7: 47 There's a 't' in the middle of 'noting' and if you don't pronounce it it sounds like'knowing', which causes confusion and / or misunderstanding and takes something away from all the hard work you've done. This is just one example.
@Rowan J Coleman Couldn't agree less wrt Turnabout Intruder, and I say that as a socialist who's left to far left on most economic and foreign policy positions. It takes a position with some interesting justification, based on societies such as Sweden with its longest contemporary history of women being able to sort into whatever positions and employment they choose with minimal imperatives in the way of survival given Sweden's marvelous social programs. It sees women choosing in majority numbers what has long been considered, even dismissively, to be "women's work." I saw the same in my years of commune living, where women in general in self-described ecofeminist communities avoided gritty, physical work, preferring to make cheese, cook, bake, knit, make quilts and clothing. If we assume women are sorting in accord with what they feel able to handle, shouldn't we trust them to know their abilities and limits? In sum, I can live with the position the script's writers take for the sake of an intriguing tale well told, even if it might be wrongheaded in large. ---As for Plato's Stepchildren, I rated it a 3.5 of 4 when I rewatched it several years ago. It worked well for me, then. Can't recall exactly why so of course my opinion here is meaningless, but it was difficult to get a 3.5 from me. I think I gave Piece of the Action, for example, for all its amusements, a 2.5 leaning to 2.0.
*First, I am 70++ years old if you do the math, you'll note that I was just starting to be old enough enter the parts of the Academy that would be responsible for such horrrors.* *The "Spock"s Brain" episode may in fact seem ridiculous, however, it was 1964. The transistor that would permit the construction of automation controllers was not even a decade old yet, and was still so slow, crude, and gigantic in physical size, that trying to use it for anything significant such as a central facility controller of things like ventilation, temperature control, and dozens of other similar things that would benefit greatly from fully independent automation was a topic of intense interest in both the academic and military communities. There were active programs trying to use Lizard brains as controllers, and I believe that the Air Force had or were about to initiate a program on primates.* *As nuts as this may look and sound today, this type of "autonomous analog controller" was a real thing, and I have always hoped this episode helped to put a halt to these barbaric and obscenely unethical research programs.*
I was 6 when Star Trek premiered. My father was brilliant man, would inhale multiple books weekly, all on quantum physics and origins of the universe. He was so impressed with Star Trek that he fought with my mother to allow me to stay up late and watch the show. I don't think people appreciate how advanced Star Trek was at the time, and still is.
I appreciate your father's passion for quantum physics and Star Trek. My quantum technology startup team was tapped by the U.S. Department of Defense to develop Star Trek tech.
@duderino5 Astounding to imagine that a scientist would ever have to fight with his wife to allow his son stay up to watch the original Star Trek, rather than simply exercising the executive authority any parent can invoke on occasion. --Agreed, the contrast b/t Star Trek's designs and conceptions and those of television series of the time is startling. The round bridge, the configuration of Enterprise, the idea of a federation of planets founded on a military spine but leading with the exercise of exploration---those things alone made it a brilliant leap forward. Another thing that made it so different from other Star Trek series was Roddenberry's resort and appeal to the best living science fiction writers for scripts. TNG's lack of good writing and its aim at children rather than adults wrecked it, by comparison.
@@johnstrawb3521 Hello @John Strawb, don't be too hard on my mother; she was just following maternal instincts! Good points regarding the bridge design/set pieces contrasted to contemporary set designs of the time. To me, the two biggest leaps in concepts not found in TV (or movies) at the time were the mixed race/sex/species crew, and as you mentioned, the peaceful (backed with the Entreprises's ability to defend herself) mission to explore and connect with other species. Then you combine some of the subtle, yet powerful statements made by Spock (as the half human species working with but observing humans), or lines delivered by others, such as Kirk commenting (paraphrasing), "Man's last prejudice. What is unpleasant to look at is deemed evil". So much truth and wisdom packed into small lines of dialogue. On a personal level, my father's fascination with Star Trek showed me he was more than just a brilliant, logical person. He saw the beauty in the human instinct to explore, and the good (and bad) in humans. Behind his very logical mind was a dreamer. The original Star Trek will always hold a place in my heart and mind.
Say what anyone will about how Star Trek has evolved over the decades, but I still get a thrill when the music swells and that beautiful ship crosses the screen. The show's hopeful outlook is at the heart of why we're still talking about this universe.
1966: Let's make this concept the best it can be with wit, intelligence, and complex story 2019: Let's retrofit the past with modern lesbians, pimp threads, elf with a sword, dagger-tossing aliens, and Starfleet as slavers
I'm nearly 64 , Irish and I taught around the world (just saying,not looking down on anyone; maybe you had a happier life than me in Ireland) [Belfast, God ....] But my imagination has still travelled the universe thanks to a childhood love of Star Trek, Dr Who, the Time tunnel and various other AngloAmerican imaginings. Yes the British strarved us; but at least not our imagination ... Hey, la Mission Civilisatrice des Anglais,don't ya know?
I am 71 years old. I remember those years vividly. My father was part of NASA and we were very involved in the space race to the moon...and when that happened, we switched gears in the schools. The main theme became the VIETNAM WAR by 1968. We fought the draft, etc. That was the Big Thing back then.
I remember watching The Doomsday Machine as a child. Commodore Decker's anguished "Don't you think I know that!" when they point of that there is no fourth planet was shattering.
That was one of my favorite episodes when I was a kid. I remember I had read and loved Moby Dick or an abridged version of it a few months before and even then I could tell that Decker’s obsession mirrored Ahab’s.
It’s so interesting how the rejected pilot actually became canon and Christopher Pike became a rather big character in later Star Trek lore. I cannot think of any other media franchise where this has happened.
That story from Nichols always give me goosebumps. I can't imagine what it would be like to have a man like MLK Jr gush to you about your show, where you feel so unvalidated. To have his attitude shift so hard, to hear those words from him, must have been more than she could have ever hoped for, as far as that validation goes. Screw the network. You are, you have been, you always will be, a legendary icon and role model. For all of us, regardless of race. You were an amazing human being, Nichelle Nichols. Rest in peace.
Thanks bro for recognizing what a beautiful soul this person was .... She will definitely be missed by people like me and you... We enjoyed seeing Nichell Nichols with her beautiful self walking around a star ship in the middle of space with her mini skirts.. those legs use to fill out those mini skirts she wore on the enterprise back in the 60s... We will always appreciate you and the barriers you broke to pave the way for so many young black girls today... You will be missed Ms Nichols but you won't be forgotten... rest peacefully!!!
Ah yes, Nichols, the mistress of Roddenberry, who had no problem with him cheating on his wife. I guess that's something she learned from MLK, who also constantly cheated on his wife, if he wasn't busy doing drugs. Nice people!
Thank God for Lucy. One of the actors said that Lucy would show up on set from time to time. They'd look up and she'd be up in the rafters, looking down at them.
Yeah I wonder why she never appeared on any episodes... A lot of celebrities played on star trek and I think she would have been great especially on the episode "Mudd's women"...
It's a little bit sad to me I guess, that Lucille Ball is arguably to thank for Trek even existing at all now, and it was because she went to bat for a character who is just dropped immediately, a woman in a visible position of authority. And it wouldn't be till DS9 really something close to that came to frution again. Like sure there was Uhura, and Troi, and Crusher, but I always got the impression they weren't 'quite' what Lucille had in mind. Not a complaint or anything really, and it certainly wasn't as if Trek wasn't pushing major boundaries at the time in other areas. Just one of those slightly tragic little ironies to me, I suppose.
I love Lucy as much as anyone, but this ST fan-generated mythos regarding her relationship to the show is just way over the top. Lucy had acquired a struggling studio in her divorce and was reluctantly drawn into a situation where she was trying to build a business asset. Without shows in production (properties sold and revenue generated) the studio is a marginal operation. Renting space out for other shows covers expenses in the short term, but without your own shows, there is no real money. For the most part, Desilu had few hits to its name: Lucy’s shows, The Untouchables, Mannix and Mission:Impossible (ST’s “sister” show). ST was never a big enough hit, was very expensive for the time, so it struggled along on its prestige reputation in key audiences with marginal success. Lucy had brought in Herb Solow to manage production and MI and ST were the resulting sales. She needed those assets for her studio to be viable. She did not like the business or the boardroom. She wanted to perform, a skill at which she could excel. When she had an adequate asset, she sold to Gulf & Western, which had recently bought Paramount, the studio that happened to share the same block with Desilu. The two studios were physically merged. Lucy had her payday, Solow was recruited by MGM to run their productions, and Desilu disappeared into history. Lucy was not “mother hen” to Roddenberry’s egg. She was a studio head with big problems to solve, neither of which she wanted.
Fun Facts: I read that Jefferies who designed the Enterprise said, it took him 17 attempts to get the final design, hence; 1701. 17 tries to get 1 finished product.
TV often hides how much work goes into the best series. Reading the behind the scenes tales was a revelation. The 3 volume These Are the Voyages, one volume per season, goes into extraordinary and fascinating detail for each show, including many of the memos b/t roddenberry and coon, coon and writers, and so on. Great reading.
This was an awesome retrospective. I enjoyed it immensely. One point you didn't touch on that I'd like to mention. I'm old enough to have watched Star Trek in it's original run (on our crappy CRT television, but color, tv!). At the same time as Star Trek was on the air, the space program had swung into full gear. Project Mercury was pretty much wrapped up by the premier, but Project Gemini was in full swing and soon Project Apollo was dominating the news casts. Just over a month after the last episode of Star Trek, Apollo 11 reached the moon. For a young man aged 6 to 10, this was an incredible experience. I was a space junkie, and Star Trek and real-life NASA space missions fed into each other and captivated me. Anyway, thanks again for the video and I'm looking forward to further chapters in the series.
Too cool I grew up watching the original and loved all things space. I got woken up early just to catch any Apollo launch then watched every minute that it was being shown. Nice to see another person like myself on here. Stay safe. From Canada 🇨🇦
My childhood was the same. While watching the real space program, Star Trek suddenly appeared. And I watched both in parallel thinking one was "now" and one was "the real future we could have". The fact that Gene Roddenberry thought there'd be a third world war eventually registered with me (and I loved the episode "Assignment Earth" in which Gary Seven helps prevent WW3 from happening in the late 1960s), but at the time I did not lose any sleep over it. I'll put aside my thoughts from current time about WW3 happening. LOL!
@@tedjones3955 There are more of us than you think! I was in first grade when the final season of TOS aired, & was swept up in it along with childhood friends who experienced the contemporaneous Apollo excitement. I've been a faithful fan of both ever since.
Well You officially got me into star trek, watched the first 20 Minutes of this video (like 2 days ago?) now I'm at episode 10 of the 1st season. This is a awesome show!!!
@@bonghunezhou5051 yes it almost made killing clean and sanitized no one gets their hands bloodied no boots die on the ground but the enemy. War from the comfort of your office chair and headset. Were only a few steps from creating terminator robots then asking for our destruction.
My favorite episode is "The City On The Edge Of Forever". The story of Kirk needing to stop Bones from saving Edith Keeler (who Kirk had fallen in love with) to ensure that there would someday be a Federation, is heart-breaking.
I always figured that was the divergence point for the "Mirror Universe" where the Federation never came to be but the "Earth Empire" came to be the savage version of Starfleet we saw in "Mirror, Mirror"... "Edith Keeler was right, peace was the way, but at the wrong time... With the atomic bomb and their V-2 rockets to carry them, Germany went on to conquer the world... If we are to restore the history of everything we know, Edith Keeler must die!"
I can’t even begin to imagine how magical it must have been for Nichelle to have Dr King walk up to her and tell her to her face that he’s her biggest fan.
Every time I see that interview with Nichelle Nichols, I tear up. I fortunately had the opportunity to meet her at a convention in Phoenix (my wife wanted to go and this was the highlight of it for me) where I was able to tell her how proud I was of her, not only for her acting, but for her work with NASA and just being a brave and proud woman of color.
I just remember my dad would always watch Star Trek in the evening when he came home from work and I would always sit with him. And that just became how we did things
I always thought The City on The Edge of Forever was very good. McCoy was especially great; Joan Collins never looked better. The limitless possibilities of time travel had been opened up to them,but after Kirks loss at the end all that he could say was “ let’s get the hell out of here”.
@@shawn6669 Man, you didn't want to piss Harlan off as James Cameron found out to the sum of several hundred thousand dollars (?). I have an accountant but I must scream ...
I liked it as well. Although the Harlan Ellison was mad at the Star Trek for changing his storyline, I don't believe his original story would have gone over as well as this did, given the constraints of time and budget associate with the show.
As an eight-year-old boy in 1972, I remember our family getting our first colour TV from Rediffusion, a 26-inch piece of "furniture" by today's standards, but at the time it was cutting edge and we couldn't wait. After the guy set it up he went through "all" three channels and all the programs were in B/W, but at tea-time, Star-Trek was on. I'll never forget how blown away we all were seeing the episode where the Enterprise tracked a cloaked Romulan ship and finally destroying it. That episode has stuck in my mind all these years, as the colours were so vibrant and alive.
I've never seen the Nichelle Nichols story in its entirety like this; or, if it's not the whole portion the most I've ever seen. Thank you. It never stops being a heart-stopping, joyous moment. And thank you, Nichelle. And thank you, Dr. King.
@@Rocketsong Nichelle's contribution, like so many of the lesser starparts, was so integral to the appeal of ST. Glad she stayed and always a great story behind it.
Nichelle Nichols staying on Star Trek led to Whoopi Goldberg being cast as Guinan. Whoopi wanted to be on Star Trek because she was a fan growing up. Why was she a fan? Because there was a black woman, doing a job on starship in a tv show. She could see herself in that.
I was a kid when the original Star Trek aired, I actually saw most episodes on re-runs just after if was cancelled. This was my favorite tv show and still in in my top 5 of all time. Nothing like it had ever been seen on Tv before, it was magic.
The Immunity syndrome was my favorite 2nd season episode. Sometimes we got to watch Star Trek at my grandmas house and she had a color tv. That was a treat!
A Taste of Armageddon may be my favorite Star Trek episode of the whole dang franchise. I am so glad you highlighted it. When spock and crew bust in to save Kirk only to find not only does Kirk not need saving, but he's got the whole thing in lock, it's the most Kirkian thing I have ever seen.
I think William Windom deserved an Emmy for his performance as Admiral Decker. Oh, and my understanding is that the music for The Doomsday Machine was all original, which gave it a cinematic feel. Truly epic!
Nicole's story with Dr. King still breaks me up. Right now and I'm 63 years old. The first black people in our neighborhood moved right next door and their mom worked for my dad as his secretary. My parents were way ahead of the curve back then I consider it one of the greatest, if not the greatest lesson-
I first watched Star Trek in syndication in the late 70’s and early 80’s. The motion pictures existed, but home video was relatively rare. So, you basically watched ST reruns in the order they were broadcast. For people who cut their teeth on TNG and DS9, it is easy to discount how consistently great ST was for most of its original run.
Yep. I was a rerun kiddo on the 80s. The original was so amazing that when the NG came out, it took me 2 seasons to feel comfortable with... Commander Riker :-)
The fact that Vulcan lore and personality traits were basically established by Leonard Nimoy's acting chops and how he performed off of Shatner's portrayal of Kirk is like, the coolest factoid I've ever heard. Absolute legends
Always got a bang out of “The Changeling” (I am Nomad; I am perfect!). Despite a rather chilling premise, it was riddled with humour, especially when it was having its breakdown;“error...errrooorrr..faulty! Faulty!” At a point in the story where “we are all in grave danger”.
No matter how many times I hear the Nichelle Nichols story with the great Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., I tear up. I think Dr. King had a HUGE role in where the series went and where it is today. We are so lucky Miss Nichols continued to be Lt Uhura. But that is the most amazing story.
@@crooker23 I don't know why people find it so hard to believe, really. At a time when someone like Nichelle Nichols having a role so visible, at a time when that was so contentious, and rare, why wouldn't MLK be aware of that? Why wouldn't he want to support that?
@@Blisterdude123 Because for ten years, when she told the story, she never mentioned MLK and always said it was Gene who convinced her to say it. Eventually, she started telling the MLK story, so it's possible they did meet, and we know MLK was a fan of Star Trek, but that story is either completely fabricated or highly exaggerated
This is certainly not the first Star Trek retrospective I've seen, but it's easily the best. After all these years, I'm still learning new things from shows like this.
Good review. One fact you forgot to mention when discussing 'Arena' is the fact the colony was established on a planet belonging to the Gorn empire, and the realisation by Kirk that the Federation is vulnerable to arrogance and making mistakes.
I absolutely love these retrospective videos. This is outstanding work. Star Trek is a big part of my life and its great to see such a wonderful analysis of the show.
'The Ultimate Computer' is a clear stand out in series 2. Great guest star in William Marshal and good writing and performances. The only issue is that Kirk again defeats a computer through the exact same logical argument as before. It's the best kind of 'bottle show'. Thank you so much for your excellent video.
The Paradise Syndrome is actually the story of my life. I married my own Miramanee ( Actually, Wa-wash-k'neesh-n'sn) and went completely native. Been together 34 years and no sign of an asteroid in sight,
Oh wow, a mention of the Skylark series. No one ever talks about Skylark, but I loved it as a kid, I still have the books in my bookshelf. I had no idea Roddenberry was into Skylark too!
I love the simulated war episode! It really highlights how bizarre and silly how seemingly modern and civilised society can condone wars. It takes the normalisation of war to the extreme to highlight the absurdity of accepting such a scenario.
For myself, THE CAGE - or more precisely the redrafted version later incorporated into the series 2 parter THE MENAGERIE - is superior to almost anything else done in the whole franchise. I don't consider the ending "contrived". I think it was a logical twist for the ill-fated Talosians, and Pike's only possible escape from that trap. One of the best pieces of SF writing in the history of the tube. In tone and style, btw, it was much like an Outer Limits tos.
The uncut version of The Cage was right up there with the Doomsday Machine in overall quality. The Cage had a creepy vibe The Menagerie lacked. Both were great but the Cage should have been the pilot that sold the show. That honor went to Where no man has gone before which had its own creepy vibe. The most chilling words ever spoken in TOS was planets that were only days away at warp and years away at impulse. Also the ship not having enough power to blast out of the planets gravity if it could not restart the warp drive.
Thank you sir I was just saying the same thing about the cage in a comment of my own. The cage was a masterpiece. And yes I can't help but to think that the twilight zone and outer limits had some bearing.
Thank you for all of this. In many ways this show shaped and still does my life. The vision it created, flaws and all is the most hopeful I have yet seen.
As a teen back in the 70's my favorite episode from each season: season 1 - "Shore Leave" season 2 - "Assignment Earth" season 3 - "All Our Yesterdays".
In my opinion, the greatest tribute to GR has been Star Trek Continues series. Vic Mignogna is as much or even more Capt Kirk than even Shatner. That was just wwwwaaayyy better than anything hollywood has come out with in the ST franchise in 20 years. It was an actual return and ressurection of the original feel and spirit of TOS. And you better be up on your ST trivia if you watch it. Thanx for putting this up Rowan Coleman
Every Star Trek fan owes Lucy Ball for being one of the main players responsible for putting Star Trek on TV, thus partly starting a franchise. a debt of gratitude. Also I bet a lot of the cast that is still alive today, probably never thought they would talk about Star Trek 55 years (as of this comment) later.
Thank you for your in-depth perspective, Analysis and education of what really goes on behind the scenes on game changing TV programs with great ideas like this, that would go on to impact the world. Thank you for also including the behind the scenes interview of Nichelle Nichols. keep up the great job.
These Trek retrospectives are very well produced. Nicely done! (I've shared this with a Star Trek-related group on Facebook, as I think they'd very much enjoy these videos also.)
The dialog in Squire of Gothos was perfect. Every character has such a distinct voice. I bet if you read the script with no dialog tags you would still easily be able to tell who spoke each line, even if you weren't familiar with the episode.
Actually while the narrator notes that Spock was more emotional, he doesn’t know it was Barrett’s character that was supposed to be unemotional and logical - it’s referenced later when the aliens bring her in as an alternate selection for Pike.
@JFQ there was no slant on anything - I made a factual note. For the record, I have two Conservative FB pages, I was moderator of a major Conservative FB group, and my favorite RUclips Sci Fi commentators are Critical Drinker, Doomcock, and Nerdrotic. However my post had absolutely nothing to do with political or social idealogy. You have issues - this is a level of hysteria best left to the Left.
@@gregrupedski4987 Left, right... you are all but ants in the eyes of the Ancient Ones such as Cthulu. As if your petty human quarrels mean anything in the grand scheme of existence.
@@gregrupedski4987 That last line is not very Star Trek, and seems to undermine its own message. There's no reason to crap on the Left because of what that poster said. The actual answer is that we don't know for sure the issue that NBC had with Number One. Heck, it's possible it was more than one thing. It does seem odd that, if they objected to nepotism, they still allowed for the same actress to play a character on the show.
I watched my first Trek in 1968 when I was 5 years old, but didn't start watching seriously till I was 9. Since then, it has accompanied me in one form or another throughout my life, and I'm sure has helped form the person I am today.
A absolutely brilliant retrospective cannot wait for the next part. In this you mention about the bridge design being influenced by Navy ships, but I'm sure I've read it was the other way round, The Navy liked the efficient design and started to incorporate it in the ships.
Wow!.. This just reminded me that as a kid hearing that theme music as the Enterprise came up on the screen always made my hair stand on end!!.. Like I say, wow!!.. Just had it again, after all this time!!! (I'm 57 now).
The Cage is one of the top ten ST episodes of all time. The ending was a lot stronger and smarter than you think. (SPOILERS) .... .... Pike didn't defeat the Talosians. Number One did. It's not true that she had little to do in that episode. Her decision at the climax is what convinced the Talosians to let them go. It had taken the Talosians years to break down Vina, in part because they didn't have anything to offer her except illusions. They thought it wouldn't take as long to break Pike, because he would fall in love with Vina and want to protect her. Pike's refusal to play along put them on the back foot, so they improvised, by bringing down Number One and Ensign Colt as alternatives to Vina. The fact that the humans managed to escape barely made any difference. The Talosians intended to release them onto the surface anyway. Pike was ready to agree to stay in exchange for the release of Number One and Colt. Meaning the Talosians would get their race of slaves. Number One said Hell no and set her phaser on overload. That was the critical decision. It made the Talosians reconsider using humans at all, and after a quick check of the Eneterprise's data banks they realized humans were way too violent and unruly to be of any use. The fact EVEN VINA was willing to go out with a bang was the real kicker... the Talosians had thought she was thoroughly broken, but she wasn't. It's pretty awesome actually: In the very first episode of Star Trek it wasn't the captain's desperate heroics that defeated the Talosians, it was Number One's absolute devotion to duty, and Vina's demonstration that humans could NEVER be completely dominated.
Well put. In today's society someone would gripe about it being "too PC" to have a strong woman make that gutsy move. Always wished Number One had been included in the show somehow. (Not counting Majel Barret-Roddenberry's many contributions over the years)
@@RisefromyourGRAVE The part network execs would object to today is depicting martyrdom as heroic. The notion that willingly taking your own life, even to prevent an alien race from creating a race of human slaves would probably be considered problematic now. Interesting Roddenberry fought in the Pacific War, against an Empire that encouraged its soldiers and civilians to commit suicide rather than surrender. He must have recognized the parallels. For what it's worth I've been a fan of TOS since the seventies and I've never liked any other Star Trek series as much. But I think the notion that it was a particularly progressive program is nonsense peddled by David Gerrold and Roddenberry himself. For my money I Spy did more for racial equality and Gunsmoke (of all things) had stronger female characters. Just compare Joanne Linville's guest spots on Gunsmoke (where she was a ruthless cattle baron with no romantic subplot in the story) and Star Trek (where she was a Romulan captain who threw away her career for a man she just met).
@@donsylvester2372 have to respectfully disagree with that. The complaints these days (those from sensible people anyway) centre more around women being promoted as the heroes at the expense of weak or even somewhat despicable male characters, rather than in tandem with them. That and the fact that a lot of depictions of female power are fairly unrealistic, like the various fight scenes we see of characters that have no special powers yet are out fighting opponents that are significantly larger and stronger - this doesn't really relate to the Cage of course. From memory, in the Cage, any decision made by number One is pretty realistic and in line with her command status and Pike is shown to be quite competent. The move that the original poster mentions at the end is also entirely realistic and feasible.
damn I've never heard the story about Nichelle before. Such a impactful moment that shows the signifigance of her character that can easily be over looked today. It really is crazy how this cheesy space show was truly exploring "uncharted space" with such inclusive characters.
"The Cloud-Minders" is a Season 3 episode I really enjoyed - it's a critique of exploitative social structures and repression in the guise of civility, and also a wonderful metaphor for Plato's cave... and I've always enjoyed Star Trek most when it does reflect on philosophical questions and society :)
I like the All Our Yesterdays episode where as in Amok Time we see the passionate side of Spock that he otherwise keeps hidden. And I think that episode also has some really good acting by a number of characters.
I'm glad you mentioned The Enemy Below, as that influenced every single submarine film or TV episode that came after it, and even "submarine-like" stories such as Balance of Terror.
Really appreciate this. It really brought back a lot of memories growing up watching Star Trek in late 60’s early 70’s… I continued on with Picard, Sisco, Janeway! To include the most awesomous crew who emulated my 1960’s crew; Cris Pine, Zackary Quinto and the rest! To me they are amazing cast who made me cry when I first saw it… I watch and love the new Pike!!! Well to me Kirk will always be the best, believe me Captain Janeway a close 2nd and Captain Sisco 3rd, IMHO… My children continue on. We watch all the Star Trek episodes! Yes even 🤮 Discovery!!! Thanks for this fun memory documentary… As Spock would say; Live Long And Prosper.🖖
Wonderful video! Thank you. I watched the show sporadically as a youngster in its original running, but as this was before VCR's, if you missed an episode, you missed it. I didn't get to binge it until college in the 1970's, when reruns were on every night. Only then did I begin to realize how astonishingly groundbreaking STAR TREK was. Looking forward to your other new retrospectives.
Accurate for the most part--except the huge letter-writing campaign (with the fans picketing NBC) was organized by Roddenberry and Bjo Trimble during the SECOND season, with the result being that Star Trek was renewed for its Third year. (There WAS a smaller letter-writing campaign during the first season--organized by none other than Harlan Ellison--before he and Roddenberry had their infamous falling-out.) Also at 13:16 it's stated that DeForest Kelly was cast as Dr. McCoy for the second pilot. This is incorrect as he was not cast until the show was finally green-lighted by NBC. Paul Fix--perhaps best known at the time as Marshal Michah Torrance on "The Rifleman" was cast as Ship's Doctor Mark Piper for "Where No Man Has Gone Before".
If you're interested in Trek's production history, definately read the 'Fifty Year Mission' books. The nost thorough chronicle of any mexia Franchise I've ever come across, trust me!
i remember the first startrek episode i ever saw. my father told me to sit down and watch with him and it was that gooddamn TOS episode where the crew ages rapidly. i was horrifed lol
This was an interesting and largely reverential retrospective. I agreed with many of your points (as opposed to your near hatchet job of Axanar, elsewhere). However, I have to put you right on one major flaw of your thesis. And if you think about it the paradox is evident even in your own commentary. How could a show that spawned so much fan mail; and letter-writing campaigns to save it; suffer from poor ratings? The truth of the matter is that IT NEVER DID. Recent research has proved this conclusively. NBC lied about the Nielsen Ratings because they didn't like Roddenberry and wanted to be rid of him: He could be very difficult and was quite public in attacking the networks - even whilst he was working for them! Marc Cushman spent years researching all of this. He spoke to just about everybody (still living) and managed to get hold of ALL of the Nielsen Ratings for Star Trek - The Original Series. You can see all of this in great detail if you read his books (which I have done): "These Are The Voyages" (Volumes 1-3) which cover each series in its entirety. NBC knew the truth of it but just suppressed it. Star Trek continued to do well - in syndication and of course went on to spawn The Animated Series - nearly a second version (Phase II) and eventually the movies. And even in its graveyard slots - teenagers who should have been out getting drunk, going to the movies, chasing members of the opposite sex, and going to pop concerts etc. - were actually often at home instead ... watching Star Trek (to the detriment of their social lives)!!!
Corporations ALWAYS lie when it comes to numbers. Just like today CBS does today with Nu-Trek. Telling everyone how popular it is while it's universally disliked by almost everyone and downright rejected. And for a good reason. Nothing has changed. The truth is the biggest enemy for networks and corporations. But at the end the truth will always come out.
For me, the greatest revelation in the Cushman series was his debunking of the ratings myth. Star Trek was almost always in second place, despite being in poor timeslots in Seasons 2 and 3 *and* NBC doing next to nothing to promote the show. This was in stark contrast to CBS and ABC which more often than not, promoted its entries.
@@ThreadBomb The Cushman book is the first time I saw this about the ratings records. Everything else I previously read said that Star Trek ratings were poor, but never went into the same detail that Cushman did.
Star Trek the original series (for me) is the best Star Trek of all time. Good call on "Where no Man has gone before" and "Ultimate Computer" episodes as they are some of the top 5 best episodes.
I love your content. I am a life long respector of Star Trek but in the last couple years, I have really gotten deeper into it, ever since my father passed. It makes me feel closer to him and what was a bit of pop culture reverance & quest for nostalgia has become a new obsession & I am hungry fan and your videos really suppliment my experience with the franchise. I appreciate your perspective & efforts. Looking forward to more content.
Very good analysis of TOS. I was 7 when TOS came on the air and watched it every week. I agree with you on the good episodes and the bad, My personal favorite episode was The Doomsday Machine, the story telling, action, acting was superb. Am anxiously awaiting part 2.
Absolutely agree, I love that episode. You know what makes it better? The guy who plays Decker, William Windon stated once that he couldn't get a handle on the character while shooting because he couldn't understand what was happening in the script, LOL. Despite that his performance is lauded by nearly everyone as one of the very best guest stars on the entire series, and rightly so :)
I saw this series in first run; was 12 when STAR TREK debuted. Night time in our family living room almost made TV watching a special event after the grind of daytime routines. My favorite episode was, and will always be the fantasy-laden SHORE LEAVE. NO retrospectives ever mention it, yet it was "Shore Leave" that turned this yet unsure viewer (after absorbing several previous stories) into a full-blown Star Trek Fan.
HELP THE CHANNEL GROW: www.patreon.com/rowanjcoleman
7: 47 There's a 't' in the middle of 'noting' and if you don't pronounce it it sounds like'knowing', which causes confusion and / or misunderstanding and takes something away from all the hard work you've done. This is just one example.
Thank you for sharing I love star trek live long and prosper 🖖🏾
14:50 - Shatner is in fact subdued through much of Season 1.
@Rowan J Coleman Couldn't agree less wrt Turnabout Intruder, and I say that as a socialist who's left to far left on most economic and foreign policy positions. It takes a position with some interesting justification, based on societies such as Sweden with its longest contemporary history of women being able to sort into whatever positions and employment they choose with minimal imperatives in the way of survival given Sweden's marvelous social programs. It sees women choosing in majority numbers what has long been considered, even dismissively, to be "women's work." I saw the same in my years of commune living, where women in general in self-described ecofeminist communities avoided gritty, physical work, preferring to make cheese, cook, bake, knit, make quilts and clothing. If we assume women are sorting in accord with what they feel able to handle, shouldn't we trust them to know their abilities and limits?
In sum, I can live with the position the script's writers take for the sake of an intriguing tale well told, even if it might be wrongheaded in large. ---As for Plato's Stepchildren, I rated it a 3.5 of 4 when I rewatched it several years ago. It worked well for me, then. Can't recall exactly why so of course my opinion here is meaningless, but it was difficult to get a 3.5 from me. I think I gave Piece of the Action, for example, for all its amusements, a 2.5 leaning to 2.0.
*First, I am 70++ years old if you do the math, you'll note that I was just starting to be old enough enter the parts of the Academy that would be responsible for such horrrors.*
*The "Spock"s Brain" episode may in fact seem ridiculous, however, it was 1964. The transistor that would permit the construction of automation controllers was not even a decade old yet, and was still so slow, crude, and gigantic in physical size, that trying to use it for anything significant such as a central facility controller of things like ventilation, temperature control, and dozens of other similar things that would benefit greatly from fully independent automation was a topic of intense interest in both the academic and military communities. There were active programs trying to use Lizard brains as controllers, and I believe that the Air Force had or were about to initiate a program on primates.*
*As nuts as this may look and sound today, this type of "autonomous analog controller" was a real thing, and I have always hoped this episode helped to put a halt to these barbaric and obscenely unethical research programs.*
I was 6 when Star Trek premiered. My father was brilliant man, would inhale multiple books weekly, all on quantum physics and origins of the universe. He was so impressed with Star Trek that he fought with my mother to allow me to stay up late and watch the show. I don't think people appreciate how advanced Star Trek was at the time, and still is.
I love this comment. thanks for posting it. Gives credence to the whole advanced for the time and still is.
I appreciate your father's passion for quantum physics and Star Trek. My quantum technology startup team was tapped by the U.S. Department of Defense to develop Star Trek tech.
@duderino5 Astounding to imagine that a scientist would ever have to fight with his wife to allow his son stay up to watch the original Star Trek, rather than simply exercising the executive authority any parent can invoke on occasion. --Agreed, the contrast b/t Star Trek's designs and conceptions and those of television series of the time is startling. The round bridge, the configuration of Enterprise, the idea of a federation of planets founded on a military spine but leading with the exercise of exploration---those things alone made it a brilliant leap forward. Another thing that made it so different from other Star Trek series was Roddenberry's resort and appeal to the best living science fiction writers for scripts. TNG's lack of good writing and its aim at children rather than adults wrecked it, by comparison.
@@johnstrawb3521 Hello @John Strawb, don't be too hard on my mother; she was just following maternal instincts! Good points regarding the bridge design/set pieces contrasted to contemporary set designs of the time. To me, the two biggest leaps in concepts not found in TV (or movies) at the time were the mixed race/sex/species crew, and as you mentioned, the peaceful (backed with the Entreprises's ability to defend herself) mission to explore and connect with other species. Then you combine some of the subtle, yet powerful statements made by Spock (as the half human species working with but observing humans), or lines delivered by others, such as Kirk commenting (paraphrasing), "Man's last prejudice. What is unpleasant to look at is deemed evil". So much truth and wisdom packed into small lines of dialogue. On a personal level, my father's fascination with Star Trek showed me he was more than just a brilliant, logical person. He saw the beauty in the human instinct to explore, and the good (and bad) in humans. Behind his very logical mind was a dreamer. The original Star Trek will always hold a place in my heart and mind.
The original series only.
People on RUclips making better documentaries than Netflix these days. 10/10.
agreed.
@@LondraCalibro9 not this guy though
The comments be the best....
Word
Amen!
Say what anyone will about how Star Trek has evolved over the decades, but I still get a thrill when the music swells and that beautiful ship crosses the screen. The show's hopeful outlook is at the heart of why we're still talking about this universe.
Evolved? It has only made a lateral shift from one theatrical style of its own -to emulate another.
STD has evolved the series into Fast and Furious and family because its all about family.
1966: Let's make this concept the best it can be with wit, intelligence, and complex story
2019: Let's retrofit the past with modern lesbians, pimp threads, elf with a sword, dagger-tossing aliens, and Starfleet as slavers
@@RideAcrossTheRiver Space lesbians is always a good idea for science fiction. Right up there with green skin Orion slave girls.
@@brachiator1 What about Kodak prints from your Ensign days?
The Beauty of Uhura was no one ever doubted her. What she said, was pure
Uhura was something else... something special. She didn't need to say much but when she spoke, people shut up and listened to her.
You know she's a legit Icon when Dr. King recognized her as one of the most influential characters on television at the time.
I am 64 And have always lived Ireland. But my imagination has traveled the universe all thanks to a child hood love of Star Trek.
Was hat part of Ireland? I lived for many years in Kilkenny and still have family there.
I'm nearly 64 , Irish and I taught around the world (just saying,not looking down on anyone; maybe you had a happier life than me in Ireland) [Belfast, God ....] But my imagination has still travelled the universe thanks to a childhood love of Star Trek, Dr Who, the Time tunnel and various other AngloAmerican imaginings. Yes the British strarved us; but at least not our imagination ... Hey, la Mission Civilisatrice des Anglais,don't ya know?
I am 71 years old. I remember those years vividly. My father was part of NASA and we were very involved in the space race to the moon...and when that happened, we switched gears in the schools. The main theme became the VIETNAM WAR by 1968. We fought the draft, etc. That was the Big Thing back then.
@@emsnewssupkis6453 My lottery # was 66. A number I'll never forget.
@@deirdre108 Wow! That is super creepy.
I remember watching The Doomsday Machine as a child. Commodore Decker's anguished "Don't you think I know that!" when they point of that there is no fourth planet was shattering.
Emmy worthy performance by the late Wm. Windom (nomination/consideration at the very least IMHO)
I thought Capt Matt decker would have brought up his father during the motion picture.
He was robbed an Emmy
There was. But not anymore.
That was one of my favorite episodes when I was a kid. I remember I had read and loved Moby Dick or an abridged version of it a few months before and even then I could tell that Decker’s obsession mirrored Ahab’s.
"Whatchyou talkin' 'bout Dr. King?"
Wow , what a story and a burden for a young actress
It’s so interesting how the rejected pilot actually became canon and Christopher Pike became a rather big character in later Star Trek lore. I cannot think of any other media franchise where this has happened.
Star Trek is, if nothing else, very resourceful. You have to be to make it work with the pathetic budget they were given.
Not the same thing but Seinfeld made use of Kramer having a different name in the pilot
Bloody brilliant. Well-written and researched, and warmly narrated. More, now.
Part 2 on November 8th 😁
Indeed it's very well done indeed!
" Plato's Step children" only thing worth watching is Spock's Fandango dance around Kirk's head. ( or Kirk doing his horse imitation.)
That story from Nichols always give me goosebumps. I can't imagine what it would be like to have a man like MLK Jr gush to you about your show, where you feel so unvalidated. To have his attitude shift so hard, to hear those words from him, must have been more than she could have ever hoped for, as far as that validation goes.
Screw the network. You are, you have been, you always will be, a legendary icon and role model. For all of us, regardless of race. You were an amazing human being, Nichelle Nichols. Rest in peace.
Thanks bro for recognizing what a beautiful soul this person was .... She will definitely be missed by people like me and you... We enjoyed seeing Nichell Nichols with her beautiful self walking around a star ship in the middle of space with her mini skirts.. those legs use to fill out those mini skirts she wore on the enterprise back in the 60s... We will always appreciate you and the barriers you broke to pave the way for so many young black girls today... You will be missed Ms Nichols but you won't be forgotten... rest peacefully!!!
Ah yes, Nichols, the mistress of Roddenberry, who had no problem with him cheating on his wife. I guess that's something she learned from MLK, who also constantly cheated on his wife, if he wasn't busy doing drugs. Nice people!
her story on how king reacted to her quitting. Was wonderful
I thought I was Uhuras greatest fan!😢I was compltetely head over heels in love with her.She was so beautiful,intelligent and sexy.❤
here it felt Chekov was the more.. (i want to say contra- vershul but i can't seem to spell it)
Thank God for Lucy. One of the actors said that Lucy would show up on set from time to time. They'd look up and she'd be up in the rafters, looking down at them.
I've always loved Lucy; and only loved her even more when I first heard about how she virtually saved Star Trek.
Yeah I wonder why she never appeared on any episodes... A lot of celebrities played on star trek and I think she would have been great especially on the episode "Mudd's women"...
I love Lucy 🖤
It's a little bit sad to me I guess, that Lucille Ball is arguably to thank for Trek even existing at all now, and it was because she went to bat for a character who is just dropped immediately, a woman in a visible position of authority. And it wouldn't be till DS9 really something close to that came to frution again. Like sure there was Uhura, and Troi, and Crusher, but I always got the impression they weren't 'quite' what Lucille had in mind.
Not a complaint or anything really, and it certainly wasn't as if Trek wasn't pushing major boundaries at the time in other areas. Just one of those slightly tragic little ironies to me, I suppose.
I love Lucy as much as anyone, but this ST fan-generated mythos regarding her relationship to the show is just way over the top. Lucy had acquired a struggling studio in her divorce and was reluctantly drawn into a situation where she was trying to build a business asset. Without shows in production (properties sold and revenue generated) the studio is a marginal operation. Renting space out for other shows covers expenses in the short term, but without your own shows, there is no real money. For the most part, Desilu had few hits to its name: Lucy’s shows, The Untouchables, Mannix and Mission:Impossible (ST’s “sister” show). ST was never a big enough hit, was very expensive for the time, so it struggled along on its prestige reputation in key audiences with marginal success. Lucy had brought in Herb Solow to manage production and MI and ST were the resulting sales. She needed those assets for her studio to be viable. She did not like the business or the boardroom. She wanted to perform, a skill at which she could excel. When she had an adequate asset, she sold to Gulf & Western, which had recently bought Paramount, the studio that happened to share the same block with Desilu. The two studios were physically merged. Lucy had her payday, Solow was recruited by MGM to run their productions, and Desilu disappeared into history. Lucy was not “mother hen” to Roddenberry’s egg. She was a studio head with big problems to solve, neither of which she wanted.
Fun Facts: I read that Jefferies who designed the Enterprise said, it took him 17 attempts to get the final design, hence; 1701. 17 tries to get 1 finished product.
Cool fact! I'm assuming the 'Jeffries Tube' was named after him?
@@Anduril1974 yes.
Did not know that
Actually it was Roddenberry's street address.
TV often hides how much work goes into the best series. Reading the behind the scenes tales was a revelation. The 3 volume These Are the Voyages, one volume per season, goes into extraordinary and fascinating detail for each show, including many of the memos b/t roddenberry and coon, coon and writers, and so on. Great reading.
This was an awesome retrospective. I enjoyed it immensely. One point you didn't touch on that I'd like to mention. I'm old enough to have watched Star Trek in it's original run (on our crappy CRT television, but color, tv!). At the same time as Star Trek was on the air, the space program had swung into full gear. Project Mercury was pretty much wrapped up by the premier, but Project Gemini was in full swing and soon Project Apollo was dominating the news casts. Just over a month after the last episode of Star Trek, Apollo 11 reached the moon. For a young man aged 6 to 10, this was an incredible experience. I was a space junkie, and Star Trek and real-life NASA space missions fed into each other and captivated me. Anyway, thanks again for the video and I'm looking forward to further chapters in the series.
all smoke and mirrors just as the tv show, though their budget was much more it seems. apparently youc can fool all the people all the time.
Too cool
I grew up watching the original and loved all things space.
I got woken up early just to catch any Apollo launch then watched every minute that it was being shown.
Nice to see another person like myself on here.
Stay safe.
From Canada 🇨🇦
My childhood was the same. While watching the real space program, Star Trek suddenly appeared. And I watched both in parallel thinking one was "now" and one was "the real future we could have". The fact that Gene Roddenberry thought there'd be a third world war eventually registered with me (and I loved the episode "Assignment Earth" in which Gary Seven helps prevent WW3 from happening in the late 1960s), but at the time I did not lose any sleep over it. I'll put aside my thoughts from current time about WW3 happening. LOL!
@@tedjones3955 There are more of us than you think! I was in first grade when the final season of TOS aired, & was swept up in it along with childhood friends who experienced the contemporaneous Apollo excitement. I've been a faithful fan of both ever since.
Here s to all of you, my first I remember was Apollo as he grew an grew the greek god
Well You officially got me into star trek, watched the first 20 Minutes of this video (like 2 days ago?) now I'm at episode 10 of the 1st season. This is a awesome show!!!
Now that's good news
I hope you did get up until at least Next Generation
@@guciowitomski3825 Nah I stopped after season 2 of TOS 😅🤣
@@115spt2 that's too bad
A Taste of Armageddon has my favorite Kirk soliloquy in it, the "I've given you back the Horrors of War" speech.
I like that episide and the one where Kirk takes over the planet as a mafia boss.
"STOP IT?...I'M COUNTING ON IT!" said Captain Kirk
@@warrenpierce5542 "What kind of a monster are you?"
"I'm a barbarian. You said it yourself."
The recent augmented uses of _drones_ arguably has taken away the "horrors of war" somewhat.
@@bonghunezhou5051 yes it almost made killing clean and sanitized no one gets their hands bloodied no boots die on the ground but the enemy. War from the comfort of your office chair and headset. Were only a few steps from creating terminator robots then asking for our destruction.
"The Corbomite Maneuver" is seriously underrated!
Go back and watch it again. I hope you relish it as much as I!
Totally agree. Some of the dialogue it weak though. "I vote we blast them. We have phaser weapons"
Ahh Tranya !
That Nichelle Nichols and Martin Luther King story gets me right in the feels every time.
Honestly had me crying
@@JaelaOrdo same
Made even greater this time by the awesome Gary Coleman reference. The lady knows how to tell a story.
The problem is, it is almost certainly made up. Her story has changed and grown over the years. Originally she was just inspired by him.
@@Xanous This is the version of the story I've heard for at least 40 years. That's good enough for me.
My favorite episode is "The City On The Edge Of Forever". The story of Kirk needing to stop Bones from saving Edith Keeler (who Kirk had fallen in love with) to ensure that there would someday be a Federation, is heart-breaking.
I saved the date she died in my phones calendar
I always figured that was the divergence point for the "Mirror Universe" where the Federation never came to be but the "Earth Empire" came to be the savage version of Starfleet we saw in "Mirror, Mirror"... "Edith Keeler was right, peace was the way, but at the wrong time... With the atomic bomb and their V-2 rockets to carry them, Germany went on to conquer the world... If we are to restore the history of everything we know, Edith Keeler must die!"
this was FASCINATING man. thanks for creating this 🙏🏽🚀🪐
I read some where that the Klingons were going to be a one time only alien.
Intriguing...
im going to watch up to ds9 cuz i don't want spoilers i've seen star trek in this order... voyager tng tos season 1 and right now ds9
@@tigerbread78 as en to o
Interesting commentary on Star Trek.
I can’t even begin to imagine how magical it must have been for Nichelle to have Dr King walk up to her and tell her to her face that he’s her biggest fan.
Every time I see that interview with Nichelle Nichols, I tear up. I fortunately had the opportunity to meet her at a convention in Phoenix (my wife wanted to go and this was the highlight of it for me) where I was able to tell her how proud I was of her, not only for her acting, but for her work with NASA and just being a brave and proud woman of color.
I just remember my dad would always watch Star Trek in the evening when he came home from work and I would always sit with him. And that just became how we did things
I always thought The City on The Edge of Forever was very good. McCoy was especially great; Joan Collins never looked better. The limitless possibilities of time travel had been opened up to them,but after Kirks loss at the end all that he could say was “ let’s get the hell out of here”.
me too. one of my all time favourite episodes of any star trek series
Dat Harlan Ellison funk!
@@shawn6669 Man, you didn't want to piss Harlan off as James Cameron found out to the sum of several hundred thousand dollars (?). I have an accountant but I must scream ...
It's a brilliant episode and very emotional. Possibly the best Star Trek episode.
I liked it as well. Although the Harlan Ellison was mad at the Star Trek for changing his storyline, I don't believe his original story would have gone over as well as this did, given the constraints of time and budget associate with the show.
When I was a kid, this was my favorite show. Now almost a senior citizen, this is still my favorite show.
McCoy: His Brain is gone!
Me: A career in Politics looms.
"
bran and brain, WHAT IS BRAIN?"
that`s good..i`ll remember that as long as i can
That's priceless.
I love that episode. McCoy is annoyed because Spock is telling how to do medicine later in this episode.
"But... Spock... need brain! For... smart-making!"
Yes, I'm paraphrasing a quote from Futurama... but why the hell not?
As an eight-year-old boy in 1972, I remember our family getting our first colour TV from Rediffusion, a 26-inch piece of "furniture" by today's standards, but at the time it was cutting edge and we couldn't wait. After the guy set it up he went through "all" three channels and all the programs were in B/W, but at tea-time, Star-Trek was on. I'll never forget how blown away we all were seeing the episode where the Enterprise tracked a cloaked Romulan ship and finally destroying it. That episode has stuck in my mind all these years, as the colours were so vibrant and alive.
"Balance of Terror" -- one of the many great episodes!
ready for part 2!
Coming next week :)
watch star trek every week
"Where no man has gone before" has always been one of my favorite episodes.
Just finished Season 1 for the first time and I'm in love.
I'm oddly proud of what Star Trek is and to be a fan of it
I've never seen the Nichelle Nichols story in its entirety like this; or, if it's not the whole portion the most I've ever seen. Thank you. It never stops being a heart-stopping, joyous moment. And thank you, Nichelle. And thank you, Dr. King.
The entire interview is up on youtube. I think it's over a half hour long.
@@Rocketsong
Nichelle's contribution, like so many of the lesser starparts, was so integral to the appeal of ST. Glad she stayed and always a great story behind it.
So good to see, especially at a time like this!
@JFQ Holy fuck, go touch grass or eat a rock or something
Nichelle Nichols staying on Star Trek led to Whoopi Goldberg being cast as Guinan. Whoopi wanted to be on Star Trek because she was a fan growing up. Why was she a fan? Because there was a black woman, doing a job on starship in a tv show. She could see herself in that.
Every episode was great. Never to be forgotten.
I really like "The Trouble with Tribbles". I watched the original series when it first came out. I'm still a big Star Trek fan! Thanks for the video.
I was a kid when the original Star Trek aired, I actually saw most episodes on re-runs just after if was cancelled. This was my favorite tv show and still in in my top 5 of all time. Nothing like it had ever been seen on Tv before, it was magic.
The Immunity syndrome was my favorite 2nd season episode. Sometimes we got to watch Star Trek at my grandmas house and she had a color tv. That was a treat!
Nichelle Nichols story about her conversation with Dr. King is so powerful.
A Taste of Armageddon may be my favorite Star Trek episode of the whole dang franchise. I am so glad you highlighted it. When spock and crew bust in to save Kirk only to find not only does Kirk not need saving, but he's got the whole thing in lock, it's the most Kirkian thing I have ever seen.
I think William Windom deserved an Emmy for his performance as Admiral Decker.
Oh, and my understanding is that the music for The Doomsday Machine was all original, which gave it a cinematic feel. Truly epic!
Commodore Decker, but you are right.
"Spock's Brain" is one of my favourites, I loved it as a kid.
It actually scared me to death as a kid, the idea that a brain could be stolen gave me nightmares!
I hate that episode
“Brain and brain…what is brain!” My friends and I would often yell that out when a drunken conversation went goofy.
Nicole's story with Dr. King still breaks me up. Right now and I'm 63 years old. The first black people in our neighborhood moved right next door and their mom worked for my dad as his secretary. My parents were way ahead of the curve back then I consider it one of the greatest, if not the greatest lesson-
I first watched Star Trek in syndication in the late 70’s and early 80’s. The motion pictures existed, but home video was relatively rare. So, you basically watched ST reruns in the order they were broadcast. For people who cut their teeth on TNG and DS9, it is easy to discount how consistently great ST was for most of its original run.
Yep. I was a rerun kiddo on the 80s. The original was so amazing that when the NG came out, it took me 2 seasons to feel comfortable with... Commander Riker :-)
The fact that Vulcan lore and personality traits were basically established by Leonard Nimoy's acting chops and how he performed off of Shatner's portrayal of Kirk is like, the coolest factoid I've ever heard. Absolute legends
Always got a bang out of “The Changeling” (I am Nomad; I am perfect!). Despite a rather chilling premise, it was riddled with humour, especially when it was having its breakdown;“error...errrooorrr..faulty! Faulty!” At a point in the story where “we are all in grave danger”.
Or when it scans Uhura: "A mass of conflicting impulses."
No matter how many times I hear the Nichelle Nichols story with the great Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., I tear up. I think Dr. King had a HUGE role in where the series went and where it is today. We are so lucky Miss Nichols continued to be Lt Uhura. But that is the most amazing story.
you tear up over a bullshit story that had no impact on Star Trek? ROFL!
@@shadowangel2235 racially motivated 🧐
@@crooker23 I don't know why people find it so hard to believe, really. At a time when someone like Nichelle Nichols having a role so visible, at a time when that was so contentious, and rare, why wouldn't MLK be aware of that? Why wouldn't he want to support that?
@@Blisterdude123 Because for ten years, when she told the story, she never mentioned MLK and always said it was Gene who convinced her to say it. Eventually, she started telling the MLK story, so it's possible they did meet, and we know MLK was a fan of Star Trek, but that story is either completely fabricated or highly exaggerated
"Brain and brain, what is brain!?" Love it.
this film is like a joyful warm bath for every trekkie. regards from austria, live long and prosper, everybody !
This is certainly not the first Star Trek retrospective I've seen, but it's easily the best. After all these years, I'm still learning new things from shows like this.
Good review. One fact you forgot to mention when discussing 'Arena' is the fact the colony was established on a planet belonging to the Gorn empire, and the realisation by Kirk that the Federation is vulnerable to arrogance and making mistakes.
When I was a kid we nicknamed The Squire of gothos the one with Liberace in it 😛
LOL
June 3rd, 1969, next week, " Roan and Martin's Laugh in". And people asking " WTF? Happened to Star Trek?."( We did at our house.)
Trelane was Q's predecessor 😊
He did look very much like the piano player.
Yes!
I absolutely love these retrospective videos. This is outstanding work. Star Trek is a big part of my life and its great to see such a wonderful analysis of the show.
I always remember it so much because we had a black and white TV and then we changed to a colour TV and it was this show that made it special.
I was 7 when my dad introduced me to star trek. Still love it and still watching it today
'The Ultimate Computer' is a clear stand out in series 2. Great guest star in William Marshal and good writing and performances. The only issue is that Kirk again defeats a computer through the exact same logical argument as before. It's the best kind of 'bottle show'. Thank you so much for your excellent video.
The Paradise Syndrome is actually the story of my life. I married my own Miramanee ( Actually, Wa-wash-k'neesh-n'sn) and went completely native. Been together 34 years and no sign of an asteroid in sight,
I actually think that episode could have been really good if the "aliens" had actually been aliens instead of native Americans.
Oh wow, a mention of the Skylark series. No one ever talks about Skylark, but I loved it as a kid, I still have the books in my bookshelf. I had no idea Roddenberry was into Skylark too!
I loved and love star trek.each show I sit thru I've seen many times, it's my favorite of all time.
I love the simulated war episode! It really highlights how bizarre and silly how seemingly modern and civilised society can condone wars. It takes the normalisation of war to the extreme to highlight the absurdity of accepting such a scenario.
42:48 The scene you used for this part is outright hilarious.
For myself, THE CAGE - or more precisely the redrafted version later incorporated into the series 2 parter THE MENAGERIE - is superior to almost anything else done in the whole franchise. I don't consider the ending "contrived". I think it was a logical twist for the ill-fated Talosians, and Pike's only possible escape from that trap. One of the best pieces of SF writing in the history of the tube. In tone and style, btw, it was much like an Outer Limits tos.
Agreed since it literally reused props from outer limits
@@jonathankirsch2121 The Megasoid and the creature from Fun and Games,
The uncut version of The Cage was right up there with the Doomsday Machine in overall quality. The Cage had a creepy vibe The Menagerie lacked. Both were great but the Cage should have been the pilot that sold the show. That honor went to Where no man has gone before which had its own creepy vibe. The most chilling words ever spoken in TOS was planets that were only days away at warp and years away at impulse. Also the ship not having enough power to blast out of the planets gravity if it could not restart the warp drive.
@@AUTISTICLYCAN For me, THE MENAGERIE is Trek unsurpassed.
Thank you sir I was just saying the same thing about the cage in a comment of my own. The cage was a masterpiece. And yes I can't help but to think that the twilight zone and outer limits had some bearing.
Thank you for all of this. In many ways this show shaped and still does my life. The vision it created, flaws and all is the most hopeful I have yet seen.
I couldn’t be more excited to watch this! You’re very underrated, Rowan!
Thanks :) Sharing the video with other Trekkies would be greatly appreciated :)
Uhura is the voice of the U.S.S. Enterprise. It wouldn't be the same with out her.
As a teen back in the 70's my favorite episode from each season: season 1 - "Shore Leave" season 2 - "Assignment Earth" season 3 - "All Our Yesterdays".
Shore Leave is so cheesy, even by TOS standards
@@rgerber I guess i liked the music from that episode.
In my opinion, the greatest tribute to GR has been Star Trek Continues series. Vic Mignogna is as much or even more Capt Kirk than even Shatner. That was just wwwwaaayyy better than anything hollywood has come out with in the ST franchise in 20 years. It was an actual return and ressurection of the original feel and spirit of TOS. And you better be up on your ST trivia if you watch it. Thanx for putting this up Rowan Coleman
I met Nichelle at a book signing in Little Rock. She was warm and dear and utterly charming -- everything you would ever want.
I’m still convinced that the writers for “Q” and Delancey both got their cue’s (sorry) from the flintstones character called Gazoo.
Well, actually that makes great sense. While I've always hated Fred Flintstone, I really liked Gazoo.
Gazoo is just Mister Mxyzptlk
@@sladewilson9741 Say that backwards
Mr Gazoo was in Star Trek!
@@andrewblanchard2398 WHOOSH
Every Star Trek fan owes Lucy Ball for being one of the main players responsible for putting Star Trek on TV, thus partly starting a franchise. a debt of gratitude. Also I bet a lot of the cast that is still alive today, probably never thought they would talk about Star Trek 55 years (as of this comment) later.
BEST line of the entire Star Trek canon: "I'm trying to thank you!! You pointed eared Hobgoblin!!!"🛸🌠
Bones…
Canon
Bones McCoy. Unforgettable.
Thank you for your in-depth perspective, Analysis and education of what really goes on behind the scenes on game changing TV programs with great ideas like this, that would go on to impact the world. Thank you for also including the behind the scenes interview of Nichelle Nichols. keep up the great job.
These Trek retrospectives are very well produced. Nicely done! (I've shared this with a Star Trek-related group on Facebook, as I think they'd very much enjoy these videos also.)
Who else revisits this playlist at least twice a year? These Retrospectives are perfection.
The dialog in Squire of Gothos was perfect. Every character has such a distinct voice. I bet if you read the script with no dialog tags you would still easily be able to tell who spoke each line, even if you weren't familiar with the episode.
I absolutely love your retrospectives. You're a great writer, your narration is clear and concise and your depth of research is admirable. Keep it up!
Actually while the narrator notes that Spock was more emotional, he doesn’t know it was Barrett’s character that was supposed to be unemotional and logical - it’s referenced later when the aliens bring her in as an alternate selection for Pike.
@JFQ there was no slant on anything - I made a factual note. For the record, I have two Conservative FB pages, I was moderator of a major Conservative FB group, and my favorite RUclips Sci Fi commentators are Critical Drinker, Doomcock, and Nerdrotic. However my post had absolutely nothing to do with political or social idealogy. You have issues - this is a level of hysteria best left to the Left.
@@gregrupedski4987 Left, right... you are all but ants in the eyes of the Ancient Ones such as Cthulu. As if your petty human quarrels mean anything in the grand scheme of existence.
@@BioGoji-zm5ph ok!
@@gregrupedski4987 I was in agreement with your post until you threw it away with the last garbage sentence.
@@gregrupedski4987 That last line is not very Star Trek, and seems to undermine its own message. There's no reason to crap on the Left because of what that poster said.
The actual answer is that we don't know for sure the issue that NBC had with Number One. Heck, it's possible it was more than one thing.
It does seem odd that, if they objected to nepotism, they still allowed for the same actress to play a character on the show.
I watched my first Trek in 1968 when I was 5 years old, but didn't start watching seriously till I was 9. Since then, it has accompanied me in one form or another throughout my life, and I'm sure has helped form the person I am today.
I've watched quite a few Trek retrospectives on youtube. This is a truly well made one and a promising start!
Part 2 on November 8th :)
@@RowanJColeman Great! Looking forward to it!
This was very fun to watch thanks!! ST - TOS, despite it's many flaws, to my dying day will still always be my favorite TV show of all time!!
A absolutely brilliant retrospective cannot wait for the next part. In this you mention about the bridge design being influenced by Navy ships, but I'm sure I've read it was the other way round, The Navy liked the efficient design and started to incorporate it in the ships.
Wow!.. This just reminded me that as a kid hearing that theme music as the Enterprise came up on the screen always made my hair stand on end!!.. Like I say, wow!!.. Just had it again, after all this time!!! (I'm 57 now).
Thanks for this insightful reflection on Star Trek the original series!
Glad you enjoyed it :)
I tear up every time I hear Miss Nicolos explain her encounter with Dr. king
The Cage is one of the top ten ST episodes of all time. The ending was a lot stronger and smarter than you think. (SPOILERS)
....
....
Pike didn't defeat the Talosians. Number One did. It's not true that she had little to do in that episode. Her decision at the climax is what convinced the Talosians to let them go.
It had taken the Talosians years to break down Vina, in part because they didn't have anything to offer her except illusions. They thought it wouldn't take as long to break Pike, because he would fall in love with Vina and want to protect her. Pike's refusal to play along put them on the back foot, so they improvised, by bringing down Number One and Ensign Colt as alternatives to Vina. The fact that the humans managed to escape barely made any difference. The Talosians intended to release them onto the surface anyway.
Pike was ready to agree to stay in exchange for the release of Number One and Colt. Meaning the Talosians would get their race of slaves. Number One said Hell no and set her phaser on overload. That was the critical decision. It made the Talosians reconsider using humans at all, and after a quick check of the Eneterprise's data banks they realized humans were way too violent and unruly to be of any use. The fact EVEN VINA was willing to go out with a bang was the real kicker... the Talosians had thought she was thoroughly broken, but she wasn't.
It's pretty awesome actually: In the very first episode of Star Trek it wasn't the captain's desperate heroics that defeated the Talosians, it was Number One's absolute devotion to duty, and Vina's demonstration that humans could NEVER be completely dominated.
Well put. In today's society someone would gripe about it being "too PC" to have a strong woman make that gutsy move. Always wished Number One had been included in the show somehow. (Not counting Majel Barret-Roddenberry's many contributions over the years)
@@RisefromyourGRAVE The part network execs would object to today is depicting martyrdom as heroic. The notion that willingly taking your own life, even to prevent an alien race from creating a race of human slaves would probably be considered problematic now.
Interesting Roddenberry fought in the Pacific War, against an Empire that encouraged its soldiers and civilians to commit suicide rather than surrender. He must have recognized the parallels.
For what it's worth I've been a fan of TOS since the seventies and I've never liked any other Star Trek series as much. But I think the notion that it was a particularly progressive program is nonsense peddled by David Gerrold and Roddenberry himself. For my money I Spy did more for racial equality and Gunsmoke (of all things) had stronger female characters. Just compare Joanne Linville's guest spots on Gunsmoke (where she was a ruthless cattle baron with no romantic subplot in the story) and Star Trek (where she was a Romulan captain who threw away her career for a man she just met).
A very accurate description of the end of the episode.
@@donsylvester2372 have to respectfully disagree with that. The complaints these days (those from sensible people anyway) centre more around women being promoted as the heroes at the expense of weak or even somewhat despicable male characters, rather than in tandem with them. That and the fact that a lot of depictions of female power are fairly unrealistic, like the various fight scenes we see of characters that have no special powers yet are out fighting opponents that are significantly larger and stronger - this doesn't really relate to the Cage of course. From memory, in the Cage, any decision made by number One is pretty realistic and in line with her command status and Pike is shown to be quite competent. The move that the original poster mentions at the end is also entirely realistic and feasible.
No 1 was ahead of her time (1966) which is why the character was axed.
damn I've never heard the story about Nichelle before. Such a impactful moment that shows the signifigance of her character that can easily be over looked today. It really is crazy how this cheesy space show was truly exploring "uncharted space" with such inclusive characters.
*Star trek theme Intensifies*
"The Cloud-Minders" is a Season 3 episode I really enjoyed - it's a critique of exploitative social structures and repression in the guise of civility, and also a wonderful metaphor for Plato's cave... and I've always enjoyed Star Trek most when it does reflect on philosophical questions and society :)
I like the All Our Yesterdays episode where as in Amok Time we see the passionate side of Spock that he otherwise keeps hidden. And I think that episode also has some really good acting by a number of characters.
Gosh, I just love your sensibility in your edits. You know how to let people just speak, pauses and all
I'm glad you mentioned The Enemy Below, as that influenced every single submarine film or TV episode that came after it, and even "submarine-like" stories such as Balance of Terror.
Kudos! The first time I've seen a thorough look at how the most iconic TV show historically got started. Well done!
Nichelle Nichols has probably told that story 500 times and I never get tired of it.
Really appreciate this. It really brought back a lot of memories growing up watching Star Trek in late 60’s early 70’s… I continued on with Picard, Sisco, Janeway! To include the most awesomous crew who emulated my 1960’s crew; Cris Pine, Zackary Quinto and the rest! To me they are amazing cast who made me cry when I first saw it… I watch and love the new Pike!!! Well to me Kirk will always be the best, believe me Captain Janeway a close 2nd and Captain Sisco 3rd, IMHO… My children continue on. We watch all the Star Trek episodes! Yes even 🤮 Discovery!!! Thanks for this fun memory documentary… As Spock would say; Live Long And Prosper.🖖
The amount of effort put into this video is just awesome. Fantastic writing, thanks a ton!!
Was certainly a lot of work, but it's good to know you enjoyed it :)
No way I didn't know this was the first episode and I saw it not long ago,thanks DESILU GENIUSES!!!👍👍
Wonderful video! Thank you. I watched the show sporadically as a youngster in its original running, but as this was before VCR's, if you missed an episode, you missed it. I didn't get to binge it until college in the 1970's, when reruns were on every night. Only then did I begin to realize how astonishingly groundbreaking STAR TREK was. Looking forward to your other new retrospectives.
Accurate for the most part--except the huge letter-writing campaign (with the fans picketing NBC) was organized by Roddenberry and Bjo Trimble during the SECOND season, with the result being that Star Trek was renewed for its Third year.
(There WAS a smaller letter-writing campaign during the first season--organized by none other than Harlan Ellison--before he and Roddenberry had their infamous falling-out.)
Also at 13:16 it's stated that DeForest Kelly was cast as Dr. McCoy for the second pilot. This is incorrect as he was not cast until the show was finally green-lighted by NBC. Paul Fix--perhaps best known at the time as Marshal Michah Torrance on "The Rifleman" was cast as Ship's Doctor Mark Piper for "Where No Man Has Gone Before".
If you're interested in Trek's production history, definately read the 'Fifty Year Mission' books. The nost thorough chronicle of any mexia Franchise I've ever come across, trust me!
i remember the first startrek episode i ever saw.
my father told me to sit down and watch with him and it was that gooddamn TOS episode where the crew ages rapidly.
i was horrifed lol
This was an interesting and largely reverential retrospective. I agreed with many of your points (as opposed to your near hatchet job of Axanar, elsewhere). However, I have to put you right on one major flaw of your thesis. And if you think about it the paradox is evident even in your own commentary. How could a show that spawned so much fan mail; and letter-writing campaigns to save it; suffer from poor ratings? The truth of the matter is that IT NEVER DID. Recent research has proved this conclusively. NBC lied about the Nielsen Ratings because they didn't like Roddenberry and wanted to be rid of him: He could be very difficult and was quite public in attacking the networks - even whilst he was working for them! Marc Cushman spent years researching all of this. He spoke to just about everybody (still living) and managed to get hold of ALL of the Nielsen Ratings for Star Trek - The Original Series. You can see all of this in great detail if you read his books (which I have done): "These Are The Voyages" (Volumes 1-3) which cover each series in its entirety. NBC knew the truth of it but just suppressed it. Star Trek continued to do well - in syndication and of course went on to spawn The Animated Series - nearly a second version (Phase II) and eventually the movies. And even in its graveyard slots - teenagers who should have been out getting drunk, going to the movies, chasing members of the opposite sex, and going to pop concerts etc. - were actually often at home instead ... watching Star Trek (to the detriment of their social lives)!!!
Corporations ALWAYS lie when it comes to numbers. Just like today CBS does today with Nu-Trek. Telling everyone how popular it is while it's universally disliked by almost everyone and downright rejected. And for a good reason. Nothing has changed. The truth is the biggest enemy for networks and corporations. But at the end the truth will always come out.
As I can attest to, during my freshman year at UC Santa Barbara.
For me, the greatest revelation in the Cushman series was his debunking of the ratings myth. Star Trek was almost always in second place, despite being in poor timeslots in Seasons 2 and 3 *and* NBC doing next to nothing to promote the show. This was in stark contrast to CBS and ABC which more often than not, promoted its entries.
Has anyone besides Cushman seen these original ratings records?
@@ThreadBomb The Cushman book is the first time I saw this about the ratings records. Everything else I previously read said that Star Trek ratings were poor, but never went into the same detail that Cushman did.
Star Trek the original series (for me) is the best Star Trek of all time.
Good call on "Where no Man has gone before" and "Ultimate Computer" episodes as they are some of the top 5 best episodes.
My top 5:
The Doomsday Machine
The Ultimate Computer
The Trouble With Tribbles
The Menagerie
City on the Edge of Forever
I love your content. I am a life long respector of Star Trek but in the last couple years, I have really gotten deeper into it, ever since my father passed. It makes me feel closer to him and what was a bit of pop culture reverance & quest for nostalgia has become a new obsession & I am hungry fan and your videos really suppliment my experience with the franchise. I appreciate your perspective & efforts. Looking forward to more content.
Very good analysis of TOS. I was 7 when TOS came on the air and watched it every week. I agree with you on the good episodes and the bad, My personal favorite episode was The Doomsday Machine, the story telling, action, acting was superb. Am anxiously awaiting part 2.
Absolutely agree, I love that episode. You know what makes it better? The guy who plays Decker, William Windon stated once that he couldn't get a handle on the character while shooting because he couldn't understand what was happening in the script, LOL. Despite that his performance is lauded by nearly everyone as one of the very best guest stars on the entire series, and rightly so :)
I saw this series in first run; was 12 when STAR TREK debuted. Night time in our family living room almost made TV watching a special event after the grind of daytime routines. My favorite episode was, and will always be the fantasy-laden SHORE LEAVE. NO retrospectives ever mention it, yet it was "Shore Leave" that turned this yet unsure viewer (after absorbing several previous stories) into a full-blown Star Trek Fan.