Has Fred Freiberger been misblamed for Season 3 over the years?

[Ssosmcin]

I was just saying that WisTrekFan was referring to 1999 being one of the very few space based TV shows in that period between Trek and BSG, not that it was the only new SF series produced. It was, at least, the most heavily promoted in the states.

Sure, there were a number of earthbound SF series and TV movies, many of them failed or backdoor pilots. That must have been a frustrating time for science fiction series producers. It seems that every new show had to compete with a series which was cancelled at least 5 years earlier. "Will it be the next Star Trek?"

 

[Zaku]

Medusa (Star Maidens in UK) was quite fun and the SFX and sets were at "1999" level!
[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AloJpPNFr4c[/yt]

 

[Andrew_Kearley]

Medusa (Star Maidens in UK) was quite fun and the SFX and sets were at "1999" level!

Perhaps not surprising - they had the same production designer!

 

[Zaku]

I believe the medusian guard's uniform is the most impractical in any tv show

 

[Maurice]

Medusa (Star Maidens in UK) was quite fun and the SFX and sets were at "1999" level!
[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AloJpPNFr4c[/yt]

A smell a lot of reuse of models there.

I love the planets which are lit utterly incorrectly relative to where the sun is in frame!

 

[Mytran]

Star Maidens had the most awesome theme tune!

Wasn't it reused for the famous Will Smith / Carlton dance?

 

[Maurice]

Star Maidens is laughable in part because although they are in charge the women act stereotypically vain and concerned with their looks, as if that's an innately female characteristic as opposed to a cultural one.

 

[Nebusj]

And Quark was as much a parody of SW as of Trek and other sci-fi. IIRC, its pilot episode involved the search for something called "The Source," a parody of the Force.

I have to say something that really impressed me with Quark was how so much of the sets looked like what we might have seen had Star Trek been made in the 70s. (And the show was … moderately funny and figuring out how to write for the lead actor they had, instead of Don Adams whom they didn't, when it ran out of episodes.)

 

[plynch]

I just watched the Empath. I felt like it was S1 in some ways: space is scary and weird. The episode is quirky, much like several other S3 eps. Not the rut of S2 parallel-planet-of-the-week.

I have learned earlier on the bbs that Mr. F was responsible for eliminating humor. Good! And yes, the "Chee-koov" style interludes with comedy-music cues seem gone. The Empath, however, ends with a Vulcan-dig-gag scene on the bridge, a trope I had apparently misnamed the Gene Coon Chuckle Scene earlier.

I like S3 fine though I admit its faults.

 

[ZapBrannigan]

Was Star Maidens ever shown in the U.S.? I sure don't remember it.

What I remember about Quark was wanting to take it seriously. I wanted adventure, I wanted Ficus to be another Spock, and it was frustrating that they played it for laughs. Being a sitcom got in the way of the whole point.

 

[Christopher]

What I remember about Quark was wanting to take it seriously. I wanted adventure, I wanted Ficus to be another Spock, and it was frustrating that they played it for laughs. Being a sitcom got in the way of the whole point.

Err, what? The whole point of the show was to be a comedy spoof, so I don't understand that last sentence. I think you mean it went against what you wanted the point to be, but that's not what it was.

 

[plynch]

Just watched a Quark. Same sound effects company as TOS. It was funny when I was 9. So was CPO Sharkey, which is promo'd at the end.

 

[Maurice]

Quark would have been great if it had actually been funny. There are amusing moments, but mostly it's groan-city.

 

[Warped9]

I just watched the Empath. I felt like it was S1 in some ways: space is scary and weird. The episode is quirky, much like several other S3 eps. Not the rut of S2 parallel-planet-of-the-week.

I have learned earlier on the bbs that Mr. F was responsible for eliminating humor. Good! And yes, the "Chee-koov" style interludes with comedy-music cues seem gone. The Empath, however, ends with a Vulcan-dig-gag scene on the bridge, a trope I had apparently misnamed the Gene Coon Chuckle Scene earlier.

I like S3 fine though I admit its faults.

Very much agreed. The step away from somewhat forced humour was a welcome change in my book. I can only imagine what we might have had with this approach yet with the more consistent writing control of the previous seasons' better efforts.

"And The Children Shall Lead" is, in my view, TOS' nadir. Yet even in it I can see the core of a genuinely chilling creep out episode if only with some rewriting and smarter thinking of the ideas. And there are other 3rd season episodes that could have also benefit immeasurably from some sharper rewriting from a more seasoned eye.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

^ The security guards getting beamed into space is one of the most disturbing red shirt deaths, IMO. The fact that it is off camera (off screen?), by which I'm trying to say that there is no scene of them materialized out in space, that somehow makes it even more disturbing. The horror is conveyed through Kirk's reaction.

 

[Warped9]

^ The security guards getting beamed into space is one of the most disturbing red shirt deaths, IMO. The fact that it is off camera (off screen?), by which I'm trying to say that there is no scene of them materialized out in space, that somehow makes it even more disturbing. The horror is conveyed through Kirk's reaction.

Exactly. And with better direction we might have got better acting we know Shatner was capable of when held to the fire. I'm thinking, of course, of that scene starting on the bridge and moving into the turbolift where Kirk's fear of losing command is brought out.

And just who in hell designed the Gorgon's outfit? That was seriously WTF!

 

[Commishsleer]

I just watched the Empath. I felt like it was S1 in some ways: space is scary and weird. The episode is quirky, much like several other S3 eps. Not the rut of S2 parallel-planet-of-the-week.

I have learned earlier on the bbs that Mr. F was responsible for eliminating humor. Good! And yes, the "Chee-koov" style interludes with comedy-music cues seem gone. The Empath, however, ends with a Vulcan-dig-gag scene on the bridge, a trope I had apparently misnamed the Gene Coon Chuckle Scene earlier.

I like S3 fine though I admit its faults.

Very much agreed. The step away from somewhat forced humour was a welcome change in my book. I can only imagine what we might have had with this approach yet with the more consistent writing control of the previous seasons' better efforts.

"And The Children Shall Lead" is, in my view, TOS' nadir. Yet even in it I can see the core of a genuinely chilling creep out episode if only with some rewriting and smarter thinking of the ideas. And there are other 3rd season episodes that could have also benefit immeasurably from some sharper rewriting from a more seasoned eye.

I agree that "And The Children Shall Lead" could have potentially been a great episode or even a movie. They just did everything wrong. The children were too obviously obnoxious. The fears of the crew were badly done (in particular Uhura and Sulu). Kirk looked weak and ineffective.

But I agree that the idea was good.

 

[Zaku]

Was Star Maidens ever shown in the U.S.? I sure don't remember it.

From the excellent fan site http://www.animus-web.demon.co.uk/maidens/index.htm

Outside of the UK, Peter Storm wrote to tell me that Holland showed the series in 1977/8 and Keith Grant watched in Australia sometime in the late 70s. Hector P. Feria supplied detailed info for New York syndication screenings - he recalls the series airing in Autumn (Fall) 1978 on local New York City independent station WNEW-TV Channel 5, Saturday evenings around 5:00 or 6:00 p.m. The channel later changed its call sign to WNYW-TV and aired the movie edit (but not the individual episodes) in the 1980s.

You can find some episodes on Youtube if you are curious...

 

[plynch]

Just rewatched the end of the Empath. Very cool. Kirk dresses down the keepers. Main one looks like Kirk has gotten through to him. We read into his acting what we will. He fixes McCoy. Picks up Gem in his arms and says, "Farewell." They shrink away. You still don't know for sure Gem passed the test. And what exactly happened to two fed scientists? Did Gem not feel like saving them? Has she grown, through knowing our specific intrepid Three?

A question: you have a crazy powerful race gonna save one planet's worth of people. Wouldna the Enterprise like, stick around and watch that happen? But the editing and dialog sure imply they're just off to their next appointment. After, of course, making fun of Vulcans.

 

[Christopher]

And what exactly happened to two fed scientists? Did Gem not feel like saving them? Has she grown, through knowing our specific intrepid Three?

That was the idea. Gem learned self-sacrifice from their example. I guess Linke and Ozaba weren't as selflessly devoted to each other as Kirk, Spock, and McCoy were. She probably tried to help them, but wasn't able to overcome her self-preservation instinct enough to risk her life for it. Also, the Vians hadn't yet had Kirk come along to give them a good scolding, so they probably took their tortures too far, as they almost did with McCoy.