Party like it's 1966!

[Redfern]

During that initial airing in 1966, I wonder how many viewers thought the creature might have successfully killed Uhura? I'm sure we're all glad that did not happen, but you have to admit the "set up" was almost "classic". We get that hint of character development near the beginning of the episode, first her gentle "teasing" and then her chastising Spock's seeming indifference, (hopefully) making us care for the Lieutenant. Thus when the creature did drain and kill her, its actions would seem all the more horrific.

On a related note, her chastising observation is the kind of material that later would have been given to McCoy, but since he was the focus of the story and upon the planet with Kirk.

 

[The Old Mixer]

It's interesting to consider any other episode being first.

I've always thought that "The Corbomite Maneuver" would have been perfect. Kirk literally gives exposition about what their mission is all about, and the big three all feature prominently (though the Spock/McCoy rivalry isn't in place yet).

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 said that the creature was sympathetic, but I also argued for Kirk's priority of stopping the creature by any means necessary. If the creature could be reasoned with, then it was intelligent enough to potentially value the lives of other sentient beings, but it didn't. And killing Crater showed that the creature was either fixating on McCoy as a replacement or was just acting irrational to the point of being suicidal, so trying to make peace with it wouldn't have looked like a practical option.

We're used to a Trek that became warmer and fuzzier about these things, but this episode gets across that humans are out there on a dangerous frontier and have to fight to survive.

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

Liked for this.

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

For probably the same reason, I can't stand it.

 

[Kor]

The creature seemed to have some kind of hypnotic effect on it's victim, as the person was apparently unable to move away once the creature was staring into his or her eyes and reaching for the face.

Kor

 

[The Old Mixer]

Also on the same date in history...Ford was such a Trekkie that he celebrated the 8th anniversary by committing political suicide!

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[Ssosmcin]

The ability of the creature is somewhat muddled. Does it take a different form physically or is it making a person see someone different? Kirk never met Nancy before, but he sees her at her "believable age." McCoy sees 25 year old Nancy and Darnell sees a bomb from Wrigley's Pleasure Planet (and he doesn't notice how she looks until he finally get a speaking line, which is odd). If the creature is projecting someone different based on some telepathy and pulling the memories of someone, why did Kirk see Nancy Crater at all? Why didn't Darnell see Nancy? Why would the creature send him a different image. People in the corridors all saw Crewman Greene, nobody was saying, "hey that's my ex-wife!". Meanwhile, Uhura saw someone she never met before.

Afterward, as Kirk is attacked in McCoy's quarters, he refuses to "shoot Nancy." When he does, he shoots to kill. Why not stun her and sort it out later? And is McCoy really so wrapped up in his "romantic haze" that he doesn't recognize that Nancy is the creature when she is putting her hands on Kirk's immobile face? Still, we get to see Spock totally lose his shit across "Nancy's" face repeatedly. Such a great, proto-Spock moment.

I'll echo what was said up thread: it's the first aired episode, nobody really knew who the regulars were other than Shatner, Nimoy and Whitney (based on the promo pics). Suddenly, with that in mind, Uhura's scene with the creature suddenly becomes a LOT more suspenseful. We don't know she's a regular. It's a great scene.

 

[kkt]

The ability of the creature is somewhat muddled. Does it take a different form physically or is it making a person see someone different? Kirk never met Nancy before, but he sees her at her "believable age." McCoy sees 25 year old Nancy and Darnell sees a bomb from Wrigley's Pleasure Planet (and he doesn't notice how she looks until he finally get a speaking line, which is odd). If the creature is projecting someone different based on some telepathy and pulling the memories of someone, why did Kirk see Nancy Crater at all? Why didn't Darnell see Nancy? Why would the creature send him a different image. People in the corridors all saw Crewman Greene, nobody was saying, "hey that's my ex-wife!". Meanwhile, Uhura saw someone she never met before.

Afterward, as Kirk is attacked in McCoy's quarters, he refuses to "shoot Nancy." When he does, he shoots to kill. Why not stun her and sort it out later? And is McCoy really so wrapped up in his "romantic haze" that he doesn't recognize that Nancy is the creature when she is putting her hands on Kirk's immobile face? Still, we get to see Spock totally lose his shit across "Nancy's" face repeatedly. Such a great, proto-Spock moment.

I'll echo what was said up thread: it's the first aired episode, nobody really knew who the regulars were other than Shatner, Nimoy and Whitney (based on the promo pics). Suddenly, with that in mind, Uhura's scene with the creature suddenly becomes a LOT more suspenseful. We don't know she's a regular. It's a great scene.

Yes, I think the creature must have been projecting psychologically, otherwise I don't see how it could appear to be different things for different people at the same time. It's quite a talent either way. Even the Founders from DS9 couldn't do taht.

I guess the creature wanted to attract Darnell so as to be able to kill him. On the Enterprise, though, it was so crowded the creature didn't have an easy attack.

 

[Elder Knight]

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

If we follow through watching these weekly in real time plus 50 years, we'll review the 79th episode on June 3, 2019.
The 40th anniversary of the first movie will follow on December 7, 2019.
Now, after that things will get slow ...

 

[Elder Knight]

I'm startled by all those scenes when Uhura or Spock or someone has a big earphone stuck in one ear. The writers figured that the future would be wireless, but thought you'd still need so much antenna.

 

[dahj]

I'm startled by all those scenes when Uhura or Spock or someone has a big earphone stuck in one ear. The writers figured that the future would be wireless, but thought you'd still need so much antenna.

Or they could have just made them big to be visible on most television sets of the time.

 

[Tallguy]

I did notice several women crew wearing pants. I wonder how many episodes that will last.

 

[3D ChessMaster]

When I first saw this episode The Man Trap fairly recently , On BBC they were in a fairly random order, I thought it was one of the much derided series 3 shows and one of the worst of the whole series and was unusual for McCoy's role to be so large.
Still, circumstances gave them a difficult choice of first shows to screen. It is amazing how often in series 1 they were only just ahead of schedule to get shows ready I had no idea at the time.
To me the production quality of this show is great and much better than any other TV show I can recall of the time.

If Crater had just been honest about what happened then the Enterprise could have given them a load of salt and been on their way. It annoys me that the monster needs salt such a simple compound, I read that in the original script the monster does not kill Crater and more is made of their relationship and the now ruined alien culture and that makes it more of an issue it being made extinct .
Als it's one of the few shows I remember (Whom Gods Destroy is another) where it was relavent to the plot that someone was stunned by a phaser, most phaser victims in the TOS run seem to end up dead

 

[Ssosmcin]

"Phasers on stun" was actually pretty common. Kirk and co usually had them set to stun.

 

[plynch]

Well, thanks for clueing me into the violin version of the closing still being on WNMHGB. Neat. Man do they cook. Even faster than the cello version, I think, though it would be the same amt of time to fill (1 min.?).

 

[Ssosmcin]

Well, thanks for clueing me into the violin version of the closing still being on WNMHGB. Neat. Man do they cook. Even faster than the cello version, I think, though it would be the same amt of time to fill (1 min.?).

The electric violin theme and the cello theme are the same length. The first is just a little more up tempo. Otherwise, they'd would have had to edit the cello theme to fit the episodes where it was added.

 

[3D ChessMaster]

"Phasers on stun" was actually pretty common. Kirk and co usually had them set to stun.

Yes they are often set to stun ,but I was thinking of when in TOS someone got stunned by a phaser? In ManTrap Crater gets stunned and starts telling Kirk what's been going on, does something similar happen in other episodes?

 

[Ssosmcin]

Yes they are often set to stun ,but I was thinking of when in TOS someone got stunned by a phaser? In ManTrap Crater gets stunned and starts telling Kirk what's been going on, does something similar happen in other episodes?

Ohhhh, okay I see what you mean. Yeah, usually to "stun" means to "render unconscious." However, in Spock's Brain, Kirk stunned the tall dude and he was dazed. No change in his voice, but vaguely similar.

 

[The Old Mixer]

This week in 1966:

September 12

• Gemini 11 (Richard F. Gordon, Jr., Pete Conrad) docks with an Agena target vehicle.
• B. J. Vorster becomes the new Prime Minister of South Africa.

September 13 – Clashes between the Chinese Communist Party and the Red Guards are reported by TASS in the Soviet Union.
September 16

• In South Vietnam, Thích Trí Quang ends a 100-day hunger strike.
• The Metropolitan Opera House opens at Lincoln Center in New York City with the world premiere of Samuel Barber's opera Antony and Cleopatra.

New on the charts:

"Poor Side of Town," Johnny Rivers

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At #1 on the album charts for its second of six weeks:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolver_(Beatles_album)

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*

 

[plynch]

Anybody think they slowed down playback for Crater's stunned bit? Voice sounds decidedly lower, though maybe the actor just did that.

 

[Indysolo]

This week in 1966:



New on the charts:

"Poor Side of Town," Johnny Rivers

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Accept third party cookies

At #1 on the album charts for its second of six weeks:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolver_(Beatles_album)

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*

Oh no! Please don't turn this thread into a Cushman book.

Neil

 

[Harvey]

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!

If "The Corbomite Maneuver" had been ready, it would have aired second. NBC wanted "The Man Trap" to air first, since it was a planet show emphasizing "strange new worlds." The network ultimately had final say.