Star Trek TOS Re-Watch

[Ssosmcin]

I think that push to make Star Trek a show people could take seriously is part of the reason it's rated alongside series like Twilight Zone, instead of things like Lost in Space, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea and whatever else was on at the time. But the push to make it funny helped too.

To be fair, if I am being fair to say this, Lost in Space was the only Irwin Allen show that was an intentional comedy. Voyage and The Time Tunnel in particular were played entirely straight. On Voyage, I can think of only two episodes in the 4th season that were overtly lighthearted. There were small moments of humor here and there, but those were few and far between.

Voyage was just...well you had to like that kind of show.

I don't see anyone would think Spock's Brain is a comedy. Stupid, sure. But never a comedy.

I think this is based on the fan lore that it was intended by Gene Coon to be a comedy before it went through the rewrites. It is, in the end, deadly serious until the gag at the end.

I also don't think that A Piece of the Action is overtly a comedy. There are laughs. There are laughs in Wrath of Khan. But this a much less absurd situation than, say, The Squire of Gothos.

You and I have had very nice discussions on this one, and I d get there's a ton of jeopardy (there always is), but all accounts indicate this was intended to be a lighthearted, comedic episode - right down to James Komack being hired to direct (the cutsey music, Kirk driving, Kirk and Spock as gangsters with the slang and Shatner's put on voice, and so on). I think it falls between Tribbles and I, Mudd on my tolerance scale - I, Mudd being less enjoyable for me than even the worst of any other season. But comparing the amount of humor and silliness in APOTA to The Wrath of Khan, which only had character humor but was otherwise pretty damned dark, is a bit of a stretch. Squire of Gothos, maybe. Trelane is flightly, but there's that first season dread and you never feel like Kirk is superior to the adversary and "childish fop space god" is still less absurd than "Planet of the 20's Chicago Gangsters" to me. In APOTA, Kirk and Spock are surrounded by idiots and they're own lack of savvy with these guys gets them in trouble more than anything else. Even comedy shows like I Dream Of Jeannie spun plots based on serious jeopardy. The 60's were great that way.

If they actually played this as straight as Bread and Circuses, which still had a TON of sly satire, I would have loved it. Roddenberry's network jabs were pretty much on target.

Season 3’s return and adherence to a tone similar to Season 1 was welcome, “Spock’s Brain” notwithstanding. And “Spock’s Brain,” contrary to popular myth, was not intended as a comedy. It’s a victim of a poor execution of a valid science fiction concept long explored in SF literature. It needed a serious rewrite and better creative choices.

It's season 3's steadfast dedication to keeping a straight face that saves some of the more lackluster episodes for me. And there was a real effort to be different. I love all 3 seasons, but season 2 had a feeling of coasting on their strengths in the back half. In the third season, all of the new creative voices brought a different feel and a bit of energy to help make up for the lack of time and money. Creatively the show was brimming with imagination. The execution, though, was a step down at times. But every season had its duds. That's TV for ya.

 

[Tallguy]

You and I have had very nice discussions on this one,

Thank you. I think so too.

In APOTA, Kirk and Spock are surrounded by idiots and they're own lack of savvy with these guys gets them in trouble more than anything else.

Maybe this is the dividing line. I don't think the gangsters are stupid. I think they are out of their element with Kirk and Spock the same way Kirk and Spock are out of their element with the gangsters. In fact the resolution to the story is when Kirk figures out how to play the same game that everyone else is playing. Speaking the same language, as it were. (Figuratively, not literally.) There's some play with things like "concrete galoshes". Star Trek (and sci-fi in general) often has a lot of play with "The natives just know how things ARE".

And while it was certainly light hearted it was never played for farce like I, Mudd.

The reason I compare it to TWOK is because, in Meyer's words, Meyer knew how to include the "tap dancing". And Coon was a master at tap dancing. You can see it in other places like A Taste of Armageddon. It's a very dark story but with lots of light moments sprinkled in. If I know my Trek writing history right, Coon invented a lot of the character patterns that people associate with Star Trek. Meyer got this. Roddenberry didn't. (Oh, imagine if TMP had gotten a polish with this in mind. It would have been the Ultimate Trek.)

Compare this with By Any Other Name where the first half of the show is SUPER dark and then they give up on that almost entirely for the second half and just went for the yuck yucks.

Another thing about A Piece of the Action. Just by nature of being able to use back lot sets and costumes the thing feels BIG.

 

[Frontis]

I don't see anyone would think Spock's Brain is a comedy. Stupid, sure. But never a comedy.

I also don't think that A Piece of the Action is overtly a comedy. There are laughs. There are laughs in Wrath of Khan. But this a much less absurd situation than, say, The Squire of Gothos.

It's funny to look at Roddenberry's attempts at humor in The Cage, Where No Man Has Gone Before, and Star Trek: The Motion Picture. He shouldn't try it. Which might be why he got annoyed when other people (successfully) did.

Sometimes it's comedy without intention in Star Trek. Plato's Stepchildren is another example.
But if it makes me laugh I won't complain

 

[ZapBrannigan]

I made a mistake. I said there were only two episodes where TOS characters rode in a land vehicle. There are four. Rather than drag this out...

The other two:
• Amok Time: T'Pau's man buggy. Her little deuce coup, you don't know what she's got.
• All Our Yesterday's: Kirk's ride on a four-wheeler in the Library. Leave the driving to Atoz.

And I think that's it.

 

[Commander Troi]

I also don't think that A Piece of the Action is overtly a comedy.

Agreed. They're trying desperately to fix a mistake while also trying not to get killed. As you posted after, the Iotians and the Feds are literally not speaking the same language and therefore there's much confusion and chaos. I liked your comment about "tap dancing" too - Kirk was a master of it.

 

[Qonundrum]

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.

Yeah, it isn't a windsock on screen, but the making-of documentaries point out how it was made and it's quicker to describe, even if "machine" has one less letter to it.

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?

A big stretch, but John Fiedler steals the show. Great character actor...

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 "Kirk nags the computer to death" trope is probably done the best in this one. The basic plot is good, but surrounding elements are far more miss than hit. The Uhura stuff wasn't well-handled. Worse, the phony drama of killing Scotty only to hear "I can revive him, where are the blueprints" just sucks out the story's potential. Even more than how Enterprise can be hit several times by Nomad's volleys, each of which is the equivalent to 90 photon torpedoes. It's no wonder that "The Motion Picture" took basic tenets from this and restructured those into a better version of what amounts to the same basic plot. As with all things, if the baddie isn't stopped, it's going to go and merrily kill everything in the most densely populated part of the galaxy. At least it wasn't like that for every single week and most threats centered around the Enterprise and crew.

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.

Yeah, TOS would repeat plot tropes. This time it's phaserin' the part of the planet. Still felt more germane than half the references to Genesis, though. Nice double entendre by Spock re: cleavage as well, he was clearly getting stoned over his analysis...

Peroxide white wigs, sure, but weren't they more a dark reddish tan, complementing the atmosphere of the planet that could form cumulonimbus clouds by turning the sky a beautiful earthy blue because they couldn't film space lightning on Mars or Jupiter or wherever? Trek always used shoe polish as body paint or something since it had cost a lot more to do latex bits'n'bobs, hence TNG going dramatically the other way by having actors spend 4x as much time in a chair having the stuff glued to them, and the good budgets were set for the stories they felt would be the most well-received, and this one had its going to the pyrotechnics and stuntmen accorded dialogue...

Worst of all, when Kirk felt oh-so-happy for the Vallians when getting to explore each other (teehehehehe), he neglects to mention cooties. Or, given their small complement, there's none to swap... well, yet, nothing forms in a vacuum.

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.

^^this

Nitpicks exist, but the bulk of those are at the tail end - after the story was told, compellingly.

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.

All points very true. And as much as I loathe "easter eggs", Meyer's usage in TWOK definitely suggest he was writing notes from all the stories while thinking of how to further the franchise.

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.

Well, guess what... The continuity accorded Mudd is impressive, especially for a 1960s TV show that wasn't serialized or any of it.

Okay, the story goes off the wall comedy for the first half. Even the Spock/McCoy scenes lack any credibility with garbage like "beads and rattles". The show has done far better with humor, tact, themes, messages, comedy, beet soufflé, you name it.

Chekov is given Kirk's lines since Kirk can be the only one who can think clearly (sigh).

But sigh in a good way, there's Norman and Alice to drool over. We needed to see 500 Normans as well as 500 Alices. Wait, what now? *cough*

So, yeah, it's not on my favorites list. Still better than Alternative Factor...

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.

Bingo. 100% true!

Comedy kept restrained and felt authentic. Gerrold's got the touch.

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.

Star Trek V adds a point about "God" as well.

Rarely is there a bad Spock/McCoy argument, save for "I, Mudd" of course.

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.

As with "The Cage", this one has plot beats and tone that are very TNG. TNG knew what to be inspired by, especially when the show found itself but even then, there are glimpses of this in early seasons.

Okay, chugging along in the back end of the second season as Gene Coon had been replaced by John Meredyth Lucas as showrunner a few episodes earlier. Lucas' approach is different in that he embraced the more military aspects and higher concept sci-fi. The humor was also downplayed a bit but not nearly as much as it will be the following season.

Lucas had some moments for sure.

By Any Other Name **½

This could have been an incredible episode. It's merely "pretty good." The first half is wonderfully tense as Rojan and his crew take over the Enterprise and Kirk watches his pretty young female crewmember get pulverzied. Once on the ship, the crew is all-too easily subduded and it's just a matter of outsmarting our bad guys with emotional manipulation. Almost literally at the halfway point the episode lightens up. Obviously the Scotty / Tomar scenes are a highlight (Robert Fortier is excellent), but this is just a bit of a letdown after such a strong opening. Not bad by any means but I felt it could have been much better. It's great to see the barrier again. Continuity is always appreciated.

^^this. It could have been stronger.

I bet one of those blocks goes for $2000 on eBay by now...

But after the crew are turned into groovy packaging styrofoam blocks and I do loves me that high-concept goodness, the story does waver and, go fig(suffixed with ure or leaf), Kirk gets to teach more loooooooooooooooooove again. Good grief, is there a drug that does the opposite to what Cialis does?!

Return to Tomorrow ***

I love the concept of this one and Nimoy is a standout as he really relished being Henoch. The music by George Duning is sublime and there's an early third season quality about the episode (I mean that in the best possible way). I feel though that Ralph Senensky could have coached his actors a bit more. Shatner puts his all into the discomfort of the transitions and the pain Henoch inflicts in the finale, but Diana Muldaur doesn't give a fraction of the same effort. She barely moves her head in the transition scenes and is lackluster in the bridge pain scene - well next to Shatner anyway (you gotta keep up or be left in the dust, kiddo). Either it hurts a lot or it doesn't. There are so many nice moments in this episode and the ending is very touching.

Not a bad episode. Third season's new music was pretty good for sure... I need to rewatch this one.

ON EDIT: I rewatched it and, yeah, it's an easy 9/10 from me. Really great themes that intertwine with previous season 2 episodes, we get from Sargon's point of view his equivalent to the prime directive (in helping their "children"), Henoch being deliciously evil from the start and even getting to turn Felecia briefly... great ending... sympathetic to Sargon and co stuck in glorified pickle jars for 500K years, to come out for a while, then to just whiz off. And how Kirk and co would have felt while trapped inside. Didn't notice Muldaur's lack of transition angst, but seemed pretty well in the other scenes. Also, roasting McCoy as a marshmallow... the memory cheats as I thought that more of the episode had passed before Henoch did his little medicine switch scheme. An underrated and multiple thought-provoking episode. Which people get shown "the risk scene" time and time again, but the surrounding 48.5 minutes is a considerable belter as well.

Patterns of Force **

"Nazis. I hate these guys." Once again, they snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. This episode has a great message but it collapses under the slightest scrutiny. Why would the government, and then the people, just go on ahead and follow the teachings of some guy who came out of nowhere? Even if John Gil had a hell of a great cover story to explain who he was, and say he presented the concept of Nazi polices without the cruelty, why would he go and use the symbols and uniforms? Why not just the concepts? Simple; Paramount had a huge wardrobe department and Star Trek now had access thanks to the Desilu buy-out. At least the city looked better than the usual Mayberry.

Saving this episode are the characters. They're all well drawn and cast. Some of the humor is misplaced (or simply aged badly) but McCoy beaming down struggling with his boot and the follow up of him playing "drunk" for a brief few seconds are welcome.

I commend Joe D'Agosta for resisting the urge to cast Hollywood's resident Nazi actors, John Van Dreelen, Gunnar Hellstrom and Alf Kjellin.

As with the Icotians (as in, "icon", they take iconic things and mimic them, of course) from Piece of the Action, this one is a budget saver. Unlike Action, this one plays it straight. Both of them suffer for the same reason. At least this one didn't have multiple copies of John Gil, unlike Action and its multiple copies of the big book of gangsters that each section leader had their own shiny copy of. When the ship arrived a century earlier and Captain Dingus got bored and started reading this 40-pound book and forgot to take it back, the events transpired to (a) hand out free copies and (b) not be surprised in the slightest at the splintering that took place because everyone who read the thing now wanted to lead, complete with blackjack but not Fizzbin unless it's a Tuesday taking place a third Sunday or whatever, ugh...

Skip Homier, who plays a space hippie with aplomb, does a great job in this. To see more acting range, he's in the series finale of "The Bionic Woman", a show he also had done another character in for a previous season.

Thanks to the 80s music industry, hearing "John Gil" oddly has a different effect on me now that I consciously refocus on when rewatching this Trek ep. It's no wonder that character names get changed over time, such as "Barney Miller" to "Barney Hiller" in "The Six Million Dollar Man" from the season 2 and 3 episodes after the tv show "Barney Miller" came about...

Season 2 was finding ways to control costs in a ton of ways - effects reuse, plot trope reuse (parallel Earth as that also saves big-time on set and costume designs)... it's to the point they created the parallel universe concept before anyone else.

 

[Qonundrum]

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.

Yup. It does borrow Doomsday Machine's plot beats. Granted, Obsession and a couple others take nods from that one as well. Either for the big bad or the trope of going off to destroy the most populated area of our galaxy, wheeeeeeeeee!

But Immunity's high concept idea is simply cool, novel, creative, and somehow rises above the ludicrousness to really give a sense of threat. The writing of this story is simply excellent, with the big blob in space that the ship penetrates, zone of darkness, their life forces are being slowly sucked out of them like entrées, then they meet a gigantic background at a hippie music festival, not unlike this:

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Add in the Spock/McCoy debates and Kirk as referee and voila...

This one's an easy go-to for rewatch. It's also one of a handful of episodes I will not watch the new effects of, because the originals nailed it so beautifully.

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.

Comedy in of itself is not easy. Blending it with others becomes more difficult. In TOS, only "Tribbles" makes it consistently work. This isn't banter or humorous dialogue sprinkled in a script but outright comedy. Action, Mudd, and others all fall flat. It's also another "parallel Earth" motif and is one of the weakest. The jargon used and acting of it all is rock solid, as you'd expect from TOS. I've watched it at times, if only to remind myself or ensure I "got it" correctly when watching the previous time, but it's not in my usual rotation for sure. A lot of season 3 is better than this one, which says a lot.

 

[Commander Troi]

"The Immunity Syndrome" by Robert Sabaroff

They aren't exactly the same, but I was struck by the similarities with the TAS episode "One of Our Planets is Missing." Both deal with "space amoebas" that destroy whatever is in their path. The TAS one is more of a cloud and proves to be intelligent; this one is very specifically called an amoeba, isn't sapient, and drains both mechanical and life energy.

The Enterprise crew is tired as hell and looking forward to R&R. However, they get a garbled message about the Vulcan ship Intrepid. Then Spock, looking pained and shocked, announces he felt the Intrepid die. All 400+ Vulcans are dead, as is the star system they were in.

There's a dark zone in space through which no stars can be seen. People start feeling more fatigued and McCoy starts giving people stimulants. Nothing about the zone makes sense - reverse thrust moves them forward and forward keeps them relatively still. Eventually, they get a view of the amoeba. Spock and McCoy "compete" in a darkly humorous way for the chance to pilot a shuttle (Galileo, natch) into it in order to figure out how to destroy it. Spock ends up going and relates that the amoeba is ready to reproduce. Kirk has Scotty and Chekov create and send an antimatter bomb into it. They also grab the shuttlecraft with their remaining power and all are thrown free by the explosion.

Since it takes about half the episode to get to the reveal of the amoeba and everyone is getting sicker and more drained in the meantime, the tension is kept pretty high. The cast does a good job of showing they're all exhausted and running on uppers.

Favorite line: McCoy yelling, "Shut up, Spock, we're rescuing you!"

 

[Qonundrum]

Okay onto the divisive

The Omega Glory **½

Now the last two episodes of the season are "inventory" episodes, not specifically written for the second year. As we all know, this one was Roddenberry's script for consideration as the second pilot after The Cage (the next was the "Star Trekized" backdoor pilot). Apparently only Roddenberry liked it. He finally got it made and it was buried nice and deep into the ass end of the season.

LOL, nice analogy.

Just rewatched it as well. It really starts out strongly, gets pear-shaped by act 4, but recovers. Assuming one still keeps watching, and you know when the ball drops, it does get better...

Here's the thing: for about the first 3 acts, it's really, really good. There's a terrific hook on the Exeter (even though the doctor is terrible) and a dandy dilemma for the landing party. Morgan Woodward is fantastic playing a number of different shades starting at totally normal and "Captain-like" until he goes all the way to "bat-shit."

^^this. These first three make this a very compelling episode.

The episode is relentlessly paced with one energetic dust up after another and, regardless of what Cushman claims, no stuntmen were used in filming. Shatner, Woodward and Roy Jensen do all of their own fights (however using Sirah as a shield until she bites his hand is not Kirk's shining moment).

Yeah, the lack of stunt doubles was apparent and I did a quick rewind because I couldn't believe it. Shatner and Morgan really excelled in their scenes.

But then, by the end of act three, it all starts to unravel. The fountain of youth and the disease are handwaved off. Making it worse is that Tracey, even after being told they're all fully immunized, won't leave. Granted, he's nuts, but again, false jeopardy.

Yeah, rewriting act 4 to whittle down some of the parallel Earth stuff and not handwave the fountain of youth and all that would have made for a stronger story.

But, considering this was a pilot made in 1964 during the cold war and all of that, and to people who didn't care much about sci-fi, it's still a solid story that sells the adventure of the crew... even if it was made 2 years later after all the characters had been refined to what we had seen. I wonder what the early drafts may have been like...

And then...we are asked to swallow whole, without chewing, the idea that this society has an American Flag and a U.S. Constitution. And for the life of me, I can't see how Kirk sussed out what Cloud William was saying. None of his words in the pledge and the Constitution (which are the only portions of the English language he butchers) sound ANYTHING like the written words. Yet Kirk gets it.

I'm amazed the script has Kirk recognizing he doesn't remember the declaration verbatim, usually Kirk knows it all! (Buti t's also a good way to build up the action stuff that the suits and the kids-of-all-ages want, and we ultimately get a stronger ending. McCoy's quip about good winning was also a good mention.)

The phonetics and a couple takes on the dialogue had me clued in, and in sci-fi the issue of consonantal shift and other subtle linguistic changes can occur... but, again, not even the "parallel Earth" routine can handle the near-perfect copy, right down to the parchment and words. 500,000 years of devolution is one thing, but parallel Earth to this exact extent? So 500,000k before the 23rd century, this mix-match of Earth history got played out differently on this far-distant planet and then fell apart, or something, and now Kirk and co find it and marvel at the 8th or 200th time by now that "it's just like Earth".) Also, can concrete manufacturing methods of the 1960s really last that long? (Maybe the Roman colosseum might, but most modern concrete won't be lasting anything close to 500K years, never mind 2K.)

Now, I do enjoy this one more than most fans. It's a fun action adventure and if you like TV brawls, this episode is chock full. But the plot is just so thin

IMHO, a plot needn't be thin to be good; this story carries a lot of visceral feel with mystery, fear/threat, the high concept death of the Exeter crew, Captain Tracey, et al, for more than half its runtime with ease. But the final act does have it crumble...the thinness only means it's not easily rewatchable due to the thinness and not having little tidbits and/or more depth to complement it in rewatches.

and the finale so unearned, I can see why nobody else on the staff or at the network liked it. Gene set up a story and halfway through changed gears, dropped the set up and gave us the parallel Earth thing again.

It might be why they chose WNMHGB as the second pilot instead, digging up this script for use in season 2. The cold war flag stuff being too much even then, and as NBC was axing the show (before the write-in), they were letting any script they could dig up be used. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Yangs and Kohms being Yankees and Communists is just goofy. "Yankee" was a slang term for Northeastern Americans, and Communists are a political body, not a race. That's like when someone says "I'm half Italian and Half Jewish."

True, but this goes back to language shift. Indeed, look at the changes in the use of the word "sick" over the last 10 years. Or "drop", since that usually meant to discontinue or abandon, but now is a regular synonym for "release". Never mind nouns being used as verbs and vice-versa, usually by some hipster that makes it sound cool then everyone becomes their inner Icotian and mimics it, usually badly or, at the very least, without the verve.

Plus, I think there's more going on the designations - like a role reversal of sorts? Tracey was living with and defending the Kohms and Cloud William and his lot, whom Tracey was merrily slaughtering and all, were the Yangs.

Come to think of it, aren't Americans referred to as "Yanks" regarding Americans' political body?

This could have been much better. I am totally fine with the flag and the "We the People" scene (Shatner was right on point here - good job Canadian!). However the transition from one story to the other is jarring.

By this point in the show's run, every "parallel Earth" routine was getting to be a bit tedious, and a better explanation for duplicating the US flag and Constitution so precisely was needed. For a show like "Sliders", this would fit in instantly and perfectly and right. In a show exploring the galaxy, already shoehorning and having said the odds in which anything even remotely similar might play out? Not so much... that said, no parallel universe shows existed, this was probably kept from the pilot script, and the cold war was still going on.

Shatner's acting was nothing less than magnificent - he brings a lot to the table and carries off a level of sincerity and understanding in even the worst scripts. That takes talent. His ebullience over the speech is just mesmerizing, which is a reason I'm glad I didn't start fast-forwarding.

The editing is all over the map as well, with insert shots taken from a variety of different points (and episodes), Kirk, Spock and McCoy sitting or standing depending on where the close-ups are and flopping of a shot so Kirk's hair is parted on the wrong side. Even the jail fight is off with sudden changes in facial expressions and body positioning from shot to shot. This feels like a "Charlie X" level rush job.

I should have noticed, LOL! I loved the jail fight scenes and was too engrossed. I can only guess that, by late season 2 and NBC nixing the show and all, they just let it slide.

Great casting, though. Woordward and Jensen are excellent and Irene Kelly as Sirah gives off Linda Harrison "Nova" vibes.

All the casting, even the smallest screen part, was given commendable acting. More nuance I'd picked up on than in previous viewings, e.g. the lovely lady coming in with the food to McCoy had a warm sort of charm, a refreshing contrast to the increasing levels of insanity and brutality of Tracey. The episode has a satisfying flow and shifting to various tropes; even the moments of humor was well-handled.

I actually get a bigger laugh out of a very subtle line reading in The Omega Glory. Kirk has been cold cocked by a guard, dragged off and tied up, punched and karate chopped by Tracey, had a brawl with Cloud William, got cold cocked again (and HARD), was unconscious for hours, finally escapes with Spock and they make their way to Bones who greets them with:

McCoy: "Good morning, Jim."

Shatner's exasperated "good morning?" goes by so fast, it's easy to miss, but it's hysterical and totally in character. An underplayed delivery in an episode with over the top acting galore.

Yeah, the acting in this story is fairly first rate at worst. As usual, Morgan Woodward steals the show. It's impossible to dislike the episode, even if act 4 gets a little excessive with the "parallel earth development" routine, which snaps me into thinking "'Sliders' episode!". Even then, this episode starts to reclaim itself later with dialogue such as "many words of many worlds" and tons of others.

Yeah, Spock can now telepathically control others - a trait he never uses again

Heck, forget INS, watch this episode instead. Even if it was meant as a pilot episode, hence the very direct use of parallel Earth development. It really is a thoughtful story, with terrific use of "show vs tell" with the fight scenes - on top of many other tidbits.

 

[Tallguy]

and, regardless of what Cushman claims,

I think I want this as a bumper sticker...

 

[Rowdy Roddy McDowall]

Favorite line: McCoy yelling, "Shut up, Spock, we're rescuing you!"

That, and Spock's reply, were quoted as graffiti in one of my college cubicles.

Not so far from ''I love you, Robin'' and ''I love you too, Batman.''

 

[Commander Troi]

"A Private Little War" by Gene Roddenberry, based on a story by Don Ingalls.

Kirk says the planet they're on was "remarkably peaceful and tranquil," when he was last there. Of course, this means things go Terribly Wrong. The Village people ("Y.M.C.A.") have flintlock rifles and shoot Spock. They take him back to Enterprise. McCoy and Kirk, in Hill people clothes, return to the planet, where Kirk gets bitten by the venomous Mugato. McCoy manages to get him to his friend Tyree and his wife, Nona, who is a healer and Shaman. She cures Kirk. She also wants Kirk to bring weapons so they can defend themselves.

This is a rough episode. There is no happy ending or laughing epilogue. Nona dies and Tyree learns to kill. The villagers have learned to kill and rape. Kirk decides to arm the hill people like the Klingons are arming the villagers. "A balance of power" must be kept. Sadly, this episode is still relevant.

M'Benga is in this episode. He "interned on a Vulcan ward." That's pretty much what we know about him.

Roddenberry re-wrote Ingalls script so much that he used a pseudonym. I'd love to see the original. It's definitely about Vietnam. Ingalls apparently intended it to be a criticism but the episode as aired throws its hands up and says, "What else can we do?" I kinda hate that. But I also appreciate when I see something with no easy solutions admitting as much.

I can't say I "enjoyed" the episode. But Shatner and Michael Witney (Tyree) are good in it and Kelley is great as usual. The little bit on the bridge with Uhura, Scotty, and Chekov giving their opinions is good. Chapel and Spock have some nice moments and I saw them a little differently after SNW. Nona originally makes good points, but then her seduction of Kirk and trying to give the phaser to the villagers made her an almost cardboard "power hungry bitch." I didn't like that and felt it took away depth from her character. Nancy Kovack was a gorgeous woman though.

A flawed episode; I give it a C (average).

 

[Farscape One]

I always liked this one because of the ending. It wasn't happy, nor truly solved the problem. It was very much like real life.

I have always used this episode, among others, as an example of how dark threads were present in the franchise from the start. It helps keep everything a bit more grounded. It's an example of Kirk knowing what rules to bend to make something happen, and that he did get his hands dirty. (An admirable trait, which is one of the reasons why Sisko is my favorite captain. Kirk is definitely up there among the franchise captains, particularly as I've gotten older.)

 

[study2400]

The Man Trap.

It's so good!

I too am starting my first real serious binge of TOS. The Man Trap was a very good first episode for so many reasons:

-It establishes the friendship between Kirk/Spock/McCoy

-It mentions Starfleet Regulations for the first time (Regular health inspections)

-It is the first time audiences saw an away team or a phaser on 'stun'.

It featured the first instance of Bones saying "He's dead Jim" only he only said "Dead, Jim" the first time audiences saw Star Trek.

It sets up the flirtatious dynamic between Spock and Nyota Uhura that really pays off in the Abramsverse.

It introduces Yeoman Rand, the Enterprise, the Bridge of the Enterprise and the ship's intercom system and Mr. Sulu.

"Nancy" was an iconic Star Trek villain.


Well, I'll write up Episode 2 when I watch it, either o Pluto, Paramount + or on the DVD boxed set I own.

Ciou.

 

[Ssosmcin]

-It is the first time audiences saw an away team

Actually, the first time they saw an away team was during Encounter at Farpoint. However, this was the first time they saw a landing party.

The Man Trap is a good if not great start to the series. It was fine for introducing most of the cast, actually giving McCoy, who isn't in the opening credits yet, the spotlight, and really does showcase the supporting cast well. The "monster" is on screen for barely a minute and it's not just some rampaging creature we'd see terrorizing the Seaview. It's intelligent with proper motivation.

The music stark and lonely, like the planet and the creature itself. The characters have that Early Series Weirdness I love. I always looked forward to this one coming around in the syndication rotation. It's been one of my favorite episodes for as long as I can remember. I can see why some people don't think it was a good episode to premiere with, but Charlie X would have been worse.

 

[Ssosmcin]

I made a mistake. I said there were only two episodes where TOS characters rode in a land vehicle. There are four. Rather than drag this out...

The other two:
• Amok Time: T'Pau's man buggy. Her little deuce coup, you don't know what she's got.
• All Our Yesterday's: Kirk's ride on a four-wheeler in the Library. Leave the driving to Atoz.

And I think that's it.

Those literally don't count.

 

[Tallguy]

It's definitely about Vietnam.

See?

Ingalls apparently intended it to be a criticism but the episode as aired throws its hands up and says, "What else can we do?" I kinda hate that. But I also appreciate when I see something with no easy solutions admitting as much.

How very DS9.

I am curious how the original washed out. What were the parts of the re-write that he objected to? Did it have dancing sexy alien priestess before Gene got hold of it? (I don't recall the specifics of the story but they apparently filmed some stuff that the censors would definitely flag so they wouldn't notice so much the stuff that got by.)

It's one of the three tent poles of the Star Trek Myth: First interracial kiss. (It's not. And really, do you want to laud that forced violation of our characters as your landmark? Kirk kissed Uhura. Because he was telekinetically made to do it by really despicable people. Um... Represent?) They tackled racism. (Sure. I'm not sure they were the front runners they want to be seen as, but you can't argue that they did it. Unless it was McCoy.)

Annnnd they talked about Vietnam. Yup! Totally did. Does anyone ever talk about HOW they did it? They pretty much come out on "Necessary evil". Emphasis on necessary, sorry about the evil.

This is on my list of episodes to watch start to finish sometime soon.

 

[study2400]

Charlie X

I can relate to Charlie for for the longest time I was socially awkward 'not knowing the rules' (I still don't know them all) but I was never evil like Charlie obviously is. Interesting what Charlie said at the end about the Thalians : they don't feel, they don't love; I can't touch them. I don't really feel that bad that Charlie was required to go back to them because of the way he used and abused the Crew of the Enterprise. Interesting that two of the initial episodes of Star Trek (Charlie X and one of the next ones) were about two men who had too much power and abused their power.

 

[fireproof78]

It's not. And really, do you want to laud that forced violation of our characters as your landmark? Kirk kissed Uhura. Because he was telekinetically made to do it by really despicable people. Um... Represent?

As much as I loath this idea people do seem to hold on to this idea as Trek's being iconic.

And that's just ...no

 

[Commander Troi]

I am curious how the original washed out. What were the parts of the re-write that he objected to? Did it have dancing sexy alien priestess before Gene got hold of it?

According to Wikipedia:

Don Ingalls' first draft of the script had specific references to the Vietnam War, such as Mongolian-type clothes and a character described as a "Ho Chi Minh" type. Other early ideas included Kirk's friendship with Tyree developing completely during Kirk's second visit to the planet and a personal conflict between Kirk and Krell the Klingon.

It's unknown if Gene added the dancing sexy alien priestess or not, but I'd bet 'yes'.

It's definitely worth rewatching. Thinking further on it, I rescind my "C" grade. It's a good episode wrestling with a difficult subject with no easy answers.