Which version of TOS is canon??

If a whole episode were done, next thing someone would say the costumes look too cheap and old-fashioned. So you re-dress everybody in cool new uniforms. And boy, those short hemlines have to go! Then Spock's eyebrows are inconsistent. Then it's Kirk's weight. Then the communicator has to be a smart phone.

And if all of those original things can go, next comes the moments of un-woke dialogue: the mechanical rice picker, "the girl," the "losing an officer" if she gets married, the "some things men must do to remain men" (gasp!), the "You're a Vulcanian, aren't you?" and "You green-blooded..." (tossed as racism), the "Women professionals do tend to overcompensate" nonsense that place the show in our history as much as our future. Toss it all out and make the original into a spin-off. Open the floodgates too much, and the show becomes something else.

The brief clip does look great, though.

 

I think the best compromise is something like Starship Exeter. New Trek in the old style. I'm sad they only did one full episode. None of the other shows ever quite did it for me.

 

There were two episodes of Exeter. The second one was finally finished a year or two ago.

 

"I'm sad they only did one full episode."

Savage Empire was a half ep. And yes, I was very glad they finally completed the one full episode, The Tressaurian Intersection. It's not perfect, but it definitely shows that the concept has promise.

 

Why do you say this? Just opinion? I'm sure you've seen the entire episode, right? I thought it was quite complete

 

35 minutes is more than half an episode

 

It is a complete story. It is not a full-length episode as TTI is. How's that? Either way, TTI was great and I wish there had been more like it.

 

I recall next to no one having an issue with how seamlessly TOS-centric episodes such as "Trials and Tribble-ations" and "In a Mirror Darkly" blended the environments / visuals of TOS with DS9 and ENT. Even fans who were not so familiar with TOS were impressed with the design of the bridge, etc. which was a testament to just how forward-thinking and revolutionary the TOS designs were.

 

I'm sure I'm quite the outlier in my view. And, as I stated, it's close for me but not 100% there.

 

I've never talked to anyone who wasn't a TOS fan at the time T&T and IAMD were broadcast, so such praise never reached my ears.

 

I'm sure I'm quite the outlier in my view. And, as I stated, it's close for me but not 100% there.

 

Yeah I know I was being picky
I really liked both outings though - I felt they captured the spirit of TOS more than any other fan film, before or since.

 

Exactly. It looked and sounded like TOS, but it wasn't YET ANOTHER rehash of the same Big Three. Plus, while the acting was amateur, it was mostly passable and the cinematography, music, set design, etc. was spot on. There were moments it really felt like a TOS episode. No other production has ever managed that.

 

I thought Continues did (minus the lack of the big three, obviously).

 

I though Continue was Kirk and the Counselor (who was Spock and McCoy combined). I thought Continues was a pretty good attempt of what TOS would be if it were set now. You know the episode where Kirk is haunted by the women he has wronged (ironic) and where Spock and a women compete for the captaincy of a ship.. Subject matters that would never happen in the 60s.

 

My problem with "Star Trek Continues" was in the way it changed the characterization of Kirk and some other characters. They honestly tried to transform Kirk into a near Picard clone, with him wanting consensus from his officers before he did something - which was never how Kirk was portrayed in TOS. Kirk's command style can be summed up by the following exchange from TOS S1 "The Corbomite Maneuver"

LT. Bailey: "We've got phaser weapons... I vote we blast it!"

CPT. James T. Kirk: "I'll keep that in mind Mr Bailey...When this becomes a democracy."

Now that's not to say James T. Kirk can never ask for the opinions of his officers as he often did in the show. But regardless of how his officers felt, he always did what he thought best regardless of what anyone else thought even after asking for advice. The STC version of Kirk rarely did that; so for me it wasn't Kirk but a Kirk/Picard style clone, and that detracted from the TOS era feeling they were supposedly trying to convey.

And while the actress portraying the new ships counselor was probably the best actor in the cast; I felt the character wasn't right for the time (23rd century). If anything the character pretty much replaced the function the Dr. McCoy character had served in the original series.

Anyhow sorry for the sidetrack. Back to the regular thread here.