As of this morning, I’m four episodes in of “Star Trek: The Original Series” and early on I can honestly say – I really like it!
I think it’s really easy to get into this show because I am very familiar with the format and with all of the main characters. Even the whole idea of Science Fiction and traveling to distant planets is a very common thing in today’s entertainment world. But I wonder how people looked at it then. In the 60’s did people look at this show in utter amazement? Was it seen as something very unique and original – something they’ve never seen before?
In any event, even though this original show was on television the decade before I was even born, I really don’t find it that dated. Sure, seeing all the female crew members in short skirts is one thing – and I bet when it originally aired seeing female crew members at all was a big deal – but for the most part I have had no trouble connecting with the characters (again, easy because I know them) and the stories.
Here are a few things I noticed from these last two episodes.
- In “Where No Man Has Gone Before” Spock looked different. His eyebrows were weird and I think his skin had a more yellow tone. This makes sense in that it was originally set up as the “new pilot” episode of the show – after the original pilot was rejected. But the fact that it was aired out of order threw me for a loop when I first saw him.
- It was also nice to see Scotty and Sulu in that episode – but no Bones or Uhura, so I guess they weren’t originally part of the show?
- I don’t care how many years past, I recognized Sally Kellerman the moment she started talking. That voice is unmistakable
- If I’m correct, it appears that Scotty and Sulu weren’t really featured until “Naked Time” – in which a sword-wielding, shirtless Sulu steals the show. Fantastic.
- I also like that they seemed to have accidentally discovered time travel. Opens up things for some interesting possibilities.
- I think in a previous episode Spock makes reference to having a human in his ancestry, but in “Naked Time” he mentions that his mother is human. Am I right? Also, it was nice to see him with some emotions. I thought this wouldn’t happen for a while – but nice character development.
- Again, the lighting director of this show is genius. Every shot of Kirk looks so dramatic.
- And I think I’m watching the remastered version of the show from Netflix. Some of the special effects look way too good for the 60’s
All and all I am having a really good time so far and none of these episodes feel like they’re dragging. I’ve watched primarily on my iPod Touch during my train rides into Boston in the morning – makes them go by nice and fast.
I don’t think I’m going to use this site to go over each episode, but instead update things from time to time (like I have been doing) and also throw in little things I’ve noticed and enjoyed along the way.
Next up for me – “The Enemy Within” – Stardate 1672.1
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