# Startrek TOS: More Time in Rank, Uhura or Sulu? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 10, 2009, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/startrek-tos-more-time-in-rank-uhura-or-sulu/499284 "2009-06-10T01:20:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2009, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/startrek-tos-more-time-in-rank-uhura-or-sulu/499284/61 "2009-06-11T18:59:24Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Nobody ever said that M’Benga was JUST for Spock. I know, but it seemed like we could add the poor doctor to the list of “cool/handy stuff” that was put away after an episode, such as the Scalosian water or the psychic food on the planet of Greek telepaths. > [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > But he was probably more savvy on Vulcan medicine than McCoy was, and as Spock was somewhat more likely to get injured than the average crewman (because he generally went on [del]away missions[/del] landing parties, which is more dangerous than staying shipside even if you’re in a blue shirt), Kirk or McCoy may have noticed that in his resume and taken that into account in granting him the assignment. Is that what’s referred to as a retcon? In any case I like it, it’s logical. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2009, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/startrek-tos-more-time-in-rank-uhura-or-sulu/499284/62 "2009-06-11T19:09:02Z")
> [@Pushkin](#): > > [QUOTE=Skald the Rhymer] > > But he was probably more savvy on Vulcan medicine than McCoy was, and as Spock was somewhat more likely to get injured than the average crewman (because he generally went on away missions landing parties, which is more dangerous than staying shipside even if you’re in a blue shirt), Kirk or McCoy may have noticed that in his resume and taken that into account in granting him the assignment. Is that what’s referred to as a retcon? In any case I like it, it’s logical. [/QUOTE] A retcon is a retroactive change in continuity–saying that something that was chronicled earlier in a series did not happen. The last movie is one big retcon–so big it’s a reboot, in fact. What I wrote can’t be a retcon, as it doesn’t contradict anything. At best it’s a fanwank --a fan’s explaining away seeming contradictions–or fanon – something a fan believes to be true but which is not stated on the screen or page. Probably fanon. ---
**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 11, 2009, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/startrek-tos-more-time-in-rank-uhura-or-sulu/499284/63 "2009-06-11T19:12:14Z")
6 doctors in the ship’s compliment means 2 on duty during each 8 hour shift. (Assuming 8 hour duty sifts, and a 24 hour day.) Which seems pretty sane. Most of the time, you won’t _need_ 2, but it means you’ll have 2 well rested doctors in most conceivable situations, 4 functional when things get really bad, and 6 when things go pear shaped enough to call in the 2 who’ll be functioning on not enough sleep. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2009, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/startrek-tos-more-time-in-rank-uhura-or-sulu/499284/64 "2009-06-11T19:12:38Z")
> [@Pushkin](#): > > I know, but it seemed like we could add the poor doctor to the list of “cool/handy stuff” that was put away after an episode, such as the Scalosian water or the psychic food on the planet of Greek telepaths. There’s good reason not to use the Scalosian water–it makes the user weak-willed and docile in short order, and kills them in only slightly less shorter order. As for the the Greek telekinetics, I’ll **fanwank** 😃 their not using it by saying that there was either something in the very makeup of the planet, in addition to the magic stuff that had to be ingested, that made the telekinesis possible; or else Starfleet Medical discovered unfortunate, unavoidable, and dangerous side-effects to the magic potion in short order. Probably the former. ---
**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 11, 2009, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/startrek-tos-more-time-in-rank-uhura-or-sulu/499284/65 "2009-06-11T19:16:05Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > A retcon is a retroactive change in continuity–saying that something that was chronicled earlier in a series did not happen. Or something did happen that wasn’t seen before. A retroactive addition is as much a change as a retroactive subtraction. What you did isn’t a retcon, not because it’s an addition, but because you’re not in charge of canon, therefor not in the position to make retcons. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2009, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/startrek-tos-more-time-in-rank-uhura-or-sulu/499284/66 "2009-06-11T19:22:11Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > (and Sulu was originally head of botany!) I thought he was Physicist Sulu of the astrosciences department. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2009, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/startrek-tos-more-time-in-rank-uhura-or-sulu/499284/67 "2009-06-11T19:28:15Z")
> [@Tengu](#): > > Or something did happen that wasn’t seen before. A retroactive addition is as much a change as a retroactive subtraction. I don’t entirely agree that a retroactive addition is necessarily a retcon; it can simply be a fleshing out. To me, for the term retcon to have any meaning, there has to be contradiction as well. For instance: the first season episode of House in which we learn how he became crippled is not a retcon. It adds new information, but doesn’t contradict anything that had been established previously. It’s a fleshing out of the character’s past through slightly non-linear storytelling. On the other hand: if they showed an episode in which House is revealed to have treated Cameron’s first husband, and his guilt over not being able to save him was the real reason he hired her, that would be a retcon, as it would contradict the stated first meeting between House and Cameron. > [@](#): > > What you did isn’t a retcon, not because it’s an addition, but because you’re not in charge of canon, therefor not in the position to make retcons. I think I said that. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2009, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/startrek-tos-more-time-in-rank-uhura-or-sulu/499284/68 "2009-06-11T19:29:18Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > I thought he was Physicist Sulu of the astrosciences department. No, it was botany, though I don’t think he was department (sub)head. ---
**Author:** ![johnspartan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a183cd/32.png) [@johnspartan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnspartan)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2009, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/startrek-tos-more-time-in-rank-uhura-or-sulu/499284/69 "2009-06-11T19:31:45Z")
A book I used to have in my, errrr “reading room” had a page of stories of random encounters of celebrities, and one was Nichelle Nichols meeting Martin Luther King. Supposedly Nichols was frustrated with Star Trek and was considering leaving the show. The way this book recounts it, King urged her to stick with it, saying it was important for a woman of color to appear in a primetime program in a prominent role of responsibility, and didn’t she realize she was “sixth in command”? Nichols claims she had to go back and ask the producers to look it up and they said as best as they could figure (or had bothered to work it out), that was indeed the case. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2009, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/startrek-tos-more-time-in-rank-uhura-or-sulu/499284/70 "2009-06-11T19:35:03Z")
> [@johnspartan](#): > > A book I used to have in my, errrr “reading room” had a page of stories of random encounters of celebrities, and one was Nichelle Nichols meeting Martin Luther King. Supposedly Nichols was frustrated with Star Trek and was considering leaving the show. The way this book recounts it, King urged her to stick with it, saying it was important for a woman of color to appear in a primetime program in a prominent role of responsibility, and didn’t she realize she was “sixth in command”? Nichols claims she had to go back and ask the producers to look it up and they said as best as they could figure (or had bothered to work it out), that was indeed the case. I’ve read that too, but I believe she was fifth, not sixth. I also seem to recall that Dr. King’s point was that it was important for her to be visible, even if she did not get appropriate amounts of screen time, as her leaving would be a retreat. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2009, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/startrek-tos-more-time-in-rank-uhura-or-sulu/499284/71 "2009-06-11T20:23:42Z")
I believe it is, therefore, a fanwank, and not a retcon. If it were a retcon, it would be level 1, revealing something not previously intended, but not contradicting anything. There’s like six levels of retcon. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2009, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/startrek-tos-more-time-in-rank-uhura-or-sulu/499284/72 "2009-06-11T20:29:24Z")
> [@E-Sabbath](#): > > I believe it is, therefore, a fanwank, and not a retcon. If it were a retcon, it would be level 1, revealing something not previously intended, but not contradicting anything. > There’s like six levels of retcon. I’m tempted to call it a fanwank, but I try to reserve that term for explanations offered by fans for seeming contradictions. Fex: in a fanwanking thread here, someone asked why Superman always collapses when exposed to red-sun radiation, rather than simply becoming normal as would seem more likely. My response was that when he’s powered-up he rarely eats, and then only for flavor than nourishment, and so, if deprived of his superpowers, he quickly goes into hypoglycemia. I thin what I did is simple speculation. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2009, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/startrek-tos-more-time-in-rank-uhura-or-sulu/499284/73 "2009-06-11T20:57:51Z")
> [@Tengu](#): > > 6 doctors in the ship’s compliment means 2 on duty during each 8 hour shift. (Assuming 8 hour duty sifts, and a 24 hour day.) Which seems pretty sane. Most of the time, you won’t _need_ 2, but it means you’ll have 2 well rested doctors in most conceivable situations, 4 functional when things get really bad, and 6 when things go pear shaped enough to call in the 2 who’ll be functioning on not enough sleep. The same would go for nurses, I imagine, but there would need to be twice as many. It looks like there are 4 beds in Sick Bay, making the nurse: pt ration 1:2. That may be very generous staffing (given the advanced technology) but no doubt with alien physiologies and diseases etc, that type of staffing would work well. I have never thought about ST in this way–it’s fascinating to do so. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2009, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/startrek-tos-more-time-in-rank-uhura-or-sulu/499284/74 "2009-06-11T21:12:06Z")
> [@eleanorigby](#): > > The same would go for nurses, I imagine, but there would need to be twice as many. It looks like there are 4 beds in Sick Bay, making the nurse: pt ration 1:2. That may be very generous staffing (given the advanced technology) but no doubt with alien physiologies and diseases etc, that type of staffing would work well. > I have never thought about ST in this way–it’s fascinating to do so. Those beds aren’t always full, of course. Or even most of the time. And I still don’t think there’d be two doctors on duties at all times, simply because, during routine flight, they wouldn’t need two doctors. Out of four hundred twenty-eight officers & crew, how many are going to be sick or injured on a given day? ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2009, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/startrek-tos-more-time-in-rank-uhura-or-sulu/499284/75 "2009-06-11T21:15:09Z")
Well, given space sickness and anti-gravity disease and space fatigue and the lack of seat belts… Doctors merely give orders and perform procedures–it’s the nurses who do everything, including monitoring the monitors. Plus, it’s unsafe to have a nurse work alone… So, I think 2 nurses per shift, with one doc and one on call makes sense. I could be completely wrong. Now I’m off to figure out the cleaning crew, maintenance staff and kitchen help. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/startrek-tos-more-time-in-rank-uhura-or-sulu/499284/76 "2009-06-12T18:45:59Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > No, it was botany, though I don’t think he was department (sub)head. According to [Memory Alpha](http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Hikaru_Sulu#The_five-year_mission) he was head of the astrosciences department and botany was his hobby. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/startrek-tos-more-time-in-rank-uhura-or-sulu/499284/77 "2009-06-12T19:19:22Z")
Well, there was a lot of potential in domesticating a plant that moved like a hand… ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/startrek-tos-more-time-in-rank-uhura-or-sulu/499284/78 "2009-06-12T19:26:56Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Out of four hundred twenty-eight officers & crew, how many are going to be sick or injured on a given day? Probably a lot, considering the sort of hijinks the Enterprise is prone to getting itself into. Of course much of the time the redshirts were considerate enough to simply die instead of get injured, rendering medical care unnecessary. But we have to assume while the ship was constantly getting blasted and shaken around, there were many more minor injuries that we never saw. ---
**Author:** ![dzeiger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/46a35a/32.png) [@dzeiger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dzeiger)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/startrek-tos-more-time-in-rank-uhura-or-sulu/499284/79 "2009-06-12T19:31:04Z")
I recall an episode with McCoy badgering Kirk about a required physical. If that’s an annual requirement for all crewmen, then that’s averaging a little over one a day, just to add to the medical workload a bit. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/startrek-tos-more-time-in-rank-uhura-or-sulu/499284/80 "2009-06-12T21:06:27Z")
His name is SCOTTY, not Scott. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/startrek-tos-more-time-in-rank-uhura-or-sulu/499284.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/startrek-tos-more-time-in-rank-uhura-or-sulu/499284.md?page=5)