COOL COMPONENT OF UHURA'S QUARTERS...

[Farscape One]

Watching "THE THOLIAN WEB" earlier on the Heroes & Icons channel, I was suddenly struck by something that I never thought twice about when I was younger. (Being married gives one a different view of things that you watched years ago.)

Uhura's quarters... that corner spot that basically has three things in one by just using a button to switch them. My wife saw that, and she agrees with me that it is a great idea. Now, I have been tasked with trying to find it. (I created a monster with that observation...)

In any case, does anyone have any idea if such a thing has been done in real life?

 

[FormerLurker]

It is essentially a motorized Lazy Susan with a wedge cut out. Whatever you're going to be looking for, it will match that description more than it won't.

 

[ZapBrannigan]

It would be pretty simple for a carpenter to custom-build. The Lost in Space fans who have built their own B9 Robot could turn out this dresser in their sleep.

 

[Christopher]

If you mean the rotating dresser/mirror thing, I think all the quarters had that (since they were all redresses of the same set, naturally) but it was rarely featured.

 

[Mytran]

Uhura's quarters must have had more than just the standard circular closet, since they were given up to the Dohlman in "Elaan Of Troius"

 

[GSchnitzer]

Uhura's quarters must have had more than just the standard circular closet, since they were given up to the Dohlman in "Elaan Of Troius"

It might have no differences from any other quarters. (Of course, they were always portrayed by the same studio set.). The Dohlman might have been placed in that cabin because of where it was situated in the ship.

"Location, location, location!"

 

[Farscape One]

Maybe Uhura changed quarters between the two episodes.

Or the writers simply forgot what her quarters looked like the first time when they filmed "THE THOLIAN WEB".

 

[Christopher]

Elaan got Uhura's quarters because Uhura was the highest-ranking female officer, therefore having the best available quarters that were also suitably "feminine" for a female guest. Although one wonders why they didn't have enough VIP guest quarters for her and Petri both.

 

[ZapBrannigan]

Elaan got Uhura's quarters because Uhura was the highest-ranking female officer, therefore having the best available quarters that were also suitably "feminine" for a female guest. Although one wonders why they didn't have enough VIP guest quarters for her and Petri both.

If the ship had plenty of empty rooms in "Troyius" (as it must have had in "Babel"), then Uhura wouldn't get her bit of dialogue on the subject. It was put in so Nichelle would have more to say.

 

[Shawnster]

SPOCK: Captain, the Dohlman is dissatisfied with the quarters provided.
UHURA: What's the matter with them, Mister Spock?
SPOCK: I do not know, but all the Elasians seem most irrational.
UHURA: I gave up my quarters because I
KIRK: Yes, I appreciate your sacrifice, Lieutenant Uhura. I'll talk to her myself.

And...

KIRK: I understand you're not happy with your quarters.
ELAAN: Quarters! (throws something that breaks)
KIRK: Yes, not happy at all.
ELAAN: Am I a soft Troyian fawn to need pillows to sit on? And these ridiculous female trappings. They are an offense to my eyes.
KIRK: My communications officer generously vacated the rooms hoping you would find it satisfactory.
ELAAN: I do not find them so, and I find him even less satisfactory. Must my bitterness be compounded with that ridiculous ambassador aboard your ship?
PETRI: I explained to Her Glory that her council of nobles and the Troyius Tribunal jointly agreed that I should instruct (pause) make her acquainted with the customs and manners of our people.
ELAAN: Kryton! Remove him! And take that garbage with you?
(Petri picks up the wedding dress and necklace box, and leaves with Kryton.)
ELAAN: He dares to suggest that I adopt the servile manners of his people!
KIRK: Your Glory doesn't seem to be responding to instruction.
ELAAN: I will never forgive the council for putting me through this torture. Were you responding to my demand for better quarters?
KIRK: There are none better. I suggest you make do with these.
ELAAN: You suggest?
KIRK: There are no more available, but if that's the only way you can get gratification, I'll arrange to have the whole room filled from floor to ceiling with breakable objects.

 

[Kor]

There weren't a lot of quarters for guests because this was a more utilitarian and mission-focused vessel, not some flying space hotel like the Ent-D.

Kor

 

[ZapBrannigan]

There weren't a lot of quarters for guests because this was a more utilitarian and mission-focused vessel, not some flying space hotel like the Ent-D.

Yeah, that was dumb about TNG. They're supposed to be going out to the furthest reaches, on the most daring missions, so the first thing they must do is bring their children along.

But Kirk somehow had room for over a hundred passengers in "Journey to Babel." The Enterprise must have had a layover prior to the episode, in which its interior was temporarily remodeled to cram the lower-ranking crew into dormitory sections and thus free up their quarters.

 

[Shawnster]

Maybe it was the decor of Uhura's quarters and not space that was the factor of choice. Or the idea that a crewmember gave up her quarters was supposed to impress the Dohlman. She seemed like someone who would require an underlying to sacrifice for her comfort. She wouldn't want some common guest quarters.

 

[Christopher]

There weren't a lot of quarters for guests because this was a more utilitarian and mission-focused vessel, not some flying space hotel like the Ent-D.

But there were guest quarters available in plenty of other episodes. There was no mention of anyone having to give up their quarters for Kodos's troupe, or for the Babel diplomats, or for any of the other visitors and dignitaries who stayed aboard the ship.

She wouldn't want some common guest quarters.

What do you mean, "common"? Presumably the ship would have VIP quarters, luxury accommodations specifically for hosting visiting dignitaries and ambassadors. After all, that's the sort of thing a ship of the line would be expected to do on many occasions, so naturally it would be equipped for the purpose. The lack of VIP quarters in "Elaan" is just a script oversight, or a deliberate choice to manufacture a conflict.

 

[Albertese]

My take on Uhura surrendering her quarters is that it's a cultural concession. The Dohlman seems to like it when people put themselves out for her. It seems to me that there are plenty of available quarters (and IIRC, the other members of the delegation are billeted in these) but the Dohlman herself, due to her social status, is expected to displace someone. And Star Fleet accommodated this expectation.

--Alex

 

[Mudd]

There are no "VIP quarters" aboard our aircraft carriers that would be particularly suitable for a foreign head of state who's used to being treated like a divine ruler. There's not an easy equation to make here with the current world, because the image that TOS painted of starships was a conflation of (at least) several centuries of naval history.

 

[J.T.B.]

There are no "VIP quarters" aboard our aircraft carriers that would be particularly suitable for a foreign head of state who's used to being treated like a divine ruler.

No, but what they do have are "in port" cabins for the admiral and the captain which are like nice hotel suites. They each have an "at sea" cabin, too, which are right by the bridge/flag bridge and are more like a standard officer cabin but bigger and nicely furnished. What happens when a VIP comes aboard is they take the captain's in-port cabin, which he doesn't use much anyway. If there are multiple VIPs then officers start getting temporarily bumped from the nicer cabins by rank.

That doesn't happen so much now with air travel, but in the days when naval vessels were the fastest way for government officials and diplomats to get somewhere, it happened a lot, and navies were used to it and had practices in place. It happened big-time during WW2 when FDR took the battleship Iowa to the Tehran conference, along with the four-star joint chiefs. FDR took the captain's in-port cabin (which had been modified for his access), Admiral Leahy took the admiral's cabin, and General Marshall the flag chief-of-staff cabin. Admiral King, junior of the four-stars, was offered the captain's sea cabin but declined and took a standard officer stateroom.

 

[Mytran]

It might have no differences from any other quarters. (Of course, they were always portrayed by the same studio set.). The Dohlman might have been placed in that cabin because of where it was situated in the ship.

"Location, location, location!"

Location is certainly a possibility (you certainly wouldn't want to put her down near Engineering) but I can't help thinking that Uhura's quarters must have a certain something extra as well.

Maybe it was the decor of Uhura's quarters and not space that was the factor of choice. Or the idea that a crewmember gave up her quarters was supposed to impress the Dohlman. She seemed like someone who would require an underlying to sacrifice for her comfort. She wouldn't want some common guest quarters.

I think that what Uhura's cabin had and many on board lacked was an actual private bathroom (with an actual bath!!!) which the Dohlman uses to hide from Kirk in during the episode.
Despite the popular view from Franz Joseph's plans and other sources that everyone has their own ensuite bathroom, deleted scenes from The Corbomite Manoeuvre show that Kirk just had a small closet behind that same side door and numerous other episodes depict a side corridor there on Spock's and other cabins in the series. Factor in Uhura's sweet talking of "Bobby" the crewman in The Man Trap and it's not a great leap to suppose that Uhura managed to arrange to have a few extras installed in her rooms.

 

[Shawnster]

What do you mean, "common"? Presumably the ship would have VIP quarters, luxury accommodations specifically for hosting visiting dignitaries and ambassadors. After all, that's the sort of thing a ship of

" Yes, but those are for normal guests. They may be nice but they are designed for guests. I am a dohlman. I deserve the best. I deserve what you reserve for your best officers, not what you feed to your dogs. You, give me your quarters."

 

[Christopher]

" Yes, but those are for normal guests. They may be nice but they are designed for guests. I am a dohlman. I deserve the best. I deserve what you reserve for your best officers, not what you feed to your dogs. You, give me your quarters."

Yeah, but that's backwards. VIP quarters would be meant for visiting dignitaries, heads of state, etc. and would be more luxurious than crew quarters. VIP is short for "Very Important Person," after all.