Too many Holodecks Episodes?

[The Overlord]

Was there too many episodes about the holodeck in 24th century episodes (even one of the earliest episodes of Enterprise had a holodeck)?

The holodeck is an okay plot device, but having so many episodes based around it, made it wear out its welcome. All of those episodes where the Holodeck flips out and tries to kill the crew makes me think its use would have become restricted over time.

Considering Voyager was stuck in the middle of nowhere, with no support and not many resources, the Holodeck should been used for official purposes only and then only very rarely. The story of Voyager having to survive in the middle of nowhere is undermined when the crew can go into their own personal fantasy world, whenever they felt like it.

 

[CorporalClegg]

One holodeck episode was too many.

 

[Push The Button]

Far too many, especially on Voyager. That ship should have been beaten up and falling to pieces by the end of that series, not looking like it had just rolled out of the showroom. I think non-essential systems like a holodeck would have been powered down to conserve power, or stripped for spare parts.

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

Yup.

The holodeck should've featured in episodes, showing characters at rest and play, but never used as something the plot centered around.

 

[Richard Baker]

They claimed the Voyager Holodeck used a different kind of power so shutting it down would not allow that power to be used elsewhere- a rather long leap in rationalization for using it IMO.
I think the best Holodeck episodes were when it was used to explore a mystery- Geord's engine diagnostics (Booby Trap), finding out what happened on that old mission (Identity Crisis), Riker finding out what happened to some crew members at night (Schisms), solving a murder mystery (A Matter of Perspective)...
In short- a tool to analyse something.

It went on the blink and people got injured/killed far too often to be a safe recreation.

The most disappointing show was 'Emergence' and that was mostly because they did not have the SFX budget to show what they promised. Multiple holodeck programs running simultaneously would have been cool as hell with today's CGI- chaotic scenes passing through each other, overlapping landscapes... Instead we got different costumes in a train car.

 

[RandyS]

ENTERPRISE needed one.

 

[uniderth]

Pretending Enterpise never existed and in its place was a prequel series of my own making. I would love to have used lucid dreaming. I imagine that by the mid 2100s a technology would exist that would allow Lucid dreaming to be a form a recreation. Possibly even shared dreaming. The issue would be that too many people would probably think it's just an excuse to shoe horn in a holodeck equivalent. Although I would have presented it in a more dream-like way; in that, while the dream can be controlled, it is also unpredictable and inconstant as dreams tend to be.

It would have been a fascinating realm to explore. But then I can just hear the fans whining about how it's just another "holodeck" plot. Curse you previous overuse of holodeck plots!

 

[Metryq]

The dream sequences in GILLIGAN'S ISLAND were a better plot device.

 

[EnriqueH]

I enjoyed the first Holodeck episode. The Moriarty ones had some cool Trek themes. But I do remember back in the 90s feeling that the holodeck as the main theme had been kinda overused. I don't remember the episode that made me feel that way, just a general memory from my 1990s Trek watching.

 

[The Wormhole]

Too many holodeck episodes? There are only 24 holodeck episodes in all of Trek. 24 out of 716 episodes is only 11%. So only 11% of Star Trek is devoted to the holodeck.

Now, Voyager sure enjoyed going to the holodeck, with 15 episodes devoted to it, followed by TNG with 6, DS9 with 2 and Enterprise with 1.

 

[Metryq]

So only 11% of Star Trek is devoted to the holodeck.

You're arguing percentages? You wouldn't happen to have the numbers for time travel stories? I swear the Starfleet crews have messed with the continuum more often than the Time Lords of Gallifrey.

"We're out of ideas this week."

"I know! Let's do a time travel or holodeck episode! We can do anything we want, and it doesn't have to make sense!"

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Yes.

Holodecks started out as a cool example of advanced 24th century technology and ended up the writer's favorite crutch.

 

[Nebusj]

So only 11% of Star Trek is devoted to the holodeck.

You're arguing percentages? You wouldn't happen to have the numbers for time travel stories? I swear the Starfleet crews have messed with the continuum more often than the Time Lords of Gallifrey.

"We're out of ideas this week."

"I know! Let's do a time travel or holodeck episode! We can do anything we want, and it doesn't have to make sense!"

``On the next thrilling episode of Star Trek: Voyager ... a strange space-time anomaly throws the crew into an alternate timeline where the holodeck was never invented!''

 

[drt]

Too many holodeck episodes? There are only 24 holodeck episodes in all of Trek. 24 out of 716 episodes is only 11%. So only 11% of Star Trek is devoted to the holodeck.

Now, Voyager sure enjoyed going to the holodeck, with 15 episodes devoted to it, followed by TNG with 6, DS9 with 2 and Enterprise with 1.

Uhhh, 24 of 716 is 3.4%

If you look at just the 24th Century episodes it's 23 of 526, which is 4.4%

Voyager is 8.7% - second is actually TAS at 4.5% - TNG 3.4%

Holodecks started out as a cool example of advanced 24th century technology and ended up the writer's favorite crutch.

To be fair, it was a cost-saving measure to potentially reuse existing costumes, etc. The TOS equivalent were the multitide of Nazi/Roman/parallel Earth episodes.

 

[eyeresist]

I thought DS9 made pretty good use of the holodeck. It was usually a recreational device, not a plot motivator. However, the baseball ep was pretty useless.

It was odd in Generations that stellar cartography was a separate single-purpose room rather than a holodeck program.

 

[The Wormhole]

So only 11% of Star Trek is devoted to the holodeck.

You're arguing percentages? You wouldn't happen to have the numbers for time travel stories? I swear the Starfleet crews have messed with the continuum more often than the Time Lords of Gallifrey.

"We're out of ideas this week."

"I know! Let's do a time travel or holodeck episode! We can do anything we want, and it doesn't have to make sense!"

For time travel we'll expand to 728, to accommodate the twelve movies. of 728 adventures, 53 were devoted to time travel. 0.07%. Pretty sure the Time Lords of Gallifrey get involved with time travel a bit more often.

 

[Metryq]

of 728 adventures, 53 were devoted to time travel. 0.07%.

Try again. It's almost 14%. Slightly off.

 

[The Wormhole]

According to my calculator, 53/728=0.0728021978021978. Which I read as 0.07%

 

[uniderth]

You need to multiply by 100 to get the percentage. So it would be 7.28%.

 

[Ghrakh]

The Moriarty ones had some cool Trek themes.

Not to mention a great character.

Too many holodeck episodes? There are only 24 holodeck episodes in all of Trek.

Thanks for the facts. Funny how they often contradict what people believe as the truth.