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S.T. original series , Episode: Plato's Stepchildren

Back in the super-8 days, I played around with stop-motion animating my Mego Spock to do silly things. It wasn't actually Claymation, but I titled it "Play-Doh's Stepchildren" anyway.
 
The JFK thing was a movie idea, IIRC. I can't imagine doing dinosaurs on a 60's TV budget, at least not well.
Dinosaurs. Done with two words: stock footage (that's how Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea did it). The story "seed" was titled "To Skin a Tyranosaurus." Also, no, the JFK thing was NOT one of Gene's early ideas.
 
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The JFK thing was a movie idea, IIRC. I can't imagine doing dinosaurs on a 60's TV budget, at least not well.

You are correct. I thnk the JFK idea was one proposal for the first ST movie. Page 125 of Inside Star Trek shows a GR memo from 1964 with several script outlines, including the dinosaur story and another about an alien who is crucified.
 
Exactly. And they are humiliation scenes, and not thrown in just to be "wacky". I have never seen them as anything but their dignity being ripped away. When they ask McCoy "How long can you let this go on?", it's one of the most effectively disturbing moments in ST. It's an excellent episode.
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The next twenty times this episode is brought up, am I going to have to see "stinky poo poo" as a review?

I agree. i'd much prefer the humiliation scenes to the white rabbit scene in Shore Leave. Its a serious episode and the TOS team almost keep their cool in the face of torture and depredation. Its a fantastic "character episode". I don't understand you people. :sigh:

It has lots of great scenes. Spock crushing the vase, Kirk telling Alexander that his life is precious. McCoy trying to do the right thing but obeying his Captain's orders, bringing Alexander onto the ship. I think this is a very sympathetic episode fr Kirk. He comes out shining as a leader but also compassionate to his crew and to someone he barely knows.

Its in my top 10 episodes. Sits right up there wth Empath. Another great Kirk, Spock, McCoy episode.
 
HI all,

This is my very first post, and it's going to be a doozy. There's no way I can follow this up with anything of value, but I have to ask. WHAT is Spock wearing under that tunic? I'm laughing as I type this, but I can't get the picture out of my head. When Spock is in his lovely green tunic, and is forced/dives for the couch, there's a glimpse of tush. Someone tell me he's wearing Vulcan colored tighty-whiteys. Please? (I'm never going to live this down!)
 
I agree. i'd much prefer the humiliation scenes to the white rabbit scene in Shore Leave. Its a serious episode and the TOS team almost keep their cool in the face of torture and depredation. Its a fantastic "character episode". I don't understand you people. :sigh:
At the risk of repeating myself -- OK, I am repeating myself -- "Plato's Stepchildren" is barely a half-hour's worth of story padded out to an hour. Our heroes aren't just degraded and humiliated; they're degraded and humiliated again and again and again, to the point where I start to feel embarrassed -- not for the characters, but for the actors. And Leonard Nimoy singing "Maiden Wine" makes me want to wash out my one good ear with Lysol.

It's in my top 10 episodes. Sits right up there with Empath. Another great Kirk, Spock, McCoy episode.
I hate "The Empath" too. It's all style and no substance. YMMV, as they say.
 
At the risk of repeating myself -- OK, I am repeating myself -- "Plato's Stepchildren" is barely a half-hour's worth of story padded out to an hour. Our heroes aren't just degraded and humiliated; they're degraded and humiliated again and again and again, to the point where I start to feel embarrassed -- not for the characters, but for the actors. And Leonard Nimoy singing "Maiden Wine" makes me want to wash out my one good ear with Lysol.


I hate "The Empath" too. It's all style and no substance. YMMV, as they say.
"The Empath" and "Plato's Stepchildren" both suffer from a lot of padding.
 
I hope this is not the first episode of Star Trek you watched. As I've stated elsewhere, "Plato's Stepchildren" is the absolute WORST episode of the entire series.

Yeah, these things are subjective, but I consider more than a few episodes worse than Plato's Stepchildren. I don't find this episode unwatchable, but one or two from the second season I can't get through for various reasons - mostly boredom or overt silliness ("A Piece of the Action" and "I,Mudd," I'm looking right at you). Honestly, though, I can find something to enjoy in all 79.
 
This is by far the worst TOS episode. That said, there are still some redeeming elements, and I do rewatch from time to time. I don't know why this got green-lit.
No it's not because of the very redeeming elements you mention. But please feel free to explain how this is worse than And The Children Shall Lead.
 
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