I just watched Spock's Brain for the first time...

[K-Star]

...and it was actually pretty damn HILARIOUS because of how cheesy it was!!! I kinda wonder why so many people hate this episode (I don't think I've heard a single positive thing about it from anyone around here).

Gotta admit, some of it was quite groan-worthy though.

 

[Captain Al]

It's been a year or two since I saw it last, but my take on it was that I almost liked the first half, i.e., the first two acts. Those weren't bad. But the second two acts . . . Dear God, I wish I could get some of what they were smoking.

 

[JustKate]

Quite a few people rather like the cheesiness of it, actually. But golly, it is a lot of cheese to eat in one gulp.

 

[KimMH]

Love me that Trek Cheese!

 

[QuasarVM]

Spock's Brain is a GREAT episode!

Do you think I'd have the avatar I have if I didn't luv it?

Shee-yah! As-if!!!

Seriously, it's a great and, above all, ENTERTAINING episode!

My hat is off to Gene Coon for writing it. In fact, he should've put his real name on it.

 

[Cakes488]

...and it was actually pretty damn HILARIOUS because of how cheesy it was!!! I kinda wonder why so many people hate this episode (I don't think I've heard a single positive thing about it from anyone around here).

Gotta admit, some of it was quite groan-worthy though.

You look very young...I'm glad to see you tuning in to TOS!

Yeah there's a few spots that are groan worthy...but I still like the episode..it was a good concept......maybe it didn't deliver 100% but i still do like it....of course in my eyes this show can do no wrong so they'll be plenty of other people who disagree with me 100%

I know this episode is considered by many to be a pimple on the ass of TOS. But if this is the worst that TOS has to offer...I think we're doin pretty good.

 

[CaptainStoner]

...and it was actually pretty damn HILARIOUS because of how cheesy it was!!! I kinda wonder why so many people hate this episode (I don't think I've heard a single positive thing about it from anyone around here).

Gotta admit, some of it was quite groan-worthy though.

You look very young...I'm glad to see you tuning in to TOS!

Yeah there's a few spots that are groan worthy...but I still like the episode..it was a good concept......maybe it didn't deliver 100% but i still do like it....of course in my eyes this show can do no wrong so they'll be plenty of other people who disagree with me 100%

I know this episode is considered by many to be a pimple on the ass of TOS. But if this is the worst that TOS has to offer...I think we're doin pretty good.

With ST at least they were out there, taking the chances, trying to do good sci-fi. Which is, I think, why even a "miss" is better (to a sci-fi fan) than something less conceptually inspired -
I haven't seen Spock's Brain in a long time. McCoy is seriously tweaked out in this one. Sometimes McCoy gets the bug-eyes, and he gets them a lot in this one. Maybe some weird drug he'd come across.

 

[Praetor]

'Spock's Brain' is like a fine Colby Jack cheese.

 

[Ziz]

..it was a good concept......maybe it didn't deliver 100%

Nimoy even said that at one point - the show worked on paper but something got lost in the translation to the screen.

 

[Praetor]

If they wanted it to be meaningful, they could have looked further at the moral implications of a brain-less Spock body and whether or not the removal of his brain really constituted 'killing' him even though his brain was still alive in the machine, as a sort of veiled examination of organ transplants...

 

[QuasarVM]

If they wanted it to be meaningful, they could have looked further at the moral implications of a brain-less Spock body and whether or not the removal of his brain really constituted 'killing' him even though his brain was still alive in the machine, as a sort of veiled examination of organ transplants...

Didn't they do something like that in the Voyager episode..."Phage"?

Or the one where Worf got his back-ectomy "Ethics"?

Oh well, I may be off the mark cos I've only seen each of those ONCE.

 

[Xerxes1979]

Spock's Brain is miles ahead of Threshold.

 

[Cakes488]

..it was a good concept......maybe it didn't deliver 100%

Nimoy even said that at one point - the show worked on paper but something got lost in the translation to the screen.

Ok but not THAT much was lost in translation....hence the popularity of this little show that could!

 

[Captain Robert April]

Spock's Brain is a GREAT episode!

Do you think I'd have the avatar I have if I didn't luv it?

Shee-yah! As-if!!!

Seriously, it's a great and, above all, ENTERTAINING episode!

My hat is off to Gene Coon for writing it. In fact, he should've put his real name on it.

I think there were some contractural issues that prevented him from using his real name.

As for the episode itself, the legend is that he wrote it as a joke, and to fulfill an obligation to the show. The problem is that Fred Freiberger didn't get the joke and took the thing seriously.

The concept could've yielded something a lot less groan inducing, especially in the hands of a writer and director more attuned to horror, which wouldn't be much of a stretch at all for this premise. Instead, we got something approaching Lost in Space silliness.

Oh well....it is better than Threshold...

 

[Kelso]

If they wanted it to be meaningful, they could have looked further at the moral implications of a brain-less Spock body and whether or not the removal of his brain really constituted 'killing' him even though his brain was still alive in the machine, as a sort of veiled examination of organ transplants...

I tend to view it as a satirical jab at the misogynistic fears surrounding the women's lib movement.

Granted, I might be way off-base (as I wasn't alive at the time) and could be attributing moral implications to the episode that were never intended.

At any rate, it's a lot of fun.

 

[Praetor]

If they wanted it to be meaningful, they could have looked further at the moral implications of a brain-less Spock body and whether or not the removal of his brain really constituted 'killing' him even though his brain was still alive in the machine, as a sort of veiled examination of organ transplants...

Didn't they do something like that in the Voyager episode..."Phage"?

Or the one where Worf got his back-ectomy "Ethics"?

Oh well, I may be off the mark cos I've only seen each of those ONCE.

Moreso in the former than the latter, IMO. Of course, neither involved the 'what constitutes life?' questions that 'Spock's Brain' might've asked...

I tend to view it as a satirical jab at the misogynistic fears surrounding the women's lib movement.

Granted, I might be way off-base (as I wasn't alive at the time) and could be attributing moral implications to the episode that were never intended.

At any rate, it's a lot of fun.

I've never thought of it quite that way, but reading that now, it makes a lot of sense and I actually like the episode more for it. It's the perfect companion piece to 'Turnabout Intruder.'

 

[Tikkun]

...and it was actually pretty damn HILARIOUS because of how cheesy it was!!! I kinda wonder why so many people hate this episode (I don't think I've heard a single positive thing about it from anyone around here).

Gotta admit, some of it was quite groan-worthy though.

Sadly, it may have been the episode that killed TOS. Cancellation after the second season - then the first successful letter campaign to bring back a show - the media was reporting on it, so all sorts of newbies tuned in to see - drum roll - Spock's Brain.

Needless to say, they tuned out again rather quickly.

 

[Vance]

Nimoy even said that at one point - the show worked on paper but something got lost in the translation to the screen.

As I remember, it wasn't supposed to be played as straight as it was, and was one of the episodes to really suffer in the 'transition' period where cast and crew were still fighting. Kirk and McCoy were supposed to be more aware of the absurdity of the situation, and act accordingly.. and that's what was lost.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

"Spock's Brain" is good cheesy fun.

 

[Smiley]

It gave us the immortal line, "Brain and brain! What is brain?" For that alone, it deserves a special place in our hearts.