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Things You Didn’t Know About Your Favourite Star Trek Characters

Ask in any pub quiz "who captained the Enterprise in the original series of Star Trek?" and every team will score a point from scribbling 'Captain Kirk.' He was, after all, the most famous time-traveling captain of the Federation Starfleet, in command of their starships for more than three decades.

Yet ask those same quiz teams what the 'T' stands for in Captain James T. Kirk and most will resort to hazarding a guess or looking round to cheat. A soldier and diplomat as well as commander, Kirk managed to retain a slightly enigmatic quality.

Equally well-known is Kirk's First Officer, Mr Spock, half human and half Vulcan, renowned for his large ears, steeply angled eyebrows and strange haircut. Gene Rodenberry, originator of the show, believed that Spock's slightly devilish appearance might appeal to Star Trek's female viewers, but he never achieved sex symbol status (a label that actually became attributed more to Capt Kirk).

Mr. Spock often had to fight against his human emotions, preferring scientific reasoning and steely logic. His Vulcan 'nerve pinch' could incapacitate enemies in seconds, a skill that often came in handy, since he encountered numerous disasters throughout the series, including having his brain stolen. Thankfully, he was able to use his powers of telepathy to communicate with his crewmates and eventually Chief Medical Officer Dr McCoy restored Spock's brain to his body.

This was by no means the first time that 'Bones' McCoy had come to the rescue. Already a famous physician before joining the Starship Enterprise, he had received the Legion of Honour and was to become a long-standing friend of Captain Kirk, who gave him his nickname. 'Bones' was full of humanity and totally passionate about his beliefs.

When his fellow crewmates voiced skepticism, he would stand up for his principles, frequently clashing with Mr Spock, whose coldness infuriated him. (In a Vulcan-like move, the show's producers had recognised that DeForest Kelly, the actor originally assigned to play Spock, was actually better suited to playing the acerbic 'Bones', leaving the role of First Officer to the inimitable Leonard Nimoy.)

Serving as physicist and fellow-helmsman was Lt Hikaru Sulu. Born on Earth in San Francisco, he was first assigned in 2265 to the Enterprise as head of the astrosciences department. Just a year later he moved to the operations division, before taking up his post on the helmsman station, where he was to become the starship's Tactical Officer. In 2267 it was 'Bones' who once again saved the day, when Sulu was knocked unconscious as his console exploded in his face.

Dr McCoy diagnosed that Sulu had a heart flutter and, swiftly administering a dose or two of cordrazine, was able to bring about Sulu's immediate recovery. In 2267 the young Mr Chekov took over Tactical Officer and he and Sulu became good friends.

Second Officer on board the Enterprise was lieutenant commander Scott, the starship's chief engineer. Like Dr McCoy, 'Scotty' also regularly saved the day, coming up with unconventional last-minute solutions to the crew's latest dilemma.

His skill and technical knowledge often allowed him to take the helm when Kirk and Spock were off the Enterprise. He will be forever linked with the line "Beam me up, Scotty," although this command was never actually uttered in the original series, tripping up many a pub quiz team. And that 'T' in Captain James T. Kirk? It's Tiberius.

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Star Trek – Captain James T Kirk

"Space. The final frontier. These are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise. It's five year mission, to explore strange new worlds. To seek out new life and new civilizations. To boldly go where no man has gone before."

The adventures of Captain James Kirk and his crew on the Enterprise is the stuff of television legend. Mr. Spock, The United Federation of Planets and even the words "Beam me up, Scotty,"(though never actually said in the show) are all a part of one great, pop cultural dynasty which went on to spawn five spin off shows, eleven movies, dozens of videogames and more books than you can count.

But what about the Original Series? People still watch it and love it. But why? What is it about this iconic television show created by Gene Roddenberry in 1966  that makes us watch? When you consider all the factors, it's quite a mystery why such a deeply flawed show still has a place in our hearts.

For starters, it may be a little difficult for a modern audience to watch.

Not because of the old effects or corny alien villains but because it was a 1960's television drama and as such it had fewer commercial breaks and very little in the way of B Plots that occur on most TV shows today.

This might not sound like such a huge problem but watching 50 minutes of a single plot can be a little tiring by the time you get to episode 20. Especially when each episode is stand alone and doesn't feature any story arcs that continue throughout the series. Seriously, every episode can be jumbled up into any random order and it wouldn't make the slightest bit of difference.

None of the characters develop at all during the course of the series. No friendships get strained, no new experiences change their outlook and nothing they do has any lasting ramifications. No regular characters argue, fight, fall in love, die or have anything powerful or life-changing happen to them. Captain Kirk (William Shatner) might fall in love but only if it lasts for the one episode and that's it! It has to be a completely different person next week.

It's too self contained with no continuous narrative other than a new discovery every week. Every event, discovery, problem or argument is all wrapped up by the end of the episode and is never mentioned again. This was one of the two main rules that Roddenberry insisted on having. No serialisations. It's a real pity because later shows like The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine have excellent story arcs and shows us how exciting the whole Star Trek universe can be.

Another problem is that everyone likes each other! Sure, the odd racist comment from Dr. McCoy (DeForrest Kelley)

to Spock (Leonard Nimoy) might cause an argument but they never follow up on it, which could have been interesting.

This is Gene Roddenberry's second rule. No conflict. Humans are perfect in the future. The Federation is immaculate.

Only aliens from non Federation planets are bad. I'm sorry but how the hell can you have real drama without some sort of conflict. This is a serious problem and totally kills any opportunity for character development stone dead.

So those two ideas severely date the show but in other ways it was way ahead of it's time. The fact that the entire crew is made up of people from various ethnicities and cultures is nice but more importantly, none of them are depicted in the negative stereotypes that plagued movies and television of that time.

Uhura (Nichelle Nichols) is from Africa, Sulu (George Takei) from Japan and Chekov (Walter Koenig) from Russia are all given important (if slightly underdeveloped) roles and really struck a blow for racial equality on TV.

Pity the show's depiction of women is so offensive it's almost laughable. Take "Space Seed". The historian, being a woman, falls in love with Kahn. She wouldn't be professional about it, oh no.

She's far to emotionally imbalanced for that. She is a woman after all. "Days of the Dove". Chekov is under mind control and tries to rape a Klingon woman WHO DOESN'T FIGHT BACK! Neither does Barrows when she's attacked in "Shore Leave". Oh, and despite all the advances in race relations and technology, women can't be captains of Federation Starships in the 23rd Century, as mentioned in "The Turnabout Intruder". What the hell is up with that?

There is absolutely no defence for this and other very sexist themes in the series. None. Some might say, "It was the 60's." So was "The Avengers", the British television show which had female heroes doing more ass kicking and less screaming.

Okay, let's see here. TOS (Trek talk for The Original Series) should be the lamest, most dated and forgotten show in TV history. The show's themes don't develop at all, each episode is stand alone (The Menagerie doesn't really count) thus destroying the drama, the structure is dated and it's extremely sexist.

So why do we love it?

What makes us fans smile when it is repeated on TV? Why do we treat ourselves to a couple episodes on DVD? For some, it's nostalgia. Those who watched it back in the 60's or on it's zillionth repeat when they were kids have a lovely trip down memory lane when they hear William Shatner's commanding voice utter the immortal words "Space, the final frontier.". Others watch it because the scientific ideas were groundbreaking for a TV show at that time and it challenges our imagination. (Although the numerous "Omnipotent Alien Being" stories do get really annoying)

But there are really only 2 main reasons why it's still popular. Number 1 is that, despite what I've just said in the bulk of this article, TOS has some genuinely great stories. That's what it all boils down too. There are moments in TOS which remind us why we watch TV in the first place.

There's the nail biting episode "Balance of Terror", which gives us our first look at Romulans. "Charlie X" and "The Corbomie Maneuver" are really creepy and let us not forget the often unfairly criticized "The Trouble with Tribbles", a very funny and popular episode. Plus there's the often talked about classic "City on the Edge of Forever", an excellent blend of comedy, drama and tragedy all wonderfully played by the show's cast.

And that's the other reason. The cast is perfect. Absolutely perfect. The three leads work so well together. Shatner is thrilling as the commanding and slightly foolhardy Captain Kirk, Leonard Nimoy is magnetic as the logical alien Spock from Vulcan and DeForest Kelly is hilarious as the cantankerous yet sensitive Dr. McCoy.

The supporting cast of Scott (James Doohan) Uhura, Sulu, Chekov and even Nurse Chapel (Majel Barrett) add real life and breath to the show and are all played exceptionally well. This line up set the standard for science fiction space crews ever since. Even today, modern adventures like Mass Effect owe a debt of gratitude to this amazing crew.

Whatever the reason, despite the many flaws, Star Trek will always make us laugh, cry, shudder, jump and, dare I say it, think. Philip J. Fry in Futurama describes Star Trek as having "79 episodes. About 30 good ones." A tough but fair comment. It's not the best example of Star Trek you'll see but when it's good, it can be really good. Star Trek never forgets it's sense of exploration and adventure. And what better crew to share those adventures with.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/5075703

Captain Kirk and the best ever fight scene

You know, they say that the following video is one of the worst fight scenes ever filmed on a TV program. But for me, I think they are taking away the comedy of Star Trek. Sure, the special effects and Captain Kirk’s stunts are a lot to be desired. But checkout William Shatner’s grin throughout.

Be honest - Kirk would have laughed his way through it anyway. Enjoy!