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What happens between TMP and WOK?

In TMP Sulu's warp drive control has a handle top, but in WOK and SFS it is only the vertical stick without the handle top. I guess Meyer's did not like the handle top.;)
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TMP
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SFS
 
The TMP-through-TSFS helm and navigation console may be my all-time favorite Enterprise bridge console. As a kid I loved the different lights, buttons and displays on the console and the warp acceleration handgrip used by Sulu stood out as something truly new and different.

In TOS and in all other Trek films and series (except the Kelvin timeline movies) you jump to warp by pressing buttons or toggles, levers or a flat touchscreen. In TMP Sulu basically has a 23rd century stick shift that makes the Enterprise leap to warp speed and get faster and faster with each nudge forward.
 
Events of Turnabout Intruder.

Spock take extended leave of absence to study Kholinar.
Decker assigned as XO of Enterprise.
Kirk promoted to Fleet Captain, increasing his administrative duties.
Uhura and Sulu promoted to Lt. Commander.
Chekov promoted to Lt (jg).

5 Year Mission concludes.
Kirk promoted to Commodore, assigned to command of Starbase.
Decker promoted to Captain, assigned to Captain of the Enterprise.
Sulu promoted to Commander, assigned as XO of Enterprise.
McCoy retires from Starfleet.
Decker begins 5 year mission.

Kirk promoted to Admiral, assigned to Starfleet Headquarters as head of operations.

Kirk last logs a "star-hour."
Scotty leaves Enterprise, assigned to team planning Enterprise's upcoming refit.
Uhura promoted to Commander.
End of Decker's 5 year mission, ship enters orbital shipyard for refit.
Chekov promoted to Lt, transfers from nav to security/tactical.

V'ger.
Kirk temporarily demoted to captain, assigned as captain of Enterprise.
Kirk returns to rank of Admiral.
Spock promoted to Captain, assigned as Captain of the Enterprise.

Kirk take extended leave of absence.
Antonia.

Enterprise rotated to temporarily assignment as academy training vessel.
Chekov promoted to Commander, assigned as XO of Reliant.
Kirk returns to Starfleet. McCoy, Uhura and Sulu assigned to Kirk's staff.

Kirk (and staff) visits academy for inspections.
Khan.
 
Events of "All Our Yesterdays", some time after "Turnabout Intruder".

Events of TAS.

NCC-1701 returns to Earth. Starfleet reassigns everybody, promoting Kirk to Commodore and scattering the others to the six winds. McCoy and Spock go civilian.

Starfleet decides five-year missions into the unknown are a silly idea, and discontinues those. Captain Brown takes NCC-1701 to a two-year patrol mission to the Mungolian Neutral Zone, then hands her over to Captain Smith who does three years studying dusty anomalies in semi-shallow space. Meanwhile, Kirk is promoted to Rear Admiral and, in a shrewd PR move, becomes the least geriatric Chief of Fleet Ops in Starfleet history.

Starfleet hits a ceiling in the Organian Peace Treaty conditions about building cruisers, and decides to refit some old ones into the standards already upheld by the likes of the Reliant for the past decade or so. NCC-1701 is so worn down and decrepit that she's the perfect guinea pig.

TMP happens. Out of all the current and former starship captains crowding Earth that day, Kirk is the only one with a five-year mission into deep space under his belt but Neural Neutralizer belts around him yet. Oh, except for a few women and Vulcans who get ignored.

To the surprise of everybody, the ship works, after a fashion, so SF Academy gets her as a training vessel, and Spock gets to command her every once in a while. Rear Admiral Kirk, unable to retake command, does the next best thing, and accepts Academy Commandant position.

Six years pass while Kirk pushes papers around his desk and watches young people take command of starships. And then he gets a cruise for a birthday present.

Timo Saloniemi
 
This version of events obviously sits much better with regard to the actors' ages and with regard to how long ships like the Reliant have been flying around for.

The only wrinkle I can see is that all the characters in TMP seemed to be acting like the Enterprise was getting a complete makeover in order to retake her place as the cutting edge of front line starships. However, nothing explicit was actually stated by them, and it's not beyond belief that they were simply misinformed as to the true purpose of the refit (or that the refit didn't turn out quite as well as expected).

The extra, shorter missions also allow time for some of the more cosmetic changes to have been implemented. Maybe the new corridors and support struts were implemented during these years, to reinforce failing bulkheads?
 
The Enterprise went on a second five year mission of course. And because it was officially sanctioned the uniforms looked like the old ones. ;)

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LOVE IT. I do have one critique. I feel the admirals dress uniform would look like the avocado green dress uniform in Star Trek, and TMP short sleeve tunic should have the green color from his wraparound tunics.
 
TAS was Kirk's new 5 year mission, and after TMP Kirk had one more 5 year tour of duty. Spock becomes Captain of the Enterprise and for some reason Starfleet dismisses the more practical uniforms from TMP and went for the tight and very uncomfortable dress uniforms in ST:II for star travel.
Despite Spock's resentment of how illogical those outfits are for star travel, Starfleet's decision was final.
 
Well basically Gene Roddenberry got thrown out of his own universe and the quality went down and the price went up and they also downsized.
 
Which is why he so fervently tells Picard in Generations not to ever let them take him off the bridge of that ship. He learned that lesson the hard way.

I think that became the albatross for the TNG films, and was very bad advice for two main reasons. One, Picard is not Kirk. Picard was much more of an intellectual with varied interests, and much more of diplomat than an an adventurer at heart. Picard had every right to have the Enterprise as a moment in time, which was fleeting, and to move on from it when the time came. He seems destined to be an ambassador or an admiral. Or to retire to something else, like archaeology or teaching. Picard becomes perpetual captain, when by every right everyone should have moved on, including himself.

Two, Kirk never found peace himself, because he could not let go and move on, and never found any other meaning for himself other than as Captain of the Enterprise, constantly on another round of five year missions. And that is a postmodern commentary on the character being written into a box. But in term of the universe, it is also sad. Kirk is stifled, with no family, no drive, and no interest other than this constant lock on the past. He is not living in the present, nor looking to the future. So he ignores all the possibilities and joys of the here and now for the fading memories and stale moods of what has gone by. Frankly, that advice flies in the face of the very message of "Generations", which is enjoy the moments that are there, because they are fleeting and things will change, and move with the changes of life and enjoy those moments. Kirk became that guy who hangs around the high school when he graduated five years ago. He's lost. And that advice just coerces Picard into the same behavior. In short...James T. Kirk needed to take up painting, or gardening or something. That he has no other interests, no other life path, is a major short coming. And there was no reason for the character of Kirk to be saddled with it. Cripe all Friday, let Kirk take up horse husbandry, or regale young kids with his stories of the past and pass on his wisdom and lessons to the next generation that will then go into Starfleet. Let him start a family, settle down and all that in retirement. He's older, but he can forge a family life as he forged a life in adventure before. After initial fears, change should not be a specter of fear for Kirk. It should become a new chance for possibility, and an adventure and new frontier in itself. Kirk dies uncomfortable and unresolved, and that is sad.

With that piece of advice, Kirk is not giving Picard wisdom, introspection, or any kind of zen. He is laying on Picard his own neurosis and unresolved issues.
 
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I don't think there was much support for the idea that TMP would be in 2273 until the Okudas suggested it in their Chronology. Back when the movie was made, the idea of "Star Trek happens 300 years after the airdate sharp" was going strong among the fans, and TMP was made by fans, sort of. And the movie itself contains the tidbit that it happens over 300 years after the launch of Voyager 6, while Voyager 1 and 2 went up no sooner than 1977.

OTOH, five year missions are problematic overall. Supposedly, nobody performed one of those before Kirk, because he lists this as a unique qualification for challenging the mystery cloud - even though Earth, the de facto home of Starfleet, ought to have thousands of officers qualified to command a starship and not hobbled by being Chief of SF Operations. Certainly Kirk didn't perform two of those before TMP, because he only refers to one.

That there would exist a "five year mission" is a concept only ever mentioned in ST:Into Darkness. There, Kirk is excited that this is how long he will be spending in deep space if/when chosen for the mission. Elsewhere, five years apparently is just what the mission clock says when Kirk, for unrelated reasons, says it's time to go home - and is only commented on ex post facto.

Timo Saloniemi

There is also the matter that everyone is a decade older in the movie, and yet the franchise sources push the idea that the film is only a year or three years after the end of the Five Year Mission. The USS Bozeman screws up the uniforms, since they have the TWOK uniforms in 2278. My opinion is have the film set in 2277. If it were possible, 2279. But at best, you can argue 2277. It's also 300 years from when they began going forward with a new show or film anyway, so why not. Plus, why does no one assume that someone could have taken the Enterprise out for a test drive 2.5 years before TMP? The ship returns in 2270, the Core of Engineers takes it out for test runs up till 2274, and it is ready for launch in 2277.
 
Um they had to pay the costume designers, no? and the set and ship designers. Even the floor sweepers had a say in this movie. GR wasn't up to fighting those battles in 1979. He was sick. TOS almost killed him. He was busy looking for a story. And they were right in front of him from Phase Two, plenty of them. Oh well. Hindsight.
 
Here's my timeline of events beginning with the end of the five-year mission depicted in TOS and TAS. Your own mileage will vary, but I think this is pretty close.

2270: The Enterprise returns to Earth at the successful completion of Kirk's historic five-year mission and enters drydock to begin the long preparation for her refit and upgrade. Kirk accepts a promotion to Rear Admiral and Chief of Starfleet Operations stationed on Earth. Spock leaves Starfleet to return to Vulcan and begin the Kolinahr discipline under the tutelage of Vulcan Masters. McCoy retires, returning to civilian life on Earth and swearing he'll never return to the uniform.

2271: After considerable prep work and finalization of the new Constitution-class redesign schematics work begins in earnest on the Enterprise, with the starship spending the next 18 months under constant reconstruction overseen by recently-promoted Commander Montgomery Scott. Sometime before the reconstruction process begins Captain Willard Decker is made commanding officer of the Enterprise with the blessing (albeit uneasy) of Admiral Kirk.

2273: The V'Ger crisis.

2273-78: Kirk, having been restored to his previous rank of Captain at the onset of the V'Ger crisis, helms the newly-refitted Enterprise on his second five-year mission of deep space exploration.

2278: The Enterprise returns to Earth, Kirk reaccepts a promotion, this time to full Admiral. Spock is promoted to Captain and the Enterprise becomes a training vessel in Earth orbit and within the Sol system, remaining a cadet training ship for the next seven years.

2281: Kirk announces his first retirement from Starfleet after meeting the woman he will almost marry, Antonia. Having fallen in love with her, he gives up his Starfleet uniform to pursue what he hopes will be a pleasant civilian life on Earth, part of which will be spent in rural Idaho at Kirk's uncle's farm.

2284: Kirk breaks Antonia's heart and calls off his plans to marry her when he informs her that he wants to return to Starfleet, having grown to deeply miss his time in uniform and the center seat of a starship, his best destiny. Leaving Antonia behind and bringing an end to their three-year romance, he moves from Idaho back to San Francisco and begins living in an apartment near Starfleet Headquarters. Resuming his rank of Admiral, he becomes part of the teaching staff at Starfleet Academy and grades cadets on the proficiency of their training in computerized simulations.

2285: The Genesis incident. Khan Noonien Singh escapes exile on Ceti Alpha V and begins his quest to avenge both himself and the death of his wife Marla McGivers by killing Kirk.
 
LOVE IT. I do have one critique. I feel the admirals dress uniform would look like the avocado green dress uniform in Star Trek, and TMP short sleeve tunic should have the green color from his wraparound tunics.
I was considering altering both but I like the Admiral Uniform as it was. And I experimented with making the captain's t-shirt by making it green but wasn't really happy with it. I liked it's original white color better so I left it.
 
Resuming his rank of Admiral, he becomes part of the teaching staff at Starfleet Academy and grades cadets on the proficiency of their training in computerized simulations.
I'm come to disagree with the idea that Kirk's regular position at Starfleet around the time of TWOK had him doing anything at the Academy. None of the cadets seem to know him well--or at all, really--and he's rather unfamiliar with what's going on with Spock. It seems that Kirk giving feedback on the Kobayashi Maru test and the inspection tour of the Enterprise are just special arrangements that Spock made for Kirk's birthday.
 
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