10 Times Star Trek Reused Props To Cut Corners
1. Those Tubes With The Red Lights
These are, to date, the most re-used prop in all of Star Trek, crossing time boundaries and series themselves. They have appeared alongside Kirk, the Enterprise-D, the NX-01, and even several appearances on Voyager. They were clearly chosen for their aesthetic, as they had a wonderfully alien-tech look to them.
That's also been a bit of a hindrance to them. They are so iconic now that they instantly stand out in any scene that they're in! For example, in the Enterprise episode Cold Station 12, they are easily recognizable, even with the lights inside switched off.
Their first appearance was in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, merely sitting in the control room aboard Regula 1, and from that day to this, there has never been much explanation as to what they do or why they're on board the ship. They've popped up in Datalore, Quality of Life, and Inside Man as well, each time simply in place for the characters to have a look at, without truly interacting with. They're similar to that potted plant that you buy for that table in the hall. You'll walk past it every day and never look at it, but the second it's gone, the entire room is thrown into disarray.