But first some Tizer gentlemen! 
JB
JB
50th Anniversary Rewatch Thread
- Thread starter dahj
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Star Trek
"The Corbomite Maneuver"
Stardate 1512.2
"I knew he would."
Ah, the third pilot, with its introduction to the regular production sets and crew and bountiful series exposition. The Captain addresses the crew a lot more in this episode than he will in the future, doesn't he? But he does make it all seem so strange and new, like they're really going places and doing things that they haven't before.
"Has it occurred to you that there's a certain inefficiency in constantly questioning beyond things you've already made up your mind about?" That question of Spock's, following one of Kirk's descriptions of the Enterprise's mission, actually supports that the Vulcans weren't as big on space exploration as humans were, and that Starfleet could indeed have been of Terran origins.
Always loved the poker realization moment. Shatner really shows his stuff once Kirk starts playing his hand against Balok's.
"The Corbomite Maneuver"
Stardate 1512.2
"I knew he would."
Ah, the third pilot, with its introduction to the regular production sets and crew and bountiful series exposition. The Captain addresses the crew a lot more in this episode than he will in the future, doesn't he? But he does make it all seem so strange and new, like they're really going places and doing things that they haven't before.
"Has it occurred to you that there's a certain inefficiency in constantly questioning beyond things you've already made up your mind about?" That question of Spock's, following one of Kirk's descriptions of the Enterprise's mission, actually supports that the Vulcans weren't as big on space exploration as humans were, and that Starfleet could indeed have been of Terran origins.
Always loved the poker realization moment. Shatner really shows his stuff once Kirk starts playing his hand against Balok's.
Always have loved this episode. If I ever had to come up with a cute Trek-y username for myself, it probably would be Spock's Collar. (get it?)
My review on my blog, in which I point that and a couple of other things out
Next week: the home audience's first look at the first pilot!
My review on my blog, in which I point that and a couple of other things out
Next week: the home audience's first look at the first pilot!
The Corbomite Maneuver would have been the perfect first episode of Star Trek. I understand that they had not finished it in time to go first, still, the introduction of all the characters is great. The supporting characters like Sulu,Rand, Uhura and Scotty all get something to do. Kirk and McCoy argue. Kirk saying poker, not chess Mr. Spock. Great bluff. The exploration theme is dominant in this episode. The only thing I did not care for was Bailey. He certainly was not ready for the main bridge. He falls apart. Overall, great episode.
His falling apart was great. He's a surrogate for our weaker side, which we all have. How do we know how we would react? And at certain times, if you actually do seem you're about to die, someone reading off a countdown, and everyone being all businesslike as it's about to happen, would give you a huge sense of futility and frustration, as if everyone's missing the point.
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A lot of what gets us to take the alien threat seriously is how Bailey reacts to it. This isn't Voyager. TOS digs more deeply, into more gut level emotions.
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This ep would be even better as a premiere episode, so maybe it was made with that in mind. We just wouldn't know for sure that Bailey wouldn't turn out to be right, maybe. For all we knew as brand new viewers, Bailey could have been right. A lot of viewers would have reacted as he does. Many of course were as young as he was. We wouldn't know who or what Kirk and Spock really are, and wouldn't know their calm is justified and that they can really handle these things.
===============
A lot of what gets us to take the alien threat seriously is how Bailey reacts to it. This isn't Voyager. TOS digs more deeply, into more gut level emotions.
---------------------
This ep would be even better as a premiere episode, so maybe it was made with that in mind. We just wouldn't know for sure that Bailey wouldn't turn out to be right, maybe. For all we knew as brand new viewers, Bailey could have been right. A lot of viewers would have reacted as he does. Many of course were as young as he was. We wouldn't know who or what Kirk and Spock really are, and wouldn't know their calm is justified and that they can really handle these things.
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And third time was the charm when it came to ship's doctors
I just realized I forgot to comment on the episode. It's pretty neat. The story is straightforward, but still suspenseful and interesting even when you know the twist at the end(and pretty much every stop along the way).
In production order Bailey's the second navigator in a row to vacate his seat immediately. If Chekov hadn't shown up eventually we'd be talking about navigators instead of redshirts now.
I have to agree with people saying this would have worked great as a pilot, it introduces the Enterprise and it's crew, the vastness of space and their mission, everyone has something to do and they interact amongst themselves, and it's a pretty darn good episode altogether.
Negatives? Minor to nonexistent.
Balok the Puppet isn't frightening, he wasn't frightening when I was five, he ain't now. He just looks confused and as if he's thinking "Eh, how do I turn this wobbly effect off, errm, which button is it, uhhh?"
"The Menagerie, Part 1", Episode 11, November 17th
Tonight's Episode: Spock steals the keys to the Enterprise and takes it and the crew to a space drive-in which is showing the pilot episode of an exciting new science fiction program in which he stars as an emotional shouty limping man. Watch out, things are about to get too cerebral!
Tonight's Episode: Spock steals the keys to the Enterprise and takes it and the crew to a space drive-in which is showing the pilot episode of an exciting new science fiction program in which he stars as an emotional shouty limping man. Watch out, things are about to get too cerebral!
My thoughts on "The Menagerie" Part 1 on my blog
In brief: Roddenberry in gang were very clever with the frame story. It's a good overall wraparound to complement "The Cage" and really gave the series some great overall continuity that we still enjoy to this day.
Now, here is the interesting thing, in the Next Week preview, note two things:
1. The preview is 30 seconds longer than usual.
2. Malachi Throne's Keeper dialogue is unaltered.
In brief: Roddenberry in gang were very clever with the frame story. It's a good overall wraparound to complement "The Cage" and really gave the series some great overall continuity that we still enjoy to this day.
Now, here is the interesting thing, in the Next Week preview, note two things:
1. The preview is 30 seconds longer than usual.
2. Malachi Throne's Keeper dialogue is unaltered.
Death penalty... bit of an overkill, innit?
The file on Talos mission that Mendez gives Kirk makes repeated mentions of "Half-Vulcan Science Officer Spock", so apparently Starfleet official documents are a bit racist.
Pike not being able to communicate other than yes/no doesn't make sense. If there's a way to indicate 0 and 1, and there was, you can spell out anything. Even easier if you can blink a light and learn morse code...
I liked Bones defending Spock from the suggestion that he faked the orders, ironic that the one time he defends him he's completely wrong. Also the bit when he has to put him under arrest was pure gold.
Spock being James Bond was fun too, even if it wasn't much of a challenge since that guy who couldn't see him through the red see-through fence has no peripheral vision.
The file on Talos mission that Mendez gives Kirk makes repeated mentions of "Half-Vulcan Science Officer Spock", so apparently Starfleet official documents are a bit racist.
Pike not being able to communicate other than yes/no doesn't make sense. If there's a way to indicate 0 and 1, and there was, you can spell out anything. Even easier if you can blink a light and learn morse code...
I liked Bones defending Spock from the suggestion that he faked the orders, ironic that the one time he defends him he's completely wrong. Also the bit when he has to put him under arrest was pure gold.
Spock being James Bond was fun too, even if it wasn't much of a challenge since that guy who couldn't see him through the red see-through fence has no peripheral vision.
Literally? Actually, if anyone discovers the secrets of casting whatever illusions one wants to, no state or individual would be safe, and it would undermine our sense of reality itself. It could throw everything into chaos. I can see the threat being necessary.
Star Trek
"The Menagerie, Part I"
Stardate 3012.4
Spock's resourcefulness is the main thing that stands out to me in the framing story...definitely not a guy you want working against you. But he was playing the audio recording card (literally) one time too many when he put one in right in front of McCoy to have Kirk explain things to him.
The pilot footage itself, of course, belatedly and contrary to its original purpose, serves as a great piece of world-building.
And Captain Pike's mode of communication may seem goofy, but it makes for great parody:
http://www.basicinstructions.net/ask-capt-pike-1/
"The Menagerie, Part I"
Stardate 3012.4
Spock's resourcefulness is the main thing that stands out to me in the framing story...definitely not a guy you want working against you. But he was playing the audio recording card (literally) one time too many when he put one in right in front of McCoy to have Kirk explain things to him.
The pilot footage itself, of course, belatedly and contrary to its original purpose, serves as a great piece of world-building.
And Captain Pike's mode of communication may seem goofy, but it makes for great parody:
http://www.basicinstructions.net/ask-capt-pike-1/
I have to tell you, I love the way you do your best to restore the previews to their original form. It's great to see how they most likely looked. I was curious if you would find a way to restore Nimoy's "week" to the Part preview. If you listen carefully, you'll hear him say "you'll learn next ---k, why returning Captain..." Because, all references to "week" had to be edited so as not to confuse people watching it daily. I can see that would probably be impossible without having an audio clip of Nimoy saying "week."
Speaking of which, would it be bad form to tell you that you neglected to put the "Next Week" subtitle on this one?
Sincerely, I watch every one of these, so thank you!!! This is one of those things I wish CBS/Paramount would have restored to the series for the 50th anniversary set.
That's terrific. Well done.
I choose to imagine Spock following Kirk around for 4 months with a tape recorder to get all the words to fit together and from the sentences he needs... "Could you repeat that speaking clearly in the direction of my hand?"
Or he had to troll the logs to find them. Busywork to be sure, but Spock would have the patience for it.
Whatever he's planned, he's planned it well.
Hey, if Anan 7 could use a "voice duplicator" to imitate Kirk, then Spock could easily whip up something. Spock's a whiz at stuff.
Yeah, I was under the impression that they were synthesized, not necessarily recordings.
[ETA: Kirk to Mendez before we see Spock using the audio cards--"A computer expert can change record tapes, duplicate voices...!" Also a line that works better following "Court Martial", since the plot involved exactly that.]
Something that stuck out at me last night is how they have some random goldshirt in command for something as important as the hijacking of the Enterprise. Seems like Scotty or Sulu should have been on top of things.
Also, the "Starbase Operations" voice on Spock's tapes...is that Roddenberry? Also, "Dr. McCoy, report to Transporter Control"...sounds like the same voice.
Why does Mendez show Kirk the Talos IV report at that point in the story anyway? How did he know that particular mission was relevant before Spock even started taking the Enterprise there? Spock served with Pike for 11 years.
[ETA: Kirk to Mendez before we see Spock using the audio cards--"A computer expert can change record tapes, duplicate voices...!" Also a line that works better following "Court Martial", since the plot involved exactly that.]
Something that stuck out at me last night is how they have some random goldshirt in command for something as important as the hijacking of the Enterprise. Seems like Scotty or Sulu should have been on top of things.
Also, the "Starbase Operations" voice on Spock's tapes...is that Roddenberry? Also, "Dr. McCoy, report to Transporter Control"...sounds like the same voice.
Why does Mendez show Kirk the Talos IV report at that point in the story anyway? How did he know that particular mission was relevant before Spock even started taking the Enterprise there? Spock served with Pike for 11 years.
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