Doomsday Machine not best of TOS

[johnnybear]

Pretty much an episode made of gold!
JB

 

[Ithekro]

Pretty much an episode made of gold!
JB

Neutronium. It is a heavy episode.

 

[CrazyMatt]

There are those who believe that Trek actually ended when Gene Coon took over some of the production duties from Gene Roddenberry towards the end of the first season..

To many of them, the ONLY good trek film was TMP... I'm sure there are a few around the forums here..

Well, we all must acknowledge that one person's feast is another one's famine. As Botany Bay posts (I hope!) polls for season three episodes in the months to come, we'll hear the occasional impassioned voices singing praises for episodes such as "The Empath," "The Paradise Syndrome," etc. These episodes, while good, don't do much for me. But that's the fun of being a fan, you can grab on to your own favorite piece of the series and swallow it like a big banana split of enjoyment.

Now wasn't that a profound statement?

Well, maybe not.

In any case, yes, I think the premise of the original poster is silly. The vast majority of posters in the thread disagree with it, but while I also disagree, I acknowledge that what's our cup of tea is not everyone's.

 

[Maurice]

1) The original thought behind the design of the Doomsday Machine itself (according to Norman Spinrad) was that it was huge and bristling with weapons. Therefor the final design of the ship reflected the state of the budget, presumably not a lack of imagination.

So he claims now. His own teleplay's description of the device mentions none of this. As per...

Spinrad's first draft* story outline (http://www.missionlogpodcast.com/discovereddocuments/035) would be a useful place to start....

...the Constellation was attacked by a huge metallic creature, which Decker refers to as the "Eater" -- a kind of cylindrical "living atomic rocket" at least ten times the size of the Constellation, apparently from beyond the Galaxy, with a posterior rocket and a great anterior funnel-mouth big enough to swallow a ship with a cluster of atomic blaster beams and tractor beams around the funnel, not a machine, but a living organism with a nuclear metabolism.

...and...

Okay, since you have the script, how does the script describe the machine when it first appears?

We have Decker's description at Scene 31:

KIRK
(crosses in)
What does it look like, Commodore?

DECKER
A hundred times the size of a
starship... a mile long, with
a maw big enough to swallow a
dozen ships... it destroyes
planets... cuts them to rubble...

********

Then, we have this description at Scene 44:

44 INSERT - MAIN VIEWSCREEN

On the screen, looming large and seen head-on, we see
the Planet-Killer; a great funnel extended before its
huge metallic body as if it were to devour the Enterprise.

SPOCK'S VOICE
An immense body... a large funnel-
mouth... It looks very much like
Commodore Decker's Planet-killer...
And it is pursuing us!

Then we have Scene 52--just as the boarding party is about to beam back to the Enterprise:

52 EXT. SPACE - QUARTERING SHOT OF THE PLANET-KILLER

We see the huge funnel mouth, with a blue-hot LIGHT
EFFECT glowing within. An ATOMIC BEAM EFFECT (a
solid beam of blue light) that seems to come from
within the funnel lances out.

Later, at Scene 85:

85 EXT. SPACE - CLOSE ON THE PLANET-KILLER

We see just the huge funnel, from the side. Then,
dwarfed by the funnel, the Enterprise moves into the
FRAME.

There are other Planet-Killer related scenes--like when Decker takes the shuttlecraft down its maw, and when the Constellation meets the same fate. All the descriptions are the same (and no more informative) than the above scenes.

If Mr. Spinrad had something else in mind other than what was scripted, he didn't so indicate--or he indicated it only in earlier drafts of the script. As I read what little is in this script, it seems like what was created is pretty consistent with what was requested.

 

[bbailey861]

I fundamentally disagree with the premise of this thread.

Kor

I disagree as well BIG TIME!!! I think the Doomsday Machine is really Star Trek at it's BEST for sure.....

+1 for both these comments.

 

[Marsden]

I disagree with the premise of the thread, but not it's existence.

It's actually been and interesting conversation.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

I wonder who created the Doomsday Machine and why they wanted it to roam eating stuff?

 

[Marsden]

The Borg's neighbors.

 

[fireproof78]

The Borg's neighbors.

I'd watch that.

It would be like the Forerunners versus the Flood in Halo. Creating massive weapons that are so devastating that even the creators are reluctant to use it.

 

[FormerLurker]

Due to the Planet Eater's appearance, and allowing that Spock is correct in the composition of the hull(Pure Neutronium), I have long wondered if it wasn't forged so much as extruded by the White Dwarf Star it came from. That would allow for the uneven shape, the conical appearance, and the rough finish on the outside. They didn't pour it into a mold, they dragged it out of the star by some means, or even got the star to spit it out, and then took advantage of the shape it came in.

 

[MANT!]

Something here that explains my love for this episode (to me the single best adventure episode in Star Trek)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAfEXDCsRmg

 

[DaddlerTheDalek]

Doomsday Machine is one of my favorite TOS episodes.

 

[LadyT'Anna]

This episode is one of my all-time favorites, even if I do have to suspend my disbelief re: Decker's unfitness for command. The interplay among Spock, Decker, and Kirk is particularly enjoyable to watch. ("Vulcans never bluff.") The musical score was well-conceived also; did anyone else catch the "Amen" chord near the end of the episode, where Kirk is giving a pivotal order? Sly, literate humor in action.

An altogether excellent episode.