By Chris Snellgrove | Published
One of the most distinguishing elements of Star Trek is “technobabble,” a term given to the fictional characters’ explanations for all the crazy things they do or say. This is a franchise where two characters quickly travel to become magical people who are obsessed with breeding; a franchise where everyone is addicted to strange VR technology that tries to kill them every week. Heck, this is a franchise where a character is forced into a new body one day and forced into a musical the next. Whatever happens, though, there will always be technobabble to make it sound like this madness has a scientific explanation.
Surprisingly, however, the best Star Trek technobabble of all time was never mentioned on screen. While different writers and producers are working Voyagerthey find it difficult to find the name of Robert Picardo the mad medical officer. They eventually surrendered, and he called the Doctor’s name. However, at first they thought they might name him Doctor Zimmerman. As a result, the stage directions when he came out of thin air received a nickname of love in the texts: the writers wrote how Picardo “enters” and “exits” the scenes.
Nameless Hologram
The idea of naming Picardo’s chief medical officer Doctor Zimmerman goes back to the original script of Voyagerepisode one, “Caretaker.” Regarding this character, the script stated that “He doesn’t have a name yet… but we will know him later as Doc Zimmerman.” After all, this last name was meant to honor Herman Zimmerman, the art director and production designer who worked on the franchise throughout the Golden Age of Star Trek.
The writers took their cues from this first script, and began to describe Picardo’s character as Doc Zimmerman throughout the script for Voyager’s first season. They were really committed to the brand, and even released promotional materials for the user community. Because of this, the writers came up with a sly nickname for the distinct sound of the holographic Doctor coming out of thin air. As a tribute to the character’s intended name, the stage directions included how the Doctor “enters” and “zimmers out” scenes.
Hello Doctor, Heal Yourself
At the beginning of the entry Star Trek: VoyagerRobert Picardo’s character thought about making a name for himself, but he didn’t find one that suited him. Behind the scenes, the same thing happens with writers. You see, when Season 2 rolled around, they pulled the plug Doctor Who‘s book and simply referred to the character as the Doctor in various writings. However, the writers did not give up on the idea of introducing Doctor Zimmerman to the show. Ultimately, both Voyager again Deep Space Nine featured appearance of Lewis Zimmerman, the brilliant scientist who created the Emergency Medical Hologram in his own image.
Of Voyager In the episode “Life Line,” the Doctor met his maker, helping to cure Lewis Zimmerman of what would have been a terminal illness. This gave the two a chance to reconnect, and while they were at odds at first, they eventually reconciled. At the end of the episode, Zimmerman told the Doctor to keep writing subspace lectures whenever he got the chance. This makes for a happy reconciliation that brought this complete technobabble saga: now that the EMH was “entrenched” in the life of its creator, his photon-loving father never wanted him to “throw himself out,” again.
