2001: A Space Odyssey is one of the most important and iconic movies ever made. It inspired so many directors, from Spielberg to Lucas to Nolan and many, many in between, reshaping the way movies could be visualized and crafted.
Food for thought, William Shatner did most of all his character's stunts. He is still in really good shape into his 90s. He even went into space and became the oldest person to do so at age 90!
This little fun fact is going to be different for most everyone.... Shatner is the only cast member to go to space while still alive. A portion of James Doohan's ashes were taken to space years before, along with a group of others ashes. At first, it was believed the ashes would be left in orbit or set on a tragectory to travel forever but later on it was decided that they'd be returned to the families.
An interesting fact is that the contact lenses the actor playing Gary was wearing were quite uncomfortable and he could hardly see out of them, thats why he tends to have his head tilted upward, it worked out well because it made him look more godly looking down at people
One of the things I love about the original series is how it builds on previous sci fi fare and when I watch it sometimes I get the "Twilight Zone" and "Outer Limits" vibes and other similar themed programs from the 60s. Only Star Trek did it in episodic fashion whereas others previously had been mostly anthologies. All that while building iconic species and lore including Starfleet, Romulans, Vulcans and many others. An impressive legacy for a show that only originally lasted 3 seasons.
Dorothy Fontana had a lot to do with creating the back story about Vulcans and their adherence to logic. It turns out that a long time ago they were even more savage than humans, and nearly depopulated their planet. A dedication to logic to control (not suppress) their passions is what saved the planet. It turns out later that Spock has a human mother & Vulcan father,, so he constantly has to deal with human emotions.
You learn a lot about Kirk in this episode. He beats Spock at chess, even though Spock is a chess master, by using unconventional strategies, showing that his skills include instinct and improvisation. You hear about how he was a serious, hard working student at the Academy that learned to relax a little because of Gary. You learn how much friendship means to him through his relationship with Gary, but also that nothing or no one is above the safety of his ship. And finally, he goes to confront Gary and Elizabeth alone, because he knows it's probably a suicide mission and he's not willing to sacrifice anyone ahead of himself. There's still a lot more character development to come for others, especially Spock, but other than a few tweaks here and there this is basically the Jim Kirk for the entire series.
"He beats Spock at chess, even though Spock is a chess master, by using unconventional strategies" I've always thought this was rather lame, and I choose to ignore it in the same way I ignore "James R. Kirk".
@@stuffyouotterlistento1461 In the end, I agree it's far fetched, but from what little I do know about chess is that it's a game of strategy. I'm guessing someone who can think and adapt on his feet in a fight the way Kirk can would be able to tap into that to some degree.
@@stuffyouotterlistento1461I think part of the "Kirk beats Spock at chess" dynamic is that it is implied that Kirk creates a situation where Spock underestimates him... Kirk is a very intuitive and empathetic character... So he can probably read that Spock is a bit overconfident. I have always assumed that Kirk make some intentionally "careless" moves so Spock would "misunderestimate" him. After all, Kirk is nothing if not resourceful.
@@stuffyouotterlistento1461 Kirk is supposed to be a strategic and tactical genius: note the list of his awards and commendations that get partially read out in Court Martial. Being great at chess has long been a cinematic shorthand for that.
At 17:52 "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men." by Lord Acton is the quote that you were looking for
In a letter to a bishop discussing how we as a society can't afford to assume that the Pope or others in positions of power are less likely to "be bad" (i.e. commit crimes, etc.) because they hold those positions -- and that, indeed, the opposite is more likely to be most generally true.
Note the little detail that Gary's hair goes gradually grey - a subtle sign of the strain his body is under. The grave stone reads James R Kirk - a continuity error that Gene Roddenberry later 'explained' as hinting that Gary was still fallible. I've loved this episode for 40 years. The bit where Gary turned to the camera as they're watching him from the bridge chilled me as a child.
Remember a Jackson Roykirk from 'Nomad'? Kirk's middle name is Roy at this point, later retconned as 'T' middle initial, and even later a bit of fanon is accepted into one of the movies making his middle name 'Tiberius'. None of this was fact until it was said on screen. Like Wolverine's bone claws, he never had bone claws until it was retconned in. Then he did 'always' have had them.
*Sally Kellerman (blond crew-woman) went on to win an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1971. And Gary Lockwood (Lt Gary Mitchell) went on to co-star in "2001: A Space Odyssey" in 1968. Lockwood is still alive, as of November 2023. Kellerman died last year - in 2022.* 👽👾
@@mikejankowski6321 _"Now, that's a stretch."_ Not at all. Kirk specifically says, _"There'll only be one of you in the end."_ It's obvious that Gary is enticing her with power, but has zero intention of sharing that power fully: she's obviously weaker than him, and you know he'll keep it that way. and then she'll see what he's doing and get jealous...
@@Idazmi7 Oh, well, yes, THAT aspect is valid. But it is more of a Highlander phenomenon than a “rule” that restricted how many of the crew were affected.
Fun fact: the silver eye effect was practical. They manufactured special contacts that covered the eyeball; two clear layers with silver foil layered between. They turned out to be unbelievably painful to wear. Lockwood couldn't see straight ahead very well, so he tilted his head back. This ended up enhancing his persona when he became more god like.
There's an alternate version of this episode as well, which never made it to broadcast. Mostly just stylistic changes with the titles and added snippets of dialogue. But the biggest change is an entirely different pre-title narration.
Quite right. The version here is the version aired as an episode. When it was presented as a pilot, yes, it had the differences you point out. I prefer the pilot version, personally... But the pilot version isn't available in HD... only in SD, unremastered.
Michael Jan Friedman did three books about their backstory, told in flashback while Kirk has to prepare to give the eulogy for his friend he was forced to kill.
i got to meet Gary Lockwood at a Star Trek convention in the late 90s. There was very few people around at the time, so i got to talk w/ him for about half an hour. He mentioned in previous interviews about how those contacts were painful to wear. He told me that was an understatement and quite awful to wear. Fight choreograph was very similar to westerns of the 1960s (See Bonanza and Gunsmoke).
Yes, this was a fantastic episode. This was the 2nd pilot made, but the third episode aired in Sept 1966. A big criticism of The Cage was that it was too racy, the sexual imagery deemed too intense, especially with Susan Oliver. They did the opposite in this one with Sally Kellerman. This episode encapsulated the theme of the whole show: to explore unknown frontiers, but it also showed why some frontiers should not be crossed. This episode had an Icarus feel. Gary Mitchell had psionic powers, formidable mental powers. Gary was also a big ladies man and you can see him trying to hit on Dr. Dehner, who makes it clear that she's not interested, not until later on. What was very clear was Dr. Dehner was a very brave woman, one of many that you'll see on the Original ST. Note how force lighting was used here long before we saw it on Return of The Jedi. Remember that Kirk, being a Star Fleet officer, was trained in hand-to-hand combat techniques, hence his fighting skills.
Of course, the superhuman with human emotional motivations was a theme explored in the seminal movie, "Forbidden Planet", which had clear influences on Star Trek. "Outer Limits" had benign (as it turned out) superhuman characters in "The Inheritors" episode, and a less benign enhanced human in "Expanding Human", with a pre-Star Trek James Doohan, and Skip Homeier as the ubermensch character; Homeier was still remembered in the 1960s for his chilling portrayal of a teenage Nazi boy in "Tomorrow the World" in 1944. He would turn up as a Space Nazi (and also as a Space Hippie) in Star Trek.
This episode is more action packed but it is also wrapped in an excellent philosophical story. It raises, what in philosophy is called, the Euthyphro Dilemma. It also presents moral dilemmas related to that. That's why Star Trek, done right, is SO good!
One of my favorite Trek episodes. They do such a great job making Gary a likable character, then a threat, to finally something to be stopped. And all in an hour. And still have time to establish Kirk and Spock and Dr. Dehner's characters. This is such tight writing that is sadly missing in mini-series of Trek today. The tragedy of the story is a repeated theme in the original series. We don't see many villains in the original series. The "bad" guys were antagonists, people you could empathize with even if you couldn't root for.
Excellent reaction. My dad, who is also no longer with us, loved science fiction and Star Trek TOS was the first sci-fi show I remember watching with him. So this show will always have special meaning to me. Keep up the good work. 🤗🙌
Same here, he knew about Star Trek and probably saw a few episodes, but one Saturday "Tomorrow Is Yesterday" was on, and he didn't know what it was for the first 4 minutes...one of the best opening hooks in all of Star Trek.
It's interesting watching these first few episodes, and seeing how much they're still figuring out the characters. Like the thing with Spock's ancestry; don't think "that's a weird phrasing", think "Oh, they really hadn't decided these details yet". Thinking that way, I'm sometimes actually kinda impressed at how quickly things fell right into their long-term groove, even just a handful of episodes in. Probably part of why the series as a whole works and endures so well; they quickly wound up in just the right place.
I took it that Spock was embarassed at being half human, and so phrased it in a way that was technically the truth, but which gave an impression of a lesser degree of human ancestry. Of course, later on we learn that Vulcans being logical was cultural, from Surak, and not biological, as presented in early TOS episodes. I guess that was changed because it was more comfortable and/or had more story possibilities.
22:47, Ive met very ordinary people who are exceptional in one area. Some were humble and grounded. But I've met others who treated their exceptional one ability as entitlement to be a straight up jerk. So imagine how Gary must have felt being better in every way to everyone else.
Another great review, I am enjoying you watching through this series. One of the keys Star Trek's success was Lucille Ball's backing of the show. She not only supported the first pilot but supported paying for the second pilot.
Bones and Uhura came along a little later in the first season. They actually had an older man play Dr. Piper in this episode. And you get to see the first appearance of Scotty and Sulu when they all came to the bridge to introduce Dr. Elizabeth Dehner.
23:19 The fight scenes are awesome. TV during this time had a decades-long tradition with westerns and their use of fights, so they brought their expertise with what looks exciting to this new setting. Agreed that they are a lot more fun than what we see nowadays.
Several of the guest stars in this episode are worth mentioning: Dr Elizabeth Dehner was played by Sally Kellerman, who became famous in original 1970 M*A*S*H movie (before the TV) as "Hot Lips" Houlighan. Gary Mitchell was played by Gary Lockwood, one of the stars of the famous science fiction movie "2001: A Space Odyssey". The Doctor (Mark Piper) in this episode isn't McCoy because DeForest Kelley hadn't been hired yet. Dr. Piper was played by Paul Fix, who was well known at the time for having played the sheriff in the 1960s Western "The Rifleman". You will note that red had not yet been added to the colors used for the uniforms yet, just the golds and blues. Red will appear in the next episode, and we also will get McCoy and Uhura then. It is strange seeing Scotty in a gold uniform in this episode.
They were having problems getting colors to show up properly. There is a third uniform color if you look closely. Mitchell's, Scotty's and Lee's uniforms are a beige color (which seems to be engineering and services) rather than Kirk's and Spock's command gold (and the gold shirts were actually supposed to be more green). If this episode had been regular production rather than a pilot, Mitchell would have had a red shirt, which would have made him and Lee the first redshirts to die in production order.
Mostly correct, but watch more closely... Gary Mitchell's tunic is NOT the same color as Kirk's or Spock's. Kirk and Spock wire a slightly green-tinted gold color. Gary, and quite a few others, wore a pale salmon-pink color. It was this salmon color which was made red for the production series. While the slightly green gold of Kirk took on even more green, to the point that it was almost a lime-gold or even olive-gold color. Also, note, in this episode only, science and medical wear different shades of grey... with medical being more greenish and science being more blueish.
@bunnytailsREACTS, thank you for this show of yours! Your tribute to your dad at the end of these are solid and heartfelt! There are those of us out here that would love our relationship with our daughters to be peaceful.....for some reason, you bring us hope!😊
Space, the final frontier. These are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise. It's five year mission, to explore strange new worlds, to boldly go where no Bunny has gone before.
By the way, considering the enormous cost of a pilot episode which perhaps didn't take hold like The Cage; the ability of Gene Roddenberry to convince the men with the money to do a second pilot in the 1960s was astonishing. The idea of producing Where No Man Has Gone Before just simply wasn't done when the first pilot did not produce the desired result. The fact they took that chance is what gave rise to a franchise which is now in its 58th year and counting. The James Bond franchise at 63 years is the only one I'm aware of that surpasses it. 📽
This is going to be so much fun, watching your reactions to one of the greatest sci-fi shows ever. I believe you’ll appreciate how the characters develop over 79 episodes.
One reason Gary Mitchell Was weakened enough by Dr Elizabeth Dehner to allow kirk to kill him was that Mitchell was flaunting his Godlike powers so much that even though his powers were more developed than hers, when she used her powers to attack Mitchell, he used even more power just to defend himself causing him to temporarily drain his energy long enough for kirk to finish him off but the energy Mitchell used to attack her was too much for her still developing powers to defend against which resulted in her death.
A very unique episode in Star Trek history. Some of my favorites are City on the Edge of Forever, Amok Time, Balance of Terror, The Cobormite Maneuver, The Cage/Menagerie, Court Marshall, Wolf in the Fold, Return of the Archons and A Piece of the Action.
I like how this episode feels like a mid ground between the first pilot and the rest of the series. I can see why they'd pick this version over the slower one, more cerebral version in the cage.
very good reaction. the studio insisted the tv debut have "a space monster or something", which is why the blah episode "the mantrap" aired first. (as though that ep is anywhere near as good as this one ). mccoy is in the 3rd most episodes after spock and kirk. (75) he misses 4 of the first 14 before becoming the 3rd full-timer. uhura is in 71, and nobody else is in more than 63, although scott becomes more importantly written than uhura. gary lockwood (mitchell) hated the painful contact lenses that he wore for this, and held a lifelong grudge against trek, and trekkies. he rarely appeared at conventions, made it clear when he did show up it was only for the money, and called us losers. the tombstone at the end reads "james r. kirk", but we come to know him as james t. kirk. spoiler we find out the middle name is tiberius far later in star trek 6. trek (and most any other show or film ) are ridiculous in their portrayal of chess games and chess players. spock is supposed to brilliant overall and masterful at chess, yet twice in the series (first this episode and 1 other later) we see him declare that he is about to win when he has overlooked the fact that kirk threatens mate on the move. the writers are trying to convey something about logic vs. intuition or something, but no chess player above beginner rank would be in the situation you just saw spock in, sorry for the chess rant, hope some of you enjoy the trivia info about this episode.
Your thoughts on how TOS explores themes of more "advanced" or "superior" beings are really insightful. I think you will find that one of the main running themes of Star Trek, particularly the original series, is in fact the power dynamics and ethics of how more and less advanced species interact. And by and large, the show's take on the theme is profound caution and concern. It doesn't always come down on the side of being afraid of "superior" beings. But it's always a dilemma. And it works both ways. How do our Star Trek people deal with the threat to themselves from vastly superior beings, and how to they handle the threat their superiority may pose to seemingly less advanced species? Also, the whole franchise is VERY skeptical of anything that smacks of eugenics ideology. That may in part be because the show's original writers all grew up in the early to mid 20th century when eugenics was first a mainstream ideology, and then became synonymous with Naziism and World War II. In this episode, Dr. Deiner espouses a sort of eugenics ideology, asserting that sudden, significant improvement in humans can be "a wonderful thing" that should be embraced and maybe deliberately pursued.
The Enterprise here in the second pilot apparently is equipped so that individuals can be monitored (spied upon?) from various locations aboard the ship. Gary Mitchell, in sick bay, is watched from the bridge. (He, of course, is aware of this.)
You can see the order of the pilots based on the sets and costumes. In Where No Man Has Gone Before, they are wearing different uniforms, Spocks character isn't entirely fleshed out, the captain's chair has either a small visual display on it or perhaps a microphone, the visual display on the bridge has a huge border on it with rounded corners. You never see any of these again.
Producer Bob Justman tells in his book how the eyes were done with glass cups that had foil in-between double layers. These caused painful buildup of heat so couldn’t be worn for more than a few minutes at a time. The guy who built them didn’t understand they had to be seen through and they had to be redone with pinholes in the foil - these were not perfectly aligned which is why Gary has to always look down his nose which ended up making him seem more godlike.
All these philosophical questions get into why Star Trek has lasted 58 years. It wasn't just "Horatio Hornblower goes into space" as Roddenberry pitched it to NBC at the beginning. He had a philosophy to put behind it. We will survive the 20th Century, and we will go beyond. He also had some weird ideas about sexism and stuff, but his overall concept of "We will get better," has survived, and think even thrived since his passing in 1991, when Star Trek disciples have taken over the cause of peace, love and logic in common entertainment. The most common other dramatic series of the time like Gunsmoke or The Rifleman didn't even take up the cause of the human condition, or in the case of Star Trek, the condition of all.
I am enjoying your reaction videos. Here are a few observations (without reading all the other comments): "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." This statement was made in 1887 by Lord Acton. He was a historian, politician, and writer. He was one of the most influential thinkers of his century. During the 1960s, there was a lot of research into ESP. It was a popular topic around the time that this episode was created. Nowadays, there seems to be very little interest in ESP due to a lack of reliable evidence. This episode contains one of my favourite Star Trek lines: "Above all else, a god needs compassion." I really like the acting by the main characters.
Did anyone notice the wireless mouse he used to interface with ship computer in sickbay before giving us the tv dinner Renold's Wrap stare. 20 years before corded ones were in use.
I love how many Trek fans are watching BT, it makes me feel I am on a trek site with intellectuals having interesting and meaningful discussions. The fact you know the positive influence Trek has had on the world makes it easier to make observations like I did without being ridiculed by the more ignorant bullies out there. Thanks for the apparently simple thing you did such as reply and contribute not just to my simple observation but to me feeling a moment of joy at the reminder that likeminded people of infinite diversity create infinite wisdom.@@dandeliondown7920
I think two of the best Star Trek episodes coming up are "City on the Edge of Forever" and "Balance of Terror". These should be very enjoyable. If you want to watch an episode where ultimate power doesn't corrupt watch "Errand of Mercy".
One thing to keep in mind for both Mitchell and Dr. Dehner is that they were still constrained by normal physical bodies. All the powers they showed were mental only. You have to wonder if eventually they would transend their physical bodies.
@Feargal011 or the Metrons, Trelaine, the Greek Gods, plenty of non corporeal entities to keep them company. Make me wonder what that tier of evolution thinks about quickly ascended humans.
Thank you for letting us see these episodes for the "first time" again. You just happened to pick an order that shows the similarities between a couple of episodes...Super human ability, ego, and the corruption that follows. I assure you they all get different. Some of them are prophetic in ways...a covid like scenario (episode with kids) and a current presidency like scenario (episode with a figure head). Others are paradises that must be left behind, contests for the survival of species, time travel, parallel universes, mirror realities, new forms of life, space monsters, AI, First contact, the whole gambit. You will be in for a ride. The writers should get more credit for the series then they do. Roddenberry got a lot of things wrong, but he put together a good cast and writing staff and it shows.
Hey bunny, it is amazing to hear your observations and perceptions of these episodes that i have seen dozens of times…your takes on everything are so spot on…..you will attract so many trekies to your show….do you see yourself doing one episode per week??? I look forward to your next instalment….. cheers
A little visual blooper that happens when you get an overhead shot of people entering or leaving the turbo-lift is how the deck and the inside of the lift are one solid floor. Nobody thought to paint a black line so as to make it appear like there's a separation. Even more amazing, this wasn't fixed in the remastered version, either.
The remastered version is terrible. The cgi looked bad from the get go. Plus they didn’t match the cgi shuttle with full size one and in AMOK TIME had them beam down THEN cross a bridge???
@@mem1701movies Them crossing a land bridge to the ceremonial area was meant to foreshadow a similar scene in _Star Trek III._ It was also an opportunity to show ShiKahr in the distance. I LOVE the remastered version and would _never_ go back to the original (and I'm speaking as an old-timer who watched the show on NBC!). IMHO, they didn't go far enough.
Growing up in the late 1970s. persons of my generation watched the reruns of Star Trek episodes, Monday thru Friday, 5 -6 pm…. That opening was indeed memorized…
In my opinion, this is not only one of the best episodes of Star Trek, but also one of the best sci-fi stories written for tv. A superb pilot episode, that contained all of the elements Star Trek would become famous for and featuring some great acting performances from the regular cast and special guest stars Sally Kellerman and Gary Lockwood.
The psychiatrist is played by Sally Kellerman. Many might know her better as Hot Lips Houlihan in the film MASH. The role is played by Loretta Swit in the TV show.
@@smark1180 Yes. It ran from 1972 to 1983 and holds the record for the most viewers to watch the final episode of a scripted series. It basically picked up where the film left off. Gary Burghoff (Radar O'Reilly) was the only actor who played the same role in both the film and series. The theme song from the series (Suicide Is Painless) is also from the film. In fact the lyrics were written by Michael Altman. He is the film director's son. You can still find the show on TV. Oddly enough I only ever saw the show in reruns for reasons I'll not bore you all with. 🙂
@@smark1180 LOL Yeah, I considered the possibility. But some who were born this century might not know of the film or TV show. So I took the comment seriously JIC
The actor Gary Lockwood (Gary Mitchell) was wearing silver contacts making it hard to see out of the small holes, so he always seemed to be looking up, but Sally Kellerman didn't have that problem with hers
One of the unique things about Star Trek as an adventure/action series is that there's alot of script describing things happening off-screen. This is true of many old series where producing too many scenes with new sets and all were just not possible.
Remember how Gene Roddenberry sold the idea to NBC? "Wagon Train to the stars." Westerns were so popular, that fight scene at the end was definitely influenced by the action and bar room brawls seen in so many TV shows at the time. Anyway, thanks for watching and uploading, enjoy the fun trip that is Star Trek...
The apple is a Garden of Eden reference. She got powers at the same time, it just took longer. TV executives had Mantrap broadcast first to show off the true full color, and Deforest Kelly as the third cast member.
I think the big problem in this episode was that Mitchell gained too much power without the discipline it would have taken to achieve it. He was basically a toddler running around with unlimited nuclear bombs.
I learned a factoid about James Doohan (the actor [Canadian, by the way, not Scottish] who plays Mr. Scott): He had the middle finger of his right hand amputated after it was shot when he was on Juno beach during the D-Day operations in World War II. If you pay attention throughout the series, you’ll notice that most often his right hand is either obscured or shown in such a way as to make the missing finger less noticeable, but every once in a while you can briefly see that hand is very definitely missing its middle finger.
You've forgot about one infinitely scary thing about Gary Mitchell's powers is that it doubles daily so in a month's time he'd be approximately 132,000,000 million times stronger than the first day of the month making him virtually unbeatable.
Here's a "fun fact" that no one seems to have mentioned yet. This pilot was filmed in July 1965. During that very hot summer there was a large beehive (or wasp nest...reports vary) in the rafters of the studio. Several cast and crew were stung by the aggressive insects, including William Shatner who was stung in the eyelid!
When Kirk and Gary were fighting on the planet, Shatner recounts in his memoirs how one of their pants split open (I don't remember who's pants) and he flopped out. He grinned at Dr. Dainer and said "Smile, you've just had your picture taken." She replied "what, with that little brownie?"
The apple is symbolic of the garden of eden, the first man and first woman. They touched on this subject a few times. When someone is changed to have ultimate powers or something close to it they haven't really learned to manage it they just have it. So their judgment even their humanity is lost or disrupted
As a kid, my all time favorite episode. Reason why I love sci-fi. Other great ones Doomsday Machine. Amok Time. When they first meet the Romulans and any episodes involving the shuttle is gripping!!!!!! (Unlike the Next Generation where it's very much matter of fact)
12:14 Very inquisitive and beautiful reaction to the early pilots of this series. Gene Roddenberry wanted to create more then just a western in space, but something the question the very nature of mankind. Having served in the WWII, seeing alot, the question of just how violent a superior race in both technical, educational, or wealth was a big and brutal thing. Getting this series off the ground, was important, but to answer your question, YES and beautifully yes, it shows so much for a 70 episode 3 season sci-fi show set well before I was alive. Enjoy. Glad you shared your adventure into Star Trek with us.
23:03 There it is! That is what I truly loved about Star Trek growing up! These episodes; while offering fantastical entertainment, manages to make its audience question topics and moral dilemmas from perspectives you would have never considered before.
I love watching these first episodes as they were feeling out each character and their personalities and back stories were still so fluid. I think later episodes are more to my liking, but these first few are still so entertaining to watch
One of the very best "superior beings" episode was in Star Trek the Next Generation episode: "The Survivors" where the superior being had humility and regret especially when he lost control and wiped out an intelligent race.
Sometime along your Star Trek journey you watch the film "Forbidden Planet." It was a big influence to Trek and has some similar themes to this episode. It also reminds me of "Akira" a little bit.
I enjoyed your reaction. Your reactions are fun. This was the 3rd episode broadcast. The episode features a number of actors who would go on to become famous movie stars, including Gary Lockwood ("2001: A Space Odyssey"), who plays Lt. Cmdr. Gary Mitchell, and Sally Kellerman ("MASH"). To answer your question, the quotation "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely" was first said by Sir John Dalberg-Acton, a British historian, and politician. Again, thanks for your very entertaining and fun reactions to one of my favorite series.
You know, now that you mention it, the security protocols in regards to foreign unknown objects, were pretty relaxed on the Enterprise. Especially because they were exploring unknown shit regularly during those away missions
This episode was leading up to the highlight of Gary Lockwood's (Mitchell) career: In two years he would co-star with Keir Dullea in 2001: A Space Odyssey as Dr. Frank Poole.
12:27 - Humans are smarter than cats? I’m reminded of the cartoon where aliens arrive at a man’s house, and tell him they are seeking the most intelligent creatures on the planet. He thanks them for the presumed complement before they blast him, and then address his cat. “Tell us, feline masters, how did you subjugate the humans?”
The zoom effect you did on yourself when you were looking at Mitchell's glowing eyes for the first time was quite impressive and appropriate. So was your facial expression.
I remember my father, who was not even into science fiction, being extremely fond of this show. This was before the moon landings so space travel was mostly fiction.
"Thinking in ways I've never thought before. And different perspectives."
That's what Star Trek is all about.
Gary Lockwood also played astronaut Frank Poole in the classic sci-fi movie 2001: A Space Odyssey.
And the star of Roddenberry's previous TV show, _The Lieutenant._
He does seem to be the sassier space buddy of the more uptight space nerd, as a rule. 😀
Excellent show.
2001: A Space Odyssey is definitely a great movie - but of the cerebral variety and not for action-movie lovers lol.
2001: A Space Odyssey is one of the most important and iconic movies ever made. It inspired so many directors, from Spielberg to Lucas to Nolan and many, many in between, reshaping the way movies could be visualized and crafted.
Gary Lockwood did a great job playing a God-like being. The way he carried himself, the hand and body motions were perfectly executed!!!
Food for thought, William Shatner did most of all his character's stunts. He is still in really good shape into his 90s. He even went into space and became the oldest person to do so at age 90!
... and he found the experience of just looking out at the vastness of space both demoralizing, depressing and terrifying. Quite the turnaround!
This little fun fact is going to be different for most everyone.... Shatner is the only cast member to go to space while still alive. A portion of James Doohan's ashes were taken to space years before, along with a group of others ashes. At first, it was believed the ashes would be left in orbit or set on a tragectory to travel forever but later on it was decided that they'd be returned to the families.
There is a rumor in STAR TREK lore that the "little blond lab technician" Gary Mitchell pointed at Kirk was Carolyn Marcus.
This can be seen played out in one of the DC Comics Star Trek annuals.
An interesting fact is that the contact lenses the actor playing Gary was wearing were quite uncomfortable and he could hardly see out of them, thats why he tends to have his head tilted upward, it worked out well because it made him look more godly looking down at people
One of the things I love about the original series is how it builds on previous sci fi fare and when I watch it sometimes I get the "Twilight Zone" and "Outer Limits" vibes and other similar themed programs from the 60s. Only Star Trek did it in episodic fashion whereas others previously had been mostly anthologies. All that while building iconic species and lore including Starfleet, Romulans, Vulcans and many others. An impressive legacy for a show that only originally lasted 3 seasons.
So fun to see this again - like how they hadn't quite figured out Spock's eyebrows yet and Nimoy hadn't refined his Vulcan attitude. 🖖
Dorothy Fontana had a lot to do with creating the back story about Vulcans and their adherence to logic. It turns out that a long time ago they were even more savage than humans, and nearly depopulated their planet. A dedication to logic to control (not suppress) their passions is what saved the planet.
It turns out later that Spock has a human mother & Vulcan father,, so he constantly has to deal with human emotions.
@@Caseytify
Can we NOT spoil things, please?
Here he seems to be in between the more emotional version in The Cage and how he evolved in a few more episodes.
@@joeconcepts5552
He was 'emotional' in The Cage?
Well he gives us a big smile in at least one scene.@@Idazmi7
You learn a lot about Kirk in this episode. He beats Spock at chess, even though Spock is a chess master, by using unconventional strategies, showing that his skills include instinct and improvisation. You hear about how he was a serious, hard working student at the Academy that learned to relax a little because of Gary. You learn how much friendship means to him through his relationship with Gary, but also that nothing or no one is above the safety of his ship. And finally, he goes to confront Gary and Elizabeth alone, because he knows it's probably a suicide mission and he's not willing to sacrifice anyone ahead of himself. There's still a lot more character development to come for others, especially Spock, but other than a few tweaks here and there this is basically the Jim Kirk for the entire series.
"He beats Spock at chess, even though Spock is a chess master, by using unconventional strategies"
I've always thought this was rather lame, and I choose to ignore it in the same way I ignore "James R. Kirk".
@@stuffyouotterlistento1461 In the end, I agree it's far fetched, but from what little I do know about chess is that it's a game of strategy. I'm guessing someone who can think and adapt on his feet in a fight the way Kirk can would be able to tap into that to some degree.
@@stuffyouotterlistento1461I think part of the "Kirk beats Spock at chess" dynamic is that it is implied that Kirk creates a situation where Spock underestimates him... Kirk is a very intuitive and empathetic character... So he can probably read that Spock is a bit overconfident. I have always assumed that Kirk make some intentionally "careless" moves so Spock would "misunderestimate" him.
After all, Kirk is nothing if not resourceful.
@@markallen2984 @Asher8328 I basically just think they picked the wrong game. If this were poker or something, then sure.
@@stuffyouotterlistento1461 Kirk is supposed to be a strategic and tactical genius: note the list of his awards and commendations that get partially read out in Court Martial. Being great at chess has long been a cinematic shorthand for that.
At 17:52 "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men." by Lord Acton is the quote that you were looking for
yep a British Libertarian back in the 1800s. You gotta love it. We are still making that observation today
In a letter to a bishop discussing how we as a society can't afford to assume that the Pope or others in positions of power are less likely to "be bad" (i.e. commit crimes, etc.) because they hold those positions -- and that, indeed, the opposite is more likely to be most generally true.
'Those who seek power must never be allowed any.' Is the quote derived from that position. It's also not taught widely enough.
Note the little detail that Gary's hair goes gradually grey - a subtle sign of the strain his body is under. The grave stone reads James R Kirk - a continuity error that Gene Roddenberry later 'explained' as hinting that Gary was still fallible.
I've loved this episode for 40 years. The bit where Gary turned to the camera as they're watching him from the bridge chilled me as a child.
More likely they hadn't figured out everything and made changes later on as the series developed.
Remember a Jackson Roykirk from 'Nomad'? Kirk's middle name is Roy at this point, later retconned as 'T' middle initial, and even later a bit of fanon is accepted into one of the movies making his middle name 'Tiberius'.
None of this was fact until it was said on screen.
Like Wolverine's bone claws, he never had bone claws until it was retconned in. Then he did 'always' have had them.
*Sally Kellerman (blond crew-woman) went on to win an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1971. And Gary Lockwood (Lt Gary Mitchell) went on to co-star in "2001: A Space Odyssey" in 1968. Lockwood is still alive, as of November 2023. Kellerman died last year - in 2022.* 👽👾
Funny how "The Force" is used here for the first time 11 years before the first Star Wars. 🖖😉
And the Rule of Two.
@@Idazmi7Now, that's a stretch.
@@mikejankowski6321
_"Now, that's a stretch."_
Not at all. Kirk specifically says, _"There'll only be one of you in the end."_ It's obvious that Gary is enticing her with power, but has zero intention of sharing that power fully: she's obviously weaker than him, and you know he'll keep it that way. and then she'll see what he's doing and get jealous...
@@Idazmi7 Oh, well, yes, THAT aspect is valid. But it is more of a Highlander phenomenon than a “rule” that restricted how many of the crew were affected.
@@mikejankowski6321
What I described is *exactly* how the rule of two works according to George Lucas. It's worth noting that George is a Trekkie.
This is my favourite Star Trek episode. I love the "power corrupts/absolute power corrupts absolutely" aspect of the show.
Here in Britain we like to remind that 'petty power corrupts out of all proportion to real power', as well.
Fun fact: the silver eye effect was practical. They manufactured special contacts that covered the eyeball; two clear layers with silver foil layered between. They turned out to be unbelievably painful to wear.
Lockwood couldn't see straight ahead very well, so he tilted his head back. This ended up enhancing his persona when he became more god like.
There's an alternate version of this episode as well, which never made it to broadcast. Mostly just stylistic changes with the titles and added snippets of dialogue. But the biggest change is an entirely different pre-title narration.
Quite right. The version here is the version aired as an episode. When it was presented as a pilot, yes, it had the differences you point out. I prefer the pilot version, personally...
But the pilot version isn't available in HD... only in SD, unremastered.
@@carybrown851 , the pilot version is actually available in HD. It was included as a special feature on the TOS Season 3 Blu-ray set.
The second pilot is one of the series' best episodes.
The friendship between Gary Mitchell and Kirk was something I wanted to see more of
I was hoping that he would show up in Star Trek Beyond
Michael Jan Friedman did three books about their backstory, told in flashback while Kirk has to prepare to give the eulogy for his friend he was forced to kill.
i got to meet Gary Lockwood at a Star Trek convention in the late 90s. There was very few people around at the time, so i got to talk w/ him for about half an hour. He mentioned in previous interviews about how those contacts were painful to wear. He told me that was an understatement and quite awful to wear.
Fight choreograph was very similar to westerns of the 1960s (See Bonanza and Gunsmoke).
Yes, this was a fantastic episode. This was the 2nd pilot made, but the third episode aired in Sept 1966. A big criticism of The Cage was that it was too racy, the sexual imagery deemed too intense, especially with Susan Oliver. They did the opposite in this one with Sally Kellerman.
This episode encapsulated the theme of the whole show: to explore unknown frontiers, but it also showed why some frontiers should not be crossed. This episode had an Icarus feel.
Gary Mitchell had psionic powers, formidable mental powers. Gary was also a big ladies man and you can see him trying to hit on Dr. Dehner, who makes it clear that she's not interested, not until later on.
What was very clear was Dr. Dehner was a very brave woman, one of many that you'll see on the Original ST. Note how force lighting was used here long before we saw it on Return of The Jedi.
Remember that Kirk, being a Star Fleet officer, was trained in hand-to-hand combat techniques, hence his fighting skills.
Sally Kellerman played Margaret ( AKA "Hot Lips" ) in the MASH movie.
Of course, the superhuman with human emotional motivations was a theme explored in the seminal movie, "Forbidden Planet", which had clear influences on Star Trek. "Outer Limits" had benign (as it turned out) superhuman characters in "The Inheritors" episode, and a less benign enhanced human in "Expanding Human", with a pre-Star Trek James Doohan, and Skip Homeier as the ubermensch character; Homeier was still remembered in the 1960s for his chilling portrayal of a teenage Nazi boy in "Tomorrow the World" in 1944. He would turn up as a Space Nazi (and also as a Space Hippie) in Star Trek.
“Superior ability breeds superior ambition” … A theme visited often in Star Trek…Khan is a similar example.
But then you have Harry Mudd, who disproves that saying...
This episode is more action packed but it is also wrapped in an excellent philosophical story. It raises, what in philosophy is called, the Euthyphro Dilemma. It also presents moral dilemmas related to that. That's why Star Trek, done right, is SO good!
In the original broadcast of this episode, the opening credits did NOT contain the spoken monologue of "Space...the final frontier..."
This Englishman recalls at least two versions of the titles, with and without the woman's singing voice, as well.
One of my favorite Trek episodes. They do such a great job making Gary a likable character, then a threat, to finally something to be stopped. And all in an hour. And still have time to establish Kirk and Spock and Dr. Dehner's characters. This is such tight writing that is sadly missing in mini-series of Trek today. The tragedy of the story is a repeated theme in the original series. We don't see many villains in the original series. The "bad" guys were antagonists, people you could empathize with even if you couldn't root for.
Excellent reaction. My dad, who is also no longer with us, loved science fiction and Star Trek TOS was the first sci-fi show I remember watching with him. So this show will always have special meaning to me. Keep up the good work. 🤗🙌
Same here, he knew about Star Trek and probably saw a few episodes, but one Saturday "Tomorrow Is Yesterday" was on, and he didn't know what it was for the first 4 minutes...one of the best opening hooks in all of Star Trek.
It's interesting watching these first few episodes, and seeing how much they're still figuring out the characters. Like the thing with Spock's ancestry; don't think "that's a weird phrasing", think "Oh, they really hadn't decided these details yet". Thinking that way, I'm sometimes actually kinda impressed at how quickly things fell right into their long-term groove, even just a handful of episodes in. Probably part of why the series as a whole works and endures so well; they quickly wound up in just the right place.
I took it that Spock was embarassed at being half human, and so phrased it in a way that was technically the truth, but which gave an impression of a lesser degree of human ancestry. Of course, later on we learn that Vulcans being logical was cultural, from Surak, and not biological, as presented in early TOS episodes. I guess that was changed because it was more comfortable and/or had more story possibilities.
22:47, Ive met very ordinary people who are exceptional in one area. Some were humble and grounded. But I've met others who treated their exceptional one ability as entitlement to be a straight up jerk.
So imagine how Gary must have felt being better in every way to everyone else.
Another great review, I am enjoying you watching through this series. One of the keys Star Trek's success was Lucille Ball's backing of the show. She not only supported the first pilot but supported paying for the second pilot.
Bones and Uhura came along a little later in the first season. They actually had an older man play Dr. Piper in this episode. And you get to see the first appearance of Scotty and Sulu when they all came to the bridge to introduce Dr. Elizabeth Dehner.
23:19 The fight scenes are awesome. TV during this time had a decades-long tradition with westerns and their use of fights, so they brought their expertise with what looks exciting to this new setting. Agreed that they are a lot more fun than what we see nowadays.
Several of the guest stars in this episode are worth mentioning: Dr Elizabeth Dehner was played by Sally Kellerman, who became famous in original 1970 M*A*S*H movie (before the TV) as "Hot Lips" Houlighan. Gary Mitchell was played by Gary Lockwood, one of the stars of the famous science fiction movie "2001: A Space Odyssey". The Doctor (Mark Piper) in this episode isn't McCoy because DeForest Kelley hadn't been hired yet. Dr. Piper was played by Paul Fix, who was well known at the time for having played the sheriff in the 1960s Western "The Rifleman". You will note that red had not yet been added to the colors used for the uniforms yet, just the golds and blues. Red will appear in the next episode, and we also will get McCoy and Uhura then. It is strange seeing Scotty in a gold uniform in this episode.
They were having problems getting colors to show up properly. There is a third uniform color if you look closely. Mitchell's, Scotty's and Lee's uniforms are a beige color (which seems to be engineering and services) rather than Kirk's and Spock's command gold (and the gold shirts were actually supposed to be more green). If this episode had been regular production rather than a pilot, Mitchell would have had a red shirt, which would have made him and Lee the first redshirts to die in production order.
Mostly correct, but watch more closely... Gary Mitchell's tunic is NOT the same color as Kirk's or Spock's.
Kirk and Spock wire a slightly green-tinted gold color. Gary, and quite a few others, wore a pale salmon-pink color.
It was this salmon color which was made red for the production series. While the slightly green gold of Kirk took on even more green, to the point that it was almost a lime-gold or even olive-gold color. Also, note, in this episode only, science and medical wear different shades of grey... with medical being more greenish and science being more blueish.
@bunnytailsREACTS, thank you for this show of yours! Your tribute to your dad at the end of these are solid and heartfelt! There are those of us out here that would love our relationship with our daughters to be peaceful.....for some reason, you bring us hope!😊
or .. even have a daughter / a son at all, to share a experience like this
Space, the final frontier. These are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise. It's five year mission, to explore strange new worlds, to boldly go where no Bunny has gone before.
Its.
The ending fight and grave is the same set from the cage. You can see the Talosian elevator doors in the rock wall.
One of the things that i love about Star Trek is that it makes you think about stuff like that.
Same!
By the way, considering the enormous cost of a pilot episode which perhaps didn't take hold like The Cage; the ability of Gene Roddenberry to convince the men with the money to do a second pilot in the 1960s was astonishing. The idea of producing Where No Man Has Gone Before just simply wasn't done when the first pilot did not produce the desired result. The fact they took that chance is what gave rise to a franchise which is now in its 58th year and counting. The James Bond franchise at 63 years is the only one I'm aware of that surpasses it. 📽
This is going to be so much fun, watching your reactions to one of the greatest sci-fi shows ever. I believe you’ll appreciate how the characters develop over 79 episodes.
One reason Gary Mitchell Was weakened enough by Dr Elizabeth Dehner to allow kirk to kill him was that Mitchell was flaunting his Godlike powers so much that even though his powers were more developed than hers, when she used her powers to attack Mitchell, he used even more power just to defend himself causing him to temporarily drain his energy long enough for kirk to finish him off but the energy Mitchell used to attack her was too much for her still developing powers to defend against which resulted in her death.
A very unique episode in Star Trek history. Some of my favorites are City on the Edge of Forever, Amok Time, Balance of Terror, The Cobormite Maneuver, The Cage/Menagerie, Court Marshall, Wolf in the Fold, Return of the Archons and A Piece of the Action.
Corbamite maneuver, starred Clint Howard , brother of OPIE Ronnie Howard.
Which episode had white-black and black-white?
@@jlinkous05 Let That Be Your Last Battlefield with Frank Gorshin.
@@markplott4820 And Clint Howard still does Star Trek, he gueststarred recently in SNW “Under the Cloak of War”.
Don’t forget mirror mirror and a dozen others lol
I like how this episode feels like a mid ground between the first pilot and the rest of the series. I can see why they'd pick this version over the slower one, more cerebral version in the cage.
very good reaction. the studio insisted the tv debut have "a space monster or something", which is why the blah episode "the mantrap" aired first. (as though that ep is anywhere near as good as this one ). mccoy is in the 3rd most episodes after spock and kirk. (75) he misses 4 of the first 14 before becoming the 3rd full-timer. uhura is in 71, and nobody else is in more than 63, although scott becomes more importantly written than uhura. gary lockwood (mitchell) hated the painful contact lenses that he wore for this, and held a lifelong grudge against trek, and trekkies. he rarely appeared at conventions, made it clear when he did show up it was only for the money, and called us losers. the tombstone at the end reads "james r. kirk", but we come to know him as james t. kirk. spoiler we find out the middle name is tiberius far later in star trek 6. trek (and most any other show or film ) are ridiculous in their portrayal of chess games and chess players. spock is supposed to brilliant overall and masterful at chess, yet twice in the series (first this episode and 1 other later) we see him declare that he is about to win when he has overlooked the fact that kirk threatens mate on the move. the writers are trying to convey something about logic vs. intuition or something, but no chess player above beginner rank would be in the situation you just saw spock in, sorry for the chess rant, hope some of you enjoy the trivia info about this episode.
Your thoughts on how TOS explores themes of more "advanced" or "superior" beings are really insightful. I think you will find that one of the main running themes of Star Trek, particularly the original series, is in fact the power dynamics and ethics of how more and less advanced species interact. And by and large, the show's take on the theme is profound caution and concern. It doesn't always come down on the side of being afraid of "superior" beings. But it's always a dilemma. And it works both ways. How do our Star Trek people deal with the threat to themselves from vastly superior beings, and how to they handle the threat their superiority may pose to seemingly less advanced species?
Also, the whole franchise is VERY skeptical of anything that smacks of eugenics ideology. That may in part be because the show's original writers all grew up in the early to mid 20th century when eugenics was first a mainstream ideology, and then became synonymous with Naziism and World War II. In this episode, Dr. Deiner espouses a sort of eugenics ideology, asserting that sudden, significant improvement in humans can be "a wonderful thing" that should be embraced and maybe deliberately pursued.
The Enterprise here in the second pilot apparently is equipped so that individuals can be monitored (spied upon?) from various locations aboard the ship. Gary Mitchell, in sick bay, is watched from the bridge. (He, of course, is aware of this.)
You can see the order of the pilots based on the sets and costumes. In Where No Man Has Gone Before, they are wearing different uniforms, Spocks character isn't entirely fleshed out, the captain's chair has either a small visual display on it or perhaps a microphone, the visual display on the bridge has a huge border on it with rounded corners.
You never see any of these again.
Producer Bob Justman tells in his book how the eyes were done with glass cups that had foil in-between double layers. These caused painful buildup of heat so couldn’t be worn for more than a few minutes at a time. The guy who built them didn’t understand they had to be seen through and they had to be redone with pinholes in the foil - these were not perfectly aligned which is why Gary has to always look down his nose which ended up making him seem more godlike.
All these philosophical questions get into why Star Trek has lasted 58 years. It wasn't just "Horatio Hornblower goes into space" as Roddenberry pitched it to NBC at the beginning. He had a philosophy to put behind it. We will survive the 20th Century, and we will go beyond. He also had some weird ideas about sexism and stuff, but his overall concept of "We will get better," has survived, and think even thrived since his passing in 1991, when Star Trek disciples have taken over the cause of peace, love and logic in common entertainment. The most common other dramatic series of the time like Gunsmoke or The Rifleman didn't even take up the cause of the human condition, or in the case of Star Trek, the condition of all.
Have seen this episode countless times in the last 53 years, and very much enjoyed your reaction to it. Will be watching more.
Thanks very much!
This is the episode that first set up the Star Fleet tradition of crushing super-powered humans with boulders.
I am enjoying your reaction videos. Here are a few observations (without reading all the other comments):
"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." This statement was made in 1887 by Lord Acton. He was a historian, politician, and writer. He was one of the most influential thinkers of his century.
During the 1960s, there was a lot of research into ESP. It was a popular topic around the time that this episode was created. Nowadays, there seems to be very little interest in ESP due to a lack of reliable evidence.
This episode contains one of my favourite Star Trek lines: "Above all else, a god needs compassion."
I really like the acting by the main characters.
Did anyone notice the wireless mouse he used to interface with ship computer in sickbay before giving us the tv dinner Renold's Wrap stare. 20 years before corded ones were in use.
Good point. It's another thing to add to the long list of technical advances predicted by TOS.
I love how many Trek fans are watching BT, it makes me feel I am on a trek site with intellectuals having interesting and meaningful discussions. The fact you know the positive influence Trek has had on the world makes it easier to make observations like I did without being ridiculed by the more ignorant bullies out there. Thanks for the apparently simple thing you did such as reply and contribute not just to my simple observation but to me feeling a moment of joy at the reminder that likeminded people of infinite diversity create infinite wisdom.@@dandeliondown7920
I think two of the best Star Trek episodes coming up are "City on the Edge of Forever" and "Balance of Terror". These should be very enjoyable. If you want to watch an episode where ultimate power doesn't corrupt watch "Errand of Mercy".
One thing to keep in mind for both Mitchell and Dr. Dehner is that they were still constrained by normal physical bodies. All the powers they showed were mental only. You have to wonder if eventually they would transend their physical bodies.
And then join the Q?
Then how did Mitchell absorb the phaser blast?
@@mem1701movies
A mental shield.
@@mem1701movies comment removed as it was redundant. Sorry about that
@Feargal011 or the Metrons, Trelaine, the Greek Gods, plenty of non corporeal entities to keep them company. Make me wonder what that tier of evolution thinks about quickly ascended humans.
Thank you for letting us see these episodes for the "first time" again.
You just happened to pick an order that shows the similarities between a couple of episodes...Super human ability, ego, and the corruption that follows.
I assure you they all get different. Some of them are prophetic in ways...a covid like scenario (episode with kids) and a current presidency like scenario (episode with a figure head).
Others are paradises that must be left behind, contests for the survival of species, time travel, parallel universes, mirror realities, new forms of life, space monsters, AI, First contact, the whole gambit. You will be in for a ride.
The writers should get more credit for the series then they do. Roddenberry got a lot of things wrong, but he put together a good cast and writing staff and it shows.
Here, here! Well said.
Hey bunny, it is amazing to hear your observations and perceptions of these episodes that i have seen dozens of times…your takes on everything are so spot on…..you will attract so many trekies to your show….do you see yourself doing one episode per week???
I look forward to your next instalment….. cheers
A little visual blooper that happens when you get an overhead shot of people entering or leaving the turbo-lift is how the deck and the inside of the lift are one solid floor.
Nobody thought to paint a black line so as to make it appear like there's a separation. Even more amazing, this wasn't fixed in the remastered version, either.
The remastered version is terrible. The cgi looked bad from the get go. Plus they didn’t match the cgi shuttle with full size one and in AMOK TIME had them beam down THEN cross a bridge???
@@mem1701movies Them crossing a land bridge to the ceremonial area was meant to foreshadow a similar scene in _Star Trek III._ It was also an opportunity to show ShiKahr in the distance.
I LOVE the remastered version and would _never_ go back to the original (and I'm speaking as an old-timer who watched the show on NBC!). IMHO, they didn't go far enough.
Growing up in the late 1970s. persons of my generation watched the reruns of Star Trek episodes, Monday thru Friday, 5 -6 pm…. That opening was indeed memorized…
the music was a huge part of this show...Alexander Courage created some of the most memorable music in television history...
In my opinion, this is not only one of the best episodes of Star Trek, but also one of the best sci-fi stories written for tv.
A superb pilot episode, that contained all of the elements Star Trek would become famous for and featuring some great acting performances from the regular cast and special guest stars Sally Kellerman and Gary Lockwood.
It's actually towards of the bottom end of best Star Trek episodes
@@docsavage8640 Not by me. :)
The psychiatrist is played by Sally Kellerman. Many might know her better as Hot Lips Houlihan in the film MASH. The role is played by Loretta Swit in the TV show.
There was a MASH TV show?
@@smark1180 Yes. It ran from 1972 to 1983 and holds the record for the most viewers to watch the final episode of a scripted series. It basically picked up where the film left off. Gary Burghoff (Radar O'Reilly) was the only actor who played the same role in both the film and series. The theme song from the series (Suicide Is Painless) is also from the film. In fact the lyrics were written by Michael Altman. He is the film director's son. You can still find the show on TV. Oddly enough I only ever saw the show in reruns for reasons I'll not bore you all with. 🙂
@@Alexandertg1955You missed my sarcasm. EVERYBODY knows this.
@@smark1180 LOL Yeah, I considered the possibility. But some who were born this century might not know of the film or TV show. So I took the comment seriously JIC
@@Alexandertg1955True enough with the youngsters.
Alexander Courage is one of the greatest TV composers of all time. He also did themes for Space: 1999, The Prisoner, and others.
Love the sinister way his powers begin to rapidly develop. Creepy stuff from classic Trek!!!
The actor Gary Lockwood (Gary Mitchell) was wearing silver contacts making it hard to see out of the small holes, so he always seemed to be looking up, but Sally Kellerman didn't have that problem with hers
I actually kinda liked that. It made him seem more arrogant and otherworldly with his chin up, not making eye-contact.
One of the unique things about Star Trek as an adventure/action series is that there's alot of script describing things happening off-screen. This is true of many old series where producing too many scenes with new sets and all were just not possible.
I like how much is introduced in the chess scene that opens up the episode that tells us so much about the characters.
Remember how Gene Roddenberry sold the idea to NBC? "Wagon Train to the stars." Westerns were so popular, that fight scene at the end was definitely influenced by the action and bar room brawls seen in so many TV shows at the time. Anyway, thanks for watching and uploading, enjoy the fun trip that is Star Trek...
They eventually used footage from the Cage to create a two part season finale that won awards
The apple is a Garden of Eden reference. She got powers at the same time, it just took longer. TV executives had Mantrap broadcast first to show off the true full color, and Deforest Kelly as the third cast member.
I think the big problem in this episode was that Mitchell gained too much power without the discipline it would have taken to achieve it. He was basically a toddler running around with unlimited nuclear bombs.
Probably true but they only had 50 minutes to tell the story and the concept was too big for an hour show.
@@sebastianblack6506 True, this SHOULD have been a Star Wars movie. Not one of the first episodes.
This won't be the last time Kirk and crew have to deal with an immature being wielding god-like power.
@@bewilderedbeestsame with TNG & Voyager.
@@bewilderedbeest Yeah, The Squire Of Gothos is coming.
I learned a factoid about James Doohan (the actor [Canadian, by the way, not Scottish] who plays Mr. Scott): He had the middle finger of his right hand amputated after it was shot when he was on Juno beach during the D-Day operations in World War II. If you pay attention throughout the series, you’ll notice that most often his right hand is either obscured or shown in such a way as to make the missing finger less noticeable, but every once in a while you can briefly see that hand is very definitely missing its middle finger.
Oh wow, that's really interesting! I've not heard about that one yet.
You've forgot about one infinitely scary thing about Gary Mitchell's powers is that it doubles daily so in a month's time he'd be approximately 132,000,000 million times stronger than the first day of the month making him virtually unbeatable.
Even the Q and the Organians would have become alarmed and been compelled to act.
Elizabeth Denher was played by the late, great Sally Kellerman. She just passed away last year.
The aesthetics really grows on you over time. Perhaps because you tend to like that which you can no longer have, more than anything else!
Thank you so much for that!
Here's a "fun fact" that no one seems to have mentioned yet. This pilot was filmed in July 1965. During that very hot summer there was a large beehive (or wasp nest...reports vary) in the rafters of the studio. Several cast and crew were stung by the aggressive insects, including William Shatner who was stung in the eyelid!
When Kirk and Gary were fighting on the planet, Shatner recounts in his memoirs how one of their pants split open (I don't remember who's pants) and he flopped out. He grinned at Dr. Dainer and said "Smile, you've just had your picture taken." She replied "what, with that little brownie?"
The apple is symbolic of the garden of eden, the first man and first woman. They touched on this subject a few times. When someone is changed to have ultimate powers or something close to it they haven't really learned to manage it they just have it. So their judgment even their humanity is lost or disrupted
We love Bunny whether your coming or going or crab walking. We are here for you and Star Trek, Beep Boop Beep!
"Kirk likes dropping people off on planets." Okay I LOL'd. The deadpan delivery was *chef's kiss* 😂
"Them apples" got me too. :D
As a kid, my all time favorite episode. Reason why I love sci-fi. Other great ones Doomsday Machine. Amok Time. When they first meet the Romulans and any episodes involving the shuttle is gripping!!!!!! (Unlike the Next Generation where it's very much matter of fact)
12:14 Very inquisitive and beautiful reaction to the early pilots of this series. Gene Roddenberry wanted to create more then just a western in space, but something the question the very nature of mankind. Having served in the WWII, seeing alot, the question of just how violent a superior race in both technical, educational, or wealth was a big and brutal thing. Getting this series off the ground, was important, but to answer your question, YES and beautifully yes, it shows so much for a 70 episode 3 season sci-fi show set well before I was alive.
Enjoy. Glad you shared your adventure into Star Trek with us.
23:03 There it is! That is what I truly loved about Star Trek growing up! These episodes; while offering fantastical entertainment, manages to make its audience question topics and moral dilemmas from perspectives you would have never considered before.
I love watching these first episodes as they were feeling out each character and their personalities and back stories were still so fluid. I think later episodes are more to my liking, but these first few are still so entertaining to watch
One of the very best "superior beings" episode was in Star Trek the Next Generation episode: "The Survivors" where the superior being had humility and regret especially when he lost control and wiped out an intelligent race.
When you mentioned having normal intelligence and those around you having lower intelligence, I immediately thought of the movie "Idiocracy."
Or just living in the US.
0:49 "But around here, we go where no BUNNY has gone before." Yeah!!
Sometime along your Star Trek journey you watch the film "Forbidden Planet." It was a big influence to Trek and has some similar themes to this episode. It also reminds me of "Akira" a little bit.
Oh, Forbidden Planet is such a great movie, a true classic of sci-fi cinema. She definitely needs to watch that as well.
I agree! Anyone with any interest at all in STAR TREK should see FORBIDDEN PLANET.
It's basically a two-hour-long episode of the Original Series, even though it came years before.
I enjoyed your reaction. Your reactions are fun. This was the 3rd episode broadcast.
The episode features a number of actors who would go on to become famous movie stars, including Gary Lockwood ("2001: A Space Odyssey"), who plays Lt. Cmdr. Gary Mitchell, and Sally Kellerman ("MASH").
To answer your question, the quotation "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely" was first said by Sir John Dalberg-Acton, a British historian, and politician.
Again, thanks for your very entertaining and fun reactions to one of my favorite series.
16:08 Biblical imagery. Gary could make his own paradise, but eats the apple showing that his paradise is doomed.
I always thought it could be possible for Gary Mitchell to return in a movie. Like he was dormant for many years...
According to Bill Shatner his first idea for Star Trek 5 was a return of Gary Mitchell.
You know, now that you mention it, the security protocols in regards to foreign unknown objects, were pretty relaxed on the Enterprise. Especially because they were exploring unknown shit regularly during those away missions
This episode was leading up to the highlight of Gary Lockwood's (Mitchell) career: In two years he would co-star with Keir Dullea in 2001: A Space Odyssey as Dr. Frank Poole.
9:50 "A mutated superior man could also be a wonderful thing" has got to be one of my favorite Star Trek quotes of all time.
Gary Lockwood also appeared in Project: Kill(1977).
Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely - Lord Acton
GREAT REACTION!
Thank you!
12:27 - Humans are smarter than cats?
I’m reminded of the cartoon where aliens arrive at a man’s house, and tell him they are seeking the most intelligent creatures on the planet. He thanks them for the presumed complement before they blast him, and then address his cat. “Tell us, feline masters, how did you subjugate the humans?”
THANK YOU for reacting to the original series! Not enough UA-cam reactors watch it! SUBSCRIBED!!!!
The zoom effect you did on yourself when you were looking at Mitchell's glowing eyes for the first time was quite impressive and appropriate. So was your facial expression.
Aw man. I lost my Dad too, unexpectedly in 2007, and my Mom back in March of last year. Peace young lady. Peace and blessings to you and yours.
I remember my father, who was not even into science fiction, being extremely fond of this show. This was before the moon landings so space travel was mostly fiction.
In many episodes, this show reminds the viewers of the old saying "absolute power corrupts absolutely" (Khan is just another example).
The transporter in this second pilot episode was called a "materializer". But there is also a reference to "the transporter room".