Pike's mustache

[David cgc]

Joseph M'Benga's personnel file was glimpsed in a screen graphic in "Under the Cloak of War." It mentions his parents Wangera and Gichinga M'Benga, his brother Nicolas M'Benga, and his sisters Nyawira Ochambo and Sikudhani M'Benga. (No mention of Rukiya, but I guess she's presumed dead.) It's possible that the TOS character could be Nicolas if he's a younger brother, but since he's listed first among the siblings, that implies he's the eldest.

Since Rukiya isn't mentioned in the file, maybe children weren't listed at all, and TOS-M'Benga could be Joseph's son. If TOS-M'Benga was exactly Booker Bradshaw's age, he'd be eight years older than Rukiya, a perfectly reasonable gap between siblings (take it from someone in a family with an unreasonable gap between siblings). That's tight with the birthdate from Joseph's file (he would've had to have become a father at 17), but TOS-M'Benga could easily be a few years younger than his actor (the apparent alternative being, of course, that he's 17 years older than his actor), or he could be Joseph's nephew and sidestep the whole issue.

I don't know if that counts as "Word of God." I take that as meaning something the creators reveal to the general audience about their intentions. A series bible is an internal production document, a tentative guide meant only to suggest possibilities to freelance writers without restricting their creativity. It's not meant as a "public-facing" document, even though Lincoln Enterprises sold the series bibles to interested fans and collectors.

It'd take research to know if it happened in this specific case, but elements of writers' bibles end up being publicized all the time. They're mentioned by actors in interviews, included in press-packets, drawn on in tie-ins. It doesn't seem impossible that Data's original backstory was as widely publicized as the explicit statements that SNW-M'Benga and TOS-M'Benga are the same person and not relatives.

Back to the original point, people change their minds all the time (as in the case of Data), and outright lying is a legitimate publicity tool to preserve dramatic tension. We're all going to be pretty surprised if M'Benga is killed off and then Pike or Number One has some line about how his son just started pre-med at the university of wherever and it must be hard for him to have lost his mother, sister, and now father in such a short period of time.

 

[Christopher]

It'd take research to know if it happened in this specific case, but elements of writers' bibles end up being publicized all the time.

Of course they are, but my point is that they aren't meant to be taken as authoritative in the same way as a "Word of God" statement from a creator in an interview, say. They're just behind-the-scenes glimpses into the creative process, like, say, Ralph McQuarrie's early concept paintings from Star Wars. They're made available to the public, yes, but they're like a glimpse backstage at the theater, which is something distinct from the play itself.

When I hear the phrase "Word of God," I take it to mean something a creator announces to the public as the definitive intent of the finished work. A series bible is from the other end of the process, the early conceptual stuff that isn't fixed or binding at all. It's a preliminary idea, not a final decision. So applying the phrase "Word of God" to that strikes me as misleading.

Back to the original point, people change their minds all the time (as in the case of Data), and outright lying is a legitimate publicity tool to preserve dramatic tension. We're all going to be pretty surprised if M'Benga is killed off and then Pike or Number One has some line about how his son just started pre-med at the university of wherever and it must be hard for him to have lost his mother, sister, and now father in such a short period of time.

That's just pulling speculation out of thin air. It's not based on anything other than the actors' relative ages, but consider that Martin Quinn is 8 years younger than Scotty would be at this point, and Paul Wesley is 15 years older than James Kirk would be at this point. Not to mention that the Harry Mudd of 2256 was played by the 51-year-old Rainn Wilson while the Harry Mudd of 2266 was played by the 33-year-old Roger C. Carmel, a 28-year discrepancy. (Yes, Carmel was actually slightly younger than Shatner.)

 

[David cgc]

It's not based on anything other than the actors' relative ages...

That, and the demotion in rank and position, and the idea that McCoy would think where M'Benga did his internship twenty years earlier was a better indication of how qualified he was to treat Spock than that he'd been Spock's PCP for nearly a decade, and that he either should be or secretly is McCoy's boss. Hey, there's an idea. Considering what they did with Chapel and Spock, why not have it so M'Benga was the off-screen CMO for all of TOS, who only occasionally deigned to appear in an episode, and we only saw McCoy so much because he was Kirk's friend even though he wasn't actually the senior doctor?

Paul Wesley is 15 years older than Kirk is, but they didn't cast someone that age because they wrote it that in SNW, Jim Kirk is an explicitly 40-something admiral and then insisted in interviews that, yes, in nine years he's going to be a 30-something captain, they're totally the same guy. These problems would all still exist if M'Benga was being played by a nineteen-year-old actor and his visible age lined up perfectly with TOS, or, for that matter, if they'd cast someone who was in his mid-forties in TOS to play M'Benga and had a line about how he knew all about treating Vulcans because he'd been there as an resident, half a lifetime ago.

 

[mb22]

Maybe it wasn't Winter, but it was something other than Kirk.

I don't see it here.

 

[Avro Arrow]

Considering what they did with Chapel and Spock, why not have it so M'Benga was the off-screen CMO for all of TOS, who only occasionally deigned to appear in an episode, and we only saw McCoy so much because he was Kirk's friend even though he wasn't actually the senior doctor?

Interesting idea, but I just checked chakoteya.net, and McCoy was identified as Chief Medical Officer numerous times.

 

[Bryan Levy]

Not to mention that the Harry Mudd of 2256 was played by the 51-year-old Rainn Wilson while the Harry Mudd of 2266 was played by the 33-year-old Roger C. Carmel, a 28-year discrepancy. (Yes, Carmel was actually slightly younger than Shatner.)

That dude was 33? That’s a hard 33 right there.

 

[Therin of Andor]

Data's original backstory was as widely publicized...

David Gerrold's/DC Fontana's novelization of "Encounter at Farpoint" includes the planet name "Kiron III" and the involvement of unknown aliens in the creation of Data, which was ignored by the time of "Datalore".

I don't see it here.

Wikipedia suggests: "In developing a new pilot episode, called 'Where No Man Has Gone Before', series creator Gene Roddenberry changed the captain's name to 'James Kirk' after rejecting other options like Hannibal, Timber, Flagg and Raintree." Quoting Shatner in his book "Up Till Now: The Autobiography" (2008).

 

[KRAD]

That dude was 33? That’s a hard 33 right there.

Rampant pollution, rampant cigarette smoking, rampant nasty emissions from vehicles and industry, rampant consumption of alcohol, and comparatively crappy medical treatment will do that.

 

[Christopher]

Rampant pollution, rampant cigarette smoking, rampant nasty emissions from vehicles and industry, rampant consumption of alcohol, and comparatively crappy medical treatment will do that.

Really, though, if you look at Roger C. Carmel at that time, he didn't actually look old. He was balding and heavyset, but his face was unlined. And to be fair, Shatner was balding too, he just never let anyone see it. And Patrick Stewart started losing his hair at 19.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

And Patrick Stewart started losing his hair at 19.

Yeah, and he lost it fast. Any photo you see online of an adult Patrick Stewart that says "it's Patrick Stewart with hair" is either not Patrick Stewart or it's him with a hairpiece for an acting role.