# Things that bug you about Star Trek **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 13, 2017, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-bug-you-about-star-trek/782109 "2017-03-13T19:08:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2017, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-bug-you-about-star-trek/782109/201 "2017-03-24T04:57:21Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > You left out McGarrett’s old girlfriend who was framed for murder on the original _ **Hawaii Five-0** _. (“One lump or two?”) Maybe because I never saw it. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2017, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-bug-you-about-star-trek/782109/202 "2017-03-24T13:44:21Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > There was a female helmsman (helmsperson?) in “That Which Survives,” Lt Rada. Lt Uhura would take over Navigation on occasion (e.g., “Balance of Terror,” IIRC). > > Sorry, but I don’t recall two females ever manning (crewing?) both stations at once. ☹ (Maybe on _ **TAS** _?) Wasnn’t their also a blonde helms(wo)man in a couple episodes towards the end of TOS? Or was she Communications? ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2017, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-bug-you-about-star-trek/782109/203 "2017-03-24T14:27:22Z")
Elizabeth Rogers was the blonde comm officer (Lt. Palmer) in “The Doomsday Machine.” ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2017, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-bug-you-about-star-trek/782109/204 "2017-03-24T14:34:25Z")
My nitpick: Picard’s insistence that mankind has moved beyond the acquisition of “things”, and that humans work “to better themselves”. (Said while sneering at thawed 20th Century human popsicles.) This runs contrary to Human nature, indeed, all of human history! Now, I understand that First Contact with an alien race (Vulcans, according to cannon) would cause many people to reexamine or question our place in the Universe, and maybe cause some to drop their bigotry towards other humans, but I doubt it will quite be the total sea change that Picard implies. Edit: Don’t get me wrong. I like the optimistic vision of the future given in Star Trek. But my cynical nature makes me think that Babylon 5 will be closer to reality. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2017, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-bug-you-about-star-trek/782109/205 "2017-03-24T16:08:56Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > > [@Cardigan](#): > > > > The introduction of the holo-suites opened new vistas for the writers of Star Trek… > > > > Creating the character, “Vic Fontaine” based on a stereotypical Atomic Age Las Vegas lounge singer seems to me short of the creative mark they should have hit. > > I suppose “Space Age” could be used instead, but I don’t think it would suit the \*\*\*Trek \*\*\*universe. 😉 Vic Fontaine is ‘representation of a 1960s-era Las Vegas Rat Pack-style singer and entertainer’ [Wikipedia], and so would be in the Space Age. But for those of us who were not burn until the Space Age, early-to-mid-'60s Las Vegas seems pretty much like the '50s Las Vegas. So I’d still call it the Atomic Age. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2017, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-bug-you-about-star-trek/782109/206 "2017-03-24T16:37:36Z")
> [@Ranchoth](#): > > On the subject of blood screenings to pick out changelings, and the postulated way that they might be circumvented (the changeling murdering a random person, squeezing out their blood, and storing it within their own body)… > > Okay, so Starfleet scanners apparently have no ability to discern an imposter from a real humanoid based on anything other than a visual inspection. They can’t check for DNA, and/or the presence of normal symbiotic life forms (gut flora, microscopic skin mites, etc.). They can’t look for the presence of bones (or metals or minerals incorporated naturally into bone, like Strontium), or scan brainwaves, or internal organ presence or function (heart rate, body temperature)… > > And they also lack the ability to tell if a blood sample is hours (or more) old, has been treated with preservatives, or if it’s coming from an individual of the same sex, age, ethnic background, or species as the individual being checked. > > I’d almost guess that whoever wrote that story angle looked at the problem from a mundane 20th century perspective, and didn’t (or didn’t want to) think through the implications, drawbacks, and opportunities that the established 24th century setting presented for dealing with that kind of scenario! > > (P.S. I could “pothole” that second paragraph of cited examples of Trek sensors doing exactly those kinds of things, but I’m lazy, sleepy, and not feeling very creatively obnoxious at the moment.) Agreed. I mean, heck, McCoy was able to scan Arne Darvin in “Trouble With Tribbles” and determine he was a surgically altered Klingon instead of human. But in DS9 they couldn’t scan a changeling in human form and determine they weren’t human? ---
**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:** [March 24, 2017, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-bug-you-about-star-trek/782109/207 "2017-03-24T19:19:43Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Maybe because I never saw it. :eek: ---
**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:** [March 24, 2017, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-bug-you-about-star-trek/782109/208 "2017-03-24T19:28:32Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > Elizabeth Rogers was the blonde comm officer (Lt. Palmer) in “The Doomsday Machine.” And there was a “Lt Lisa” at Communications in the final episode of TOS, “Turnabout Intruder.” Played by Barbara Baldavin, who was also in “Balance of Terror” and “Shore Leave.” According to Memory Alpha, she filmed a scene for “Space Seed” too, but it was cut. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2017, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-bug-you-about-star-trek/782109/209 "2017-03-24T21:03:03Z")
> [@mlees](#): > > My nitpick: > > Picard’s insistence that mankind has moved beyond the acquisition of “things”, and that humans work “to better themselves”. (Said while sneering at thawed 20th Century human popsicles.) > > This runs contrary to Human nature, indeed, all of human history! > > Now, I understand that First Contact with an alien race (Vulcans, according to cannon) would cause many people to reexamine or question our place in the Universe, and maybe cause some to drop their bigotry towards other humans, but I doubt it will quite be the total sea change that Picard implies. > > Edit: Don’t get me wrong. I like the optimistic vision of the future given in Star Trek. But my cynical nature makes me think that Babylon 5 will be closer to reality. First contact, or even the foundation of One Big Happy Federation, didn’t alter human nature. Exhibit A: Merchants and mercantile activity of [dubious](http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Harcourt_Fenton_Mudd) [ethicality](http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Cyrano_Jones). Trust me, there were plenty of humans happy jobbing their lying asses off to acquire “things”. Credits, and all that credits can buy. It was only in Roddenberry’s dotage that the insistence on post-scarcity post-economy ubermensch became dogmatic. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2017, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-bug-you-about-star-trek/782109/210 "2017-03-24T21:14:33Z")
> [@Cardigan](#): > > The introduction of the holo-suites opened new vistas for the writers of Star Trek… > > Creating the character, “Vic Fontaine” based on a stereotypical Atomic Age Las Vegas lounge singer seems to me short of the creative mark they should have hit. I always thought that name was an homage to D.C. Fontana, of TOS fame. Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2017, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-bug-you-about-star-trek/782109/211 "2017-03-24T21:43:25Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > It was only in Roddenberry’s dotage that the insistence on post-scarcity post-economy ubermensch became dogmatic. And after the Bird was laid to rest it was eventually called out onscreen (“If humans don’t need money why do you want to borrow mine?”). ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2017, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-bug-you-about-star-trek/782109/212 "2017-03-24T21:51:24Z")
DS9 used to be a refining facility. So the mine the ore on the planet, then transport that ore to the space station, where Bajoran slaves process it with wheelbarrows and all? :dubious: Yeah, that doesn’t sound the least bit practical at all. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2017, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-bug-you-about-star-trek/782109/213 "2017-03-24T22:24:17Z")
Going back to the ‘Atomic Age’ thing, does anyone remember [Atomic Cafe](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_Cafe_(diner)) in Los Angeles? Been there. It was gone before I was. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2017, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-bug-you-about-star-trek/782109/214 "2017-03-24T23:27:09Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > :eek: Surprise. We don’t all watch the same things. Hawaii Five-O never held my interest. Cool theme, though. ---
**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:** [March 25, 2017, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-bug-you-about-star-trek/782109/215 "2017-03-25T00:35:32Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Surprise. We don’t all watch the same things. Hawaii Five-O never held my interest. Cool theme, though. I have been given to understand that there is a drinking game involving anticipating “the wave”. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2017, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-bug-you-about-star-trek/782109/216 "2017-03-25T00:58:52Z")
> [@Ranchoth](#): > > This (even the first crack. 😉 ) is actually pretty on the nose, when you check the original TNG series “Bible” [(see page 28)](http://leethomson.myzen.co.uk/Star_Trek/2_The_Next_Generation/Star_Trek_-_The_Next_Generation_Bible.pdf), where it outright states the position of “Counselor” has evolved from a psychiatry/psychology position into a sort of Interpersonal Interactions Specialist. I always took “Counselor” to be along the lines of “Consigliere.” except, you know, without all of the mob shit. > [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > Diana Muldaur. And not just on Trek. I’ve only seen/heard “hatred” of her because of roles where she replaced an established character (TNG, L.A. Law.) ---
**Author:** ![pmwgreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@pmwgreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pmwgreen)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2017, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-bug-you-about-star-trek/782109/217 "2017-03-25T01:34:52Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Judaism holds that to murder a single person is to murder a world. > Admiral Janeway remarked that she hated time travel paradoxes at the Academy. I had two problems with the transporter. One, how do we know some black ops department didn’t exist that would intercept/duplicate transporter signals and send the copy to a prison somewhere for “extreme interrogation”? Two, if they beamed up ship stores and kept the wave, so as to endlessly produce things, how would the coffee taste? I wonder if it might be less mass to simply keep a ton of coffee around instead of data banks storing the molecular image of a pound of coffee in sufficient resolution to taste decent. ---
**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:** [March 25, 2017, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-bug-you-about-star-trek/782109/218 "2017-03-25T01:50:41Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > I have been given to understand that there is a drinking game involving anticipating “the wave”. And you chug a full can for every “Book him, Danno. Murder One.” 🆒 ---
**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:** [March 25, 2017, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-bug-you-about-star-trek/782109/219 "2017-03-25T02:21:49Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > I always took “Counselor” to be along the lines of “Consigliere.” except, you know, without all of the mob shit. Oh, no! We are all one, big, happy fleet! ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2017, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-bug-you-about-star-trek/782109/220 "2017-03-25T03:13:34Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > Agreed. I mean, heck, McCoy was able to scan Arne Darvin in “Trouble With Tribbles” and determine he was a surgically altered Klingon instead of human. But in DS9 they couldn’t scan a changeling in human form and determine they weren’t human? As I understand it, the changelings don’t just assume the form and color of an object- they’re actually changing into that object, molecularly indistinguishable from the real thing- except that it’s a changeling. In one DS9 episode a changeling turned himself into a **fire** , complete with flame and smoke. In another, the Jem’Hadar used a special scanning device that could detect a hidden changeling- something nobody in the Alpha Quadrant had. > [@pmwgreen](#): > > One, how do we know some black ops department didn’t exist that would intercept/duplicate transporter signals and send the copy to a prison somewhere for “extreme interrogation”? _ **Schlock Mercenary** _ devoted an entire arc to this very premise, which they called “Gate Cloning”: [F'sherl-Ganni | Schlock Mercenary Wiki | Fandom](http://schlockmercenary.wikia.com/wiki/F%27sherl-Ganni) [https://www.schlockmercenary.com/2002-09-01](https://www.schlockmercenary.com/2002-09-01) > [@](#): > > “Ooh, Honey! I just had a _great_ idea.” > > “If it rhymes with ‘gleesome’, you’re a dead man twice over”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-bug-you-about-star-trek/782109.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-bug-you-about-star-trek/782109.md?page=12)