I'm Finally Going to Watch The Animated Series

[tomalak301]

The Pirates of Orion

You know, going through this series, there's been a lot of average episodes, a few good episodes, and maybe 1 great episode, which was Yesteryear. Well, now we can make that 2 great episodes because the Pirates of Orion was excellent. Going in, I was told this was a children's show, and now I have a question. How did children react to the theme of suicide, suicide bomber, and pretty much terrorism at the time. Contrast that with the PC post 9/11 world we live in today and I don't think an episode like this would even make it to air. Hell, if South Park can't show a depiction of Mohammad, than imagine the outcry if a children's show showed even a threat of suicide bomber or just the idea of suicide as a whole.

That's why I loved this episode. It felt very un PC like, and it just broke away from the grain. I'm not sure if this was typical in the 70's, but I didn't expect it and today in 2010, I think it covered some pretty interesting themes. Also not to forget this is a race against the clock to save Spock's life, but the thrust of this story was about the Orion Pirates and Kirk and there were two scenes that just brought it all together. One was the planning to destroy the Enterprise scene, and the other was the actual scene on the planet as well as the captain trying to take the poison. I know I said these episodes haven't been memorable, but this one was very memorable. One of the best of the series, with 5 episodes to go.

 

[Christopher]

(Nice seeing the Phoenix looking aliens again, as we find out they are the Skorr)

Actually the birdlike alien from "Yesteryear" was identified in the script and the novelization as an Aurelian, but they reused the design for the Skorr.

Well, now we can make that 2 great episodes because the Pirates of Orion was excellent. Going in, I was told this was a children's show, and now I have a question. How did children react to the theme of suicide, suicide bomber, and pretty much terrorism at the time. Contrast that with the PC post 9/11 world we live in today and I don't think an episode like this would even make it to air. Hell, if South Park can't show a depiction of Mohammad, than imagine the outcry if a children's show showed even a threat of suicide bomber or just the idea of suicide as a whole.

Well, first off, as I said before, it wasn't written as a "children's show," aside from minimizing the violence and sexy stuff. It was approached as a direct, authentic continuation of Star Trek, and TOS established the Orions as a race that used suicide as a tactic.

Second, Muhammad has nothing to do with suicide bombers, despite the corrupt rhetoric of terrorist groups. Suicide and the murder of innocents are both explicitly prohibited by Islamic teachings, so terrorists who claim Islam as the justification for their violence are lying and betraying their faith. The recent controversy over cartoon depictions of the Prophet arises from the fact that some European cartoonists depicted him in an offensive way, implying he was connected to terrorism. That generated a lot of anger among the many Muslims who, of course, hate and renounce what the terrorists are doing allegedly in the name of Islam. And so that made Cartoon Network executives afraid that a cartoon depiction of Muhammad in South Park would spark further anger.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depictions_of_Muhammad

One of the best of the series, with 5 episodes to go.

If you're in the last six episodes, then you're in the second season. You'll notice an improvement in the quality of the animation and acting, since they had more time to work on these final six shows.

 

[Therin of Andor]

Nice seeing the Phoenix looking aliens again, as we find out they are the Skorr

Although some websites (and even the collector cards) insist that Loom Aleek-Om of "Yesteryear" is a Skorr, the script states that he is an Aurelian. So perhaps Aurelians and Skorr are separate races which have a common ancestor.

Ah, I see we are over the page and Christopher beat me to it!

 

[KimMH]

I really appreciate your intent and your timing! I was thinking about picking up the boxed set and call it a "present" for my 12 year old - no one in my house will be fooled!

TAS is the one series I haven't watched at all and I had wondered if it worth my time. The way this has played so far - Tomalak301 the newbie viewer and Christopher the knowladagable insider to the franchise make a nice duo - your posts / replies make for a fuller overview and I think I'll spring for it.

 

[tomalak301]

Christopher,

You're right regarding the whole comparison of Mohammad and this episode. I think what I was aiming for really was the reaction the episode could have recieved. I mean South Park makes a habit of making fun of everyone and the whole Mohammad thing has been their top target the last few years. It got strong reactions and they had to pull the episode(s). Isn't this episode kind of the same way. Maybe TAS wasn't purely a children's show, but I'm betting they were the target demographic. Showing the themes of suicide might have had the same kind of strong reaction, at least from parents and those groups. This episode really did make me think of the whole south park thing and I thought the comparisons were apt. Perhaps not.

 

[Captain Robert April]

I think "The Magicks of Megas-Tu" might be a better comparison.

 

[Christopher]

I think what I was aiming for really was the reaction the episode could have recieved. I mean South Park makes a habit of making fun of everyone and the whole Mohammad thing has been their top target the last few years. It got strong reactions and they had to pull the episode(s). Isn't this episode kind of the same way. Maybe TAS wasn't purely a children's show, but I'm betting they were the target demographic. Showing the themes of suicide might have had the same kind of strong reaction, at least from parents and those groups. This episode really did make me think of the whole south park thing and I thought the comparisons were apt. Perhaps not.

Well, I think you're looking at this from a modern perspective where suicide bombers have become a major bogeyman for Americans due to real-world events. While there was terrorism in the 1970s, it was less pervasive and more distant from an American perspective, so a story about an alien captain wanting to blow himself up and take an enemy with him wouldn't have struck as close to home for most US viewers or US censors.

Generally censors on children's programs (and yes, TAS was scheduled on Saturday mornings so the network saw it as a children's program even if the writers didn't) are most concerned about "imitable" violence, things that are close enough to reality that a child might mimic them. For instance, you can show all the fantasy ray guns you want but don't show a real gun, the kind some children's parents might have around the house and that the kids might decide they want to play with. And shots of people punching each other in the face are generally forbidden. But setting off explosives isn't something a child would generally have the opportunity to emulate, so along with ray guns, bombs tend to be the weapon of choice for cartoon villains.

What does surprise me a bit is that the dialogue actually includes the words "suicide" and "die." Generally cartoon censors frown on any explicit verbal acknowledgment of death -- so cartoon villains usually say "Destroy them!" or "Annihilate them!" instead of "Kill them!" But either the censorship standards were different then, or NBC was a little looser with this show because they recognized that it was written for an older audience.

 

[mb22]

I think "The Magicks of Megas-Tu" might be a better comparison.

I think that "Magicks" was supposedly censored by some local stations because of its depiction of a sympathetic devil-like character.

 

[darkwing_duck1]

A bit off topic here, but what I don't get about animation nowadays is why with the bigger bugdets and better technology do animators go for a purposefully cheap goofy stylized look?

For one thing, because it allows for better animation. Simplified designs are more efficient to draw, so that you can work faster and achieve better results in the same amount of time. They're also less constraining on the animator. Too much detail restricts the potential movement of the figure, so simplified animation designs are far more expressive and fluid. Compare the look of the '90s X-Men series, where the characters were drawn in a detailed, line-heavy style like in the comics, to the contemporary Batman: The Animated Series, which relied on simpler, more cartoony designs. The former had exceedingly stiff and rigid animation with little expression, while the latter had the best character animation on television at the time. And the following X-Men series, X-Men Evolution, also used streamlined, cartoony character designs and had just about the best, most gorgeous character animation I've ever seen on television.

Prior to "Wolverine and the X-Men" I would have agreed. WATXM gave us the "realism" of the 90s show and the flexibility of the "stylized" look.

 

[darkwing_duck1]

Second, Muhammad has nothing to do with suicide bombers, despite the corrupt rhetoric of terrorist groups. Suicide and the murder of innocents are both explicitly prohibited by Islamic teachings, so terrorists who claim Islam as the justification for their violence are lying and betraying their faith. The recent controversy over cartoon depictions of the Prophet arises from the fact that some European cartoonists depicted him in an offensive way, implying he was connected to terrorism. That generated a lot of anger among the many Muslims who, of course, hate and renounce what the terrorists are doing allegedly in the name of Islam. And so that made Cartoon Network executives afraid that a cartoon depiction of Muhammad in South Park would spark further anger.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depictions_of_Muhammad

Actually (and I know this is straying off topic, but I feel compelled to point this out), it depends on when in his life you find Muhammad. During Islam's early years, he was very much "go along and get along", because Islam was a small sect and vulnerable. As it grew, Muhammad became more and more hard line and moved towards the "covert or die" stance that the Islamists today practice.

http://www.jihadwatch.org/islam-101.html

You should also investigate the principle of abrogation as it applies to Islamic "progressive revelation."

OT political points over. Back on topic.

 

[Potemkin_Prod]

I think that "Magicks" was supposedly censored by some local stations because of its depiction of a sympathetic devil-like character.

Indeed it was in Atlanta by WANX-TV 46 back in the 80's. I actually called the station and wrote an article about it. The station was owned by religious broadcasters and they did not air "Magicks of Megas-tu" (because it featured witchcraft), "Mudd's Passion" (because it contained a love potion) and "The Lorelei Signal" (because they felt it featured magic).

 

[Captain Robert April]

What does surprise me a bit is that the dialogue actually includes the words "suicide" and "die." Generally cartoon censors frown on any explicit verbal acknowledgment of death -- so cartoon villains usually say "Destroy them!" or "Annihilate them!" instead of "Kill them!" But either the censorship standards were different then, or NBC was a little looser with this show because they recognized that it was written for an older audience.

It was just before the various parents' groups started raising a major ruckus and forcing the networks to really start clamping down on stuff like that, and thus gutting each and every decent cartoon that was on the air.

Oh, for the good ol' days, when Brak was a real bad guy, screaming to his minions, "KILL SPACE GHOST!!"

 

[tomalak301]

Bem

So this is the first episode we hear Tiberius being used. That's nice because that's the only good thing about it. Bem was annoying and the whole plot kind of felt like an after school special on learning morals, punishments, and stuff like that. Not really much else to say other than was it me or did Arex's voice get higher in this episode than all the others?

The Practical Joker

This one wasn't bad, but the Computer's laugh got really annoying. Also, we had the signature outsmart the computer with it's own game from Kirk with the practical joke to get back into to the field and we've seen that kind of stunt done countless times. I liked it better than Bem, that's for sure. Did TNG have an episode like this in where the Computer get's a mind of it's own and starts mocking the crew. I think a line I remember is "You're running out of time, get going" or something like that. Right now I'm drawing a blank but I was reminded of that episode, whichever series it was from. It might have been a DS9 episode too.

 

[Christopher]

That sounds like it might be from Crusher's self-created universe in TNG: "Remember Me," or perhaps the Doctor's runaway daydream program in VGR: "Tinker, Tenor, Doctor, Spy." Not the computer getting a mind of its own, just the character imagining the computer saying something it wouldn't normally say.

 

[kkozoriz1]

Plush glommer and pink tribble anyone?
http://www.roddenberry.com/toys-games/glommer-tribble-predator-and-pink-tribble.html

 

[tomalak301]

That sounds like it might be from Crusher's self-created universe in TNG: "Remember Me," or perhaps the Doctor's runaway daydream program in VGR: "Tinker, Tenor, Doctor, Spy." Not the computer getting a mind of its own, just the character imagining the computer saying something it wouldn't normally say.

I think it was the Voyager Episode. Haven't seen it in a while but it is familiar.

 

[Joel_Kirk]

Plush glommer and pink tribble anyone?
http://www.roddenberry.com/toys-games/glommer-tribble-predator-and-pink-tribble.html

Awwwww.....(I may get a tribble one of these days).

I'm actually watching TAS right now. (Since they are about 20 minutes each, and I have lots of time to kill, I'm going to try to watch them all in one sitting).

Youtube is my very, very good friend....

(Especially when it's in HD!)

 

[tomalak301]

Albatross

Nice to get a McCoy episode. It seems like most of these have been Spock/Kirk episodes so it was nice change of pace. I will say that TAS did allow all it's characters at least one episode in it's 22 episode run. Yeah, Kirk and Spock got the bulk of it, but Scotty had some good stuff, Sulu had a great episode in The Slaver Weapon, and Uhura probably is the one character in Star Trek who got more to do in The Animated Series. Just thought that was an interesting observation.

Anyway, as for Albatross, I liked it. Liked that they took the way to prove McCoy's innocence was by going through the whole thing again instead of using evidence and bringing in witnesses like most other court shows do. Also loved Kirk when he was bringing aboard Demos in that one scene. Again, one of the advantages of TAS that I've liked is how alien the aliens look. The Dramians looked creepy, kind of like the Talosians actually, only browner with wider eyes.

 

[Joel_Kirk]

I'm currently continuing my TAS marathon (specifically on 'The Terratin Incident') and checking in with Tomalak's reviews.

Obviously, if they were to do a ST animated series today, it would be based on Abrams' Trek...but I would hope they don't dumb it down. (We only have to look to the Batman series and DVD specials to see that weekday afternoons are not just for kid shows).

As already mentioned by others, there are a lot of animation errors, but TAS is a pretty good show...with some really good storytelling.

I do like the idea of the force field belts, which allows the crew to not have the need for suits to go out in the vacuum of space....and I understand there is an underwater vehicle that the ENT has. (I've read about it, but I've yet to see it).

There was a rejected script in the old 'Star Trek: The New Voyages 2' book called The Patient Parasites, which I may read; and I recommend to those who are interested in teleplays.

 

[tomalak301]

I've finally watched all the Star Trek officially created. I say officially because I haven't seen much of the fan-fiction stories and I'm not sure if I'm interested in them, but everything that was created from Paramount/Filmation, I've finally seen.

How Sharper a Serpent's Tooth

I really liked this episode. I'm a sucker for strange and interesting mysteries, and watching Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and Walking Bear going through the created Mayan city was kind of cool. Also liked the idea of a deity returning really believing it's his role to take care of his subjects like they were children, even though this theme has been done countless times. This just felt really Star Trek to me, and touched on themes about learning, growing up, and as Q says in one of my favorite quotes in all 40+ years of the franchise "...Charting the unknown possibilities of existence."

Speaking of Walking Bear, this is actually the only part of the episode I didn't like. He was definitely put in to serve the plot, but to use a native american type character screamed "tokenism" to me. Where was Sulu? Also, the design of the Serpent was yet another great advantage of doing something animated rather than live action. When I started this, someone said (I think it was Christopher) look past the corniness of TAS. Well, I think a lot of the look of this series wasn't corny, such as the alien designs like this one.

The Counter-Clock Incident

I don't think I'm much of a fan of this one like some others might be. For one I found it confusing, and TAS having it's own form of Technobabble to explain the two universes intersecting and one moving in reverse. It's a neat idea (Hell, one of my favorite episodes in the franchise is Before and After, which covered this kind of theme only on an individual scale), but to explain this came across as garbled and nonsensical. Also, Warp 36? The Enterprise can go at Warp 22 without tearing apart? Even with the Tracter Beam attached, the ship would have ripped apart since it can't go that fast. I think this episode through the whole concept of Warp Drive for a loop and maybe it's good that this isn't considered Canon (Even though there are some episodes of TAS I would gladly consider Canon).

The only great thing about this episode, and thus not making it terrible but just ok was the introduction of April. I really liked they introduced the first captain and treated him and his wife like loyalty. In this half hour, you can tell they both were very respected and it was just really cool to see. Pity he didn't decide to stay young, but maybe that would have been cheating life. I wonder who could have played a live action April. Heck, since we're doing the new alternate universe Star Trek, I wonder who would be a good April now. The first thing that came to mind actually was Sean Connery for some reason, but that will probably never happen.

Now that I've done the series, overall I liked it. Not as good as the live action series, but it had a certain charm to it that makes it a worthy Star Trek series. I wonder what would it have been like if this series had gone for another season or two, but what we got was decent. Speaking of certain charm, the music in this series is really unique to this series. I think I might have some of it stuck in my head though, like the stuff they used for action scenes.

As for my 5 favorite episodes:

Yesteryear
Once Upon a Planet
The Slaver Weapon
The Pirates of Orion
How Sharper than a Serpent's Tooth