@@johnbockelie3899 I like to imagine that this happened right efter the end credits: Korax: "Captain! The Earthers just beamed a shipload of tribbles into our engine room! What do we do?!" Koloth: "Beam them right back...and aim for Kirk's quarters."
the think I really like about Kang, Koloth and Kor appearing in DS9 is how it establishes a continuity that connects the DS9 setting back to the original series. These three klingons all had, after their encounters with Kirk and his Enterprise, continued to exist as characters, developing friendships with Curzon Dax (stories that remain untold on screen).
Curzon Dax centered series when Paramount+? I want to see a young Ben Sisco and also Kang, Koloth, and Kor getting to know a certain cheeky Federation ambassador. Also lots of over complicated Federation and Klingon politics as well as more culture. I am a Star Trek fan, I'll never say no to more world building.
The shift from original-series Klingons to Next Gen always reminds me of the Voltaire song, "The U.S.S. Make-Shit-Up": "What happened to the Klingons? Remember in the day They looked like Puerto Ricans and they dressed in gold lame'; But now they look like heavy-metal rockers from the dead, With leather pants and frizzy hair and lobsters on their heads."
While the TOS Klingons were unambiguously villains, I do think it's important that there was *never* a time on Star Trek when the stories were just about an unproblematized war to wipe them out. The very first episode with them is the one where the Organians enforce a peace, and predict a future of a Federation-Klingon alliance.
John Colicos looks like he thoroughly enjoyed playing Kor. It's very hard to ignore that fiendishly sinister smile while emoting what physical atrocities would gleefully inflict on helpless captives.
It’s funny you mention those two, because of course you’re right that after Worf they are the most iconic TNG-era Klingons - but they both got their roles and shaped the writing of their character after by not playing a simple stereotype and defying the easy ways to write the era’s Klingons rank and file
Well ACTUALLY (hehe) Colicos played Baltar (I think his title was" Sire" as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve) He conspired with the Cylons and was spared by the imperious leader to be their "pet human" toadie. He is a great heavy. Fantastic actor.
Michael Ansara, meanwhile, is probably most known by people today as the voice of Mr. Freeze in the Batman animated show, but he was in a lot of tv, including a lot of westerns (eh, Lebanese, Native American, same thing, right?) and in the 1970s Buck Rogers as the evil Kane.
RIP John Colcos, Michael Ansara and William Campbell. Great actors and storytellers. We miss you. May you tell stories of your great deeds in Sto'Vo'Kor.
Can we talk about how quatrotriticale in Trouble with Tribbles is blue and in Star Trek 6 the cook aboard the Enterprise decides to feed the Klingon Chancellor and his entorage blue pasta? Checkmate Klingon Empire!
That sounds like exactly the sort of petty posturing that Kirk would sign off on with his attitude towards the Klingons going into that dinner. I love it.
I find it interesting that Day of the Dove is the only time in TOS that we see female Klingons. Even at the start Mara is not just eye candy. She's an intelligent and capable and strong individual. Just the sort of person you expect a captain to marry. A model for those we see in TNG and DS9.
The makeup design for Star Trek-TOS for Klingons was very questionable, almost boarding black face with hints of Asian features. However, I found myself hating design for Klingons more with each new incarnation in TNG, DS9, Voyager and Enterprise. We never got creditable reasons why changes were so drastic...Now they're looking like Ninga turtles, Yikes!!!
@@paulhunter6742 Well, I am completely opposed to your statement. I love the transformation of the Klingons, not only physically but culturally. Michael Dorn is and was the quintessential Klingon. Martok and Gowron, give deep and nuanced portrayals. As for the evolution in Discovery , I don't mind either, because Sci is change, even in Star Wars
Kor has always been, and may always be, my favorite Klingon, ever since I watched his debut on classic Trek. (Yes, I'm that old.) I tend to think of the actor's name being pronounced Co-LEE-cose. I enjoyed Michael Ansara's charisma as Kang, and I greatly appreciated Christopher Plummer giving General Chang his all, but for me Kor is a kind of tragically abandoned standard, a lost timeline of wickedly fun drama. (I do give Kang credit for "Only a fool fights in a burning house," a very useful proverb.)
Nah...It's pronounced COLL-i-cos, as evidenced by the variant spelling he sometimes used: "Collicos." The only person who pronounces it "Co-LEE-cos" is Sean Ferrick; and it's not a TrekCulture video unless the host mispronounces somebody's name.
Elaan of Troyius is an important Klingon episode for one reason only. It is the first appearance of the Komerex Stella - the Imperial Klingon symbol. You can see it on the wall in the background, although it is tilted to the right! The next appearance in in the animated episodes, where the symbol is clearly marked on the hulls of the D-7's.
Always felt that the TOS Klingons relied more on guile & deceit to achieve their goals. Later on they seemed more interested in direct confrontation and honor, sometimes (not always but sometimes) even at the expense of the goals. The only remnant of that old tactic of deception is the cloaking device. Agree that Kang sets the stage for that shift. Ironically, I think it's the confrontational Romulans who later adopt the principle that guile & deception are more effective than brute force. That sound accurate?
I think you're absolutely right. I think at some point the writers literally switched the Klingon and Romulan cultures. I mean, they even switched their ships around, giving the Romulan bird of prey to the Klingons. Probably the culture switch happened when they were writing a script that featured Romulans but then decided to use Klingons instead at the last minute. 😂
Yeah, that sounds about right. Incidentally there's a Star Trek novel that KINDA explains this--it happens not too long after the Enterprise episode where...the thing happens that makes some of them look more humanish, and it shows a wily, sly Klingon hostilely just takin' the hell over and putting in equally slimy underlings. I think it was part of the "Rise of the Federation" series. (If I remember correctly, it even had a scene where a sly female Klingon challenged a dude to a duel, then mid-battle, she flipped her shirt up to distract him with BOOBS! and stabbed him. XD)
@@bigmikebeebee It was one of the movies. The original script called for Romulans, but the Klingons had better name recognition. After that the two cultures were swapped: the deceitful, devious Klingons (cold war Soviet Union) became the honorable Romulans from TOS, and the Romulans became the sneaky evil ones.
Star Trek TNG Episode: Future Imperfect....Will Riker " You yourself have said it's always a chess game with the Romulans. Move - countermove, guile and deceit. "
This episode was something I clearly had been waiting for for a long time. I always even back in the 70's thought that it was weird how there was a Klingon Empire but they never talked about a Klingon emperor or aristocracy or the like.
In Tng the Federation kinda looks the other way on imperialism. The Kriosians are fighting for their independence, the Klingon ambassador is like “ In the old days we’d have crushed the rebellion, but now we’ll simply let them go we can always re conquer them later.” JLP is just like lalalala not listening. Thumbs in his ears..
To be fair, had "private little war" been written by the the Picard staff, the episode would have had no thematic connection to the Vietnam war, but one character would at one point stop, say "hey, remember Vietnam", and then continue on their way. Later, a showrunner would have tweeted how Star Trek continued to honour it's historic political edge.
Ah, you know how it is-a Redshirt dies, you just load up the pattern buffer from his last transport, and then boom! Good as new! Missing a memory or…a few, maybe, but what do you do?
I remembered there was a Klingon in A Private Little War, but I had totally forgotten what he looked like. I agree, though, when I saw the thumbnail of this video I saw him and thought to myself 'Wow, which one is that? That looks like the most stereotypical and best example of a TOS Klingon out of all of them!'
8:50 We've quoted/paraphrased Chang since first seeing ST VI - "I offer you/him/her/them peace AND YOU/HE/SHE/THEY BLATANTLY DEFILE THAT PEACE....". Terrific film, excellent script, superb acting. "Have you not a shred of decency in you - what's not to love?".
Looking back... The uber pacifist Organians basically went "enough of this shit. Make peace or rest in it". To a Klingon, who then backs down. There must be a moral in there somewhere. Something about a big stick perhaps...
I loved seeing these guys in the DS9 episodes that had them addressing the retcon "human" virus look and being their authentic Klingon hero selves. I like Jonathan Majors, as well. (Lovecraft Country was entertaining and I thought he did a really good job with that role.) A good Klingon? Yes. But a badass Starfleet captain or Number 1... HELL, yes!
The Trouble with Tribbles was always one of my favorite Star Trek episodes. Also, the Klingons were supposed to be the space villains, along with the Romulans, but I always liked the Klingons. In the Trouble with Tribbles, the Klingon spy Arne Darvin reminds me of a young John Lennon.
I think the same thing! Speaking of Lennon , that actor was part of a comedy duo that was on the Ed Sullivan show the same night the Beatles were on,February 9th 1964. They bombed terribly, he said. The Beatles were a tough act to follow.
That was REALLY a GREAT piece! Kor was always my favorite Klingon too. I think you really nailed the entire story of all three main heavies, from their characters to the circumstances and their places in the development of the larger story. I was so pleased that they cast John Colicos as Baltar in Battlestar Galactica; he did that character proud too. Too bad I could only give one "thumbs up", all the elements you covered were well done and well stated.
My God what a screen presence Michael Ansara had as Kang. I mean the big three, Kor, Kang, and Koloth were all great but that voice. Just incredible. My favorite line of Kang's is We have no Devil Kirk but we are well acquainted with the habits of yours. Too bad TNG had to go and f*ck that up. There are other continuity threads sprinkled throughout the original series. Like in Day of the Dove. Kirk orders Sulu to take some others and recapture engineering. Why? Because in The Naked Time we learn that Sulu is skilled with bladed weapons. Also the energy creature that feeds on violence is similar to the energy creature in Wolf In The Fold that feeds on terror. Plus the line that Spock says in that episode referencing the title is similar to that of Kor's in Errand Of Mercy about two rams among the sheep. There are other examples of these little continuity threads, almost gossamer like if you will, but you'll just have to wait for my next video to see what they are. 😉😎 Gossamer was the name of the hair monster in Bugs Bunny. Monsters lead such interesting lives. Just tossing that out there.
Captain Kang in command of a IKS K'T'inga Class battle cruiser "Ah Mr. Sulu. I see they have finally given you the Captaincy you so deserve." Captain Hikaru Sulu USS Excelsior NCC-2000 "Why Thank you Kang." Captain Kang:"Do not let it end Prematurely."
We see a little of the Klingon ruthlessness and cunning in Elaan of Troyius when they first try to get the Enterprise to blow itself up after some initial sabotage, and then outright threaten Kirk with destruction if he does not unconditionally surrender. I believe the reason we see a Kahless so different in TOS and TNG is that we are seeing him as he is regarded in Kirks mind, and drawn as such by the Excalbians, and not his actual self.
In the Star Trek V novelization (yes, I read it), General Korrd was Krell’s brother-in-law. It was the only reason Klingons were dispatched to Nimbus III, otherwise they would’ve ignored the situation just like the Romulans did.
I do love TOS Klingins or was that Kling-gons? Has anyone else noticed when Kirk slams Chekov against the bulkhead, you can see hand prints of Mara's makeup left on the wall. 🤣
Hey Steve! I know you're not the biggest fan of Lower Decks, but you're really good friends with Jessie Gender and she's gotten really close with the cast and creators of the show. If you were given the chance would you take a minor role or cameo alongside her on Lower Decks? I am picturing you both as ensigns: Jessie as a chipper Caitian, and you as a grumpy Tellarite.
You kow what's great about DS9 writing? I had not realize that the klingons in blood oath and in the sword of kaileth were the same klingon as in TOS. I only realized it when Steve pointed it out. The episodes are great, they make note that the klingons are old and were highly respected at some point. And then tell a great story. They don't need to go *wink wink* it's the klingons cameo to make the episode enjoyable. Great job DS9
Kang, the Klingon commander in Star Trek "Day of the Dove" (the original series), became so iconic in American culture that one of the two Space Mutants, recurring characters in "The Simpsons," is named Kang. The other mutant is also named for a Star Trek villain, human Kodos the Executioner, from "Conscience of the King."
If I recall some TOS lore correctly, the original TOS Klingons looked that way because they were 'fusion' Klingons, half-Klingon/half-human (or Romulan, or Vulcan, or Romulan) that were seen as undesirable embarrassments to the Empire, so they were regulated to border patrols while the 'Imperia' strain remained in the core worlds of the Empire. The creed then was "All Serve The Empire", so they were allowed into the KDF, trained & then sent to the borders....out of sight, out of mind. (This was accepted into the lore to explain why these Klingons looked so humanoid, as make-up effects are still quite expensive). The RPGs from FASA at the time reinforced this.
That was FASA's in-game lore to explain the differences in appearance between TOS and movie timeline Klingons, but was never official canon. FASA had licenced Star Trek, but only had access to the original TOS and arguably the movies, and they wanted to expand their in-universe background to allow play into other areas like Starfleet Intelligence, Merchant services and playing as Klingon and Romulans as part of their respective empires. When they attempted to expand their game into the Next Generation - they put out a sourcebook for TNG with their own ideas like Federation Marines - they lost their licence or CBS/Viacom/Paramount declined a licence renewal. Canon for the appearance difference was established in _Enterprise,_ as a misbegotten Klingon attempt to use augment genetics (the whole Khan Noonien Singh/Eugenics Wars from the TOS episode _Space Seed_ story) to create super-warriors, resulting in a deadly virus that spread throughout a Klingon colony, that the Empire would have annihilated if a Klingon scientist, enlisting the help of Dr. Phlox from the Enterprise, hadn't come up with a "cure." To contain the virus, the treatment had to be administered Empire-wide, but the side effect of the treatment was the cosmetic change to the TOS appearance. Canon Klingons would *NEVER* accept gene splicing with other races to become hybrids as an official policy when dealing with the Empire's enemies. The inter-racial mixing and marriages of TNG are an individual choice and the children of such unions would be pressured to follow Klingon ways to be thought of as "true" Klingons. Honorary status as such would come from being accepted into a Klingon's House. [Edit: so long as they "looked" Klingon: Ba'el the half-Klingon, half-Romulan from TNG's _Birthright pt1&2_ would not because of the long enmity between Klingons & Romulans.] To reconcile the canon lore with FASA's in-game lore, it could be said the Klingon's with the greatest change in appearance "lost" honor and were relegated to border holdings and duties, and would explain things like the differences in complexions in the characters seen on the show. The ones with the least honor were stuck with Romulan border duties & holdings, and if they already had such "low" honor, what more is lost with further cosmetic changes to help engage in infiltration, and aid in immersion into an enemy's way of thinking? Eventually, Klingon scientists would develop a permanent cure and the whole mess was swept under the proverbial carpet (when Worf tells O'Brien, Dr. Bashir & Odo "we do not discuss it - it is a long story" in DS9's _Trials and Tribble-ations_ 100th episode). It could also be some part of the backstory of the House of Duras, which could have been one of these Houses relegated to the Romulan border and explain the influence the Romulans had with that House. [EDIT2: And who in the Empire would bring that up about the House of Duras, since the augment incident was a shameful time for the Empire and best forgotten. By the time of TNG, they had become a powerful & influential House with a seat on the Council, possibly the result of "successes" against the Romulans, whom we know play the long game and easily could have arranged wins for that House in return for "friendship".]
@@thedocklighter in canon Klingon did splice their dna with augment himans . it was a multi eposode plot in ST enterprise . section 31 sold them some of khans dna and they designed a retrovirus to tey to make augment Klingons . it disnt work and section 31 had to kidnap phlox to find a cure . honce the klomgons we see in tos are human dba altered but its Khans dna
I'm glad that Enterprise tackled the subject head on, and explained that their attempt to create augmented super soldiers using human DNA and the resulting plague is why the Klingons of TOS look the way they do. Good retcon, and great 2 part story, in my opinion.
I just noticed something I hadn't previously noticed. Kang has a "mirror universe" agonizer on his belt. Now I realize that props are often reused (cough NOMAD cough cough), but from a head canon POV, it makes sense. If everything in the mirror universe exists in some form in the prime universe, then agonizers would exist as well, and it would make the most sense that Klingons would have them.
I have a deep and abiding love for TOS's Klingon War arc. It helped make the world feel like it was expanding, and that despite the weekly craziness of the Enterprise there was a real historical series of events happening in the background, negotiations and tentative reaching out of hands.
That is an absolutely improbable (in fact, idiotic) idea. Don't you remember the Organians saying "We find interference in other people's affairs quite disgusting" (?) Don't You remember the Oregonian saying "The mere presence of beings such as yourself is intensely painful to us" (?) Don't you remember the entity in Day of the Dove growing STRONGER from the presence of conflict(?) The Organians have a very powerful ability to create illusions, if the entity in Day of the Dove were an Organian, why did it not use that power to conceal itself (?) Laziest and worst speculation I've heard in a while. No doubt it came from a TNG fan (😉)
In the episode "A Private Little War", it was obvious to this little pre-teen child of the analogy to the Vietnam War. Most likely, someone in Standards and Practices was either pencil-whipping, or let it go because of personal feelings. Regardless, the suits definitely knew when the feedback started the next business day. A tidbit about Michael Ansara. He was married to Barbara Eden, and the script writers for "I Dream of Jeannie" wove some inside jokes about that into the show. For that show to have an Arab to portray a Middle Eastern character was not common for that time.
I remember Kras, mostly because he was played by Tighe Andrew and because he was underhanded and a bit of a sniveling coward in Friday's Child. I also liked how Julie Newmar pronounced Klingon as Klingen. It gave her character a bit of alienness.
The lack of so-called "continuity" in TOS was why the Romulan Empire existed. The writers either forgot or didn't care about the word "Klingon" and instead invented another bad guy alien race, the Romulans.
Canadian Colicos (Kor) would later be the human traitor Boltar in Battlestar Galactica. Campbell was in two episodes (Squire of Gothos being the other). I didn't see many episodes of DS9, but I did see Blood Oath and really enjoyed the Klingon reunion.
Once More Unto The Breach, was extremely enlightening. Da'har Master Kor exhibits the true Klingon heart even in his old age. The description by the Klingon female bridge officer of his final moments in epic battle to buy time for his fellow warriors, earns even the respect of Martok, the Klingon who most despises him. It leaves his heroics to the imagination of the viewer of the episode. Well written. Reminds us of the Kor of TOS.👍😀
Amazing. You managed to pick two great canadian actors. John colacos and christopher plummer. Both classically trained as was shatner. It shows in their work. They are remembered because they are true. Patrick stewart is also classically trained. It's amazing how shakespeare and theater are still relevant today. Leadership is earned and even today it is earned on the board in theater. And it shines through on film and t v. The only other actor who could match these men in sdatcher and character on the screen was ricardo montalbon.
I like Coors light. I bet he'd be a good drinking buddy! When the organian leader tells Kirk and Cor that there will be no war Cor's reaction is priceless...."you are what!!!?" " What happens in space is none of your business!" Love him ❤😂😂😂😂😂
The Organians prophesied future peace between the Federation and Klingon Empire that started in Star Trek VI the Undiscovered Country . The Khitomer peace accords then the battle of Narendra 3 where the Enterprise-C was destroyed protecting a Klingon colony from a Romulan attack that solidified a Alliance between the Federation and Klingon Empire in the TNG era.
Your comparison of Kur (John Colicos) and Chang (Christopher Plummer) is apt, if only for the upbringing and education of the actors, for they were both Canadian, like Shatner and James Doohan. You write Kor as the lead Klingon's name, but I always heard it as "Kur". The reason the latter is more appropriate is that, in Romanian at least, Kur means "ass".
Love the great character actors. Colicos got a lot of notice as the bad guy in original "Battlestar Galactica," but had a juicy role in "The High Chaparral" ep. "The Journal of Death," which also featured Morgan Woodward of Kirk-Trek excellence. I just revisited the Tige Andrews Kirk-Trek, which is distinguished by a remarkable performance by Julie Newmar. Did you mention that Campbell was also "The Squire of Gothos?" only second to Harcourt Fenton Mudd as thorns in Kirk's side? Finally, Ansara, most underestimated in the "should have been a bigger star" category, in my opinion. He brought wonderful gravitas to a better-than-it-oughta-been movie: "The Manitou."
The actor that played the truly forgettable Klingon that was as far as I could find in my research was simply scripted as Klingon Ship Captain, was played by the actor Kenneth Lavelle "K. L." Smith. He was an actor that played the heavy, on a lot of westerns and tv shows like Gilligan's Island, and bit parts. He was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma in 1922 and passed away to go to Sto'Vo'Kor in 1981. He lived in San Diego then. Anyway further research from information that I have gleaned from Romulan Spies have reveled that the captain of the Klingon D7 IKS V'Fornath which threatened the Enterprise during the mission that it was on to transport The Dolem of Troyius to her arranged wedding, was in fact Thok Mok whom is the great uncle of Lt. Worf, and the brother of Colonel Worf (Lt. Worf's) biological Grandfather, and the Father of Mogh. The Irony here is that Colonel Worf would act as a defense attorney for Capt. James T. Kirk and Dr. McCoy years later.
The bestest 3 Klingons were played by exceptional actors who knew how to take a smaller part and make it epic. John Colicos generally played a person who had some slime and deception in his heart. I loved seeing his name in any shows' opening credits because I knew a bravura performance was going to be had. He mastered the art of deception (except my mother would have immediately pegged him as bad). I always thought he brought a special and unique quality to his roles. Michael Ansara unfortunately lived in a time where "ethnic-looking but good looking" actors were often confined to nonleading man ethnic characters. He SEEMED to accept that fate and would do a stellar job with what he was given. I have read that all was not well in the Barbara Eden/Michael Ansara household and that their son became a drug addict and commited suicide. And, yes, his makeup artist on Star Trek should have been put in the transporter and beamed into another galaxy. William Campbell was the once upon a time husband of Judith Campbell who was JFK's and Sam Giancana's Liz Taylor lookalike girlfriend. "Billy" had been picked out by a Hollywood agent to be one of the stars of tomorrow. But his star faded and his career became playing supporting roles. As a result we got him in Star Trek as the oily Klingon and the spoiled little boy, the Squire of Trelaine, who just wanted to play. And, frankly, those were two of Star Trek's best written, best acted, and best remembered characters. Let me give a shout out to Susan Howard who endured the Crisco Oil makeup along with Michael. Just some blotting tissues or even Kleenex would have stopped the drippage. Susan went on to play a pretty long role in the series Dallas where her makeup artist knew what he was doing and made her look GOOD. I should know because he even made ME look OK.
The ONLY way TOS could get produced today is if the entire crew, staff, production team, talent and writers room were stoned, Queer comedians. Anybody notice that giant drop of hair dyed sweat, rolling down the right side of Kor's head? Damn, he was a camp Ham!
I still remember A Private Little War and culled one of the lines--sort of--for a novel I wrote (Thread Weaver). "We match their evil." Not my favorite episode, but it was good.
As a black woman who fell in love with TOS after TNG sucked me in the 90s. I'd tried it previously but had been scared by the space spots invading the plant. The black face completely bypassed me. Maybe because it had actually black actors in parts. Aside from uhura I'm thinking of Dyson guy. And now looking at it with the knowledge of now, I can give it a pass, I think it was asking to much of 60s America to have there hero having a draw with a black captain or to have a successful black empire that represents a threat to starfleet. Maybe that might actually undermine everything else they were doing with their diversity.
@@wesleywyndam-pryce5305 true. I wonder what orange or purple make up would have looked like on 60s tv. I wonder if I'm only giving them a pass because I love tos so much. Do I have to throw out my love for a thing because certain elements don't pass the sniff test? The questions posed by life🤔😁
The Klingons were greenish, with tones ranging from light to dark and in between, just like humans. Kang being so dark never struck me as an indictment by way of skin tone. He was an accomplished captain, a worthy adversary, and ultimately a reasonable man capable of making peace. Dr. Daystrom was also brilliant and HIGHLY accomplished in his field, critical to Federation success, and possessed of great morality. He was a person to admire and possibly emulate in those regards, and his downfall only came when his creation's performance pushed him over the edge. (Which was brilliantly acted.). Star Trek did pretty good for the 60s.
One of those Klingons, Koloth, looks suspiciously like Trelane. I wonder if Trelane has been spying on Starfleet secretly. He does have a power very similar to the Q.
