# Let's make a list of the in-jokes in the new Star Trek! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 9, 2009, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-make-a-list-of-the-in-jokes-in-the-new-star-trek/495832 "2009-05-09T05:59:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2009, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-make-a-list-of-the-in-jokes-in-the-new-star-trek/495832/81 "2009-05-18T22:47:53Z")
> [@Mr.Excellent](#): > > Fanwank: Starfleet’s security branch may have begun life as a specialization within Engineering. Makes sense - Starfleet was always an exploratory organization first and foremost. So, when they first went out in space, the weapons systems would have been very much an afterthought. _Someone_ needs to be trained to run the things, but no one thought they’d be used often at first, so they just grabbed the guys who’d already been trained to operate and maintain complicated high-power shipboard systems - the engineers. > > After Security became a separate specialization, they kept the old Engineering colors out of tradition. Strangely enough, what you said makes me wonder if the guys who fail out of Engineering School end up in security, owing to the fact Starfleet Engineers tend to be pretty good and Starfleet security tends to be pretty useless. ---
**Author:** ![boozilu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4da419/32.png) [@boozilu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boozilu)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2009, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-make-a-list-of-the-in-jokes-in-the-new-star-trek/495832/82 "2009-05-18T23:13:17Z")
> [@](#): > > Quote: > Originally Posted by Harvey The Heavy View Post > Actually, wasn’t there an early episode where his middle initial is given as “R”? I don’t remember if it said what R stood for. > It was shown in a gravestone in the second pilot, “Where No Man Has Gone Before.” And no, nobody said what the “R” stood for. Actually, in “Where No Man Has Gone Before”, the gravestone said James A Kirk. Everywhere else in TOS, Shatner introduced himself as James T Kirk. ---
**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:** [May 18, 2009, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-make-a-list-of-the-in-jokes-in-the-new-star-trek/495832/83 "2009-05-18T23:28:46Z")
> [@boozilu](#): > > Actually, in “Where No Man Has Gone Before”, the gravestone said James A Kirk. Everywhere else in TOS, Shatner introduced himself as James T Kirk. Now, _that_ I can see getting fan-wanked into a private joke! ---
**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2009, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-make-a-list-of-the-in-jokes-in-the-new-star-trek/495832/84 "2009-05-19T01:33:36Z")
> [@pepperlandgirl](#): > > Those goddamned slugs from Ceti Alpha Five! … which were not in the movie. Instead of Ceti eels, they had Centaurian slugs. ---
**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:** [May 19, 2009, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-make-a-list-of-the-in-jokes-in-the-new-star-trek/495832/85 "2009-05-19T02:19:19Z")
> [@Lightray](#): > > … which were not in the movie. Instead of Ceti eels, they had Centaurian slugs. Ceti Alpha V [Antlions.](http://scienceblogs.com/clock/upload/2006/08/a3%20Ant%20Lion%20Funnel.jpg) From the pic, we many have a Star Wars tie in. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2009, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-make-a-list-of-the-in-jokes-in-the-new-star-trek/495832/86 "2009-05-19T02:52:34Z")
> [@Mr.Excellent](#): > > Fanwank: Starfleet’s security branch may have begun life as a specialization within Engineering. Makes sense - Starfleet was always an exploratory organization first and foremost. So, when they first went out in space, the weapons systems would have been very much an afterthought. _Someone_ needs to be trained to run the things, but no one thought they’d be used often at first, so they just grabbed the guys who’d already been trained to operate and maintain complicated high-power shipboard systems - the engineers. > > After Security became a separate specialization, they kept the old Engineering colors out of tradition. Tangentially related to this fanwank, the term Engineer comes from an old English expression (I’m not sure if it’s actually from Old English or not though) which referred to the skilled men who maintained and operated the siege machines, such as the Catapults and the Trebuchets. The heavy weapons of their day. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2009, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-make-a-list-of-the-in-jokes-in-the-new-star-trek/495832/87 "2009-05-19T05:06:03Z")
I love Star Trek, but I am no Trekkie by any stretch of the imagination. I did catch a few of the more obvious inside jokes, and especially liked, “I’m a doctor, not a physicist!” I missed the tribble, even though I looked for it. My favorite moment wasn’t a an inside joke, but it was something that I noticed and enjoyed…when Kirk got the chance to take control of the ship as captain, he lamped back into that chair with the kind of swagger that just screamed Captain _Fucking_ Kirk. I loved it. ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2009, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-make-a-list-of-the-in-jokes-in-the-new-star-trek/495832/88 "2009-05-19T05:48:09Z")
> [@boozilu](#): > > Actually, in “Where No Man Has Gone Before”, the gravestone said James A Kirk. Everywhere else in TOS, Shatner introduced himself as James T Kirk. So in the future, _A_ will look like _[R](http://www.slipups.com/images/items/472.full.jpg)_. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2009, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-make-a-list-of-the-in-jokes-in-the-new-star-trek/495832/89 "2009-05-19T05:48:17Z")
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > My favorite moment wasn’t a an inside joke, but it was something that I noticed and enjoyed…when Kirk got the chance to take control of the ship as captain, he lamped back into that chair with the kind of swagger that just screamed Captain _Fucking_ Kirk. I loved it. Speaking of Kirk in the chair, I loved the bit where he’s doing the Kirk lounge in the command chair, and Spock walks by and just snaps “Out of the chair.”😃 ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2009, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-make-a-list-of-the-in-jokes-in-the-new-star-trek/495832/90 "2009-05-19T06:05:49Z")
James R. Kirk. Boy, I hope that the in-joke between Kirk and Mitchell involves pirates somehow. James Arrrrr Kirk ye olde salty dawg ye. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2009, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-make-a-list-of-the-in-jokes-in-the-new-star-trek/495832/91 "2009-05-19T07:08:07Z")
> [@Raguleader](#): > > Speaking of Kirk in the chair, I loved the bit where he’s doing the Kirk lounge in the command chair, and Spock walks by and just snaps “Out of the chair.”😃 Ha! _Yes_. That is the part I’m thinking of…_before_ he takes command of the ship, he is already doing the Kirk lounge in the chair. The Kirk Lounge? Hee! Did you make that up? \*I want to see that movie again. \* I almost never watch movies twice. ---
**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2009, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-make-a-list-of-the-in-jokes-in-the-new-star-trek/495832/92 "2009-05-19T12:37:15Z")
He’s also doing the Kirk lounge while he’s captaining the Kobayashi Maru, and it was similar enough to other Shattnerisms that I think that was a callback. The apple-eating, though… I know that was from _somewhere_, but couldn’t think of where. ---
**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:** [May 19, 2009, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-make-a-list-of-the-in-jokes-in-the-new-star-trek/495832/93 "2009-05-19T13:00:25Z")
> [@Lightray](#): > > The apple-eating, though… I know that was from _somewhere_, but couldn’t think of where. TWOK in the Genesis cave. “I don’t like to lose.” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2009, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-make-a-list-of-the-in-jokes-in-the-new-star-trek/495832/94 "2009-05-19T14:24:33Z")
You’re surely used to it by now, though. Oh. That was a quote. Sorry. ---
**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:** [May 19, 2009, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-make-a-list-of-the-in-jokes-in-the-new-star-trek/495832/95 "2009-05-19T14:54:42Z")
> [@Aesiron](#): > > You’re surely used to it by now, though. Let’s just say I’m used to certain people cheating. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2009, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-make-a-list-of-the-in-jokes-in-the-new-star-trek/495832/96 "2009-05-19T15:02:33Z")
> [@The New and Improved Superman](#): > > There was a brief glimpse of a black Vulcan among the refugees from the planet’s destruction. I’m probably just reading into it, but I like to think that somehow that’s meant to imply that Tuvok’s ancestors escaped the destruction of the planet. (The idea that there would be racial differences between Vulcans similar to human differentiation was one of the few interesting ideas that “Voyager” had; too bad they bothered to explore the idea any further.) I always thought Tuvok was another Spock (mixed parents) but that was never spelled out. He was a black man with pointy ears so it seemed logical that he was human/vulcan. If they wanted to differentiate a race then it should have taken on different characteristics unrelated to humans. To me, the Klingons in TNG were more reflective of a diverse looking race. ---
**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2009, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-make-a-list-of-the-in-jokes-in-the-new-star-trek/495832/97 "2009-05-19T16:08:02Z")
But we saw Tuvok’s wife… and she was another black Vulcan.\* So it was clearly intended that it be an indication of Vulcan diversity. - … that really sounds like a SuperFriend, doesn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2009, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-make-a-list-of-the-in-jokes-in-the-new-star-trek/495832/98 "2009-05-19T16:14:51Z")
We also see his mother too, I think. They’re definitely intended as darker hued Vulcans. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2009, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-make-a-list-of-the-in-jokes-in-the-new-star-trek/495832/99 "2009-05-19T21:22:44Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > …Sarek’s comment that he married Amanda because “it was logical” (though unlike the series he elaborates on this twice). I always assumed that his “it seemed the logical thing to do” comment in TOS meant he had sex with Amanda for some reason (emotional lapse, pon farr, etc) and she ended up pregnant. [QUOTE=Typo Knig] …OK, homosexuality was briefly included in STNG and DS9 episodes, but no major gay characters yet… [/QUOTE] You’re refering to the TNG episode, **The Outcast**. The J’naii were supposed to be androgynous, but were all clearly played by women. For the scene where Guinan is explaining love to Soren the producers showed up on set to make sure there were no same-sex couple in the background and even rewrote Guinan’s line from “when two people” to “when a man & a woman”. Whoopi refused to say the new line. Jonathan Frakes commented that the J’naii came off less like a homophobic society and more like a planet of man-hating lesbians. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2009, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-make-a-list-of-the-in-jokes-in-the-new-star-trek/495832/100 "2009-05-19T21:48:21Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > I always assumed that his “it seemed the logical thing to do” comment in TOS meant he had sex with Amanda for some reason (emotional lapse, pon farr, etc) and she ended up pregnant. The logic broke? 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-make-a-list-of-the-in-jokes-in-the-new-star-trek/495832.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-make-a-list-of-the-in-jokes-in-the-new-star-trek/495832.md?page=6)