Aliens on the Enterprise?

[alpha_leonis]

Somebody else's subthread got me starting to think: where were all the aliens in the Enterprise crew during TOS? To my memory, Spock was the only one we ever saw. (The only exception was a Vulcan, assisting Spock in the Mirror Enterprise. But that doesn't "really" count.)

Especially odd considering that in TMP, which takes place just a few years later after the end of the five-year mission, there are aliens all over the place in the crowd scenes (including one alien with a speaking line on the bridge.)

So during those few years, did StarFleet have a major diversity initiative? Or was it just another case of "retconning Chekov into Space Seed" by saying the aliens really were there, but we just never saw them?

 

[Pauln6]

Even in STII-VI we didn't have as many aliens as TMP (although that might be because we never had as many together in one place - there were probably only about 20 aliens in TMP in total). Basically it comes down to budget and make-up. It was decades before special effects reached the stage where they felt they could make andorians cool - but they succeeded!

I've been hoping that the new ongoing comic series would reintroduce characters based on the TOS and TMP races but no luck so far - depressingly human apart from Spock and Keenser. I fear that even in the reboot they will be mere background cameos. But who wouldn't love to see an andorian security guard, a saurian engineer, and a zaranite geologist?

 

[Redfern]

Or a Caitian massage therapist...

What? Why is everyone looking at me funny?

Sincerely,

Bill

 

[SchwEnt]

Probably a lot of reason why we didn't see a lot of (or any) aliens aboard the Enterprise. Money and makeup issues, no doubt.

Maybe a bit about the early ideas of the series...
Early eps made frequent mention of Earth colonies and Earth vessels and so on. Before the multi-species Federation and Star Fleet, perhaps the Enterprise was envisioned as an Earth ship serving in a United Earth Space Probe Agency, and therefore crewed mainly by humans.

The UFP and member aliens and all that came later, but by that point we'd already seen a mainly human crew. IDK.

 

[Ian Keldon]

Well, we did see M'ress and Arex in TAS, so that's two more aliens.

Like someone said above, I just assumed they were there but we didn't see them.

 

[Sumghai]

I'd go with the budget issue as well.

I read somewhere that TNG's Klingons were what Gene wanted them to be in TOS, but due to the aforementioned issues, they ended up looking like humans with dark pigmentation and asianic eyebrows.

Not that I mind, of course.

 

[jayrath]

I assume that there were many, many aliens; they just looked like humans. Holy cow, we met enough of them that looked exactly like us.

Anyway, alien crewmembers would have had to be at least humanoid, to fit inside the lift, operate all the controls, etc.

 

[F. King Daniel]

I like to think the Enterprise crew in TOS was as diverse as that seen in TMP and STXI (and Diane Duane's novels!), but that all those cool aliens (including Arex and M'Ress!) were always just off-camera or in the next room After all, the only reason why they didn't have more aliens in TOS is that they couldn't afford it.

 

[Ssosmcin]

I never assumed there were more aliens aboard. The Enterprise always felt like an Earth ship and their organization earth-centric. Even the characters treated Spock like he was this weird alien dude, implying he was in a unique position as the resident non-human. I can understand make-up being an issue, but nothing had to be complex. Blue skin is beyond the budget? A wig with antennae? Contact lenses? All the stuff they did for guest aliens, none of that could have been applied to a regular dude in the background? Even if they waited until the second season it would have made a difference, but they never tried it. The USS Enterprise was a ship manned by 427 humans and one Vulcan. When Roddenberry and Fontana had the opportunity to fine tune the concept for Trek Animated, they made a number of changes, and adding aliens (while backpedaling the reasons for excluding them previously) was one of those changes.

 

[AtoZ]

The mirror universe Spock had a muscular Vulcan bodyguard, so I assume that same Vulcan existed aboard the Enterprise in universe proper, in a more pragmatic fashion.

 

[matthunter]

Some sources take the "Intrepid was crewed entirely by Vulcans" theme and run with the idea that each of the founders of the Federation got a Constitution-Class ship to (almost) exclusively crew with their own people. In the Last Unicorn Games RPG sourcebooks, the Andorians got the USS Eagle, captained by Iligran Kor and one of the most highly decorated crews in the fleet. Enterprise COULD be the human version of such, with Spock attaining the sole "alien" position due to impressing Pike.

However, Centaurans are apparently externally indistinguishable from humans (the blonde lady sometimes subbing for Uhura at Communications is listed as Centauran in some sources) so it's possible there were a few "hidden" aliens in TOS. Why M'Benga, an expert in Vulcan medicine, would be aboard a ship with only a single Vulcan (and one with hybrid and not-quite-Vulcan physiology at that!) is a mystery that suggests a probable larger Vulcan complement than just Spock...

 

[BillJ]

Why M'Benga, an expert in Vulcan medicine, would be aboard a ship with only a single Vulcan (and one with hybrid and not-quite-Vulcan physiology at that!) is a mystery that suggests a probable larger Vulcan complement than just Spock...

I was just getting ready to make this very same point.

 

[Albertese]

I'd go with the budget issue as well.

I read somewhere that TNG's Klingons were what Gene wanted them to be in TOS, but due to the aforementioned issues, they ended up looking like humans with dark pigmentation and asianic eyebrows.

Not that I mind, of course.

I doubt that Gene Roddenberry was very much involved with the look of Klingons. In the first place, they were designed by Fred Philips and John Colicos as they were getting ready for "Errand of Mercy." When TMP came around Philips did something more with a larger budget, but i don't think Roddenberry had any specific input beyond "Let's do something more with the Klingons..."

--Alex

 

[Doug Otte]

Why M'Benga, an expert in Vulcan medicine, would be aboard a ship with only a single Vulcan (and one with hybrid and not-quite-Vulcan physiology at that!) is a mystery that suggests a probable larger Vulcan complement than just Spock...

I was just getting ready to make this very same point.

You may perhaps both be right, but it's also possible that Dr. M'Benga was a specialist in Vulcan physiology while also being a specialist in other things as well as a general physician. After all, McCoy seemed to know about a lot of specialties, including psychology and psychiatry.

 

[GSchnitzer]

For what it's worth, the book The Making of Star Trek has the following comments:

"The 430-man crew (approximately one third are females) is completely international and multiracial in makeup. There are even crew members from other planets. Although Mister Spock is the only alien crew member introduced so far, there are others who will make their appearance on future shows. The crew of each starship is predominantly one type. The crew of some of these vessels is primarily human, others primarily Vulcan, and others perhaps something else. Each ship has a small percentage of aliens aboard, but the majority of the crew are primarily of one type."

Although this was written during the second season, we know now, of course, that the third season came and went with no other alien crew members introduced.

 

[AtoZ]

In Journey to Babel during a discussion in the sick bay, Kirk states "there are other Vulcans on board". We don't know if he refers to other traveling dignitaries or members of the crew, but I assume he refers to crew, given that we do not see any other Vulcans with Sarek and Amanda.

BTW - It would have been the perfect time to introduce and utilize Dr. M'Benga.

 

[BillJ]

In Journey to Babel during a discussion in the sick bay, Kirk states "there are other Vulcans on board". We don't know if he refers to other traveling dignitaries or members of the crew, but I assume he refers to crew, given that we do not see any other Vulcans with Sarek and Amanda.

BTW - It would have been the perfect time to introduce and utilize Dr. M'Benga.

Two aides come aboard with Sarek at the beginning of the episode. But I don't think we see them again...

Which is odd, if they were aboard they would also have been capable of breaking the Tellarites neck.

 

[GSchnitzer]

Vulcan aides played by Russ Peek and Frank da Vinci.

In Journey to Babel during a discussion in the sick bay, Kirk states "there are other Vulcans on board". We don't know if he refers to other traveling dignitaries or members of the crew, but I assume he refers to crew, given that we do not see any other Vulcans with Sarek and Amanda.

BTW - It would have been the perfect time to introduce and utilize Dr. M'Benga.

Two aides come aboard with Sarek at the beginning of the episode. But I don't think we see them again...

Which is odd, if they were aboard they would also have been capable of breaking the Tellarites neck.

 

[BillJ]

Vulcan aides played by Russ Peek and Frank da Vinci.

In Journey to Babel during a discussion in the sick bay, Kirk states "there are other Vulcans on board". We don't know if he refers to other traveling dignitaries or members of the crew, but I assume he refers to crew, given that we do not see any other Vulcans with Sarek and Amanda.

BTW - It would have been the perfect time to introduce and utilize Dr. M'Benga.

Two aides come aboard with Sarek at the beginning of the episode. But I don't think we see them again...

Which is odd, if they were aboard they would also have been capable of breaking the Tellarites neck.

I've watched a lot of Trek and sometimes it bleeds together.

But do we see the aides or hear them mentioned again in the episode? I'm pretty sure we don't.

 

[Doug Otte]

Vulcan aides played by Russ Peek and Frank da Vinci.

Two aides come aboard with Sarek at the beginning of the episode. But I don't think we see them again...

Which is odd, if they were aboard they would also have been capable of breaking the Tellarites neck.

I've watched a lot of Trek and sometimes it bleeds together.

But do we see the aides or hear them mentioned again in the episode? I'm pretty sure we don't.

I'm pretty sure we don't, too. Maybe they just accompanied the dignitaries to the Enterprise, then returned to the surface in the shuttle?