I love the subtle acting technique by William Marshall. He rushes in all intense saying “THIS IS” then lowers his voice, as if he’s talking to a child and says “M5? this is Daystrom”. Brilliant, subtle acting technique by Marshall.
WIlliam Marxhal (Daystrom) did a very convincing role as the computer scientist being protective of his creation. You could feel the emotion in his voice. A very under-rated actor from Shakespearean theater. Such a deep booming voice.
I've always loved the moment where McCoy says Daystrom is "on the edge of a nervous breakdown, if not insanity." Kirk's immediate reaction is to push him over that edge!
If Daystrom was a woman he'd have tried seduction, if it was an alien... he'd have drop-kicked it! 🤣I feel Kirk was a proponent of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it!?
The distinguished Shakespearean actor, William Marshall played Dr. Daystrom. Mr. Marshall also was a fine Othello and he played other roles, ranging from Frederick Douglass (in PBS' "Meeting of Minds") to the King of Cartoons to Blacula!
William Shatner did fantastic in this episode when he screamed out dastrum. You could sense. He was showing pure horror and desperation as the computer. What's about 2 kill everyone on the Excalibur..
@@MI-hz1cp Exactly. While Shatner gets criticized for over acting, you can't UNDER act that scene...hundreds of people were dying from his own weapons. Shat was brilliant.
It wasn’t just ego, Daystrom had such a breakthrough at such a young age and he hadn’t been able to equal it. He’d probably been giving lectures at Universities answering the same questions from the same types of students, he’d been listening to passive, aggressive comments from colleagues, probably insinuating that he was a has been and it had driven him mad. He’d impressed his engrams into the M5, it had his genius, it also had his instability and desire to survive at all costs. The one good thing is that he did have a sense of morality, of right and wrong and the computer fortunately had that as well.
Spock: The one thing lacking in current starship technology is that there is nothing currently available to replace the ship's doctor. Stick around for the 24th Century, Spock! Oh, wait! You will!
I've always enjoyed the original shot of the starships sailing in formation as a squadron--very majestic! The first time Star Trek ever attempted multiple starships in a single shot.
@@zoppie To us, yes. In 1967, it was a wonder. We are as far away from that episode as it was from the primitive shots of trains pulling into train stations that panicked the early movie audiences. Sixty years from now, CGI will be quaint. Everything has its season.
@@davidgradwell8830 I was 7 in that year. I didn't see it as a wonder. But then I was always nitpicking all of the TV shows of the time. Even as a little kid, I was face-palming over most of the cheesiness that was in _Lost in Space_ and all the other SF shows. But they at least tried to make up for it in heart. These days, the SFX are usually eye-popping...but the shows are heartless, now.
This is my big issue with AI. I'm glad you could see the dangers of computers running everything. Excellent reaction........ahead warp factor 2 Alexxa.....
"I dunno that I trust a machine to run a starship, or make like proper calculated decisions, that have to do with morals, and not just facts..." - that, of course, is EXACTLY why this episode exists.
13:15 Mark! This is the improved version! The original simply used stock footage of the "Sleeper Ship Botany Bay" and expected us to accept it as something newer! A lot of books had people trying to explain it in- universe, so it made sense! Now they are all obsolete! 🎉😊
What is truly incredible about this episode, is the fact, there were no computers in the 60's, just number crunchers like an oversized calculator the size of a car garage, or machines that would read instructions from magnetic tape. interesting that a show from the 60's would have a situation, about an AI that people are concerned about today.
I recommend the classic science fiction film, "Colossus: The Forbin Project" (1970) which takes the premise of this episode to another, horrific level.
What a fascinating and influential early study of AI. Artists have been postulating AI benefits and dangers in TV and film since the silent movie "Metropolis" in 1927. Other early examples include "The Twilight Zone" TV show in the early 60's, "2001 A Space Odyssey" and "The Day the Earth Stood Still."
13:47 Mark! Get it? "Robot ship"! No "M-5" aboard it! But there would still be computers aboard it. So this ship-to-ship scenario was computer versus computer! Perhaps it should be called "Dunsel" because it failed? 🤔 So, crewless ships are nothing new! But crewless starships would be new! 😮
If there is a sour note in the episode, it is how Wesley keeps blaming Kirk for what the M-5 is doing. What would make him think that Kirk suddenly went murderously bonkers? A great film along similar lines is _Colossus: The Forbin Project._ It is based on a book, but for once I'm gonna say the movie is better. Apparently, Dr. Daystrom never read any of Isaac Asimov's Robot novels, because any sci-fi fan can quote his Three Laws of Robotics: 1. A robot must never harm a human being, or through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. 2. A robot must obey any order given to it by any human, except if that order contradicts the First Law. 3. A robot must protect its own existence, except when doing so would contradict the First or Second Laws.
It was easier (less painful) for Commodore Wesley to believe that Kirk had gone bonkers, than to believe that the M-5 project (which Wesley was linked to and was clearly cheerleading - emotionally involved invested in its success) had not only gone wrong, but had gone THAT wrong. (Wesley also would have had to distort reality further: he'd have had to believe not only that Kirk had gone bonkers, but that Sulu, Chekov and the remaining crew would blindly obey crazy orders from a bonkers captain, to fire full phasers on Federation Starships.) People believe what they want to believe. And the more time and effort they've invested in something, the more reluctant they are (in general) to believe that the thing they've invested in - the thing they've come to worship - has flaws or has a rotten core.
The same year that this Trek episode was released - 1968 - was the year that the Stanley Kubrick film '2001: A Space Odyssey' was also released, with nearly identical themes: man is losing control of his tools. One of the principal actors in that film, Gary Lockwood, had portrayed Gary Mitchell, a few years earlier, in the Star Trek second pilot, "Where no man has gone before." •••• reusable props: Look for the same M-5 control lights display, on a computer that you'll see two episodes from now, in 'Assignment: Earth.' And, the same control lights display comes back yet a third time, in an episode very late in Trek's third season. (For those in the know: the old reliable Beta-5, and the Atavachron.)
I loved the reaction shots from Sulu and Chekov at the Captain Dunsel comment. They both got it but McCoy, being from a totally different profession, did not. To be fair to Captain Lesley, he was not insulting Kirk; he knew that dunsel applied to his job as well.
You know, there were good uses for the M5: the landing party recommedations would be a useful tool for a captain. And rationalizing power usage could be considered creepy in 1969, but by today's practices it just makes good sense. All in all, the most serious mistake Starfleet did was to install the thing in one of their most powerful ships instead of a small scout. If they had, the potential damage would be minuscule. I often wondered if, instead of a single personality, the M5 had multiple ones, and worked through a consensus based decision process, there would be uses for that thing.
Indeed. And this episode is also a banger to boot. We’ve been worried about this sort of thing in sci-fi since Frankenstein, but it’s becoming a reality as we watch.
Daystrom had the potential to become a new Star Trek supervillain--on par with Khan. Another possible Moriarty or Blofeld type who'd surface from time to time to threaten the Enterprise crew. A megalomaniacal mad scientist bent on conquest. But, alas, his name was destined to rival that of Zefram Cochrane himself in universal respect. The famous Daystrom Institute would be referred to again and again. I just get wistful for the supervillains that might have been! If only!
@@dupersuper1938 The thing is that first, Picard would give a competing speech, appealing to Lore's superior intellect to inspire him to act like the ideal android he was intended to be. Then, Lore would try to kill Picard and that's when Jim intervenes to use his patented anti-computer-mind-blower logic against him.
Amazing how the more things change, the more they stay the same. Watch a political debate from 15 or 20 yrs. ago & many issues we're dealing w/today are the same (if not worse cuz of lack of solutions). Watch or read old sci-fi & see "warnings" w/tech. & computer progression, machines doing man's jobs & how it effects mankind (for better or worse), strict logic of computing, AI inevitably leading to self-awareness, etc. Yet, for all the warnings, our course is unaltered (sort of like history repeating itself). If only we humans cld really act like the top of the food chain & listen to & learn from ourselves. For all the campiness & datedness of ST Orig Series, it sure did tackle issues that are still relevant today. "That" will nvr get old to me.
BLACULA -- the Dracula for Black folk. BLACULA, he come to suck your jive turkey. If you're Black and you like vampires, you don't want some white dude suckin' on your neck, you want BLACULA.
They had no idea how far computers wouold advance in the 1960's. A computer from 2024 could run that ship, let alone one from 300 years in the future. It's the moral choices it might make that give me pause.
Back then it was still unusual to see a black actor playing a doctor, a respected historical figure, and/or a bad guy who wasn't some ghetto stereotype. Nowadays no one even notices that Daystrom is Black. The world has changed!
One of the underlying messages of this episode is that AI reflects the Creator who made it. That it's an extension of their personality. So we should keep a close eye on the inventors as well.
Wesley... There will be another Wesley, but he's not as well respected... Funny, given the source: Eugene Wesley Roddenberry. Another AI that Kirk talks to death. Glad to hear them reuse the theme of USS Constellation in this episode, this time to identify another doomed starship. When ship's communications are out, you'd think Kirk could reach Wesley by communicator. I wonder if they moved Daystrom to the Tantalus colony, and this multitronic unit to some obscure warehouse in San Francisco where they'd adorn it with a long beard and a beret. It's also interesting to see how many actual technology companies are named "Daystrom". It's cool how Sulu could get the Enterprise back to the space station single-handedly when 19 people are not enough to operate the ship. Seems like he's the real miracle worker on this boat. There is a RUclips channel called "Avalon Fan Films" that makes Trek fan films in an alternate universe. Their stuff isn't bad. Their inaugural episode is a spooky two-parter about the salvage of USS Excalibur after this battle.
On the other hand, maybe the events in this episode predated "The Doomsday Machine." and we're watching it in reverse story order. A flashback of sorts. In that context, the "Constellation" reference might be foreshadowing.
@@davidgradwell8830 Let's talk nerdy. According to Wikipedia, "The Doomsday Machine" was produced and aired as the 35th episode, while "The Ultimate Computer" was produced and aired as the 53rd episode. (They fall into the same slots despite the difference between production and broadcast orders.) According to Memory Alpha, in "The Doomsday Machine", Commodore Decker's log entry (before discovering the planet killer) was made on stardate 4202.1, and Kirk's log indicates the M-5 was installed on the Enterprise on stardate 4729.4. There are some documentaries on RUclips about "The Doomsday Machine", and they mention that both the theme of the USS Constellation and the Enterprise battle theme were composed due to a rare splurge for original music. Obviously, these have been reused, the latter done multiple times.
33:14 Mark! 538 Views + Mine 🎉 Thumb Up #91! 👍 You're welcome, and thanks! 😊 Notes: Ahem. Hmm. 🤔 "A.I." & "I, Robot" & "Dark Star" & "Idiocracy" would be good movies to see in conjunction with this episode. Oh, and "WALL-E"! 😊 The makers of "Idiocracy" have said that setting it 500 years in the future was optimistic as the problems envisioned in the movie are happening now! 😮 Bye-bye for now! 🙏
If allowable, you should increase the size of the video- having it stuck in the lower right hand corner of the screen is distracting from our full appreciation of your excellent reactions.
I've always thought that Wesley showed himself to be a first-class jerk for using that "Captain Dunsel" slur--which he made right in front of Kirk's crew. Where's Starfleet HR???
@@davidgradwell8830 Agreed, but he couldn’t possibly have known it was bothering Jim as much as it was. Frankly, I think they kind of laid the “poor Captain Kirk“ thing on a little thick. The episode taps into the fear a lot of people had back then of being replaced by computers. It’s ebbed and flowed through the years but it’s kind of coming back again with the rise of AI.
No. I’ve always interpreted it - and I think it’s clear - it was one of sympathy. He was saying, “I feel your pity that you are no longer considered valuable.” He said “regards” as though he were saying an obituary to Kirk’s career.
Something I hadn’t noticed until now. Just before 1:51, Spock utters a grammatical error. He says the basic design ARE Dr Daystrom’s. It should be IS. Perhaps I missed an “s”.
That is part of what made TOS timeless and, imo, superior in storytelling to modern interpretations of Star Trek. TNG had some wonderful episodes and early on did its best to tell stories of morality, which lessened as the series progressed. However the stories involving morality were well written. You don't see that in modern Trek. I say "Trek" because what we have today is not Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek. It is a reinterpreted and revised selection of series made and run by executives who did not/do not like TOS and feel their Trek needs to be less Star Trek and more Star Wars. It is sad that aspect of G.R.'s vision has been lost to the pew-pew action that is craved by the new, young usually male, audience to make it more marketable for merchandising.
Couldn't disagree more: Prodigy, Lower Decks and Strange New Worlds are clearly not made by people who "do not like TOS". I have plenty of issues with more recent Star Trek shows: I hate the modern Trek set design (often so dark and depressing). The writers are horrible at writing season long arcs (contributing to Discovery being a mess [though I found that it got a bit better each season], and the first two seasons of Picard being...well, let's just move on). Using the redesigns in the first two seasons of Discovery was a giant mistake and just added fuel to the trolls whining that the new shows were clearly in a different universe. There are plenty of other more specific issues I could get into...but there's also been plenty to like, and - even when I've completely disagreed with a direction they went - I never deluded myself into thinking that just because they didn't run their shows the way I'd have wanted that they didn't like Star Trek. In my opinion at least some of the people behind the first two seasons of Picard didn't fully UNDERSTAND Star Trek, but that's not quite the same thing. Personally I'm currently very much looking forward to the third season of Strange New Worlds and the fifth season of Lower Decks, hoping Netflix or some one manages to get Prodigy a season three and that the proposed show with 7's Enterprise gets a season one, cautiously optimistic for Starfleet Academy, very cautiously optimistic for the newly announced Star Trek sitcom set on a resort planet, and then with the Section 31 movie...well, it's always nice to see Michelle Yeoh, at least.
Unfortunately, this isn't on my "must watch" episodes. I usually skip this one when it comes on today. Super 30-year prequal to "Terminator II". Bones is right about Kirk's ego being bruised.
I love the subtle acting technique by William Marshall. He rushes in all intense saying “THIS IS” then lowers his voice, as if he’s talking to a child and says “M5? this is Daystrom”. Brilliant, subtle acting technique by Marshall.
WIlliam Marxhal (Daystrom) did a very convincing role as the computer scientist being protective of his creation. You could feel the emotion in his voice. A very under-rated actor from Shakespearean theater. Such a deep booming voice.
Star Trek has a long history of using Shakespeareans actors and even incorporating works of Shakespeare into the show itself.
I've always loved the moment where McCoy says Daystrom is "on the edge of a nervous breakdown, if not insanity." Kirk's immediate reaction is to push him over that edge!
If Daystrom was a woman he'd have tried seduction, if it was an alien... he'd have drop-kicked it! 🤣I feel Kirk was a proponent of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it!?
The distinguished Shakespearean actor, William Marshall played Dr. Daystrom.
Mr. Marshall also was a fine Othello and he played other roles, ranging from Frederick Douglass (in PBS' "Meeting of Minds") to the King of Cartoons to Blacula!
A “Shatneresque” performance.
Kirk's screaming "DAYSTROM!!!!" during the attack scene always sends a chill down my back!
Agreed. The "DAYSTROM!!!" scream was well before the "KHAAAN!!" scream.
William Shatner did fantastic in this episode when he screamed out dastrum. You could sense. He was showing pure horror and desperation as the computer. What's about 2 kill everyone on the Excalibur..
@@MI-hz1cp Exactly. While Shatner gets criticized for over acting, you can't UNDER act that scene...hundreds of people were dying from his own weapons. Shat was brilliant.
Fun Fact, James Doohan did the voice of the M-5, enjoyed your reaction Alexxa!
And StarFleet Command as well, authorizing destruction of the Enterprise.
Cool, did not know that
This is one of my five most favourite episodes of ST TOS. it is more relevant today than it was back in the 60s when it was made.
It wasn’t just ego, Daystrom had such a breakthrough at such a young age and he hadn’t been able to equal it. He’d probably been giving lectures at Universities answering the same questions from the same types of students, he’d been listening to passive, aggressive comments from colleagues, probably insinuating that he was a has been and it had driven him mad. He’d impressed his engrams into the M5, it had his genius, it also had his instability and desire to survive at all costs. The one good thing is that he did have a sense of morality, of right and wrong and the computer fortunately had that as well.
Glad you pointed that out. I had wanted to say the same.
The actor for the admiral was the security chief in the horta episode.
A fan has made a perfect working replica of the M-5 control panel! There's a RUclips video about it.
Well, it'll just have to be eye candy then.. just like on this episode. The M-5 doesn't really respond to it anyway😄
Alexxa: I don't think I'd trust a machine to run a starship!
As everyone says in "Star Wars:" I have a bad feeling about this...
Spock: The one thing lacking in current starship technology is that there is nothing currently available to replace the ship's doctor.
Stick around for the 24th Century, Spock!
Oh, wait! You will!
The eloquence of William Marshall 🎭
And the intensity!
@@fredklein3829 it doesn’t matter what book, whatever subject matter but if William Marshall ever voiced an audiobook, I will listen to it 😃
0:02 Mark! Alexxa! Aha! Now I get to view it! Thanks! 🎉😊
I've always enjoyed the original shot of the starships sailing in formation as a squadron--very majestic! The first time Star Trek ever attempted multiple starships in a single shot.
I never did. It was an obvious copy and paste job.
@@zoppie To us, yes. In 1967, it was a wonder. We are as far away from that episode as it was from the primitive shots of trains pulling into train stations that panicked the early movie audiences.
Sixty years from now, CGI will be quaint. Everything has its season.
@@davidgradwell8830 I was 7 in that year. I didn't see it as a wonder. But then I was always nitpicking all of the TV shows of the time. Even as a little kid, I was face-palming over most of the cheesiness that was in _Lost in Space_ and all the other SF shows. But they at least tried to make up for it in heart. These days, the SFX are usually eye-popping...but the shows are heartless, now.
This is my big issue with AI. I'm glad you could see the dangers of computers running everything. Excellent reaction........ahead warp factor 2 Alexxa.....
😊 My feelings exactly.
"I dunno that I trust a machine to run a starship, or make like proper calculated decisions, that have to do with morals, and not just facts..." - that, of course, is EXACTLY why this episode exists.
13:15 Mark! This is the improved version! The original simply used stock footage of the "Sleeper Ship Botany Bay" and expected us to accept it as something newer! A lot of books had people trying to explain it in- universe, so it made sense! Now they are all obsolete! 🎉😊
The guy who played Daystrom sounded a lot like Gregory Peck!!
18:49 Mark! A man named "McCoy" got the "decoyed" line! 😂😅 Oh! The actor is "DeForest Kelley"! 😮😅😂😊
What is truly incredible about this episode, is the fact, there were no computers in the 60's, just number crunchers like an oversized calculator the size of a car garage, or machines that would read instructions from magnetic tape. interesting that a show from the 60's would have a situation, about an AI that people are concerned about today.
I recommend the classic science fiction film, "Colossus: The Forbin Project" (1970) which takes the premise of this episode to another, horrific level.
Superb, frightening film.
Colossus The Forbin Project also stars a young Eric Braeden, whom you may know as Victor Newman from The Young and the Restless
@@ammaleslie509 And from "Escape from the Planet of the Apes"---another great franchise.
@@ammaleslie509 And from "Escape from the Planet of the Apes."
@@ammaleslie509 He's also in the Apes series.
What a fascinating and influential early study of AI.
Artists have been postulating AI benefits and dangers in TV and film since the silent movie "Metropolis" in 1927. Other early examples include "The Twilight Zone" TV show in the early 60's, "2001 A Space Odyssey" and "The Day the Earth Stood Still."
❤ yes 👍 💯
13:47 Mark! Get it? "Robot ship"! No "M-5" aboard it! But there would still be computers aboard it. So this ship-to-ship scenario was computer versus computer! Perhaps it should be called "Dunsel" because it failed? 🤔
So, crewless ships are nothing new! But crewless starships would be new! 😮
If there is a sour note in the episode, it is how Wesley keeps blaming Kirk for what the M-5 is doing. What would make him think that Kirk suddenly went murderously bonkers?
A great film along similar lines is _Colossus: The Forbin Project._ It is based on a book, but for once I'm gonna say the movie is better.
Apparently, Dr. Daystrom never read any of Isaac Asimov's Robot novels, because any sci-fi fan can quote his Three Laws of Robotics:
1. A robot must never harm a human being, or through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
2. A robot must obey any order given to it by any human, except if that order contradicts the First Law.
3. A robot must protect its own existence, except when doing so would contradict the First or Second Laws.
It was easier (less painful) for Commodore Wesley to believe that Kirk had gone bonkers, than to believe that the M-5 project (which Wesley was linked to and was clearly cheerleading - emotionally involved invested in its success) had not only gone wrong, but had gone THAT wrong. (Wesley also would have had to distort reality further: he'd have had to believe not only that Kirk had gone bonkers, but that Sulu, Chekov and the remaining crew would blindly obey crazy orders from a bonkers captain, to fire full phasers on Federation Starships.)
People believe what they want to believe. And the more time and effort they've invested in something, the more reluctant they are (in general) to believe that the thing they've invested in - the thing they've come to worship - has flaws or has a rotten core.
The same year that this Trek episode was released - 1968 - was the year that the Stanley Kubrick film '2001: A Space Odyssey' was also released, with nearly identical themes: man is losing control of his tools. One of the principal actors in that film, Gary Lockwood, had portrayed Gary Mitchell, a few years earlier, in the Star Trek second pilot, "Where no man has gone before."
••••
reusable props: Look for the same M-5 control lights display, on a computer that you'll see two episodes from now, in 'Assignment: Earth.' And, the same control lights display comes back yet a third time, in an episode very late in Trek's third season. (For those in the know: the old reliable Beta-5, and the Atavachron.)
I loved the reaction shots from Sulu and Chekov at the Captain Dunsel comment. They both got it but McCoy, being from a totally different profession, did not. To be fair to Captain Lesley, he was not insulting Kirk; he knew that dunsel applied to his job as well.
Wesley.
If I 'm not mistaken, McCoy hadn't heard the term "dunsel", because he didn't go to Starfleet Academy.
You know, there were good uses for the M5: the landing party recommedations would be a useful tool for a captain.
And rationalizing power usage could be considered creepy in 1969, but by today's practices it just makes good sense.
All in all, the most serious mistake Starfleet did was to install the thing in one of their most powerful ships instead of a small scout. If they had, the potential damage would be minuscule.
I often wondered if, instead of a single personality, the M5 had multiple ones, and worked through a consensus based decision process, there would be uses for that thing.
A lot of TOS involves Kirk arguing with computers...
The M-5 Multitronic Unit is AI gone Amok. A scary foreshadowing of our Future.
Indeed. And this episode is also a banger to boot. We’ve been worried about this sort of thing in sci-fi since Frankenstein, but it’s becoming a reality as we watch.
Captain Wesley chose most logical option-compassion
Daystrom had the potential to become a new Star Trek supervillain--on par with Khan. Another possible Moriarty or Blofeld type who'd surface from time to time to threaten the Enterprise crew. A megalomaniacal mad scientist bent on conquest.
But, alas, his name was destined to rival that of Zefram Cochrane himself in universal respect. The famous Daystrom Institute would be referred to again and again.
I just get wistful for the supervillains that might have been! If only!
A lot of people died if that makes it any better.
Great AI episode with the magnificent William Marshall as Dr. Daystrom
He had a lot of presence and a great voice.
Captain Kirk: Serial Computer Buster is BACK!!!!!! And no duotronic or multitronic or anytronic can stop him!!!!!
Yeah, destroying AIs with logic bombs is almost as much of a major brand as Kirk-fu.
@@Bfdidc If only Kirk had been available when Lore was causing trouble...
@@dupersuper1938 The thing is that first, Picard would give a competing speech, appealing to Lore's superior intellect to inspire him to act like the ideal android he was intended to be.
Then, Lore would try to kill Picard and that's when Jim intervenes to use his patented anti-computer-mind-blower logic against him.
>What is Kirk doing?< You mean Captain Duncell?
One of my fave episodes.
Wesley: Full phasers??? What the devil is Kirk doing???
Jim: "Captain Dunsel," eh? Call ME "Captain Dunsel," will you? Take that! HA-HA-HA!!!
Amazing how the more things change, the more they stay the same. Watch a political debate from 15 or 20 yrs. ago & many issues we're dealing w/today are the same (if not worse cuz of lack of solutions). Watch or read old sci-fi & see "warnings" w/tech. & computer progression, machines doing man's jobs & how it effects mankind (for better or worse), strict logic of computing, AI inevitably leading to self-awareness, etc. Yet, for all the warnings, our course is unaltered (sort of like history repeating itself). If only we humans cld really act like the top of the food chain & listen to & learn from ourselves. For all the campiness & datedness of ST Orig Series, it sure did tackle issues that are still relevant today. "That" will nvr get old to me.
Watch William Marshall in Blacula(1972)
BLACULA -- the Dracula for Black folk. BLACULA, he come to suck your jive turkey. If you're Black and you like vampires, you don't want some white dude suckin' on your neck, you want BLACULA.
They had no idea how far computers wouold advance in the 1960's. A computer from 2024 could run that ship, let alone one from 300 years in the future. It's the moral choices it might make that give me pause.
Back then it was still unusual to see a black actor playing a doctor, a respected historical figure, and/or a bad guy who wasn't some ghetto stereotype. Nowadays no one even notices that Daystrom is Black. The world has changed!
One of the underlying messages of this episode is that AI reflects the Creator who made it. That it's an extension of their personality. So we should keep a close eye on the inventors as well.
Indeed. Like the weirds results from the Google AI.
Wesley... There will be another Wesley, but he's not as well respected... Funny, given the source: Eugene Wesley Roddenberry.
Another AI that Kirk talks to death. Glad to hear them reuse the theme of USS Constellation in this episode, this time to identify another doomed starship. When ship's communications are out, you'd think Kirk could reach Wesley by communicator. I wonder if they moved Daystrom to the Tantalus colony, and this multitronic unit to some obscure warehouse in San Francisco where they'd adorn it with a long beard and a beret. It's also interesting to see how many actual technology companies are named "Daystrom".
It's cool how Sulu could get the Enterprise back to the space station single-handedly when 19 people are not enough to operate the ship. Seems like he's the real miracle worker on this boat.
There is a RUclips channel called "Avalon Fan Films" that makes Trek fan films in an alternate universe. Their stuff isn't bad. Their inaugural episode is a spooky two-parter about the salvage of USS Excalibur after this battle.
On the other hand, maybe the events in this episode predated "The Doomsday Machine." and we're watching it in reverse story order. A flashback of sorts. In that context, the "Constellation" reference might be foreshadowing.
@@davidgradwell8830 Let's talk nerdy. According to Wikipedia, "The Doomsday Machine" was produced and aired as the 35th episode, while "The Ultimate Computer" was produced and aired as the 53rd episode. (They fall into the same slots despite the difference between production and broadcast orders.) According to Memory Alpha, in "The Doomsday Machine", Commodore Decker's log entry (before discovering the planet killer) was made on stardate 4202.1, and Kirk's log indicates the M-5 was installed on the Enterprise on stardate 4729.4.
There are some documentaries on RUclips about "The Doomsday Machine", and they mention that both the theme of the USS Constellation and the Enterprise battle theme were composed due to a rare splurge for original music. Obviously, these have been reused, the latter done multiple times.
33:14 Mark! 538 Views + Mine 🎉 Thumb Up #91! 👍 You're welcome, and thanks! 😊
Notes: Ahem. Hmm. 🤔 "A.I." & "I, Robot" & "Dark Star" & "Idiocracy" would be good movies to see in conjunction with this episode. Oh, and "WALL-E"! 😊
The makers of "Idiocracy" have said that setting it 500 years in the future was optimistic as the problems envisioned in the movie are happening now! 😮
Bye-bye for now! 🙏
Black-u-la lives in space!! Alexa - watch "Blackula 1972"
If allowable, you should increase the size of the video- having it stuck in the lower right hand corner of the screen is distracting from our full appreciation of your excellent reactions.
I've always thought that Wesley showed himself to be a first-class jerk for using that "Captain Dunsel" slur--which he made right in front of Kirk's crew. Where's Starfleet HR???
I think it was intended to just be a joke the way military guys always joke with each other
@@neneshubby Probably. But you know that really hit Jim hard.
@@davidgradwell8830 Agreed, but he couldn’t possibly have known it was bothering Jim as much as it was. Frankly, I think they kind of laid the “poor Captain Kirk“ thing on a little thick. The episode taps into the fear a lot of people had back then of being replaced by computers. It’s ebbed and flowed through the years but it’s kind of coming back again with the rise of AI.
No. I’ve always interpreted it - and I think it’s clear - it was one of sympathy. He was saying, “I feel your pity that you are no longer considered valuable.” He said “regards” as though he were saying an obituary to Kirk’s career.
Wesley was also talking about the possible loss of his own captaincy
Destroy it Kirk??!!
Something I hadn’t noticed until now. Just before 1:51, Spock utters a grammatical error. He says the basic design ARE Dr Daystrom’s. It should be IS. Perhaps I missed an “s”.
Frankenstein.
That is part of what made TOS timeless and, imo, superior in storytelling to modern interpretations of Star Trek. TNG had some wonderful episodes and early on did its best to tell stories of morality, which lessened as the series progressed. However the stories involving morality were well written. You don't see that in modern Trek. I say "Trek" because what we have today is not Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek. It is a reinterpreted and revised selection of series made and run by executives who did not/do not like TOS and feel their Trek needs to be less Star Trek and more Star Wars. It is sad that aspect of G.R.'s vision has been lost to the pew-pew action that is craved by the new, young usually male, audience to make it more marketable for merchandising.
Couldn't disagree more: Prodigy, Lower Decks and Strange New Worlds are clearly not made by people who "do not like TOS". I have plenty of issues with more recent Star Trek shows: I hate the modern Trek set design (often so dark and depressing). The writers are horrible at writing season long arcs (contributing to Discovery being a mess [though I found that it got a bit better each season], and the first two seasons of Picard being...well, let's just move on). Using the redesigns in the first two seasons of Discovery was a giant mistake and just added fuel to the trolls whining that the new shows were clearly in a different universe. There are plenty of other more specific issues I could get into...but there's also been plenty to like, and - even when I've completely disagreed with a direction they went - I never deluded myself into thinking that just because they didn't run their shows the way I'd have wanted that they didn't like Star Trek. In my opinion at least some of the people behind the first two seasons of Picard didn't fully UNDERSTAND Star Trek, but that's not quite the same thing. Personally I'm currently very much looking forward to the third season of Strange New Worlds and the fifth season of Lower Decks, hoping Netflix or some one manages to get Prodigy a season three and that the proposed show with 7's Enterprise gets a season one, cautiously optimistic for Starfleet Academy, very cautiously optimistic for the newly announced Star Trek sitcom set on a resort planet, and then with the Section 31 movie...well, it's always nice to see Michelle Yeoh, at least.
Unfortunately, this isn't on my "must watch" episodes. I usually skip this one when it comes on today.
Super 30-year prequal to "Terminator II".
Bones is right about Kirk's ego being bruised.