# 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:** 7
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2001, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-star-trek-series/69203/121 "2001-06-24T00:21:33Z")
Roddenberry was shtupping Nichelle Nichols too. ---
**Author:** ![Katisha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bcef8e/32.png) [@Katisha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katisha)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2001, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-star-trek-series/69203/122 "2001-06-24T00:59:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Alan Smithee \* > \*\*The members of a Star Trek message board I’ve been hanging around lately (What? Stop looking at me like that! We’re all Trekkies (-ers) here, right?) debated this vehemently, but after having someone watch every episode or movie in which anyone even thought they might have heard this, it was eventually decided to be a Trek UL. \*\* Which board? I hang around a few of them myself… Two things: 1. If Spock was the first Vulcan in Starfleet, why did they have a ship with an all-Vulcan crew in one TOS episode? (We never saw them, but we heard about them.) 2. As far as the Great Klingon Forehead Controversy goes, I’m perfectly content to imagine that Klingons were always supposed to have bumpy foreheads, and ignore the one joke made about it on DS9 (it was, after all, a funny stunt episode). It’s easier that way. 😉 3. Hi Opal! ---
**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 24, 2001, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-star-trek-series/69203/123 "2001-06-24T21:05:23Z")
Anthracite wrote: > [@](#): > > An all female, all lesbian crew. > > They would have a 100% share of the male 13-19 segement… 😉 Not if the lesbian crew consisted of Rosie O’Donnel… ---
**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 29, 2001, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-star-trek-series/69203/124 "2001-06-29T02:37:38Z")
SPOOFE wrote: > [@](#): > > And don’t you even START dissin’ the lightsabers… that’s Pit talk there, boy! 😃 I wouldn’t _dream_ of bad-mouthing light sabers. They look cool, they kill cool, and that _sound_ they make is Way Cool [TM]. But consider: A light saber no bigger than a flashlight can cut through anything. It can melt through Trade Federation blast doors. It can even **quickly** slice through the super tough armor of an AT-AT Imperial Walker, which not even the blasters on the Snowspeeders could penetrate. (Well, okay, a lightsaber might not be able to cut through the Quantum Armor of the Suncrusher. MIGHT not be able to. But a lightsaber still has several times the armor-penetrating power of a Snowspeeder’s blasters.) So **why don’t they base any ship’s weapon systems on light saber technology?** Have your Imperial Star Destroyers fire lightsaber torpedoes. Slice your way all the way through the Empire’s next Death Star and out the other side, simply by mounting a couple of light sabers on the front of your ship that swing back-and-forth like windshield wipers. Build a 360-degree protective sphere of light saber energy around your person, which will not only incinerate anyone dumb enough to touch you but will also deflect blaster bolts. Light saber technology SHOULD be used for a LOT more than just making swords. ---
**Author:** ![RoboDude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bbe5ce/32.png) [@RoboDude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RoboDude)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2001, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-star-trek-series/69203/125 "2001-06-29T03:00:08Z")
I heard somewhere that the construction of a lightsaber involves aligning some rare crystals that are part of the beam emitter. The only way to get them lined up properly is to use the Force, and a slight misalignment causes the saber to explode when it is turned on. Presumably, this would make mass production somewhat impractical. ---
**Author:** ![kasuo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8c91f0/32.png) [@kasuo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kasuo)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2001, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-star-trek-series/69203/126 "2001-06-29T03:35:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by RoboDude \* > \*\*I heard somewhere that the construction of a lightsaber involves aligning some rare crystals that are part of the beam emitter. The only way to get them lined up properly is to use the Force, and a slight misalignment causes the saber to explode when it is turned on. Presumably, this would make mass production somewhat impractical. \*\* Man, even though the technology in Star Wars is supposed to be more advanced than in Star Trek, they can’t even do something as simple as align a bunch of rare crystals? ---
**Author:** ![Kaitlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/73ab20/32.png) [@Kaitlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaitlyn)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2001, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-star-trek-series/69203/127 "2001-06-29T04:03:25Z")
On the homosexuals in space issue. There may not have been any openly gay characters, but there was certainly at least one episode of TNG that was about homosexuality (transmuted into an alien society, of course). The NG crew encounter a planet on which the inhabitants have evolved or engineered themselves past having sexes; all are neuter. Riker becomes involved with one member who realizes that it (she?) is female. She “comes out” to some others, is arrested for being deviant, and, just before Riker and Worf can rescue her (in violation of the Prime Directive) is “treated” actually brainwashed, in a way so as to remove her sexuality. At her trial, she gives a very well written speech about how she, and others like her are not sick, and do not need to be cured. Substitute homosexual into the speech, and you get the actual point of the episode. I’ve always seen this episode as one of the high points of the series. As for the smooth-head/bumpy head issue. They are the same species. The makeup was just different from TOS to the movies and TNG. Trying to explain the difference in appearance through some convoluted continuity is like trying to explain the various physical changes in James Bond or Dr. Who or Wong Fei Hung. It’s irrelevant. ---
**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 29, 2001, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-star-trek-series/69203/128 "2001-06-29T04:24:00Z")
And you know, some people _still_ didn’t get the gay analogy of that episode, despite them beating you over the head with it. Esprix ---
**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:** [June 29, 2001, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-star-trek-series/69203/129 "2001-06-29T04:42:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Number Six \* > **As for the smooth-head/bumpy head issue. … Trying to explain the difference in appearance through some convoluted continuity is like trying to explain the various physical changes in … Dr. Who** Erm…The Doctor’s changes ARE explained within the continuity of the series. Galifreyans (SP? I’ve never seen it written) can regenerate several (13, IIRC) times, recreating themselves, physically and mentally. ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2001, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-star-trek-series/69203/130 "2001-06-29T08:08:22Z")
> [@](#): > > A light saber no bigger than a flashlight can cut through anything. ALMOST anything… although it’s never specifically mentioned what materials it CAN’T cut through. Probably the crystals that emit the beams themselves. > [@](#): > > It can melt through Trade Federation blast doors. VEEEERRRRYYYY slowly. > [@](#): > > It can even quickly slice through the super tough armor of an AT-AT Imperial Walker, which not even the blasters on the Snowspeeders could penetrate. Ah, ah, ah… not necessarily “quickly”. True, Luke took a single swipe and suddenly he had access to some sort of external maintenance port (I haven’t the foggiest idea what it is), but the armoring on the base of the AT-AT is likely to be much thinner/weaker than the huge plates adorning the sides. I mean, why bother making extremely inaccessable spots on the thing as tough as others? In either case, Luke just broke some sort of latch that, upon its destruction, caused the tiny hatch to slide open (watch that scene carefully). > [@](#): > > So why don’t they base any ship’s weapon systems on light saber technology? Because a single, massive, instantaneous explosion will do more damage than a single, meter-deep poking on the surface. Remember, the lightsaber handle is larger than the beam itself… once you fire it, it’d hit the enemy ship, the beam would poke in… then the lightsaber torpedo itself would be destroyed when the physical part hit the armoring. Additionally, there’s no reason to think that standard shields wouldn’t stop a lightsaber beam… after all, it’s clear that energy reacts to a lightsaber beam differently than matter. Think of it this way… what would be more likely to kill you, a thousand paper cuts or a hand grenade? > [@](#): > > Build a 360-degree protective sphere of light saber energy around your person, which will not only incinerate anyone dumb enough to touch you but will also deflect blaster bolts. Err… since the lightsaber beam is generated through a very LINEAR series of controls that aren’t very variable in terms of rotation/expansion, I doubt a “lightsphere” would be a very feasible idea. > [@](#): > > Light saber technology SHOULD be used for a LOT more than just making swords. Theoretically. But, if you want to discuss Star Wars as if it were real life, there’re probably very good reasons why they DON’T do a particular thing… in this case, it’s probably not as great an idea as it initially seems. Don’t feel too bad, Tracer… in my younger (and stupider) days, when I was completely obsessed with Star Wars, I designed a lightsaber gun which fired small packets of lightsaber beam… complete with amateurish drawings. ---
**Author:** ![Kaitlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/73ab20/32.png) [@Kaitlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaitlyn)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2001, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-star-trek-series/69203/131 "2001-06-29T08:12:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tengu \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by Number Six \* > > **As for the smooth-head/bumpy head issue. … Trying to explain the difference in appearance through some convoluted continuity is like trying to explain the various physical changes in … Dr. Who** > > Erm…The Doctor’s changes ARE explained within the continuity of the series. Galifreyans (SP? I’ve never seen it written) can regenerate several (13, IIRC) times, recreating themselves, physically and mentally. > > \*\* You’ve got me on Dr. Who. I’ve only seen a couple dozen episodes, and it seemed like there was always a different person playing the doctor. But even if there is an explanation for Dr. Who, I think my point is still valid. It isn’t necessary to explain why different actors play the same character, and it isn’t neccesary to explain why a species looks different from one medium to another or from one series to another. I see no one trying to come up with some explanation for why Zephram Cochrane in _First Contact_ looks nothing like Zephram Cochrane in TOS episode, and for good reason. One isn’t needed. James Bond, Hannibal Lecter, Clarice Starling, Jack Ryan, Wong Fei Hung, Batman etc. Characters are routinely played by different actors in subsequent movies without explaning the physical differences. None of the six actors who’ve played James Bond look even remotely alike other than being tall, dark-haired, and British, yet we accept them all (except maybe Lazenby) as Bond. I’ve always just seen the smooth head / bumpy head thing as two different visions of the same species. Another homosexuals in space episode of TNG: The Drumhead. Ostensibly about a fanatical Admiral trying to root out Romulans and other undesirables secretly serving in Starfleet, I’ve always thought it was about gays secretly serving in the military. ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2001, 9:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-star-trek-series/69203/132 "2001-06-29T09:01:49Z")
> [@](#): > > Another homosexuals in space episode of TNG: The Drumhead. Ostensibly about a fanatical Admiral trying to root out Romulans and other undesirables secretly serving in Starfleet, I’ve always thought it was about gays secretly serving in the military. So the Romulans are really all gay? No wonder they’re so private and suspicious of the homophobic Federation!! ---
**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 29, 2001, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-star-trek-series/69203/133 "2001-06-29T09:05:14Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by **Number Six** _ > > It isn’t necessary to explain why different actors play the same character, and it isn’t neccesary to explain why a species looks different from one medium to another or from one series to another. I see no one trying to come up with some explanation for why Zephram Cochrane in _First Contact_ looks nothing like Zephram Cochrane in TOS episode, and for good reason. One isn’t needed. I am a Star Trek geek, and you, sir, are no geek! Esprix ---
**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 29, 2001, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-star-trek-series/69203/134 "2001-06-29T09:06:39Z")
**SPOOFE!** Stop hijacking this Star Trek thread into a Star Wars thread this instant, or I’m gonna get all Dominion on your ass! Esprix ---
**Author:** ![Gartog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/22d042/32.png) [@Gartog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gartog)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2001, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-star-trek-series/69203/135 "2001-06-29T10:28:50Z")
What a beatiful thread. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2001, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-star-trek-series/69203/136 "2001-06-29T10:32:43Z")
> [@](#): > > SPOOFE! Stop hijacking this Star Trek thread into a Star Wars thread this instant, or I’m gonna get all Dominion on your ass! Hey, if YOU’RE allowed to hijack it into a “gays in the future” thread (a worthy topic, I assure you), then _I_ can hijack it into a Star Wars thread! So there! 'Sides… Tracer started it… ---
**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2001, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-star-trek-series/69203/137 "2001-06-29T16:45:01Z")
Boys, boys, there’s no reason to fight. All we have to do is shift the hijack into “Gays in Star Wars” and then we’re ALL happy! ---
**Author:** ![jab1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ee7513/32.png) [@jab1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jab1)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2001, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-star-trek-series/69203/138 "2001-06-29T18:31:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by kasuo \* > \*\*Man, even though the technology in Star Wars is supposed to be more advanced than in Star Trek, they can’t even do something as simple as align a bunch of rare crystals? \*\* How can SW technology be more advanced if they don’t have transporters? I mean, any culture that can figure a way to defeat the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle is pretty darn smart! Also, I think a Borg cube could beat a Death Star. ---
**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 30, 2001, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-star-trek-series/69203/139 "2001-06-30T00:12:49Z")
There are no gays in the Star Wars universe (unless you count C-3PO, the limey poofter, but he’s a robot). And really, devolving into _yet another_ ST v. SW thread is just, well, pointless. 'Sides, **SPOOFE** wrote that definitive thread quite a while back. Um, er, so, how about them Klingons! 😃 Esprix ---
**Author:** ![Kaitlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/73ab20/32.png) [@Kaitlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaitlyn)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2001, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-star-trek-series/69203/140 "2001-06-30T01:41:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Esprix \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > _Originally posted by **Number Six** _ > > > > It isn’t necessary to explain why different actors play the same character, and it isn’t neccesary to explain why a species looks different from one medium to another or from one series to another. I see no one trying to come up with some explanation for why Zephram Cochrane in _First Contact_ looks nothing like Zephram Cochrane in TOS episode, and for good reason. One isn’t needed. > > I am a Star Trek geek, and you, sir, are no geek! > > Esprix \*\* Maybe, but at least I’ve kissed a girl. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-star-trek-series/69203.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-star-trek-series/69203.md?page=8)