For it's time, this was not really overacting. It's THEATER acting! You have to understand - many actors of the time did at least as much work if not more in stage acting and Broadway. Many episodes of Star Trek could translate readily to stage plays with a little bit of work. There's a reason why both William Shatner and Patrick Stewart came from Shakespearean training on the stage. A little bit of "projection" to reach the back row of the theater was par for the course. It's a markedly different style of acting than we're used to today. And must be taken on it's own merits and accounted for. Don't think of it as "corny". Understand the times it was made for.
@@TimThomason I might buy that if any other human said it. But this is McCoy. Spock knows when McCoy is insulting him and he picks and chooses when to engage in a battle of wits.
For a one-episode character, you gotta admit, Mr. Cogley OWNED this episode!! I'm surprised they didn't spin him off onto his own "Space Court" series.
@@jturner7771 I guess it's a big universe, but I certainly saw shades of Mr. Cogley in #1's originally reluctant defense attorney. She OWNED SNW S2E2 in similar fashion, and she earned every bit of NCC-1701 bridge crew's applause. I agree it would have been nice to see him, or at least to hear him mentioned as a colleague, a mentor, or in the SNW timeframe, possibly a mentee to the lady lawyer.
The actor portraying Capt. Kirks attorney, should be conferred an award for his performance in this scene. The segment in which he argues human rights is so powerful.
Though I agree, Elijah Cook Jr. had such difficulty remembering his lines that his speech, and other segments of his lines had to be edited together from multiple different shots.
The reason this show is one of the greatest of all time? Insanely good writing, ridiculously lucky casting in Shatner, Nimoy, and Kelley, and some of the most imaginative world-building in all of television and cinema.
Kelley was no accident. He was the 1st person CHOSEN by Roddenberry for the series based on earlier experience with him dating to 1959 on another project. Kelley chose the role of Bones after Roddenberry told him about the 3 leading characters.
agree & if i may add one hottie after another & most of them played serious parts not just eye candy which im sure is 1 reason why most women liked this show
I suspect that Roddenberry drew upon some of the social consequences of WWII (loss of personal rights and freedom versus duty). It may explain, in part, why the series was so good, as the war was then a recent memory and the consequences lingering.
The Original Series was so ahead of its time. I think it still holds up today. I mean, you can definitely place it as being made in the 60's, but the stories and acting were great. So much more human drama and depth than the Abrams abominations being made today.
What's sad is NBC execs didn't understand the quality of this show and didn't like it.NBC put the on Friday nights to get it cancelled. Friday nights was the worst time slot for a TV show. That's when most people would be out of the house and do something besides watching TV. The show still lasted the whole year though and they still cancelled it. What the dumbasses didn't understand was it had a fanbase that kept it on the air.
6 лет назад
And to think. Much technology from Star Trek actually became reality, whereas anything from either JJ Abrams, or even George Lucas could never become reality. Star Trek is actually the thinking man's Sci-fi.
Excellent scene with the late Elisha Cook (really underrated actor) portraying Mr. Cogley. "I speak of rights! A machine has none - a man must!.... I ask that my motion be granted. And more than that Gentlemen, in the name of humanity fading in the shadow of the machine, I demand it! I demand it!"
Al Cd The scene you spoke of really moved me. It was a great episode even though my brother and father said It's over acting.We do have rights! Never forget that!
@@Zoras88 Data would fall under the category of man, not machine, in Cogley's rant. I think Cogley himself would be the first to admit that sapient androids were not 'machines.' He always struck me as being at least that flexible.
Most spectacular use of of Spock's logic was in Spectre of the Gun at the end where Spock reframed their entire experience as unreal and saves all of them from certain death.
it was an off the cuff remark from Kirk that gave him the idea. The scenes that follow this were interesting also. using the masking device to reveal a single heartbeat.
@@Chuck_Hooks that was an awesome episode... "the bullets are not real!!!", lets try this on me now.. "my bills are not real, they can not hurt me!" LOL. XP
Y'know, I've never been what you'd call a sci-fi or even a Star Trek geek-except when it comes to the original series. For lack of a better word, there's a "magic" the first show had that is yet to be duplicated, at least for me, in ANY show before or since. Flipping through the channels or surfing RU-vid, I can ALWAYS watch Trek; never grows old or dull or dated or fails to beam me right back to my childhood. This was a case of simply having a setting-in this instance a sci-fi one-and a cast of characters that lent themselves to telling great stories with drama, action, comedy, social/political/cultural/historical commentary, nods to film, literature, folklore, myths, you name it. Whatever the creators wanted to talk about, whatever message they wanted to convey, whatever genre they wanted to tackle, they could just go for it because, hey, it wasn't the "real world"; it was Star Trek. Brilliant stuff that makes me go: "THIS-this is what good storytelling is all about!"
To each his own opinion but I think Picards speeches on TNG matched moments like this but overall the entire feel of the show, yes I agree it does seem that something was lost in all television between late 60s and late 80s.
Amazing that he also starred as a hitman in "The Maltese Falcon", with Humphrey Bogart and Mary Astor. If that's not breadth, scope, and longevity in an actor, I don't know what is!
I saw an interview with Shatner in which he said the Star Trek weekly budget is what the studios spend for cast and crew meals today. They did some amazing things on a shoestring.
The average $186K/episode budget would be considered a shoestring today compared to modern studio costs, but back in the 1960s it was huge for a television show.
The only thing wrong is that Samuel T. Cogley, Attorney at Law hasn't been born yet. If he were: COGLEY for PRESIDENT 2020! (I'd volunteer to campaign for him...!)
MasterTypoDemon....Before JAG officer Louvois ruled Data as a Sentient, not just another machine, machines in general did not have rights. It took a judicial ruling to give a certain type of machine the rights enjoyed by other Sentient Beings.
Mr.Cogley's demand for justice still resonates for me as one of the greatest speeches in cinematic history, on par with Charlie Chaplin's final speech from ' The Great Dictator.' Beyond inspiring!!!
@@marccolten9801 Teri Garr, Gary Lockwood, Joan Collins, Frank Gorshin, William Marshall, and Jane Wyatt to name just a few in the original series. Also since when did other shows and the number of guest stars they had have to do with anything the OP said? I'm sure there were LOTS of shows with more and higher list guest stars, but none of them invalidate what Daffidavit commented.
This is brilliantly done, speaking to the audience with intelligence, but putting story and understanding over the reality of the situation. One of the many, many reasons why this show is among a very small group of brilliance in all forms of television. Like pizza, when it's bad, it's still pretty good. But when Star Trek is good (a premium example right here), it's alchemical, and opens minds.
Some of the episodes were just pure schlock (Spock's Brain), but then others where just brilliant. 'Court Martial' was definitely Star Trek at its best.
If you watch Spock's Brain as a Mad Magazine parody of Star Trek it is actually enjoyable. Just don't show it to a potential new fan until they have seen all other episodes.
Imagine: - On that question doctor, logic didactes that both the captain and the ship computer can't be right simultanously. - What do you mean mr Spock ? - Precisely this doctor. Only three persons on this ship can alter the computer's databanks. The captain, myself and mister Finney (sp?). - But it's only a possibility Spock, there are other options. - True doctor, we need a mobile.
I agree and as a multi degreed Computer Engineer I was just thinking the same thing....even more prescient today that a year ago when you made your comment.
I'm glad you're here to tell me these things. Of course he got off, no thanks to Cogley. The prosecutor presented several witnesses. Cogley didn't question any of them, let alone try to undermine the argument of the prosecutor (that Kirk was either incompetent or actually murderous). Then, when asked to present his own case, he had NOTHING, only Kirk's statement. He rested his case BEFORE Spock handed him the answer. It was SPOCK that saved Kirk, not Cogley. Worst. Lawyer. Ever.
I expected to see him do SOMETHING. McCoy is on the stand saying it's possible Kirk came to hate Finney (hypothetically). Why would Cogley not ask for McCoy's expert opinion of whether it was LIKELY, given what he knew about Kirk? Why would he not ask Spock the same question about Kirk's competence? The prosecution had a video of Kirk pushing the button, but that wasn't the case she was making. She was suggesting that Kirk panicked... or that he hated and murdered Finney. Neither assertion had anything to do with the video, which only showed what Kirk did, not WHY he did it... and that was the prosecution's case. Cogley did nothing to challenge either assertion.
The Doomsday Machine was one of the best episodes in TOS. William Windom was awesome as the unhinged death-wish commodore with the Captain Ahab complex, and the thought of such a device cruising around the galaxy devouring whole worlds left an unsettled feeling with me, to say the least...
I would have to agree. That was one of the most intense episodes ever. If you had never seen it before, it would definitely have you on the edge of your seat. I’ve probably seen that episode a dozen or so times myself and I can still feel that intensity.
Damn! I've been watching STD out of morbid curiosity. This clip was like a blast of pure oxygen to a drowning man! I'm getting my TOS blu rays out tomorrow!!!
@@Simpleburger1968 Spock is half human. His surface consciousness is the logical part while his subsurface consciousness is his illogical part. Not always seen but still there.
A very Happy 90th Birthday William Shatner. Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, Montreal, Quebec. March 22, 1931 Born in Canada, But a U.S. treasure. Your legacy is worldwide. Thanks Tiberius..
Yes, forgive me if this sounds paranoid but I have to wonder why we aren't at an already further advanced state. All over the world we have scientists, engineers, programmers and dozens of other fields working on different AI/robotic projects from motion to function and looks to self-awareness, why hasn't someone decided to bring several of these companies together to create a better artificial intelligence being.
Definitely. I wouldn't be surprised if they modeled this after a Perry Mason episode. That show had just gone off the air the previous season, so it would've still been fresh in a lot of people's minds.
I remember that old deries, I always loved it as a child. My mother did too, it was a good time we had together watching that show. She also loved Star Trek and at the time TNG didn't exist or was just beginning production.
Some 40 years later a more succinct speech was given in House M.D. House violates a patients Do Not Resuscitate and avoids prosecution by stating if his patient dies he won't have the chance to face his accuser.
Elisha Cook Jr is outstanding in his role as defense attorney. Old time movie buffs remember him for his roles in the classics The Maltese Falcon and Shane. In both films he was a centerpiece, as the obnoxious hired gun Wilmer in Maltese Falcon and Stonewall Torrey the homesteader in Shane. The way Wilmer and Sam Spade, played by the great Humphrey Bogart play off each other in the Maltese Falcon is priceless. Like his contemporary Peter Lorre, Cooks character is the perfect patsy for the uber cool Bogart. His performance as Torrey in Shane is even more noteworthy because he portrays an overly proud southern homesteader
who is gunned down by the hired gun Jack Wilson, played to wicked perfection by Jack Palance. One could make a serious argument that Cook Jr was the finest character actor to appear in the Star Trek series. Everything he appeared in was thoroughly enthralling.
In one version of the script, maybe the 1st draft, there was a line that has always struck me. Stone: I won't have this court turned into a circus. Cogsley: Do you know what the first circuses were, sir? They were arenas where men lived an died. This is indeed a circus for in this arena my client will live or die, for if you take away his command, he is a dead man. And in this case, Cogsley was correct. That ship and crew meant everything to Kirk. He would die to save his ship and crew. No one has greater love than he who would give up his life for others.
For those who do not remember, Ben Finney is found alive and Kirk is absolved. It seems Finney was unbalanced and had an unfounded grudge against Kirk. Mr. Cogley, the lawyer who so brilliantly and successfully defended Kirk, then becomes Ben Finney's lawyer to insure his rights are also protected. If I ever have to go before a jury, I want Cogley as my lawyer!
Are you sure? "You see, he's already met two of your three criteria, so what if he meets the third? Consciousness - in even the slightest degree! What is he then? I don't know, do you?"
@@ghostl1124 You see, he's met two of your three criteria for sentience, so what if he meets the third. Consciousness in even the smallest degree. What is he then? I don't know. Do you?
Logic dictated that brevity would serve his captain more than precision in this matter, so long as it was established that it was more than a month ago.
Four months, twelves days, 7 hours and 37 seconds Captain. However such a precision is irrelevant in the current situation and would only be distracting. "A few" is a perfectly logical approximation.
Elisha Cook was in the 1946 film 'The Big Sleep' as Harry Jones. ToS is why there is a franchise today. Great lighting, fantastic use of color and some brilliant directing. Most of the actors were pretty darn good as well.
Same as majority of 'old movies' because the sets and effects are basic the scripts and storylines have to stand up to scrutiny more. Is so easy for acting to be lost / hidden behind special effects in sci-fi.
I would have liked to hear the response from the judge. Something like, "I fail to see how moving this hearing to the Enterprise is going to change the outcome, but in the interest of ensuring a just and fair decision, your request is granted. We will reconvene in one hour."
If they would have had more episodes the quality of "City on the Edge of Forever", "Balance of Terror" and "The Menagerie" and less "The Trouble with Tribles" this show would have never been cancelled.
Absurd assumption. Cancellation was based on an erroneous assumption by network suits that the advertisers target audience was not being hit, hence cancel the show. In fact the advertisers were making revenue hand over fist from Star Trek, just from other group demographics. They were quite upset with cancellation of the series.
TOS was doomed from the start. This show was way over the heads of the NBC suits who felt it was too cerebral for TV audiences (of course, it was too cerebal for the suits.) BTW, Trouble with Tribbles has long been quite a popular episode(although apparently not with you). Point of fact, portions of it were used to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Star Trek: TOS in the tribute episode "Trials and Tribble-ations" the 6th episode of the 5th season of Star Trek: DS9
Don’t downplay Trouble With Tribbles. It was intentionally meant to be whimsical. The intent meant to show Star Trek had variety, including an occasional lighter side. The same can be said of Mudd’s Women. Totally illogical, but fun to watch.
