 "2008-07-16T01:26:50Z")
[QUOTE=foolsguinea] I think most of the _Enterprise_ hatred is displaced _Voyager_ hatred. [/QUOTE] Nothing can displace my Voyager hatred. Nothing. ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2008, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-in-star-trek-that-has-annoyed-me-for-years-add-your-own/456414/162 "2008-07-16T02:33:37Z")
I only ever watched the pilot of “Voyager”, yet I believe I acquired as much hatred as if I’d watched the whole series. The premise sounded promising – get a Starfleet ship to the other side of the Galaxy, cut off from support, having to survive on its own. No more humanoid aliens that look like humans with a lot of makeup on their heads! Now they could get really creative. So what did we get? In the pilot, we got – humanoid aliens, looking like humans with a lot of makeup on their heads, and in fact quite reminiscent of Klingons. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2008, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-in-star-trek-that-has-annoyed-me-for-years-add-your-own/456414/163 "2008-07-16T02:42:10Z")
[QUOTE=Baldwin] I only ever watched the pilot of “Voyager”, yet I believe I acquired as much hatred as if I’d watched the whole series. The premise sounded promising – get a Starfleet ship to the other side of the Galaxy, cut off from support, having to survive on its own. No more humanoid aliens that look like humans with a lot of makeup on their heads! Now they could get really creative. So what did we get? In the pilot, we got – humanoid aliens, looking like humans with a lot of makeup on their heads, and in fact quite reminiscent of Klingons. [/QUOTE] What??? We got the weird three-year-old chick with funky ears. And Neelix. I’m gay, but it was still a huge relief when we got the Borg chick with ginormous knockers and an obsucre McDonald’s Happy Meal toy stuck to her face. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2008, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-in-star-trek-that-has-annoyed-me-for-years-add-your-own/456414/164 "2008-07-16T02:43:06Z")
[QUOTE=Baldwin] I only ever watched the pilot of “Voyager”, yet I believe I acquired as much hatred as if I’d watched the whole series. [/QUOTE] I envy the hours you have saved and weep for the ones I have wasted. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2008, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-in-star-trek-that-has-annoyed-me-for-years-add-your-own/456414/165 "2008-07-16T04:05:12Z")
[QUOTE=Voyager] Given that the normal speed people didn’t move, that would be the equivalent of screwing a mannikin. But whatever turns you on. 😃 [/QUOTE] Old Supes joke. Wonder Woman: What the hell was _that_? The Invisible Man: I dunno but my ass suddenly hurts. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2008, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-in-star-trek-that-has-annoyed-me-for-years-add-your-own/456414/166 "2008-07-16T05:51:22Z")
[QUOTE=Skald the Rhymer] My explanation is that, in the Trekverse, copyright violation was so reviled that it came to be regarded as being as heinous as our worst sexual taboos. To Voyager’s crew, solving the problem of lacking a medical staff by making a copy of the Doctor seemed like having sex with the corpses of adolescent German Shepherds: so unnatural and repellent no one even suggested it. 😉 [/QUOTE] So the RIAA won in the end … ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2008, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-in-star-trek-that-has-annoyed-me-for-years-add-your-own/456414/167 "2008-07-16T08:11:34Z")
[QUOTE=Chimera] Now this always bugged the shit out of me. He’s a computer program. Unlimited copies could be made from one hard copy. They could have five Doctors in operation at one time if they had the processing and memory power to do so. They could trade copies off to others as a commodity and still keep the original. Sending him to the AQ does not in any way delete him from their own storage [/QUOTE] Why not have some sort of an algorithm that would not only recreate the Doctor multiple times, but would add a bit of a random change in his personality, so that you can have a whole new crew never mind lots of Doctors. For that matter, why bother with a crew at all, shouldn’t computers be running all this crap. In the TNG episode [Booby Trap](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Booby_Trap_(TNG_episode)) they actually say they wouldn’t trust the computer to pilot them out of an asteroid field. Sure, let’s have the Captain do it, have him fly a super tanker like it’s a dinghy through an asteroid field, pulling stunts and not telling the crew what he’s doing. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2008, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-in-star-trek-that-has-annoyed-me-for-years-add-your-own/456414/168 "2008-07-16T13:13:28Z")
[QUOTE=BwanaBob] Not to defend the writers but I thought you “willed” your way out of the Nexus to anywhere and anytime, whether it be on foot, horseback or motionless. The catch was no one really wanted to do that once they were inside enjoying their own private heaven. [/QUOTE] Sure, but the “bad guy” decided to reroute the Nexus into a planet and go through all this effort when he should have just been able to rent a ship and drive it into the Nexus. Maybe he was evil enough to wipe out a planet, but not evil enough to renege on a security deposit? -Joe ---
**Author:** ![Illuminatiprimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/illuminatiprimus/32/11520_2.png) [@Illuminatiprimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Illuminatiprimus)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2008, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-in-star-trek-that-has-annoyed-me-for-years-add-your-own/456414/169 "2008-07-16T13:21:16Z")
[QUOTE=Merijeek] Sure, but the “bad guy” decided to reroute the Nexus into a planet and go through all this effort when he should have just been able to rent a ship and drive it into the Nexus. Maybe he was evil enough to wipe out a planet, but not evil enough to renege on a security deposit? -Joe [/QUOTE] That was the biggest plot hole in that film. They attempted to explain it away by saying “Any ship that has gone into the nexus has been destroyed or badly damaged”. Well, so what? The people in those ships end up in the nexus so what does it matter? And the bad guy would have known that as he was originally in one of them! ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2008, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-in-star-trek-that-has-annoyed-me-for-years-add-your-own/456414/170 "2008-07-16T13:23:14Z")
[QUOTE=carnivorousplant] I believe the “mobile emitter” is a unique device and they cannot build another. [/QUOTE] And there’s my biggest continuing problem with ‘Trek’. You have transporters and replicators. There is no such thing as a “unique device” that they can’t create more of. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![Illuminatiprimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/illuminatiprimus/32/11520_2.png) [@Illuminatiprimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Illuminatiprimus)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2008, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-in-star-trek-that-has-annoyed-me-for-years-add-your-own/456414/171 "2008-07-16T13:26:39Z")
Oh yes, the whole “this material is non-replicable” rubrik. Why have such a hyper-advanced technology at all if you’re just going to nerf it’s actual application in the show? ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2008, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-in-star-trek-that-has-annoyed-me-for-years-add-your-own/456414/172 "2008-07-16T13:30:07Z")
[QUOTE=Illuminatiprimus] Oh yes, the whole “this material is non-replicable” rubrik. Why have such a hyper-advanced technology at all if you’re just going to nerf it’s actual application in the show? [/QUOTE] Because there’s nothing you can’t do with it. It’s like the whole transporters/weapons deal. Can’t get through the shields with a transporter? Okay, just keep transporting antimatter bombs into their shields until they crack. Then start in on the enemy ship. Or even better when you’ve got sillier crap like the Borg not blocking transport onto their ships, and then NOT beaming over bomb after bomb. You know the sad thing? All it would take is one “Captain, the antimatter has successfully transported next to the Borg’s reactor core, but for some reason isn’t detonating. I believe that a [technobabble] field is preventing the antimatter from interfacing with regular matter.” But no, the only apparent solution is that Starfleet is made up of retards. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2008, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-in-star-trek-that-has-annoyed-me-for-years-add-your-own/456414/173 "2008-07-16T13:39:52Z")
[QUOTE=Merijeek] Because there’s nothing you can’t do with it. It’s like the whole transporters/weapons deal. Can’t get through the shields with a transporter? Okay, just keep transporting antimatter bombs into their shields until they crack. Then start in on the enemy ship. Or even better when you’ve got sillier crap like the Borg not blocking transport onto their ships, and then NOT beaming over bomb after bomb. You know the sad thing? All it would take is one “Captain, the antimatter has successfully transported next to the Borg’s reactor core, but for some reason isn’t detonating. I believe that a [technobabble] field is preventing the antimatter from interfacing with regular matter.” But no, the only apparent solution is that Starfleet is made up of retards. -Joe [/QUOTE] Well, for the Borg the solution would be that attacks tend to work on them once, then they adapt. so the second time you tried beaming a bomb on board it would be blocked. As for other ships; it’s not canon, but as I recall one Star Trek novel had a nice solution as to why they don’t do that; when you try transmitting it through the shield, some is bounced back and rematerializes inside your own ship, which is a Bad Thing. It would be nice if they came up with a canon explanation like that. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2008, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-in-star-trek-that-has-annoyed-me-for-years-add-your-own/456414/174 "2008-07-16T13:52:35Z")
[QUOTE=Illuminatiprimus] Oh yes, the whole “this material is non-replicable” rubrik. Why have such a hyper-advanced technology at all if you’re just going to nerf it’s actual application in the show? [/QUOTE] It’s purpose was to enable the Doctor to move off the ship, but to be vulnerable. Latinum is valuable because it is non-replicable. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2008, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-in-star-trek-that-has-annoyed-me-for-years-add-your-own/456414/175 "2008-07-16T13:53:26Z")
[QUOTE=Bryan Ekers] Well, if nothing else, _Enterprise_ touched on this. Although _DS9_ had earlier made a groundbreaking bathroom reference (in the ep where Sisko and Jake fly a “solar sailship” from Bajor to Cardassia), _Enterprise_ addressed the notion of waste recycling _and_ air sickness. [/QUOTE] Not to mention the endless DS9 references to “waste extraction.” ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2008, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-in-star-trek-that-has-annoyed-me-for-years-add-your-own/456414/176 "2008-07-16T13:56:41Z")
[QUOTE=Skald the Rhymer] :: steps into cloakroom, dons body armor :: :: steps into arsenal, returns with shotgun :: :: takes deep breath :: I liked Enterprise’s opening credits. Both montage and song. It was, in fact, my favorite of the Trek series. :: works action on shotgun :: Bring it! [/QUOTE] You are not of the body. ---
**Author:** ![Sateryn76](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Sateryn76](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sateryn76)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2008, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-in-star-trek-that-has-annoyed-me-for-years-add-your-own/456414/177 "2008-07-16T14:05:00Z")
[QUOTE=Skald the Rhymer] :: steps into cloakroom, dons body armor :: :: steps into arsenal, returns with shotgun :: :: takes deep breath :: I liked Enterprise’s opening credits. Both montage and song. It was, in fact, my favorite of the Trek series. :: works action on shotgun :: Bring it! [/QUOTE] I am right behind you, baby! ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2008, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-in-star-trek-that-has-annoyed-me-for-years-add-your-own/456414/178 "2008-07-16T14:28:32Z")
[QUOTE=Sateryn76] I am right behind you, baby! [/QUOTE] Yeah, where it’s safe. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2008, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-in-star-trek-that-has-annoyed-me-for-years-add-your-own/456414/179 "2008-07-16T16:37:28Z")
[QUOTE=Miller] … :: smiles the serene smile of a man who knows he is about to die :: [/QUOTE] Two Hundred Quatloos on the newcomer! ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2008, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-in-star-trek-that-has-annoyed-me-for-years-add-your-own/456414/180 "2008-07-16T17:17:53Z")
[QUOTE=Der Trihs] Well, for the Borg the solution would be that attacks tend to work on them once, then they adapt. so the second time you tried beaming a bomb on board it would be blocked. [/QUOTE] The problem is that the Borg don’t acually adapt. Unless I am to believe that in all of hisory no one attemped, for example, to hit them with a sharp pointy thing (which goes right through their shields. In fact, apparently any matter works just fine against them. And simple physical force is not blockable by their magic-shields. I thought of a ST gag episode involving a couple thousand Swiss Pikemen plus equal numbers of arqebusiers wiping out the Borg with a magical space-sailing galleon firing cannon. Likewise, if throughout their entire history they have no yet learned that “not letting people beam stuff aboard your ships at will”, then they’re too bloody stupid to be allowed to live. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-in-star-trek-that-has-annoyed-me-for-years-add-your-own/456414.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-in-star-trek-that-has-annoyed-me-for-years-add-your-own/456414.md?page=10)