Was 'Ten Forward' always on the ship?

[Lance]

The TNG Technical Manual makes it pretty clear that one of the advantages of the Galaxy Class is that a large amount of it's internal space is free for customisation according to the needs of any given mission. The implication seeming to be that, like the way the bridge modules are supposed to be easy to replace without changing the rest of the ship, the Ent-D and others of her type were moldable. New areas could be added or removed as necessary.

Obviously the production reason why we never saw Ten Forward in season one was because the set wasn't built until season two. But could this also be the in-universe reason as well? Maybe the "Section 10, Forward" area of the ship was actually something else in season one, but the Ten Forward lounge was added sometime between "The Neutral Zone" and "The Child". And, of course, Guinan explicitly says in "Yesterday's Enterprise" that she wasn't on the ship when Tasha was, and Picard greets her in "The Child" as if she's a relative newcomers to the ship (even if Picard himself obviously knows her from way back). Could it be possible that Ten Forward simply didn't exist in season one, and Guinan basically came on-board at the same time Ten Forward was added to the ship? Is there any evidence (canon or otherwise) to this effect?

 

[Takeru]

Do you actually think Stafleet builds bar modules and plugs them into ships? Having a bridge module makes some sense, the entire bridge can be upgraded in a matter of hours without ripping out the carpet, building new consoles, stuffing isolinear chips into walls etc., they will not do that for a dinky little bar. Find an empty room, carry one or two replicators in, add a few tables and chairs and you're done.

Parts of the ship being empty most likely refers to the possibility of a adding cargo areas, additional sickbays, crew quarters etc. depending in the mission, it's not about changing the interior of a room.

 

[Melakon]

Unless there's dialogue specifically stating that it's new, we could just assume it was always there, but wasn't THE place to be until Guinan started running it.

 

[Bigjoe]

Unless there's dialogue specifically stating that it's new, we could just assume it was always there, but wasn't THE place to be until Guinan started running it.

In what way?

Did you not like the character, or was it Whoopi Goldberg you didn't like?

 

[SonicRanger]

Unless there's dialogue specifically stating that it's new, we could just assume it was always there, but wasn't THE place to be until Guinan started running it.

In what way?

Did you not like the character, or was it Whoopi Goldberg you didn't like?

Try re-reading the post... You misunderstood something.

 

[Bigjoe]

Ah my bad. Apologies.

 

[F. King Daniel]

Wasn't Ten-Forward in the flashback portions of "All Good Things"?

Even if not, I like to think it was always there, just with a different bartender. Just like the huge Stellar Cartography chamber was always there, but we didn't see it until the budget of Generations allowed.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

Do you actually think Stafleet builds bar modules and plugs them into ships?

Find an empty room, carry one or two replicators in, add a few tables and chairs and you're done.

True.

Parts of the ship being empty most likely refers to the possibility of a adding cargo areas, additional sickbays, crew quarters etc. depending in the mission, it's not about changing the interior of a room.

Or, it could have been a generic observation lounge that they decided to jazz up.

But, as long as it's nothing that structural integrity depends upon, why not feel free to knock down the 24th century equivalent of drywall and change the deck plan layout?

---

However, it appears that the discussion of modifying rooms on the Ent-D is academic. From http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Ten_Forward#Background:

Ten Forward was introduced in TNG: "The Child", the first episode of the second season of Star Trek: The Next Generation. However, TNG: "All Good Things..." established that it was an unseen part of the ship until then.

From http://www.chakoteya.net/NextGen/277.htm:

PICARD: Counsellor, do you remember when I first came on board the Enterprise?
TROI: Yes.
PICARD: What happened after the welcoming ceremony?
TROI: There was a reception in Ten Forward. I introduced you to Worf and the other senior officers.
PICARD: Do you have any memory of my calling Red Alert in Spacedock? Do you remember Starfleet diverting us from Farpoint to the Neutral Zone to investigate a spatial anomaly?
TROI: No.

So, evidently, in universe, Ten Forward was present ever since Picard came aboard as Captain.

 

[Lance]

^ I really should have thought to look at Memory Alpha in the first place! Interesting to note that the expanded universe implies that other Galaxy Class ships might not have a 'Ten Forward' per se, 'The Return' even suggesting that another G-Class ship has a fourth shuttle bay on Deck Ten, Section One Forward.

On some level I like the idea that Galaxy Class ships are not all identical internally. Unlike earlier models, they're said to have been designed to be largely customisable. I think the Technical Manual says something like 35% of the ship was left empty so that it could be changed as required.

 

[Trekker4747]

I feel it was always there there we just never got to see it in the first season.

 

[Keith1701]

I feel it was always there there we just never got to see it in the first season.

I agree, we just didn't see it until Whoppi came to the series.

 

[C.E. Evans]

On other Galaxy-class ships, it may have a different name like "Herman's" or "The Saloon," but "Ten-Forward" was chosen for the one on the Enterprise.

 

[Captain McBain]

The original Enterprise had a warp core, but this was never shown during TOS' television run. Just because something isn't shown doesn't mean it's non-existent.

 

[Melakon]

Unless there's dialogue specifically stating that it's new, we could just assume it was always there, but wasn't THE place to be until Guinan started running it.

In what way?

Did you not like the character, or was it Whoopi Goldberg you didn't like?

What the he(ck) are you talking about?

 

[Mojochi]

Yeah. It was always there. It stands to reason the flagship would have an area for receptions, dignitary functions, etc...

 

[SchwEnt]

A Galaxy class has room for LOTS of everything.
Plenty of space for every kind of lounge and conference rooms and meeting halls and formal reception areas and you name it.

And yet most everything we saw, from informal casual gatherings to high-level ambassadorial functions to theatrical performances to crew ceremonies to music recitals ended up in Ten Forward. I guess it was everyone's favorite spot but, come on. It's not a tight ship where rooms need to be multi-purpose.

 

[Trekker4747]

Don't confuse things happening on the 10-Forward set with things things happening in 10-Forward. Many of the times you see the 10-Fwd set used for something it could simply be another room on the ship that simply, vaguely, looks like 10-Fwd. It was a show, afterall, running on a budget.

 

[F. King Daniel]

That is true, those (too small) windows go all around the saucer and along the secondary hull too.

 

[Mojochi]

Any time you see the windows of the front arc of the ship, that is clearly the bow of the vessel, I just assume it's Ten Forward

 

[SchwEnt]

Right on. But those great sweeping windows apparently encircle the saucer, so there should be dozens or hundreds of rooms with views equally as impressive as Ten Forward.

What would make Ten Forward the place to be? Guinan and the bar? The forward view is better than the starboard view?