124
votes
They ARE Klingons, and it's a long story... What's the story?
IN-Universe - As Worf said, it's something not discussed with non-Klingons.
OUT of Universe - To summarize, it's a very meta in-joke.
In the original series, they had a limited budget, and makeup ...
- 12.1k
121
votes
Accepted
They ARE Klingons, and it's a long story... What's the story?
Viral Mutation
This apparent discrepancy was explained in Star Trek Enterprise. Long story short, Klingons experimented with genetic mutation to make themselves stronger, much like what was ...
- 5,355
115
votes
Accepted
Starship Enterprise: Always flying left-to-right?
The large model of the Enterprise used to film those shots was rather unfinished on the port (left) side and had plugs for the power cables for the lights on the port side. So the big 11 foot model ...
- 35.2k
114
votes
Accepted
Has the autodestruct sequence ever not been aborted on a Starfleet vessel?
Yes
In Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701 - from TOS) is famously destroyed by the autodestruct sequence following the boarding of the Klingons:
- 68.1k
96
votes
Accepted
Have Star Trek actors commented on why they didn't work more after Star Trek?
The pattern here doesn't seem that unusual for the cast of a successful television show not to ever get another high-profile role; there are far more TV actors than TV roles to go around. In fact, ...
- 102k
82
votes
Accepted
Were McCoy's medical instruments Swedish salt shakers?
Yes, they were.
The following excerpt from an article quotes Gene Roddenberry himself (via the authoritative book The Making of Star Trek) as saying:
[Feinberg] went out and bought a selection of ...
- 109k
80
votes
Accepted
Source of Scotty's advice on appearing a genius
This is from Star Trek III:
Kirk: How much refit time till we can take [the Enterprise] out again?
Scotty: Eight weeks, sir. (as Kirk opens his mouth) But you don't have eight weeks, so I'll do it ...
- 158k
75
votes
Why is Worf in The Undiscovered Country?
According to Memory Alpha;
Between the fourth and fifth seasons of Star Trek: The Next
Generation, Dorn played Colonel Worf in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered
Country. Although the relationship ...
- 2,604
71
votes
Has the autodestruct sequence ever not been aborted on a Starfleet vessel?
Yes. In Voyager: Deadlock, Janeway blows up the Voyager.
- 609k
68
votes
When and why did the Enterprise get balls?
There were two versions of the Enterprise used in production.
The first one was used in the original pilot and for all of the original introduction shots.
December 29, in 1964: Craftsmen Richard ...
- 210k
68
votes
Accepted
Why does this review of Star Trek IV include an image of Link from Legend of Zelda?
It's a simple visual pun, drawing attention to the fact that the design on the front of Spock's robe:
bears a resemblance to the Triforce:
an iconic symbol of the Legend of Zelda franchise.
There's ...
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66
votes
Source of Scotty's advice on appearing a genius
This is the closest I can find, from TNG: Relics
Geordi La Forge: Look, Mr. Scott, I'd love to explain everything to you, but the Captain wants this spectrographic analysis done by
1300 hours.
...
- 1,042
66
votes
Accepted
Kirk and Spock friendship in Original Series
There are direct references to their friendship in all of the forms you have described: statements by Kirk, statements by Spock, and statements by other crew members (McCoy in particular).
TOS "...
- 109k
64
votes
Does same-species racism exist in Star Trek?
There was "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield,” a remarkably unsubtle clunker of an episode, in spite of its worthy message.
SPOILER-NOT-SPOILER: The pair above is the mirror image of the other, i.e., ...
- 24.7k
62
votes
Why does Captain Kirk wear green in the DS9 episode Trials and Tribble-ations?
The Command Tunics in TOS Were Actually Green
The costume designer for TOS was Bill Theiss:
William Ware Theiss - the designer of all the Starfleet uniforms and alien costumes seen in the 79 ...
- 651
61
votes
Accepted
What was the first 3D CGI used in Star Trek?
According to the CGI article on Memory Alpha:
The very first CGI used was in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, where Lucasfilm Graphics Group, then a subsidiary of Industrial Light & Magic (ILM),...
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60
votes
Accepted
Do we ever see a 23rd Century Starfleet Officer with facial hair?
TV Canon
We have Captain Chandra from TOS: Court Martial
And in the same vein as @N_Soong's answer, we do see two Starfleet Officers in the 23rd Century (courtesy of the episode DS9: Trials and ...
- 609k
59
votes
Was Roddenberry really so far ahead of his time on race?
Let me give a bit of qualification for my source, which is me. I was born in late 1962, so I'm working with the memories of someone who was 7 when Star Trek ended its run. But I remember the news ...
- 105k
59
votes
Accepted
Why does Kif appear at the end of "Where No Fan Has Gone Before"?
Shout-out to Balok
This most certainly harks back to the Balok puppet based on the fact that, for at least one whole season of The Original Series, a still of the Balok puppet appeared in the closing ...
- 109k
58
votes
Accepted
Could Captain Kirk have lived long enough to meet Picard?
Admiral Dr. McCoy inspects the Enterprise D in the first episode of TNG, he is 137 years old at this point. So I hazard to guess if nothing had happened and Kirk lived a long life he would have ...
- 65.4k
58
votes
Has the autodestruct sequence ever not been aborted on a Starfleet vessel?
In "Where No Man Has Gone Before", the Enterprise picks up a ship recorder from the SS Valiant, a ship that had crossed the edge of galaxy 200 years earlier. The recorder indicated that the Valiant's ...
- 8,319
57
votes
Accepted
Are the events of Enterprise considered canon?
There's no particular reason to believe Enterprise is non-canon. It was created by Rick Berman and Brannon Braga, who were at one time showrunners of The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, and Voyager.
...
- 158k
57
votes
Accepted
In Star Trek, do the Greek gods lack nipples?
First, let's establish that at least some male characters do have nipples in The Original Series :
Given what we see above, it's certainly not a general policy on TOS to have no nipples. With ...
- 109k
55
votes
Accepted
Female uniforms and colored panties in Star Trek TOS
Yes
The Franz Joseph uniform patterns from the Star Trek Technical Manual show that matching panties are a part of the normal female duty uniform. full tech manual
EDIT Some of the confusion ...
- 5,604
55
votes
Does James Kirk have any named superiors in Star Trek: The Original Series?
During TOS, James Kirk holds the rank of Captain and therefore anyone who holds a higher rank is his superior. In later installments the rank of Admiral (and its various sub-ranks, such as Vice ...
- 16.3k
54
votes
Accepted
Where did the nickname of 'Bones' for McCoy come from?
Kirk calls McCoy "Sawbones" in TOS: A Piece of the Action.
I would hypothesise that "bones" is a contraction of "sawbones".
MCCOY: Jim.
KIRK: Knock it off, Sawbones. I want to talk to this ...
- 609k
53
votes
Accepted
What episode of Star Trek is this creature from?
This is from "The Enemy Within", episode 5 of season 1 of Star Trek: The Original Series. The creature is never named in the episode, although the planet they found it on is stated to be Alpha 177, so ...
- 8,978
53
votes
Accepted
Did Lucille Ball have a creative influence on Star Trek?
Yes... ish
By all accounts, no other studio / network was willing to take on Roddenberry's new project called "Star Trek" - so her approval for producing the series at Desilu is probably the most ...
- 39.1k
52
votes
Accepted
When and why did the Enterprise get balls?
Out-of-universe, this was due to the existence of more than one Enterprise model, and to footage being reused:
The second configuration, used in the second pilot (and throughout the
rest of the ...
- 68.1k
51
votes
Accepted
Do they still use days of the week or months in the era of Stardates?
Yes, they use days of the week as well as months.
It's a running gag in Star Trek: Generations that the necessary equipment will be installed on Tuesday.
HARRIMAN: We don't have a tractor beam.
...
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