Finally going to step into TOS

[Praxius]

So far, you're in production order. The Wikipedia entry has them listed in airdate order on the main chart, but also has a smaller production order list: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Star_Trek:_The_Original_Series_episodes#Production_order

"The Enemy Within" is a personal favorite of mine. Half the plot is based on a continuity oversight that nobody will ever be able to explain to satisfaction in-universe (they didn't use the shuttlecraft because they hadn't been established onscreen yet), but it's such a great story anyway--The basic concept of Kirk as a split being with neither half being the whole Kirk is great; Shatner gives us a hammy tour de force; and we get the births of the classic "Big Three" dynamic and the Vulcan neck pinch.

If you're enjoying so far, you're in for some good stuff in the very near future--production episodes 7 and 9 are routinely put in Top 10 lists.

Well I'm certainly appreciating them.

In the past, I've watched TOS Movies a few times, but they for the most part seemed a bit lacking in some areas.... mostly I think is because the actors were older, thus less of the action judo chop fights you see in TOS. Then I saw the reboot movies and they're nothing but action action action.

Nothing wrong with that, I love the reboots.

But it does seem to all fit in.... as they were younger, they took bolder steps and actions. As they got older, they relied more on experience.

Similar to the Picard Complex.

Many consider Picard less of an action person and more of a thinker.... but this is the same guy who got in a bar fight with three Nausicaans and stabbed in the heart for his troubles when he was still in the Academy, who killed multiple terrorists on his ship (single-handedly) like a SpecOps guy.... and has gone through a lot of crap during the TNG series.... and movies.

As he got older, he wasn't all action.... but could pull that card when he needed to (Fighting Klingon Assassins while trying to help Worf clear his name)

Same with Kirk. We see him in the Reboots as going more action than thinking (Younger).... in TOS he's kind of in between, and in TOS Movies, he's older and goes more for wit.... while still tossing in a punch here and there.

As for the Enemy Within, you get the first Vulcan Neck Pinch, and the first reference to "Phasers Set to Stun"

It's all pretty interesting.

 

[Mr. Hengist]

You'll probably like the various "spin off" Star Trek series better than TOS if....


you prefer "Cagney and Lacey" to "Dirty Harry"

you prefer "Brokeback Mountain" to "Stagecoach"

you prefer Jennifer Aniston to Marilyn Monroe

you prefer wine coolers to single malt scotch

you prefer Neil Gaman to Ellison, Sturgeon, Heinlein

you prefer women to wear pants suits rather than miniskirts

you prefer Stephen King to Rod Serling

you regard Buffy as more badass than Van Helsing or Blade

when getting a beverage from your nearest replicator you prefer "Earl Grey tea" rather than "Pabst Blue Ribbon"

you prefer CGI special effects to Revel plastic model special effects

you prefer to drive a Prius rather than a Shelby Cobra

you prefer to be spanked by Janeway rather than assimilated by 7 of 9

you prefer to do the noble thing rather than constantly violating the Prime Directive by having sex with alien chicks

 

[bbailey861]

It's all pretty interesting.

Very glad to hear you say that. I'd love to be seeing it again for the first time.

 

[Mr. Hengist]

I remember seeing "Mantrap" when it first aired in the 60's. I believe it was the first regular season show aired although a few shows in on the production schedule.

When the woman with her hands on Kirk's face turns around and you finally see that "reveal" of the true appearance of the salt creature, it scared the cr*p out of me!!!!

 

[One Lucky Red Shirt]

I remember seeing "Mantrap" when it first aired in the 60's. I believe it was the first regular season show aired although a few shows in on the production schedule.

When the woman with her hands on Kirk's face turns around and you finally see that "reveal" of the true appearance of the salt creature, it scared the cr*p out of me!!!!

I remember being a kid in the late 80s and the aliens at the beginning of Spectre of the Gun freaked me out lol. Now i look at it like nah that never freaked me out lol

 

[Warped9]

Many years ago there was a stretch when I watched next to no Trek. I was still a diehard TOS fan, but I was largely going by memory. At some point I picked up the DVD boxed sets (when they were released in the clamshell editions) and revisted each and every episode.

I found in many respects I appreciated the show even more as an adult than as a youth. I found a helluva lot of it--the vast majority in fact--holds up very well. There was an incredible amount of creativity and good thinking behind it. Even the third season comes off much better than most seem to think.

There are a few clunkers along the way and some mistakes and less-than-impressive moments, but overall TOS got far more right than it got wrong.

One thing in particular I love is its dynamic and energy and style. To me the spinoff series are largely boring in comparison. And no subsequent series can match TOS in terms of music. It's no contest. The orchestral music we hear in TOS came along before it was heard in film and certainly long before Star Wars.

 

[EnriqueH]

It's amazing how the show stays the same yet how the show changes from decade to decade.

As a kid, it was about adventure.

As a teenager/young adult, it was about ideas.

In my late 20s/early 30s, I'm seeing more of the character relationships.

Now, I'm seeing the growth of Spock throughout the years. He's still on a pedestal, but now I finally understand what Kirk meant by Spock being the "most human" of all the souls he has encountered...

 

[Praxius]

Interesting to read your guy's feedback.

Over the weekend we got up to "Balance of Terror" - First Romulan Encounter.

It was pretty good. The whole Submarine approach is definitively "Early" in it's approach to the Cloaking system (ie: whispering and trying to not make a sound) But it was cool to see the "Early Tech" of Cloaking and how flawed it was compared to TNG/DS9 era cloaking.

It was also interesting to see Sarek as the first Romulan, lol.

Re: EnrigueH

I think when I was a kid, I saw TOS as a dated Space Cowboy / Roman Empire / Shakespeare Theatre TV show from the 60's.

As a teen, I got into TNG and DS9 and still saw TOS as a dated cardboard box-designed cheap show that wouldn't hold any relevance to "Today's" technology and progress. I appreciated that it brought about TNG and DS9, but couldn't get past the aged production.

Now in my early 30's and after killing TNG/DS9 by watching them over and over again, I wanted to finally give TOS the chance I should have years ago.

So far, I'm enjoying the show. Some of it makes me laugh due to the aged/limitations of the 60's, but I can still appreciate how much they did with the show considering their limitations.

Compared to many other shows from the time, it's three cuts above.

My mom said when she was a kid, she used to watch TOS on the TV in Black and White on the old farm.

 

[Mr. Hengist]

Within the limitations of budget, primitive special effects, and hourly serial commercial television in the 1960's, "Balance of Terror" has a lot of interesting aspects to it.

It's obviously (to me, anyway) intended to be reminiscent of a film like "Silent Running" i.e. a WWII scenario with a submarine vs. a sub hunter/destroyer. Or anachronistically similar to "Das Boot" (which was after but a similar scenario).

Also, you can see that the idea behind the plot of "Balance" is similar to a large part of the plot of TWOK, the similar battle in the Mutara Nebula.

We also get to see a very interesting aspect of Spock's character development. He's not just a block of wood, he's a very sexual being, and apparently at least from the romulan commanders wet-panties response, has a lot of mojo. He's also capable of lying and deceiving for a higher cause (his mission) although Vulcans are not supposed to be able to be capable of that.

 

[Mr. Hengist]

Some of it makes me laugh due to the aged/limitations of the 60's

I'm sure your grandkids will feel the same way about you someday.

 

[scotpens]

Within the limitations of budget, primitive special effects, and hourly serial commercial television in the 1960's, "Balance of Terror" has a lot of interesting aspects to it.

It's obviously (to me, anyway) intended to be reminiscent of a film like "Silent Running" i.e. a WWII scenario with a submarine vs. a sub hunter/destroyer. Or anachronistically similar to "Das Boot" (which was after but a similar scenario).

The episode is basically a reworking of The Enemy Below.

. . . We also get to see a very interesting aspect of Spock's character development. He's not just a block of wood, he's a very sexual being, and apparently at least from the romulan commanders wet-panties response, has a lot of mojo. He's also capable of lying and deceiving for a higher cause (his mission) although Vulcans are not supposed to be able to be capable of that.

You're mixing up "Balance of Terror" (season 1) with "The Enterprise Incident" (season 3). Or did you leave out a paragraph?

 

[J.T.B.]

It's obviously (to me, anyway) intended to be reminiscent of a film like "Silent Running" i.e. a WWII scenario with a submarine vs. a sub hunter/destroyer.

A quick run-down:

The Enemy Below: Robert Mitchum as a US destroyer escort captain pursuing a German submarine and its honorable commander. "Balance of Terror" is basically this movie cut down to an hour and moved into space.

Run Silent, Run Deep: Clark Gable as a US submarine captain obsessed with going after a Japanese destroyer. There are some elements of it in "Balance," and some more in TMP, also directed by Robert Wise.

Silent Running: Bruce Dern as a space botanist who likes plants and robots better than people and goes off the deep end. His greenhouse ships later turned up on Battlestar Galactica.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

It's obviously (to me, anyway) intended to be reminiscent of a film like "Silent Running" i.e. a WWII scenario with a submarine vs. a sub hunter/destroyer.

A quick run-down:

The Enemy Below: Robert Mitchum as a US destroyer escort captain pursuing a German submarine and its honorable commander. "Balance of Terror" is basically this movie cut down to an hour and moved into space.

Run Silent, Run Deep: Clark Gable as a US submarine captain obsessed with going after a Japanese destroyer. There are some elements of it in "Balance," and some more in TMP, also directed by Robert Wise.

Silent Running: Bruce Dern as a space botanist who likes plants and robots better than people and goes off the deep end. His greenhouse ships later turned up on Battlestar Galactica.

Also, Silent Running was made after TOS folded. The other two were made before.

 

[BeatleJWOL]

This thread makes me want to watch TOS again!

I remember speaking to some die hard TNG/DS9 fans about TOS and they said that it was like a kids show back then and that the technology is outdated even now let alone two hundred odd years ahead!

The original series was mostly written with very important messages back in the day! Alot of later Treks seem to spend a few episodes each series being trapped on this deck or that or worrying about why a child isn't eating her dinner or something!

...yeah, that thing you're complaining about? you're doing it too.

 

[Praxius]

Some of it makes me laugh due to the aged/limitations of the 60's

I'm sure your grandkids will feel the same way about you someday.

You taking things personal?

Some of TNG does the same for me..... it's not a stab at TOS or TNG, it's just a reality.

There are a number of things I used to love and then look back at it and laugh, wondering what I was thinking.

 

[Harvey]

The Enemy Below: Robert Mitchum as a US destroyer escort captain pursuing a German submarine and its honorable commander. "Balance of Terror" is basically this movie cut down to an hour and moved into space.

Run Silent, Run Deep: Clark Gable as a US submarine captain obsessed with going after a Japanese destroyer. There are some elements of it in "Balance," and some more in TMP, also directed by Robert Wise.

I know I've seen one of these, but it's been so long that I'll be damned if I can remember which.

I'd like to carve out some time to watch both of them at some point.