# New Star Trek series **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 18, 2001, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-star-trek-series/69203 "2001-06-18T07:47:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2001, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-star-trek-series/69203/41 "2001-06-20T16:23:35Z")
Yes, mirror-universe Kira was bisexual, but in a silly, vampy Sharon-Stone-in-Basic-Instinct kind of way that I, for one, can’t see as a positive gay character. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2001, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-star-trek-series/69203/42 "2001-06-20T17:21:45Z")
Have there been any openly not-strictly-hererosexual characters in the ST universe which were portrayed as reasonable, balanced people before the Trill came along? Granted, in a universe where they don’t have toilets on their spaceships, GBLT’s aren’t going to be making the front page news, but still… ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2001, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-star-trek-series/69203/43 "2001-06-20T17:45:56Z")
I always thought Harry Kim was gay when he turned down 7 of 9’s advances. And who knows just what Soong programmed into Data to make him fully capable in a variety of positions and techniques. And you don’t think the vulcan neck pinch is all Spock’s hands were good for gripping, do you? ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2001, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-star-trek-series/69203/44 "2001-06-20T22:00:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MGibson \* > Sci Fi fans are so starved for something on television that they’ll watch almost anything in it. Starved? We’ve got _Andromeda_, _Invisible Man_, _Stargate SG-1_, _Earth: Final Conflict_, and as far as I know, _Farscape_ is still going… I gorge myself on scifi on the weekends. (And _Andromeda_ is actually pretty cool.) Ethelrist: Is appearing in _Maxim_ an indisputable mark of an un-serious actress? What’s so serious about pretending to be fictitious people for money, anyway?😕 ---
**Author:** ![Weird\_AL\_Einstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c67d28/32.png) [@Weird\_AL\_Einstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weird_AL_Einstein)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2001, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-star-trek-series/69203/45 "2001-06-21T00:00:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by KneadToKnow \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by Weird\_AL\_Einstein \* > > First, give me one of those “specific references” from the TOS… > > Dude, I am sorry for flaking on you like that. I don’t usually turn down a specific request. I just overlooked your post on subsequent readings. > \*\* That’s ok…I’ve done the same thing myself. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by KneadToKnow \*\*\* > One? Okay, because that’s about all I can manage from memory, and I may screw that up. It’s in _Charlie X_ IIRC. The Captain receives word from the galley that the artificial turkeys have been transformed into _real_ turkeys. > > Here’s me hoping I’m not hallucinating my memory of that line: 🙂 \*\* Shameful as it is for a Trekkie like me to admit, I don’t know if this is true or not, nor do I have the episode on tape. Can any _real_ Trekkie help us out? > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by matt\_mcl \* > \*\* > > BTW, on cooking: Another ST-VI reference, but during the Valeris phaser scene, the Enterprise’s galley itself is depicted. \*\* Yes, one of the sillier scenes in an otherwise great movie…why would they have a little phaser mini-armory in the _galley_??? Unless…it was a **makeshift** galley put in for this particular mission, thus supporting my theory! Aha! > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Captain Amazing \* > \*\* > \ The founding members of the Federation were the Humans, the Vulcans, the Centarians, the Tellarites, and the Andorrans. \*\* I’ve heard of all of those but the Centarians. Who are they? > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Fiver \* > \*\*Yes, mirror-universe Kira was bisexual, but in a silly, vampy Sharon-Stone-in-Basic-Instinct kind of way that I, for one, can’t see as a positive gay character. \*\* I was gonna say, speak for yourself, that’s the kind of character I **like** …but that got someone mad at me in another thread, so I guess I won’t 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2001, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-star-trek-series/69203/46 "2001-06-21T00:09:46Z")
About the galley on TOS: remember in the tribble episode, when Kirk(?) tries to get a meal out of the dispenser and gets a plate full of tribbles? I think this shows pretty clearly that the food is prepared, not replicated. Or else the tribbles had reprogrammed the replicator to make more of themselves. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2001, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-star-trek-series/69203/47 "2001-06-21T00:22:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \ The founding members of the Federation were the Humans, the Vulcans, the Centarians, the Tellarites, and the Andorrans. Got a cite? (I’ve always wanted to say that!) I’ve heard this little factoid before, and I always wonder where it comes from. I’ve seen every episode of all the Star Trek series at least once, and I don’t recall it ever being mentioned. Like Weird\_AL, I have never heard of the Centarians. My suspicion is that this may come from one of the novels, and has somehow crept into Trek lore. In any case, I don’t think it’s canonical. Also for Weird\_AL, yes, the turkey scene in _Charlie X_ takes place exactly as described above. Sorry, but I think we’re going to have to go with prepared food, not replicated, on TOS. ---
**Author:** ![Weird\_AL\_Einstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c67d28/32.png) [@Weird\_AL\_Einstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weird_AL_Einstein)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2001, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-star-trek-series/69203/48 "2001-06-21T01:28:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MrAtoz \* > \*\* > Also for Weird\_AL, yes, the turkey scene in _Charlie X_ takes place exactly as described above. Sorry, but I think we’re going to have to go with prepared food, not replicated, on TOS. \*\* No, it only proves that they had a galley, not that they **didn’t** have replicators. Cool handle btw. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Miller \* > \*\*About the galley on TOS: remember in the tribble episode, when Kirk(?) tries to get a meal out of the dispenser and gets a plate full of tribbles? I think this shows pretty clearly that the food is prepared, not replicated. Or else the tribbles had reprogrammed the replicator to make more of themselves. \*\* Actually this is one of the scenes that makes my point. Kirk goes up to the thing that looks like a microwave, says “chicken sandwich and coffee” (IIRC), and boom, there it is. It couldn’t have been prepared that quickly. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2001, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-star-trek-series/69203/49 "2001-06-21T03:15:18Z")
MGibson wrote: > [@](#): > > But at every turn I found that Voyager dissappointed me. Let’s start off. > > 1. They broke the Borg and Q. Both of these used to be really cool and menacing until they went through Voyager. Now there’s no mystery to the Q and the Borg just aren’t all that interesting any more. \*Voyager[\i] came **soooooo** close to doing something **really, really cool** with the Borg. Remember the episode where Chakotay got plugged into that “mini Borg collective” with those ex-Borg natives on that planet? Remember the look of sheer ecstasy on his face as he partook of the thoughts of all the other people in that mini-collective? I took one look at this scene, and screamed, “ **Aha!!** That’s it! That’s how the Borg got started in the first place!! Some humanoid species discovered a way to make this thought-sharing neural link, and the experience was so **addictive** they didn’t want to unplug from it. But then, they started getting **bored** with all the old, familiar thoughts in their proto-collective, and realized that in order to **regain the thrill** of sharing new thoughts, they would have to keep feeding their addiction by assimilating more and more people!” It was a **great** idea. The Borg were mental-collective-aholics! But naturally, since this idea was so neato-keen and had so many far-reaching implications for the Borg **and** for the potential future of the Trek universe, the _Voyager_ writers decided to **drop** the whole concept and never went **near** it again. The rest of the episode turned into a garden-variety mushy love story between Chakotay and one of the women on the planet. Bleah. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2001, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-star-trek-series/69203/50 "2001-06-21T03:22:38Z")
Weird\_AL\_Einstein wrote: > [@](#): > > Actually this is one of the scenes that makes my point. Kirk goes up to the thing that looks like a microwave, says “chicken sandwich and coffee” (IIRC), and boom, there it is. It couldn’t have been prepared that quickly. I went into a McDonald’s yesterday, said, “hamburger with fries”, and boom, there it was. It couldn’t have been prepared that quickly. Then, I went to a vending machine, and pressed the “chicken sandwich” button, and boom, there it was. It couldn’t have been prepared that quickly, either. Therefore, McDonald’s and sandwich vending machines must use replicators. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2001, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-star-trek-series/69203/51 "2001-06-21T03:28:32Z")
_Voyager_ has replicators, but it also has a galley, though God knows why. And what is with this “home cooking is better than replicated” thing that crops up all the time? If they can’t make replicators that can turn out duplicates of existing dishes that are perfect at the molecular level and below, then God help anyone who steps into a transporter. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2001, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-star-trek-series/69203/52 "2001-06-21T03:29:46Z")
MrAtoz wrote: > [@](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > \ The founding members of the Federation were the Humans, the Vulcans, the Centarians, the Tellarites, and the Andorrans. > > Got a cite? (I’ve always wanted to say that!) I’ve heard this little factoid before, and I always wonder where it comes from. I believe it comes from the old _Star Fleet Technical Manual_, first published in the mid-1970s by Franz Joseph Designs. (This Franz Joseph technical manual went on to be the basis for the _Star Fleet Battles_ wargame, which is so **not** canon it will make a hardcore Trekker’s little pointy ears explode.) ---
**Author:** ![Esprix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/esprix/32/7899_2.png) [@Esprix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esprix)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2001, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-star-trek-series/69203/53 "2001-06-21T03:40:44Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by **MEBuckner** _ > > _Voyager_ has replicators, but it also has a galley, though God knows why. Conservation of energy. They didn’t know where they’d be able to get their new source of power (being without starbases to dock at for fresh, shiny new dilithium crystals) so they had to save energy. Additionally, they often bartered with other cultures for actual food. And, of course, they needed to give Neelix something to do after Kes dumped him. 🙂 Esprix ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2001, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-star-trek-series/69203/54 "2001-06-21T05:23:40Z")
Esprix wrote: > [@](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > _Originally posted by **MEBuckner** _ > > _Voyager_ has replicators, but it also has a galley, though God knows why. > > Conservation of energy. They didn’t know where they’d be able to get their new source of power (being without starbases to dock at for fresh, shiny new dilithium crystals) so they had to save energy. … which is why Voyager’s Holodeck seemed to be in operation round-the-clock. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Rhosis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@Sir\_Rhosis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Rhosis)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2001, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-star-trek-series/69203/55 "2001-06-21T05:35:18Z")
IANAVFan in any way, shape or form, but I do remember in the pilot episode the explanation was given that the holodeck ran on a different energy source than the rest of the ship, one that was incapable of providing any power to the rest of the shp, thus they could keep it on all the time. To which, most people just said “right!” Sir Rhosis ---
**Author:** ![Esprix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/esprix/32/7899_2.png) [@Esprix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esprix)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2001, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-star-trek-series/69203/56 "2001-06-21T06:50:38Z")
Incorrect. The holodeck, like the replicators, were _rationed_ - they often talk in the series about “I used up a whole month’s worth of replicator rations to make you that pie,” or “I had to give up my holodeck privileges for a month.” It was very clear in the series that energy had to be conserved, and there were also times during the series that energy supplies were an issue. Esprix ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Rhosis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@Sir\_Rhosis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Rhosis)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2001, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-star-trek-series/69203/57 "2001-06-21T06:54:40Z")
Esprix, I may be incorrect, but I swear I recall somesuch explanation delivered, IIRC, by Ensign Kim in the pilot or very early episode, at a briefing, perhaps in Janeway’s Ready Room. Sir Rhosis ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Rhosis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@Sir\_Rhosis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Rhosis)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2001, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-star-trek-series/69203/58 "2001-06-21T07:05:16Z")
Back to the OP: Here is a site with artwork showing Bakula in a retro-fifties-looking uniform shirt, etc. There a link that supposedly shows a photo of the new “old” Enterprise. It’s fan-ran, so take it with a grain or two of salt. > **[Scifispace.com Sci-Fi News, Science Fiction Community | The Science Fiction...](https://scifispace.com)** > > Science-Fiction community for fans by fans founded in 1998 - a mega site with news, forums, groups, and fan-supported content. Sir Rhosis ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2001, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-star-trek-series/69203/59 "2001-06-21T08:24:08Z")
> [@](#): > > I went into a McDonald’s yesterday, said, “hamburger with fries”, and boom, there it was. It couldn’t have been prepared that quickly. Then, I went to a vending machine, and pressed the “chicken sandwich” button, and boom, there it was. It couldn’t have been prepared that quickly, either. Therefore, McDonald’s and sandwich vending machines must use replicators. So… you’re admitting that Starfleet personnel are no better trained than McDonald’s employees… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2001, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-star-trek-series/69203/60 "2001-06-21T09:11:53Z")
Weird Al Einstein wrote: "Actually this is one of the scenes that makes my point. Kirk goes up to the thing that looks like a microwave, says “chicken sandwich and coffee” (IIRC), and boom, there it is. It couldn’t have been prepared that quickly. " Actually, it completely disproves your point. If that was a replicator, then before Kirk pressed the button, the food _did not exsist_. So when could the tribbles have eaten it? No, obviously the food had to have been prepared in advance and stored in the machine Kirk was using, during which time the tribbles got in and ate it. Then, when the Cap’n orders, instead of his food being dispensed, he gets the tribbles that ate it. Have I mentioned that I don’t even like Star Trek? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-star-trek-series/69203.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-star-trek-series/69203.md?page=4)