Was "Too Short A Season" to be a Kirk episode?

[cultcross]

I am still amazed that anyone would find this particular use of Shatner on a script as shakey and unimportant as "Too Short...." as acceptable.

Well they used him on 'Wink of an Eye' and 'Spock's Brain'

 

[jimbo1973]

I think it would have been very interesting to see this ep with Kirk. It would show that he had made mistakes in his carrer and things he did in TOS DID HAVE long term consequenses

 

[The Laughing Vulcan]

Kirk's consequences had already come back to bite him in Wrath Of Khan. This would have been overkill.

 

[Kirby]

I guess I'm more shocked that Shatner turned something down, especially moreso because of the quality of the story. He filmed himself playing paintball for crying out loud.

 

[Red Ranger]

I guess I'm more shocked that Shatner turned something down, especially moreso because of the quality of the story. He filmed himself playing paintball for crying out loud.

For real! About one of the only even cheesier things he ever did was he was a spokesman for Promise margarine back in the 1970s! -- RR

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Kirk's consequences had already come back to bite him in Wrath Of Khan.

But that wasn't specifically Kirk's fault. Khan blamed him for what happened, but most of Khan's problems at that time were a result of Ceti Alpha VI's explosion. That's what killed off 20 of Khan's men and blasted his "home" to a desert.

"A Private Little War" was a deliberate, planned action on Kirk's part. Consequences from that, would not have been overkill, IMHO.

 

[CaptainStoner]

Other considerations may have come into play; such as disdain or disinterest in the spinoff series.

Anyway, I'm one of the rare people who actually likes this episode and would have liked it even better with Shatner. It would have been a really interesting way to use Kirk; as opposed to how he was eventually incorporated into TNG by way of GEN.

Is that rare? I think it's one of the best episodes of S1 and the show is hitting an early rhythm with it.
They mention it as originally being written as a Kirk episode in the S1 documentaries. Would have been great if Shatner had done it, though I must say, the performance was pretty good by the fellow who did get the part.

 

[Timo]

If it is true, I agree it's better that it didn't happen that way. Jameson's response just does not seem like Kirk's style.

If written with Kirk in it, the episode ought to have happened a bit differently anyway. As filmed, the episode hinges on the sudden revelation of Jameson's duplicity or morally questionable past choices. But people who'd know Kirk would also be aware of what he did in "A Private Little War", and thus the first mention of familiar locations would...

Uh-oh. Now that would have been interesting: "A Private Little War" never quite mentioned any locations by name. A mission to planet Alpha Beta on the Gamma Delta sector would have told the audience nothing, and the villain leader need not have used terminology familiar from the TOS episode (hill vs. village people) until very late in the episode, if at all. Even the identity of the leader could have remained obscure, although it would have been the most effective if he, too, was an established character from the TOS episode.

And I side with Kegek et al. in thinking that it would have been glorious to have Kirk in it...

Timo Saloniemi