How do writers and producers avoid contradictions in Star Trek?

[Adam La Forge]

Hey guys,

I've been a Star Trek fan since the 1990's and have watched every episode of almost every Star Trek series (and of course all the movies). There are so many episodes in this franchise that I am wondering how they avoid contradictions between a new and some previous episode. Such a contradiction could easily occur if a writer does not consider some previous happenings (and if no one in the production team detects it).

Is it required for Star Trek writers to have watched all Star Trek material? Since there have been many writers, this appears unlikely (and increasingly difficult). Do they have some super-Trekkies who have everything in mind and check each script in this respect? Or can the producers or showrunners take care of that?

Contradictions might not only occur with respect to stories and people but also with respect to technical details. And I am aware that (a) in science fiction there are creative ways to dissolve contradictions and (b) some contradictions have actually been reported. Nevertheless, my impression is that they generally try to avoid any contradictions within Star Trek and that this is largely successful. So I am wondering how this is achieved.

I would be very happy about your input! Thanks very much!

Adam

 

[Racefuel]

In writing terms you have what is called a "Series Bible" which contains baseline facts, truths, story guidelines and character outlines and it is supposed to get updated as the series goes on with certain absolute facts and information.

In broader terms writers are just expected to coordinate with others to try to avoid contradictions and such as much as possible. Sometimes this isn't possible as humans aren't perfect and never will be.

Some series do continuity and non-contradiction better than others. TNG was good at it, TOS was not. Voyager was okay at it, DS9, under the helm of Ira Steven Behr, was probably the best

 

[F. King Daniel]

They use the Memory Alpha fan wiki, it was credited in Star Trek Beyond (Simon Pegg mentioned it in interviews too) and text from the site was used in Picard's second season (Spock's autobiography front page is his MA page, rewritten in first person)

 

[The Wormhole]

There are so many episodes in this franchise that I am wondering how they avoid contradictions between a new and some previous episode.

They don't. There are all kinds of contradictions in the franchise.

Is it required for Star Trek writers to have watched all Star Trek material?

No, and people like Nick Meyer, Rick Berman and Brannon Braga were hired because they had never watched Star Trek before.

 

[Gul Sengosts]

They don't.

^

/thread

 

[Quantum21]

They carefully consult Memory Prime then use a precise equation that excises 50% of it.

So yeah, they don't really.

 

[Oddish]

They pretty much don't. Just read "The Nitpicker's Guide" series to see how regularly Trek premises get changed.

 

[JonnyQuest037]

Hell, Gene Roddenberry himself showed absolutely no hesitation about contradicting earlier Trek whenever it suited him. Look at how heavily he and Robert Wise revamped Star Trek when they made TMP. When TNG premiered, Roddenberry said that when TNG conflicted TOS, we should believe whatever we saw on TNG as more accurate.

 

[at Quark's]

I think your question contains an unnecessary word -the first.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

You can use a lot of hand-waving and technobabble to explain why something is no longer true, or only partially true, true for some but not others, was never true (either misunderstood or out-and-out lied about).

Is there a mental gymnastics Olympics? Pretty sure the biggest Trek/other franchise fans are gold medal contenders by now.

 

[Therin of Andor]

Hell, Gene Roddenberry himself showed absolutely no hesitation about contradicting earlier Trek whenever it suited him. Look at how heavily he and Robert Wise revamped Star Trek when they made TMP. When TNG premiered, Roddenberry said that when TNG conflicted TOS, we should believe whatever we saw on TNG as more accurate.

Bjo Trimble has mentioned how there was a copy of her "ST Concordance" on Roddenberry's shelves at Paramount during TNG.

During the making of ST IV (when there was suddenly lots of disposable cash flow), GR had Richard Arnold, longtime volunteer tour guide at Paramount and unofficial office dogsbody, employed as "Star Trek Archivist", mainly because he had a photographic memory for onscreen trivia. He overviewed the licensed tie-ins (very pedantically, as the Trek authors would find out, and more strictly than had Susan Sackett in the 70s), found images for licensees to use on packaging and in magazines, but also often reviewed episode scripts and pointing out errors and suggesting fixes. But no one had to listen to him. He caught lots of inconsistencies, but probably caused others. And popularised the term "canon" through convention talks and his regular column in "Star Trek Communicator" (aka Official Fan Club Magazine).

There were also Kellum DeForest Research, who searched scripts for real-life inconsistencies, plus each series usually had a science advisor (eg. Naren Shankar on TNG).

 

[JonnyQuest037]

I'm not sure what any of that has to do with what I was saying. I never said that Roddenberry made no effort to match up earlier details with TOS. I said that he showed absolutely no hesitation about contradicting earlier Trek whenever it suited him. Those aren't the same thing.

 

[Therin of Andor]

I'm not sure what any of that has to do with what I was saying. I never said that Roddenberry made no effort to match up earlier details with TOS. I said that he showed absolutely no hesitation about contradicting earlier Trek whenever it suited him. Those aren't the same thing.

Yes, GR took the opportunity to skip over TOS factoids he no longer agreed with. He also said in interviews that story always overruled previous events in episodes of TOS or TAS, but he still had people (as I listed) who were helping to keep consistency wherever possible.

 

[JonnyQuest037]

Yes, GR took the opportunity to skip over TOS factoids he no longer agreed with. He also said in interviews that story always overruled previous events in episodes of TOS or TAS, but he still had people (as I listed) who were helping to keep consistency wherever possible.

...Okay? Again, not the same thing. You're arguing points I never made.

 

[Therin of Andor]

...Okay? Again, not the same thing. You're arguing points I never made.

Not arguing at all, just providing context for what is not a clear black/white issue.