„Star Trek“ original series appreciation thread!

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by Sgt. Abbey Road, Aug 3, 2022.

  1. Whizz Kid

    Whizz Kid Forum Resident

    Anyone remember these? ...the Star Trek "Fotonovels". I collected them all... which was a huge expense for a 12-year old kid at the time... I think they were a whole $1.75 each! They took 300 screen shots from the episodes and presented them in comic book form with the dialog in word balloons. These pocketbooks were absolute gold for 1970s Trek fans... in the days before home video. They let you pour over the sets and the details in a way that you couldn't watching the reruns. The books were especially cool for me because we still had a black & white TV in 1976!!

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    Last edited: Aug 5, 2022
  2. "lets get the hell out of here" -Capt. Kirk (City On The Edge of Forever)

    -best episode closing line for the entire series.
     
  3. HGN2001

    HGN2001 Mystery picture member

  4. Front Row

    Front Row Finding pleasure when annoying those with OCD.

    Location:
    Chicago IL
    Check Discogs but its pricey.
     
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  5. Yeah I can’t justify more that 20% or so over list for this. Those Discog prices are far too much for my pocketbook!
     
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  6. BigBadWolf

    BigBadWolf Forum Resident

    Location:
    Kernersville, NC
    I have to add I prefer the original broadcast versions, not the remastered with updated effects. I tried watching them when they were airing and it just felt weird. For me, part of the charm is the cheesiness of those original shots. No, my 2004 DVDs are perfectly fine for my collection. I also had made a promise that these sets, including the spinoffs and movies would be the last time I rebought the franchise.
     
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  7. Wildest cat from montana

    Wildest cat from montana Humble Reader

    Location:
    ontario canada
    I recommend that any and all fans of the original series check out the 'Black Mirror' episode ' USS Callister', a funny and creepy homage.
     
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  8. razerx

    razerx Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sonoma California
    Thanks! Will watch it tonight.
     
  9. Good call-out. My favorite homage remains Galaxy Quest though. Although this remains a classic:

     
  10. Wildest cat from montana

    Wildest cat from montana Humble Reader

    Location:
    ontario canada
    "Never give up. Never surrender!"
     
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  11. Scowl

    Scowl Forum Resident

    Location:
    ?
    Now that I'm older, I appreciate the direction and the cinematography more than ever. Look at one of the early scenes in "Man Trap". In Professor Crater's house, the actors move around in and out of a patch of light in the background. There are unexplained patches of red, yellow and purple light and the main light comes from not overhead but from the entrance and the windows just like you would expect the light to come from. There are random things in the background that are in shadows. In a later scene, the light in his house has changed somewhat because (I guess) the pretend sun is lower in the pretend sky so the light is coming in more directly. All this is much more attention to detail than was necessary for any 1960's television series.
     
  12. Scowl

    Scowl Forum Resident

    Location:
    ?
    One of the biggest problems with TOS is that the network demanded that every episode put the crew or a member of the crew in some kind of jeopardy. The Enterprise couldn't fly around the universe discovering stuff or learning something new about the universe or helping aliens. No, they had to either find themselves in danger or put themselves in danger every single week.
     
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  13. Dalav

    Dalav Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Jersey
    Love the attention to detail right at the end with Belushi squeezing in Kirk's serial number SC937-0176CEC from the Court Martial episode.
     
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  14. HGN2001

    HGN2001 Mystery picture member

    Those colored lights were a hallmark of the series. In virtually every episode, there is a scene somewhere in the Enterprise where a door opens and we see the corridor beyond - nearly always bathed in some exotic colors. Interiors of quarters had this too where the inner rooms were colored differently than the main room. Walls were always bathed in colored lights.

    When the show first aired, of course, this was part of the plan - to exaggerate the colors and really show off those RCA color TVs. Those old tube sets did the best they could, but it never really looked natural. Then the show went into syndication with faded 16mm prints running on (usually) UHF stations across the country, who didn't have the best in color processing equipment. So those vivid hallways looked a lot more muted for a good decade or more.

    When the first official VHS tapes began to show up in the early 80s, the colors once again popped, though the resolution of VHS made the whole thing look a bit smeary.

    It wasn't until really the early 2000s on DVD that we began to get a feel for just how beautifully colored the sets were, and now with Blu-rays, they are positively eye-popping. All of the other shows and movies are pretty well muted by comparison, though SNW has gotten some of the coloration looking pretty good. Still though, nothing compares with the original series for eye-popping color.
     
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  15. skisdlimit

    skisdlimit Forum Resident

    Location:
    Bellevue, WA
    :agree: Those "clamshell" DVDs are pretty good and will likely be my last stop as well. Additionally, I still have my 90's era VHS tapes recorded from television when the Sci-Fi Channel re-ran Star Trek with some great commentaries apparently found nowhere else AFAIK.

    As for personal appreciation, I too am a 2nd generation fan brought to this show mainly by my "Trekker" dad, and fondly recall watching it in syndication on weekends during the 70's. While its writing was mostly excellent, I agree with above posts that the chemistry between various cast members, particularly those three leads, was largely what made Star Trek work even if the sets/effects were often cheesy. I also still have (somewhere) this fun record/book I played frequently back in the day:

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    Regarding the spinoffs/films: I enjoyed the second and third movies (probably won't buy either one), but never really got into the others, or any of the later TV series. I did see the Director's Cut of the first film recently and thought that was an improvement over its theatrical release, but again, not enough to warrant a purchase.

    For me, that original series truly cannot be beat, and remains a landmark of both television and sci-fi respectively. My top five favorite episodes are (chronologically):

    1. "The Naked Time" - I reviewed this one a few years ago here:
    Star Trek (TOS): Episode By Episode Thread | Page 4 | Steve Hoffman Music Forums

    2. "Balance of Terror" - very tempted to call this gripping episode (a chess match of sorts) the very best, if not for...

    3. "The City on the Edge of Forever" - the only time trip back to Earth type episode which really works for me, darkly (Kirk's final comment is chilling). This deservedly won all the accolades it got.

    4. "Mirror, Mirror" - a fan favorite I believe, and a chance for Nichelle Nichols to stretch out a bit:
    R.I.P. Nichelle Nichols, Trailblazing Star Trek Icon, Dead at 89 (12/28/1932 - 07/30/2022) | Steve Hoffman Music Forums
    Trivia(l) alert :cop:: this episode also inspired a band name - Spock's Beard.

    5. "Journey to Babel" - Mark Lenard returns here as Spock's father for an episode delving deep into the Vulcan psyche, I think even better than Amok Time (also great) had done previously, but all the performances are fine, and for once Dr. McCoy gets the last word in (besides "He's dead, Jim" of course!). :laugh:

    To paraphrase Sarek: watching Star Trek seems the logical thing to do. :thumbsup:
     
    Last edited: Aug 5, 2022
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  16. CusBlues

    CusBlues Fort Wayne’s Favorite Retired Son

    I had Where No Man Has Gone Before. It was pretty cool.
     
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  17. CusBlues

    CusBlues Fort Wayne’s Favorite Retired Son

    I liked the updated effects. I thought they were done very well and in good taste. I liked going back and forth between the old and new to see the updates. Pretty cool.
     
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  18. Scowl

    Scowl Forum Resident

    Location:
    ?
    NBC saw the episodes projected with 35mm prints and that's who the producers were trying to impress with the colored lights. I know they were annoyed that the network was "color correcting" the prints to make Spock look more human but besides that I don't think they cared how the colors looked on color televisions which were a minority.
     
  19. Nipper

    Nipper His Master's Voice

    Location:
    Wisconsin
    I still have those 12 Fotonovels! Did they ever print any other episodes beyond that dozen?
     
  20. HGN2001

    HGN2001 Mystery picture member

    We had color tv right from the start. We got a color set that spring and were ready for the color explosion that fall.

    My only problem was that our family used to do our nicer-weather weekends at our summer cottage, where we only had a black & white TV. So when the series switched to Friday nights, for much of the year we got something like this:

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    The episodes from about Thanksgiving to just before Easter we got to see in color for those last two seasons.
     
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  21. Eric Richard

    Eric Richard Forum Resident

    There are a few mistakes in the blu-ray transfers, mostly with the sound. I hope these can be corrected when the shows come to 4k. Imagine the colors in HDR!
     
    Shawn likes this.
  22. David Campbell

    David Campbell Forum Resident

    Location:
    Luray, Virginia
    The bluray set was the best of both worlds. I personally like the new effects but it's nice to have the original shots represented and the ability to switch between either on the fly.
     
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  23. Whizz Kid

    Whizz Kid Forum Resident

    No, I think there were only the twelve Fotonovels from the original series… presumably the most popular episodes (?)

    They did also do the first two movies in this format, though.

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  24. Whizz Kid

    Whizz Kid Forum Resident

    The only other item we had for analyzing the show before home video was the ViewMaster reels… how old school is that??

    The episode on the reels was ‘The Omega Glory’ from season 2… which unfortunately was not one of the better ones.

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    The photo on the ViewMaster packet featured the AMT model kit of the Enterprise… I had that too.
     
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  25. Nipper

    Nipper His Master's Voice

    Location:
    Wisconsin
    Ooh, I actually have the TMP Photostory as well, but not Khan.
     

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