Star Trek TOS

ChroniC

ChroniC

ChroniC

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Joined
18 Oct 2002
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As a big fan of TNG, DS9 and Voyager, but never having watch TOS and having far more time on my hands than I'd like atm,i thought I'd give it a go.

Whilst it's OK so far. Only 3/4 through the first series, 90% of those just being about Kirk fighting someone or other, but also I cant help but see how incredibly sexist / chauvinistic the whole series is. Obviously compared to today's standards, it does show how much we've changed.
All the men grope the women and stop them being emotional continuously, whilst they're dressed in some seriously revealing stuff for the day and age. Can't complain, some gorgeous women.

The story lines are a bit ridiculous but hilarious in most cases, with some serious overuse of letterbox lighting and makeup on the face.

I'm not sure so far how people rate it higher than TNG, but I'm persevering.
Does it get better?
 
Pretty much remains similar throughout but the premise it set really does the films then tng and beyond justice.
 
Saw my first romulan in a recent episode who funnily actually ends up playing Sarek in later epsidoes. I recognised his face instantly.
I'm hoping there becomes a better story arc soon but since its only 3 seasons I doubt it.

Infact how did something with only 3 season get so popular.
 
ChroniC said:
Saw my first romulan in a recent episode who funnily actually ends up playing Sarek in later epsidoes. I recognised his face instantly.
I'm hoping there becomes a better story arc soon but since its only 3 seasons I doubt it.

Infact how did something with only 3 season get so popular.
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It's almost like a cult following. I could be wrong (as I'm only 33 so didn't watch it when first on) but I guess there wasn't much scifi to choose from, probably that and 'save will Robinson':p. Oh and thunderbirds/stingray.
 
ChroniC said:
Saw my first romulan in a recent episode who funnily actually ends up playing Sarek in later epsidoes. I recognised his face instantly.
I'm hoping there becomes a better story arc soon but since its only 3 seasons I doubt it.
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There is no real arc to the story. It's not serialised, it's episodic - each installment is a standalone adventure.

ChroniC said:
Infact how did something with only 3 season get so popular.
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Because when it was good it was very, very good.

You've also got to judge it in context. Not just the time that it was made, but also that it paved the way for so many other series and films.
 
In the eighties when I grew up watching the repeats we hadn’t had Babylon 5 or TNG. Episodic TV was the staple of television before the mid nineties. TOS is like everything a product of its time the storytelling is well below what we expect now but what we expect now was built on the shoulders of the likes of Star Trek. There are some truly classics stories some groundbreaking social commentary but the World has moved on. It should be enjoyed in context of what it is. As someone has said above it also set a vision for a better humanity and exposed the problems of the day through the behaviour of the antagonists that we had moved beyond.
 
If some of the ways they act is considered enlightened behaviour then I can only imagine what was considered normal.
I thought Star Trek was about a eutopia, where for the most part, it has seem to be about Kirk beating up everything he meets. Violence has been pretty common place.
I have seen all the TOS films and I don't remember Bones being such a creepy sleaze and Scotty ages pretty badly.

I am going to watch all 3 series. I am determined.
 
I watched TOS when it first came out so for me it holds a place in my heart, it was very special, realistic & unique compared to Dr Who at the time.
I do prefer TNG but you have to realise how special TOS was/is.
 
ChroniC said:
As a big fan of TNG, DS9 and Voyager, but never having watch TOS and having far more time on my hands than I'd like atm,i thought I'd give it a go.

Whilst it's OK so far. Only 3/4 through the first series, 90% of those just being about Kirk fighting someone or other, but also I cant help but see how incredibly sexist / chauvinistic the whole series is. Obviously compared to today's standards, it does show how much we've changed.
All the men grope the women and stop them being emotional continuously, whilst they're dressed in some seriously revealing stuff for the day and age. Can't complain, some gorgeous women.

The story lines are a bit ridiculous but hilarious in most cases, with some serious overuse of letterbox lighting and makeup on the face.

I'm not sure so far how people rate it higher than TNG, but I'm persevering.
Does it get better?
Click to expand...
It gets much worse wait till you get to Plato's Stepchildren in season 3. On the other-hand make sue you watch the better ones like city on the edge of forever.
 
ChroniC said:
If some of the ways they act is considered enlightened behaviour then I can only imagine what was considered normal.
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Normal for the US at the time was the pointlessness in Vietnam raging on, an all-conquering fear of communism (that one hasn't changed much...), a fledgling space program that had killed three astronauts in 1967 and reminded everyone that just getting into space was dangerous let alone wombling around up there, and social unrest. 1968 in particular was a deeply unsettled time - anti-war and civil rights protests, the assassinations of RFK and Martin Luther King, the Pueblo incident, some of the worst battles of the Vietnam war, Nixon being elected ;):p). And in the midst of all that, here's this TV show that says "we're going to survive all this and go out into the stars to make friends with people who are different to us".

ChroniC said:
I thought Star Trek was about a eutopia, where for the most part, it has seem to be about Kirk beating up everything he meets. Violence has been pretty common place.
I have seen all the TOS films and I don't remember Bones being such a creepy sleaze and Scotty ages pretty badly.
Click to expand...

The utopia thing is something that really came in with early TNG. TOS was more about fistfights, rayguns and short skirts to divert the attention of the Standards & Practices department and allow Gene to express the occasional liberal thought (stuff like "hey, maybe we shouldn't have wars", anathema at a time when the US was having their little adventure in Vietnam).

ChroniC said:
I am going to watch all 3 series. I am determined.
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You should, because there are some brilliant episodes in there and some great ideas. Some absolute trash as well, mind ("Spock's Brain"...*shudder*).
 
VincentHanna said:
ignore TOS.
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T4Armme.jpg
 
While TOS had some excellent episodes, it did have a number that were utter garbage (the aforementioned Spock's Brain being the first in my mind), you'll see it at its best in the movies. Wrath of Khan is genuinely excellent and a good watch for any Sci-Fi fan even if they're not into Trek imo.

As a whole I'd argue that Star Trek peaked with DS9, when it first aired I struggled a little with it coming from TNG, but I've found that it's aged far better and my appreciation of it has only grown. Looking back, TNG had a poor first couple of seasons, and Voyager was very hit and miss. Enterprise took ages to get off the ground, but once there was actually decent. I can't stand Discovery and was disappointed by Picard.
 
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ToS can't be ignored, its actually what made the films and TNG/beyond so good in the end and just wait till you get to the ds9 episode trials and tribble-lations.
 
Lol look at when it was made.... come on.
Balance of terror was excellent and even holds up today, a lot of the rest though :p still it was what it was and its an important part of television. Heck try Doctor Who from around that time and.... well you get the picture.

Just have a drink before you watch spocks brain as ... well it only makes sense when in a coma, a bottle or two before hand means its almost intelligible.
 
I just sampled the delights of Kirk's (aka Russell's Crowes Fighting around the world) encounter with the Gorn, who punches as the speed of slow. Terrifying.
I look forward to these episodes you talk of.
 
ChroniC said:
If some of the ways they act is considered enlightened behaviour then I can only imagine what was considered normal.
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More like "I Dream of Jeannie" it was male wish fulfilment but my word Jeannie was as cute AF.

Interestingly Bewitched seemed to have a lot of stronger female characters in comparison. Certainly a lot of agency for the time.
 
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