Star Trek TNG Turns Bowling Ball Into Sci-Fi Special Effect

As longtime fans know, it’s actually surprising we never see any of our favorite characters pick up a bowling ball and demonstrate their sports acumen. In The Original Series episode “The Naked Time,” intoxicated officer Kevin Riley wanted to have a formal dance on the ship’s bowling alley, but because he wasn’t in the right state of mind and we never see it onscreen, it’s never been entirely clear if the Enterprise really had a bowling alley or not.

Decades later, set decorations indicated the Deep Space Nine had a bowling alley, but it was similarly never seen onscreen.

Despite Star Trek never really embracing this sport (let’s be honest, Chief O’Brien and Worf would have been the ultimate bowling duo), The Next Generation used a bowling ball for a simple special effect in the episode “Symbiosis.”

In the episode, there is a scene where the Enterprise gets a little too close to the star Delos. Obviously, the ship has shields to keep everyone safe from the heat and the radiation of the star, and the show’s visual effects team had to figure out how to represent this onscreen.

Thanks to the “The Making of a Legend” special feature on the Star Trek: The Next Generation season 1 DVD set, we know that a bowling ball was used for this effect, but making it work took some creativity. Their process began by trickling some salt all over the ball. Next, the team filmed the salt bumping off the bowling ball.

How did all of this translate to the cool special effect that we see onscreen? Simple: the effects team took the footage of the salt and “squeezed” it during the digital composition process. Their last step was to turn the footage upside down to achieve the desired look of the ship’s coruscating forcefield fending off the effects of the nearby star.

We found this story extremely cool, and the only way to really learn about stuff like this is to buy the Star Trek: The Next Generation DVDs or Blu-rays (bowling ball not included) and check out the special features.

Sure, it’s nice having most of the entire franchise available at the push of a button with your Paramount+ subscription. But without the relevant physical media, these behind-the-scenes tales will be lost in time, like tears in the rain…er, stream.

These days, Star Trek shows like Discovery and Strange New Worlds look undeniably beautiful, but they have a somewhat sterile aesthetic thanks to everything being accomplished with CGI wizardry.

In the days of The Next Generation, the effects crew had to work with real models, practical effects, and plenty of ingenuity to bring our favorite episodes to life. Just something for you to think about next time you’re talking about Trek over a White Russian at your favorite bowling alley.