Category: 1960s

Star Trek – Plato’s Stepchildren

★★★1/2 November 22, 1968 Season 3 Episode 10

If you want to see where we are…and you missed a few…HERE is a list of the episodes in my index located at the top of my blog. 

This show was written by Gene Roddenberry, Meyer Dolinsky, and Arthur H. Singer

This is one of the more famous episodes of Star Trek but certainly not one of the great ones. It’s famous for the “first” interracial kiss on television. Whether it was the first is debatable but this was in prime time and remembered. The kiss happened between Captain Kirk and Uhura and within the storyline was forced by the enemy so to speak. It’s sad that it was such a big deal…and it shouldn’t have been.

What’s funny is Kirk…he had kissed green aliens and all kinds…the Captain loved women…so, in theory, this shouldn’t have been a big deal. I have to give Shatner a lot of credit here. The network wanted two shots…one of them kissing and one that they don’t. Time was running out while shooting and they could NOT go in overtime so Shatner messed the one up that they didn’t kiss on purpose so they would have to use the other. After hugging Uhura he crossed his eyes knowing they would not use that one. 

For me…the kiss between Spock and Nurse Chapel was more compelling in the story but not history of course. Kirk and Uhura were just work colleagues who respected each other. Nurse Chapel had feelings for the unemotional Spock. Nurse Chapel said:  “For so long I’ve wanted to be close to you. Now all I want to do is crawl away and die.” In other words, she wanted it to happen naturally and not forced which was a violation of both of them. 

 Kirk, Spock, and  McCoy beam down to a culture patterned after ancient Greece, to treat an infection suffered by the group’s leader. However, the resemblance to the old-time Greek philosophers and intellectual is mostly superficial… the jerks here possess vast telekinetic powers and enjoy using them on ‘lesser’ beings for purposes of humiliation, to satisfy their sadistic need for vicarious entertainment. In other words, they’re bored as hell after an existence of over two millennia and the Enterprise crew offer a brief respite from the doldrums.

Star Trek - Plato’s Stepchildren B

A cautionary take on the ‘power corrupts’ principle, the episode shows how these Platonians are unable or unwilling to hold back from using their power for even the briefest of periods. Kirk gets the first sampling when Parmen, the leader, forces him to slap himself repeatedly. It gets worse, much worse.

Their powers have allowed them to live here for centuries undetected. After saving the leader’s life, they ask McCoy to stay and be their doctor. He quickly declines but they won’t take no for an answer, even if that means torturing his friends in the process. We see Kirk continuously punching himself in the face, Spock almost crushing Kirk’s skull with his foot, and all sorts of bizarre interactions and movements. McCoy is able to isolate why this planet gave the people these powers. He creates a concoction in Kirk’s blood that allows him to battle the leader telekinetically. Kirk wins and warns the people to be better behaved or the Federation will come down and give them a shiner in the future.

SPOILERS BELOW

Michael Dunn who plays Alexander stole the show to me. His dialog was excellent as was his acting. My only criticism with the ending…is they didn’t show Alexander’s reaction to the Starship when he was beamed aboard. 

From IMDB:

Network executives ordered director David Alexander to shoot a take where Kirk and Uhura did not kiss, just so it would be available. However, William Shatner crossed his eyes at the camera, making the take useless.

Nichelle Nichols said this was her favorite episode, due to Uhura’s being allowed to do something plot-crucial as opposed to her usual role as a glorified receptionist.

Leonard Nimoy composed the “Maiden Wine” song himself.

Nichelle Nichols has said that the Star Trek production offices received more mail on this episode than any other episode in the history of the series and, surprisingly, none of it was negative.

There is some dispute about whether the kiss actually occurred. According to the on-screen footage, it appears that the actors’ lips touched. However, both William Shatner and Nichelle Nichols claimed in ‘Star Trek Memories’ that NBC exerted pressure to forbid lip contact and to use a clever camera technique to conceal the “separation”. Looking closely, it appears that the actors’ lips are not touching; the angle only makes it look like they might be slightly touching.

In the UK, where interracial romance had already been depicted on television, the BBC dropped this episode and subsequent repeats purely on the violence factor, on the grounds that the sadistic treatment of the Enterprise Crew was not suitable for its early evening time slot. It was first shown in the UK on satellite television some 25 years later and on the BBC in December 1993.

This episode features the first and only time both Uhura and Chapel were beamed down to a planet together, and both are a part of the central storyline.

The musical number that Kirk and Spock are forced to perform consists of lines from different parts of ‘Through the Looking Glass’ (sequel to ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’) by Lewis Carroll.

Contrary to popular belief, this was not the first interracial kiss on American network television. This occurred previously in Movin’ with Nancy (1967) when Nancy Sinatra kissed Sammy Davis Jr., and it was also voluntary. When Captain Kirk (William Shatner) kissed Lieutenant Uhura (Nichelle Nichols), he kissed her involuntarily. The studio expressed some concern, and it was suggested instead that Spock should kiss Uhura ‘to make it less of a problem for the southern [US] audience’. Some stations in the South originally refused to air it.

Michael Dunn died of natural causes, just five years after this episode was shown, at age 38.

This is Alexander Courage’s last score for Star Trek. This episode was also the last episode to have an original score, although new songs for The Way to Eden (1969) and a Johannes Brahms paraphrase for Requiem for Methuselah (1969) were composed.

Michael Dunn (Alexander) was best known for playing villains such as Dr. Loveless on The Wild Wild West (1965). Dunn had previously been considered for the role of Little Balok in The Corbomite Maneuver (1966).

As Kirk and Spock are forced to perform at Parmen’s will, their faces are momentarily contorted into a manically happy face (Spock, ironically) and an overtly pouting one (Kirk). A re-occuring image of theatre masks doing these faces is very common in symbolizing the world of theatre.

Liam Sullivan, who plays Parmen, was cast because the producers thought (incorrectly) that he strongly resembled British actor Sir Laurence Olivier. (He looks nothing like Olivier.)

As with other episodes from this season, George Takei was unavailable due to his working on The Green Berets (1968).

Philana says she stopped aging at 30. Barbara Babcock was 31 at time of filming.

This takes place in 2268.

The fictional compound ‘kironide’ could be a reference to Cyranides/Kyranides, a Greek text on alchemy and magic from nearly 2000 years ago.

This is an illustration of how immune system may become less effective if not challenged (e.g., by pathogens or antigens). In this case, the Platonians had weakened their bodies from lack of use, greatly diminishing their resistance to infections and the ability to repair the most minor injury. The body’s internal “safeguards” always have to be working in order to be totally effective. In the next, Wink of an Eye (1968)(#3.11), the Scalosians have the same weakness but the reason is not explained.

 

Summary

Paste HerThe Enterprise responds to an urgent distress call from the planet Platonius. There, they find Platonius’ leader, Parmen, delirious after a small cut on his leg that has become massively infected. The residents of planet are an ancient civilization and, since relocating to Platonius after their original planet was destroyed, have developed telekinetic powers. Having cured Parmen, McCoy finds that they will not let him leave. Working with Alexander, the only Platonian not to have telekinetic power, Kirk, Spock and McCoy try to find a way to gain an advantage.

CAST

William Shatner … Captain James Tiberius ‘Jim’ Kirk
Leonard Nimoy … Mister Spock
DeForest Kelley … Dr. McCoy
Michael Dunn … Alexander
Liam Sullivan … Parmen
Barbara Babcock … Philana
James Doohan … Scott
Nichelle Nichols … Uhura
Majel Barrett … Nurse Chapel
Ted Scott Ted Scott … Eraclitus
Derek Partridge … Dionyd
Bill Blackburn … Lieutenant Hadley (uncredited)
Jeannie Malone … Yeoman (uncredited)

 

Los Bravos – Black Is Black

This song has always sounded really good…especially in headphones.  Los Bravos were a Spanish beat group quintet with a German lead singer named Mike Kogel. They were one of the few rock groups from a non-English speaking country to have an international hit, in part because they were one of the few Spanish acts to sing in English. They formed in 1965 and were based in Madrid.

The song peaked at #1 in Canada, #4 on the Billboard 100, and #2 in the UK in 1966. This song was written by the British team of Michelle Grainger, Tony Hayes, and Steve Wadey.

In America, the group followed this up with the unfortunately titled “Going Nowhere,” which reached #91 later in 1966. “Bring A Little Lovin” did a little better, going to #51 in 1968. In the UK, their only other chart entry was “I Don’t Care,” which went to #16 in 1966.

Vox Continental Organ

The organ you hear is a Vox Continental that Manuel Fernández played on this track. This instrument was used on many classic tracks from the ’60s, including “96 Tears” and “The House Of The Rising Sun.”

Kogel was not a native English speaker (he had to have the lyrics written out phonetically), and his vocals had unusual intonations. When this song was released…some thought Gene Pitney was singing it because Mike Kogel sounded so much like him.

The British producer Ivor Raymonde took a trip to that country and signed the group, who at the time were using the name Mike & The Runaways. He brought them to London and had them record “Black Is Black,” which was their first release as Los Bravos.

Black is Black

Black is black, I want my baby back
It’s grey, it’s grey, since she went away, oh oh
What can I do, ’cause I, I’m feelin’ blue

If I had my way, she’d be here today
But she’d go in time, and leave me to cry again, oh no
What can I do, ’cause I, I’m feelin’ blue

I can’t choose, it’s too much to lose when our love’s too strong
Maybe if she would come back to me, then I can’t go wrong

Bad is bad, that I feel so sad
It’s time, it’s time, that I felt peace of mind, oh oh
What can I do, ’cause I, I’m feelin’ blue

I can’t choose, it’s too much to lose when our love’s too strong
Maybe if she would come back to me, then I can’t go wrong

Black is black, I want my baby back
It’s grey, it’s grey, since she went away, oh oh
What can I do, ’cause I, I’m feelin’ blue

‘Cause I, I’m feelin’ blue, ’cause I, I’m feelin’ blue

Star Trek – The Tholian Web

★★★★★ November 12, 1968 Season 3 Episode 9

If you want to see where we are…and you missed a few…HERE is a list of the episodes in my index located at the top of my blog. 

This show was written by Gene Roddenberry, Judy Burns, and Chet Richards

I’ve said that the third season was much better than I remembered…well this is one of the reasons. A 5-star episode. We get to see the relationship between Spock and Doctor McCoy up close in this one. 

An excellent episode that provides all the elements necessary for the feud between Spock and McCoy to come to a climax. Without Kirk to referee and the situation growing more intolerable, Spock and McCoy find themselves alone to hear the “Final Orders” as part of their obligation to Kirk. 

The reason Kirk is not there is because when Checkov, McCoy, Kirk, and Spock beam on the disabled Starship USS Defiant adrift in space… everyone is dead on the ship. By the looks of it they all killed each other. While this is going on the Defiant is going in and out of view like it’s slowly disappearing. After investigating and showing no one but them alive on the ship…all beam back except Kirk. The ship then disappears into subspace and it’s gone. 

Star Trek - The Tholian Web A

All the while… the ship is trapped by the Tholians in an obvious Tholian Web.

Kirk vanishes with the ship…and on top of the Captain missing…now whatever caused the other crew to kill each other is now on the Enterprise. They think Kirk is dead until Uhura sees a ghostly image of Kirk…was it Kirk or was it the illness that the Enterprise has now?

A classic Star Trek episode. My favorite part is when McCoy and Spock have to watch a video left to them by Kirk if he dies. After arguments between them up to this point…the video does help them get through it. 

From IMDB:

Star Trek was nominated for an Emmy Award for the special effects in this episode.

This episode is the only time that Spock refers to McCoy by his nickname, Bones.

This was the only appearance of the Tholians in the “Star Trek” franchise until Future Tense (2003) 35 years later.

This is one of the few episodes in which all of the regular second and third-season characters, Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scott, Sulu, Uhura, Chekov, and Chapel, appear.

This is the third time that the Enterprise has encountered another Constitution-class star ship with the entire crew dead. The others were in The Doomsday Machine (1967) and The Omega Glory (1968). By the end of The Ultimate Computer (1968) a fourth Constitution class, the Excalibur, is also lifeless.

This episode introduced the environmental suit. These suits were created by costume designer William Ware Theiss and consisted of silver lamé with a fabric helmet with screen mesh visor. Since these outfits were meant to be seen only in NTSC resolution, someone came up with the ingenious solution of making the “window” out of mesh. Mesh would provide the diffusion to make it seem there was something clear and solid in front of the actor’s face and reflections and recording dialog would be no problem. The way the shows were broadcast back then it would provide successful illusion of a solid face plate for the most part. It was not until DVD, which achieved the highest quality of NTSC resolution that the use of mesh became much more noticeable. And now, with high definition resolution, you can see the texture and wrinkling of the mesh quite easily.

According to James Doohan, NBC executives told him to comb his hair back for the third season. Doohan hated wearing his hair this way and stopped doing so during the filming of ‘The Tholian Web’.

Ralph Senensky began the direction of this episode but was fired and replaced by Herb Wallerstein. Senensky used the fisheye lens camera effect to show the viewpoint of a person affected by interspace. This technique had previously been used by Senensky in Is There in Truth No Beauty? (1968). (The Trek 25th Anniversary Celebration)

The antique Napoleon III ebony cabinet pedestal found in Spock’s quarters had previously appeared in the films It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) and Citizen Kane (1941).

The Defiant is not among the names of the fourteen Constitution-class starships that were established in “The Making of Star Trek”.

One of only two TOS episodes without a single guest star; the other was The Immunity Syndrome (1968).

When Chekov asks if there’s ever before been a mutiny aboard a starship, Spock responds by saying that there are absolutely no records of any such occurrence. This cleverly avoids answering the question directly. While there may be no mutiny “on record,” Spock well knows that there have been at least two, one of which he himself took part in, during The Menagerie: Part I (1966)/The Menagerie: Part II (1966). Another mutiny is mentioned years after the fact in Whom Gods Destroy (1969).

This is the first time, in the broadcast order, that Lt. Uhura’s quarters are shown. The first time via production order is in Elaan of Troyius (1968).

Herb Wallerstein is the credited director of this episode. Ralph Senensky was the original director, but was fired midway through filming and replaced by Wallerstein. Senensky refused any screen credit for this episode. However, he admitted, just to set the record straight, that half of the episode was his footage.

The space suits were later reused in Whom Gods Destroy (1969).

The ship’s chapel, which had previously appeared in Balance of Terror (1966), was a redress of the briefing room.

The lab apparatus and tubing that McCoy uses in attempting to synthesize the theragen derivative appears to have been recycled from The Devil in the Dark (1967), where it was used as part of Scotty’s makeshift replacement for the main circulating pump of the PXK pergium reactor.

Summary

The Enterprise finds the U.S.S. Defiant, which had disappeared three weeks earlier, in uncharted space. While they can see it on the view screen, their instruments can’t detect it as the space around them is in a state of flux. Captain Kirk and others beam aboard to find that the crew have all killed themselves. When all but Kirk returned to the Enterprise, the Defiant suddenly disappears. Spock believes Kirk may still be alive and is determined to bring him back, but the instability in space is affecting the crew, who are going mad (and starting to see the captain floating about the ship). Meanwhile, a pair of Tholian ships, thinking the Federation is intruding upon their space, is slowly weaving a web around the Enterprise to entrap them.

***I want to vent here for a second…or two or three. I don’t know if youtube has changed its policy but lately, every time I try to post a video for Star Trek…it’s age-restricted and will show blocked if you click on it. You can watch real people die on youtube but a 30-second clip from a 60s TV show? NO can’t have that.***

CAST

William Shatner … Captain James Tiberius ‘Jim’ Kirk
Leonard Nimoy … Mister Spock
DeForest Kelley … Dr. McCoy
James Doohan … Scott
George Takei … Sulu
Walter Koenig … Chekov
Nichelle Nichols … Uhura
Majel Barrett … Nurse Chapel
Sean Morgan … Lt. O’Neil
Barbara Babcock … Cmdr. Loskene (voice) (uncredited)
Paul Baxley … Defiant Captain (uncredited)
Bill Blackburn … Lieutenant Hadley (uncredited)
Bob Bralver … Berserk Engineer (uncredited)
Frank da Vinci … Lt. Brent (uncredited)
Louie Elias … Crazed Crewman (uncredited)
Jimmy Fields … Security Crewman (uncredited)
Roger Holloway … Lt. Lemli (uncredited)
Jay D. Jones … Engineer (uncredited)
Jeannie Malone … Yeoman (uncredited)
Gary Wright … Enterprise Sciences Crewman (uncredited)

 

Max Picks …songs from 1960

1960

Here we are in a new decade that will make a huge dent in 20th-century culture. This decade will change the world from the black and white 1950s into technicolor with tragedy, freedom, generation gaps, and thoughts of change that are still felt…both good and bad. Music is filled with safe artists…not many edgy artists like Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard. Even Elvis was safe now and he became Cliff Richard a movie star. Rock and Roll had temporarily lost its bite. There was still some great music as we see below.

Let’s start off with those sweet harmonies by the Everly Brothers. Cathy’s Clown which was huge this year. It was written by Don Everly.

Ok, let’s get a driving voice in this look at 1960. Here is the one and only Wanda Jackson with Let’s Have A Party. It was written by Jessie Mae Robinson.

Instrumentals were huge through the 1950s and 60s. They gradually wound down through the decades. I’ve always liked instrumentals because it’s not as easy as writing songs with lyrics. It’s almost like a silent movie…you try to get the point across without words… just painting with music. Here is one of the best-known instrumental bands ever…The Ventures with Walk Don’t Run. They also released a version four years later but we will go with the 1960 version. It was written by Johnny Smith. He was a jazz guitarist who wrote this back in 1954. This guitar sound lent itself to beach music that was just around the corner in becoming popular.

Roy Orbison and Joe Melson wrote Only the Lonely, which they tried to sell to Elvis Presley and the Everly Brothers. Both of them turned him down so Orbison did the song himself thank goodness. His voice was truly unique and one of a kind. Here is Roy singing Only The Lonely.

The Shirelles released this song in November of 1960. The song is beautiful and it was written by the husband and wife duo of Gerry Goffin and Carole King.

…

Star Trek – For the World Is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky

★★★★ November 8, 1968 Season 3 Episode 8

If you want to see where we are…and you missed a few…HERE is a list of the episodes in my index located at the top of my blog. 

This show was written by Gene Roddenberry, Hendrik Vollaerts, and Arthur H. Singer

I like this one a lot. It’s one of the episodes I go to when I want to watch a Star Trek episode. 

Doctor McCoy finds out he has a fatal disease and only has around one year to live. The Enterprise in attacked by a missile, launched from an asteroid on an independent collision course with highly populated planet, Darren 5, in 396 days, which has simple atomic power and an internal atmosphere, but no inhabitants.

Kirk, Spock and McCoy beam onto the ‘asteroid’ and soon discover that it is a generational ship and its crew, which is very much alive, have no idea that they are on a ship. In fact, the fact is deliberately hidden from the people aboard and actions that may lead to the truth coming out are punished by the ‘Oracle’.

Star Trek - For the World Is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky C

The most senior person there is Natira, the High Priestess of the society, and she is clearly attracted to McCoy and he feels the same way. This makes it easy for him to keep her occupied while Kirk and Spock investigate the Oracle. Unfortunately, they are caught and forced to return to the Enterprise. McCoy however decides to spend his final year with Natira. Shortly afterward he learns that there may be a way to save the people of Yonada but it would mean reading their sacred book; something nobody may do until they reach their destination.

Star Trek - For the World Is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky

McCoy is in love with Natira and is ready to run off with her since he only has a year to live. It was nice seeing McCoy getting the female this time. The biggest criticism of this episode is too many coincidences in this one to make it believable but still a very enjoyable episode. 

From IMDB:

Polycythemia is a real disease in which the body produces too many red blood cells and is not, by itself fatal. Xenopolycythemia would be an alien (xeno- = foreign, alien) variation of the disease. It is revealed Dr. McCoy is suffering from xenopolycythmia.

The voice of the Oracle was played by James Doohan.

Jon Lormer, who plays the Old Man, was also in The Return of the Archons (1967), and the original pilot, The Cage (1966).

The metal helical staircase is recycled from The Empath (1968).

The ancient Yonada text is based on Korean (Han-Gul-ma) alphabet.

The entrance set used for the entrance portal to the “underground” section of the Yonada world-ship was used again in The Cloud Minders (1969).

The ‘Book of the People’ is the same as ‘Chicago Mobs of the Twenties’ in A Piece of the Action (1968).

Byron Morrow, who portrayed Admiral Westervliet, also portrayed Admiral Komack in Amok Time (1967).

This has the longest title of any episode in the “Star Trek” franchise.

The field reader tube, normally used to take a medical patient’s vital signs, is used in this episode by McCoy to extract the instrument of obedience from Natira. This marks the only apparent close-up use of this prop in the series.

The music that accompanies the appearance of the old man played by Jon Lormer is the same music by Alexander Courage that played during some of his lines as Dr. Theodore Haskins in The Cage (1966).

When McCoy is being punished by the Oracle while talking to the Enterprise, Kirk says, “Bones what is it? Bones what is it?” This is a recorded line of dialogue reused from The Tholian Web (1968).

The bridge scene that runs under Kirk’s voiceover at the start of Act One (where Kirk enters the bridge from the turboshaft) is the same footage from the very beginning of the episode.

Summary

Dr. McCoy is diagnosed with a fatal disease and has only one year to live. When the Enterprise is fired upon, they trace the weapons to what appears to be a giant asteroid, some 200 miles wide, that is in fact a ship on a collision course with a heavily populated planet, Darren V. What they find when they beam over is that the local population that don’t realize they are on a ship. For McCoy the trip is liberating in many ways. He finds purpose with them but also love with their High Priestess, Natira. Kirk agrees to let him stay behind but when McCoy discovers a possible solution to the impending collision with Darren V, he returns to the alien vessel with Spock intent on re-directing the errant craft.

CAST

William Shatner … Captain James Tiberius ‘Jim’ Kirk
Leonard Nimoy … Mister Spock
DeForest Kelley … Dr. McCoy
Katherine Woodville … Natira (as Kate Woodville)
James Doohan … Scott
George Takei … Sulu
Walter Koenig … Chekov
Nichelle Nichols … Uhura
Majel Barrett … Nurse Chapel
Byron Morrow … Admiral Westervliet
Jon Lormer … Old Man
Frank da Vinci … Transporter Operator (uncredited)
Tony Dante … Fabrini Oracle Guard (uncredited)
Jeannie Malone … Fabrini Servant (uncredited)

Isley Brothers – It’s Your Thing

Great song by the Isley Brothers…

It’s a fun song that never gets old….they produced it themselves. They had been recording for Motown but left the label in 1968 to take more control of their music. This was their first release after leaving Motown, and it was a huge success, hitting #1 on the R&B charts and selling over two million copies.

The group never had a bigger chart hit in America, but became one of the top acts of the ’70s, enjoying the creative control that came with recording on their own label. The song peaked at #1 on the Billboard R&B Charts, #2 on the Billboard 100, and #3 in Canada in 1969. 

Ernie Isley, just 16 years old, played bass on this song…the first time playing that instrument on a recording. Isley had played the bass when they were rehearsing the song, but a studio musician was supposed to handle it on the recording. When this hired hand couldn’t match what Ernie did at rehearsal, Ronald Isley made the call to have his younger brother play it instead. Ernie later said he was in “complete fear” during the recording.

Barry Gordy evidently wasn’t a fan of the Isley Brothers after they left him. When this song took off, Motown head Berry Gordy filed a lawsuit claiming The Isleys were still under contract when they recorded it. The court case went on for 18 years before a federal judge ruled that The Isley Brothers had recorded it after the Motown contract had lapsed.

They use the phrase “sock it to me” which Aretha Franklin had made popular with the song Respect. It also started to be used on the 60s show Laugh-In. This song also won a Grammy for best R&B vocal by group or duo in 1970.The song was written by Ronald Isley, O’Kelly Isley, and Jr.Rudolph Isley.

Ronald Isley said that he wrote the song while dropping his daughter off at her school one day. He hummed it over and over so he wouldn’t forget the lyrics. After he reached his mom’s house…he sang it to his older brother O’Kelly Isley…his brother told him right away…that is a hit!

The guitar player in this session was Charles Pitts Jr. who later played the famous wah-wah on “Theme From Shaft” by Isaac Hayes.

It’s Your Thing

It’s your thing
Do what you wanna do
I can’t tell you
Who to sock it to

It’s your thing
Do what you wanna do now
I can’t tell you
Who to sock it to

If you want me to love you, maybe I will
I need you woman, it ain’t no big deal
You need love now, just as bad as I do
Make’s me no difference now, who you give your thing to

It’s your thing (It’s your thing)
Do what you wanna do
I can’t tell you
Who to sock it to

It’s your thing (It’s your thing)
Do what you wanna do now
I can’t tell you
Who to sock it to

It’s your thing (It’s your thing)
Do what you wanna do
I can’t tell you
Who to sock it to

I’m not trying to run your life,
I know you wanna do what’s right,
Ah, give your love girl, do whatever you choose,
How can you lose, with the stuff you use?

It’s your thing (It’s your thing)
Do what you wanna do
I can’t tell you
Who to sock it to

It’s your thing (It’s your thing)
Do what you wanna do
Don’t let me tell you
Who to sock it to

Let me hear you say it’s my thing (It’s your thing),
I do what I wanna do…

Star Trek – Day Of The Dove

★★★★1/2 November 1, 1968 Season 3 Episode 7

If you want to see where we are…and you missed a few…HERE is a list of the episodes in my index located at the top of my blog. 

This show was written by Gene Roddenberry, Jerome Bixby, and Arthur H. Singer

I think this one ranks up there with the best of the 3rd season. Klingons and the Enterprise crew are controlled by an alien. Things are still tense between the Federation and the Klingon Empire. Anything can set it off and in this episode something nearly does.

The Enterprise responds to a distress call from a colony but finds no sign of them; it is as if there were no colony. Shortly afterwards a Klingon vessel arrives and suffers damage without the Enterprise firing a shot. A Klingon landing party, led by Kang, confronts Kirk on the planet and blames him for the attack on his ship while Kirk accuses him of wiping out the colony. Kang intends to take the Enterprise by forcing Kirk to beam them up… his plans fail and he is the one captured.

Things don’t stay that way for long though, a strange entity appears to be playing one side against the other. It turns the crew’s phasers into swords and similarly arms the Klingons. Fights ensue but injuries soon heal no matter how serious and the hatred is magnified as each side’s distrust grows. If they are to avoid an eternity of fighting they will have to come to an understanding; something that won’t be easy.

I thought the concept excellent… a being that feeds on violent, negative emotions and with the wounds healed…could go on forever. This nicely brings the crew of the Enterprise back into conflict with their most famous enemy… the Klingons.

The fact that to win they must persuade the Klingons that they can be trusted serves to make it more interesting and the conflict before that involves some enjoyable sword-fighting action. We also get Chekov ranting about wanting revenge for the death of an imagined brother and even the doctor is demanding revenge. 

Star Trek - Day Of The Dove B

The regular cast do a solid job but it is Michael Ansara’s strong performance as Kang that stands out… this performance enables us to believe Kang would torture Chekov to death in an early scene and also believe he would agree to a truce when he saw their fighting had no purpose. Susan Howard also puts in a likable performance as Kang’s wife, Mara, without whom the peace couldn’t have been established.

From IMDB:

Although intra-ship beaming is routine in later incarnations of ‘Star Trek’ (where it is called “site-to-site transport”), this is the first and only time it is done in the original series, although it is also referenced in Shore Leave (1966) when Sulu notes that Spock is beaming down “from the bridge”.

Near the end of the episode, Scotty tells Kirk that the ship’s dilithium crystals are deteriorating. Kirk asks “Time factor?” Scotty replies “In 12 minutes we’ll be totally without engine power.”

This happens with exactly 12:00 minutes left in the episode.

Mara is the only female Klingon with a speaking role on TOS. Another female is beamed on board the Enterprise at the same time, but only seen briefly.

This episode was originally written with Kor from Errand of Mercy (1967) as Kirk’s Klingon adversary. Although John Colicos wanted to reprise his role, he was in Europe making Anne of the Thousand Days (1969) and was unavailable. The part was recast with Michael Ansara as “Kang”.

The spinning alien entity effect was created with a child’s spinning windmill bought from a stand at Santa Monica beach. Visual effects supervisor James Rugg was told to be creative as the production budget for season three had been drastically cut. He bought it after noticing how it glistened in the sunlight and filmed it against a black velvet cloth from several different angles, deliberately out of focus, turning with the help of a desk fan and with different gels on the spotlights. To help make it feel unearthly and disguise what it was, he also under-cranked the film in the camera to make it appear to spin faster and ran the film backwards.

This episode affords a second and final glimpse of the “working” communicator’s central spinning moiré disc, which was controlled by an inner stopwatch mechanism. Its first appearance was in Friday’s Child (1967).

As in the Imperial Starfleet of the Mirror Universe (first seen in Mirror, Mirror (1967)), the regular universe’s Klingon Empire uses agonizers on Ensign Chekov. These were developed further as the “painsticks” often seen on Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987).

Kang wears the same golden sash worn by Kor in Errand of Mercy (1967). The same sash would be worn (albeit on the opposite shoulder) by Lieutenant Worf in the first season of Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987).

The Klingon who says, “Stand and fight, you cowards!” is Pete Kellett, who previously appeared in Mirror, Mirror (1967) as Farrell, Kirk’s henchman.

Mark Tobin, who plays a Klingon in this episode, would return more than 30 years later to play a Klingon in Barge of the Dead (1999). He previously played Khan’s right-hand man, Joaquin, in Space Seed (1967).

Footage of the Klingon ship is reused from Elaan of Troyius (1968) which was filmed earlier, but aired later.

For most of the fighting, Kirk has a US Model 1860 cavalry saber.

Scottie is delighted to find a claymore (Scottish longsword). The kind he had was a basket-hilt claymore, a good battlefield weapon. The earliest claymores were 15th century but the basket-hilt designs (as Scotty has) appeared in the 18th century. Claymores weighed about 2.2-2.8 kg and were 1.2-1.4 m long. They were two-handed weapons that could take the legs off of a cavalry horse.

This is the only time Sulu is seen in engineering or working in a Jefferies tube.

Kang gives his name to one of the two cyclopic alien squids who repeatedly plague The Simpsons (1989) in their Halloween fantasies. The other is Kodos who takes his name from The Conscience of the King (1966).

David L. Ross plays a character called Lt. Johnson. This appears to be the same crewman who is otherwise known as Galloway.

The footage of engineering, with the hovering entity, was recycled from The Tholian Web (1968), which featured a floating Kirk in place of the entity.

Multiple spellings exist for Chekov’s imaginary brother. It’s a foreign variant of “Peter” that has been spelled as Piotr and Piotre. “Piotre” is an unusual spelling that can’t readily be found anywhere (leastwise, not outside the 23rd century). “Piotr” does exist in European spellings, but it is Polish rather than Russian. The standard transliteration of the Russian name (from the original Cyrillic) is “Pyotr”, although “Piotr” is phonetically equally valid.

The transporter can beam up more than six at a time. Mr. Scott had isolated and beamed through Enterprise party first, and held the additional Klingons in status somewhere within the transporter buffer.

Michael Ansara later reprises his role as Kang in Blood Oath (1994) and Flashback (1996). In Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (1979) he appeared as a character with a difference of only one letter: Kane.

Klingon battle cruisers can hold up 440 people. (Kang said four hundred of his crew were killed, and forty survivors were beamed aboard the Enterprise.)

This takes place in 2268.

Michael Ansara and Leonard Nimoy appeared together previously in Showdown (1965), as brothers that were also lawmen. The episode was written by TOS producer/writer Gene L. Coon.

James Doohan and Michael Ansara previously both appeared in Hot Line (1964), but did not share any scenes.

Summary

Having found a Federation colony of 100 people completely destroyed, Kirk and the Enterprise have to deal with a nearby Klingon vessel which they believe must be responsible for the colony’s destruction. When the Klingon ship is disabled, they, in turn, assume they were attacked by the Enterprise. There is obvious tension between the Enterprise crew and its Klingon enemies. Unbeknown to Kirk and his Klingon counterpart, Kang, this is the work of an alien being that gets its energy from the friction and emotions between sentient beings. The natural animosities between the two parties feed its appetites. When the creature is beamed aboard the Enterprise, it purposely creates tension among the crew, to its benefit. The situation eventually forces Kirk and Kang to work together to defeat it.

CAST

William Shatner … Captain James Tiberius ‘Jim’ Kirk
Leonard Nimoy … Mister Spock
DeForest Kelley … Dr. McCoy
Michael Ansara … Kang
Susan Howard … Mara
James Doohan … Scott
Walter Koenig … Chekov
George Takei … Sulu
Nichelle Nichols Nichelle Nichols … Uhura
David L. Ross … Lt. Johnson (as David Ross)
Mark Tobin … Klingon
Phil Adams … Klingon Soldier (uncredited)
Albert Cavens … Klingon Crewman (uncredited)
Dick Geary … Security Guard (uncredited)
Eddie Hice … Security Guard (uncredited)
Roger Holloway … Lt. Lemli (uncredited)
Jay D. Jones … Klingon (uncredited)
Pete Kellett … Klingon (uncredited)
Hubie Kerns … Klingon Crewman (uncredited)
Victor Paul … Klingon Crewman (uncredited)
Charlie Picerni … Klingon (uncredited)
George Sawaya … Klingon Crewman (uncredited)
David Sharpe … Security Officer (uncredited)

 

Star Trek – Spectre Of The Gun

★★★★ October 25, 1968 Season 3 Episode 6

If you want to see where we are…and you missed a few…HERE is a list of the episodes in my index located at the top of my blog. 

This show was written by Gene Roddenberry, Gene L. Coon, and Arthur H. Singer

This one really caught my attention. It’s one of my favorite episodes. It’s a bit surreal and I like the sparse half-done sets. We have a few of the crew of the Enterprise visiting the OK Corral. Doc Holliday, Morgan, Virgil, and Wyatt Earp all are here.

Westerns were all the rage in the 50s and 60s, and I suppose Star Trek had to pay homage to the genre in some form or fashion. “Spectre of the Gun” offers that, just as other episodes touched on medical and courtroom drama formulas.

The Enterprise arrives in Melkotian space, Kirk’s goal is to set up relations with the secretive race. The Melkotians don’t take kindly to visitors, however, and, as a form of punishment, seemingly send Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scotty, and Chekov to a warped version of Tombstone, circa 1881, based on information they plucked from Kirk’s mind. To Spock’s credit…he thought they should have turned around and left but Kirk was determined. 

Star Trek - Spectre Of The Gun B

The buildings are there but only halfway done. You only see fronts of buildings and nothing is quite right about this version of the old west. A powerful Melkotian tells Kirk, Spock, Bones, Checkov, and Scotty they are to be punished for their “disobedience”, recreating a frontier town with only a few buildings on some fake ground representing Tombstone, Arizona.

 The Melkotian tells them they have been sentenced to death and the means of the death will be based on Kirk’s cultural memories of the Wild West town of Tombstone. The town they find themselves in is rather strange and their phasers have become revolvers and the locals believe that the landing party, Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scotty and Chekov, are actually the Clanton Gang. To make matters worse it is the day of the famous Gunfight at the OK Corral where the real Clantons were gunned down.

Chekov, who is playing the part of Billy Claiborne is gunned down in a fight over a woman but the real Billy Claiborne was the sole survivor from the Clanton Gang. It becomes apparent that normal rules don’t apply here; if they believe they won’t die then maybe they won’t. As the allotted time approaches, they will find out.

A very different type of episode for Star Trek. When you watch the video below…remember…everyone sees them as the Clanton game with normal western clothes. 

From IMDB:

The original script called for filming on an outdoor location but, due to budget constraints, filming took place in the studio. These constraints also prevented the set designers from building a complete Western town and the concept of pieces of a town drawn from Kirk’s mind was developed.

DeForest Kelley appeared in other dramatizations of the same historical events, playing Ike Clanton in The Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (October 26, 1881) (1955) and Morgan Earp in Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957). He was also offered a role in Hour of the Gun (1967) (the movie this episode is named after) but had to decline due to his Star Trek commitment.

For the third season, the velour tunics from the first two seasons have been replaced by polyester ones, which are better-fitting but lack the luster of the original velour. The new fabric was a heavy diamond-weave nylon double-knit material akin to that used in professional baseball uniforms. The switch was made because the original velour shrank every time it was dry-cleaned. This was a problem because union rules required that costumes be cleaned before each use.

The writing of this episode was influenced by NBC executives who wanted Chekov to be featured more in the third season than he had been in the second season.

This is the only episode to end with the Enterprise heading toward a planet.

Written by Lee Cronin, the pseudonym of Gene L. Coon. Some have assumed that it was used because he was unhappy with the results. Actually, it was because he had left Paramount and was under contract with Universal, so he was not supposed to be working for Paramount as well.

Gene Roddenberry originally wanted to film ‘Spectre of the Gun’, about the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, in Arizona, either at Old Tucson Studios in Tucson, Arizona, or at Apacheland Studios in Apache Junction, Arizona. He found out that there was no budget to do it and had to rely on camera angles, bright colorful lights, and dreamlike sets, which added to the episode’s strange alien quality.

This was the first episode produced for the third season but it aired as the sixth episode of the season.

Kirk, Spock, and Scotty are all in the landing party and Sulu doesn’t appear. The storyline never states who is in command of the Enterprise while the senior ranking officers are away, although Uhura is the next in line.

According to James Doohan, NBC executives told him to comb his hair back for the third season. Doohan hated wearing his hair this way and stopped doing so during The Tholian Web (1968).

After Season 2, Star Trek was very nearly cancelled. After a fan-led campaign, a third season was finally commissioned by the network, providing a budget cut of 25% was instigated. This is why the third season has little location filming, re-used and re-purposed props, and recycled special effects. Seasons 1 and 2 already had tight budgets, so a reduced budget was always going to be noticeable This episode is one example where the budget cutbacks started to become apparent as the producers tried to keep expenditures down.

A very subtle change in the third season was the use of new sound effects for the pushing of buttons on the bridge.

The episode was first broadcast on October 25, 1968, only one day before the 87th anniversary of the actual Gunfight at the O.K. Corral.

A scene that was never filmed included McCoy/McLowery (DeForest Kelley) offering to share his medical expertise with Doc Holliday (Sam Gilman) to treat his progressing tuberculosis.

Another difference this episode brings is the “singing plant” background noise from The Cage (1966), used for nearly every planet in seasons one and two, is replaced here by a warbling sound used before in The Gamesters of Triskelion (1968). This will again be used intermittently throughout season three for example, in For the World Is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky (1968) and The Cloud Minders (1969).

In this episode, Kirk refers to the ships phasers as ‘phaser guns’.

Clocking in at approximately five minutes and 25 seconds, this episode’s teaser is the second longest in the original series, lasting 10 seconds shorter than the teaser for I, Mudd (1967).

The original title for this episode was “The Last Gunfight”.

This is The Original Series’ only foray into surrealism, with unique set designs by Walter M. Jefferies.

Some errors regarding the historical gunfight: Morgan Earp is referred to by Kirk as “the man who kills on sight” when the real-life Morgan, by most reliable accounts, was an even-tempered lawman who used his gun only when he was forced to. The gunfight in the Melkotian scenario is treated as a prearranged event when, actually, it was a more or less spontaneous affair. The gunfight took place near the hour of three o’clock, rather than the five o’clock in the episode. Finally, although it may have seemed that Chekov’s Billy Claiborne was the youngest (he turned twenty-one, the day before the gunfight), Billy Clanton, the role Scotty played, was nineteen.

Jerry Fielding’s unique score adds atmosphere. When the villains are first seen in the saloon, Fielding has the piano play stereotypical “menace” notes and a bizarre rendition of “Buffalo Gals”. Fielding’s other Star Trek contribution was his score for The Trouble with Tribbles (1967).

For the incomplete mock-up of the Sheriff’s office, the sign with the word “Sheriff” on it is written in the same font as the opening credits to the series (the Fs have the same slant in the center).

This is the second time that McCoy believes he cannot be harmed by a weapon (this time due to Spock’s convincing in a meld); the first time, when he stands his ground as the Black Knight charges him in Shore Leave (1966), this strategy was unsuccessful, as the weapon (a lance) was physically real, not merely an illusion.

Chekov is the only member of the landing party who wears a two-holstered gun belt.

Rex Holman (Morgan Earp) later played the settler J’onn in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989).

When Spock and McCoy are in the bar, discussing the tranquilizer, the table with the supplies that are used to make it also has a double-barreled shotgun on it, whose presence goes unexplained.

Although Sam Gilman (Doc Holliday) was 53 years old when this episode was made, Holliday was only 30 at the time of the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral on October 26, 1881 and 36 at the time of his death on November 8, 1887.

Gregg Palmer (Rancher) previously played Tom McLowery in Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1961).

Charles Seel plays the saloon bartender. He also played a Western bartender in the series Tombstone Territory (1957), Bat Masterson (1958), Wanted: Dead or Alive (1958), and The Guns of Will Sonnett (1967) as well as the feature films The Texas Rangers (1951) and The Horse Soldiers (1959).

Abraham Sofaer, the voice of the Melkotian, also provided the voice used for the Thasian in Charlie X (1966).

Other USS Enterprise crews visited the Old West in A Fistful of Datas (1992) and North Star (2003).

The “sparkling” sound effect heard in the background while the crew is in Tombstone is also heard in the “Orson reports” at the end of most episodes of Mork & Mindy (1978).

Sulu does not appear in this episode.

Charles Maxwell, who plays Virgil Earp, was a veteran character actor on TV westerns of the era, including Bat Masterson (1958), Bonanza (1959), Rawhide (1959), The High Chaparral (1967), and others.

This takes place in 2268.

This was Bonnie Beecher’s penultimate role before retiring from acting. Now known as “Jahanara Romney”, she works with her husband Wavy Gravy (born Hugh Romney) running a performing arts camp. Beecher grew up in Minnesota where she knew the young Robert Zimmerman, now known as Bob Dylan. Beecher even sang on some of Dylan’s earliest homemade recordings, and is one of the possible inspirations for the song “Girl From The North Country.”

James Doohan voiced the Melkotian warning buoy.

When Kirk (Ike Clanton) attempts to appeal to Wyatt and Virgil Earp in their office, he is taunted by Virgil, who punches him. Kirk reacts and places Virgil in an arm lock. After Kirk releases him, Wyatt wants to kill Kirk and tells him to draw, but Virgil intercedes and tells Wyatt that, when the time comes, he will make him pay for what he did, but,during the gunfight at the end, it is Wyatt who move forward to confront Kirk.

Summary

When the Enterprise trespasses into uncharted territory, Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scott and Chekov are transported to a location that has all the trappings of the American Old West. It’s October 26, 1881, and Kirk soon realizes they are in Tombstone, Arizona, on the day of the famed gunfight at the OK Corral between the Clanton gang and the Earps – with Kirk and company representing the ill-fated Clantons. If history is to be repeated, they will fairly all be killed so must use whatever resources availed to them to defeat the threat and survive. The solution, however – and the only way of escape – lies within them.

CAST

William Shatner … Captain James Tiberius ‘Jim’ Kirk
Leonard Nimoy … Mister Spock
DeForest Kelley … Dr. McCoy
Ron Soble … Wyatt Earp
Bonnie Beecher … Sylvia
James Doohan … Scott
Walter Koenig … Chekov
Nichelle Nichols … Uhura
Charles Maxwell … Virgil Earp
Rex Holman … Morgan Earp
Sam Gilman … Doc Holliday
Charles Seel … Ed
Bill Zuckert … Johnny Behan
Ed McCready … Barber
Abraham Sofaer … Melkotian (voice)
Richard Anthony … Rider (uncredited)
Paul Baxley … 1st Cowboy (uncredited)
Bill Blackburn … Lieutenant Hadley (uncredited)
Charles Cirillo … Barfly (uncredited)
Roger Holloway … Lt. Lemli (uncredited)
Jeannie Malone … Yeoman (uncredited)
Bob Orrison … 2nd Cowboy (uncredited)
Gregg Palmer … Rancher (uncredited)
Eddie Paskey … Lieutenant Leslie (uncredited)

Who – Substitute

I was born with a plastic spoon in my mouth
The north side of my town faced east, and the east was facing south

America missed out on The Who’s great early singles. Some didn’t hear their 60’s singles until after they hit with Tommy and released Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy in 1971. It’s one of my favorite compilation albums. This one has a raw power to it and it’s pushed by John Entwistle and Keith Moon driving the song along.

Great song by The Who. The song peaked at #5 in the UK charts in 1966. The twelve-string guitar opening riff kicks into one of The Who’s best singles. This was a flop in the US, partly because it wasn’t promoted well. It was the only Who song released on Atco Records.

Townshend’s favorite song at the time was “Tracks of My Tears” by Smokey Robinson & The Miracles. Townshend loved the way Smokey sang the word “substitute” so perfectly “Although she may be cute she’s just a substitute ‘Cause you’re the permanent one” that he decided to celebrate the word with a song all its own. The song was also influenced by 19th Nervous Breakdown by the Rolling Stones. Townshend admitted to getting the riff from that song. Townshend also got his trademark windmill from watching Keith Richards warm up with his arms going above his head.

This was the first single The Who released after breaking their contract with their manager and producer, Shel Talmy. As part of the deal, Talmy got royalties from this and the other Who records over the next 5 years, which turned out to be albums that old-time producer Shel Talmy would never have produced. The albums were Tommy, Who’s Next, and  Quadrophenia.

After listening to a recording of the song, Keith Moon began to become paranoid, insisting that it wasn’t him drumming and that the band had gone behind his back and gotten another drummer. John Entwistle refuted this paranoia as ridiculous – he could hear Keith screaming on the recording as he did a difficult fill.

Substitute

You think we look pretty good together
You think my shoes are made of leather

But I’m a substitute for another guy
I look pretty tall but my heels are high
The simple things you see are all complicated
I look pretty young, but I’m just back-dated, yeah

(Substitute) your lies for fact
(Substitute) I can see right through your plastic mac
(Substitute) I look all white, but my dad was black
(Substitute) my fine linen suit is really made out of sack

I was born with a plastic spoon in my mouth
The north side of my town faced east, and the east was facing south
And now you dare to look me in the eye
Those crocodile tears are what you cry
It’s a genuine problem, you won’t try
To work it out at all you just pass it by, pass it by

(Substitute) me for him
(Substitute) my coke for gin
(Substitute) you for my mum
(Substitute) at least I’ll get my washing done

I’m a substitute for another guy
I look pretty tall but my heels are high
The simple things you see are all complicated
I look pretty young, but I’m just back-dated, yeah

I was born with a plastic spoon in my mouth
The north side of my town faced east, and the east was facing south
And now you dare to look me in the eye
Those crocodile tears are what you cry
It’s a genuine problem, you won’t try
To work it out at all you just pass it by, pass it by

(Substitute) me for him
(Substitute) my coke for gin
(Substitute) you for my mum
(Substitute) at least I’ll get my washing done

(Substitute) your lies for fact
(Substitute) I can see right through your plastic mac
(Substitute) I look all white, but my dad was black
(Substitute) My fine-looking suit is really made out of sack

Dirty Mac – Yer Blues

What I wouldn’t have given to see this band tour.

Maybe the first “”Supergroup”…In 1968 John Lennon, Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, and Mitch Mitchell got together and played the Beatle’s Yer Blues. The Rolling Stones were taping a Television special featuring The Who, Jethro Tull, Taj Mahal, and Marianne Faithfull, called “The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus” but was shelved for 28 years.

Yer Blues was on the White Album and had only been released 3 weeks before this December 11th recording. John Lennon came up with the band name “Dirty Mac” from a play on words of the hot new group at the time…Fleetwood Mac. I always wondered what a band would have sounded like headed by John Lennon and Keith Richards…this is as close as we will ever know.

I would have loved to hear John Lennon sing in close quarters more than about anyone else. John was an interesting lead guitarist. He never played much lead with The Beatles but he would work a chord and get a solo out of it. He also came up with some great rock and roll riffs. Day Tripper, I Feel Fine, And Your Bird Can Sing, and many more. He did play lead a year later on the song Get Back.

The show did not see the light of day until 1996. The Stones were not happy with their performance which would be the last with Brian Jones. They had been up for days and were worn out. The Who had just returned from a tour and were really tight and some thought upstaged the Rolling Stones. I’ve read that Keith, Mitch, and Clapton wanted to stay as close as possible to the Beatles recording…and they did.

The best thing to come out of the film to me is this performance…and The Who performing “A Quick One, While He’s Away.”

The Dirty Mac performed two songs…Yer Blues and “Whole Lotta Yoko” with Yoko…uh…”singing” so we will stick with this one.

A DVD of this event was released in 2004…It’s worth buying.

Yer Blues

Yes, I’m lonely, wanna die
Yes, I’m lonely, wanna die
If I ain’t dead already
Woo! Girl you know the reason why
In the morning, wanna die
In the evening, wanna die
If I ain’t dead already
Woo! Girl you know the reason why
My mother was of the sky
My father was of the earth
But I am of the universe
And you know what it’s worth
I’m lonely, wanna die
If I ain’t dead already
Woo! Girl you know the reason why
The eagle picks my eyes
The worm he licks my bone
I feel so suicidal
Just like Dylan’s Mr. Jones
Lonely, wanna die
If I ain’t dead already
Woo! Girl you know the reason why
[Instrumental Break]
The black cloud crossed my mind
Blue mist round my soul
Feel so suicidal
Even hate my rock and roll
I’m lonely, wanna die
If I ain’t dead already
Woo! Girl you know the reason why
[Instrumental Break]
Wanna die, yeah, wanna die
[Instrumental Break]

Max Picks …songs from 1959

1959

By this time Rock and Roll was not in a good state. Buddy Holly died in February, Jerry Lee Lewis had married his 13-year-old cousin earlier and got the canceled treatment years before it was a phrase, later in this year Chuck Berry would be arrested for the Mann Act, Little Richard was dedicated to the church, and Elvis was in the army in Germany. So you had artists like Anita Bryant, Pat Boone, Fabian, Annette Funicello, Frankie Avalon, and more that I won’t post on the charts. All wasn’t lost though. You did have some great artists left. The one and only Ray Charles is a great place to start in 1959. This is my favorite Ray Charles song…What’d I Say…damn this song is good. It was written by the man himself…Ray Charles.

This is one of if not my favorite instrumentals of all time. Santo and Johnny released this great song called Sleep Walk. Santo Anthony Farina and John Steven Farina were brothers who grew up in Brooklyn. They played a guitar and a steel guitar which was not in many rock/pop bands. I remember this song best from the movie La Bamba in a very emotional scene. Sometimes music can make movies in certain scenes like La Bamba or Goodfellas. The song was written by Santo Farina, Johnny Farina, and Ann Farina.

I first learned about Jackie Wilson through a Van Morrison song titled…Jackie Wilson Said (I’m in Heaven When You Smile). After hearing that song I looked for his music and what an artist! I found many artists by reading about others. Reading about the Beatles took me to Bob Dylan and the tree grew from there. This song was written by Berry Gordy, Roquel “Billy” Davis, and Gwendolyn Gordy.

Fats Domino was one of the old guards still pumping out the hits. This one is called I Want To Walk You Home. Fats wasn’t as flashy as Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, or Little Richard but the man could play and sing like no one else. He was steady through the 50s and he did have some success in the 1960s. This song was written by Fats Domino.

I’m cheating a little on this song. It was recorded on December 16, 1958, and was released (and that is what I go by) at the end of December but it’s so close that I’m counting it. It charted in January of 1959 and because of the circumstances, I am posting his great double-A-sided single. At the time of the release… the song Donna was the A-side and La Bamba was the B-side. Ritchie Valens seemed to have a bright future in front of him but was taken from us in the plane crash that took Buddy Holly and The Big Bopper. Donna was written by Ritchie Valens. He wrote the song about Donna Ludwig who was his high school sweetheart. La Bamba was an old Mexican folk song arranged by Ritchie Valens.

Star Trek – Is There in Truth No Beauty?

★★★★ October 18, 1968 Season 3 Episode 5

If you want to see where we are…and you missed a few…HERE is a list of the episodes in my index located at the top of my blog. 

This show was written by Gene Roddenberry, Jean Lisette Aroeste, and Arthur H. Singer

A story that would always interest me in school was Medusa. You would turn to stone when you saw her. This one is built off of that story. 

Before I start…I will say that in the 3rd season, the camera crew did a good job. They added some different shots like using a fish-eyed lens. I liked the different angles they used because it made it feel different and it was effective. 

Star Trek - Is There in Truth No Beauty B

The Enterprise is tasked with transporting an ambassador from a race who is perceived as so ugly, that just the sight of one by human eyes will cause instant madness. The Medusan ambassador Kollos is accompanied by a telepathic human aide named Miranda, who claims that her life of training on Vulcan allows her to see him without insanity ensuing.

A scientist aboard happens to be a scorned lover of Miranda’s. In a fit of jealousy, he attempts to murder Kollos, predictably causing him to go mad. He takes over control of the engines and shoots the Enterprise out of the galaxy into a disorientating patch of space. Only Kollos’s ultra-intelligent mind can bring the Enterprise back.

But he needs control of the bridge, something that is obviously infeasible. Spock must attempt a mind-meld with Kollos, merging the two men into Spock’s body. Miranda feels a special connection to Kollos and attempts to stop this from happening. But Spock wins out and the two merge and help the Enterprise reenter the galaxy.

Miranda sabotages Spock out of jealousy, trying to make him go mad. A now sick Spock needs a mind-meld with Miranda. Kirk is able to convince her to do it.

It’s a very good episode. 

From IMDB:

Diana Muldaur was given a dark wig to wear for the role of Miranda. This was largely to help distinguish the character from her previous guest role as Dr Ann Mulhall in Star Trek: The Original Series: Return to Tomorrow (1968).

Although often cited by some fans as evidence of a “larger message” in Star Trek, the “IDIC” (“Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations”) medallion that Spock wears during the dinner scene had much baser origins. Leonard Nimoy was originally supposed to give a lengthy speech about the medallion and what it represented. Nimoy found the speech completely unsuited to the plot, and refused to say the lines until he got an explanation from producer Gene Roddenberry, who had had the lines and the use of the medallion inserted into the script. Roddenberry came to the set and admitted to Nimoy that he was selling the “IDIC” medallions through his personal marketing company, Lincoln Enterprises, and inserted the scene about the “IDIC” purely as product placement to generate sales. Nimoy ultimately refused to say the lines, and instead the scene was re-written with Capt. Kirk and other characters commenting on Spock’s wearing of the medallion instead.

This episode included a rare glimpse of the seldom seen left side of the bridge opposite the turbolift.

Spock/Kollos says to Miranda, “O Brave New World that has such creatures in it.” She replies, ” ‘Tis new to thee.” These are
lines in As You Like It (1908)’s The Tempest, Act V, Sc. 1, whose heroine is named Miranda.

The episode title is from a poem by the 17th century English poet and clergyman George Herbert, from his poem “Jordan (I)”, line 2: “Who says that fictions only and false hair/ Become a verse? Is there in truth no beauty?”

Shots of the Enterprise in the galactic void are recycled from Star Trek: The Original Series: Where No Man Has Gone Before (1966).

The remastered version replaced the Medusan home-world effect with that of a newly-designed Federation vessel. It strongly resembles one of the early sketches that art director Walter M. Jefferies drew of the USS Enterprise, as reproduced in ‘The Making of Star Trek’.

A very rare stock shot of the Enterprise is used when the ship warps towards the barrier under Marvick’s control: it is taken from the opening of Star Trek: The Original Series: The Cage (1966) (just before the “Guest Star Susan Oliver” credit) and shows the Enterprise at high speed blasting towards the camera. The same shot is reused later in Star Trek: The Original Series: That Which Survives (1969).

The name Kollos, is pronounced kàlos, a reference to the Greek word Kallos which means Beauty.

The tartan Scotty wears as part of his dress uniform during the dinner with Amanda Jones IS in fact the dress tartan for the clan Scott.

The arboretum was originally built for Star Trek: The Original Series: Elaan of Troyius (1968), but its appearance ended up as a deleted scene. Apart from this one, it was only seen in Star Trek: The Original Series: And the Children Shall Lead (1968).

The dinner scene marks the first presentation of the Vulcan IDIC (Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations) symbol.

Jessica Walter was offered the part of Dr. Miranda Jones but was unavailable.

In Star Trek: Enterprise (2001) it is explained that Commander Trip Tucker designed the Constitution-class Enterprise warp engines that Doctor Larry Marvick commandeers from Scott.

This is one of only two instances in which Scotty wears a dress uniform complete with ancestral tartan. But whereas he wears white socks here, in Star Trek: The Original Series: The Savage Curtain (1969) he wears red ones.

When David Frankham guest-starred on The Outer Limits: Don’t Open Till Doomsday (1964), his character was also the victim of an alien hidden in a box which injured those who glimpsed it.

This was Eddie Paskey’s last appearance in the series.

This is the last appearance of antigravs in the series.

The pictures of exotic planets seen in the dining room reappeared in Kirk’s quarters in other third-season episodes.

The second mention of Scotty’s first name: Montgomery. The first was Star Trek: The Original Series: Wolf in the Fold (1967)(#2.14).

One of two episodes written by Jean Lisette Aroeste, a UCLA librarian and Star Trek fan whose unsolicited scripts were read and recommended by co-producer Robert H. Justman. Her other story was “A Handful of Dust,” which was produced as “All Our Yesterdays.” (S3E23)

The script was written by Jean Lisette Aroeste, one of four writers of Star Trek who had no prior TV writing credits. The other three were David Gerrold (‘The Trouble with Tribbles’, ‘The Cloud Minders’), Judy Burns (‘The Tholian Web’) and Joyce Muskat (‘The Empath’).

McCoy comments that a blind person couldn’t pilot a space craft. However, in Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987), the blind Geordi LaForge piloted the Enterprise-D as the ship’s helmsman during the show’s first season. Dr Jones’ neural net can be seen as a precursor to LaForge’s VISOR.

This is the third of five “Star Trek” episodes to feature a question mark in the title. The other four are Star Trek: The Original Series: What Are Little Girls Made Of? (1966), Star Trek: The Original Series: Who Mourns for Adonais? (1967), Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Who Mourns for Morn? (1998) and Star Trek: Discovery: Will You Take My Hand? (2018).

Apparently, many people think that members of the Enterprise crew can not walk and listen at the same time. Often, when a ship wide announcement is made, they stop to listen to the announcement. However, is has always been policy that when a captain speaks, the whole crew stops non-essential work to listen, out of respect.

This takes place in 2268.

Miranda Jones wears her hair in a loosely draped style with a toroidal loop on top, very similar to that worn by Kelinda in Star Trek: The Original Series: By Any Other Name (1968). Roses also play an important role in the narrative for each character.

Leonard Nimoy appears to be suffering from nasal congestion during this episode

The first of two times that William Shatner stars with a character who is a blind woman. He would do so again in T.J. Hooker: Blind Justice (1982)(#2.4).

Summary

The Enterprise is tasked with transporting the Medusan ambassador, Kollos, to his home planet along with his human aide, Dr. Miranda Jones, who, for reasons initially understood only by Dr. McCoy, can safely travel be with the Medusan. Medusans are formless creatures, the very sight of whom makes humans go insane. (Like the snake-haired Medusa of ancient Greek mythology whose looks caused humans to turn to stone.) For that reason, aside from Dr. Jones, only half-Vulcan Spock can be in the same room with the ambassador. She expresses envy of Spock. When Engineer Laurence Marvick, unrequitedly in love with Dr. Jones, tries to kill Kollos, he goes insane and dies, after sending the Enterprise beyond the edge of the galaxy. Only Spock and the ambassador (with Miranda’s help) can navigate the starship back to known space.

CAST

William Shatner … Captain James Tiberius ‘Jim’ Kirk
Leonard Nimoy … Mister Spock
DeForest Kelley … Dr. McCoy
Diana Muldaur … Dr. Miranda Jones
David Frankham … Larry Marvick
James Doohan … Scott
George Takei … Sulu
Nichelle Nichols … Uhura
Walter Koenig … Chekov
Bill Blackburn … Lieutenant Hadley (uncredited)
Bob Bralver … Yeoman (uncredited)
Frank da Vinci … Lt. Brent (uncredited)
Vince Deadrick Sr. Vince Deadrick Sr. … Engineer (uncredited)
Louie Elias … Engineer (uncredited)
Dick Geary … Security Guard (uncredited)
Roger Holloway … Lt. Lemli (uncredited)
Jeannie Malone … Yeoman (uncredited)
Eddie Paskey … Lieutenant Leslie (uncredited)

 

Rivieras – California Sun

If you are interested…Dave at A Sound Day posted an article I wrote on the Replacements.

This was garage band rock and roll at its best. It’s hard not to feel good when this song comes on the radio. The song peaked at #5 on the Billboard 100, #3 in Canada (CHUM), and #6 in New Zealand in 1964. It’s one of those songs that just make you feel good.

Now…is this band from sunny California? No…not even close. They are from South Bend Indiana. They were a garage band and the members all went to South Bend Indiana Central High School in the early sixties. They were originally called the Playmates but alas…there was another band in the area with the same name. They ended up naming themselves after the Buick Riviera.

The song was written by Henry Glover and recorded first by Joe Jones and his version made it to #89 on the Billboard Charts. Instead of guitars, Joe Jones’s version used horns. It’s also been covered by The Ramones, The Beach Boys, Frankie Avalon, The Shondells, and dozens more.

Marty “Bo” Fortson left shortly after this single came out to join the Marines and go off to Vietnam. The other band members dropped out one by one under pressure from their parents to go on to college and stop playing this rock ‘n’ roll.

The song was written by Hendry Glover. Glover was a producer for an independent record label King Records. At one time, record mogul Morris Levy of Roulette Records was listed as a co-writer but that got taken off. Levy was the founder and owner of Roulette Records, which had known ties to the mafia. After the Jones version failed to gain popularity the Rivieras ran with it.

The Ramones covered this one as well.

California Sun

Well I’m going out west where I belong
Where the days are short and the nights are long

Where I’ll walk
And they walk
I’ll twist
And they twist
And I’ll shimmy
And they shimmy
And I’ll fly
And they fly
Where they’re out there having fun
In the warm California sun

Well, I’m going out west
Out on the coast
Where the California girls
Are really the most

And I’ll walk
And they walk
I’ll twist
And they twist
And I’ll shimmy
And they shimmy
And I’ll fly
And they fly
Where they’re out there having fun
In the warm California sun

Well, the girls are frisky
In old ‘Frisco
A pretty little chick
Wherever you go

And I’ll walk
And they walk
I’ll twist
And they twist
And I’ll shimmy
And they shimmy
And I’ll fly
And they fly
Where they’re out there having fun
In the warm California sun
Where they’re out there having fun
In the warm California sun

Star Trek – And the Children Shall Lead

★★ October 11, 1968 Season 3 Episode 4

If you want to see where we are…and you missed a few…HERE is a list of the episodes in my index located at the top of my blog. 

This show was written by Gene Roddenberry, Edward J. Lakso, and Arthur H. Singer

Walter Koenig was not happy about this episode. While he felt that the episode was very poor overall, his biggest complaint was the casting of noted criminal attorney Melvin Belli as Gorgan, firstly because it severely undermined the main villain, and secondly, because he considered it an act of stunt casting which had robbed professional actors from a potential job. Belli’s son played one of the children…Stevie. 

Have you ever seen Children of the Corn? There is a little of that feeling in this.  The Enterprise comes to an outpost to check on the Starnes Exploration Party  and finds that all the adults committed suicide. All that remains are the kids, who oddly seem quite happy and indifferent to the deaths. So, despite all the warning signs that there is a major problem, the kids are taken back to the ship where they unleash their reign of terror after a little bit. 

Star Trek - And The Children Shall Lead B

Something has been influencing them since they were on the planet. The something was an evil presence named Gorgan. The Starnes Exploration Party accidentally released Gorgan from his cave. He used the party’s children to evoke the fears of the adults, eventually rendering the adults mentally unstable and driving them to commit mass suicide. He manipulated the children to follow him in his quest of conquering the universe.

While this episode might have been poor, it is written with a decent understanding of how children can resent their parents and deal with grief through denial. That’s about the best thing I can say about it. After the kids use Gorgan’s power to manipulate the crew…Kirk talks to the kids to make them understand they have been used. 

From IMDB:

This was lawyer Melvin Belli’s (Gorgan) first time playing a fictional character. His son Melvin Caesar Belli plays one of the children (Stevie).

Leonard Nimoy explained that when he complained about the script to Fred Freiberger, Freiberger said, “This script is going to be what ‘Miri’ should have been”. Nimoy objected, calling Star Trek: The Original Series: Miri (1966) a beautiful, well-acted story, and felt that Freiberger’s comments were as much as saying, “‘Miri’ was a piece of trash”.

This is the only episode of the original series in which we see the fully fledged United Federation of Planets flag. Previous appearances, such as Star Trek: The Original Series: The Menagerie: Part II (1966), simply used the pre-existing United Nations flag.

During one scene on the bridge, Kirk tries to give orders to Leslie, but his words are garbled. If the audio for this scene is played in reverse, Kirk can be heard to say, “Remove Lieutenant Uhura and Mr. Spock from the bridge. Confine them to quarters. Did you hear me? Take Mr. Sulu to his quarters. He’s relieved of duty. Remove Lieutenant Uhura and Mr. Spock from the bridge. Confine them to quarters. Take Mr. Sulu to his quarters, I said. (garbled) Mr. Spock from the bridge. Confine him to quarters. Mr. Leslie, take Mr. Sulu to his quarters. He’s relieved of duty.”

Producer Fred Freiberger hoped that the presence of Melvin Belli would boost ratings. This plan failed and Freiberger realized it would have been more appropriate to cast an actor in the role.

Actor Craig Hundley also made a musical contribution to “Star Trek.” Under the name Craig Huxley, he invented the Blaster Beam, an 18 foot long aluminum bar strung with piano wire and played with artillery shells. The instrument’s distinctive metallic twang was used to represent V’Ger on Jerry Goldsmith’s soundtrack to Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979). James Horner used it as well for his “Star Trek” soundtracks, and Huxley composed “Genesis Project” for the Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) soundtrack.

Craig Huxley (Tommy Starnes) previously appeared in Star Trek: The Original Series: Operation — Annihilate! (1967) as Kirk’s nephew Peter.

In James Blish’s novelization, Sulu is terrified by the sight of missiles on the view-screen, not swords. More interestingly, the children sing spells to cause havoc among the crew rather than making the fist-pumping gesture which has earned a lot of ridicule among fans.

It is never explained how Kirk knew to refer to the Friendly Angel as “Gorgan”. Based on early drafts of the script, and in a bit of sloppy editing, episode writer Edward J. Lakso alternated between the various names, explaining why it appeared and stuck so late in the episode. A deleted scene had revealed that Tommy did tell Kirk the name. However, this scene took place in the script after Kirk had used the name.

The title paraphrases the last line of Isaiah 11:6: “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.”

Raymond Burr was the director’s, and several of the main cast’s, original choice to play Gorgan. However, he was either unavailable/too expensive/not interested or the director was overruled by the producers (depending on the source).

Professor Starnes and the other male colonists wore jumpsuits left over from Star Trek: The Original Series: The Devil in the Dark (1967), which were reused many times during the series.

The name on one of the tombstones of the parents is “Tsing Tao” which is the name of a city in China, now written as Qingdao. Tsingtao beer was originated there.

The mirror in which Uhura sees her aged reflection at the communications station is never used in any other episode. Of course, like Uhura’s reflection, the mirror itself may have been an illusion created by the children.

All eight major regular performers of the second and third seasons – Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scotty, Sulu, Uhura, Chapel, and Chekov – appear in this episode.

A female Expedition Party member wore Martha Leighton’s costume from Star Trek: The Original Series: The Conscience of the King (1966).

This episode borrows elements and concepts from several sources, including Greek mythology (Gorgan), the Old Testament (the Book of Isaiah), and puritanical/colonial witchery (the incantations). It also has a similar plot to the first-season episode Star Trek: The Original Series: Charlie X (1966).

The arboretum set was originally built for Star Trek: The Original Series: Elaan of Troyius (1968), but became a deleted scene due to time constraints. It was later modified for the arboretum that appeared in Star Trek: The Original Series: Is There in Truth No Beauty? (1968).

This episode is the first appearance of the set piece depicting the entrance to the Gorgan’s cave. It would be seen again in many third season episodes, including Star Trek: The Original Series: Spock’s Brain (1968), Star Trek: The Original Series: The Cloud Minders (1969), Star Trek: The Original Series: All Our Yesterdays (1969), and Star Trek: The Original Series: That Which Survives (1969).

The dress worn by the one of the female members of the Starnes Expedition Party was also created by William Ware Theiss, and was previously worn by Janet Wallace in Star Trek: The Original Series: The Deadly Years (1967). ) In fact, both costumes worn by Wallace can be seen in this episode, one worn by Don Linden’s mother and the other worn by an unnamed woman (who commits suicide in the teaser).

Pamelyn Ferdin and Brian Tochi would later co-star on the live-action children’s science fiction TV series Space Academy (1977), which was developed out of a rejected concept for Star Trek: The Animated Series (1973) and starred ‘Lost in Space’ (1965) veteran Jonathan Harris.

This episode was the twenty-sixth remastered episode of the The Original Series to air. It premiered in syndication the weekend of 14 April 2007 and, aside from the standard CGI replacement footage of the Enterprise, this episode most notably featured new effects shots of the planet Triacus.

Kirk’s request for “a very small” dish of ice cream, which he never actually eats, may have been a reference to the fact that William Shatner had put on considerable weight between seasons 2 and 3. According to producer Robert Justman, Shatner was invited to see the rushes (raw footage) from the first day of photography for “Spectre of the Gun.” He was aghast at how he looked on screen and immediately went on a crash diet.

Cameo
Chad Everett: uncredited as the crewman in Auxiliary Control who helps Scotty fight off Kirk and Spock.

 

Summary

The Enterprise responds to a distress call from the scientific colony on Triacus and arrives to find that all of the adults are dead. Oddly, the children seem unaffected by the deaths and continue to play as if nothing had happened. When questioned, they show no remorse whatsoever and express a dislike for parental authority. Expedition logs reveal that the expedition had discovered an ancient civilization and that there might be one survivor. In fact, the Gorgon thrives on the innocence of the children and the adults’ self-doubt.

CAST

William Shatner … Captain James Tiberius ‘Jim’ Kirk
Leonard Nimoy … Mister Spock
DeForest Kelley … Dr. McCoy
Craig Huxley … Tommy Starnes (as Craig Hundley)
James Wellman … Professor Starnes
Melvin Belli … Gorgan
James Doohan … Scott
Majel Barrett … Nurse Chapel
Nichelle Nichols … Uhura
George Takei … Sulu
Walter Koenig … Chekov
Pamelyn Ferdin … Mary
Melvin Caesar Belli … Steve (as Caesar Belli)
Mark Robert Brown … Don
Brian Tochi … Ray
Louie Elias … 1st Technician (as Lou Elias)
Paul Baxley … Security Guard (uncredited)
Bill Blackburn … Lieutenant Hadley (uncredited)
Frank da Vinci … Transporter Operator (uncredited)
Dick Dial … Security Guard (uncredited)
Roger Holloway … Lt. Lemli (uncredited)
Jay D. Jones … 2nd Technician (uncredited)
Jeannie Malone … Yeoman (uncredited)
Eddie Paskey … Lieutenant Leslie (uncredited)
Leslie Carol Shatner Leslie Carol Shatner … Child (uncredited)
Victor Toyota … Tsing Tao (uncredited)

Star Trek – The Paradise Syndrome

★★★★ October 4, 1968 Season 3 Episode 3

If you want to see where we are…and you missed a few…HERE is a list of the episodes in my index located at the top of my blog. 

This show was written by Gene Roddenberry, Margaret Armen, and Arthur H. Singer

I like this episode. I remembered seeing it and I searched through all of the seasons to find it again. It had been a long time. This movie was Armageddon before the Bruce Willis movie. Oh, and Kirk gets married and seemed ready to settle down…although his memory is gone. 

Kirk is missing and presumed lost on a Class M planet after he accidentally falls into an obelisk-shaped alien structure and is hit with a memory beam. He then suffers from amnesia on the planet which is populated by native Indians while Spock and McCoy are forced to abandon their search for the captain for 2 full months! They had to return to the Enterprise to unsuccessfully divert a giant asteroid from destroying the planet where Kirk was lost…that is why they are there. Kirk and McCoy are struck by how much like Earth it is. 

When Kirk vanished Spock told McCoy they had to beam back up to the Enterprise. McCoy argued about leaving the Captain there but Spock slowly explained to the Doctor that if they cannot divert that asteroid…there would be no planet to search. The asteroid was 2 months away but they had to go to a certain spot to divert it there…they couldn’t divert it when it was close. 

When Kirk regains consciousness and walks out of the alien obelisk, he is seen by Miramanee, a native Indian woman who thinks he is a god. Kirk then promptly saves the life of a drowning child thus instantly becoming the native Indian’s new medicine chief Kirok. However, he makes an enemy, the former medicine man (Sallish), and has to deal with that throughout the episode.  Shatner did a good job of acting here…he seems nonstressed compared to his regular job…of course, he cannot remember what that job is. 

The theme in this one involves placing Kirk in a scenario completely divorced from his usual duties and watching his other true self emerge…the gentle, unhampered Kirk existing with the Indians. Miramanee and Kirk fall for each other and got married. The episode is beautiful, and the fact that Miramanee carried Kirk’s baby is a bit shocking even today. Certainly, it had to be powerful stuff back in 1960s television. It was touchingly and sensitively acted by William Shatner.

Star Trek - Teh Paradise Syndrome B

It’s the action of Spock aboard the Enterprise that grounds this episode back to Star Trek reality. He has to come up with a way to deflect a moon-sized asteroid from obliterating the Indian home planet while pushing the Enterprise to its physical limits. All the while…Spock is studying the obelisk.

They do make it back to the planet and just in the nick of time. Kirk and Miramanee are getting stoned to death because of Sallish..after Kirk is slashed and bleeding. Gods don’t bleed. 

This is an odd…but very good episode…one of the best ones of the third season. Just a side note…everytime Kirk is missing and Spock takes over…McCoy gives him hell over every decision. I think sometimes the writers went overboard on that. Sometimes the Doctor is not mean but cruel to Spock.

From IMDB:

The obelisk in this episode, constructed at Franklin Lake in the Franklin Canyon Reservoir above Beverly Hills, was erected in the same spot where Opie Taylor throws a rock into the lake during the opening credits of The Andy Griffith Show (1960).

The only episode in Season 3 to be filmed on location and not entirely in the studio.

Only in this episode do we see the ship firing its gold deflector beam.

After living on the planet Kirk’s sideburns lose their distinctive pointed ends and become squared off. This was done to emphasize the passage of time and to show Kirk was becoming assimilated to his new life.

The characters on the asteroid-destroying Obelisk are the basis of the alphabet and characters used by the Predators of the Alien-versus-Predator movie franchise.

During the first attempt to deflect the asteroid, a rare top shot of the Enterprise is shown, first used in the Star Trek: The Original Series: The Changeling (1967).

Paradise Syndrome – though not officially recognized as a mental condition by psychologists – is a term conferred upon those who feel dissatisfied despite having achieved all their dreams. Here it is used merely to describe someone who is overworked and needing a break – whether ostensibly Captain Kirk or, obliquely, series creator Gene Roddenberry.

Although not mentioned on screen, the planet was rather unsubtly called “Amerind” in the script.

This episode takes place over the course of approximately two months.

The first Star Trek production to feature Native American Indian culture as a key plot element. Other examples are Star Trek: The Animated Series: How Sharper Than a Serpent’s Tooth (1974), Star Trek: The Next Generation: Journey’s End (1994), and several episodes of Star Trek: Voyager (1995).

This is one of very few occasions where Nurse Chapel is beamed/transported down to a planet surface.

This takes place in 2268.

The Native Americans depicted display none of the cultural elements of the tribes mentioned (Navajo, Delaware, Mohican). The houses are tipis, used by plains peoples. The clothing bears no resemblance to actual Native American clothes, and the names of the characters match no Native naming styles. Also, the Navajo were not peaceful. They were very fierce warriors, as were the Mohican. The Delaware were not called “Delaware,” but rather, were the Lenne Lenape.

During the love scene where Miramanee tells Kirk she’s pregnant, a fly lands on Kirk’s face for several seconds.

Dr. McCoy comments about the “Preservers” that he had always wondered about why there were so many humanoid races. In Star Trek: The Next Generation: The Chase (1993), the question is answered in a slightly different way.

When the Enterprise engines burn out, Mr. Scott laments, “my bairns, my poor bairns”. This is Scottish/English meaning “my poor children”.

Summary

Kirk, Spock and McCoy beam down to a planet that is in the path on an oncoming meteor. They find an idyllic place that is very similar to Earth and whose population is virtually identical to North American Natives. Their visit is meant to be a short one since their mission is to deflect the meteor, still several months away. Before they can return to the ship, Kirk disappears and loses his memory in an accident, forcing Spock to take command of the Enterprise and to leave him behind. On the planet, Kirk is treated like a god when they see him emerge from an obelisk that is actually a deflector beam (which no one remembers how to use, however). When the Enterprise fails to deflect the meteor, they return to the planet only hours before the annihilating meteor’s arrival.

Youtube…has got to the point where any video I try to post has an age restriction if someone slaps someone on the back…youtube blocks me from posting it. So…if there is any action going on…you can forget it. I found the one below that actually allowed me to post it. 

CAST

William Shatner … Captain James Tiberius ‘Jim’ Kirk
Leonard Nimoy … Mister Spock
DeForest Kelley … Dr. McCoy
Sabrina Scharf … Miramanee
Rudy Solari … Sallish
James Doohan … Scott
George Takei … Sulu
Walter Koenig … Chekov
Richard Hale … Goro
Majel Barrett … Nurse Chapel
Naomi Newman … Indian Woman (as Naomi Pollack)
John Lindesmith … Engineer
Peter Virgo Jr. … Warrior
Lamont Laird … Indian Boy
Bill Blackburn … Lieutenant Hadley (uncredited)
Roger Holloway … Lt. Lemli (uncredited)
Foster Hood … Indian (uncredited)
Jeannie Malone … Yeoman (uncredited)
Nichelle Nichols … Lieutenant Nyota Uhura (archive footage) (uncredited)
Vincent St. Cyr … Father of Drowning Boy (uncredited)