50th Anniversary Rewatch Thread

Discussion in 'Star Trek - The Original & Animated Series' started by dahj, Aug 29, 2016.

  1. Spock's Barber

    Spock's Barber Commodore Commodore

    Joined:
    Oct 9, 2014
    Location:
    Standing Next To Kirk
    Yes, it is surprising that scene made it past the censors, who regulary warned tv shows not to show belly buttons, bottoms of breasts and open mouthed kisses.
     
    wayne66 likes this.
  2. dahj

    dahj Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Oct 14, 2003
    Perhaps Brown was dying which prompted Korby to try the machine out before he knew how to operate it properly, so he ended up somewhat short in the memories department.
     
  3. dahj

    dahj Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Oct 14, 2003
    "Miri", Episode 8, October 27th

    Tonight's Episode: Kirk has trouble fingerpainting.
    [​IMG]
    Also, find out why Captain Picard hates children.
     
  4. scotpens

    scotpens Professional Geek Premium Member

    Joined:
    Nov 29, 2009
    Location:
    City of the Fallen Angels
    The network censors were normally involved in the preproduction stage, checking shooting scripts for anything that might be objectionable. I'm pretty sure there was no descriptive line in the script for WALGMO that said, "Kirk breaks off a stalactite that happens to resemble an enormous penis."
     
  5. The Old Mixer

    The Old Mixer Mih ssim, mih ssim, nam, daed si Xim. Moderator

    Joined:
    Feb 4, 2002
    Location:
    The Old Mixer, Somewhere in Connecticut
    Ah, watching this reminds me of going to Grandma's and sitting on the floor in front of the TV with my sister. This was event programming for us back in the '70s....

    Oh, wait, I'm watching The Great Pumpkin. Haven't gotten to Trek yet.
     
  6. The Old Mixer

    The Old Mixer Mih ssim, mih ssim, nam, daed si Xim. Moderator

    Joined:
    Feb 4, 2002
    Location:
    The Old Mixer, Somewhere in Connecticut
    Star Trek
    "Miri"
    Stardate 2713.5

    I don't dislike this episode as much as I used to. The duplicate Earth angle is wasted, of course, but it has a good Twilight Zone-ish premise overall. And it gives us that most immortal of Kirk lines:



    While we have a few left with her in airdate order (including her first appearance!), this is Janice's next-to-last episode in production order, and her most substantial role other than "Charlie X," unless I'm forgetting something.

    It's mighty convenient that they all left their communicators lying around, isn't it?

    Say, what's beaker been up to lately, anyway?
     
  7. UnknownSample

    UnknownSample Commodore Commodore

    Joined:
    Aug 10, 2004
    Location:
    Earth's surface
    Miri has this strong irritation factor of the loud mouthed cliché kids, and that takes over people's image of the episode. Bonk bonk bonk is not what it's about. It's a solid s1 episode. I used to think the duplicate Earth thing was wasted, but I now think it's more subtle here than in flashier ep's, and that might be good. It was a there-but-for-the-grace-of-God-go-us story. Real 1960s America could let an evil tech genie out of the bottle just like they did there. It wasn't an idea people thought about then. They do now, though.
     
    Phoenix219 likes this.
  8. Phoenix219

    Phoenix219 Commodore Commodore

    Joined:
    Feb 2, 2016
    He didn't want his little fantasy land and his wife to be taken away from him again. He didn't want the creature to be studied or taken away in any form. He didn't WANT them to know... he wanted them to give him his damn salt and GTFO!
     
  9. dahj

    dahj Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Oct 14, 2003
    "I see you took the concept of parallel Earths a bit... literally."

    Possibly the most notorious example of an absurd premise that goes nowhere and does nothing except explain why they're filming on a studio backlot. There's nothing in the episode that really needs it to be on an exact duplicate of Earth, it might as well have been a potato shaped planet.
    Star Trek will do a number of episodes over the years where an alien race that looks just like humans does something that makes their society go in a different direction than humanity, and this could easily have been one of them.

    The other silly bit is those kids not learning anything in 300 years. Sure, they're kids, but even kids are capable of understanding stuff other than games. Did they bonk bonk all the nerds till they're dead?

    Kirk's flirting with a prepubescent girl is a bit cringy at times, as is Janice's crying that her legs ain't pretty no more when she's about to die.

    The two redshirts survive, though they're absent for most of the episode, probably guarding the perimeter so that someone doesn't sneak in and steal the conveniently left on the table communicators...

    Other than that, it's not really that bad of an episode, after the initial mystery of a duplicate Earth is completely forgotten, the new mystery of what is going on is well played, the race to find the cure, the increasing tension that ultimately drives McCoy to a desperate act and Kirk's attempts at reasoning with the little shits children.

    He has become death, destroyer of worlds.
    [​IMG]
     
  10. The Old Mixer

    The Old Mixer Mih ssim, mih ssim, nam, daed si Xim. Moderator

    Joined:
    Feb 4, 2002
    Location:
    The Old Mixer, Somewhere in Connecticut
    :hugegrin:

    I took it that there was some sort of biological mental stagnation...combined with their Lord of the Flies situation....

    A "prepubescent girl" who's over 300 years old...or 19 at the time, take your pick.

    Say, what did happen to them? Wasted parallel Earth, wasted redshirts....

    You knew I was referring to @A beaker full of death , right?
     
  11. NickintheATL

    NickintheATL Lieutenant Commander Red Shirt

    Joined:
    Aug 10, 2004
    Location:
    Atlanta, GA
    My long winded review of "Miri"

    Short version: Solid story, annoying children. There can be some improvements made to this story, but it's not bad as it is.

    Next week... one of the great guest starring performances of the first season (IMHO):

     
    Last edited: Oct 28, 2016
  12. dahj

    dahj Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Oct 14, 2003
    I didn't. I actually checked if there was a user called "beaker" you were referring to, but the search came up empty. Apparently it doesn't register partial names.

    Anyways when Spock said that, that's the image and quote that popped into my head.
    ...
    What?
    Just me? :D
     
  13. Phoenix219

    Phoenix219 Commodore Commodore

    Joined:
    Feb 2, 2016
    Thin line between misogyny and someone having an opinion on someone they know. I have all sorts of opinions of the various people I encounter, and more often then not "douchebag" "arrogant" "tool" "spoiled" and "jackass" run through my head. Doesn't matter what gender or race you have an opinion of, its still an opinion that could possibly have merit (in the eye of the beholder.) If I recall, Dehner didn't dispute the issue either. Some times things just are. No point in making *everything* into social commentary.
     
    UnknownSample likes this.
  14. Phoenix219

    Phoenix219 Commodore Commodore

    Joined:
    Feb 2, 2016
    The Sun has a heliosphere around it which the Voyager probes have just encountered. Earth has a magnetosphere with energetic aurora borealis surging through it. Why wouldn't/couldn't/shouldn't the galaxy also have a boundary, with both visibile and invisible spectra?
     
  15. scotpens

    scotpens Professional Geek Premium Member

    Joined:
    Nov 29, 2009
    Location:
    City of the Fallen Angels
    At least Kim Darby could believably pass as a 12- or 13-year-old. Michael J. Pollard, OTOH, was the most ridiculously old "child" I've ever seen (he was actually 27 at the time).
     
  16. wayne66

    wayne66 Lieutenant Commander Red Shirt

    Joined:
    May 11, 2015
    I liked Miri quite a bit. I normally dislike episodes of shows that feature lots of children. I was not bothered by these kids. As it has been said Michael Pollard is really 27 and Kim Darby is 19. Still it is a good episode that gives Grace Lee Whitney more to do. Too bad that it was her last substantial episode. When I do my impressions of Shatner, I prefer to say No more blah blah blah. For the longest time that is how I remember Shatner's immortal lines. But as I watch it he is saying No blah blah blah. I like when Dr. McCoy takes the untested medicine. Good reactions from DeForrest Kelley. Solid episode.
     
  17. dahj

    dahj Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Oct 14, 2003
    It matters on what that opinion is based.
    In this case Mitchell's opinion is based on her rebuffing him after he tried to put on his charm. He was upset she didn't immediately jump on his dick so he lashed out. Which puts him in the sexist asshole category, and his remark as misogynistic. The only reason he said "walking freezer unit" is because this is a network show, what he really meant to say was "frigid bitch."

    I don't mind it as an idea, but it's an idea based in fantasy, not science.
    We know now (and we knew then) that there isn't such a thing, nothing like that was ever observed and there's no physical model which would suggest that something of the sort is possible.
    I mean, even the whole idea of the "edge of the galaxy" is kinda silly in itself, because there isn't such a thing, there's just stars that get thinner and thinner until eventually there aren't any more...
     
  18. Kor

    Kor Fleet Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Jul 31, 2001
    Location:
    My mansion on Qo'noS
    Ah yes, the good old days when barbers pulled teeth. :ack:

    Kor
     
  19. UnknownSample

    UnknownSample Commodore Commodore

    Joined:
    Aug 10, 2004
    Location:
    Earth's surface
    As a kid back then, I knew that no Barrier or anything like it was thought to exist. I knew a lot of astronomy. I bought it in the story. Now I'm thinking about why.
    ---------------------
    Out of all the things we believe firmly that we've proven, a small number will turn out not to have been quite true, based on better information. There are always surprises. We have no way of knowing which things those will be, ahead of time.
    ----------------------
    In the 60s, what we knew astronomically was a bit vaguer, images and ideas were a bit blurrier compared to now. Even the outer solar system seemed almost hopelessly remote and mysterious. I could buy the Barrier as one of those improbable surprises that periodically come along to trip us up. No one expected "Hot Jupiters" in newly discovered solar systems. As soon as they were detected though, astronomers then developed ideas about why that would be a common thing... but they would have bet against it earlier.
    ----------------------------
    The Barrier (only with the original effects) was/is such a compelling image that once I'd seen it, part of my brain went to work on the problems, to figure them out. The "edge" of the galaxy seems implied to be around just that outer circle of the galaxy... and why not just go "over" or "under"? I decided the Barrier had to be all around the galaxy at all points. At whatever point you try to exit, though, it still appears as a horizontal line in relation to you. That's some sort of distortion of light.
    ----------------
    I can buy that a phenomenon might only be observable closer to it, or from certain vantage points.
    ==============
    Think of the Barrier as a sort of placeholder for that big whopping cosmological surprise that must come up someday after we get out there. It won't be an energy barrier around the galaxy, but there will most likely be a thing that improbable. That makes it a viable SF idea.
    -------------------------
    There was so much good astronomy in ST compared to earlier SF movies and TV... loosely speaking. To be SF Trek also had to "over-reach" far beyond what we know now.
     
    dahj likes this.
  20. scotpens

    scotpens Professional Geek Premium Member

    Joined:
    Nov 29, 2009
    Location:
    City of the Fallen Angels
    In The World of Star Trek, David Gerrold wrote that the idea of the galaxy having an "edge" was "like trying to bisect a sneeze."