Party like it's 1966!

[wayoung]

If you want to live long and prosper well into the 23rd century... smoke Chesterfield cigarettes!
Doctor McCoy recommends them for your health. Spock says it's the only logical choice.
It's the only thing those two zany spacemen agree upon. Ha-ha!
Chesterfield, cigarette of the future!

Don Draper would be proud.

 

[RandyS]

This morning in honor of the anniversary, I watched "The Man Trap", which is not a favorite episode, and "Mirror, Mirror" which is, and just so I could include Chekov.

 

[Ryan Thomas Riddle]

For the 50th, I'm tweeting out my favorite episodes all day (scheduled in advance of course): https://twitter.com/ryantriddle

 

[Shalashaska]

Just re-watched The Man Trap.

Friendly reminder that TOS is the best of all the shows

 

[plynch]

That's me!!

Neil

WOW I had no idea that existed. GREAT podcast, Neil. Well, there go many of hours of my life soon. (I have no commute, so I have to carve time to listen to such wonders.)

 

[Red Shirt]

Tonight honoring the 50th I'm going to watch Errand of Mercy, Balance of Terror, and both pilots. Maybe TMP too.

 

[The Old Mixer]

Tonight, at 8:30 EST, I will be watching The Man Trap. Transferred from laserdisc with In Color peacock and period commercials inserted, along with the network bumpers (thank you YouTube!). While they aren't from the actual night of broadcast, they will suffice to give me the closest feeling of being there as possible. I also restored the electric violin theme to the opening and closing credits. I just wish I still had an old tube set...

I hereby nominate you for the Starfleet Citation for Conspicuous Trek Geekery.

 

[nx1701g]

Even though I have the series on DVD (getting Blu-Ray upgrades soon) I'm watching it on BBC America starting tonight at 8:30.

 

[ItIsGreen]

A little later than planned as I had an unexpected visit to my mum's, but I watched "The Man Trap", followed by "Where No Man Has Gone Before". It appears that my TV doesn't want to stop there though, I was watching on Netflix via Chromecast to my TV (too lazy to get up and fetch the DVDs) and even though I hit Stop at the end of WNMHGB, it decided to start playing "The Naked Time" anyway. It's now 1.50am here and I'm not sure if I can disconnect it without pulling the plug - maybe my Chromecast contains an early version of the M-5 firmware, I don't fancy trying to pull the plug in case it vaporises me...

Edit: And now "The Enemy Within". I'm stuck here, please beam down supplies. Now trying the Kirk technique of trying to destroy it by using its own logic against it.

 

[Ssosmcin]

Watching the premiere with 60's commercials for the first time really put the episode in a totally different perspective. My wife and I watched it like we never saw it before (she was so cute, "oooh, that captain is adorable!") and, as much as I always loved this episode, I can see why the cast and producers didn't want to lead off with this one. It's very slow moving, with long stretches of Nancy/Creature stalking in the corridors. Viewers walked away with a different view of the characters than Roddenberry et al seemed to want. Kirk is pretty cold once Crewman Darnell is killed; he is very sharp toward Nancy, bites McCoy's head off, has no patience for Crater, and simply won't listen to any arguments in favor of reasoning with the creature. And those arguments are good ones! There really wasn't a valid reason to kill it. Supply Crater with enough salt, send them both home. Done. But nope, once one of the men is killed, Kirk is a man on a mission. Further killings only serve to drive him harder. This isn't so bad seen a few weeks in, after we'd seen the lighter, more reasonable side of Kirk. However, this was the first time the general public is introduced to Kirk. Shatner is fabulous, but Kirk is too rigid and unbending.

Spock is also very cold and alien, but that works well. We're also made to believe the series will spend more time on the supporting cast.

What's weird is how everyone involved seemed to diss this one as a "monster" episode. It's really not. The creature's true form is seen for less than a minute of screen time. Until then, it's a horror/suspense piece with a shapeshifting alien. You want a "monster" show? Watch any 3rd season episode of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, where a roaring sea beast will spend a half hour crashing through the sub. This episode is far from it. Actually, the Salt Vampire, as we termed it so long ago, is the most sympathetic character in the story. Something that's usually lost on critics. However, my friend's 3 year old daughter totally got it.

A great way to celebrate the 50th. So much fun and illuminating to see it in it's original context.

 

[Ssosmcin]

Damn, I hate the electric violin theme but I wish I had it for the Man Trap tonight. Wait, if it's not on the Remastered version, and it's not on the original FX version, does that mean it's not on the blu-rays at all! Foul!

It's not on that episode, no. It has the cello theme and the "created by" credits at the end. The DVDs restored the e/v theme and the up front "created by" credit. But the e/v theme was never put back on the end credits of any episode. Only WNMHGB has it at the beginning and end.

 

[The Old Mixer]

However, this was the first time the general public is introduced to Kirk. Shatner is fabulous, but Kirk is too rigid and unbending.

I don't think he would have seemed out of place in that era of westerns and war shows. He's responsible for the lives of his crew, and stopping whatever's killing them is his first priority.

We're also made to believe the series will spend more time on the supporting cast.

Hah! Guess we can put that in the "Early Installment Weirdness" category!

 

[Ssosmcin]

I don't think he would have seemed out of place in that era of westerns and war shows. He's responsible for the lives of his crew, and stopping whatever's killing them is his first priority

Not out of place to the audience, but also not really the vision of the character they necessarily wanted to kick off with. Kirk is colder in this episode than in many of those around it. So the audience was getting a different first impression of the man than, say "Where No Man Has Gone Before" or "The Corbomite Maneuver" would have provided.

 

[The Old Mixer]

True...but when the shooting and two-fisted punches were over, it did give us his contemplative buffalo moment.

 

[Ssosmcin]

It's a nice moment, too. I just wish, for the creature's sake, that he thought about the buffalo a little sooner.

 

[The Old Mixer]

He was fine mourning the buffalo...once he'd bagged the sucker that trampled four of his crewmen!

Seriously, though, the creature killing Prof. Crater on the ship didn't help its case for being reasoned with, and limited their options for peacefully returning it to the planet.

 

[Kor]

I just watched The Man Trap on blu ray. With the original effects, of course. And in honor of the subject matter, I put some nice artisan salt on my popcorn.
Now I'm screening the un-aired version of WNMHGB. I think this is the first time I've actually gotten around to watching this. Spock looks significantly greener here.

Without a doubt, this series is truly the real Star Trek.

Oh, here's a little something to add to the party:

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Kor

 

[Ssosmcin]

I wish these things were put on the Blu-Ray sets. So much goodness from that era.

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[Tallguy]

Well! What a day! I wrapped it up by watching... The Man Trap!

(So, I'm watching my rip of my blu-ray on my Roku. So when something seems off I have no idea where in the process it went wrong! The wooshes in the credits were all off! I'll have to throw in the actual disc later.)

It's interesting to consider any other episode being first. It seems that there are enough details that are hit that this serves very well in many ways as a first go.

I laughed when I realized that there is a "crew moving with purpose in the halls" shot that is actually one of the unaired shots from Where No Man Has Gone Before! Also music is used from WNM that isn't actually used in the aired episode!

If Corbomite had been finished on time it would have been first. And Steiner wouldn't have scored it. *SHUDDER* When parts of The Man Trap score are dropped and replaced with WNM it's such a relief!

Someone said that The Creature was somehow sympathetic. I don't believe it is. The argument is that the creature doesn't have to be killed (and no, it doesn't) because it can be reasoned with. But all evidence in the episode is that it can't. It doesn't even act in its own interests in many parts of the episode. Its appetite (not hunger) supersedes all else.

I do wonder why McCoy smiles at the end of the episode. It seemed a little weird.

The sets are lovely. And the framing of the shots at the beginning of the episode when they enter Crater's ruins is huge.

Fun detail: Most of the end credits stills are from The Cage. Including Captain Pike!

A movie will turn 50 on a single day. But we'll be hitting 50th birthdays for the next three years!

 

[Gary Mitchell]

I wish these things were put on the Blu-Ray sets. So much goodness from that era.

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For some reason, I really like the music on that commercial.