Scott Atwell Star Trek Discussion thread (Series and Films) (5 Viewers)

[Nelson Au]

Your mention of The Cloudminders reminded me of the continued tradition of political leaders portrayed as hinderences to Kirk and a source of irritation! Well, I knew I probably would miss a few of the people who operated the transporter! I had O'Neil in mind when crafting the question, yet I forgot to add him to the list! So there's another person on the list to make it 13 I see as persons at the controls of the transporter.I must have had a stroke or memory lapse as I cannot recall McCoy activating the transporter! I'm going to have to look for this one. He'd make it 14 people who have activated the transporter. It would seem ironic for McCoy to actually activate the transporter considering he hates it so! One point for sure for Lee for the O'Neil answer and a probable 2 for the McCoy example.

 

[FanCollector]

You don't remember McCoy operating the transporter?! What website is this?! Assassins! Murderers!

 

[Nelson Au]

"Explain this trick! "I was unconscious or demented! I was thinking of ordinary emergency situations where McCoy might have activated the transporter to send Kirk someplace. Okay, no excuses for my lapse of memory!

 

[FanCollector]

I'll add Wilson from The Enemy Within and Galloway/Johnson/Whoever David L. Ross was playing that week in The Galileo Seven.

 

[Ockeghem]

Nelson,

How about Mr. Spock (II) (Mirror, Mirror), Spock (more than one episode), Mr. Berkeley in Dagger Of the Mind, and Scotty in several episodes.

 

[Nelson Au]

Great work guys!Lee found another I forgot, Galloway didn't come back in dissasiated order. I didn't forget poor Wilson though.Scott, I was counting Spock once, in whichever universe he's in! . And of course, Mr. Scott. And Mr. Berkeley needs to study up on Penal Colony procedures.I make that 4 to 3 with Lee edging the lead.

 

[Nelson Au]

Guys, as a non-sequitor bit of conversation, because of the John Fiedler discussion of a few days ago, I watched the Silver the Wonder Dog episode of The Odd Couple and watched a couple more of the favorite ones I liked. There was one about how Oscar wrote a column about how awful New Yorkers were and Felix made his mission to prove to Oscar that New Yorkers were good kind decent people and they end up trapped in a subway car with people of course being terrible. Early in the episode, I forgot that Elinor Donahue was on as Miriam, Felix's girlfriend. I looked her up and she was about thirty when she did Metamorphosis so she was still pretty young on The Odd Couple. That led to finding that she had done a 7 part interview for the Archive of American Television. I saw Part 5 where she talks about Star Trek. That was interesting to see as her recollection was a little off regarding the plot and what happens to Hedford. I liked what she says though of her experience and the sequence when she breaks down. Particularly what she learned from the experience from Shatner and Finnerman.

 

[Nelson Au]

And as a further non-sequitor, with you being a former New Yorker Lee, you might be able to tell, I was always surprised that on the Odd Couple, for a series with a limited budget I'm sure, and filmed in Los Angeles, there are episodes that are filmed on location and it looks like its really New York and the actions match the plot. A few times its obviously a generic shot of them walking around and the dialogue is recorded later to make it match the episode. So it amazed me that could have occurred. perhaps good planning and schedules to film several location shots at once and fly back to Los Angeles.

 

[FanCollector]

First, business: Ensign Wyatt (whose name I recall from an earlier question) in That Which Survives and Captain Kirk in numerous episodes (best scene in Day of the Dove).I watched that Elinor Donahue interview years ago. Isn't it funny how they never remember the plots, but always remember the people? Regarding The Odd Couple, they would go to NY at the beginning of each season just to shoot some footage of Randall and Klugman there with maybe a vague idea of some stories to which the footage would contribute. (Randall lived in NYC anyway and commuted home every weekend or every other weekend, so he was always pleased to do the shooting there.) When an episode had special location needs, they would spend extra time in NY getting those shots. In a couple of cases, there are shared directorial credits because so much was filmed on location. As for the budget, notice that all the NY footage was done as montage covered with music or voiceover. There were never any dialogue scenes shot on location. (In The Subway Story, for example, which you mentioned, the location shots are of Felix being assaulted by various New Yorkers to music. The long dialogue scene in Central Park is clearly on a Paramount soundstage with a studio audience.)

 

[Nelson Au]

Lee, two more points! Wyatt and Kirk.

Lee, you've confirmed what I thought regarding the footage in New York. They must have known they'd be doing the Silver The Wonder Dog episode when Randell gets out of the cab with the dog, and the episode when Oscar wins the car and they drive all over to find parking. Unless that shot of the cab in front of the apartment building is really in Los Angeles(?)

I can see that the actors will not always recall the plots! They are going from show to show and memorizing dialogue.

 

[FanCollector]

The stuff in The New Car was definitely filmed in NYC. (Although one of the funniest scenes in history--John Byner's guest spot in the garage--was a regular studio scene.) Randall and the doggetting out of the cab looked like NYC to me, but you're right that it might have been LA. It's just too limited a shot to tell for sure. The thing about their building is that it was 1049 Park Avenue in the opening sequence and in a couple of episodes in the first two years. Later, they say they live on Central Park West on the other side of town, even though the establishing shots of the building don't change. Sometimes it strikes me how much people remember about one-time appearances; Burgess Meredith always had so much to say about his Twilight Zone episodes, even though they represented three or four days each out of a sixty-five year career. (Contrast that with Mickey Rooney's memories of the same experience!) I love hearing Joan Collins talk about The City on the Edge of Forever, if only because it drives Harlan Ellison so crazy when she says Edith Keeler was a Nazi spy.

 

[Nelson Au]

"What do you have under leaky pipes? ". I'm going to have to watch that episode. You've mentioned that comment from Joan Collins earlier. I have got to see that!

 

[FanCollector]

Puddles!From Ms. Collins's "Past Imperfect":"As Edith Cleaver...I try to prove to the world that Hitler was a nice guy...Captain Kirk falls in love with Edith, and Dr. Spock--he of the ears--allows her to get run over by a truck..."From "Inside Joan Collins," written with her cooperation:"...Joan is a female mission worker fascinated with the charms and the utter charisma of none other than Adolph Hitler! She's quite probably a Nazi plant. Kirk falls in love with her and seems to be swallowing her Nazi philosophy..."Ellison reproduces these passages and others in his book, along with some unkind assessments of actors in general and Ms. Collins in particular.

 

[Nelson Au]

Thanks Lee! Is the Ellison book the one he wrote with the original City on the Edge of Forever story and script? I read that a few years ago.Unfortunate that Joan's memory of the episode is a little off.

 

[FanCollector]

Yes, that's the book.Is Mr. Kyle (to whom I've finally "gotten round") the last named transporter operator? Or are there more named ones left before we go into the unidentified ones?

 

[Nelson Au]

"You didn't have to push me Mr. Spock! "Yes Lee, Kyle I believe is the last one who is named on screen. And Scott, I forgot to mention you named the two who worked the transporter the most, Scotty and Spock. Though I haven't done a count, I think they were the most followed likely by Kyle. I have 5 unnamed transporter operators on my list.

 

[Nelson Au]

Oh yeah, Lee, thanks for confirming the Ellison book. I will have to pull that from the shelf and read that part again about his thoughts on Collins' recollection.

 

[FanCollector]

The guys in the two pilots were unnamed (at least in the finished versions).

 

[Nelson Au]

Lee, I must have had another mind meld that removed my memory of Where No Man Has Gone Before. In the Cage, there is the unnamed transporter chief whose name is Pitairn. Plus his assistant who wore glasses on one shot. But for some reason, I am in total lack of recall for the second pilot as I assumed it was Scott. Since Scott transported the probe aboard in the teaser. So did Scott transport Kirk and party down to Delta Vega.

 

[FanCollector]

Correct, as usual. There is another transporter officer there the whole time, but Scott does the actual transporting.