In my Never seen TOS scenes thread you've seen me fashion images of TAS scenes as if they had been as live-action TOS. And so this is a related issue to some extent.
This isn’t a new idea for, but it’s one that’s fun to revisit once in awhile.
Firstly lets make a few of assumptions for the sake of discussion:
1. That Gene Roddenberry had remained as an active producer for 3rd season TOS rather than an often absent executive producer.
2. That Gene Coon managed to stick around after 2nd season and in good health. (assumptions 1 and 2 alone would have helped out 3rd season I think, but that’s another subject)
3. That TOS not only managed to get a third season yet was also green lighted for a fourth season.
4. That most of the TAS episodes would make up the bulk of the fourth season.
5. Finally the idea that the TAS episodes as we know them already existed as scripts or story proposals and now must be adapted for live-action production if possible.
Now which of those episodes could have worked as live-action? What follows is my perspective after which I invite your opinions.
Yesteryear – One of the most popular TAS episodes and one of its best that revisits Vulcan and offers up more background on Spock. They’d have had to recreate the Guardian of Forever set, but that shouldn’t have been a real problem. Depicting the city of ShiKahr as seen from afar should have been little different than using a matte painting to show “The Cage’s” Rigel VII fortress seen in the distance. Mark Lenard could have been made to look somewhat younger, but Jane Wyman made to look distinctly younger might have been a challenge. Showing the Andorian Thelin would have been no problem. The outdoor scenes on Vulcan should have been manageable. The real obstacles in this story would have been depicting the avian Aurelan Loom Aleek-om, the pet sehlat I-Chaya and the mountain lematya. Those last three ideas would likely have had to be totally reconsidered although the sehlat just might have been substituted with a bear that we’d just assume was different than the Earth version.
One Of Our Planets Is Missing – There’s really very little of this that couldn’t have been done. It is, after all, little more than a retelling of “The Immunity Syndrome” The only real challenge here is depicting the interiors of the alien cloud being. Solve that and this story is done. One other note, though—it’s most likely that the tripodal Edoan Lt. Arex would never have been realized and that his lines would just have been written for Sulu, Chekov or some other human navigator or helmsman. Sad that in a way because Arex is an interesting idea for a character.
The Lorelei Signal – There’s nothing of real consequence here as an obstacle to adapting this to live-action. Exotic looking women in suggestive clothing? Hell, Bill Theiss and the TOS guys could have done that in their sleep. This one is a done deal. You’d only have to flesh out the story some to fill an hour—true for most of the TAS stories. And it would have been cool to see Uhura get some welcome focus and in a command situation. Showing some of the crew aging at an accelerated rate would have been easy since they had done it before in TOS’ “The Deadly Years.”
More Tribbles, More Troubles – Setting aside that I really could do without this revisit there’s little obstacle to doing it live-action. The tribble eating glomar would have been cool to see, but the expanding tribbles as actually a collection of individual tribbles would have to be rethought I think. I could also do without a return of William Campbell as Koloth. I’d have liked to see a new Klingon character so it wouldn’t feel quite so much a retell of the original TOS episode.
The Survivor – Solve how to depict a Vendorian and a small logic flaw and it’s done. The cool looking Vendorian would be easy today with cgi, but back in the ‘60s it would have likely been impossible. Even feature film resources of the time would have been seriously challenged to do it. Find a clever way to do the Vendorian then the rest of the story would be easy to adapt. Also correct the idea of the Vendorian becoming a deflector shield—that idea is just dumb beyond belief. Follow the Alan Dean Foster idea and at least suggest the Vendorian just temporarily supplanted the damaged deflector shield circuits or something to that effect.
The Infinite Vulcan – This reminds me a bit of “Spock’s Brain.” What you really need here is some smarter rewriting to make it work—and by that I mean ditch the stupidity of a fifty-foot Spock clone. Just make him a normal sized clone and one not wearing a Starfleet uniform. After you fix that little bit of idiocy then you only have to figure out how to depict or rethink the otherwise very cool looking Phylosians. The fuzzy retlaw plant should be easy enough to do being little different than a tribble with legs.
The Majicks Of Megas-Tu – TOS played with the idea of illusion often enough that there really isn’t any serious barrier to doing this story. Some of the space turbulence and illusionary sequences might have to be reconceived. The only real hitch is depicting Lucius as a half man and half goat. Rethink that concept and you’re pretty much home free.
Once Upon A Planet – The main obstacles in adapting this to live-action would be depicting the shoreleave planet’s more exotic creations. But it should be possible to rethink how to endanger the characters with more attainable creations for ‘60s f/x resources. What would really be appreciated would be to inject more substance into the story, add some complexity, to make it feel less like a rehash—again this is true of a few of the TAS episodes.
Mudd’s Passion – The return (yet again) of Harry Mudd would really have held few obstacles. The only hurdles would be depicting HUGE alien carnivores and perhaps a handful of different aliens that we see Mudd trying to swindle early on in the story. Oh, and a little more nuanced writing would have been greatly appreciated—of course this is true for quite a few of the TAS episodes. The exotic looking shuttlecraft could easily be replaced by the familiar TOS design. The felinoid Caitan Lt. M’ress likely wouldn’t have been done and her lines would have just gone to Uhura or perhaps even an alternate human Communications Officer.
The Terratin Incident – Setting aside that I really don’t like this story and I have HUGE reservations with its concepts, it would have been very difficult to have done this live-action. I only recall it being attempted before in The Incredible Shrinking Man and that being a feature film with requisite budget and resources. I’m inclined to think they would have passed on this story and I certainly wouldn’t have missed it.
Time Trap – I don’t see serious problems to adapting this to live-action with the possible exception of the design, makeup and costuming hurdles of depicting several different alien representatives on the Elysium Council. Depicting a myriad of alien ships could be a matter of clever cut-and-paste type editing and f/x. Plus you needn’t show so many different designs crowded together—we’d only need to see a few and have spoken references in regards to others and you’ve effectively conveyed the idea. Seeing John Colicos as Klingon Commander Kor again would have been fun, but I could just as easily accept a wholly new Klingon character which is less cute-and-tidy and makes the Star Trek universe a bit more complex and interesting…and more credible.
The Ambergris Element – If I had to try depicting a live-action aquashuttle in the ‘60s the first thing I’d have done would be to see if the Proteus from the feature film Fantastic Voyage or the Flying Sub from Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea could have been borrowed and modified a bit. But even if that were possible the intensive f/x involved in this story likely would have blown the f/x budget for the entire season if they were even at all possible. Extensive underwater scenes and an enormous tentacled aquatic serpent? —Robert Justman would have been rendered speechless at the mere thought. I think they would likely have passed on this story.
The Slaver Weapon – This is such a cool story and one of TAS’ best. TOS EVA suits could be used instead of life-support belts. The TOS style shuttlecraft would serve nicely in place of the exotic TAS shuttle. I would investigate all avenues to see if it were even remotely possible to depict live-action Kzinti or as a last resort find a clever way to credibly rethink the aliens.
Beyond The Farthest Star – This is another of TAS’ best stories with a genuine “final frontier” feel to it. The life support belts would have been a reach for TOS I think, but otherwise I don’t see a significant problem in adapting this story to live-action. EVA suits could have been used in place of LS belts and the crew could have beamed directly into the interior of the alien starship rather than onto the exterior hull (although that would have been a neat thing to see). The interior could have been depicted with a combination of clever use of sets and set pieces and matte painting(s) as well as lighting, although it would have been challenging to match the exotic nature of the alien interiors we saw in the episode. The alien entity could have been done easily with voice-over and lighting f/x.
The Eye Of The Beholder – The only barrier here is to credibly re-envision the alien Lactrans—hyper-intelligent twenty foot slugs with a manipulative trunk/tentacle just doesn’t cut it. Hyper-intelligent and they can’t recognize the intelligence of a starfaring species? Rewrite that and then I guess you can do it if you must.
Jihad – Another cool story, but with intensive f/x obstacles. You could conceivably find a way to get around the geologically mad planet, but the avian Skorr, the felinoid Vedala and the insectile Em-three-green would have made Robert Justman burst a blood vessel. Then there’s the zero-g fight sequence—I don’t know if that could have been done with ‘60s television f/x although it could have been rewritten into something attainable and more “down to earth.” The reptilian Sord could really be just a variation of the Gorn or he could have actually been a Gorn.
The Pirates Of Orion – Yet another cool story and one without any major obstacles to adapting to live-action. Once again an EVA suit fills in for an LS belt. All you’d need is an interesting way to depict the mysterious Orions. Oh, and find a way to cobble together a neat looking Starfleet freighter Huron.
BEM – In a way this has already been adapted to live-action as a 1st season TNG episode Justice. That version has its own problems, mainly being the southern California like “aliens.” And while I appreciated a chance to really look at the Prime Directive I seriously doubt Kirk would have so over agonized the issue like Picard in regards to whether he should save one of his crew or not. The TAS episode’s main problem is the visual depiction of the Bem character. I don’t have a problem with the science fiction concept of a colony being, but the way it was done here was ludicrous and I don’t think this would even have been possible with ‘60s live-action f/x. Bem as an alien would had to have been completely rethought and likely the reptilian aliens as well. The godlike alien would have been just a matter of simple voice over and light f/x.
The Practical Joker – I don’t like this story, but there would have been no real obstacles to doing it live-action. You’d only have to rethink the gigantic inflated starship idea—a very “duh” notion to begin with. Didn’t TNG do something like this story where the ship’s computer developed a mind and skewed will of its own?
Albatross – A good story with some appreciated McCoy background. The exotic looking Dramians would have to be rethought, but then the rest should be relatively easy to adapt.
How Sharper Than A Serpent’s Tooth – This is really just a retelling of TOS’ “Who Mourns For Adonis?” The winged Kukulkan would have been impossible to do live-action with ‘60s television f/x. And since his form is key to the much of the story it’s quite likely they might have passed on this. If so I wouldn’t have missed it.
The Counter-Clock Incident – The entire story concept would have to be rethought or in the very least utilize a better resolution like Alan Dean Foster’s adaptation by establishing that the events were really all an illusion or something to that effect. As is the concept gives me serious brain cramp—I mean how in hell could someone be born old and regress to death as an infant? What, they emerged out of the ground and disappeared into someone’s womb? And the crew accept the idea without question?—WTF! The best part of this story is the appearance of Commodore Robert April which would have been a nice touch of Star Trek history. Once the story concept was fixed then the rest of it would be rather easy to adapt.
“The Ambergris Element,” “The Terratin Incident” and “How Sharper Than A Serpent’s Tooth” are the only stories that most likely couldn’t have been done live-action unless they were completely rethought. A handful of the other stories are challenged mostly by available resources to depict exotic alien life forms, something that in many if not most cases might have been solved in some clever fashion considering some of the things TOS had already done like Horta, Gorns, Andorians, Tellerites, Talosians, Vians, Excalbians, tribbles and others. But since some of these stories couldn’t have been produced live-action then a handful of other story ideas that never got to production previously could have fleshed out the season. The remaining TAS stories should have posed little difficulty in being adapted to live-action production.
If these stories had managed to have been produced in a fourth Star Trek season and enough of them had been on par with some of the better episodes of earlier seasons then it likely would have enhanced Star Trek's already established legacy of vision, ambition and creativity. TAS itself is often shrugged off by many as not “real” Star Trek and for looking so static and dated (in terms of animation), but that perspective overlooks how ambitious and distinct TAS was for its time. TAS had been shackled by the stigma of a Saturday morning schedule as well as less-than-was-possible animation, but its stories often dealt with ideas more befitting its live-action predecessor than a Saturday morning children’s show.
It’s fair to assume that live-action versions of these stories would not have had quite the same visual splendour of the TAS episodes. But the trade-off would have been the dynamic of live-action production with the appeal of flesh-and-blood actors and actual sets as well as greater substance, complexity and nuance in writing.
This isn’t a new idea for, but it’s one that’s fun to revisit once in awhile.
Firstly lets make a few of assumptions for the sake of discussion:
1. That Gene Roddenberry had remained as an active producer for 3rd season TOS rather than an often absent executive producer.
2. That Gene Coon managed to stick around after 2nd season and in good health. (assumptions 1 and 2 alone would have helped out 3rd season I think, but that’s another subject)
3. That TOS not only managed to get a third season yet was also green lighted for a fourth season.
4. That most of the TAS episodes would make up the bulk of the fourth season.
5. Finally the idea that the TAS episodes as we know them already existed as scripts or story proposals and now must be adapted for live-action production if possible.
Now which of those episodes could have worked as live-action? What follows is my perspective after which I invite your opinions.
Yesteryear – One of the most popular TAS episodes and one of its best that revisits Vulcan and offers up more background on Spock. They’d have had to recreate the Guardian of Forever set, but that shouldn’t have been a real problem. Depicting the city of ShiKahr as seen from afar should have been little different than using a matte painting to show “The Cage’s” Rigel VII fortress seen in the distance. Mark Lenard could have been made to look somewhat younger, but Jane Wyman made to look distinctly younger might have been a challenge. Showing the Andorian Thelin would have been no problem. The outdoor scenes on Vulcan should have been manageable. The real obstacles in this story would have been depicting the avian Aurelan Loom Aleek-om, the pet sehlat I-Chaya and the mountain lematya. Those last three ideas would likely have had to be totally reconsidered although the sehlat just might have been substituted with a bear that we’d just assume was different than the Earth version.
One Of Our Planets Is Missing – There’s really very little of this that couldn’t have been done. It is, after all, little more than a retelling of “The Immunity Syndrome” The only real challenge here is depicting the interiors of the alien cloud being. Solve that and this story is done. One other note, though—it’s most likely that the tripodal Edoan Lt. Arex would never have been realized and that his lines would just have been written for Sulu, Chekov or some other human navigator or helmsman. Sad that in a way because Arex is an interesting idea for a character.
The Lorelei Signal – There’s nothing of real consequence here as an obstacle to adapting this to live-action. Exotic looking women in suggestive clothing? Hell, Bill Theiss and the TOS guys could have done that in their sleep. This one is a done deal. You’d only have to flesh out the story some to fill an hour—true for most of the TAS stories. And it would have been cool to see Uhura get some welcome focus and in a command situation. Showing some of the crew aging at an accelerated rate would have been easy since they had done it before in TOS’ “The Deadly Years.”
More Tribbles, More Troubles – Setting aside that I really could do without this revisit there’s little obstacle to doing it live-action. The tribble eating glomar would have been cool to see, but the expanding tribbles as actually a collection of individual tribbles would have to be rethought I think. I could also do without a return of William Campbell as Koloth. I’d have liked to see a new Klingon character so it wouldn’t feel quite so much a retell of the original TOS episode.
The Survivor – Solve how to depict a Vendorian and a small logic flaw and it’s done. The cool looking Vendorian would be easy today with cgi, but back in the ‘60s it would have likely been impossible. Even feature film resources of the time would have been seriously challenged to do it. Find a clever way to do the Vendorian then the rest of the story would be easy to adapt. Also correct the idea of the Vendorian becoming a deflector shield—that idea is just dumb beyond belief. Follow the Alan Dean Foster idea and at least suggest the Vendorian just temporarily supplanted the damaged deflector shield circuits or something to that effect.
The Infinite Vulcan – This reminds me a bit of “Spock’s Brain.” What you really need here is some smarter rewriting to make it work—and by that I mean ditch the stupidity of a fifty-foot Spock clone. Just make him a normal sized clone and one not wearing a Starfleet uniform. After you fix that little bit of idiocy then you only have to figure out how to depict or rethink the otherwise very cool looking Phylosians. The fuzzy retlaw plant should be easy enough to do being little different than a tribble with legs.
The Majicks Of Megas-Tu – TOS played with the idea of illusion often enough that there really isn’t any serious barrier to doing this story. Some of the space turbulence and illusionary sequences might have to be reconceived. The only real hitch is depicting Lucius as a half man and half goat. Rethink that concept and you’re pretty much home free.
Once Upon A Planet – The main obstacles in adapting this to live-action would be depicting the shoreleave planet’s more exotic creations. But it should be possible to rethink how to endanger the characters with more attainable creations for ‘60s f/x resources. What would really be appreciated would be to inject more substance into the story, add some complexity, to make it feel less like a rehash—again this is true of a few of the TAS episodes.
Mudd’s Passion – The return (yet again) of Harry Mudd would really have held few obstacles. The only hurdles would be depicting HUGE alien carnivores and perhaps a handful of different aliens that we see Mudd trying to swindle early on in the story. Oh, and a little more nuanced writing would have been greatly appreciated—of course this is true for quite a few of the TAS episodes. The exotic looking shuttlecraft could easily be replaced by the familiar TOS design. The felinoid Caitan Lt. M’ress likely wouldn’t have been done and her lines would have just gone to Uhura or perhaps even an alternate human Communications Officer.
The Terratin Incident – Setting aside that I really don’t like this story and I have HUGE reservations with its concepts, it would have been very difficult to have done this live-action. I only recall it being attempted before in The Incredible Shrinking Man and that being a feature film with requisite budget and resources. I’m inclined to think they would have passed on this story and I certainly wouldn’t have missed it.
Time Trap – I don’t see serious problems to adapting this to live-action with the possible exception of the design, makeup and costuming hurdles of depicting several different alien representatives on the Elysium Council. Depicting a myriad of alien ships could be a matter of clever cut-and-paste type editing and f/x. Plus you needn’t show so many different designs crowded together—we’d only need to see a few and have spoken references in regards to others and you’ve effectively conveyed the idea. Seeing John Colicos as Klingon Commander Kor again would have been fun, but I could just as easily accept a wholly new Klingon character which is less cute-and-tidy and makes the Star Trek universe a bit more complex and interesting…and more credible.
The Ambergris Element – If I had to try depicting a live-action aquashuttle in the ‘60s the first thing I’d have done would be to see if the Proteus from the feature film Fantastic Voyage or the Flying Sub from Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea could have been borrowed and modified a bit. But even if that were possible the intensive f/x involved in this story likely would have blown the f/x budget for the entire season if they were even at all possible. Extensive underwater scenes and an enormous tentacled aquatic serpent? —Robert Justman would have been rendered speechless at the mere thought. I think they would likely have passed on this story.
The Slaver Weapon – This is such a cool story and one of TAS’ best. TOS EVA suits could be used instead of life-support belts. The TOS style shuttlecraft would serve nicely in place of the exotic TAS shuttle. I would investigate all avenues to see if it were even remotely possible to depict live-action Kzinti or as a last resort find a clever way to credibly rethink the aliens.
Beyond The Farthest Star – This is another of TAS’ best stories with a genuine “final frontier” feel to it. The life support belts would have been a reach for TOS I think, but otherwise I don’t see a significant problem in adapting this story to live-action. EVA suits could have been used in place of LS belts and the crew could have beamed directly into the interior of the alien starship rather than onto the exterior hull (although that would have been a neat thing to see). The interior could have been depicted with a combination of clever use of sets and set pieces and matte painting(s) as well as lighting, although it would have been challenging to match the exotic nature of the alien interiors we saw in the episode. The alien entity could have been done easily with voice-over and lighting f/x.
The Eye Of The Beholder – The only barrier here is to credibly re-envision the alien Lactrans—hyper-intelligent twenty foot slugs with a manipulative trunk/tentacle just doesn’t cut it. Hyper-intelligent and they can’t recognize the intelligence of a starfaring species? Rewrite that and then I guess you can do it if you must.
Jihad – Another cool story, but with intensive f/x obstacles. You could conceivably find a way to get around the geologically mad planet, but the avian Skorr, the felinoid Vedala and the insectile Em-three-green would have made Robert Justman burst a blood vessel. Then there’s the zero-g fight sequence—I don’t know if that could have been done with ‘60s television f/x although it could have been rewritten into something attainable and more “down to earth.” The reptilian Sord could really be just a variation of the Gorn or he could have actually been a Gorn.
The Pirates Of Orion – Yet another cool story and one without any major obstacles to adapting to live-action. Once again an EVA suit fills in for an LS belt. All you’d need is an interesting way to depict the mysterious Orions. Oh, and find a way to cobble together a neat looking Starfleet freighter Huron.
BEM – In a way this has already been adapted to live-action as a 1st season TNG episode Justice. That version has its own problems, mainly being the southern California like “aliens.” And while I appreciated a chance to really look at the Prime Directive I seriously doubt Kirk would have so over agonized the issue like Picard in regards to whether he should save one of his crew or not. The TAS episode’s main problem is the visual depiction of the Bem character. I don’t have a problem with the science fiction concept of a colony being, but the way it was done here was ludicrous and I don’t think this would even have been possible with ‘60s live-action f/x. Bem as an alien would had to have been completely rethought and likely the reptilian aliens as well. The godlike alien would have been just a matter of simple voice over and light f/x.
The Practical Joker – I don’t like this story, but there would have been no real obstacles to doing it live-action. You’d only have to rethink the gigantic inflated starship idea—a very “duh” notion to begin with. Didn’t TNG do something like this story where the ship’s computer developed a mind and skewed will of its own?
Albatross – A good story with some appreciated McCoy background. The exotic looking Dramians would have to be rethought, but then the rest should be relatively easy to adapt.
How Sharper Than A Serpent’s Tooth – This is really just a retelling of TOS’ “Who Mourns For Adonis?” The winged Kukulkan would have been impossible to do live-action with ‘60s television f/x. And since his form is key to the much of the story it’s quite likely they might have passed on this. If so I wouldn’t have missed it.
The Counter-Clock Incident – The entire story concept would have to be rethought or in the very least utilize a better resolution like Alan Dean Foster’s adaptation by establishing that the events were really all an illusion or something to that effect. As is the concept gives me serious brain cramp—I mean how in hell could someone be born old and regress to death as an infant? What, they emerged out of the ground and disappeared into someone’s womb? And the crew accept the idea without question?—WTF! The best part of this story is the appearance of Commodore Robert April which would have been a nice touch of Star Trek history. Once the story concept was fixed then the rest of it would be rather easy to adapt.
“The Ambergris Element,” “The Terratin Incident” and “How Sharper Than A Serpent’s Tooth” are the only stories that most likely couldn’t have been done live-action unless they were completely rethought. A handful of the other stories are challenged mostly by available resources to depict exotic alien life forms, something that in many if not most cases might have been solved in some clever fashion considering some of the things TOS had already done like Horta, Gorns, Andorians, Tellerites, Talosians, Vians, Excalbians, tribbles and others. But since some of these stories couldn’t have been produced live-action then a handful of other story ideas that never got to production previously could have fleshed out the season. The remaining TAS stories should have posed little difficulty in being adapted to live-action production.
If these stories had managed to have been produced in a fourth Star Trek season and enough of them had been on par with some of the better episodes of earlier seasons then it likely would have enhanced Star Trek's already established legacy of vision, ambition and creativity. TAS itself is often shrugged off by many as not “real” Star Trek and for looking so static and dated (in terms of animation), but that perspective overlooks how ambitious and distinct TAS was for its time. TAS had been shackled by the stigma of a Saturday morning schedule as well as less-than-was-possible animation, but its stories often dealt with ideas more befitting its live-action predecessor than a Saturday morning children’s show.
It’s fair to assume that live-action versions of these stories would not have had quite the same visual splendour of the TAS episodes. But the trade-off would have been the dynamic of live-action production with the appeal of flesh-and-blood actors and actual sets as well as greater substance, complexity and nuance in writing.
) looked incredible for a woman of her age and Mark Lenard was made up to look older than he really was (only a decade or so older than Nimoy)... I think they both could have pulled it off.
