🌟 Star Trek, TOS 🌟

It's the idea you're going with, and so is most of the rest of the Trek community (as it was even more fully embraced and expanded upon in the series Enterprise), but it's a retconned idea. i.e. It wasn't Roddenberry's, nor something up for grabs that he left up to others to work out.

Part of what you said was indeed relayed in the book (and I'm not saying it's the ST Bible or anything, just that it was written in concordance with the first film, Roddenberry was alive to contest it for over a decade after it was written and never did, but the retcon only occurred after he was dead and couldn't say if it didn't follow his continuity whether he wanted to or not - I always thought that was a bit sneaky of the writers and why I continue to talk about it!).

In the Chronology (which I still have, but it's in storage so I can't reference it directly) the history is written as ship logs, science journals and news reports (as if these references were compiled into one resource book).

I believe the Earth ship that reached Alpha Centauri was called the Icarus - it was a sub-light vehicle (we'd gotten to the point where we could travel ALMOST at light speed, but hadn't made the warp breakthrough yet.)

It took the ship several years to reach the nearest star (since it couldn't go the speed of light and A-Centauri is 4.5 light years away). Don't remember the exact number of years cited in the book or if they used suspended animation for the trip or just had a long journey aboard a big ship. They obviously had suspension technology since Khan's people used it as early as the late 1990's.

Once there, it was the crew of the Icarus that made first contact with aliens and met Centauri native Cochrane. The logs explain how language was first worked out so the two species could communicate, then the ship's scientists began working with Cochrane on his warp theories & prototypes. The Earth ship was on Cochrane's planet several more years as they collaborated on building the first warp engines - when finally done the trip back to Earth was much quicker than the trip there due to the new warp engines.

The authors based these events on info from the TOS episode Metamorphosis and apparently with the approval of Roddenberry. But the story was radically changed with First Contact.

Except for Cochrane in the TOS episode, I don't know of any other depiction of Alpha Centaurians as an alien species on the TV shows or in the films (of course, I'm not an ST expert, either!)

Info on the Icarus:
https://memory-beta.fandom.com/wiki/UNSS_Icarus

Here's the thing...
Alpha Centauri being first contact and Cochrane being an alien is now non-canon.
It was canon prior to First Contact (1996).

That's what we call a retcon (retroactive continuity).

McCoy in Metamorphosis checks out Cochraine with his medical scanner and says to Kirk:

Metamorphosis transcript


I do believe we had this discussion before because I remember posting that quote and the link to the show's transcript.

It amuses me that this is a common thing, probably not just in science fiction. Who in their right mind would name a ship after something with negative connotations? Babylon 5 used 'Icarus' for a particular space ship that went missing in mysterious circumstances.

"They bought their tickets, they knew what they were getting into. I say: let 'em crash"

It's the artificial gravity. It pulls in all directions.

I don't buy that Cochrane was an Alpha Centaurean (There were lots of Star Trek books and I'm not sure Roddenberry endorsed all of them.), but I think it's fair to say the Cochrane in "First Contact" had little in common with the one on the show. It's one reason I suggest the films could be part of an alternate Star Trek universe. It's a theory I take very lightly but accounts for some inconsistencies. Perhaps J.J. Abrams could have taken that approach- having his films take place immediately after the five-year mission.

True, the show wasn't conclusive one way or another. It also stated he was from Alpha Centauri.

Kirk says: " Zefram Cochrane of Alpha Centuri, the discoverer of the space warp?"

Writers at the time concluded that Centaurians were aliens identical to humans (perhaps due to panspermia?). Thus McCoy's reading that Cochrane was "human."

In the First Contact retcon, it was concluded that Cochrane was from Earth and later speculated that he'd only immigrated to A-Centauri to support the statement made in Metamophosis (that he was "of Alpha Centauri").

From what I've read about current (post retcon) ST continuity, A-Centauri is an Earth colony (no native inhabitants), but there is a story from Enterprise about ancient Greek humans being transplanted there by other aliens in ancient times - so that by the time future humans reached the star system, they found other humans already there!

Also from what I've researched there was at least one non-canon novel (written before First Contact) that utilized the original continuity - that A-Centauri was inhabited, was Earth's first contact, and that Cochrane was an alien from that system.

Valora Noland







Valora Noland as Daras


Patterns of Force

Daras, the hottest Nazi ever!






ST fans will get that.

There weren't a whole lot of pointed-ear Nazis. That's what happens when you get your head caught in a mechanical rice picker.

I always wondered about that line. So totally out of character for Spock.

It's one of my favorite Star Trek moments. It adds a bit of drunken humor to a serious situation.



"Have no fear O'Rileys here." Isn't that what Dr. Smith often said on Lost in Space? ("Have no fear Smith is here.")

I'm seeing double



The Enemy Within



What are Little Girls Made Of?



Whom Gods Destroy



Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

That was a great clip @Mesmerized - thanks for posting, Bruce Hyde was interesting to see and hear ; and he hit the nail on the head when he said- 'there was something profound ' about the show. The hope we could all be from different backgrounds and yet come together to explore the galaxies in peace.

That was a great ep and the 'drunken ' O Riley was an unforgettable ( and adorable) character. Amazing how he stood out in our minds years later from this one episode.


Don't remember the quote from Lost in Space, but I seem to remember O Riley saying something about the women on the ship should be wearing their hair ' loosely' - and how he looked like a chastened basset hound when they finally broke in and got him. Lmao.

Btw I recently (rewatched ) the Star Trek Movie. Search for Spock - and I truly enjoyed it . I think they kept the spirit of the tv show ( still my favorite) . Still had a gripping story and adventure. And still character driven. It was interesting to see how the main stars had matured in the years since the show. DeForest I believe was the oldest of the three , but he looked like a distinguished professor at this time. Bill actually looked younger to my eyes, or better, than in TOS . Maybe it was the hair. And speaking of hair ( and I'm not sure Yoda follows this thread, but I know how he is enthralled by my philosophical analyses of this very profound topic ) I really didn't care for Leonard's bangs. He did look better when he was alive than when he was comatose, of course, but the bangs were jmho a bad choice.

You know, two more things stood out to me about the movie. First, this movie was still like TOS in appealing to fans of all ages. I could watch it now and still enjoy it but it could also appeal to younger audiences, teens, even grade schoolers. To its credit .

Secondly, and this is a bit OT: but: Christopher Lloyd was ably evil as the cruel leader of the Klingon ship. But I just could not see him and especially - hear his voice - without thinking of him saying:

"What ...... does...... a .......yellow......light.......mean"

Sorry, couldn't resist- Reverend Jim taking his driving test:

I always remember it was something of a shock to see Christopher Lloyd as the Klingon commander that first time on the big screen at the movies. I'm sure this was a common occurrence for everyone who saw this in the theater the first time, but you could hear people all over the theater saying "What... does... a... yellow... light... mean?" as soon as Commander Kruge started to speak!

Let us not forget one of Commander Kruge's Officers John Laroquette of Night Court fame.



In the clip below, he's the Klingon on the right:

__________________
"Miss Jean Louise, Mr. Arthur Radley."

No dance tonight.

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