# Star Trek series set on Earth? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 27, 2014, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-series-set-on-earth/682391 "2014-02-27T06:07:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Aquadementia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aquadementia/32/555_2.png) [@Aquadementia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aquadementia)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-series-set-on-earth/682391/21 "2014-02-27T18:19:19Z")
Starfleet Security: San Francisco - Cops have to deal with all the difficulties with aliens coming to Earth. “Sir, you should not have angered a horrible gelatinous blob. He has diplomatic immunity. The best thing to do now is wait until his body naturally expels you in a week or two, then grab a towel. It’s exfoliates the skin. You’ll come out looking great.” “No ma’am. He is not from an alien race that ages backwards. It’s just a horny teen looking to get lucky and score some booze. Don’t believe every crazy thing someone tells you.” ---
**Author:** ![nevadaexile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb8c5e/32.png) [@nevadaexile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nevadaexile)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-series-set-on-earth/682391/22 "2014-02-27T18:26:55Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#): > > That confused me for years. I was like, did Tom Paris change his name or something? No,actually they changed the character from the TNG character to Tom Paris when they they cast the role for _ **Star Trek: Voyager** _. ---
**Author:** ![blindboyard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blindboyard/32/2833_2.png) [@blindboyard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blindboyard)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-series-set-on-earth/682391/23 "2014-02-27T18:27:20Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#): > > That confused me for years. I was like, did Tom Paris change his name or something? Apparently they didn’t want to pay royalties for the character, so they came up with a new one exactly the same. There have been lots of episodes set on earth. In TOS they all had time travel, I believe, but the earth appears in the films, it appears in several TNG episodes, DS9 episodes with changelings and Sisko’s parents and there’s even a Voyager episode where Kim gets thrown into an alternate reality where he never went to the Delta Quadrant. A whole series would be horribly tedious. ---
**Author:** ![Tanbarkie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a698b9/32.png) [@Tanbarkie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tanbarkie)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-series-set-on-earth/682391/24 "2014-02-27T18:34:30Z")
> [@Aquadementia](#): > > Starfleet Security: San Francisco - Cops have to deal with all the difficulties with aliens coming to Earth. > > “Sir, you should not have angered a horrible gelatinous blob. He has diplomatic immunity. The best thing to do now is wait until his body naturally expels you in a week or two, then grab a towel. It’s exfoliates the skin. You’ll come out looking great.” > > “No ma’am. He is not from an alien race that ages backwards. It’s just a horny teen looking to get lucky and score some booze. Don’t believe every crazy thing someone tells you.” So essentially a show focused on the two cops from “Futurama,” then? I would watch that. ---
**Author:** ![zev\_steinhardt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/97f17d/32.png) [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-series-set-on-earth/682391/25 "2014-02-27T18:48:33Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#): > > That confused me for years. I was like, did Tom Paris change his name or something? Well, I had the advantage of seeing that episode when it first came out (before anyone even thought of Voyager.) 🙂 Zev Steinhardt ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-series-set-on-earth/682391/26 "2014-02-27T18:54:35Z")
Section 31 Burn Notice ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-series-set-on-earth/682391/27 "2014-02-27T18:58:41Z")
DS9 spent a fair amount of time on Earth, limited to Grampa Sisko’s restaurant and Star Fleet HQ in San Francisco. There was a glimmer of something interesting when Star Fleet was going around drawing blood from everyone to make sure they weren’t shapeshifters, and otherwise acting like jack-booted thugs, but they (probably correctly) decided to leave Earth before too many questions arose. Questions like, In a post-scarcity society without money, who volunteers to work in Grampa’s restaurant? How are necessary jobs allocated? ARE necessary jobs allocated, or are there 1 billion florists and 1 poor schmuck from Star Fleet whose job it is to transport everyone around? How are people motivated without money? Where are all the porno holosuites? I don’t think Roddenberry’s vision of the future stands up to scrutiny. On a star ship or a space station, that works out fine, but I don’t think they could make show starring a bunch of Earth civilians and not have to answer questions that they don’t have good answers for. ---
**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:** [February 27, 2014, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-series-set-on-earth/682391/28 "2014-02-27T19:05:01Z")
Starfleet Academy in San Francisco doesn’t count; it’s all just Starfleet, albeit with a few mischievous cadets thrown in. Anyway, the original concept was to have the Academy on a giant space station. Most of the conflict in _ **Enterprise** _ came from the alien races (Andorans, Tellarites) who hated each other until (and after) they were finessed by the Terrans into forming the UFP. I was glad to see the fourth season episodes set in the alternate universe where Earth had its own evil empire (“Through a Mirror, Darkly”). ---
**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:** [February 27, 2014, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-series-set-on-earth/682391/29 "2014-02-27T19:20:58Z")
Possibilities so far: Star Trek-The Walking Dead (Borg on earth) Star Trek-Futurama (Strange cops on Earth) Star Trek-Mirror Earth (The Evil Empire on Earth) =) ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-series-set-on-earth/682391/30 "2014-02-27T19:41:39Z")
> [@nevadaexile](#): > > No,actually they changed the character from the TNG character to Tom Paris when they they cast the role for _ **Star Trek: Voyager** _. > [@blindboyard](#): > > Apparently they didn’t want to pay royalties for the character, so they came up with a new one exactly the same. Wait a second, are you guys telling me that they retconned the TNG guy into Tom Paris when Voyager started? So officially, its no longer “Nicolas Locarno” in TNG that caused the death, but Tom Paris?? ---
**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:** [February 27, 2014, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-series-set-on-earth/682391/31 "2014-02-27T20:05:11Z")
> [@nevadaexile](#): > > It’s probable that even Star Trek producers would realize how limited (and limiting) that a series based on Earth would. Which is why it was pitched as “_ **Wagon Train** _ to the Stars.” The idea was to regularly show different civilizations and use the parallels to comment obliquely on what was happening in 1960s America, without pissing too many people off. It couldn’t have been set on 23rd-century Earth because there would be no conflict by that time. _ **Genesis II** _ employed the same concept, except that Earth society _had_ become fragmented and contentious, and the underground tube system served the same purpose as the _Enterprise_. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-series-set-on-earth/682391/32 "2014-02-27T20:06:21Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > A Starfleet Academy-based show could be good but I suspect people would get bored and by season 2 the cadets would all be flying off into space on flimsy premises. Good call. [Space Academy](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075585/) lasted one season, then morphed into [Jason of Star Command](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078631/) [del]Dr. Smith[/del] Jonathan Harris played the head of the academy in _Space Academy_. [del]Scotty[/del] James Doohan replaced him in the first season of _Jason of Star Command_. Then [del]Marshal Troop[/del] John Russell replaced him in the second season. ---
**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:** [February 27, 2014, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-series-set-on-earth/682391/33 "2014-02-27T21:33:17Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > [del]Dr. Smith[/del] Jonathan Harris played the head of the academy in _Space Academy_. [del]Scotty[/del] James Doohan replaced him in the first season of _Jason of Star Command_. Then [del]Marshal Troop[/del] John Russell replaced him in the second season. Pamelyn Ferdin (one of the space brats in “And the Children Shall Lead”) was a regular in _ **Space Academy** _. The producers were Norm Prescott and Lou Scheimer, who produced the animated version of _ **ST: TOS** _. ---
**Author:** ![zev\_steinhardt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/97f17d/32.png) [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-series-set-on-earth/682391/34 "2014-02-27T23:25:24Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#): > > Wait a second, are you guys telling me that they retconned the TNG guy into Tom Paris when Voyager started? So officially, its no longer “Nicolas Locarno” in TNG that caused the death, but Tom Paris?? No, they’re too separate (but very similar) characters played by the same actor. Zev Steinhardt ---
**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:** [February 27, 2014, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-series-set-on-earth/682391/35 "2014-02-27T23:26:41Z")
> [@zev\_steinhardt](#): > > No, they’re too separate (but very similar) characters played by the same actor. > > Zev Steinhardt I googled around for a bit, and their back stories are similar. ---
**Author:** ![zev\_steinhardt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/97f17d/32.png) [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-series-set-on-earth/682391/36 "2014-02-27T23:32:38Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > I googled around for a bit, and their back stories are similar. Put it this way, Paris is supposed to be Lacarno, but the show didn’t want to have to pay royalties to the TNG writer who wrote the episode, so they changed it to Paris. It’s one of those situation where, officially (to save money), they say one thing, but it’s really supposed to be the other. That being said, though, there are differences. For one, Paris made it to Starfleet before getting in trouble with the law. Lacarno was expelled from the academy and never made it to Starfleet. Zev Steinhardt ---
**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:** [February 27, 2014, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-series-set-on-earth/682391/37 "2014-02-27T23:39:00Z")
[Geek Link](http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Tom_Paris) =) ---
**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:** [February 28, 2014, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-series-set-on-earth/682391/38 "2014-02-28T00:23:51Z")
> [@deryk](#): > > …I don’t think something like that would be any less interesting than DS9, which ran for seven seasons, would it? At one point in the planning stages DS9 was going to be set on Bajor itself instead of a space station. > [@leahcim](#): > > I remember reading that was meant to be the first hint of the “Borg” concept, but the race that was coming to invade was obviously changed significantly before the next episode in which they appeared. I.e. if all had gone as planned the Borg episodes would be “brain parasite” episodes and that open thread would be resolved. > [@YogSosoth](#): > > Didn’t they nix that idea because it was too expensive to do all the CGI? Would have been a good arc, I think… The Borg were originally conceived of as an non-humanoid race of insects, and connected somehow to the brain parasites. Then Roddenberry et al realized that would’ve been impossible to pull of with their budget so when they finally showed up they were humanoid cyborgs. The hive mind is a relic of original insectiod concept. > [@blindboyard](#): > > Apparently they didn’t want to pay royalties for the character, so they came up with a new one exactly the same… That’s the same reason why Enterprise had T’Pol as a major character instead of T’Pau (though the latter did eventually show up as guest character). ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2014, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-series-set-on-earth/682391/39 "2014-02-28T00:32:47Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > That’s the same reason why Enterprise had T’Pol as a major character instead of T’Pau (though the latter did eventually show up as guest character). Other than “Heart and Soul” who really needs T’Pau around anyway? ---
**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:** [February 28, 2014, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-series-set-on-earth/682391/40 "2014-02-28T01:21:48Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > (though the latter did eventually show up as guest character). I do not recall that. Which episode? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-series-set-on-earth/682391.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-series-set-on-earth/682391.md?page=3)