Star Trek novice watching Star Trek S1 via Net Flix
Let me say first I have watched some older episodes of the Original Star Trek series and reasonably familiar with the major players in the cast.
I just got done with E1 which they labeled as the Pilot episode. It had Captain Pike in it. I thought the episode with the "big brain" guys was interesting. Now playing E2 and I noticed they basically morphed in the "known" cast. Why the shake up? How long was it from Pilot to E2? Just seemed odd to me. I also must say that I think these might just be the upgraded BR release episodes because the they VERY SHARP for material from the 60s.
RE: Star Trek novice watching Star Trek S1 via Net Flix
Long story short, the initial pilot was screened to network executives, and while they thought it was very well done, they had a couple of reservations. One, they apparently didn't give their audience much credit, and thought it was "too cerebral". Two, the show had initially been pitched as more of an action-adventure show, and the pilot didn't quite fit that bill.
Unusual for the time, rather than pass altogether, the network gave Roddenberry a lot of notes, but let him do another pilot, which was the episode "Where No Man Has Gone Before" (which actually aired several episodes into Season 1, although if you watch closely you can see how it looks and feels different than the bulk of season 1). Jeffrey Hunter passed (supposedly due to his wife's influence) so they recast with Shatner as Captain. The network also didn't like the "cold" female first officer, so they made Spock the first officer and changed his character to be logical. (If you watch the pilot closely, you'll notice that Spock is more emotional than in subsequent episodes.)
RE: Star Trek novice watching Star Trek S1 via Net Flix
(05-11-2013 10:59 PM)BewareThePhog Wrote: Long story short, the initial pilot was screened to network executives, and while they thought it was very well done, they had a couple of reservations. One, they apparently didn't give their audience much credit, and thought it was "too cerebral". Two, the show had initially been pitched as more of an action-adventure show, and the pilot didn't quite fit that bill.
Unusual for the time, rather than pass altogether, the network gave Roddenberry a lot of notes, but let him do another pilot, which was the episode "Where No Man Has Gone Before" (which actually aired several episodes into Season 1, although if you watch closely you can see how it looks and feels different than the bulk of season 1). Jeffrey Hunter passed (supposedly due to his wife's influence) so they recast with Shatner as Captain. The network also didn't like the "cold" female first officer, so they made Spock the first officer and changed his character to be logical. (If you watch the pilot closely, you'll notice that Spock is more emotional than in subsequent episodes.)
I got to admit that Spock had little sayings of logical or illogical in his dealings with crew members in that Pilot episode. That said, in E2 it did pick up.
I would agree that the first one was kind of "cerebral."
I thought Pike wasn't bad. I'd have figured, after watching, he would have had more appearances or more involved with the series.
Pike's inclusion kind of suprised me based on seeing the newer Star Trek movie. They used Pike a lot. Wonder how much he shows up in Dark Territory.
RE: Star Trek novice watching Star Trek S1 via Net Flix
I agree that it was interesting to see how they used Pike in the first Abrams Star Trek movie. It does make sense in terms of setting up the entire alternate timeline story, which I thought was a smart way to free themselves to tell whatever stories they wanted to moving forward without conflicting with established "history". It's also interesting how the pilot establishes Pike as being somewhat world-weary, showing some strain rather than being just the stereotypical stalwart action hero. Later in the first season, when production was running behind and costs were high, they created an "envelope" story which allowed them to use the bulk of the footage from the pilot episode in a two-part episode.
You can also see Spock show a little more emotion in the first one. As an example, if I recall correctly when they're first exploring the planet and they come across some odd vibrating plants, when he grabs the leaves of one to stop the vibration, he breaks out into a pretty broad smile.
I think the network wasn't keen on a female second-in-command at the time, and her stoic personality was another strike against her. Of course, with different hair the actress was later Nurse Chapel, and she was also the voice of the computer. There was some concern that Spock would be viewed as being too satanic, particularly in the Bible Belt. Of course, the initial ratings for the show weren't great, but it certainly exceeded all expectations in decades to come.
RE: Star Trek novice watching Star Trek S1 via Net Flix
(05-11-2013 11:50 PM)BewareThePhog Wrote: I agree that it was interesting to see how they used Pike in the first Abrams Star Trek movie. It does make sense in terms of setting up the entire alternate timeline story, which I thought was a smart way to free themselves to tell whatever stories they wanted to moving forward without conflicting with established "history". It's also interesting how the pilot establishes Pike as being somewhat world-weary, showing some strain rather than being just the stereotypical stalwart action hero. Later in the first season, when production was running behind and costs were high, they created an "envelope" story which allowed them to use the bulk of the footage from the pilot episode in a two-part episode.
It did seem that whatever happened to Pike that him and the Doctor were talking about at the beginning of the episode really got to him mentally. Like he was having trouble resolving it in his mind. And that was burden to him in his future dealings and he wanted to go back home so to speak.
RE: Star Trek novice watching Star Trek S1 via Net Flix
PirateTreasureNC, I really think that you're going to enjoy watching the original series. There are a few clunker episodes, but the same can be said of pretty much every TV show. I'll try to be careful with commentary to avoid spoiling any significant plot points.
Bit is right - "City on the Edge of Forever" is an excellent episode.
Wolfman's take on how the relationship between Kirk, Spock, and McCoy provides some of the best moments of the show is right on. I like the ending of "Friday's Child", where Kirk and McCoy are celebrating an event that just occurred, and Spock drily says "I think that the two of you will be insufferably pleased with yourselves for at least a week!". (Yes, I've seen these all many, many times.) I do like the casting in the new series - I think there's good chemistry with Pine, Quinto, and Urban. Now I just need to line up a babysitter so we can get away to see the next one!
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Star Trek novice watching Star Trek S1 via Net Flix
