Most vivid color episode of TOS

[HGN2001]

I've always been impressed with the vivid colors in evidence on STAR TREK: The Original Series. We know that the network (NBC) wanted it that way to help sell RCA Color TVs. As I looked at last night's episode that aired on MeTV, I think I could nominate "The Apple" as perhaps the most colorful episode. The opening scene features a mix of red, blue, yellow and green shirted crewpersons beaming down to a planet with bright green vegetation, colorful flowers, and a red sky. That looked great even on the crappy CRT's of the day.

 

[ZapBrannigan]

I like this topic! I remember very well getting our first color TV set, circa 1973, with a rotary roof antenna the size of a golf cart to pull in every station perfectly. And for me, the whole rig served no higher purpose than to see Star Trek in color and drink in every brilliant drop of it.

And I have always said I think the "best" color is in The Lights of Zetar. Not for the Zetaran animation fx, but for the people and sets. I suspect the 35mm negative reels were from an especially good batch that week (it had to be Kodak or Fuji), and also Jan Shutan was in a brand-new costume that had been tailored for her. It wasn't faded from dry cleanings, and it fit. Jimmy's shirt was new and newly dyed, too. All the stars looked great.

 

[FredH]

All I know is, the colors always popped more back in the old days when we had TVs that actually *glowed* instead of washing everything out…

 

[Methuselah Flint]

I like this topic! I remember very well getting our first color TV set, circa 1973, with a rotary roof antenna the size of a golf cart to pull in every station perfectly. And for me, the whole rig served no higher purpose than to see Star Trek in color and drink in every brilliant drop of it.

And I have always said I think the "best" color is in The Lights of Zetar. Not for the Zetaran animation fx, but for the people and sets. I suspect the 35mm negative reels were from an especially good batch that week (it had to be Kodak or Fuji), and also Jan Shutan was in a brand-new costume that had been tailored for her. It wasn't faded from dry cleanings, and it fit. Jimmy's shirt was new and newly dyed, too. All the stars looked great.

I agree. And by contrast, I think The Omega Glory and Assignment: Earth are at the poorer end of the spectrum.

 

[Christopher]

I don't know if it's the most colorful episode, but I have a childhood memory of seeing "The Immunity Syndrome" in color for the first time, on a motel's TV during a trip or possibly a friend's TV (since we only had B&W until I was about 13), and being in awe of how colorful the space amoeba was.

All I know is, the colors always popped more back in the old days when we had TVs that actually *glowed* instead of washing everything out…

That was a function of how high you had the color dial turned up. I think modern LCD screens are probably brighter than CRTs.

And I think the more muted colors these days are more a choice of the producers than a setting on the TVs. As mentioned above, the makers of shows in the early color-TV era wanted them to be as vivid as possible to take advantage of the new technology, but that's less the case now.

 

[korblborp]

you cans till dial the color and saturation way up if you want to
it doesn't bleed as much

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

"The Corbomite Maneuver" really pops with such vivid color; being the 1st regular episode produced, it stands to reason that the PTB really wanted to sell color to that degree. There's not a single scene or set where the colors are not gorgeous.

 

[korblborp]

that damned cube was probably really spectacular back in the day

 

[HGN2001]

Looking at H&I running "This Side Of Paradise" right now, and it's among the duller episodes. Earthtone farms aren't very colorful.

 

[Ssosmcin]

It's interesting that the earlier episodes - after the pilots - they would throw colored lights on the ship here and there. Tops of heads, the walls, and so on. Then they seemed to get a little muted as the first season went on. We'd get plenty of color, but the random lights seemed to be toned down. Then in the third season they just went ahead and painted the walls with brighter colors. Probably saved money in lighting set ups, but the transporter room for example, went from gray walls with splashes of colored lights to simply violet walls (or purple or whatever).

 

[HGN2001]

I remember back in the 'dark times' of the 70s when STAR TREK was pretty much seen only on faded 16 and 35 mm TV prints, and we just got used to it. When I ordered some of those Lincoln Enterprises film trims and turned them into slides, I got to see what we were missing with all of the bright colors, and it brought back memories of the show as it aired on NBC. Still, those film trims were clearer and more colorful than the old NTSC broadcasts.

When they announced STAR TREK THE MOTION PICTURE, I so hoped that those old bright colors would be up there on the movie theater screens, but Robert Wise had a different aesthetic in mind, and things got very muted for a long time.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

I'm not sure which one is most colorful, but I tend to really enjoy the look of episodes shot outside, on location, such as at Vasquez Rocks but also at other parks too. The color of the command tunic is especially sublime in daylight.

So, "Arena" absolutely deserves nomination, as do "Friday's Child", "The Paradise Syndrome", "Operation -- Annihilate!", and others.

 

[Christopher]

When they announced STAR TREK THE MOTION PICTURE, I so hoped that those old bright colors would be up there on the movie theater screens, but Robert Wise had a different aesthetic in mind, and things got very muted for a long time.

Granted, the uniform and set colors were relatively more understated than in TOS (and the dim lighting of the bridge scenes to accommodate the "monitor" film loops muted the colors more), but the theatrical release of the film was actually considerably more vivid than people think. It's just that the video transfer technology of the era washed out the colors, so the TV and home video versions that were people's only way of experiencing the movie for decades were very bland-looking, creating the false impression that the same had been true of the theatrical release. The photonovel of the film released in 1980 had very vivid colors. It wasn't until the 2001 Director's Edition that audiences were able to see the original colors restored on home video, so you could see that, for instance, the uniforms that had appeared gray were actually more of a steel blue.

 

[FredH]

Granted, the uniform and set colors were relatively more understated than in TOS (and the dim lighting of the bridge scenes to accommodate the "monitor" film loops muted the colors more), but the theatrical release of the film was actually considerably more vivid than people think.

Perhaps ironically, I’ve always mentally associated TMP most with the bright spectrum colors of (a) the “three heads” poster art and (b) the film’s particular instance of the warp drive effect (which blew 10-year-old me about six feet up in the air, not having expected it — people forget what an aesthetic change that was at the time). TWOK with its more washed-out rust colors (even in its warp effect) felt dimmer, the Monster Maroons and the bright electric blues of the main titles notwithstanding).

 

[CoveTom]

Perhaps ironically, I’ve always mentally associated TMP most with the bright spectrum colors of (a) the “three heads” poster art and (b) the film’s particular instance of the warp drive effect (which blew 10-year-old me about six feet up in the air, not having expected it — people forget what an aesthetic change that was at the time). TWOK with its more washed-out rust colors (even in its warp effect) felt dimmer, the Monster Maroons and the bright electric blues of the main titles notwithstanding).

TMP's warp effect remains my favorite to this day. It is so much more visually interesting than the "rubber band" effect that became the standard starting with TNG. Unfortunately, that was one of those things that was really in Doug Trumbull's wheelhouse and that the ILM team really couldn't effectively duplicate -- the couple of attempts they make in TWOK were pale imitations, and then they ultimately settled on the "color blur" variant we saw for the rest of the TOS films.

 

[Rowdy Roddy McDowall]

Since the first season seems to have long shots with greater crowds, and the third season is bargain-basement drabbery at times, I'd say the second season is generally TOS at its most vivid. Perhaps AMOK TIME is the most vivid ever. And almost certainly the reddest.

 

[Doug Otte]

I rewatched Charlie X recently and was struck (again) by the combination of two things:
1) The very vivid colors, especially gels lighting the backgrounds;
2) The noirish cinematography with heightened contrasts between shadow and light.
We can see that the cinematographers learned their trade with black-and-white productions.

 

[Christopher]

2) The noirish cinematography with heightened contrasts between shadow and light.
We can see that the cinematographers learned their trade with black-and-white productions.

Jerry Finnerman was too young for the film noir era, born in 1931 and beginning his career in 1959, but he studied under noir cinematographers (including his father Perry) and learned their techniques. It served him well in Star Trek and later in Moonlighting. I remember a long-ago magazine interview where he talked about some of the classic rules he followed -- sharp cross-lighting for men, front-lighting and diffused lenses for women, never film up a woman's nostrils, etc.

 

[InLoveWithJimKirk]

I thought Trelane’s costume (Squire of Gothos) was glorious and staring down the maw of the The Doomsday Machine was terrifying.

 

[ZapBrannigan]

Director Ralph Senensky implied in his write-up of "The Tholian Web" that Al Francis was not as skilled a cinematographer as Jerry Finnerman. Whatever the issues were, they are not apparent at my end. As a layman only seeing the finished product, I think the Francis episodes look great.

Incidentally, Ralph died recently, at 102, and I don't know if anyone is paying the rent on his blog, so you might want to read it while you can. I've found that "wayback machine" stuff to be very hit and miss.