First Time Watching ALL of Star Trek - Episode 29: Operation - Annihilate! (TOS S1E29)

[@powerbad696]

You guys are CRUSHING it!!! Your comments,observations and insights are great.I haven't watched any of these episodes in eons,it's good to watch it with your FRESH eyes. The bit about Spock's hearing had me laughing out loud. LOL.

[@SYLTales]

A few words on William Shatner's performances for the next 15 years: If you look at Shatner's pre-1967 work, he's often brilliant. He's understated but gives a moving performance. Then came Season 3 of _Star Trek: The Original Series_ , which had its genesis in the episode "The Devil In the Dark" (the one with the Horta). During "The Devil In the Dark," Shatner's father died. Shatner was apparently very close to his father and was distraught, but insisted that they continue shooting the episode. About this same time, Shatner separated from his first wife and they would divorce in 1969 ( _Star Trek_ 's Season 3). Accounts suggest that it was acrimonious. The amount Shatner had to pay his ex (they had three daughters) was astronomical. When TOS was canceled, Shatner was forced to take any gig he could get. He was in a lot of trash in the 1970s, both on TV and in film. At one point, he was doing regional theater gigs while living in a small trailer he could pull behind his car. Simultaneous with all this, his acting suffered. Here's my theory, as a 56-year-old man who's been through an acrimonious divorce and have lost my father: I think the combined stresses of these two events made it impossible for Shatner to truly invest himself in any role he had. This began with Captain Kirk. In TOS's first season, Shatner is really on-point. You believe Kirk is a person. When given material like, "The City On the Edge of Forever," Shatner gives Emmy-level performances. Then his father died. Then his marriage went to hell. His finances became a mountain of debt, and nothing short of a Big Hit would pay it off. Shatner just couldn't do it any more. He was good enough that showing emotion had previously come very naturally to him. Now, after all that ... it was just too much. Shatner was a trained stage actor, so it became easy for him to fall back on technique. If you can't convey real emotion, you fake it -- and you usually fake it badly. Shatner started faking it badly. Like, _really_ badly. You'll see. Shatner spent the better part of 20 years just phoning it in. He'd be phoning it in to this day had Fate not intervened. In 1982, Shatner found himself in front of _Star Trek II_ director Nicholas Meyer. "Bill," Nick said, "you will not be pulling that shit in my movie. This movie means a lot to me, both personally and professionally. I will not have you fucking up my future by chewing all the scenery in sight! Every single goddamned usable take I get out of you is going to be your best fucking performance since 1966!" "I'm William Fucking Shatner!" the Shat replied. "Who the fuck do you think you are, you no-named, never-will-be twat?" "I'm the guy with final say on what shows up in this movie. You know, the movie I also _wrote_ . If you want to chew the scenery, I'll re-write it and call it _Star Trek II: William Shatner Chews the Scenery For Two Hours_ . Or ... "We can work together and _Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan_ will be the best fucking _Star Trek_ movie that will ever be made." So Nick Meyer worked with Shatner. And worked with him. And worked with him. They'd both get exhausted -- which was when Meyer noticed something interesting: Shatner gave better performances when he was tired. The emotions that had been buried under several layers of trauma began to show themselves _because Shatner was too exhausted to keep it bottled-up_ . Meyer used that, and the result is _Star Trek II: William Shatner's Best Performance Since Forever_ . And none of that spoils _Star Trek II_ . I'm just telling you what I think happened with Shatner's acting. Shatner reconnected with the brilliant actor that was inside him the whole time. There is only one line in ST2 where I think Meyer intentionally wanted Shatner to over-do it, but it makes sense in context. Shatner got his mojo back. Every single role since ST2 has been some of his best work. He's received nothing but nominations and awards since 1982. He won Emmies. Check IMDB. Shatner's laurels are pages long. Since ST2, Shatner's never given a truly bad performance. He's occasionally managed to rise above some poor material he was given. So when you're evaluating Shatner's performances going forward, please remember: From here on out, he's grieving his dad, his marriage is falling apart, he's grieving that he's no longer seeing his three little girls every day, he's losing his shorts financially ... And there's no way out of any of it. You just wade through the cesspool and hope you emerge from it still sane and with a couple of bucks left. Trust me, I know: I emerged only partly sane and with no money at all. I honestly believe that given everything going on in his personal life, William Shatner was just doing the best he could. Sometimes it wasn't his best performance (or even a good performance).

[@SYLTales]

@@visaman I'll have to hunt down _The Intruder_ . The name seems familiar, so I may have seen it. However, for pure weirdness, it's hard to beat 1965's _Incubus_ . All actors (including Shatner) speak Esperanto. Esperanto is an artificial language devised by language experts. It uses only sounds that are common in all languages. The hope was that it would become the standard international language. That flew about as well as a lead brick. However, it's still fun as hell to watch Shatner Esperanto his way though an entire movie. There are reasons William Shatner is so cool, and making a movie in Esperanto is one of them. kzbin.info/www/bejne/l5TGd6CvlrSdbdE

[@SYLTales]

@@visaman oh! Given the alternate title, yes, I remember it -- vaguely. I think I somehow saw it in my teens. It may have been a private screening at a con Committee Chair's hotel room late at night, that cames to mind for some reason. Beyond that ... very little. I apparently found it so stupid and/or disturbing that I've blocked it out of my memory. Perhaps I should find a copy, the evening is still young, here. There's no question that Shatner had some clunkers in his early career, but that was normal for young actors of the era (and still is). You worked your way up from Guard #3 to James Kirk, and not everything in between is consistently good. It's Shatner's work later in TOS and throughout the 1970s that intrigues me. It earned him a reputation as a scenery-chewing ham because ... well, let's face it, he _was_ . Then he suddenly flipped on a dime, and long after ST2, he made no bones about it. Meyer himself has told a specific story about a specific line. Shatner kept over-doing it no matter how many times Meyer told him to pull it back. There was take after take after take until finally, just plain tired, Shatner said: "Here it comes." And that take made it into the film. Imagine having to do that until it sinks in to Shatner: "Hey, wait a second, I kind of get it now. Less is more. Kirk feels bad in this scene with Carole? How would I feel if I just met my estranged son, talking to my ex about it?" And then Shatner sat down and very quietly gave one of the best speeches of his life. There was no hamming it up, just Shatner allowing Kirk's feelings to really take him in a long, long time. He barely even moves. He just sits there, wondering if he made the right choices in life. He finally, he ends very softly: "How am I feeling? Old. Worn out." And _bam_ ! Shatner had his mojo back again. He never shed his 1970s reputation as a ham, but one look at his IMDB Awards entry tells the tale. A couple of awards early in his career ... and then almost nothing until _Star Trek II_ . After that, he's getting nominations and awards every year -- and most of it for non- _Star Trek_ work. That whole change just utterly fascinated me, in part because I think I figured out what happened. 🖖

[@SYLTales]

@@visaman oh! I just found _The Intruder_ on my favorite, totally legitimate, Russian streaming service, of which I am a member in good standing. I remember it. Classic Roger Corman. Headed to watch it again. 🖖

[@SYLTales]

@@visaman ok, that wasn't what I expected at all. It was so non-Roger Cornan-esque that I had a look at the production and trivia around the film. Corman really wanted to make this film. It was one of his true passion projects. He fought to get funding, he fought to get distribution. He spent a fortune (for him) and it really shows. I would defend this as a good story that should be told today with zero editing. I want modern viewers to see the casual, underlying racism that simply no longer exists today. Shatner has nothing to be ashamed of. He plays a megalomaniac who doesn't really care much about racism. He just knows it's a good way to gain followers in that place at that time. So the character really leans into the racism. The audience is supposed to despise him. Shatner gives a totally believable performance as an a-hole who basically SA-ed a woman. Again: a pleasantly surprisingly good film. I'm going to have to grab a copy for my own library.

[@jameslauder3984]

Excellent post. Excellent observations.👏

[@generoberts9151]

As a Trekkie I’ve have often used the line “I am a Vulcan, there is no pain” when I’m hurting. Unfortunately it never works.

[@MJE-riffs]

This episode traumatized me as a child. It aired in England one Christmas Eve, and my mum put me in front of the TV so she could get stuff done. I was good as gold for a while, then an alien pancake attached itself to Spock's back, and I screamed.

[@johnm.2633]

Same!

[@hollywoodguy70]

I wasn't able to eat ravioli for years

[@alecfoster5542]

@@hollywoodguy70 Yours is one of the few decent comments in this thread. Thank you.

[@rymerster]

Yes! Was my first Trek seen in colour, was visiting the grandparents, I think they had the colour saturation turned way up too as they always did.

[@sarahfullerton6894]

"Alien pancake"!! 👽 🥞Hahahaha 😅

[@cdfreester]

The parasites remind me of those joke vomits you could buy in novelty stores. There is a great blooper of when the parasite flies off the ceiling and hits Leonard Nimoy in the butt instead of his back. “Take two!”

[@linphillips8331]

I had to go look that up! That was awesome. 😀

[@billross7245]

That's exactly what they were made from. They were sold along side the plaster dog poop.

[@CrankyGrandma]

Haha! I always called them the flying barfs

[@Carl_Frank]

LOL! You nailed it! Prank vomit! It's just good that the store was out of fake dog poop, or it might've been in the next episode. I'm teasing; I grew up watching reruns of this show, and it has a special place in my heart.

[@brandonflorida1092]

Watching TOS was a good idea. Unfortunately, most people your age begin with TNG, as though TOS were some ancient ancestor of no importance. This series inspired many thousands of people to go into science and engineering. Fans who met the actors were always telling them that it determined their career choice. Nimoy had a story about being shown a new project by some scientists who then looked at him as though asking for his approval and whether they had got it right.

[@Panzer4F2]

Did you ever see the gang watching the Space Shuttle ceremony in 1976 ? I am sure that the NASA folks were giddy with Doohan and Nimoy being there.

[@richardb6260]

There are lot of Trek fans working for NASA.

[@Shasta--1]

I saw something 15 or 20 years ago about how the first small cell phones had the flip-up lid because of ST's communicators. The designing scientists seemed proud and a little embarrassed at this revelation.

[@brandonflorida1092]

@@Panzer4F2 I saw photos.

[@mikephillips8810]

The story of when Shatner went to visit NASA during the Apollo days is great. They let him look inside the simulator and when he looked out the window at the horizon of the Moon, a model of the Enterprise appeared! That must have been a great moment of laughter all round.

[@eoyguy]

Yeah, Majel Barrett played Nurse Chapel, also Number 1 in the original pilot, Lwaxana Troi in the Next Generation, and was the voice of the computer in all the series.

[@imjoe713]

and eventually Mrs Gene Roddenberry .

[@generoberts9151]

@@imjoe713Oh I learned something new today. I thought she was his wife during the original series from the start.

[@fredklein3829]

Alex"s glass of tranya looks so refreshing and it inspires me to raise a cup of my own.

[@RicheeRich101]

The Northrup Grumman space park in Redondo Beach, California has been designated an architectural historical landmark due to its Futurama mid century modern architecture. So it still looks exactly the same as it did in 1967. I stopped by there last August to make sure they hadn’t messed it all up, and they hadn’t. Those three concrete staircases lead up to the parking lot. You can visit and walk around, until security catches you and kicks you out. When I was younger and used to run around there playing Star Trek, we used to always get kicked out pretty quick. It’s right near LAX

[@majkus]

I worked at TRW (who built Space Park) back in the 1980s, and was always amused to eat lunch in the cafeteria where they had filmed the Attack of the Pizza Bats.

[@maingun07]

Being near LAX explains the need for ADR.

[@j.jennings1722]

The great thing about Star Trek: TOS is that the show not only has great, memorable episodes, but even the worst episodes are still fun to watch. This show literally inspired generations of people to become scientists, so they could try to bring the concepts, introduced in ST, to life. In a very real sense, Star Trek changed the world, and that imagined world of the future is still inspiring people to work toward a future similar to that one, where we have overcome our petty differences and the entire world is working together toward the common causes of liberty, the pursuit of knowledge and the expansion of humanity into space.

[@ice-iu3vv]

nurse chapel (majel barrett roddenberry) wasnt just "dating gene roddenberry", her husband of 30 years. she played number 1 on the cage, which you saw as "the menagerie", she is the voice of the computer on several trek series (including this one ), she plays troi's mother on next gen, and she appears as christine chapel in 25 tos episodes. for that matter a quick list of cast by number of appearances. kirk and spock - all 79. mccoy-75, (missed 4 of the first 14 before becoming the 3rd main character), uhura 70 (singing commitments in vegas caused the absences) , scotty-64, mr. leslie 56, but only a few speaking lines in the whole series ( like "no sir" when kirk told him to get back to his station on "this side of paradise"), sulu -51, (made movie "green beret's forced some absences), chekov -36 ( of the last 50, he isnt in season 1), chapel -25, mr. kyle-11 (hired after mr. riley left, due to a full-time tv offer on a different show.), janice rand-8 (all early season 1, she's gone before now in the series, drug problem caused her to be fired) dessalle-4 (including 1 in command of ship "cat's paw" ), hanson-3 (also 1 in command of ship "menagerie part 1") (in those last 2 cases the studio wouldnt let uhura be in command so script change was required), long list of others with 2 appearances. listen for scotty (james doohan) voice work multiple times throughout series. 8 episodes have all of the top 8 characters (none of which can be in season 1 without chekov).

[@Panzer4F2]

Some would say that she is a daughter of Betazed's Fifth House, holder of the sacred Chalice of Rixx and heir to the Holy Rings of Betazed ...

[@richardb6260]

Probably should note that Roddenberry was married to someone else when he and Barrett started "dating". He was also seeing Nichelle Nichols and tried to have an open relationship with both women but Nichols refused. Plus, in addition to Barrett and Nichols, Roddenberry "dated" other women including other actresses on the show. Roddenberry's secretary said she juggled alibis to both Barrett and Roddenberry's wife. It's probably a good thing Roddenberry didn't live to see the 2000s.

[@ice-iu3vv]

@@richardb6260 by 2015-18 he surely would have suffered from "me too", but my point was her huge role in trek, not gene roddenberry's sex life.

[@richardb6260]

@@ice-iu3vv given her role as the voice of the computer in the Next Gen series, does she have the record for most episodes? I read that Michael Dorn has the record for most Trek hours. But I don't think they included voice overs.

[@ice-iu3vv]

@@richardb6260 while im not positive, she probably holds the record for most trek episode appearances including voice work, but it may be rick berman for most episodes involved in.

[@russellharrell2747]

Spock’s alien nature comes in quite handy several times in the series. I think the first time was the first aired episode in which the salt vampire couldn’t handle Spock’s green blood.

[@mego73]

They filmed a scene where Kirk's brother's son is sent to live with relatives but it was cut, but was found and included on what is called The Roddenberry Vault blu ray set. Season finales really weren't a thing back then. Exteriors were filmed in what I think what was called the TWA building.

[@davide123]

The TRW building.

[@mego73]

@@davide123 I was close. Lol

[@sarahfullerton6894]

Josh, I totally agree with your observation that it's b.s. that Captain Kirk would be so jovial, without any grief for his brother, Sam. I would have liked to see a brief private moment with his now-healed nephew, Peter, perhaps in the chapel, where they take a little time to grieve for their family members.

[@Randall1001]

There WAS a scene shot with Kirk's nephew on the bridge at the end of the episode, and how he's going to live with family elsewhere. But it was cut for time I think. At any rate, I totally agree--while I LOVE this episode, and it's another great example of TOS badassness---its one flaw is how they set up this HUGE loss for Kirk, and then it just gets dropped at the end. I mean, at least toss in a line or two of Kirk acknowledging the loss and having to get past it for chrissakes. I don't know how they could have missed the need for that.

[@philfitnesspt6139]

I don't agree you can see how broken up kirk is right after his brother's death and spock wants.to console him...then Kirk manages to bring himself together because.he is the captain he has to be strong this is excellent proof.of why he is the best captain. It's obvious he's hurting inside but he has to be strong i dare.say he deals with the.greif in private.

[@Randall1001]

@@feenix219 A picture of it maybe, or in some reel of cut footage. But it definitely never aired.

[@marshsundeen]

Sam is now a character in Strange New Worlds. It is a sad way for him to go.

[@alucard624]

One of the best bloopers comes from this episode. Instead of the parasite attaching itself to Spock's back, it hit him in the butt and everyone just lost it.

[@dbeach3530]

Jumping ahead, or behind (depending on how you look at it), Sam Kirk is currently a character on ST: Strange New Worlds. It will be interesting to see how that character is developed.

[@williambill5172]

The scene where the Enterprise landing party beams down to the surface was filmed at the TRW Space and Defense Park (now Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems) in Redondo Beach, California. The entrance of Sam Kirk's laboratory is the cafeteria on the TRW campus.

[@MichaelJohnson-vi6eh]

Agreed. This makes me think about how Kirks family is not really touched upon. He's only 33 years old. His parents aren't still alive? His brother Sam isn't really in the picture? There is an episode later on where McCoy says to a character that she cant navigate a starship because she's blind. Flash forward 70 years to the premiere episode of the next generation and who is driving the ship. A blind guy.

[@gnoath5684]

He's on a 5 year assignment. Seems understandable to me that they wouldn't be relevant to 99.9% of the happenings during that time.

[@scottmcneely1927]

Why did they bother to make Kirk two years younger than William Shatter? What was wrong with him being 35 in the first season? Not that much difference.

[@tyshekka]

​@@scottmcneely1927it's probably related to the age of JFK.

[@artboymoy]

Congrats guys! On watching the show, getting subs, starting a Patreon. The rubber vomit episode! Yeah! Convenient Vulcan eyelid! Yup, Kirk is okay with his brother and his family being dead, except for his nephew. It's fun that you guys are watching this as I was coming home from school and turning on the tv to watch the afternoon fair of Speed Racer, Ultra Man, Battle of the Planets, Lost in Space, and Star Trek. Always fun to see what episode it was going to be. The Kirk, Spock, Bones trio is a standout for the show. Approaching problems from different angles.

[@davidgollop2807]

You guys make star trek original series come alive for me again, I was 10 and star trek mad when it first aired. Was a time of black and white Tv,,,one phone for the whole family and ONE time slot a week to see it...no rewinds...if you miss something....you missed it! Punishment for a kid was "No Star Trek for You this week!" It so nice you don't make fun of the effects too much but a lot of the story lines still hold up. Remember the buget cuts too!

[@buzbom1]

OMG as a kid when this first aired we called them the KILLER FLYING FRIED EGGS FROM SPAAAAAACE!!! Needless to say, I had issues eating egg sandwiches for a while.

[@CDP1861]

Slowly but surely the Vulcans were becoming popular among the fans. It's a small wonder that they did not start to wear red capes by the time this episode was written. Inbetween the seasons they also must have thought that and that's why the first episode of the second season deals with some aspects of the Vulcans that their PR department does not talk to just anybody about. And the fans loved it. If anything, the next episode marks the official beginning of the Vulcan's fan club.

[@philfitnesspt6139]

Although it is the proper first epsiode of s.2 that was actually cats paw.

[@fishpierce7851]

Okay, so you snagged another one for this ride. I’m subbed and caught up. I remember sitting on my dad’s lap watching these air for the first time in the late sixties. Yes, I’m that old. And you’re right, you are the Target Audience for these: able to enjoy the cheese without it ruining the good television that it was. And ESPECIALLY with a show that has spawned so much pop culture. You guys rock!

[@linphillips8331]

I came along a little bit later and caught Star Trek in syndication in the early 70s. I've loved Spock since I was five years old.

[@ChrisS-no3ft]

I'm 47, and my mother used to let me stay up late in the 70's for the re-runs. I don't care what anyone says. Star Trek is the greatest TV franchise to ever exist, and I don't care if it looks outdated. Actually, I PREFER it. Films like The Thing From Another World, The Day The Earth Stood Still, Forbidden Planet. These are oldies, but I like them better than the modern crap that Hollywood puts out these days. The stories were great. The writing was INTELLIGENT (boy do I miss intellectual science fiction stories) and thats what attracted me to Star Trek. After an episode ended, thats when your brain kicked in, and started processing the story, its dilemmas, consequences, and characters choices. With the added imagination of the "what if" factor, Trek literally took us where no man had gone before. I'm right there with you! These guys are rockin' it!

[@fishpierce7851]

@@ChrisS-no3ft there’s plenty of good new sci-if, but you won’t find it in comic book/toy/game universes. For movies, Villeneuve and Nolan have been kicking butt for the last 10 years or so. In TV, there’s good stuff too. It’s just that, like, TOS, the good ones get cancelled after a few seasons. Still, check out Counterpart, the Outer Range, Raised By Wolves. Russian Doll and Orphan Black for some good TV.

[@fishpierce7851]

And The Expanse

[@sallyshipwreck4315]

29 episodes in a season - amazing. We've shrunk to 10 nowadays.

[@SweetbabySilvernale]

I don’t know why, but seeing you guys bob your head in time with the theme song is precious. I think that pulls me in as a participant in watching you watching Star Trek

[@TheDetailsMatter]

The TNG character Geordie LaForge, wore a prosthetic sensor visor because he had been blind from birth. The VISOR technology was experimental. Other than Geordie, there were fewer than 5 people in the Federation ever to have been fitted with a VISOR. (And yes, it was a hair barette painted silver.)

[@ryanbaillie11]

"Introduce him just to be dead" Oh don't worry. You'll get some more Sam in half a century!

[@t.gadway6729]

I envy you two, seeing these for the first time. Watching this is almost like seeing them new. too, so thanks.

[@RicheeRich101]

at 08:09 on Kirk's line "there are almost a million inhabitants..." look closely at the right of the screen, just next to McCoy - you can see 2 cars passing each other on Aviation Blvd. You couldn't possibly see it on 1960's TV resolution, but on a large 1080k screen, you can see it if you don't blink.

[@rightofcenter1977]

He mentioned his brother in "What are Little Girls Made Of?"

[@erikkaye1114]

" It's cool that they brought her back. She's been gone for many episodes." Majel Barrett is the Grand Dame of Star Trek. In addition to becoming Gene Roddenberry's wife, and becoming the elder stateswoman of the franchise after her husband's demise, she's acted as various characters in TOS, TNG and DS9. In the un-broadcast pilot episode, she played Number One, a character that has been revised in Star Trek Discovery and ST: Strange New Worlds. She's played Nurse Chapel in occasional episodes of TOS, but also, in TOS, TNG and DS9, she was the voice of the ship-wide computer system. So, while Nurse Chapel was gone for many episodes of first season TOS, Majel Barrett was not.

[@fishpierce7851]

Nurse Chapel is also the voice of the ship’s computer.

[@Robo-er5lg]

The first mention of Kirk's brother, Samuel Kirk, is in "What Are Little Girls Made Of?" with Mudd :-)

[@davide123]

You're right, except Mudd wasn't in that one.

[@ScarlettM]

10:15 - "nurse chapel -majel barrett " also played a part in original pilot. After showing the pilot, studio heads told Roddenbery that the alien with ears (Spock) and a female second in command (majel barrett) have to be removed. He fought to keep at least one of them. "Barrett often joked that Roddenberry, given the choice between keeping Mr. Spock (whom the network also hated) or the woman character, kept the Vulcan and married the woman, 'cause he didn't think Leonard Nimoy would have it the other way around."

[@spikedpsycho2383]

Location shooting occurred in two places. The scene where the Enterprise landing party beams down to the surface was filmed at the TRW Space and Defense Park (now Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems) in Redondo Beach, California. The entrance of Sam Kirk's laboratory is the cafeteria on the TRW campus.

[@Shasta--1]

I know I said this before, but don't forget to watch the animated Star Trek after you finish all three seasons of TOS (The Original Series). I guess you'll see and get used to all the Star Trek slang and acronyms as you read all our comments. The newest Star Trek show is really good, written like this series as episodic, but has MANY callbacks to other ST shows, especially this one. Kirk's brother is introduced early in the show, and near the end of the first season we even meet Kirk. The show also deals with Christopher Pike knowing about the accident that leads to him ending up in the chair, and presents very believable reasons for why Spock would do what he does in The Menagerie. Just a note: I have said nothing in this comment that is a spoiler because everything I've said is known before the first episode. I even looked up the list of what season The Menagerie was so as to not mess with your understanding of this show. :) (I couldn't remember the season off hand) I've been really impressed with the high class of your commenters and how people are not leaving spoilers. I do NOT want to be the first one. :)

[@dbeach3530]

I think SNW is the best of the newest ST series!

[@Shasta--1]

@@dbeach3530 Abso-effing-lutly!! It's almost mesmerizing how great some of the episodes are. And someone on that show actually cares about Star Trek, its characters, and its canon.

[@Shasta--1]

(I'm curious how this will look) Have you seen the last one (I think) where Pike comes back from (redacted) and Spock says (redacted), and we see right then why he did what he did in the Menagerie? Just wonderful.

[@Shasta--1]

Hmmm. I replied to myself (which is why I said I wonder how this will look), but the comment didn't show that I was (perhaps vainly) talking to myself

[@tideoftime]

In Re: Nurse Chapel -- Majel Barrett was Gene's wife, and the original second in command/First Officer in the pilot episode under Capt. Pike.

[@BobSingerDaGunslinger]

She married Gene Roddenberry. And became the voice of the computer, and Luaxanna Troy in TNG

[@katwithattitude5062]

You will definitely get some major scenes between the "Big Three" in the first episode of Season 2. That one is my favorite episode.

[@philfitnesspt6139]

Although that isn't the REAL first epsiode of s2 it's actually cats paw! Shame people don't react to.the shooting order instead of broadcast order.

[@platinumspider7859]

The ending of this one always puts the song "Vulcan Ears" by Millencolin in my head again.

[@jamessatter7418]

The explanation about the Vulcan sun at the end of the episode is a nice lead to the planet Vulcan in Amok Time.

[@racookster]

What bugged me most about this episode is that intense UV will still damage your eyes and give you terminal sunburn even if you can't see it. I thought that was a weak, manipulative conclusion to what was otherwise a pretty good episode. Also, Kirk's nephew was a classic "What happened to the mouse?" trope. I don't believe he was ever mentioned again. RE: Shatner's Odd Speaking Cadence. It shows up more and more in Season Two and Three; by S3, it's almost constant. I assume network executives told the directors to push him to do it. The suits hated Star Trek and wanted it to be more campy, like Batman, which was a hot property at the time.

[@tyshekka]

Shatner claimed, after watching Bruce Campbell do an impression, that Campbell was right-- it was often because he was learning his lines quickly during production and recalling his lines while delivering them.

[@WereMike]

Once you are done with reacting to this series, it would be fun to see your reactions to the Star Trek outtakes and blooper reels. Once you've seen the main content, it's great to see the characters break or goof up. Lots of fun!

[@kennethlee494]

The actor who played Peter Kirk, Craig Huxley went on to create the musical instrument called a Blaster Beam which was used extensively in the music for Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

[@Serai3]

Ah, the Denebian slime devils. After seeing that infamous blooper reel shot of one flying up and hitting Spock on the ass, I was never able to take them seriously again. :D:D:D

[@garywillig5143]

Kirk's brother Sam is a recurring character in Strange Bew Worlds and actually served on the Enterprise years before his brother became the captain. Spock was Sam Kirk's superior officer while Pike was captain. Yep, Spock was giving orders to the brother of the man who is now his captain. But since they hadn't come up with Sam's backstory at this point it doesn't get mentioned that Spock and Sam have a relationship as well. The first episode of season 2 is a real classic.

[@PipRLagenta]

The aliens in Operation: Annihilate! always reminded me of the "fake vomit" items that you could buy in the Joke Shops of the Sixties.

[@PipRLagenta]

This episode employs the TV Trope "Single-Episode Handicap".

[@Emburbujada]

I just rewatched this episode last night XD

[@LeutnantJoker]

As I said before, reacting to this series is what makes your channel special. Already looking forward to your season 1 summary and season 2 :) Keep them coming. As for Kirk's reaction here, don't worry. The show will go a bit more into Kirk's emotional life in the coming seasons and in the movies.

[@tyranusfan]

There's one thing to keep in mind on Star Trek, if a guest star is introduced as a family member, friend, mentor, teacher or old flame of the main characters...they're likely going to die before the episode is over!

[@joeldf6859]

I don' t know about the "old flame" part. The only old flame that I know of that didn't make it was Nurse Chapel's from "What Are Little Girls Made Of". Spock had a few but all survived (we already met one, with another still to come), and Kirk had a few but all survived (we've met two so far, but one was an illusion of a past love, and one more to come much later who also lives on). Still a ways to go, but we meet Checkov's (who wasn't in the first season but comes in for the second season) in a 3rd season episode and she survives.

[@miketalas7998]

10:10, Yes Majel Barrett was Gene's Wife, Although I'm not sure at the filming of this ep. For the longest time I couldn't figure out how to say her name, until I heard it (forget where) but her first name is pronounced as MADGE or MADGELL BARRAY Madge sounds like a Old Diner waitress! :D

[@Daniel-Strain]

It's been great revisiting the season with you guys! Looking forward to S2 thanks :)

[@bradchoi9679]

Isn't it amazing that the writing and acting was so good, you kind of ignore the low budget FX. However, in 1966, it was on par with anything else on TV at the time. That's why it's still with us 60 years later! 😀

[@truthguide1742]

I love Star Trek TOS, Next Generation, Voyager, Deep Space Nine, the movies. The rebooted movies were good except the whole Kelvin Timeline. I hate it, didn't like Director JJ Abrams influence. Would've preferred a director with previous Star Trek experience. Because they would know Trek Canon, timeline, continuity, character development, etc. The newer Trek series I haven't watched, except only You Tube videos. I won't pay for Net Flex, streaming video services. Hey guys thanks for your input, insight and going into the rabbit hole of Trek. Glad you discovered the franchise. I appreciate your comment about something being old for someone is being new for people that have never experienced it. Or words to that effect. Personally, as a older former parish Confirmation/Youth Ministry/Life Teen catechist/core team member. I saw teens joyfully accept embrace, make it their personal own, things that some would consider old and unacceptable for today's young people. This includes the Catholic faith, classic/classical music, church hymns etc. Some people would say to appeal to the youth, it must be new and contemporary. Except if they never heard or saw it before, it's new to them. Which in turns makes me happy, proud. Helping to pass along traditions, pass the torch.

[@miketalas7998]

13:10, You know that's a Gr8 Point you guys make about the Crewman that got the Vulcan Neck Pinch! I never thought of it, But now he can go around the ship BRAGGING TO THE CREW that he is one of the FEW that got to experience SPOCKS FAMOUSE PINCH!!! :D

[@LukeWarm05]

Problem: planet attacked by giant space raviolis Solution: overcook it

[@russellharrell2747]

This episode was filmed at UCLA and at a Northrop Grumman facility (formally TRW space and defense park)

[@timothyserabian5103]

I recently learned that there IS a deleted scene where Kirk and his nephew have a chat before the end of the episode. Kirk offers him the chance to go back to Earth, but he decides to stay because his parents loved it so much. Kirk and Scotty then have a little discussion afterwards about his future. So, it wasn’t Kirk’s negligence that we didn’t see it. It was a mandate from production.

[@1monki]

McCoy: "There's one possibility, Spaaace Maaadnessss."

[@markwhitney555]

Shatner's father died while they were filming this episode (or just before) which helps explain Kirk's grief throughout.

[@RetroRobotRadio]

This series was purely episodic big purposely one of them to be played in any order or skip episodes and still make sense. That's why the final episode of a season was no different from the episode in the middle of the season. The Star Trek animated series did have a few episodes that were meant to be sequels to live action episodes. We didn't get "season finale" big event episodes until The Next Generation in the late 1980s.

[@Robo-er5lg]

Great stuff Alex and Josh! Love it that you guys are doing this and keeping up with it. It has sparked me to watch the series again with 8yr old son. You definitely have to add Galaxy Quest to your movie list since us TOS fans see it as a TOS- movie-documentary and takes a lot influence from all episodes but especially from episode 24 this side of paradise. This episode for today ep29 is one of my favorites. Ep28, Ep 29 and Space Seed are amazing ! Season is gonna get even better … and hey Alex start wearing TOS shirts and stop wearing star ugh wars ;-)

[@janus1958]

Ah, the episode with, as my wife and I called it, the "flying space barf". There a blooper from the scene where the one attaches itself to Spock's back. In it, the aim is a bit low and it hits him in the keister instead.

[@VolkswagenNut1969]

Speaking of the Alternative Factor episode, Robert Brown who played Lazarus, is actually still around at age 95. 😃 John Barrymore was supposed to play that part, but he didn’t show up for filming, so they got Brown as a replacement. 😉

[@pleasantvalleypickerca7681]

Seriously this is a great season ender. The last line about Spock's ears is a classic. Kirk having a brother was a nice touch, but remember this is episodic tv so things don't always continue. I imagine Kirk grieved his loss in his off time, but in a 50 minute episode it couldn't be included. As well his brothers son would have been looked after by someone on Deneva most likely as Kirk being a starship captain could not look after him.

[@iKvetch558]

Yeah...this one definitely scared the crap outta me when I first saw it as a kid. But it is a great episode and a really good season finale.

[@3dbadboy1]

Esp the buzzing.

[@jefmay3053]

OOOOOOHHHH The flying pizza's episode! AWESOME!!

[@luminiferous1960]

The location used for Deneva's main city where they beam down in this episode was the TRW Space and Defense Park (now Northrop Grumman) in Redondo Beach, CA. I have been a fan of Star Trek since I started watching it in its original airing on TV when I was six years old. Imagine how delighted I was to visit the TRW Space and Defense Park for a work meeting in the mid-1980s when I was working on the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI). I even got to eat lunch in the TRW cafeteria, the entrance of which was used as the entrance to Sam Kirk's lab in this episode of Star Trek. Star Trek was one of the works of science fiction, along with the real world Apollo program, that inspired me as a child to pursue degrees in Physics, Math, and Engineering, and to pursue a career in the research and development of lasers and electro-optic sensors, including applications of those technologies in space. I enjoy your sometimes thoughtful, sometimes humorous, and always entertaining reactions to episodes from the original series of Star Trek. I am glad to see that at least some of the younger generation can still appreciate the original series of Star Trek. By the way, according to the Wikipedia article at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_--_Annihilate! , "One scene did not make it into the episode. This scene came at the end of the story, and featured Peter Kirk (dressed in a command division tunic) sitting in the captain's chair on the bridge while his uncle, James T. Kirk, agrees to let him return to Deneva to live with Sam Kirk's research partner and friend. Although filmed, it was edited out due to time constraints.[9] This left actor Hundley with no lines in the finished episode; the character of Peter Kirk spends the entire show unconscious. It also left the episode with no explanation of what becomes of Peter."

[@danielchapman6032]

There use to be these novelties called 'fake vomit'. As a kid I use to call the creatures in this episode the flying vomits.

[@tyranusfan]

The Deneva outdoor scenes were shot at the headquarters of TRW Space and Defense Park in Redondo Beach, California (currently the Northrop Grumman Space Technology headquarters). I don't know if the futuristic decor (common in the 1960s) is still there. On Google maps it looks like mostly parking lots now.

[@VolkswagenNut1969]

PS: I totally agree about the ending…there’s so much of that in this show, a light joking ending after people died! 😮

[@philfitnesspt6139]

On the other.hand they probably see so much death in their line of work a joke can lighten the mood or did you want them to mop around constantly? The power of laughter is a great way of dealing with grief and family loss and i speak from experience having lost my family members.

[@dansiegel333]

About Kirks emotions- I think it was a sign of the times, and your expectations are a sign of our times. Men,especially men in leadership positions, were supposed to contain themselves and get on with the mission at hand. Or at least fictional role models of leaders were supposed to portray that standard. Today’s masculinity allows for more expression of feelings. But one of the big complaints about new Trek produced in the 2020s is that it dwells TOO MUCH on the characters emotions. And I actually agree with that. That’s what I love about old Trek- it’s adventurous, fighting spirit.

[@philfitnesspt6139]

Totally agree you can see kirk is very broken up about brother's death but he manages to pull himself together...brilliantly acted by Shatner!

[@alecfoster5542]

@@philfitnesspt6139 Yep. It's called manning-up. There is a time and place for grieving/crying.

[@nicolasgarant9124]

@@alecfoster5542 When ON the mission that's fine. There's much more important things to worry about. But that doesn't mean they couldn't write a scene like at the end of the episode. Let's say, in his own quarters, letting himself to be sad and feel grief for his brother. You could have McCoy (maybe not Spock since emotions aren't really his thing, but he could also be there for support) there to support his best friend. There's no reason why he couldn't or shouldn't be allowed to show emotions for his dead brother.

[@MrDeadstu]

When I was younger watching Star Trek, Spock was by far my favorite character ( He still is 45 years later) This episode hit me hard, I was so worried about Spock, just when he is cured - BOOM - Spock is blind ! , it send my little heart pumping. This episode is one of my favorites from season 1. Spock was so cool to my budding brain, I wanted to be logical too, he probably molded my future to some degree. I can't wait for the wrap-up show, have you thought of a live stream for a little interaction ? either way, I will continue to watch your ST:TOS reactions. Live long and Prosper. 🖖 😉

[@jollyjohnthepirate3168]

In 1967 they hadn't made the connection between ultraviolet light and skin cancer. Or the different types of UV light. In some fan made Trek, Kirk's nephew comes back as a minor red shirt.

[@greenbrown7776]

The joking on the bridge is a strength of the show -- but also a huge weakness. This is a huge example of the latter.

[@bfdidc6604]

Thank you, guys, for covering the first season!

[@Jim_the_Hermit]

I've always thought it was hilarious that they said "It doesn't even look real."

[@koretmulder6316]

When you finish this full exploration, have some fun and watch the TOS blooper reel.

[@markfilla9305]

Congratulations, guys, on getting through S1 of TOS! Can't wait for you to dive into S2 which has some of my all-time favorites!

[@ldifalco2010]

The week after Operation Annihilate, NBC aired The Man Trap, showing the sequence of season 1 episodes from beginning to end throughout the summer. Back then, when it aired on the NBC network, that was the only way to see an episode that you might have missed through the course of the season. In 1966, there were no VCRs, DVRs, DVDs, steaming, etc. Had to wait until September of 1967 to see the season 2 premier. How things have changed.

[@davidclough3951]

Can't remember if you guys noticed or not, but the actress portraying nurse Chapel, is the same actress that portrayed Number One under Pike in the two part episode.

[@darrelllane796]

I absolutely love this episode. Inspiration for a sci fi horror film Without Warning (1980) which itself inspired Predator (1987). This is one of the episodes I immediately think of when I'm reminded if Star Trek.

[@Shasta--1]

It was Shatner playing his brother.

[@russellharrell2747]

No, it was the mustache playing his brother. Shatner just played dead.

[@richardb6260]

Next season is even better IMO. It has so many of my favorite episodes (Amok Time, The Changeling, Mirror Mirror, The Doomsday Machine, The Ultimate Computer, The Trouble with Tribbles). It starts out with the best Spock episode, "Amok Time". Even the sillier episodes like "A Piece of the Action" and "I, Mudd" have some of my favorite Star Trek moments. The episode " The Apple" has my favorite end of episode banter between Kirk, Spock, and McCoy. Next season also boasts some well known writers like Theodore Sturgeon, Norman Spinrad, Robert Bloch, and David Gerrold. Next season also has "Omega Glory". Not a particularly good episode. But Kirk's speech at the end was the start of a lot of Shatner's perceived mannerisms that comedians like to poke fun at. Comedian Kevin Pollack uses that speech when he does his Shatner impression.

[@rymerster]

Yep season 2 has a run of really strong episodes, looking forward to the reactions and doing my own rewatch.

[@MAMoreno]

It's not until The Next Generation that we get actual "season finales." TOS and TAS simply have "the last episode aired in the season." (Season 2 of TOS comes the closest to doing something special for the last episode, but I won't spoil why.)

[@bad-people6510]

Yes, Sam, George Samuel Kirk (mentioned previously in the episode _What are Little Girls made of_) was in fact played by William Shatner in a mustache.

[@richfox1142]

This actually one of my favorites from TOS.

[@markreed392]

Good episode, but I'm really looking forward to the next one "Amok Time".

[@Shasta--1]

All TV shows before around 2005 or so were episodic, meaning a person could watch any episode and not miss anything. The higher-ups wouldn't allow any writers to have season-long story arcs. It was really experimental when shows started the new way of telling stories, and most of network television today is still made the old way, so they won't alienate audiences. Your experiences of TV shows, I'm assuming from watching subscription websites, may be the up-to-date way of thinking, but it is VERY recent, only the last ten or fifteen years of TV's 90+ years of existence.

[@joeldf6859]

It's not as recent as you might think. Daytime soap operas started in the mid 50s on TV. Story lines dragged on for years. But, yeah, prime time shows were primarily episodic except for a few cases here and there like "The Fugitive" in '63 (before Star Trek) which was the first TV series to have a "final episode" that wrapped things up. By the late 70s and into the 80s, we had "night-time soaps" like "Dallas", "Falcon Crest", "Dynasty", "Knots Landing". Then the more straight drama shows with continuing story arcs like "St. Elsewhere" ('82) and "Hill Street Blues" ('81) and going into the '90s with "Beverly Hills, 90210", "Melrose Place" and "Twin Peaks". This is all before the year 2000.

[@Shasta--1]

@@joeldf6859 You're right, but I refuse to count soap operas. Hill Street and St. Elsewhere were great shows. My family would all gather around the TV for Hill Street. It was appointment TV for us. A couple of years before that it was the Love Boat, Fantasy Island lineup. I don't think it was really the same (I'm probably wrong). These shows had overarching storylines but they didn't leave EVERYTHING just hanging for a whole season like I've seen recent shows doing.

[@johnezell1628]

The fan name for the creatures is pizza-bat.

[@russellharrell2747]

Yeah I always thought they resembled the ‘pizza’ served for school lunch. They were described as huge single celled organisms and had destroyed several star systems. We will revisit both the similar trail of destruction in space as well as the single cell alien concept in future episodes. Space is full of so much more deadly shit than just hard vacuum and radiation.

[@ianjohnson7646]

A moment to savor Season 1, and on to Season 2. We'll done, gentlemen!

[@billross7245]

I was pranked by a rubber vomit when I was a kid that almost broke my back. My older neighbor had me "closely examine the contents" of what he'd eaten then proceeded to flp it in my face. I actually back flipped over a chair. Those props were made from rubber vomits sold in novelty shops.

[@torydz]

Roddenberry was a visionary. Today, hospitals are using high intensity light to sterilize hospital and operating rooms. No one can be in the rooms when this is happening because of the intensity.

[@Adam_Le-Roi_Davis.]

Great reaction, thank you. It's a pretty good episode, I've always liked it. I can't wait until you see the next episode which I believe is 'Amok Time', which relates to Spock's comment about his planet, that episode is one of my favourites of Star Trek.

[@Sopmylo]

This is the Spinal Tap of Star Trek, everything is dialled to 11.

[@phillipray4380]

I’m late to the party but am enjoying your take on the series. Thanks for sharing it on KZbin. A possible point of interest: One of the things that helped increase Star Trek’s popularity at the time was the intense color schemes. Color TVs were becoming mainstream but most shows weren’t as bold color wise. Our family still had an old black and white Zenith, but my uncle had a color TV, and Wow! Star Trek was great to look at! (Honorable mention goes to The Flintstones.)

[@theinkspot1279]

What a journey. I've really enjoyed revisiting tos with you guys. Awesome job

[@jennandrewlawrence5055]

Thank you guys SO much for this Trek ❤ best show ever

[@slabriprock5329]

I'm having a blast binge watching these! I was 9 when the first episode aired and my two sisters and Dad (who was born in 1923) really loved it. Not sure about Mom, though I know she didn't hate it. I'm trying to catch up with you as you watch TNG, I know if you love this show you'll love it too.