• Welcome! The TrekBBS is the number one place to chat about Star Trek with like-minded fans.
    If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Things that annoy you off about TOS

Re: Things that piss you off about TOS

She did take over navigation though.

She did. And it was interesting to see her saavy at multiple stations. I'm assuming she could probably man the science station, but that was given to Chekov later on the show...

She could also tickle the dials at Spock's science station ...

themantrap222.jpg


themantrap224.jpg

Ah, so she did know how to push Spock's buttons, even during that time....;)

Beauty and brains.

While Majel Barrett's Number One was shown to be in command, it would have been interesting to see Uhura in command a certain points in the series. (It would have been the icing on the cake).

I know she took command at one point in TAS, but that was only because the men were under control by 'The Lorelei Signal.'
 
The only point that I find hard to accept about TOS comes from not only watching the later shows like TNG,DS9 and VOY in reference to their superior technology compared to Kirk's but also how our technology has overtaken TOSs apart from the actual warp engines and a spaceship of that size going out into the unknown! But hey no one back in 67 ever knew we'd have handheld phones and hand computers in such a short time! Plus I like seeing mature women in such short skirts and dresses in the show as well!
 
Re: Things that piss you off about TOS

She did. And it was interesting to see her saavy at multiple stations. I'm assuming she could probably man the science station, but that was given to Chekov later on the show...

She could also tickle the dials at Spock's science station ...

Ah, so she did know how to push Spock's buttons, even during that time....;)

Beauty and brains.

While Majel Barrett's Number One was shown to be in command, it would have been interesting to see Uhura in command a certain points in the series. (It would have been the icing on the cake).

I know she took command at one point in TAS, but that was only because the men were under control by 'The Lorelei Signal.'

Maybe I'm reading too much into things, but I think the writers go above and beyond just giving Uhura command by default as the main female recurring character in the TAS episode. She is portrayed as an exceptional leader with a wide range of skills and does not balk or hesitate to take charge. It's quite refreshing and stands in very stark contrast to the way most female characters were handled on TOS, and even in the TAS (see Chapel in Mudd's Passion for the opposite...). Makes me wonder if that characterization was almost intended as an apology to Nichols and/or the fans for never giving Uhura a similar opportunity in TOS.
 
The only point that I find hard to accept about TOS comes from not only watching the later shows like TNG,DS9 and VOY in reference to their superior technology compared to Kirk's but also how our technology has overtaken TOSs apart from the actual warp engines and a spaceship of that size going out into the unknown! But hey no one back in 67 ever knew we'd have handheld phones and hand computers in such a short time! Plus I like seeing mature women in such short skirts and dresses in the show as well!

Yea, agree on the tech. But the communicator works with signals into space without the aid of cell towers (essentially repeaters). So, it's still more powerful than your iPhone.

At least, that's my story and I'm sticking to it. :)
 
Re: Things that piss you off about TOS

She could also tickle the dials at Spock's science station ...

Ah, so she did know how to push Spock's buttons, even during that time....;)

Beauty and brains.

While Majel Barrett's Number One was shown to be in command, it would have been interesting to see Uhura in command a certain points in the series. (It would have been the icing on the cake).

I know she took command at one point in TAS, but that was only because the men were under control by 'The Lorelei Signal.'

Maybe I'm reading too much into things, but I think the writers go above and beyond just giving Uhura command by default as the main female recurring character in the TAS episode. She is portrayed as an exceptional leader with a wide range of skills and does not balk or hesitate to take charge. It's quite refreshing and stands in very stark contrast to the way most female characters were handled on TOS, and even in the TAS (see Chapel in Mudd's Passion for the opposite...). Makes me wonder if that characterization was almost intended as an apology to Nichols and/or the fans for never giving Uhura a similar opportunity in TOS.

1. Well...while it is true that she's "got command" in terms of being a strong and exceptional leader and getting to do things in a few episodes...in my opinion, if the writers really wanted to do more with her and break those racism/sexism boundaries--now, I'm not saying that they didn't want to--hear me out--they would have done so right then, wouldn't they? I mean, Star Trek had a lot of firsts. TV's first interracial kiss(es), for example. The show broke grounds and "went there" all the time. So...couldn't they have done more with Uhura? But noooo. I'm not ungrateful by any means, but even during a few times when she was allowed to do the cool stuff and save everyone's lives and all, she always had to be "the girl"! Always the frightened and emotional one ("The Tholian Web"), always the one to scream with terror ("Return To Tomorrow"), afraid to watch the violence during the agonizer scene in "Mirror, Mirror", looking towards the "man" for consolation in times of fear ("Plato's Stepchildren"). ((But I did understand her during that part. When I was in JROTC in high school these past couple of years, I looked up to the retired Major, our commander, for comfort and companionship. He's like the father I never had, protecting me from bullying and whatnot. He was the only one that could keep those brats in line.)) But what if they just have gave the line to someone else...or just cut the line enough so that she could simply tell Kirk that she wasn't afraid, instead of all the other stuff. Why did they always make her, the girl, act so openly emotional? Wasn't she supposed to be like a female version of Spock? Just food for thought...

2. Uhura taking command of the ship in "The Lorelei Signal". That part isn't what I'm upset about. In fact, it was awesome to watch! I cheered internally the entire time! :hugegrin: :techman: But--here's the catch. First, the actor's counterparts had to be animated. And even then, all of the men on the ship had to be incapacitated before the poor lieutenant could even dream of taking command. And as if that wasn't enough, it was already the 1970's, when the civil rights movements and the Panthers and Women's Lib were about and all over the media at the time. So...of course they would take her and put her in command then, and not until then. I take that as a bittersweet victory for our beloved Lt. Uhura.

3. I don't care for the episode with the weird space hippies, I don't like those bratty ice-cream-eating children, or the character Charlie X.

4. "Spirk"....PISSES ME OFF!!! :scream::brickwall: What, men can't be friends with each other without becoming the subject of people's sick fantasies?! And trust me, Trekkies. You can't even attempt to convince shippers that Spock and Kirk are only brotherly friends without being accused of having "homophobia". And some of the fanart and fanfiction is just...:wtf::barf2:

5. Uhura's hairstyle in episodes like "Plato's Stepchildren". Egads!

6. I wish TOS could have been around longer. It was so close to making it to the 70's! Would have been fun to see the changes in style and music, like in those TV sitcoms that start in another decade and end in the next.
 
Re: Things that piss you off about TOS

The scot-free fate of Rojan iN BY ANY OTHER NAME. So much for Kirk not being able to forget Yeoman Whoever,

You have to weigh that one life vs. the 430 on the Enterprise and the possible millions of future lives if the Kelvins do invade.
Or to put it in real-politik terms:
Russian: "Hello, I am General Stereotypovic of the KGB. I wish to defect and have information about an imminent attack on your country which my agency is about to launch."
CIA Agent: "Didn't you execute our best agent last month? My best man, by the way..."
Russian: "Did I? I don't remember."
Senior CIA Agent: "I don't either. Let's talk..."
 
Re: Things that piss you off about TOS

2. Uhura taking command of the ship in "The Lorelei Signal". That part isn't what I'm upset about. In fact, it was awesome to watch! I cheered internally the entire time! :hugegrin: :techman: But--here's the catch. First, the actor's counterparts had to be animated. And even then, all of the men on the ship had to be incapacitated before the poor lieutenant could even dream of taking command. And as if that wasn't enough, it was already the 1970's, when the civil rights movements and the Panthers and Women's Lib were about and all over the media at the time. So...of course they would take her and put her in command then, and not until then. I take that as a bittersweet victory for our beloved Lt. Uhura.

You are, of course, quite correct that it's super lame that Uhura only had command after all the men were incapacitated. That being said, my larger point was that the writers of that episode went beyond "she's in command b/c there are no men left" and wrote it more as she was able to take command because she was a extraordinary officer and exceptional leader. Not exactly true equality, but certainly better than being the frightened girl on the bridge.
 
3. I don't care for the episode with the weird space hippies, I don't like those bratty ice-cream-eating children, or the character Charlie X.
Oh I'm glad I'm not the only one who can't stand them. I know the episodes are trying to reveal some problems but those spoiled children are too annoying.

4. "Spirk"....PISSES ME OFF!!! What, men can't be friends with each other without becoming the subject of people's sick fantasies?! And trust me, Trekkies. You can't even attempt to convince shippers that Spock and Kirk are only brotherly friends without being accused of having "homophobia". And some of the fanart and fanfiction is just...

Um.
As one of the shippers…
Yes, some of the fanart and fics are really disturbing, some of them are sexually explicit while others are just totally out of character.
However we have absolutely no problem if you think they are only brotherly friends. Just don't try to convince us, okay? You can stay away from those slash fics ant if they keep coming up everywhere I am really sorry…
We know they are only friends in the episodes. We don't want to admit that.
Hell, it feels like somebody trying to convince you starfleet doesn't exist. We all know that's true but I just can't help shouting back.
 
Something that bothers me every single time (now... it didn't when I was a kid, but now? Yeesh) are the control panels and displays on the bridge. I know that in the 60's, the future was just a bunch of silvery fabrics and flashing lights, but:

As an airline pilot, one of the things I've learned for certain is that FLASHING LIGHTS ARE BAD. There's a reason there's normally no flashing lights in my Airbus cockpit -- lights are only supposed to flash to get your attention when something is going seriously wrong. Otherwise the lights should be steady ON, or, better yet, not on at all. I like TOS more than TNG, but the LCARS in TNG are way better in terms of functionality when it comes to human monitoring performance.

And the control panels themselves.... Where to start? NOTHING is labeled... Well, OK there are a few labels in the shuttlecraft, and maybe in sickbay, a few at Spock's panel (the white ones) but everything else, all those goofy big buttons, no labels! And hardly any of the panels have any noticeable functional divisions, tactile separation, color coding etc... On an aircraft, every single switch and knob is labeled, what it is, what the different switch positions do, and they're all clumped into discrete, organized areas based on function. I could go on and on, but, 300 years in the future or not, I can safely say that is NOT how humans would build a starship.

Thank you for letting me get that off my chest; I've bottled that up for FAR too long. I love TOS!
 
Um.
As one of the shippers…
Yes, some of the fanart and fics are really disturbing, some of them are sexually explicit while others are just totally out of character.

I've never been a shipper with any TOS characters, but I do it elsewhere. Right now I have this crazy wish that Riki and Kate were into each other on Garfunkel and Oates, a sitcom that airs on IFC. They'd make a great couple. But they're both straight so it isn't going to happen.

Some Voyager fans wish Janeway and Seven were an item. Some even went so far as to write explicit fan fiction, which I read. Twice. But Jeri Ryan said emphatically that if Seven ever got with a woman, she would NOT want it to be Janeway (IIRC). And that ruffled some feathers.

Fans have all kinds of unfulfilled wishes, I guess.
 
Re: Things that piss you off about TOS

She did take over navigation though.

She did. And it was interesting to see her saavy at multiple stations. I'm assuming she could probably man the science station, but that was given to Chekov later on the show...

I feel very strongly about that too, and I mentioned it elsewhere here as well.

It's kinda heartbreaking that we never saw Uhura take the conn, especially when someone like DeSalle took the conn, and I believe Chekov might've at one point too.

I guess we just have to be glad she was there, inspiring black women as a lieutenant on the bridge. But it would've been nice to see her even just sitting at the captain's chair. It didn't even need to be a "big deal" because in the 23rd century, Uhura sitting at the chair in command would be seen as just a competent officer taking over for her captain while he's away.

A little throwaway moment with Kirk rushing onto the bridge and Uhura getting up and walking over to her station with no importance given to the moment. I would've settled for that.

I think it may have been implied at times that Uhura maybe had the conn off camera. Every now and then Kirk would call the bridge to get a status report or to relay an order and he would talk to Uhura. Granted, she was the communications officer, but he most likely wanted to talk directly to the officer who had the conn and that seemed to be Uhura.
 
Re: Things that piss you off about TOS

Love TOS. The only thing that really bothers me was the ending to the episodes where they had gone through so much. Mostly it was the trio who would have something cheesy to say and then everyone would laugh very fake and then we see the old E and the end credits. Once in awhile it worked such as Trouble with tribbles. The last min Of a lot of those episodes just get to me now. I do understand that was standard for 60s tv though.

I think this was mostly Fred Frieberger's input. He started doing that in the 2nd season of Space: 1999 as well.
The show did that often enough long before Freiberger came aboard. Cutesy haha endings abounded in the second season.

The jokey epilogues started more in the second season and it was just the style of '50's and '60's television. The one that bothers me is the ending of "Doomsday Machine." Kirk was too flippant about encountering another doomsday type machine.
 
Re: Things that piss you off about TOS

I think it may have been implied at times that Uhura maybe had the conn off camera. Every now and then Kirk would call the bridge to get a status report or to relay an order and he would talk to Uhura. Granted, she was the communications officer, but he most likely wanted to talk directly to the officer who had the conn and that seemed to be Uhura.

I always interpreted that as Uhura sitting at the comm panel playing switchboard operator.

The jokey epilogues started more in the second season and it was just the style of '50's and '60's television. The one that bothers me is the ending of "Doomsday Machine." Kirk was too flippant about encountering another doomsday type machine.

NOTHING will beat Spock in the Naked Time, or the insane laugh-out in Galileo 7, though. I'd say the laugh-ending was very alive in S1 so I don't know that we can blame Freiberger. Although, I haven't gone back and actually counted how often it happens so I could be wrong.
 
If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Sign up / Register


Back
Top