Star Trek’s last gasp.
The episode warranted a TV Guide closeup only because of Belli’s brief appearance as Gorgan. When I pulled this out of my archive, I flipped it over and found a closeup for Trek’s competition that night, Judd for the Defense. ATCSL sounds like a pretty weak sauce next to Judd’s fare that night, and it truly was.
Trek’s bedfellow on Friday night at ten.
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Hail, hail, fire and snow!
Definitely not one of my favorite Treks, although from a fun, campy standpoint, Shatner really gets a chance to chew some turbolift scenery in this one.
“I’m alone! Aloooone …!”
Ah, the Close-Up, always enjoy those. And Peter Kirk makes makes another appearance. No wait, that’s Tommy.
I guess Hundley did some crew work on a coupla of the films too.
Thanks Doug!
LLP,
deg
ATCSL was definitely third season fodder.
“Judd for the Defense” – now that takes me waaay back. Another Alexander Courage score, I believe. It’s sad that I know that.
I wasn’t around in those days, but for me that was a very memorable episode. I can remember watching it for the first time years ago. I had to feel bad for those crewmen that got beamed out into space! Hard to believe that something wouldn’t have registered on the transporter controls about a lack of…planet? What a sucky way to go, even for a red-shirt!
Having rewatched the entire series a few years ago, I’ve decided that the worst TOS episode overall is “The Empath”, with the Worst Ending Award going to “The Omega Glory”. This one was bad, but not as bad.
Boris – How did Spock’s Brain not make your list?
It was there originally, but when I saw “The Empath” again, which is basically a couple of characters walking around in darkness and talking endlessly, I changed my mind.
Spock’s Brain set a Trek record. I don’t think anything compares by quite a bit.
And remember, “Spock’s Brain” at least had memorable lines: “His brain is gone!”
Depends on how you watch the episode. If you watch it like a regular viewer, you might go “wtf?”, but if you watch out for the non-story-related details (watching it as a geek), there’s lots of cool stuff in the episode. We get a new starship and two nice maps of the Sigma Draconis star system. A new planet model was created (or modified) for the episode. We get a close up of three communicators and some nice logo designs on doors and walls. In the remastered episode, we get another new ship and a nice planet surface matte painting. So, even if the story and dialogue is lackluster, there are some cool bits in the episode. When watching episodes like that, even after seeing it the umptiest time, I always find something new or memorable. Yes, even in “Shades of grey”
This brings back memories – I switched from “Star Trek” to “Judd For The Defense” sometime during the third NBC season, and these “Close-Ups” remind me why. LOL. I think I caught up with most of the Trek episodes during Summer re-runs, but don’t really remember – it may have been a few years later in syndication before I saw them.
All pre-VCR and pre-timeshifting. Stone knives…
Funny how one man’s trash is another man’s treasure – I always thought “The Empath” was a good show, especially by compared to a lot of the third season shows. Beautiful score too. “Spock’s Brain” and “And the Children Shall Lead” definitely fall into the “trash” category for me, but they’re entertaining trash. My own personal “worst” for the show was “The Alternative factor” from the otherwise excellent first season. That show is just a confusing mess. It goes nowhere and does nothing.
And regardless of Star Trek’s shortcomings, its a viable entity 40+ years later and “Judd for the Defense” is an afterthought at best.
Funny, I loved The Empath eh. Doesn’t even come close to my “Even bad Trek is good Trek” concept. Now, The Way to Eden I can easily see folks taking a stab at that one. But then, they’re most likely Herberts.
Are you One Herbert?
I am not Herbert.
He’s not Herbert. We reach.
If you have to ask what one is, you probably are one.
Oh Herbert, you are stiff!
Herbert Herbert Herbert.
PLL and One
deg
Oh I loved The Alternative Factor too, esp. the concept and imagery of the two Lazarus(s) trapped at each other throats for all of eternity. And I like Robert Brown in both roles.
Like you said Jay, one persons’ trash, another’s treasure. Love The Empath score myself too. Classic Fred Steiner, eh.
As for Judd for the Defense, yep, never even heard of it ’til now.
LLP,
deg
Thanks for the article, fascinating reading and comparisons.
I thought The Empath’s score was George Dunning.
Now I have to go look it up. Grrrrrrr …
According to IMDb, you are correct. Weird, as on my Varése Star Trek Volume Two CD has Steiner listed as the composer. I trust IMDb more than Varése, so I think you are correct Jay. Thanks for the clarification in that.
PLL,
deg
Oh, but Duning is spelled with one “n.”
LLP,
deg
Worst TOS? Hard to say. So far, I’m waiting for the remastered DVD’s to reach Germany / Region Code 2. But I actually liked “The Way to Eden” for it’s music and the set of The Empath, although just a dark room, was at least something different than just another cave set.
Cheers
Thorsten
Oh, don’t get me wrong Thorsten, I loved The Way to Eden, just like I love all Trek.
Hey, isn’t that a Tholian web-spinner with nacelles tagged on? Yep, I believe the last ship designed/built/modified for the series.
LLP,
deg
In the cool things about Spock’s Brain column, add a nice (if padded and overlong) bridge sequence with a seldom-used rear-projection viewscreen effect and another great (if overused in the third season) Fred Steiner score. I wish that score (along with Elaan of Troyius) was available on CD; I still find myself humming it.
Hi Joe! The new views of the bridge due to the seldom used rear projection is THE cool exciting thing Spock’s Brain. Unfortunately it remained difficult to use, so we saw little of the RP set up. Too bad, it really opened things up!
I count it a good day when I can remember how to spell my own name