50th Anniversary Rewatch Thread

[Phaser Two]

It’s one of the reasons I vastly prefer the theatrical cut

Yeah. I actually don't mind the earlier scene with Col. West but it has some problems, namely (a) Auberjonois' acting is a bit over the top; (b) Starfleet has a military briefing in front of the Romulan ambassador; and (c) West flips through a paper easel board outlining the attack. But it's fine. The "this is not Klingon blood" scene is just a little goofy. There was no need for West to be in on the conspiracy.

 

[Discofan]

It’s one of the reasons I vastly prefer the theatrical cut

The pink blood becomes totally pointless then and utterly ridiculous!!

 

[johnnybear]

Maybe it was only pink due to the lack of oxygen?
JB

 

[plynch]

I have a little cat who starts running like scooby-doo, a ll four legs goi ng for a moment before she actually gets moving. Both hilarious and endearing

 

[Discofan]

I have a little cat who starts running like scooby-doo, a ll four legs goi ng for a moment before she actually gets moving. Both hilarious and endearing

Looks like your floor is overwaxed.

 

[johnnybear]

I never get the scene where the military conference on the Klingons by Starfleet allows the Romulan ambassador to be in the room!!! I asked someone about this some time back and they said that maybe the Romulans had become friendlier with the Federation at that time and that relations soured after their attack upon Khitomer! But I could never accept that Kirk and Spock were happy with his presence considering how Kirk said he would never trust the Klingons after the death of his son and the seventy years of unremitting hostility!
JB

 

[The Old Mixer]

The week is upon us....

 

[dahj]

We kick off rerun season with a special, never before seen episode from the vaults!

"Turnabout Intruder", Episode 79, June 3rd
Tonight's Episode: Kirk loses command of the Enterprise... and his body!

 

[Tallguy]

I will watch Spock's Brain on a loop before I watch this again.

I will watch And the Children Shall Lead.

I will watch Altern-- Well. Let's not get crazy.

Wasn't All Our Yesterdays such a lovely episode?

 

[Pauln6]

I have a confession: I actually quite like Turnabout Intruder, or rather I don't dislike it as much as many other people. I thought Sharon Smith made a convincing Kirk albeit Shatner was waaaay over the top. I think it would have been way more fun to make Lester-Kirk (or is it Kirk-Lester?) a less hysterical portrayal and make more of the other characters noticing subtle discrepancies. It would have been a good one to feature a character like Janice Rand who could have had some close interaction with another imposter.

 

[Redfern]

The last "first run" episode of the series...50 years ago today. Of course, the numbers would be a bit less meaningful if we used a different system, say base 8 or base 12.

Does anyone have information about what episodes were repeated during the summer of '69 (if any) until it was totally pulled?

 

[Poltargyst]

I will watch Spock's Brain on a loop before I watch this again.

I will watch And the Children Shall Lead.

I will watch Altern-- Well. Let's not get crazy.

Wasn't All Our Yesterdays such a lovely episode?

No, you MUST watch TI or you have not fulfilled the 50th anniversary viewing!

 

[Poltargyst]

The last "first run" episode of the series...50 years ago today. Of course, the numbers would be a bit less meaningful if we used a different system, say base 8 or base 12.

Does anyone have information about what episodes were repeated during the summer of '69 (if any) until it was totally pulled?

I wonder if Bryan Adams would know.

 

[johnnybear]

Why it was twenty four episodes instead of the usual twenty six and what would the final two episodes have been if they had been produced?
JB

 

[The Old Mixer]

Star Trek
"Turnabout Intruder"
Originally aired June 3, 1969
Stardate 5928.5
Series finale

The Enterprise is in danger when Janice Lester, one of Kirk's former lovers, steals his body.

Yeah, there are ways to rationalize the situation "in-continuity," but I think it's best just to take what the episode is trying to tell us about the situation at face value and chalk it up as being the product of its time that it is.

Likewise, one can be offended by Shatner's portrayal of a woman in possession of Kirk's body, or one can try to enjoy it as one last showcase of full-throttle Shat hamminess.

What doesn't make any sense, judging the episode strictly on its own merits, is how they handwave away the possibility of Not Lester proving who (s)he really is short of a mind meld. Kirk lives and works with these people every day...he should know any number of things that Lester couldn't possibly know, no matter how much she's studied for the role. And we actually see Not Kirk getting tripped up by bits of info that (s)he doesn't know. That's a massive plot hole.

Likewise, the vague results of McCoy's psychological test seem extremely contrived. The test seems about as useful as Troi's empathic abilities. It can tell you the obvious, but is so vague that it can't tell when something is dramatically wrong about somebody.

And notice how nobody even tries to question Coleman about the situation. They might have tripped him up if they'd even thought to try. He's not even at the hearing. Any good detective show would have had somebody questioning him.

Sandra Smith does do a great job of channeling Kirk. But is (s)he just imagining making a captain's log entry in sickbay?

The color scheme of Not Lester's big baggy pantsuit always reminded me of a Brach's Neapolitan candy.

Chekov and Sulu's little bit of passive resistance to Not Kirk's orders is a nice touch...very sign o' the times on more than one level.

It's a pity that Uhura's not here for the finale.

A detail I never noticed: in the transporter room in the first act, Scotty begins a sentence with "Dr. Lester" and Lester-as-Kirk seems momentarily startled.

Did Chapel's brown hair first appear in a previous episode, or is this it?

 

[Ssosmcin]

Why it was twenty four episodes instead of the usual twenty six and what would the final two episodes have been if they had been produced?
JB

Apparently the Network eventually ordered 26 but cut the last two. Episode 25 The Joy Machine by Ted Sturgeon, it is said, was to have been directed by Shatner. Either The Godhead by John Meredyth Lucas or Shol by Darlene HArtman were hoped to be episode 26.

According to Marc Cushman, anyway.

The last "first run" episode of the series...50 years ago today. Of course, the numbers would be a bit less meaningful if we used a different system, say base 8 or base 12.

Does anyone have information about what episodes were repeated during the summer of '69 (if any) until it was totally pulled?

According to, again. Marc Cushman's 3rd TOS: These Are The Voyages volume, 11 episodes were apparently repeated after Turnabout Intruder and before the series left NBC for the last time. This is the list he gives.

Star Trek is pre-empted for two weeks after the original airing of All Our Yesterdays (shoving Turnabout Intruder off the schedule for a bit)

4/4/69 Spectre of the Gun

Star Trek disappears until 6/3/69 when it returns with the final first run episode. After that...

6/10/69 Is There in Truth No Beauty?
6/17/69 The Savage Curtain
6/24/69 Wink of an Eye
7/1/69 The Savage Curtain (yes this is listed twice as unlikely as that should be)
7/8/69 Spock's Brain
7/15/69 (pre-empted)
7/22/69 (pre-empted)
7/29/69 That Which Survives
8/5/69 All Our Yesterdays
8/12/69 Let That Be Your Last Battlefield
8/19/69 The Tholian Web
8/26/69 The Lights of Zetar
9/2/69 Requiem for Methuselah

Again, this is all from Cushman, so take it for what it's worth.

 

[johnnybear]

I had that book and vaguely remember reading about The Joy Machine! Any ideas what it was about? With Theodore Sturgeon having written it as well makes it sound very interesting indeed!
JB

 

[mb22]

According to, again. Marc Cushman's 3rd TOS: These Are The Voyages volume, 11 episodes were apparently repeated after Turnabout Intruder and before the series left NBC for the last time. This is the list he gives.

Star Trek is pre-empted for two weeks after the original airing of All Our Yesterdays (shoving Turnabout Intruder off the schedule for a bit)

4/4/69 Spectre of the Gun

Star Trek disappears until 6/3/69 when it returns with the final first run episode. After that...

6/10/69 Is There in Truth No Beauty?
6/17/69 The Savage Curtain
6/24/69 Wink of an Eye
7/1/69 The Savage Curtain (yes this is listed twice as unlikely as that should be)
7/8/69 Spock's Brain
7/15/69 (pre-empted)
7/22/69 (pre-empted)
7/29/69 That Which Survives
8/5/69 All Our Yesterdays
8/12/69 Let That Be Your Last Battlefield
8/19/69 The Tholian Web
8/26/69 The Lights of Zetar
9/2/69 Requiem for Methuselah

Again, this is all from Cushman, so take it for what it's worth.

If you want another source, try this:

http://wikibin.org/articles/history-of-star-trek-on-nbc.html

 

[dahj]

The Joy Machine

Is that the thing Durand Durand invented?

 

[Redfern]

If you want another source, try this:

http://wikibin.org/articles/history-of-star-trek-on-nbc.html

Hey, thanks for the listing! It even states what pre-empted the show on given weeks.

So the last episode actually aired was "Requiem…" I can imagine fans either "reading into" that final line or lampooning it some fashion.

"Forget..." indeed!