I Don’t Watch This Episode Until…

[Spock's Barber]

As for "The Alternative Factor", it is next on my TOS rewatch list--unfortunately.

What do you think about this, Ash?

 

[Just a Bill]

I think they both have to get in that newspaper corridor together or the solution doesn't work, and if they didn't both go in there, the destructive events of blurry star graphics appearing at random and generating turbulence and wind (??) would continue to screw up everyone's weekend. Ingalls didn’t explain any of this, of course.

He surely did not, nor did GR (famous for massive rewrites) fix it. So I guess the headcanon would be that if bad Lazarus is in the corridor alone, he's out of place and the universe(s) are still out of whack, and this one man being stuck in purgatory, away from his normal universe, would still be enough to eventually shake our universe apart. Or both? Anyway, no matter how I try to head-canon it (and I have), I always seem to be self-rebutted by new questions. For example, if the problem is not really the two Lazari touching but rather the evil one being disconnected from his home universe — which, IIRC, is our universe (good Lazarus is the one from the negative uni, right?) — then why not just neck-pinch him, slit his throat while he's in our universe, and send good Lazarus back to his own. Everything's now right as rain, all parties are re-realigned with their source, and there's just a tiny database update in the form of one dead lunatic.

Brown, though, gave a good accounting of himself, picking up Shatner's probably 165-170 pounds almost as easily as Ted Cassidy.

Oh man, I totally forgot to credit Brown on my pros list. Dude put in an epic performance, under terrible conditions and with about zero prep time. There should probably be some kind of special "Is There an Actor in the House?" award for him, for Saul Rubinek in TNG The Most Toys, and maybe for Kate Mulgrew (Janeway's unlikability was on the writers, not the player). Anyway TAF's script was mostly a notch or two above Warm Trucker Bomb, but Brown committed to the role like it was Shakespeare in the Globe.

 

[johnnybear]

Why would you show a Turkey Trek episode to family and friends who are only causally interested?

Well this was back in 1980 where we could only watch what was being shown but I was recording it onto tape but had forgotten just how awful it really was.
JB

 

[Metryq]

Well this was back in 1980

That tells me enough right there. Kids born in an age of high-def Internet and other instant gratification will never know the satisfaction of seeing a show when you had to wait for it... or the agony of finding out it was a Turkey Trek episode.

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"No, it's great, really!"

 

[Qonfounding Ghooool]

"Spock's Brain" should have been called 'Spock's Mind' and it would have been far more credible and less ridiculous if they had taken his consciousness and left a shell (like Uhura in "The Changeling")

but physical removal of the brain???? the pinnacle of stupidity

On the plus side, more than almost a decade later, we'd get just that in "Mind Stealers from Outer Space", a two-part installment of the 1970s show "Wonder Woman". Which is hokey at times, eminently successful at others, forgot the continuity of Andros' first visit but it's vague enough that anyone can fill in the gaps to make it work, and - go figure - mind the one bit of obligatory Star Wars homage, but overlook that there's still some great tension and suspense. Just overlook some stunt doubles that didn't quite convince on a low-resolution glass CRT TV set with poor dot pitch, never mind how awesome the blu-ray transfer was (despite too much digital noise reduction, but I've seen far worse). Plus, all involved (actors, writer, et al) play it out seriously and that makes it easier to buy into their universe.

Best of all, it's written by Stephen Kandel, creator of Harry Mudd and writer of two TOS episodes and an episode of TAS... among other TV shows.

/digression

 

[Warped9]

There are some TOS episodes I don’t enjoy watching, but I would watch them if there were a few changes.

Example : I don’t really like Plato’s Stepchildren, but if the scenes with Kirk horsing around and Spock dancing were left on the cutting room floor, I could tolerate this episode.

Do you have any similar thoughts on any TOS episode that could be bearable with 1-2 edits/changes?

This scene underlines the abject humiliation the Enterprise crew are subjected to. It clearly illustrates how monstrous the powerful are in how they manipulate and exploit the powerless. Yes, it’s disturbing and thats exactly the point.

The telekinesis of the Platonians is a perfect representation of the invisible influence the powerful in society wield to get what they want, thinking nothing of humiliating or casually destroying anyone even on a whim.

 

[Talos IV]

Do you have any similar thoughts on any TOS episode that could be bearable with 1-2 edits/changes?

"The Ultimate Computer" is an episode I wish I liked more, because I think the story is very good.

Watched it last night for the first time in years, and the episode still doesn't do it for me. Some awkward/clumsy direction by John Meredyth Lucas. (The late-second-season reduced filming schedule definitely shows here.). And D.C. Fontana's script isn't her best work, especially the rushed conclusion.

Somehow, even while M-5 was killing multiple people, I never really felt the danger. I'm still thinking about what I would change about this episode, to make me like it more.

 

[johnnybear]

Yes as a young fan in 1980 I recorded the episode on video tape and was thrilled at the three starships attempting to battle the Enterprise in the simulated games. But having seen it so many times over the years I find it a bit dull but compared to later Trek and especially modern Trek it's absolutely brilliant!!!
JB