tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6637802895814137825.post6413358284602991057..comments2023-05-02T14:07:48.207-04:00Comments on The Resident Alien: Those Star Trek Red Shirt CasualtiesMark Goodacrehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05115370166754797529noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6637802895814137825.post-61459899847151266622007-08-15T23:06:00.000-04:002007-08-15T23:06:00.000-04:00The usual red-shirt casualty hailed from the Secur...The usual red-shirt casualty hailed from the Security department (though Engineering, Communications, and other support personnel also proudly wore the crimson). According to Franz Joseph's Star Trek Blueprints (which I bought when I was 12 and still have stuck away in a drawer), 84 of the Enterprise's 430 crew complement were "security specialists" (rank of ensign) and 5 were "security officers" (rank of lieutenant), with one "security chief" (rank of lt. commander), whom I only recall seeing in the episode "Devil in the Dark" (and he wasn't a casualty). So the red-shirts exposed to danger via planetfall would have constituted 20.7% of the crew. (The captain of my high school's drill team has assured me recently that I was "not a geek." But I suspect she was just being kind.)Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05923160721288694327noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6637802895814137825.post-3569949774629031522007-08-08T08:46:00.000-04:002007-08-08T08:46:00.000-04:00Richard: good point there! I suppose he assumed ...Richard: good point there! I suppose he assumed that the crew were evenly divided between the three colours, but that may not be a valid assumption.<BR/><BR/>Doug: yes, I loved Galaxy Quest but had forgotten that bit. Thanks for the reminder.Mark Goodacrehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05115370166754797529noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6637802895814137825.post-1523570439181581642007-08-08T08:13:00.000-04:002007-08-08T08:13:00.000-04:00Curiously I was watching this just the other day, ...Curiously I was watching this just the other day, having found a bargain boxed set of Izzard's performances on DVD in the sales. But have you seen the wonderful spoof <I>Galaxy Quest</I> which also makes a great deal about the new actor in the episode being the one who will be blasted to bits in his red shirt.Doughttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10326403777027937887noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6637802895814137825.post-37866512722717819582007-08-08T06:54:00.000-04:002007-08-08T06:54:00.000-04:00Doesn't actually tell us the most important piece ...Doesn't actually tell us the most important piece of information, though.<BR/><BR/>What proportion of the crew were red shirts? If 73% of the crew are red shirts then the deaths are proportional to their numbers.<BR/><BR/>You could also look at the roles of the different colours - if red shirts signify a 'combat' role then of course you'd expect more fatalities.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com