And the miniskirts, the go-go boots, the bright colors and about a million other things didn't also "date" the series more-so than a single extra with a 'fro?
Well... the first two of those made comebacks a couple of times - thankfully...
WTF moments in TOS...
- Thread starter Warped9
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Well... the first two of those made comebacks a couple of times - thankfully...
And the miniskirts, the go-go boots, the bright colors and about a million other things didn't also "date" the series more-so than a single extra with a 'fro?
Well... the first two of those made comebacks a couple of times - thankfully...
^^
You said it Orcus....
Heh, heh, heh....
A major WTF that just occured to me - in "Obsession", the cloud creature begins to enter the ship through a broken air vent in the room Spock is in. When he sees the vent is broken, what does our highly intelligent logical Vulcan do? HE TRIES TO COVER THE VENT WITH HIS HANDS! He tries to keep smoke from coming out of a vent grill which is too large for him to cover with his hands! I've tried to rationalize it 2 ways - 1) Spock knew, or guessed, that the creature wouldn't want his green blood and may retreat - far fetched - or 2) He was trying to meld and communicate with it. Either way, when you watch the scene, you can't help but bust out laughing and think "What is he doing?"
Well, what did you expect him to do? It was time for a commercial break, so some cliff-hanging was required (if it were me, I would have grabbed the pillow from Garrovick's bunk and plugged the vent with that).
I actually like the close-up where Spock breaks off the little switch that controls the vent, and just kinda tosses it aside.
Well it stands to reason: if it breaks and is, therefore, useless then it is logical to discard it...
The pillow would have been a good way to go, or even showing Spock filddling with the vent to try and close it would have worked better. It still makes me chuckle whenever I see it.
^I think the whole point of that scene is that Spock wasn't acting logically -- that he had a reflexive, emotional response to danger and acted in desperation.
Some quick fun ones:
Spock's coffee stain on his tunic in "Tribbles." Man, Spock, either get a cup with a lid or change your shirt before showing up for duty!
Pretty much anything ever done or said by Riley -maybe giving him so leeway when under the influence of the Psi-2000 Virus.
Kirk flirting with a barely-pubescent girl -even mildly.
Spock's coffee stain on his tunic in "Tribbles." Man, Spock, either get a cup with a lid or change your shirt before showing up for duty!
Pretty much anything ever done or said by Riley -maybe giving him so leeway when under the influence of the Psi-2000 Virus.
Kirk flirting with a barely-pubescent girl -even mildly.
Indeed. Holding Spock up as some kind of paragon of cold logic and considering any deviation from that kind behavior as a mistake is really misreading the character. When it came to emotions, the guy was constantly slipping up, practically in every episode.
That may be true, but putting your hands over a vent you can see that your hands can't cover? Even an "illogical, emotional" human would, as others pointed out, grab the nearby pillow or blanket to try and cover the vent. The most logical action is to get the hell out of there, but even the most illogical, overwrought emotional person would not try to stop smoke with their hands! Its just either a screw up by the time-pressed writers, a bad improv by Nimoy, or something to that effect.
^ I don't think I agree with this. I don't believe it was a bad improv or a writers' screw up or anything like that. I think the scene was written exactly the way it was filmed, the purpose being, not to deliver documentary-level realism, but to set up the end-of-act teaser by dramatically conveying to the audience the peril of the situation.
I submit that having Spock look around to find a pillow and then hold that pillow over the vent - or, even worse, simply leave the room, because that would be the "logical" thing to do - would be vastly less dramatically effective than the image of his bare hands vainly trying to hold back the danger.
I think the scene was shot the way it was because the creatives made a conscious decision to choose dramatic storytelling over dry realism. They understood that they were making dramatic entertainment, not a documentary.
Furthermore, I think that a lot of the nitpicks and "WTF moments" that have been pointed out over the years fall into this same category . If all these "errors" ever were actually "corrected," I think Star Trek would be a much less entertaining and satisfying show than it is.
I submit that having Spock look around to find a pillow and then hold that pillow over the vent - or, even worse, simply leave the room, because that would be the "logical" thing to do - would be vastly less dramatically effective than the image of his bare hands vainly trying to hold back the danger.
I think the scene was shot the way it was because the creatives made a conscious decision to choose dramatic storytelling over dry realism. They understood that they were making dramatic entertainment, not a documentary.
Furthermore, I think that a lot of the nitpicks and "WTF moments" that have been pointed out over the years fall into this same category . If all these "errors" ever were actually "corrected," I think Star Trek would be a much less entertaining and satisfying show than it is.
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You mean the same "illogical, emotional" humans that tend to strip their clothes off when they are about to die from being in a cold environment to long? Or the "overwrought emotional" person that throws their hands up to block an explosive blast?
Don't ruin our fun, you fun-ruiner.
Hey, don't get me wrong. Just because it's not my particular thing doesn't mean I'm not aware that nitpicking is a very popular activity. I didn't mean to be throwing any wet blankets.
I just wish we would sometimes make the distinction between true mistakes - like continuity errors or misuse of props and the like - and situations where the creatives simply made the decision to choose artistic license over strict realism, that's all.
^Your point is well-taken, but on the other hand, this isn't really a "mistakes" thread, just a thread for things in TOS that struck us oddly when we saw them.
^ True enough. My post would likely have been better posted to one of the other, more generic nitpicking threads. 
Exactly. I wasn't "nitpicking" (although that can be fun, more for the rationalizations that explain them), but rather, as Christopher said, pointing out something that struck me as oddly done. As for the dramatic elements, I think that even if Spock leaves the room, the drama of the creature penetrating the ship is still viceral, and would still leave the audience with the "what will happen now" question during the commercial break.
Yes, that's pretty much what I intended with the thread. Many of the WTF moments can be rationalized in some manner or other, but they can still impress one as strange.
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