This is another budget-conscious episode--and an imaginative one at that! The sets, props, cars, and costumes were leftovers from the old "The Untouchables" TV series, which, like "Star Trek" was produced by DesiLu Studios.
Love this episode. Its clear, William Shatner, who is an excellent comedic actor was having a blast in this one. BTW, Anthony Caruso who plays Bela Oxmyx, with his swarthy features often played mob bosses and gangsters and Vic Tayback who played Krako was best known for playing short order cook Mel Sharples on the TV show ‘Alice’ which I loved back in the early 80’s.
I don't know if you noticed but during the radio station scene, that was James (Scotty) Doohan's voice doing the commercial for bang bang the sweetest automatic in the world. Just a little factoid I thought you would find interesting. Enjoy your reaction as always.
13:29 Mark! Back in the day during late night broadcasts of the reruns the scenes would go into slow-motion just before a commercial break. With such frame advance movements you could see Kirk tripping as he exits! With the full blooper you get to hear the crew reactions! 😂
This is one of those episodes that still makes me laugh after all this time. So much humor with a really good script to guide the story along. The concept of the Iotians is really interesting and if Star Trek was allowed to complete it's 5 year journey, this society could be revisited with the Iotians advanced past the Federation. The revisit story could take on many forms. From a mystery story to a full blown horror story depending on how the script is written. Just that whole idea of a civilization modeled after the concepts of a book left behind is so intriguing and delicious from a story writing perception. And as far as I can tell, there hasn't been another science fiction film or television series that created an idea like this. This is one of the most powerful aspects of Star Trek The Original Series. Sure things were done to work within a budget, but still....the ideas that came forward are stunning. My favorite parts was how Spock tried to keep up with the slang used on the planet. Always hilarious ☺♥
Well this is the first episode we learn the ship phaser banks can be set to stun and used for "orbital bombardment". Well, we knew the could be used for orbital bombardment, and also EMP, but not wide area stun. Very useful. First mention of the "transtator" tech. "Transistors" were still fairly new tech in the 60s. State of art really. Totally obsolete now, so much so you might never have even heard the word. Had you heard the word transistor before now, Alexxa? I don't know if it's true , but legend has it, Shat was literally adlibbing that Fizzbin business on the spot so the confusion of the other actors was very real. Even so, good on them for staying in character throughout that whole business.
It's a shame no Star Trek writer ever chose to employ "set ship's phasers on stun" again. I can't help thinking that option would have come in handy once or twice!
Even though it was pretty obvious that Kirk was making up the rules as he went along, a company at the time did get the rights to manufacture and sell Fizzbin as a new card game. They are collector's items today. I have to wonder how playable it is when the rules change depending on whether it's day or night, and what day of the week it is.
1. This may not be the best TOS story, but it's the most fun and easily in my top 10. 2. Fun story. 3. GOOF: There's a letter opener on the table Kirk could have used. 4. I learned how to drive with a standard gear on my uncle's farm machinery. I was 14 at the time. I'm 63 so there's that. 5. That car didn't draw attention.🙄
When a Federation starship collects their yearly cut, I wouldn't be surprised if the Starfleet officers wear pin stripe suits and fedoras when they beam down.
27:49 Mark! 1,070 Views + Mine! 🎉 Thumb Up #138! 👍 You're welcome, and thanks! 😊 Notes: Because of this episode, I wanted a gun moll of my own! 😉 To ride around town in, with a car like that at the local drive-in diner and the drive-in movie theater. Because of "The Untouchables" and "The Andy Griffith Show" J thought growing up to get a job smashing moonshine stills would be fun! 😉 But now I see it as destroying evidence because of a lawyer lawyer show, like "Matlock"? 🤔 "MASH" showed us that they should be used to distill water for drinking, so they shouldn't be wasted! 😮 I saw the movie "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore" and the "CBS" sitcom "Alice" that was inspired by it and the spin-off "Flo" and they shared a universe with "The Dukes of Hazzard" and "Enos" because the diner's cute blonde waitress us related to Boss Hogg! Niece & Uncle? 🤔 Bye-bye for now! 🙏
The great science fiction writer Poul Anderson wrote a series of stories about the Hoka, teddy-bear-like aliens (this was before the Ewoks) who were highly imitative. One Hoka was a sort of Hoka version of Sherlock Holmes! The Iotians and their Chicago 1920 gangland culture might have been inspired by these stories.
2:00 "So... what if they're, like, light years ahead, because of the _Horizon?"_ Well then they would've understood why a radio transmission sent from Iotia, a century earlier, would've only reached Federation space a _month_ ago.
Wonderful reaction! This was one of the most fun episodes of the original series! My only quibble was the scene where Spock was communicating with the Enterprise by talking on a radio station microphone, not a two-way radio - how could he hear Uhura? Unless... when we're listening to the radio, can the DJ hear what we're saying?!?
In 1996, "Deep Space Nine" was mindful that they needed to celebrate the franchise's 30th Anniversary. A script they considered (then, rejected) was one where Sisko-and-company would revisit Beta Iotia 2 to check up on that culture. To their astonishment, this time around, the highly imitative Iotians were walking around in Starfleet uniforms, affecting that trademark efficient Starfleet walk-with-a-purpose, addressing each other by rank, beaming in and out of locales... Oh, no! Starfleet messed up again--thanks to James T. Kirk and Dr. McCoy's lost communicator! But, this script--a spot-on, devastating satire of Star Trek fans--was rejected, fearing a negative fan backlash. Pity! I would have loved it!!! I'm as fanish as anyone could get and I, for one, wish they had gone with it! Instead, DS9 opted for "Trials and Tribble-ations" as their 30th Anniversary episode--which is a modern Star Trek classic, but I still wish they had done "Another Piece of the Action" or whatever they would have called it! :(
1:35 "Spock, McCoy, we're beaming down. Standard equipment." Hang on a second, Captain. Don't you want to put some thought into passing for a native? I mean, these people don't understand the concept of time dilation, so it seems pretty clear that, likewise, they're not _warp_ capable, yet. So cultural contamination is a legitimate _danger,_ here.
lol I'm not a huge fan of this particular episode....yes, thousands of light-years away from earth, the indigenous population looks exactly like humans. That it looks like the 30s was explained in the story, but it's not explained why they are all human. Oh well, not every episode of TOS was perfect. Still enjoyed your video 🙂
Of course the real reason so many aliens looked exactly human is that TOS didn't have the make-up budget of TNG or later Trek. Star Trek writers tried to explain it away as a result of an ancient alien race seeding other worlds with the populations of dying planets in the episode "The Paradise Syndrome". And decades later TNG blames it on "panspermia" - ancient aliens seeding many worlds with their own genetic code, resulting in the prevalence of a humanoid body type throughout our galaxy. Of course none of this explains why all those human-looking aliens were almost exclusively caucasian...
"Captain, you are an excellent starship commander. As a taxi driver, however, you leave much to be desired."
This is another budget-conscious episode--and an imaginative one at that! The sets, props, cars, and costumes were leftovers from the old "The Untouchables" TV series, which, like "Star Trek" was produced by DesiLu Studios.
Love this episode. Its clear, William Shatner, who is an excellent comedic actor was having a blast in this one. BTW, Anthony Caruso who plays Bela Oxmyx, with his swarthy features often played mob bosses and gangsters and Vic Tayback who played Krako was best known for playing short order cook Mel Sharples on the TV show ‘Alice’ which I loved back in the early 80’s.
Swarthy ??? I had to look that one up.
This was a total blast of fun. These are why I love TOS , such a joy watching your reaction to this episode.
My fave ST: TOS episode! Been waiting for you to react to this one!
I don't know if you noticed but during the radio station scene, that was James (Scotty) Doohan's voice doing the commercial for bang bang the sweetest automatic in the world. Just a little factoid I thought you would find interesting. Enjoy your reaction as always.
What a fun, great episode. Enjoyed this reaction Alexxa !
Oh an the way Scotty was trying to get the gangster lingo down, and Spock’s nickname Spocko, and McCoy sawbones, just hilarious fun.
I was once leaving a friend's house (with my friend) and it was raining. I told him, "Laddie, ye forgot your concrete galoshes!"
KInda makes you wonder; who was the more imitative: the Iotians or the Starfleet types?
Indeed.
13:29 Mark! Back in the day during late night broadcasts of the reruns the scenes would go into slow-motion just before a commercial break. With such frame advance movements you could see Kirk tripping as he exits! With the full blooper you get to hear the crew reactions! 😂
Best episode of the original series
That is one hell of a stretch.
Fun episode. Like taking about that era.
This is one of those episodes that still makes me laugh after all this time. So much humor with a really good script to guide the story along.
The concept of the Iotians is really interesting and if Star Trek was allowed to complete it's 5 year journey, this society could be revisited with the Iotians advanced past the Federation. The revisit story could take on many forms. From a mystery story to a full blown horror story depending on how the script is written. Just that whole idea of a civilization modeled after the concepts of a book left behind is so intriguing and delicious from a story writing perception. And as far as I can tell, there hasn't been another science fiction film or television series that created an idea like this. This is one of the most powerful aspects of Star Trek The Original Series. Sure things were done to work within a budget, but still....the ideas that came forward are stunning. My favorite parts was how Spock tried to keep up with the slang used on the planet. Always hilarious ☺♥
15:07 Yep. That's about what _my_ first time behind the wheel was like.
Well this is the first episode we learn the ship phaser banks can be set to stun and used for "orbital bombardment". Well, we knew the could be used for orbital bombardment, and also EMP, but not wide area stun. Very useful. First mention of the "transtator" tech. "Transistors" were still fairly new tech in the 60s. State of art really. Totally obsolete now, so much so you might never have even heard the word. Had you heard the word transistor before now, Alexxa? I don't know if it's true , but legend has it, Shat was literally adlibbing that Fizzbin business on the spot so the confusion of the other actors was very real. Even so, good on them for staying in character throughout that whole business.
It's a shame no Star Trek writer ever chose to employ "set ship's phasers on stun" again. I can't help thinking that option would have come in handy once or twice!
@@megalictis9002 Quite so.
Lots of fun this one was. I still get a chuckle while watching.
8:33 Mark! Every card game the show came up with, some clever fans would publish and sell at conventions! 😂
Enjoyed your reaction. Amazing this show still holds up so well 50+ years later!
"Boy....please"... lol
I believe you enjoyed that one as much as I did the first time.....in 1967.😁
Even though it was pretty obvious that Kirk was making up the rules as he went along, a company at the time did get the rights to manufacture and sell Fizzbin as a new card game. They are collector's items today. I have to wonder how playable it is when the rules change depending on whether it's day or night, and what day of the week it is.
Well, that's half the fun! You make up new rules as you play the game! :)
1. This may not be the best TOS story, but it's the most fun and easily in my top 10.
2. Fun story.
3. GOOF: There's a letter opener on the table Kirk could have used.
4. I learned how to drive with a standard gear on my uncle's farm machinery. I was 14 at the time. I'm 63 so there's that.
5. That car didn't draw attention.🙄
Awesome review
When a Federation starship collects their yearly cut, I wouldn't be surprised if the Starfleet officers wear pin stripe suits and fedoras when they beam down.
Quentin Tarantino wanted to make a movie length sequel to this episode a few years back, but he abandoned the project before it could be started.
27:49 Mark! 1,070 Views + Mine! 🎉 Thumb Up #138! 👍 You're welcome, and thanks! 😊
Notes: Because of this episode, I wanted a gun moll of my own! 😉
To ride around town in, with a car like that at the local drive-in diner and the drive-in movie theater.
Because of "The Untouchables" and "The Andy Griffith Show" J thought growing up to get a job smashing moonshine stills would be fun! 😉 But now I see it as destroying evidence because of a lawyer lawyer show, like "Matlock"? 🤔 "MASH" showed us that they should be used to distill water for drinking, so they shouldn't be wasted! 😮
I saw the movie "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore" and the "CBS" sitcom "Alice" that was inspired by it and the spin-off "Flo" and they shared a universe with "The Dukes of Hazzard" and "Enos" because the diner's cute blonde waitress us related to Boss Hogg! Niece & Uncle? 🤔
Bye-bye for now! 🙏
@AlexxaReacts Hope those fancy federation heaters did not burn you too much.
The great science fiction writer Poul Anderson wrote a series of stories about the Hoka, teddy-bear-like aliens (this was before the Ewoks) who were highly imitative. One Hoka was a sort of Hoka version of Sherlock Holmes! The Iotians and their Chicago 1920 gangland culture might have been inspired by these stories.
2:00 "So... what if they're, like, light years ahead, because of the _Horizon?"_
Well then they would've understood why a radio transmission sent from Iotia, a century earlier, would've only reached Federation space a _month_ ago.
Wonderful reaction! This was one of the most fun episodes of the original series! My only quibble was the scene where Spock was communicating with the Enterprise by talking on a radio station microphone, not a two-way radio - how could he hear Uhura? Unless... when we're listening to the radio, can the DJ hear what we're saying?!?
Essentially, McCoy told Spock to rig up a receiver.
@@stevejoshua9536 "Dammit Spock, I'm a doctor, not a walkie-talkie!"
In 1996, "Deep Space Nine" was mindful that they needed to celebrate the franchise's 30th Anniversary. A script they considered (then, rejected) was one where Sisko-and-company would revisit Beta Iotia 2 to check up on that culture. To their astonishment, this time around, the highly imitative Iotians were walking around in Starfleet uniforms, affecting that trademark efficient Starfleet walk-with-a-purpose, addressing each other by rank, beaming in and out of locales...
Oh, no! Starfleet messed up again--thanks to James T. Kirk and Dr. McCoy's lost communicator!
But, this script--a spot-on, devastating satire of Star Trek fans--was rejected, fearing a negative fan backlash.
Pity! I would have loved it!!! I'm as fanish as anyone could get and I, for one, wish they had gone with it!
Instead, DS9 opted for "Trials and Tribble-ations" as their 30th Anniversary episode--which is a modern Star Trek classic, but I still wish they had done "Another Piece of the Action" or whatever they would have called it! :(
1:35 "Spock, McCoy, we're beaming down. Standard equipment."
Hang on a second, Captain. Don't you want to put some thought into passing for a native? I mean, these people don't understand the concept of time dilation, so it seems pretty clear that, likewise, they're not _warp_ capable, yet. So cultural contamination is a legitimate _danger,_ here.
14:32 That's more like it. Now how come you guys couldn't've dressed like that before you beamed down?
lol I'm not a huge fan of this particular episode....yes, thousands of light-years away from earth, the indigenous population looks exactly like humans. That it looks like the 30s was explained in the story, but it's not explained why they are all human. Oh well, not every episode of TOS was perfect. Still enjoyed your video 🙂
Of course the real reason so many aliens looked exactly human is that TOS didn't have the make-up budget of TNG or later Trek. Star Trek writers tried to explain it away as a result of an ancient alien race seeding other worlds with the populations of dying planets in the episode "The Paradise Syndrome". And decades later TNG blames it on "panspermia" - ancient aliens seeding many worlds with their own genetic code, resulting in the prevalence of a humanoid body type throughout our galaxy. Of course none of this explains why all those human-looking aliens were almost exclusively caucasian...
I believe that Sargon offered an explanation for that in "Return To Tomorrow".
@@stevejoshua9536 Ah, yes, I forgot about that!