Kirk As Spock; Spock As Kirk???

[KirksStuntMan]

Okay, suppose that Shatner had left the series after Season One or Two. Could they have gotten by with promoting Spock to captain and bringing on a new Science Officer for Nimoy to play against?

I'm not sure how it would have worked. IMO, fans were used to seeing Shatner as Kirk, and the chemistry of the show would have suffered greatly with his departure. Issac Asimov is the person who pointed out to GR that the interactions between McCoy (emotion), Spock (logic), and Kirk (decision) is what made the characters so interesting.

Captain Spock?

or ?????

 

[erastus25]

Okay, suppose that Shatner had left the series after Season One or Two. Could they have gotten by with promoting Spock to captain and bringing on a new Science Officer for Nimoy to play against?

I'm not sure how it would have worked. IMO, fans were used to seeing Shatner as Kirk, and the chemistry of the show would have suffered greatly with his departure. Issac Asimov is the person who pointed out to GR that the interactions between McCoy (emotion), Spock (logic), and Kirk (decision) is what made the characters so interesting.

Captain Spock?

or ?????

Thumbs down. The whole point of Kirk was that he was a blending of Spock's logic, Bones' humanity, and his own command spirit, IMO. Elevating Spock and having a logical center to the show would have killed some of the humanity and completely changed the dynamic. It might ahve worked in later spin-offs but I just don't see it being successful during the nascent years of the franchise.

 

[KirksStuntMan]

Thumbs down. The whole point of Kirk was that he was a blending of Spock's logic, Bones' humanity, and his own command spirit, IMO. Elevating Spock and having a logical center to the show would have killed some of the humanity and completely changed the dynamic. It might ahve worked in later spin-offs but I just don't see it being successful during the nascent years of the franchise.

Agreed. Shatner/Kirk was the driving force of the series and without him ST would have been a mere shadow of itself. The same goes for television shows like Hawaii Five-O without Steve McGarrett or Wild, Wild West without James West, etc.

 

[Ziriath]

I'd like to see more Spock in command though- I liked him in TUC so much. Too bad he did not have a chance to perform a Kirk-style flaming speech.
I also love happy Spock in The Cage and WNMHGB.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Shatner's Spock would have changed how we view Vulcans, that's for sure. It would have been hard to take them seriously as being "unemotional" vs. being highly emotional and repressive, with the repression having very mixed results. But then again, they are highly emotional and repressive, so maybe it wouldn't have been that different after all.

 

[TigerOfDarkness]

Okay, suppose that Shatner had left the series after Season One or Two. Could they have gotten by with promoting Spock to captain and bringing on a new Science Officer for Nimoy to play against?

I think they would have brought in a new captain and kept the other characters as they were.

 

[Elder Knight]

I think they would have brought in a new captain and kept the other characters as they were.

I'm the new Captain. As you were.

(Er, smoke 'em if you got 'em. Just kidding.)

 

[Bones_McCoy21]

I don't think Kirk could wait 7 years to mate.

How right you are.