A look behind the scenes of Star Trek into some of the franchise's most obscure secrets.
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00:00 We as audiences only get to see the final products of our favorite shows like Star Trek,
00:04 but there are tons of unknown moments and techniques that contributed to making the
00:08 shows and films that we adore. This list will be looking at uncovered secrets from behind the
00:12 scenes productions of Star Trek revealed through interviews, books, and documentaries with cast
00:17 and crew members. Some of these reveals make you rethink entire storylines, but others are just
00:22 fun trivia. With that being said, I'm Bri from Trek Culture and here are 10 obscure Star Trek
00:28 secrets that took years to discover. Number 10, the theme song's lyrics. The original series theme
00:34 song composed by Alexander Courage is one of the best in Trek. It's fast-paced, fun, and otherworldly.
00:40 Totally perfect for the show. However, many don't know that the theme song actually has lyrics.
00:46 Not only the voiceover of Captain Kirk, but actual lyrics. Gene Roddenberry wrote these
00:51 lyrics in order to legally receive 50% of the royalties for the song, despite the fact that
00:56 the lyrics were never used. He was actually pretty unapologetic about this fact, stating,
01:01 "I have to get money somewhere. I'm sure not gonna get it out of the profits of Star Trek."
01:06 The lyrics were hastily written, as they were never actually intended to be used,
01:10 but seemed to be framed from the perspective of Kirk's long-lost lover he left on Earth to
01:14 explore the stars. The story was mentioned in the reference book Inside Star Trek, The Real Story,
01:19 published in 1997. Number 9, the arguments over the Dominion War. Nowadays, the Dominion War is
01:26 considered to be one of the most exciting time periods in Star Trek history by many fans of
01:31 Deep Space Nine. But the writers, Ira Stephen Bear and Ronald D. Moore, had to fight hard to include
01:36 it in the show. Early on, executive producer Rick Berman wanted the Dominion War to be over within
01:41 three to four episodes at most. Berman thought that the drawn-out war arc would be too depressing
01:46 and violent for Star Trek, but Moore rebuttled, telling him that wars are supposed to be depressing
01:51 and violent. But what was most upsetting to Berman was his belief that the war storyline went against
01:56 Gene Roddenberry's vision for the franchise he created. Specifically, his strong desire to keep
02:01 the stories optimistic and for Star Trek to be a hopeful look at what the future could be like if
02:06 we did things right. Nobody can know what Gene would think of the Dominion War as he passed away
02:10 before the series began, but his former wife, May Jo Barrett, criticized the arc in a letter written
02:15 to Star Trek magazine, claiming that Gene would never have approved. During an AOL chat in 1999,
02:21 Berman spoke about how he agreed with Barrett that Gene probably wouldn't have loved the Dominion
02:25 War, but said that he was now happy with how it had turned out. Number 8 - The Rebooted Gorn
02:31 The merciless reptilian hunters known as the Gorn have only appeared in Star Trek a few times,
02:36 but whenever they show up, they've proven to be a worthy adversary for the Federation.
02:41 The Gorn first appeared in the classic original series episode "Arena" in a sadly dated costume
02:46 that didn't do much to sell them as a legitimate threat, though the costume was impressive for the
02:51 time. But still, the Gorn, a reptilian race stronger than humans, were compelling enough
02:56 that the writers decided to bring one back in Star Trek Enterprise, which somehow managed to
03:01 look worse. The early CGI work was, again, impressive for the time, but absolutely hilarious
03:08 in retrospect. However, many fans don't know that another reboot of the Gorn was planned for Trek,
03:14 specifically for the 2009 reboot film. According to Star Trek's magazine special in 2014,
03:20 the Gorn were designed by Barney Berman and his company, the Proteus Makeup FX team,
03:25 to appear in a scene at the Roropenthe prison colony. The scene was eventually cut,
03:29 so sadly we never got to see the full updated look of this new Gorn. Finally, over a decade later,
03:35 the Gorn returned in the Lower Decks episode "Veritas", looking like a cartoonish version
03:40 of their original design. And we also got the Strange New Worlds episode "All Those Who Wander".
03:45 The Gorn in that episode were younglings, seen battling to the death to decide who's the alpha,
03:50 and their design greatly resembled the velociraptor-like appearance of the Enterprise
03:54 Gorn, albeit with much more convincing lighting and movement. After the disappointment of not
04:00 seeing the Gorn at all when they returned in "Memento Mori", this was a very welcomed callback.
04:05 Number 7. Garak's secret love for Bashir. Unfortunately, good LGBTQ+ representation
04:12 was very difficult to get past media executives when "Deep Space Nine" was airing, because many
04:17 in charge feared the backlash it would generate. This is why, despite Andrew Robinson, the actor
04:22 who played Garak, and the writers both wanting Garak to be portrayed as queer, we never saw it
04:27 on screen. However, Andrew Robinson did state that his iconic performance of Garak on the show was
04:33 inspired by queer culture, and that he actively tried to portray him crushing on Dr. Bashir,
04:38 which really does clear a lot up in retrospect. He confirmed the latter explicitly in the "Deep
04:43 Space Nine" documentary "What We Left Behind", stating, "At first he just wanted to have sex
04:47 with him. That's absolutely clear." He also said in the past, "I started out playing Garak as
04:52 someone who doesn't have a defined sexuality. He's not gay, he's not straight, it's a non-issue for
04:58 him." So while it took far too long for Star Trek to include its first LGBTQ+ characters,
05:04 it's interesting to speculate on whether Garak truly did have these deeper feelings for Bashir,
05:09 as Robinson claimed. Number six, the original plans for the Borg.
05:13 As most fans know, the Borg were introduced in the "Next Generation" episode "Q Who",
05:18 in which Q transported the Enterprise D into Borg space to give humanity a taste of what horrors
05:24 awaited them in deep space. However, less people are aware that the Borg were actually planned to
05:29 be introduced several episodes prior in the Neutral Zone. In the episode, Starfleet and the
05:34 Romulans were investigating their colonies that were destroyed near the Neutral Zone.
05:38 We never learned who destroyed these colonies, but when the Enterprise D entered Borg space in
05:42 "Q Who", scans revealed that a planet destroyed by the Borg was destroyed in exactly the same manner
05:48 as the Neutral Zone colonies. Star Trek "The Next Generation" companion reference books explain that
05:53 the Borg were originally planned to appear in this episode, kick-starting a three-episode trilogy in
05:58 which the Borg would be introduced as the new main enemy of the Federation, prompting the Romulans to
06:03 join forces with them to save the entire Alpha Quadrant. The book goes on to explain that these
06:08 plans were postponed and then later changed due to a writer's strike in 1988. Number five, the reason
06:14 for the "Next Generation" uniform redesign. Star Trek's "Next Generation" uniforms were redesigned
06:20 in the third season, changed from the tight-fitting one-piece style jumpsuit into a more comfortable
06:25 two-piece collared jacket and pants combination. A look that more fans would prefer as it just looks
06:30 more comfortable and more like something that people would actually want to wear into work
06:34 every day. According to Patrick Stewart in many interviews over the years, the old uniforms didn't
06:38 just look uncomfortable, they were actually causing him severe back pain. He even said in an interview
06:44 with BBC Radio 1 that there were talks of a possible lawsuit if the uniforms weren't fixed.
06:49 Some cast members even stated that the material of the old uniforms was causing them to overheat
06:54 under the studio lights. The new uniforms designed by the show's new costume designer Robert Blackmon
06:59 not only looked way better, but were also way more comfortable for the cast. Number four, the reason
07:04 Nichelle Nichols decided to stay. Nichelle Nichols had to deal with a lot of racist harassment during
07:10 the first season of the original series and later even learned that studio executives were hiding
07:14 her fan mail. Nichols justifiably wanted to leave the show at this point, but changed her mind after
07:20 a chance encounter with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. She told Dr. King about her desire to leave the
07:25 show, but he convinced her to stay, telling her that Ohura was one of the few black characters
07:30 on television that wasn't stereotyped and that was treated as an equal on the cast. This random
07:36 encounter with one of the most influential civil rights leaders in history helped Nichols realize
07:40 the importance of her role on the show. Nichols didn't publicly recall the story until an interview
07:45 with the Television Academy Foundation in 2011, in which the story soon went viral. Number three,
07:51 the origin of the Constellation class. The battle, an episode of the Next Generation's first season,
07:57 introduced us to the USS Stargazer, one of Picard's old ships. The Stargazer was abandoned
08:02 after a devastating battle against unknown attackers, who were later revealed to be the
08:06 Ferengi. In the episode, the Ferengi salvaged the vessel and used it to lure Picard into a trap as
08:12 revenge for him killing the Ferengi years ago. However, the ship in this episode was originally
08:17 supposed to look very different. The book Star Trek The Next Generation Companion revealed that
08:22 the original script described the Stargazer as Constitution class, the same kind of vessel as
08:27 Kirk's Enterprise. By the time the production team decided to change the model of the ship,
08:32 they had already filmed several scenes where characters like Wesley and Geordi refer to the
08:36 ship as a Constitution class vessel. So the actors re-recorded their lines as Constellation class,
08:41 and the new takes were placed over the old footage. The name Constellation was chosen
08:46 because it sounded so similar to the word Constitution, so the overdubbing is not super
08:51 noticeable. But if you look for it, you can still tell that Geordi is definitely saying
08:56 a Constitution class starship. Number 2. The argument over the upside down Enterprise.
09:02 The original Enterprise went through a lot of changes before the production team finally settled
09:06 on the classic design that we all know today. Matt Jeffries, the lead designer behind the ship,
09:11 considered a ring-shaped ship, which later became canonized as the Enterprise XCV-330,
09:17 and a more familiar design, but with a sphere replacing the saucer. This is also the design
09:23 that inspired the Daedalus class ships. Eventually however, they settled on the shape of the ship,
09:27 but one of the weirdest arguments between Jeffries and Gene Roddenberry was over the
09:31 orientation of the model. Star Trek The Magazine volume 1 issue 10 included an interview with Matt
09:37 Jeffries where he recalled showing Roddenberry the model for the first time. He said that the
09:41 model, unbalanced due to its weird shape, flopped upside down from the strings it was hanging from.
09:46 Apparently Gene loved the look of the Enterprise upside down and Jeffries had a really difficult
09:51 time trying to unsell him on it. Jeffries fortunately won the argument in the end,
09:55 because let's face it, flipped Enterprise just looks really wrong. Number 1. The Enterprise
10:01 model's bad side. The special effects team behind the original series had to use a lot of strange
10:06 and creative methods to save money on the show. For example, the main physical model of the
10:11 original Enterprise was only ever filmed from its right side. This is because the special effects
10:16 team decided to run electrical wiring along the left side for the lights, and keeping the left
10:21 side hidden proved to be easier than trying to hide the wiring. The Enterprise was mostly seen
10:26 from its right side on the show and for promotional photos, but when it needed to be seen from the
10:31 left side, the video was mirrored and the lettering on the hall was replaced with reverse decals so
10:36 that the text could be read normally. There's very little information online about the model's left
10:40 side, but you can find images of the wiring in the reference book "To Boldly Go" rare photos from the
10:46 TOS soundstage season 2. Additionally, the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in
10:51 Washington DC acquired the model in 1974, and Margaret Weitkamp, a curator at the museum,
10:57 talked about the lack of detail on the left side in an interview with the Washington Post in 2017,
11:03 shortly after the model went through a full restoration at the museum.
11:06 And that was 10 obscure Star Trek secrets that took years to discover.
11:10 I hope that even the most seasoned of you Trekkies learned something new today.
11:13 If you enjoyed this video and you want to see more from us, make sure you subscribe to Trek
11:17 Culture below. You can also find us on Twitter @TrekCulture, and you can find me on Twitter
11:22 @TrekkiBree. Until next time, live long and prosper.