Star Trek TOS Re-Watch

[Richard Baker]

The whole Minnow compliment were indeed given full names, but they were never used in the show:
Willie Gilligan
Capt. Jonas Grumby
Prof Roy Hinkley, Ph.D.
Thurston Howell III
Eunice Wentworth "Lovey" Howell
Mary Ann Summers
Ginger Grant
"Willie" was suggested by Bob Denver, and Sherwood Schwartz agreed.

Every one of those names except Gilligan's was mentioned in the first episode. The first morning on the beach next to the shipwreck they are listening to the news on the radio talking about their disappearance. The crew was listed as " the captain, Jonas Grumby, and his first mate Gilligan".

 

[Forbin]

Every one of those names except Gilligan's was mentioned in the first episode. The first morning on the beach next to the shipwreck they are listening to the news on the radio talking about their disappearance. The crew was listed as " the captain, Jonas Grumby, and his first mate Gilligan".

AH! I'd forgotten that. Thanks.

 

[Richard Baker]

Trivia moment
On the show 'Silver Spoons' the kid has an out of body experience while in the hospital. He is picked up in a cab driven by Alan Hale jr. The cab driver's license say " Jonas Grumby"

 

[Tallguy]

Trivia moment
On the show 'Silver Spoons' the kid has an out of body experience while in the hospital. He is picked up in a cab driven by Alen Hale. The cab driver's license say " Jonas Grumby"

Alan Hale, Jr. presumably. Otherwise it would have said "Little John".

 

[Richard Baker]

Typo fixed

 

[Ssosmcin]

Continuing my production order re-watch as I head into the second season:

Been a minute since I caught up here and I'm getting through the second season.

The Doomsday Machine ******************* My all time favorite episode and my favorite Star Trek story franchise wide. I can't say nearly enough good things about it. Everything works: story, performances (William Windom is a marvel), the AMT Model kit Constellation and the (definitely not a windsock) planet killer. The music is to die for. Fantastic 51 minutes of entertainment. Once I captured this episode on cassette tape in the 70's, I memorized it. I never get tired of this episode.

Wolf inthe Fold **½ Not bad. It's spooky and fun. The goofy laughing crew is a little weird but Piglet shouting "Kill kill kill you alllll" is priceless. Scotty resenting females over an accident is a stretch and probably the only thing that I don't buy. But they were so vauge about the incident, I don't know...was it a crewmember or the Enterprise herself that's the female in question?

The Changeling *** Classic Trek. Would be better if they took more care inthe Uhura plot, but overall, a great fun episode. Shatner is on fire in the climax. The security guards are kinda trigger happy - both times. Instead of firing, why not call the Cap'n? "Blooey!"

The Apple ** Meh, planet of blonde white people don't know how to make love and the show has to be coy about it. Climax is too direct a swipe from Who Mourns for Adonias? Funniest line: "I won't hurt you," Kirk to Akuta seconds afterr he clouts Acuta in the face. Spock saying "good clevage" really needs to be used in an action figure or something. This episode is one I play when I want to do a MST2K night with my friends. Chekov is especially annoying, but there are moments of real darkness. Like when Akuta demonstrates how to kill... I feel like they wrote this episode to justify the Spock/Satan line at the end.

Mirror, Mirror **** Excellent! Star Trek at its best! Almost as good as The Doomsday Machine. I really wish Marc Daniels was better at staging fights with his stunt doubles. Fantastic all around. Takei is at his best here and Nichelle is sublime. Anyone who says these two were bad actors needs to watch this one again. Even Walter Koenig is great. It's lovely to have the whole cast havily involved. I always forget this episode takes place in the span of like two hours. Spock with a beard! With just some minor set alterations and costume changes, they established an entirely different universe. Everyone was on their game here.

The Deadly Years **½ Performances and makeup are on point. I could take or leave the rest of it. Janet Wallace is just kind of there and ittle snooty for Kirk, IMO. Still, Kirk gets a killer line: "What are you offering me, Jan? Love? Or a going away present?" Stocker is a tool. The production really needed a few more bucks to make the climactic battle less clumsy. To everyone who says Harve Bennett didn't watch the series in preparation fotr Star Trek II, there are lots of references to this episode peppered in the dialog of the Kobyashi Maru sequence.

I, Mudd - * Ugh. I was dreading this one. I'm sure this is someone's favorite, so I'll just leave it at: my pick for worst episode to this point. I don't like Star Trek as an all out comedy.

Having said that....

The Trouble with Tribbles *** This one works! Why? Because everyone is in character. No jumping around singing and dancing and being illogical. No dressing up as gangsters and doing Edward G. Robinson impressions (yeah I can't wait for that one). The situation is (mostly) serious and real. Star Trek's humor works for me when it's in character. Nothing fails to make me laugh more than when a normally serious show is obviosuly trying to be funny. The only time I feel like they pushed it in this one was in the bar fight. It's got the "funny" music and the physical gags and it's really kind of at odds with the rest of the episode, which was mostly character humor. The tribbles falling on Kirk isn't as hilarious as all that, but McCoy's entance line is. That makes it worth it. Otherwise, I find this to be the series' most successful comedy and a real winner.

Bread and Circuses ***½ now we get a nice run of really good stories. This one is great. Again, it's got a lot of humor, but it's sharp satire by way of Gene Roddenberry and it all works. It's got likeable and relatable characters with some very strong performances. They establish that the Enterprise is a "Starship" class of vessel, which takes a special skipper and crew. And recently my life has taken a few turns which has made me apprciate things I used to take for granted. So the "son of God" reveal hits me differently today than it used to. I love this one. It has a few faults (Kirk, Spock and McCoy really should have been wearing appropriate clothing rather than uniforms), but it's excellent. The famous Spock/McCoy discussion is great.

Journey to Babel ***** Perfection! Okay, the awkward reveal of Spock's parents aside (Kirk should have known and the last thing he should have done was suggest Spock go see his folks in front of the ambassador who was disrespecting him), but after that, this episode is just one strong scene after another. Sarek and Amanda are beautiful characters and Mark Lenard in particular is the second best Vulcan in Star Trek. This is Dorothy Fontana's best script for the series and showcases the show at it's best and most confident.

Whew that's where I left off.

 

[Ssosmcin]

Moving on:

A Private Little War *** I like this one a lot. While I wish the relationship between Kirk and Tyree were fleshed out a little better, the story is very strong and the situation Kirk is put in is excellent. I question whether he actually had the authority to give the hill people equal weapons. No doubt the Klingon government/military autorized their plot, Kirk is acting on his own. Whether he went through with it or not is left to us to decide, but it's a great episode. Honestly, the Spock parts just kind of distract from the main story for me. The Mugato (a costume seen earlier on Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea also with Janos Prohaska within) is funky but the scream is great. The shouting match between Kirk and Bones is a highlight. The fight at the end is butal with Nona's merciless killing (her screams will be heard again) and Tyree crushing a guy's skull with a rock. THey go to the troubel of dubbing in Nona's screams but neglect the communicator beep at the end...

The Gamesters of Triskelion **½ This is a "shake and pour" episode. It feels like a mix of previous story points are put together with a decent slavery plot. Kirk is whisked off the ship by advanced aliens (Arena). The captain asks risky questions to the girl he's paired with and she is punished for answering (The Cage). Kirk fights for the lives of his people while the crew watches (Arena again). Kirk uses a girl who funds him appealing to get what he needs (Miri, etc.). The plus side is the fast pace and Shatner doing all of his own stunts. Notice in every scene off the Enterprise, he's wearing flats (his communicator gets crunched in the beginning too). I imagine this was to make Angelique Pettyjohn seem taller and to make all of the stunts easier on Shatner. For all of the "Shatner is really short" comments I've heard through the years, Walter Koenig is even smaller and he's wearing his heels. Dowsides: Kirk and Spock are separated for the second episode in a row. McCoy is truly obnoxious in this one, I really wanted him to STFU. Uhura and Chekov are shown to be less adept in a fight, with Chekov really putting in a pitiful showing. The "practice target" scene is weird. Galt lays out the rules: the thrall will stands and everyone will take attack runs at him until he dies. Then when they get Kirk to stand in, they don't do any of that. It's just Kirk vs Kloog. That's the biggest downside to this episode: Kirk gets all the fighting at the expense of Uhura and Chekov. A more fair scenario would have have all three as practice targets against drill thralls. Becuase only Kirk proves worthy of being part of a "fine herd." And for the gigantic stakes at play, the fact that the Providers permit Shahna to surrender is a little unbelievable. Tamoon should have jumped in at that point. Yet for all of that, this is kind of a classic template Trek and somewhat over the top fun. Pettyjohn is surprisingly good as Shahna and her tearful words at the end are really very touching. Shatner line mangling when Lars is assaulting Uhura: "what's happening to Lt. You-hear-rah?!" That scene, by the way, is badly shot and painfully uncomfortable. Star Trek had a habit of overdubbing screams for women without blotting out the actual on set actress. It started with Vina, when they laid in (I kid you not) Fay Wray's "King Kong" screams over her gasps, which you can still hear (the work print only has gasps). In this one, they dub in the same screams and groans they used for Nona in the previous episode and it overlaps Nichelle's voice. Oy...

Obession ***½ This is a great one and tonally opposite to the previous. Instead of the OTT high adventure, we get a much more serious character study. It suffers a bit in comparison to The Doomsday Machine (similar Moby Dick plots), but it gives Shatner some great material to work with. It;s a shame his obvious cold eats into his performance a bit, his enegry seems a little low. Good guest star turn by Stephem Brooks as Garrovick, but not a single security guard is ranked above Ensign. Where are the Leutenants, like Galloaway? Or Lt. Commander Giotto? Garrovick could have eaily been a higher rank, which would have made sense since he's the new chief. Small point, to say the least, but since I've been watching this show for 52 years, one does focus on the small things. The scene where Spock and McCoy officially question Kirk is a standout. Koenig puts a lot of effort into his firing of the ships weapons. The finale is nice and tense. More communicator fun. Kirk has two on him! One is in the usual spot, Velcroed to his trousers. Garrovick karate chops him and when Kirk falls, the communicator hits the dirt. Kirk is up and you can clearly see another one tucked in his pants. Shatner pulls it out with difficulty and it's upside down when he tries to open it. I need to watch this show less often.....

 

[Tallguy]

The Doomsday Machine: Gateway Star Trek. One of the episodes I remember seeing for the first time when I was seven or eight.

The Changeling *** Classic Trek. Would be better if they took more care inthe Uhura plot, but overall, a great fun episode.

Instead take wonder at there BEING and Uhura plot!

Journey to Babel: THE BEST Star Trek episode.

I question whether he actually had the authority to give the hill people equal weapons.

He did. Because back then it was the final frontier. Or the high seas. Take your pick.

 

[fireproof78]

I thought it was in space...

 

[Commishsleer]

Go find someone who played Star Fleet Battles. I'm sure there's one somewhere.

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And I maintain Mythbusters was totally wrong because they had a redshirt in the recreation. A redshirt has no chance. Its only the epic Captain Kirk who could make the canon work.

 

[Rowdy Roddy McDowall]

Downsides: Kirk and Spock are separated for the second episode in a row.

I can live with that. One can rely on Spock too much, and I enjoy the Kirk-Spock split-ups in general......whether they be LITTLE GIRLS, GALILEO, THOLIAN WEB or THAT WHICH SURVIVES. Spock is just as entertaining with his subordinates as he is with his ''superior'' .....even if some find Spock over-critical of them. But by now they're used to being Vulcanized by him.....

I found the almost Lego-like linking of Kirky and Spock in most of the third year to be quite a downside myself.

 

[Ssosmcin]

It all depends what they do with Spock on his own. Galileo Seven and The Tholian Web were a lot more interesting stories for Spock than side lining him with an injury or filling time with fighting with McCoy. By YMMV.

 

[Ssosmcin]

He did. Because back then it was the final frontier. Or the high seas. Take your pick.

Well, that's debatable since he couldn't contact Starfleet and admitted in his own log that he "elected to violate orders and contact the planet's inhabitants." He leapt from breaking the order to not talk to the inhabitants to setting them up with firearms. For all we know, after the Enterprise left, Starfleet and Federation HQ put the kabosh on Kirk's plan and took it up with the Klingons themselves. Or just let the inhabitants fend for themselves.

 

[fireproof78]

I question whether he actually had the authority to give the hill people equal weapons.

Thinking about it I would say "No" only because he goes against orders as well as threatens the peace with the Klingons but facilitating resistance against their backed faction. As this has broader legal implications I would say Kirk stepped too far on this one, but understandable and the story is still good for it.

 

[Ssosmcin]

Moving on to...

The Immunity Syndrome *** I always liked this one. A really great high concept episode with solid performances, crackling dialog and outstanding effects work. No major guest stars and would have had only regulars if poor George Takei was able to join, still stuck filming The Green Berets. John Winston takes over as Kyle/Kowl (Kyle in the brief seconds in a red tunic and Kowl when he suddenly wore goldapparently). The discussions between the big three, the rivalry and telling exchanges between Spock and McCoy and the "anti-bodies" chat with Kirk and Bones are all standouts. All of this is supplemented by a great ticking clock and Sol Kaplan's music from The Doomsday Machine. Which is appropriate since, when you look at it, this episode is a version of that story. Observe:

1) Enterprise investigates the disappearance of a starship and the planetary system it was patrolling.
2) Enterprise discovers giant thing that devours solar systems
3) Shuttlecraft goes into the thing and provides the answer to killing the "beast."
4) Countdown to the explosion, nailbiting suspense as the main character(s) stuggle to escape before the blast (same music and everything)
Bonus: The Doomsday Machine makred the first appearance of Kirk's second season wraparound tunic. The Immunity Syndrome gives us its last appearance.

None of that bothers me. It's a great adventure with all of the actors totally on point. There is wonderfully quotable dialogue throughout and, for a change, Kirk keeps the entire crew briefed on every dangerous move he plans to make. This episode sets a record for and number of "shipwide" announcements. Great stuff. This is why I watch Star Trek.

Trivia: Space: 1999 used the title of this episode for their series finale. I still don't get what the title means - for either.

A Piece of the Action ** I was dreading this. The last of three full frontal comedies. And, really, it's not good. But, well, sometimes it is. That's my dilemma. You see, doing these in order exposes me to episodes I wouldn't normallly pull off the shelf and watch. I haven't seen APOTA in years. Possibly decades. As it unspooled, I found myself having a decent time, laughing at the idiots on the planet and Kirk, Spock and McCoy's reactions to what's going on. I mean, Spock says - more than once - that they're bright, but they're idiots. Fine, I'm all for that. But then, once Kirk realizes they have to out-stupid these guys, I lost interest. I very rarely have issues with Shatner, but the moment he starts with the "shweetheart" Edward G. Robinson voice, it all gets painful for me. Especially since neither Krako nor Oxmyx comment on the change. The only time the fake voice gag works for me is when Spock does it. "I'd advise ya's to keep dailin' Oxmyx" is still hysterical. But the rest of it is just a chore. Again, it's the whole "everyone out of character" thing that I don't enjoy. If Kirk kept his actual voice and just came on like an Iotian, I would have been along for that ride. But man, this is just not my thing. Fizzbin? Still fun. Loved it as a kid and it's still great. But the episode goes through too many of the same beats. Every act ends on our guys being captured. The same way (guys with Tommy guns walk up behind them). I'm totally fine with the Iotians being idiots, but our guys? Not so much.

On the bright side, this is the last comedy of the series. Those two stars are for the first half of the episode. I don't ever need to see this one again.

 

[Tallguy]

I love APOTA. My last couple of viewings it holds up better than Tribbles. Maybe I need to give I, Mudd another chance. But probably not.

I like Shatner in APOTA but you're right, Spokko is just next level. I have to admit, I love almost anytime Spock is out of his depth and gets all "I have REALLY no idea what you people are thinking." Spock's "Astronomical" is one of the best bits.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

After a little observation, Spock can easily blend in with the crowd. Funny they never did an episode where landing party Spock tries to pass as Human or something else the same way Kirk became a Romulan (a little friendly, totally reversible, cosmetic surgery)

 

[Ssosmcin]

After a little observation, Spock can easily blend in with the crowd. Funny they never did an episode where landing party Spock tries to pass as Human or something else the same way Kirk became a Romulan (a little friendly, totally reversible, cosmetic surgery)

I get the feeling that showing Leonard Nimoy and his natural state would've pulled people out of it. Every time I see an episode of a sci-fi show where they give an alien actor a break from wearing make up, I'm always aware that I'm looking at the actor instead of the character.

 

[ZapBrannigan]

Every time I see an episode of a sci-fi show where they give an alien actor a break from wearing make up, I'm always aware that I'm looking at the actor instead of the character.

I have had exactly the same experience, but I can't recall the example! Now it's killing me.

 

[Ssosmcin]

I have had exactly the same experience, but I can't recall the example! Now it's killing me.

Earth Final Conflict?
Andromeda?
Farscape?