# Star Trek (TOS) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted, star-trek-paramount\ **Created:** [September 21, 2020, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tos/921122 "2020-09-21T05:26:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2020, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tos/921122/61 "2020-09-21T21:14:03Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > I recall when it started becoming popular in syndication in the 1970s. I was in grad school, and it became a daily ritual for everyone to gather in the student lounge to watch the episodes when they came on at in the late afternoon. While people appreciated the good episodes, the bad ones were almost as much fun for camp value. Terrible episodes became a lot more fun when you were a member of an audience cheering on ripped-shirt Kirk or howling at the lame jokes at the end. I saw the original run when I was in high school. When I was in grad school, in Illinois, the syndication arrived. In 1975 I wrote a column on PLATO news previewing the episodes. I discovered in “The Friendly Orange Glow,” an excellent book on PLATO, that people planned their classes around ST and my column. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2020, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tos/921122/62 "2020-09-21T21:16:41Z")
I got the box set cheap, and rewatched everything. Some of the CGI is jarring, but The Doomsday Machine’s effects finally shows what is only talked about in the original episode. Seeing the Enterprise about to be sucked into the thing is a lot better than just hearing about it. Tomorrow is Yesterday had good new effects also. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2020, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tos/921122/63 "2020-09-21T21:27:42Z")
[Deleted. Wrong thread] ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2020, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tos/921122/64 "2020-09-21T21:32:33Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Tomorrow is Yesterday had good new effects also. Oh yes! Seeing the Enterprise through the window of the F104 (Starfighter, indeed!) was worth every penny. [It’s saucer shaped!](https://www.startrek.com/sites/default/files/styles/1200x628/public/images/2019-07/b0eb9a95e8b085e4025eae2f0d76a6a6.png.jpg?itok=cIFOAM5H) Even if the whole idea of beaming people into their younger selves not only made no damn sense at all to solve the problem, it violated conservation of energy! They’d have been better off just beaming them into space! ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2020, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tos/921122/65 "2020-09-21T21:37:05Z")
Random thought I got from remembering Tomorrow is Yesterday. How smart is Spock, about human nature? Does it factor into his calculations? SPOCK: Approaching our century, Captain. Braking should begin now. [emphasis made on …NOW] KIRK: Bridge to engineering. Begin full braking power. **[Engineering]** SCOTT: Pulling away from the sun weakened them, sir. They may blow apart if I reverse. **[Bridge]** KIRK: No choice, Mister Scott. **[Engineering]** SCOTT: Aye, sir. So how long after “now” did braking actually begin? ten seconds? 15? Did Spock allow for general farting around before actual braking began? And this isn’t the only episode that did this. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2020, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tos/921122/66 "2020-09-21T21:48:20Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > How smart is Spock, about human nature? Just how “human” Spock is, and how much he knows about human nature, varies wildly between episodes, depending on the writer. Sometimes he’s virtually emotionless, and humans are a complete mystery to him. Other times his human half comes through, and he’s more empathetic. His relationship with McCoy varies too. Sometimes they hate one another (or McCoy does, Spock merely disdaining him), while in others they are great buddies. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2020, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tos/921122/67 "2020-09-21T23:45:22Z")
It was the late 60’s, early 70’s. It is remarkable that the thing is even talked about at all. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2020, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tos/921122/68 "2020-09-22T01:01:55Z")
I saw it mostly in reruns. In B/W, because that is what we had. The first time I saw it in color, my eyes started bleeding. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2020, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tos/921122/69 "2020-09-22T01:16:37Z")
Is it widely known that the “Vulcan Neck Pinch” is referred to as ‘The Spocko’? Or is just me and my friends? ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2020, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tos/921122/70 "2020-09-22T02:59:53Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > Is it wideIy known that the “Vulcan Neck Pinch” is referred to as ‘The Spocko’? Or is just me and my friends? Sorry, no matches for “The Spocko” being the Vulcan Neck Pinch. If it makes you and your friends feel any better, Google did return a Lost Star Trek episode about [Spocko.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EuFfmnu34rs&list=PLEXCQ6veH00LJ3ESb_Y6NDxtqmEoALj3y&index=296) ---
**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:** [September 22, 2020, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tos/921122/71 "2020-09-22T05:52:11Z")
Canopy/windshield. 😉 For that to have worked, they would have had to wipe Christopher’s memory clean. “It never happened, so you won’t have anything to remember,” Yeah, right. 🥺 ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2020, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tos/921122/72 "2020-09-22T06:03:54Z")
I read somewhere that Roddenberry was originally trying to sell it to the TV executives as “Wagon Train to the Stars”. I have been watching some Wagon Train recently, and it is hard to see what kind of analogy he would have been trying to make. Unless it was along the lines of that show is popular, so I will try to hitch my wagon to it, or something. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2020, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tos/921122/73 "2020-09-22T06:16:35Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > I read somewhere that Roddenberry was originally trying to sell it to the TV executives as “Wagon Train to the Stars”. I have been watching some Wagon Train recently, and it is hard to see what kind of analogy he would have been trying to make. The reference was to the fact that the wagon train was constantly moving from one place to another, and was never in the same place two weeks in a row. Likewise the _Enterprise_ traveled from planet to planet (although it didn’t have a definite destination like the wagon train). And the name itself refers to the [Great Trek](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Trek), the exodus of the Boers by wagon train from Cape Colony into the African hinterland. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2020, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tos/921122/74 "2020-09-22T06:42:36Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Oh yes! Seeing the Enterprise through the window of the F104 (Starfighter, indeed!) was worth every penny. > > [It’s saucer shaped!](https://www.startrek.com/sites/default/files/styles/1200x628/public/images/2019-07/b0eb9a95e8b085e4025eae2f0d76a6a6.png.jpg?itok=cIFOAM5H) > > Even if the whole idea of beaming people into their younger selves not only made no damn sense at all to solve the problem, it violated conservation of energy! They’d have been better off just beaming them into space! So far CGI hasn’t been able to fix dumb scripts. My favorite new part was them clearly orbiting the sun close by to go back in time. That explains why it took so long to get from the sun to the earth at warp a zillion or whatever. And a lot better than the original effect which had the ship shaking in space. Oh, and they got one thing right - the first moon landing mission did launch on a Wednesday. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2020, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tos/921122/75 "2020-09-22T15:53:31Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Definitely not invented by him, since you can see similar on almost any cover of the old Planet Stories and its ilk. Someone once described these clothes as being held on by wisps of cloth with the strength of cast iron. True, but those were just drawings. He made them work on [living](http://bp2.blogger.com/_tBl_3BU6-1c/RZrYC6QnGFI/AAAAAAAAAME/n-3uZ-gdEiM/s1600-h/Carolyn+Palamas+3.jpg) [people](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C8W3OeXUAAAwOdL.jpg) . ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2020, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tos/921122/76 "2020-09-22T19:43:01Z")
I just finished watching the entire episode “I, Mudd” for the first time (up to now, I had only seen the last scene). How did Norman get on board the Enterprise from a distance of 672 light-hours (144 hours @ Warp 7)? And how was he able to coordinate the other androids from that distance? Also, did ANYBODY check his personnel file when he came aboard? Also, couldn’t they have gotten Kay Ballard to be Stella Mudd? She and Roger C. Carmel worked well together. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2020, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tos/921122/77 "2020-09-22T20:54:58Z")
The bible suggests that warp factors are cubic, so warp 7 is more like about 2 hours for that distance. (The scales are pretty flexible – at normal warp 6 cruising speed, it would still take almost a week to get from Earth to α-Centauri.) ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2020, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tos/921122/78 "2020-09-22T21:09:06Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > The bible suggests that warp factors are cubic, so warp 7 is more Iike about 2 hours for that distance. (The scales are pretty flexible – at normal warp 6 cruising speed, it would still take almost a week to get from Earth to α-Centauri.) Yeah, I figured my math might not be up to the conversion. I’m pretty much an algebra-with-a-little-bit-of-trig mathematician. So at a week to cover 4.367 l-y at warp 6, how far could warp 7 take them in 144 hours? Anyway, it’s all academic. How did Norman manage its feats? ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2020, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tos/921122/79 "2020-09-23T01:46:21Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Anyway, it’s all academic. How did Norman manage its feats? You may as well ask why Security didn’t just shoot him. It’s never wise to ask about plot holes. ---
**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:** [September 23, 2020, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tos/921122/80 "2020-09-23T01:57:47Z")
IIRC, he told Kirk that he’d rigged the ship to explode if anything happened to him. So the crew had no choice but to sit back and enjoy the ride. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tos/921122.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tos/921122.md?page=5)