Even when I saw this episode as a kid I felt that there was more to the story that needed to be told. Of course, I didn't realize it was a pilot that didn't catch on. I really wish it had! It could have been a lot of fun! Teri Garr is such a doll!
She is! I've heard her talk about embarrassed she is by this role. She need not be. There were worse: "Brain and brain, what is brain?". "Goodbye James Kirk. I will learn, and watch the lights in the sky, and remember". "She who bore me was killed in a freestyle match".
Star Trek TOS was so ahead of its time in many ways. This episode showed the computer performing voice to text transcription. Science fiction in 1968, but reality today.
You know comma it seems like that typewriter was hooked up to an early version of ellipsis Dragon Naturally Speaking exclamation mark I mean comma I think of that scene a lot when I use voice to text software full stop 🙂
@@jjeherrerathey made the decisions based on worst case possibilities, which is the only way to proceed in a global pandemic of a new virus. It’s much better to have over prepared for a not so dangerous virus than to have underprepared for a more dangerous virus. Further, if people had actually heeded warnings and obeyed directions at the beginning of the pandemic, it could very well have been contained within a few months.
Lansing was tapped for this pilot for a reason: Steve McQueen’s movie “Bullitt” was released in 1968 and was a major hit. Suddenly the “cool as McQueen” look and personae were very much in demand. Lansing had it, and Roddenberry cast him.
Loved this episode. Facial expressions were the whole story...Talented Robert Lansing so underused. Would have made a great Vulcan or Star fleet Captain.. Had so much depth....
They should have made a Series out of this Episode. Lansing and Teri Garr would have been great in a Series. They should actually do a GAry Seven or similiar Series set in 2024.
@@StudSupreme ... Yup, also 3.5-inch floppy disks or ram cards, tablets, stun guns, holograms, laser weapons, desktop-sized computers (or at least continuation of dumb terminals), etc. Still waiting for that food processor & holodeck. Food processor did sort of turn into the microwave oven. The transporter is kinda scary though. 04/13/24
@@knightshousegames- I started a computer career back in 1987. I've seen stuff from the 60s and 70s that I'd never have a clue in how to use them. The furthest thing I remember is the punch card machine and card reader. Even then I'd be just standing there without a clue in how to use them. And the removable disk packs. The hard drive in my computer (five terabytes) could hold more information than nearly a hundred removable hard drives from the 1960s & 1970s.
@@stanleybroniszewsky8538Millions, not hundreds. You would need a million IBM 350 disk drives to match the capacity of a single 5TB disk. And each drive weighed 1 ton! To house them, you would need a building with a minimum 20 million square feet, making it the largest building on earth. The amount of electricity required would necessitate building a large power plant.
One of the great Star Trek episodes. Robert Lansing was excellent, as was Teri Garr. This started her on a great career of Sci-Fi and fantasy related roles (Close encounters, etc). If the Star Trek universe wants another spin-off show, they should consider bringing this storyline back with a new Mr. Seven and Roberta (but actors that remind us of Robert Lansing and Teri Garr).
I'd probably go with William Fitchner and (more for feel than looks) Alyson Hannigan. There might be one or two other female actors for the role, but I really think Fitchner could nail the Gary Seven part better than anyone else I can think of right now...
@@robertmorris8997 I dunno....I'm a first generation Trekkie (Thursdays at 8:30, and I was allowed to stay up for it!), and I think they're doing a pretty good job with Discovery. Is it how I'd do it? No, but neither was TNG, DS9, Voyager or Enterprise....and I liked them a lot, too....(okay, maybe not so much "Enterprise", but there were still good bits sprinkled throughout....)
One of my favorites. Was the pilot for a series that wasn't picked up. Robert Lansing and Terry Garr remind me of Mulder and Scully. The E.M.P. From the detonation made Earth reconsider this kind of weapon.
Miss Garr and Mr. Lansing are two of my favorite all-time actors, actually above Mr. Nimoy (whom my half-brother went to school with his son Adam with in Los Angeles) and Mr. Shatner whom I saw receive multiple standing ovations in his music group here in town in South Orange County -- this is my favorite episode, easily, of all of TV and I am VERY sorry that it did not turn into the series it was offered towards. What a shame!
To this day whenever someone asks me for help in a decision I look thoughtful and they say - it is difficult to know which is best -- my second favorite Spock line (the first is "You may find that having is not so pleasing a thing, after all, as wanting")
It's a cop out though. Spock says in many episodes only pure logic would be correct, then says in this, without facts logic is useless. He, in the script, just didn't want to make any decision. A logical officer would simply say...I can't figure this out, the only logical choice is to let him try. Because if he locked the controls or was prevented from getting at them the result was identical. Only if Kirk took the leap of faith in him, could they be saved. Faith in another, in that circumstance, was... logical. Remember Spock isn't being written by people with formal university logic training or empirical scientists...but writers imagining logic and science dramatically. Drama is not logical.
@@willoughby1888 you worship this don't you. Spock is not a formally trained logic character. He is dramatic logic, which is fictional conflict false logic. The logic worked backward from the end that the writer knows. Spock isn't going to make the decision....Kirk is. So they put Spock in a position to cop out. It is similar to how is Sherlock Holmes so bloody smart....he read the last page. Logic does not dictate to play a hunch. Logic is quite clear here based on the desire to not have the bomb kill people. Spock can't stop it....0% possible success Gary 7 can stop it....only possible success Gary 7 may lock the controls...that won't matter Gary 7 may run out of time while the useless conflict dialog happens....boom However the intent is to stall until it can be stopped with 2 seconds to spare....TV Excitement logic. Spock makes lots of logic mistakes even when he's being Vulcan Spock...but he is an entertaining character. For the most part he is being the emotionally detached military professional through most of the series. Logic is just used as an argumentative trope.
I liked Robert Lansing in the tv show 12 O’clock High. Combat and 12 O’clock High were great quality WW2 shows I used to watch over snd over. Robert Lansing was a great actor in action type shows. RIP Robert Lansing. You will live on in tv shows you starred in.
A very Happy 90th Birthday William Shatner. Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, Montreal, Quebec. March 22, 1931 Born in Canada, But a U.S. treasure. Your legacy is worldwide. Thanks Tiberius..
In 1968 TV was full of SpyFi so yet another was hard to fit in. Most of the SpyFi was about to end anyway by 1970. Jeffrey Hunter was in a SpyFi movie in 1966 (real reason he didn't take the offer) called Dimension 5, about a secret agent with a time travel belt. That could have gone to series too. With "The Bionic Man" making a SpyFi comeback in the early 70s, GR made a try with the Questor Tapes (an series based on this and Requiem for Methusala ?sp) but it died quickly with ho hum casting like Mike Ferrell and boring writing.
The spinoff series from this episode was to be titled "Gary Seven", but since the network wasn't interested in a Star Trek spinoff series, it never materialized, which was a real shame. Teri Garr was HOT in 1968!
@@gzuzsavz those micro dresses miniskirts and hot pants here the norm back then, back in high school girls wood get called down the office and the principal wood measure the hem of skirt to kneecap pervert vice principals sat in on measurement hot pants a no no and last day of school some girls pushed the limit and wore them i miss 1971
@@jonimichalski69 Oop! Thanks! Yep, you are absolutely right! Got my actors-in-drag movies mixed up...Tootsie/Mrs. Doubtfire. Don't suppose Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon were in that, either, huh? Never mind. ;-)
I'm reading Teri's book. It's fun, and she's like Zelig, hanging out in L.A. with major people before they became household names. Rob Reiner, Jack Nicholson, etc., dating the guy who eventually wrote the Blade Runner script, going to acting classes with later stars, going to recording sessions with the Beatles, and her early years as a dancer, getting tiny roles on stage in New York. She puts you right there. Also, read Ned Lynn's book, We Will Always Love In Beverly Hills. The BEST book of the early days.
Does it tell why she has such an unfavorable view of Star Trek, science fiction and its fans? That was what we got out of the Starlog interview. A third party said she didn't like them wanting to put her in a shorter skirt. But maybe there was more to it than that.
This is legitimately my favourite episode of TOS. Mostly because you could take the Enterprise crew out of the episode entirely and it basically wouldn't change anything. XD
So true. My all time fave episode. Strangely, when released back in the day the critics and commentators did not regard the episode quite as well as they do today. Amazing how it took nearly 50 years for this episode to garner the acclaim it has now gotten and deserved all along.
I watched the Changeling as a kid, first episode, and still scares me.. with AI now it seems more relevant than back then.. it kind of became the plot for the first movie too, no?
She had magic that never was realized. Only in the Letterman interviews do you catch a glimpse of what she could do. Vastly underutilized talent. Not enough good roles.
I was watching Star Trek all the time in the Sixties, but didn't really make note of Teri Garr by name until Close Encounters. A great episode-the seeming bad guy who is a good guy, the ditzy secretary who isn't so ditzy after all.
She seemed to play the ditz a lot. The computer said that despite her erratic behavior she possessed a high IQ. I watched _Tootsie_ again a week ago and her character gets locked in the bathroom for 30 minutes (couldn't scream?), then can't play rage in rehearsal, but really shows it when Dustin Hoffman's character says he's in love with another woman after sleeping with her but standing her up after.
Love this episode, great writing and direction. Ms Garr is absolutely beautiful, and the cat ain’t bad either, yes a what if episode with such great ideas along the way. You think he’s the bad guy, but the story flips and he’s the good guy, reminds me a bit of Steve McQueen, could you imagine Steve McQueen in this episode, food for thought there......
They did a really good job of ratcheting up the tension with the "Doomsday Machine" music and the "Count by tens" to the explosion. And yes, TOS had the best music of any Trek; I'd even put it ahead of "Wrath of Khan", even though that's probably my favorite movie of all time.
I love the detail where Spock and gary7 don’t even flinch at the bright light from the explosion, but Kirk and the girl both squint and recoil from it. Spock because of his Vulcan eyes better able to filter bright lights, and Gary because of his conditioning off world… Neat detail.
A pretty fabulous debut role for Teri Garr. Yes... and one of my favorite episodes. When I saw it, I was confused by the "pen" weapon. I had also just started watching Dr Who and thought "wait a minute - Star Trek has those too?"
I remember this episode of Star Trek... this was the most thought provoking episode... I think my Favorite... high entertainment value... a jewel... I thought Robert Lansing had his own series... his relationship with cat was memorable.. it appears he didn't...
Thanks for all your comments :) Just got the notifications. I think in Star Trek Enterprise the whole quantum physics backplot with Daniels was supposed to support this episode. We're just in need of a Suliban threat here, ha :) Have any of you ever seen the strange enter/sneak inside our realities? A rather difficult task to accomplish, yet a lot easier than it seems. I have. I will always believe in this show after what I've witnessed. Always look up at those stars :) Thanks again & take care!
This episode was actually an attempt by RODDENBERRY to use as a pilot for a spin off in which LANSING (Gary SEVEN) was going to star in. I guess it didn't sell.
I seem to remember some TV talk at the time about this Gary 7 (Robert Lansing) being spun off into his own show.....this was supposed to be the pilot for it.
@@Calriec ....quite right. From Memory Alpha: Star Trek: Assignment: Earth is a five-issue comic mini-series featuring the adventures of Gary Seven and Roberta Lincoln. This is the third of IDW's "Second Stage" releases. Written and illustrated by John Byrne, the mini-series acts as a sequel of sorts to "Assignment: Earth".
Oh I wouldn’t fear too much all experiments by the SJW crowd have been utter total and dismal failures the networks all of them are in the business to make money and they are losing money hand over fist to the SJW crowd.
The sensitivity of electronic devices to EPM is inversely proportional to component size. Transistors were new, vacuum tubes were still used a lot, especially in legacy equipment and first level integrated circuits were rare and cutting edge. EMP was not as much of a threat to electronics (such as they were) as the same level would be to today's electronics.
@Dirt Track Racing Gaming Videos - this was AIRED in '68, early 1968. Was filmed in 1967 prior to her 20th birthday, which is late in December, the 11th to be exact 😉
Fun Fact - this was supposed to be a lead in to a new series about an alien stationed on earth with a hot female assistant, similar to the British sci fi series Dr. Who. Unfortunately, it didn't make it off the ground with the network.
@@stevechance150 - indeed you are correct sir, and I'm still hoping that this will be yet another cool new series that Paramount+ will bring to fruition in the not too distant future 😁
@@stevechance150 - it would have made an AWESOME series, especially if they could have kept these two leads. But alas, Desilu was in one heck of a financial mess by the end of 1968. It's a very interesting story in and of itself, and speaks loads towards the difficulties that the TOS show runners faced 😢
Superb episode. This would have made a great series. Maybe the current Star Trek producers can think about Assignment Earth again. Who could play the Robert Lansing part?
The beautiful Miss Garr was more famous as a dancer before she got this role which, indeed, did accelerate her great career. She appeared in "Shindig" and in several Elvis Presley movies and was outstanding.
I showed up for campus movie night to watch Young Einstein and this black and white movie was playing. I talked to the person in charge who replied, "Einstein, Frankenstein, what's the difference?" Guess she was as ditzy as Terri Garr. I walked out; I only watch movies in color.
This was also a backdoor pilot for a new series. It's a shame it didn't sell. Assignment: Earth would have made a VERY good show. Robert Lansing was a good actor. Terri Garr was a beautiful actress.
This was not really an episode of Star Trek. this was a pilot for a show that would be called Gary 7 that starred Teri Garr. They borrowed Kirk and Spock and it aired in the Trek time slot.
I highly recommend the book "Assignment: Eternity" by Greg Cox, which is a sequel to this episode. Without giving away too much, Miss Roberta Lincoln, is, of course, instrumental.
Yes, but Spock didn't have his thinking cap on and neither did Kirk. They have a starship in orbit. All it would take is a phaser to destroy the missile. Scotty could have been ordered to fire! They obviously know what to do. Spock is at the controls of the device. Kirk says he doesn't know if Seven will detonate (his desire) or let it hit the wrong target (Kirk's suspicion). So, he knows what and has the starship.
As much as we all love Trek put Teri Garr on that short list of actors that didn’t have fond memories of working on Star Trek along with William Windom and a few others
Yeah Teri Garr has never had anything good to say about her Star Trek appearance...when anything about it can be pried out of her. She's always been pretty tight lipped about it. The issue of her costume was a debacle. They kept altering the length, making it shorter. Roddenberry was all over that. "Hound Dog Gene never missed an opportunity with his young female guest stars. And given what else went on behind the scenes, you wonder what casting couch hi jinks went on and what Roddenberry & Co. made her do to get the role. And then the series wasn't even picked up.
@@Widdershins. William Windom in interviews said there was a ton of tension on the set between Shatner and Nimoy. Shatner was at the height of his paranoia at the popularity of Spock and had reportedly started counting lines to make sure he had more. Windom also said he thought the whole idea of a machine that eats planets was ridiculous and like a cartoon so he treated it as such and purposely overacted. He softened up a little to the idea of Star Trek over the years when he saw how much people liked the episode he was in but he clearly didn't think much of it at the time.
There's consequences to not holding abusers of women accountable, whether Harvey Weinstein or Bill Cosby, and the first is they feel free to do it again. If the executive that sexually assaulted Grace Lee Whitney was allowed to return to the set, then maybe he went after Terri Garr? And if so then maybe he assaulted some other blonde after her and then another and another? It would be interesting to know if Terri Garr had anything more to say in her book about _Star Trek,_ but ever since she said she hated _Star Trek,_ science fiction and its fans, I've hated her back.
RIP the beautiful and talented Teri Garr 1944-2024
I just found out.
Even when I saw this episode as a kid I felt that there was more to the story that needed to be told. Of course, I didn't realize it was a pilot that didn't catch on. I really wish it had! It could have been a lot of fun! Teri Garr is such a doll!
I think Terri Garr got better as she got older. She looked great in her forties.
She is! I've heard her talk about embarrassed she is by this role. She need not be. There were worse: "Brain and brain, what is brain?". "Goodbye James Kirk. I will learn, and watch the lights in the sky, and remember". "She who bore me was killed in a freestyle match".
@@markforster6457 Yea, but body, body. The casting director was def. Alpha.
@@jakerazmataz852 alpha what?
Robert Lansing's character here, Gary Seven, is also referenced in the newer series Picard, as a supervisor or watcher just like Gary.
Teri Garr in her early days. She has been in so many great shows and movies. Who can forget her in Young Dr. Frankenstein?
Pudden on thar ritz!
that's some terrible acting though, not one of her better roles.
I fell in love with Teri Garr after seeing her in this Star Trek episode! ❤❤❤
@@Battleneterroll roll, roll in the hay
PUT THE CANDLE BECK!!
Robert Lansing was an excellent TV budget version of Steve McQueen. Quality actor
You can say that again I even thought it was Steve!
Great as Gen. Frank Savage on Twelve O'clock High🤓😎✌🏻🇺🇲
The actress here almost looks like Shirley MacLean.
The girl is Terri Gar.
That’s what Spock would look like if he were bogged down in middle management.
Robert Lansing as Gary Seven, was one of my favorite characters on Star Trek!
Star Trek TOS was so ahead of its time in many ways. This episode showed the computer performing voice to text transcription. Science fiction in 1968, but reality today.
I think the same thing as I use Voice Dictatoin to do Text or E-Mails on my Cell Phone.
In Space 1999 a decade later, the computer would print out something on a piece of paper.
You know comma it seems like that typewriter was hooked up to an early version of ellipsis Dragon Naturally Speaking exclamation mark I mean comma I think of that scene a lot when I use voice to text software full stop 🙂
Robert Lansing : reminds me of Steve McQueen . Also - a nice episode , someone you think may be a bad guy turns out to be good !
I just noticed the McQueen resemblance myself!
@@vegansaxon3962 no kidding
Agreed!!!
This was back when the bargain bin was something to be proud of.
I said the same thing!
"Without facts, the decision cannot be made logically," an axiom for every situation.
WHO and epidemiologists should have learnt that from the COVID19 pandemic.
@@jjeherreravaccine deniers should have learned
I like how Spock tells Kirk that he must rely on his human intuition.
@@jjeherrerathey made the decisions based on worst case possibilities, which is the only way to proceed in a global pandemic of a new virus. It’s much better to have over prepared for a not so dangerous virus than to have underprepared for a more dangerous virus.
Further, if people had actually heeded warnings and obeyed directions at the beginning of the pandemic, it could very well have been contained within a few months.
@@mikebasil4832 It was logic that led Spock to that conclusion. So, in a way, logic embraces intuition.
Robert Lansing could persuade you of the ABSOLUTE truth of every word he uttered. A great gift for an actor to have.
I love the original Star Trek today just as I did as a kid in 1967. It was a leap ahead! ❤
Lansing was tapped for this pilot for a reason: Steve McQueen’s movie “Bullitt” was released in 1968 and was a major hit. Suddenly the “cool as McQueen” look and personae were very much in demand. Lansing had it, and Roddenberry cast him.
Loved this episode. Facial expressions were the whole story...Talented Robert Lansing so underused. Would have made a great Vulcan or Star fleet Captain.. Had so much depth....
also 87 th pricient.
@@marksheiman1538 :
Precinct.
I remember Robert Lansing form Twelve O'Clock High as Brig. Gen. Frank Savage, my all times favourite TV show.
They should have made a Series out of this Episode. Lansing and Teri Garr would have been great in a Series. They should actually do a GAry Seven or similiar Series set in 2024.
One of my favorite episodes. Sometimes, you just can’t beat the classics 👍🏻
TRIBBLES PIECE OF THE ACTION
@@rsprockets7846 Doomsday machine was my favorite but I like this one alot. When kirk tells him to go and that music kicks in, the clock is TICKING.
@@flewggle Same music used here originally composed for The Doomsday Machine.
Nowadays you can NEVER beat the classics. OMG Star Trek; Discovery ??? An atrocity. There should be a binding resolution.
our Tery Garr , as Elvis would say
The little green box talking to Seven was a great prediction of the future. " Hello Alexa"
She did predict it she knew what was going tohappen
Hell, lots of Star Trek stuff inspired future electrical engineers. Cellphones much?
@@StudSupreme ... Yup, also 3.5-inch floppy disks or ram cards, tablets, stun guns, holograms, laser weapons, desktop-sized computers (or at least continuation of dumb terminals), etc. Still waiting for that food processor & holodeck. Food processor did sort of turn into the microwave oven. The transporter is kinda scary though.
04/13/24
The late Robert Lansing was perfect as seven so cool
Looks (and sounds ?) like Steve McQueen.
He Did A little bit
So there were 2 Sevens in Star Trek...both were human, but one was an assimilated borg. Interesting. :-)
@@Simpleburger1968 He was talented enough to make it anyway, but I'm sure the resemblance didn't hurt. ;-)
Totally cool, yeah...
It's amazing how after this many years... I can really appreciate Mr. Nimoy's work. The subtleties… The subtleties. So great!
The acting is far better than most shows of that time, and to some extent even today.
@@pauldueffert2749 Especially thanks to a most unique team like Robert Lansing and Teri Garr.
One of my favorite episodes. RIP, Teri 😢
I must have missed this episode. Just learned today that Terri Garr was on Star Trek! A hottie for decades!!!
RIP Terri Garr. 10/29/24 She was so great and so much fun in this Star Trek episode, "Young Frankenstein" and so many other performances.
One of the few times a Star Fleet officer did not immediately know how to use an alien and completely unknown computer.
To be fair, have you ever seen a computer from the 60s? I'm from this planet, and I would have no idea how to work one of those things
@@knightshousegames- I started a computer career back in 1987. I've seen stuff from the 60s and 70s that I'd never have a clue in how to use them. The furthest thing I remember is the punch card machine and card reader. Even then I'd be just standing there without a clue in how to use them. And the removable disk packs. The hard drive in my computer (five terabytes) could hold more information than nearly a hundred removable hard drives from the 1960s & 1970s.
@@stanleybroniszewsky8538Millions, not hundreds. You would need a million IBM 350 disk drives to match the capacity of a single 5TB disk. And each drive weighed 1 ton! To house them, you would need a building with a minimum 20 million square feet, making it the largest building on earth. The amount of electricity required would necessitate building a large power plant.
Especially Spock
spock didnt know the cntrl+alt+del maneuvre🎉
One of the great Star Trek episodes. Robert Lansing was excellent, as was Teri Garr. This started her on a great career of Sci-Fi and fantasy related roles (Close encounters, etc). If the Star Trek universe wants another spin-off show, they should consider bringing this storyline back with a new Mr. Seven and Roberta (but actors that remind us of Robert Lansing and Teri Garr).
Actually, this was intended to be a pilot for a new scifi TV series from "Star Trek" founder Gene Roddenberry.
I'd probably go with William Fitchner and (more for feel than looks) Alyson Hannigan. There might be one or two other female actors for the role, but I really think Fitchner could nail the Gary Seven part better than anyone else I can think of right now...
@@reaality3860
Too bad it never went forward.
Don't give them any ideas. They are gagging everything up bad enough now as it is.
@@robertmorris8997 I dunno....I'm a first generation Trekkie (Thursdays at 8:30, and I was allowed to stay up for it!), and I think they're doing a pretty good job with Discovery.
Is it how I'd do it? No, but neither was TNG, DS9, Voyager or Enterprise....and I liked them a lot, too....(okay, maybe not so much "Enterprise", but there were still good bits sprinkled throughout....)
One of my favorites. Was the pilot for a series that wasn't picked up. Robert Lansing and Terry Garr remind me of Mulder and Scully. The E.M.P. From the detonation made Earth reconsider this kind of weapon.
Nice! Never heard that comparison... very observant!
Gary Seven wanted to lessen the risk of war.
Miss Garr and Mr. Lansing are two of my favorite all-time actors, actually above Mr. Nimoy (whom my half-brother went to school with his son Adam with in Los Angeles) and Mr. Shatner whom I saw receive multiple standing ovations in his music group here in town in South Orange County -- this is my favorite episode, easily, of all of TV and I am VERY sorry that it did not turn into the series it was offered towards. What a shame!
Teri Garr was a dancers in a bunch of 60’s movies. She is always a joy to watch.
Robert Lansing is remembered not only for Gary 7 but also for having played a WW2 bomber pilot on "12 O'Clock High", which aired on ABC in the 60s.
And Control in the 80's Equalizer series.
“That, Miss Lincoln, is simply my cat.”
To this day whenever someone asks me for help in a decision I look thoughtful and they say - it is difficult to know which is best -- my second favorite Spock line (the first is "You may find that having is not so pleasing a thing, after all, as wanting")
It's a cop out though. Spock says in many episodes only pure logic would be correct, then says in this, without facts logic is useless. He, in the script, just didn't want to make any decision. A logical officer would simply say...I can't figure this out, the only logical choice is to let him try.
Because if he locked the controls or was prevented from getting at them the result was identical. Only if Kirk took the leap of faith in him, could they be saved. Faith in another, in that circumstance, was... logical.
Remember Spock isn't being written by people with formal university logic training or empirical scientists...but writers imagining logic and science dramatically.
Drama is not logical.
@@willoughby1888 you worship this don't you.
Spock is not a formally trained logic character. He is dramatic logic, which is fictional conflict false logic. The logic worked backward from the end that the writer knows.
Spock isn't going to make the decision....Kirk is. So they put Spock in a position to cop out.
It is similar to how is Sherlock Holmes so bloody smart....he read the last page.
Logic does not dictate to play a hunch. Logic is quite clear here based on the desire to not have the bomb kill people.
Spock can't stop it....0% possible success
Gary 7 can stop it....only possible success
Gary 7 may lock the controls...that won't matter
Gary 7 may run out of time while the useless conflict dialog happens....boom
However the intent is to stall until it can be stopped with 2 seconds to spare....TV Excitement logic.
Spock makes lots of logic mistakes even when he's being Vulcan Spock...but he is an entertaining character.
For the most part he is being the emotionally detached military professional through most of the series. Logic is just used as an argumentative trope.
Mine has always been: "...I have noted that the healthy release of emotion is frequently very unhealthy for those closest to you."
Didn't Spock say that after he killed Kerk?
Two fantastic lines and still so relevant……
I liked Robert Lansing in the tv show 12 O’clock High. Combat and 12 O’clock High were great quality WW2 shows I used to watch over snd over. Robert Lansing was a great actor in action type shows. RIP Robert Lansing. You will live on in tv shows you starred in.
Wow, what a scene. Still gives me the shivers, after all these years and having watched it so many times. Timeless!
A very Happy 90th Birthday William Shatner. Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, Montreal, Quebec. March 22, 1931 Born in Canada, But a U.S. treasure. Your legacy is worldwide. Thanks Tiberius..
Robert Lansing was fantastic as the bomber squadron commander in the TV show "12 Oclock High."
Properly written and willing to take some risks, a Gary 7 TV show set in modern times could be awesome and very relevant.
In 1968 TV was full of SpyFi so yet another was hard to fit in. Most of the SpyFi was about to end anyway by 1970.
Jeffrey Hunter was in a SpyFi movie in 1966 (real reason he didn't take the offer) called Dimension 5, about a secret agent with a time travel belt. That could have gone to series too.
With "The Bionic Man" making a SpyFi comeback in the early 70s, GR made a try with the Questor Tapes (an series based on this and Requiem for Methusala ?sp) but it died quickly with ho hum casting like Mike Ferrell and boring writing.
Wish it was a real thing they made after
Totally agree
One of my favorite episodes.
Originally this was supposed to be a spinoff series. I think it would have been awesome.
It would have been basically the American counterpart to Doctor Who.
@@Emper0rH0rde That would have been pretty cool!
Yes. Awesome.
and maybe Khan could make an appearance or two.
Such a shame. I enjoyed this episode so much and would've loved to see more of it.
I fell in love with Teri Garr from this episode. It was truly one of the best episodes from TOS.
Yeah, I lusted for her in this episode and in Young Frankenstein.
"What knockers!"
I liked the Kitten in person better.
Agree! This is one of a handful of TOS episodes that I remember well watching and loving as a kid!
I had such a crush on her :)
Robert Lansing was such a versatile actor.
One of my favourite episodes from any of the Star Trek series.
thats the M5 unit from the other ep of dr daystrom
The spinoff series from this episode was to be titled "Gary Seven", but since the network wasn't interested in a Star Trek spinoff series, it never materialized, which was a real shame. Teri Garr was HOT in 1968!
Teri was a dancer and appeared in at least 3 ELVIS FILMS. This was 9 years before CE3K too
Young Frankenstein's Inga, too.
"Roll, roll, roll in the hay!"
Yes she was!
@@rsprockets7846 Deffo not just gorgeous, but fit as a fiddle..dayum those legs hold up to all the new work out crazy gals of today, even.
@@gzuzsavz those micro dresses miniskirts and hot pants here the norm back then, back in high school girls wood get called down the office and the principal wood measure the hem of skirt to kneecap pervert vice principals sat in on measurement hot pants a no no and last day of school some girls pushed the limit and wore them i miss 1971
Robert Lansing William Shatner Leonard Nimoy and Terri Garr Cool Talent
all you need is Robin Williams and Jessica Lange and you got, "Tootsie, in SPAAAACCCCEEEE!"
@@robertcartier5088 Robin wilams was not in Toostie That was Dustin Hoffman
@@jonimichalski69 Oop! Thanks! Yep, you are absolutely right! Got my actors-in-drag movies mixed up...Tootsie/Mrs. Doubtfire.
Don't suppose Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon were in that, either, huh?
Never mind. ;-)
@@robertcartier5088 lol
@@jonimichalski69 Exactly 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻 thank you
I'm reading Teri's book. It's fun, and she's like Zelig, hanging out in L.A. with major people before they became household names. Rob Reiner, Jack Nicholson, etc., dating the guy who eventually wrote the Blade Runner script, going to acting classes with later stars, going to recording sessions with the Beatles, and her early years as a dancer, getting tiny roles on stage in New York. She puts you right there. Also, read Ned Lynn's book, We Will Always Love In Beverly Hills. The BEST book of the early days.
Does it tell why she has such an unfavorable view of Star Trek, science fiction and its fans? That was what we got out of the Starlog interview. A third party said she didn't like them wanting to put her in a shorter skirt. But maybe there was more to it than that.
This is legitimately my favourite episode of TOS. Mostly because you could take the Enterprise crew out of the episode entirely and it basically wouldn't change anything. XD
That was the idea since this was a back door pilot
Robert Lansing played "Control" in the original 80's Equalizer. A similar role. The guy had swagger.
And was sexier than hell
One of Star Trek's best episodes.
So true. My all time fave episode. Strangely, when released back in the day the critics and commentators did not regard the episode quite as well as they do today. Amazing how it took nearly 50 years for this episode to garner the acclaim it has now gotten and deserved all along.
"The Trouble with Tribbels" still gets my vote.
I watched the Changeling as a kid, first episode, and still scares me.. with AI now it seems more relevant than back then.. it kind of became the plot for the first movie too, no?
Trouble with tribbles and space seed
One of my favorite Star Trek episodes and Terri was also one of my boyhood crushes.
captain kirk always enjoyed a roll in the hay.
🤣😂
Teri Garr an under appreciated actress with incredible comedic chops that subversivrly shine in their subtilty in this episode.
She had magic that never was realized. Only in the Letterman interviews do you catch a glimpse of what she could do. Vastly underutilized talent. Not enough good roles.
Young Terri Garr. Played Gary sevens assistant . She had a phenomenal career going on to bigger things after this debut.
For a TV show from the 23rd century, they did an amazing job of recreating 1960s Earth
"Nice knockers! Why, thank you doctor."
Fantastic series! Way, way before its time! Too bad this spin off never occurred.
You mean " Way, way AHEAD of its time !"
This is another episode where Spock shines. Letting Kirk make he decision when logic fails
Teri Garr's breakthrough acting role. So young, so pretty! Long live Teri Garr!
General Savage from 12 0" Clock High. Great character actor from 60,s.
Robert Lansing was a great actor. Loved him in the Twilight Zone episode "The Long Morrow." The ending was so sad. 😢
I was watching Star Trek all the time in the Sixties, but didn't really make note of Teri Garr by name until Close Encounters. A great episode-the seeming bad guy who is a good guy, the ditzy secretary who isn't so ditzy after all.
She seemed to play the ditz a lot. The computer said that despite her erratic behavior she possessed a high IQ. I watched _Tootsie_ again a week ago and her character gets locked in the bathroom for 30 minutes (couldn't scream?), then can't play rage in rehearsal, but really shows it when Dustin Hoffman's character says he's in love with another woman after sleeping with her but standing her up after.
They would have been a great spin off from Star Trek. Gotta say Teri had some rocking legs in those tights. Lovely 😍😍😍
Love this episode, great writing and direction.
Ms Garr is absolutely beautiful, and the cat ain’t bad either, yes a what if episode with such great ideas along the way.
You think he’s the bad guy, but the story flips and he’s the good guy, reminds me a bit of Steve McQueen, could you imagine Steve McQueen in this episode, food for thought there......
This was one of my favorite episodes.
This was meant as a Pilot for a spinoff. As usual, the suits blew it lol
What was the spinoff going to be?
I would like to see the alternate universe where this was a successful spinoff.
From your lips to Vic Mignonga's ears.
Well, thank goodness executives learned their lesson and never pulled that kind of stunt again.
The suits are good at that.
ONE OF MY FAVORITE EPISODES. ENTERPRISE CREW GOING BACK IN TIME MY FAVORITE PREMISE
The music really drives the scene! TOS had the best musical score of any Trek, with the possible exception of Wrath of Khan.
They did a really good job of ratcheting up the tension with the "Doomsday Machine" music and the "Count by tens" to the explosion. And yes, TOS had the best music of any Trek; I'd even put it ahead of "Wrath of Khan", even though that's probably my favorite movie of all time.
I'm glad the computer did the count-down in miles instead of kilometers.
I love the detail where Spock and gary7 don’t even flinch at the bright light from the explosion, but Kirk and the girl both squint and recoil from it.
Spock because of his Vulcan eyes better able to filter bright lights, and Gary because of his conditioning off world…
Neat detail.
Teri Garr was a stone fox back in the day. She was AWESOME in Young Frankenstein.
A pretty fabulous debut role for Teri Garr. Yes... and one of my favorite episodes. When I saw it, I was confused by the "pen" weapon. I had also just started watching Dr Who and thought "wait a minute - Star Trek has those too?"
Want to add to the confusion? Watch _The Man from UNCLE_ and see their pen communicators.
("Open channel D" 😁)
@@bobblum5973 We lost an agent when he mixed up his communicator with his weapon.
@@orlock20 Did he look like Robert Vaughn by any chance🤔😁
Such a beautiful and talented actress. RIP Terri Garr
I remember this episode of Star Trek... this was the most thought provoking episode... I think my Favorite... high entertainment value... a jewel... I thought Robert Lansing had his own series... his relationship with cat was memorable.. it appears he didn't...
Just watched that for the 1st time. Wow what a great episode!
It was supposed to be the pilot for a spin-off.
I envy anyone who gets to watch TOS for the first time.
I wish we had reaction videos of this.
Thanks for all your comments :) Just got the notifications. I think in Star Trek Enterprise the whole quantum physics backplot with Daniels was supposed to support this episode. We're just in need of a Suliban threat here, ha :)
Have any of you ever seen the strange enter/sneak inside our realities? A rather difficult task to accomplish, yet a lot easier than it seems. I have. I will always believe in this show after what I've witnessed. Always look up at those stars :)
Thanks again & take care!
This is when I fell in love with Terri Garr!! Great Episode!!
Me too. She was a real cutie.
RIP Teri Garr. You were the best.
They should make that series now...we need more science fiction!! 🤔😁
This episode was actually an attempt by RODDENBERRY to use as a pilot for a spin off in which LANSING (Gary SEVEN) was going to star in. I guess it didn't sell.
Is Star Trek I can watch it over and over again, best Star Trek in my time.
I seem to remember some TV talk at the time about this Gary 7 (Robert Lansing) being spun off into his own show.....this was supposed to be the pilot for it.
Yep, that was the idea, but Paramount wouldn't buy it, so Gary Seven the TV show never happened...
Didn't they make it into a comic book, though?
@@Calriec ....quite right. From Memory Alpha:
Star Trek: Assignment: Earth is a five-issue comic mini-series featuring the adventures of Gary Seven and Roberta Lincoln. This is the third of IDW's "Second Stage" releases. Written and illustrated by John Byrne, the mini-series acts as a sequel of sorts to "Assignment: Earth".
@@twocvbloke ...indeed. But the same concept of benevolent aliens secretively helping Terrans would appear again in The Questor Tapes
Norman Lee I thought so; I want to read it now!
Mr. Seven's partners were killed. Mr. Seven remarked, "To die in something as useless as a car accident..." A gripping episode.
I rewatched the whole series somewhat recently. When I got to this episode, I thought, "Wait. You mean we could have had our OWN Doctor Who??"
Now Star Trek has become Left Trek and Doctor Who has become Diversity Who. Both ruined by SJW Diversity.
Oh I wouldn’t fear too much all experiments by the SJW crowd have been utter total and dismal failures the networks all of them are in the business to make money and they are losing money hand over fist to the SJW crowd.
@@kenwaid8239 Yup. Star Trek ruined, Leftard was awful and tanked. Gay female Terminator tanked. Lesbian Ghost Busters failed.
Toxic activism is ruining a lot of shows in a lot of genres. It's effectively become a form of hate speech which nobody dares to censor.
Maybe people will start reading good books and learn what real storytelling is without some insane inane agenda from the abysmal cancel culture
No concern for an EMP caused by such a blast in those days. Luv the flash back. Thanks.
The sensitivity of electronic devices to EPM is inversely proportional to component size. Transistors were new, vacuum tubes were still used a lot, especially in legacy equipment and first level integrated circuits were rare and cutting edge. EMP was not as much of a threat to electronics (such as they were) as the same level would be to today's electronics.
Fun Fact - Teri Garr was only 19 when they filmed this episode 😉
@Dirt Track Racing Gaming Videos - this was AIRED in '68, early 1968. Was filmed in 1967 prior to her 20th birthday, which is late in December, the 11th to be exact 😉
@Dirt Track Racing Gaming Videos - have not seen those sir - will definitely take a look! 😊
Fun Fact - this was supposed to be a lead in to a new series about an alien stationed on earth with a hot female assistant, similar to the British sci fi series Dr. Who. Unfortunately, it didn't make it off the ground with the network.
@@stevechance150 - indeed you are correct sir, and I'm still hoping that this will be yet another cool new series that Paramount+ will bring to fruition in the not too distant future 😁
@@stevechance150 - it would have made an AWESOME series, especially if they could have kept these two leads. But alas, Desilu was in one heck of a financial mess by the end of 1968. It's a very interesting story in and of itself, and speaks loads towards the difficulties that the TOS show runners faced 😢
Superb episode. This would have made a great series. Maybe the current Star Trek producers can think about Assignment Earth again. Who could play the Robert Lansing part?
I think there's some discussion of an Assignment Earth type series set a bit in future, with Star Trek type technology.
RIP Teri Garr
Props to the orbiting camera crew to get such a great shot of it all.. that bright blast must have really gotten to them.... ;)
For a long time, this was the best fictional computer that I saw as a kid. Far better than the enterprise computer.
The computer in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy?
I had a crush on her the day I saw her, just a kid but she was so pretty.
It's too bad this never became a series like Roddenberry hoped. With so many reboots today they should give it a go
Wow, Terri Garr way before Young Frankenstein. This role must have improved her career.
The beautiful Miss Garr was more famous as a dancer before she got this role which, indeed, did accelerate her great career. She appeared in "Shindig" and in several Elvis Presley movies and was outstanding.
She was a dancer on Carol Burnett
Dancer explain those super hot legs
@@paxwallacejazz Worked on Sonny and Cher, too.
I showed up for campus movie night to watch Young Einstein and this black and white movie was playing. I talked to the person in charge who replied, "Einstein, Frankenstein, what's the difference?" Guess she was as ditzy as Terri Garr. I walked out; I only watch movies in color.
RIP, Teri Garr!
Love Teri Garr.
Love Teri Garr's thighs.
She was a lovely girl.Terri,s still lovely in her own way.Hope God really Helps her with her MS,the poor girl.
Despite what was said later, this was their best episode.
It was, in fact, my favorite episode of TOS.
This was also a backdoor pilot for a new series. It's a shame it didn't sell. Assignment: Earth would have made a VERY good show. Robert Lansing was a good actor. Terri Garr was a beautiful actress.
This was not really an episode of Star Trek. this was a pilot for a show that would be called Gary 7 that starred Teri Garr. They borrowed Kirk and Spock and it aired in the Trek time slot.
RIP Teri Garr 🙏💔10/29/24.
Yay Terri garr. Gary seven. Yay Kirk. Such a great episode. Acting.
oh my goodness...... you're right....... it's terri garr...... i hadn't noticed till 2:50 and read your comment........
May she rest in peace with the best in heaven.
I highly recommend the book "Assignment: Eternity" by Greg Cox, which is a sequel to this episode. Without giving away too much, Miss Roberta Lincoln, is, of course, instrumental.
I'll look it up. I hope there are more fiction books written along this line.
@@Perktube1 By all means get this book, you'll enjoy it.
I read that book. :)
By instrumental, do you mean to say she plays the flute?
Another fantastic episode, God save America.
Spock made Kirk's decision easier by doing nothing and just standing there.
Yes, but Spock didn't have his thinking cap on and neither did Kirk. They have a starship in orbit. All it would take is a phaser to destroy the missile. Scotty could have been ordered to fire!
They obviously know what to do. Spock is at the controls of the device. Kirk says he doesn't know if Seven will detonate (his desire) or let it hit the wrong target (Kirk's suspicion). So, he knows what and has the starship.
RIP Teri Garr!
This scene reminds me so much of my dad and his secretaries that I have to die laughing when I think about it now 40 years later
Your dad was an alien operative?
Rest In Peace, Teri Garr.
As much as we all love Trek put Teri Garr on that short list of actors that didn’t have fond memories of working on Star Trek along with William Windom and a few others
Yeah Teri Garr has never had anything good to say about her Star Trek appearance...when anything about it can be pried out of her. She's always been pretty tight lipped about it. The issue of her costume was a debacle. They kept altering the length, making it shorter. Roddenberry was all over that. "Hound Dog Gene never missed an opportunity with his young female guest stars. And given what else went on behind the scenes, you wonder what casting couch hi jinks went on and what Roddenberry & Co. made her do to get the role. And then the series wasn't even picked up.
What was William Windom's experience?
@@Widdershins. William Windom in interviews said there was a ton of tension on the set between Shatner and Nimoy. Shatner was at the height of his paranoia at the popularity of Spock and had reportedly started counting lines to make sure he had more. Windom also said he thought the whole idea of a machine that eats planets was ridiculous and like a cartoon so he treated it as such and purposely overacted. He softened up a little to the idea of Star Trek over the years when he saw how much people liked the episode he was in but he clearly didn't think much of it at the time.
There's consequences to not holding abusers of women accountable, whether Harvey Weinstein or Bill Cosby, and the first is they feel free to do it again. If the executive that sexually assaulted Grace Lee Whitney was allowed to return to the set, then maybe he went after Terri Garr? And if so then maybe he assaulted some other blonde after her and then another and another? It would be interesting to know if Terri Garr had anything more to say in her book about _Star Trek,_ but ever since she said she hated _Star Trek,_ science fiction and its fans, I've hated her back.