Star Trek: Classic or Dud?

Scotty’s best episode is the Trouble with Tribbles.

Was almost going to say “is he even in that one?” but then D’oh!

Wonder how many times I’ve mentioned William Campbell’s ex-wife in this thread.

when ppl deploy the phrase "no true scotsman" i think immediately of scotty and find myself saying "this phrase could never be used of him"

actually i saw the greek god one quite recently on the legend! channel but it's also up shortly in this watch-em-all-in-the-correct-order (s2e2) so i will def be rewatching again

Bones classic for "I'm a doctor, not a bricklayer" alone

"the court martial" is a p weedy ep (including seriously underusing elisha cook jr as kirk's defence attorney)

the computer says kirk did something bad to someone who had a grudge against him (who we never encountered till now)! except what if the only three ppl who can re-programme the computer to lie are kirk spock and the same someone who had a grudge against him (who we never encountered till now) also let's check to see who's hiding away on the ship O! M! G!

I've been watching through TOS for the first time recently, myself. I thought Tomorrow is Yesterday was a huge, noticeable jump in quality from previous episodes. The actors all felt like they'd settled well into their characters, the fight choreography really leveled up, and there were a lot of fun little lived-in details. My favorite was when Kirk and Sulu snuck through the military base, and Kirk silently pointed out a piece of paper posted to a bulletin board with this air of cool interest, like, "look at this neat historical artifact, real paper," and Sulu got super excited about it. Great ep!

Meantime, winning an Oscar will do that (streaming-only, though)

https://gizmodo.com/star-trek-michelle-yeoh-section-31-movie-1850347783

Of all things DS9 created that stuck with the rest of Trek, I wish it weren't S31.

Scotty’s best episode is the Trouble with Tribbles.

Have just rewatched that one as got to the DS9 episode in S5 that heavily references it.

As alluded to by Worf in the DS9 episode, what's up with Klingons looking like humans in TOS? Is it something that was retconned later in the movies/TNG when they had the budget for special effects?

they caught their faces from their itchy jumpers

the canonical answer is bad

A canonical explanation for the change was given in a two-part storyline on Star Trek: Enterprise, in the episodes "Affliction" and "Divergence" that aired in February 2005. Attempting to replicate experiments by humans to create augmented soldiers, Klingon scientists used genetic material from human test subjects on their own people, which resulted in a viral pandemic which caused Klingons to develop human-like physical characteristics. Dr. Phlox of the Enterprise formulated a cure for the virus, but the physical alterations remained in the populace and were inherited by offspring. Phlox indicated that "some day" the physical alterations could be reversed. The head scientist finally mentioned he would go into cranial reconstructive surgery, another nod to "restoration" of the ridges for some Klingons.

what's up with Klingons looking like humans in TOS?

the TOS portrayal of klingons was often very close to blackface

honestly the only good answer for the change is 'because it's a fictional tv show' (ie, worf otm in 'tribblations')

definitely

i'm in favor of making klingons looking wilder in every iteration

It was categorically and unambiguously brownface in TOS, and throughout all Trek (e.g. Gowron, who was played by a white actor).

KHAN!

more itchy string vests also

excellent headgear in "a taste of armageddon"

https://i.imgur.com/dbuvNkb.jpg

hats are how you know they're not very advanced (committed to war)

omg yeah the hats are A+
also the main hat lady is Grace from Hill Street Blues, aka Sgt Phil Esterhaus’s longtime girlfriend

my fave "tortured cold war metaphor" ep by far; also a classic example of no-Directive trek, where the moment kirk figures out what this planet's deal is he starts yelling at them about it. (but he's right cuz they practice mass human sacrifice for the propitiation of a decentralized machine-god that only understands conflict: what a shitty planet that would be.) don't quite remember the ending but assume they send federation ambassadors or something to make sure these heathens stay straightened out; don't remember it having the platonic kirkian abruptness of return of the archons where he simply blows up the computer that's been organizing society for millennia and then beams up smirking.

spock giving v good "let me just briefly explain to you the illogicality of your entire culture's way of seeing" face there.

^booming post

"you should be squatting on a mushroom… right next to the dog-faced boy!"

klingon leader: "you of the federation, you are much like us"
kirk (hotly): "we are nothing like you!"

We Trekkies are nothing like you Trekkers

joan collins klaxon!

(it is fun rewatching this show after 50 years)

Oh that's a good episode, McCoy goes totally batshit crazy on drugs, right?

and his face goes all blotchy!

I saw that episode again recently. It is quite good and Joan Collins is stunning. It has some of the fish out of water humor they ended up using in Star Trek IV.

it's by harlan ellison AND dc fontana

(tho not dj fontana as i first wrote)

( nor dj bonebrake)

Did you take note of Floyd’s barbershop in the background during your most recent viewing?

DJ Fontana was John Cage's club name.

now watching the squeaky pancake / inner eyelid ep

One of the running jokes of the Lower Decks series is that they revisit planets that previous Enterprise captains have blown up(literally in some cases) the hegemonic social institutions of, then left without much rebuilding

STAR TREK THE MOTION PICTURE (1979)

this is quite hard work tbrr

Ilia!

jumping from show to film?

film was showing on old-school TV

i actually think i've never seen the film before, it is even more boring than 2001 a space odyssey

i was just excited to see star trek on big screen but yeah, not one of the best efforts
uniforms were terrible too, much improved in next film
remember spock (quest to strip emotion away) being the one interesting thing- is that the case or comes off badly too?

it definitely doesn't feel fresh any longer

the (brief) sections of intersponal banter are generally an improvement on the extremely long sections of "ship moving through vast space structure as tiredly scored by jerry goldsmith"

;_; i kinda love the film

I loved it in the theater as a 7 yo, especially the V'ger reveal. My dad, not so much (but he's not really a sci-fi guy).

i actually think i've never seen the film before, it is even more boring than 2001 a space odyssey

I like that it's not trying to be Star Wars (7 yo me loved SW too).

ST:TMP is another one of my absolute favorites (2001 is at the absolute top of my list).

Watching the Directors Cut of ST:TMP helped fill in a lot of holes I didn’t remember the film having when I saw it repeatedly in elementary school.

tmp is great, my favorite star trek movie, i also never watch it unless i’m ruthlessly baked

My plans for this year:

1. Get a job
2. Get a 4K OLED telly
3. Get baked
4. Watch TMP for the first time

Watched heaps of Trek this past week, TMP, the new movies, WoK, and completed the Picard series.

Had always heard that TMP wasn't great, but i really enjoyed it.

yes it's underappreciated and it has a style and feel that is completely unique in all of trekdom. the 2001 influence is extremely strong and I enjoy that about it. It really makes the enterprise, space, everything feel huge for the first time, in fact, I'm not sure Trek ever felt that huge again.

_i actually think i've never seen the film before, it is even more boring than 2001 a space odyssey_

Felt like this was what they were going for, so I ended up embracing it.