Star Trek: 10 Things We NOW Know About The Holodeck
6. A Goodbye In Any Other Colour
The holodeck has always been a fun way to escape the confines of the future, exploring retro and pulp locales, allowing the regular cast to have a little fun. While A Space Adventure Hour delivered a detective story for the ages, it was an evolution of an old idea. For now, say hello to The Big Goodbye.
In The Next Generation's first season, The Big Goodbye was the true introduction to the holodeck, despite one or two earlier appearances. It was here that the room conjured interactive characters, thanks to an upgrade (which then immediately starts to go wrong. Go figure.)
Star Trek has experimented in style before and after this episode, but it was almost the first true noir episode in the franchise. Writer Tracé Tormé and director Joe Scanlon used recognisable motifs from existing detective stories, with The Maltese Falcon serving as the biggest inspiration. Their original plan was to depict everything that happened on the holodeck in black and white, much like the film and securing its noir setting.
Rick Berman and Robert Justman nixed the idea. According to the Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion, they both believed that the holodeck would not have the ability to change the appearance of the ship's crew, which would then lead to them sticking out in colour from the rest of the program.
Star Trek: Voyager would later employ this idea in such episodes as Night, Bride Of Chaotica, and Shattered, while Star Trek: Prodigy would do the same in their episode Ghost In The Machine.