I grew up in the '80s, and do not remember a time when there was no Star Trek. My mother had it on and I became familiar with the show before I could understand it. A few months ago, I began a production order rewatch with my wife, who has only seen a few minutes of the show in her life. I have done beginning-to-end watches of TNG, DS9, and ENT but never the original series, so this has proven to be interesting.
Here are some things I have noticed:
* The average quality of the first dozen or so episodes is top-notch. Unlike the other shows, TOS hit the ground running.
* The main characters, at least through the first season and a half, were just Kirk, Spock, and McCoy. There was a rotating cast of background characters that included Sulu, Scotty, and Uhura, but also Chapel, Rand, DeSalle, Galloway, Kelowitz, Kyle, and a few others. Sulu, Scotty, Uhura, and later Chekov seemed to emerge as the main supporting cast gradually, unlike later shows where there were seven or eight main roles defined from the pilot.
* Watching in production order, I see how the characters evolve naturally, especially in the early part of season 1. The show is obviously extremely episodic, but some patterns emerge. For example, Kirk loses a woman he loves and his brother within two consecutive episodes. Also, the arguments between McCoy and Spock grow more vicious early in season 2, and they increasingly snipe at each other in "The Deadly Years", "I, Mudd", and "The Trouble With Tribbles" before having a heart-to-heart in the jail cell in "Bread and Circuses". Their interaction in the following episode, "Journey to Babel", is much friendlier.
* After a while, Kirk really has the "talk a computer to death" routine down pat. After figuring it out on the fly with Ruk and then Landru, he goes straight for the logical contradictions with Norman, Nomad, and the M5.
* Early Kirk comes across as much more bookish and nerdy than the popular conception we have of him as a shoot-from-the-hip womanizer. He has some old flames (the older woman Ruth, and the equally bookish Janet Wallace and Areel Shaw, among others) but in the first season he is somewhat awkward around women. He seems to learn the art of seduction, however, using Lenore Karidian and later Shahna and Kelinda to accomplish his goals. (It seems unfortunate that the Abrams movies emphasized the characterization of Kirk as the brash womanizer rather than the nerd that his best friend Gary Mitchell called a "stack of books with legs". That would have been more interesting, in my opinion.)
* "The Omega Glory" is not bad, until the American flag appears at the end, that is. Then it is just silly.
* "Spock's Brain" is not bad either, once you get past the premise. My wife rolled her eyes and laughed every time the words "Spock's brain" were spoken though, which was often.
* Speaking of "Spock's Brain", the scene at the beginning with McCoy standing beside Spock's brainless body reminded me of ST3-TSFS where McCoy will once again stand by an empty shell of Spock, only this time with his katra stuck inside himself.
* Sulu's absence for most of season 2 is really noticeable. It gave Chekov the chance to develop as a character, however.
* Since we are watching on Netflix, I am seeing a lot of the remastered episodes for the first time. There are a lot of beautiful new shots of Enterprise, as well as some gorgeous planets. The colors and sets stand out nicely, and aside from the fashions it looks like it could have been made today.
* We are only four episodes in to season 3, but the absence of Gene Coon, DC Fontana, and Gene Roddenberry is noticeable as well. The episodes are not as tightly scripted or edited as in previous seasons.
More to come as we continue to boldly go...
Here are some things I have noticed:
* The average quality of the first dozen or so episodes is top-notch. Unlike the other shows, TOS hit the ground running.
* The main characters, at least through the first season and a half, were just Kirk, Spock, and McCoy. There was a rotating cast of background characters that included Sulu, Scotty, and Uhura, but also Chapel, Rand, DeSalle, Galloway, Kelowitz, Kyle, and a few others. Sulu, Scotty, Uhura, and later Chekov seemed to emerge as the main supporting cast gradually, unlike later shows where there were seven or eight main roles defined from the pilot.
* Watching in production order, I see how the characters evolve naturally, especially in the early part of season 1. The show is obviously extremely episodic, but some patterns emerge. For example, Kirk loses a woman he loves and his brother within two consecutive episodes. Also, the arguments between McCoy and Spock grow more vicious early in season 2, and they increasingly snipe at each other in "The Deadly Years", "I, Mudd", and "The Trouble With Tribbles" before having a heart-to-heart in the jail cell in "Bread and Circuses". Their interaction in the following episode, "Journey to Babel", is much friendlier.
* After a while, Kirk really has the "talk a computer to death" routine down pat. After figuring it out on the fly with Ruk and then Landru, he goes straight for the logical contradictions with Norman, Nomad, and the M5.
* Early Kirk comes across as much more bookish and nerdy than the popular conception we have of him as a shoot-from-the-hip womanizer. He has some old flames (the older woman Ruth, and the equally bookish Janet Wallace and Areel Shaw, among others) but in the first season he is somewhat awkward around women. He seems to learn the art of seduction, however, using Lenore Karidian and later Shahna and Kelinda to accomplish his goals. (It seems unfortunate that the Abrams movies emphasized the characterization of Kirk as the brash womanizer rather than the nerd that his best friend Gary Mitchell called a "stack of books with legs". That would have been more interesting, in my opinion.)
* "The Omega Glory" is not bad, until the American flag appears at the end, that is. Then it is just silly.
* "Spock's Brain" is not bad either, once you get past the premise. My wife rolled her eyes and laughed every time the words "Spock's brain" were spoken though, which was often.
* Speaking of "Spock's Brain", the scene at the beginning with McCoy standing beside Spock's brainless body reminded me of ST3-TSFS where McCoy will once again stand by an empty shell of Spock, only this time with his katra stuck inside himself.
* Sulu's absence for most of season 2 is really noticeable. It gave Chekov the chance to develop as a character, however.
* Since we are watching on Netflix, I am seeing a lot of the remastered episodes for the first time. There are a lot of beautiful new shots of Enterprise, as well as some gorgeous planets. The colors and sets stand out nicely, and aside from the fashions it looks like it could have been made today.
* We are only four episodes in to season 3, but the absence of Gene Coon, DC Fontana, and Gene Roddenberry is noticeable as well. The episodes are not as tightly scripted or edited as in previous seasons.
More to come as we continue to boldly go...
