The Doomsday Machine love

[CrazyMatt]

On one issue, Spinrad's memory may be a bit a faulty... perhaps even intentionally so.

Spinrad was asked several years back about the James Blish novelization of "The Doomsday Machine," where Decker doesn't die but instead survives to tell Kirk rather lamely that will resign/retire after repeating his 'error in judgment.' Spinrad claimed that Decker's suicidal death was in every version of the script, all the way from the first draft Spinrad submitted.

I accepted this on Spinrad's word, having read in various places where Blish, having only early draft scripts to use to create his novelizations, would make changes to stories on occasion to resolve story problems in order to have "his version of the episodes" make sense. But I never could understand why Blish would erase Decker's death; what possible improvement to the story would that plot change bring?

Fast forward to the Season two edition of "These Are The Voyages," which credits Gene Coon with adding that plot point in one of the later re-writes, reflecting Decker's death wish mentality and further stating that the new twist served the double purpose of giving Kirk a clue as to how to defeat the planet killer.

So what's the truth? From my dispassionate viewpoint, I lean towards giving Coon the credit. Cushman had copies of the draft scripts, in addition to memos between Coon and Spinrad. There's no reason I can think of why Cushman would want to switch credit to Gene Coon if the documents didn't support that.

However, there may be a reason that Spinrad might not want to give Coon credit for such a major change. Turns out that Spinrad was furious with Coon for re-writing Spinrad's next story submission, "He Walks Among Us." Spinrad wrote it as a very serious piece, and Coon completely re-wrote it as a comedy. Spinrad ended up appealing directly to Gene Roddenberry to not produce the story if Coon's version was to be used. GR in fact did as Spinrad requested, and the story was never produced.

Spinrad wouldn't be the first writer to hold a grudge for decades over a re-write he felt ruined a good story of his. For a great example of that, Google "Ellison, Harlan."

 

[Melakon]

But that looks like it might be a shooting script, Maurice. Is there a copy of Spinrad's original outline or first draft available? Justman probably took one look at it and thought it would be too expensive to pull off.

 

[CrazyMatt]

But that looks like it might be a shooting script, Maurice. Is there a copy of Spinrad's original outline or first draft available? Justman probably took one look at it and thought it would be too expensive to pull off.

After reading Spinrad's initial submission, DC Fontana went as far as to write in a memo (paraphrasing), 'The cost of the opticals and miniatures will drive us to the poor house. No, we'll probably have to walk to the poor house.'

 

[Harvey]

Spinrad's first draft* story outline (http://www.missionlogpodcast.com/discovereddocuments/035) would be a useful place to start. I'll take a look at it, unless someone beats me to the punch.

Edit 1: Spinrad's description of the Planet Eater:

...the Constellation was attacked by a huge metallic creature, which Decker refers to as the "Eater" -- a kind of cylindrical "living atomic rocket" at least ten times the size of the Constellation, apparently from beyond the Galaxy, with a posterior rocket and a great anterior funnel-mouth big enough to swallow a ship with a cluster of atomic blaster beams and tractor beams around the funnel, not a machine, but a living organism with a nuclear metabolism.

Edit 2: Spinrad's description of Decker's fate:

The shuttlecraft and Decker along with it are totally destroyed -- but it bothers the Eater no more than a fly would.

As he watches on the viewscreen, we hear Kirk mutter: "What a waste..." But then we see his face change expression, we see that he's suddenly gotten an idea, as we FADE OUT.

Is Cushman asserting an earlier draft of the story outline than this (March 6, 1967)? And alleging that Coon wrote this version of the story outline (which only has Spinrad's name on it)?

*Judging from my research records, this is probably a revised draft of the story outline, although I don't have any evidence that it is anything but Spinrad's.

 

[Melakon]

Maybe Spinrad's"bristling with weapons" is his partially remembering his verbal pitch before they gave any feedback and said write it.

 

[Harvey]

To be fair, Spinrad's description doesn't just call it a funnel in the story outline, although "the funnel," upon skimming, seems to be the most used term for the planet eater. There's also the possibility that Spinrad is remembering the teleplay or his pitch.

 

[cbspock]

This is one of my all time favorite episodes. I think the remastered version just adds more to the episode. It makes it feel even more like a Trek movie.


-Chris

 

[cbspock]

Lol, yes I skipped right to "The Doomsday Machine" chapter myself when I got TATV vol.2

I see that I'm not the only one!

I did the same thing, it was the first thing I went to.


-Chris

 

[publiusr]

I seem to remember drexfiles or someone who had some sketch of what spinrad wanted...I like what we got.

There is ome program where you can show several photos, and the computer wil come up with a 3D view. Someone might want to try that with screen caps and a 3D printer.

 

[Ssosmcin]

Despite what is written; it does not appear to be a "windsock dipped in cement."

I agree and I was a little disappointed that Cushman didn't dispute it. Not for anything, but isn't wet cement a thick and heavy substance? And wouldn't a windsock, designed to flap in the breeze, simply scrunch up if "dipped in cement?" Or "dipped in water" for that matter? It certainly wouldn't hold its shape.

I find Daren Dochterman's research to be more conclusive. Or just what I wanna believe.

 

[Maurice]

I think Daren's theory about the DDM's construction is pretty logical, albeit I remain skeptical that the thing was built around a "mini mole" or other studio light as the interior of the thing never looks as brightly illuminated as one would expect if that were the case.

 

[publiusr]

It probably didn't look as nice up close and in person.

This is where more primitive types of media enhance the look of something.

It would have looked horrible in HD

But as it looked on screen, it looked like whittled neutron star material--so it worked.

 

[Harvey]

Spinrad was asked several years back about the James Blish novelization of "The Doomsday Machine," where Decker doesn't die but instead survives to tell Kirk rather lamely that will resign/retire after repeating his 'error in judgment.' Spinrad claimed that Decker's suicidal death was in every version of the script, all the way from the first draft Spinrad submitted.

I accepted this on Spinrad's word, having read in various places where Blish, having only early draft scripts to use to create his novelizations, would make changes to stories on occasion to resolve story problems in order to have "his version of the episodes" make sense. But I never could understand why Blish would erase Decker's death; what possible improvement to the story would that plot change bring?

Fast forward to the Season two edition of "These Are The Voyages," which credits Gene Coon with adding that plot point in one of the later re-writes, reflecting Decker's death wish mentality and further stating that the new twist served the double purpose of giving Kirk a clue as to how to defeat the planet killer.

So what's the truth? From my dispassionate viewpoint, I lean towards giving Coon the credit. Cushman had copies of the draft scripts, in addition to memos between Coon and Spinrad. There's no reason I can think of why Cushman would want to switch credit to Gene Coon if the documents didn't support that.

Slight update on this. In addition to the March 6, 1967 story outline (which appears to be the only draft of the story outline), there's also Spinrad's April 4, 1967 teleplay. Both have Decker die by flying a shuttle into the Planet Eater. The May 8, 1967 draft of the teleplay has him encountering the same fate.

An April 10, 1967 memo from Bob Justman to Gene Roddenberry says, "I am pleased to see that Captain Kirk does not react hypocritically to the death of Dekker..." Coon's memo dated April 17, 1967 to Spinrad calls the script "a most commendable first effort for STAR TREK," and asks Spinrad to "number your scenes so we can refer to the particular scene in question when we talk about it." The April 5, 1967 first draft teleplay credited only to Spinrad has no scene numbers.

In short, Spinrad was the originator of Decker's death, not Coon. Would you mind quoting the passage in question from These Are The Voyages, because I'm astounded that Cushman could make such a colossal error of judgment (which is saying something).

 

[Maurice]

In the treatment Decker "rams the shuttlecraft into the body of the Eater at top speed." Is it possible Coon's suggestion was for Decker to ran it down the thing's throat instead of slamming into the hull?

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

How do I describe my love of this episode? My all-time favorite, the one I would wait endlessly for in reruns as a kid, back in the day when you were at the mercy of the program director at your local syndicated station. I don’t know about you, but my local station rarely played Star Trek in any kind of order. If I was lucky, TV Guide would list the episode in the log line, but for the most part, I just had to watch every episode and wait. Which was not a problem, since I loved the series since I was four (or sooner, that’s just my earliest memory) and I had gotten the family to love it too. So we all watched Trek every night it was on. That was either six days a week or just weekends, depending on the era.

So what is it about this episode? Well, I love action and adventure, and this one has it in buckets. I love tense drama, great performances, stellar background music and space combat. I also love me a good character study. The Doomsday Machine has all of these things, as well as a good moral lesson in the escalation of atomic weapon development. The episode has many examples of “firsts” for the season and series:

The first episode not to have a captain’s log done by any regulars or a current stardate attached to the aired episode (Decker’s log happened prior the the start of the episode); the first episode of the season to show Kirk’s green wrap (and the only one without the black trim); the first episode of the season with Sol Kaplan providing the popular score; the first episode to feature another starship; the first episode of the season without Chekov or Uhura; the first use of Auxiliary Control; the first use of an AMT model kit on screen; and the first time another starship commander goes batshit crazy.

Everyone is on their game here. I would assume Nichelle Nichols and Walter Koenig were dropped to save money in this effects heavy episode. William Windom is the only real guest star here, the rest are low cost day players. It doesn’t matter; Windom is magnetic and brilliant as the mentally scarred Matt Decker, as commanding a presence as Kirk and, under different circumstances, was probably the cream of the service. Decker was tough as nails, but unintentionally sending his entire crew to their death’s made him snap. It’s an interesting thought to consider this might be Kirk under the same conditions. Windom starts off weepy, but toughens and, honestly, you never hate him. His motivations are clear and understandable. He’s not necessarily wrong, just going about it recklessly and obsessively. In his death, he provides Kirk the clue he needs to defeat the planet killer.

Shatner holds up the rest of this episode effortlessly. He also looks damned amazing in that shirt, the best shape he would be in for the run of the series. His performance runs from worry, to distress, then determination, anger, sadness, anxiety and then, finally, relief. It’s a powerful showcase for his talents. There are no laughs here; this is probably one of the most serious scripts of the season, a season where things got softer and more friendly. But there’s still fun to be had:

“If I only had some phasers…”
“Phasers? You’ve got ‘em! I just had one bank recharged.”
“Scotty…! You’ve just earned your pay for the week.”

(As a kid, I was so disappointed to discover they already used this line in Who Mourns for Adonias?)

Scotty is totally sharp. This is Doohan’s favorite episode and it’s easy to see why: Scotty is doing exactly what he should be. He’s not commanding the ship, barking at ambassadors or freaking out over going to warp 6. He’s keeping shit running and without him, the damned Constellation wouldn’t budge. He was never more essential to the format as he is here. Doohan is, as usual, perfect.

If anyone gets shafted, it’s Bones. He’s the “idiot of the week” who doesn’t know what a doomsday machine is so now Kirk can tell us (although it’s played well and not really out of character). After the necessary exposition and crabbing, he is shuffled off the bridge, never to be seen or heard from again. All the same, it’s an obvious solution: only Kirk would tolerate his senior medical officer’s bullshit. No other captain would take his crap and off he goes to where he should spend most of his time anyway.

On the surface, it seems as if Spock isn’t used as well as usual either, but he does get the classic “Vulcan’s never bluff” line. He is a calm, logical and stabilizing presence. While we don’t necessarily hate Decker, we do dislike him primarily because of the way he treats Spock (“down here”).

The music is just orgasmic. It’s proud, sad, ominous and downright operatic. It’s the perfect example of in your face scoring. While you can argue it’s a little over the top, it’s also memorable and does a great job selling the danger when the effects aren’t quite up to the ambition shown (which honestly isn’t often). The Enterprise, the Constellation, the planet killer and even the damned transporter beam get a theme! While Bob Justman preferred Fred Steiner to everyone else, Sol Kaplan was one of the top composers for the series. This is an excellent companion to The Enemy Within and both scores are amazing. I never tire of this music.

The effects are spotty, but excellent for the time. However, even as a kid in the early 70’s, I spotted the model kit a mile away. The scale is off and it always looks exactly like what it is. The planet killer itself is another story: understated and deadly, it is a burned out horn of plenty; a huge Bugle snack; a cosmic lawn cigar. And totally terrifying.

Fun points - Star Trek Time Bending: it takes a 30 second delay timer 1:20 to reach the end of the countdown.

Mr. Montgomery, the security guard who fights Decker, is not the same guy who was standing there all episode. Jerry Catron, an actor/stuntman, was only there for this scene and the fight. The rest of the time, a rather mousy extra in a red shirt stood by the rest of the time.

Clips of Tomorrow is Yesterday were inserted when the Constellation lurched forward. The engine room scenes; Scotty’s tricorder mysteriously vanishes from his shoulder.

None of these things do a damned bit of harm to this outstanding episode.

Great summary. Star Trek broke ground using its own licensed products (AMT kit) in the production--something ILM would do years later in the production of The Empire Strikes Back.

 

[Maurice]

...Star Trek broke ground using its own licensed products (AMT kit) in the production--something ILM would do years later in the production of The Empire Strikes Back.

I think Star Trek was able to do it because it was the only show with an accurate-ish model kit which could be used for such things. MCA-57 (aka post Star Wars ILM) also did this for Battlestar Galactica, notably the Cylon hangar populated with Monogram kit Raiders in "The Hand of God".

 

[Melakon]

It was just too bad that in the original effects, the aft view of the Constellation didn't look as detailed as the saucer section. It looked like they also had trouble with focus due to the model being so small.

 

[feek61]

Yes but that the view of the Constellation from above the saucer (during the title) is a great shot and looks convincing as hell to me.

 

[trevanian]

Yes but that the view of the Constellation from above the saucer (during the title) is a great shot and looks convincing as hell to me.

The distance is JUST right on that to belie the model kit origins. It was the very first film clip I ever bought of STAR TREK, that shot.

 

[trevanian]

...Star Trek broke ground using its own licensed products (AMT kit) in the production--something ILM would do years later in the production of The Empire Strikes Back.

I think Star Trek was able to do it because it was the only show with an accurate-ish model kit which could be used for such things. MCA-57 (aka post Star Wars ILM) also did this for Battlestar Galactica, notably the Cylon hangar populated with Monogram kit Raiders in "The Hand of God".

I think the protoApogee exILM group withdrew from GALACTICA after the initial 7 hrs (pilot plus 2 2parters), so the rest of season 1 was done by Universal Hartland.

I'd never heard of the MCA-57 moniker before. Is that referenced in a lawsuit or an onscreen credit?