Koloth and Kor

[johnnybear]

I wonder how the show would have been if Koloth had of become a recurring klingon enemy during season two? I know they wanted Kor back but john Colicos wasn't available! Also Gene Roddenberry originally wanted kor as the Klingon on Neural supplying weapons to the Hill people in A Private Little War but it stretched the credibility of the story apparently! Can't see how if they wanted to make Koloth a semi regular as well?
JB

 

[Warped9]

Having Kor, or any Klingon, return for one more outing could have worked. But having them appear again and again would have been stretching credibility.

Gene Coon is the one who would have liked for Koloth to return on a semi-recurring basis.

 

[johnnybear]

Thanks for that, Warped!
I think if Kor had returned in a similar type of story to Errand then it would have been great but I couldn't see Koloth in an action style episode!
JB

 

[Warped9]

I think seeing Kor in "The Trouble With Tribbles" could have added an extra touch of weight or menace to the story. We know Kor has a sense of humour as evidenced in moments of "Errand Of Mercy" so he could have worked well enough in TTWT. Koloth comes off as so lightweight that there is no sense of menace whatsoever.

Of course the whole story was meant largely as comedy which was a lighter direction Gene Coon liked to see. It was seen again and even more broadly in "I, Mudd" and "A Piece Of The Action" and much to Gene Roddenberry's displeasure. Roddenberry, Fontana, Justman and also Nimoy enjoyed light humour, but they did not like pushing it too far on Star Trek. Afterward TOS dialled the humour back and never again did another comedy toned episode.

And "Spock's Brain" doesn't count because it is played straight and was never intended as comedy.

 

[BillJ]

I was more than happy to see different Klingons in each episode. It gave them the sense of actually being a race of people with many differing types of personalities.

 

[johnnybear]

And "Spock's Brain" doesn't count because it is played straight and was never intended as comedy.

Says who? LoL
Actually I never thought Spock's Brain was that bad! As a kid it was kind of scary in the way that he moved around with that thing on his head but the most scary thing was his green medical uniform I always thought!
JB

 

[f14peter]

And "Spock's Brain" doesn't count because it is played straight and was never intended as comedy.

Says who? LoL
Actually I never thought Spock's Brain was that bad! As a kid it was kind of scary in the way that he moved around with that thing on his head but the most scary thing was his green medical uniform I always thought!
JB

I just watched that ep the other day. While nowhere near one of my favorites, I don't think it was so horrible either. In an attempt to emphasize the limited mental capacities of the Sigma Draconites, Cronin wrote their dialog to a pretty juvenile level, which I think gives the impression of the episode as a whole being "dumbed-down" and Daniels directed it like their characters were 9 years old. [/SIZE]

 

[Warped9]

Lee Cronin was a pen name for Gene Coon.

 

[Maurice]

It was either Justman or Roddenberry who complained that it made the universe seem "small" to run into the same Klingon again. It's in some of the memos Harvey shared with me. I'm glad they didn't do it.

 

[Harvey]

It was either Justman or Roddenberry who complained that it made the universe seem "small" to run into the same Klingon again. It's in some of the memos Harvey shared with me. I'm glad they didn't do it.

It's a Bob Justman memo, written about "A Private Little War," which was originally scripted* to feature the return of Kor from "Errand of Mercy."

Here we are in the outer reaches of our galaxy and who should Captain Kirk run into, but good old Kor – an adversary that he has encountered before and with whom he has been unable to get very far. Just think of it – billions of stars and millions of Class M-type planets and who should he run into, but a fella he has had trouble with before. No wonder Kor doesn’t recognize him at first. The coincidence is so astounding, that he must feel certain that it couldn’t possibly have happened.

*As an aside, is "scripted" technically correct, since I'm referring to the first draft story outline, not a teleplay? I think about these things...

 

[ZapBrannigan]

I strongly agree with the Justman memo.

Moreover, falling back on one recurring Klingon guest for multiple episodes would have been terrible. It would be unserious, like a recurring villain on Batman or The Wild West, and with no excuse for it given the size of the galaxy.

But if Star Trek had been serial rather than episodic, and a story arc took place in one solar system somewhere, that would be different. That would be Deep Space Nine territory, where recurring villains worked very well.