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Date: 3 Oct 90 19:06:24 GMT MONTHLY LIST OF "FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS" in REC.ARTS.STARTREK (last updated 9/18/90) This posting is intended to cut down on the "often asked questions" that seem to pop up every few months in this newsgroup. It is a supplement to the monthly list of actors' other roles posted by Otto "HACK-MAN" Heuer, the monthly reality reminder posted by Greg Paris, the monthly list of lists by Mark Holtz, and the monthly episode guide posted by Mark A. Lindsay. This is basically a list of questions that have been brought up and discussed to death in rec.arts.startrek, and a lot of people would be happy if they never resurfaced. It also contains pointers to other information. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1) Acronyms 2) Names (Kirk, Spock, Data) 3) TNG Ranks 4) Top speed/TNG warp 5) McCoy's "I'm a doctor, not a ___" lines 6) Stardates, years, ages, etc. 7) ftp sites: (parodies, GIFs, PostScript drawings, scripts, Guide) 8) Episode guide, fortune files, quotes files, tech manuals 9) Addresses for Trek memorabilia 10) Crew reading USENET? 11) TOS Enterprise separation 12) Games 13) Merritt Butrick 14) Starfleet Military? 15) TOS theme song lyrics 16) Shatner and Nimoy singing 17) Assignment Earth == series pilot 18) Saavik's heritage 19) Uniforms 20) Leaving the galaxy 21) Untelevized TOS episodes 22) Kirk Thatcher 23) Submitting a script 24) Submitting a story for Pocket Books 25) Picard's surrenders; self destructs; time travel 26) Is Paramount making money on TNG? 27) TNG season 4 tidbits 28) The future of Star Trek 99) Misc Trivia ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1) Acronyms: TOS = The Original Series (or The Old Series) TAS = The Animated Series TCS = The Cartoon Series/The Comics Series TNG = The Next Generation TFS = The Film Series TMP = The Motion Picture (ST1) TWoK = The Wrath of Khan (ST2) TSfS = The Search for Spock (ST3) TVH = The Voyage Home (ST4) TFF = The Final Frontier (ST5) NCC = Naval Construction Contract USS = United Space Ship FTL = Faster than Light (warp speeds) BoP = The Romulan (and Klingon) Bird of Prey vessel UFP = United Federation of Planets SFC = Star Fleet Command SFA = Star Fleet Academy SF = Star Fleet or Science Fiction (depending on context) GR = Gene Roddenberry IDIC = Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations (Vulcan Credo) LLaP = Live Long and Prosper The Great Bird = Gene Roddenberry (An in-joke from early TOS episode) The Big E = The Enterprise FX, SFX = (special) Effects K/S = Generally refers to the "liberal" writing style of some of the less-accepted Trek books and fanzines dealing with Kirk and Spock being "more than close friends". ILM = Industrial Light and Magic IMHO = In My Humble Opinion FYI = For Your Information If you see other acronyms (and are relatively new to UseNet), refer to the "often asked questions for new users" file. Episode names are commonly referred to by acronym; most are fairly easy to figure out. 2) NAMES: Kirk's middle initial/middle name. It is generally agreed that Kirk's full name is "James Tiberius Kirk". It was only given as "James T. Kirk" in TOS, the "Tiberius" didn't come around until TAS ("Bem") and the novels. In "Where No Man Has Gone Before", Gary Mitchell makes a gravestone for Kirk that says "James R. Kirk", apparently before Gene had settled on a middle name. Spock's other name (you couldn't pronounce it) isn't given in TOS or TFS. It is given in one or more of the books if you care to believe them. Data's name was shown on a computer screen once as "Lt. Cmdr NFN NMI Data" ("No First Name, No Middle Initial"). 3) TNG RANKS: Deanna Troi's rank was given as "Lt. Cmdr" in "Encounter at Farpoint" (the pilot episode) and occasionally on computer displays (e.g. "The Child"). The "pips" (the circles on the uniform collars) signify rank. A hollow circle counts as a half circle: 0.5: Ensign, Junior Grade 1.0: Ensign 1.5: Lt., Junior Grade 2.0: Lt. 2.5: Lt. Commander 3.0: Commander 4.0: Captain 5.0: Commodore/Fleet Captain 4) The fastest the original Enterprise has gone (not counting "off the scale") was 14.1 in "By Any Other Name". The Enterprise-D seems to have a top speed slightly less than 10, not counting the time Q flung it a great distance. Riker mentioned that warp 10 instigates time travel. In "Where No One Has Gone Before" it is mentioned that the Enterprise has reached or passed warp 10. The ST:TNG Writer's Technical Manual, 3rd season edition contains the following table: warp c comment ---- ---- ------- 1 1 2 10 3 39 4 102 5 214 6 392 normal cruising speed. 7 656 8 1024 9 1516 9.6 1909 maximum attainable speed for E 9.9 3053 maximum speed for E under any circumstances 9.99 7912 10 infinite Notes not from the guide: For warp speeds 1 through 9, the formula w ^ (10/3) provides the numbers shown, rounded to the integer. 5) McCoy's "I'm a doctor not a _____" EPISODE Bricklayer Devil in the Dark Escalator Friday's Child Engineer Mirror, Mirror Mechanic The Doomsday Machine Magician The Deadly Years Psychiatrist The City on the Edge of Forever Moon shuttle conductor The Corbomite Maneuver The last is paraphrased, since he said "What am I, I doctor or a moon shuttle conductor", but it fits the mold. Also, in Amok Time, Kirk says "Well, are you a doctor or aren't you?" and in ST5 says something like "Dammit Bones, you're a doctor." 6) Stardates, years, ages, etc.: In TOS the stardates ranged from 1513 (Man Trap) to 5928 (Turnabout Intruder). At this time Gene had intended for stardates to be based on Julian dates modulo 10000, with one stardate being 24 hours in length. There are numberous examples where this is false. Some of the most blatent are The Immunity Syndrome (where a quick calculation shows that one stardate is less than 2.5 hours) and Requiem for Methuselah (where one stardate figures out to be about 960 hours). There are a few episodes where the stardates actually decrease during the show. In TNG, the stardate is also supposed to be 24 hours, and is in the form 4xyyy.y where "x" is the season number and yyy.y is a random number that increases (usually) throughout the season. The year in TOS is somewhere between 2260 and 2286. The year on a bottle of Romulan Ale is given in The Wrath of Khan as 2283(?) TNG is ~93 years after TOS, and 78-79 years after TMP. TOS: 1976 Ballentine Concordance: Gives McCoy's age as 45. TOS "The Deadly Years": Kirk's age is given as 34. TNG "The Neutral Zone": Data gives the year as 2364. TNG "Encounter at Farpoint": McCoy's age is given as 137. TOS "Journey to Babel": Sarek's age is given as 102.437. TNG "Sarek": Sarek's age is given as 202. TNG: Wes said that Data is appoximately the same age as he is, chronologically. TNG "DataLore": Data says he was found 26 years ago. Kirk was born in the year 2228 in Riverside, Iowa, where a statue of him has been erected. TNG "Encounter at Farpoint": Data graduated SFA in the class of '78 with Honors in Dextral Biology and Probability Mechanics. 7) Anonymous ftp sites with Star Trek related creative stuff: a.cs.uiuc.edu 128.174.252.1 TeX, dvi2ps, gif, texx2.7, amiga, abcfd20.larc.nasa.gov 128.155.23.64 lots of Star Trek goodies bison.cs.uwa.oz.au phonology), gif, looking for curie.cs.unc.edu 128.109.136.151 GIF, graphics programs dsl.cis.upenn.edu 130.91.6.12 GIF, IBM lut.fi 128.214.25.8 GIF, PD sources modified for mcs213k.cs.umr.edu 131.151.6.11 xgif merlin.cs.purdue.edu 128.10.2.3 ConcurrenC, Xinu, mac, GIF mibsrv.mib.eng.ua.edu 130.160.20.80 bitmaps, GIF, games milton.u.washington.edu lots of star trek parodies network.ucsd.edu 128.54.16.3 anime gifs squid.cs.ucla.edu 131.179.96.44 gifs surya.waterloo.edu 129.97.129.72 tiff format, gif2ras uxc.cso.uiuc.edu 136.144.1.2 to the Internet, GIF wuarchive.wustl.edu 128.252.135.4 X.11R3, GIF, IEN, RFCs, TeX, Check out abcfd20.larc.nasa.gov [128.155.23.64] (formerly the xanth archive) which has the following contents in the directory pub/star-trek: BGvs1701D-I.Z BGvs1701D-IIa.Z BGvs1701D-IIb.Z README-STTNG STTNGfortune.tar.Z ncc1701c.Z ncc1701d.tar.Z parody-shootdown.Z stick-ships.Z trek.vt.Z unix_trek.Z warbird.Z The STTNGfortune.tar.Z is the Next Generation fortune, the ncc17101d.tar.Z is the Postscript pictures of the new Enterprise and the trek.vt.Z is a ansi vt100 animation. Or you can telnet (not ftp) to mbbs.cc.columbia.edu (IP 128.59.41.3), and follow the information given to you from there. Essentially you'd be able to connect to a file server which you can download files (kermit or xmodem protocols only) located in several places. Go to the "pictures" location and then try to get any of the "Startrek" gif files. These are the pictures available in the Startrek directory: beverly.gif laforge.gif strbas.gif bonekirk.gif picard+yar.gif trekview.gif crew.gif picard.gif troi.gif data.gif picard2.gif wesley.gif enterprise.gif riker.gif worf.gif enterprise2.gif spock.gif worf2.gif enterprise3.gif spock1.gif yar.gif kirk.gif spock2.gif kirk2.gif spockirk.gif Chuan Chee's collection of Star Trek parodies is available via anonymous ftp from math.princeton.edu in the directory pub/rjc/st (at least until milton's replacement archive is set up). Consult the file "p.files" for an index of the contents. (Note that all files in that directory have been compressed.) For example, the VAX Trek parody is available as files p.034 through p.048. People who can't ftp can obtain the files via email. Type this to your unix-like machine: echo send filename | mail -s Command rjc@math.princeton.edu replacing "filename" with the actual name of the file you want. Since mail servers are frowned upon by most system administrators, I ask that you use ftp if at all possible, and that if you have to use the mail server, to limit yourself to three requests total. [ Anyone know of more sites for Postscript drawings, GIFs, ASCII pictures, serious scipts/novels, etc.? ] [ Any ftp site have the "Sam Donaldson as a Vulcan" picture? ] 8) If you want a list of TNG episodes (for all seasons), the schedule information is presented by Vidiot (Mr. Video (Mike Brown)) who also puts out a very nice guide (which contains all kinds of useful info like names of actors/actresses) which is available by anonymous ftp at [machine still being decided]@montana.edu in the [directory still being decided] directory. All the information needed (which files to get and what to do with them (unpacking, printing, etc.)) is in the README file at the same site. The guide is also available by anonymous UUCP from Mike at Phone: 608-274-9275 Baud: 19200/2400/1200 Login: anonuucp Password: none (it will not be asked) Updates are posted to rec.arts.startrek.info occasionally. There's also a "fortune" file floating around for both TOS and TNG with humorous and/or memorable quotes from the episodes. The ftp site is listed above. Other good sources for information (on both series) are: "The Klingon Dictionary" by Marc Okrand (Pocket Books 85) "The Making of Star Trek" by Gene Roddenberry (Ballantine/Del Ray 68) "Mr. Scott's Guide to the Enterprise" by Shane Johnson (Pocket Books 87) "Star Fleet Technical Manual" by Franz Joseph (Ballantine/Del Ray 75) "Star Trek Blueprints" by Franz Joseph (Ballantine/Del Ray 75) "Star Trek Compendium" by Allan Asherman (Pocket Books 81, 87, 89) "Star Trek Concordance" by Bjo Trimble (Ballantine/Del Ray 76) "The Worlds of the Federation" by Shane Johnson (Pocket Books 89) "The Writer's/Director's Guide" (new editions put out for each season) FASA has the "Officers Manual", but it has been pulled or denounced by Gene since it contradicts a lot of what has been said on TNG or in the Writer's/Director's Guide (Betazoids are NOT from Haven, Star Fleet did NOT think of creating the post of counselor when they discovered telepaths, etc.) Roddenberry told them to stop publishing the manual until they corrected the inaccuracies, but instead FASA made 2-3 more printings. They will be releasing a new edition that has been worked out with Paramount, and Richard Arnold has said somewhat enthusiastically that it is going to be quite nice and meets with Gene's approval. And of course you can get lots of Trek stuff from Trek cons and magazines (Starlog seems to be the most popular). Lincoln Enterprises themselves are at most conventions, and they sell writer's guides from every season along with final scripts from episodes. In fact, these scripts even have scenes that are cut out due to the episode running long. 9) Any correspondance with Paramount, Gene, the actors, etc. should be sent to: Paramount Studios Star Trek Offices 5555 Melrose Ave. Hollywood, CA 90038 Note that scripts have a better chance of getting accepted if you have an agent. Paramount gets about 800 fan-written scripts a year and uses about four of them. See the separate section in this posting on submitting scripts. Lincoln Enterprises is run by Majel Barrett (Mrs. Roddenberry), and is said to be the best source for fan paraphanalia. This is the best place to get a Writer's Guide from if you're not an established writer. The address is: Lincoln Enterprises Box 691370 Los Angeles, CA 90069 (213) 462-3850 (orders only, $15 minimum by credit card) Star Tech has some good stuff too, like the blooper reels on tape (four tapes for TOS and one for TNG season one), movie soundtrack CDs, etc. However, some of their recorded tapes seem to be "gray market", so beware: Star Tech PO Box 456 Dunlap, TN 37327 Starlog (or Starlog Press) 475 Park Avenue South New York, NY 10016 10) None of the crew read Usenet (though we have a writer or two on here). Wheaton and some of the "behind-the-scenes" people are on Compu$erve/GEnie though. 11) Yes, the TOS Enterprise could separate; just that it would take a lot more work (and a bigger effects budget) to put it back together. Kirk orders Scotty to "disengage nacelles, jettison if possible" in "The Savage Curtain". He might also mention it in "The Apple". 12) GAMES: The FASA Star Trek game is pretty much ignored by the r.a.s community, though many seem to like the variety of TOS and TNG drinking games that show up occasionally. [Anyone know if these are ftp-able from anywhere?] 13) Yes, Merritt Butrick is dead. He played Kirk's son David in the movies as well as an alien in TNG's "Symbiosis", along-side of one of the actors that served with Khan. The actor died in March 1989 due to complications related to the AIDS virus. The actress who played Vina in "The Cage" also recently died (early 1990). 14) According to ST:TNG Writer's/Director's guide (1987): "Starfleet is NOT a military organization....No saluting. We may hear the word 'Sir,' but it is intended as the same kind of curtousy used by junior and senior officers on commercial airliners....No stories about warfare with Klingons or Romulans and no stories with Vulcans." Granted the Romulan/Klingon/Vulcan rule has laxed, but I still believe Starfleet is non-military (except when they are cornered, like the Borg situation). 15) Yes, there are words to the TOS theme song. Roddenberry wrote the lyrics himself. Not very good. Maybe these should be posted (along with the lyrics to other TOS songs, mostly from "The Way to Eden") in the monthly posting of "lists". 16) Both Shatner and Nimoy have attempted to sing and have a few albums out (from the early 70s, I believe). They are *extremely* bad and only good for comic relief. 17) Yes, Assignment Earth was indead a pilot that never got off the ground. One of a few. Gene wanted to create some more shows. The reference for this is in the book The Making of Star Trek, (the white cover, not the silver one). 18) Saavik was half Vulcan and half Romulan. This wasn't mentioned in the movie (probably cut to save time), but it was in the novelization, the trailer shown on Siskel & Ebert, and was mentioned by Stewart in the special showing of "The Cage". 19) The uniforms were changed from the spandex one-piece suits (that made the cast look muscular) to the wool two-piece suits (that make them look flabby but are more comfortable). The new uniforms cost $3000 apiece to manufacture. Most of the extras are still wearing the old uniforms. Another reason for the switch is that Brent Spiner suffers from some back injury. Because spandex is skin-tight, he couldn't wear his brace underneath. The wool is loose enough and you can occasionally you can see the top of the brace under the costume if you look at his chest. If you want a Star Trek uniform: Look for Simplicity or McCalls pattern book in your favorite fabric shop. In the back there are Star Trek uniforms for adults and children, both sexes. You can also get the patterns from Paramount's "Star Trek: The Official Fan Club" (both TOS and TNG uniforms). If you're not "sew" talented and want one pre-made, Intergalactic Trading Post of Tampa Florida is one of many companies that make them in several sizes. They generally show up at Star Trek/SF conventions. 20) The Enterprise has left the galaxy in "TOS: Where No Man Has Gone Before", "TOS: By Any Other Name", "TOS: Is There in Truth No Beauty?", "TNG: Where No One Has Gone Before" and in "ST5:TFF" they crossed the barrier at the center of the galaxy. 21) Untelevized TOS episodes: The Cage He Has Walked Among Us (unfilmed) Paleface (other titles I can't remember) A black and white original of "The Cage" was pieced back together with the color clips stolen for "The Menagerie" which has since been televized. Just before the premier of TNG, Paramount "found" a copy of "The Cage" which was all in color (which they then televized). It is marred by drastic changes in the Talosians' voices in mid-sentence, otherwise it is fun to watch (along with a grinning, shouting Spock). The color version they show now has been cut down to an hour and has Spock's famous "grinning at the singing plants" scene removed. Sigh. 22) Kirk Thatcher: * Was associate producer of ST4. * Was the actor who played the Punk on the Bus in ST4. * Wrote the song "I hate You" which the punk was listening to. * Is a member of the band "Edge of Etiquette" which performed the song. * Is Margaret Thatcher's son. ("son"?) 23) SUBMITTING SCRIPTS: Paramount has finally received permission from its legal department to read and purchase fan-submitted scripts. You do NOT need an agent (though it helps), and the scripts do NOT have to be solicited. You do have to send for a Paramount Release Form, which has to be legally executed. Address a stamped, self-addressed, legal-size envelope and send it with the request for a Release Form to the address given for Paramount elsewhere in this posting. Also, it may be a good idea to ask for the one-page ST:TNG Script Submissions suggestions as well. Paramount STRONGLY suggests that you obtain a ST:TNG Writer's Guide from Lincoln Enterprises, since they do NOT send out sample scripts. Besides the Writer's Guide, here's some other useful information you can get from Lincoln Enterprises: 8001 - ST:TNG Writer's Guide $9.95 1106 - How to sell a script by D.C. Fontana $3.95 1101 - Original (TOS) Writer's Guide $4.95 1109 - ST:TNG Character Biographies $7.95 Include $2.00 shipping for up to $10.00 worth of merchandise, $0.50 for each additional $5.00 worth of merchandise. Prices accurate as of 7/90. 24) SUBMITTING A STORY TO POCKET BOOKS: This comes through Peter David from Kevin Ryan at Pocket Books: the official Pocket Books Star Trek Novel Submission guidelines. ** Due to the overwhelming number of submissions that we receive, Pocket Books can only accept solicited, agented manuscripts. A comprehensive list of agents can be found in THE LITERARY MARKETPLACE ** FORMAT: All manuscripts must be submitted typed, double-spaced, on one side of non-corrasable typing paper. The page number and your name should be at the top of each page. Your full name and address should appear on the first and last page of the manuscript (yes, include your phone number). PROCEDURE: Submit the first three chapters with a detailed synopsis (four to six pages) of the entire plot. Due to the large volume of submissions we receive, our reply can take anywhere from one to six months...so please be patient. If we're interested in publishing your novel, we'll contact your agent with an offer. We may ask for revisions, and may also ask to see the completed novel before reaching a decision. CONTENTS: We're only interested in full-length adventure novels of roughly 70,000 words (about 250-300 pages). We cannot use short stories, poetry, biographies, romances, blueprints, or trivia books. In a one-sentence description, we're looking for exciting science fiction stories featuring the Star Trek characters we all know and love. All material is subject to the approvl of Paramount Pictures, who are very concerned about maintaining the integrity of the characters and the Star Trek universe. Absolute consistency is a practical impossibility, but some major themes to avoid include: * Traveling intime to change history or learn something, rescue someone, etc. * Having a tear in the fabric of reaity which could destroy the universe. * Pon farr in Spock. * Death of a major, established character. * Any plot which hines on or describes in detail sexual relaions (normal, abnormal, and so on). We are not interested in books that suggest anything other than friendship between Kirk and Spock or any other crewmembers. * Any plot that mixes the Next Generation and the original crew. * Data becoming human. Plot elements to avoid with respect to specific characters: Kirk: no offspring or close relations not already established. Also, no childhood or current sweethearts; though, you can create temporary love interests. Spock: no sisters, brothers, half siblings (beyond Sybok), offspring, sudden reversions to emotion, sex. The Vulcan mind-meld has already been seriously overused of late. No explanations of the "Vulcan Way" beyond what has already been done in the TV series or movies. McCoy: no offspring or close relations not already establihed. We can no loner use castmembers who have left the show (no Tasha Yar or Dr. Pulaski). For any regular castmembers--same rules as per Kirk. Also, other crewmembers: in general, avoid trying to definitively map out a character's history much beyond what has already been done in the movies or television episodes. Of course there are guidelines. Disobey them at your own peril if necessary to your story--but remember, you were warned. Thank you for your interest in STAR TREK and good luck with your writing. Best, The Star Trek Editors. The address for Pocket is Simon & Schuster Building, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, NY, NY 10020. The editors are Dave Stern and Kevin Ryan. 25) PICARD'S SURRENDERS; SELF DESTRUCTS; TIME TRAVEL: * "Encounter at Farpoint": Picard says "Transmit the following in all languages and in all frequencies; 'We surrender'." * "Outrageous Okono": Picard drops shields "In case we decide to surrender to them." * "A Matter of Honor": Picard surrenders to Riker on the Pagh. * "The Defector": The Romulans ask Picard to surrender, but he doesn't. * "Peak Performance": The Ferengi ask Picard to surrender, but he doesn't get the chance. * "The Last Outpost": Picard surrenders to the Ferengi, but they don't accept. * "Yesterday's Enterprise": Alternate-Picard refuses to surrender to the Klingons. * Picard tries to surrender to the Ferengi, but they beat him to it. * Picard tries to surrender to the [Romulans|Klingons]. (?) * "11001001": Picard tries to self destruct. * "Where Silence Has Lease": Picard tries to self destruct for Nagilum. * Kirk tried to self destruct in "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield", "[one other episode ???]", and finally succeeds in the film series. TOS time travel: 1. The Guardian of Forever ("City on the Edge of Forever") 2. The slingshot effect ("Tomorrow Is Yesterday") 3. Cold-starting the warp engines ("The Naked Time") 4. Mr. Atoz's time travel system ("All Our Yesterdays") 5. Isis' time-space transporter ("Assignment: Earth") TNG time travel: 1. Picard from the future ("Time Squared") 2. Enterprise from the past ("Yesterday's Enterprise") 26) IS PARAMOUNT MAKING MONEY ON TNG? Yes. Tons. The following is stolen from industry trade magazines VARIETY and BROADCASTING, as well as Roger Tang: FIRST: License fees (the fees studios charge individual stations to run their programs): Let's say Paramount charges each station $2,000 to run the first run package. That's ball park; other stations can get $10-20K per episode in top 20 markets. Also, Turner can expect $800,000 to $1 million per episode show of THE WONDER YEARS when it goes into backend syndication. $2,000 per episode times 238 stations yields $476,000 per episode shown in first run sydication (which does NOT count the later syndication or backend syndication). SECOND: Commercial fees: According to Vidiot, Paramount has seven minutes of national advertising in each show. BROADCASTING has published figures of $60-80,000 per 30 second spot. (They have also mentioned that rates for the third and fourth seasons are around $135,000 per 30 second spot). Paramount is garnering $1,890,000 per showing of an episode. THIRD: But wait! Shows are shown more than once even in first run syndication. Let's assume a cut rate of $50,000 per spot in reruns (doubt it, since people are STILL watching during reruns). Even a rerun episode will garner $700,000 in commercial revenue. THE BOTTOM LINE: $476,000 + $1,890,000 + $700,000 = well over $3 million in revenue per episode in first run syndication. And we all know studios base their financing on just breaking even in backend syndication. So the claim that Paramount is losing $8 million is just creative financing. 27) TNG SEASON 4 TIDBITS: 1: 9/24 175 Best of Best Worlds Pt. II (by Michael Piller) 2: 10/01 178 Family (by Ron Moore; Best of Both Worlds part 3; Picard returns to France; including a possible appearance by Jack Crusher as well as two very wonderful guest starring roles) 3: 10/08 177 Brother(s) (by Rick Berman; Spiner plays three characters: Data, Lore, and their creator, Dr. Noonian Soong (sp). According to Mr. Frakes, the voice Brent Spiner does for Dr. Soong sounds like a cross between Jimmy Stewart and Groucho Marx.) ["Amok Time" clone? --ed] 4: 10/15 176 Suddenly Human (by Jeri Taylor; NOT a Data story; A missing human child is found thriving in an alien culture... is it in his best interests to return him to "humanity"?) ["Charlie X" clone? --ed] 5: 10/22 1xx The Reunion (Directed by Jonathan Frakes--lots of Klingons, including K'Empk (sp?) from "Sins of the Father", K'Elyhr (Worf's girlfriend), and her and Worf's child (Klingon civil war)) x: 1xx Remember Me (by Lee Sheldon; features the return of Eric Menyuk as the Traveler (major Wes role). Beverly notices people disappearing until no one is left but her and Picard on the bridge - then he disappears (major Bev role)) x: 1xx (Picard's brother back on earth) [sounds like it may be "Family" --ed] x: 1xx Legacy (the Enterprise visit the world that Tasha Yar grew up on. Besides encountering rape gangs, they also run into Tasha's sister, a gang member) [her Evil twin sister Skippy? -ed] x: 1xx (The Transporter Chief might get married (and will hopfully have a first name by then.)) x: 1xx Future Imperfect (*tentative*) (Riker has an accident during an away mission and recovers consciousness aboard the Enterprise ... fifteen years later) ["Wizard of Oz" clone with Riker waking up in the end? --ed] Wil Wheaton is negotiating his own contract now and will be leaving ST:TNG after filming of the sixth episode (possibly to matriculate). His character Wes will leave for Star Fleet Academy. So we have the return of Eric Menyuk as The Traveler from "Where No One Has Gone Before", Denise Crosby (possibly as Yar's sister), John DeLancie (as Q of course), Lwaxana Troi, and possibly Barkley, Wheaton cameos as Wes, and the bugs from "Conspiracy" (as the cliffhanger at the end of season 4). 28) FUTURE OF STAR TREK: Current plans are for a sixth TOS movie and a huge convention in California next year around the 25th anniversary date (Sept 8, 1991). The movie will probably (hopefully) be later in teh season. The cast of TNG have signed 6-year contracts and have the option of another year. After this, plans are to create TNG movies. Rumors are floating of a third series, either another generation *after* TNG or the years between TOS and TNG. 99) MISC TRIVIA James Doohan is missing the middle finger of his left hand. It can be seen in brief shots (especially in the early episodes). Whenever they needed to show Scotty's hands (like when he operated the transporter) they had a stand-in and showed a close-up. ("Cut! All right, bring in the stunt hands.") TOS "The Devil in the Dark": Every 5000 years the race of Horta all die save the one mother Horta. TOS "Balance of Terror": Neutral zone outposts 2, 2, 4, and 8 were trashed by the Romulan ship before the Enterprise was able to engage (#4 was the one they saw get destroyed on the viewer) TOS "Operation: Annihilate!": In a well-known ST blooper, the amoeba-creature accidently hits Spocks read end instead of his back. TOS "The Tholian Web": The name of the Tholian commander who first attacks the Enterprise after Kirk is lost is Commander Loskene. TOS "Wolf in the Fold": The names that the entity was referred to by were Jack the Ripper, Baratis, Redjac, Kesla, Mr. Hengist (and yes, that was the wimpy guy from hte Bob Newhart Show). TOS "Amok Time": T'Pau was the only person to ever turn down a seat on the Federation council. TOS "Amok Time": The episode where Ensign Chekov makes his debut (1st episode, 2nd season). (Catspaw was the one he was first filmed in, although this aired after Amok Time). TOS: Where was the ONLY doorknob seen in a FEDERATION setting (ship or starbase etc.) and why is it ironic that it should be placed there? TOS "The Paradise Syndrome": "He Has Walked Among Us" and "Paleface" were combined into "The Paradise Syndrome", according to speculation by Allen Asherman and David Gerrold. Reportedly, only Gene Coon knew for sure, and of course he's been dead for about 15 years... TOS "City on the Edge of Forever": If you want H. Ellison's original script for "City on the Edge of Forever", look for a book called "Six Science Fiction Plays", edited by Roger Elwood. It's a paperback, published in 1976 by Pocket Books under the Washington Square Press imprint. It was distributed in the U.S. and Canada by Simon & Schuster. I have no idea if it's still in print. If it isn't, check your local library, used book stores, and the dealer's room at your next convention. There must be copies out there somewhere. According to Elwood's foreword, this was the first time Ellision's original uncut script was published. It's preceded by a ten-page introduction that Ellison wrote especially for this book, telling his version of the transformation of his script into what was eventually telecast. The book also contains these scripts: "Sting!" by Tom Reamy "Contact Point" by Theodore R. Cogswell and George Rae Cogswell "Stranger with Roses" by John Jakes "The Mechanical Bride" by Fritz Leiber "Let Me Hear You Whisper" by Paul Zindel ("Sting!" is a movie screenplay; "The Mechanical Bride" is a teleplay; the others are stage plays) According to the Star Trek Compendium: Kirk: was in 79 TOS episodes Spock: was in 79 TOS episodes + "The Cage" McCoy: was in 74 TOS episodes Uhura: was in 65 TOS episodes Scotty: was in 61 TOS episodes Sulu: was in 47 TOS episodes Chekov: was in 33 TOS episodes ST: TMP: The oval things on the belts were originally supposed to be biorhythm devices. In the novelization of ST:TMP, the little oval things are described in a footnote. They are called "perscan" devices and are used to monitor crew members life signs from sick bay. Only the CMO gets to see the captain's perscan output. According to the footnote, the lower abdomen is supposed to be an ideal location for a medical scanner. Making it into a belt buckle seemed the obvious way to integrate it into the Fleet uniforms. TNG season 1: Dr. Crusher's orderly (ensign Freeman) was supposed to be gay (according to the script writer). TNG "The High Ground": "He Has Walked Among Us" was reportedly a minor inspiration for "The High Ground", abeit uncredited (this coming from a Creation con). "THG" was one of those supposedly conceived during the strike as a possible filler (a la "The Child"), and the use of the older TOS script ("The Paradise Syndrome") would have made it acceptable under the union crap edicts. TNG: Data is NOT Asmovian and does NOT obey Asimov's Laws of Robotics. The only connection is that Data has a positronic brain. TNG: In a War of the Worlds episode ("Thy Kingdom Come"), there is a kid playing with action figures. One of them is in the likeness of Yar, Data, Picard, or Riker and he mentions something about Ferengi. TNG: Captain Garrett's crew took the E-C to glory at N'rendra III, which was NOT K'timar (the planet where Worf's father and mother died). TNG: In the opening credits (and occasionally in the same shot during the show) you can see a man walking by the large vertical windows of the ready room. It is the slow flyby of the Enterprise (from lower left to upper right) after all the quick flybys. There are large windows just beyond the bump in the saucer section, and if you look closely (and it helps to have a giant screen TV) you can see a man walking from left to right past the windows, then someone walking from right to left behind him. NOTE: It's harder to catch it with freeze-frame since pausing a VCR loses half the resolution, so just watch it at normal speed a few times until you figure out where on the ship you're supposed to be looking. TNG: Paramount has confirmed that the bar on the bridge (with its "whoopi cushion") is non-alcoholic. TNG "Ensigns of Command": The original script called for Data to have sex with the leading lady in order to get her cooperation later. This idea never made it through the first draft. Gene's reason for dropping it: "Only a human male would use a woman like that"... TNG is not broadcast in Dolby. There is out-of-phase-but-equal-amplitude stuff in the ST:TNG soundtrack, which your Dolby Stereo decoder recognizes as "rear channel information". They mostly put the ship's noise (a low thundering sound of the engines) on the rear and some times when ships pass by or shoot. Since Paramount clearly *is* using "official" Dolby Stereo for _Arsenio Hall_, they might be planning to use it for ST:TNG's 4th season as well. TNG satellite uplink times: Sat 1800 EDT T301-9 Sun 1400 EDT T301-9