# The USS Enterprise's bowling alley **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 29, 2016, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-uss-enterprises-bowling-alley/767220 "2016-09-29T17:17:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2016, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-uss-enterprises-bowling-alley/767220/21 "2016-09-29T19:58:06Z")
> [@August\_West](#): > > Having actually served on board the real USS Enterprise, I was also confused. > > I can confirm that CVN-65 did not have a bowling alley, but that didn’t stop people from sending new sailors looking for it. It’s a testament to the size of the ship that people found it believable. Which is why I’m now wondering if including an actual bowling alley on the Star Trek Enterprise was intended as kind of a joke. ---
**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:** [September 29, 2016, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-uss-enterprises-bowling-alley/767220/22 "2016-09-29T20:16:43Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > You mean Kirk cheated? Noooo! > > :eek: He doesn’t like the “No 7-10 pickup” scenario. ---
**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 29, 2016, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-uss-enterprises-bowling-alley/767220/23 "2016-09-29T20:28:57Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I imagine in 1960-whatever, it seemed obvious that people would still be bowling in the future, since they were doing so then, **but now fifty years later, it’s not a very popular sport.** Cite? :dubious: If its popularity has declined somewhat, I’d wager it’s for the same reason as with other out-of-home activities: TV and video games. ---
**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 29, 2016, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-uss-enterprises-bowling-alley/767220/24 "2016-09-29T20:34:14Z")
> [@Finagle](#): > > Twilight Zone astronauts were almost hilariously blue collar – just working class guys from Brooklyn who happened to crew starships. Remember Joe in\*\*\* Destination: Moon\*\*\*? He got to come along after one of the prime crew got sick. This was necessary because the movie needed someone to explain everything to so the audience would understand what was going on. _“Here on the Moon, night is two weeks long!”_ :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2016, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-uss-enterprises-bowling-alley/767220/25 "2016-09-29T20:46:18Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > > [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > > > I imagine in 1960-whatever, it seemed obvious that people would still be bowling in the future, since they were doing so then, but now fifty years later, it’s not a very popular sport. > > Cite? :dubious: > > If its popularity has declined somewhat, I’d wager it’s for the same reason as with other out-of-home activities: TV and video games. Seriously? You need a [cite](https://www.whitehutchinson.com/leisure/articles/whats-happening-to-bowling.shtml) [to prove](http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-07-10/americas-vanishing-bowling-alleys) that [bowling is much less popular](http://www.nwitimes.com/business/local/as-leagues-decline-bowling-centers-look-for-new-ways-to/article_9a9e121c-6d44-5dc8-955d-d5fa695eb5ee.html) [than it was fifty years ago?](http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2015/05/10/bowling-final-frames-roll/27070351/) By the way, the decline is mostly attributed to the fact that many fewer people are in bowling leagues than in decades past. ---
**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:** [September 29, 2016, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-uss-enterprises-bowling-alley/767220/26 "2016-09-29T20:48:11Z")
Bowling has dropped in popularity? Nobody said anything about it last night at the drive-in! ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2016, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-uss-enterprises-bowling-alley/767220/27 "2016-09-29T20:51:47Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Seriously? You need a [cite](https://www.whitehutchinson.com/leisure/articles/whats-happening-to-bowling.shtml) [to prove](http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-07-10/americas-vanishing-bowling-alleys) that [bowling is much less popular](http://www.nwitimes.com/business/local/as-leagues-decline-bowling-centers-look-for-new-ways-to/article_9a9e121c-6d44-5dc8-955d-d5fa695eb5ee.html) [than it was fifty years ago?](http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2015/05/10/bowling-final-frames-roll/27070351/) > > By the way, the decline is mostly attributed to the fact that many fewer people are in bowling leagues than in decades past. Anyone see professional bowling in TV schedules lately? ---
**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 29, 2016, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-uss-enterprises-bowling-alley/767220/28 "2016-09-29T20:52:43Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Bowling has dropped in popularity? Nobody said anything about it last night at the drive-in! That’s because you were the only one at the drive in! Didn’t you notice the lack of cars? And lack of a movie?🙂 Does Scotty have a dedicated engineer on his staff that just services the pin setters? Those things are maintenance hogs. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2016, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-uss-enterprises-bowling-alley/767220/29 "2016-09-29T21:04:04Z")
> [@Finagle](#): > > I think this is something that has continually evolved over the course of the years in television SF. Twilight Zone astronauts were almost hilariously blue collar – just working class guys from Brooklyn who happened to crew starships. It probably wasn’t until the space program really geared up that we got the notion of astronauts as highly trained professionals and/or highly educated geeks. Red Dwarf riffs on the notion by observing that even the most sophisticated starships are going to need some slob who goes around and services the vending machines. Yes, I think the experience of WWII really shaped a lot of early TV and movie SF. You serve on a destroyer in the Coral Sea with guys who a few months ago were a farmboy from Kansas and a hoodlum from Brooklyn and a preacher from Alabama and a shop clerk from Cincinnati, and the idea of normal blue collar guys ending up on Mars seems a lot more plausible. They looked at the radical changes that happened between the 30s and the 50s, and then tried to imagine the crazy future world of the 1990s. And it looked a lot like 1950, only in space. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2016, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-uss-enterprises-bowling-alley/767220/30 "2016-09-29T21:25:48Z")
VR Bowling? ---
**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 29, 2016, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-uss-enterprises-bowling-alley/767220/31 "2016-09-29T21:31:56Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > It never seemed like something enlightened people that played tri-dimensional chess and watch minimalist Shakespeare plays would partake of. Take a look at this shot from the episode Charlie X. See the two guys in the back, [battling with giant Q-Tips](https://johnkennethmuir.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/sports66.jpg)? Compared to that, bowling IS three-dimensional chess. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2016, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-uss-enterprises-bowling-alley/767220/32 "2016-09-29T21:50:37Z")
You mean the pugil sticks? ---
**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:** [September 29, 2016, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-uss-enterprises-bowling-alley/767220/33 "2016-09-29T22:25:59Z")
Why, that was Ambo-jitsu - the Ultimate Evolution in the martial arts. Well, at that stage it was just the _pen_ultimate evolution - they weren’t playing blindfolded yet. ---
**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 29, 2016, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-uss-enterprises-bowling-alley/767220/34 "2016-09-29T22:58:01Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > Anyone see professional bowling in TV schedules lately? > **[TV Listings- Find Local TV Listings and Watch Full Episodes - Zap2it.com](https://tvlistings.zap2it.com/?aid=gapzap)** > > Find local TV listings for your local broadcast, cable and satellite providers and watch full episodes of your favorite TV shows online. ---
**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 29, 2016, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-uss-enterprises-bowling-alley/767220/35 "2016-09-29T23:00:55Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > By the way, the decline is mostly attributed to the fact that many fewer people are in bowling leagues than in decades past. > **[Dictionary.com | Meanings & Definitions of English Words](https://www.dictionary.com/browse/tautology)** > > The world's leading online dictionary: English definitions, synonyms, word origins, example sentences, word games, and more. A trusted authority for 25+ years! ---
**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 29, 2016, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-uss-enterprises-bowling-alley/767220/36 "2016-09-29T23:02:13Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Seriously? You need a [cite](https://www.whitehutchinson.com/leisure/articles/whats-happening-to-bowling.shtml) [to prove](http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-07-10/americas-vanishing-bowling-alleys) that [bowling is much less popular](http://www.nwitimes.com/business/local/as-leagues-decline-bowling-centers-look-for-new-ways-to/article_9a9e121c-6d44-5dc8-955d-d5fa695eb5ee.html) [than it was fifty years ago?](http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2015/05/10/bowling-final-frames-roll/27070351/) Yes, I would prefer not to rely on anecdotal evidence, thank you. \*\* EDIT:\*\* According to the article, “Despite a drop in league numbers in recent years, bowling remains the No. 1 participatory sport in America – with 50 million people bowling at least once per year in a $10 billion industry.” Sounds like it’s not doing all that bad. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2016, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-uss-enterprises-bowling-alley/767220/37 "2016-09-29T23:24:33Z")
Once per year is a lot different than the weekly bowling leagues that used to be common. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2016, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-uss-enterprises-bowling-alley/767220/38 "2016-09-29T23:24:56Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Nothing wrong with being blue collar. And even though I’m not, I like bowling. But the Enterprise “crew” is (per Roddenberry) all officers. There isn’t the equivalent of enlisted personnel per se. I should point out that this element was an early TNG-era whim of Gene’s; enlisted personnel were seen in the franchise both early on (the various TOS Yeomen), and afterwards (Chief O’Brien, for one). ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2016, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-uss-enterprises-bowling-alley/767220/39 "2016-09-29T23:32:44Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > > [@Finagle](#): > > > > I think this is something that has continually evolved over the course of the years in television SF. Twilight Zone astronauts were almost hilariously blue collar – just working class guys from Brooklyn who happened to crew starships. It probably wasn’t until the space program really geared up that we got the notion of astronauts as highly trained professionals and/or highly educated geeks. Red Dwarf riffs on the notion by observing that even the most sophisticated starships are going to need some slob who goes around and services the vending machines. > > Yes, I think the experience of WWII really shaped a lot of early TV and movie SF. You serve on a destroyer in the Coral Sea with guys who a few months ago were a farmboy from Kansas and a hoodlum from Brooklyn and a preacher from Alabama and a shop clerk from Cincinnati, and the idea of normal blue collar guys ending up on Mars seems a lot more plausible. They looked at the radical changes that happened between the 30s and the 50s, and then tried to imagine the crazy future world of the 1990s. And it looked a lot like 1950, only in space. This was basically my point; that in 1966, it seemed reasonable that on a starship several centuries in the future, people would still be bowling. But today, not so much. (What was the last show that showed people bowling?) Perhaps today, we might expect that starship residents would be playing the 23th century version of paintball. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2016, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-uss-enterprises-bowling-alley/767220/40 "2016-09-29T23:40:33Z")
I don’t know why you’d need a bowling alley when you’ve got holodecks, but that’s hardly the oddest thing supposedly on the D. Apparently, according to some materials and references, they also have tanks with live dolphins on board. Not just for transporting somewhere as a one time thing, just part of the ship. > [@terentii](#): > > > [@Skywatcher](#): > > > > Anyone see professional bowling in TV schedules lately? > > [TV Listings- Find Local TV Listings and Watch Full Episodes - Zap2it.com](http://tvschedule.zap2it.com/tv/bowling/EP01723023?aid=tvschedule) From that link Badger Open (First Aired: Oct. 5, 2016) From Thunderbowl Lanes in Allen Park, Mich. Wed 10/59:00pm-11:00pmCBS SPORTS Thu 10/61:00am-3:00amCBS SPORTS Fri 10/712:30am-2:30amCBS SPORTS Sun 10/96:00am-8:00amCBS SPORTS Wed 10/127:00pm-9:00pmCBS SPORTS Detroit Open (First Aired: Oct. 12, 2016) From Thunderbowl Lanes in Allen Park, Mich. Wed 10/129:00pm-11:00pmCBS SPORTS Thu 10/131:00am-3:00am edit: oh, i thought that was one post, somehow missed the quote box. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-uss-enterprises-bowling-alley/767220.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-uss-enterprises-bowling-alley/767220.md?page=3)