Backstory

[Shon T'Hara]

GSchnitzer and Warped9 and some other threads have got me thinking about something specific I've wanted to ask for a long time:


What was the "official" backstory at the time of Star Trek. This would include any animated backstory but not from TMP onward. I'm curious about it. I know there were many changes. I'm not too interested in the "cannon" version because that was changed and changed again. Anything from First Contact and Enterprise would definitely be out of the scope of what I'm looking for, although anyone can post anything they like, of course, but I want to stick to what Star Trek fans in say, 1977 would have known about the Federation and it's universe.

A good source would be the first run of Trek novels from Bantam in the '70s, particularly the New Voyagers short story collections. The Pocket line didn't start until after TMP came out, but I'm guessing many of the early authors were more influenced by a decade of reruns than a movie they might've watched once in the theater, so it might be worth checking out The Klingon Gambit and The Entropy Effect.

 

[johnnybear]

ENT was an alternative universe I always thought so don't count it among the normal Treks! If it contradicts TOS it ain't worth bothering about!
JB

TOS contradicts TOS. Does that mean its not worth bothering with?

I've feeling the other modern Trek contradict TOS too.

Yes that's true but I wasn't that much interested in ENT anyways! Too advanced for what it was and set!
JB

 

[Nerys Myk]

ENT was an alternative universe I always thought so don't count it among the normal Treks! If it contradicts TOS it ain't worth bothering about!
JB

TOS contradicts TOS. Does that mean its not worth bothering with?

I've feeling the other modern Trek contradict TOS too.

Yes that's true but I wasn't that much interested in ENT anyways! Too advanced for what it was and set!
JB

The only thing more advanced was the SFX and film making techniques used. It's not like they were using quantum torpedoes, slipstream drives and interstellar transporters. They made a point of saying how different the transporters, phase weapons and ship's defenses were from TOS. I don't think we can actually know the tech advancement curve for fictional universe. The 24th Century's tech was for the most part the same as the 23rd's for years. The holodeck was the only "new" tech introduced.

 

[johnnybear]

I wasn't keen on the alien Doctor, Phlox! I would have thought that humans who were very much the only race on the Enterprise in the 23rd century (Spock not withstanding) wouldn't have had an alien treating their crew on the early days of space voyaging! It's so obvious that Phlox is a character that comes many years after Boyce, Piper and McCoy!
JB

 

[Nerys Myk]

I wasn't keen on the alien Doctor, Phlox! I would have thought that humans who were very much the only race on the Enterprise in the 23rd century (Spock not withstanding) wouldn't have had an alien treating their crew on the early days of space voyaging! It's so obvious that Phlox is a character that comes many years after Boyce, Piper and McCoy!
JB

The Enterprise is ( or evolved into) a Federation ship. Starfleet is an arm of the Federation which is comprised of many races. That we only saw humans is a budgetary matter not a reflection of probable make up of the crew. Any qualified Starfleet officer could be the CMO of the Enterprise no matter what his race.

"Human" seems to a successful and widespread humanoid type. Given the number of aliens who resemble native Terrans(especially in TOS), any number of crew members we see on the Enterprise may be aliens.

 

[T'Girl]

I wasn't keen on the alien Doctor, Phlox!

In universe Phlox was a unplanned addition to the crew to deal with the injured Klingon they were carrying. Presumibly there would have been a Human Starfleet doctor aboard if the ship had launched on the original schedule.

Why they didn't have both on board is a production contrivance.

 

[Joel_Kirk]

ENT was an alternative universe I always thought so don't count it among the normal Treks! If it contradicts TOS it ain't worth bothering about!
JB

I can agree with this....

Based on the many versions of Trek, one could even say "The Next Generation" is a separate timeline....and TWOK (with those band uniforms) is part of another timeline...as is TMP....etc.

 

[Nerys Myk]

ENT was an alternative universe I always thought so don't count it among the normal Treks! If it contradicts TOS it ain't worth bothering about!
JB

I can agree with this....

Based on the many versions of Trek, one could even say "The Next Generation" is a separate timeline....and TWOK (with those band uniforms) is part of another timeline...as is TMP....etc.

And every other episode of TOS.

 

[Warped9]

ENT was an alternative universe I always thought so don't count it among the normal Treks! If it contradicts TOS it ain't worth bothering about!
JB

I can agree with this....

Based on the many versions of Trek, one could even say "The Next Generation" is a separate timeline....and TWOK (with those band uniforms) is part of another timeline...as is TMP....etc.

Hmmm, a fascinating concept.

 

[Kemaiku]

Did you see the NX-01 using primitive atomic weapons? No, you didn't.

Did you see the NX-01 during the Romulan War? No, you didn't.

I think they stopped pissing around with what they were using and started shooting nukes at the Romulans.

The Enterprise novels do, and the heavily refitted NX-01 along with her 5 sister ships are pretty much using phasers, photon torpedoes and shields in all but name.

The warfare depicted is kept consistent with the series and improvements made to the shows technology, which comes across as either equal to or greater than TOS level technology and tactics.

Nuclear weapons are used once or twice as a type of dirty underhanded tactic of using such antiquated weapons that the enemy wouldn't think of it, sneaking a pretty vicious kill here and there.

Which I suppose makes it worthy of note for Spock to mention such 'primitive' tactics in his report, but it changes the entire context of the line.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Did you see the NX-01 using primitive atomic weapons? No, you didn't.

Did you see the NX-01 during the Romulan War? No, you didn't.

I think they stopped pissing around with what they were using and started shooting nukes at the Romulans.

The Enterprise novels do, and the heavily refitted NX-01 along with her 5 sister ships are pretty much using phasers, photon torpedoes and shields in all but name.

The warfare depicted is kept consistent with the series and improvements made to the shows technology, which comes across as either equal to or greater than TOS level technology and tactics.

Nuclear weapons are used once or twice as a type of dirty underhanded tactic of using such antiquated weapons that the enemy wouldn't think of it, sneaking a pretty vicious kill here and there.

Which I suppose makes it worthy of note for Spock to mention such 'primitive' tactics in his report, but it changes the entire context of the line.

Weren't atomic bombs already "primitive" at the time the episode was written/filmed/broadcast?

 

[T'Girl]

The Enterprise novels do

Well the novel don't count, only a small fraction of the fans even read them.

Weren't atomic bombs already "primitive" at the time the episode was written/filmed/broadcast?

At the time (and really still today) atomic weapons and nuclear weapons were synonymous, in the common vernacular.

Compared to a 23rd century "modern" photon torpedo's warhead, any fission/fusion device would be considered a primitive weapon.

 

[F. King Daniel]

Regarding Enterprise, it's worth pointing out that the originally-planned eleventh Trek film, Star Trek: The Beginning, would have explained how Spock's "primitive atomic weapons" line fits into the ENT continuity - Tiberius Chase was to steal one from a Terra Prime facility and take off for Romulus, presumably to use it in a sequel. That said, ST: TB's version of the Earth/Romulan conflict had it's own continuity issues with TOS, namely the nature of the war (a week-long conflict in Earth orbit)

How the backstory of Trek changes throughout the years is one of my favourite things about it. I enjoy revisiting old episodes and movies keeping in mind what we're learned from the new - whether a perfect continuity fit or not. I'm also fascinated by fan speculations, like those in the aforementioned Best of Trek volumes.

The Star Trek Spaceflight Chronology is a fascinating book with some amazing artwork, released in 1979. The writers had no connection (that I'm aware) to TOS, but it's got the Paramount stamp of approval. Well worth a read.

 

[PCz911]

ENT was an alternative universe I always thought so don't count it among the normal Treks! If it contradicts TOS it ain't worth bothering about!
JB

I feel your pain. I had such high hopes for ENT but it was a massive disappointment. Imagine if they had based the whole look/feel on the cage? Ok, the ENT stories were garbage, but at least it would have looked cool.

 

[Kemaiku]

Weren't atomic bombs already "primitive" at the time the episode was written/filmed/broadcast?

The "spatial torpedoes" Enterprise was outfitted with in seasons 1 and 2 where chemically propelled modified thermonuclear missiles.

Obviously not outdated enough to have equipped all of the 2150's Starfleet ships of the line with them for years.

But the tactics in the books are variations of the dumping of the warhead from Balance of Terror, the warhead used in that episode apparently being one the Romulans had kept around for over 100 years.

 

[RandyS]

An Enterprise phrase that drove me nuts was "Polarize the hull plating." as opposed to "Raise shields".

Is THAT was "Polarize the Hull Plating" is supposed to mean?? 13 years on, and I have never understood that.

 

[Nerys Myk]

An Enterprise phrase that drove me nuts was "Polarize the hull plating." as opposed to "Raise shields".

Is THAT was "Polarize the Hull Plating" is supposed to mean?? 13 years on, and I have never understood that.

My understanding is they are two different things. The NX-01 didn't have shields as we see in the other shows. It had polarizes hull plates.Star Trek science consultant, story editor, and producer André Bormanis describes it as follow, "To minimize potential damage from weapons fire and other space hazards, NX-01 incorporates a polarization matrix in its armored hull plating. Through the application of electromagnetic power, the metal hull of the ship can be made several orders of magnitude harder than it is in its non-polarized state." Shields are force fields that can be shaped and extended.

 

[Kemaiku]

Electromagnetic polarisation of metal to strengthen it is already being used on some series of front line combat tanks.

The principle was being tested around the time Enterprise was first being produced, they "borrowed" the idea for the ship.

 

[Anwar]

Well, keep in mind there was one very big differentiation in TOS vs all other Treks:

In TOS the idea was that the Federation was actually the "Earth Federation" and that it was really a Human Empire. As in, Humans developed Warp Drive and used it to travel around, inducting advanced aliens they met as weak partners into their Empire instead of outright conquering them the ways the Klingons would.

This was one of the major changes between TOS and later Treks, wherein it was made clear the Federation really was a Multi-Species Cooperative. In TOS it wasn't.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Well, keep in mind there was one very big differentiation in TOS vs all other Treks:

In TOS the idea was that the Federation was actually the "Earth Federation" and that it was really a Human Empire. As in, Humans developed Warp Drive and used it to travel around, inducting advanced aliens they met as weak partners into their Empire instead of outright conquering them the ways the Klingons would.

This was one of the major changes between TOS and later Treks, wherein it was made clear the Federation really was a Multi-Species Cooperative. In TOS it wasn't.

No