What Sets the Enterprise Did and Did Not Need

[ZapBrannigan]

With the scene in Charlie X, where Kirk is showing Charlie the different throws, I always thought that there was a probably a pool and sauna, maybe a tennis court or a room that could double as either a tennis court or a squash court, nearby to make a full gymnasium complex.

I don't like to envision the Enterprise as too recreation-oriented, like the Love Boat. I could see a single racketball court, but not tennis. And I would omit the swimming pool. In my head cannon, Riley's bowling alley was a drunken joke he was telling, like a Monty Python announcer. Humor of the absurd.

 

[F. King Daniel]

TNG's Engineering is the same set as the one from the TOS films, isn't it?

Yes, very heavily modified. The area with the "pool table" is where the forced-perspective horizontal intermix shaft used to be. I think only the housing for the main shaft, the glass floors around it, the emergency containment door and the lift to the upper level are the only original elements remaining.

 

[Maurice]

From what I recall, the set that we saw in TMP had first been constructed for New Voyages in 75, and then it was upgraded for theatrical use, and then appeard in Star Trek II. Star Trek III you had that one section of Scotty in engineering right at the start of the movie saying that everything was almost fixed, but that didn't show the entire set, just a small wall that James Doohan was in front of for the one scene, otherwise engineering wasn't in the movie. Star Trek IV didn't feature the Enterprise's engineering. The set was then repurposed for TNG, with parts removed, repainted and rearranged. One thing retained from the TMP set in, essentialy, it's TMP appearance was the elevator that you see Picard and Worf riding down in Encounter At Farpoint that Kirk had earlier ridden in TMP. Star Trek V had Scotty roaming all over the Enterprise-A due to the deteriorated condition of that ship, so main engineering was not seen, although where Scotty bumps his head, as far as I can tell, was meant to be somewhere under main engineering. By the time Star Trek VI came around and an engineering set was needed (not to mention corridors), it was cheaper and easier to redress the TNG sets. And then later the set was modified to be Voyager's main engineering, and as I recall was finally struck and torn down in 2001 at the end of Voyager.

There was never a show called New Voyages (that's a book series and a fanfilm series). You are referring to Star Trek Phase II, which quickly became Star Trek II minus the Phase. That project started in 1977, NOT 1975, almost immediately after the May 8 termination of Phil Kaufman's Star Trek—The Motion Picture (better known in fan circles by its treatment name: Planet of the Titans). Set construction appears to have commenced in late 77. The base Enterprise sets were reworked for Wise's ST:TMP, and reused in subsequent films with various redressing before being remodeled to be the TNG sets and subsequently the Voyager sets. The stage plans make this abundantly clear. CLICK HERE TO SEE FOR YOURSELF.

And, no the "pool table" was not back were the TMP forced perspective section was, it was located in what had previously been the spoke corridor leading to engineering.

 

[Timo]

I don't like to envision the Enterprise as too recreation-oriented, like the Love Boat.

Recreation might be the only thing in the saucer that required any space. Even if people lower down the totem pole than Ensign Garrovick enjoyed those single-bed rooms, 430 people could be accommodated with space left over. OTOH, their cabins would be extremely spartan, really yelling for rooms with amenities to keep the crew sane for five years.

And we do hear of numerous "recreation rooms", one of them apparently spanning decks 3 through 5 (a likely editing error in "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield" but nicely consistent with a facility of that exact sort in the first movie).

I could see a single racketball court, but not tennis. And I would omit the swimming pool. In my head cannon, Riley's bowling alley was a drunken joke he was telling, like a Monty Python announcer. Humor of the absurd.

If the ship had the virtual reality environment we later saw in TAS, then sports fields could be replaced by simulations - it wouldn't matter if they were crude and indeed downright cartoonish ones, it would still be nice to play indoors soccer even if the ball was low-poly and there was only one shape of grass blade multiplied a million times over.

However, I'd still keep a swimming pool, because swimming in low resolution water would probably not be comfortable...

Which of these facilities would have served a dramatic purpose in the show? We got some nice recreational facilities in the third season, but the pool would have been visually interesting, potentially reasonably cheap, and perhaps even a plot element with mysterious drownings, watery confrontations with the adversary of the week, whatnot. And never underestimate what Theiss could have done with swimsuits.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[JonnyQuest037]

In my head cannon, Riley's bowling alley was a drunken joke he was telling, like a Monty Python announcer. Humor of the absurd.

John Byrne had a great extrapolation of what the "bowling alley" was in issue #10 of his New Visions comic book series: A long bank of secondary batteries that runs almost the entire length of the secondary hull. The bowling alley was a nickname that the junior engineers gave it. That's in my headcanon now.

And never underestimate what Theiss could have done with swimsuits.

I wouldn't dream of it! The mind boggles.

 

[tomswift2002]

Yes, very heavily modified. The area with the "pool table" is where the forced-perspective horizontal intermix shaft used to be. I think only the housing for the main shaft, the glass floors around it, the emergency containment door and the lift to the upper level are the only original elements remaining.

Encounter at Farpoint also included a shot of 3 decks around the warp core and people working on all 3 decks, something that was also seen in TMP. Plus, in TMP when Kirk is looking down the warp core, the horizontal intermix chamber looks very similar to at least one of the side tubes on the TNG warp core, with most likely a duplicate having been constructed for the other side.

I don't like to envision the Enterprise as too recreation-oriented, like the Love Boat. I could see a single racketball court, but not tennis. And I would omit the swimming pool. In my head cannon, Riley's bowling alley was a drunken joke he was telling, like a Monty Python announcer. Humor of the absurd.

When I was reading Vulcan's Glory this past summer, D.C. Fontana suggested in the novel that on Pike's Enterprise at one point there was a room designed for zero-g or null gravity activities (as I recall she had it set up just below the saucer section, in the neck where the two gravitational fields for the saucer and stardrive section overlap). She had Number One and the Chief Engineer playing a form of dodge ball in that room.
But with the racquet ball/tennis room, I was thinking of a multi-purpose room that could be set up for any racquet sport, including badminton.
And a swimming pool, besides being a recreational device, would also be helpful for medical if someone broke a leg, for example.

 

[ZapBrannigan]

And a swimming pool, besides being a recreational device, would also be helpful for medical if someone broke a leg, for example.

NBC's Supertrain had an onboard swimming pool, but it was a very small pool and the show was terrible.

If there are still any real-life engineering considerations in the 23rd century that haven't been done away with by magical technology, then a large swimming pool is problematic aboard a spaceship.

- Water has a lot of mass, meaning you consume a lot fuel pushing it though space. And when you get where you're going, extra mass onboard means more fuel is used to slow down.

- Even with highly efficient water treatment and reclamation machinery, you need a lot of water onboard to support 430 people for five years. Your recycling of used water would never be 100 percent efficient.

I think the ship's ability to carry water would be taken up entirely by the vital needs for water. Having so much spare capacity that the designers would throw in a full-sized swimming pool strains my imagination.

 

[The Old Mixer]

Eh, considering all the other mass the Enterprise is carrying around, a swimming pool would be a drop in the bucket, if you'll pardon the expression.

And they're not that far off from replicator tech, so their water recycling could be extremely efficient.

 

[scotpens]

NBC's Supertrain had an onboard swimming pool, but it was a very small pool and the show was terrible.

So did The Big Bus -- in fact, it also had a single-lane bowling alley!

 

[spockboy]

I wish Matt Jefferies had loved using process screens.

Spockboy

 

[Push The Button]

I wish Matt Jefferies had loved using process screens.

Spockboy

I love this.

 

[J.T.B.]

So did The Big Bus -- in fact, it also had a single-lane bowling alley!

I was about to post the same thing!

 

[Galileo7]

I wish Matt Jefferies had loved using process screens.

Spockboy

I like it, they should have done it. In '65-1968, in color seasons 2 through 4 of Irwin Allen's Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea had the Seaview control room with four large windows that depicted the ocean via rear projection and looked very impressive.

 

[alensatemybuick1]

So did The Big Bus -- in fact, it also had a single-lane bowling alley!

Years ago, I recall reading that the pressure chamber door from McCoy's lab was re-used in that movie, in a laboratory scene in the beginning. I have not seen the movie in years, but does anyone recall seeing it in the movie or at least reading about its use in it?

 

[Mytran]

With the scene in Charlie X, where Kirk is showing Charlie the different throws, I always thought that there was a probably a pool and sauna, maybe a tennis court or a room that could double as either a tennis court or a squash court, nearby to make a full gymnasium complex.

It certainly doubled for the ship's theatre, as you can see those levers that "Sam" was working out on at the back of the audience seating area

http://tos.trekcore.com/hd/albums/1x13hd/theconscienceofthekinghd443.jpg

 

[nightwind1]

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

That's what I always thought. When I saw the casing in TWOK, my immediate thought was "What the fuck? That's not right..."

 

[Spock's Barber]

I wish Matt Jefferies had loved using process screens.

Spockboy

I'm sure he would have gone hog wild with the sets, except he was limited by the budget. Too bad.

 

[ZapBrannigan]

That's what I always thought. When I saw the casing in TWOK, my immediate thought was "What the..."

I had that reaction in ST6, with the traditional galley that directly contradicted The Making of Star Trek ("No chefs in white hats here"), and the crew quarters that put so many bunk beds in one room. All of this stuff including the torpedoes must have come from Nicholas Meyer. It's very different from TMP.

 

[Mytran]

Agreed except on the bunks issue. While it may have gone against what GR originally envisioned, the only way you're going to fit 430 crew into non-bunk accommodations is for 95% of the Enterprise interior to be bedrooms.

Bunks are just way too practical NOT to be used

 

[DonIago]

It's not that 95% of the Enterprise wasn't bedrooms, it's that 95% of those bedrooms were reserved for Kirk's exclusive usage.