TOS myths and misconceptions...

[Warped9]

^^ They were. The first evidence is in TOS' 1st season. You don't have to look any further than "The Menagerie." What possible point could there be in chasing after the Enterprise warping out of orbit if your vehicle isn't warp capable?

Anecdotal evidence throughout the series supports the very same conclusion. And nothing in the series says one way or the other, but how the shuttlecraft are used argues that they are indeed warp capable.

 

[Nerys Myk]

^^ They were. The first evidence is in TOS' 1st season. You don't have to look any further than "The Menagerie." What possible point could there be in chasing after the Enterprise warping out of orbit if your vehicle isn't warp capable?

Anecdotal evidence throughout the series supports the very same conclusion. And nothing in the series says one way or the other, but how the shuttlecraft are used argues that they are indeed warp capable.

Yep,they are used for a few long range missions.

 

[Lieut. Arex]

STXI, with it's supersized Kelvin (457m) and Enterprise (725m).

Your correct. Nothing ever stated that the Enterprise the biggest or the most advanced, if anything the Enterprise was said to be a somewhat older ship with a extended period under Pike (maybe others too).

I'd like to think that in the Star Trek Eleven universe the connies still exist, the Enterprise hull with a different name.

The first line of TMoST's chapter on the ship reads "The Enterprise is the largest man-made vessel in space." So while there's nothing on screen, the idea didn't come out of thin air either.

 

[Amaris]

Gene had a vision for humanity.

Personally I think this a huge bogus assumption. GR imagined the basic concept and framework and a lot of very talented people came in and worked out the nuts and bolts to make it work. Along the way they all contributed to the fabric and tapestry that was TOS. And being produced when it was it was almost inevitable that Star Trek depicted humanity's future the way it did. Now throw in fans projecting their own ideas and assumptions onto the show and GR picking up on it, basking in it and retconning that he'd had those ideas all along and you have the mythologizing of Gene Roddenberry.

I always felt that they addressed this in Star Trek: First Contact when Cochrane spoke about his true vision. I think it was a bit of an homage/dig to Gene.

Just my two cents on that one.

 

[Brutal Strudel]

I'll never understand why Shatner is often accused of performing bad acting in TOS. His acting in TOS was always spectacular.

Usually spectacular. He had his off moments but, overall, even his hamminess was a joy to watch (I love his furious and despondent "Daystrom!" in "The Ultimate Computer") and he often underplayed the part, particularly in season 1.

 

[blssdwlf]

Space combat was strictly a point-blank range, slow moving affair.
I always thought that TOS had a good variety of ranges, speed and tactics to them.

 

[Warped9]

Space combat was strictly a point-blank range, slow moving affair.
I always thought that TOS had a good variety of ranges, speed and tactics to them.

Yep. Another thing: because they rarely showed two ships in one shot you could believe combating ships were extreme distances apart. And this was bolstered by ships on the main viewscreen visible only as distant points of light.

For me, while the space combat in TWoK was interesting, and somewhat credible within its context, the depiction of space combat in Trek generally went downhill from there. Ships were later shown usually moving far too slowly and too close to be credible as starships engaged in extreme high speeds battle.

 

[Captain Robert April]

^ More of Nick Meyer's layering on the nautical bits with a shovel, having the Enterprise and Reliant pulling alongside and delivering broadsides.

It seems to be that the biggest misconceptions, especially among non-fans, center on Kirk. The picture of a rule-breaking hot dog who nailed green chicks on a regular basis being the big one.

 

[Wingsley]

Kirk always violated the Prime Directive and got away with it. This is a protean dogma started by David Gerrold, mostly to underscore what he saw as mistakes in TOS stories. In fact, Kirk went out of his way to avoid interference in "Bread and Circuses".

STAR TREK is just a kid's show, a cartoon. We all know that some folks we don't like TREK will try to dismiss all Sci Fi as kid's shows. Actually, I think that TOS was a an excellent drama for adults, not kids. And I think it still holds up as the most mature drama of all the TREK series.

TREK is a formula show. [Variation: Spock always found the answers, and that's the end of the story every time.] Both of these are obviously false.

STAR TREK depicts some kind of futuristic utopia. Tell that to the victims of Kodos the Executioner, or Lenore Karidian, or Dr. Tristan Adams, or Dr. Richard Daystrom, to name a few. TOS showed a us a future with many possibilities, many examples of human greatness, and many risks. It was by no means a utopia. In fact, when offered utopia by Apollo and Parmen, Kirk and company were rightly suspicious and turned it down.

 

[Nerys Myk]

I never understood the "kids show" idea. The stories were similar in tone and execution to many of the present day set dramas on TV at that time.

 

[Hober Mallow]

I'll never understand why Shatner is often accused of performing bad acting in TOS. His acting in TOS was always spectacular.

I think this is where the Shatner caricature came from. And if it wasn't, it certainly didn't help.

 

[Captain Robert April]

I remember watching that. One of the few times the Saturn Awards were televised (and oddly enough, shortly before they actually called them the Saturn Awards).

 

[Admiral Shran]

The Eugenics Wars and World War III are separate conflicts. Spock in "Space Seed" mentions the "third world war" to which McCoy replies "the Eugenics Wars." To me this directly contradicts TNG's notion that the conflicts are separate ones. TOS is saying WW3/Eugenics War happens in the 1990s (thankfully Star Trek is an alternate timeline) while TNG asserts WW3 happens in the first half of 21st century. Also in "Return To Tomorrow" Kirk says humanity avoided a nuclear holocaust while TNG references a post atomic horror.

I prefer to think of them as two seperate conflicts. However, I suppose one could view them as one long drawn-out conflict. The Eugenics Wars would then be just one theatre (or sub-conflict) of the overall war.

 

[number6]

STAR TREK is just a kid's show, a cartoon. We all know that some folks we don't like TREK will try to dismiss all Sci Fi as kid's shows. Actually, I think that TOS was a an excellent drama for adults, not kids. And I think it still holds up as the most mature drama of all the TREK series.

I would like to know the source of this particular misconception. Star Trek was never considered a kid's show. In fact from the beginning it was marketed as the first adult space adventure show, back in 1966.

TREK is a formula show. [Variation: Spock always found the answers, and that's the end of the story every time.] Both of these are obviously false.

Star Trek is a formula show, but not in the way you depict. The Kirk-Spock-McCoy relationship, as an example of how Kirk solves problems and makes decision is very much a formula..one that later producers would try to recreate in ENT. The alien exploration of humanity as personified by Spock is repeated in TNG with Data, in DS9 with Odo, The Doctor (and later 7o9) in VOY and Phlox in ENT. This is certainly a formula.

I suppose it is in how you define it. Again I have never heard the "myth" of Spock always finding the answers. I think you're making this all up.

STAR TREK depicts some kind of futuristic utopia. Tell that to the victims of Kodos the Executioner, or Lenore Karidian, or Dr. Tristan Adams, or Dr. Richard Daystrom, to name a few. TOS showed a us a future with many possibilities, many examples of human greatness, and many risks. It was by no means a utopia. In fact, when offered utopia by Apollo and Parmen, Kirk and company were rightly suspicious and turned it down.

Well, I don't know about this one either, given the number of times Kirk and even other crew members have talked about how much humans have evolved from what they used to be in our time..Sure GR eventually started believing in his own rhetorical nonsense as people started to pay him big money to talk about Star Trek, but a lot of this is explored in TMoST, which was written during the series' production.

That's not a myth that was mis-stated or misconceived. It was obvious that these elements were part of the show's conception from the beginning.

 

[Captain Robert April]

The Eugenics Wars probably led directly to World War III, thanks to the power vacuum left by Khan taking off.

 

[number6]

The Eugenics Wars probably led directly to World War III, thanks to the power vacuum left by Khan taking off.

To its credit, though. TOS was sometimes intentionally vague about Earth History. They made plenty of misteps talking about what went down in the 1990's but back then that seemed so far into the future.

I suppose you could bust the myth that TOS takes place in the 23rd Century. That was never really nailed down while the series was on the air and not officially "canonized" until TWOK in 1982.

 

[Nerys Myk]

The Eugenics Wars probably led directly to World War III, thanks to the power vacuum left by Khan taking off.

To its credit, though. TOS was sometimes intentionally vague about Earth History. They made plenty of misteps talking about what went down in the 1990's but back then that seemed so far into the future.

I suppose you could bust the myth that TOS takes place in the 23rd Century. That was never really nailed down while the series was on the air and not officially "canonized" until TWOK in 1982.

I'm always a bit surprised that they went with the 1990s, only three decades from their present. Given Kahn's age he would have been born in the 1950s. The standard "100 years from the present day" trope would have worked better. And Kirk's line about Khan "sleeping" for 200 years would have fit with the 23rd Century concept.

Didn't TMP mention the 23rd Century?

 

[number6]

Didn't TMP mention the 23rd Century?

No. They did some vague statement about V'ger's launch from earth...

 

[Nerys Myk]

Didn't TMP mention the 23rd Century?

No. They did some vague statement about V'ger's launch from earth...

I guess thats my personal misconception!

Interestingly enough in TMoST Roddenberry often used the "23rd Century" when talking about the future.

 

[T'Girl]

STAR TREK was a "camp" show. While Star Trek did have a few comedy episodes, I've never seen the camp aspect.

DAVID GERROLD was the living heart and soul of Star Trek. Seriously, have you ever heard this guy talking about himself in a interview?

STAR TREK was about the Federation. Surprisingly rarely mentioned, putting retcon to the side, more often than not not Kirk spoke of Earth, Earth ships, Earth colonies, Human achievements, Human histories. Yes, there were Federation call out too, but much less than half the time.