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30 Times ‘Star Trek’ Was a Dumb Vision of the Future

Space: The dumbest frontier

30 Times ‘Star Trek’ Was a Dumb Vision of the Future

September 10, 2023

Space. The final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its five-year mission: To explore strange new worlds. To seek out new life and new civilizations. To boldly go where no man has gone before!

With these words, a jazzy 1960s theme song and a couple of whooshes past the screen, the world was introduced to the world of Star Trek, a sci-fi series that's now comprised of multiple series, movies, novels, comics and much more. Each episode features the crew of the Enterprise encountering some new, challenging, big idea. As powerful as a great episode of Trek can be, its biggest fans know that it’s also often pretty dumb. Hey, when you cram all this science-fiction goodness into an hour, something is bound to go wrong.

Here are some of our favorite moments and episodes that are about as a dumb as a bag of space rocks…

30

Threshold

... TELL US NOW. STAR TREK: VOYAGER THRESHOLD Tommy G. lists this episode as the worst Star Trek moment, describing the plot, Tom Paris and Captain Janeway 'evolving' into lizards, mating, spawning, turning back to human and flying away. CRACKED.COM — Source: 15 Cringe-Inducing Moments From Star Trek

29

Sub Rosa

... TELL US NOW. STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION SUB ROSA Tim C. nominated this episode as the most ridiculous Star Trek moment, saying, Beverly Crusher boinks a ghost. They finally give her an episode of her own, and it's a cheesy romance novel. CRACKED.COM — Source: 15 Cringe-Inducing Moments From Star Trek

28

Riker's Trombone

... TELL US NOW. STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION RIKER'S TROMBONE Rae D. says Star Trek's worst moment was Any and every time Riker plays the trombone. CRACKED.COM — Source: 15 Cringe-Inducing Moments From Star Trek

27

Picard

... TELL US NOW. STAR TREK: PICARD Dominic G. is a big Star Trek fan but says Absolutely no good episode made me want to watch it padded up, slowed down, and drawn out over 10 episodes. The most ridiculous moment in all of Star Trek is when they decided to do that very thing with a mediocre episode in Star Trek: Picard. CRACKED.COM — Source: 15 Cringe-Inducing Moments From Star Trek

26

Into Darkness

... TELL US NOW. STAR TREK: INTO THE DARKNESS НЕФИА ESSIRE Tim C. reminds US that we we couldn't have a list that doesn't call out the ridiculousness of Khaaaaan! CRACKED.COM — Source: 15 Cringe-Inducing Moments From Star Trek

25

Up the Long Ladder

... TELL US NOW. STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION UP THE LONG LADDER Pat F. criticizes The TNG episode that was populated by Space 'Irish,'''' describing them as caricatures of the caricatures from The Quiet Man. CRACKED.COM — Source: 15 Cringe-Inducing Moments From Star Trek

24

The Child

... TELL US NOW. STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION THE CHILD Of all the scenes in the Star Trek franchise, Richie R. says that when Troi gave birth was probably the weirdest thing that happened. CRACKED.COM — Source: 15 Cringe-Inducing Moments From Star Trek

23

The Way to Eden

... TELL US NOW. STAR TREK: THE ORIGINAL SERIES THE WAY TO EDEN Steven А. only needs two words to nominate the worst moment in the Star Trek franchise: Space Hippies. CRACKED.COM — Source: 15 Cringe-Inducing Moments From Star Trek

22

The Corbomite Maneuver

... TELL US NOW. STAR TREK: THE ORIGINAL SERIES THE CORBOMITE MANEUVER David Е. thinks the silliest moment of Star Trek has to be Clint Howard as a child with the dubbed over voice. CRACKED.COM — Source: 15 Cringe-Inducing Moments From Star Trek

21

We didn't come from spiders

ST:THE NEXT GENERATION Genesis THERE ARE NO SPIDERS IN YOUR FAMILY TREE. A virus regresses the crew of the Enterprise into previous evolutionary stages-and Reg Barclay partly becomes a spider. We never thought we'd have to say this, but humans didn't evolve from spiders. CRACKED.COM — Source: 15 'Star Trek' Episodes That Got Science Embarrassingly Wrong

20

Oxygen & Hydrogen

ST:THE ORIGINAL SERIES The Alternative Factor OXYGEN AND HYDROGEN DON'T GET ALONG WELL. The Enterprise arrives on a planet with an oxygen-hydrogen atmosphere. Put oxygen and hydrogen together, and they'll react explosively. (They'll also produce water in the process). CRACKED.COM — Source: 15 'Star Trek' Episodes That Got Science Embarrassingly Wrong

19

Not that much water

ST:THE ORIGINAL SERIES The Omega Glory YOU AREN'T JUST WATER. The crewmembers of the USS Exeter have had all their water removed-about 96% of the human body, Doctor McCoy explains. The actual figure is about 60%. Damn it Jim, Gene Roddenberry was a screenwriter, not a waterologist. CRACKED.COM — Source: 15 'Star Trek' Episodes That Got Science Embarrassingly Wrong

18

No shouting at spaceships

ST:THE ORIGINAL SERIES A Taste of Armageddon YOU CAN'T SHOUT A SPACESHIP OUT OF ORBIT, NO MATTER HOW LOUD YOU ARE. The orbiting Enterprise is attacked with sonic disruptors, which project extremely powerful sound vibrations. We don't need to tell you why sound makes a poor weapon in a vacuum, do we? CRACKED.COM — Source: 15 'Star Trek' Episodes That Got Science Embarrassingly Wrong

17

Spock and Evolution

ST:THE ORIGINAL SERIES Let That Be Your Last Battlefield SPOCK DOESN'T UNDERSTAND EVOLUTION. The actual theory is that all life forms evolved from the lower levels to the more advanced stages, Spock says-wrongly. Evolution isn't a game where you level up. No beings are more advanced than others in evolution-all that matters is that you're able to pass down your genes to the next generation. CRACKED.COM — Source: 15 'Star Trek' Episodes That Got Science Embarrassingly Wrong

16

Punching Event Horizon

ST:VOYAGER Parallax YOU CAN'T PUNCH A HOLE IN THE EVENT HORIZON. The Voyager escapes a black hole (or quantum singularity) through a tear in the event horizon. The event horizon is a distance from the black hole, not a physical barrier. You might as well try to snip the Equator with a pair of scissors. CRACKED.COM — Source: 15 'Star Trek' Episodes That Got Science Embarrassingly Wrong

15

Space Oil

ST:ENTERPRISE Marauders DEUTERIUM IS NOT SPACE OIL. The episode is set in a colony drilling underground for deuterium. Deuterium is a form of hydrogen. It can be extracted from seawater- no need to drill for anything. CRACKED.COM — Source: 15 'Star Trek' Episodes That Got Science Embarrassingly Wrong

14

Neutrinos

ST:THE NEXT GENERATION A Matter of Honor NEUTRINOS DON'T MAKE A GOOD SANITIZER. The Enterprise uses a tunneling neutrino beam to remove subatomic bacteria (yup) from the hull of a Klingon ship. Neutrinos barely interact with matter. You'd get better results by blowing at the bacteria very gently. CRACKED.COM — Source: 15 'Star Trek' Episodes That Got Science Embarrassingly Wrong

13

Tardigrades

ST:DISCOVERY Choose Your Pain TARDIGRADES AREN'T GENE-HUNGRY. Ripper, the giant space tardigrade, is said to be able to incorporate DNA from other species, like its microscopic cousins on Earth. Tardigrades can't actually do that. The idea came from a controversial science paper of 2015, which was debunked almost right away. CRACKED.COM — Source: 15 'Star Trek' Episodes That Got Science Embarrassingly Wrong

12

Justice

... TELL US NOW. STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION JUSTICE Justin D. says the episode is the most ridiculous, with Wesley running around with the kids in their underwear and then falling down on their special grass is about as dumb as it gets. CRACKED.COM — Source: 15 Cringe-Inducing Moments From Star Trek

11

Arena

... TELL US NOW. STAR TREK: THE ORIGINAL SERIES ARENA Pete W. says the worst of Star Trek was the slow motion fight with the Gorn. Shatner throwing slow punches, then waiting for the Gorn to hit back. The Gorn moving slower than an old couple walking side by side in a supermarket aisle. CRACKED.COM — Source: 15 Cringe-Inducing Moments From Star Trek

10

Spock's Brain

... TELL US NOW. STAR TREK: THE ORIGINAL SERIES SPOCK S BRAIN Karen В. has only this to say about the episode, So, so bad. When an episode's Wikipedia page doesn't need a citation to say that it's consideered the worst episode of the series then you know it's bad. CRACKED.COM — Source: 15 Cringe-Inducing Moments From Star Trek

9

Into Darkness

... TELL US NOW. STAR TREK: INTO DARKNESS Adam M. says, The Enterprise is rushing back to Earth, then gets unexpectedly shot out of warp. They're now inside lunar orbit and falling into the planet's atmosphere. When exactly were they PLANNING on stopping if they were taken by surprise???? CRACKED.COM — Source: 15 Cringe-Inducing Moments From Star Trek

8

The Cloud Minders

... TELL US NOW. STAR TREK: THE ORIGINAL SERIES THE CLOUD MINDERS Robert D. says, They announce in the opening scene that they are traveling to Stratos, a 'city in the clouds.' And in my mind, I'm picturing something like Bespin from Star Wars...some kind of orbiting atmospheric station. Instead what we get is a literal city sitting on a cloud. CRACKED.COM — Source: 15 Cringe-Inducing Moments From Star Trek

7

Code of Honor

... TELL US NOW. STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION CODE OF HONOR Zebulon S. points out one of the low moments of the Star Trek franchise, That super racist 'Code of Honor' episode was real real bad. CRACKED.COM — Source: 15 Cringe-Inducing Moments From Star Trek

6

Falling on comets

30 Times ‘Star Trek’ Was a Dumb Vision of the Future — Source: 15 'Star Trek' Episodes That Got Science Embarrassingly Wrong

5

Radiation and fuel

30 Times ‘Star Trek’ Was a Dumb Vision of the Future — Source: 15 'Star Trek' Episodes That Got Science Embarrassingly Wrong

4

Evolution

ST:VOYAGER Threshold DOES STAR TREK HATE EVOLUTION? Lt. Paris and Capt. Janeway fly at warp 10 (we won't go there) and somehow become a future stage in human development. Evolution doesn't do whatever this is. Individuals don't evolve, populations do; and evolution does not follow a set path, so there's no such thing as a future stage. CRACKED.COM — Source: 15 'Star Trek' Episodes That Got Science Embarrassingly Wrong

3

Star Trek

30 Times ‘Star Trek’ Was a Dumb Vision of the Future — Source: 15 'Star Trek' Episodes That Got Science Embarrassingly Wrong

2

Turning off gravity

STAR TREK: GENERATIONS YOU CAN'T TURN OFF GRAVITY. Tolian Soran stops a star's nuclear reactions to change the Nexus' path with the shift in gravity. No change in gravity should occur. Gravity is a property of mass, and the mass of the star is still the same regardless of whether it's shining or not. CRACKED.COM — Source: 15 'Star Trek' Episodes That Got Science Embarrassingly Wrong

1

You can only get so cold!

ST:THE NEXT GENERATION The Royale YOU CAN'T GET COLDER THAN COLDEST. The planet Theta VIII has a surface temperature of-291 degrees Celsius. That's almost 20 degrees Celsius below absolute zero, the lowest possible temperature. CRACKED.COM — Source: 15 'Star Trek' Episodes That Got Science Embarrassingly Wrong

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