Do you wish more two-parters had been made for TOS?
- Thread starter tim0122
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I think Gerrold doesn't worry about facts getting in the way of a story.
Not only did they rewrite the ending of the episode, they actually reshot some of it.
I've done a bit of research on this for a book project I'm working on, and a lot of animated shows wouldn't follow the live-action rule of One script page = One minute of screentime. Right now I can't remember if it was typically longer or shorter for animation, though.
What is this in reference to?
What's this in reference to?
That isn't the case for this TAS script.
Harvey was replying to my comment about "The Naked Time," apparently.
Yep. They (Roddenberry?) scripted a new ending after principal photography on the episode was completed. Based on a cursory review of the revised pages, they appear to have shot some inserts with new dialogue. I need to do more research to write anything substantive about the revised ending, though.
Wow, really? It would be awesome if the footage of the original ending survived. Is there a script page available for the original dialogue, at least?
I believe there are pages at UCLA, although I don't have them transcribed currently. I'll get to this eventually. It's an interesting bit of trivia that is rarely mentioned.
I can't wait! When you get around to transcribing them, send them back in time to today, okay? 
I eagerly await any article or research you do for this, Harvey! This is the first I've ever heard about a scrapped 2-part episode in TOS.
TOS seemed to have a weird love/hate relationship with its own continuity. Some episodes seemingly did not hesitate to drop a name or other reference to a previous story/character/occurance. Others seemed to live in a universe almost isolated from the rest of TOS.
It seems possible that TOS could have done more two-part stories. (The brilliant "Menagerie" set the precedent, after all) It would really depend on the quality of the individual story.
You can look at stories like "Errand of Mercy", "Balance of Terror", "A Taste of Armageddon" or "Bread and Circuses" and see the potential for a more in-depth story that would have a less-"once-upon-a-planet" feel if there was more time to explore the subtleties of the plot and its setting. Essentially, it would be like making a two-hour movie out of any of these stories. The potential is definitely there, but a more in-depth story where the world(s) being visited would get more time and attention would be compelling, but would likely require a change in tone to accommodate the "bigger" story. It would be like comparing any one of these one-hour TOS eps to a movie from that era, like Planet of the Apes or Beneath the Planet of the Apes.
It's possible. You might even be able to fit it in the TOS format. "The Menagerie" certainly did. I would want to see entirely different stories than the "original" 79, though.
Here's a weird idea: "Mirror, Mirror" is Part 1, and STC's "Fairest of Them All" is Part 2. Works for me.
I would think it would be great if there was an expedition story, a real frontier story like "Metamorphosis" or "The Immunity Syndrome" or "What Are Little Girls Made Of?", but a two-part story with a darker tone. The larger Star Trek franchise teases us with possibilities of exploratory/frontier-type stories, but doesn't give us enough of them. Other examples would be TNG's "Where Silence Has Lease", "Contagion", "Tin Man", "The Ensigns of Command", "First Contact", or VOY's "Distant Origin" (the Voth ep).
It seems possible that TOS could have done more two-part stories. (The brilliant "Menagerie" set the precedent, after all) It would really depend on the quality of the individual story.
You can look at stories like "Errand of Mercy", "Balance of Terror", "A Taste of Armageddon" or "Bread and Circuses" and see the potential for a more in-depth story that would have a less-"once-upon-a-planet" feel if there was more time to explore the subtleties of the plot and its setting. Essentially, it would be like making a two-hour movie out of any of these stories. The potential is definitely there, but a more in-depth story where the world(s) being visited would get more time and attention would be compelling, but would likely require a change in tone to accommodate the "bigger" story. It would be like comparing any one of these one-hour TOS eps to a movie from that era, like Planet of the Apes or Beneath the Planet of the Apes.
It's possible. You might even be able to fit it in the TOS format. "The Menagerie" certainly did. I would want to see entirely different stories than the "original" 79, though.
Here's a weird idea: "Mirror, Mirror" is Part 1, and STC's "Fairest of Them All" is Part 2. Works for me.
I would think it would be great if there was an expedition story, a real frontier story like "Metamorphosis" or "The Immunity Syndrome" or "What Are Little Girls Made Of?", but a two-part story with a darker tone. The larger Star Trek franchise teases us with possibilities of exploratory/frontier-type stories, but doesn't give us enough of them. Other examples would be TNG's "Where Silence Has Lease", "Contagion", "Tin Man", "The Ensigns of Command", "First Contact", or VOY's "Distant Origin" (the Voth ep).
The latter was the typical approach for '60s TV. It was kind of impressive for the time that TOS had as much continuity as it did.
Not entirely the case. While there may not have been a lot of expository dialogue that referenced past events, they did have quite a few aliens that made repeat appearances and retained the personality and experiences shown in their initial episodes.
Early Doctor Who did it that way too...although I´m not sure if that's comparable because back then Doctor Who was a serial format (each story consisting of about 5 episodes). Side note: Would TOS have worked in a serial format?
Actually most of their serials were 4 or 6 episodes, so maybe you're taking the average? The serials came in a variety of lengths, but the only 5-part ones were "The Dominators," "The Mind Robber," and "The Daemons." (And those first two only happened because "The Dominators" was shortened from the planned 6 episodes and thus "The Mind Robber" had to be lengthened accordingly.)
And when they wrapped up one serial, they usually would end with a cliffhanger or lead-in for the start of the next serial. Lost in Space did the same thing, wrapping up each episode with the teaser for the next. It was presumably emulating the way movie adventure serials in the '30s-'50s had been done. Batman also adopted this format in its third season; they dropped the original format of two episodes per week with a cliffhanger in the middle, and substituted a formula where most stories would be wrapped up in one episode, but would then have a tag introducing the next episode's villain, often in a way that was very clumsy, contrived, or contradictory with the actual next episode.
I don't think so. For one thing, there's the sheer size of space to consider. There would probably have to be a lot of travel time between episodes, maybe on the order of weeks. Not to mention time for injuries to heal, systems to be repaired, etc. And what about all the routine, trouble-free missions that would presumably be happening in between the dangerous and dramatic ones? Given all that, having 24-28 adventures in a single year is already implausibly crowded. Having one pick up immediately after the previous one would be way too contrived. But then, I have that problem with serial storytelling in general. (How come the TARDIS always lands in the middle of a dangerous situation, if it was traveling at random? What about all the times it logically would've landed someplace totally dull or uninhabited? Although fans have often speculated that the TARDIS was intentionally guiding the Doctor to where he was needed, and Neil Gaiman pretty much canonized that idea in "The Doctor's Wife.")
Some interesting thoughts on why they didn't do more two parters, the difficulty of syncing up the post production work so both episodes could be finished in time to be shown consecutively hadn't occurred to me before.
Of course, the advantage of two parters is that--even if they'd have never produced anything as economical as the Menagerie--there's still the advantage that you get to use your guest sets, props and costumes over two shows rather than just one. For a frequently cash strapped series it's perhaps surprising experiment with that a bit more.
But then (though as with everything with that book, take with a pinch of salt), These Are The Voyages claims NBC were pissed off at the Cage reuse. Throw in an apparently difficult wirting process (I don't think John D.F. Black was very happy at his version being thrown out was he?) and the whole experience might have left enough of a sour taste for no one to want to attempt another two parter afterwards.
I always think it's a shame I've only ever seen the Menagerie in the context of having also seen The Cage first. It must have looked extraordinary to people who weren't even aware of the first pilot, let alone having watched it. Drastically revamped sets and costumes for a flashback story into Mr. Spock's mysterious past! Watched as part of a marathon that starts with the pilots it becomes a Shades of Grey style clip show, only two episodes and clips from just one episode that wasn't that far beforehand. That's not the fault of the story of course as it was never meant to be watched like that, but it does change how it comes over.
I do think the framing device of the second part isn't as well done as the first either. They clearly want the regular characters to be doing more than just watching the SPACE telly, but the best anyone can come up with is to have something happen on screen, then cut back to the briefing room where Kirk, Spock or Mendez will basically repeat exactly what we've just seen for ourselves but as if they were making a clever deduction and solving a complex mystery plot ("Yes, Captain Pike had worked out..." and "Breeding stock?!" being especially bad "Recapping what you've just watched" moments). It doesn't really work.
There's also the odd bit where the Telosian's stop the transmission for no reason other than to provide an add break cliffhanger as well.
Of course, the Menagerie also depends on a close friendship and respect between Spock and Pike that The Cage doesn't really even hint at.
Of course, the advantage of two parters is that--even if they'd have never produced anything as economical as the Menagerie--there's still the advantage that you get to use your guest sets, props and costumes over two shows rather than just one. For a frequently cash strapped series it's perhaps surprising experiment with that a bit more.
But then (though as with everything with that book, take with a pinch of salt), These Are The Voyages claims NBC were pissed off at the Cage reuse. Throw in an apparently difficult wirting process (I don't think John D.F. Black was very happy at his version being thrown out was he?) and the whole experience might have left enough of a sour taste for no one to want to attempt another two parter afterwards.
I always think it's a shame I've only ever seen the Menagerie in the context of having also seen The Cage first. It must have looked extraordinary to people who weren't even aware of the first pilot, let alone having watched it. Drastically revamped sets and costumes for a flashback story into Mr. Spock's mysterious past! Watched as part of a marathon that starts with the pilots it becomes a Shades of Grey style clip show, only two episodes and clips from just one episode that wasn't that far beforehand. That's not the fault of the story of course as it was never meant to be watched like that, but it does change how it comes over.
I do think the framing device of the second part isn't as well done as the first either. They clearly want the regular characters to be doing more than just watching the SPACE telly, but the best anyone can come up with is to have something happen on screen, then cut back to the briefing room where Kirk, Spock or Mendez will basically repeat exactly what we've just seen for ourselves but as if they were making a clever deduction and solving a complex mystery plot ("Yes, Captain Pike had worked out..." and "Breeding stock?!" being especially bad "Recapping what you've just watched" moments). It doesn't really work.
There's also the odd bit where the Telosian's stop the transmission for no reason other than to provide an add break cliffhanger as well.
Of course, the Menagerie also depends on a close friendship and respect between Spock and Pike that The Cage doesn't really even hint at.
That's why I always recommend not starting a TOS watch-through with "The Cage"...it was never an actual broadcast episode, it was a home video extra that got released in the 80s...and you get the bulk of its story soon enough in "The Menagerie", which is better appreciated if you didn't just watch "The Cage" half a season back.
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