The Doomsday Machine: Where's Uhura?

Discussion in 'Star Trek - The Original & Animated Series' started by CaptainHawk1, Jan 30, 2009.

  1. Captain Robert April

    Captain Robert April Vice Admiral Admiral

    Well, it was certainly pretty strongly implied that she was the department chief of the communications section, since any time they had a briefing with "all the department chiefs" she was there. If she was on board, regardless of her assigned duty shift, she'd be on the bridge once that red alert siren started going off.

    So, it's a pretty safe bet she was on leave and away from the ship at the time. Maybe even in the Rigel system (wouldn't that have been a nice bit of added drama to the story?).
     
  2. QuasarVM

    QuasarVM Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

    Joined:
    Oct 30, 2008
    She was at Wrigley's Pleasure Planet -- chewing spearmint gum! :)
     
  3. Timo

    Timo Fleet Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Aug 26, 2003
    There doesn't seem to be a rule about the most senior officer rushing to a specific station during alerts: Chekov, who is highly unlikely to be the Dept Chief of Navigation, doesn't have to hand over his buttons and switches to any of the full Lieutenants aboard, certainly. Thus, the TV episodes simply seem to represent adventures that happened on the shifts of these particular officers...

    We have some reason to think that Sulu and Uhura could be the heads of their departments, yes. Spock obviously heads Sciences, in addition to his XO job, and Scotty heads Engineering. But there's still room for speculation there.

    Timo Saloniemi
     
  4. Shatmandu

    Shatmandu Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Feb 22, 2006
    Early versions of the script had her getting her bikini line waxed, with McCoy mentioning that, from what he's seen, it would take a week.

    Joe, noted Trek historian
     
  5. KeepOnTrekking

    KeepOnTrekking Commodore Commodore

    Joined:
    Oct 18, 2001
    In my own personal canon, I prefer to believe that she's still on medical leave being retrained after having her memory wiped by Nomad in "The Changeling."
     
  6. Red Ranger

    Red Ranger Admiral In Memoriam

    Joined:
    May 20, 2005
    Location:
    New York City, the greatest city in the world!
    As I recall, Uhura wasn't often off the bridge. And aside from TAS, the only other officer we saw at that station during the series was Palmer. And Chekov, in one movie. (Would've been nice to see a guy manning communications just once during the series -- I think Uhura told a male colleague to "take over for me" in Mirror, Mirror.)

    George Takei was missing from some season two eps because he was filming The Green Berets with John Wayne. What was Nichelle Nichols doing when she was missing? Was it simply that her contract was only for a specific number of eps per season?

    Red Ranger
     
  7. cybersoldier

    cybersoldier Commander Red Shirt

    Joined:
    Feb 13, 2004
    Location:
    NYC
    On vacation?:rommie:
     
  8. ToddPence

    ToddPence Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

    Joined:
    Apr 18, 2007
    Location:
    Fairfax, VA
    Besides "The Doomsday Machine", Uhura was also absent from "Miri", "The Devil in the Dark", "Wolf in the Fold" (filmed just after Doomsday Machine), "The Paradise Syndrome" (although she does appear in stock footage long shots), "The Empath", "The Way to Eden", "All Our Yesterdays" and "Turnabout Intruder".

    Four other officers served as the Enterprise communications bridge officer during TOS: Alden, Farrell, Pamler and "Lisa".
     
  9. Vance

    Vance Vice Admiral In Memoriam

    Joined:
    Oct 27, 2005
    Location:
    Colorado Springs
    We've actually hit this before. "Out of Character", Nichols was not a regular cast member, but a 'day player' - a few steps up from an extra, but not by all that much. This limited the amount of time she could have on screen, due to union rules (which were and are very strict about such things).

    In character, she simply wasn't on shift for the few hours while this was occuring. With her station already covered, when the red alert sirens blare, she had damn well better be at quarters, as regulations dictate.
     
  10. Captain Robert April

    Captain Robert April Vice Admiral Admiral

    That is a key bit of business that has been overlooked over the years, especially by Nichols, Takei, Doohan....not so much by Koenig, he's a big boy and knows the rules, but the others, in all the adulation that was rained upon them at the conventions, kinda forgot that there were only three regular cast members, Shatner, Nimoy, and Kelly, and Shatner was signed, and paid, as the star of the show.

    The only other cast member who was signed as a regular was Grace Lee Whitney (note that she was in most of those first thirteen episodes, even if she just walked into a room and looked at somebody, she was there and got paid...until some unnamed lowlife studio exec tried to rape her and then had her fired, but that's another topic).

    Hell, Eddie Paskey (Lt. Leslie) was in more episodes than George Takei, but I have yet to hear Paskey come out with a tell-all book about how Shatner is a rat bastard.
     
  11. RAMA

    RAMA Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Dec 13, 1999
    Location:
    USA

    Under her bunk
     
  12. Ryan Thomas Riddle

    Ryan Thomas Riddle Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Dec 26, 2003
    Under Chekov's bunk... he's that kinky.
     
  13. Kirk1980

    Kirk1980 Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

    Joined:
    Feb 16, 2006
    Location:
    Connecticut
    Really, Leslie was in more episodes than Sulu?

    Huh, I didn't know that one....

    Yeah, I think Shatner takes a lot of retroactive grief. I don't know if it's possible to account for all of what he probably did to keep the series going in a positive direction.
     
  14. Captain Robert April

    Captain Robert April Vice Admiral Admiral

    Yup, Leslie was in two more episodes than Sulu. Didn't always have lines, but he was there...
     
  15. Timo

    Timo Fleet Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Aug 26, 2003
    Actually, we should argue that actor Eddie Paskey was there. His character wasn't identified in most of the episodes, and sometimes there was reason to think he wasn't Leslie, or even that he was at least two people within the same episode.

    In contrast, Sulu at least was always identified by name in those episodes where George Takei appeared...

    Timo Saloniemi
     
  16. Kirk1980

    Kirk1980 Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

    Joined:
    Feb 16, 2006
    Location:
    Connecticut
    I love being a Star Trek fan. Quibble quibble!:)

    But still, that is interesting.

    Wasn't that part of the decision to have recurring extras/guest actors to give a sense of continuity that I heard mentioned (I think) in Whitfield's Making of Star Trek?
     
  17. Keith1701

    Keith1701 Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Dec 26, 2002
    Location:
    Warner Robins Georgia
    I agree, She was on vacation.....
     
  18. GSchnitzer

    GSchnitzer Co-Executive Producer In Memoriam

    Joined:
    Jun 9, 2008
    Location:
    Gaithersburg, Maryland, USA, Terra
    We see Alden at Communications in "Where No Man Has Gone Before:"

    [​IMG]

    Some guy at Communications (wearing an old ribbed collar shirt) in "The Corbomite Maneuver:"

    [​IMG]

    Some guy in "The Enemy WIthin:"

    [​IMG]

    Lieutenant Farrell in "Miri:"

    [​IMG]

    Some lady in "The Galileo Seven:"

    [​IMG]

    Some guy in "Devil In the Dark:"

    [​IMG]

    Some woman in "Gamesters of Triskelion:"

    [​IMG]

    Lieutenant Palmer in "The Doomsday Machine:"

    [​IMG]

    Some guy in "Wolf in the Fold:"

    [​IMG]

    Some woman in "The Changeling:"

    [​IMG]

    Some woman in "The Empath:"

    [​IMG]

    Some guy in "The Paradise Syndrome:"

    [​IMG]

    Some guy in "The Tholian Web:"

    [​IMG]

    Lieutenant Palmer (again) in "The Way to Eden:"

    [​IMG]

    "Lieutenant Lisa" in "Turnabout Intruder:"

    [​IMG]


    Greg Schnitzer
    Star Trek Phase II
     
  19. Timo

    Timo Fleet Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Aug 26, 2003
    ...Interesting that the nameless extras seem to have braidless uniforms (when identifiable), thus allowing us to go on believing that Uhura was the seniormost of the three Lieutenants that opened hailing frequencies for Kirk after the pilot.

    And boy, does Farrell look scary! :eek:

    Timo Saloniemi
     
  20. Ssosmcin

    Ssosmcin Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Sep 2, 2002
    Location:
    ssosmcin
    I hear ya. I wish I could remember where I read it, probably one of the Edward Gross and/or Mark Altman books, but one of them said in an interview that the show started out as an ensemble and then later on it concentrated on the Big Three (for which Shatner was blamed, of course).

    So, I guess that back when Spock was lucky to be an important part of an episode, before Nimoy even had an "Also Starring" over his name, SULU was a huge part of the "ensemble."

    I don't blame them for wanting to stoke the fires and inflate thier importance to keep the income rolling in, but I really think Shatner gets the crap handed to him for more than he deserves. Sometimes it feels like they consider it his fault none of the "bottom 4" had a career after Trek.