That's just alpha shift. We only ever see Star Trek shows from their viewpoint (with some episodes and lower decks as exceptions). AFAIK there's three or four shifts on board those vessels?
this post was submitted on 23 Sep 2026
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Well back in the day it'd be every important officer plus the captain. So that's progress I suppose.
That was one of the first major difference in operations that I noticed when I started TNG; the captain almost never goes on away missions. In TOS, the captain almost always led the away party.
There was dialogue about this when Riker first came aboard the D.
And Picard even mentions it to Pressman (I think)
Which PStew really didn’t like.
“I want to kick some ass!”
Considering there were only three members of the main cast, TOS had to use their stars.
there were only three members of the main cast
Yep. The main characters on Star Trek TOS are Captain Kirk, Commander Spock and Dr. McCoy. Scotty, Sulu, Uhura, Chekov, Rand, Chapel, Kyle etc. are supporting characters.
TNG, once they got their shit together, was a true ensemble cast, the various characters took turns starring in individual episodes.
I don't agree. TOS was just as much of an ensemble. Most promotional cast photos are group shots like this
Sure, the big three got the most screen time and stories, but the rest had big parts as well.
Yeah. As supporting characters.
Scotty was the main character of more episodes of TNG than TOS.
Oh, a young Alfred Bester.
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I watched (some of) TOS recently. And it basically erased one of my complaints about Discovery being "The Michael Burnhan Show." Because boy TOS is literally "The James Kirk Show." Like, Spock is there, McCoy is mostly there, but everyone else felt really really like, quintary, not even Secondary, just way way down the line.
I feel like everyone remembers Trek as "ensemble cast" from the movies and TNG on.
You have to compare TOS to other shows of the time.
Most Westerns of that era had the star showing up in a new town every week with no supporting characters. Same with detective shows.
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Well, at least we know they will return. Imagine the transporter was full of uncredited redshirts...
Tasha Yarr would like a word.
She'd already had the peak of what a human being can experience getting plowed by Data so it would all have been downhill from there anyway.
And the word is "Fully functional?"
The Transporter has a pattern buffer. Why didn't they just keep copying one Redshirt guy to save lives. Like Mickey 17.
"Time for an away mission Redshirt."
But they don't tell him where, and then put him in the buffer. He will just, always be ready.
This is how you get Tom Rikers.
One Riker is plenty, what we need are more William Boimlers.
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Maybe Star Trek Captains have a sort of Meta knowledge?
They know when they send important characters, they will most likely all come back.
So by not sending redshirts, the captain is just looking out for the crew!
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"Hey now, they didn't send Troi down! She'll be able to do something to help on the ship... probably."
"The away mission is to save Troi."
"Well shit."
Given that the transporter guy is still wearing the first version of the uniform, it's safe to assume that the Enterprise's yet-undiscovered MVP, Miles O'Brien is still on board. He'll be able to fix whatever pops up in the absence of the senior staff.
"Hey now, they didn't send Troi down! She'll be able to do something to help on the ship... probably."
She might uh... bring the ship to them.
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Amateur. Kirk would also go himself.
He had to go. Those green alien women weren't going to sleep with themselves.
No doubt with Scotty begging him not to go. “If ye get killed I’m going to have to run the ship from the bridge!”
Picard will be fine manning the ship alone.
Remember the Star Gazer and Wolf 359?
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How many officers died during those dangerous missions? Maybe this decision isn't that stupid?
It reminds me of when I send my A-team on a mission in XCOM: it's devastating if they die, but they're also the ones most likely to succeed.
XCOM A-Team in theory: They're the best, they can solve any problem.
XCOM A-Team in practice: It's March and we just spotted a Snakeman on this terror mission so our soldiers will spend their remaining time units running back to the Skyranger while screaming like little girls.
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There was one where Picard died.
Direct intervention by Q is the only thing that saved him.
there was one where picard died and they simply created new one out of the transporter buffer...
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I mean, there were clearly only 20, maybe 30 people on the ship. So it makes sense.
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Contributes to my theory that Star Trek is in reality an existentialist dystopia with everyone on the Enterprise competing to get onboard for the chance at a meaningful death.
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Honestly that’s one of the reasons I like Lower Decks. The bridge crew is all “fuck that, we got peons… I’ll just go manage some of them”
Yeah, but when a red shirt dies in TNG, it's a more impactful loss since red shirts went from "expendable nobody" to "commanding officers."
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Well yeah, have you seen how small their budget for extras is???
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