So ... what is it with the Stardates?

[Oso Blanco]

The Stardates in SNW are jumping forwards and backwards from episode to episode, even in TOS the Stardates weren't that messy!

I suppose that there is no in-universe explanation, so has anyone involved with the production of SNW ever commented on this? Is this supposed to be a joke or is there some deeper meaning to it?

 

[fireproof78]

It's the TOS style.

 

[JHarper]

The Memory Alpha article on stardates notes

They concluded that the 'time continuum' would therefore vary from place to place, and that earth time may actually be lost in travel. 'So the stardate on Earth would be one thing, but the stardate on Alpha Centauri would be different,' Peeples says. 'We thought this was hilarious, because everyone would say, "How come this date is before that date when this show is after that show?" The answer was because you were in a different sector of the universe.'

Which is as good an explanation as any.

 

[Oso Blanco]

Which is as good an explanation as any.

But it doesn't add up with any other series, neither with TOS and certainly not with any TNG era series.

 

[Racefuel]

But it doesn't add up with any other series, neither with TOS and certainly not with any TNG era series.

TOS jumped around with stardates all the time, they were never consistent.

The only time stardates ever kind of became consistent was in TNG/DS9/VOY

 

[Nerys Myk]

They're made up and don't really matter.

 

[Nightowl1701]

Just like the warp speed scale being reset after the Transwarp experiment, with 'Warp 10' becoming the impossible infinite speed, the stardate system got recalibrated somewhere in the early 24'th century to an 'Earth Mean Time' standard.

 

[drt]

TOS roughly progressed over time from 1000-6000ish, but the individual episode dates still jumped around.

In the Berman era episodes were given a specific stardate based on when they were planned to air.

 

[Noname Given]

The Stardates in SNW are jumping forwards and backwards from episode to episode, even in TOS the Stardates weren't that messy!...

I don't think you've watched enough TOS because they definitely were just as messy. Completely random.

 

[Tuskin38]

In the Berman era episodes were given a specific stardate based on when they were planned to air.

TNG stardates were 4, followed by the season number, then some 3 numbers higher than the last stardate, most of the time.

According to the TNG writers guide, the 4 originally stood for the 24th century, though once they started creating stardates for flashbacks set before season 1, that went out the window.

 

[mattman8907]

still like what the Kelvin movies did and actually had the Stardates correspond to calendar dates (I.E. 2233.04 is January 4, 2233 or 2259.55 is February 24th)

 

[The_Baron]

The Memory Alpha article on stardates notes

Which is as good an explanation as any.

Not really. Because then what would the point be in stardates at all?

Earth has its own calendar. Vulcan must have. Andoria, Betazed etc...

So if the stardate is different dependant on the local sector....why bother at all,..?

Surely the entire point would be to have a consistent calendar across the Federation?

 

[The Wormhole]

Not really. Because then what would the point be in stardates at all?

Earth has its own calendar. Vulcan must have. Andoria, Betazed etc...

So if the stardate is different dependant on the local sector....why bother at all,..?

Surely the entire point would be to have a consistent calendar across the Federation?

Well, you have to realize at the time that explanation was thought up, the Federation hadn't been established (in the real world) yet. The Enterprise served "United Earth" and there was no harmonious union of worlds. I mean hell, one early TOS episode actually says Earth conquered Vulcan!

The stardate was just meant to be a fictional dating method so that they didn't need to establish exactly when in the future this show takes place. The bit about stardates varying from place to place was just a manner to establish precedent for them not making sense and therefore preventing the need to have someone monitoring the stardates to make sure they all lined up in a consistent manner. Of course, many first season TOS episodes would then go ahead and establish (often contradictory) accounts of when in the future they were anyway, therefore negating the need for the stardates in the first place, but that's 1960s television for you.

 

[Campe]

Honestly, does it matter? Honestly? Does it affect the storytelling? Isn't good storytelling more important than made up calendaring that really doesn't make a lot of sense in the first place?

 

[Ssosmcin]

TOS was reasonably consistent - in production order - in the early episodes, but it didn't last. Eventually, if you put the episodes in SD order, you'll find some season 2 episodes in season 1 and season 3 in year 2.

It's just a "sci-fi number" to make the show spacey. I don't care even a little.

 

[fireproof78]

Honestly, does it matter? Honestly? Does it affect the storytelling? Isn't good storytelling more important than made up calendaring that really doesn't make a lot of sense in the first place?

That, Detective, is the right question.

 

[CrockAlley]

still like what the Kelvin movies did and actually had the Stardates correspond to calendar dates (I.E. 2233.04 is January 4, 2233 or 2259.55 is February 24th)

That feels good from our perspective, where we want to make sense of things and we're familiar with the Gregorian calendar. But incomprehensible stardates make more sense from an in-universe perspective. Seems silly to still be using a dating system based on the birth of a religious figure, when (1) a very multi-cultural Earth has finally been united and (2) humanity is out there in the stars, interacting with and working alongside aliens.

 

[Ssosmcin]

That feels good from our perspective, where we want to make sense of things and we're familiar with the Gregorian calendar. But incomprehensible stardates make more sense from an in-universe perspective. Seem silly to still be using a dating system based on the birth of a religious figure, when (1) a very multi-cultural Earth has finally been united and (2) humanity is out there in the stars, interacting with and working alongside aliens.

Spock did say the Folsom Point was discovered in 1925 as measured by the "old world calendar." For whatever that's worth.

 

[Nerys Myk]

 

[Noname Given]

Spock did say the Folsom Point was discovered in 1925 as measured by the "old world calendar." For whatever that's worth.

For me some TOS writers when to slightly ridiculous levels WRT claims that that the tracking of time was different.

In most episodes the crew does use hours and minutes- yet in TOS S3 The Savage Curtain...

Lincoln: "Do you still measure Time in minutes?"

Instead of a simple "Yes.", it's:

Kirk: "We can convert to it..."