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Amaris
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Amen to that! ♥Didn't seem to hurt Zootopia.
Too cerebral
- Thread starter A beaker full of death
- Start date
At some point, somebody claimed that cerebral was NBC's euphemism for sexual.
If that's not the case, then they must have meant "The Cage" lacked action. Too talky. It needed more fight scenes.
Didn't seem to hurt Zootopia.
I meant in a human world setting.
It's just that if you ONLY exist as a movie (which nuTrek does), then you have to be very picky about the stories you do. There isn't that TV opportunity to develop characters, have slow dragged out moments, waste time on deleteable moments etc over a prolonged period of time.
Granted, TOS episodes weren't all written to be watched in a specific order, with recurring plot arcs (except for "Menagerie" by necessity)/
Granted, TOS episodes weren't all written to be watched in a specific order, with recurring plot arcs (except for "Menagerie" by necessity)/
It was reject on the basis of a number of things:
- Cost. (GR had added 15 minutes of filmed footage tom the script so that if he couldn't get a network deal, he could do a limited theatre release and recoup costs/still make a profit from this idea.) IE - many Studio Execs were NOT convinced you could do weekly episodes on a 'rasonable' budget, nor get the effects shots added in time to make weekly delivery deadlines. (That's something they really needed the second pilot to prove/show them.)
- GR's then girlfriend (not wife, as he WAS married at the time - just not to Majel Barrett) was cast in a leading role; and the execs had TWO issues - 1) She was GR's 'girlfriend' and the series was expensive to boot. What happens to production if/when the relationship ends? (Yes, it didn't but that was due more to Majel then Gene, and the execs were going with the Hollywood law of averages, especially in 1960ies era Hollywood.) and 2) They weren't sure she had the experience/chops to carry the role on a weekly series. Hell, the other 'myth' GR liked to propagate was the "suits didn't want a female second in command character" - when later in notes they were FINE with such a character, as long as it was recast with a different actress. GR didn't because he felt that would have strained his relationship with Majel at the time.
"Too Cerebral" was just an easy way to say "no"; without getting into particulars.
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I don't see NuKirk as a "jock." Not at all. I knew jocks in high school, and I didn't like those guys. To me, a jock is basically a dunce who gets through life on physicality and bullying, goes through college on a sports scholarship but no real scholastic aptitude, and surrounds himself with sycophantic friends. The only NuTrek character I can really conceptualize as perhaps having a football jock background might be the security officer "Cupcake." NuKirk, on the other hand, is a brilliant yet troubled outsider, obviously somewhat anti-social, as he apparently has no friends before enlisting in Starfleet. I see him more like James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause, easily the kind of guy who would end up being "the only genius level repeat offender in the Midwest," as NuPike said.
I thought it was topical too, but perhaps a few years too late. Maybe the themes didn't stand out much to a lot of viewers as anything special anymore, as there had already been a plethora of other movies and TV shows that dealt with similar themes.
Kor
I think "The Cage" did deal with themes of sexuality a little more directly than most of TOS, as the whole point of Pike being trapped on Talos was to get him to mate with Vina and progenate a race of slaves, and Vina was portrayed in an openly seductive manner. I think that at the time, this type of thing was dealt with more openly in literary science fiction, and it may have been too much for general television audiences.
I thought it was topical too, but perhaps a few years too late. Maybe the themes didn't stand out much to a lot of viewers as anything special anymore, as there had already been a plethora of other movies and TV shows that dealt with similar themes.
Kor
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Yeah, "The Cage" was expensive. But I don't think NBC paid the overages, Desilu did. I don't know that Gene padded it out by 15 minutes because in the end it wasn't long enough for a theatrical presentation anyway, as evident by Gene's later (unsuccessful) attempt to get Jeffrey Hunter back to do some additional shooting to pad it out to movie length.
As to Majel, let's not forget that she wasn't singled out. NBC rejected the entire cast except for Hunter and Nimoy.
As to Majel, let's not forget that she wasn't singled out. NBC rejected the entire cast except for Hunter and Nimoy.
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Well, you know, Pine is just so versatile. A veritable chameleon. I especially loved his turn as the German physicist in part 13 of How White Were My Sands on Masterpiece Theatre back in 2010.
Something I've found both Shatner and Pine possess is good comedic timing. I really enjoyed Pine's roles in Into the Woods, This Is War and Horrible Bosses 2.
That's the best you can come up with?
Gene liked to demonize the studio a bit (well, more than a bit) once he hit the convention circuits. It's very well possible that NBC did say 'too cerebral' but mean 'too cerebral compared to what we were promised', which caused them to rethink the show. They certainly didn't dumb down the show any when the second pilot and premiere episodes came out, after all, but there was more chemistry and stronger character portrayals - particularly with Spock - that came out of it.
Pine originated the lead in Farragut North (aka The Ides of March when it was converted to movie form.) An independent theatre production about a morally compromised political advisor, who ultimately sells out all his ideals.
A role that obviously just screams 'jock.'
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Don't confuse his narrative.
Desilu definitely covered the overages.
Star Trek is under no obligation for you to be 'cerebral' as you and other here see it; it's fine as it is. Those that need said cerebral qualities can find other sci-fi to read or watch that's like that.
Majel wasn't kept up because there was no way in hell NBC was going to allow the producer's mistress to be one of the leads of the show. That was a scandal waiting to happen. The entire story about the 'test audience didn't like a woman first officer' was bullocks.
I think both were true, with one used as an excuse for the other. It was a different time.
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