kinda curious as to story of this attempt and why it didnt work.
Let's talk about the elephant in the room, this series violates Roddenberry's vision big time
- Thread starter Sci-fi fan
- Start date
kinda curious as to story of this attempt and why it didnt work.
That doesn't make it not sci-fi.
There's a scene where a cook is trying to negotiate for booze. Not sci-fi. But he's talking with a robot who can make tons of it for him. That is sci-fi.
Indeed although the idea that the serial plagiarist MacFarlane is ripping off Star Trek doesn't seem at all far fetched to me.
Right. She even served as a relief officer as we've seen her take the helm when needed. She's got more skills to her than merely being a "caretaker". Given that the two pilot episodes featured male officers at the comm station, it clearly wasn't thought of by the makers as a secretarial position. I think that just comes from people trying to apply 1960s analogs to TOS. She's a black woman in charge of ship communications, therefore she must be a lowly secretary because that's what they did in the 60s!
Whereas to young girls like Whoopi Goldberg watching the show in the 60s, she was much more than a "secretary", she was a black female officer/astronaut, working alongside men in the most important room in the ship, and had the highest of confidence by her peers. Anyone doubting her is just being Mr. Adventure.
Right. She even served as a relief officer as we've seen her take the helm when needed. She's got more skills to her than merely being a "caretaker". Given that the two pilot episodes featured male officers at the comm station, it clearly wasn't thought of by the makers as a secretarial position. I think that just comes from people trying to apply 1960s analogs to TOS. She's a black woman in charge of ship communications, therefore she must be a lowly secretary because that's what they did in the 60s!
Whereas to young girls like Whoopi Goldberg watching the show in the 60s, she was much more than a "secretary", she was a black female officer/astronaut, working alongside men in the most important room in the ship, and had the highest of confidence by her peers. Anyone doubting her is just being Mr. Adventure.
Not quite. It's fair to say she wasn't actively looked down on on the show in terms of her job, but in terms of development she still was passed over quite a lot in comparison to Scotty, Sulu, and arguably even Chekov (though Chekov's scenes were often negative). And she often only existed to relay information, rather than being allowed to comment and discuss like the others. And she was consistently portrayed as weak/ineffective in combat when everyone else seemed to have plot martial arts skills of the highest order (except when they weren't supposed to). She also more than once was portrayed as borderline panicky for no apparent reason (something which I don't recall ever being done with any of the guys). And she's literally the only main character other than the much younger and not too bright Chekov who was portrayed as having a career that basically dead ended at the Commander rank.
There is plenty of reason to note that her treatment was not as equal as it preferaably should've been.
I am not saying they are not scifi...as an anthology show, sometimes they were...I am saying they are not consistently scifi...it is not it’s focus. Trek is SF. Zone/Limits are SF&H, Limits is occasionally F too in my experience. Wars is SF&F. It’s basically like alcohol percentages no? Wine, Fortified Wine, Spirits, Surface Cleaner not for Internal Use?
I completely agree with you. As far as I'm concerned Nichell Nichols was a wasted talent who didn't get much to do until years later with the movies. From my understanding Roddenberry could only use her as a "day" player which meant she couldn't have too many lines. And what few she did have would be taken away by Shatner. So she was reduced to "Hailing frequencies open." It's a shame because she was a knockout who ,unlike many of the vixens that populated that show, could actually act and even sing.
Who said it didn't work?
CBS approved it, the book was published, readers seemed to like it . . . and I don't remember anyone objecting to Uhura taking command in that novel. (Which was titled THE WEIGHT OF WORLDS, btw.)
I think there's some confusion. It wasn't an "attempt." We actually did it.
(Just to elaborate, Kirk, Spock, and Sulu are in trouble elsewhere; Scotty is in Sickbay (being operated on by McCoy), so Uhura takes command of the bridge for a good chunk of the book.)
Who said it didn't work?
CBS approved it, the book was published, readers seemed to like it . . . and I don't remember anyone objecting to Uhura taking command in that novel. (Which was titled THE WEIGHT OF WORLDS, btw.)
I think there's some confusion. It wasn't an "attempt." We actually did it.
(Just to elaborate, Kirk, Spock, and Sulu are in trouble elsewhere; Scotty is in Sickbay (being operated on by McCoy), so Uhura takes command of the bridge for a good chunk of the book.)
Yes I was confused and took your statement as an "attempt"
Thanks for naming the book. I'll look into it
Good book. Mr. Cox has a great touch when dealing with the original series.
Thanks!
Has TNG EVER explained how a supposedly French Captain (Picard) was SOOO British/English in EVERY other aspect?
Augment Virus, it's always the Augment Virus,Has TNG EVER explained how a supposedly French Captain (Picard) was SOOO British/English in EVERY other aspect?
I never saw her as a receptionist.
And she wasn't. In fact until tonight I never once even thought of her in that role on the bridge and it goes to show how disconnected from context and even reality some fans can be.
Uhura in TOS may have been a sorely underused and poorly developed radio operator and the guardian of all the cool FM and subspace stations but she sure wasn't some velour-ensconced receptionist in a fancy hotel full of blinking computer screens.
I've said it before and I'll repeat it for as long as I can muster breath to do so. Greg's Eugenics Wars trilogy is one of the greatest story arcs ever committed to paper for a Star Trek novel or novels. Next to Federation they're arguably the best Trek novels of the past 25 years.
Fully agreed. I'm pretty sure I read "Reign In Hell" in one sitting. Great stuff, all three books.
He's just EuropeanHas TNG EVER explained how a supposedly French Captain (Picard) was SOOO British/English in EVERY other aspect?
Like Jerry Seinfeld's carry-all?
Picard spoke French and had a heavy French accent. He just had a small interest in ancient British culture (Shakespeare, Dickens).
The Universal Translator just gave him a British accent for some reason.
The Universal Translator just gave him a British accent for some reason.
