The start of TOS journey has started off with a bang!! I really enjoyed these two episodes and they were pretty good introductions into the show! The stories were pretty interesting and seeing everyone's dynamics play out for the first time felt truly special. Anyways, if you haven't checked it out I unveiled every episode of TOS that I will be watching on my community page :) Thanks for watching! Have a great day! :)
6:02 - Ollie, my friend.... the external FX are all CGI that have been added "recently". You're not seeing the original effects anymore. Frankly, I don't have a problem with how they did them, because they DO look like the originals.... but you can tell it's not the same (if you're a long time fan, that is). Up until First Contact, all of the Enterprise ships were actual models. The Enterprise - E was the first CGI Enterprise. Frankly, I'd love to see the original Battlestar Galactica get this treatment. Don't get me wrong, the visual effects were great for the time, but they re-used a LOT of stock footage to save money. 17:27 - I was "in the womb" when this show first aired..... so.... that "It's really old" statement kinda hurt, dude. :( 18:20 - About Spock's makeup.... Originally, they wanted him to be a greenish tint, but because most television sets in the US were still "Black and White", it came out looking.... shall we say.... "bad" (let's leave it at that). They were still playing around with different shades for him in order to look right. At the time, the concept of a "flat screen TV with the resolutions we have now" wasn't even in anybody's mind. Also, those little "cubes" you saw on the desk in the conference room were "Data Tapes". At the time, computers didn't even have microprocessors, and relays took up a lot of space. So, a typical computer at the time could easily take up an entire room, and had less computing power than the earliest smart phones. 34:39 - No idea why Paramount+ re-organized the episodes, but Where No Man has Gone Before aired before The Man Trap. Look at the original air dates as you go, and you'll see what I mean. Can't wait to see more of these, Ollie! And please do consider the suggestion I made above.
Do yourself a favor and watch The Corbomite Maneuver the same week as Space Seed. Corbomite Maneuver is the first episode filmed once the show got picked up, and it's easily one of the best episodes of the original series.
The must-see eps. of TOS are Balance of Terror, Space Seed (Khan), City on the Edge of Forever, Errand of Mercy (in which we first see the Klingons), Mirror Mirror, Journey to Babel, The Doomsday Machine (most suspenseful/cinematic), The Enterprise Incident (in which Spock seduces a female Romulan captain, it's hypnotic).
Make a fist. Stick out your thumb. Uncurl your first two fingers. Spread and uncurl your last two fingers. If all else fails, physically grab your first two fingers and seperate them, this is what most actors did to perform the gesture. If even *that* fails, get a one-size-fits-all glove and put your first two fingers in the glove's index finger and your last two fingers in the glove's middle-finger. Wear this for one hour each day till you are able to do it without the glove, then do it without the glove.
Actually, "Where No Man Has Gone Before" was a second pilot for the series, after the first pilot, "The Cage", was rejected by the network. It was filmed in 1965, when casting decisions were still very much in flux, which is why McCoy and Uhura were not aboard and Sulu was not yet at the helm. The next episode to be filmed was "The Corbomite Maneuver", which had the full classic cast in their familiar roles (except for Chekov, who didn't join the show until season 2). But when the episodes were scheduled for broadcast, the executives demanded that "The Man Trap" be shown first, since they assumed it would have the broadest appeal. The footage from the original pilot, which featured Christopher Pike as captain of the Enterprise, would eventually be repurposed as flashback sequences in the episode "The Menagerie".
You beat me to this comment however I would have liked to see his reaction to The Cage and the Where no man has gone before so he could contrast the 2 pilots
One small correction Mr Jeoff Trowbridge (what a name. Very unique), it was not a flashback episode per se. It was a detailed account videoed by the super aliens and played back by Spock himself on his court martial. A minor thing but I think it's important for the episode description. Flashback implies someone remembering something. Like that terrible next Generation episode where they drill holes in rikers brain and make him remember the past year in order to destroy a parasite that could have been eliminated if they had just chopped off his leg at the beginning of the episode. Then replace it with an Android leg in the next episode. Yeah the menagerie was not a flashback episode. But a story in a story episode.
Original footage, but the effects you are watching are not from the 1960s original, but remastered around 10 years ago, for streaming and DVDs/blue-ray
Others have probably mentioned this but the effects are updated on the versions now available on Paramount+, which was contentious with some fans. I personally think they (generally) did a good job. The original effects are still often impressive for the time (you can see them untouched in the credits for comparison) but there are problems like planets not looking like planets e.g. no clouds (because this was before we had good publicly available satellite pictures so we didn't know what they looked like!) and limitations in how much they could move the Enterprise model. There's a RU-vid channel that shows comparisons of the old and new effects for each episode (ie just showing the few minutes affected so you don't have to watch the whole thing again) if you search for it.
Many fans accept them, as Roddenberry would have used the modern effects if he could. Also, the effects were overseen by absolute Star Trek veterans (including Michael and Denise Okuda) who love the show as much as we all do. Second, are purist fans who outright reject them as unnecessary and slightly blasphemous. I’m torn right down the middle where I agree with about half the updates and cleanup effects, but the CG ship just doesn’t compare to the original model (which is on display at the Smithsonian.) I would have preferred a model as they did with many of the Mandalorian ship exteriors.
All other things being equal, I'm going to prefer the original version of a show, for historical context if nothing else. Also, in order for updated effects to really be an improvement, they need to both work with the rest of the show, not sticking out as incongruous, and not appear increasingly dated, themselves, as time goes by. If they were going to mess with TOS, I'd have preferred a lighter touch.
I always refer to Blade Runner: Final Cut as the precipice that all VFX updates/restorations/etc... should aspire to. When watching BR:FC, the audience would never be aware that anything had been updated. However loads of wire removal, digital face replacements, continuity cleanup, etc... all helped service what the movie became by the time it left the edit bay.
One thing I love about this show: the use of color. Remember when this show was made: 1966-69. Color television was still something that networks used to promote their programming, and with Star Trek they used in in abundance. The lighting in particular...lots of blues, greens, and purples in the background. It really gives the show a feel that is unlike anything since. The sets are certainly "cheap" but the aesthetic is a beautiful mix of futuristic aerospace and fantasy. If you liked these two episodes, you're going to LOVE what is to come!!!
BTS story: For the scene where "Green" is following Yeoman Rand with the food tray, the prop man went out to shop for a "futuristic" looking salt shaker. He brought back an assortment so weird that the director didn't think the viewers would recognize them as salt shakers. So he got a plain salt shaker from the cafeteria, but told the prop man, "Those things you have there... they're going to become Dr. McCoy's surgical instruments."
The actors who played Gary and Dr. Dehner both mentioned that the contact lenses that had that silver color were painful and difficult to see through, which is why they tilted their head upwards. That also gave them a look of superiority. "Where No Man Has Gone Before" was an unprecedented second chance pilot after the first was considered "too cerebral." Roddenberry promised an adventure series, basically a western in space, and the first pilot was not that.
It is generally thought that the woman that Mitchell steered towards Kirk ("I almost married her!") was much later revealed to be Carol Marcus, creatrix of 'Genesis'.
Ollie, you actually had it right - "Where No Man Has Gone Before" WAS the pilot --- the second one, after "The Cage" was rejected by the network as being "too cerebral". For some reason, however, the powers-that-be decided to scramble up everything and air the episodes in a different order from their filming. That's why the sets, costumes and makeup look different, and Bones isn't part of the cast yet. Once they got into filming the seasons, the look of the show is much more consistent. Since each show was its own self-contained story, airing them out of order in 1966 did little harm to the continuity.
Do not miss the episode “The Doomsday Machine!” It's not only prime ‘Star Trek’ with a great guest star turn from William Windom, but it also has a PHENOMENAL space opera score - as good as any for the theatrical features - by Sol Kaplan.
There's so much behind the show that people have lost track of that made it iconic. 1 Desilu (Lucille Ball) was the only studio that would produce Gene's show but they required Gene make it less brainy and more Western (aka fight scenes) so it would play nationally. 2 Vietnam was going on and forced enlistment was taking boys when they reached 18 and sent them off to war. 3 With each new arrival the new troops would recite as much as they could recall of the show to offer the ones there an escape. 4 Lucy was the one who originated the concept of "reruns" So the show went into an ongoing loop of replay so people ccould see what they missed. The show actually saved lives and the guys who returned found escape from the anti war protesters in this show. That's why it became embedded in the souls of so many in such a short time. It saved people rather than just be entertainment and it did it while teaching us to work together without prejudice.
@@mikejankowski6321 As a way to try to sell it to them. Most everything he did conceptually was to make it a thinking show. He promoted women like Majel being the #1 in the actual pilot and unifying cultures and races. It was the Hollywood machine that forced the redirects. He retried it in TNG with men in skirts etc and the Hollywood machine refused to allow it to go past the first season. But overall he was creating a way to unify people, not promote violence. That came from everyone else.
Another semi-regular character that you’ve already met was introduced in “The Man Trap”... Yeoman Janice Rand (the blonde officer). The same character was the transporter chief in “The Motion Picture” (during the transporter accident), was serving at Federation HQ in San Francisco in “The Voyage Home,” and was on the Excelsior bridge w/Sulu in “The Undiscovered Country.” 🖖
Yeoman Rand was supposed to be an important character on the show. Too bad she was written out...and was replaced by all these one shot yeomans (Mears, Barrows, Ross, etc) for the second half of the first season.
This was a great surprise. I haven't seen these in over a year, since they took it off Netflix. I look forward to the rest of your selections (which look like a good sample)
I was in the second grade when "Star Trek" began. Next to "Batman," it was the biggest talk of the school. I remember one kid who thought that the coolest thing about it was that the doctor was called "Bones." My family didn't get our first color TV until 1973, so I saw all the episodes in black and white. At that age, I thought "Twilight Zone" and "Outer Limits" were too creepy, and "Lost in Space" was too silly, but "Star Trek" hit all the right notes. I had the Enterprise and Galileo model kits, and a toy phaser/flashlight. During the third season, a book called "The Making of Star Trek" came out that had a lot of BTS anecdotes, and included an episode guide -- the first one I'd ever seen, for any TV series. I went to my first Trek convention in 1974, and I still have the program book. I'm a fan for life.
The episodes on Paramount are in airdate order rather than production order. “Where No Man Has Gone Before” is actually the pilot that sold the series. But the episode were not aired in production order.
I'm pretty sure this is a re-mastered episode with updated effects work. The original series didn't have a whole lot of camera angles for the Enterprise in flight, and of course they were re-used endlessly.
Recommend adding highly regarded The Corbomite Maneuver and award-winning Shore Leave. Most of the effects you're watching were remastered with CGI in the late '90s. Wish you could see the original effects they worked so hard on in the '60s, which were totally ground-breaking! The Cage was filmed in 1964 (which was re-edited as season-one episode The Menagerie), and Where No Man Has Gone Before in 1965. The series was picked up and started filming regular episodes in 1966. The first season 1 episode filmed was The (outstanding) Corbomite Maneuver, in which Uhura wore gold for the first and only time. Throughout the series, production order and airing order were often quite different. For example, the Nazi episode Patterns of Force was shot in early-to-mid second season but aired next to last.
The first pilot The Cage was filmed in 1965 but the studio thought it was too cerebral and they didn't jive with Jeffrey Hunter as Captain Pike so they got lucky and a second was ordered called Where No Man Has Gone Before featuring William Shatner as Kirk. After that an entire season was ordered and the studio requested more color so The Man Trap was commissioned introducing DeForest Kelley as McCoy and red, yellow and blue tunics debuted. Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Uhura, Scott, Sulu, Chapel and Rand (the blonde in red) made up the original cast. Rand disappeared about a third of the way through season one and Checkov was introduced in season two. Fun fact: in Star Trek II The Wrath of Khan Checkov states that he remembered Khan but Khan was in Space Seed from season one and Checkov didn't show up until season two so...paradox...unless Checkov was on the Enterprise in a minor capacity or he was referring to computer records about Khan.
Oh man having not seen any of these for so long, this was so fun to watch with you! My Dad grew up watching this show as a kid, and when I was a kid he made me watch them with him. At first I was like, man, I don't want to watch this old stuff, but it grew on me so much! Very excited to keep watching your Star Trek reactions. Your insights are really thoughtful.
The special effects in all the episodes were redone several years ago with current CGI technology. The original effects when first broadcast was much simpler.
By the way, this is the production order of the Season 1 episodes. Although they were filmed in this order, they were released or first aired based on the preferences of the network (NBC) and on the state of their completion. Example: the episode "Corbomite Manuever", the first 'regular' episode of the series, aired much later in the season because of the special effects demands of the storyline. Also, one thing to remember, while you can see character and cast changes in between episodes, there is virtually no continuity from one episode to the next. Very rarely do they reference stories which happened in the previous episodes. McCoy shows up with no explanation. Spock, Uhura, and Scotty change uniforms without explanation. That said, they did what they could to make these changes...logical. :) TOS Season 1 production order: The Cage (unaired pilot) Where No Man Has Gone Before The Corbomite Maneuver Mudd's Women The Enemy Within The Man Trap The Naked Time Charlie X Balance of Terror What Are Little Girls Made Of? Dagger of the Mind Miri The Conscience of the King The Galileo Seven Court Martial The Menagerie (Parts I and II) (reused footage from "The Cage") Shore Leave The Squire of Gothos Arena The Alternative Factor Tomorrow is Yesterday The Return of the Archons A Taste of Armageddon Space Seed This Side of Paradise The Devil in the Dark Errand of Mercy City on the Edge of Forever Operation: Annihilate!
Where No Man has Gone Before was the second pilot episode. It was the episode that convinced the network to green light the show for production as a series. They still hadn't got the "Look" of the show quite figured out in the episode. For example the uniforms and the main bridge screen.
Though they were aired out of order, Corbomite Maneuver occurs between these two episodes (it goes The Cage, Where No Man Has Gone Before, The Corbomite Maneuver, then the rest of the series).
I think the salt vampire was about telepathically putting illusions into people's minds/senses, as opposed to being a physical shapeshifter. Because that explains why all three guys saw a different Nancy at the same time. Ergo, it had the power of illusion, not actually morphing.
The women with the food tray was Janice rand who was in several in the movies. Most notably star trek VI where she was Sulu's first officer aboard Excelsior 😀
Uh...”Bones”? That’s not a dirty joke. It references an old term for country doctors called “sawbones”. Then JJ modernized it with Kirk giving him the nickname based on him saying that in, McCoy’s divorce, all his wife left him was his bones.
@@OzBaxter LOL, been a long time since you've seen the episode, hasn't it? I'm not talking about "Bones". I'm talking about _Nancy's_ nickname for him - PLUM. Cracks me up every time. Think hard. It'll come to you. 😂
I'm sure someone already explained this but... "Where No Man Has Gone Before" is the 2nd Pilot. "The Cage" was the 1st (before Kirk). "The Man Trap" was chosen to air 1st because they felt it displayed everyone's character.
A lot of the cool sci-fi things original Trek came up with were actually cost-cutting measures. How do you avoid having to film an expensive landing sequence for each planet? Have the characters converted to energy and "beamed" to another location, using a much cheaper visual effect How do you save the time and money of getting someone into all that alien makeup? Have the alien shape shift into human characters and just have regular guests play it. It's also interesting, if you see any videos about the model (Adam Savage's channel has one featuring it) it's only ever filmed from the right. The left side has all the wiring and that is kept out of sight of the camera. If they needed to show the ship going the other direction, they had special backwards decals they'd slap on and just reverse the images later.
"Where No Man Has Gone Before" was indeed the pilot. It was the 2nd pilot after NBC pronounced the 1st pilot, "The Cage," too cerebral for the general public.
The colored sticky tape looking things on the table are data tapes. Kind of like floppy disks, tapes of varying information are often seen being plugged into computers.
In the late 1960s blocks looking like that were referred to a 'bubble memory' and were very advanced for the time, cosiderd extremely safe from 'intrusion' as it was called, and so were standard for certain government aides and operatives. This was replaced by much simpler hard disks in the 1970s to 2000s, with solid-state memory only returning for smaller hand-helds like the devices usually seen today.
So the f/x are actually CGI that was added to replace the original filmed effects when the episodes were rescanned for HD. All of the original fx were shot on 16mm and it was decided that they wouldn't hold up to the HD scans. They can actually still be seen in the blu-ray releases of the series.
Nothing beats the original series, loved every minute of it when I was a kid. My favorite episode was “The Trouble with Tribbles” it was both fun and crazy !
Mine are "The Changeling" for drama, and "I, Mudd" for its humor. My least favorites are "The Alternative Factor," "The Lights of Zetar," and "Turnabout Intruder."
It took a few episodes to get Spock's features right. Yes, the make-up in this episode has a yellowish tint that later episodes changed. You will also notice the angle and precise contour of Spock's eyebrows changes and so does the contour and point-length of his ears. There was a negative public reaction to Spock's character looking too much like a "devil / Satan" with his cold, angular features. Spock's composure and absence of emotion also developed over several episodes. Spock raising his voice, showing anger, fear, amusement or any other emotion is rare, but that hadn't been established yet when some of the first episodes were filmed. Star Trek: Discovery and Strange New Worlds portray a slightly younger Spock and really do the character justice. Another thing that changed during the first several episodes was the color significance of the uniforms. However, the uniform color-coding also changes between TOS and TNG as well, and even Enterprise has its own "jumpsuit" dressing everyone in blue with divisions marked by colored piping sewn into the design.
These episodes weren’t two episodes apart. Here’s the production order. Paramount Plus has them in airdate order. (1) The Cage and (2) Where No Man Has Gone Before were pilot episodes. The series began with (3) The Corbomite Maneuver. (4) Mudd’s Women, (5) The Enemy Within, (6) The Man Trap, (7) The Naked Time, (8) Charlie X, (9) Balance of Terror, (10) Dagger of the Mind, (11) What Are Little Girls Made Of?, (12) Miri, (13) The Conscience of the King, (14) The Galileo Seven, (15) Court-Martial, (16) The Menegarie 1 & 2, (17) Shore Leave, …
"Where No Man Has Gone Before" was the pilot episode and was shot about six months before the series actually went into production which is why no Dr. McCoy and the different looking sets and costumes. It is the episode that sold the series to NBC. Gene Roddenberry had wanted Deforest Kelley for the doctor, but NBC said no. After they bought the series, Gene again asked for Deforest and this time the network agreed, and the rest, as they say, is history. NBC aired "The Man Trap" first because of the first five or six episodes that had been finished at that time, they felt it was the best introduction to the series. The actual first episode produced, after the pilot of course, was "The Corbomite Maneuver."
No, The Cage was the pilot episode. Where No Man was the _second_ pilot, an extremely rare occurrence. The suits liked the idea of the show but found the first one "too cerebral", and gave Roddenberry the chance to adjust it. WNM was more action-oriented and that one got the greenlight. If The Cage had been accepted, Star Trek would have been a very different show.
@Serai3 it was fairly common for a show to have more than one pilot. A network will like the idea of a show but ashamed issues with some aspects of the first pilot, or the producers will make changes to sell their show to a network. All In The Family had three pilots, reshooting the same script but recasting all the characters except Archie and Edith, before CBS bought it.
It was a PILOT, actually, the second pilot, the first pilot reappears within the only two-parter episodes later in the first season (The Menagerie). Paramount seems to be labeling the episodes as per air day, with the exception of what Paramount lists as #1 (the Cage) which was never aired as originally filmed during the series run. Only years later it was broadcast.
My brothers and I were kids when this came out! We were blown away! Thanks for your reactions, fun to see a young man react to our old time science fiction!
It might have made more sense to watch the original version rather than the modern CG-effects remastered, at least if the goal is to experience the show as it was. Though if it's just about experiencing the story, then it doesn't really matter if you just keep in mind that all visual effects were replaced with modern computer graphics.
I wish I could have watched it with the original effects but unfortunately in order to be able to record the video I need to use a streaming service (I am unable to record the screens of Blu-Ray's) so I had to go with the updated VFX version of TOS
You are seeing the remastered versions of these. The colors have been sharpened and the exterior shots are all redone digitally. The actual 'original' version, all the exteriors were made by miniatures. The creator of the show loved to sneak in social commentary whenever he could. In the late 60s, you couldn't openly talk about that stuff on TV.
It only appeared yellow on-screen the flek paint on Spock's face & the yellow uniforms were in fact green, but because it was early technicolor video they didn't quite get the green right so that it looked green on the old 1960s cinescopes. Instead of looking dull green, it looked dull yellow.
Where No Man Has Gone Before was the 2nd Pilot, but The Man Trap was the first episode aired, probably because DeForrest Kelly was not in the cast for the former and the latter featured him so it was a good way to introduce his character.
Not the original FX. This is the remastered version that replaced the original FX with CG. This is the second pilot. It used costumes from the first pilot that starred Jeffrey Hunter instead of Shatner. When the series was picked up, they redid the costumes and props and cast some of the actors you're more familiar with.
You have to keep in mind that these are not the original special effects from the 1960's. In the 2000's, Paramount refurbished the original negatives and re-recorded the score for each episode, even hiring a saprano for the opening theme! The special effects were re-imagined using CGI technology. The live action special effects remained unaltered for the most part with only a few exceptions.
Oh, by the way the shooting of the second pilot, where no man has gone before, almost didn’t go because they couldn’t find a cinematographer at such a late date in pilot season. There was a retired cinematographer who came recommended by someone on the management team. I can’t remember who recommended him. When interviewed this DP was asked if they would be familiar with any projects that he had been the cinematographer for and he replied, “Gone With The Wind.” For which Ernst Haller won the Oscar. So, this cinematographer worked on two of the most iconic productions of the 20th century. Gone with the Wind and Star Trek.
I should say, this cinematographer lit and photographed two of the most iconic projects of the 20th century. Not that he “worked on “them. That turn of phrase I used in the original Comment sort of devalued his contribution. He was an artist.
The trouble with tribbles (TOS Series 2 Episode 15) and Trials and tribble-ations (DS9 Series 5 Episode 6) are basically the same episode but they have replaced some characters from the Original scene with characters from Deep Space Nine and superimposed DS9 crew scenes alongside the scenes of the original episode scenes from TOS always a good reaction to both episodes for comparison
In "Where no man has gone before" they still have the sweater like shirts because they're on the tail end of an older era in Starfleet. With the newer era comes new uniforms, upgraded phasers, and small changes in ship design. The overall shape of the Enterprise remains the same, but there are subtle differences on the hull if you look close enough.
I just noticed at the beginning of scene two, they jump into a turbolift and within seconds they are on the bridge. That is the way it is supposed to work. For the rest of the series (TNG included) turbolifts do not move very fast at all.
The networks went with The Man Trap to launch this new scifi series because they, and the audience, were used to "monster of the week" anthologies like The Outer Limits! They honestly thought that monsters equaled science fiction!! 🤣 Star Trek changed that perception by bringing literary style science fiction to the screen for the first time: scifi, for the first time, became associated with thought provoking ideas & social commentary!
In a couple of ways, 'The Man Trap' is a one-off unique Trek episode that calls attention to the rule - 'normal conditions' present in other episodes, but not in this one: - McCoy, throughout the series, very consistently speaks his mind, usually without hesitation. He also very consistently is shown to have an informal, semi-intimate relationship with Kirk: Kirk will confide in McCoy, in a way that Kirk wouldn't with other crew members (which echoes Pike and HIS ship's doctor, Boyce.) Also, normally, McCoy talks with Kirk with a familiarity that other crewmen wouldn't get away with. (In the overwhelming majority of episodes, McCoy consistently calls Kirk, "Jim.") When Kirk admonishes McCoy in the early part of this episode, for McCoy's failure to give Kirk the answers he needs (and also because McCoy is distracted by thinking about Nancy almost to the point of unprofessionalism), McCoy registers this, and on several occasions, drops his normal informal style, and addresses Kirk as 'Sir,' which is not at all typical for him. - In every other episode of the series, the part of the ship where McCoy works, is called 'Sickbay.' In this episode only, it's called 'the Dispensary.' (The show had some 'growing pains' early on, where they were working out visual details, as well as terminology and back story. For instance, in 'Miri,' an early first season episode, Kirk refers to the exploration/military institution that sends out the Enterprise (and other starships) as 'Space Central.' That terminology was dropped (thankfully), in favor of the better terms, 'Starfleet' and 'Starfleet Command.' Interestingly, when Trek made the 'jump' from TOS to TNG, some of the terminology went 'backwards' (from more effective to less effective and more awkward, in my opinion.) In TOS, Kirk consistently calls the other ship personnel, "my crew." But, in TNG, Picard consistently refers to them as 'my staff' (as if he were running a boarding school. Sorry, Picard isn't Xavier!) In TOS, Kirk and crew consistently call squads that operate remotely 'landing parties.' In TNG, those same groups are called 'away teams' ...which is very awkward: why not call them 'recon teams' or 'op teams' or 'remote teams'?)
Spock's skin is supposed to be green. They used too much lime green makeup on him and so it looked yellow on film. On the old tube TV screen he looked pale. They fix his makeup over the years.
This is the remastered version which is why they look so good for the time. I've the blu-ray set where you can watch the original or the updated effects. As for TOS episodes I'd recommend I feel certain you'd enjoy: Mirror, Mirror A Taste of Armageddon Arena The City on the Edge of Forever
I would suggest that you also watch these three episodes: 'City on the edge of forever': A very well regarded episode 'The conscience of the King': A very dramatic episode 'Journey to Babel' Important character development for one of the major characters.
Regardless of when each episode aired, Where No Man Has Gone Before is still the second Pilot. The first Pilot was "The Cage" and it was rejected by the studio. Some cast changes were recommended then the second Pilot was filmed. Again, some cast changes were recommended along with some changes in uniforms, Spock's features, etc. When it came time to air the first episode, the decision was made not to air the second Pilot first, thinking that audiences might not connect as readily with that episode.
6:00 I don't know if anyone mentioned it, because there are 300+ comments, but you're watching the remastered version with upgraded effects, not the original effects.
Some people for some reason just can't manage to do the Vulcan salute. I've never had a problem but I've heard of plenty of people who struggle so don't feel too bad about not being able to do it.
I didn't read through all the comments, so maybe this has already been said... the exterior effects look good because all the episodes were remastered in 2006 with CGI effects. Love your reactions and so glad you're devoting so much time and detailed analysis to something so near and dear to my heart... 🖖
The special effects on TOS were redone in the past few years, and the episodes remastered. All the external/space/planet background shots you are seeing are not original, they are "new" CGI. That's why they look so good. They did put in great effort to not update them TOO much, and keep things like camera angles and movements the same.
Pilot doesn’t mean the first episode aired. A pilot is an episode created to show to the network to see if they will pick up (buy) the series. Star Trek had 2 pilots because the network wasn’t satisfied with The Cage. They seldom aired shows in broadcast order back in the day ( but they should have).
The colors in film are pretty crazy inaccurate. Data was gold but looked pale white. Kirk's shirt was actually avocado but it looks yellow. The ship interior looks red but it's actually orange. You have to paint things in neon colors to make anything look green (see the making of the Enterprise D planet crash FX) and so on.
As mentioned, the current streaming versions of TOS have newer exterior shots combined with the original interiors. So mixed content from several eras together, like Star Wars Eps. IV-VI, which to me are still Star Wars, Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi! Fortunately, more pristine originals aren't too hard to find anymore either, with Star Wars or Star Trek. Now if they'd remaster the 90s shows: TNG, DS9 & VOY !!
Those are not the FX of the time. The series was remastered with new CGI in the 2000's. Those of us who knew ST in its first incarnation can instantly recognize which shots are original and which aren't. And those smooth, beautiful space shots are definitely NOT from the 60's!
Paramount used CGI to fix the special effects that were "too cheesy looking". Gary Lockwood was cast as Dr. Poole in 2001 A Space Odyssey(1968). Sally Kellerman acted in the 1970 MASH film.
There was some remastering done which you can find at least some of the episodes with side by side comparisons on RU-vid but I don't think it was a huge difference, just made a few thing more crisp overall so what you watch is fairly close to the original for the most part.
The silver contacts at the time of filming caused both actors a lot of pain... We've come a long way. Also, if you're looking for other episodes where various entities have amazing powers, try Charlie X, Who Mourns for Adonis, By Any Other Name, and Squire of Gothos
About character deaths, they happen from time to time in the original series but LOTS of red-shirt dies, e.g. the season 2 episode The Apple. That one has a high body count.
There are so many Star Trek branches to enjoy. I would love to see full series reactions to all of them. Plenty of people react to the movies, several to TOS, but I rarely see series reactions to DS9 & Voyager which I would be interested in following. Also, Star Trek: Enterprise is an underrated gem, especially upon the introduction of the Xindi. I'm also a fan of Star Trek: Discovery, though I've only seen the first two seasons which I thought were action packed!
@RolyPolyOllie Reactions , I understand you will be only watching Select episodes, (I've watched star trek since i was around 5 ) here are a couple of recommendations : The Naked Time, Shore Leave, Balance of Terror, Space Seed (goes with Star trek 2 film) , The Conscience of the King, The City on the Edge of Forever, Amok Time, Mirror Mirror, Wolf in the Fold, The Enterprise Incident, Specter of the Gun, Day of the Dove, The Tholian Web, The Empath, Let this be your last battlefield, Requiem for Methuselah, Turnabout Intruder- there's a bunch from seasons 1-3
spock is depicted as yellowish because the Vulcans are supposed to have copper based blood rather than iron based, making their blood green and thus, tinting their skin, it would be tuned down later but is still somewhat present
It's great to see you getting into TOS for the first time. Your reaction is pretty spot on. If I may explain a few things here to contextualize what you've just seen (this may be a lengthy comment): "Where No Man Has Gone Before" actually was a pilot episode--the second pilot, in fact. At the end of 1964, the first pilot, "The Cage", was produced, starring Jeffrey Hunter as Captain Pike. It did it's job in getting NBC executives interested in the show, but they rejected it, feeling the pacing was too slow and fearing that the plot may be too intellectual for a potential viewing audience. But they were very impressed, so they gave the creator of the show, Gene Roddenberry, a chance to make another pilot in 1965 with the proviso that it should be more action-oriented, a woman can't be second in command and, by the way, get rid of the scary looking guy with the pointy ears. Jeffrey Hunter declined to be I the show any longer because he was a film star, not a TV star. So, having been familiar with William Shatner's rising status as a television actor with depth (based on his prior appearances on shows like The Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits, The Man From U.N.C.L.E. and The Lieutenant), the Shat was cast as Captain Kirk. A couple of other facts to also consider: back then in the sixties, "The Cage" cost $300,000 to produce and "Where No Man..." came in at just under $200,000; that was quite a lot of money for a TV budget back then. Also, TV shows weren't produced like they are today, where a production company tells a corporation about an idea, producing 10 episodes after the green light and instantly streaming it, waiting for audience reaction. In the sixties a producer or writer pitched an idea, produced a pilot film and then presented it to various network execs, then the interested network would buy the show. So, you've seen the second pilot where the creator/writer(s)/production team are figuring out how to pull this off--before NBC agreed to put the show on in prime time. That's why Spock looks so different and Sulu's the Ship's Physicist and not the helmsman, that's why the costumes look like high collar sweaters with badges stuck on. Another interesting fact as to why Spock over pronounced words with vowels or OR sounds is that Leonard Nimoy was originally from Boston. So, in order to highlight Spock's alien affectation, Nimoy decided to have Spock sound like he learned standard English from a computer, thus over-emphasising how he said his vowel by exaggerating his Bostonian accent. DeForest Kelley was not cast as Bones until NBC greenlit Star Trek as a series for the 1966-67 season (Gene Roddenberry originally wanted to cast Kelley as McCoy from the Get-go, but the production company, Desilu said, no, that guy plays villains in Westerns). As you will see from the first handful of TOS episodes, as the show started the producers and writers were still figuring out how to develop certain Characters. Some things still hadn't been nailed down just yet, for instance, Klingons and Romulans hadn't been created yet; concepts like Starfleet or The Federation hadn't been written, in fact, you might notice Kirk, Spock or Uhura or someone referring to "fleet command" or "United Earth Space Probe Agency"; Vulcans were sometimes called "Vulcanians"; The Prime Directive wouldn't even be written in as a plot device until three quarters of the way through the first season. However, I would say the first season starts off strong and features many wonderful episodes. The second season gets even better! There are a few clinkers here and there ("The Alternative Factor", "Catspaw", "Spock's Brain", anyone?) However, with all that having been said, for It's time, in the late sixties, Star Trek was one of the most expensive TV shows produced at the time, with each episode clocking in at between $110,000 to sometimes $150,000, which was unheard of. Some people have knocked it for looking "quaint" or "cheap", but If you compared it with other sci fi adventure shows that were on at the same time, like Lost In Space, Land Of The Giants or Batman, I think you'll find Trek to be superior to all of these. I hope you continue to enjoy Star Trek!
Glad to hear you'll be watching a few of the original series episodes. Since you've seen Star Trek 2 - The Wrath of Khan, i definitely recommend S1 episode 22 'Space Seed' which provides the origin story for the film.
Lucille Ball is the mastermind behind allowing Star Trek to come to fruition! She is the Mother of Star Trek -- Desilu Productions -- who was bought out by Paramount. Without Lucy, we would not have had any of the Star Trek universe!
Every visual effect you saw was a new digital effect done in the early 2000's for the restoration of the entire series. Most likely, almost every effect you will see in the show going forward are going to be digital. Some are better than others, but in many cases, they look dated and fake. Episodes with the original effects exist, but only on BluRay. I much prefer those.
