Bridge Watches Away Teams and other Conundrums

[Shamrock Holmes]

As per the title, this is mainly concerned with Bridge Watches and Away Teams, but there are plenty of other examples through all 5 series of "Main Characters Do Everything" where due to the demands of budget etc out-of-universe the stars of the show do things (including away missions) that would be more properly the domain of lesser characters.

As far as Away Teams go, the oddity for me seems to be less the fact that senior officers are going on Away Teams, but rather the fact that only senior officers seem to go on Away Teams esp from TNG onwards (plus Enterprise but it's less jarring IMO on that show as even the senior officers are in many 'rookies'). It seems to me that a standard away team of six (based on the number of transporter pads) should have at most two senior officers, with a junior engineer/science specialist (as appropriate) plus a trio of enlisted security specialists at least one of which should be a cross-trained medic (or a dedicated junior medic if casualties are specifically expected).

For Bridge shifts, it strikes me that in some ways, for all it's flaws, ST:TNG "Disaster" possibly presents one of the better views on what the day-to-day staffing of bridge shifts should be like - one experienced line officer (lieutenant possibly even Lieutenant Commander on a large ship like the Galaxy-class, maybe a junior as an experienced ensign (like Lavelle up for promotion soon?) on smaller ships like Defiant), with the other stations manned by ensigns, acting ensigns, cadets on field assignments, or possibly senior enlisted (O'Brien's presence on the bridge of Defiant suggests this is possible, how likely it would be normally on a larger ship I don't know, does anyone have any thoughts?). Certainly I can't any reason why more than one of the ship's senior staff would be on the Bridge in normal day-to-day business (and that one should probably be in the Ready Room/Observation Lounge doing 'paperwork') and at least a couple of reasons why especially the Captain and First and Second Officers wouldn't be.

On the other hand, most of the 'on-ships' examples of the Chief Medical Officers, Security Chiefs or Chief Engineers getting a bit more 'hands-on' within their specialism are IMO semi-justified by limited personnel in those departments compared to civilian equivalents - especially for the CMO - and them being the 'best' at the job (though many people have pointed out that is wasn't always with Worf).

Sorry if the above is a little rambling, but I'm not very good at expressing myself.

Shamrock Holmes

 

[The Wormhole]

As far as away teams go, a far more sensible approach would be the ship having multiple teams of people whose job is the away team and not much else. Say a Galaxy class could have ten away teams who check out different regions on planets with specialists from the crew helping out as needed. Basically, something similar to Stargate with the SG teams.

However, if the show were to take a realistic approach to bridge watches, it would require finding a bunch of different extras or guest stars. It is much easier to stick with the regular stars and supporting actors.

 

[f14peter]

Was it DATA'S DAY that implied there were three bridge watches, with Data as 2nd Officer in command of one, with Riker as 1st Officer in command of another?

Probably, the Captain would not be considered a designated Bridge Commander but in overall command at their discretion. More likely someone holding the Bridge Commander rating, such as both Beverly and Deanna earned later in the series would command the third watch.

And by command, I'm meaning nominal command, not necessarily sitting in the chair and able to be off doing something else while leaving another officer with the "Conn" as circumstances dictated.

 

[Shamrock Holmes]

Was it DATA'S DAY that implied there were three bridge watches, with Data as 2nd Officer in command of one, with Riker as 1st Officer in command of another?

Probably, the Captain would not be considered a designated Bridge Commander but in overall command at their discretion. More likely someone holding the Bridge Commander rating, such as both Beverly and Deanna earned later in the series would command the third watch.

And by command, I'm meaning nominal command, not necessarily sitting in the chair and able to be off doing something else while leaving another officer with the "Conn" as circumstances dictated.

Data's Day and Lower Decks both touched on the issue, as did Chain of Command as I recall.

As I understand Naval Tradition, the Ship's Captain (or designated stand-in) is always in "Nominal Command" and might be expected to be called to the Bridge should anything out of the ordinary occur. Particularly on the Enterprise, the idea that Data would be called in first during the 'night shift' also makes sense IMO as he doesn't (need) sleep (on other ships, this role might go to a 'night owl' among the senior officers whose main 'work shift' is during that period?).

Outside of that, would RW tradition give command to the Flight Controller or is the Tactical Officer a better fit? (Either way probably a Lieutenant or Senior Ensign?)

Shamrock Holmes

 

[borgboy]

We see Beverly doing a third watch in the captain's chair once in the episode where Troi earns her Commander promotion, and from the dialogue we learn it's something she does occasionally.
I assume the second and third watch happen every day, and that there are plenty of away teams with other character we don't see.

 

[C.E. Evans]

Instances in which we see most or all of the main characters on the bridge together may really be more rare than common (but not so much to us TV/movie audiences). Bridge duty rosters may vary from week to week or even from day to day depending on necessity or whatever mission is at hand, IMO.

 

[Shamrock Holmes]

Instances in which we see most or all of the main characters on the bridge together may really be more rare than common (but not so much to us TV/movie audiences). Bridge duty rosters may vary from week to week or even from day to day depending on necessity or whatever mission is at hand, IMO.

I think you're probably right (if only the sense that crew don't stand the same watch every day), but I think it would have been better if we could have seen more evidence of that, perhaps making use of and developing some the recurring extras like Gary Vardamann (Wallace) & Tracee Lee Coccoo (Jae) who actually appeared in more episodes than any of recurring guest stars (not counting Barrett as "Computer voice"), but were never developed as characters. For that matter, I'd even settle for more development of some the secondary recurring guest stars like Ogawa and Barclay. I also think that it was a mistake to drop Argyle (the best of the S1 Chief Engineers IMO - and perhaps something of a prototype for O'Brien's later character development), as I think his implied practical approach would have made an interesting contrast with Geordi's (and Wesley's?) enthusiasm with theory and experimentation.

Shamrock Holmes

 

[The Wormhole]

perhaps making use of and developing some the recurring extras like Gary Vardamann (Wallace) & Tracee Lee Coccoo (Jae) who actually appeared in more episodes than any of recurring guest stars (not counting Barrett as "Computer voice"), but were never developed as characters.

They weren't really actors though, and they both had other duties in the studio beyond their background roles on TNG. Maybe one or both could have been turned into characters similar to Sgt. Siler on Stargate. That didn't happen though, and two decades after TNG ended is too late to complain about that.

 

[Shamrock Holmes]

perhaps making use of and developing some the recurring extras like Gary Vardamann (Wallace) & Tracee Lee Coccoo (Jae) who actually appeared in more episodes than any of recurring guest stars (not counting Barrett as "Computer voice"), but were never developed as characters.

They weren't really actors though, and they both had other duties in the studio beyond their background roles on TNG. Maybe one or both could have been turned into characters similar to Sgt. Siler on Stargate. That didn't happen though, and two decades after TNG ended is too late to complain about that.

Sorry if it comes across as complaining. As I said further down the post it doesn't have to be those particular characters (I merely mentioned them as particularly frwquent oddly undeveloped characters), indeed short of a full reboot of the show there's little that can be done now. That doesn't mean that we can't discuss how we'd like it to have been done if RW issues like budgets and actor availability weren't a factor, does it?

BTW, it's ironic that you picked Siler from SG1 as an example, as his actor's main role was behind the camera as stunt co-ordinator (tho he did occassionally double as O'Neill), limiting the potential for character development, whereas after S1 (when he acted as a researcher and Roddenberry's assistant), Vardaman was primarily 'on-screen' as a photo double for Wil Wheaton (occasionally) and Brent Spiner (semi-exclusively) and had - according to info on Memory Alpha - a close working relationship with the latter and would therefore have been relatively easy to develop as character if the writers/producers had wished to. On the other, Tracey Lee Cocco - despite being an SAG member and therefore a 'proper actor' was legitimately busy with other projects during the period, thus limiting her potential to protray a TNG character.

Shamrock Holmes

 

[kirkfan]

I don't see why they even characterize the watches as night, day or whatever as when they happen upon a new planet the chances of being in sync with it are close to zero. So it doesn't make sense to call them anything else than first, second and third watch, each involving the same fraction of the crew being on duty with the same dosage of seniority among them.

 

[C.E. Evans]

I don't see why they even characterize the watches as night, day or whatever as when they happen upon a new planet the chances of being in sync with it are close to zero.

It helps with being in synch with Starfleet Command, especially in regards to mission timetables. And while a starship runs 24/7, very few of her crewmembers do, IMO.

 

[Captain Clark Terrell]

^Correct. With so many ships traveling to different places, there has to be a way to standardize everything so that accurate records are kept. Exceptions might be made for starbases or space stations assigned to a particular sector (DS9 used a twenty six-hour clock as opposed to twenty four), but everyone else would operate based on Starfleet's timetable.

--Sran

 

[kirkfan]

I don't see why they even characterize the watches as night, day or whatever as when they happen upon a new planet the chances of being in sync with it are close to zero.

It helps with being in synch with Starfleet Command, especially in regards to mission timetables. And while a starship runs 24/7, very few of her crewmembers do, IMO.

I don't know how useful it is if you are a couple of months away from a base, to keep in sync with it's local time. Even the Earth has a different time for each zone so... I mean if the president is in Paris and it's the middle of the night then it'll be around twilight in say New Orleans...

 

[Captain Clark Terrell]

^Even a ship that's several weeks away from Federation space must still maintain a regular watch rotation and duty roster. It's easier to do so using one schedule as opposed to changing it every time a the ship enters a new system. Different planets utilize different methods of keeping time. And the vessel wouldn't be keeping Earth time so much as they would be keeping track of Federation standard time, which is most likely applicable throughout Federation space.

Your point about time zones really doesn't fit with your argument, as time zones are designed for people actually living in those areas, not for ships orbiting the planet who quickly pass through said time zones.

--Sran

 

[kirkfan]

^Even a ship that's several weeks away from Federation space must still maintain a regular watch rotation and duty roster. It's easier to do so using one schedule as opposed to changing it every time a the ship enters a new system. Different planets utilize different methods of keeping time. And the vessel wouldn't be keeping Earth time so much as they would be keeping track of Federation standard time, which is most likely applicable throughout Federation space.

Your point about time zones really doesn't fit with your argument, as time zones are designed for people actually living in those areas, not for ships orbiting the planet who quickly pass through said time zones.

--Sran

Yes, but one would imagine that when you are in outer space, a shift designated as night isn't more likely to be uneventful as one designated as day. So there's really no good reason to put your more experienced people on one shift rather than on another. Space doesn't care what shift your ship is on.

Plus unless you deliberately slow your ship down. There's no reason why you should make contact with the aliens du jour during the day shift rather than during the night one.

 

[Captain Clark Terrell]

Yes, but one would imagine that when you are in outer space, a shift designated as night isn't more likely to be uneventful as one designated as day. So there's really no good reason to put your more experienced people on one shift rather than on another. Space doesn't care what shift your ship is on.

Without knowing precisely how the shifts are organized, it's likely that experienced personnel would be equally divided among the shifts, and that both the captain and the first officer would be available in case of emergency ("Captain Picard to the bridge!"), or following the ship's arrival at its destination. Off-duty doesn't mean unavailable.

--Sran

 

[kirkfan]

Yes, but one would imagine that when you are in outer space, a shift designated as night isn't more likely to be uneventful as one designated as day. So there's really no good reason to put your more experienced people on one shift rather than on another. Space doesn't care what shift your ship is on.

Without knowing precisely how the shifts are organized, it's likely that experienced personnel would be equally divided among the shifts, and that both the captain and the first officer would be available in case of emergency ("Captain Picard to the bridge!"), or following the ship's arrival at its destination. Off-duty doesn't mean unavailable.

--Sran

That's not what some here said before. People seem to think that the night shift is somewhat lighter than the other two and therefore reserved to more junior officers.

 

[Captain Clark Terrell]

That's not what some here said before. People seem to think that the night shift is somewhat lighter than the other two and therefore reserved to more junior officers.

That other people think that doesn't mean it's true. It's possible that specific ships or starbases may operate that way; however, it's also possible that shifts may be organized differently on different vessels as a result of different crew needs, mission parameters, and other considerations.

In any case, I stand by my earlier point: even if a ship makes planetfall during the night shift, the captain and first officer may be easily summoned to the bridge to observe proper first contact/greeting procedures, as it's unlikely that such things would be delegated to a junior officer.

--Sran

 

[kirkfan]

That's not what some here said before. People seem to think that the night shift is somewhat lighter than the other two and therefore reserved to more junior officers.

That other people think that doesn't mean it's true. It's possible that specific ships or starbases may operate that way; however, it's also possible that shifts may be organized differently on different vessels as a result of different crew needs, mission parameters, and other considerations.

In any case, I stand by my earlier point: even if a ship makes planetfall during the night shift, the captain and first officer may be easily summoned to the bridge to observe proper first contact/greeting procedures, as it's unlikely that such things would be delegated to a junior officer.

--Sran

Take Voyager for example. In Warhead we see ensign Kim on bridge duty during the night-shift while none of the senior officers are around, that means, Janeway, Chakotay, Tuvok, Paris AND Torres. THEY ARE ALL ASLEEP. If there is a place where the night shift is pointless, it's the Delta quadrant!

 

[Captain Clark Terrell]

Take Voyager for example. In Warhead we see ensign Kim on bridge duty during the night-shift while none of the senior officers are around, that means, Janeway, Chakotay, Tuvok, Paris AND Torres. THEY ARE ALL ASLEEP. If there is a place where the night shift is meaningless it's the Delta quadrant!

That one ship operates that way doesn't mean that others follow a similar routine. What's your point?

--Sran