A note: it's been clarified that the story about NBC executives not wanting a female lead was a myth, and they were more concerned about Majel Barrett's acting ability and personal relationship with Gene Roddenberry.
The Cage was filmed SIXTY years ago. Wow I'm old. I watched all the TOS episodes every week when it aired when I was a teenager. I will be 74 this year. Greatest show ever.❤
Like many old time fans I still have a crash on Laurel Goodwin- Yeoman Colt. Fun Fact in German they mistranslated YEOMAN as BOATSWAIN instead of PETTY OFFICER ( here: OBERMAAT as a Gerrman Nary Rank) the correct form is just used in a couple of STAR TREK TOS novels
Subjectively speaking, "Where no man has gone before" is the best Star Trek episode off all time. It features Gary Lockwood (2001 Space Odyssey) and Sally Kellerman with brilliant dialogues and moral / ethical decisions.
Bptj actors also had played in the first season in one or two episodes of 12 O´CLOCK HIGH, he as a pilot and she as his love interest and as a nurse - you can find the complete episode(s) on RUclips.
It's not my absolute favorite, but it's in my top five and it did a hell of a job establishing the tone and themes of the series as a whole My faves in a five-way tie: The Menagerie (counted as one two-part episode) Balance of Terror WNMHGB City on the Edge of Forever Court Martial
One of the online Trek series from the oughts or early teens has a two parter that continues plenty of the themes from WNMHGB. It also serves as the series finale as the Paramount restrictions were coming to bear then
once again, I dont think this guy watched "the cage" episode.. Vina was NOT kept "young" by the talosians.. She was physically in pieces when they found her but did not know human anatomy, so they physically repaired her in a kind of horrific frankenstien way. They gave her and others who viewed her the illusion that she was normal..... she was actually younger than pike. uhg...
Something that is often lost, possibly because it's hard to convey if you weren't there, is how astonishing and exotic TOS was compared with anything else on live action TV at the time. Despite the increasing level of camp during the run, during a time when camp was a constant on TV, and the stumbles later in the series, it was obvious that TOS took SciFi seriously. The relationship between that show, the context in which it landed, and its audience isn't easily replicated no matter how much money is spent. And, while some of the spin-offs have been quite good, I've noticed that at least recently a lot of that money is spent of increasingly extravagant sets and special effects: by which I mean; yes, make planets, stars, nebula, and aliens and their worlds as believable as practical but the Enterprise in its various incarnations and other spaceships have expanded from the business-like/science & quasi-military-like original to what looks like warp capable casino/cruse ship in SNW. Helmsman Ortegas' state room seems at least 4 times the size TOS Kirk's. SNW Enterprise briefing room dwarfs that of NG's 1701D, a much larger ship. And then there's the space and atmospheric action and battle scenes which rip-off Star Wars: ships, debris, and rocks flying everywhere and in close proximity. Space is big and mostly empty and it was big and mostly empty in TOS but in SNW it's crowded--except the interior of the Enterprise. To be clear, I generally like the stories and actors in SNW, even the musical episode, but aside from a few nods to the past, the visuals have completely lost the spirit of the original: a group of brave people, huddled in their protective but fragile bubble, traveling vast distances in the hostile nothingness to explore new worlds and civilizations. SNW tries to tell the same kind of stories but shear luxury of it makes it feel less serious
Compare it to Lost in Space, or Batman for example. Star Trek was totally different to 60s shows, although a few episodes still fall into the goofy, campy.
LOL - In 64-68, as a USAF Communications Technician, I thought the electronics were hilarious, but was glad for the futuristic vision. However, tech has leapfrogged so often that videos produced yesterday are out of date.
As a kid, the Animated Series was so freaking awesome!! I already loved Star Trek. I wasn't allowed to stay up late enough to watch the reruns of TOS. So for a little bit, it was My Star Trek... It didn't matter that the animation was janky, a lot of cartoons were. I was absolutely too young to be critical of it. 🖖🏻😁💚
Fantastic job with this. But "What Are Little Girls Made Of?" deserves the highest praise for introducing my early preteen self to the hottest 60s babe of all time: Sherry Jackson. My god, Bill Shatner...what a lucky sonofabitch.
Rocks are the deadliest phenomena in space. Somehow they find their way into starship bridges an cause consoles to explode in bursts of steam and pyrotechnics.
TOS is probably my Favorite Trek series. Honestly it depends on if SNW keeps up the quality as it goes On. Also, while I mostly agree with your opinions, I take offense with the Idea that "Specter of the Gun" is forgettable. In My pov it is one of S3's strongest. Everybody is in character and they try everything they could to get out of the scenario. None of the Characters act stupid. It's a good episode.
I would love to know your thoughts on Star Trek Continues. It was a fan production of the “final” year of the 5 year mission but I thought it was pretty good and gave the series a proper finale it deserved
I enjoy your channel. I do have a question about your title, How TOS Set the Gold Standard for Star Trek". Of course TOS is the gold standard because it was first and set up the canon (ST universe), right? So... a little confused. I'm asking like a Vulcan and not a Romulan. LOL. Peace!
It's more so an attempt to demonstrate how TOS laid down the groundwork for canon that the other shows picked up on. Trying to come up with a good title for a RUclips video is a big challenge sometimes, so I wouldn't think too hard about it lol
The word 'intrepid' means 'without fear' -- and, since Fear is an emotion, it makes sense that Vulcans would have no fear. Naming a vessel 'Intrepid' (i.e. 'Fearless') might seem like the logical thing to do, in order to impress upon a would-be adversary the notion that no matter how intimidating they might try to be in their threats, it would have no daunting effects on emotionless Vulcans. In other words, don't try to 'scare' a Vulcan, cuz they don't respond the way emotional beings do. They'll do what is Logical, and circumstances just might call upon them to obliterate a threatening adversaries, if the needs of the Many outweigh the needs of the belligerent Few -- or the genocidal One, for that matter. And Vulcans compelled by Logic to annihilating an enemy would do so without Pity -- because Pity, too, is an emotion.
Regarding the reception of "The Cage", I thought it was generally understood now that CBS execs had no problems with a woman second in command, they just objected to it being Roddenberry's mistress! Overall though, great vid. Thanks for highlighting the TAS colour issue, that urban myth needs to go! 😕
Yes, I always had wondered about it myself but in many publications THAT came up as a point that VIEWERS especially FEMALE VIEWERS would hate Majel Barrett in that role. Lucky for us the skilled actress and later on second wife of Roddenberry made it back into the show as NURSE CHAPEL this time with coloured hair. She also had been the OFF VOICE for the Ships Computer.
@@rogerlynch5279 The "evil execs" story was publicised for many decades by Roddenberry, because it fitted his growing image with the fans. He may also have been the source of the claim that female viewers would hate a lady in the chain of command, but I'm not sure how well that holds up against other TV series in the 1960s with women in lead roles (The Avengers leaps immediately to mind). I'm glad that Majel got a proper second chance with Trek though, through the role of Lwaxanna Troi
9:27 "They had problems with.... the presence of a female first officer" -- You might want to check your facts on that. I heard that was a myth that was started by Gene Roddenberry. NBC actually liked the idea of a female first officer; they just didn't want Roddenberry's girlfriend playing the part, so he snuck her into the show by giving her a different role and a blond wig. Remember, Lucille Ball was highly influential, and predominate female roles were not usually shunned.
You may want to check your facts because networks had issues with women and black officers, especially as first officer and captain. There was even a scene where Captain Pike starts angrily screaming about women being on the bridge.
I did check my facts, since you decided to retype out my first sentence for some reason. Here are those facts: Herb Solow, vice president of Desilu Studios and Executive in charge of Star Trek, stated in his 1996 book “Inside Star Trek: The Real Story”, which was co-written by Bob Justman, that NBC “program head” Mort Werner said in 1966 that NBC “supported the concept of a woman in a strong leading role” but they had serious “doubts about Majel Barrett’s abilities to carry the show as it’s co-star.” After that Solow and Justman made the “decision that Majel had to go.” Werner also stated that NBC “applauded the attempt at a racial mix, that’s exactly what we (NBC) want.” Solow also stated that “as a matter of principle NBC promoted racially integrated casting in all it’s shows.” and “many African-American actors were interviewed,” and actor Lloyd Haynes was “one of the first African-American actors hired to play an important role in a network television pilot”. I’ve read Solow’s and Justman’s book a couple of times. Maybe you should do that too.
I also want to add this: Soloh said in that same book that Roddenberry "told Majel and then subsequently hinted to several journalists off the record that NBC rejected Majel for the second pilot because the network executives were sexist, not wanting a series star to be a strong woman. His move embarrassed NBC and later he denied ever making the statement. He (Roddenberry) conveniently forgot the NBC execs, for both financial and moral reasons, had always favored a strong woman as a series star. They (NBC) just didn’t want Majel, and they resented having her forced upon them for the first pilot."
Captain Pike didn't "angrily scream" anything. In fact, Jeffrey Hunter consistently underplayed the emotions of the Pike character in "The Cage". Here is the pertinent dialogue from that scene of "The Cage": (Colt enters. Pike turns around and bumps into her) PIKE: Yeoman. COLT: Yes, sir. PIKE: I thought I told you that when I'm on the bridge ... COLT: But you wanted the reports by oh five hundred. It's oh five hundred now, sir. PIKE: Oh, I see. Thank you. (Colt leaves the bridge) NUMBER ONE: She's replacing your former yeoman, sir. PIKE: She does a good job, all right. It's just that I can't get used to having a woman on the bridge ... (realizes his faux-pas) ... No offence, Lieutenant. You're different, of course. The implication is that Yeoman Colt, an attractive young redhead, is a bit of distracting eye candy whom Pike would rather not have to deal with while he's focusing upon running the ship. Number One provides no such distraction for him, and Majel Barrett as Number One nicely played off of this dialogue by showing a quick and very subdued flicker of hurt in response. It's all a foreshadowing of the third-act scene in the cage on Talos IV in which the Talosians present Colt and Number One as alternative choices from which Pike can choose his mate, since he has (in their estimation) already spurned the original female proffered by the Talosians, Vina. The Talosians spell it all out: VINA: It's not fair. I did what you asked. MAGISTRATE: Since you resist the present specimen, you now have a selection. PIKE: I'll break out of this zoo somehow and get to you. Is your blood red like ours? I'm going to find out. MAGISTRATE: Each of the two new specimens has qualities in her favor. The female you call Number One has the superior mind and would produce highly intelligent children. Although she seems to lack emotion, this is largely a pretense. She has often has fantasies involving you. PIKE: All I want to do is get my hands on you. Can you read these thoughts? Images of hate, killing? MAGISTRATE: The other new arrival has considered you unreachable but now is realizing this has changed. The factors in her favor are youth and strength, plus unusually strong female drives. Hence, Pike's objection in the earlier scene. In Pike's rather self-centered judgment, that hot young redheaded yeoman was giving off too many pheromones!
I largely agree that TOS is probably the third best overall Star Trek show behind DS9 and TNG, in that order. Voyager is also very close, but Voyager had some wild swings in quality of writing leading it to fluxiate from being some of the best Star Trek to among the worst. Enterprise, Discovery, Lower Decks and Strange New Worlds all are relatively consistant. Picard also goes all over the place but not in the way Voyager does.
Someone should select the top 10% of each series. A compact representation of the franchise. I wouldn't recommend that anyone watch all of TOS. Spock's Brain - Oh No!
Though I've seen all the old shows now, TOS remains my favorite. Even the campy, janky episodes are fun to rewatch. The City on the Edge of Forever and The Squire of Gothos are my two favorites, I think. Thank you for another one of these long form discussion videos. God be with you out there, everybody. ✝️ :)
ToS has the opposite problem as TNG, pretty good first and second seasons, especially for the time, obviously there are highs and lows but then the third season is incredibly goofy with lots of plainly bad episodes. Still worth watching because it's the origin of the IP
The Romulans were using 'klingon design' because the model of their ship from Balance of Terror got destroyed, I believe there was some disagreement or something with the model creator
@@palmercolson7037 No there were TWO ! episodes were the TIME BARRIER had been broken. TOMORROW IS YESTERDAY and ASSIGNMENT EARTH and don´t forget Kirk´s and Spock´s both time travels like in CITY ON THE EDGE OF FOREVER - even though here you can argue the thing with the GUARDIAN had been different.
@@palmercolson7037 I agree, that was right at the top of peoples mind at the time. I do like that they decided to not say "light" barrier or something and leave it open to interpretation.
Great and well researched. Love this video. Only very slight bias to show for your own personal taste, but that’s fair enough. Nothing too overbearing. Keep up the good work.
Haha thanks! If I spend an hour talking about a TV show I'm definitely going to share my opinions on its quality, but I'm glad you found it fairly balanced
Cool I have the same figure on my desk opened. She was my first on screen crush as a teenager. Now as a older adult I still think I was right. Terry Farwell was beautiful then and is still so today. @@OrangeRiver
I think Worf not winning a single game of poker, after "The Emissary," with the added ridicule of Data and Geordi, truly set the gold standard for the franchise as a whole. Star Trek needs Worf to win!
11:55 What makes me angry every time I read it is that folks been grown up with STAR TREK NEXT GEN. steal the stherm " STAR TREK " for themselves totally ignoring the fact that elder fans like me are standing to their classical show STAR TREK TOS or here in Germany still lovingliy called RAUMSCHIFF ENTERPRISE, under which title the show ran in the Seventies and Eighties. Shure a court in the USA had made it clear every STAR TREK show is it´s own franchise. That was when Roddenberry´s first wife had claimed for partly ownership on ALL Star Trek shows. BUT it is a point that STAR TREK TOS was and still is the ORIGINAL Star Trek show.
Re: Arena ... I'm surprised you didin;t at least mention the way SNW has completely rewritten this episode ... for one, Spock and others on the ship not only know who and what the Gorn are, but they've interacted with and fought against the Gorn long before Arena takes place ... I agree that Arena is one of TOS' best episodes, and I wish SNW hadn't messed with the timeline so much that Arena basically CANNOT happen as it does in TOS now because Spock would immediately recognize the Gorn, etc.
SNW should have done what all Trek prequels should have done: not feature any known alien species. SNW especially should only feature new species since it’s title is Strange NEW Worlds.
@@russellharrell2747 There are even plenty of existing aliens they could explore without affecting canon much. Tellerites got a BIT of expansion in Enterprise, but they could have been explored. But for something like the Gorn, where TOS clearly shows them meeting for he first time in Arena, it seemed like a really odd, tone-deaf choice ...
Discovery is such a wretched series, but even it was able to make me misty eyed when the Enterprise appears for the first time. I can still vividly remember the sense of wonder and hope that I felt in the 80s watching Star Trek as a pre-teen and teenager. The darker additions to the canon have their place, too, but TOS deserves praise for its unapologetic commitment to optimism regarding human potential.
Number One had no name in The Cage, or The Menagerie. Not until half a century later, and everyone involved in the production of The Cage had died, was that character named in a newer production.
@@OrangeRiver Indeed. Too bad they had to denigrate the character as they have. Instead of a cool human who used the Kirk bluff (if it WAS a bluff) before he did, she is now an "enhanced" human whose presence in Starfleet diminishes her AND Starfleet. The Roddenberrys would have been mortified.
@@uranuslad9855Roddenberry was mortified about ‘wrath of khan’ so what did he know? And TNG only became watchable after it was wrestled out of his control
44:21 The HOLODECK was first introduced in TAS - not TNG. That fact _alone_ makes the (aruguably poorly drawn) animated series part of the Trek 'canon'.
"Yes, that is how it is pronounced." Thank you. I didn't know. :) This is also a great introduction to Trek for those who do not understand it's greatness, while at the same time acknowledging some of it's short comings.
-That's William Holden in the movie Stalag 17 at 3:55. -I think this presentation would have been better served if you could have used the original effects footage rather than that of the remasters. The original visuals, although archaic by todays' standards, were very cutting-edge for the time, which made the series that much more trend-setting. -I agree with your thoughts about Season 1. I think the crew had more encounters with alien cultures that the two following seasons. -And no. The Changeling is not a similar plot to The Motion Picture. That's a tired claim. -A few years ago, someone assembled a lot contradictions in Star Trek into one video. It was nearly an hour long. Most of the contradictions were between TOS and a lot of the Trek that came afterwards. -What I say to young fans of Star Trek about TOS is you had to have been there in the 60s to fully appreciate it.
This comment is kind of condescending, no? Lol. I also if I have the option to show footage of the remasters that look objectively better, I'm going to haha
TOS even after almost 50 is really still my fav! Amd thank you for telling me how to properly pronounce Adonias! Your favorite animated series episodes are also mine. Too bad the Kzinti never got to appear in any of the live series.
There are some weird things about the use of "starship" as a class since "constitution class" I don't think showed up on screen. so when people mention starship sometimes it is an interstellar vessel and then sometimes it is very specific to that wonderful ship that we all now and love. ("bread and circuses" and "errand of mercy" seem to infer this because they held such crews as elite and unique.
Dude 😎! What's your deal on "and the children shall lead". I've always thought of that one as a) pretty good, and b)a landmark/trademark stos episode. Wish you'd fleshed your negative opinion of that one out. It seems to me to have been influential too (mad max: beyond the thunder dome). Is there some new thing to hate on that one?... because I don't recall it being listed as any kind of worst of stos in my day. In my day that was definitely space hippies territory?
I recently bought a TOS Enterprise model. And the more I look at it, the more I am amazed at its timeless and elegant design. I have never been a fanatic Star Trek fan, but that TOS ship is, in my opinion, one of the best starship designs ever. Especially when you take into account that it was designed so many decades ago.
Yes, I think they released the original pilot on VCR tape around then--I remember renting it. It was mostly intact, but some scenes were in black and white and included a different voice for the alien. I remember that they had to reconstruct the pilot because some of the original was lost and had to include lesser quality copies. Similar to the reconstruction of the movie Metropolis.
please* Wouldn’t want to come across as rude or demanding. I absolutely love your channel; it brightens my day whenever I see you’ve posted a new video; your content is my happy place 🧡 🌍 🚀
I'm sorry but "Who Mourns For Adonais" is the best episode of TOS, and possibly the best of all Trek. The protagonist IS Apollo, THEE actual Apollo. There are many... "hints" at a god throughout Trek lore but in this episode, they come face to face with one. The show also deeply delves into the concept of "Ancient Aliens" long before History Channel was born. I remember sneaking over to the old black and white TV way after bedtime and watching this episode.
TOS broke the ground for the crop that is TNG and DS9. TNG improves on the original concept. And DS9 breaks it out of the mold, but builds it's themes and characterization on TOS.
TNG introduced elements to Trek that are patently stupid -- the worst being the idea that FAMILIES are on this vessel which is armed with Phasers and Photon Torpedoes, likely to run into hostile alien civilizations that mere civilians ought NEVER to be in any position to encounter. Star Fleet is a military organization, prepared to deal with hostile forces should they discover any during their explorations in the Galaxy. The second stupid notion is that on a huge ship staffed by Star Fleet officers whose careers hinge upon their gaining experience handling the ship . . . that the teenaged son of the ship's Doctor would be allowed not only to be on the Bridge, but then be given the opportunity to serve as the ship's HELMSMAN -- cheating other Star Fleet officers of the on-the-job experience that they had been expressly TRAINED to do. This whole notion was just Gene Wesley Roddenberry's adolescent wish-fulfillment fantasy taken to a stupid extreme, shoehorned into the Trek Universe in this Trek sequel series that he had executive control over -- and note that EVERYBODY accepts the fact that TNG's first couple seasons, when Roddenberry had control over it, were its WORST seasons, as "CHAOS ON THE BRIDGE" makes clear. Oh, and DS9 wouldn't even have existed if it hadn't been for the fact that JMS had pitched his BABYLON 5 project all over the place, and when it was green-lighted . . . ah, the same production team that made TNG blatantly ripped it off, making a new Trek series that was set -- like BABYLON 5 -- on a titular SPACE STATION instead of TREKKING around the Galaxy. Sure, there were good and great episodes of TNG and DS9, but those shows suffered from being derivative, rather than original productions, whereas TOS was the breakthrough show that set the standard for what STAR TREK is really all about. I prefer TOS -- with all its flaws -- to any of the sequel and prequel Trek series that have since followed it.
@@OrangeRiver oh I agree! You deserve the money for your work. I just thought it was funny that it came directly after "and with no further Ado" specifically
The TOS timeline obviously differs from our own. But it is the same timeline as our own up until the late 1960s. By the 1990s, the TOS timeline is already substantially different than ours. It would be interesting to speculate when and why the two time lines diverged. Perhaps it has something to do with the events of the Cold War.
Point of fact: in the novelization of TMP, Kirk notes that the events of TOS/TAS were "sanitized" for public consumption, if not outright embellished. So even back then, GR was distancing "Star Trek" from STAR TREK, as far as what he thought as "serious" science fiction.
The original Star Trek did not rely on character arcs or the hero's journey, instead portraying the crew as confident experts focused on exploration. While some character development is reasonable, the overwrought melodrama of recent shows like Discovery and Picard seems disconnected from the original vision of the show.
@shaggycan,I agree. The recent "Treks" have be TOO overwrought with conflict and drama in my opinion. I wish they would go back to the old of storytelling like the 1960s show had and make it more family accessible.
SOME HuMANS WITH EXTRA HuMAN PERSPECTIoN: That was by far nothing new under the sun Point is that was a rather common concept in numerous Science Fiction short stories, novels and comics esprcially past the first Atomic Bomb. From then on many authors worldwide had made a connection there. But to others it game stomach archs like for Asimov or Arthur C. Clarke, because of being to fictional and fairy tale like, to stay with American authors. Fun Fact :1) MIRANDA from MASS EFFECT 2 and 3 was influenced by the figure of this first NUMBER ONE 2) BIOTICS were explained as the MUTANTS in those elder Science Fiction novels and shows, as the result of some form of RATIATION. Here atomic Bombs or Outer Space Radiation and there the result of exploding Space Ship Engines
I think it's best to stop saying that STD, Picard, the Kelvin Trilogy, Prodigy and Lower Deckers as not canon. Because if it's repeated enough to the point that it is permanently canon. But I do wish that the first two season of Picard had done what the third season was able to deliver. STD as a concept could've worked if the execution wasn't so botched. So far SNW is somewhat decent.
As a recent Trek fan (didn't start watching TNG until my 20s a few years ago) I stayed away from TOS for the longest time since I felt like I couldn't deal with the camp and the, from what I understood, unsatisfying ending. But then I was laid up with severe bowel issues for a couple months around December '22-January '23 and had finished DS9 for the unpteenth time when TOS came up as my next recommendation. I said f*** it and started it, with The Cage being the first episode on streaming. I was BLOWN. AWAY. By that epsiode. Even though I knew the cast mostly changed for the rest of the show, the performances, writing, and direction of that hour had me compelled. I ate it up. Like you said, Tyler, there are surely weak episodes from writing, directing, and acting standpoints, but the episodes that work do it so well you forget about the campy BS from before. And to go back and see the foundational elements that led to so many good plots and conflicts later on is a real treat after becoming so familiar with TNG, DS9, and the other "modern" Treks. Great video, good points! As always!
The reason is pretty simple. The original series was science fiction and they hired science fiction writers. David TNG was at first. Put the rest of Star Trek has just been written by your standard Hollywood hack. I love DS9 and Voyager but they are not science fiction. I love TNg play almost none of the later seasons for science fiction. End current trick is just the world's biggest Mary Sue garbage. Play though I did love the character Arc of the gay couple end of mycelium drive
Note that in the Corbomite Maneuver, while Uhura is wearing command gold, her badge is that of engineering/support. So, it's a gold uniform, but it has the delta badge we normally associate with a red uniform. They were still working out the uniforms in the first several episodes.
ST:TOS was so of its time. You kinda had to be there. By today's standards it is racist, sexist & corny but at the time it was compelling television with a bright, optimistic vision of the future. Each ep was a self contained Aesops Fable exploring a theme or moral dilemma filled with social commentary. I was only 6 when it originally aired & I got to stay up to watch it with my mom. It was an adult show but even as a kid I got the overall message/moral. I still enjoy rewatching certain eps. Of the newer Trek shows, SNW is probably my favorite. If they did a similar reboot of TOS I wouldn't mind it.
When I used to watch Star Trek shows as a teenager, they gave me such high hopes for what humanity could achieve and what we could be as a species. Seeing the social and intellectual degradation of the last 10 years has really broken my heart. That future that Gene Roddenberry envisioned, that wonderful future that seemed within the realm of possibility, now seems so far away and impossible to achieve.
Great video. In my fan fiction And the children shall Lead was not a complete stinker. Sam Linden the black child in the group would grow up and with the sponsorship of Kirk Spock and Sulu would Join Starfleet. An expert helmsman, he would have numerous adventures on the USS Avenger an Avenger/Miranda class starship during the Star Trek TMP timeline even temporarily serving on the Enterprise at one point.
The Mass Effect 1 galaxy map was an excellent choice for background music; doubtless you've seen MrBTongue's video on how that series was a spiritual successor of sorts to TOS.
I appreciate how Roddenberry was not afraid to show Spock and Kirk as vulnerable, which went against type, and added great layering to their characters. And it is hard now to convey how wildly futuristic the Enterprise looked, when what had mostly come before was simple Buck Rogers-type rockets.
Not only that Roddenberry also had turned Spock GREEN! with facial paint but the studio disagreed out of frear from racist viewers so the cuts so his face had been turned 'CAUCASIAN again in the photo lab.
@@rogerlynch5279 Do you have a source for that? According to "The Making of Star Trek", I know that in the early filming of "The Cage" that the Orion Slavegirl footage kept coming back with her being caucasian because the photo lab kept color correcting because they didn't know she was supposed to be green, but never heard that they color corrected Spock. It seems unlikely. It would have been quite difficult to change just Spock, they didn't have digital color correction back then, so it would have been very weird looking to have a color corrected Spock interacting with other characters. Also, not to defend racists but as far as I know, they don't have a particular problem with green people. I haven't heard of any fears that people would complain about the implied potential sexual relationship between a white man and a green girl, for instance.
It still has not been surpassed by any of the numerous TV updates over the years. Of them all, probably Voyager and Enterprise came the closest. I won't even mention the current woke drenched mess of the latest Star Trek and Picard. Strange New Worlds is far better.......but only because it relies heavily on TOS themes and visual dynamics. It was a product of its time, hopeful, thoughtful, colourful, exciting, sexy, and of course futuristic just as the US space program seemed to open the door to this future.
A note: it's been clarified that the story about NBC executives not wanting a female lead was a myth, and they were more concerned about Majel Barrett's acting ability and personal relationship with Gene Roddenberry.
correct, dreadful actress, only cast as nagged Roddenberry
The Cage was filmed SIXTY years ago. Wow I'm old. I watched all the TOS episodes every week when it aired when I was a teenager. I will be 74 this year. Greatest show ever.❤
That is awesome!
Like many old time fans I still have a crash on Laurel Goodwin- Yeoman Colt.
Fun Fact in German they mistranslated YEOMAN as BOATSWAIN instead of PETTY OFFICER ( here: OBERMAAT as a Gerrman Nary Rank) the correct form is just used in a couple of STAR TREK TOS novels
I watched all the Trek from when it was first on TV as a very little child all the way to now. A lifetime of a great show!
I was the TNG generation.
I thought I wanted to grow up to be a Picard.
I ended up growing up to be a Kirk.
TOS best Star Trek.
Love the spoiler warning for a well known 60 year old show 👍
Subjectively speaking, "Where no man has gone before" is the best Star Trek episode off all time.
It features Gary Lockwood (2001 Space Odyssey) and Sally Kellerman with brilliant dialogues and moral / ethical decisions.
Ehhhhhhh. I won’t yuck your yum but it was a good episode.
Bptj actors also had played in the first season in one or two episodes of 12 O´CLOCK HIGH, he as a pilot and she as his love interest and as a nurse - you can find the complete episode(s) on RUclips.
It's not my absolute favorite, but it's in my top five and it did a hell of a job establishing the tone and themes of the series as a whole
My faves in a five-way tie:
The Menagerie (counted as one two-part episode)
Balance of Terror
WNMHGB
City on the Edge of Forever
Court Martial
One of the online Trek series from the oughts or early teens has a two parter that continues plenty of the themes from WNMHGB. It also serves as the series finale as the Paramount restrictions were coming to bear then
Acting acting acting
"Brain and brain! What is brain?"
What's really insane is who actually wrote that. Gene L. Coon.😂😂😂😮
once again, I dont think this guy watched "the cage" episode.. Vina was NOT kept "young" by the talosians.. She was physically in pieces when they found her but did not know human anatomy, so they physically repaired her in a kind of horrific frankenstien way. They gave her and others who viewed her the illusion that she was normal..... she was actually younger than pike. uhg...
"UM ACKSHUALLY"
Something that is often lost, possibly because it's hard to convey if you weren't there, is how astonishing and exotic TOS was compared with anything else on live action TV at the time. Despite the increasing level of camp during the run, during a time when camp was a constant on TV, and the stumbles later in the series, it was obvious that TOS took SciFi seriously. The relationship between that show, the context in which it landed, and its audience isn't easily replicated no matter how much money is spent. And, while some of the spin-offs have been quite good, I've noticed that at least recently a lot of that money is spent of increasingly extravagant sets and special effects: by which I mean; yes, make planets, stars, nebula, and aliens and their worlds as believable as practical but the Enterprise in its various incarnations and other spaceships have expanded from the business-like/science & quasi-military-like original to what looks like warp capable casino/cruse ship in SNW. Helmsman Ortegas' state room seems at least 4 times the size TOS Kirk's. SNW Enterprise briefing room dwarfs that of NG's 1701D, a much larger ship. And then there's the space and atmospheric action and battle scenes which rip-off Star Wars: ships, debris, and rocks flying everywhere and in close proximity. Space is big and mostly empty and it was big and mostly empty in TOS but in SNW it's crowded--except the interior of the Enterprise. To be clear, I generally like the stories and actors in SNW, even the musical episode, but aside from a few nods to the past, the visuals have completely lost the spirit of the original: a group of brave people, huddled in their protective but fragile bubble, traveling vast distances in the hostile nothingness to explore new worlds and civilizations. SNW tries to tell the same kind of stories but shear luxury of it makes it feel less serious
Compare it to Lost in Space, or Batman for example. Star Trek was totally different to 60s shows, although a few episodes still fall into the goofy, campy.
LOL - In 64-68, as a USAF Communications Technician, I thought the electronics were hilarious, but was glad for the futuristic vision. However, tech has leapfrogged so often that videos produced yesterday are out of date.
As a kid, the Animated Series was so freaking awesome!! I already loved Star Trek. I wasn't allowed to stay up late enough to watch the reruns of TOS. So for a little bit, it was My Star Trek... It didn't matter that the animation was janky, a lot of cartoons were. I was absolutely too young to be critical of it.
🖖🏻😁💚
TAS frickin rules
I don't give a damn, I think it's canon. As well as the series Star Trek Continues.
DC Fontana wrote a letter complaining TAS was for adults, not a Saturday morning cartoon. lol, it's a kiddies cartoon.
it's a kiddies cartoon
Fantastic job with this. But "What Are Little Girls Made Of?" deserves the highest praise for introducing my early preteen self to the hottest 60s babe of all time: Sherry Jackson. My god, Bill Shatner...what a lucky sonofabitch.
I saw the cage when they aired it for the first time in high school. It was cool.
Nearly an hour of Orange River? HELL YEAH.
I mean I’m getting used to 3 hours + of Orange River on his live streams…. 😂 great vid
Great! Thanks for doing this for all us old trekkies
Specter of the gun was one of my favorites
I always wanted to be a Space Hippie 😂😂😂
NCC-1701. No bloody A, B, C, or D!
well said
"kirk smooshed him with a rock".
Rocks are the deadliest phenomena in space. Somehow they find their way into starship bridges an cause consoles to explode in bursts of steam and pyrotechnics.
TOS is probably my Favorite Trek series. Honestly it depends on if SNW keeps up the quality as it goes On. Also, while I mostly agree with your opinions, I take offense with the Idea that "Specter of the Gun" is forgettable. In My pov it is one of S3's strongest. Everybody is in character and they try everything they could to get out of the scenario. None of the Characters act stupid. It's a good episode.
The Doomsday Machine nd Balance of Terror in my opinion are some the best episodes of TOS.
I would love to know your thoughts on Star Trek Continues. It was a fan production of the “final” year of the 5 year mission but I thought it was pretty good and gave the series a proper finale it deserved
I enjoy your channel. I do have a question about your title, How TOS Set the Gold Standard for Star Trek". Of course TOS is the gold standard because it was first and set up the canon (ST universe), right? So... a little confused. I'm asking like a Vulcan and not a Romulan. LOL. Peace!
It's more so an attempt to demonstrate how TOS laid down the groundwork for canon that the other shows picked up on. Trying to come up with a good title for a RUclips video is a big challenge sometimes, so I wouldn't think too hard about it lol
😂
The Mycelial Network 😂😂😂😂❤❤❤
I always think it is funny that he almost falls out of chair at the end of clip.
If the Intrepid is a full Vulcan ship how come is named the Intrepid and not em... the Cautious?
The word 'intrepid' means 'without fear' -- and, since Fear is an emotion, it makes sense that Vulcans would have no fear. Naming a vessel 'Intrepid' (i.e. 'Fearless') might seem like the logical thing to do, in order to impress upon a would-be adversary the notion that no matter how intimidating they might try to be in their threats, it would have no daunting effects on emotionless Vulcans. In other words, don't try to 'scare' a Vulcan, cuz they don't respond the way emotional beings do. They'll do what is Logical, and circumstances just might call upon them to obliterate a threatening adversaries, if the needs of the Many outweigh the needs of the belligerent Few -- or the genocidal One, for that matter. And Vulcans compelled by Logic to annihilating an enemy would do so without Pity -- because Pity, too, is an emotion.
Regarding the reception of "The Cage", I thought it was generally understood now that CBS execs had no problems with a woman second in command, they just objected to it being Roddenberry's mistress!
Overall though, great vid. Thanks for highlighting the TAS colour issue, that urban myth needs to go! 😕
Yes, I always had wondered about it myself but in many publications THAT came up as a point that VIEWERS especially FEMALE VIEWERS would hate Majel Barrett in that role. Lucky for us the skilled actress and later on second wife of Roddenberry made it back into the show as NURSE CHAPEL this time with coloured hair. She also had been the OFF VOICE for the Ships Computer.
@@rogerlynch5279 The "evil execs" story was publicised for many decades by Roddenberry, because it fitted his growing image with the fans. He may also have been the source of the claim that female viewers would hate a lady in the chain of command, but I'm not sure how well that holds up against other TV series in the 1960s with women in lead roles (The Avengers leaps immediately to mind).
I'm glad that Majel got a proper second chance with Trek though, through the role of Lwaxanna Troi
3:55 That wasn't Franz Bakolin. That was a still shot of William Holden in the film Stalag 17.
I just wanted to inform you that the third season of TOS budget was cut in half also.
9:27 "They had problems with.... the presence of a female first officer" -- You might want to check your facts on that. I heard that was a myth that was started by Gene Roddenberry. NBC actually liked the idea of a female first officer; they just didn't want Roddenberry's girlfriend playing the part, so he snuck her into the show by giving her a different role and a blond wig.
Remember, Lucille Ball was highly influential, and predominate female roles were not usually shunned.
You may want to check your facts because networks had issues with women and black officers, especially as first officer and captain. There was even a scene where Captain Pike starts angrily screaming about women being on the bridge.
I did check my facts, since you decided to retype out my first sentence for some reason.
Here are those facts: Herb Solow, vice president of Desilu Studios and Executive in charge of Star Trek, stated in his 1996 book “Inside Star Trek: The Real Story”, which was co-written by Bob Justman, that NBC “program head” Mort Werner said in 1966 that NBC “supported the concept of a woman in a strong leading role” but they had serious “doubts about Majel Barrett’s abilities to carry the show as it’s co-star.” After that Solow and Justman made the “decision that Majel had to go.”
Werner also stated that NBC “applauded the attempt at a racial mix, that’s exactly what we (NBC) want.”
Solow also stated that “as a matter of principle NBC promoted racially integrated casting in all it’s shows.” and “many African-American actors were interviewed,” and actor Lloyd Haynes was “one of the first African-American actors hired to play an important role in a network television pilot”.
I’ve read Solow’s and Justman’s book a couple of times. Maybe you should do that too.
I also want to add this: Soloh said in that same book that Roddenberry "told Majel and then subsequently hinted to several journalists off the record that NBC rejected Majel for the second pilot because the network executives were sexist, not wanting a series star to be a strong woman. His move embarrassed NBC and later he denied ever making the statement. He (Roddenberry) conveniently forgot the NBC execs, for both financial and moral reasons, had always favored a strong woman as a series star. They (NBC) just didn’t want Majel, and they resented having her forced upon them for the first pilot."
Captain Pike didn't "angrily scream" anything. In fact, Jeffrey Hunter consistently underplayed the emotions of the Pike character in "The Cage".
Here is the pertinent dialogue from that scene of "The Cage":
(Colt enters. Pike turns around and bumps into her)
PIKE: Yeoman.
COLT: Yes, sir.
PIKE: I thought I told you that when I'm on the bridge ...
COLT: But you wanted the reports by oh five hundred. It's oh five hundred now, sir.
PIKE: Oh, I see. Thank you.
(Colt leaves the bridge)
NUMBER ONE: She's replacing your former yeoman, sir.
PIKE: She does a good job, all right. It's just that I can't get used to having a woman on the bridge ... (realizes his faux-pas) ... No offence, Lieutenant. You're different, of course.
The implication is that Yeoman Colt, an attractive young redhead, is a bit of distracting eye candy whom Pike would rather not have to deal with while he's focusing upon running the ship. Number One provides no such distraction for him, and Majel Barrett as Number One nicely played off of this dialogue by showing a quick and very subdued flicker of hurt in response.
It's all a foreshadowing of the third-act scene in the cage on Talos IV in which the Talosians present Colt and Number One as alternative choices from which Pike can choose his mate, since he has (in their estimation) already spurned the original female proffered by the Talosians, Vina. The Talosians spell it all out:
VINA: It's not fair. I did what you asked.
MAGISTRATE: Since you resist the present specimen, you now have a selection.
PIKE: I'll break out of this zoo somehow and get to you. Is your blood red like ours? I'm going to find out.
MAGISTRATE: Each of the two new specimens has qualities in her favor. The female you call Number One has the superior mind and would produce highly intelligent children. Although she seems to lack emotion, this is largely a pretense. She has often has fantasies involving you.
PIKE: All I want to do is get my hands on you. Can you read these thoughts? Images of hate, killing?
MAGISTRATE: The other new arrival has considered you unreachable but now is realizing this has changed. The factors in her favor are youth and strength, plus unusually strong female drives.
Hence, Pike's objection in the earlier scene. In Pike's rather self-centered judgment, that hot young redheaded yeoman was giving off too many pheromones!
Roddenberry was an earlier Harvey W. Majel was horrible. everything about the show was about sex & soft porn because of Roddenberry.
Every time you mentioned STD, I threw up in my mouth a little bit.
Edgy 😎
Mycelial network! 😁
I largely agree that TOS is probably the third best overall Star Trek show behind DS9 and TNG, in that order. Voyager is also very close, but Voyager had some wild swings in quality of writing leading it to fluxiate from being some of the best Star Trek to among the worst. Enterprise, Discovery, Lower Decks and Strange New Worlds all are relatively consistant. Picard also goes all over the place but not in the way Voyager does.
I turn it around. with STAR TREK TOS on top, DEEP SPACE 9, STAR TREK VOYAGER, ENTERPRISE, and then STR TREK NEYT GEN.
Someone should select the top 10% of each series. A compact representation of the franchise. I wouldn't recommend that anyone watch all of TOS.
Spock's Brain - Oh No!
Not a bad idea!
The music is starting to become quite iconic
Though I've seen all the old shows now, TOS remains my favorite. Even the campy, janky episodes are fun to rewatch. The City on the Edge of Forever and The Squire of Gothos are my two favorites, I think. Thank you for another one of these long form discussion videos.
God be with you out there, everybody. ✝️ :)
Oh I've been waiting for this.
That mycelial network.
So Spocks father originally played a Romulan.
Yes in PATTERNS OF FORCE
If they made a Star Trek themed cafe, would they offer Rodden Berry Milkshakes?
3:55 That's a picture of William Holden from the movie Stalag 17.
ToS has the opposite problem as TNG, pretty good first and second seasons, especially for the time, obviously there are highs and lows but then the third season is incredibly goofy with lots of plainly bad episodes. Still worth watching because it's the origin of the IP
The Romulans were using 'klingon design' because the model of their ship from Balance of Terror got destroyed, I believe there was some disagreement or something with the model creator
The model creator was not part of the union.
i do like they just say "the time barrier", like there was some upper limit to warp drive . (head canon)
I think it was a reference to the just broken sound barrier. That was when they had aircraft that exceeded the speed of sound.
@@palmercolson7037 No there were TWO ! episodes were the TIME BARRIER had been broken.
TOMORROW IS YESTERDAY and ASSIGNMENT EARTH and don´t forget Kirk´s and Spock´s both time travels like in CITY ON THE EDGE OF FOREVER - even though here you can argue the thing with the GUARDIAN had been different.
@@palmercolson7037 I agree, that was right at the top of peoples mind at the time. I do like that they decided to not say "light" barrier or something and leave it open to interpretation.
Maybe something to do with relativity and time dilation?
William Holden?
Great and well researched. Love this video. Only very slight bias to show for your own personal taste, but that’s fair enough. Nothing too overbearing. Keep up the good work.
Haha thanks! If I spend an hour talking about a TV show I'm definitely going to share my opinions on its quality, but I'm glad you found it fairly balanced
Is that a Dax action figure in the blur?
It's a thicc D'Vana Tendi.
It certainly is! With Kira next to her. (Oh yeah, and my custom-made D'Vana Tendi statue on the right lol)
Cool I have the same figure on my desk opened. She was my first on screen crush as a teenager. Now as a older adult I still think I was right. Terry Farwell was beautiful then and is still so today. @@OrangeRiver
Why do you have a photo of William Holden in there???
1967... Best Year Ever!! 😂😂😂
I watched TOS after school (for a while it came on twice daily!) and i adore Shatner. TNG is my favorite and i loved STP and look forward to more SNW.
"I am not herbert"
Why did you show a photo of William Holden from the film Stalag 17 when you mentioned the people Gene brought in to help him originally?
I asked the same question…
I think Worf not winning a single game of poker, after "The Emissary," with the added ridicule of Data and Geordi, truly set the gold standard for the franchise as a whole.
Star Trek needs Worf to win!
For the algorithm!
Another great video too.
Thank you!
Birth control method used with Tipper -- the Al Gore Rhythm method. Also known as the 'Lockbox' . . .
If only 'The Chase' had been a TNG film instead of the action adventure drivel we got in Insurrection.
11:55 What makes me angry every time I read it is that folks been grown up with STAR TREK NEXT GEN. steal the stherm " STAR TREK " for themselves totally ignoring the fact that elder fans like me are standing to their classical show STAR TREK TOS or here in Germany still lovingliy called RAUMSCHIFF ENTERPRISE, under which title the show ran in the Seventies and Eighties.
Shure a court in the USA had made it clear every STAR TREK show is it´s own franchise. That was when Roddenberry´s first wife had claimed for partly ownership on ALL Star Trek shows. BUT it is a point that STAR TREK TOS was and still is the ORIGINAL Star Trek show.
Re: Arena ... I'm surprised you didin;t at least mention the way SNW has completely rewritten this episode ... for one, Spock and others on the ship not only know who and what the Gorn are, but they've interacted with and fought against the Gorn long before Arena takes place ... I agree that Arena is one of TOS' best episodes, and I wish SNW hadn't messed with the timeline so much that Arena basically CANNOT happen as it does in TOS now because Spock would immediately recognize the Gorn, etc.
SNW should have done what all Trek prequels should have done: not feature any known alien species.
SNW especially should only feature new species since it’s title is Strange NEW Worlds.
@@russellharrell2747 There are even plenty of existing aliens they could explore without affecting canon much. Tellerites got a BIT of expansion in Enterprise, but they could have been explored. But for something like the Gorn, where TOS clearly shows them meeting for he first time in Arena, it seemed like a really odd, tone-deaf choice ...
I remember the Star Trek cartoon on Saturday mornings but I don't think I ever watched it.
Many thanks for this awesome retrospective! Appreciate your hard work!
Thank you!
Great video, great sponsor.
Spoilers for TOS😂Ive seen every episode 100’s of times. Great analisis & terrific behind the scenes material🖖🏻
Discovery is such a wretched series, but even it was able to make me misty eyed when the Enterprise appears for the first time. I can still vividly remember the sense of wonder and hope that I felt in the 80s watching Star Trek as a pre-teen and teenager. The darker additions to the canon have their place, too, but TOS deserves praise for its unapologetic commitment to optimism regarding human potential.
Number One had no name in The Cage, or The Menagerie. Not until half a century later, and everyone involved in the production of The Cage had died, was that character named in a newer production.
Yes, that's correct. However, we still live in the present and things have occurred since the 1960s 😂
@@OrangeRiver Indeed. Too bad they had to denigrate the character as they have. Instead of a cool human who used the Kirk bluff (if it WAS a bluff) before he did, she is now an "enhanced" human whose presence in Starfleet diminishes her AND Starfleet. The Roddenberrys would have been mortified.
@@uranuslad9855Roddenberry was mortified about ‘wrath of khan’ so what did he know? And TNG only became watchable after it was wrestled out of his control
@uranuslad9855 She's not even human, she's Illyrian lol
I think it's funny how "Balok" played by a baby Clint Howard looks pretty much the same as he does now!
44:21 The HOLODECK was first introduced in TAS - not TNG. That fact _alone_ makes the (aruguably poorly drawn) animated series part of the Trek 'canon'.
Yup.
TAS refers to it as the "recreation room," although it definitely seems like an early version of the holodeck!
The TOS movies were my introduction to Star Trek, then renting TNG episodes from the library. I didn't see much of TOS the show till it came to DVD.
"Yes, that is how it is pronounced." Thank you. I didn't know. :) This is also a great introduction to Trek for those who do not understand it's greatness, while at the same time acknowledging some of it's short comings.
Excited for you to do DS9
not Trek
-That's William Holden in the movie Stalag 17 at 3:55.
-I think this presentation would have been better served if you could have used the original effects footage rather than that of the remasters. The original visuals, although archaic by todays' standards, were very cutting-edge for the time, which made the series that much more trend-setting.
-I agree with your thoughts about Season 1. I think the crew had more encounters with alien cultures that the two following seasons.
-And no. The Changeling is not a similar plot to The Motion Picture. That's a tired claim.
-A few years ago, someone assembled a lot contradictions in Star Trek into one video. It was nearly an hour long. Most of the contradictions were between TOS and a lot of the Trek that came afterwards.
-What I say to young fans of Star Trek about TOS is you had to have been there in the 60s to fully appreciate it.
This comment is kind of condescending, no? Lol. I also if I have the option to show footage of the remasters that look objectively better, I'm going to haha
I think we can all agree the biggest issue with TOS is nobody has "spots that go all the way down."
The Doomsday Machine is problaby my favourite TOS episode.
First
TOS even after almost 50 is really still my fav! Amd thank you for telling me how to properly pronounce Adonias! Your favorite animated series episodes are also mine. Too bad the Kzinti never got to appear in any of the live series.
You're wrong: the best episode was "Spock's Brain!"
Good, but not great.
There are some weird things about the use of "starship" as a class since "constitution class" I don't think showed up on screen.
so when people mention starship sometimes it is an interstellar vessel and then sometimes it is very specific to that wonderful ship that we all now and love. ("bread and circuses" and "errand of mercy" seem to infer this because they held such crews as elite and unique.
Thanks OR
Dude 😎! What's your deal on "and the children shall lead". I've always thought of that one as a) pretty good, and b)a landmark/trademark stos episode. Wish you'd fleshed your negative opinion of that one out. It seems to me to have been influential too (mad max: beyond the thunder dome). Is there some new thing to hate on that one?... because I don't recall it being listed as any kind of worst of stos in my day. In my day that was definitely space hippies territory?
It's not really a rare opinion that that episode is unwatchable XD But to each his own
I recently bought a TOS Enterprise model. And the more I look at it, the more I am amazed at its timeless and elegant design.
I have never been a fanatic Star Trek fan, but that TOS ship is, in my opinion, one of the best starship designs ever. Especially when you take into account that it was designed so many decades ago.
Did Tyler utter that the episode didn't air until 1988. Is that right?
Yes, I think they released the original pilot on VCR tape around then--I remember renting it. It was mostly intact, but some scenes were in black and white and included a different voice for the alien. I remember that they had to reconstruct the pilot because some of the original was lost and had to include lesser quality copies. Similar to the reconstruction of the movie Metropolis.
Yes, for the 2nd season of TNG they began by televising "The Cage" before the first episode of TNG S2E01, hosted by Stewart.
Really in-depth and serious review without being stiff and boring. Love TOS and still learned a lot of detail here. Subscribed.
Do the TOS cast movies next!
please*
Wouldn’t want to come across as rude or demanding. I absolutely love your channel; it brightens my day whenever I see you’ve posted a new video; your content is my happy place 🧡 🌍 🚀
"Jaynus" vs what every other person pronounces as "Janis" (and spells as "Janice")...are you Key and Peele?
??
@30:57 - why is this clip here, instead of after @31:18, when the probe is introduced? The chronology is confusing.
Oh, wow! I didn't know you were a professional editor!!
I'm sorry but "Who Mourns For Adonais" is the best episode of TOS, and possibly the best of all Trek. The protagonist IS Apollo, THEE actual Apollo. There are many... "hints" at a god throughout Trek lore but in this episode, they come face to face with one. The show also deeply delves into the concept of "Ancient Aliens" long before History Channel was born. I remember sneaking over to the old black and white TV way after bedtime and watching this episode.
It's mid at best. The female being convinced by Kirk to disregard her love for Apollo for her duty to Starfleet is singularly unconvincing.
great vid. convinced me to watch tos before continuing my tng
TOS broke the ground for the crop that is TNG and DS9. TNG improves on the original concept. And DS9 breaks it out of the mold, but builds it's themes and characterization on TOS.
TNG introduced elements to Trek that are patently stupid -- the worst being the idea that FAMILIES are on this vessel which is armed with Phasers and Photon Torpedoes, likely to run into hostile alien civilizations that mere civilians ought NEVER to be in any position to encounter. Star Fleet is a military organization, prepared to deal with hostile forces should they discover any during their explorations in the Galaxy.
The second stupid notion is that on a huge ship staffed by Star Fleet officers whose careers hinge upon their gaining experience handling the ship . . . that the teenaged son of the ship's Doctor would be allowed not only to be on the Bridge, but then be given the opportunity to serve as the ship's HELMSMAN -- cheating other Star Fleet officers of the on-the-job experience that they had been expressly TRAINED to do. This whole notion was just Gene Wesley Roddenberry's adolescent wish-fulfillment fantasy taken to a stupid extreme, shoehorned into the Trek Universe in this Trek sequel series that he had executive control over -- and note that EVERYBODY accepts the fact that TNG's first couple seasons, when Roddenberry had control over it, were its WORST seasons, as "CHAOS ON THE BRIDGE" makes clear.
Oh, and DS9 wouldn't even have existed if it hadn't been for the fact that JMS had pitched his BABYLON 5 project all over the place, and when it was green-lighted . . . ah, the same production team that made TNG blatantly ripped it off, making a new Trek series that was set -- like BABYLON 5 -- on a titular SPACE STATION instead of TREKKING around the Galaxy.
Sure, there were good and great episodes of TNG and DS9, but those shows suffered from being derivative, rather than original productions, whereas TOS was the breakthrough show that set the standard for what STAR TREK is really all about. I prefer TOS -- with all its flaws -- to any of the sequel and prequel Trek series that have since followed it.
This is a strange comment section.
Tell me about it 🤣🤣🤣
I love that about 80% of the original series episodes can we described as "the one with the ____"
"Without further ado, here's further AD...ooh."
Chapter markers exist for a reason! ;D
@@OrangeRiver oh I agree! You deserve the money for your work. I just thought it was funny that it came directly after "and with no further Ado" specifically
Haha, fair enough :D
The series that started it all.
The TOS timeline obviously differs from our own. But it is the same timeline as our own up until the late 1960s. By the 1990s, the TOS timeline is already substantially different than ours. It would be interesting to speculate when and why the two time lines diverged. Perhaps it has something to do with the events of the Cold War.
We avoided the nuclear war that occurred in the Star Trek timeline. And the Eugenics war. And I think a 2nd nuclear war.
@@Rocketsong Gary 7 failed to prevent WWIII in the TOS timeline. A possible scenario is that the Vietnam War escalated into a nuclear confrontation.
can't wait to watch this when I finish TOS. i preliked this
Point of fact: in the novelization of TMP, Kirk notes that the events of TOS/TAS were "sanitized" for public consumption, if not outright embellished. So even back then, GR was distancing "Star Trek" from STAR TREK, as far as what he thought as "serious" science fiction.
The original Star Trek did not rely on character arcs or the hero's journey, instead portraying the crew as confident experts focused on exploration. While some character development is reasonable, the overwrought melodrama of recent shows like Discovery and Picard seems disconnected from the original vision of the show.
@shaggycan,I agree. The recent "Treks" have be TOO overwrought with conflict and drama in my opinion. I wish they would go back to the old of storytelling like the 1960s show had and make it more family accessible.
Totally agree, it's such a shame. Too much crying, and disrespect for the chain of command
SOME HuMANS WITH EXTRA HuMAN PERSPECTIoN: That was by far nothing new under the sun Point is that was a rather common concept in numerous Science Fiction short stories, novels and comics esprcially past the first Atomic Bomb. From then on many authors worldwide had made a connection there. But to others it game stomach archs like for Asimov or Arthur C. Clarke, because of being to fictional and fairy tale like, to stay with American authors.
Fun Fact :1) MIRANDA from MASS EFFECT 2 and 3 was influenced by the figure of this first NUMBER ONE
2) BIOTICS were explained as the MUTANTS in those elder Science Fiction novels and shows, as the result of some form of RATIATION. Here atomic Bombs or Outer Space Radiation and there the result of exploding Space Ship Engines
I think it's best to stop saying that STD, Picard, the Kelvin Trilogy, Prodigy and Lower Deckers as not canon. Because if it's repeated enough to the point that it is permanently canon. But I do wish that the first two season of Picard had done what the third season was able to deliver. STD as a concept could've worked if the execution wasn't so botched. So far SNW is somewhat decent.
As a recent Trek fan (didn't start watching TNG until my 20s a few years ago) I stayed away from TOS for the longest time since I felt like I couldn't deal with the camp and the, from what I understood, unsatisfying ending.
But then I was laid up with severe bowel issues for a couple months around December '22-January '23 and had finished DS9 for the unpteenth time when TOS came up as my next recommendation. I said f*** it and started it, with The Cage being the first episode on streaming. I was BLOWN. AWAY. By that epsiode. Even though I knew the cast mostly changed for the rest of the show, the performances, writing, and direction of that hour had me compelled.
I ate it up. Like you said, Tyler, there are surely weak episodes from writing, directing, and acting standpoints, but the episodes that work do it so well you forget about the campy BS from before.
And to go back and see the foundational elements that led to so many good plots and conflicts later on is a real treat after becoming so familiar with TNG, DS9, and the other "modern" Treks.
Great video, good points! As always!
The reason is pretty simple. The original series was science fiction and they hired science fiction writers. David TNG was at first. Put the rest of Star Trek has just been written by your standard Hollywood hack.
I love DS9 and Voyager but they are not science fiction. I love TNg play almost none of the later seasons for science fiction. End current trick is just the world's biggest Mary Sue garbage. Play though I did love the character Arc of the gay couple end of mycelium drive
Note that in the Corbomite Maneuver, while Uhura is wearing command gold, her badge is that of engineering/support. So, it's a gold uniform, but it has the delta badge we normally associate with a red uniform. They were still working out the uniforms in the first several episodes.
ST:TOS was so of its time. You kinda had to be there. By today's standards it is racist, sexist & corny but at the time it was compelling television with a bright, optimistic vision of the future. Each ep was a self contained Aesops Fable exploring a theme or moral dilemma filled with social commentary. I was only 6 when it originally aired & I got to stay up to watch it with my mom. It was an adult show but even as a kid I got the overall message/moral. I still enjoy rewatching certain eps. Of the newer Trek shows, SNW is probably my favorite. If they did a similar reboot of TOS I wouldn't mind it.
When I used to watch Star Trek shows as a teenager, they gave me such high hopes for what humanity could achieve and what we could be as a species. Seeing the social and intellectual degradation of the last 10 years has really broken my heart. That future that Gene Roddenberry envisioned, that wonderful future that seemed within the realm of possibility, now seems so far away and impossible to achieve.
Great video. In my fan fiction And the children shall Lead was not a complete stinker. Sam Linden the black child in the group would grow up and with the sponsorship of Kirk Spock and Sulu would Join Starfleet. An expert helmsman, he would have numerous adventures on the USS Avenger an Avenger/Miranda class starship during the Star Trek TMP timeline even temporarily serving on the Enterprise at one point.
The Mass Effect 1 galaxy map was an excellent choice for background music; doubtless you've seen MrBTongue's video on how that series was a spiritual successor of sorts to TOS.
I appreciate how Roddenberry was not afraid to show Spock and Kirk as vulnerable, which went against type, and added great layering to their characters.
And it is hard now to convey how wildly futuristic the Enterprise looked, when what had mostly come before was simple Buck Rogers-type rockets.
Not only that Roddenberry also had turned Spock GREEN! with facial paint but the studio disagreed out of frear from racist viewers so the cuts so his face had been turned 'CAUCASIAN again in the photo lab.
@@rogerlynch5279 Do you have a source for that? According to "The Making of Star Trek", I know that in the early filming of "The Cage" that the Orion Slavegirl footage kept coming back with her being caucasian because the photo lab kept color correcting because they didn't know she was supposed to be green, but never heard that they color corrected Spock. It seems unlikely. It would have been quite difficult to change just Spock, they didn't have digital color correction back then, so it would have been very weird looking to have a color corrected Spock interacting with other characters.
Also, not to defend racists but as far as I know, they don't have a particular problem with green people. I haven't heard of any fears that people would complain about the implied potential sexual relationship between a white man and a green girl, for instance.
It still has not been surpassed by any of the numerous TV updates over the years. Of them all, probably Voyager and Enterprise came the closest. I won't even mention the current woke drenched mess of the latest Star Trek and Picard. Strange New Worlds is far better.......but only because it relies heavily on TOS themes and visual dynamics.
It was a product of its time, hopeful, thoughtful, colourful, exciting, sexy, and of course futuristic just as the US space program seemed to open the door to this future.