Happened all the time with exploratory British vessels.
As for Spock and the viewer…FUCK, at least he had something to do…wtf are the helmsman and navigator supposed to do for 8 hours while staring at a star field???
I gather that at the time of TOS dilithium was extraordinarily scare and precious, although that might have changed after the Federation treaty with the Tellun system (“Elaan of Troyius”). In fact, did any Federation ship want for dilithium in later series?
She’s fine as a position…but as a BRIDGE position?? and sitting next to the captain?? WTF good is a 1/2 telepath when there are full-blooded Betazeds around? The ship telepath I can see as being the captains councilor (though it raises ethics questions) or some kind of political officer (shades of Red October!!) being the Captains left-hand man.
But theres absolutely no reason (as written) that Troi should potentially have that much power.
Really, besides the uni change, It would have been hilarious if Captain Ronny Cox had told Troi he will call her when he needs her, so just get an office next to Dr. Crusher and wait for the next appointment.
The brig in Star Trek: V had a toilet that slid out from the wall.
According to that DS9 ep where “The crew discovers their descendents and if the crew avoids the accident that throws them back in time…all of those descendents will have never existed”…BUTTTTTT the DS9 guys framed it as in “these people will die. By not going back in time we are murdering them”
This did not get very much of an argument in the way that “Tuvix” did. It may have a little, but I don’t think much was raised.
oh yes…I just remembered…when Alt-universe Janeway goes back in time to alter the timeline and get Voyager home…there was a HUGE ruckus from some people saying she did exactly what you accused Q of doing.
And a sign over it that read “Do not flush while in spacedock”.
According to Gene Roddenberry, she was a “Human Engineer.” In other words, a meddling pshrink/psocial worker. Seems kind of redundant to me, if Picard had a ship full of people who had put “petty conflicts” behind them. Why would they need a “Counselor”? 
I think the “ignoring the Prime Directive” thing was maybe a bit of writer’s rebellion; an Absolute Rule, written from the safe confines of an office in the Administration Building “back on Earth,” cannot account for all of the weirdness a starship captain can run into out there “in the Black.”
Real life, back in the age of sail, with communications times with High Command measured in months, if not years at times, ship captains had wide latitude to deal with situations as they saw fit, within certain broad guidelines.
The Prime Directive wasn’t presented in-series as a broad guideline, but an Absolute Rule; it was treated, in a few episodes, as less than Absolute.
It might also have just been sloppy writing; writing staffs writing themselves into a corner with a plot line, and having to have The Captain ignore the Prime Directive in order to resolve the situation.
Worst example I can recall was the TNG episode “Symbiosis”.
- This alien spaceship is in trouble - we will rescue them!
- This alien spaceship was carrying medicine - we will help them fix up their other ships!
- The medicine is actually an addictive narcotic - oh, wait, I suddenly remember we have a Prime Directive, so no ship-fixing for you!
Seriously, what the fuck? Now you’re going to use the previously-forgotten PD as an excuse? It’s very convenient that the Prime Directive only counts when it happens to align with what you want to do.
Why does anybody use the Holodeck anymore? It malfunctions too much! And why make it even possible for the safeties to be shut down?
Anyone remember Phil Farrand’s Nitpicker’s Guides from the mid 90s? I remember him complaining about the holodeck–“How many people does this thing have to almost kill before Picard pulls the plug on it?”
As far as Troi, nothing screams 1980s about TNG quite so much as Troi sitting right next to the Captain on the bridge. Meet our brave crew: Here is the wise, unflappable Captain. And here is the Captain’s loyal, stalwart First Officer. And here is the Captain’s therapist…
Actually, I’ve always thought that the whole problem with Troi was that someone got confused about the meaning of the word “counselor.” It seems to me that it was originally intended to mean “advisor to the Captain.” Someone to give him considered advice and guidance about the tricky diplomatic situations he might run into. But then other writers began to interpret it to mean “psychiatrist,” and suddenly Troi was helping the crew deal with their various emotional problems. Those are two very different kinds of “counseling.” The former might not be so strange to have as a bridge position, but because we saw so much more of the latter, that’s how we primarily think of Troi. And thus we ask things like “Why is the ship’s shrink sitting there on the bridge all the time? Does the crew really have that many psychological hang-ups?”
It’s always been more of a Prime Suggestion.
^:dubious:^
Yeah, but did you see the graffiti that had been crossed out? “Please flush twice. It’s a long way to the replicator.”
Why do you need to carry around multiple data pads? It’s like each data pad is only capable of handling one subject.
And to make this even more asinine, it was established in one of the early STNG episodes that the data pads get their information downloaded to them from the “central network” or whatever it was called.
I was a very early member of the Guild. Back when we had actual newsletters.
Many of the Trek Qs and arguments I’ve seen on my years here at SDMB have been hashed out thoroughly by Nitpickers.
I still enjoy these discussions, tho.
“Please continue your petty bickering.” - Data
It bugs me that in the ST:TNG episode ‘The Measure of a Man’ that no-one offered to help Data escape if it looked like Starfleet would deactivate him.
I’d have loved to have seen Worf and Geordi show up and hint that they’d help him if things went south. Worf offered to help Riker rescue the person he loved in ‘The Outcast’.
I’m certain he would have offered to help Data.
Back in ST:TOS every ship had its own insignia. But after that, the Enterprise’s insignia became the standard for everyone.
Yes, very much of an 80s/Elder Roddenberry -ism: Here we’ll bring in a character who will advise the Captain as to what are the real feelings and impulses being experienced by both sides of the argument and once so validated and enlightened, we will be able to solve problems without having to disintegrate someone or getting your shirt ripped.
Not that it worked very well even from the start, already in the pilot she was limited to knowing that something around was in a lot of pain, and in the Death Penalty Club Med Planet she detected “healthy sensuality” and not fanatical adherence to deadly rules. Plus known hostiles are, well, known hostile. Heck, a recently-unfrozen 20th century businessman called a Romulan’s bluff right off the bat.
Isn’t it great to know that in the future, there will always be someone looking over your shoulder who’s from the **government **and is there to **help **you?
How utterly opposed that is to the original series’ concept of individualism!