False Facts About Star Trek You Always Thought Were True

[Gary7]

OK, the title is copied exactly from the YouTube video, so don't give me guff about it. Flawed, I know! Because this doesn't apply to probably 99% of us here. And these aren't "facts"...

Still, I thought it a rather amusing take on Star Trek trivia that the "Muggles" think are worth noting. One good point is that the narrator does say "part of Star Trek canon." And that was an eyebrow raiser for me.

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

 

[B.J.]

Dunno why I watched it, but here's the list so nobody else has to:

1. "Beam me up, Scotty." - Never said exactly this way by Kirk.
2. TNG was the first sequel - Nope, TAS was. And then there was also Phase II, that was reworked into TMP.
3. Picard followed orders. - Perception as compared to Kirk at least. Picard broke the Prime Directive 9 times, plenty more than Kirk.
4. Spock is emotionless. - Plenty of examples otherwise.
   
5. The first interracial kiss - We all know the one. But the first was in a TV special "Movin' with Nancy" a few months before the episode, between Nancy Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr. (Not mentioned in the video, but Trek's was the first scripted one, and SDJ only kisses Nancy on the cheek.)
   
6. Nobody uses money - Been debated countless times here, and plenty of examples otherwise, even in TOS and TNG. Go ask Quark.
7. Troi was always an empath - Originally was meant to have full telepathy, touched on in the pilot. Also was supposed to have a few extra breasts.
   
8. Seven was just eye candy - uhhh.... (Yeah, plenty of character development there.)
   
9. Captain Kirk: Ladies' man - Kirk wasn't into the Orion slave girl in TOS. But the video kinda defeated its own argument with the rest of the examples IMO.

 

[BillJ]

Picard followed orders. - Perception as compared to Kirk at least. Picard broke the Prime Directive 9 times, plenty more than Kirk

Picard broke the Prime Directive nine times as commander of the Enterprise by midway through season four. See: "The Drumhead"

 

[B.J.]

Yeah, I may not have written that one down entirely accurately. Video was saying a lot of stuff, tried to paraphrase.

 

[Smoked Salmon]

I didn't know the kiss, mainly because I'm not American and haven't heard of that TV special, and all I've ever seen is the heavy promotion of the idea, including by Trek people, that it was the first kiss.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Some of those are value judgments rather than factual mistakes.

Does anyone think Seven didn't have character development? The more controversial issue is whether she got disproportionate screen time and unrealistic costuming because of her sex appeal.

 

[at Quark's]

^that, and I thought I'd seen seven's gradual progress from a 'mechanical' (for lack of a better word) to 'human' personality at least two times before (data, EMH), which, to me, did make her 'exploration of humanity arc' feel a bit tiresome and not exactly fresh. But yes, season's 7 7 is certainly quite different from season's 4 7 so there has been a lot of character development there.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

TNG was the first sequel - Nope, TAS was.

Why would you call TAS a sequel? It was simply a continuation of TOS. The fourth and fifth seasons as it were. Animated, yes, but still TOS in spirit.

 

[B.J.]

Why would you call TAS a sequel? It was simply a continuation of TOS. The fourth and fifth seasons as it were. Animated, yes, but still TOS in spirit.

I wouldn't call it a sequel either, I was just describing what the video said.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

I would call TAS a sequel:

A sequel is a narrative, documental, or other work of literature, film, theatre, television, music, or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same fictional universe as an earlier work, usually chronologically following the events of that work.​

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sequel

Seems clear enough.

 

[Hey Missy]

What about how people have this idea that Kirk is some kind of loose cannon in the series, because they've only seen movies III, IV and the newest ones?

 

[JonnyQuest037]

What about how people have this idea that Kirk is some kind of loose cannon in the series, because they've only seen movies III, IV and the newest ones?

Even though it doesn't have much basis in fact, I don't think that one's dying any time soon.

The "Kirk as a constant horndog" one is another one that drives me nuts. TOS Kirk had a healthy libido, sure, but he didn't go to the lengths that most people think. It really bugged me when the recent Star Trek/Legion of Super-Heroes crossover had Kirk hitting on Shadow Lass in the middle of a firefight.

 

[Push The Button]

The one that drives me crazy is "Shatner is a bad actor".

False. Shatner is a great actor with the right material and direction, always has been. He was also a guy that had to support his family, so maybe he took a few jobs that had not so good material and not so great direction. It didn't diminish his talent or dedication one bit. You do what you have to do to keep the lights on and the fridge full.

Another is "TOS was a cheap production, bad f/x and cardboard sets". Also false, it was quite expensive to produce for its time, and the f/x were state of the art for the late 60s. We're not in the late 60s anymore, so naturally it will look dated now, 50 years later.

 

[Hey Missy]

Another is "TOS was a cheap production, bad f/x and cardboard sets". Also false, it was quite expensive to produce for its time, and the f/x were state of the art for the late 60s. We're not in the late 60s anymore, so naturally it will look dated now, 50 years later.

I hate explaining this to the plebes. Star Trek had high production values for its time and was very expensive, which is part of the reason why it was cancelled.

Spoiler

Now, Doctor Who in the 60's is what was considered cheap then and cheap now.

 

[Balok's Decoy]

Yeah the whole Kirk is a swinger thing is totally exaggerated. If anyone was a ladies man, it was Riker.

 

[Idran]

I would call TAS a sequel:

A sequel is a narrative, documental, or other work of literature, film, theatre, television, music, or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same fictional universe as an earlier work, usually chronologically following the events of that work.​

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sequel

Seems clear enough.

Would you have called it a sequel before checking Wikipedia?

(I don't think you need to cite a source for what you would use yourself in casual conversation, is what I'm teasing about. I'd call it a sequel too, because it fits my own internal, mental definition of the word.)

 

[Jedman67]

Another is "TOS was a cheap production, bad f/x and cardboard sets". Also false, it was quite expensive to produce for its time, and the f/x were state of the art for the late 60s. We're not in the late 60s anymore, so naturally it will look dated now, 50 years later.

It was expensive but it also had a limited production budget for a scifi tv show. The effects were pretty darn good for 60's tv, which is what they filmed for. Compared to high budget feature films of the same time, the effects don't hold up.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

Would you have called it a sequel before checking Wikipedia?

Absolutely! It's a continuation.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

The first interracial kiss - We all know the one. But the first was in a TV special "Movin' with Nancy" a few months before the episode, between Nancy Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr. (Not mentioned in the video, but Trek's was the first scripted one, and SDJ only kisses Nancy on the cheek.)

Actually, this is the world's first. The other was America's. http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/20/world/first-interracial-kiss-on-tv/

 

[Forbin]

About a month after Playdoh's Stepchildren aired, Robert Wagner planted a REAL, unforced, unfaked, not cheated away from the camera, affectionate kiss on Denise Nicholas on It Takes a Thief. Given the vaguaries of production vs air date, he may very well have kissed her before The Shat kissed Nichelle IRL. I have a screen grab but I'm at work atm.