GNDN? Really?

[feek61]

Ok, I have heard this for decades, that GNDN means "Goes Nowhere, Does Nothing" but I do not recall ever seeing this noted anywhere on the sets of the original series and it always annoys me we people say it is from TOS. I have seen it appear in the movies but has anyone ever seen it appear in the three seasons of the original series? I think the myth has outgrown the facts on this. I do not believe the that there is any instance of it in the series but prove me wrong if I am in error.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

From https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Power_relay:

According to an interview with John Jefferies, one of the set designers, stated in the TOS Season 2 DVD special feature, "Designing the Final Frontier", "The plumbing and pipes in the Enterprise all had color codes and some form of nomenclature on it. That would be a series of letters and numbers and something that looked like you could tell what this pipe was on this side of the wall, as it came out of the wall. And GNDN with a number behind it and then a color code became very common throughout the Enterprise. GNDN means 'Goes nowhere, does nothing'." This became a well-known enough prank that when the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine crew re-built some of the old Enterprise sets for the 30th anniversary tribute, "Trials and Tribble-ations", they made sure to include a GNDN pipe.​

 

[Qonundrum]

Fun side note: TNG would also take things to the next generation* via the sheer number of ODN conduits - "Obviously Does Nothing" , but - dang - they always made the dialogue sound authentic, which doesn't hurt...



* insert drumroll and groan here

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

Someone should either canonize it - say it's an engineer's joke - or give GNDN some other in-universe meaning.

 

[Noname Given]

Fun side note: TNG would also take things to the next generation* via the sheer number of ODN conduits - "Obviously Does Nothing" , but - dang - they always made the dialogue sound authentic, which doesn't hurt...



* insert drumroll and groan here

I hate to say it but in dialogue in TNG, ODN also stood for "Optical Data Network".

 

[feek61]

I have heard all of the stories; my question is, is there even ONE film clip in the original series that we can see GNDN? I have been watching and documenting TOS for decades and don't ever recall seeing it. Just curious if I am missing it because I don't think it actually exists in TOS on screen but always happy to be proven wrong.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

From the same MA article quoted above, here's one clearly visible from "Trials and Tribble-ations" (bottom left):

 

[UssGlenn]

From the same MA article quoted above, here's one clearly visible from "Trials and Tribble-ations" (bottom left):

That's still DS9, not TOS

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

Yeah, I wish I knew of an image that showed it clearly from TOS.

 

[drt]

That's still DS9, not TOS

Yeah, that image was obviously filmed in the 90s.

 

[feek61]

I am pretty sure that it does not exist in TOS . . . in the original footage. It's why this story annoys me; it's revisionist history, lol.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

I am pretty sure that it does not exist in TOS . . . in the original footage. It's why this story annoys me; it's revisionist history, lol.

You have a primary source, in the form of a first-hand account by someone who worked on the show as a set designer, claiming otherwise. The questions of whether the sets were labelled in a certain way and of whether those labels were visible on camera are two different questions.

 

[blssdwlf]

If they were labeled as "GNDN" they were extremely well hidden or were unable to be resolved by the camera lens and film of the day as I don't recall seeing any even on the HD screencaps.

 

[Shawnster]

I have heard all of the stories; my question is, is there even ONE film clip in the original series that we can see GNDN? I have been watching and documenting TOS for decades and don't ever recall seeing it. Just curious if I am missing it because I don't think it actually exists in TOS on screen but always happy to be proven wrong.

My understanding of the Memory Alpha quote is that the term GNDN originated with TNG. If that's the case, then no, there will never be a TOS reference. What influenced your question as to a 1960s origin of the term?

 

[M'Sharak]

I am pretty sure that it does not exist in TOS . . . in the original footage. It's why this story annoys me; it's revisionist history, lol.

I don't think it does exist in TOS footage, but it was never meant to. It was an inside joke strictly for the behind-the-scenes people, not an all-but-invisible on-screen gag of the sort that was often slipped in by the TNG production crew.

 

[feek61]

You have a primary source, in the form of a first-hand account by someone who worked on the show as a set designer, claiming otherwise. The questions of whether the sets were labelled in a certain way and of whether those labels were visible on camera are two different questions.

There are many people who say many things that are not true due to faulty memory. Even in TMOST, they say the Enterprise miniature is 14' long (it was 11') and that was written while the show was in production. There are hundreds of other examples and I confident this is one of them. I believe the GNDN came about after TOS because I have studied the sets in detail including many surviving pieces and there has never been one shred of evidence that the "joke" existed in TOS. Furthermore, what I do know about TOS is that the nomenclature used was never jokey, even at the smallest details impossible to see on screen, they were as if it were a real ship which is why this accepted notion that GNDN originated in TOS is quesitonable since no proof exists. Again, I am happy to be proven wrong but I will be surprised.

 

[Qonundrum]

I hate to say it but in dialogue in TNG, ODN also stood for "Optical Data Network".

That's a good catch. And now, I'm going to go cry...



There. Just done crying.

But when all is said and done, I still like "Obviously Does Nothing" better.

 

[Silvercrest]

Ha! I'd heard any number of times what "GNDN" stood for (apart from whether it was revisionist, feek61) — but this is the first time I've ever heard that "ODN" was an equivalent joke. I always just took it as legitimate technobabble. (If that's not a contradiction in terms.)
Well played, TNG.

 

[Kor]

If the mention of GNDN comes directly from John Jefferies, I guess I'll have to find the interview to see if there is additional context. As far as I know he only worked on TOS and none of the other Trek spinoffs, movies, or what have you.

Kor

 

[Mytran]

There are many people who say many things that are not true due to faulty memory. Even in TMOST, they say the Enterprise miniature is 14' long (it was 11') and that was written while the show was in production.

Errors are easily made and tend to stick around in the brain. That's just part and parcel of the human experience
I've seen James Doohan respond to an interviewer's statement that the Enterprise model was 11 feet long with the "correction" that it was 13.5 feet long instead. In actuality the model is 135 inches, so it's pretty easy to see how this error crept into his mind. The same may be true for the quote in TMOST, just rounded up to 14 feet.