John Christopher a Regular?

Discussion in 'Star Trek - The Original & Animated Series' started by Control Voice, Aug 13, 2013.

  1. Nerys Myk

    Nerys Myk A Spock and a smile Premium Member

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    TOS really didn't do that sort of thing. Not sure what skills the character would bring.
     
  2. Praetor Baldric

    Praetor Baldric Lieutenant Commander

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    His training essentially was probably not that different from Kirk's with the exception of the technology of course. Also, he could offer a fresh perspective on things. He might have been a good match-up for Gary7 later on, had that spin-off come to fruition.
     
    Last edited: Aug 15, 2013
  3. Nerys Myk

    Nerys Myk A Spock and a smile Premium Member

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    I think Kirk's more than a fighter pilot. His training goes far beyond that. What "fresh" perspective could a man from the 20th Century bring to a show about/set in the future? He'd be a curiosity that only historians would find interesting. I guess McGivers might give him a tumble.
     
  4. Praetor Baldric

    Praetor Baldric Lieutenant Commander

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    Don't you think that someone from the past could offer some wisdom? He was trained to make split-second decisions, to take into account dozens of variables when considering the consequences of his actions on every mission.
     
    Last edited: Aug 15, 2013
  5. Nerys Myk

    Nerys Myk A Spock and a smile Premium Member

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    Wisdom about what?

    How is that fresh?

    How is that different that the 300+ people currently on the Enterprise? People who are familiar with the technology and the realities of the 23rd Century.
     
  6. Praetor Baldric

    Praetor Baldric Lieutenant Commander

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    His detachment from the here and now might give him the ability to be more objective with regard to foreign policy for example.
     
  7. Melakon

    Melakon Admiral In Memoriam

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    He's a fighter pilot. He has no knowledge of foreign policy except to shoot down the enemy. How could he advise on political matters of the 23rd century when there are hundreds of planets he never knew existed?

    Chauncey Gardiner from Being There would be a better advisor.
     
  8. Praetor Baldric

    Praetor Baldric Lieutenant Commander

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    Kirk is just a starship captain yet he has put his nose into political affairs more than once...even to the point of rearranging whole societies because they didn't fit his beliefs.

    Spock and the rest are required to formulate opinions on planets and species they never knew about before either on a weekly basis!
     
    Last edited: Aug 16, 2013
  9. Melakon

    Melakon Admiral In Memoriam

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    Kirk, Spock, and other Starfleet officers presumably had diplomatic courses at the Academy. They're authorized to negotiate with other worlds on behalf of the Federation. Any diplomatic training Christopher has is 300 years out of date.
     
  10. Nerys Myk

    Nerys Myk A Spock and a smile Premium Member

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    Exactly. Kirk is trained in diplomacy. Part of his job is "seeking out new life and new civilizations". Spock is a scientist. His job is looking into the unknown and finding answers. Christopher is a fighter pilot. His job is to fly an airplane and shoot stuff. How much "diplomatic training" would a USAF officer from the 60s get? He's not even based overseas. What's that line from Full Metal Jacket? "I wanted to meet interesting and stimulating people of an ancient culture... and kill them."
     
  11. Gojira

    Gojira Commodore Commodore

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    I actually like the idea. Tomorrow is Yesterday is one of my all time favorite episodes. I liked Captain Christopher and I think it would have been an interesting idea to have him as a regular and watch him try to assimilate into the 23rd century.
     
  12. Nerys Myk

    Nerys Myk A Spock and a smile Premium Member

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    No interested in seeing the Adventures of Captain Christopher in the 23rd Century.
     
  13. Gojira

    Gojira Commodore Commodore

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    I think it would have been interesting to have a character adjust to the 23rd century. That character could have been the mouth piece for his times and he could have spoken about overcoming the prejudices and the problems they had in the 60s while he adjusted to the 23rd century.

    For example, TOS often had a bias against computers in their shows. At the time computers were new and people were fraid that computers would replace people. That sentiment is is expressed in quite a few episodes. What is strange is even the Trek Characters like Kirk and McCoy are leary of computers. It would have made more sense to have a character like Cpt. Christopher be the mouth of fear of computers than Kirk and McCoy.

    That is just one example where I think a contemporary charcater like Christopher could have worked.
     
  14. Nerys Myk

    Nerys Myk A Spock and a smile Premium Member

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    I don't think its a bias against computers. They use them everyday. They do seem to object to machines becoming "benevolent dictators". McCoy talks a good game but he's uses them almost as much as Spock.

    Christopher would probably be amazed by 23rd Century computers. Many of their uses are behind the scene anyway.

    TOS isn't an arc show. I doubt Christopher's fish out of water position would be used for anything more than a joke or two.
     
  15. Melakon

    Melakon Admiral In Memoriam

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    Speaking as someone who was alive during that time, they were right.
     
  16. Greg Cox

    Greg Cox Admiral Premium Member

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    TOS is profoundly ambivalent about technology and computers in particular. Yeah, they have all their shiny futuristic toys, but a certain unease keeps creeping in. See also: "Court-Martial," "The Ultimate Computer," "The Changeling," "A Taste of Armageddon," and all those episodes where Kirk defeats an evil god-like computer.

    And it's not just McCoy who voices these concerns. You also have Samuel Cogley orating about man vs. machine, the space hippies in "Way To Eden," and even Lenore Karidian complaining that technology has made people more like machines. (Okay, she's insane, but . . . .)

    People were definitely worried about these issues back then. Remember HAL in 2001? And Colossus: The Forbin Project? And Demon Seed?
     
  17. Praetor Baldric

    Praetor Baldric Lieutenant Commander

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    [From Errand of Mercy]
    AYELBORNE: It is our way of life, Captain.
    KIRK: That's the first thing that would be lost! Excuse me, gentlemen. I'm a soldier, not a diplomat. I can only tell you the truth.

    [From The Mark of Gideon]
    SPOCK: We must acknowledge once and for all that the purpose of diplomacy is to prolong a crisis.
    MCCOY: Well, what are we waiting for, Mister Spock? We're not diplomats.
    SPOCK: We are representatives of the Federation, Doctor.
    MCCOY: That doesn't mean we have behave like children and listen to some fool lecture by a diplomat!
    SPOCK: Unfortunately, diplomacy is the only channel available to us at the moment. The planet is shielded from our sensors, therefore we cannot scan it. Therefore we are unable to select co-ordinates. They must be provided by Gideon.
    CHEKOV: We should never have agreed to such restrictions.
    SPOCK: We did not, Mister Chekov. The Federation did. Lieutenant Uhura.
    UHURA: Yes, Mister Spock.
    SPOCK: Contact Starfleet immediately. Explain our problem. Request permission to use every means at our disposal to press the search for Captain Kirk

    From these two excerpts, it seems that Kirk and Spock either did not receive as much diplomatic training as you suggest, or they didn't really care too much about it. In both of these cases Kirk and Spock respectively are frustrated by diplomacy and would prefer a more aggressive strategy. Also, USAF Fighter Pilots do more than just shoot stuff, their training (both physical and intellectual) is very demanding and they are required to use their own judgment at times.
     
  18. Gojira

    Gojira Commodore Commodore

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    Now, less than 50 years after TOS computers are a way of life for the majority of people. In many ways TOS is a time capsule of how people were leary and concerned about the growth of technology, specifically computers, in the mid to late 60s.
     
  19. Nerys Myk

    Nerys Myk A Spock and a smile Premium Member

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    A Starship Captain wears many hats:

    I've no doubt a fighter pilot is highly trained, intelligent and skilled individual, but I doubt that would render them a valuable asset to Starfleet. Christopher would be shipped to the nearest Starbase and from there to Earth, where he would be acclimated to the 23rd Century and retrained.
     
  20. Greg Cox

    Greg Cox Admiral Premium Member

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    I don't know. It might be fun to have a contemporary character on a Trek show someday, just to provide a different perspective.

    I still wish Rain Robinson had joined Voyager as a regular, as was apparently considered. Sarah Silverman would have spiced things up a bit.