to bring out nostalgia--Posted on 04/02/2017 11:23:28 AM PDT by Bender2
50 Years of "Star Trek" The original Series - My Sweet 16
Nothing like a lingering Sunday martini brunch... to bring out nostalgia--
And this Sunday my mind goes back 50 years... 
to watching the oiginal "Star Trek"
And here are my Sweet 16... 
Best Episodes:
I sort of liked “Spock’s Brain” too.
I do agree that the 3rd season was weakest, especially the last few episodes with one exception which I can’t recall right now
It had clearly run it’s course by then.
Actually none of the episodes were really believable but some were worse than others. For the most part it was best to just ignore things which did not make sense and enjoy it.
One thing which really did bug me was Spock always being anti-racist while denigrating humans all the time. Yeah, I know he was half human.
Only one you didn't include was the one with Spock's Vulcan father Sarick and his Earthling mother played by Jane Wyman (Ronald Reagan's first wife)
Forgot to mention that Miss Goodwin is the last surviving original castmember from the pilot episode.
The 3rd season suffered from a singular problem: lack of money. The network wasn’t happy about its renewal and shorted it on funds. Still, there were plans for a 4th season and it was to prominently feature William Campbell as Captain Koloth.
Sarek. You’re also confusing Jane Wyman and Jane Wyatt. Wyman as Amanda also played the mother on “Father Knows Best.” Wyatt was Reagan’s first wife and was mostly in films, but was back in prominence as the star of TV’s “Falcon Crest” when her ex was in the White House.
I saw a short interview with their prop master.
The one thing which stuck with me was his saying their favorite source of materials was the Paramount dumpsters.
I would delete 16, 15, 10, 9 and 5 and replace them with:
Where No Man has Gone Before
Arena
Mirror Mirror
The Enterprise Incident
Whom Gods Destroy
I also like "The Alternative Factor" but realize it is not for everyone.
I think maybe you are thinking of Star Trek: The Next Generation episode called "The Arsenal of Freedom".
This is how I explain marriage to my younger nephews and nieces. Captain Kirk explains it at the end of the episode.
Interestingly, the recently NASA reported M-Drive may well be a warp drive. (early 2015 attacks against this possibility —in 2016 have turned to a wait and see position.)
http://bit.ly/2o148Dt
You have them backwards. Wyatt was Spock’s mother and the mom on Father Knows Best. Wyman was married to Reagan.
Oh, derp ! I can’t believe I goofed that, because I know which is which. Thanks for the correction.
Isn’t she the only surviving cast member from the pilot episode, The Cage?
I thought of the empath as a Christ-type figure who was willing to physically suffer for her people. It was unique mime or not.
Photoshop Hal Linden’s face over Shatner’s and you’ll get an idea how much fun he had every time Inspector Frank Luger came for a visit. (Barney Miller joke)
Post #83, yup.
As a kid I pretty much *liked* EVERY episode of TOS.
As an old guy, I now realize just how bad some of the episodes are.
Lights of Zetar?
The worst bottle show ever.
Let That Be Your Last Battlefield?
Preachy nonsense.
Agree with "City" but where is "Doomsday Machine" and "Mirror, Mirror"?
I prefer the original of Doomsday vs the new, souped up modern version. Yes the effects were crude, but that fire in the center of the 1967 era machine was plenty scary.
Devastating when Decker kills himself.
Yep that sounds like the one. I was watching a program on tiny swarm drones that could coordinate their attack and thought of this show. Knew it was Star Trek just bas the wrong series. Thanks
I think there was some criticism of William Windom for overacting as Commodore Decker, but consider what the character had just experienced (transporting the crew of his ship to the surface of a planet, only to watch as the machine consumed it for fuel and he couldn’t do anything about it to save them) and it was a masterful performance of utter shock and horror and then turning into a Captain Ahab.
I don’t think “...Battlefield” was a bad episode, a decent parable on racism (even if it seems a tad heavy-handed). I believe Frank Gorshin got an Emmy nomination for that performance.
I’ve been enjoying the fully restored eps running on BBC America on Friday evenings. They often had to chop close to 8-10 minutes out of them in prior runs (since now a show is roughly 36 minutes in an hour format with commercials). I like the updated special effects, too (although I’ll admit the original Doomsday Machine model was quite scary).
I remember someone (or maybe even multiple people) claim that “Battlefield” wasn’t so much about racism as it was about how unceasing hatred can led to destruction, as in the case of the people of the planet Cheron and eventually Bele and Lokai.
“Doomsday” was always one of my favorite episodes. I agree with you said about Windom.
They never explored the original of the planet killer in any other Star Trek show or movie, but in a ST:TNG novel called “Vendetta,” the doomsday machine was portrayed as a weapon made to fight the Borg. The novel was about a more advanced model going after the Borg (a few months after the events of the Best of Both Worlds two parter).
Out of the third season, I also enjoyed “The Tholian Web,” “The Enterprise Incident,” and “Day of the Dove.”
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.