City on the Edge of Tomorrow: Overrated

[Thomas Elliot]

Dude. It was a show made for Americans in the 1960s. Why would they show some expanded universe crap? The show was for that audience, and was ABOUT that audience.

This is my opinion as a viewer watching it in 2020, not an audience member from 1967.

Same thing here. Most of the planets looked like sets. That's because they were sets. It didn't bother anyone.

Well obviously it bothered me. You should understand that not everyone is going to share the same opinion as you.

Haven't you ever been to the theater?

I have. I'm commenting on a television show, not a play I saw in the city.

The emphasis was not on REALISM. Indeed, shows like Spectre of the Gun and The Empath emphasized the limitations of working on a stage to excellent, surreal effect. You must have hated those.

I haven't seen those episodes yet. I don't recall saying I hated this episode either.

Again - written for the audience, not for the sensibilities of someone who fancies himself more enlightened half a century later.

When you say "written for the audience" do you mean a white audience? I guarantee you there were people back then who found racial jokes like that dumb and offensive.

It's sad you let that get in the way of enjoying the brilliant delivery by Shatner (and his interplay with Nimoy) in that scene.

That's the difference between you and me. I'm not going to get sad or emotional if you don't like the same thing I do.

I've seen it hundreds of times, and still chuckle every time. But hey, maybe I'm racist. My Chinese wife doesn't think so, but who knows?

I don't think you're racist and I never accused you of being a racist. But having a Chinese wife doesn't mean anything. That's like a man saying, "I can't be a sexist, I'm married to a woman."

 

[ZapBrannigan]

Appropos of nothing but head canon says: You fire a phaser on overload and you and the phaser disintegrate.

Also...what the **** kind of design lets you go straight to overload by turning the wheel in the wrong direction??

Now that I think about it...the whole phaser on overload thing is wacky.

I'm not sure the phaser was on overload. I think the idea was, the bum just shot himself. The "build-up" sound effect and the gun disappearing were just production-related oddities as best I can tell.

 

[Thomas Elliot]

Joan Collins was passable, but she hit her mark in a certain soap opera a decade or so later... really worked well alongside Kate O'Mara... I suspect Joan relished and preferred more edgy roles than optimist types.

Like this one:



Now I understand why "Dynasty" was so popular. Two actors who really sell these roles with aplomb... good grief, they made actual soap opera entertaining.

I vaguely remember "Dynasty" as a kid. It was a boring show for grown-ups as far as I was concerned. But after later hearing about how great a soap it was, and now seeing that clip, I need to check it out.

 

[scotpens]

When you say "written for the audience" do you mean a white audience? I guarantee you there were people back then who found racial jokes like that dumb and offensive.

There's a big difference between a racist joke and a joke that makes fun of perceptions of race. The "mechanical rice picker" scene is funny. It's a classic Trek comedy moment.

 

[Thomas Elliot]

There's a big difference between a racist joke and a joke that makes fun of perceptions of race. The "mechanical rice picker" scene is funny. It's a classic Trek comedy moment.

I think this is more a case where racial jokes at the expense of Asians are still acceptable and apparently still funny to some people. Had it been a joke that makes fun of the "perception" of, say, black people, I don't think it would be considered "classic" or "brilliant."

 

[ZapBrannigan]

It was 1967. Can we forgive and move on?

 

[Thomas Elliot]

It was 1967. Can we forgive and move on?

I didn't think it was that serious till someone expressed sorrow that I didn't laugh at the brilliant Chinese rice picker joke. It's a little odd that some people here can't understand why someone else might not find the joke funny or clever.

 

[Maurice]

I'm not sure the phaser was on overload. I think the idea was, the bum just shot himself. The "build-up" sound effect and the gun disappearing were just production-related oddities as best I can tell.

 

[Dale Sams]

View attachment 14526

What is the 'right button' when you're handling a phaser? Wait...phasers have some sort of button sequence security to use and the consequence of entering the wrong code is getting vaporized???

That's harsh.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

What is the 'right button' when you're handling a phaser? Wait...phasers have some sort of button sequence security to use and the consequence of entering the wrong code is getting vaporized???

That's harsh.

What happens when you pull the wrong thing on a gun can be pretty harsh, too.

 

[Forbin]

Does that one have commentary tracks?

Hm! I don't know, I didn't think to look.

 

[Phaser Two]

What is the 'right button' when you're handling a phaser? Wait...phasers have some sort of button sequence security to use and the consequence of entering the wrong code is getting vaporized???

That's harsh.

Wait, you're asking if someone who doesn't know how to use a weapon - and in this case doesn't even recognize the weapon as such - can harm themselves by toying with it?

Yes. Yes, they can.

 

[Dale Sams]

Wait, you're asking if someone who doesn't know how to use a weapon - and in this case doesn't even recognize the weapon as such - can harm themselves by toying with it?

Yes. Yes, they can.

No. No i wasnt

 

[Phaser Two]

Okay. I must have misread.

 

[diankra]

I don't know what this Blake's 7 is, but I'm ready to find out.

Do so. George Takei loves it. But don't get too attached to the characters, they tend to die.

 

[diankra]

Looking at the paper trail it's clear the Trek people didn't know how to deal with Harlan's story. The script he delivered is beat for beat the story outline they approved, but the show was evolving and no one seemed able to articulate actionable suggestions for him to make his story work for what the show was becoming.

Reading Harlan's script in the book (and rather wonderfully, he rang up to praise a fair review, as he put it), it is not Star Trek, it's the best ever episode of The Outer Limits. Black and silver photography, shining.

 

[diankra]

There's a big difference between a racist joke and a joke that makes fun of perceptions of race. The "mechanical rice picker" scene is funny. It's a classic Trek comedy moment.

It might not be the intention at the time, but nowadays I tend to see that as Kirk having a low opinion of 1930s people, and bs-ing in a way he thinks they might accept.
As always, think about what the characters might think, not our pov.

 

[diankra]

View attachment 14526

I don't think it changes the issues with the phaser, but in Ellison's script, the character was Trooper, a disabled WW1 veteran.

 

[ZapBrannigan]

I don't think it changes the issues with the phaser, but in Ellison's script, the character was Trooper, a disabled WW1 veteran.

And some sources refer to him as "Rodent", but I can't remember where I was seeing that.

Edit: it's how John Harmon is credited on imdb. And now I notice it's in the script attachment above.

 

[johnnybear]

The death of the rodent means that time has not resumed it's shape as it was before surely? What if he was a member of a group of tramps and his interaction was needed? Or that he was hit by a car or lorry and that altered the lives of the drivers that or he was about to die from kidney failure anyway due to his boozing and his way of life and this was a much more merciful death!
JB