Season 2 Klingons

[nightwind1]

And yet Kirk and Koloth seemed to have met before Tribbles. It may not have been explicit, but they seemed to greet each other like old adversaries.

Plus, the original plan was to have Koloth as a recurring antagonist. The explanation being that his ship's patrol zone was contiguous to Kirk's, but on the other side of the Neutral Zone.

 

[GSchnitzer]

Interestingly enough, Don Ingalls' first story outline of "A Private Little War" featured Kor, too. Bob Justman criticized this in a memo to Gene Coon dated May 26, 1967, and it was dropped.

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.

What Bob Justman had to say on the subject is something fan films should take to heart. There's a tendency in fan films toward "small universe" mentality. Particularly, STAR TREK: PHASE II. It's stretching credulity by having Kirk continuously running into the same Klingon commander, Karagh, in their episodes.

I would suspect that Star Trek Phase II is indeed the chief offender in this regard. In order to "continuously" run into the same characters, it presupposes that we are "continuously" generating episodes. I can't think of many other productions that generate enough episodes that there would even be any opportunity for such credulity-straining coincidences.

Obviously, of course, tapping into and relying upon the same people repeatedly (e.g. John Carrigan as "Kargh") is a cost-saving and time-saving measure--an important consideration for a production on a shoestring budget. But I think we do indeed suffer from "small universe" mentality. I think that's probably true of Star Trek in general.

 

[Warped9]

Interestingly enough, Don Ingalls' first story outline of "A Private Little War" featured Kor, too. Bob Justman criticized this in a memo to Gene Coon dated May 26, 1967, and it was dropped.

What Bob Justman had to say on the subject is something fan films should take to heart. There's a tendency in fan films toward "small universe" mentality. Particularly, STAR TREK: PHASE II. It's stretching credulity by having Kirk continuously running into the same Klingon commander, Karagh, in their episodes.

I would suspect that Star Trek Phase II is indeed the chief offender in this regard. In order to "continuously" run into the same characters, it presupposes that we are "continuously" generating episodes. I can't think of many other productions that generate enough episodes that there would even be any opportunity for such credulity-straining coincidences.

Obviously, of course, tapping into and relying upon the same people repeatedly (e.g. John Carrigan as "Kargh") is a cost-saving and time-saving measure--an important consideration for a production on a shoestring budget. But I think we do indeed suffer from "small universe" mentality. I think that's probably true of Star Trek in general.

It certainly became true of Trek post TOS.

 

[GSchnitzer]

Interestingly enough, Don Ingalls' first story outline of "A Private Little War" featured Kor, too. Bob Justman criticized this in a memo to Gene Coon dated May 26, 1967, and it was dropped.

What Bob Justman had to say on the subject is something fan films should take to heart. There's a tendency in fan films toward "small universe" mentality. Particularly, STAR TREK: PHASE II. It's stretching credulity by having Kirk continuously running into the same Klingon commander, Karagh, in their episodes.

Yeah, but its nice to have a recurring antogonist.

Yes. And in hindsight, it's hard to imagine that instead of having John Colicos reprise his role is Kor, it was considered a better choice to have--what was the actor's name? Ned Romero?--play the part of that compelling Klingon figure--what was his name? Krell?

If there was indeed a decision to avoid a "small universe" and to not use John Colicos as Kor, the drawback seems to have been a three-in-a-row series of weak second season Klingons.

 

[Elder Knight]

...

5: The only problem I see with Tige Andrews as Kras in "Friday's Child" was that the beard with no mustache makes him look like an Amishman.

...

When Abraham Lincoln showed up in a later episode, some of the poorer history students probably thought he was supposed to be a Klingon.

 

[Maurice]

I understand the practical reasons for a fanflim to have a recurring character moreso than a prefessional TV series like Star Trek.

The problem with the 2nd season Klingons was the writing, not the actors.

 

[DrCorby]

6: Oh, and let's not forget Krell, the Klingon agent in "A Private Little War". Krell definitely did not fit the unflattering description of TOS Year #2 Klingons mentioned in this thread. The only thing unflattering about Krell was that awful Conway Twitty hair.

Bah! You haven't really heard Conway Twitty, unless you've heard him in the original Klingon.

LOVE IT!! Glad I wasn't taking a drink when I read that. Well done!

 

[Midas]

 

[Tribble Herder]

Trying to imagine "Hello, Darlin'" in Klingon...

 

[Uxi]

I've always liked the idea of the John Ford Janissary-style hybrid Klingons better than the "You have no honor" schtick TNG gave us, much less the augment virus idea (though I did like Brent Spiner's use there). The turning point was decided when they did the Albino thing, of course, so it was lost.

I never minded the Season 2 Klinks, though.

 

[MANT!]

K'Bob The Discount Klingon is displeased with this thread..

 

[Warped9]

K'Bob The Discount Klingon is displeased with this thread..

Yeah, this was about as low-grade as you could get.

 

[Wingsley]

Can someone Photoshop an Amish straw hat and a pitchfork into that Tige Andrews image?

That would be perfect.

Extra credit (a pound of topaline ore) for inserting a stem into his mouth.

 

[Nerys Myk]

This was the point that Adam Greer decided that he couldn't pass as a young hippy a need to recruit a "mod squad" to go undercover.

 

[Tribble Herder]

To be fair, they did make the Klingons a little swarthy in the second season. Just not as much as the first and third.

 

[Maurice]

According to one of those VHS intros done by the cast for UK VHS releases in the 90s Tigh Andrews (Bob the Discount Klingon, above) was supposed to be the Klingon in Tribbles but but was unavailable, which is why the role went to William Campbell. This is porbbaly be apocryphal, but there you go.

​

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

​

 

[Wingsley]

^ Doesn't make sense. We saw Kras get killed by the Keel the Capellan in "Friday's Child".

 

[Tribble Herder]

Time to drag out that old copy of Gerrold's book on the subject.

I don't remember any reference to Andrews...

 

[Maurice]

^ Doesn't make sense. We saw Kras get killed by the Keel the Capellan in "Friday's Child".

They didn't say he was going to play Kras. They said he was going to play the character that ended up being Koloth.

 

[AtoZ]

Those looking to take offense and act all high and mighty aside, I have enjoyed watching this discussion go down. And while I see the point made about "low grade" Klingons, for my money the worst of the worst was William Campbell....a MARVELOUS actor...improperly utilized and arguably miscast in his role as a Klingon.

He was BRILLIANT as Trelane...but as a low budget Klingon.....sorry.