Was "Spock's Brain" really an intentional parody?
- Thread starter Warped9
- Start date
To (attempt to) draaaaaag this thread back on what I think is the topic...
I'd like to think it's an intentional parody, too, because it's so hiLARious and I'd really like it to be funny on purpose. I'd particularly like the surgery scenes to be funny on purpose because they are, let's face it, absurd. And badly done.
But alas, I'm pretty sure (based on some of the things that have been mentioned here as well as the entire tone of the episode) that it was not. It's just plain ol' bad scripting, I'm afraid. I do enjoy it, but I enjoy it in exactly the same way I sometimes enjoy, when I go home to California for a visit, Del Taco. I know it's bad and all that, but I enjoy it anyway.
I'd like to think it's an intentional parody, too, because it's so hiLARious and I'd really like it to be funny on purpose. I'd particularly like the surgery scenes to be funny on purpose because they are, let's face it, absurd. And badly done.
But alas, I'm pretty sure (based on some of the things that have been mentioned here as well as the entire tone of the episode) that it was not. It's just plain ol' bad scripting, I'm afraid. I do enjoy it, but I enjoy it in exactly the same way I sometimes enjoy, when I go home to California for a visit, Del Taco. I know it's bad and all that, but I enjoy it anyway.
One simple fix would have been to not separate Spock from his brain. The aliens would have simply kidnapped him whole and hooked him up to the machine. That would not have altered the rest of the events significantly. Also change the title.
The episode was clearly not intended to be a comedy, however, I've always loved the episode of DS9 where the Ferengi animated a dead Vortae with practically the same gimmick. And like R2D2 in the blooper reel, he can't walk straight down the corridor.
Yes. But for years it had been believed by many fans that it was an intentional comedy which was changed when Frieberger took over, believing Star Trek shouldn't be overtly comedic. This had been said in a few not so accurate reference books.
So, no, not Every Fan knew it was just a bad episode from the start rather than a gutted comedy.
number6
Vice Admiral
Whatever it takes to make some people feel good about it, I guess..
There are also who believe it was Coon flipping the bird to Star Trek and Gene Roddenberry..
The reality is likely that Coon left the series because he was burned out but GR still had Coon write and polish a few scripts while he was writing for Wild Wild West.
The only person that knows the truth has been dead for decades.
We may never know.
There are also who believe it was Coon flipping the bird to Star Trek and Gene Roddenberry..
The reality is likely that Coon left the series because he was burned out but GR still had Coon write and polish a few scripts while he was writing for Wild Wild West.
The only person that knows the truth has been dead for decades.
We may never know.
Which has got what to do with what people believed?
Or are you still trying to get Bonzie riled?
number6
Vice Admiral
Do I have to explain my posts to you?
Where did fans get the idea that this was some kind of intentional parody in the first place?
It seems people will go a long way to justify a bad episode of TOS. If it makes you feel better to think that, go for it. It doesn't change the fact that TOS wasn't without its flaws. Every Trek series has them. TOS gets a pass because it was the original show. I get it. But to go to such lengths to make excuses for Spock's Brain is a bit of a stretch.
It's very simple, except maybe for you. A lot of folks couldn't get that like many other things "shit happens" no matter the best of intentions. In this case "shit happened" and they cranked out a less than stellar episode. Funny actually because I can think of worse episodes, at least in my opinion.
You stubbornly stay on this point as if you want to start an argument. Perhaps some might act as you claim, but a great many others can be honestly mistaken because they've heard the so-called explanation so often and thus think it true. How long did many folks think that NBC thought "The Cage" too cerebral for television and Number One wouldn't be accepted until it was finally hammered home that GR pumped out that story because he didn't get his way in getting his girlfriend on the show in a significant role?Oh I get it.
Purists can't accept the fact that TOS had clunker episodes so naturally it has to be some kind of "parody" or some other underlying excuse instead of a writer being burnt out and tossing off a bad script because TOS never did that!!
number6
Vice Admiral
How many TOS fans elevate the series to the point where they elevate every single show to some high art form, as if they had no bad episodes at all, especially in the context of "discussing" what came after?
The point is that everyone knows that Spock's Brain wasn't exactly a shining moment and people would rather invent excuses than accept it as a bad episode and move on.
The point is that everyone knows that Spock's Brain wasn't exactly a shining moment and people would rather invent excuses than accept it as a bad episode and move on.
Why do you keep repeating your point and baiting even though people are not disagreeing with you?
Yes, everyone knows Spock's Brain is bad. Feel better now?
Whether it was intentional or not, "Spock's Brain" was pretty funny.
I get the feeling that those who made the show didn't always take it very seriously. Whether this was an "intentional parody" or not I can't say, but I don't think anyone thought that they were doing Shakespeare with "Spock's Brain," or any of the other episodes.
I get the feeling that those who made the show didn't always take it very seriously. Whether this was an "intentional parody" or not I can't say, but I don't think anyone thought that they were doing Shakespeare with "Spock's Brain," or any of the other episodes.
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