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A look behind the scenes of Star Trek into some of the franchise's most obscure secrets.
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00:00We as audiences only get to see the final products of our favorite shows, like Star Trek,
00:04but there are tons of unknown moments and techniques that contributed to making the
00:08shows and films that we adore. This list will be looking at uncovered secrets from behind-the-scenes
00:13productions of Star Trek revealed through interviews, books, and documentaries with
00:17cast and crew members. Some of these reveals make you rethink entire storylines, but others
00:22are just fun trivia. With that being said, I'm Bri from Trek Culture, and here are 10
00:27obscure Star Trek secrets that took years to discover.
00:31Number 10. The theme song's lyrics.
00:33The original series' theme song, composed by Alexander Courage, is one of the best in Trek.
00:38It's fast-paced, fun, and otherworldly. Totally perfect for the show. However, many don't know
00:44that the theme song actually has lyrics. Not only the voiceover of Captain Kirk, but actual lyrics.
00:50Gene Roddenberry wrote these lyrics in order to legally receive 50% of the royalties for the song,
00:55despite the fact that the lyrics were never used. He was actually pretty unapologetic about this
01:00fact, stating,
01:02I have to get money somewhere. I'm sure not gonna get it out of the profits of Star Trek.
01:06The lyrics were hastily written, as they were never actually intended to be used,
01:10but seemed to be framed from the perspective of Kirk's long-lost lover he left on Earth to
01:15explore the stars. The story was mentioned in the reference book Inside Star Trek, The Real
01:19Story, published in 1997. Number 9. The arguments over the Dominion War.
01:25Nowadays, the Dominion War is considered to be one of the most exciting time periods in Star Trek
01:29history by many fans of Deep Space Nine. But the writers, Ira Stephen Baer and Ronald D. Moore,
01:35had to fight hard to include it in the show. Early on, executive producer Rick Berman wanted the
01:40Dominion War to be over within three...
01:42The drawn-out war arc would be too depressing and violent for Star Trek, but more rebuttaled,
01:49telling him that wars are supposed to be depressing and violent. But what was most upsetting to Berman
01:54was his belief that the war storyline went against Gene Roddenberry's vision for the franchise he
01:58created. Specifically, his strong desire to keep the stories optimistic, and for Star Trek to be a
02:04hopeful look at what the future could be like if we did things right. Nobody can know what Gene would
02:09think of the Dominion War as he passed away before the series began, but his former wife,
02:13Majel Barrett, criticized the arc in a letter written to Star Trek magazine, claiming that Gene
02:18would never have approved. During an AOL chat in 1999, Berman spoke about how he agreed with Barrett
02:23that Gene probably wouldn't have loved the Dominion War, but said that he was now happy with how it had
02:28turned out. Number 8. The rebooted Gorn. The merciless reptilian hunters known as the Gorn have only
02:35appeared in Star Trek a few times, but whenever they show up, they've proven to be a worthy
02:39adversary for the Federation. The Gorn first appeared in the classic original series episode
02:44Arena, in a sadly dated costume that didn't do much to sell them as a legitimate threat,
02:50though the costume was impressive for the time. But still, the Gorn, a reptilian race stronger than
02:55humans, were compelling enough that the writers decided to bring one back in Star Trek Enterprise,
03:00which somehow managed to look worse. The early CGI work was, again, impressive for the time,
03:07but absolutely hilarious in retrospect. However, many fans don't know that another reboot of the
03:12Gorn was planned for Trek, specifically for the 2009 reboot film. According to Star Trek's magazine
03:18special in 2014, the Gorn were designed by Barney Berman and his company, the Proteus Makeup FX team,
03:25to appear in a scene at the Roropenthe prison colony. The scene was eventually cut, so sadly we never got
03:31to see the full updated look of this new Gorn. Finally, over a decade later, the Gorn returned in
03:36the Lower Decks episode, Veritas. Looking in the Lower Decks episode, Veritas. Looking like a cartoonish
03:43version of their original design. And we also got the Strange New Worlds episode, All Those Who Wander.
03:49The Gorn in that episode were younglings, seen battling to the death to decide who's the alpha,
03:53and their design greatly resembled the Velociraptor-like appearance of the Enterprise Gorn,
03:58albeit with much more convincing lighting and movement. After the disappointment of not seeing
04:03the Gorn at all when they returned in Memento Mori, this was a very welcomed callback.
04:09Number 7. Garak's secret love for Bashir
04:11Unfortunately, good LGBTQ plus representation was very difficult to get past media executives when
04:18Deep Space Nine was airing, because many in charge feared the backlash it would generate.
04:23This is why, despite Andrew Robinson, the actor who played Garak, and the writers both wanting
04:28Garak to be portrayed as queer, we never saw it on screen. However, Andrew Robinson did state that
04:33his iconic performance of Garak on the show was inspired by queer culture, was inspired by queer
04:38culture, and that he actively tried to portray him crushing on Dr. Bashir, which really does clear a
04:44lot up in retrospect. He confirmed the latter explicitly in the Deep Space Nine documentary,
04:49What We Left Behind, stating,
04:51At first he just wanted to have sex with him. That's absolutely clear. He also said in the past,
04:56I started out playing Garak as someone who doesn't have a defined sexuality. He's not gay. He's not
05:01straight. It's a non-issue for him. So while it took far too long for Star Trek to include its first
05:07LGBTQ plus characters, it's interesting to speculate on whether Garak truly did have these deeper feelings
05:13for Bashir, as Robinson claimed. Number 6. The Original Plans for the Borg
05:18As most fans know, the Borg were introduced in the Next Generation episode, Q Who, in which Q
05:24transported the Enterprise D into Borg space to give humanity a taste of what horrors awaited them in
05:30deep space. However, less people are aware that the Borg were actually planned to be introduced several
05:35episodes prior in the Neutral Zone. In the episode, Starfleet and the Romulans were investigating their
05:40colonies that were destroyed near the Neutral Zone. We never learned who destroyed these colonies,
05:45but when the Enterprise D entered Borg space in Q Who, scans revealed that a planet destroyed by
05:50the Borg was destroyed in exactly the same manner as the Neutral Zone colonies. Star Trek The Next
05:55Generation companion reference books explain that the Borg was a three-episode trilogy in which the Borg
06:04would be introduced as the new main enemy of the Federation, prompting the Romulans to join forces
06:09with them to save the entire Alpha Quadrant. The book goes on to explain that these plans were
06:13postponed and then later changed due to a writer's strike in 1988. Number 5. The Reason for the Next
06:20Generation's Uniform Redesign Star Trek's Next Generation uniforms were redesigned in the third
06:25season, changed from the tight-fitting one-piece style jumpsuit into a more comfortable two-piece
06:30collared jacket and pants combination. A look that more fans would prefer, as it just looks more
06:35comfortable and more like something that people would actually want to wear into work every day.
06:39According to Patrick Stewart in many interviews over the years, the old uniforms didn't just look
06:44uncomfortable, they were actually causing him severe back pain. He even said in an interview with
06:49BBC Radio 1 that there were talks of a possible lawsuit if the uniforms weren't fixed. Some cast
06:55members even stated that the material of the old uniforms was causing them to overheat under the
06:59studio lights. The new uniforms designed by the show's new costume designer Robert Blackman not
07:04only looked way better, but were also way more comfortable for the cast. Number 4. The Reason
07:09Nichelle Nichols Decided to Stay Nichelle Nichols had to deal with a lot of racist harassment during the
07:15first season of the original series and later even learned that studio executives were hiding her fan
07:20mail. Nichols justifiably wanted to leave the show at this point, but changed her mind after a chance
07:26encounter with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. She told Dr. King about her desire to leave the show,
07:31but he convinced her to stay, telling her that Uhura was one of the few Black characters on
07:35television that wasn't stereotyped and that was treated as an equal on the cast. This random
07:41encounter with one of the most influential civil rights leaders in history helped Nichols realize the
07:45importance of her role on the show. Nichols didn't publicly recall the story until an interview with
07:50Television Academy Foundation in 2011, in which the story soon went viral. Number 3. The Origin of the
07:57Constellation Class
07:58The Battle, an episode of The Next Generation's first season, introduced us to the USS Stargazer,
08:04one of Picard's old ships. The Stargazer was abandoned after a devastating battle against unknown
08:09attackers, who were later revealed to be the Ferengi. In the episode, the Ferengi salvaged the vessel and
08:15use it to lure Picard into a trap as revenge for him killing the Ferengi years ago. However,
08:20the ship in this episode was originally supposed to look very different. The book, Star Trek The
08:25Next Generation Companion, revealed that the original script described the Stargazer as
08:29Constitution Class, the same kind of vessel as Kirk's Enterprise. By the time the production team
08:35decided to change the model of the ship, they had already filmed several scenes where characters like
08:39Wesley and Geordi refer to the ship as a Constitution Class vessel. So the actors re-recorded their lines
08:45as Constellation Class, and the new takes were placed over the old footage. The name Constellation
08:50was chosen because it sounded so similar to the word Constitution, so the overdubbing is not super
08:56noticeable. But if you look for it, you can still tell that Geordi is definitely saying a Constitution
09:02Class Starship. Number 2. The Argument Over the Upside-Down Enterprise
09:07The original Enterprise went through a lot of changes before the production team finally settled
09:11on the classic design that we all know today. Matt Jeffries, the lead designer behind the ship,
09:16considered a ring-shaped ship, which later became canonized as the Enterprise XCV-330,
09:22and a more familiar design, but with a sphere replacing the saucer. This is also the design
09:27that inspired the Daedalus-class ships. Eventually, however, they settled on the shape of the ship,
09:32but one of the weirdest arguments between Jeffries and Gene Roddenberry was over the orientation of
09:37the model. Star Trek The Magazine Volume 1 Issue 10 included an interview with Matt Jeffries where
09:42he recalled showing Roddenberry the model for the first time. He said that the model,
09:47unbalanced due to its weird shape, flopped upside down from the strings it was hanging from.
09:51Apparently, Gene loved the look of the Enterprise upside down, and Jeffries had a really difficult
09:56time trying to unsell him on it. Jeffries fortunately won the argument in the end because,
10:01let's face it, Flipped Enterprise just looks really wrong.
10:05Number 1. The Enterprise Model's Bad Side
10:08The special effects team behind the original series had to use a lot of strange and creative
10:12methods to save money on the show. For example, the main physical model of the original Enterprise
10:17was only ever filmed from its right side. This is because the special effects team decided to run
10:22electrical wiring along the left side for the lights, and keeping the left side hidden proved to
10:27be easier than trying to hide the wiring. The Enterprise was mostly seen from its right side
10:31on the show and for promotional photos, but when it needed to be seen from the left side,
10:36the video was mirrored. When it needed to be seen from the left side, the video was mirrored and the
10:41lettering on the hall was replaced with reverse decals so that the text could be read normally.
10:45There's very little information online about the model's left side, but you can find images of the
10:50wiring in the reference book, To Boldly Go, rare photos from the TOS Soundstage Season 2. Additionally,
10:57the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington DC acquired the model in 1974,
11:02and Margaret Weitkamp, a curator at the museum, talked about the lack of detail on the left side
11:07in an interview with the Washington Post in 2017, shortly after the model went through a full
11:12restoration at the museum. And that was 10 obscure Star Trek secrets that took years to discover.
11:17I hope that even the most seasoned of you Trekkies learned something new today. If you enjoyed this
11:22video and you want to see more from us, make sure you subscribe to Trek Culture below. You can also
11:26find us on Twitter at Trek Culture, and you can find me on Twitter at TrekkieBree. Until next time,
11:32live long and prosper.
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