Spoilers The Roddenberry Archive brings every iteration of Star Trek’s USS Enterprise bridge to life

[HotRod]

No, but if you're going to make a prequel to something that takes place ten years after it, it would be nice if your prequel actually looked and felt like what it was a prequel to. And not completely different.*

*I'm referring to DSC here.

Fair point. I'm sure I'm on record somewhere for saying that Discovery went too far with the ship interiors. I'm mostly fine with the exterior of the ships, interiors were a bit much. SNW's was definitely a correction in that regards.

Though I do have a soft spot for the uniforms.

 

[fireproof78]

Fair point. I'm sure I'm on record somewhere for saying that Discovery went too far with the ship interiors. I'm mostly fine with the exterior of the ships, interiors were a bit much. SNW's was definitely a correction in that regards.

Though I do have a soft spot for the uniforms.

Personally, I think DSC's uniforms work best if TOS is taken as not literal history. They flow well right in to the TMP blue uniforms. Same with the ship design aesthetic, vs. the extremely clean lines of the TOS Enterprise.

DSC went to far, and, in my opinion, should have been set in the 25th century to avoid the hand wringing over fictional history and legacy. I still like Discovery, but I can acknowledge that if you take it in to TOS it's hard to fudge. But, I'm also the weird guy who says that TMP is not part of TOS, and that TOS is its own thing, and have no influence on future productions, aside from the occasional *wink wink* to the audience where the producers promise they are fans like the audience is*


*Spoiler alert: they are not.

 

[MakeshiftPython]

TOS interiors were not perceived as "not futuristic", anachronistic to an imagined future or "old" when seen in then-latter-day Trek productions such as ENT's In a Mirror, Darkly" 2-parter. The reason why TOS sets worked for audiences in that series (and a few years earlier in DS9's "Trials and Tribble-ations"), is all due to the incredibly sharp, forward-thinking, aesthetically entrancing (yeah, I said it) design and execution of TOS's Enterprise inside and out.

There’s a difference between featuring an old set for one off tribute episodes and trying to sell a brand new series.

The only folks that could appreciate the recreation of those old sets are TOS fans that are emotionally attached to it. Outside of that subset of fandom, most modern audiences would find it cheap and dated looking, because it is.

So this conceit that the original TOS bridge would hold up today… that’s laughable.

 

[Daedalus]

There’s a difference between featuring an old set for one off tribute episodes and trying to sell a brand new series.

The only folks that could appreciate the recreation of those old sets are TOS fans that are emotionally attached to it. Outside of that subset of fandom, most modern audiences would find it cheap and dated looking, because it is.

So this conceit that the original TOS bridge would hold up today… that’s laughable.

IMO, you could still modify the TOS bridge so that it's presentable to a modern audience.

The USS Ares from Axanar is generally the sort of thing I would imagine. The addition of digital displays, instead of static imagery, gives it a more of a busy feel.

Even the consoles are pretty damn smart considering it's just a (controversial) fan production.

A TV budget would smooth out any cheap edges. Plus adding the usual cinematic lighting.

That's really how I imagine an update of a classic design, keep the same shape or silhouette, but add to it. Add anything...twinkly lights, improved graphics, you name it.

I do think that SNW has the right idea, but that's a lot of console for one person. It dwarfs our Uhura a bit.

 

[HotRod]

The USS Ares from Axanar is generally the sort of thing I would imagine. The addition of digital displays, instead of static imagery, gives it a more of a busy feel.

Looks cheap and somehow 80's. It looks like the lovechild of an NES and the dashboard of an 80's Pontiac.

 

[Daedalus]

Looks cheap and somehow 80's. It looks like the lovechild of an NES and the dashboard of an 80's Pontiac.

I honestly thought I'd get a worse reply than this.

"Somehow 80s", I like that.

 

[F. King Daniel]

Fun fact, that Ares bridge is unfinished because the designers left the project. You all know why.

I cannot wait for the magic mystery club cult to start doing their videos "from the space station" using it

 

[Tuskin38]

Yeah he walked a bit funky but it's probably because he's 92...? Sam Witwer only acted as the body double for young Kirk.

There's a BTS picture of Sam in Wrath of Khan uniform, so no he wasn't just Young Kirk

One of the main reasons they went on strike was to prevent that from happening.

SAG/AFTRA is in the end credits so this was a union production

I hope, sincerely, that it's not the J. I think it being Spock's memorial post his disappearance. Then Yor moves Kirk across time and space.

They use images of the park from this short on the Ent-J page in the archive.

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

Or....

It was a fun, tounge in cheek and nostalgic look back at the past of the franchise. Both examples were a novelty.

"In a Mirror, Darkly" was not played as anything other than serious, and audiences fully embraced the TOS sets alongside the NX-01's. I cannot recall some outcry that TOS looked "old fashioned". Just the opposite, as the TOS sets were praised for how slick and attractive they were. .

 

[Tuskin38]

"In a Mirror, Darkly" was not played as anything other than serious, and audiences fully embraced the TOS sets alongside the NX-01's. I cannot recall some outcry that TOS looked "old fashioned". Just the opposite, as the TOS sets were praised for how slick and attractive they were. .

I thought it looked dated, and I love TOS. It just not stand up today, it did not stand up 20 years ago.

The TOS movie sets (at least WoK+) and TNG to ENT sets in most cases still work.

 

[fireproof78]

They use images of the park from this short on the Ent-J page in the archive

As someone else noted the park on the J could be inspired by a real park.

 

[MakeshiftPython]

"In a Mirror, Darkly" was not played as anything other than serious, and audiences fully embraced the TOS sets alongside the NX-01's. I cannot recall some outcry that TOS looked "old fashioned". Just the opposite, as the TOS sets were praised for how slick and attractive they were. .

From start to finish it’s a fun over the top two parter where we get to see our characters played as cackling mustache twirling bad guys back stabbing each other while on the set of the Constitution class. Scott Bakula is hamming it up with every fiber of his being and he gets to wrestle with a CGI Gorn. “Serious” is not what I would describe this or any other mirror set episode. That’s not a criticism, that’s just what they’ve always been.

 

[Airmandan]

Their prosthetic work is outstanding .
https://x.com/julesurbach/status/1860407193603858605?s=46&t=sh4PRJ0qynVMObi_u9HU6A

 

[Tosk]

Their prosthetic work is outstanding .

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As the tweet says, that already has the real-time digital mask in place.

 

[MakeshiftPython]

Think of it as a super sophisticated Snapchat filter.

 

[F. King Daniel]

Think of it as a super sophisticated Snapchat filter.

Snapchat in a few years is gonna be mental.

 

[Airmandan]

I figured that out after I posted it. The fact that it is so seamless in realtime is impressive

 

[F. King Daniel]

Unification is the longest Kirk's gone without saying anything. Shatner could never have

 

[Iamnotspock]

TOS interiors were not perceived as "not futuristic", anachronistic to an imagined future or "old"

They absolutely were, and by 1979.

when seen in then-latter-day Trek productions such as ENT's In a Mirror, Darkly" 2-parter. The reason why TOS sets worked for audiences in that series (and a few years earlier in DS9's "Trials and Tribble-ations"), is all due to the incredibly sharp, forward-thinking, aesthetically entrancing (yeah, I said it) design and execution of TOS's Enterprise inside and out.

They worked for fan audiences in tongue-in-cheek/nostalgic homages.

 

[Turtletrekker]

Yor actor Gordon Tarplay describes what he can of the experience of working on the project. Apparently, he can't talk about everything because there is still an NDA in play.

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