First Time Watching ALL of Star Trek - Episode 36: Catspaw (TOS S2E7)

[@ice-iu3vv]

i'll bet credits to navy beans that better episodes are on the way.

[@kevinkingmaker7395]

One of the worst line deliveries of TOS.

[@rscottdjr]

12:58 "I want to see Scotty in a bar fight." Again, hold that thought.

[@jeffd.6498]

"Laddie, would ye mind... rephrasing that?"

[@rscottdjr]

@@jeffd.6498 Don't give it away!

[@jeffd.6498]

@@rscottdjr 🤐

[@rscottdjr]

@@jeffd.6498 Although I think I can safely add "You're right, I should."

[@MalachiFrazee222]

I was about to make this comment.

[@markreed392]

I've wanted that Enterprise model on a chain since the 60's.

[@justinplayfair4638]

There was a photo essay in the Star Trek poster book magazine back in the 70's about which Star Trek props the Smithsonian had in it's collection, and the Enterprise on a Chain was one of them!

[@velmacoontz1949]

I saw a woman at a 1980s Star Trek convention wearing a smaller version on a necklace. I'd love to have one myself!

[@WUStLBear82]

Cat's-paw is an old term for someone who is tricked into helping another; a dupe. Based on a La Fontaine fable about a monkey who fools a cat into retrieving roasting chestnuts from a fire; the monkey eats the nuts and the cat gets burnt paws.

[@fredklein3829]

Naturally, McCoy had to mispronounce it as castpaw.

[@cdfreester]

The 2 things this episode has going for it: 1) Kirk calling McCoy “Doc” instead of Bones after seeing the skeleton, and 2) the truly alien-looking aliens of Korob and Sylvia, even though they were cheap marionettes - it got the point across.

[@bfdidc6604]

This is a much maligned episode but I've always rather liked it (bad giant cat and all). The dying aliens sound they played over the cheap marionettes was a recording of baby crocodiles.

[@robphillips1797]

I have to admit, as a grade school kid watching this on a low definition color tv set, I was already pulled in enough that the 3 witches freaked me out. I really appreciated Spock's criticism of the poetry. So the show worked on at least one (admittedly simple) viewer.

[@jameswentzkershawn001]

Good one!!!

[@robphillips1797]

@@jameswentzkershawn001 Thanks, buddy!

[@dbeach3530]

Scotty in a bar fight? Oh, my, you do have some things to look forward to!

[@sedawk]

"I want to see Scotty in a bar fight" -- your wish WILL be fulfilled :)

[@RobXHEphotosPs37.29]

Antoinette Bower was great playing Sylvia in this episode, met her at a convention a few years ago, very nice lady.

[@EvanG529]

I know her best as Berlin Betty

[@gerardcote8391]

Seen her in lots of shows back then - always got her confused with Diana Riggs from Her Majesty's Secret Service and the Avengers TV show - when I was a kid

[@pauld9948]

The actor playing Korob (Theodore Marcuse) died about a month after this episode was filmed in a car accident, so he never did get to see it when it aired...

[@fredklein3829]

Marcuse was a very good actor. You can see him also in a Twilight Zone episode and compare.

[@daniel385]

Wiki says he died about a month after it aired (aired in late October and he died in late Nov.), so perhaps he saw it.

[@pauld9948]

@@daniel385 you're right, I knew it was a month after one of these events, turns out he did die in late Nov. & may have seen it after all.

[@arrow1414]

That was a great fall the stuntman made at the transporter!

[@richardb6260]

Robert Bloch wrote the book Psycho was based on. He's also written some stories about Jack the Ripper, which figured into another Trek episode he wrote. BTW we all wanted that Enterprise pendant.

[@greenmonsterprod]

The original, still encased in lucite, is, I believe, on display at the National Air & Space Museum in Washington, D.C.

[@christopherleodaniels7203]

The pendant was used for a few very distant shots in the original FX of The Doomsday Machine, when the Enterprise was being pulled inside the machine.

[@Dionpitman]

2:45 "I don't recognize that writer" - Robert Bloch was the author of the novel Psycho, which was adapted into the famous Hitchcock film. He also wrote "What are Little Girls made of?" which was the episode with the androids and Nurse Chapel's missing fiance. As well as one more episode which you haven't seen yet.

[@cdfreester]

And he also wrote Wolf in the Fold for later in this season.

[@jamesalexander5623]

@@cdfreester Starring Juror #2. My Friend.

[@robabiera733]

Another Star Trek connection: the screenwriter for "Psycho" was Joseph Stefano, who went on to create "The Outer Limits". Many of the crew on "The Outer Limits" would go on to work on "Star Trek".

[@richardb6260]

Bloch was strongly influenced by H P Lovecraft. Too bad we never got a truly Lovecraftian episode of Trek from him. As is, we do get a reference to "the Old Ones" in this episode. I wonder if these are the same "Old Ones" Ruk mentions in "What are Little Girl Made Of". Same writer. Was this leading to another episode Bloch may have planned? Something of Cthulhu proportions? Perhaps he submitted one, but it was too expensive to produce.

[@cdfreester]

@@richardb6260 I like the Lovecraftian references, too. What you are suggesting could have made a very interesting and much better episode than this one.

[@JonnyRUOK]

Fun fact, this is the first episode that features all 7 main characters; Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Uhura, Scotty, Sulu and Chekov.

[@janus1958]

There's a blooper from this episode: It's from the shot where Kirk kicks the mace out of McCoy's hand. It bounces off the wall back to him and Deforest Kelly instinctively snatches it out of mid air.

[@alucard624]

I like the one where Doohan slips on the stairs coming into the dungeon and just rolls with it as well as Kelley laughing when Shatner's arm comes loose from the chain on the wall.

[@cyrilmauras4247]

Chekov in his "Monkees" wig!

[@majkus]

The communicators commonly fail, or are confiscated, because the Transporter, while it gets characters right into the story quickly, can also get them out of danger quickly. So they constantly have to get that get-out-of-jail-free card out of circulation to maintain tension.

[@davidclough3951]

The writer of this episode also wrote the first season episode, what are little girls made of, and an upcoming season 2 episode, wolf in the fold.

[@edgarcia4794]

Oh good Lord THIS ONE. As a kid watching this episode first run I felt it strayed into Lost in space territory.

[@richelliott9320]

But a very good lost in space episode lol

[@littlejimmy5370]

I watched this episode as a kid around Halloween. And I never forgot it.

[@petejp1]

I had a pendent of the enterprise back in the 80's, I had it hanging from my rear view mirror in my car. I had it there for years and one day I got in the car and it was damaged. I never got to the bottom of it. Maybe Sylvia?

[@joeldf6859]

"Catspaw" was actually the first episode filmed to start the second season. Walter Koenig's hair wasn't yet the length it needed to be so he wore a wig for the fist few episodes. The next few episodes filmed haven't even aired yet, even though later ones filmed have aired by now - given the airdate order you are watching them. By the time of "The Apple" (the 9th filmed episode), I'm pretty sure we were seeing Koenig's real hair - which is why it wasn't as... well... poofy during that episode. For reference, the first episode aired to start the second season - "Amok Time" was actually the 5th episode filmed. 2 others filmed before "Amok Time" are still to come.

[@thewiseoldherper7047]

Many probably already know this but Koenig was going for a Beatles, mop-top look. They were sweeping the country at the time so the TV show was trying to cash in.

[@mikejankowski6321]

@@thewiseoldherper7047 The Monkeys - specifically Davey Jones.

[@onespark100]

Kirk called Bones "Doc" the rest of the episode after that scene.

[@lawrencewestby9229]

Just a non-episode related TOS story - after the series went off the air it wasn't too long that it went into syndication and was shown on local channels. Where I lived I believe it was WPIX where it aired every weekday. In syndication each station added additional advertising time so certain scenes were either shortened or edited out completely. The result is that after seeing an episode for the 12th time or so one forgets what was cut. Well, I remember going on a trip to a different city and while in the hotel room coming across Star Trek on the TV. I was watching it when all of a sudden I realized that I was watching a scene that I was only vaguely familiar with from its original run. It seems that that TV station edited the episode differently than my home station. If you think that was weird, I watched an episode in Montreal - all the dialog was in French. Spock speaking French was, shall I say, fascinating.

[@m.e.3862]

Yep. I'm in Montreal and it was called Patrouille du Cosmos here. Also Shatner's from Montreal and it's pretty cool to hear him speak French IRL

[@3dbadboy1]

This was always a Halloween favorite along with Gilligan's Island's episode with a ghost, something a Go-Go, can't remember.

[@Daniel-Strain]

I love how the skeleton on the wall had a line across the top of its head like a classroom skeleton lol.

[@YolandaAnneBrown95726]

1 of the few times when you can see James Doohan's missing finger which he lost in WW2. He always tried to cover it up, but you notice it when he's holding his phaser.

[@rini6]

This episode terrified me as a child. Truly.

[@biffstrong1079]

This one was fun, a little like Superman running into magic. Still "More Alacrity if you Please Captain" still one of my favourite Spock quotes. A little too much of Kirk hustling the Alien babe who turns out to be a three inch high freak.

[@jaygould2816]

You guys are doing a great job at this. I’ve been a ST fan since it came out, also a Firefly fan and I’m taking a look at Barry and the others. I know it must be difficult to look at old ST and try to detach modern entertainment expectations from it but I like that you guys talk about that at some points. Given that it was the 60s (and excusing my childhood emotional attachment to the series), I’ve always been impressed with the variety of stories in ST TOS and especially the quality of guest stars. They routinely pulled in the top people from TV and occasionally movies to guest star.

[@dalegonyea5422]

I absolutely love watching you guys enjoying this series. Some of your facial responses are priceless! Star Trek's greatest moments are sprinkled sporadically throughout the episodes. It's so much fun to travel along with you discovering this series!

[@Vulcanerd]

I especially love it when Alex’s prescient predictions hit and he yells out “I called it!” There’s just so much joy when it happens.

[@littlejimmy5370]

I was about to say the same thing too. Their great hosts. I really enjoy their reactions.

[@mego73]

Walter Koenig (Chekov) was hired with short hair. They wanted him to have a full Beatles/Monkees hair of the time so the early episodes he wore a wig until his hair grew out enough. The alien puppets were innovative but in the non enhanced versions, the strings for them showed up very clearly. The strings were mostly erased for the version you saw.

[@philfitnesspt6139]

Yeah this was actually first episode filmed for season 2.and his first one. Shame they aren't watching in production order.

[@mikejankowski6321]

@@philfitnesspt6139 Shame they weren't aired in production order. Life would be simpler. And it could have been a bit less episodic.

[@raiders345]

You're correct. This was the first episode of the second season (production order). And, yes, Walter Koenig, the actor who portrayed Ensign Pavel Chekov, had to wear a wig, until his hair grew out.

[@johnm.2633]

"I don't recognize that writer." He wrote a little arthouse film called Psycho. :)

[@jameswentzkershawn001]

I was a kid when I watched this.

[@monsterhobbies]

The "Koreb" actor also appears many times in The Twilight Zone.

[@davidsandy5917]

That little model of the Enterprise was available from Lincoln Enterprises back in the 1970's. Build me a time machine and I will bring one back for you.

[@xerex21212]

Yeah the alien concept is actually great. Telepathic aliens who miss the conscious mind and wind up reading the subconscious instead and creating their illusions from that. That idea deserved to be explored better. They couldve gone full Jungian psychodrama.

[@fredklein3829]

Alex has some tranya foam on his moustache; a gold-suited yeoman should help him with that. Catspaw was Star Trek's only official Hallowe'en episode, filmed in May 1967 but made especially for the October holiday. Robert Bloch was a horror/sci-fi writer who wrote two other episodes for Trek: ''What Are Little Girls Made Of?'' and ''Wolf in the Fold.''

[@jamesalexander5623]

I was going to say that. We all knew this was a Halloween Episode!

[@stevenbigness8267]

The Shot of the Outside of the castle in this episode was added in as an upgraded special effect when they were upgrading the special effects for certain scenes in the series. Originally only the door to the castle and possibly a tower was shown near the side of a rock wall if memory serves me correctly. love the Castle shot though it really gives that Creepy Halloween vibe.

[@aqrxv]

This was the first Star Trek episode I watched. I remember being somewhat unnerved by it. I did not watch another episode until some three years later, when I was nine and became an avid fan.

[@craigplatel813]

This is when the budget started being cut. Lots of things to make end meet. Korabs costume is a hand me down from Gilligan's island

[@applcinamn]

Yeah, watching this as a kid, the witches and the voice coming from dead Jackson freaked me out. The witches were a touch of Macbeth. Also, with Kirk, Spock & Scotty on the planet, Uhura was supposed to be in charge but the network balked at the idea of a woman in command so there was DeSalle.

[@cdfreester]

Did the network really balk? I had not heard that, but I would not be surprised. I would've loved to see Uhura in charge for once.

[@SG-js2qn]

Spock had some good lines ... surprising lines in this episode. I wonder if maybe there was a scene in the middle that was cut due to budgetary reasons, and so they had to expand some other stuff that was boring. I always liked the tiny, insignificant-looking aliens at the end.

[@mikejankowski6321]

Not only Bones looking at bones, but Kirk calling out to Bones. Just such a moment. And the line about betting credits to navy beans (which you left out). Not an outstanding episode, but an exploration of what you can encounter when seeking out new life. Genuinely alien and trying hard to understand humans and connect with them on an advantageous level. And the conflict between Sylvia and Korob added another factor to their predicament. Good to make a friend in those conditions. Korob wasn't such a villain after all.

[@kojiattwood]

And I don't believe he calls him "Bones" for the rest of the episode, a nice touch.

[@henrikharbin5521]

"Operation:Annihilate", Spock goes down to Deneva alone because the flying brain cells already attacked him once.

[@bengilbert7655]

Love your Star Trek reactions .Bloch wrote scripts for a lot of TV shows in the 60s and 70s and not just SF or horror. After you finish Star Trek you might want to watch Alfred Hitchcock Presents and Boris Karloff's Thriller. Both are mystery/horror anthology series from the 60s. Also Rod Serling's Twilight Zone from the 60s and his Night Gallery from the 70s.

[@RobXHEphotosPs37.29]

Their true form shown in the final scene....check it out, a couple of crawdads with fur glued on.

[@reverts3031]

I enjoyed this more as a kid. They just needed more pumpkins in this one! Happy Halloween!!!

[@brandonflorida1092]

Robert Bloch, who wrote this, the Halloween episode, also wrote the book "Psycho" that Hitchcock's movie was based on.

[@raiders345]

The writer of this episode, Robert Bloch, also wrote the first season episode, "What Are Little Girls Made Of?" In addition, he wrote the screenplay for the movie "Psycho."

[@shallowgal462]

When Walter Koenig was cast, his hair wasn't yet Monkees-length, so he wore a wig until it grew out. If memory serves, to be ready for its airdate on time, Catspaw was the first episode of the season shot. And good news! One of your expressed wishes is coming true in a few episodes. Robert Bloch, who wrote this episode, is perhaps better known for one of his novels, a 1958 psychological thriller that Alfred Hitchcock made into a 1960 movie: Psycho. There's a black cat again in the last episode of the season. I'm curious, if anyone knows, is it the same animal actor?

[@vincegamer]

I was so saddened when you said you didn't recognize the author. Robert Bloch is most famous for psycho, but he is one of the most awarded science fiction and horror writers ever.

[@Fast_Eddy_Magic]

I used to have an Enterprise necklace like that. Mail order back in the '80s. I chose the gold (colored) one though. Had an IDIC (You'll find out about that in a later episode.) necklace too.

[@jalcomic]

This is Robert Bloch second episode of his three episodes that he wrote. The first was What Are Little Girls Made Of.

[@exhistoriascientia]

And most famous for writing Psycho.

[@williamblakehall5566]

Ahh, the Halloween 1967 episode. "Very bad poetry, Captain." We're getting into an interesting horror-comedy one-two punch sequence here. This is light horror, and the next one will be light comedy. Several episodes down the road, we'll get slightly more interesting horror -- from the same writer, Robert Bloch -- followed by one of the all-time classic comedies, so great that Deep Space Nine felt obliged to time warp back to it. So, consider this a foretaste of greater things to come. Thanks, TA. Steady as she goes, warp factor two.

[@cdfreester]

I think that I, Mudd is more than light comedy. It goes full-on slapstick in some parts. Not a favorite of mine.

[@Aeroldoth3]

DS9 didn't use that episode because it was great. Paramount did a poll, asking fans what TOS episode they wanted the DS9 folks to revisit, and that episode won the poll.

[@williamblakehall5566]

@@Aeroldoth3 Well, it was still pretty great.

[@Aeroldoth3]

@@williamblakehall5566 Oh I completely agree, it was an awesome crossover! My only point was that the episode wasn't chosen by execs for being great, it chosen by fans.

[@littlejimmy5370]

What DS9 episode is that? I'd like to watch it.

[@orphu88]

Back in the 60s and 70s, tv series usually began a new season in September, and the network was often expecting certain episodes to coincide with various holidays, mostly Halloween and Christmas. This was the Halloween episode; I don't think "Star Trek" ever attempted a Christmas-themed episode (though that might've been fun).

[@billn7183]

Hi, great reaction. Only a few more to go until "Trouble with Tribles". I am looking forward to seeing you watch that one.

[@BobSingerDaGunslinger]

Robert Block is a well known horror/Twilight Zone style writer. Best known as the writer of Psycho (1959), the basis for the film of the same name by Alfred Hitchcock, Bloch wrote hundreds of short stories and over 30 novels. He was a protégé of H. P. Lovecraft, who was the first to seriously encourage his talent. However, while he started emulating Lovecraft and his brand of cosmic horror, he later specialized in crime and horror stories working with a more psychological approach. Bloch was a contributor to pulp magazines such as Weird Tales in his early career.

[@dhaxton1]

Hence Korob speaking of his masters, the "Old Ones", who feature prominently in the writings of Lovecraft.

[@BobSingerDaGunslinger]

@@dhaxton1 Exactly right. Robert Bloch, along with Richard Matheson (I Am Legend, Steven Speiberg's Duel) are among my favorite authors of fantasy/horror/scifi blends. Trek was blessed with many well known writers in TOS who were or became famous for other works. Matheson, by the way, wrote the Star Trek episode "The Enemy Within" (1966).

[@mgk920]

One can now likely find those pendants in many 'Big Box' department stores at Christians holiday decorations time. 😎

[@JAYWALKER1000]

Ask and you shall receive. Not saying what; not saying when.

[@a.g.marshall2191]

Two words: Pipe cleaners.

[@gallendugall8913]

The heart of terror.

[@sarahfullerton6894]

Exactly!! Hahahaha! 😅

[@KeplersDream]

Victor Buono (Korob) had a recurring role in Batman, as King Tut.

[@krisdoggett483]

Speaking of Halloween, in the first Halloween film directed by John Carpenter, the mask that Michael Myers wore was a Halloween mask of Capt. Kirk. Love the channel, guys! These Star Trek reactions are great.

[@buffstraw2969]

In written science fiction, there is a small subset of novels & short stories that explore magic instead of science. It's a speculative take on magic, viewing magic as a kind of "alternative science" with its own rules, laws, principles, etc. This episode reflects that. David Hartwell (SF editor & author) wrote that Star Trek is a kind of Reader's Digest "condensed" version of science fiction, although I don't know if Gene Roddenberry intended it as such. "Catspaw" is, imho, an excellent episode about the science of magic. I also think Antoinette Bower is smokin' hot. Sylvia's threat ("your men, your ships, YOUR WORLDS!!!") still gives me goosebumps.

[@anthonybernacchi2732]

As Alex and Josh correctly deduced, this was the first episode filmed for TOS Season 2 (and therefore the first episode Walter Koenig filmed as Chekov) but was held back to air on October 27 as TOS’ 1967 Halloween episode. Whether because of Star Trek’s secular humanist orientation or its future setting, the franchise has done a vanishingly small number of episodes thematically linked to American holidays celebrated around the time of release (although one of the current series did a Memorial Day episode this year). “Charlie X” takes place on Thanksgiving and was probably meant for broadcast around Thanksgiving 1966 but ended up airing on September 15 because several other episodes had not yet cleared post-production. Coming first in production order, this was the first of a handful of episodes in which Walter Koenig needed some help to make him look sufficiently like a Beatle or a Monkee, leading me to wonder: Is Chekov’s wig the real villain behind the goings-on in this story? I half expected it to jump off his head, turn into another black cat and start wreaking havoc on the Enterprise. And when it’s next to Uhura’s wig on screen, they look like they’re plotting galactic domination together. As a kid I really liked this episode, especially the cleverness of depicting a giant cat by having a regular cat walk through a miniature set. On my most recent viewing I liked it better than the last time I saw it as an adult, although it is rather slow, and the musical score is repetitive and monotonous. Also, I profoundly loathe DeSalle’s role in the episode. Michael Barrier’s performance is fine, and the character (whom Barrier also played in two Season 1 episodes) is reasonably likeable, but I have a very ugly suspicion about why he’s in this episode at all. Michael Barrier is still living; he is now 89 years old and gave up acting to attend law school a few years after his Star Trek appearances. Antoinette Bower (Sylvia) is also still living and is also 89. As others have mentioned, Theo Marcuse (Korob) died in an automobile accident only a month after this episode’s first broadcast. Although George Takei has a reasonable amount of screen time in this episode, his only line is “Ha-ha”, when the controlled Sulu is about to attack Kirk. Totally coincidentally, Kirk’s line “Not like friendly visitors”, and the way in which Shatner delivers it to Nimoy, come across in retrospect as a reference to an earlier event in the Star Trek timeline which would not be established until a later point in the franchise’s development. Also, Sylvia’s line “I’m not a puppet like you, Korob”, is hilarious because the true forms of both Sylvia and Korob are marionettes. Spock’s magnificent line “Don’t let her touch the wand, Captain” requires no further comment from me.

[@katheryns1219]

As kids we LOVED this episode - and called it "the Halloween one." And, yeah, they were going after the young crowd with Chekhov, but his hair wasn't long enough at first so they gave him a horrible women's wig. But he did his job - both my sister and I were in love with him when we were in grade school. I like the Macbeth motifs - the three witches, the ancient castle, Lady Macbeth...

[@zoppie]

Not the only time in the series where we see a cat become a shapely woman, then back into a cat again. Gene L. Coon, who contributed so much to Trek lore, would be training his replacement at around this time. The two humorous episodes (one of which you have already seen) that made it to air had to be sneaked into production by Coon while Roddenberry was on vacation because Roddenberry wanted his show to be serious sci-fi and not turned into camp (which was a real fear; quite a number of hit shows in the 1960s would follow the lead of the Adam West _Batman_ show, which was campy all the way. _Lost in Space,_ over at CBS, had started with an intriguing premise (Hey! What if we stranded the Swiss Family Robinson on a deserted planet instead of an island?). The early episodes were actually pretty good sci-fi until the producer decided that camp was where the money was to be had. GR didn't want Trek to go in that direction, so he was always opposed to Coon's attempts at injecting humor into the episodes. Finally, Coon had enough of arguing with him and left for less stressful pastures. This was the season where Shatner would start re-editing the scripts to give himself more lines and less to the other actors (most notably Nimoy). He had the clout as the series star and the contractual right to ensure that he had the most lines. So he began enforcing it. Which led to rancor against him from the other actors, who already had little enough to do as it was. Nimoy denied it at the time that any kind of feud was going on between himself and Shatner, even though the press played one up. He understood that Shatner was the lead and just protecting his interests. Nimoy was only interested in turning in the best performance that he could. Shatner, meanwhile, had been gaining weight. This would result in his regular tunic popping up and revealing his navel during an action scene. So this is why he started wearing that green wrap-around shirt as an alternative.

[@Sopmylo]

It fits more stylistically with the first season.

[@torydz]

I'm not sure if they corrected it in the updated effect releases, but the creatures at the end scene; you could see the fishing strings used to control them.

[@davidsandy5917]

The communicators have to not work, else whenever Kirk would get into trouble he would just say "Scotty save my A**"

[@misti-step]

i would love a "drinking with alex" segment where alex shares what hes drinking each ep lol. those drinks look good!

[@littlejimmy5370]

I really like this one.I watched this as a kid, and remember thinking it was so cool. It's nostalgic for me, brings back alot of childhood memories. Especially cause I watched it around Halloween.

[@Michellejosph]

the costume the male alien wears was used first on gilligan's island in a dream sequence gilligan wore it as ciderella's fairy godfather

[@raiders345]

I really like Commander Spock's comment, "Bad poetry." Lol

[@mikeg2306]

Fun Fact: Although this isn’t the first aired episode with Chekov, 3:04 is the first filmed footage of him. He’s not named in the episode. Might have been a screen test.

[@cyrilmauras4247]

The actor playing Jackson reappears as different crewmen throughout the series.

[@johnallen4030]

Releashed October 27, 1967. It's the Halloween episode

[@Panzer4F2]

Next episode has the return of a familiar face.

[@danjsilve]

Alex, you mentioned you would like to see Scotty in a bar fight. Well that is coming up later this season. I won’t mention the episode though.

[@reichensperger1847]

You noted the "reveal" of the creatures at the end, and they do look monstrously alien. But they didn't in 1967. The black strings that manipulated the puppets were very visible, and very disappointing, to us ten-year-olds then. They've now been digitally removed.

[@leftcoaster67]

If find if this was made during TNG it probably would have been an amazing episode. They could only do so much with 60's TV. Robert Bloch is a great writer. I find it a fun episode.

[@shermanlin5554]

Yeah a soso episode the network wanted things like a halloween episode for Halloween so they got one. Good reaction channel wish you the best

[@tyranusfan]

It's funny that you mention wanting to see Scotty in a barfight.

[@oobrocks]

Hey Alex: tell me about your beer. I hope u enjoyed it!

[@mjducharme]

If you search for "The Monkees" you'll find what they were trying to do with Chekov's hair.

[@markdefelice3700]

Chekov's hair is supposed look like the " Beatles "

[@geminicricket4975]

Ah yes... the Halloween themed Star Trek episode. "Science Fiction" at it's best. ;)

[@GeraldWalls]

7:40 I would LOVE to have that model. I've wanted it since I was a young kid in the 1960s.

[@railfan711]

This is one of my favorite episodes.

[@momokomiyafuji396]

Yeah, they actually dropped it Halloween week. One of the few times airing the episodes out of order worked to their advantage.

[@monsterhobbies]

First time seeing Chekhov. - he was suppose to look like the 5th Beetle in this episode, but thankfully they changed that.

[@stuffyouotterlistento1461]

Pete Best?

[@monsterhobbies]

@@stuffyouotterlistento1461 LOL. He was patterned off a Beetle.

[@leftcoaster67]

It was a Hallowe'en episode. :)

[@GF_Baltar]

I used to actively dislike this episode, but my feelings toward it have mellowed over the years; it's certainly not a hideous debacle in the league of "Spock's Brain" or "The Omega Glory". Parts of Robert Bloch's script were too macabre for NBC and were excised (e.g., Crewman Jackson's corpse was to have "shriveled and blackened" after the warning to leave had been delivered to Kirk). It's too bad that 1960's network television wasn't ready for Bloch's grisly ideas. Btw, the Lucite-encased model of the Enterprise was donated to the National Air and Space Museum by Matt Jefferies, where it still resides today.

[@donovanbradford8231]

Man that sounds like a great idea, but A) I don't know if they would have had the budget for it B) that might not have sat well with kids and families back then. But still solid idea given the tone.

[@johnandrews3151]

Catspaw was the only Halloween episode from the original series.

[@torydz]

Just as other series did, this was Star Trek's Halloween episode.

[@bettyleeist]

Antoinette Boyer was also in;Mission Impossiable,back in the 1960”s.Ha!Ha!Checkov’s wig look’s terrible!That’s funny!

[@randallwong7196]

I think that image of the large haunted castle ( when the big 3 spot it ) wasn't the original version; the original was a smaller size, being a painting or scale model.

[@visionaryventures12]

This was the first episode filmed for the second season, followed by Who Mourns For Adonais?

[@Carl_Frank]

9:27 He-Man, is that you? You've really let yourself go!

[@tvdroid22]

Ahhh the Halloween episode.

[@mikebell2112]

A little Lovecraft since she mentions The Old Ones and their true form is a bit mini Cthulhu.