Often considered one of the worst episodes of "Star Trek," "Spock's Brain" boasted a story wherein a species of low-intelligence aliens infiltrate the U.S.S. Enterprise, sedate everyone on board, and steal the grey matter belonging to Spock (Leonard Nimoy) for nefarious purposes. It will later be revealed that Spock's brain was required to power a super-computer on a nearby planet and that the computer could temporarily inject complex information and skills into people's heads. The crew of the Enterprise outfit Spock's brainless body with a temporary brain-like machine, and they can pilot him via remote control.
Eventually, Dr. McCoy (DeForest Kelley) will be injected -- via the supercomputer -- with knowledge of how to surgically return Spock's brain to his body. When McCoy runs out of knowledge partway through the operation, the now-conscious Spock talks him the rest of the way through. "Spock's Brain" is farfetched and silly,...
Eventually, Dr. McCoy (DeForest Kelley) will be injected -- via the supercomputer -- with knowledge of how to surgically return Spock's brain to his body. When McCoy runs out of knowledge partway through the operation, the now-conscious Spock talks him the rest of the way through. "Spock's Brain" is farfetched and silly,...
- 5/14/2024
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
"Star Trek" has always loved a deep-cut starship name. In the original series, the U.S.S. Farragut borrowed a name from a Civil War-era Union Navy officer. In "Star Trek: Lower Decks," every California Class ship is named after a different city in the West Coast state, from Redding to Riverside. Figures ranging from Ursula K. Le Guin to Thomas Edison to Elmer Fudd have all gotten the starship name treatment, but one of the earliest named starships in the series had a much less admirable origin story.
The S.S. Botany Bay made its first appearance in the "Star Trek: The Original Series" episode "Space Seed," which introduced viewers to the infamous villain Khan Noonien Singh (Ricardo Montalban). Viewers with a keen sense of geography may have realized they were due to meet a baddie before Khan ever appeared, though, because Botany Bay holds a uniquely horrifying place in history.
The S.S. Botany Bay made its first appearance in the "Star Trek: The Original Series" episode "Space Seed," which introduced viewers to the infamous villain Khan Noonien Singh (Ricardo Montalban). Viewers with a keen sense of geography may have realized they were due to meet a baddie before Khan ever appeared, though, because Botany Bay holds a uniquely horrifying place in history.
- 2/2/2024
- by Valerie Ettenhofer
- Slash Film
Since its first entry “The Man Trap” aired on Sept. 8 1966, Star Trek has released almost 900 episodes and 13 feature films. And yet, none of those TV episodes or movie releases have delved into that most popular of genres, the Christmas story.
Anyone who knows about the production of The Original Series can understand the reason for that omission. Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry placed religion alongside racism and capitalism as divisive tendencies from which humanity evolves. So of course a holiday based on Christianity and/or shopping would fade away as humans looked toward the stars.
But as is often the case, the actual execution of Star Trek differs wildly from Roddenberry’s intentions. Even though the franchise never openly embraces Christmas, some aspects of the holiday do catch up with it, no matter how far it boldly goes.
Does Starfleet Know It’s Christmas Time at All?
The first mention...
Anyone who knows about the production of The Original Series can understand the reason for that omission. Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry placed religion alongside racism and capitalism as divisive tendencies from which humanity evolves. So of course a holiday based on Christianity and/or shopping would fade away as humans looked toward the stars.
But as is often the case, the actual execution of Star Trek differs wildly from Roddenberry’s intentions. Even though the franchise never openly embraces Christmas, some aspects of the holiday do catch up with it, no matter how far it boldly goes.
Does Starfleet Know It’s Christmas Time at All?
The first mention...
- 12/24/2023
- by John Saavedra
- Den of Geek
The three-season NBC run of "Star Trek" in the late 1960s (aka "The Original Series") was not a smooth ride for anyone at any level of production. Each hour-long episode cost, in 2023 dollars, over $1 million to produce (with the classic "The City on the Edge of Forever" being particularly pricey), which, given the series' Nielsen ratings struggles, was a huge problem for the network (which pulled the plug on the show in 1969 much to its rabid fans' consternation). Also tricky, the stars' salaries. William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy played chicken with NBC in pay negotiations, basically daring the execs to fire them.
According to "Star Trek" historian Marc Cushman, the network decided they'd had enough of Nimoy's hardball act; rather than bring back the hugely popular (with fans at least) Mr. Spock, they opted to write the character out of the show and bring in a brand new Vulcan. However,...
According to "Star Trek" historian Marc Cushman, the network decided they'd had enough of Nimoy's hardball act; rather than bring back the hugely popular (with fans at least) Mr. Spock, they opted to write the character out of the show and bring in a brand new Vulcan. However,...
- 12/11/2023
- by Jeremy Smith
- Slash Film
This Star Trek: Strange New Worlds article contains spoilers.
At the end of the latest episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, La’an Noonien-Singh makes a shocking discovery. Hurled back to 21st-century Toronto, alongside James T. Kirk (Paul Wesley), to stop a history-changing attack by Romulans, La’an finds the holding area of her infamous ancestor, the genocidal warlord Khan Noonien Singh.
Tempted by the opportunity to not only destroy a vicious warlord but to also shake off the hatred for her name that still exists in her reality, La’an enters the room, gun drawn. However, she finds not the glowering madman played by Ricardo Montalbán in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan nor the simmering terror played by Benedict Cumberbatch. Instead, she finds a small child, whom she immediately comforts.
As sweet as this moment is, even more notable is who is playing Khan in the scene.
At the end of the latest episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, La’an Noonien-Singh makes a shocking discovery. Hurled back to 21st-century Toronto, alongside James T. Kirk (Paul Wesley), to stop a history-changing attack by Romulans, La’an finds the holding area of her infamous ancestor, the genocidal warlord Khan Noonien Singh.
Tempted by the opportunity to not only destroy a vicious warlord but to also shake off the hatred for her name that still exists in her reality, La’an enters the room, gun drawn. However, she finds not the glowering madman played by Ricardo Montalbán in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan nor the simmering terror played by Benedict Cumberbatch. Instead, she finds a small child, whom she immediately comforts.
As sweet as this moment is, even more notable is who is playing Khan in the scene.
- 7/3/2023
- by Joe George
- Den of Geek
"You know. 1966? 79 episodes, about 30 good ones," said Philip J. Fry of "Futurama" to the jarred, floating head of Leonard Nimoy. This is his animated opinion, of course, but a better question isn't how many are good, but how many of the original "Star Trek" episodes are great. Would you believe 21?
Determining greatness is subjective of course. Popularity isn't a fair indicator of quality, and some fan favorites are guilty pleasures, while others are fun but defective in ways that knock them down from great to merely good. Any episode's overall quality depends on multiple factors: the uniqueness of the premise, the quality of the writing, the story beats, the characterization, guest stars, action, music, production values, and even visual effects.
Speaking of visual effects, we're not talking about the 15-year-old "remastered" CGI, which already look dated and cartoonish. We're going O.G. all the way. The criteria here is ranking...
Determining greatness is subjective of course. Popularity isn't a fair indicator of quality, and some fan favorites are guilty pleasures, while others are fun but defective in ways that knock them down from great to merely good. Any episode's overall quality depends on multiple factors: the uniqueness of the premise, the quality of the writing, the story beats, the characterization, guest stars, action, music, production values, and even visual effects.
Speaking of visual effects, we're not talking about the 15-year-old "remastered" CGI, which already look dated and cartoonish. We're going O.G. all the way. The criteria here is ranking...
- 10/12/2022
- by Maurice Molyneaux
- Slash Film
When the news broke in December 2017 that Quentin Tarantino had approached Paramount Pictures with a pitch for a new Star Trek film, one could hear the collective sound of countless fans’ jaws dropping open. One of the most respected (and controversial) filmmakers of his time, the imagination behind modern classics like Pulp Fiction and Inglourious Basterds, wanted to put his imprimatur on one of the most beloved (if creaky) sci-fi franchises of all time?
Apparently that was the case, even if it was unclear whether Tarantino actually wanted to direct the thing himself or just sort of shepherd his story idea to the screen. A writers’ room was convened, with different scribes proposing different ways to flesh out Tarantino’s pitch, with The Revenant screenwriter Mark L. Smith eventually winning the gig.
Thus began a confusing, four-year journey through development hell for what might have been as many as three different Trek features.
Apparently that was the case, even if it was unclear whether Tarantino actually wanted to direct the thing himself or just sort of shepherd his story idea to the screen. A writers’ room was convened, with different scribes proposing different ways to flesh out Tarantino’s pitch, with The Revenant screenwriter Mark L. Smith eventually winning the gig.
Thus began a confusing, four-year journey through development hell for what might have been as many as three different Trek features.
- 2/24/2022
- by Don Kaye
- Den of Geek
When Bruce Campbell announced earlier this week that he and longtime Evil Dead producing partners Rob Tapert and Sam Raimi were preparing a fifth film entry in the series, he also unveiled the new movie’s director. Meet Lee Cronin, an Irish filmmaker with just one feature film to his credit. But Cronin’s sole movie to date provides several clues as to why he might be a solid, even inspired, choice to make the movie now being called Evil Dead Now.
(Trivia note: Lee Cronin was also the pseudonym of late Star Trek: The Original Series writer/producer Gene L. Coon, who penned some of the show’s most inadvertently campy episodes, like “Spock’s Brain” and “Spectre of the Gun,” under that name. This is not the same guy.)
Cronin made his feature debut in 2019 with The Hole in the Ground, an intense, highly atmospheric tale about a...
(Trivia note: Lee Cronin was also the pseudonym of late Star Trek: The Original Series writer/producer Gene L. Coon, who penned some of the show’s most inadvertently campy episodes, like “Spock’s Brain” and “Spectre of the Gun,” under that name. This is not the same guy.)
Cronin made his feature debut in 2019 with The Hole in the Ground, an intense, highly atmospheric tale about a...
- 6/11/2020
- by Don Kaye
- Den of Geek
In March 1968, the fans, cast, and creators of the NBC-TV series Star Trek were celebrating an unprecedented victory: a massive mail campaign by fans of the show, which directed more than 100,000 letters (if not more) to NBC executives, had resulted in the network deciding not to cancel the sci-fi program after two seasons but to instead extend it for a third year.
That Which Survives Cancellation
NBC’s public decision to renew the show — it even announced the news on the air at the end of the March 1 episode, “The Omega Glory,” with a brief voiceover statement — was unheard of in an era when fandom did not have social media to rant, rave, and otherwise kvetch about every little thing regarding their favorite franchises. This was a physical mobilization of Trekkers, led by superfans like Bjo and John Trimble, and tacitly encouraged (and perhaps even subsidized a little) by series creator Gene Roddenberry.
That Which Survives Cancellation
NBC’s public decision to renew the show — it even announced the news on the air at the end of the March 1 episode, “The Omega Glory,” with a brief voiceover statement — was unheard of in an era when fandom did not have social media to rant, rave, and otherwise kvetch about every little thing regarding their favorite franchises. This was a physical mobilization of Trekkers, led by superfans like Bjo and John Trimble, and tacitly encouraged (and perhaps even subsidized a little) by series creator Gene Roddenberry.
- 6/3/2020
- by Don Kaye
- Den of Geek
Listen: Lance Reddick on How a Childhood Love of ‘Star Trek’ and William Shatner Informed His Career
Lance Reddick never planned to be an actor. But the star of series such as “Bosch,” “Corporate,” “Fringe” and “The Wire” always cites his youthful obsession with William Shatner as the catalyst that eventually led to his career on the screen.
“I didn’t really start acting until college and I didn’t even think about being an actor professionally until I was 27,” Reddick told Variety‘s “My Favorite Episode” podcast. “But whenever I’m asked about my early influences, what made me want to be an actor, it was William Shatner.”
As a teenager, when Reddick learned that Shatner had been a Shakespearean actor, he unearthed his father’s copy of “Julius Caesar” and taught himself the speech that Brutus makes to the crowd before Mark Antony takes over.
“I started trying to do it the way I thought Captain Kirk would do it,” he said. “Growing up I...
“I didn’t really start acting until college and I didn’t even think about being an actor professionally until I was 27,” Reddick told Variety‘s “My Favorite Episode” podcast. “But whenever I’m asked about my early influences, what made me want to be an actor, it was William Shatner.”
As a teenager, when Reddick learned that Shatner had been a Shakespearean actor, he unearthed his father’s copy of “Julius Caesar” and taught himself the speech that Brutus makes to the crowd before Mark Antony takes over.
“I started trying to do it the way I thought Captain Kirk would do it,” he said. “Growing up I...
- 4/15/2019
- by Michael Schneider
- Variety Film + TV
Now CBS, but once Paramount Pictures, have had little to say about the many internet fan series based on their property of Star Trek (Hidden Frontier, Intrepid, Farragut and New Voyages: Phase II to name just a few) over the years. They clearly saw a workable, symbiotic relationship with fan productions and the mainstream TV shows and movies. As long as the fans never changed the conical nature of the established main characters (be it Tos or its many spin-offs), they were given (a mostly) free rein to expand the Star Trek Universe. But recently, someone within CBS, or over at Paramount, have suddenly raised a red alert.
It all began back in October when a fan approached Norman Spinrad, who wrote the episode The Doomsday Machine, to autograph the script for another episode of Star Trek Gene Roddenberry commissioned him to write in 1967 called He Walked Among Us. The...
It all began back in October when a fan approached Norman Spinrad, who wrote the episode The Doomsday Machine, to autograph the script for another episode of Star Trek Gene Roddenberry commissioned him to write in 1967 called He Walked Among Us. The...
- 3/29/2012
- by spaced-odyssey
- doorQ.com
I’ve always been a war film buff, maybe because I grew up with them at a time when they were a regular part of the cinema landscape. That’s why I read, with particular interest, my Sound on Sight colleague Edgar Chaput’s recent pieces on The Flowers of War (“The Flowers of War Is an Uneven but Interesting Chinese Ww II Film” – posted 2/20/12) and The Front Line (The Front Line Rises to the Occasion to Overcome Its Familiarity” – 2/16/12) with such interest. An even more fun read was the back-and-forth between Edgar and Sos’s Michael Ryan over the latter (“The Sound on Sight Debate on Korea’s The Front Line” – 2/12/12), with Michael unimpressed because the movie had “…nothing new to add to the war genre,” and Edgar coming back with “…‘new’ is not always what a film must strive for. So long as it does well what it set out to do…...
- 2/28/2012
- by Bill Mesce
- SoundOnSight
Lee Cronin of Antidote Productions has directed 11850's advertising campaign, which is due to hit our screens today June 2nd and will be aired on TV3 and Rte over the coming months. A total of five adverts have been created for the campaign and they feature the character 118 and 50 as they find and restore Honda 50s or Nifty 50s as they are affectionately known. Director Lee Cronin's recent work includes short film 'Billy and Chuck' which was funded under the Rte/Filmbase short film award scheme 2009...
- 6/2/2011
- IFTN
Imagine TV is in talks to remake the 1974 Gene Roddenberry TV movie "The Questor Tapes", originally a TV pilot never picked-up because of creative differences at the time between Roddenberry, Universal and NBC, about an android (Robert Foxworth) with incomplete memory tapes, who searches who searches for his creator and attempts to figure out his reason for being.
The Questor android is widely believed to be the inspiration for Roddenberry's later character, 'Data' of "Star Trek: The Next Geneation".
Imagine's David Nevins and executive VP Robin Gurney will develop the new project with producer Tim Minear, Roddenberry Prods. COO Trevor Roth and Gene's son Rod Roddenberry.
Premise of the film followed an 'android' (Robert Foxworth) with incomplete memory tapes, who searches for his creator and purpose.
Conceived by and executive produced by Roddenberry, the script is credited to Roddenberry and Gene L. Coon. A "Questor Tapes" novelization was also written by author D.
The Questor android is widely believed to be the inspiration for Roddenberry's later character, 'Data' of "Star Trek: The Next Geneation".
Imagine's David Nevins and executive VP Robin Gurney will develop the new project with producer Tim Minear, Roddenberry Prods. COO Trevor Roth and Gene's son Rod Roddenberry.
Premise of the film followed an 'android' (Robert Foxworth) with incomplete memory tapes, who searches for his creator and purpose.
Conceived by and executive produced by Roddenberry, the script is credited to Roddenberry and Gene L. Coon. A "Questor Tapes" novelization was also written by author D.
- 1/23/2010
- by Michael Stevens
- SneakPeek
David Gerrold was just a college student when he saw the series premiere of "Star Trek" on NBC in September 1966, but he knew he had to be a part of it. He immediately sent some story ideas to Gene Roddenberry, and call it naivety or just plain overconfidence, Gerrold knew he would end up on the show's writing staff. One of Gerrold's ideas that caught the eye of both Roddenberry and producer Gene L. Coon was one of a bunch of furry creatures causing problems for the Enterprise crew. Coon was especially fond of it, and decided it would be perfect for an episode. That episode would become the famous "Trouble With Tribbles" episode that made purring furballs who like to eat and reproduce a true icon. "I never doubted that I was going to sell it," Gerrold told Michael Hinman during a recent ...
- 6/11/2008
- GeekNation.com
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