I never understood why there were no locks on the door. You would think you’d need permission before walking in on someone’ “private” holodeck session.

I always assumed the reason Starfleet ships had the ability to suddenly conjure up crewmates and Quark's Holosuites didn't is because Starfleet has extremely detailed scans of crew on file, be it for medical or transporter purposes. And, though I know you don't like Lower Decks, Boimler said he used (with apparently unrestricted access) everyone's Starfleet personal logs to make accurate representations of crewmates in his holodeck program. Meanwhile Quark and other public holo programs need to be programmed the hard way. So that begs the question... are ALL Starfleet crew records just a massive HR disaster??

The weirdest holodeck use to me for the implications it had was from "We'll Always Have Paris", where Picard encounters his old flame and he goes to the holodeck and gives it the time and place of a date he was supposed to have with her back in the day and the program depicts his old girlfriend as a younger woman having a conversation with her friend about him. It was weird because it either means that Picard programmed that in himself some time ago, OR the holodeck came pre-loaded with the data it needed to accurately depict those events. Those events being a private conversation between two civilians. Is Federation Earth a surveillance state???

The usage of holodecks in Quark's Bar, and the fact his brother has to clean them up with a mop afterwards, makes drastically more sense than anything they did with the holodecks in Next Generation.

The fact that Geordi *can* accidentally create a hologram of Leah so easily without intending to, and that hologram is apparently into him without him intending to seems to suggest to me that the use case is design intent. Or at least common enough that the templates have become default.

Unofficial SHCR rules (Starfleet Holodeck Crew Recreation) 1: What happens on the holodeck stays on the holodeck. 2: When creating a SHCR always program a visual error or mark on the SHCR only you know off and detect to let you know if it's SHCR or the real crewmate. 3: Always maintain a strong understanding of difference between Reality and Holodeck. 4: Never base your relationships and interaction with crewmates on holodeck interactions. 5: Remember Your out in outer space where your life and theirs depend on each other. (better to forgive then die in a vacuum) 6: Seek out counsel for you or them ASAP if you or them either one break SHCR rule 1. 7: Should you find someone SHCRing you take a moment to see how they are SCHRing you, You might find the SHCR might show how much more trusting they are of you. (refer to rule 5 if in any way prevents you or them working together). 8: Better they do questionable things to your SHCR then real you. 9: When all else fails remember this phrase: "Sorry chief, holodeck is broken again" followed up with: " No captain I can't explain phaser burned iceoliner chips". 10: When in doubt and the SCHR is not a serious proplem for you or them refer to SHCR rule 1.

In Lower Decks they talked about replacing the holodeck's biofilter. The captain was shocked to learn that the crew mostly used the holodeck in a way that would require a filter to pick up their "biological waste". Also on the Orville (not really ST but might as well be) an officer almost got fired when he introduced a virus to the ship's computer in an attempt to get more porn into the holodeck (or whatever they call it on the Orville). So some writers have explored what lonely people in space would really use a holodeck for.

I know you don't care for Lower Decks, but they were right...they're gonna use it for mostly THAT.

It's kind of an existential nightmare too. I mean, people in the real world sometimes wonder if they're "living in the matrix", imagine how much more pronounced that would be in a world where high quality false realities are an everyday fact. I bet quite a few Federation types have, in a moment of stress, shouted "Computer, end program!", just in case they're in a holodeck simulation.

Interesting trivia tidbit from DS9; it's illegal in the Federation to enter an occupied holodeck without the occupier's permission. Something mentioned only once and seemingly never enforced. EDIT: It's also illegal to use a person's likeness without their consent. Again, mentioned once and never enforced.

I think a better Voyager example of their typical attitude would be in that episode where they think they've found a holonovel of an alternative universe where the Maquis took over the ship, and what they want most is the author to finish the darn thing!

Looking back on it, how was there not a month's long waiting list for use of the holodeck? Cast members seem to just be able to walk in and use whenever they want. Maybe the regular crew were terrified of being the next victim of the Ship's computer's need for blood.

To paraphrase the words of the most famous captain in the fleet: "the last time the holodeck malfunctioned, I got hit with three paternity suits."

When your superior officer calls you to the holodeck for your annual review, and you walk in to find it configured as a vast abattoir, strewn with countless copies of you, each tortured to death in horribly imaginative ways. 😱 Maybe the Enterprise D Crew's lack of reaction has to do with how tame Barclay's fantasies are; or maybe, the entire chill atmosphere on the ship is down to Troy's secret emotional control powers, deadening their feelings?

The only problem I would have with somebody creating a version of me to live out their sex fantasies is that they didn't include the real me! I'm right here, don't keep that shit to yourself! 😁

As a team leader in a call centre, now that you've put this in my brain - Oh holy Christ what an HR nightmare this would be. If something like the holodeck existed, I can think of a dozen things already that could go wrong with it and how it could be abused. Never mind actually sitting down to think of it, there's probably an ocean of HR issues that would need to be looked into there. My sister does work in HR, I'm going to send her this video and ask her opinion.

I think an interesting thing to consider is maybe the culture aboard the Enterprise D is more chill about holodeck personalities, because they're simply more familiar with the advanced holodecks that can do such things on demand, and since the ship is their home for an extended period of time, that holodeck (and making other people on it) becomes a lot more casually regarded.

One thing that always gets me about the holodeck and the technology in general is that no one seems to consider the possibility of it being used to fake one’s own identity. We even see this done or more than one occasion where the visual communications are forged to make it look like the speakers are someone else. As this is clearly possible, why doesn’t anyone in the Trek universe ever assume or consider that who they can see on the other end of their com link might not actually be the person that they appear to be taking to. No one ever seems to suspect this could be the case, and where this kind of deception is employed, it usually works. Starfleet Intelligence could have been laying down all kinds of effective espionage and counter intelligence just by using their Weyoun Insta filter.

Hey Steve, remember the one where Troi takes the bridge officer's exam and orders (simulated) LaForge to his death? I think the only time most people who are not Barkley simulate their co-workers, it is for purposes the person being simulated would not hesitate to grant permission for, and nobody would ever really think to do otherwise, so the issue just never comes up.

If you re-watch the episode, I get "Barkley is a loss" vibes, as if the computer has highlighted Barkley for underperformance in his duties. The inevitable conclusion seems to be that junior officers on the Enterprise are taken for granted and do not necessarily have anyone looking out for them. I would assume a system of mentorship was in place. But, Command seems blind-sided by Barkley and his extra curricular activities. Since Barkley is not dismissed/transferred, we see a mentorship start: one that should have already been in place. I get a feeling like therapy is commonplace, though not everyone avails themselves of the service. Barkley is not breaking law or regulation. But, his behavior is embarrassing. Maybe 'juvenile'? If you want to beat up a peer, maybe you should talk to someone about it. If you want to kiss a co-worker, maybe you should talk to someone about it? Therapy. 12-year-olds use a holodeck. Adults work things out or at least talk the problem through with someone. I think Barkley should never have gotten to the point he was at. It was a command failure and an HR/Troy failure. Picard might even be considering the embarrassment of the transfer when he decides to make Barkley a "project".

I guess to me it's always been a mix of "don't ask don't tell" and the type of personality that finds a 6 inch hull between you and the Void fascinating sort of situation.

7:58 there was an episode in TNG where they revived some 1990's civilians from deep space. They got on the intercom at one point, and when Picard questioned them about it, they asked why isn't this function cut off to only certain personnel. Picard's response was, "because we just know not to do that..." (I may not have that scenario accurate, but it was roughly that)

You missed an important bit of canon information that is said on Lower Decks: holodecks have *beep* filters always so full that need manual cleaning

The holodeck could be great for practicing difficult conversations with people, or learning to work with someone difficult.

"Oh hi Bark!" Oh no, I think that joke was for me as well. :) It actually sounds way more sincere and meaningful if it were coming from one crewmate who liked him enough to come up with a distinctive nickname.

There would totally be a legal precedent set of not getting to use someones likeness after holodeck tech became ubiquitous in the Federation. I can imagine an entire culture of asking & consenting to the use of someone’s likeness. DS9 touched on this briefly with Quark and Kira. I always interpreted Barclays holodeck misappropriation as being him using his engineering clearance to use his co workers likeness.

There was another episode where the likenesses of the Voyager crew were used against their will. Tuvok's Maquis Mutiny program from "Insurrection Alpha." By comparison to "I, Author," the crew were pretty excited by the program. The former Maquis crewmembers weren't even bothered at being cast as the villains. As an aside, that's one of those episodes where I wish there hadn't been real stakes added in the last act.

I can't help but think that Barclay's holodeck adventures get much more adult. Like how he instructs the computer to delete all his programs, and then just before leaving the holodeck, he says "...except Program 9." Something tells me that's the dirty one.

As a kid reading X-Men comics at the time, when TNG came out, I've always called it the Danger Room

Remember that VOY episode where Tuvok murderered Neelix in the holodeck. Its suggested in a conversation with Sudor and Tuvok that violence against real people in the holodeck isn’t against the rules. I like the prohibition idea, it would seem to explain why people are disapproving but no longer try and stop people from doing what they want in there.

Devil's advocate here: what is the moral difference between fantasizing about getting intimate with a co-worker in your mind vs living out a fantasy in a supposedly private computer simulation? I honestly can't quite figure out if the show is trying to make the case that the fantasies themselves are bad or the fact that he used the holo-deck for them is bad.

I think it is interesting to compare this to how various communities and their celebrities react to "rule 34" of themselves. Reactions vary from enthusiasm to disgust to "meh, what are you gonna do". Also, a starship kind of blurs the line on when you are at work. You're there for years, right? And the current military is not exactly known for addressing it's sexual harassment issues openly. I think the wide range of reactions you see in "The Next Generation" is quite believable.

Maybe the crew is so chill due to some selection process in Starfleet to pick especially low-drama people for ships that take long exploration voyages due to how dangerous it could be if the crew start to annoy each other too much.

In the Barkly episode I think the writers were using the Holodeck program mostly as a metaphor for Barkly's imagination and internal life. So they reacted more like they would to learning about someone's fantasies about them. They found the fantasies odd and maybe unflattering, but never considered to be a violation because what someone does with their imagination is their own business until they make it a problem for someone else. Addressing the very valid concern that your image is being used without your permission in that episode would have undercut the metaphor for that episode which was about mental health not, sexual exploitation and I think it was probably the correct call. Most other episodes dealing with the Holodeck usually don't engage with it in such an abstract manner, which I think is why you find very different attitudes about the holodeck in other episodes.

I figured that the Enterprise and some other Starfleet vessels would have full holo profiles on the crew and others to assist in training simulations, and other types of programs like Geordi used with Dr. Brahms. That would explain why the privately owned suites at DS9 were lacking.

"I've got her cleaning (bleep) from the holodeck's (bleep) filters!" "Do people use it for that?" "Yeah, it's mostly that."

It might not be that easy to make realistic simulations of real people even on the Enterprise's holodeck. Despite his quirks, Reg is a genius engineer with a holodeck obsession. He has the talent and the motivation to make programs that most people probably can't.

This reminds me of Red Dwarf, especially since one of the main characters is an hologram, and he got punished for abusing it. Rimmer, as a nanobot creation, was thrown in the brig when Red Dwarf became revived. The rest of the main cast was thrown in for stealing Red Dwarf (not really since they didn't know they died, and only they were left), but Rimmer tried to get ahead the same way Barclay was.

In Meridian, it would have been possible to make an image of Kira if she had used the holosuite. Quark’s desperation was because she never used it.

A few things came to mind with this one. First, and to get it out of the way, I think the meta reason why the crew don't get too upset about it is because of Roddenberry's design directive that the crew generally get along and solve issues amicably. In that way, it makes them appear to be "emotionally evolved" people rather than at their throats over every minor slight. As for social attitudes towards the holodeck in-universe, the impression I got was that it's generally taboo to recreate people you know, but if you do it's okay to blow off a bit of steam during your private time. Like, if everyone understands the separation of indulgent fantasy and reality, it'd still be embarrassing but not the end of your career. I mean, the fact that they weren't nude or being tortured is probably why he was let off so easily. But I totally agree that, if it had been on any other ship, he'd risk alienating most people. To put it in another perspective; anyone is free to cut up magazines or do a bit of Photoshop and craft fake nudes of people they know or famous people. Anyone is free to write fan-fiction about anyone. And as long as you keep it private, it won't creep anyone out or think you're stalking them. It's not illegal in itself unless you're meeting the definition of stalking. And if all you're doing is writing bad fantasy fanfic... what's the harm in letting it continue?

In gaming, there's what we call gameplay/story segregation - where things that would normally be nonsensical in the plot, must be accepted because they need to actually make a game of it. I think there's something similar taking place with Star Trek TV shows - where certain things that wouldn't make sense in the context of reality, must happen to create the TV show, and make it engaging. If Star Trek was reality, a person's holodek program would only be accessable by them, and the door would be locked while such a program is in session. I would imagine for anyone else to see such program, such as for evidence purposes, some form of warrant would be required. However, as showing is more interesting than telling, and it isn't a crime procedural, the episodes choose to show. In terms of a workplace, the closest thing would be having content on your password protected user folder on the company network. While administration/IT may have access to it, they're not going to poke around without reason. Now, let's say that only the person who made it, can see it - as would generally be the reality of the situation. The question remains, is it more, or less creepy than fantasizing (mentally) about said person? Either way the person of interest would be horrified and disgusted, if they found out. And there most certainly would be disciplinary action from walking up and telling said person that you "blow your own mind" while picturing them doing it, so I think that such holodeck programs would be treated the same way. Unlike current "media" such as deep fakes, revenge porn, or edited videos, there wouldn't really be a need to pass such a thing around the office - as literally anyone can fantasize about whoever they wanted in a holodeck program.

I was actually thinking of Holo-Chakotay who was literally created to be a Real Doll for Seven of Nine (which was a terrible mistake because we know Seven's perfect partner is Samantha Wildman). They definitely use the technology for romantic escapades with replicas of coworkers.

Don't forget the holodeck was new technology when we see it in Encounter at Farpoint. The best it could do at first were landscapes and a sparring partner for Tasha. It's wasn't until after upgrades in The Big Goodbye that we even saw interactive characters and settings, let alone what happened in 11001001. So they're in uncharted waters as far as policy and ethics and all that. It's not until DS9 that we even get a hint that they've started catching up, where Bashir mentions to Garak that it's illegal to enter someone else's program while it's running.

I think a good real world analogy is with deep fakes

Steve, you should consider that there would be a protocol to announce that you're going into a holodeck. Sometimes, people might want to go into the holodeck to have a private conversation or scene like when Gordi was on a date on the beach in the holodeck. That way, the people in the holodeck would have an opportunity to turn off the scene.

"What's up Barc" would inevitably evolve into people barking at him from across the room. This would create for the fun scene when someone has to explain this to Data where he eventually does a spot on impression (AKA recording of a real dog).

Ever since I first saw TNG, I knew we would never realize the society as portrayed by the show. Because the holodeck will be humanity’s last invention.

Think about what will happen when the entire ships gets holo emitters so they can have holograms in their private quarters and they can obviously lock the doors then (Even if it’s overridden it will give them enough time to end any program)

It reminds me of Google Glass and how the concept of a wearable, ever-present camera forced a lot of people to evaluate what privacy is. While it was a commercial failure (at least the consumer version), there will be a time when that technology is everywhere (much like how we all carry around 4K video cameras at all times). Those who are adults when this technology becomes common will struggle with the idea, but those who grow up with it won't give it a second thought. Apprehension and prohibition will eventually give way to etiquette and a world with very different expectations of what privacy is. Which is also means that the topic of this video is much closer than you'd think. Software already exists today to make 3D models from 2D images, and technology like LiDAR scanning is becoming common on consumer products. We're on the cusp of consumer-level AR, which models the world around us as we move through it. Not only will having virtual models of the people around us be possible in the near future, it will be necessary for certain technologies to work. Where today one pulls up photos to reminisce, a time is coming soon where you can literally walk through your past. And after that, a point when you can interact with it. While physical interaction is a ways off, the rest of the holodeck technology is really only a decade or so out, if not much sooner.

You know "The Orville" tackled this in season 2 right? As a matter of fact it led to a virus infecting the entire ship.

"[I did not hit her, I did nooaat.] Oh hi, Barc." :D I loved it.

Actually, the Holosuits were able to recreate a member of staff on DS9 later on in the show. It was the likeness of Kira Nerys, that was brought to live in the Holosuit by singer Vic Fontaine in the episode "His Way" to help Odo get more comfortable around the major, which he was in love with..

Don't forget that in early TNG, there was the (I'm guessing Roddenberry-pushed) notion that people in that era were supposed to be capable of self restraint. S1 episode The Neutral Zone comes to mind where the obnoxious money-driven guy that they defrost uses the intercom to speak to Picard, and then gets a talking to. You could argue that that same philosophy also applied to holodeck use. I mean don't get me wrong, that philosophy was quickly forgotten, but it could provide an explanation as to why the crew reacted like Berk was just a weirdo and it was no real biggie.

Keeping a calm and assertive mindset is likely one of the pillar qualifications in being accepted into Starfleet. Makes sense that they'd be the best of the best considering that they are Starfleet's flagship. Mindset is one of most important qualities for the real world military as well. I think the writers and actors considered that while developing these characters. And also why Counselor Troi role was not more robust; it wouldn't make sense for the senor staff to be in constant need of counseling.

Immediately after Barclay has his meeting with HR: Riker goes to the holodeck, "Computer, delete Riker Programs 1 through 1786".

Steve Shives: Computer exit. COMPUTER EXIT! Computer: I'm sorry Steve, I'm afraid I cannot do that.

I think of the holodeck as an extension of the imagination. One can fantasize about all kinds of depraved scenarios with people they know and it doesn't hurt the subjects of the fantasy because it exists only in ones mind.

I always thought that holodecks had protocols and safeguards to prevent stuff like this from happening. Barclay is a unique case due to him being an extremely talented engineer who specialized in holodeck technology. He just had the means to override the protocols. Most of the time you might be able to recreate a person who is true to that person's character, and that person may legitmately be capable of falling in love with you like in geordi's case, but you cant alter people in a way in which they'd have sex with you when they normally wouldnt.

One thing I always thought about the Holo Deck was despite how advanced it is literally anything including someone sneezing next to the console before you go in sends it haywire and sometimes it almost destroys the ship. The amount of times I've watched Trek and saw a holodeck episode I went "Ahh fantastic I can't wait to see what cosmic space fart is gonna appear from nowhere and malfunction the holodeck for the episode" like seriously it's one of the most advanced pieces of tech on the Enterprise yet at the same time it's as delicate as a flower 🤣

I always assumed the reason why Quark couldn't just make a hologram of Kira was because the holodeck/holosuites could only create holograms of people who've been inside that particular holodeck/holosuite. It wasn't until later that Kira went into one for the first time herself. And the personality the holograms are based on data stored on the ship's computers, so maybe Quark had the data needed to make the personality of Kira but not the image of her

I always looked at the "HR" issue like this; Ok so we can all agree Barklay is a representation of the type of person that would snap and "go postal" on his coworkers. But with the holodeck he can create a program and "go postal" in there. Kinda like playing GTA when you are stressed. On the DS9 I figured all Starfleet members have scans of themselves for simulation reasons. Since Kira wasn't in starfleet she doesn't have a holoscan of her. So Quark couldn't just "download" her representation

I thought it was interesting in "Hollow Pursuits" that everyone thought it was funny, until they ran across images of themselves. Troi, especially, is in the middle of telling Riker how he should have a sense of humor about it, when she runs into holo-Troi and immediately switches to, "Burn it, burn it with fire" mode. I guess it's only wrong if it's not you? As far as the comment about Picard recreating a subordinate, we all know that's wrong and should never happen. He should jump to the Mirror Universe and go to town on the MU versions of his subordinates, like Sisko did, instead. Jokes aside, not enough is said about how gross that was.

On the self restraint or lack of rules - I am reminded of "The Neutral Zone" where one of the 20th century humans is told by Picard that they don't need locks on the comm system because people aboard just have the restraint not to abuse it.

Don’t ever, under any circumstances, shine a UV light in the Holodeck.

Honestly, this is already becoming a thing in the real world. I've had this discussion of the moral implications numerous times because of what has been enabled by the offerings of _certain sectors of the VR games industry._ There are totally people making VR wank fantasies using even their friends' and coworkers' likenesses, and it's kind of messed up. Fantasizing is perfectly normal to a point, but once you're using technological means to realize those fantasies _outside_ of your head, a line's been crossed. If you're going to fantasize like that, go all the way and make something fantastical or idealized, don't use people you know. That's a creep move, and frankly just demonstrates a lack of imagination. 😬 It's only a matter of time before the VR wank stuff intersects with deepfakes, and it's at that point I think we're going to see laws made... (Or at least lawsuits.) Considering what AI like Dall-e can do, we're only a couple years away from having all the different pieces of technology required to emulate the TNG holodeck's ability to recreate the likeness of someone upon request for whatever you want. So, _yeah._ I'm sure _it'll be fine._ 😬

One more example: In the Voyager season 6 episode 'Pathfinder' where Barcley re-did the voyager crew on the holodeck, Admiral Paris mentioned it and seemed disturbed of the idea

10:05 "Who would even think to eat it in the first place?" This one's actually very straightforward: The companies manufacturing the packets sell the same product to the shoe manufacturers as they do to (for example) beef jerky manufacturers. In the latter case the message makes a little more sense and the consequence is that it's present in thef ormer case. As for HR reactions, I agree that today it'd be a nightmare - but as this was filmed in the late 80s and 90s, and this was a time where it was still considered acceptable to go for a couple of beers on your office job's lunch break, I think it makes a little more sense. We're old dude, and TNG's dated. Though I still love it, much of it simply doesn't stand up to the moral standards of >30 years hence.

I love the way Futurama parodies the "Holo-shed" and how it malfunctions

Really random, but you’re thing about whether or not Barcley actually likes being called “Reg” or night reminds me of when I was in the Army. I have an XO that randomly started calling me “Billy” because he said I looked like a Billy (my name is Christopher). I never really told him to stop because it didn’t hurt anyone or anything, but I didn’t care for the nickname. Now I’d definitely say something, but 20 year old me didn’t.

What has always got me is that when Quark tries to create a holographic version of Kira, Odo is on him like a hawk, but a few seasons later Vic Fontaine creates a holographic Kira for Odo to 'practice' on and he seems to think it's perfectly acceptable. What's more, Kira is furious when Quark does it, but when she finds out that the friend she trusted did it, she doesn't seem pissed off. Not for that reason anyway. She's annoyed at Vic, but that's for tricking them, not for creating the hologram.

10:59 it's all about the data. There's data for all the characters that the holodeck creates, so when you say it it can make them. One of the ways quark tries to get Kira's data is literally just to get her in the suite once. All the people Barclay created use the holodeck all the time. Also it can be assumed that the enterprise has access to a larder database than quark's backroom suite. His suite isn't hooked onto the stations entire network. It's also, presumably, a mixture of cardasskan and ferengi tech rather than federation tech.

"Oh hi Barc." I see what you did there. It made me laugh. I'm not too proud to admit this.

It'd be interesting to juxtapose the reaction of the Enterprise crew's reaction to the holodeck replications of them with the open disdain they express for the non-consented cloning they went through... I realize there'd be a few practical differences that come up, but on one level it's not as though holodeck entities aren't capable of gaining their own sentence and manifesting physical representations of themselves pretty much anywhere, particularly by the time of doctor in Voyager.... Just interesting to consider the contrast.

Wayne Alexander is the Jeffrey Combs of Babylon 5

I laughed way too hard at "Oh, Hi Barc!". I am a damaged human being.

I’m six months late on this video, but I really appreciated the Orville reference of the “holographic simulator” approved by the legal team in the opening sketch.

Judging it by "our real world standards", I have to say, what is the problem? I may have a fantasy about a colleague. That is entirely my business. I might write my fantasy down, create artworks to illustrate that fantasy, maybe even create an animation. And as I live in the 21st century, i could do all this using an online system, maybe even a VR platform. It wouldn't be "my own personal platform at my house", but my use of it could be private to myself It only becomes other peoples' business at the point I share my fantasies, or what I have created from those fantasies, with others. And the Enterprise is not simply a place of work - it's a place where over 1,000 people live, often for years at a time. That would mean that there would need to be shared access to the ship's online systems for non-work uses, and a reasonable expectation of privacy for that use. To my mind, Barclay only oversteps the line at the pont at which he starts telling others about the use he's made of colleagues' likenesses, and it makes no essential ethical difference that he's describing activities in the holosuite or in his own head.

It a good thing that star fleets ships are self cleaning especially when you know what the vast majority of adults would use it for lol

It's fascinating to me that we're now having the exact same discussions in the Age of AI, where the whole actors guild went on strike to prevent their likeliness being used in movies or TV series. We're now able to recreate people with AI, just like in an actual holodeck. So now those questions about whether we should, are no longer questions for the future.

What about the "Picard burger"? All you need to do is store some data from the transport-buffer and then feed it into the food replicators to find out who in the command staff tastes best when ground up grilled and put between some buns with few veggies and condiments?

Picard: "I was assimilated by the Borg." Everyone, leaning in: "The Borg?" Picard: "I got better."

I actually find it more worrisome that Kira's image was replicated by Quark & "enjoyed" by Odo (whose reward was dating the real Kira.) Seven also dated a Chakotay hologram & was rewarded (?) with dating real Chakotay. Even Geordi got to marry Leah Brams according the series ending "All Goods Things" (only 1 possible future.) We know holograms can be sentient thanks to Voyager's Doctor, Moriarty, and potentially even Janeway's boyfriend (you know when she famously said "delete the wife" to date the town hottie? Barclay being the only one focused on seems to ignore he did change when called out on it & he didn't get "rewarded" by getting to date either Troi or Dr Crusher. Also Barclay already had a nickname he hated: Broccoli

As soon as I read the title, my IMMEDIATE response was 'Try to explain how it is NOT an HR nightmare... That would be a LOT harder!'

"Oh hi Barc!" Steve referencing the room and thought we wouldn't get it

I love the pun in the title "Hollow Pursuits."

The little boy who was in quarantine in the episode "Brothers" said that silica gel beads are really tasty.

The algorithm hasn't recommended your videos to me for an age! So glad it finally hit me up with this one XD

I work in a place where a lot of employees live in dorm housing on property. There are actually some accomodations made for things that you'd think would be against the rules. Sex with coworkers is fine behind closed doors as long as its consentual. Getting drunk off duty is fine. Stuff like that. Hell, you'd really have to try to get written up while off duty. Pretty much the biggest no no is being rude to a coworker on or off the clock. Also, the reason that Quark's holodecks don't have access to crew data and images is because his system is independant of the federation systems on that station. On the enterprise the holodeck is tied in with every other system on the ship, which includes the medical library which would have all of the data needed to make a likeness of anyone as was done with Leah Brahms.

I don't think I could have resisted the temptation to walk past the camera again at the end and mimic that Travolta gif meme. lol

The holodeck scene is in the orville when Bortus has a porn addiction and downloads a holodeck program that has a virus. So the virus of course locks out the ship and Isaac is in the holodeck trying to physically stop the virus and there's all these naked Mauklins stroking and caressing him as he tries to work 😂😂😂

"Computer, recreate the aristocrats joke using my shipmates..."

... Did you just make a "The Room" joke? I... I didn't expect that. You got me.

Lol. Nice catch. I have no doubt I get in trouble for using it to simulate Alara doing such disgusting things with me, that she would never stop slapping me.

I've heard the reason for the 'do not eat' on the packs of silica gel is because when they're manufacturing those, they don't know whether the end use will be for a pair of shoes or to go in a pack of beef jerky, and there's a risk that someone will think it's a seasoning meant to go on the beef jerky.

If I remember right the Dr. on voyager encouraged the captain to use the holodeck for romantic and sexual pleasure deeming it appropriate for her situation. So I am sure this is a common thing that happens. In fact i'd say it's very common considering many married officers are not on the same ship together and may use it to avoid cheating. Tuvok used it for the pon farr also. I think the reason reg fantasy was odd is because if you can make up a person of your dreams would they really be a coworker?

I wish that it was funny when the captain called me Mr. Broccoli

I wonder why holodecks aren't monitored for mental health reasons. Like excessive holodeck use time or violent content.

The best part about episodes like these, is that it's a vehicle for the characters to talk out their problems, and learn and grow from their mistakes or short comings, unlike today where we can get really ugly, emotionally speaking, and just repeat the same toxic patterns based on unresolved traumas. Not that the people in star trek's time didn't have similar issues, but the way they handle it is, generally speaking, way more mature than the way most modern people cope.

19:38 “I wouldn’t be surprised if history records this as the Riker manoeuvre.” 😆

the orville touched on this subject, "we all do some weird stuff in there, but..."