Star Trek’s Up The Long Ladder Brought A Famous Star Wars Planet Into Federation Space

The tiny text seen on computer panels in “Star Trek: The Next Generation” usually contained in-jokes, clues, and the initials of crew members who worked on the show. Such details were not meant to be readable by audiences, as cathode ray tube TVs — the kind people owned in 1989 — didn’t have the visual fidelity to present them with clarity. They were just cute little gags for the cast and crew to enjoy. These tiny texts were traditionally called Okudagrams by the crew, named after production designers Mike and Denise Okuda. It wouldn’t be until the series had been remastered for Blu-ray that several Okudagrams would be made visible for the first time. 

As someone who has visited the set (brag, brag), I have seen several Okudagrams close-up, including little buttons that warn people not to tug on Superman’s cape or to not spit into the wind. 

The “Next Generation” production designers had a ball making Okudagrams, often slipping in many, many references to their favorite sci-fi shows and movies. Picard (Patrick Stewart) calls up a deploy manifest in the Ficus sector, and many ship names and/or captains may be familiar. The New Zealand, for instance is on a “diplomatic mission to Alderaan.” Another ship on the same manifest is called the U.S.S. Buckaroo Banzai, under the command of Captain John Whorfin, and is on a mission to Planet 10, Dimension 8. These are all references, of course, to W.D. Richter’s bizarro 1984 film “The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension.”

One might also note a Captain Gene Roddenberry on the manifest, as well as ships called the U.S.S. Urusei Yatsura and the U.S.S. Tomobiki, both references to a celebrated 1978 manga and subsequent 1981 anime adaptation.