Beloved episodes you can't get into

The only good thing about “And The Children Shall Lead” is the basic story idea and one or two moments. There is a genuine horror story buried in the existing mess that we only catch a glimpse of. The idea that two security guards were beamed out into open space while the ship was at warp is chillingly disturbing.

I have never known of anyone speak fondly of this episode.

 

What I'd like to know is where Fontana said she didn't like "The Doomsday Machine". Do you a have a source for that?

But speaking of which, I gotta admit: in the context of "highly-rated, but I don't always get why", Doomsday Machine actually does come to mind. It's certainly good, and so is "Balance of Terror", I just never understood why they seem to consistently rate more highly than e.g. "The Conscience of the King" or "The Empath" or "All Our Yesterdays", which I feel in turn are very underrated episodes. Doomsday especially feels a bit straightforward, I guess.

 

Doomsday and Balance have scenes where the Enterprise goes into battle and shoots at stuff. Automatic points for that. Plus they're very well done.

Likewise, "Elaan of Troyius" is greatly elevated by its Klingon battle. And space battles tend to get glorious music. What's not to like?

 

And from an age when space battles didn't have a bazillion ships flying every which way like a videogame.

 

Trek space combat has long become very Star Wars like.

 

Someone upthread spoke positively of the episode.

 

The Doomsday Machine is my favorite Star Trek story. Franchise wide.

Why do I love it so much? Same reason I love Pizza. I just do. It checks all the boxes for me and it hits me just right.

The Conscience of the King? I like it but it's chatty and stuffy. But it's someone's favorite and I respect it.

 

I have an interesting connection with "A Taste of Armageddon," "Space Seed," and "The Devil in the Dark."

I saw only the end of Armageddon, and only the beginning of Seed, before I saw Devil, the first episode I saw all the way through. This was roughly around when I was in 5th Grade.

Fun fact: I was there during the few years when KTLA (rather than KOCP) held the strip syndication rights to TOS for the Los Angeles market. And I'm absolutely certain that KTLA got a print of "Spectre of the Gun" that had been intended for English-speaking non-US markets: the bartender offered gin, rather than corn whiskey (which would have been both an unknown potable and a tautology outside the U.S.).

 

I like the concept of Doomsday Machine but the whole Decker thing gets under my skin.

 

What is wrong with a character whose name sounds like "belly"?

I guess you would compain about Ken Burns's documetary The Civil War because it had commenary by Shelby Foote.

I guess the one part of Treasure Island you thought was most ridiculous was a pirate named Israel Hands (who was named after a historic pirate).

I guess you can't stand Buffy the Vampire Slaver (1997-2003) because Anthonly Head was in it.

Beli is a Welsh personal name. I supposed that you find the pedigree of Cadwaladr the Blessed (d. 682), King of Gwynedd and King of the Britons,very weird.

Cadwaladr son of Cadwallon son of Cadfan son of Iago son of Beli son of Rhun son of Maelgwyn Gwynedd son of Cadwallon Lawhir son of Einion Yrth son of Cunedda Wledig and so on.

 

Belly is a strange word and I don't care for it.

Some words just do that to people. It's not logical.

 

Is it possible you're conflating your memory of the episode with James Blish's story adaptation?

BTW, in that scene Scotty orders "half a gallon of Scotch." Half a freakin' gallon? I hope he wasn't planning on drinking it all in one sitting!

Or Fast Times at Ridgemont High because Ray Walston played a history teacher named Mr. Hand.

 

I think more people would be likely to complain about Shelby Foote as he was a Klan sympathizer.

But that's just me!

Back to discussion of Welsh petty royalty and why the "Elli" sent hoards of Northern Europeans into pangs of anger and self-introspection ending in doubt and the scraping of body hair with abalone shells in repentance after the Britonic King Mellygelly of Oilysmellybellyhellogary which was a far larger place at that time and has subsequently been downgraded to a semi-autonomous parking lot of Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch after a series of historical setbacks that are chronicled both by the Venerable Bede, Simon de Montfort, Emmy Award Winning Actor Jerry Lewis, and the Welsh Monk formerly Known as Gildas.


many believe this led to the Bard's consistent deplorable use of words that rhymed with Cadwallon but others said he was just being a Cnut about it. this of course comes from the first draft of Hamlet, dropped off at a Trystero post office and not recovered until after the publication of the folio, damning though it is.

 

Alas poor Star Trek. How I knew ye.

 

Thank you! Finally, I am not alone!

 

Actually, no.

When I'd first read the Blish adaptation, the change to gin jumped out at me. This was well before the TOS strip syndication for the L.A. market was transferred to KTLA. Then, when I heard "gin" in the episode on KTLA, I distinctly recall questioning my recollection of the episode as I'd seen it on KCOP.

And as to "names that could be mispronounced to sound like 'belly'," I was being facetious. If my tongue had been any more firmly in my cheek, it would have been sticking out my ear.

 

Is this suggesting there's an alternate print of SOTG out there?!