Scott Atwell Star Trek Discussion thread (Series and Films) (6 Viewers)

[AndyMcKinney]

Though it made it easy that Shatner's tunic has no delta insignia on it. Nor does the evil Kirk who beams aboard. I don't recall if if the missing insignia is explained by anyone. Maybe they left the insignia off as a way to show the evil Kirk as a mirror image and realized it wouldn't work.

If you're talking about the "normal" tunic (i.e. not the wraparound one), I'm pretty sure it was explained that this was simply a 'laundry' mistake...the insignia were always taken off when the uniforms were cleaned, then sewn back on. Apparently, Shatner's insignia didn't get sewn back on and no one caught the mistake when filming that part of the episode.

 

[Nelson Au]

That's a likely reason Andy. I recall reading that the insignias were removed before dry cleaning.

 

[Nelson Au]

I don't usually watch The Enemy Within too often of late because I didn't want to loose the impact. It was interesting watching it because of Shatner's performance as the negative side of Kirk. Maybe some non fans think it's over the top. For such an early episode, Shatner went all in as he usually does. The final confrontation on the bridge was so raw in a way as he exposes so much of the negative side of the character's weaknesses in front of the crew. The positive side is as exposed, but privately with McCoy and Spock. It's a really fantastic episode.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

My dad first introduced me to Star Trek when I was about eight years old. We saw VI in theaters together, and then WPIX Channel 11 in New York would show reruns of the original series in ever changing time slots and orders. He was generally content to let it play out that way as we watched them together, but every once in a while there would be a particular episode he'd want to show me and wouldn't want to wait for WPIX to decide to air it. Our local video store had the VHS tapes that had one episode per tape, and I remember one of those first splurges was for The Enemy Within. (The others that I recall renting on tape were The Cage, Balance Of Terror, Space Seed and Tomorrow Is Yesterday.) Even as a kid, I found the Enemy Within to be very moving, and still do. Rather convenient that the shuttlecraft wasn't working that week

 

[trevanian]

I remember reading stuff in the 70s that ENEMY WITHIN was actually used in medical facilities as an instructional aid for patients to understanding the value of their darker impulses. Have no idea if there is any truth to it, but I'm pretty sure it was mentioned in at least one or two of the NF books of the era (maybe WORLD OF STAR TREK and STAR TREK LIVES! certainly it must have been mentioned in SHATNER: WHERE NO MAN ... which if you can find it, is a very bizarre but compelling look at Shatner through the eyes of a couple of doctoral-thesis minded fans. It is a massive ego-stroke exercise, but there are some valuable bits, including a summary of a four hour interview between Shat and Nimoy in a restaurant.

 

[FanCollector]

The Enemy Within is a great story, and arguably one of the most challenging of the entire series. It's not the typical "evil twin" episode because all the negativity is acknowledged as being truly part of the hero. The transporter gimmick lets it out, but the stuff was all in there to begin with, and that's just so gutsy and complex.

Obviously, the whole thing is about Captain Kirk (and by extension, all of us), but I do feel that this is the episode where Spock and McCoy find their relationship, both in form and content. They share a similar value system, and yet offer opposing perspectives and advice. That can be a fine line to draw, but it's so important because if they don't both share a large measure of Kirk's values (and by extension, each other's), then Kirk won't care about their advice. But if they don't provide different viewpoints, then they cease to serve either Kirk or the story. The tone is important from a characterization point of view, and you can almost see the actors stop and savor it in this episode when McCoy asks, "Do you have a point, Spock?" and Spock answers, "Always, Doctor."

Some great early episodes, but this one may be my favorite because it is so ambitious and succeeds so often. Richard Matheson had written Nightmare at 20,000 Feet for The Twilight Zone and he just loved Shatner's performance in it, so he vowed to write another show to let Shatner show off his gifts. It's funny, considering how much the episode does feature the star, that Matheson's sole criticism of the show was the added subplot of Sulu and the landing party. Of course, Roddenberry needed to add it because otherwise Kirk would have no reason to risk the transporter solution and there's no decision to make, but Matheson felt it unnecessarily diverted our attention from Shatner.

I've mentioned it here recently, but I do feel the need to call out my choice for most inappropriate moment in the series again: Spock taunting the victim of an attempted rape as a lightheartedly teasing ending to the show is just so wrong both objectively and for Spock. I get the point...Rand has secret feelings for Kirk and they're not as secret as she thinks. Still a very uncomfortable moment. I wasn't alive in 1966, so maybe it didn't seem so creepy then. But maybe it did.

 

[Nelson Au]

That's pretty cool your father introduced you to Star Trek, Josh. And it's new to me to hear fans who discovered it on home video more so then on broadcast syndicated TV! I found it the old fashioned way on TV. Before all the releases on discs, I did collect the VHS tapes too after years of making audio tapes from over the air broadcasts. ( as I've mentioned before. . )

Kevin that story sounds very familiar about The Enemy Within being used in medical and mental health areas. But I don't recall the exact story. That's a funny way to describe the book; Shatner, Where No Man. I read that book in 1979 too and I agree that my memory of reading it that it was all over the place.

Lee, you bring up an aspect of The Enemy Within I haven't noticed about Spock and McCoy. It really did seem to gel in that relationship when Spock was "analyzing the Captain's guts." It was also I'm sure the big scene so many alienated young people could relate to is when Spock speaks about knowing what it's like to be split in two, and struggling with two parts of himself.

I'll have to make it a double or triple feature soon, Nightmare at 20,000 Feet, Nick of Time and Warm Heart, Cold Hands.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Warm Heart, Cold Hands.

Never seen that one. Outer Limits episode?

Slightly off topic, my copy of Roddenberry's series The Lieutenant arrived and I watched the first two episodes. I really enjoyed them and will keep watching. There's something about TV from that era that I've really been enjoying of late. Maybe everything is a little too neat, too polished, very white-man-oriented instead of the more multicultural view that Roddenberry was able to push through in Trek, but despite those potential flaws of that era, there's a neatness to the storytelling I appreciate. And Gary Lockwood has co-starred in one of my favorite Trek episodes and my favorite movie, so I find it very easy to like him and root for him.

 

[Nelson Au]

Josh, that's right, The Outer Limits. Wow, you haven't seen it yet. If you don't own the series, I recommend it. There's a range of science fiction and gothic horror in the anthology series. Not every episode is to my taste, but I like more then I don't. Maybe it's nostalgia which I've seen mentioned a lot in other threads about other shows. But for me I just like the episodes and they stuck with me from my youth. Maybe that's the nostalgia part.

Well, I'll have to try to get The Lieutenant. (Thats a hard word to spell! )

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I'm grateful for spellcheck when I talk about The Lieutenant

I've seen a couple random Outer Limits, including the two Harlan Ellison wrote. I liked them, though I think Ellison was off base saying The Terminator was a ripoff of them. I now understand James Cameron's annoyance that the studio settled with Ellison to make him go away instead of fighting back.

 

[Carabimero]

I understand Roddenberry's evolution of ST a lot better after having watched THE LIEUTENANT.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I understand Roddenberry's evolution of ST a lot better after having watched THE LIEUTENANT.

I have a funny feeling that I'm going to enjoy The Lieutenant more than any of his failed 70s pilots (which I'm still very excited to finally see).

I really loved the first episode, where Lt. Rice is essentially guilted into requesting a private who had been a childhood friend be added to his unit, against tradition if not regulation, and it turns out the guy is no good. It was maybe a little predictable, but it didn't matter - it was good drama, well acted, and I immediately took to it. In the second episode, Lt. Rice is falsely accused of assaulting a woman, and though we know it's a false accusation, no one believes him. That was a little tougher to watch, because I generally dislike those plots. (Maybe it's a reaction to my own fear of not being believed when it matters.) But I admired the way his character won't accept a simple dropping of the charges, even though that would make it go away, because he knows he's innocent and won't take the easy way out. In two episodes alone, the character has an integrity that I find incredibly appealing.

 

[Carabimero]

The episodes get better.

 

[Nelson Au]

Alan, that's a really great insight to watching The Lieutenant.

There is a simularity in The Soldier to The Terminator, but I agree there's not an exact ripoff. Demon With A Glass Hand is one the best, if not the best episode in the series. Though I think there's at least two or three or four other episodes on par.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Nelson, if you've got any other Outer Limits to recommend, let me know. I think i have someone I can borrow some episodes from.

 

[FanCollector]

I love The Man Who Was Never Born and The Sixth Finger.

 

[Sam Favate]

I really wish the Outer Limits would get released on blu-ray.

 

[BobO'Link]

Nelson, if you've got any other Outer Limits to recommend, let me know. I think i have someone I can borrow some episodes from.

I'm not Nelson - but I'd recommend the entire series. Sure, there are some "lesser" episodes but overall it's a very good, and well done, series. It's a shame that it so frequently gets overlooked because of Twilight Zone. IMHO for what it does and that it has a slightly different focus, it's the better of the two series.

 

[Nelson Au]

Agreed Howie. But I'm not sure which is better Outer Limits or Twilight Zone. Both have merits. And you have Robert Justman as a producer on The Outer Limits right before his Star Trek gig.

My favorite episodes are listed below. You may like them too, many are frequently cited as good ones:

1. The Galaxy Being (pilot)
2. The Man Who Was Never Born, Martin Landau and Shirley Knight. A very cool concept and haunting.
3. The Bellero Shield, Martin Landau, Sally Kellerman and John Hoyt star.
4. Behold: Eck! Not everyone likes this one, I liked the story.
5. The Architects of Fear, Robert Culp stars
6. The Sixth Finger, David McCallum stars
7. The Zanti Misfits, This one has a Twilight Zone like ending and was often cited as a famous episode. Stars a young Bruce Dern.
8. Nightmare, I hate to say it, but I've never seen this episode, It's highly regarded. I'll watch it soon. I've seen clips and I know the cast and basic story.
9. Controlled Experiment, this is a fun one, guest star is Grace Lee Whitney along side Caroll O'Conner and Barry Morse.
10. Fun and Games, this is an adaptation of Arena, before Star Trek did it.
11. A Feasibility Study. This is a really good one. Great cast and concept.
12. Soldier, Michael Ansara and Lloyd Nolan.
13. Warm Heart Cold Hands, Stars William Shatner,
14. Demon with a Glass Hand, Robert Culp and Arlene Martel stars. And Abraham Sofar too who was the face of the Thasian who took Charlie back.
15. The Invisible Enemy, stars Adam West. Rudy Solari also stars. It's a fair episode.
16. Wolf 359, this is a creepy one. But an interesting idea. Worth a look.
17. I, Robot, Stars Leonard Nimoy. Also Marianna Hill before her guest starring role on Dagger of the Mind. Also has Peter Brocco, one of the Organians. One of my favorites.
18. The Premonition, I don't think this one is well regarded, but I liked it from seeing it once as a kid and it stuck. Cool premise.
19. The Probe, the final episode. I liked the concept. It's a good idea if your wonder what would have happened if our Mars lander found life there. And it has a creature that is similar to a Horta and is made and performed by the same person who created the Horta. ( if I have that story right )
20. The Special One, I forgot to add this one. Another interesting concept
21. It Crawled out of the Woodwork, another interesting one I forgot to add, Michael Forest, Ed Asner, Barbara Luna guest star. I mixed this one up with The Decay of Strange Particles. Makes you think twice about vacuuming up that dust bunny.

There's a few others that are interesting, but I don't see too often. O.B.I.T. Is a odd one to me, but others probably like it more then I do. The Production and Decay of Strange Particles is another odd one, but it's in the eye of the beholder. Tourist Attraction I'm not sure what to think of, but I found it interesting, The Man with the Power is fun. The Borderland is interesting too, been a long while since I last saw it.

I'll be curious what you guys think of the list. There's other episodes that are good and that others like I'm sure. One forum member here wrote a blog watching and reviewing each episode, I forget his name here. Maybe he'll see this post and chime in. The blog is: mylifeintheglowoftheouterlimits.blog

 

[Ric Easton]

Hi Everybody! Here's a little story I shot and edited for News10 ABC. It's a tour of the Enterprise sets from the New Voyages crew up in Ticonderoga, NY. They have stopped making the fan films, but CBS has licensed them to give "original set" tours. We had a blast working on the story and it's quite an impressive attraction! Enjoy and LLAP!