Homages and Rip-Offs

[thesadpanda]

I have a question to throw out there: Which Star Trek episodes are homages to (or rip-offs of) other books, movies or TV shows?

For example, "Balance of Terror" is famously based on the Robert Mitchum movie The Enemy Below.

Not necessarily looking for just TOS instances of basing an episode on another source. For example, "Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges" from DS9 is a lot like John Le Carré's The Spy Who Came in from the Cold.

What are some others?

 

[Ssosmcin]

"Elaan of Troyius" was kind of a Trekked up "Taming of the Shrew."

Deep Space 9 (since you bring it up) apparently got a lot of "inspiration" from films. A lot of interviews and behind the scenes bits have the staff saying this like "let's do Casablanca! Let's do The Alamo! Let's do Who Shot Liberty Valance!" You can go all day...

 

[Robert D. Robot]

I recall one person pointing out the similarities between Voyager's "Threshold" and "The Fly" (the 'recent' version with Jeff Goldblum).

 

[kirkfan]

I, Mudd is an allusion to Asimov's I, Robot.

 

[Christopher]

"Elaan of Troyius" was kind of a Trekked up "Taming of the Shrew."

Not to mention that the title is a Helen of Troy reference.

I, Mudd is an allusion to Asimov's I, Robot.

Hmm, I can see why you'd think that, but I believe it was more along the lines of I, Claudius, in reference to Harry declaring himself a monarch, Mudd the First. And the '90s version of the ST Concordance agrees.

Now, TNG's "I, Borg," on the other hand, could be a reference to "I, Robot" -- not the Asimov anthology whose title was chosen by his publisher over his protests, but the original Eando Binder story about a robot on trial for killing his creator (which was also a likely antecedent for "The Measure of a Man"). Although it may have just been a reference to the anomaly of a Borg drone with a concept of self, and a pun on "cyborg." (Though probably not a pun on "Eymorg.")

 

[Warped9]

In "The Conscience Of The King" Kevin Riley sings I'll Take You Home Again Kathleen which is a tip-of-the-hat to the 1950 SF film Destination: Moon where a member of the rocketship's crew sings the same song.

 

[Kilana2]

I remember "Spectre of the Gun", where the cast re-enacts the gunfight at the O.K. Corral.

"A fistful of Datas" shows a Wild West Scenario. Its title is similiar to "A fistful of Dollars".

Don´t forget, that some Star Trek actors like Leonard Nimoy or DeForest Kelley acted in both Star Trek and Western episodes (Bonanza etc.)

 

[Greg Cox]

And, of course, TOS itself took a lot of inspiration from Forbidden Planet, which was in turn inspired by Shakespeare's "The Tempest."

And "Requiem for Methuselah," in particular, owes a lot to Forbidden Planet: reclusive genius on private planet, naive young woman who has never met another man before, an all-purpose robot guardian . . . all of which is straight from Forbidden Planet.

And I've always thought that Gary Seven was inspired, at least in part, by Klaatu in Thel Day the Earth Stood Still.

And, oh, "Wolf in the Fold" is basically Robert Bloch reworking one of his most famous stories, "Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper" (which had previously been adapted on "Thriller") as a STAR TREK story.

 

[kirkfan]

"Elaan of Troyius" was kind of a Trekked up "Taming of the Shrew."

Not to mention that the title is a Helen of Troy reference.

I, Mudd is an allusion to Asimov's I, Robot.

Hmm, I can see why you'd think that, but I believe it was more along the lines of I, Claudius, in reference to Harry declaring himself a monarch, Mudd the First. And the '90s version of the ST Concordance agrees.

Now, TNG's "I, Borg," on the other hand, could be a reference to "I, Robot" -- not the Asimov anthology whose title was chosen by his publisher over his protests, but the original Eando Binder story about a robot on trial for killing his creator (which was also a likely antecedent for "The Measure of a Man"). Although it may have just been a reference to the anomaly of a Borg drone with a concept of self, and a pun on "cyborg." (Though probably not a pun on "Eymorg.")

You forget that Asimov validated that title retroactively when he published his memoir "I, Asimov" plus there is yet another Trek example of that tile "I, Q" the essay written by Q2 to describe the Q continuum. I think it likely that this was a reference to Asimov rather than ancient Rome.

 

[Kilana2]

And, of course, TOS itself took a lot of inspiration from Forbidden Planet, which was in turn inspired by Shakespeare's "The Tempest."

And "Requiem for Methuselah," in particular, owes a lot to Forbidden Planet: reclusive genius on private planet, naive young woman who has never met another man before, an all-purpose robot guardian . . . all of which is straight from Forbidden Planet.

And I've always thought that Gary Seven was inspired, at least in part, by Klaatu in Thel Day the Earth Stood Still.

And, oh, "Wolf in the Fold" is basically Robert Bloch reworking one of his most famous stories, "Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper" (which had previously been adapted on "Thriller") as a STAR TREK story.

Is it Robert Bloch who wrote "Psycho"? That was my first story to read in English outside my advanced English courses.

And now we are back to Shakespeare

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

And, of course, TOS itself took a lot of inspiration from Forbidden Planet, which was in turn inspired by Shakespeare's "The Tempest."

And "Requiem for Methuselah," in particular, owes a lot to Forbidden Planet: reclusive genius on private planet, naive young woman who has never met another man before, an all-purpose robot guardian . . . all of which is straight from Forbidden Planet.

Good catch; usually, most cite TOS' more than liberal swiping from Forbidden Planet as being more visual than anything else, but one could consider "Requiem for Methuselah" an abbreviated remake.

And I've always thought that Gary Seven was inspired, at least in part, by Klaatu in Thel Day the Earth Stood Still.

Interesting. Like Klaatu, Seven was an outsider working for alien forces was trying to save man from himself--particularly in the wake of militaristic advances which had larger implications than mere conventional warfare. Seven did not make the same threat as Klaatu, but the framework for the characters are very similar.

I understand some ST fans have long thought Seven was some swipe from Doctor Who (assuming Art Wallace and/or Roddenberry accessed the series long before it was ever broadcast in the U.S.), but Klaatu seems like the stronger influence.

 

[spockboy]

And I've always thought that Gary Seven was inspired, at least in part, by Klaatu in Thel Day the Earth Stood Still.

I always thought Klaatu was like the Doomsday Machine
(or the other way round since Earth Stood Still was first.

Good point though.

 

[Greg Cox]

And I've always thought that Gary Seven was inspired, at least in part, by Klaatu in Thel Day the Earth Stood Still.

Interesting. Like Klaatu, Seven was an outsider working for alien forces was trying to save man from himself--particularly in the wake of militaristic advances which had larger implications than mere conventional warfare. Seven did not make the same threat as Klaatu, but the framework for the characters are very similar.

I understand some ST fans have long thought Seven was some swipe from Doctor Who (assuming Art Wallace and/or Roddenberry accessed the series long before it was ever broadcast in the U.S.), but Klaatu seems like the stronger influence.

Yeah, I think the Who/Seven thing is just a coincidence. I've always thought that The Day The Earth Stood Still is to "Assignment: Earth" as Forbidden Planet is to Star Trek.

Gary Seven even looks and acts like Michael Rennie as Klaatu.

And, addressing another post, Robert Bloch is indeed best known as the author of Psycho, the novel on which the Hitchcock film was based.

 

[FormerLurker]

^And was itself based on the real life story of serial killer Ed Gein, who also inspired, among others, the Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

 

[Indysolo]

In "The Conscience Of The King" Kevin Riley sings I'll Take You Home Again Kathleen which is a tip-of-the-hat to the 1950 SF film Destination: Moon where a member of the rocketship's crew sings the same song.

He sings that in "The Naked Time".

Neil

 

[CorporalCaptain]

And, of course, TOS itself took a lot of inspiration from Forbidden Planet, which was in turn inspired by Shakespeare's "The Tempest."

And specifically "The Cage" has a lot of parallels to Forbidden Planet.

The credited adaptations are well-known, so we don't need to recount them fully, unless someone wants to. Ditto for the titles directly quoted from Shakespeare.

"The Doomsday Machine" is well-known as alluding to Moby Dick.

I don't see why "I, Mudd" can't be a reference to both I, Claudius and I, Robot.

"Who Mourns for Adonais?" is a reference to Adonais by Percy Bysshe Shelley (stanza 47, line 415).

There are titles taken from nursery rhymes: "What Are Little Girls Made Of?" and "Friday's Child".

The title "Mirror, Mirror" appears to be from the common misquotation of the Evil Queen addressing her Magic Mirror in Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

 

[Warped9]

In "The Conscience Of The King" Kevin Riley sings I'll Take You Home Again Kathleen which is a tip-of-the-hat to the 1950 SF film Destination: Moon where a member of the rocketship's crew sings the same song.

He sings that in "The Naked Time".

Neil

Oops! You're right. My bad.

 

[Sir Rhosis]

Most of Bloch's eps are adapted from his own work, however loosely. "Catspaw"="Broomstick Ride."

Jerome Bixby loosely adapted two of his short stories. "One Way Street" as "Mirror Mirror" and "Cargo to Callisto" as "By Any Other Name."

Outside of these, an "homage" or "rip off" might be the similarities between "Operation--Annihilate!" and Robert Heinlein's novel THE PUPPET MASTERS.

Sir Rhosis

 

[Maurice]

<Ahem> Arena. </Ahem>

 

[Sir Rhosis]

^^^I honestly buy Justman's explanation that Coon wrote what he thought was an original, and that the credit was given solely to head off any accusations because of the unintentional similarities.