What is brain?
Kathy is studying Latin; I am deep into my own research, namely going through the library of 'Star Trek' episodes. Some of these I haven't seen in years and now I am getting down to the worst of the worst. Almost all are from the last season.
'Plato's Stepchildren' I watched the other night. Talk about weird. Worth watching if for no other reason than to see Kirk and Spock as Tweedledum and Tweedledee doing a little dance. Shatner and Nimoy must have felt they were back in acting school; impersonating animals, feigning marionette movements, singing... and the priceless scene of Kirk slapping himself into submission.
'Day of the Dove,' 'Elaan of Troyius,' 'Let This Be Your Last Battlefield'... they all have their moments, good and bad. Mostly bad. I think what sets the third season apart is that it reflects the sixties so much more than the previous two seasons. Racial prejudice, the Vietnam War, male/female relationships etc. all come into play and are subject to very thinly disguised and not very subtle treatment and commentary.
Having said that, there are worthwhile bits in almost all the episodes. 'Day of the Dove,' for example, might have been seen as incredibly liberal at the time, but today seems rather even-handed. Same with 'Let This Be Your Last Battlefield.' Yes, there are heavy-handed lectures about war and bigotry, but they are directed at both sides, really.
And then there's 'Spock's Brain.' This one stands apart. It is probably the episode that Gene Roddenberry always feared would someday be made. And as he had stepped back from day to day supervision of 'Star Trek' by this point, sure enough it was.
It is the worst kind of grade-z sci-fi and it harkens back to some of those awful low-budget SF films of the 50's. Its tried-and-true premise would have fit right in- a planet controlled by air-headed but gorgeous women; this being the 60's, they wear mini-skirts and thigh boots. You almost expect them to break into 'These Boots Were Made For Walking.' But no, they only spout dialogue like, "Brain and brain! What is brain?"
The poor stupid men of the planet (hey, at least both sexes are idiots) call the women 'givers of pain and delight.' Subtle, no? As is this exchange between McCoy and Kirk-
McCoy- I'm sure you noticed the 'delightful' aspects.
Kirk- Yes, I certainly noticed those delightful aspects.
Cue rimshot. And then the final scene is a real howl... McCoy must put Spock's brain (hence the title) back into his head. He succeeds, without disturbing the Vulcan's distinctive hairdo in the slightest. Dr. McCoy, Master Hair Stylist. But does he do nails as well?
Anyway, one thing that has occurred to me as I watch all of these Treks, the good and the bad, is that hardly any are completely one or the other. Most of the best still have a few cringe-worthy lines or scenes, and even the worst have their good moments.
'Plato's Stepchildren' I watched the other night. Talk about weird. Worth watching if for no other reason than to see Kirk and Spock as Tweedledum and Tweedledee doing a little dance. Shatner and Nimoy must have felt they were back in acting school; impersonating animals, feigning marionette movements, singing... and the priceless scene of Kirk slapping himself into submission.
'Day of the Dove,' 'Elaan of Troyius,' 'Let This Be Your Last Battlefield'... they all have their moments, good and bad. Mostly bad. I think what sets the third season apart is that it reflects the sixties so much more than the previous two seasons. Racial prejudice, the Vietnam War, male/female relationships etc. all come into play and are subject to very thinly disguised and not very subtle treatment and commentary.
Having said that, there are worthwhile bits in almost all the episodes. 'Day of the Dove,' for example, might have been seen as incredibly liberal at the time, but today seems rather even-handed. Same with 'Let This Be Your Last Battlefield.' Yes, there are heavy-handed lectures about war and bigotry, but they are directed at both sides, really.
And then there's 'Spock's Brain.' This one stands apart. It is probably the episode that Gene Roddenberry always feared would someday be made. And as he had stepped back from day to day supervision of 'Star Trek' by this point, sure enough it was.
It is the worst kind of grade-z sci-fi and it harkens back to some of those awful low-budget SF films of the 50's. Its tried-and-true premise would have fit right in- a planet controlled by air-headed but gorgeous women; this being the 60's, they wear mini-skirts and thigh boots. You almost expect them to break into 'These Boots Were Made For Walking.' But no, they only spout dialogue like, "Brain and brain! What is brain?"
The poor stupid men of the planet (hey, at least both sexes are idiots) call the women 'givers of pain and delight.' Subtle, no? As is this exchange between McCoy and Kirk-
McCoy- I'm sure you noticed the 'delightful' aspects.
Kirk- Yes, I certainly noticed those delightful aspects.
Cue rimshot. And then the final scene is a real howl... McCoy must put Spock's brain (hence the title) back into his head. He succeeds, without disturbing the Vulcan's distinctive hairdo in the slightest. Dr. McCoy, Master Hair Stylist. But does he do nails as well?
Anyway, one thing that has occurred to me as I watch all of these Treks, the good and the bad, is that hardly any are completely one or the other. Most of the best still have a few cringe-worthy lines or scenes, and even the worst have their good moments.
posted by gbj at 4:45 PM
6 Comments:
I don't have all the third season episodes. I know there are others that are really awful... 'The Way To Eden' has to be the worst, even more so than 'Spock's Brain' and 'Requiem for a Methusaleh' is pretty bad too, as I recall. I used to know all this stuff.
But as I said, if you got some time to kill, there are little things in even the worst episodes that are worth seeing. For instance, I noticed in 'Spock's Brain' they had shots of the bridge they never had before. Stuff like that only old treksters like you and me would appreciate.
I like 'Turnabout Intruder' and 'Tholian Web.' 'That Which Survives' is okay, and I haven't seen 'The Enterprise Incident' in ages, but I have it... I'll make it next on my list of ones to watch.
I remember Tholian Web and also being mightily impressed by the Dolman's exotic beauty and awesome power. At the time, though, I missed the connection between "Elaan of Troyius" and the "face that launched a thousand ships and burnt the topless towers of Ilium . . ."
France Nuyen played Liat in the film
"South Pacific," I think. Also was in "The Joy Luck Club."
I also remember cringing horribly at the Tweedledum 'n 'dee bit, and wondering, have they no dignity?? Can't anyone stop this? Same for "Bitter Dregs."
I had forgotten all about about Kirk kissing Uhura! I never knew it was such a historical moment, though. How cool is that!
I don't remember "Way to Eden". Was that the one Jill Ireland guested in? I remember being all excited about that because she was David McCallum's wife. Or maybe ex, by that point, and Mrs. Charles Bronson.
She had Spock hanging from a tree like a sloth, at one point . . .
'Way To Eden' concerned a group of space hippies trying to find, um, Eden. Spock joins a jam session with his Vulcan harp but doesn't sing. Charles Napier (think that's the actor's name) played one of the hippies and sang several terrible songs. Another real 'sixties' episode.
The one with Jill Ireland was a pretty good one... trying to think of the name. Was it 'This Side of Paradise?' I think so. D.C. Fontana wrote that one. It had the spores that made Spock all emotional.
I love the scene where Kirk insults Spock to the point of a brief but memorable fight scene between them. "Had enough?"
And yeah, Joe, Lt. Leslie (or whatever name he went by in various episodes) always cracked me up. He's such a little shit. One of the ones I watched recently had him taking Sulu's place (can't remember which one right now) and Kirk tells him to change course... he turns around and says, 'Yes sir' but the tone of his voice is more like, 'whatever, you pompous ass.'
I think I read somewhere that he was Shatner's stunt double and they let him play bit parts from time to time. Do you know anything about that?
Thanks for the info.
The only thing that surprised me a little was when it said he was in 'most' of the first and second season episodes. I would have guessed maybe a half-dozen, tops.
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