Apparently the old adage that “the show must go on” is in full force for the team behind Star Trek: Picard, who returned to work today after a short hiatus due to a Covid outbreak.
Picard unpaused
Yesterday, we reported that production on the third season of Star Trek: Picard paused on Monday after over fifty members of the production (which employs around 450 people in total) came back from the holiday break and tested positive for COVID-19. While the reports said some cast were included in the 50+ cases, that did not include star Sir Patrick Stewart. And as it turns out, the pause has already come to an end, and production restarted on Friday.
Executive producer and showrunner Terry Matalas broke the news this morning on Twitter sharing an image from the set with the message “Back at it this AM!” TrekMovie has confirmed that it is indeed business as usual, with filming being done on the production’s usual stages in Los Angeles, California.
Back at it this AM! #StarTrekPicard #StarTrek pic.twitter.com/BYondY0D1y
— Terry Matalas (@TerryMatalas) January 7, 2022
Last night after reports emerged about the production pause, Matalas responded to one of the fans offering best wishes with thanks and a note that “We’re all doing well.”
Thanks! We’re all doing well.
— Terry Matalas (@TerryMatalas) January 7, 2022
Picard’s new ship getting a galley?
Matalas’ tweet is another example of the hints he has been dropping about a new Starfleet ship since production started on season three. The EPS Network seen above shows what appears to be the saucer for this ship.
On Tuesday, Matalas spent part of his brief hiatus pondering a question which he shared with fans asking specifically “Does a starship have a galley?” It could be that this is also an internal debate related to the new ship.
Important question for hardcore #StarTrek fans. Does a starship have a galley?
— Terry Matalas (@TerryMatalas) January 4, 2022
Matalas’ question was in the form of a poll: 87% of fans said yes starships have galleys, and 13% voted that they rely on replicators. The thread has a lot of discussion and images of examples of cooking and galleys on Starfleet ships and debate about if it went out of fashion by the 24th century.
Perhaps the most pertinent piece of canon related to this question was a line of dialogue from the film Star Trek: Insurrection when Picard gives the order “Ensign, would you report to the galley and tell the chef to skip the fish course.” This indicates that Picard’s last command, the USS Enterprise-E, did indeed have a galley, and likely other Sovereign-class or large ships continued to maintain galleys.
The USS Enterprise-E in Insurrection
Production on the third season of Picard began in early September 2021, immediately after production on the second season wrapped. The second season was originally slated to debut on Paramount+ in February, but with the decision to have Discovery take a five-week hiatus to return for the second half of its fourth season on February 10, it’s reasonable to assume Picard season two be pushed back a few weeks, but no official announcement has been made. Season three will likely debut sometime in 2023.
Keep up with all the Star Trek: Picard news at TrekMovie.
Yes, a starship would have a galley, but not for daily use. Replicators would be used 98% of the time, with the galley being available as backup, or for any crew member wanting to practice their culinary skills.
Um… TUC had actual scenes in the galley. Pretty sure that’s canon.
So did NX-01, as I recall.
In “These Are The Voyages”, but that was a Holodeck NX-01. I don’t recall any before that, but then again, “Chef” had to work somewhere…
The galley also appears “Singularity” and “The Catwalk”.
It sounds like he may be specifically asking about the 24th/25th century, as no starship has shown to have one past TNG. In fact, Neelix had to improvise one on Voyager early in the first season, converting what was said to be the Captain’s private dining room into the ship’s permanent galley.
“no starship has shown to have one past TNG”
Not shown. But Picard clearly referenced a galley aboard the Enterprise-E in Insurrection.
So I’m still correct. Plus we all know that Picard was being sarcastic in Insurrection!
He wouldn’t have made the comment if the ship had no galley.
You are right, and TUC also had the bridge crew looking through books to translate Klingon. Canon yes, but very unbelievable.
I love it but what a goofy movie.
Yeah… The book thing was indeed silly. Obviously they could have had a phonetic translation pop up on a screen. I think that was mainly a sight gag that Nick Meyer wanted. But there were other things he wanted to show I liked. The bunks with enlisted personnel, for example.
Good to see that the Omicron pause was a short one. This variant does seem to pass quickly for the vaccinated.
Yes, I’d imagine bigger starships had galley’s. NX-01 had one, 1701-A had one in TUC, it appears Klingon ships have them as well. Replicators would handle some food prep, but you need to remember, that requires power and some stored base matter to replicate food stuffs – whatever got flushed down the space toilet yesterday may not be the most appealing scrambled replicated eggs the following morning. If you gotta store supplies, why not cook?
The problem with having a galley is that realistically a galley can only provide a very limited number of options if it’s based on real cooking. This may “work” if the galley serves people with mostly similar cultural background who may have similar culinary tastes. However, a Starfleet ship does not only carry humans from all kinds of different cultural backgrounds, but actually people from a wide variety of planets and species. This would make it very hard (to say the least) for a galley to serve everybody with food they actually want.
Cruise and military ships do this now, with much larger crews. The problem isn’t capability, but fleet replenishment. Replicators can’t create something from nothing, so while not seen, Starfleet likely does have a quartermaster corps that replenishes deployed ships. What that looks like is anyone’s guess, but as we’ve seen cargo on the Enterprise, it had to get there somehow.
There have been discussions that, given its enormous size and its relatively small crew, the Enterprise should have a lot of empty space some of which could potentially be used as storage. On the other hand, all the replicator needs is raw material to transform. It may not be a pleasant thought but they could indeed have a mostly closed system that simply recycles people’s wastes. Or do space toilets flush into space? ;-)
Given that the larger starships were intended for extended missions, I’d think there was likely very little unused space. Even assuming a few replenishments during a five year mission, if a crew member required a couple thousand pounds of Soylent Green that the replicators would make their meals, it’s gotta be stored somewhere. Not to mention the replicator equipment, power generation equipment, and fuel necessary to power just that portion of life support infrastructure.
One of the things I liked about the JJ movies was that they didn’t have an issue showing the ships life support infrastructure (yeah, the brewery). Assuming a crew of 400 was each chugging their three liters of water a day, you’re looking at about 450 cubic meters of storage needed just for that water (or the soylent green if you’re replicating water), for one year.
You need much less storage if you have a good recycling system. People may drink three liters a day but they don’t gain 3 kilograms in weight each day because (unless they’re still growing) they excrete about as much as they take in (some of it by breathing). Same goes for food.
So as long as you have power for the replicator and the reclamation hardware you don’t need a lot of supplies. You may want to keep some supplies in case of a power failure. Then again, it would be interesting to estimate whether you would actually run out of oxygen or die of thirst/starve to death first without any power.
Neelix made it work in his mess hall galley
I’ve never had an instant coffee or instant mashed potato that was anywhere near as good as the real thing. Replicators are the McDonalds of the future, convenient but processed to death! I am sure the art of good cooking will survive into the 24th Century and beyond. I was so happy to see a galley in TUC and later in Enterprise. As we know, Gagh is always best served very fresh!
Quaker Instant Oatmeal has been trying to call you, but you are not answering your phone. :-)
(much better than starchy, hard to chew steel cut — my opinion)
It’s all in the technique, whether late 20th century or Riker experimenting in his quarters in the 24th. Some people are interested to research and learn how to get it right, others are content with a quick approximation.
BYW Cook the steel cut oats or other whole grain cereal in a small slow cooker overnight on low, say 9 hours. It’s the closest replication of the old technique of cooking cereals overnight in a banked oven.
Or Ben Sisko cooking the family recipes, from New Orleans himself for Jake, in their quarters, to help keep the family connection to them going.
Exactly, but Sisko had the advantage of a father who was a chef.
O’Brien also mentioned that his mother insisted on non/ replicated food, not excepting meat – which shocked Keiko.
I always laughed how Janeway was the complete opposite of Sisko and was a horrible cook lol. She never could get any dish right on her own and just relied on the replicator.
I recall Sisco liked to cook fresh food in his quarters. There was a “replimat” on the promenade but there were actual restaurants as well. Not a stretch to conclude those restaurants prepared fresh food.
All that said it feels like the food replicators are the primary source of food on starships. Even ones that have galleys.
Basically, vending machines.
I would imagine the quality found in 23rd century “vending machines” would probably be a bit better than one would find today.
Based on the available evidence I’m guessing that replicated food items are much closer to the real item than instant coffee or mashed potatoes.
I think there is only one difference between replicated and cooked food. the dish that comes out of the replicator is always exactly the same, with the same weight, the same shape and the same flavor. a photocopy of a steak will always look the same. cooked food is always slightly different. eating replicate food would be boring after a while.
another thought on the food replicator. it would probably receive constant software updates with corrections for foods with errors and new recipes. and it would be necessary to take some refills of raw material. imagine waiting for the Amazon courier to bring you the package of refills. indeed, it would probably be from Amazon and we would pay a subscription. it would solve a lot of energy efficiency and food safety problems. do you know how many people end up in hospital for food poisoning? More than how many people starve. and would have control of the users’ diet. much more for than against, I think.
That description reminds me of the year I lived in the dorms at college. The dining common food wasn’t that bad… It’s just that it “wasn’t that bad” ALL the time. Back in those days there was an actual pub on campus and our DC cards worked there too. So we got a LITTLE variety.
You could probably program the replicator to randomly vary the exact amount of all ingredients within a set range, which would simulate the effect of a real cook not using identical measurements each time.
Eh, back in the good ole TOS days, replicators seem to spit out drinks and primary colored cubes. And Tribbles.
A 3 day pause. In retrospect, not even newsworthy.
I think production pausing even for three days on a high profile TV series due to an outbreak of a deadly virus is certainly newsworthy. How big a story you feel it is, and how much you care about it, is certainly up to you.
Fifty members of a high-profile TV show’s cast and crew getting a potentially deadly disease is not newsworthy? What planet are you living on?
The planet where work resumed resumed three days later and no one got seriously sick.
Well, I don’t think everyone wants to eat converted shit :))) The problem is where do they find the “real” fruits, vegetables, meat products to cook? Do the ships have their own hydroponics or farming sections? Or do they just replicate them as close to the real thing as possible?
Cargo bays and pattern buffers for the most delicate items.
Glad to see that they are going on with the show and taking careful measures. This is a great show and we are looking forward to opening a bottle of Chateau Picard, some cheese and bread to watch the start of S2. I would say that its a galley. If it was good enough for the NX01, its good enough for the other ships to “get a Non-reconstituted meal” as stated by Capt Kirk in ARENA.
Good to hear. My original comment was that if they looked at the data regarding omicron the break shouldn’t be long at all.
I think if one parses the data more carefully, you’ll find it’s not quite the “nothingburger” some are making it out to be. Right now hospitalizations nationwide are higher than they’ve ever been during the entire pandemic, and even if Omicron proves less deadly than previous strains, overloaded hospitals are a recipe for disaster. I’ve personally had a doctor tell me to reschedule an IMPORTANT procedure until the spring because they don’t have the staff, and feel it would put me at too much risk to be in the hospital with even doctors and nurses testing positive and still on the job.
I can’t speak for elsewhere (although in the past when fears of overburdened hospitals nationwide were predicted that never panned out beyond a few isolated places) but here where I am my county has nearly 2 million people, cases are surging and hospitalizations are not an issue. And the death rate has dropped. Omicron really does not seem to be a huge issue.
That screenshot is from First Contact, no?
No, that appears to be a new, or at least a different ship, than the Enterprise-E, which had a much more oblong saucer section.
Do starships have a galley?
Head Canon Alert!
Depends on type I guess.
Galaxy/ Constitution and Sovereign class- Yes, any ship that engages in diplomacy, makes first contact, or holds scientific conferences probably does not feed delegates instantly made food from the replicator.
Defiant or Intrepid Class: No, ships designed for combat or deep space tactical missions are not equipped with galleys. Not necessary for those ships.
I assumed the NX-01 did since replicator technology wasn’t as advanced yet.
At no point on the show did it ever say the Defiant didn’t have a galley.
O’Brian commented on not being a fan of rations on the Defiant. If I were to guess, Defiant being solely a warship on short term missions (maybe a few weeks, tops), it would likely be stationed close to a source for replenishment (DS9), so it may only have had replicators and rations for its missions.
My guess was the replicators were not programed for a wide variety of food. Suggests they needed the computer space for other more important stuff and/or storage of, or the process of creating the matter the replicators alter was space or energy usage they just couldn’t spare on a ship designed as it was.
I don’t understand why there is ANY confusion over the use of galleys. They’ve been frequently mentioned or shown going all the way back to TOS.
Ugh. If they need a galley they could just holodeck one. If you have boorish holodecks at least use them for something other than adults playing games or fake friends when they could be exploring the universe and meeting real life forms.
Hell even Prodigy used them for training
I’d imagine a holo meal would be fairly unsatisfying, if it disappears from your digestive tract when you leave the holodeck.
Okay, but why stop using the holodeck there? Could it also not be a morgue, sick bay, guest quarters, etc.? At some point you’re going to run into issues if you’re requiring the constant expenditure of energy (and the required computer space to store these static programs) to maintain anything resembling habitable spaces for the crew.
Oh, and a minor nitpick – if holomatter can’t exist out the holodeck, how is it we’ve seen people get wet in one, and were still wet when they left?
Yeah, the staying wet after leaving the holodeck wasn’t consistent with the idea that holomatter cannot exist outside the holodeck. Even you’re soaked the water should just disappear once you leave.
You could use the holodeck to generate a galley where you prepare real (non-holo) food. But from an energy efficiency standpoint it would be better to build the galley for real. If space was really tight (but energy wasn’t) a holodeck could be handy to turn into any type of facility upon request. Of course, you’d still have the problem that nothing created by the holodeck could leave the holodeck.
“Okay, but why stop using the holodeck there? Could it also not be a morgue, sick bay, guest quarters, etc.?”
Yes. Exactly.
If you believe TNG has infinite power where they can holodeck for recreational purposes, certainly they can use it for actual functional useful tasks. Take that to the 34th century with programmable matter…..
The holodeck is stupid from a story perspective but if you are going to have it at least use it for cool mind blowing functionality versus “Captain plays Detective in his spare time because doesn’t want to hang out with this crew”.
Since holodeck malfunctions seem to happen quite frequently and Starfleet ships also seem to experience power fluctuations on a regular basis, you may not want to use the holodeck for critical infrastructure. It’s one thing if your tropical beach vanishes in the middle of a tanning session, it’s another matter if your biobed simply vanishes in the middle of surgery.
I know I’m mad when there is a power outage, the life support systems failed while I was just beaming an away team back to the ship and I lost the navigational deflector at warp speed that a microasteroid could tear a whole through the hull – but when you can’t make supper on your galley table during a diplomatic function. That’s just unacceptable!
One of the hallmarks of TOS was the assumption that the ship just works. Okay, don’t try to explain it. That kinda went away with the advent of technobabble on TNG. Artifical gravity is another one of those mission critical functions, it CAN’T FAIL at all. I know TUC showed it failing on the Klingon ship, with warriors gently floating down the corridors……but at any velocity at all, at the moment of failure everyting on that ship not secured became splatter marks on the bulkheads.You know, physics.
Trek fans do tend to argue that energy is in infinate supply, how many raging debates have occured in this forum that replicators created the post scarcity society. Need something, anything at all? Just replicate it. A replicator galley is still going to be basically a bay of transporters. Order up some scrambled eggs, the system is going to grab the appropiate amount of mass from the storage tank of Soylent Green, suck it into a buffer, then create the plate, fork, and eggs for breakfast. Even in the 23rd century, I’d have to believe the energy requirements to replicate breakfast that way are significantly higher then cracking a couple of eggs on a self cleaning hotplate.
A moving ship and a failure of artificial gravity would not automatically lead to people or objects flying around chaotically. They would indeed just float around gently or stay more or less in their place. Imagine you are on a ship traveling at high speed. If you jump up vertically the ship won’t suddenly fly away below your feet even though you’re floating for a moment and not connected to the floor. You will simply continue your lateral movement with the ship, and the jump is on top of that.
So in case of a gravity failure people and any other objects would continue with the motion they had when gravity was still working. The problems only start once the ship changes speed or direction.
Actually, the (made-up) “inertial dampening field” is responsible for people not getting splattered all over the bulkheads. Gravity alone wouldn’t be enough to save you from ending up as a smudge on the wall because of the extreme accelerations theses ships go through.
I fully agree that replicating scrambled egg would require much more energy than frying some real eggs in a pan. However, raw eggs in particular have a very short shelf life of only a few weeks. So you would need to resupply constantly or you’d need to carry live chicken on the ship or you’d be limited to dehydrated egg concentrate. There are lot’s of food items that cannot be stored raw for extended periods of time.
Trek has generally glossed over such practicalities. The replicator is a way around such problems but I guess you just have to accept that “it just works” and not think about the practicalities of generating all that power (and the power for all the other ship’s systems).