Maybe Stephen is watching the same late night teevee that I am: one of the myriad of formerly UHF, now second or third tier cable/streming channels just played Man Trap this weekend (I am pretty sure it's "Heros and Icons" tv which plays nothing but old 60's, 70. 80's and 90's TV shows, and was a channel added by one of our local Brodcast stations when TV went digital) they have a block of Trek every night TOS, TNG and DS9, wnd just play them all in order, over and over again. Followed by the old Batman from the 60's.
I have small issues about this episode being the first one aired (I mean, I guess it all worked out in the end, but...). First, The Corbomite Maneuver, which is the first episode shot after the two pilots, has a coupe of great things going for it. We get a short misdirect at the top: Who's the pointy-eared guy who looks like he's in charge there in the captain's seat? Kirk, we soon learn, is in sickbay. In those same early moments, we get a nice montage of the bridge crew doing their thing - brief moments designed as introductions. It works well, but it's less effective coming 11 episodes in.
Second, while The Man Trap is enjoyable, The Corbomite Maneuver is an all-timer. It's a banger. Feels like a bit of a missed opportunity. The same kind of air v production order thing - but much worse - helped to tank Firefly decades later. TV networks never learn.
I agree about Shatner's work. In fact, I'll go so far as to say that literally every iteration since, whether it lampoons him or is an honest reinterpretation, like in the Kelvinverse films, seems to miss the very obvious notion that his is a contained, disciplined performance. The Kirk character exudes competence and order. Yes, Shat has quirks. But those are deliberate. He is magnetic and interesting on screen - all the time (if a bit of a dick to his co-stars).
I'm not too pleased with a lot of modern Trek. Lower Decks was tremendous. Strange New Worlds came out of the gate strong, but fell off. The rest? I dunno. The easy answer is it's moved past me and my late 20th century sensibilities. But, no. I still enjoy great sci-fi: The Expanse was the best thing on TV. Silo is fantastic. So many things to enjoy. No, the CBS+/Kurtzman era is just bad TV, mostly, and bad Star Trek absolutely.
But no matter where it goes, here's to 60 more years.
I am probably a minority, but I have rather enjoyed most all of the myriad of Trek series. Discovery was actually really good imo, although the concept of the 'spore drive' was kind of out there: faster-that-warp drive by harnessed giant space tardigrades was definitely out there.
I mean, people like what they like. And I'd never suggest my opinion invalidates another in any way. But I'm guessing we respond to different things. I'd like to know what you saw in it that worked, because I want to like it.
I have loved nothing more than I do Star Trek. I also have a particular skill set that makes me view movies and tv in a certain light. I'm a former actor, a theater director and I teach acting for film in small arts college. Not everyone sees the things I see or should even care about those things. People should watch the way they watch. But it has meant my relationship with certain Star Trek products is strained. Voyager was hard to get through. I only made it through two seasons of both Enterprise and Discovery. Picard, I did watch. But my love of Sir Patrick propelled me onward. I still didn't like it. No way in hell did I watch even two minutes of Starfleet Academy.
What kept you in there (and yeah, the spore drive didn't help matters)?
Jeffrey Hunter was one of the handsomest men god ever blew breath into, but it's hard to imagine him infusing the captain with the hammy rogue-ish charm that made the role for William Shatner. Sadly, Hunter died young of a head injury before the 60s were finished.
People have for years asked me, an atheist, why I don’t believe in God. My answer has always been, “For me, believing in God is like believing there’s a Star Trek episode I haven’t seen yet.”
I remember when the show debuted, even though I was only 5 at the time. My brother loved the show, and we had only one TV at the time, so if I wanted to watch TV when it was on, that was the show that I watched. I didn't love the show, but didn't hate it either. Another show debuting about the same time, was the one that I loved - "The Monkees," and I got the TV when that show was on. It's a good thing that both shows weren't on at the same time!
You might be interested in this recent Substack.
https://rebeccarbibbs.substack.com/p/letting-star-trek-take-me-where-i?r=5dsiiv&utm_medium=ios
Thanks!
Loved this! I write about the TZ so this is right up my alley!
Thanks! You might enjoy this, as well! https://www.playtyperguy.com/p/youre-about-to-enter-another-dimension
Oh fun! I saw him give the key note at Serlingfest! Smart guy!
Maybe Stephen is watching the same late night teevee that I am: one of the myriad of formerly UHF, now second or third tier cable/streming channels just played Man Trap this weekend (I am pretty sure it's "Heros and Icons" tv which plays nothing but old 60's, 70. 80's and 90's TV shows, and was a channel added by one of our local Brodcast stations when TV went digital) they have a block of Trek every night TOS, TNG and DS9, wnd just play them all in order, over and over again. Followed by the old Batman from the 60's.
"The salt monster kills another red shirt (this one wearing a gold uniform) "
The old canard about redshirts dying all the time is actually wrong. Statistcally gold shirts (command crew) were the most likely to be killed, at least in TOS: https://nerdist.com/article/star-trek-red-shirts-werent-statistically-the-most-likely-to-die-after-all/
I do not know if this holds up through the rest of the incarnations, branches and side series. Be interesting to see.
I have small issues about this episode being the first one aired (I mean, I guess it all worked out in the end, but...). First, The Corbomite Maneuver, which is the first episode shot after the two pilots, has a coupe of great things going for it. We get a short misdirect at the top: Who's the pointy-eared guy who looks like he's in charge there in the captain's seat? Kirk, we soon learn, is in sickbay. In those same early moments, we get a nice montage of the bridge crew doing their thing - brief moments designed as introductions. It works well, but it's less effective coming 11 episodes in.
Second, while The Man Trap is enjoyable, The Corbomite Maneuver is an all-timer. It's a banger. Feels like a bit of a missed opportunity. The same kind of air v production order thing - but much worse - helped to tank Firefly decades later. TV networks never learn.
I agree about Shatner's work. In fact, I'll go so far as to say that literally every iteration since, whether it lampoons him or is an honest reinterpretation, like in the Kelvinverse films, seems to miss the very obvious notion that his is a contained, disciplined performance. The Kirk character exudes competence and order. Yes, Shat has quirks. But those are deliberate. He is magnetic and interesting on screen - all the time (if a bit of a dick to his co-stars).
I'm not too pleased with a lot of modern Trek. Lower Decks was tremendous. Strange New Worlds came out of the gate strong, but fell off. The rest? I dunno. The easy answer is it's moved past me and my late 20th century sensibilities. But, no. I still enjoy great sci-fi: The Expanse was the best thing on TV. Silo is fantastic. So many things to enjoy. No, the CBS+/Kurtzman era is just bad TV, mostly, and bad Star Trek absolutely.
But no matter where it goes, here's to 60 more years.
I am probably a minority, but I have rather enjoyed most all of the myriad of Trek series. Discovery was actually really good imo, although the concept of the 'spore drive' was kind of out there: faster-that-warp drive by harnessed giant space tardigrades was definitely out there.
I mean, people like what they like. And I'd never suggest my opinion invalidates another in any way. But I'm guessing we respond to different things. I'd like to know what you saw in it that worked, because I want to like it.
I have loved nothing more than I do Star Trek. I also have a particular skill set that makes me view movies and tv in a certain light. I'm a former actor, a theater director and I teach acting for film in small arts college. Not everyone sees the things I see or should even care about those things. People should watch the way they watch. But it has meant my relationship with certain Star Trek products is strained. Voyager was hard to get through. I only made it through two seasons of both Enterprise and Discovery. Picard, I did watch. But my love of Sir Patrick propelled me onward. I still didn't like it. No way in hell did I watch even two minutes of Starfleet Academy.
What kept you in there (and yeah, the spore drive didn't help matters)?
Jeffrey Hunter was one of the handsomest men god ever blew breath into, but it's hard to imagine him infusing the captain with the hammy rogue-ish charm that made the role for William Shatner. Sadly, Hunter died young of a head injury before the 60s were finished.
People have for years asked me, an atheist, why I don’t believe in God. My answer has always been, “For me, believing in God is like believing there’s a Star Trek episode I haven’t seen yet.”
I remember when the show debuted, even though I was only 5 at the time. My brother loved the show, and we had only one TV at the time, so if I wanted to watch TV when it was on, that was the show that I watched. I didn't love the show, but didn't hate it either. Another show debuting about the same time, was the one that I loved - "The Monkees," and I got the TV when that show was on. It's a good thing that both shows weren't on at the same time!
I loved the Monkees too. Only one left is Mickey Dolenz now.
Star Trek is the future we need but likely won't get as long as greed and bigotry grant so much power.
That was a problem even in the Star Trek universe
Remember that in the Star Trek “past,” things got bleaker than they are today. Humanity had to hit rock bottom