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What do you think Kirk is having to sign for all the time?

JT Perfecthair

JT Perfecthair

Lieutenant Commander
Red Shirt
It just doesn't seem to matter whats going on, from crew abduction to Klingon attack, there is the Yeoman at Kirks chair with another black pad to sign.

If it happened on occasion then ok, but its going on all the time, im not sure if its in every episode but it certainly seems so. Is this based on some military procedure that Roddenberry witnessed, do captains on ships sign reports throughout the day? Or was it a parody of something, a comment on the endless paperwork no matter what the situation that a former military man and cop like Roddenberry would be very familiar?

Or was Kirk just getting a sneak look at the galley menu?
 
Higher ranking military officers have a lot of paperwork IRL. I assume it was an effort to reflect that.
 
JT Perfecthair said:
It just doesn't seem to matter whats going on, from crew abduction to Klingon attack, there is the Yeoman at Kirks chair with another black pad to sign.

If it happened on occasion then ok, but its going on all the time, im not sure if its in every episode but it certainly seems so. Is this based on some military procedure that Roddenberry witnessed, do captains on ships sign reports throughout the day? Or was it a parody of something, a comment on the endless paperwork no matter what the situation that a former military man and cop like Roddenberry would be very familiar?

Or was Kirk just getting a sneak look at the galley menu?
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Probably these two. One of the gags in M*A*S*H was Col. Blake signing all sorts of paperwork handed to him by Radar.
 
The captain probably has to sign off on repair reports and diagnostics or transfers of precious cargo or dignitaries and stuff like that all the time.
 
He was authorizing payments for refuelling. Starships aren't very economical.

He also probably had to authorize the dolling out of the booze since synthehol didn't exist yet.
 
My thought is that Scotty is absolutely paranoid about the amount of deuterium and antimatter left in the tanks, so he sends Kirk (or the watch officer) a fuel depletion rate report every hour.

Kirk: "But Scotty the board shows the deletion rate."

Scotty: "I didn't ask you to look at the board !!!"

:)
 
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Fuel consumption reports. Important Orders (just watching "The Deadly Years")

Actually I wonder what Picard did on long intervals between planets. I mean Kirk had all these reports to sign, Janeway was working out ways to go faster, Archer was getting used to his ship.
 
CommishSleer said:
Fuel consumption reports. Important Orders (just watching "The Deadly Years")

Actually I wonder what Picard did on long intervals between planets. I mean Kirk had all these reports to sign, Janeway was working out ways to go faster, Archer was getting used to his ship.
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Sipped tea, listened to classical music and composed speeches.
 
Nerys Myk said:
CommishSleer said:
Fuel consumption reports. Important Orders (just watching "The Deadly Years")

Actually I wonder what Picard did on long intervals between planets. I mean Kirk had all these reports to sign, Janeway was working out ways to go faster, Archer was getting used to his ship.
Click to expand...
Sipped tea, listened to classical music and composed speeches.
Click to expand...
Picard could always nip down to the holodeck to play some Dixon Hill for an hour. Or he could read a book.

I suspect Picard and Janeway wouldn't care for each others' holodeck choices: "You play THAT garbage?!!"
 
Also in "Deadly Years" at Kirk's trial Spock points out that Kirk initialled a report about the Romulans breaking Code 2.

So I suppose those things like that are signed all the time on the bridge, though I agree you wouldn't something important signed off during a Romulan attack say.
 
BillJ said:
Sexual harassment settlements. :eek:
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^ This. :P

Are you kidding? That's ALL it could be. The man literally can't keep it in his pants. He was even tempted by Miri, for cryin' out loud! Go back and watch. You know I'm right. :)
 
BoredShipCapt'n said:
BillJ said:
Sexual harassment settlements. :eek:
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And paternity summons.
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He was not alone...

fyue.jpg
 
Irishman said:
Are you kidding? That's ALL it could be. The man literally can't keep it in his pants. He was even tempted by Miri, for cryin' out loud! Go back and watch. You know I'm right. :)
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He LITERALLY can't keep it in his pants? So all those times we saw him wearing pants without his penis hanging out were, what, a Talosian illusion?

Sorry, the misuse of the word "literally" is a pet peeve of mine... :-)
 
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