From Newsgroup: alt.tv.star-trek.tos
From Address: graemecree@aol.com
Subject: The alt.tv.star-trek.tos FAQ

It's been a while since we've re-posted the FAQ, so...
http://graeme.50webs.com/trek/tosfaq/index.htm
THE ALT.TV.STAR-TREK.TOS FAQ 
Reposted for those who are new here. 
Sections I-IV originally written by ConnMoore (connmoore @aol.com), used with
his permission, and revised by Graeme Cree. Sections V-VI by Graeme Cree. 
Does anyone have any suggestions? Something you'd like to add or modify,
respond in the newsgroup please!  
FAQ
 Welcome to alt.tv.star-trek.tos. This document is here to answer some of the
most basic questions about this newsgroup. 
 
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I. INTRODUCTION
 
 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. 
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 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. 
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 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. 
 
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II. TREK SLANGUAGE
 
 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.
tartrek.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. 
 
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III. GENERAL USENET ABBREVIATIONS
 
 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. 
 
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IV. THE MAIN PEOPLE BEHIND STAR TREK
 
 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. Pike was played by Jeffery Hunter. 
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 at http://hometown.aol.com/led4acs/LeslieArchives.html
(NOTE: This page currently offline, and not yet re-located).. 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. 
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 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. 
 
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V. FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
 
 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. 
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 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. 
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 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. 
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 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. 
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 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. 
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 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. 
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 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 90-minute pilot as an
episode, then there are 80 episodes. 
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 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 11 movies. The first six are based on the
original Star Trek: 
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)
And also a "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)
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. 
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 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. 
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 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)
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 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. 
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 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
(though 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? 
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 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? 
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 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. 
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 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? 
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 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 
--- D'Bridge 3.99
 * Origin: FIDONet - The Positronium Repository (1:393/68)