Why was everyone so...greasy back then?
- Thread starter Sisko_is_my_captain
- Start date
Arthur Fonzarelli (yes I know - totally different Universe) would disagree...
And the play/movie was named "Grease" for a reason...Arthur Fonzarelli (yes I know - totally different Universe) would disagree...
Part of it, besides the lighting and perhaps a healthy looking late 60s vibe was that not all, but a lot of that cast drank. Figure you're on a diet to fit into those nearly skin tight uniforms and you're still going out to party... I've felt a bit greasy myself at times.
Last half. And glad I was to have it. Never did use the sprays.
There was the time my Father tried to brush his teeth with brylcreem. Dad, wear you glasses. Sooo, I have it on good authority that the stuff tastes terrible.
Blimey he must have had a skinfull the night before!!! 
JB
JB
Blimey he must have had a skinfull the night before!!!
JB
Never drank, he didn't have his glasses on. Like me blind as a bat without same. SO, entirely his fault and totally avoidable. Ergo funny as Hell.
"ARRRGGGH! Pitui" -- My Father.
Bet it tasted a bit greeeezzzeeyyyy! 
JB
JB
It's most noticeable on the bridge set. But looking at an episode such as The Immunity Syndrome, where even Scotty looked sweaty/shiny, you have to wonder if this was intended, as they were working their bo***cks off. Also, was air con as common as, say, when TNG was produced, where they specifically have an environmental control system?
I have been on a TV stage during filming and those lights will bake the snot out of you, they are HOT. Touching up makeup would be a constant thing as the actors sweat.
The bridge was an oven. They had to run a separate AC to keep all the blinkenlights from adding to the stage lights and roasting everyone.
I was watching This Side of Paradise yesterday and noticed Shatner's hair in the scene where he and McCoy were in Sandoval's house and he was on the communicator! It was pretty weird. His normal hair had been combed into a thicker mop which left it all spiky at the side with a tinge of grey! The thicker hair was no doubt the toupee. It's weird how you notice these things on DVD instead of normal television and all the missing scenes that the BBC used to cut for time!
JB
JB
I don't know if it was the James Cawley or Vic Mignogna series, but from one of them came word that they tried to do a shot of the fully enclosed bridge, and it started heating up like crazy in there, and they couldn't work with it. Perhaps making matters worse, the studio they were in would have had a lower ceiling than the enormous height of TOS's Stage 9.
I think Cawley. I think STC has an 80% bridge, and Cawley's sets were in an old car dealership with preposterously low ceilings for a "soundstage".
When I've been acting on stage with modern lighting, I've sweated enough. I can only imagine what that bridge set must have been like!
Why? Because grease is "the word .... It's got a groove, it's got a meaning. Grease is the time, is the place, is the motion..." 
Sorry, but the question made me break into song.
Anyway, when I think of greasiness on TOS, the Kangs come to mind. Even when I saw "Day of the Dove" on low def tv, I noticed that their greasiness was glaringly apparent.
Sorry, but the question made me break into song.
Anyway, when I think of greasiness on TOS, the Kangs come to mind. Even when I saw "Day of the Dove" on low def tv, I noticed that their greasiness was glaringly apparent.
I swear you can almost see the ridges reforming on Pete Kellet's forehead!!!! If you stare hard enough! 
The third season Klingons (most of them anyway) all looked like that! The only two Klingon episodes with the whiter faced crews were Friday's child and The Trouble with Tribbles and that was supposed to be a mistake on the makeup front! 
JB
The third season Klingons (most of them anyway) all looked like that! The only two Klingon episodes with the whiter faced crews were Friday's child and The Trouble with Tribbles and that was supposed to be a mistake on the makeup front! JB
Hot studio lights. Film stocks of the era weren't as good at low light levels. Plus, all the winky blinkies on the bridge generated a lot of heat on top of that.
Question answered. Can we lock this now?
I recall watching cast interviews from the early days of Doctor Who and they complained that their studio was so old-fashioned as to lack a proper lighting rig, instead relying on a host of separate bulbs that had to be individually switched on and off. It got so hot that occasionally filming would be interrupted by the whole thing catching fire and the set being evacuated.
Indeed, close-up shots from the first six seasons often show the actors drowning in their own sweat.
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