# If (fill-in-the-blank) dies in the '70s, so does Star Trek? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 12, 2016, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-fill-in-the-blank-dies-in-the-70s-so-does-star-trek/745946 "2016-02-12T16:25:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2016, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-fill-in-the-blank-dies-in-the-70s-so-does-star-trek/745946/41 "2016-05-09T05:24:01Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > It was released on video, IIRC, back in the late '80s. Whether it’s actually been aired, I can’t say for sure. I know I’ve seen it on TV at least once, probably in the 80s when that “lost” print of the pilot was discovered. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2016, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-fill-in-the-blank-dies-in-the-70s-so-does-star-trek/745946/42 "2016-05-15T01:18:53Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > I know I’ve seen it on TV at least once, probably in the 80s when that “lost” print of the pilot was discovered. The B&W version, or in color? ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2016, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-fill-in-the-blank-dies-in-the-70s-so-does-star-trek/745946/43 "2016-05-15T02:09:13Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > True, but from a showbiz point of view _The Cage_ was never actually released as a standalone episode, only as the alien recording in the two-part episode _The Menagerie_… Yes it has. For the first time in October 1988. Full colour. Not sure if it’s _aired_ since, though it has been released, since, on VHS, DVD and BluRay. ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2016, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-fill-in-the-blank-dies-in-the-70s-so-does-star-trek/745946/44 "2016-05-15T02:45:59Z")
If we’re giving honorable mentions here, I’d like to nominate Majel Barrett Played: “Number 1” in _The Cage_ Nurse Chapel in Classic Trek Dr Chapel in the first movie Commander Chapel in the fourth Lwaxana Troi, Deanna Troi’s mother, in TNG The computer voice on all the other TV series and quite a few of the movies as well. … and married Gene Roddenberry. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2016, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-fill-in-the-blank-dies-in-the-70s-so-does-star-trek/745946/45 "2016-05-15T09:25:11Z")
> [@Kamino\_Neko](#): > > Yes it has. For the first time in October 1988. Full colour. Not sure if it’s _aired_ since, though it has been released, since, on VHS, DVD and BluRay. I’m just being a Trek übernerd and splitting hairs. It was ‘shown’ and ‘released’ on DVD & Blu-ray and because it was incorporated into the two-part _The Menagerie_ episode of TOS it has always been considered canon. But it never aired as a stand-alone episode during that time and therefore _The Cage_ is not considered one of the TOS 79 episodes (or is it 78?! :D). It was a rejected first pilot. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2016, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-fill-in-the-blank-dies-in-the-70s-so-does-star-trek/745946/46 "2016-05-15T13:26:24Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > For those keeping score, even though it isn’t considered canon, the (rather good) animated episode _The Slaver Weapon_ is the only bit of Trek media set in TOS time in which William Shatner does not appear. It’s also, however, the worst episode for trying to stay in continuity with the rest of Star Trek, since it was actually written for a different universe where human history was different. The Kzinti-Human wars were current and had been going on for a long time, but there is no sign of such a conflict outside this episode. It makes the most sense if you see it as taking place in an alternate universe. And maybe Kirk, McCoy and Scotty aren’t in or the same characters as in the main universe. ---
**Author:** ![Arkcon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Arkcon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arkcon)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2016, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-fill-in-the-blank-dies-in-the-70s-so-does-star-trek/745946/47 "2016-05-15T16:02:07Z")
I would disagree that Nimoy’s portrayal of Spock is at all disposable. The Vulcan is an absolute necessity on _Star Trek_, and appears in all incarnations. What? Aw c’mon. Worf and Data provide the “humorless, robotic foil for human excitability” that the show thrives on. Tim Russ’s portrayal on Voyager is awesome – he seems constantly angry, in the most unemotional way. Maybe its all sloppy, easy writing, but it defines the Star Trek phenomena. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2016, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-fill-in-the-blank-dies-in-the-70s-so-does-star-trek/745946/48 "2016-05-15T17:34:26Z")
The first movie was pretty bad, but it didn’t kill the franchise. I think they could have continued without several characters. I seriously doubt there existed any circumstance where Nimoy wouldn’t return to play Spock, he never did anything else substantial in his career, but he could have been replaced with another Vulcan. Kirk has to be the most necessary character, he couldn’t be replaced with another actor, but the movies could continue without him if he had died and there were enough of the other crew members there. The other characters, like the audience would have made comparisons between the new captain and Kirk. I contend that the Star Trek universe was greater than the characters, and it has proven out by the success of the sequel series and movies without the original cast. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-fill-in-the-blank-dies-in-the-70s-so-does-star-trek/745946.md?page=2)