Whom Gods Destroy---It's a Bargain!

[Praetor Baldric]

I actually quite like this episode, but it is painfully clear that this must have been shot when the budget was at its weakest. The dollar-stretching and penny-pinching is painfully obvious in all of the re-uses we find in this episode (sets, set-pieces, props, wardrobe, costumes and make-up).

How many re-uses from other eps can you find in WGD and which episodes are they from?

 

[BillJ]

Not sure how cheap the make-up would have been as they still had to spend the time applying it (Andorian, Orion).

 

[Praetor Baldric]

Not sure how cheap the make-up would have been as they still had to spend the time applying it (Andorian, Orion).

Wouldn't they be the same make-up artists who were on staff anyway to do Spock and the other regulars? I was thinking more along the lines that they saved money by reusing the costumes and prostheses from aliens we had seen before in JTB for example rather than introducing new aliens that would require completely new features that would have needed to be manufactured, tested, and possibly tweaked or adjusted.

 

[plynch]

Yeah, it's el cheapo, for sure. I liked it as a kid, though.

By the way, your avatar is of the most creepy guy in all of TOS, imho. "Your dad-dy can put them up. Can't. He." Almost makes the whole episode. Well, that plus red hour. Feativalll.

 

[Praetor Baldric]

Yeah, it's el cheapo, for sure. I liked it as a kid, though.

By the way, your avatar is of the most creepy guy in all of TOS, imho. "Your dad-dy can put them up. Can't. He." Almost makes the whole episode. Well, that plus red hour. Feativalll.

 

[scotpens]

Well, Garth's overcoat is the same one worn by Kodos in "Conscience of the King," and his jacket was originally worn by Commissioner Ferris in "The Galileo Seven." The neural neutralizer chair from "Dagger of the Mind" makes an appearance, only now with a pair of built-in brain zappers instead of a single one in the ceiling. Much more efficient, I should think.

 

[ZapBrannigan]

The semi-circular control panel was seen in many episodes. Marplon used it in "Return of the Archons" for instance, and it held the Romulan cloaking device in "The Enterprise Incident." It also shows up in the research station on Memory Alpha ("The Lights of Zetar").

 

[SchwEnt]

And they got to bring back "The Tholian Web" spacesuits, too.

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

The neural neutralizer chair from "Dagger of the Mind" makes an appearance, only now with a pair of built-in brain zappers instead of a single one in the ceiling. Much more efficient, I should think.

Agreed. For the nature of the location--an asylum--using the "Dagger of the Mind" chair, and staff uniforms made perfect sense and adds the feel of established continuity to the various Federation outposts.

 

[AtoZ]

For me, it was often the little things, the small and wondrous details TOS included in their stories that translated the future and its state of technology well, despite any effects limitations or budget cuts. Case to point - Dr. Whats-his-name suspended against the wall in the detention area at the beginning of the story. For the first timer watching Trek, it smacks of something extra, a detail that hints at something beyond our ability today, but no issue is made of it in the episode itself. I always enjoyed little points such as that about TOS......even among some of its weaker episodes.

 

[BillJ]

Maybe Harvey has the budget for this episode and how it compares to other third season outings?

 

[feek61]

The control panels were the same ones used in the obelisk in "The Paradise Syndrome" also in "For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky." Probably a few other 3rd season episodes as well.

 

[GSchnitzer]

Maybe Harvey has the budget for this episode and how it compares to other third season outings?

My hunch is its budget was really no different for "Gods" than all the other episodes. "Wink of an Eye" "Gideon," and "Battlefield" are pretty cheap, too. But as long as you do your entire show (or a vast majority of it) on standing sets without much new decoration, you probably don't notice it. But if the whole episode takes place off the ship, you don't get to save the money that you usually get to. That is to say, so much of Wink, and Gideon, and Battlefield are reused from earlier episodes: it's just recycling that same ol' bridge and same ol' sickbay, and those same ol' red and gold and blue uniforms. How often have we seen that bridge before? El cheap-o.

 

[BillJ]

Maybe Harvey has the budget for this episode and how it compares to other third season outings?

My hunch is its budget was really no different for "Gods" than all the other episodes. "Wink of an Eye" "Gideon," and "Battlefield" are pretty cheap, too. But as long as you do your entire show (or a vast majority of it) on standing sets without much new decoration, you probably don't notice it. But if the whole episode takes place off the ship, you don't get to save the money that you usually get to. That is to say, so much of Wink, and Gideon, and Battlefield are reused from earlier episodes: it's just recycling that same ol' bridge and same ol' sickbay, and those same ol' red and gold and blue uniforms. How often have we seen that bridge before? El cheap-o.

Even though it's done on the cheap, I think there's a certain charm to the third season.

 

[plynch]

Maybe Harvey has the budget for this episode and how it compares to other third season outings?

My hunch is its budget was really no different for "Gods" than all the other episodes. "Wink of an Eye" "Gideon," and "Battlefield" are pretty cheap, too. But as long as you do your entire show (or a vast majority of it) on standing sets without much new decoration, you probably don't notice it. But if the whole episode takes place off the ship, you don't get to save the money that you usually get to. That is to say, so much of Wink, and Gideon, and Battlefield are reused from earlier episodes: it's just recycling that same ol' bridge and same ol' sickbay, and those same ol' red and gold and blue uniforms. How often have we seen that bridge before? El cheap-o.

Even though it's done on the cheap, I think there's a certain charm to the third season.

The weirdness, and the jettisoning of humor eps and earthlike planets of the week, make S3 at least equal to S2. IMHO anyway.

 

[Therin of Andor]

Andorian tabard by Therin of Andor, on Flickr

I like how one of the human inmates is wearing a brown suede Andorian tabard and the Andorian inmate is in a pink serape with feather boa trim. Did they swap, do you think?

The Orion makeup caused lots of problems because Yvonne Craig, as Marta, had to keep touching Shatner's face and uniform but not leave behind green streaks. They tried about three types of green makeup during the filming, but each one photographed very differently, making continuity and editing extremely tricky.

Also love that Garth wears one gold boot and one silver boot. And watch his ring explode and fly off his finger during a tantrum!

 

[GSchnitzer]

Anybody who'd wear blue, green, and turquoise plaid pants like that should be thrown into a looney bin.

 

[Harvey]

Maybe Harvey has the budget for this episode and how it compares to other third season outings?

The numbers I have place the estimated actual budget of the episode at $179,778.35. Ten third season shows cost more than that; the rest cost less. In the cost-conscious third season, "Whom Gods Destroy" is in the middle of the road.

 

[Praetor Baldric]

Maybe Harvey has the budget for this episode and how it compares to other third season outings?

The numbers I have place the estimated actual budget of the episode at $179,778.35. Ten third season shows cost more than that; the rest cost less. In the cost-conscious third season, "Whom Gods Destroy" is in the middle of the road.

Can you see which were the highest line items? Were the guest stars big enough names to warrant higher fees? Batgirl premiums?

 

[BillJ]

Maybe Harvey has the budget for this episode and how it compares to other third season outings?

The numbers I have place the estimated actual budget of the episode at $179,778.35. Ten third season shows cost more than that; the rest cost less. In the cost-conscious third season, "Whom Gods Destroy" is in the middle of the road.

Thanks for the info, Harvey!