For all those StarTrek fans: The Red Shirt Death Stats

Parent Cafe
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<p>My darling sis sent this link to me regarding the high percentages of the deaths of the Red Shirts in the original StarTrek episodes. She used to live near Riverside, Iowa, which is known (galaxy-wide) as the “Future Home of James T. Kirk.” Anyway, I know someone’s senior thesis is in these stats - somewhere!</p>

<p>Here is the link:</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.clicktracks.com/insidetrack/articles/kirk_analytics.php?source=nws072007[/url]”>http://www.clicktracks.com/insidetrack/articles/kirk_analytics.php?source=nws072007&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Weren’t red shirts worn by security people? It would make sense that they would have a higher death rate than someone from engineering, let’s say…</p>

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<p>fencersmother, Have you ever seen the movie Galaxy Quest? It was a campy spoof of Star Trek, Trekkies etc. starring Tim Allen and Sigourney Weaver - if you are or ever were a Star Trek fan and even if you weren’t it’s very funny. At least, I think it was! Anyway, there’s a scene in Galaxy Quest that pokes fun of the red shirt phenomenon:</p>

<p>JASON (played by Tim Allen)
Guy, you’re not going to get killed on the planet, okay?</p>

<p>GUY (played by Sam Rockwell)
Oh, I’m not? I’m not? Then what’s my last name?</p>

<p>JASON
Your last name.</p>

<p>GUY
Yeah, what is it?</p>

<p>JASON
It’s… I don’t know.</p>

<p>GUY
No. Nobody does. Do you know WHY? Because my character Isn’t
IMPORTANT enough for a last name. Because I’m going to DIE five
minutes in, why bother to come up with a last name for me?</p>

<p>GWEN
Guy, you HAVE a last name. We just don’t KNOW it.</p>

<p>GUY
Do I? DO I? For all you know I’m just “CREWMAN #6”!<br>
(hysterical) Okay, it’s FLEEGMAN! Guy FLEEGMAN! There! Now I’m a
whole person! I can’t die! FLEEGMAN! THEY CAN’T KILL ME NOW, CAN
THEY? CAN THEY?</p>

<p>Jason slaps him.</p>

<p>GUY
See? I’m the hysterical guy who needs to be slapped, and then I
die!</p>

<p>ALEXANDER
(sighs)
Are we there yet?</p>

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<p>Galaxy Quest is one of my favorite movies–just the funniest thing ever!!</p>

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<p>Never give up, Never surrender!</p>

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<p>Not that I watch Star Trek, but …</p>

<p>In the Original Series and Enterprise, gold indicated a command officer or a helm officer, engineering and security wore red, and science, medical, etc. wore blue/greenish uniforms.</p>

<p>They switched this in the Next Generation, with red being command, gold for engineering and security, and blue as science and medical. This was kept for DS9 and Voyager.</p>

<p>Not that I watched the show.</p>

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<p>And don’t forget the line by the Sigourney Weaver character, after they land on the planet and encounter the first monster:</p>

<p>“We’ve got to get out of here before they kill Guy!”</p>

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<p>Guy’s last name = Fleegman</p>

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<p>I saw an Enterprise episode last night. The red-shirt helmsman appeared killed, but turns out a duplicate body. It was like writers were playing with the original series, when the support crew on away missions had a dismal rate of surviving.</p>

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<p>I have seen Galaxy Quest. It is hilarious. </p>

<p>It reminded me of the time my friends and I went to a StarTrek convention, back in the day. We were the only ones not in costume… but I still have all the souvenirs I bought there!</p>