Why have Tellarites been so ignored in Trek

[Orphalesion]

The Tellarites, regardless of tie in material or fan wishes, have minimal development, probably because there isn't a lot there to begin with.

I mean, that's not a reason why they couldn't be expanded if somebody set down to do it.
Look at the Andorians, they had hardly received any development in either for most of Star Trek, yet what Enterprise did with the Andrian and Shran is one of the things about ENT that even people who aren't fans of the overall show (like me) often like.
They played an important part in DISC's third season.
And now on SNW we even have an Andorian main character.

The same could be done with the Tellarites if a show runner or writer decides so.

 

[Farscape One]

I always thought the Tellarites were rather silly looking. I mean, Planet of the Pig People?

As opposed to some of the other races we've seen? Humanoid reptiles (Gorn), humanoid dinosaurs (Voth), humanoid insects (Xindi-Insectoid)?

I always equated the Tellarites as comparable to the 'humans' from "EYE OF THE BEHOLDER" in THE TWILIGHT ZONE. (Unless my memory is fading and I got the title wrong... it's the one with the woman who went through a procedure to look 'normal', but is bandaged throughout the entire episode. Excellent episode.)

 

[C.E. Evans]

Bacon makes everything better. I love bacon.

I think I would love the Tellarites. Give us more bac... Tellarites.

IT'S BACON!!!

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[Farscape One]

LMAO!!! I remember that commercial as a kid.

Thankfully, I CAN read, and I DO know when it isn't bacon.

(Funny coincidence, I just had a bacon and egg sandwich a few hours ago.)

IT'S BACON!!!!!

(Thanks for the memory, C.E. Evans!)

 

[fireproof78]

I mean, that's not a reason why they couldn't be expanded if somebody set down to do it.

Of course they can. It's fiction after all. More to my point is that there is not a lot to the Tellarites for writer to sit down and grab. Andorians, even in Journey to Babel, had a good descriptor from Shras: "My people are a violent race." That gives me as a writer something to tinker with, to create drama with. "My people like to argue" doesn't give me quite the same hook.

Can it be done? Sure. @Sci illustrated it quite well and I would enjoy it. But, the question from the OP is "Why do I think this is?" And I think it's because there isn't a lot there to create that hook of drama.

 

[Richard S. Ta]

I mean, that's not a reason why they couldn't be expanded if somebody set down to do it.
Look at the Andorians, they had hardly received any development in either for most of Star Trek, yet what Enterprise did with the Andrian and Shran is one of the things about ENT that even people who aren't fans of the overall show (like me) often like.
They played an important part in DISC's third season.
And now on SNW we even have an Andorian main character.

The same could be done with the Tellarites if a show runner or writer decides so.

Exactly. As one of Star Trek's established 'Blank Slates' I think they are a gift for a Star Trek writer. Comic potential too. I wouldn't be surprised if SNW shone focus on them for an episode in Season 2.

Spoiler: SNW Spoiler

They've already shown a few onscreen in SNW so they acknowledge them and they've done the design part.

 

[dupersuper]

Maybe not officially in Alpha canon till ENT, I’m not sure TBH. But in Beta canon absolutely. And IIFC in Beta canon there were 5 founding members. The one that got dumped in Alpha were the Alpha Centurians.

Did they officially get dropped? Enterprise made it pretty clear Earth, Vulcan, Andor and Tellar were founders, but I don't recall a full list ever being given.

 

[The Wormhole]

Like the Andorians, Berman was against the Tellarites being seen in TNG, DS9 or Voyager because he felt they looked silly. As it is, though we do see a Tellarite in Enterrpise's second season, they don't really get any significant story material on Enterprise until the fourth season, where Berman was mostly just a figurehead, and the season was turned into blatant fanwank.

 

[Orphalesion]

Did they officially get dropped? Enterprise made it pretty clear Earth, Vulcan, Andor and Tellar were founders, but I don't recall a full list ever being given.

What is Alpha Centauri populated by in Alpha-Canon? If it's humans then they might just be lumped in with Earth.

 

[JonnyQuest037]

Which is too bad, because I think there are ways to make a culture based on argumentation interesting.

The last 10-15 years of our world begs to differ.

What is Alpha Centauri populated by in Alpha-Canon?

Zefram Cochrane.

And again, there's no such thing as "Alpha-Canon." There's just canon and not canon.

 

[Orphalesion]

Zefram Cochrane.

Did that establish that humans colonized it with sleeper ships (or something like that) before FTL travel or is that just tie-in stuff?

And again, there's no such thing as "Alpha-Canon." There's just canon and not canon.

Yeah I know, it's just difficult to change terminology that I've used in so many conversations (plus the whole Memory Alpha/Beta doesn't help)

 

[Kor]

I thought the ENT Tellarite makeup wasn't quite pig-like enough. I like the streaming era design. The tusks are a nice touch, too. I wish they would go back to having three fingers, though.

Kor

 

[Sakonna]

Because they can't be made to look hot, and if they're not hot then they won't generate any money.

Ding ding ding.

But would I have liked to see Rick Berman try. If you can make the Borg sexy...

Actually, have we ever seen a Tellarite woman? I can't think of one. Realizing that, I am actually surprised Berman Trek didn't present them to us as a bunch of tall, statuesque model types.

 

[Disposable_Ensign]

OTOH, they’re kinda like the dwarves of the Trek universe so like dwarves we’ve just never seen a female Tellarite on screen. Though I know you can play one on STO.

Read:

all Dwarves are described as having beards, including women.

Dwarvish Women:
Dwarven women. (I'm hotlinking because the image is rather large.)
Thus, we can assume that we might have seen Tellarite women, and both Tellarite sexes may look basically the same.

 

[fireproof78]

Like the Andorians, Berman was against the Tellarites being seen in TNG, DS9 or Voyager because he felt they looked silly. As it is, though we do see a Tellarite in Enterrpise's second season, they don't really get any significant story material on Enterprise until the fourth season, where Berman was mostly just a figurehead, and the season was turned into blatant fanwank.

And they still look silly.

No offense to my friend Trey Stokes who played one.

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

Ding ding ding.

But would I have liked to see Rick Berman try. If you can make the Borg sexy...

Actually, have we ever seen a Tellarite woman? I can't think of one. Realizing that, I am actually surprised Berman Trek didn't present them to us as a bunch of tall, statuesque model types.

Not as yet, they might be like the Moclans.

 

[Kor]

Ding ding ding.

But would I have liked to see Rick Berman try. If you can make the Borg sexy...

Actually, have we ever seen a Tellarite woman? I can't think of one. Realizing that, I am actually surprised Berman Trek didn't present them to us as a bunch of tall, statuesque model types.

There haven't been any in "cannnnnnnnnon," though there's at least one in the Star Trek Online game.

Kor

 

[1001001]

I always thought the Tellarites were rather silly looking. I mean, Planet of the Pig People?

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[JonnyQuest037]

What is Alpha Centauri populated by in Alpha-Canon?

Zefram Cochrane.

Did that establish that humans colonized it with sleeper ships (or something like that) before FTL travel or is that just tie-in stuff?

That's tie-in stuff. All that's said in "Metamorphosis" is Kirk asking "Zefram Cochrane, of Alpha Centauri?" when Cochrane confirms his true identity. There's no dialogue that establishes if he's a native to Alpha Centauri or if he's someone who became famous because of his association with the place, like Lawrence of Arabia. So just taking that TOS episode in isolation, you can interpret it in practically any way you'd like. The 1988 Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens novel Memory Prime mentioned that Cochrane was a native of Alpha Centauri, which the Reeves-Stevens themselves contradicted in their novel Federation six years later.

On the question as to which planet ZC is native to, it's telling that in "Metamorphosis" Cochrane asks Kirk & company if they're human and then shortly thereafter recognizes Spock as a Vulcan. So the episode seems to imply that Cochrane is human and that he disappeared sometime after first contact with the Vulcans.

Also interestingly, Zefram Cochrane is never called the person who invented warp drive in "Metamorphosis." Kirk just calls him "the discoverer of the space warp" like space warp is a natural phenomenon.

 

[at Quark's]

Like the Andorians, Berman was against the Tellarites being seen in TNG, DS9 or Voyager because he felt they looked silly.

Now I'm picturing the greater Federation council voting to expel the Tellarites from the Federation in the 2320's or so, and citing in the public statement given after the vote the official reason that 'they just looked too silly'.