Re: How do you write a brilliant ep like ULTIMATE COMPUTER but then go
[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ra_z3xhiKVI[/yt]
[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ra_z3xhiKVI[/yt]
How do you write a brilliant ep like ULTIMATE COMPUTER but then go and
- Thread starter Mutara Nebula 1967
- Start date
Re: How do you write a brilliant ep like ULTIMATE COMPUTER but then go
A Piece of the Action ends with Kirk joking with Spock and McCoy when they just left a planet whose criminal element routinely slaughtered each other (and likely innocent civilians) thanks to Federation contamination.
A Piece of the Action ends with Kirk joking with Spock and McCoy when they just left a planet whose criminal element routinely slaughtered each other (and likely innocent civilians) thanks to Federation contamination.
Re: How do you write a brilliant ep like ULTIMATE COMPUTER but then go
Love this!
Love this!
Re: How do you write a brilliant ep like ULTIMATE COMPUTER but then go
The on-going Vietnam conflict (at the time) provided a constant stream of dour news on a nightly bsis. (Just providing some perspective.) It's why coverage of later wars has been so heavily censored; and the info released by any reporters in the field very tightly controlled beyond combat sensitive security concerns.
The on-going Vietnam conflict (at the time) provided a constant stream of dour news on a nightly bsis. (Just providing some perspective.) It's why coverage of later wars has been so heavily censored; and the info released by any reporters in the field very tightly controlled beyond combat sensitive security concerns.
Re: How do you write a brilliant ep like ULTIMATE COMPUTER but then go
Which I think is nonsense. Back then they censored movies and allowed the real thing to be seen, and now movies can show it all, yet don't show the real thing.
Might wake folks up to rally to end these wars, especially the illegal and immoral ones we've been waging the past 50 years, start showing all the blood and guts and dead kids once again, and to make folks say, "enough is enough!" I've seen no benefit or serving our interests in any of the past wars waged for the past 5 decades, but that's just me.
Which I think is nonsense. Back then they censored movies and allowed the real thing to be seen, and now movies can show it all, yet don't show the real thing.
Might wake folks up to rally to end these wars, especially the illegal and immoral ones we've been waging the past 50 years, start showing all the blood and guts and dead kids once again, and to make folks say, "enough is enough!" I've seen no benefit or serving our interests in any of the past wars waged for the past 5 decades, but that's just me.
Re: How do you write a brilliant ep like ULTIMATE COMPUTER but then go
IIRC, between 2 and 3 million Americans served in the Vietnam Conflict, many of them were subject to a military draft. Over 50,000 Americans died, plus untold Vietnamese. That's not to downplay 11 Sept 2001 or the ongoing War on Terror, but we have to keep in mind that fewer than one-fifth of the Vietmnam Conflict's American military war-dead are from the battlefields in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the general population has not been subject to a draft.
IIRC, between 2 and 3 million Americans served in the Vietnam Conflict, many of them were subject to a military draft. Over 50,000 Americans died, plus untold Vietnamese. That's not to downplay 11 Sept 2001 or the ongoing War on Terror, but we have to keep in mind that fewer than one-fifth of the Vietmnam Conflict's American military war-dead are from the battlefields in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the general population has not been subject to a draft.
Re: How do you write a brilliant ep like ULTIMATE COMPUTER but then go
How do you end up with a smiling, laughing ending to a tragic episode?
It's called you've got a network breathing down your back to follow standards they set forth.
Only a certain amount of rules you can break. You have to pick your battles.
How do you end up with a smiling, laughing ending to a tragic episode?
It's called you've got a network breathing down your back to follow standards they set forth.
Only a certain amount of rules you can break. You have to pick your battles.
Knight Templar
Commodore
Re: How do you write a brilliant ep like ULTIMATE COMPUTER but then go
I don't have a problem with a few upbeat moments at the end even if the entire tone of the episode has been somber.
I agree with what was said above. We don't know for certain that the entire crew of the Excalibur was killed. Most fans have just assumed it because the M-5 computer scanned it and said there was "no life". But we know in the episode that this was several minutes after the M-5 lanced it with phasers the last time. How long does it take to get into escape pods and shuttles then blast free? In all likelihood, with Captain Harris and the first officer (and certainly dozens of others) dead, the ship adrift and powerless, then the next surviving officer ordered "abandon ship".
I've always wondered about this: Why didn't the M-5 cut loose on the four other ships with photon torpedoes like it did the robot cargo vessel?
Could it be that even in its mental state, the M-5 Computer retained some vestige of "humanity" and managed to hold back by not utilizing the full weight of the Enterprise arsenal against the four starships?
I don't have a problem with a few upbeat moments at the end even if the entire tone of the episode has been somber.
I agree with what was said above. We don't know for certain that the entire crew of the Excalibur was killed. Most fans have just assumed it because the M-5 computer scanned it and said there was "no life". But we know in the episode that this was several minutes after the M-5 lanced it with phasers the last time. How long does it take to get into escape pods and shuttles then blast free? In all likelihood, with Captain Harris and the first officer (and certainly dozens of others) dead, the ship adrift and powerless, then the next surviving officer ordered "abandon ship".
I've always wondered about this: Why didn't the M-5 cut loose on the four other ships with photon torpedoes like it did the robot cargo vessel?
Could it be that even in its mental state, the M-5 Computer retained some vestige of "humanity" and managed to hold back by not utilizing the full weight of the Enterprise arsenal against the four starships?
A.V.I.A.F.
Captain
Re: How do you write a brilliant ep like ULTIMATE COMPUTER but then go
To those of you who find the humor inappropriate, would you have the entire cast sink deeper into depression at the end of each episode? That would make for a highly ineffective crew. Their mission is an extremely demanding one. They all knew what they were getting into and I think it is safe to assume that they were all told that many of them would not make it back. I think that someone embarking on such a mission must necessarily adopt an elevated sense of life and death and be prepared to engage in humor in the face of incredible tragedy. The other series failed to do this which is why they were such downers. I am getting through S3 of ENT and I am getting really bugged about how upset everyone is that Earth has been attacked. You went out into deep space guys, the universe just got way bigger for you and you just got way smaller! By the time of TOS, this was clearly understood.
To those of you who find the humor inappropriate, would you have the entire cast sink deeper into depression at the end of each episode? That would make for a highly ineffective crew. Their mission is an extremely demanding one. They all knew what they were getting into and I think it is safe to assume that they were all told that many of them would not make it back. I think that someone embarking on such a mission must necessarily adopt an elevated sense of life and death and be prepared to engage in humor in the face of incredible tragedy. The other series failed to do this which is why they were such downers. I am getting through S3 of ENT and I am getting really bugged about how upset everyone is that Earth has been attacked. You went out into deep space guys, the universe just got way bigger for you and you just got way smaller! By the time of TOS, this was clearly understood.
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Re: How do you write a brilliant ep like ULTIMATE COMPUTER but then go
Yeppers.
Like what Q said at the end of "Q Who?"
Yeppers.
Like what Q said at the end of "Q Who?"
Re: How do you write a brilliant ep like ULTIMATE COMPUTER but then go
That was an actual network policy? Might have to call shenanigans on that. Not everything "wrong" in TOS was the evil Network.
Re: How do you write a brilliant ep like ULTIMATE COMPUTER but then go
^ I always thought so, too.
Which is more plausible, that the M-5 killed all hands aboard the Excalibur, or that the M-5 would overlook lifeboats leaving the ship and blindly accept Kirk's accusation that it was responsible for killing the whole crew, with its implied penalty?
^ I always thought so, too.
Which is more plausible, that the M-5 killed all hands aboard the Excalibur, or that the M-5 would overlook lifeboats leaving the ship and blindly accept Kirk's accusation that it was responsible for killing the whole crew, with its implied penalty?
Re: How do you write a brilliant ep like ULTIMATE COMPUTER but then go
The point of the "happy ending" in these episodes is that no matter what happens, life goes on, so it's better not to wallow in the negative. Acknolwedge grief yes, but then pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and get on with the business of living.
Something that is sadly lacking in today's television.
The point of the "happy ending" in these episodes is that no matter what happens, life goes on, so it's better not to wallow in the negative. Acknolwedge grief yes, but then pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and get on with the business of living.
Something that is sadly lacking in today's television.
Re: How do you write a brilliant ep like ULTIMATE COMPUTER but then go
All of this discussion about the "turbolift joke" scene is based on the assumption that said scene took place immediately, or very shortly, after the M-5 computer was deactivated.
I believe that assumption is jumping the gun a bit. As I posted earlier in this thread, it is entirely possible and plausible that the Sickbay and turbolift scenes could have taken days, or even weeks, later. The establishment shot showing the Enterprise flying would seem to confirm that, since the ship was completely disabled when Spock and Scotty "pulled the plug" on the M-5. (That flyby would also signify the fragmentation of time, a common TV scene-opening technique of the 1960's and '70's.) There really is nothing wrong with the Sickbay and turbolift scenes taking place a discreet amount of time later, after a period of mourning had ended and salvage operations had begun on the Excalibur.
It's entirely reasonable that all ships involved in the war games pooled their crews for rescue and repair operations after the M-5 was deactivated. This would mean all the ships stayed together in the vicinity of the derelict Excalibur.
All of this discussion about the "turbolift joke" scene is based on the assumption that said scene took place immediately, or very shortly, after the M-5 computer was deactivated.
I believe that assumption is jumping the gun a bit. As I posted earlier in this thread, it is entirely possible and plausible that the Sickbay and turbolift scenes could have taken days, or even weeks, later. The establishment shot showing the Enterprise flying would seem to confirm that, since the ship was completely disabled when Spock and Scotty "pulled the plug" on the M-5. (That flyby would also signify the fragmentation of time, a common TV scene-opening technique of the 1960's and '70's.) There really is nothing wrong with the Sickbay and turbolift scenes taking place a discreet amount of time later, after a period of mourning had ended and salvage operations had begun on the Excalibur.
It's entirely reasonable that all ships involved in the war games pooled their crews for rescue and repair operations after the M-5 was deactivated. This would mean all the ships stayed together in the vicinity of the derelict Excalibur.
A.V.I.A.F.
Captain
Re: How do you write a brilliant ep like ULTIMATE COMPUTER but then go
Your point is well-taken. However, I remember the first time I saw TWOK which was in the cinema when it came out and hearing most of the crowd chuckling when Spock straightened his uniform right before dying. Makes you wonder if it wasn't done purposely for laughs. I still maintain that finding humor in the face of tragedy is a mark of a truly advanced and self-actualized person..like the folks you'd expect to find on the TOS Enterprise.
A.V.I.A.F. wrote:
''I think that someone embarking on such a mission must necessarily adopt an elevated sense of life and death and be prepared to engage in humor in the face of incredible tragedy.''
Especially at the end of WRATH OF KHAN. Chekov can crack on how Terrell disintegrates with the best of them, while Scotty and McCoy have a knee-slapper about Spock straightening his uniform just before he croaked. Kirk and the rest share the hilarity with a typical 80s freeze-frame laugh as the credits roll.
Ops. I think this thread was posted 13 days too early.
Your point is well-taken. However, I remember the first time I saw TWOK which was in the cinema when it came out and hearing most of the crowd chuckling when Spock straightened his uniform right before dying. Makes you wonder if it wasn't done purposely for laughs. I still maintain that finding humor in the face of tragedy is a mark of a truly advanced and self-actualized person..like the folks you'd expect to find on the TOS Enterprise.
Re: How do you write a brilliant ep like ULTIMATE COMPUTER but then go
It's the same reason the TV news networks all have a "kicker" at the end of each broadcast. People want to be lied to and told that everything is all right. They don't want to brood over what what is going on. With TV fiction, they don't want to brood over it or think about it beyond the hour.
It's the same reason the TV news networks all have a "kicker" at the end of each broadcast. People want to be lied to and told that everything is all right. They don't want to brood over what what is going on. With TV fiction, they don't want to brood over it or think about it beyond the hour.
Re: How do you write a brilliant ep like ULTIMATE COMPUTER but then go
It's pretty clear from the following exchange:
Kirk: "Scan the Excalibur, which you destroyed...is there any life aboard?"
M5: "No life."
Kirk: "Because you murdered it..."
It's pretty clear from the following exchange:
Kirk: "Scan the Excalibur, which you destroyed...is there any life aboard?"
M5: "No life."
Kirk: "Because you murdered it..."