# Were the starship Enterprise, the submarine Seaview and the Time Tunnel built by the same contractor? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted\ **Created:** [August 22, 2021, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-the-starship-enterprise-the-submarine-seaview-and-the-time-tunnel-built-by-the-same-contractor/949334 "2021-08-22T23:45:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**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:** [August 22, 2021, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-the-starship-enterprise-the-submarine-seaview-and-the-time-tunnel-built-by-the-same-contractor/949334/1 "2021-08-22T23:45:47Z")
Watching old TV programs, I noticed that these three things have terrible equipment failures with alarming regularity. Are these case of ACME construction saving money by using duct tape instead of nuts and bolts? ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2021, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-the-starship-enterprise-the-submarine-seaview-and-the-time-tunnel-built-by-the-same-contractor/949334/2 "2021-08-22T23:55:36Z")
They all have the ACME plot sensor installed. When the plot gets boring, the sensor detects the lull and randomly destroys a piece of equipment. But only when there is a hero standing by who needs plot development. ---
**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:** [August 23, 2021, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-the-starship-enterprise-the-submarine-seaview-and-the-time-tunnel-built-by-the-same-contractor/949334/3 "2021-08-23T00:13:42Z")
… And they were all built by the lowest bidder. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2021, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-the-starship-enterprise-the-submarine-seaview-and-the-time-tunnel-built-by-the-same-contractor/949334/4 "2021-08-23T00:19:06Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > … And they were all built by the lowest bidder. - How does that work if The Federation doesn’t have money? :flees warps away: ---
**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:** [August 23, 2021, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-the-starship-enterprise-the-submarine-seaview-and-the-time-tunnel-built-by-the-same-contractor/949334/5 "2021-08-23T00:21:06Z")
Socialist factories rushing to meet their quotas? ---
**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:** [August 23, 2021, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-the-starship-enterprise-the-submarine-seaview-and-the-time-tunnel-built-by-the-same-contractor/949334/6 "2021-08-23T01:39:28Z")
Admiral Nelson and General Kirk may have been pocketing money, but as pointed out, Kirk and Spock had no money to steal. ---
**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:** [August 23, 2021, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-the-starship-enterprise-the-submarine-seaview-and-the-time-tunnel-built-by-the-same-contractor/949334/7 "2021-08-23T02:03:26Z")
Just credits. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2021, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-the-starship-enterprise-the-submarine-seaview-and-the-time-tunnel-built-by-the-same-contractor/949334/8 "2021-08-23T02:30:21Z")
Any cutting-edge machines are going to have issues when anvils are always falling on them. ---
**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:** [August 23, 2021, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-the-starship-enterprise-the-submarine-seaview-and-the-time-tunnel-built-by-the-same-contractor/949334/9 "2021-08-23T02:38:06Z")
I’ve always thought the _Seaview_ was built by the same people who produced the TARDIS, since the interior and exterior dimensions never matched. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2021, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-the-starship-enterprise-the-submarine-seaview-and-the-time-tunnel-built-by-the-same-contractor/949334/10 "2021-08-23T02:57:34Z")
Matt Jeffries was set designer for Star Trek. He also worked on some of the props. Star Trek had noticeably better sets than other sci-fi. Trek sets were still built on a tight budget. I can’t recall much about Time Tunnel except for the famous opening shot. The two actors tumbling through time. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2021, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-the-starship-enterprise-the-submarine-seaview-and-the-time-tunnel-built-by-the-same-contractor/949334/11 "2021-08-23T03:09:45Z")
Wasn’t Whit Bissell in command at the Time Tunnel? Whit Bissell was not one to overlook the regulations. He shot all of Melvyn Douglass’ cattle, personal sympathies aside, and he’d shoot sloppy wiring contractors too. ---
**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:** [August 23, 2021, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-the-starship-enterprise-the-submarine-seaview-and-the-time-tunnel-built-by-the-same-contractor/949334/12 "2021-08-23T04:24:14Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I can’t recall much about Time Tunnel except for the famous opening shot. The two actors tumbling through time. Along with the reactors on board the _Enterprise_, the Time Tunnel was a prime example of forced perspective. Even at the age of 11, I was struck by how much the actors grew as they went farther into the Tunnel. It took me a while to realize the rings of the Tunnel were getting smaller. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2021, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-the-starship-enterprise-the-submarine-seaview-and-the-time-tunnel-built-by-the-same-contractor/949334/13 "2021-08-23T04:37:27Z")
Well, Acme has a bad name anyway and has been sued at least once before. > **[Wile E. Coyote v. Acme Company](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1990/02/26/coyote-v-acme)** > > From 1990: “Much as he has come to mistrust Defendant’s products, Mr. Coyote has no other domestic source of supply to which to turn.” ---
**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:** [August 23, 2021, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-the-starship-enterprise-the-submarine-seaview-and-the-time-tunnel-built-by-the-same-contractor/949334/14 "2021-08-23T10:55:15Z")
The Time Tunnel and the Trouble with Tribbles. Now, that is suspecious. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2021, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-the-starship-enterprise-the-submarine-seaview-and-the-time-tunnel-built-by-the-same-contractor/949334/15 "2021-08-23T12:32:06Z")
Components of the USAF model AN/FSQ-7 or SAGE computer were often trotted out and used in movies and TV shows. They were especially compelling because they had banks of flashing lights, which was better than big boxes that just sat there, or whirled rolls of magnetic tape. Not surprisingly, SAGE components were used in both **Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea** and in **The Time Tunnel:**. Also not surprisingly, both series were produced by Irwin Allen [http://q7.neurotica.com/Q7/scifi/1960s/](http://q7.neurotica.com/Q7/scifi/1960s/) [http://q7.neurotica.com/Q7/scifi/VTTBOTS/](http://q7.neurotica.com/Q7/scifi/VTTBOTS/) [http://q7.neurotica.com/Q7/scifi/Tunnel/](http://q7.neurotica.com/Q7/scifi/Tunnel/) Star Trek wasn’t created by Allen, and was shooting for a different image of computers – no banks of blinking lights, just a female voice and a display monitor. The other site for computers in TV shows and movies doesn’t list any other systems in common – [http://www.starringthecomputer.com/](http://www.starringthecomputer.com/) ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2021, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-the-starship-enterprise-the-submarine-seaview-and-the-time-tunnel-built-by-the-same-contractor/949334/16 "2021-08-23T18:03:52Z")
When you use Melodrama to power your vehicle, these things are bound to happen. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2021, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-the-starship-enterprise-the-submarine-seaview-and-the-time-tunnel-built-by-the-same-contractor/949334/17 "2021-08-24T16:09:14Z")
I took a script writing class taught by the writer of dozens of 1960s TV shows. His formula: 1. Create a problem 2. Solve the problem He said his real life problems back then were money and car breakdowns, so most of his scripts were variations of those themes. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2021, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-the-starship-enterprise-the-submarine-seaview-and-the-time-tunnel-built-by-the-same-contractor/949334/18 "2021-08-24T16:28:36Z")
They all have those specially designed Acme circuits that produce massive pyrotechnics and throw the operator across the room when anything goes wrong. ---
**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:** [August 24, 2021, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-the-starship-enterprise-the-submarine-seaview-and-the-time-tunnel-built-by-the-same-contractor/949334/19 "2021-08-24T17:42:42Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > I’ve always thought the _Seaview_ was built by the same people who produced the TARDIS, since the interior and exterior dimensions never matched. And the people that made those cut-away model kits of submarines. Neither had inner and outer hulls with ballast tanks between. ---
**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:** [August 24, 2021, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-the-starship-enterprise-the-submarine-seaview-and-the-time-tunnel-built-by-the-same-contractor/949334/20 "2021-08-24T19:02:57Z")
Those are the infamous ACME circuit breakers. They are apparently very inexpensive, as they are used to cut costs on various high tech equipment. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-the-starship-enterprise-the-submarine-seaview-and-the-time-tunnel-built-by-the-same-contractor/949334.md?page=2)