What Sets the Enterprise Did and Did Not Need

[ZapBrannigan]

I recall Gene Roddenberry saying at some point that he went out of his way to write a vital engine room scene early on, because Desilu might not have let him build it later. It first appeared in S1E5, "The Enemy Within."

The briefing room is need in both pilots and E3, "The Corbomite Maneuver." It's funny that a room where people sit around talking was so immediately vital, while getting the ship an engine room was no sure thing.

I note that the ship's corridors have interesting nooks, like the triangular ladder and the Jefferies tube. This adds a lot of texture versatility at presumably a low cost.

 

[alensatemybuick1]

As far as I'm concerned, every set (or set redress) was needed in order to create the sense that the Enterprise was a real vessel where hundreds of people lived and worked for years at a time. One of my favorite sets, the observation corridor overlooking the hangar deck, was used only once, and I am glad for the one glimpse of it. I've always felt it was one of the more brilliant sets in terms of trying to convey the connection between the exterior and interior of the ship. I believe it was based at least in part on the Romulan BOP bridge set.

 

[ZapBrannigan]

Auxiliary Control came in with "The Doomsday Machine" (E35), and it added something. They could have cheaped out and used the Engineering panel that Kevin Riley sat at (Khan and Kang also). Auxiliary Control was only used in five episodes over the course of two years, but they spent the money.

 

[Shawnster]

I recall Gene Roddenberry saying at some point that he went out of his way to write a vital engine room scene early on, because Desilu might not have let him build it later. It first appeared in S1E5, "The Enemy Within."

I never heard that about TOS. I heard that about TNG. The story I heard was that they didn't want to spring for an Engineering room set so Roddenberry (re)wrote Encounter at Farpoint to include Picard touring the Engineering room, making that set necessary. I heard the reason he did this was because they didn't have enough money initially to build a shuttle for TOS and, as a result, poor Sulu had to spend that night in the cold in Enemy Within.

 

[Spock's Barber]

Needed set : Red Shirt Recovery Room, where security dudes can go to relax if they survive attacks by Vaal, Nomad, the Vampire Cloud, etc.

 

[tomswift2002]

I never heard that about TOS. I heard that about TNG. The story I heard was that they didn't want to spring for an Engineering room set so Roddenberry (re)wrote Encounter at Farpoint to include Picard touring the Engineering room, making that set necessary. I heard the reason he did this was because they didn't have enough money initially to build a shuttle for TOS and, as a result, poor Sulu had to spend that night in the cold in Enemy Within.

With the shuttle, apparently there were early plans for it, but the reason that it wasn't used in "The Enemy Within" was that the big model that the actors could board, wasn't ready.

 

[alensatemybuick1]

With the shuttle, apparently there were early plans for it, but the reason that it wasn't used in "The Enemy Within" was that the big model that the actors could board, wasn't ready.

Wow...so if they had the shuttle mockup ready, there would have been no drama in the episode over the fate of the crewmen, no urgency to get the transporter fixed, and no tough choices for Kirk to make. What would the episode have been about then?

 

[Kor]

The Enterprise did need the bowling alley set. Desperately so.

Kor

 

[ZapBrannigan]

I never heard that about TOS. I heard that about TNG. The story I heard was that they didn't want to spring for an Engineering room set so Roddenberry (re)wrote Encounter at Farpoint to include Picard touring the Engineering room, making that set necessary.

Yeah, I'll bet that's what I heard. So we don't necessarily have a story about the origins of our Engineering set.

 

[somebuddyX]

Bathroom.

 

[Shawnster]

Wow...so if they had the shuttle mockup ready, there would have been no drama in the episode over the fate of the crewmen, no urgency to get the transporter fixed, and no tough choices for Kirk to make. What would the episode have been about then?

Easy enough to say winds were too strong for a shuttle to land. Resolves the lack of shuttle and keeps the drama.

I thought the Memory Alpha and various Starbase and K7 interior sets were well done for the time. Sure, they were redresses, but they worked and didn't look out of place or cobbled together.

 

[ZapBrannigan]

The Engineering set was upgraded for S2. They added the Emergency Manual Monitor, which I always loved because it overlooks the main set like a balcony.

It was seen in Mirror Mirror, I Mudd, The Immunity Syndrome, By Any Other Name, and The Lights of Zetar. I think that's all; correct me if I'm wrong.

I always wished that Franz Joseph had remembered to put it in his blueprints and Technical Manual.

 

[CrazyMatt]

I would have liked to have seen a bathroom somewhere, perhaps just a sink in a bathroom (not offensive to 60's era censors). Five years is an awful long time to hold it.

 

[ZapBrannigan]

Five years is an awful long time to hold it.

It gives new meaning to "a containment breach in the warp core."

 

[Jedman67]

TNG Season 1 had a lounge that was a redress of the sickbay set. I don't recall the story exactly, but with the success of S1 they were able to get funding to revamp Sickbay and add the Observation Lounge and Ten Forward; and revamp the shuttlebay and engineering sets after S2. Although that could have been related to STV? VI? needing more sets and converting them back to TNG....

 

[Galileo7]

As far as I'm concerned, every set (or set redress) was needed in order to create the sense that the Enterprise was a real vessel where hundreds of people lived and worked for years at a time. One of my favorite sets, the observation corridor overlooking the hangar deck, was used only once, and I am glad for the one glimpse of it. I've always felt it was one of the more brilliant sets in terms of trying to convey the connection between the exterior and interior of the ship. I believe it was based at least in part on the Romulan BOP bridge set.

Agree. This “The Conscience of the King” observation corridor set that overlooks the hangar deck. I wish they had used this set on more episodes. It really would have been interesting if it had been used every time a shuttlecraft arrived in the hangar. It should have been a permanent set.

 

[Timo]

They managed to avoid showing stars behind portholes for the longest time. This added to the sense of them being in space, perversely enough, as the effect could never have been made particularly convincing, least of all if motion of the ship were to be indicated. The observation corridor set would have posed difficulties in that respect...

Apart from the bowling alley, was there any interior space mentioned but not shown? We might have benefited from seeing a cargo hold, or more probably a supplies hold; naval adventures always get a kick out of "The gunpowder's gotten all wet!", "Somebody stole the salted beef!" and "Now if the pirates knew what we have sitting on this shelf"!

Timo Saloniemi

 

[9gs]

Torpedo Room. Like the one seen in TWOK.

 

[Kor]

Torpedo Room. Like the one seen in TWOK.

Narratively speaking, the phaser control room in BOT served the purposes of a "below-decks" weapons area.

Kor

 

[Shawnster]

Photon torpedoes weren't conceived of as having casing until TWOK. Until then they were thought of as torpedoes made of photons.