too many aliens?

[Warped9]

YES. I just watched that episode of ENT the other day and almost shit my pants. I'm usually opposed to CG unless you have a huge budget for it, otherwise it sometimes ends up looking absolutely ridiculous.

True, but let's not forget that the original Gorn was absolutely ridiculous as well.

By today's standards, yes, but I can rationalize the Gorn in TOS to an extent. I much preferred the almost inectoid like eyes because it suggested something other than an Earth like reptile. Also some reptiles might get sluggish in lower temperatures than what is optimal for them. The Metrons might have provided such an environment just to even the odds a bit more. Neither Kirk nor the Gorn were truly in their comfort zone.

 

[The Mirrorball Man]

By today's standards, yes, but I can rationalize the Gorn in TOS to an extent.

Yeah, I can rationalize all kinds of things too, but the Gorn was quite obviously a big guy in a silly rubber suit. I don't mind, in fact I quite enjoy it, but let's not pretend that rubbish practical effects are any better than rubbish cgi.

 

[Metryq]

we don't need the random latex things.

Believe it or not, Bajorans and Betazoids were mandated to look as human as possible because "good looking women were cast to play them." Seriously.

And here we have the convergence of "good looking women" and latex.

 

[heavy lids]

YES. I just watched that episode of ENT the other day and almost shit my pants. I'm usually opposed to CG unless you have a huge budget for it, otherwise it sometimes ends up looking absolutely ridiculous.

True, but let's not forget that the original Gorn was absolutely ridiculous as well.

Yes, but what didn't look ridiculous in TOS? It was the 60's....

 

[CorporalCaptain]

By today's standards, yes, but I can rationalize the Gorn in TOS to an extent.

Yeah, I can rationalize all kinds of things too, but the Gorn was quite obviously a big guy in a silly rubber suit. I don't mind, in fact I quite enjoy it, but let's not pretend that rubbish practical effects are any better than rubbish cgi.

So it's illegitimate to prefer one over the other? Whatever!

 

[Warped9]

By today's standards, yes, but I can rationalize the Gorn in TOS to an extent.

Yeah, I can rationalize all kinds of things too, but the Gorn was quite obviously a big guy in a silly rubber suit. I don't mind, in fact I quite enjoy it, but let's not pretend that rubbish practical effects are any better than rubbish cgi.

So it's illegitimate to prefer one over the other? Whatever!

Okay.

 

[The Mirrorball Man]

By today's standards, yes, but I can rationalize the Gorn in TOS to an extent.

Yeah, I can rationalize all kinds of things too, but the Gorn was quite obviously a big guy in a silly rubber suit. I don't mind, in fact I quite enjoy it, but let's not pretend that rubbish practical effects are any better than rubbish cgi.

So it's illegitimate to prefer one over the other? Whatever!

No, interestingly enough, my point is "let's not pretend that rubbish practical effects are any better than rubbish cgi". You can of course prefer one over the other, if you feel so inclined.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

Yeah, I can rationalize all kinds of things too, but the Gorn was quite obviously a big guy in a silly rubber suit. I don't mind, in fact I quite enjoy it, but let's not pretend that rubbish practical effects are any better than rubbish cgi.

So it's illegitimate to prefer one over the other? Whatever!

No, interestingly enough, my point is "let's not pretend that rubbish practical effects are any better than rubbish cgi". You can of course prefer one over the other, if you feel so inclined.

Well, you know, I generally only prefer A over B when I think that A is better than B, so you've just made a distinction without a difference.

 

[The Mirrorball Man]

Well, you know, I generally only prefer A over B when I think that A is better than B, so you've just made a distinction without a difference.

I was merely pointing out that your rationale doesn't make sense.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

I'm all ears. How does my rationale not make any sense?

 

[JirinPanthosa]

I don't mind having a lot of different humanoid aliens, and I have no problem with 'Forehead alien of the week'. The premises of all the shows except DS9 pretty much demanded different aliens to be present every week, otherwise they wouldn't have been exploration shows.

They should have created a little bit more variety in aliens. Different skin tones, more monstrous looking by human standards. I think the writers felt that the more monstrous looking an alien the less sympathetic that alien would be to the viewers, which kind of goes against the very idea behind the show.

And they could have been more creative with their attractive female actresses, they could have made them look more alien without making them look unsexy. I suppose colored makeup makes their skin look less smooth, but did their range of hair color have to be identical to humans? Give Jadzia blue hair or something. Or maybe Bajorans come in three colors, pink, blue, and green. The pink just happens to be the same tone as caucasian humans, and hey we have this hot caucasian actress, but then there are also blue Bajorans hanging around.

 

[C.E. Evans]

And they could have been more creative with their attractive female actresses, they could have made them look more alien without making them look unsexy. I suppose colored makeup makes their skin look less smooth, but did their range of hair color have to be identical to humans? Give Jadzia blue hair or something.

They originally had Jadzia resemble the Trill first seen in TNG's "The Host," but the producers didn't like the way she looked with the bumpy forehead.
http://images.wikia.com/memoryalpha/en/images/3/30/Dax_TNG_Trill.jpg

 

[Therin of Andor]

And Roddenberry suggested that Troi have three breasts.

Until Marina Sirtis was instructed to come up with a Betazoid accent, there were plans to develop a relatively simply alien latex application for her character. Hence Gropler Zorn's "You have brought a Betazoid to this meeting" scripted complaint. The writers were assuming an alien look would be present. Surely, just having black irises would not be such a sudden, significant indication to Zorn - unless he could also sense Troi's empathic powers?

 

[dub]

I find the Bajoran nose and earring to be quite sexy on Kira and Ro. The make-up team did a great job there.

 

[Metryq]

Whedon couldn't get any aliens for FIREFLY because they were already working over on the STAR TREK soundstage.

 

[C.E. Evans]

And Roddenberry suggested that Troi have three breasts.

Until Marina Sirtis was instructed to come up with a Betazoid accent, there were plans to develop a relatively simply alien latex application for her character. Hence Gropler Zorn's "You have brought a Betazoid to this meeting" scripted complaint. The writers were assuming an alien look would be present. Surely, just having black irises would not be such a sudden, significant indication to Zorn - unless he could also sense Troi's empathic powers?

I remember that scene, but I always just thought Zorn had learned in advance that Picard had a Betazoid aide with him on the Enterprise.

 

[Gary7]

The worst showcase of aliens was in Star Trek TMP. Absolutely awful.

As to why there are so many humanoid aliens? Well, I venture to guess that for the environment that is natural for humans, it lends itself palatable for other humanoids. Thus, you see plenty of them around. There are exceptions, like the Breen who need to be contained in their own environment suit and are still humanoid in shape. Lastly, it's just so much easier to throw a few prosthetic pieces on a human being and go with that than to conjure up some elaborate costume that a person needs to crawl inside. Despite the high budgets of the shows, there is only so far you can go...

 

[xortex]

Quick answer, yes. They should all be Humans unless absolutely necessary and then as alien as possible.

 

[Anji]

Nah. You do what you can with the budget you have, the restrictions of the mediums you're working with and the time you have to get it done.

All things considered, they did a pretty good job.

 

[T'Girl]

Nah. You do what you can with the budget you have, the restrictions of the mediums you're working with and the time you have to get it done.

In some cases all it really would have taken would have been a piece of dialog. If (for example) they had consistently referred to Mister Sulu as being an alien, coming from a non-Human species, he would have been. Might have explained the blue eyelids too.

They should have created a little bit more variety in aliens. Different skin tones, more monstrous looking by human standards.

I've thought that they could have done more simply by hiring actors/actresses who were not of standard body size. Painfully thin, or unusually tall, or huge bulky people, hire children to depict alien adults.

A prosthetic under the starfleet costume to present spinal ridges (or three breasts) wouldn't have to stand up to close examination.