tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post3239462512984288394..comments2024-03-19T10:41:35.976-05:00Comments on Bronze Age Babies: Star Trek at 50: The Naked TimeDoughttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04248324005584963229noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-61954896705553051332016-04-23T04:51:50.947-05:002016-04-23T04:51:50.947-05:00This was the very first Trek I ever saw. You may k...This was the very first Trek I ever saw. You may know it was first broadcast in 1969 as a replacement for Troughton's Dr. Who in the UK, in a late Saturday afternoon time slot. It was clearly perceived as a kids show by the BBC but as a six or seven year old, I found it quite unsettling and occasionally terrifying ( especially The Man Trap and The Deadly Years).<br /><br />The image of the frozen scientists alone made this very different fare from DW- which, although it scared me too with a firing squad scene for the Doctor, some three months earlier, was not designed for adults then.<br /><br />Bruce Hyde's Riley is such an entertaining character. His lantern jaw and rubber limbs would have made for a great Ralph Dibny if there'd been a 60s Flash series. I hadn't realised he had died.Dougiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03965448821892833703noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-82430555885122669132016-03-10T05:42:35.549-06:002016-03-10T05:42:35.549-06:00You're absolutely correct Richard, 'City&#...You're absolutely correct Richard, 'City' was a huge success. <br /><br />But as we'll read in these future 'Trek at 50' columns, there were a lot of writer conflicts with Gene back then too.david_bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00218727673816200051noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-60085345000639083582016-03-10T01:28:41.705-06:002016-03-10T01:28:41.705-06:00Hi David,
I'm lost. I know Ellison had disp...Hi David, <br /><br />I'm lost. I know Ellison had disputes about re-writes, but I thought City on the edge of forever was a massive fan favourite and won awards? Back in the day, that one and the Menagerie were the ones I was always waiting for to comeback round again. <br /><br />RichardAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-55203374947245089912016-03-09T20:17:32.133-06:002016-03-09T20:17:32.133-06:00Thanks Karen for the wonderful suggestion. I just ...Thanks Karen for the wonderful suggestion. I just watched a few snippets on youtube of 'Chaos'. Interesting. <br /><br />I do find a nice sense of wonky charm in the first year..; in contrast, the second season's just as spotty in terms of quality story-telling, it's only **good** episodes I like are 'Measure of a Man' and 'Q Who', which typically both rank in most Top 10 Episode fan lists. By the 3rd year, nearly every episode was outright good and satisfying.<br /><br />Both Treks had their share of writer problems (Harlan Ellison, anyone...?), but luckily both rose above those issues as time went on.david_bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00218727673816200051noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-3455121012461296872016-03-09T16:13:58.059-06:002016-03-09T16:13:58.059-06:00David, I find the first two -maybe three-seasons o...David, I find the first two -maybe three-seasons of Next Gen to be almost unwatchable. There are a few decent to great episodes but most were terrible. I recommend the short documentary "Chaos on the Bridge" (it is on Netflix) all about the first few years of Next Gen, for some very illuminating interviews with the principals involved in the production.<br /><br />Richard, yes, 'No beach to walk on' was Kirk's lament while dealing with the effects of the virus. That's a great choice for a song title!<br /><br />J.A., thanks for passing on the Bruce Hyde info. I recall his passing. Riley would have been a fun addition to the crew. According to Cushman, Star Trek casting director Joe D'Agosta was directed by Desilu to find work for Hyde, as they had featured him in a pilot film called "Digby" that they hoped would get picked up by a network, and they wanted to keep Hyde close. (It wasn't picked up.) Another practice at Desilu, since they couldn't offer high guest star rates, was to sign an actor to appear on several of their shows. So they might offer them an episode of Trek, and an episode of Mission Impossible, and something else. Sort of a package deal! Actors were always looking for regular work, so it had an appeal. Karenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17032477453891087135noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-31197987415515457012016-03-09T14:13:29.249-06:002016-03-09T14:13:29.249-06:00A very good, very character-driven early episode. ...A very good, very character-driven early episode. I'm soooooo glad that mustache scene didn't occur. The FIRST rule for any major character is 'Never embarrass them, dignity always should be upheld.'. That would have been a terrible regretful scene.<br /><br />I mentioned Next Gen's 'The Naked Now' sequel-of-sorts last week. Oddly it was picked as the premiere episode in some markets for Next Gen since for a story like that to work, you need at least a few 'benchmark' episodes already shown in order to know just how the characters are **supposed** to act for that type of idea to work well. Hence why the original story worked good here for Trek (without the embarrassingly-terrible Picard speech at the end about everyone should keep maintain their dignity, blah blah blah..)<br /><br />Oh well, the rest as they say is history. david_bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00218727673816200051noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-50165085738256434432016-03-09T12:40:17.504-06:002016-03-09T12:40:17.504-06:00Yeah, this one's a classic. The personalities ...Yeah, this one's a classic. The personalities really start to gel here; too bad Riley didn't become a regular. "One more time...!"<br /><br />Mike WilsonAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-69152527523350980462016-03-09T11:05:55.305-06:002016-03-09T11:05:55.305-06:00When I watched these as a child, I always loved th...When I watched these as a child, I always loved the stills behind the end credits and imagining ‘wow, what on Earth is going on in THAT episode?’.<br /><br />I remember Spock with a big cheesy grin, that flower which turned everyone into hippies, Jim kissing the green alien lady (which, when I was little, I thought was the inter-racial kiss which caused all the fuss!) and above all, Sulu with a sword. They were sometimes a disappointment when you eventually got to see them, but this one really wasn’t.<br /><br />Correct me if I’m wrong here. A friend of mine, now sadly departed, wrote a sublimely beautiful song called ‘No Beach To Walk On’ (I mean, people who remember our band 30 years later still remember that song). I am sure he took that line from this, his favourite episode of Star Trek.<br /> <br />Richard<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-74476482027217915132016-03-09T08:55:59.999-06:002016-03-09T08:55:59.999-06:00Great episode! Nimoy wrote in his book about Spock...Great episode! Nimoy wrote in his book about Spock's breakdown scene. Nimoy had one shot at it due to time constraints, and nailed his one take.Garettnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-29357313293079355452016-03-09T08:29:07.962-06:002016-03-09T08:29:07.962-06:00Great episode, another great writeup from Karen. ...Great episode, another great writeup from Karen. I'd never heard about Takei's contribution to the story before now. I thought Bruce Hyde did a nice job as Riley too. Hardcore Trek fans will remember that Riley also appears in "The Conscience Of The King." <br /><br />Inspired by Karen's post, I did a bit of digging about Bruce Hyde and learned that he later got a PhD and served as chair of theater at St. Cloud State University. He passed away last year, here's short article about him:<br />http://www.sctimes.com/story/news/local/2015/10/15/former-scsu-prof-star-trek-actor-hyde-dies-74/74012044/J.A. Morrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15800901321134394272noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-22954504435767160492016-03-09T07:50:13.941-06:002016-03-09T07:50:13.941-06:00Love this episode, and damn! I really want to watc...Love this episode, and damn! I really want to watch it again after reading this. It's actually been quite a while since I've watched any of TOS (I should really look into finally getting the dvds or something...)<br />You're right, Karen, in that this episode really fleshed out the personalities of the various characters, and the way it was done in a single episode by having everyone become bit insane due to an infection was nothing short of ingenious.<br />You're also right about the negatives: they're hardly noticeable and even less memorable.Edo Bosnarnoreply@blogger.com