Star Trek + Red Shirt = not so good

So true! :)

Quote: What? You don't know about the Red Shirt Phenomenon? Well, as any die-hard Trekkie knows, if you are wearing a red shirt and beam to the planet with Captain Kirk, you're gonna die.
 
Simply brilliant.

Its also bad mojo to communicate the discovery of anything.

"...Sir, I think I've found something....ARGNHHH..."
 
I can recall that being a guest on many TV action shows of the era was a (television) death sentence.

I used to like the WWII shows like Combat....... When the firefight breaks out with a German patrol - - - who gets shot (besides, inevitanly, all the Germans)? The 'guest stars", Hollywood cannon fodder.

I'd bet being the new guy in Sgt Saunder's squad was easily as deadly as being on Cpt Kirk's beam down party.
 
CAPTAIN KIRK: We need to.......send.....anawayteam........downtothe....planet.....and ex.....plore......the away.....team....shall....consistof....myself....First....OfficerSpock........Doctor....McCoyand......ENSIGNRICKY!"

ENSIGN RICKY: Aw crap.
 
When I was younger I used to wish that Star Trek was still making episodes so that I could some day play a red shirted crew member and get killed on an away mission. :D
 
  • Yellow-shirt crewperson deaths: 6 (10%)
  • Blue-Shirt crewperson deaths: 5 (8 %)
  • Engineering smock crewperson deaths: 4
  • Red-Shirt crewperson deaths: 43 (73%)
Its good to be an engineer ;)
 
Excuse me for a moment whilst I bask in the memory of Sigourney Weaver in the guise of a flirtaceous blond : mmm : ... oh, sorry, where was I? Er, Captain I think I've fo ... erk!
 
Revealing some of my Trekker geekishness here:
On ST:TOS, they were called "landing parties". They were not (if memory serves) called "away teams" until ST:TNG came along.

"Landing party". Not much of a party if you wore a red shirt.
 
Any favorite episodes or read any of the early works about the series? I was always partial to Harlan Ellison's 'City'. (Note the moniker ;) )

Speaking of which...in his inimitable Ellison style...'pay the writer!' LOL!

 
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I enjoyed the Ellison clip too - true words, harshly spoken but true nontheless when it comes to the treatment of writers in this video and marketing age.

As an aside, has anyone else been keeping up with the "Of Gods and Men" internet movie? It's taken a long while to gestate but the cast list is packed with Trek regulars from every series there's been and the story is fascinating, as Spock would say.

With limited funds the special effects are not excactly Trek Movie standard but who cares with a good story?

For those of us who are Kirk fans, even tho' he's not in it, the 'footprint' of James T. Kirk is most satisfying. Given that, when I was I kid and we played Star Trek in the yard, I was always Kirk you can guess how pleased I am :D.

Thinking about it, those Trek games with my primary school friends had quite a foretelling effect of their own. Andy always played Doctor McCoy and went on to be a biologist, Dave always played Scottie and went on to be a mechanical engineer and Paul favoured Spock and he was a physicist last I heard :D. If I'd've been allowed, I'd've been in the Royal Navy and may well have made Captain by now ... oh for might have beens :(.
 
They NEEDED the red shirts to die. The away team consisted of the ENTIRE LEADERSHIP STAFF OF THE SHIP. So if anyone OTHER than the red shirt died, they were in trouble.

I mean seriously....why would you send your 3 highest ranking officers on EVERY mission??
 
Galaxy Quest covered this well...
"But I DIED..........IN EPISODE 81!!!!!!!"
Sam Rockwell is such a talented diverse actor. His combination of sleaze and wimpiness was perfect for that role.

"I don't even have a last name, that's why my character is expendable!"

"I know that I wanted to come along because something would've happened to my character if I stayed aboard the ship but now I realize that something could happen to me while I'm down on the planet!" ... (just can't win!)
 
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