50th Anniversary Rewatch Thread
- Thread starter dahj
- Start date
^I don't know why that's so funny, but it is. 
Star Trek
"The Man Trap"
Stardate 1513.1
Trying to look at this from the vantage of a sci-fi fan in 1966...of course, it's no pilot episode, but I think I would have been intrigued. It definitely established Trek as a more serious effort than the likes of Lost in Space, giving TV viewers a sympathetic monster and a mystery with a Twilight Zone vibe. Trek was pitched as a space western, and the emphasis on the buffalo analogy was certainly on the nose in getting that across.
Maybe the network really was nervous about Spock, as they chose an episode that conspicuously didn't feature him prominently at the beginning of the episode (but gave him and Uhura a good shared introductory scene nonetheless).
If there were those on the alert for LiS-style cheese, the Hand Plant must have given them a bit of ammo. Another thing that took me out of the atmosphere of the episode was the OTT "sci-fi" sound effect when Spock's expanding his search of the planet.
So if General Quarters 3 is Red Alert, then General Quarters 4 must be...Double-Red Alert!
The "I Coulda Been a Trek Trope" award goes to--truth serum! Yes, when Spock needs to extract information from somebody, he'll use his famous...truth serum! Also note sickbay being referred to as the dispensary.
For those who like to balk at TOS's laugh-line endings, this one provides no ammo, ending on an appropriately solemn note.
Next week:
"The Man Trap"
Stardate 1513.1
Trying to look at this from the vantage of a sci-fi fan in 1966...of course, it's no pilot episode, but I think I would have been intrigued. It definitely established Trek as a more serious effort than the likes of Lost in Space, giving TV viewers a sympathetic monster and a mystery with a Twilight Zone vibe. Trek was pitched as a space western, and the emphasis on the buffalo analogy was certainly on the nose in getting that across.
Maybe the network really was nervous about Spock, as they chose an episode that conspicuously didn't feature him prominently at the beginning of the episode (but gave him and Uhura a good shared introductory scene nonetheless).
If there were those on the alert for LiS-style cheese, the Hand Plant must have given them a bit of ammo. Another thing that took me out of the atmosphere of the episode was the OTT "sci-fi" sound effect when Spock's expanding his search of the planet.
So if General Quarters 3 is Red Alert, then General Quarters 4 must be...Double-Red Alert!
The "I Coulda Been a Trek Trope" award goes to--truth serum! Yes, when Spock needs to extract information from somebody, he'll use his famous...truth serum! Also note sickbay being referred to as the dispensary.
For those who like to balk at TOS's laugh-line endings, this one provides no ammo, ending on an appropriately solemn note.
Next week:
So yeah, I watched "The Man Trap" tonight. It's a really awkward-feeling, slow-paced episode. I've never really understood why NBC chose to air it first when "Where No Man Has Gone Before" was a much stronger episode. Kind of gives a poor first impression of Star Trek given that it ends with them killing the last member of a species.
I was a bit of a latecomer to the episode in that when I started watching Star Trek as a whole in the summer of '95, in the form of late night TOS reruns on (I believe) UPN, the first episode I saw was "The Naked Time" (still one of my all-time favorites), so I don't think I saw "The Man Trap" until I bought the series on DVD. I did read it though in those mass market paperback novelizations of all the TOS episodes.
I never noticed before that sickbay is referred to as "dispensary" all throughout the episode. Weird.
Where the heck is Scotty?
One thing I like in the early season 1 episodes is some of the hodge-podge of costumes you see in the corridors. Women wearing pants! Turtleneck left over from the pilot! Random jumpsuits! That white protective suit!
I was a bit of a latecomer to the episode in that when I started watching Star Trek as a whole in the summer of '95, in the form of late night TOS reruns on (I believe) UPN, the first episode I saw was "The Naked Time" (still one of my all-time favorites), so I don't think I saw "The Man Trap" until I bought the series on DVD. I did read it though in those mass market paperback novelizations of all the TOS episodes.
I never noticed before that sickbay is referred to as "dispensary" all throughout the episode. Weird.
Where the heck is Scotty?
One thing I like in the early season 1 episodes is some of the hodge-podge of costumes you see in the corridors. Women wearing pants! Turtleneck left over from the pilot! Random jumpsuits! That white protective suit!
In Engineering? Why, is there something wrong with the engines?
The creature would have immediately passed out drunk if it had tried to feed on Scotty.In Engineering? Why, is there something wrong with the engines?
Same goes for McCoy, IMO. Maybe that was the reason they finally caught it.
If that's true they chose a funny episode to ease people into him, considering he suggests not bothering taking Carter alive and where he punches the hell out of a woman in a ruthless demonstration of logic...
Who said Vulcans couldn't be ruthless?
I remember eating in the school cafeteria the very next day and the subject being discussed was the new show that had premiered last night called STAR TREK. I still remember my contribution to the conversation: "Did you see that guy's green blood?!"
Spock of course was attacked by Nancy/McCoy and is in the "dispensary" displaying a head wound that was oozing green blood. It must have been quite a shock to me if that's what I remembered. Now that I think of it, I wonder how many of the kids in the cafeteria that day even had color TV!?
My first reaction to the series was somewhat negative. Since this episode didn't explain things at all - it just thrust us into an adventure - I found the ship's compliment confusing. Spock was sitting in the Captain's chair the first time we see him. Meanwhile the real Captain is down on a planet having "sparkled" in.
The guest star is Alfred Ryder. Yes, I've seen him on other shows like ONE STEP BEYOND and THE OUTER LIMITS. That Shatner guy, yeah, I remember him from both an OUTER LIMITS and a TWILIGHT ZONE.
Here's another memory. When the opening sequence started, I could have sworn that the narrator (Space...the final frontier...) was Frank McGee from NBC News. He was usually the voice behind a lot of NBC's science shows regarding the space program and I really thought it was him, playing as it did through the tinny speakers on our metal-cabinet color TV.
Harry
Spock of course was attacked by Nancy/McCoy and is in the "dispensary" displaying a head wound that was oozing green blood. It must have been quite a shock to me if that's what I remembered. Now that I think of it, I wonder how many of the kids in the cafeteria that day even had color TV!?
My first reaction to the series was somewhat negative. Since this episode didn't explain things at all - it just thrust us into an adventure - I found the ship's compliment confusing. Spock was sitting in the Captain's chair the first time we see him. Meanwhile the real Captain is down on a planet having "sparkled" in.
The guest star is Alfred Ryder. Yes, I've seen him on other shows like ONE STEP BEYOND and THE OUTER LIMITS. That Shatner guy, yeah, I remember him from both an OUTER LIMITS and a TWILIGHT ZONE.
Here's another memory. When the opening sequence started, I could have sworn that the narrator (Space...the final frontier...) was Frank McGee from NBC News. He was usually the voice behind a lot of NBC's science shows regarding the space program and I really thought it was him, playing as it did through the tinny speakers on our metal-cabinet color TV.
Harry
I watched last night.
I was happy to just watch one without trying to pick it out, I might do this every year, I enjoyed actually watching so much.
I really like this episode. I noticed that about the sweating, good call on that.
One thing that really seemed to stand out for me is watching on my 4k ultra tv everything looked so good. I didn't see anything like unfinished parts or something "good enough" for tv.
Two of my favorite parts, Jim's scolding and subsequent apology to Bones about not knowing what killed Darnell, and a really neat camera angle when Jim got into the turbolift and the camera followed him in and turned to face him like we got in with him. Some very good lines of exposition about the characters were dropped in without sounding out of place or expository in nature, such as:
MCCOY: The machine is capable of almost anything but I'll still put my trust in a healthy set of tonsils.
UHURA: You explain. That means that somebody is dead and you just sit there. It could be Captain Kirk. He's the closest thing you have to a friend.
SPOCK: Lieutenant, my demonstration of concern will not change what happened. The transporter room is very well-manned and they will call if they need my assistance.
MCCOY: I'll tell you something else. This man shouldn't be dead. I can't find anything wrong with him. According to all the tests he should just get up and walk away from here. I don't know. I'll have the tests double-checked. My eyes may be tricking me. I swear, Jim, when I first saw her she looked just as I'd known her ten years ago. Granted, for a moment I may have been looking at her through a romantic haze.
KIRK: How your lost love affects your vision, Doctor, doesn't interest me. I've lost a man. I want to know what killed him.
MCCOY: Yes, sir
REDSHIRT: Hey, Janice, is that for me?
RAND: Don't you wish it was?
BLUESHIRT: How about that?
REDSHIRT: Yeah, how'd you like to have her as your personal yeoman?
Which is interesting because she seems to be Sulu's yeoman, not Kirk's. There's another unnamed yeoman on the bridge that Jim hands his dish to when he's leaving. I also like that they do show him having something to eat, working through meals is a way to show that a person is dedicated and also humanizes the character. People do need to eat.
UHURA: Message, Captain. Starship base on Caran 4 requesting explanation of our delay here, sir. Space Commander Dominguez says we have supplies he urgently needs.
Tell Jose he'll get his chili peppers when we get there. Tell him they're prime Mexican reds. I handpicked them myself, but he won't die if he goes a few more days without them. Got it?
UHURA: Got it, Captain.
Even though there's no Scotty, there's lots of good time to get to know Jim, Spock, Bones, Sulu, Uhura, and Rand. I think the last three characters especially had more to say and do in this episode compared to a lot of later ones. Some of these early first season episodes do appear to be an ensemble show, but I didn't feel like they put anyone in just to have them clock in. It's too bad that drifted away, especially by the 2nd and later seasons. I also really liked the extras and minor players in this, they were very good as the crew. When your extras are good actors it really helps to make everything so much more real, IMO, even more so than sets and effects. All of the guest stars also were very good.
I don't know if they quite decided how phasers on stun works yet, it seems to do something that it doesn't do ever again. Maybe as I rewatch I might see, but this is the only time a phaser makes a ping sound like a bullet ricochet and the stunned person is still awake but groggy.
I'm also not sure they worked out Spock's stronger than Human strength yet.
I really have no problems with this episode, I don't see any reason to complain. No negatives from me, and I'm not saying "for the time" I see no problems with this one that Star Trek is some times accused of.
I think I've said enough but I could probably go on for another few paragraphs.
I was happy to just watch one without trying to pick it out, I might do this every year, I enjoyed actually watching so much.
I really like this episode. I noticed that about the sweating, good call on that.
One thing that really seemed to stand out for me is watching on my 4k ultra tv everything looked so good. I didn't see anything like unfinished parts or something "good enough" for tv.
Two of my favorite parts, Jim's scolding and subsequent apology to Bones about not knowing what killed Darnell, and a really neat camera angle when Jim got into the turbolift and the camera followed him in and turned to face him like we got in with him. Some very good lines of exposition about the characters were dropped in without sounding out of place or expository in nature, such as:
MCCOY: The machine is capable of almost anything but I'll still put my trust in a healthy set of tonsils.
UHURA: You explain. That means that somebody is dead and you just sit there. It could be Captain Kirk. He's the closest thing you have to a friend.
SPOCK: Lieutenant, my demonstration of concern will not change what happened. The transporter room is very well-manned and they will call if they need my assistance.
MCCOY: I'll tell you something else. This man shouldn't be dead. I can't find anything wrong with him. According to all the tests he should just get up and walk away from here. I don't know. I'll have the tests double-checked. My eyes may be tricking me. I swear, Jim, when I first saw her she looked just as I'd known her ten years ago. Granted, for a moment I may have been looking at her through a romantic haze.
KIRK: How your lost love affects your vision, Doctor, doesn't interest me. I've lost a man. I want to know what killed him.
MCCOY: Yes, sir
REDSHIRT: Hey, Janice, is that for me?
RAND: Don't you wish it was?
BLUESHIRT: How about that?
REDSHIRT: Yeah, how'd you like to have her as your personal yeoman?
Which is interesting because she seems to be Sulu's yeoman, not Kirk's. There's another unnamed yeoman on the bridge that Jim hands his dish to when he's leaving. I also like that they do show him having something to eat, working through meals is a way to show that a person is dedicated and also humanizes the character. People do need to eat.
UHURA: Message, Captain. Starship base on Caran 4 requesting explanation of our delay here, sir. Space Commander Dominguez says we have supplies he urgently needs.
Tell Jose he'll get his chili peppers when we get there. Tell him they're prime Mexican reds. I handpicked them myself, but he won't die if he goes a few more days without them. Got it?
UHURA: Got it, Captain.
Even though there's no Scotty, there's lots of good time to get to know Jim, Spock, Bones, Sulu, Uhura, and Rand. I think the last three characters especially had more to say and do in this episode compared to a lot of later ones. Some of these early first season episodes do appear to be an ensemble show, but I didn't feel like they put anyone in just to have them clock in. It's too bad that drifted away, especially by the 2nd and later seasons. I also really liked the extras and minor players in this, they were very good as the crew. When your extras are good actors it really helps to make everything so much more real, IMO, even more so than sets and effects. All of the guest stars also were very good.
I don't know if they quite decided how phasers on stun works yet, it seems to do something that it doesn't do ever again. Maybe as I rewatch I might see, but this is the only time a phaser makes a ping sound like a bullet ricochet and the stunned person is still awake but groggy.
I'm also not sure they worked out Spock's stronger than Human strength yet.
I really have no problems with this episode, I don't see any reason to complain. No negatives from me, and I'm not saying "for the time" I see no problems with this one that Star Trek is some times accused of.
I think I've said enough but I could probably go on for another few paragraphs.
Yep, this seems to be the only instance I can recall in which a phaser set on stun actually stuns someone instead of knocking them unconscious(or more often than not, fails to have any effect).
They should have renamed it sleepy setting later on
Another interesting aspect of that phaser sequence. When "struck" the camera appeared to drop to a slightly slower frame rate when Ryan fell against the rock. When played back at a normal frame rate of 24 per second, it gave the effect as through the beam "slammed" him backwards. (I recall someone thinking the production employed a "cable" rig that supposedly yanked the actor. No, just something simpler, less expensive and arguably just as visually effective.)
Then, as Crater "recovers", the sound engineers tweaked the octave of the actor's voice, dropping it a tad for his first couple of lines, further implying the effects of the weapon.
Really, there was a lot of extra care put into this episode.
Then, as Crater "recovers", the sound engineers tweaked the octave of the actor's voice, dropping it a tad for his first couple of lines, further implying the effects of the weapon.
Really, there was a lot of extra care put into this episode.
Watching it again last night ...
I hadn't realized that when we first see the Enterprise bridge, it's Spock sitting in command (though we have already heard Kirk's voice in the Captain's Log recitation).
Some good exposure for the minor players: McCoy, Sulu (as a botanist!) and Uhura. No Scotty as of yet. This was a good cast of players not so well known at the time. But then, Trek would always be good at tht.
The vivid colors must have been a treat to those few with color sets in 1966.
I watched some of this on the first broadcast as as a kid, but din't become a regular viewer until long afterward. The talk at school the next days was of the neat monster. I recall one fellow student sweaing that was "five times better than Lost in Space!" Odd to quantify it that way. I think he really meant 5.0. They probably did well to run the Monster Episode first for that important demographic.
I hadn't realized that when we first see the Enterprise bridge, it's Spock sitting in command (though we have already heard Kirk's voice in the Captain's Log recitation).
Some good exposure for the minor players: McCoy, Sulu (as a botanist!) and Uhura. No Scotty as of yet. This was a good cast of players not so well known at the time. But then, Trek would always be good at tht.
The vivid colors must have been a treat to those few with color sets in 1966.
I watched some of this on the first broadcast as as a kid, but din't become a regular viewer until long afterward. The talk at school the next days was of the neat monster. I recall one fellow student sweaing that was "five times better than Lost in Space!" Odd to quantify it that way. I think he really meant 5.0. They probably did well to run the Monster Episode first for that important demographic.
Yes, the people who owned a color set back then were among the privileged members of society.
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