Hey, I never noticed that before....

[Captain Rob]

Well at least the Gorn wasn't wearing a mini skirt and go-go boots.
It would have been interesting if the Gorn Captain turned out to be female.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

I first saw the Gorn in an end-credits still as a kid. It caught my imagination from the get-go.

 

[Tenacity]

Well at least the Gorn wasn't wearing a mini skirt and go-go boots.

Well, it's kind of wearing a miniskirt.

 

[CrazyMatt]

"The Omega Glory"... in Act I where Kirk uses the intercom to see if there's anyone left alive from the Exeter crew, we get a brief still shot of an empty Engineering section (already an oddity because that's where Kirk is)... but if you look to the left side of the shot, there is a black cabinet in the shot that sure looks like the side of the M-5.

If this is correct, obviously it's a reused shot from "The Ultimate Computer." Or maybe the Exeter also had the M-5 installed (I say that with tongue planted firmly in cheek).

 

[Mytran]

Proof positive that there is more than one Engine Room aboard a starship!

 

[johnnybear]

Oh, I thought the Gorn was a bit cheesy looking even back in 1967. I mean, it's a guy in a lizard suit. And the tunic worn over the lizard suit (necessary to hide the zippers and ventilation holes) reminded me of those "mod" dresses designed by Paco Rabanne.

But, hey, it's all about suspension of disbelief, right?

Not sure how old you were back in 67,Scot but I was on my tod alone in the house at the age of eight (which is illegal in this country now to leave a child of that age alone) but I was stunned by him and so wished that they had returned in the next series but of course they never did!
JB
(even my late friend Ian, who was no Trek fan liked the episode and asked me if I had it on video in 1983 but at that time I sadly didn't and had to wait until the end of 84 to record it!
JB

 

[JonnyQuest037]

Proof positive that there is more than one Engine Room aboard a starship!

Well, at least on the Exeter, anyway.

 

[johnnybear]

"The Omega Glory"... in Act I where Kirk uses the intercom to see if there's anyone left alive from the Exeter crew, we get a brief still shot of an empty Engineering section (already an oddity because that's where Kirk is)... but if you look to the left side of the shot, there is a black cabinet in the shot that sure looks like the side of the M-5.

If this is correct, obviously it's a reused shot from "The Ultimate Computer." Or maybe the Exeter also had the M-5 installed (I say that with tongue planted firmly in cheek).

Maybe that's the real reason it was adrift in Omega Four's orbit then?
JB

 

[CrazyMatt]

OK, so now this gets seriously freaky...

I went back and re-watched "The Ultimate Computer" (TUC) to ensure what I posted above was correct--that the still shot of the Exeter engineering section sans Kirk and McCoy in "The Omega Glory" (TOG) included the M-5 and was thus lifted from TUC... making it seem like the M-5 was installed aboard the Exeter too (and maybe even programmed with Tracey's engrams!).

So anyway, I watched TUC, and lo and behold I (initially) concluded I was WRONG. The side of the M-5 was painted white (or light gray), not black like in the image in TOG.

I began figuring what I'd say in my Mea (7) Culpa post. But then I discovered the most amazing thing!

In the scene above where poor Ensign Harper (wearing a red shirt, naturally) gets fried while trying to interrupt the M-5's power tap on the warp engines, the side of the M-5 is still white/light gray. Yet, when we see it next, right after the briefing room scene... well lordy lord, the side of the M-5 has turned BLACK!

So I guess I was right after all, but I never realized what an amazing machine the M-5 was... even able to change its own color, sort of like a chameleon. If only my laptop or phone could do that!

 

[Mytran]

Wow, M5 really is great; Daystrom was right!

 

[ZapBrannigan]

Yet, when we see it next, right after the briefing room scene... well lordy lord, the side of the M-5 has turned BLACK!

I'd say it's a change in the lighting. "The Omega Glory" used the shot with no key light on the computer box.

 

[Timo]

Worse than that, the Romulan Commander intentionally averting her eyes from where the cloaking device should be until its absence is called to her attention.

Consistent with "The Emperor's New Cloak": naturally the cloaking device itself becomes invisible when operational! (That is, unless it's hooked up by an alien nincompoop whose cross-wirings make it fritz out in fifteen minutes, and for good.)

They really needed to apply one of 'em hexagon grilleworks here to separate the actors and the prop in a way that wouldn't inconvenience the audience...

Timo Salonbiemi

 

[Gary7]

It annoys me no end when my family see The Gorn and just laugh at him! When I was a kid he scared the life out of me and still has that awesomeness to this day I believe!
JB

Yep, as a small child I found the Gorn frightening as well, especially when he grabbed Kirk and pulled him close to his chest. I really expected him to lean forward and tear a huge chunk of flesh from Kirk's right shoulder. Every time seeing the Gorn slowly approaching, just feeling this overwhelming urge to run... run anywhere and hide!
I'd say the one Star Trek TOS episode that frightened me the most was The Lights of Zatar. That ultra creepy possession effect with the gargling voice, blank eyes... and that woman's face changing colors. I could only imagine the terror Mira must have felt. The music made it extra spooky as well, not to mention her body floating in that pressure chamber. Had hallmarks of "The Exorcist". I avoided that episode for some years, because it felt so disturbing.

 

[JonnyQuest037]

So I guess I was right after all, but I never realized what an amazing machine the M-5 was... even able to change its own color, sort of like a chameleon. If only my laptop or phone could do that!

M5 turned to the Dark Side.

 

[Captain Rob]

Seeing those pictures of the engine room set makes me think. I wish I could ask the person(s) that designed it what those pipe thingies and side structures behind the grille were supposed to be. And what the reasoning behind the curved ceiling was.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

Seeing those pictures of the engine room set makes me think. I wish I could ask the person(s) that designed it what those pipe thingies and side structures behind the grille were supposed to be. And what the reasoning behind the curved ceiling was.

Just guessing but could the curved ceiling be the inside nearest the hull?

And those slanty pipes could be injectors

 

[scotpens]

Seeing those pictures of the engine room set makes me think. I wish I could ask the person(s) that designed it what those pipe thingies and side structures behind the grille were supposed to be. And what the reasoning behind the curved ceiling was.

I'm not sure about the pipe thingies, but IIRC, the curved ceiling was because art director Matt Jefferies intended the Engineering section to be in the upper part of the cylindrical secondary hull. Of course, the scale got all thrown out of whack when the Enterprise's original putative length of 500-something feet was nearly doubled to 947 feet.

 

[Forbin]

Yes, the ceiling is certainly the inside of the top of the secondary hull.
The giant tubes behind the grille, to me, are connected to similar tubes that run up the pylons to the engines. They may be warp plasma conduits running to and from the dilithium reaction chamber.

 

[alensatemybuick1]

I've always thought it amazing the degree of thought Jefferies put into making the interior arrangements of the Enterprise match up with the exterior, esp. as most of that would be lost on the average viewer. I've mentioned before he "observation corridor" set (used only once) meant to overlook the hangar deck, but the curved ceiling of the engineering set is another good example of this. Of course, Andrew Probert took it to a whole different level with the refit Enterprise, and as a kid I marveled at the David Kimble cutaway Enterprise poster that came out with that film.

I've wondered if Jefferies at the time of TOS and Probert and others at the time of TMP worked under any imperative by Roddenberry to make the scales / interior arrangements plausible, or if they took that upon themselves (perhaps out of their sense of love for the subject), at least to the degree they did. I recall a version of the TOS writers guide indicating that the Enterprise's saucer section alone contained 20 decks, suggesting Roddenberry and/or whoever else wrote it didn't give as much thought to scale (or presumably how the sets fit within the ship) as Jefferies did....and yet evidence exists that Roddenberry had very specific ideas for modifying the filming miniatures from their 2nd pilot configuration to what we saw in the regular series, suggesting an "attention to detail" that was very important to him.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

According to MA, "Sevrin was a Vulcan in an early version of the script." (of "The Way To Eden")

I'm guessing his name was a holdover from that script, then? One name only, S name...So basically, we could have gotten Sybok a lot sooner?