Trek and Old Age

[backstept]

as I recall, each series has done at least one episode where a castmember has advanced in age either artificially or naturally (time travel, disease etc)

most of the time I think that the make-up department went a little overboard with regards to grey hair etc . . . the worst in my opinion is how they aged the characters in AGT . . . Worf had stripes, Data had a huge stripe etc . . .

my favorite was The Inner Light when Picard lived a lifetime through the probe thingy

what are your favorite and least favorite Old Age scenes?

 

[Deks]

generally they went too much overboard with the Admiral Janeway from Engame.
These humans were supposed to live up to what ... 140 ?
She didn't even reach half of that.

In Enterprise, E2 T'Pol aged to the point of decay for example when Spock virtually looked exactly the same as he did 80 years before TNG.
Excuse me?
She's a Vulcan and would probably show wrinkles and possibly light gray-ish hair ... but nothing to the extent that was shown.

There are numerous other examples probably but I cannot recall them right now.

 

[EliyahuQeoni]

The Deadly Years.

 

[Carpe Occasio]

The cameo by 137-year old Doctor/Admiral McCoy in TNG "Encounter at Farpoint" (favorite).

 

[T'Leisha]

There is also the fact that sometimes the makeup looks absolutely terrible, like Kim in Endgame, or Dax in The Visitor, they looked like half of their faces were melting off.

 

[RandyS]

In Enterprise, E2 T'Pol aged to the point of decay for example when Spock virtually looked exactly the same as he did 80 years before TNG.

Another example is Sarek, who, with the exception of white hair, also looked as he did in Kirk's time.

And yeah, T'Pol's makeup was wrong. Whoever was in charge of maintaining continutiy in Trek dropped the ball on that one. On the other hand, humans age differently at different times, why can't Vulcans?

 

[M'Sharak]

Bashir in DS9's "Distant Voices" was a better-than-average job.

 

[Deks]

In Enterprise, E2 T'Pol aged to the point of decay for example when Spock virtually looked exactly the same as he did 80 years before TNG.

Another example is Sarek, who, with the exception of white hair, also looked as he did in Kirk's time.

And yeah, T'Pol's makeup was wrong. Whoever was in charge of maintaining continutiy in Trek dropped the ball on that one. On the other hand, humans age differently at different times, why can't Vulcans?

We're talking about Vulcans, not Humans.
Their biology is different than ours and have a lifespan of at least 200 years (even beyond that with proper medical care, and I'd say that Phlox would be able to provide more than enough in that area).
Her aging to the point of shaking and near collapse while not suffering from anything BUT old age apparently is result of sloppy work.
At least they could have had her suffering from some kind of disease that might have trumped up her aging ...
Then again, the Pa'naar Sindrome could have had a play in it ... although without some kind of verbal throwaway line it doesn't make sense.

 

[TrekNut87]

Least favorite: "Endgame" The makeup jobs on Kim and Paris were awful.

Favorite: Definitely the 137-year-old McCoy in "Encounter At Farpoint"

 

[A beaker full of death]

The cameo by 137-year old Doctor/Admiral McCoy in TNG "Encounter at Farpoint" (favorite).

That makeup looked horrible - which is remarkable, considering they aged him so well in The Deadly Years.

 

[AstroMike]

Favorite: Old McCoy in Encounter at Farpoint
Least: Unnatural Selection with Pulaski (terrible make-up)

 

[PKTrekGirl]

My favorite is easily The Visitor. The best Jake Sisko episode of the series is one where Tony Todd plays Jake.

 

[erastus25]

The cameo by 137-year old Doctor/Admiral McCoy in TNG "Encounter at Farpoint" (favorite).

That makeup looked horrible - which is remarkable, considering they aged him so well in The Deadly Years.

Agreed. I really wish Westmore or whoever was responsible would have done more to mimic that episode.

 

[captcalhoun]

um, wasn't the old-T'pol in E2 suffering the effects of her Trellium-D dependency?

kinda like a 30-y.o crack addict looking like 60-y.o

 

[TGTheodore]

The makeup in TOS was meant for low-res television. That's why the sets look worse as well with newer TV models. Television back then allowed for flaws and the lack of resolution.

Watch some of the TOS episodes on a very old black and white or color set and they'll look much better.

--Ted

 

[A beaker full of death]

The makeup in TOS was meant for low-res television. That's why the sets look worse as well with newer TV models. Television back then allowed for flaws and the lack of resolution.

They all look fine to me. And you can't seriously assert that this http://trekmovie.com/wp-content/uploads/deadly_years/tosr040_new_19.jpg
looks so much better than this http://tng.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/s1/1x02/farpoint2_005.jpg
because we're not seeing it properly!
The difference is in the care taken to create the illusion using the actor's face (indeed, De often did his own makeup, though not for this ep, of course), rather than slapping on some latex appliances that don't even match the actor's face.