I was watching a rerun of Star Trek: The Next Generation and it got me to thinking about a potential nit. As a rule, I don't want to post nits to this blog about Star Trek episodes or films completed prior to this blog's inception. But I couldn't find any mention of my nit in the standard nitpicking texts.
It was about the first season episode "Too Short a Season," in which Admiral Mark Jameson (Clayton Rohner), old, frail and weak from the effects of Iverson's disease, came aboard the Enterprise on a mission to solve a hostage crisis on a planet he'd been to decades before. Picard is obviously concerned that the wheelchair-bound old Admiral might not be up to the mission, but at the same time gives him all due military courtesy. Picard doesn't know that Jameson obtains a rejuvenating drug untested for humans. By the time of the final confrontation, the old Admiral looks more like a teenager than a seasoned flag officer.
As far as I can tell from this episode, Jameson continued to serve in Starfleet after being diagnosed with Iverson's disease, which, to Dr. Crusher's knowledge, is incurable. My question is: how come Jameson didn't retire from Starfleet after his diagnosis? Or get some kind of medical discharge? In today's military, a serious and incurable ailment like Iverson's would be a completely understandable reason to be released from duty.
In the 24th Century we imagine that the monetary aspect of retirement would become irrelevant; Jameson would get medical care, and food and shelter, regardless of the facts of his service record. But the reason for retirement would still exist, even more so than today: when people live long enough, they will inevitably reach a point when they are no longer able to do their jobs.
Phil Farrand does point out in the Nitpicker's Guide for Next Generation Trekkers that the transporter pad does not have a wheelchair ramp, and yet Jameson came aboard the Enterprise with a wheelchair. Clearly there are many varied obstacles to Jameson's continued service. But I don't see anything in either the Nitpicker's Guide nor at NitCentral suggesting that Jameson ought to have retired from Starfleet. Sure he can be recalled for one last mission, but his wearing of the uniform suggests that he continued to serve. When Admiral McCoy showed up the first episode, he was wearing civilian clothes. And though much older in years, he was in better shape than Jameson at the beginning of this episode!
Showing posts with label Star Trek: The Next Generation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Star Trek: The Next Generation. Show all posts
Monday, January 18, 2010
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Something Sheldon should know
The show: The Big Bang Theory
The episode: "The Creepy Candy Coating Corollary," first aired on CBS last night.
What happened: Sheldon (Jim Parsons) and Raj (Kunal Nayyar) sign up as a team for a card game tournament. I don't remember what Raj's reason was for joining the tournament, but Sheldon's was the opportunity to defeat Wil Wheaton (Wil Wheaton) in revenge for failing to show up at a Star Trek convention in 1995. Sheldon and Raj easily make it to the finals, facing off against Wil Wheaton and Stuart (Kevin Sussman). Sheldon is close to defeating Wil when he discloses the reason for his animosity. In response, Wil says he failed to show up to the convention because his grandmother died. Sheldon immediately changes his tone and throws the game. Wil makes the winning move and then claims his grandmother did not really die, and gives a frivolous reason for not showing up at the convention.
Why it doesn't quite make sense: While it's true that there are gaps in Sheldon's knowledge (he doesn't know about Radiohead, for example), I find it quite surprising that he knows Wil's nickname for his grandmother, yet doesn't know whether or not she's still alive. The real life status of Wil Wheaton's grandmother is irrelevant for this nit (though I must admit I'm curious). Whatever it is in the semi-fictional world of The Big Bang Theory, Sheldon should know. If in 1995 Sheldon was really so distraught over Wil's no-show, wouldn't he have endeavored to find out what happened? In the process, wouldn't he have learned something about the Wheaton family? Even if he didn't, the episode establishes that Sheldon has a photographic memory. (Eidetic memory, whatever). Doesn't Sheldon subscribe to at least one Star Trek fan publication? Surely one of them would have explained why Wil failed to show up at the 1995 convention.
Lastly, I find Sheldon's decision to throw the game somewhat out of character. Sheldon is not generally known to agree to conciliatory gestures suggested by others, much less come up with a conciliatory gesture on his own. Wouldn't Sheldon instead have won the game anyway, if not for revenge then at least to show his superiority?
The episode: "The Creepy Candy Coating Corollary," first aired on CBS last night.
What happened: Sheldon (Jim Parsons) and Raj (Kunal Nayyar) sign up as a team for a card game tournament. I don't remember what Raj's reason was for joining the tournament, but Sheldon's was the opportunity to defeat Wil Wheaton (Wil Wheaton) in revenge for failing to show up at a Star Trek convention in 1995. Sheldon and Raj easily make it to the finals, facing off against Wil Wheaton and Stuart (Kevin Sussman). Sheldon is close to defeating Wil when he discloses the reason for his animosity. In response, Wil says he failed to show up to the convention because his grandmother died. Sheldon immediately changes his tone and throws the game. Wil makes the winning move and then claims his grandmother did not really die, and gives a frivolous reason for not showing up at the convention.
Why it doesn't quite make sense: While it's true that there are gaps in Sheldon's knowledge (he doesn't know about Radiohead, for example), I find it quite surprising that he knows Wil's nickname for his grandmother, yet doesn't know whether or not she's still alive. The real life status of Wil Wheaton's grandmother is irrelevant for this nit (though I must admit I'm curious). Whatever it is in the semi-fictional world of The Big Bang Theory, Sheldon should know. If in 1995 Sheldon was really so distraught over Wil's no-show, wouldn't he have endeavored to find out what happened? In the process, wouldn't he have learned something about the Wheaton family? Even if he didn't, the episode establishes that Sheldon has a photographic memory. (Eidetic memory, whatever). Doesn't Sheldon subscribe to at least one Star Trek fan publication? Surely one of them would have explained why Wil failed to show up at the 1995 convention.
Lastly, I find Sheldon's decision to throw the game somewhat out of character. Sheldon is not generally known to agree to conciliatory gestures suggested by others, much less come up with a conciliatory gesture on his own. Wouldn't Sheldon instead have won the game anyway, if not for revenge then at least to show his superiority?
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Starfleet's obsession with constantly changing uniforms
The new Star Trek film (J. J. Abrams, 2009) messes with the timeline, pissing fans off with such insults as destroying planet Vulcan and having a Nokia phone in a car driven by the child Kirk, but it also shows one thing as constant: Starfleet's obsession with changing uniforms.
The familiar Starfleet uniforms from the original series are practically the same in the new film. There is a significant difference in the texture of the tunic's fabric, but given the vastly superior resolution of modern film compared to television of the 1960s, there is nothing wrong with believing that the uniforms in the original series and those in the new film are the same, just that in the original series we couldn't appreciate all the detail. (I might have to revise this theory once I spring for a Blu-ray player).
However, at the time of James T. Kirk's birth, Starfleet was apparently using uniforms similar to those in TNG "Future Imperfect" that is, with the deparment color (e.g., "blue" = medical/science) over most of the uniform, as shown in the earliest scenes of the new Star Trek film. Then, by the time James T. Kirk becomes captain of the Enterprise (way too quickly in the new film), Starfleet has switched over to the department color tunic with black pants for the starship service uniform, but apparently cadets wear a red uniform. Then, for barely five years, Starfleet switched to dull-looking white and gray uniforms (for Star Trek: The Motion Picture). And then another change, to brighter red uniforms! The real-life explanation is of course since the 1979 film was not quite the success the producers had hoped for, there was no incentive to keep the uniforms.
And since no films or TV shows have been set in the time between the decommissioning of the Enterprise-A and Captain Picard taking command of the Enterprise-D, there was no need to change the uniforms during that time frame. Early in his Starfleet career, Picard wore the same kind of uniform officers aboard the USS Excelsior wore during Sulu's command. But the next twenty years of Starfleet show a renewed manic pace for uniform changes: mild adjustments from Season 1 to Season 7 of Star Trek: The Next Generation, then a 'reversal' of colors (e.g., doctors like Dr. Bashir now had teal on the shoulders and black below, instead of black on the shoulders and teal below). Star Trek: Deep Space Nine began during Season 6 of TNG, but apparently the Enterprise crew didn't have to change over to the new uniforms until the crash of the Enterprise-D on Veridian in the seventh film, Star Trek Generations. For the next film, Star Trek: First Contact, new, more 'cinematic' uniforms were once again called for. The dress uniform versions introduced in Star Trek: Insurrection are actually quite nice; if I ever did Star Trek cosplay, that would be my costume.
But before I bore you any further with the whole history of Starfleet uniforms, consider that U. S. Navy uniforms barely changed in the 20th Century. Star Trek: Enterprise suggests Starfleet uniforms in the early days of the Federation are closely modeled on those of our present day U. S. Navy. The Admirals on Earth wear a uniform with a black jacket and a black tie. The uniform worn by Captain Archer aboard the Enterprise NX-01 would not look terribly out of place aboard a present day submarine. Let's also consider the uniforms of U. S. Marines: up to the Vietnam era, the combat uniform was plain green. To improve stealth, the woodland pattern was introduced later. And most recently, 'digital' cammies have been adopted by the Marines and the Army because studies show a significant improvement in camouflage over the earlier woodland pattern, and they just plain blow the old all-green uniforms out of the water in that department. But in space, where Starfleet will operate, what possible advantage could there be to constantly changing the uniforms?
The familiar Starfleet uniforms from the original series are practically the same in the new film. There is a significant difference in the texture of the tunic's fabric, but given the vastly superior resolution of modern film compared to television of the 1960s, there is nothing wrong with believing that the uniforms in the original series and those in the new film are the same, just that in the original series we couldn't appreciate all the detail. (I might have to revise this theory once I spring for a Blu-ray player).
However, at the time of James T. Kirk's birth, Starfleet was apparently using uniforms similar to those in TNG "Future Imperfect" that is, with the deparment color (e.g., "blue" = medical/science) over most of the uniform, as shown in the earliest scenes of the new Star Trek film. Then, by the time James T. Kirk becomes captain of the Enterprise (way too quickly in the new film), Starfleet has switched over to the department color tunic with black pants for the starship service uniform, but apparently cadets wear a red uniform. Then, for barely five years, Starfleet switched to dull-looking white and gray uniforms (for Star Trek: The Motion Picture). And then another change, to brighter red uniforms! The real-life explanation is of course since the 1979 film was not quite the success the producers had hoped for, there was no incentive to keep the uniforms.
And since no films or TV shows have been set in the time between the decommissioning of the Enterprise-A and Captain Picard taking command of the Enterprise-D, there was no need to change the uniforms during that time frame. Early in his Starfleet career, Picard wore the same kind of uniform officers aboard the USS Excelsior wore during Sulu's command. But the next twenty years of Starfleet show a renewed manic pace for uniform changes: mild adjustments from Season 1 to Season 7 of Star Trek: The Next Generation, then a 'reversal' of colors (e.g., doctors like Dr. Bashir now had teal on the shoulders and black below, instead of black on the shoulders and teal below). Star Trek: Deep Space Nine began during Season 6 of TNG, but apparently the Enterprise crew didn't have to change over to the new uniforms until the crash of the Enterprise-D on Veridian in the seventh film, Star Trek Generations. For the next film, Star Trek: First Contact, new, more 'cinematic' uniforms were once again called for. The dress uniform versions introduced in Star Trek: Insurrection are actually quite nice; if I ever did Star Trek cosplay, that would be my costume.
But before I bore you any further with the whole history of Starfleet uniforms, consider that U. S. Navy uniforms barely changed in the 20th Century. Star Trek: Enterprise suggests Starfleet uniforms in the early days of the Federation are closely modeled on those of our present day U. S. Navy. The Admirals on Earth wear a uniform with a black jacket and a black tie. The uniform worn by Captain Archer aboard the Enterprise NX-01 would not look terribly out of place aboard a present day submarine. Let's also consider the uniforms of U. S. Marines: up to the Vietnam era, the combat uniform was plain green. To improve stealth, the woodland pattern was introduced later. And most recently, 'digital' cammies have been adopted by the Marines and the Army because studies show a significant improvement in camouflage over the earlier woodland pattern, and they just plain blow the old all-green uniforms out of the water in that department. But in space, where Starfleet will operate, what possible advantage could there be to constantly changing the uniforms?
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