Surprise red shirt action

[tharpdevenport]

Just now watching an episode I have not seen before. Don't know the name, but some aliens take the crew hostage andu se their shop to get across the Great Barrier.

Anyway, earlier while on the planet Kirk, Spock, and McCoy and two red shirts were taken captive. One was a white brunette girl, and the other a all black with screen presance.

They were both reduced to small multi-sided whtie cubes and the leader is handed them. He crushes one saying that person is dead. The minute they were both pulled aside I thought: well, there goes the black guy. When they were reduced and one crushed, again -- I thought for sure the black guy was gonna get it since they need the skinny girls for Kirk. But damned if he didn't survive.

 

[Timo]

...Moreover, contrary to all expectations, the actors didn't get the polyhedrons mixed up. The exact correct one got crushed, with the exact correct results, without any left-right confusion. Nice to see that they cared.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[tharpdevenport]

Yeah, someone earned their money for Continuity watcher on that episode. I was actually looking away at the moment.

 

[erastus25]

...Moreover, contrary to all expectations, the actors didn't get the polyhedrons mixed up. The exact correct one got crushed, with the exact correct results, without any left-right confusion. Nice to see that they cared.

Timo Saloniemi

Yeah, someone earned their money for Continuity watcher on that episode. I was actually looking away at the moment.

Or they just got lucky...had a 50% chance after all.

 

[johcomp]

Lt O'Shea rocked - how about that line - about a belt device - "You'll get one, Sir, even if I have to rip one of the Kelvans apart to get it for you!!" spoken with such sincerety!! Gotta love him!

 

[Redfern]

Obviously, there's no way they could have done it, due to both budget constraints and the censors, but merciful Mogg, can one imagine how the yeoman would have looked had her crushed polyhedron been reconstituted?!

Also, I'm sure it's been discussed how the episode changed tone roughly halfway, once the majority of the crew had been "dehydrated". Until that point, the episode was serious, outright grim, but from that point, it almost, not quite, but almost segued into farce. Anyone have any thoughts on this? Was the director told to handle it differently? What's the story, if any?

Sincerely,

Bill

 

[cooleddie74]

That was the classic episode on my Pocket Flex viewing-reel toy when I was a kid. Loved that thing to death. Still do, though I haven't messed with or even seen it in ages.

 

[Neopeius]

That was a very freaky episode when I was a kid, and my wife has similar memories.

You're right--it did adopt an odd light-hearted touch after a very dark beginning.

"Accch! That green stuff packs a wallop! I canna nae stand u... oops! I've crushed a d20... oh well."

 

[TheLonelySquire]

Just now watching an episode I have not seen before. Don't know the name, but some aliens take the crew hostage andu se their shop to get across the Great Barrier.

Anyway, earlier while on the planet Kirk, Spock, and McCoy and two red shirts were taken captive. One was a white brunette girl, and the other a all black with screen presance.

They were both reduced to small multi-sided whtie cubes and the leader is handed them. He crushes one saying that person is dead. The minute they were both pulled aside I thought: well, there goes the black guy. When they were reduced and one crushed, again -- I thought for sure the black guy was gonna get it since they need the skinny girls for Kirk. But damned if he didn't survive.

Yep, they aced the oriental chick instead! Can you BELIEVE this?

 

[tharpdevenport]

Well, I liked that red shirt guy, so I'm glad he lived.

And overall a good episode too.

 

[Finnegan]

Obviously, there's no way they could have done it, due to both budget constraints and the censors, but merciful Mogg, can one imagine how the yeoman would have looked had her crushed polyhedron been reconstituted?!

Also, I'm sure it's been discussed how the episode changed tone roughly halfway, once the majority of the crew had been "dehydrated". Until that point, the episode was serious, outright grim, but from that point, it almost, not quite, but almost segued into farce. Anyone have any thoughts on this? Was the director told to handle it differently? What's the story, if any?

Sincerely,

Bill

I think once Kirk/Spock hatched their plan about how to confuse the Kelvins using the stimulus of their "foreign" human bodies, the writers just had more opportunity to play around with the different characters, so we had Scotty getting the one guy wasted, Kirk flirting with the female (naturally) AND getting her superior enraged with jealousy, and Bones shooting up the other poor dude like a junkie. I just think the writers
saw the chance for some comedy, and wisely took it. I think overall it worked, and kinda made a so-so episode into a better one.

 

[Gary Mitchell]

That was the classic episode on my Pocket Flex viewing-reel toy when I was a kid. Loved that thing to death. Still do, though I haven't messed with or even seen it in ages.

I had that. It was one of my most prized possessions for a long time. I also had the reel for the 70s version of King Kong.

 

[Red Ranger]

The ep name is By Any Other Name, from Shakespeare. The fellow who played Rogan was in a few Twilight Zone eps, too. I wonder if the Kelvans (a) ever joined the Federation or (b) ever gave the Federation the secret of their ability to transform people into polyhedrons. I can see that technology being used for a long-range ship -- have a rotating skeleton crew operate the ship while the rest of the crew spends part of the voyage in that kind of storage, a kind of suspended animation. -- RR

 

[Red Ranger]

Lt O'Shea rocked - how about that line - about a belt device - "You'll get one, Sir, even if I have to rip one of the Kelvans apart to get it for you!!" spoken with such sincerety!! Gotta love him!

I liked that guy and could see him becoming security chief -- before his number came up! -- RR

 

[EEE]

Yep, they aced the oriental chick instead! Can you BELIEVE this?

No (I can't believe it). (because Lee J. Cobb's daughter isn't oriental) While it seemed fair for the yeoman to get it instead of a redshirt, I wanted to see some more of her!

The ep name is By Any Other Name, from Shakespeare. The fellow who played Rogan was in a few Twilight Zone eps, too.

He (Warren Stevens) seemed to do ALOT of sci-fi in the day. Seems like he was always popping up in the old sci-fi shows & movies. Not the least of which was the classic Forbidden Planet!

 

[Redfern]

...The fellow who played Rogan was in a few Twilight Zone eps, too.

He (Warren Stevens) seemed to do ALOT of sci-fi in the day...Not the least of which was the classic Forbidden Planet!

Wait...What? You mean...? D'OH! You're right! He was "Doc" Ostro! D*mn! Why didn't I make the connection?!

Sincerely,

Bill

 

[Flying Spaghetti Monster]

Yeah ..it was suprising that they crushed the poor girl!

 

[cooleddie74]

That was the classic episode on my Pocket Flex viewing-reel toy when I was a kid. Loved that thing to death. Still do, though I haven't messed with or even seen it in ages.

I had that. It was one of my most prized possessions for a long time. I also had the reel for the 70s version of King Kong.

I had several reels...still do buried somewhere in my old childhood crap and belongings. "The Omega Glory" was one and my favorite of the bunch.

 

[kissthestar]

The crushed yeoman had lovely doe eyes and other charming attributes. The grinding up of her was especially traumatic for Kirk.

 

[cooleddie74]

Eleven years later in 1979 Cobb was in the TV miniseries 'SALEM'S LOT.