Belli was still disturbing to me as a child. I never even knew he was a famous lawyer until the 80s to be honest! And when his head turned to spaghetti at the end...well!
JB
JB
Most disappointing original Trek episode....
- Thread starter Warped9
- Start date
Sorry, but The Alternative Factor is the most disappointing/worst TOS/TAS episode. It is so dis-jointed and just a complete mess that it is unwatchable.
Maybe Alternative Factor is the most disappointing, because it had so much greatness in it, but because of sloppy, rushed production was made semi-incoherent. And The Children Shall Lead, on the other hand, started with nothing, and ended up worse. It doesn't build up your expectations, and so can't disappoint all that much.
I think "The Alternative Factor" is the worst episode of the original series not only for all the reasons others have mentioned, but because it was produced between "Arena" and "Tomorrow Is Yesterday" (and in the same portion of the season that included "Shore Leave," "The Squire of Gothos," "A Taste of Armageddon," and many other outstanding episodes! In other words, "The Alternative Factor" sticks out like a proverbial sore thumb among such notable episodes--we know the cast and behind-the-scenes staff were capable of greatness because we saw it in so many other episodes produced around the same time. Last-minute recasting and rushed production aside, we should've still had something better than Lazarus' "Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill!" YMMV & LLAP
What other murderously unhinged thing would you have preferred matter-Lazarus to have yelled? He was nuts, you know.
I agree completely and that's why The Alternative Factor got my vote, because it was the most disappointing episode. It had a very interesting start, but then it all goes to hell. Don't get me wrong though, And The Children Shall Lead is unquestionably bad as is I, Mudd. I haven't seen much of TAS since it was first on in the 70s, so I can't comment on that one.
I feel that The Infinite Vulcan is actually appropriate to the cartoon series and wasn't especially bad, at all. The angle with the Spock clone was corny, and it seemed thrown in there for the kids, at first. But had TOS the money to fund such an episode, I do not doubt that the script would've received very few modifications. It might've even been well-received, when it first aired. Won a Hugo Award, or something ...
Why? They didn't seem to have any problem giving us super-sized Apollo in "Who Mourns for Adonais"
I thought of that. But was Apollo really that size or was it just a projection to intimidate like he did in other instances earlier in the story?
Also the oversized human clones would seem even more riduculous as live-action. Yes, they could do it, but it could still come off as a WTF moment.
Good WTF moments can be cool. Bad WTF moments can be embarrassing. "And The Children Shall Lead" anyone?I never had any issue when Star Trek gave us WTF moments. There needed to be more.
Maybe "Death to you all! Death to you all! Death to you all!" as Gorgon did in "And the Children Shall Lead"? LOL
Maybe "Death to you all! Death to you all! Death to you all!" as Gorgon did in "And the Children Shall Lead"? LOL
Naw, that's more like a lawyer filing a legal brief to the effect that he wants everybody to die... and he doesn't even want to do it himself. I prefer Lazarus's "hands on" approach.
I honestly see The Classic Series having done that, if the story was available for it. It would not have surprised me, one bit. President Abraham Lincoln even had an adventure on STAR TREK. The look on Kirk and Company's collective face when they saw him materialise in the vacuum of Space, on the viewing screen is unforgettable. Aliens of every embarrassing sort, like Nazi SS troops, complete with swastika flag and arm bands. Spock and Kirk wearing pimp outfits in "A Piece of the Action" ...A 50 foot live-action Spock would be a cool WTF moment in my book!
A 50 foot clone of Spock would've fit very comfortably with the totality of the series. Especially as written in the cartoon episode. If they tried to turn him into a mindless Godzilla-type, then maybe that's a bridge too far, as it were. But I can so easily see the effect in my mind, right now ... complete with wild hairs fluttering in the optic printer, along with dust and grain from the age of the film. Walter Keonig, he did alright with his first STAR TREK writing assignment.
Worst episode has to be Plato's Stepchildren! The BBC banned it for many, many years in the UK and when I eventually got to see it I completely understood why!
JB
JB
Gaaaaaaaaaaah!
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