1. WHAT IS STAR TREK?
For those among us living in a cave the last 40+ years, Star Trek was a television science fiction show that aired on NBC television for three seasons, from 1966, until 1969, and which chronicled the adventures of the Starship Enterprise, a paramilitary exploration vessel sent out by an organization known as Starfleet Command to explore strange new worlds on behalf of the United Federation of Planets. It has become, in the interceding years, a global phenomenon, with sequels and prequels made of the original show. There are now Star Trek books, movies, comics, cartoons, games, etc. and they all spawned from the original television series.

2. WHAT DOES THIS NEWSGROUP DISCUSS?
This newsgroup is devoted to discussion of all things regarding the *original* Star Trek NBC series (known by the abbreviation "TOS"). Because Star Trek has ingrained itself in so many areas of entertainment and culture, those discussions can be far afield, so almost everything is on topic here, since almost everything can be connected to Star Trek. A reference to the relevance to Star Trek is usually appreciated in all subjects discussed here. This group is not a moderated one.

3. CAN I BE INVOLVED IN THE DISCUSSION?
Of course! Star Trek is nothing if not inclusive. You might want to read a few posts, and learn the nuances of this group, but you are more than welcome to jump right in. Be aware that many of the people that post here are very broad in their knowledge of all things Trek. If you are going to disagree with someone, be prepared to back it up with facts and references to the show. If you have a specific question, you may be able to see if it has been answered before, by going to http://www.google.com, and searching for previous posts containing key words of your question.

4. THAT'S ALL WELL AND GOOD, BUT I SEE ALL THESE STAR TREK RELATED WORDS AND ACRONYMS BEING THROWN ABOUT. WHAT DO THEY MEAN?
As with any culture, Star Trek has created a bit of its own language. Here are some of the phrases that are part of the world of Star Trek.

B&B: B&B: Everywhere else, this stands for "Bed & Breakfast". Here, it refers to the last initials of the two men, Rick Berman and Brannon Braga, that were in charge of the Star Trek franchise from Gene Roddenberry's death, through the end of Enterprises' run. Sometimes not held in high esteem by fans of TOS, because of perceived lack of respect for that show, but they take heat from fans of all the shows.

CANON: Short dictionary definition of Canon: "A body of works or writings recognized as approved or official." In Star Trek "Canon" is a word thrown about to indicate absolute truths about what happened on the show. Thus, what constitutes canon is the actual content of the episodes of the various Star Trek television shows and theatrical features. For obvious reasons, this excludes fanfic. It also excludes the novels, technical manuals, and other products such as the comic books from Gold Key, Marvel, and DC, despite the fact that these are "officially licensed" products. In addition, the half-hour animated television series featuring the voices of most of the cast of Star Trek (TAS) is generally excluded from canon as well, possibly because it was produced by Filmation, rather than Paramount, though no official reason has been given. Interpretations of Canon create a lot of the discussions in alt.tv.star-trek.tos.

CLASSIC TREK: Another name for The Original Series, which was used in the late 80's, after the premier of The Next Generation, when the "New Coke" fiasco was fresh in everyone's mind, the idea being that The Next Generation was to New Coke what The Original Series was to Coca-Cola Classic. A few wits went so far as to apply the nickname "Diet Trek" to the Animated Series. With the advent of the internet, the name "Classic Trek" gradually gave way to the easier-to-type "TOS". Nowadays, the term "Classic Trek" can be taken to loosely refer to the entire onscreen adventures of the original crew, namely the original Series, the Animated Series, and the first 6 Star Trek movies.

DS9: Abbreviation for the fourth Star Trek series, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, which appeared as a syndicated show from 1993 to 1999. This was the first show to not feature the starship Enterprise, as it was set aboard a stationary space station. Its only connection to The Original Series is an occasional reference to that show. This show takes place at roughly the same time period as TNG, roughly 80 years after TOS.

ENTERPRISE (Ship): Name of the ship (Registry Number NCC-1701) that is used throughout the run of The Original Series. This ship was finally destroyed in the motion picture, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock.

ENTERPRISE A: (Ship) Ship introduced at the very end of Star Trek IV and used during the next two TOS movies.

ENTERPRISE (Show): The sixth and most recent show in the Star Trek franchise. Enterprise was the first 'Star Trek' franchise series to be set prior to the events of TOS (approximiately 100 years earlier). Show debuted on The Paramount Network in 2001, and ran for four seasons, ending in 2005. The only connection to the Original Series was the use of the name Enterprise and some of the alien species and planets first mentioned in The Original Series, though such references frequently contradicted previously established facts.

FANFIC: Short for Fan Fiction. Unlicensed writings about TOS characters by fans of the show.

REDSHIRTS: Security Guards that appear on the show, usually only long enough to die a grisly death. They are named this because of the color of their shirts. (Duh)

RETCON: "Retroactive Continuity". A process where things that were considered true in an early episode are changed in later episodes, sometimes deliberately, sometimes accidentally. In many cases, the last word is considered, the authoritative one, though this is sometimes highly debatable. Also, not all changed concepts are necessarily mutually exclusive. For example, if Captain Kirk has one middle initial in the pilot, but a different middle initial is used every other time such is referenced, this could be considered a change, or it could just be that he's got two middle initials.

SLASH: A term used by writers of fanfic to indicate a pairing of two or more Star Trek characters. The term comes from the "slash" used between the characters in the writing. Such as, Spock/Chapel, which would be fan fiction that would have a Spock and Christine Chapel relation in it. Slash fiction can take many forms, homosexual; heterosexual and multi species pairings are not uncommon. There are four other newsgroups, alt.tv.star-trek.tos.slash, alt.sex.fetish.startrek, alt.startrek.creative.erotica, and alt.startrek.creative.erotica.moderated, specially devoted to discussions of this nature.

K/S: A particular type of slash fan fiction devoted to theorizing a homosexual relation Kirk and Spock. This particular genre of fanfic has been the subject of a long-term trolling attack on this newsgroup that has stretched over several years. The topic is, strictly speaking, off topic here, and belongs rather in one of the four newsgroups mentioned above.

TAS: Abbreviation for The Animated Series, which ran for two seasons in 1973 and 1974. This was the first sequel to TOS. No longer considered Canon by the powers at Paramount, but it did have Gene Roddenberry's approval, and direct participation, and had many of the Original Series actors and writers working on it.

TMP: Abbreviation for Star Trek: The Motion Picture, the first Star Trek movie.

TNG: Abbreviation for Star Trek: The Next Generation, the 3rd Star Trek series, and the second sequel to the original. This show appeared in syndication for 1987 until 1994. This show takes place approximately 80 years after The Original Series, and had an all-new cast, with only very rare appearances by cast members from TOS

TOS: Acronym for "Star Trek", the original series, that ran from 1966 until 1969 on NBC television. This show (along with TAS) is the primary focus of this group, and is by far the best of any Star Trek series. :) All other Star Trek shows are pale imitations of this, the original and the most entertaining.

TPTB: Abbreviation for "The Powers That Be". Usually used in a derisive tone when you are PO'ed about something that the creators of the show have done.

TIIC: Acronym for "The Idiots In Charge". A more derisive term for TPTB.

VOYAGER (Show): Name of the ship and series featured in the fifth Star Trek series, Star Trek: Voyager, which appeared on The Paramount Network, from 1995 until 2001. Set in the same time frame as The Next Generation, about 80-90 years after the events of TOS, this show has only passing references to The Original Series.

FANWANK: This refers to inventing an explanation not suggested in the show itself in order to explain away a possible error. For example, for the last 50 years, people have been asking of Gilligan's Island why the Howells had so much luggage along with them for a three hour tour. If you want to offer a serious explanation (rather than saying "It's an absurdist comedy, get a life!) you might argue that the Minnow also operated as an inter-island ferry, and that the Howells were in the process of changing hotels from one island to another while they went on the tour. No dialogue in the show suggests this is so, but it's a plausible enough explanation (for those who really need one).

KITBASH: An exercise in fan fiction involving rewriting multiple existing episodes into one. For example, one might kitbash the episodes For the World is Hollow And I Have Touched the Sky with The Paradise Syndrome, by positing that Yonada was the asteroid heading towards Miramanee's world (which is why the asteroid had to be deflected, rather than destroyed; because it was inhabited). The resulting story might actually be better than the existing episodes in this case.

5. WHAT DO SOME OF THESE OTHER NON-TREK RELATED ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS MEAN?
Here are some basic Newsgroup words and acronyms you might see bandied about...

AFAIK: As Far As I Know

alt (or) alt.: Usually seen with a dot after it, as "alt." (pronounced: alt-dot) this refers to a large variety of newsgroups that discuss "alternative" topics.

CROSSPOST: To post a message to several newsgroups simultaneously - an action usually frowned on in Internet culture.

FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions: (pronounced: fak (or) F-A-Q)A list of recurring questions and answers related to a newsgroup, software, Web site, or whatever. FAQ lists prevent newsgroup discussions from being overrun by common user questions.

FLAME: To send nasty or insulting messages, usually in response to someone's having broken the rules of netiquette.

FLAME WAR: When an online discussion degenerates into a series of personal attacks against the debaters, rather than discussion of their positions. A heated exchange.

FWIW: For What It's Worth

FYI: For Your Information

GOOGLE: A search engine for searching internet sites, including Usenet. It can be found at http://www.google.com

HTH: Hope This (or That) Helps.

IMHO: In My Humble Opinion.

IIRC: If I Remember Correctly

IMNSHO: In My Not So Humble Opinion

IMO: In My Opinion

J/K: Just Kidding!

KILLFILE: Another word for message filtering. There are settings in your usenet software that let you filter out USENET postings to some extent, by excluding messages on certain topics or from certain people.

LOL: Laughing Out Loud -or- Lots of Luck (or Love)

LURK: To read messages in a newsgroup or chat area without ever posting.

LURKER: A visitor to a newsgroup or online service who only reads other people posts but never posts his or her own messages, thus remaining anonymous.

NETIQUETTE: The informal rules of etiquette that govern online interaction on the Internet.

NEWBIE: Somebody new to the Internet or to computers in general.

NEWSGROUPS: A part of the Internet which allows users to "post" and "reply to" messages from other users.

OT: Off Topic. When starting a thread that is off the topic of TOS, it is generally considered good Netiquette to begin the thread's title with "OT: ", to identify it as such.

PLONK: A shorthand way of saying "I am placing you in my killfile, so don't bother talking to me any more because I won't hear it." Legend has it that the word Plonk is an acronym for "Please Leave Our Newsgroup: Killfiled". Yeah, whatever. As a word of warning, don't tell someone you're plonking them unless you really intend to follow through. It frequently happens that someone says they're plonking someone, but can't resist continuing to read their messages to see their reaction. If this person gets caught responding to the plonked person's messages a week later, they may never hear the end of it.

POV: Point of View.

ROTFL: Rolling On The Floor Laughing.

ROTFLMAO: Rolling on the Floor laughing my a$$ off.

SHOUTING: Chatters and Usenet posters will often tell others to "stop shouting." It's another way of saying, "TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK!" Generally speaking, chatting, posting, and sending e-mail in all uppercase is considered rude.

TROLL: The act of posting a message in a newsgroup that is obviously exaggerating something on a particular topic, hoping to trick a newbie into posting a follow-up article that points out the mistake. A "Troll" is a person that spends all their time trying to disrupt the normal discussion of a particular newsgroup to bring attention onto themselves. As with all newsgroups, alt.tv.star-trek.tos has its share of Trolls, and you will quickly learn who they are. Watch and see who seems to be causing most of the problems in the newsgroup, and be prepared to use your killfile. Do not let Trolls disrupt your enjoyment of the Star Trek newsgroup experience.

USENET: Often referred to as just the "newsgroups", USENET is a distributed bulletin board system.

6. WHO ARE SOME OF THE MAIN CHARACTERS IN THE SHOW?

CAPTAIN KIRK, (James T. R. Kirk): Captain of The Enterprise during the entire run of The Original Series. Played by William Shatner.

COMMANDER SPOCK: Half Vulcan, Half Human First officer and Science officer of the Enterprise throughout the run of The Original Series, played by Leonard Nimoy. Has a father, Sarek (Played by Mark Lenard), and a mother, Amanda (Played by Jane Wyatt). Referred to as "Lt. Commander Spock" in a couple of First Season episodes, though his braid never reflected this.

LT. COMMANDER MCCOY, (Leonard H. McCoy): Chief Medical Officer of the Enterprise throughout most of The Original Series. Played by Deforest Kelly. Nicknamed "Bones" by Captain Kirk.

LT. COMMANDER SCOTT, (Montgomery Scott, aka Scotty): Chief Engineer of the Enterprise throughout the Original Series run. Played by James Doohan.

LT. UHURA: Chief communication officer aboard the Enterprise throughout most of the Original Series run. Played by Nichelle Nichols.

LT. SULU, (Hikaru Sulu): Helmsman aboard the Enterprise during most of the Original Series run. Played by George Takei.

ENSIGN CHEKOV, (Pavel Andreivich Chekov): Helmsman and weapons officer during the second and third seasons of The Original Series run. Played by Walter Koenig.

YEOMAN RAND, (Janice Rand): Blonde yeoman that appeared in 8 episodes, all in the first half of the First Season, and in four of the six TOS movies. Played by Grace Lee Whitney.

NURSE CHAPEL, (Christine Chapel): Nurse on the Enterprise, played by Majel Barrett, who married Gene Roddenberry after the series.

LT. RILEY, (Kevin Riley): Crewman who played an important part in two first season TOS episodes. Played by Bruce Hyde.

CAPTAIN PIKE, (Christopher Pike): Captain on the Enterprise before Kirk, in the original series pilot episode. This pilot was never broadcast during the series run, but most of it was integrated into a 2-part series episode, and slightly modified versions of the original pilot were later released on VHS and DVD. In The Cage, Pike was played by Jeffery Hunter. In The Menagerie, Pike-in-the-Wheelchair was played by Sean Kenney. (Kenney also played Lt. DePaul in Arena and A Taste of Armageddon, where you can see to what degree he resembles Hunter without the makeup).

LT. AREX: Tripedal (3 arms, 3 legs) navigator who appeared in the Animated Series as a replacement for Mr. Chekov. Lt. Arex was played by James Doohan.

LT. M'RESS: Felinoid communications officer, used in a few Animated episodes as a backup to Lt. Uhura. Lt. M'Ress was played by Majel Barrett.

LT. LESLIE: The best all-around utility man in Starfleet, Mr. Leslie (named after one of William Shatner's daughters) can be seen in more than half the episodes of the series, performing virtually every ship function imaginable (including command!). His top specialties seemed to be engineering, security, and showing concern at the action going on in the foreground of the screen. Though he rarely spoke, he has a small but devoted cadre of admirers, and his own dedicated webpage which chronicles his exploits. Mr. Leslie was played by Eddie Paskey, who has a personal webpage at http://www.eddiepaskey.com.

LT. GALLOWAY: Another utility redshirt, played by David L. Ross, who served mostly as security guard and transporter officer. Less well known than Leslie, he appeared in only a half dozen or so episodes, and does not have his own dedicated webpage, but he did manage to pull off the trick of coming back from the dead; the least important character on the show to ever do so.

ENTERPRISE COMPUTER (Majel Barrett and others): Several actors and actresses have played the voice of the Enterprise computer, but the most frequently heard voice was that of Majel Barrett, who played the "role" at least once in all six Star Trek series. She was the most frequently heard voice of the computer in TOS.

7. WHO ARE SOME OF THE MAIN ACTORS AND CREATIVE PEOPLE BEHIND THE SHOW?

GENE RODDENBERRY: Creator, Producer and Executive Producer of Star Trek, and the guiding force behind it for the first two seasons. Nicknamed "The Great Bird of the Galaxy", after a line from the show's premier episode.

GENE L. COON: Writer and Line Producer on TOS, and one of the most important creative voices in the show's run. Creator of the Klingons.

DOROTHY "D.C." FONTANA: Influential writer, and script consultant on TOS. Many of the best and most creative episodes come from her.

FRED FREIBERGER: Line Producer of TOS during its third and final season. Many fans of the show blame the decline in the show's quality on him, though there were other factors at work also.

BOB JUSTMAN: Associate Producer and later Co-Producer of TOS, who knew more about the nuts and bolts of putting an episode together than anyone.

HERB SOLOW: Desilu Executive who sold Star Trek to NBC. Along with Justman, wrote a book called Inside Star Trek in the mid 1990's, that detailed the making of the series. The name "Sulu" was derived from Solow's name.

ALEXANDER COURAGE: Musician who composed the series title theme, and did the music for a couple of first season episodes. Probably gets a bundle of money every time a Trek sequel plays those Dah-da-daaaaa, da-da-da-da-dahhh, Da-Daaaaaah opening notes.

JERRY GOLDSMITH: Legendary composer, winner of 18 Academy Awards. Scored 6 Star Trek movies. His theme for Star Trek: The Motion Picture became the show's theme for all seven seasons of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

BILL THEISS: Emmy Award winning costume designer. Legendary for his gravity-defying female gowns.

MATT JEFFERIES: Mechanical artist, and set designer for Trek. Designed the bridge panels, shuttlecraft interior, the phaser, Klingon Logo, and most importantly, the Enterprise model itself. Immortalized by having a very important hole in the wall named after him (i.e. The Jefferies Tube).

IRVING FEINBERG: Star Trek property master. Props (especially McCoy's instruments) were unofficially nicknamed "Feinbergers" in his honor.

WAH CHANG: Sculptor and prop designer. Designer of the tricorder, communicator, and other iconic props from the Romulan Warbird to the Vulcan harp.

8. ARE THERE ANY OTHER STAR TREK NEWSGROUPS?
Quite a few. Just to name some of the ones in the .alt and .rec hierarchies:

         NEWSGROUPS DEVOTED TO THE SHOWS
alt.tv.star-trek
alt.tv.star-trek.tos
alt.startrek.the-old-gen
alt.startrek.animated
alt.tv.star-trek.next-gen
alt.tv.star-trek.tng
alt.startrek.the-next-gen
alt.tv.star-trek.ds9
alt.startrek.deep-space-9
alt.startrek.enterprise
alt.tv.star-trek.enterprise
alt.tv.star-trek.voyager
alt.startrek.voyager

         NEWSGROUPS DEVOTED TO BOOKS AND FAN FICTION
alt.startrek.book
alt.startrek.books
alt.startrek.creative
alt.startrek.creative.all-ages
alt.startrek.writing-staff

         NEWSGROUPS DEVOTED TO EROTICA
alt.sex.fetish.startrek
alt.startrek.creative.erotica
alt.startrek.creative.erotica.moderated
alt.tv.star-trek.tos.slash

         NEWSGROUPS DEVOTED TO GAMES
alt.games.mtrek
alt.games.netrek.paradise
alt.games.rpg.startrek.quadrant
alt.games.xtrek
alt.holoworld.rpg.startrek
alt.startrek.role-playing
rec.games.netrek
rec.games.trading-cards.startrek
alt.startrek.rpg.gsc
alt.startrek.sould.rpg

         STAR TREK VS. SOMETHING NEWSGROUPS
alt.startrek.vs.babylon5
alt.startrek.vs.battlestar-galactica
alt.startrek.vs.dr-who
alt.startrek.vs.starwars

         NEWSGROUPS DEVOTED TO STAR TREK PEOPLE
alt.startrek.people.deforest.kelley
alt.startrek.people.gene.roddenberry
alt.tv.star-trek.jeffery-hunt

         NEWSGROUPS DEVOTED TO SPECIAL TOPICS
alt.flame.star-trek.voyager
alt.startrek.imperial
alt.shared-reality.startrek.cardassian
alt.shared-reality.startrek.klingon
alt.startrek.lcars
alt.startrek.tos.trekmuse
alt.startrek.sus-amagosa
rec.arts.startrek.current
rec.arts.startrek.fandom
rec.arts.startrek.info
rec.arts.startrek.misc
rec.arts.startrek.reviews
rec.arts.startrek.tech
alt.startrek.steg
alt.startrek.teroknor

         NEWSGROUPS DEVOTED TO BINARY FILES
alt.binaries.startrek
alt.binaries.startrek.adult

         NEWSGROUPS RELATED TO ALIEN RACES SEEN ON THE SHOWS
alt.startrek.bajoran
alt.startrek.borg
alt.startrek.cardassian
alt.startrek.klingon
alt.startrek.romulan
alt.startrek.vulcan
alt.startrek.trill

No guarantees about how active any of these groups are. With this many of them, it's a good guess that some of them are dead, Jim.

9. HOW MANY STAR TREK SERIES HAVE THERE BEEN?
A question frequently gotten wrong, even in the press. There have, in fact been a total of six Star Trek television series:

1. Star Trek (1966-1969)
2. Star Trek: The Animated Series (1973-1974)
3. Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987-1994)
4. Star Trek: Deep Space 9 (1993-1999)
5. Star Trek: Voyager (1995-2001)
6. Star Trek: Enterprise (2001-2005)

In addition, there was one other unproduced series, entitled Star Trek: Phase II, that would have premiered in the mid-to-late 1970's, featuring most of the original cast, but which was cancelled, when the new network that it was intended to flagship failed to materialize.

10. WHAT IS THE OFFICIAL NAME OF THE 2nd STAR TREK SERIES?
This series was broadcast under the title "Star Trek" (same as the original). This has never been officially changed, but the series is usually referred to as "Star Trek: The Animated Series" (or TAS, for short), to differentiate it from the original.

11. WHAT IS THE OFFICIAL NAME OF THE 6th STAR TREK SERIES?
This series has had two official titles. At its premiere, it was called simply Enterprise. After two seasons, of increasingly bad ratings, the name was changed to Star Trek: Enterprise, apparently hoping that people would watch any show, so long as it had Star Trek in the title. Rumors about Paramount releasing new series' entitled Star Trek: The 6 o'clock News, Star Trek's Wide, Wide World of Sports, and Star Trek: Babylon Five, are, so far, unfounded.

12. WASN'T THERE ANOTHER TELEVISION SERIES CALLED "ENTERPRISE"?
Yes, in fact there was. Running from 1952-1958, the series Enterprise consisted of a series of documentary films about American industry. In the opinion of many, Trek's Enterprise was about as interesting as that other one sounds.

13. ARE THERE ANY OTHER TITLE CHANGES I SHOULD KNOW ABOUT?
Well, it's barely worth mentioning, but the second Trek movie, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, was originally released in theaters under the title Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan (with no Roman numeral). The Roman numeral was added before the movie was released on videotape.

14. HOW MANY TOS EPISODES ARE THERE?
Anywhere from 78-80, depending on how you count. If you count the show's lone 2-parter as 2 episodes, and also count the unaired 64 minute pilot as an episode, then there are 80 episodes.

15. HOW MANY STAR TREK MOVIES ARE THERE AND HOW MANY ARE BASED ON THE ORIGINAL STAR TREK?
At this date, there are a total of 12 movies. The first six are based on the original Star Trek and loosely considered to be a part of "TOS":

1. Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)
2. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)
3. Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984)
4. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)
5. Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)
6. Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)

In addition, there have been four movies based on the 3rd Trek series, Star Trek: The Next Generation:

7. Star Trek: Generations (1994)
8. Star Trek: First Contact (1996)
9. Star Trek: Insurrection (1998)
10. Star Trek: Nemesis (2002)

There's also a 2-movie (so far) "reboot" of the original series, directed by J.J. Abrams, and featuring all new actors in the roles of the original characters (although the movie does feature two Spocks, one of which is played by Leonard Nimoy).

11. Star Trek (2009)
12. Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)

Only the second through the sixth movies have roman numerals in their titles, although fans are wont to unofficially refer to them all as if they had them. So, if you hear someone referring to "Star Trek 12", you'll know what it means. If you hear cursing afterwards, you'll probably know what that means too.

16. WHEN DID STAR TREK TAKE PLACE?
No precise year was ever given for the series. Indications given in the episodes Tomorrow is Yesterday, Space Seed, and The Savage Curtain point to the late 22nd or early 23rd century. The (non-canon) book The Making of Star Trek, and the (canon) film Star Trek II (which takes place 10 years after the 5 year mission ended) say 23rd century. The episode Where No Man Has Gone Before implies a later date than that, but says nothing specific. Later incarnations of Star Trek have retconned the date to the 2260's, for reasons unknown. The episode The Squire of Gothos points to a date in the 28th century (!!), which is usually totally ignored by all concerned.

17. HOW MANY POST-TOS TREK EPISODES OR MOVIES FEATURE TOS CHARACTERS?
Precious few.

1. Encounter at Farpoint (Next Generation)
2. Sarek (Next Generation)
3. Unification (Next Generation)
4. Relics (Next Generation)
5. Blood Oath (Deep Space 9)
6. Star Trek: Generations (Movie)
7. The Sword of Kahless (Deep Space 9)
8. Flashback (Voyager)
9. Trials and Tribble-ations (Deep Space 9)
10. Once More Unto the Breach (Deep Space 9)
11. Star Trek (Movie)
12. Star Trek Into Darkness (Movie)

18. ARE STAR TREK FANS CALLED TREKKIES OR TREKKERS?
Both terms are correct, though Trekkers is safer, as some people actually take great offense at the word Trekkies.

19. WHY "U.S.S." ENTERPRISE? IS THE ENTERPRISE AN AMERICAN SHIP?
No. Though intended to resemble the modern American navy in the minds of the viewers, the U.S.S. Enterprise (called the U.S.S. Yorktown in the first draft of the original series proposal) is not an American ship. Though the show is pretty darn vague about Earth's political and economic future, the Earth appears to have, if not a single world government, then at least a unified coalition, similar to the European Common Market, and to be but one planet (although apparently the most important one), in a galactic federation. U.S.S., though intended to vaguely suggest America, actually stands for "United StarShip." Since "Starship" is only one word, it doesn't quite work, but what the heck?

ADDENDUM: It's been called to my attention that the usage in the series is actually inconsistent, and that U.S.S. is sometimes said to stand for United Space Ship (which works a little better). A quick run through the series shows that "United StarShip" was used in Court-Martial and Squire of Gothos, while "United Space Ship" was used in The Cage/The Menagerie, Space Seed, Patterns of Force, Assignment: Earth, and Elaan of Troyius. In Gamesters of Triskelion, no ship is named, but Kirk informally says "We're officers of a united spaceship on Federation business." In Corbomite Maneuver, Kirk identifies the ship as "The United Earth Ship Enterprise", which doesn't even come close to standing for U.S.S.

20. WHAT DOES "NCC" MEAN?
The registration number on the hull of the Enterprise is NCC-1701. As for what it means, this question is an excellent illustration of the way the term "canon" works in the Star Trek universe. As you'll recall, "canon" means "official Star Trek facts", those which Paramount and the show's producers theoretically feel obligated to remain true to in future productions (they frequently don't, but that's another point entirely). With a few exceptions, "canon" is defined as that which actually appears or is stated onscreen. Other facts, even if deriving from officially licensed products, or from the mouth of a producer or writer himself, are not canon.

How does this relate to NCC? Well, according to Roddenberry himself, the term NCC stands for "Naval Construction Contract", and was derived from the "NC" and "NX" designations found on private planes. *However*, this definition has never been stated onscreen, nor any other definition either. So, officially (i.e. "canonically"), the term NCC has no fixed meaning. Though unofficially, it does, and we all know it. Cute, huh?

21. WHAT DO THE UNIFORM COLORS DENOTE?
*Generally*, Gold shirts indicate command and ship operations, such as helm and navigation. Blue indicates science and medical. Red indicates engineering, security, communications, general ship's services, and early deaths. There are apparent exceptions, however, so if you see a blue bloused technician working in Engineering in The Alternative Factor, or something like that, don't expect anybody to be able to explain it.

22. HOW DO STARDATES WORK?
They don't. The Stardate was a non-specific system of time measurement, designed to allow the show to be vague about specific dates. It usually consisted of 4 digits, a decimal point, and a 5th digit. At least one person working on the show described the process of assigning a stardate to an episode as involving shouting out the window for a passerby to rattle off 5 random digits.

It probably wasn't quite that haphazard though, as the stardates more or less gradually increased as the show progressed, starting at around 1312, and ending up at around 5925 in the final episode. Some tru-fans, unable to leave well enough alone, have attempted to come up with precise methods for determining stardates, some of them quite ingenious, but none of them having anything to do with what the people making the show were thinking. Some fans have even attempted to convert Gregorian dates to Stardates by taking the last two digits of the year, then two digits for the month, and putting the day of the month after the decimal point. Hence, October 16, 1997 would be Stardate 9710.16. Isn't that precious?

23. WHY DO THE KLINGONS LOOK DIFFERENT IN THE MOVIES THAN IN THE TV SHOW?
At the time Star Trek: The Motion Picture was released, Roddenberry said that this is the way the Klingons were always supposed to look, they just never had the budget to show them that way before. Though there are no sketches extant from the 1960's showing the Klingons looking this way, it's probably true that larger budgets are the real reason for the change. Several fans came up with several elaborate explanations for the change in Klingon appearance (the most entertaining being the idea that they now had their spines up over their heads from being kicked in the butt so often by the Federation), but the prevailing view seemed to be that we were supposed to shut up and pretend that the Klingons had always looked that way. This continued until the Deep Space Nine episode Trials and Tribble-ations, in which a member of the New Look Klingons encountered several of the Original Flavor Klingons, and admitted onscreen that there really was both a difference and an explanation for the difference, BUT... refused to say what the explanation was. Doesn't that make you just want to slap someone?

24. WHO WAS THE FIRST CAPTAIN OF THE ENTERPRISE?
Warning: Canon Alert! The "first" Captain of the Enterprise was Robert T. April, and Jeffrey Hunter was originally hired to play the part of April in The Cage. Before filming, it was decided that "April" wasn't a rough, tough, sonofabitchin' enough name for Roddenberry's Captain, so the name was changed to Winter, and finally to Pike. So April never existed, right? It's just a discarded name.

Well, sort of. In the final episode of the Animated Star Trek, Robert T. April actually appears as a character, and is explicitly described as the first Captain of the Enterprise. Okay, so April DOES exist, and he served before Pike, right? That's true both in real life and in story terms, right?

Well, sort of. Years later, when Paramount was formulating their definition of "canon", they, for one reason or another, decided to de-canonise the Animated Star Trek series, meaning that the only onscreen references to April are no longer "official".

So, the question, like many questions, has two answers. Officially, we don't know who the first Captain of the Enterprise is (Pike was never described as the first Captain, only as the *former* Captain). But unofficially, and in the real world rather than the fictional one, the first Captain of the Enterprise was Robert T. April.

For what it's worth, the part of Robert T. April in the Animated Star Trek Episode, The Counter-Clock Incident, was played by James "Scotty" Doohan.

25. WHAT IS "THE CAGE"?
The original pilot episode for Star Trek, filmed in December, 1964, featuring Jeffrey Hunter as Captain Pike, Majel Barrett as Number One, John Hoyt as Dr. Philip "Bones" Boyce, and Leonard Nimoy as Mr. Spock. Though rejected by NBC, they were impressed enough to request (and subsidize) an unheard-of second pilot episode (titled Where No Man Has Gone Before; sound familiar?), which featured most of the series regulars, and later aired as a series episode.

However, The Cage was still such an extremely valuable piece of celluloid (until 1987, the most expensive Trek episode ever filmed) that it was felt it could not be allowed to sit around collecting dust on a shelf. A 2-part sequel story called The Menagerie was written, in which about 90% of The Cage's footage was shown in flashback form, thus enabling the show to save a valuable week of production time at a time when they were in serious danger of falling behind in the production schedule.

But there was still interest in that other 10% that had never been seen, and so in the late 1980's, The Cage itself was released separately.

26. WHAT IS THE TITLE OF "THE CAGE"?
No, not a trick question. The Cage was the original working title. Like the name of the ship's captain, this title was changed during filming, to The Menagerie. Later, when the pilot was cannibalized to create the 2-part sequel, nobody had any idea that anyone would ever see the original version again, and so the title The Menagerie was transferred to the 2-parter.

When Star Trek fandom became big, and started to take an interest in the original, unseen pilot, the original name The Cage was restored to it, to differentiate it from the 2-part Kirk story. Since no title actually appears onscreen in The Cage, the title change was relatively painless.

27. IS IT TRUE THAT NBC REJECTED "THE CAGE" BECAUSE THEY REFUSED TO ALLOW A FEMALE FIRST OFFICER ON THE ENTERPRISE?
No. This is a myth which has gotten a lot of mileage, largely because its source was none other than Roddenberry himself.

With the exception of Jeffrey Hunter, NBC was displeased with most of the casting on The Cage, and especially with Majel Barrett's Number One character. Because of her limited acting résumé, and other reasons, they did not believe in her ability to carry the show as its co-star. NBC rejected the actress, but not the character, and in fact supported the concept of a woman in a strong position of authority. The character was originally intended to appear in the second pilot, until her character was scrapped by Roddenberry himself, in order to give more importance to the Mr. Spock character that he had fought so hard to save. Unable to admit in later years that he had voluntarily discarded such a ground-breaking concept, Roddenberry cooked up this "The Devil Made Me Do It" explanation.

28. WHO IS M. LEIGH HUDEC?
*Majel* Leigh Hudec, is the birth name of Majel Barrett. In some quarters, the story goes that the Majel Barrett stage name was adopted so that NBC wouldn't notice that the dark-haired actress they had rejected in The Cage was back on the show as the blonde-haired Nurse Chapel (they noticed). This does not seem to be true, though, as the name that appears onscreen in The Cage is Majel Barrett, not M. Leigh Hudec, indicating that the stage name had been adopted prior to this time.

The name M. Leigh Hudec became mysterious largely because of the seminal book The Making of Star Trek, which listed the actors appearing in each episode without listing the parts they played. The name M. Leigh Hudec appeared on that list, not Majel Barrett. The absence of the name Majel Barrett from the list was not suggestive, since she was considered a regular actor on the show, and regular actors were not listed.

29. DOES PARAMOUNT HAVE AN OFFICIAL STAR TREK WEBSITE?
Yes, it's at (are you ready for this?) http://www.startrek.com.

30. WHAT DOES THE "T" IN JAMES T. KIRK STAND FOR?
Tiberius. This was never mentioned during the original series. It was first mentioned in the Animated Episode Bem, but fell back out of canon when the Animated Series was de-canonised. It re-entered canon in 1991 when it was mentioned in the movie Star Trek VI.

Where does it come from? Some might think it comes from the Roman Emperor who ruled from 14 AD - 37 AD. Yes, but only indirectly. Really, the name comes from William Tiberius Rice, the lead character in Gene Roddenberry's earlier series, The Lieutenant.

31. WHAT IS UHURA'S FIRST NAME?
Well, I can tell you, direct from the mouth of Nichelle Nichols to me, that Uhura's full name is Nyota Penda Uhura. But again, we run into that sticky "canon" business. Offscreen sources, however creditable are not sources of "Official Star Trek Facts", or "canon" in Paramount's eyes (though perhaps they sometimes are in other people's eyes?).

No name other than Uhura is ever given for her onscreen, and Roddenberry supposedly said at one point that she had no first name (though of course, if true, that's not canon either). Where do the names Nyota and Penda come from, then? Well, Penda is a name that originated somewhere in fandom sometime in the 70's, and was pushed heavily by the now-defunct Trek magazine. The name Nyota came from William Rotsler, author of the book Star Trek II: Biographies, and was later used heavily in a Trek novel entitled The Tears of the Singers, and perhaps others.

So, what do these names mean? Well, all three are Swahili words. Uhura is from the Swahili word "Uhuru", meaning "freedom". This name came from the title of a book that Nichelle Nichols was reading in Gene Roddenberry's office while waiting for an interview. Penda is the Swahili word for "Love". Nyota is the Swahili word for "Star". I should say that in my own encounter with Ms. Nichols (at a convention), that, although I was aware of these names, I did not suggest either one to her, but simply asked what Uhura's first name was and let her answer. She said Nyota Penda Uhura. Not canon, but worth mentioning.

On a final note, it's interesting to recall that the original plan for the Uhura character had been to transfer the name Sulu to her, and come up with a new name for George Takei's character. (Since Takei had already appeared as Sulu in the second pilot episode, which was later broadcast, this would have been a continuity nightmare).

Luckily, fearing that the similarity of the words "Sulu" and "Zulu" might lead to unintended interpretations, this idea was discarded and replaced with the much more sensible idea of just naming the character after whatever book the actress happened to have under her arm. Good thing she wasn't reading Playgirl, huh?

32. WHAT IS SPOCK'S FIRST NAME?
All right, another convention story. In this case, not one that I can personally attest to, but still too good not to share. The only reference to Spock having another name is from the episode This Side of Paradise, in which Jill Ireland asks if Spock has another name, and is told simply that she couldn't pronounce it.

After the release of Star Trek IV, in which Jane Wyatt had made her second appearance as Spock's mother Amanda, Ms. Wyatt appeared at a Trek convention and took questions from the audience. One audience member asked her what Spock's first name was. It was a dumb question. Ms. Wyatt is an actress, not one of the architects of the show. She had no idea. But, since she was onstage, and since the show must go on, and since "I don't know" is a very lame and unentertaining answer, she thought for a moment and said "Herman". Several people tried to disagree with her. "No, no, it's supposed to be something unpronouncable," but she dismissed them with words to the effect of "Don't try to tell ME! I'm his mother!"

A joke answer, but... you know, I like it! It makes a certain sense that the half-human Spock would have one Vulcan name and one human name. It also makes sense that he'd be embarrassed about it, try to hide it, and dissuade questioners with stories about how they couldn't pronounce it, so please don't ask. Herman Spock. I like it. Not canon, but after all, it DOES come from Spock's own mother!

33. HIKARU SULU? HOW COME THAT NAME IS LISTED IN SECTION 4 WHEN NYOTA ISN'T, AND WHERE DOES IT COME FROM?
Well, the reason Hikaru Sulu is listed in Section IV of the FAQ is that it was actually mentioned onscreen in the very last Classic Trek production, Star Trek VI.

Where does the name Hikaru come from? Well, it was supposedly selected by Roddenberry himself, and is the name of the central character in a classic Japanese work known as The Tale of Genji. The first appearance of the name in an officially licensed Trek work was in the 1981 novel The Entropy Effect, and it finally found its way onscreen (and into canon) 10 years later.

Some might be wondering if I ever bothered Takei with this question the same way I bothered Nichols? Of course. I'm a nerdy fanboy, so naturally I asked him, a couple of years before Trek VI was released, and got that answer: Hikaru Sulu.

I bring this up to dispel another possible name that some may have heard. Remember how it was mentioned that Trek magazine had been pushing "Penda" as Uhura's first name, and succeeded in getting it kind of unofficially accepted as her middle name, at least? Well, at the same time, Trek magazine had a name in mind for Sulu also. They thought he should be called Walter Sulu, as a way of showing that names didn't necessarily have to have ethnic connotations. They pushed that name heavily too, and even wrote at one point that George Takei thought it was a good one.

Well, when George Takei said "Hikaru Sulu", I asked him about that. "There's this magazine that thinks Sulu's first name is Walter." His eyes bugged out in surprise, and he had a pretty big laugh about it (in those days, there was a running joke about the inexplicable tendency of some people to get George Takei and Walter Koenig mixed up in their minds, and to George, this seemed like just another example of same.) If he'd ever heard "Walter Sulu" before, he hadn't thought much of it when he did, and had long since forgotten it. Nyota Penda Uhura, yes. Walter Sulu, no.

34. WHAT EXACTLY IS AND ISN'T INCLUDED IN STAR TREK "CANON"?
Well, as mentioned, a good general rule is "Onscreen = canon, not onscreen = not canon". Paramount's website, startrek.com, has the following, more precise, but still a bit rough around the edges definition:

As a rule of thumb, the events that take place within the live action episodes and movies are canon, or official Star Trek facts. Story lines, characters, events, stardates, etc. that take place within the fictional novels, the Animated Adventures, and the various comic lines are not canon.

There are a couple of exceptions to this rule: the Jeri Taylor penned novels Mosaic and Pathways. Many of the events in these two novels feature background details of the main Star Trek: Voyager characters. (Note: There are a few details from an episode of the Animated Adventures that have entered into the Star Trek canon. The episode Yesteryear, written by D.C. Fontana, features some biographical background on Spock.)

35. DID ALAN DEAN FOSTER GHOST WRITE THE NOVELIZATION OF STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE?
No! At one time it was widely believed in this newsgroup that he had, and was stated several times. There are various links on the internet, some saying that he did, others that he didn't. But I came across his website in 2003, and posed the question to him, which he answered personally with an unequivocal no.

On the other hand, he did write the novelization of Star Wars, which is no secret.

36. HOW MANY EPISODES REFER TO THE EVENTS OF OTHER EPISODES?
Not many. TOS was made in the days before story arcs, when every episode of a series was meant to stand on its own, so that stations wouldn't have to worry about what order to show them in. Nevertheless, there are a few instances, such as:

In By Any Other Name, Kirk directly refers to the events of A Taste of Armageddon, mentioning Eminiar 7 by name, when he asks Spock to try the Mind-Meld-Through-The-Wall trick he had used in that episode. It also indirectly refers to Where No Man Has Gone Before, when Kirk mentions having been to the barrier at the edge of the galaxy before.

In Turnabout Intruder, Lester/Kirk refers to the events of The Empath, and The Tholian Web when trying to convince Spock who she is.

The Trouble With Tribbles refers to the Organian Peace Treaty, which arose as a result of the actions in Errand of Mercy.

I, Mudd, being a direct sequel to Mudd's Women, refers to that episode.

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, being a direct sequel to Space Seed, refers to that episode.

37. HOW MANY TOS CHARACTERS HAVE DIED?
Hmmm, several come to think of it, though for most of them it wasn't serious.

Captain Kirk - (in Star Trek: Generations)

Mr. Spock - (in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan)

Dr. McCoy - (in Shore Leave)

Scotty - (in The Changeling)

Chekov - (in Spectre of the Gun)

Of the major characters, Uhura, Sulu, Chapel, and Rand have never died.

For what it's worth, death doesn't seem to be all that memorable an experience. In Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, when Dr. McCoy asked Spock what death was like, Spock said that he couldn't explain it unless McCoy died too, so that they'd have a common frame of reference. It completely slipped both their minds that McCoy had died.

Since Spock declined to answer the question, we are deprived of his insights on death. The best answer to this question, however, might be that provided by Arnold Rimmer in Red Dwarf, when he said that death was like being on holiday with a group of Germans.

38. DID STAR TREK FEATURE THE FIRST INTERRACIAL KISS?
Yes and no. Yes, in the 3rd season (1968-9) episode "Plato's Stepchildren", Kirk and Uhura, under the influence of the telekinetic and campy Platonians, are made to share a (not-so-Platonic?) kiss. But no, the kiss was actually a faked "stage kiss". Fearful of viewer reactions in the Deep South, they filmed the kiss both ways (real and faked), and ended up chickening out and using the faked version. Anyone can confirm this for themselves by popping in the DVD and fast forwarding to 42:45. The real first interracial kiss on TV occurred on the British soap opera Emergency Ward 10 in 1964, although some have suggested that it should be credited to Lucy and Ricky Ricardo in the 1950's.

39. WHAT IS THE F.S.N.P.?
An acronym for the Vulcan Neck Pinch. When Next Generation was in the works, people laughed at the idea that the production crew was pondering not one, but two possible acronyms for Geordi's V.I.S.O.R. (neither was ever used onscreen). But in the "Acronyms For Things That Don't Need Acronyms Department", TOS had scored 20 years earlier, when Viewmaster corporation coined this term for their adaptation of The Omega Glory. The acronym stands for (are you ready for this?): "Famous Spock Neck Pinch" (No, seriously!). I unearthed the term a few years back when doing a webpage about Viewmaster's first Star Trek effort, and those with a taste for the absurd have helped to keep it alive. It works best when used redundantly (i.e. "Spock's Famous FSNP", which, spelled out, would be "Famous Famous Spock Neck Pinch").

40. WERE STAR TREK EPISODES BROADCAST IN THE ORDER THAT THEY WERE FILMED?
No, but there have been two orders floating around since the early days, as the production order of episodes was listed in a few early books. One book even listed the first two seasons in Production Order, and the Third Season in Broadcast Order, leading to an early myth to the effect that the Third Season was broadcast in Production Order. In syndication, the episodes have often been broadcast in production order, rather than the original broadcast order. Here is a list of the episodes in Production Order, with the Broadcast Order listed afterwards in parentheses.

SEASON 1
01. The Cage (-)
02. Where No Man Has Gone Before (3)
03. The Corbomite Maneuver (10)
04. Mudd's Women (6)
05. The Enemy Within (5)
06. The Man Trap (1)
07. The Naked Time (4)
08. Charlie X (2)
09. Balance of Terror (14)
10. What Are Little Girls Made Of? (7)
11. Dagger of the Mind (9)
12. Miri (8)
13. The Conscience of the King (13)
14. The Galileo Seven (16)
15. Court-Martial (20)
16. The Menagerie, Part 1 (11)
17. The Menagerie, Part 2 (12)
18. Shore Leave (15)
19. The Squire of Gothos (17)
20. Arena (18)
21. The Alternative Factor (27)
22. Tomorrow is Yesterday (19)
23. The Return of the Archons (21)
24. A Taste of Armageddon (23)
25. Space Seed (22)
26. This Side of Paradise (24)
27. The Devil in the Dark (25)
28. Errand of Mercy (26)
29. The City on the Edge of Forever (28)
30. Operation - Annihilate! (29)

SEASON 2
31. Catspaw (36)
32. Metamorphosis (38)
33. Friday's Child (40)
34. Who Mourns For Adonais? (31)
35. Amok Time (30)
36. The Doomsday Machine (35)
37. Wolf in the Fold (43)
38. The Changeling (32)
39. The Apple (34)
40. Mirror, Mirror (33)
41. The Deadly Years (41)
42. I, Mudd (37)
43. The Trouble With Tribbles (44)
44. Bread and Circuses (54)
45. Journey to Babel (39)
46. A Private Little War (48)
47. The Gamesters of Triskelion (45)
48. Obsession (42)
49. The Immunity Syndrome (47)
50. A Piece of the Action (46)
51. By Any Other Name (51)
52. Return to Tomorrow (49)
53. Patterns of Force (50)
54. The Ultimate Computer (53)
55. The Omega Glory (52)
56. Assignment: Earth (55)

SEASON 3
57. Spectre of the Gun (61)
58. Elaan of Troyius (68)
59. The Paradise Syndrome (58)
60. The Enterprise Incident (57)
61. And the Children Shall Lead (59)
62. Spock's Brain (56)
63. Is There In Truth No Beauty? (60)
64. The Empath (67)
65. The Tholian Web (64)
66. For the World is Hollow And I Have Touched the Sky (63)
67. Day of the Dove (62)
68. Plato's Stepchildren (65)
69. Wink of an Eye (66)
70. That Which Survives (72)
71. Let That Be Your Last Battlefield (70)
72. Whom Gods Destroy (69)
73. The Mark of Gideon (71)
74. The Lights of Zetar (73)
75. The Cloud Minders (76)
76. The Way to Eden (75)
77. Requiem for Methuselah (74)
78. The Savage Curtain (77)
79. All Our Yesterdays (78)
80. Turnabout Intruder (79)

41. WHAT IS THE CORRECT ORDER OF THE ANIMATED SERIES EPISODES?
Production Order is unknown, but here is the original Broadcast Order. This order has sometimes been muddied by the fact that Trek Magazine in the 70's mistakenly put Beyond the Farthest Star at the end of the first season (counting the first rerun as an initial showing), when it was, in fact, the premier episode.

SEASON 4
Beyond the Farthest Star
Yesteryear
One of Our Planets Is Missing
The Lorelei Signal
More Tribbles, More Troubles
The Survivor
The Infinite Vulcan
The Magicks of Megas-Tu
Once Upon A Planet
Mudd's Passion
The Terratin Incident
The Time Trap
The Ambergris Element
The Slaver Weapon
The Eye of the Beholder
The Jihad

SEASON 5
The Pirates of Orion
Bem
The Practical Joker
Albatross
How Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth?
The Counter-Clock Incident

42. TO WHOM DOES KIRK REPORT?
For most of the series, the Enterprise serves the United Federation of Planets, whose military wing is known as Starfleet (or Starfleet Command). However, early in the first season, things were looser. In Tomorrow is Yesterday, Kirk tells Captain Christopher that their authority is from the United Earth Space Probe Agency (this body is also mentioned in Charlie X, when one of Kirk's log entries mentions making a report to UESPA Headquarters). A few other names are tossed out in this early period. In Miri, Kirk mentions contacting "Space Central", which could be regarded as an unofficial (if incredibly 1950's sounding) nickname for Starfleet Command. At the end of Tomorrow is Yesterday, Starfleet identifies itself as "Starfleet Control", which is probably just the name of the specific office at Starfleet that Kirk was talking to at the moment. In A Taste of Armageddon, Fox mentions representing the United Federation of Planets, but says he'll be making his report to the "Federation Central". In a bureaucracy there's never just one name for anything.

The "Federation" is first mentioned in Arena. The United Federation of Planets is first mentioned in A Taste of Armageddon. Starfleet Command is first mentioned in Court-Martial.

43. IS STARFLEET A MILITARY ORGANIZATION?
This question is a perfect illustration of the word "retcon" in action. Yes, within TOS and the first 6 movies, Starfleet is an explicitly military organization. Kirk calls himself a soldier in Errand of Mercy. Officers have military ranks. Starships are named after famous military vessels (Enterprise, Yorktown, Hood, Potemkin, et cetera). When the Federation is under threat of invasion (Alternative Factor, Errand of Mercy, Arena, et cetera, Starfleet is called in to deal with the situation. The Enterprise engages in decidedly military activities, like war games exercises (The Ultimate Computer) military espionage (The Enterprise Incident) and hostage rescue missions (The Final Frontier). Starfleet is an overtly military organization, although they also have a strong exploratory function. Roddenberry was said to be influenced by C.S. Forester's Horatio Hornblower series, and Hornblower, like Sir Francis Drake, was a military explorer. In Tomorrow is Yesterday, Kirk states that they're part of a combined service, when Captain Christopher asks if the Navy built the Enterprise.

However, by the 1980's, when the military began to be less politically correct among the circles Roddenberry frequented, he regretted the decision and began to float the story (in Star Trek: The Next Generation and elsewhere) that Starfleet was NOT a military organization. Never was. They're pure explorers, similar to Jacques Cousteau or some equally politically correct figure. Explorers who conduct military operations and carry around enough firepower to level an entire planet perhaps, but only in a non-military way. So, in the retroactive continuity of TNG and beyond, the Enterprise is not a military vessel, and never was, and if you know of anything which might contradict that fact, you are requested to keep it to yourself.

44. WHAT DOES "PUT SOME MAYANS IN IT" MEAN?
This is a code phrase meant to imply that a suggested story or series idea is, for want of a better word, lousy. I used it recently, when Andrew Garfield asked why Spiderman couldn't be gay in the new movie? I suggested that they needed to put some Mayans in it too, and someone actually knew what it meant.

So, what does it mean? It's a reference to the time that Harlan Ellison (author of City on the Edge of Forever) went to Paramount to pitch his idea for Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Here's the story, told in Ellison's own words:

"Paramount had been trying to get a Star Trek film in work for some time. Roddenberry was determined that his name would be on the writing credits somehow...the trouble is, he can't write for sour owl poop. His one idea, done six or seven times in the series and again in the feature film, is that the crew of the Enterprise goes into deepest space, finds God, and God turns out to be insane, or a child, or both. I'd been called in twice, prior to 1975, to discuss the story. Other writers had also been milked. Paramount couldn't make up their minds and had even kicked Gene off the project a few times, until he brought in lawyers. Then the palace guard changed at Paramount and Diller and Eisner came over from ABC and brought a cadre of their...buddies. One of them was an ex-set designer...named Mark Trabulus.

"Roddenberry suggested me as the scenarist for the film with this Trabulus, the latest...of the know-nothing duds Paramount had assigned to the troublesome project. I had a talk with Gene...about a storyline. He told me they kept wanting bigger and bigger storylines and no matter what was suggested, it wasn't big enough. I devised a storyline and Gene liked it, and set up a meeting with Trabulus for 11 December (1975). That meeting was cancelled...but we finally got together on 15 December. It was just Gene and Trabulus and me in Gene's office on the Paramount lot.

"I told them the story. It involved going to the end of the known universe to slip back through time to the Pleistocene period when Man first emerged. I postulated a parallel development of reptile life that might have developed into the dominant species on Earth had not mammals prevailed. I postulated an alien intelligence from a far galaxy where the snakes had become the dominant life form, and a snake-creature who had come to Earth in the Star Trek future, had seen its ancestors wiped out, and who had gone back into the far past of Earth to set up distortions in the time-flow so that the reptiles could beat the humans. The Enterprise goes back to set time right, finds the snake-alien, and the human crew is conftonted with the moral dilemma of whether it had the right to wipe out an entire life form just to ensure its own territorial imperative in our present and future. The story, in short, spanned all of time and all of space, with a moral and ethical problem.

"Trabulus listened to all this and sat silently for a few minutes. Then he said, 'You know, I was reading this book by a guy named Von Daniken and he proved that the Maya calendar was exactly like ours, so it must have come from aliens. Could you put in some Mayans?'

"I looked at Gene; Gene looked at me; he said nothing. I looked at Trabulus and said, 'There weren't any Mayans at the dawn of time.' And he said, 'Well, who's to know the difference?' And I said, 'I'm to know the difference. It's a dumb suggestion.' So Trabulus got very uptight and said he liked Mayans a lot and why didn't I do it if I wanted to write this picture. So I said, 'I'm a writer. I don't know what the f--k you are!' And I got up and walked out. And that was the end of my association with the Star Trek movie."

and finally, with great trepidation, we come to

No, we don't. This section is heavily condensed for the time being, as the trolling problem longer dominates the group as it once did. Short Explanation For the Uninitiated: one user in the group, Laura Goodwin, aka ToolPackinMama, believes in a conspiracy theory to the effect that there was a plot involving Gene, all the actors, all the writers, and all the production crew, to portray Kirk and Spock as gay lovers without explicitly coming out and saying so. It was a secret at the time because of broadcast standards, presumably, and is a secret now, for goodness only knows why. Somehow Gene cooked up this conspiracy, even though he described himself as somewhat homophobic in those days, and somehow the conspiracy escaped mention in all the Tell-All books written later (they were only Tell-Most), even those written by people who had fallen out with Gene, and spilled a great many of his secrets. (Similar to the way Khan kept his voyage out of the history books, maybe).

Though Roddenberry explicitly denied the idea, this has mattered little. Those who tried to treat it as a legitimate discussion subject found it handled about as rationally as most conspiracy theories. Laura had one standard of proof for her own ideas and a completely different standard for everyone else's. That in itself was not so bad, the Internet is heavily populated with the less-than-logical. What made it trollish was that people who tried to disagree, however politely, were routinely abused, lied to, lied about, attacked by Laura, told that any disagreement they tried to make, however politely worded, was viciously hateful, attacked by sock puppet identities who appeared out of the blue to agree with her (or, more bizarrely, to argue with her, in an effort to suck others into the discussion). Most of her ideas were pretty soundly disproven, but (again, as with most conspiracy theories), all contrary evidence was ignored, or sometimes even conceded it to avoid the issue, and then claimed later to have never heard been heard later. Other users reported that, in retaliation for disagreeing with her too effectively, she had contacted their ISP and falsely accused them of making death threats against her. (Semi-amusingly, one user even reported that she had successfully conned an Indian Customer Service Rep at his ISP into believing that his use of the word "killfile" had been a death threat, and succeeded in getting his account locked out for a day!) The identical pattern seems to played out in half a dozen other newsgroups.

There was a time when more than half the newsgroup's traffic was wasted on this, but despite frequent barrages of K/S related spam, it's mostly ignored now, except for Laura herself, the occasional sock puppet identity, and useful idiot, Stephan Dulka, aka Mito Minister, who seems to find the theory strangely and personally threatening (Don't ask why!), and gives her unlimited publicity in the mistaken belief that it somehow harms her. After several years of her telling people who didn't like it to kill filer her, most of them did and moved on.