Scratch One Writer, Please

[Qonundrum]

What line from Kirk to Alexander?

The one I was thinking of at the time is this:

Alexander, where I come from, size, shape, or colour makes no difference, and nobody has the power.​

 

[Ssosmcin]

Also John D.F. Black for the earliest episodes, and briefly Steven Carabatsos.

Yeah, I left out Black because I wasn't sure how heavily rewritten his episode was - but looking it up, not too much. And he was still happy with it in later years. So yeah, he counts and I loved the episodes under his watch.

Carabatsos wrote one script on his own and co-write the teleplay for another. Both were pretty heavily rewritten. So I don't consider him a staffer who had his finger on the pulse of the show like Fontana, Coon, Justman and Roddenberry.

 

[Esteban]

Black was considered a good writer, and IMO "The Naked Time" proves it...but even it had notorious rewrites.

Black is deservedly revered for "Naked", but most of his other work in 60s and 70s TV and low-budget films was, to be fair, adequate. "Shaft" and a couple of good "Hawaii Five-Os", relatively speaking.

Carbatsos gets the nod for "fixing" "Court Martial", which although one of my faves, needed a bit more "fixing". What was left of "Operation: Annihilate" was mostly staff changes...Steve was long gone.

 

[Qonundrum]

Well, let's be fair to the outside writers. The first two seasons had plenty of treatments, even by some greats, that would be considered unsuitable. The writing staff shaped them into the acceptable standards and format of the series. It's not like Jerome Bixby strolled in with Mirror, Mirror ready to roll. The rewrites are ongoing until the staff (Fontana, Coon, Roddenberry, Lucas, Black, whomever) took over. A lot of these writers were fantastic at TV dramas like Combat, The Big Valley and The Fugitive, but didn't grasp Star Trek.

Of the staff, Fontana, Coon and Roddenberry had the more advanced first passes because they were staffers.

That's true!

Things got shaky at the end of the second season when Coon left, Lucas had a different viewpoint and Roddenberry went back to doing more of the rewriting. Luckily Fontana was still there (and Justman who didn't write but had tremendous feedback) and episodes like The Ultimate Computer still happened so late.

Very lucky for sure. Late season 2 stories often feel like a fumble at times. The actors carrying it through do a lot to hide some of the script issues in the episodes.

The third season was behind the 8 ball because only Justman and kinda Roddenberry were left and Freddie and Arthur Singer were the main story editors. Strangers to the series with their own ideas of what worked.

Had the show made it to a fourth season, Margaret Armen was slated to become the new script editor. That would have been cool (but I'm a fan of her stories).

So...with that in mind...

Shimon Wincelberg (S. Bar-David): "Dagger of the Mind." Middling episode from a man who penned some of the best Lost in Space early episodes. Damning with faint praise? Nah, it takes talent to make that series good. (I don't count "The Galileo Seven" because he co-wrote that one)

"Dagger" was a decent story, I thought?

Max Ehrlich: "The Apple." Another successful writer who couldn't deliver a good Trek.

"Apple" fails in ways, is rough around the edges in others, but that Spock/McCoy scene really nails it.

 

[Spock's Barber]

Also John D.F. Black for the earliest episodes, and briefly Steven Carabatsos.

I recall D.C. Fontana stating that Carabatsos wasn’t brought back as Story Editor because (paraphrased) “He wasn’t as enthusiastic as the rest of us.”

 

[JonnyQuest037]

Which script writer from any season are you thrilled only contributed one, solitary script to TOS?

Do you mean thrilled because we have a great episode that otherwise wouldn't have existed, or thrilled because the one episode they did was bad and we're glad they didn't do any more episodes?

 

[Spock's Barber]

Do you mean thrilled because we have a great episode that otherwise wouldn't have existed, or thrilled because the one episode they did was bad and we're glad they didn't do any more episodes?

I meant a script that was so bad that you’re thrilled that the writer didn’t contribute another klunker.

 

[JonnyQuest037]

I meant a script that was so bad that you’re thrilled that the writer didn’t contribute another klunker.

Okay. That's honestly most of the third season for me.

I mean, seriously, throw a dart at the wall and pick any random episode of S3. You'll find something that isn't up to Trek's previously high standards. Even well-regarded episodes like "The Enterprise Incident" and "The Tholian Web" have problems.

 

[JonnyQuest037]

Regarding other seasons, he worked on more than one episode, but I'm glad that Steven W. Carabatsos' tenure on the series was relatively brief. I feel that most of his contributions to TOS ("Court Martial," "Miri," and Operation -- Annihilate!") were pretty mediocre.

 

[FredH]

I’ve always had a soft spot for “Plato’s Stepchildren” — I don’t know exactly what it’s saying about violation (of any and every sort) (other than “this is bad”), but it’s definitely saying something, and the theme is strong throughout the episode (and Alexander one of the most sympathetic guest-characters of the series). I guess it’s a metaphor for power itself — if you’ve got unlimited power, great, but what the hell good is it if you just use it for pettiness? (And yes, I know WNMHGB got there first.)

 

[Phaser Two]

It’s good to be the Captain.

I'm as, uh . . . surprised as Spock to see that in here. Shocked, really. I mean, for shame!