The Star Trek Episode They Just Made Up As They Went Along (Shore Leave)

[@phonybeautrain6520]

This great video is a great reminder that Star Trek is sometimes just about some random weird stuff that happened in space.

[@jbwarner8626]

See also: all of Voyager.

[@Faction.Paradox]

@@jbwarner8626 Voyager ran into anomalies so often they should've renamed them "normals".

[@alionfish5]

@@Faction.Paradox In the end, wasn't Voyager the anomaly in the Delta Quadrant?

[@CorbCorbin]

This episode, may just have the prettiest red shirt in all of TOS.

[@CorbCorbin]

@@alionfish5 Now, they have Prodigy, which ended up having what happened to Janeway and Chakotay, after Voyager. It was promoted as a kids show, and it has some kid stuff, but there’s actually more that isn’t, and it has some fun stories, once one gets past the first episode.

[@cameronstone4495]

It's strange that this isn't the weirdest production to involve DeForest Kelley and giant rabbits.

[@butterflyminder]

Ha! Excellent deep cut.

[@_theoriginalb4handles_Genflag]

...how did you comment 6 days ago when this was just released?

[@brucegrossman3531]

@@_theoriginalb4handles_Genflag Patreon

[@_theoriginalb4handles_Genflag]

@@brucegrossman3531 ah, didn't realize that was a perk for her Patreon.

[@92Raider-art]

Nice!

[@KaryudoDS]

I don't think I would have imagined the bunny suit to have such an elaborate backstory but at the same time none of that was surprising somehow for Star Trek either. I do also kind of enjoy the idea of Shatner walking up and saying "I want to wrestle the tiger" with a straight face.

[@jasonblalock4429]

I wasn't even surprised. *Of course* Shatner wanted to wrestle a tiger.

[@KaryudoDS]

@@jasonblalock4429 I just feel bad for the person that had to say no to that. You know they were probably curious even if it'd have been legally irresponsible.

[@skeetsmcgrew3282]

@@KaryudoDS **strokes beard** Hmmm.... let me get back to you on that

[@Tareltonlives]

"I GET TO FIGHT THE LION. IT'S IN THE CONTRACT"

[@keirfarnum6811]

“I..., wrestled...., a tiger!” -Bill Shatner

[@TheGerkuman]

Takei and Kelly singing Happy Together is wonderful.

[@Tareltonlives]

I love it when she gets to overlay multiple silly voices

[@Nintendofan-yk4cd]

The episode would have been perfect of Kirk had actually fought the Easter Bunny. That would've been must see TV.

[@monkeymox2544]

I mean, the guy in the bunny suit was also the guy in the Gorn suit, so in a sense he did. Just remember that the next time you watch Arena.

[@Amaritudine]

I'm imagining something like the bear fight from that famous John West salmon commercial. It might not be the greatest thing I've ever imagined, but it's easily in the top 10.

[@ambarcraft4476]

And the Easter Bunny moves only in slow motion because the costume won't allow him otherwise🙂

[@bootsthecat6718]

I was going to jokingly comment "hey everyone, I was able to get this bunny suit for free, y'all want to try and work it into an episode?" But, of course, that's what actually happened

[@keirfarnum6811]

TOTALLY prescient on your part. That’s almost scary! 😁

[@michaelschramm1064]

That’s exactly what happened when Janos Prohaska showed up in writer-producer Gene Coon’s office with the “Horta” costume.

[@EpicBeard815]

what they don't tell you is that before they reached this planet, the Enterprise passed through the PCP nebula

[@manicpixiefangirl4189]

Boldly going where they’ve gone MANY times before. Gosh the 60s were groovy.

[@tintindb]

Sure it wasn't the ELESS-D system?

[@kingdave31]

I always loved this episode as a kid-the characters go outside to play and imagine random stuff. It was just like what I did on summer vacation, only the stuff they imagined actually came to life.

[@Faction.Paradox]

The key to loving Star Trek is to accept & embrace that it can be equally as (if not more) ridiculous than it can be profound.

[@AllisonPregler]

💯

[@limalepakko6074]

It's not a proper Trek show for me without there being a balance between those two things. Otherwise it can be good and/or enjoyable but there's just something missing.

[@JounLord1]

I did always enjoy that Sulu upon finding an antique Earth revolver on an alien world immediately just starts shooting it and is later grinning ear to ear holding it. Didn't question it, just happy to have a free gun.

[@UJEvans]

I like that you let your running gags bleed between your different series. "My save!"

[@Tareltonlives]

I can't wait til she REALLY lets loose into Maurice Hurley

[@StillAlexander]

This episode is what cemented TOS as my favourite incarnation of Star Trek. It's a bunch of wildly underqualified nitwits hurtling through space at unsafe speeds and I'm all for it.

[@kevinramsey417]

But that's the premise of Enterprise.

[@Faction.Paradox]

Sometimes I like to switch stories between the shows and imagine what the other crews would've done differently. Janeway would've carpet bombed this planet from space, she's not gonna let a giant rabbit interrupt her coffee.

[@jasonblalock4429]

​@@Faction.Paradox Picard wouldn't have bought into the constructs at all, Troi gets to have it out with her mom, Riker sleeps his way through a small army of fembots, Worf kills something, and a very confused Data goes on a journey of discovery as Geordi helps him understand human psychological development. Probably with an assist from Sigmund Freud.

[@thunderphoenix440]

*wildly unqualified nitwits (and Spock)

[@Amaritudine]

@@thunderphoenix440 In Roddenberry's novelization of _Star Trek: The Motion Picture,_ Kirk claims that Starfleet deliberately chooses humans who are socially conservative and slightly thick. Apparently, that's the only way to ensure they won't abandon their ship (and their species) to go live with the first morally and sexually superior aliens they encounter. All those people who say Trek got better as Gene's influence diminished? I'd tend to agree.

[@frankm.2850]

Shatner and whoever played Finnegan were pretty obviously engaged in a "who can chew the most scenery" competition for the entirety of this episode.

[@Scipio488]

Brother Paramananda, as he is now known, won.

[@johnpotts8308]

Although I'm a Trekkie, I never knew the Gorn was also the White Rabbit. That's some quality trivia (Trekia?) right there!

[@CaptApril123]

I've been a fan since the show aired and actually had no idea. Love still being able to learn these little tidbits.

[@mikeonthecomputer]

The Gorn was actually done by three separate people, because they kept overheating in that costume and a hot California summer. These tidbits are on the Star Trek Blu-rays :)

[@hagbardceline7118]

Bones' and Sulu's duet changed my life forever. Thank you.

[@CaptApril123]

yup

[@NukkuiskoHyvinVaiPois]

I can't get over the "Spooock! There's a kink in my back!" line delivery. Guess I'll have to ship them now

[@ShirDeutch]

Also I have to say that your William Shatner impression is one of the best I've ever heard. Instantly hilarious, while also kinda subtle, especially compared to how people usually mimick him. Great voice work all around, actually!

[@AllisonPregler]

Thank you!!

[@kamenanew9867]

She's a beast at voice work actually, it's great

[@dchegu]

Personally I like the baywatching voiceover she does. Also her old Radu videos back in the day

[@STASlayer]

Groppler Zorn really needs to reign in his antics.

[@brentparker7359]

I once met the woman who played Alice in Wonderland in this when she was a little girl. She recited her line of dialog for us.

[@LaNoLaCola]

Just what the new year needs: silly star trek shenanigans, and allison doing sing alongs as star trek characters

[@henrygvidonas9573]

The scenes on the planet were filmed at the same animal park ("Africa USA") in Soledad Canyon, as a lot of the show "Daktari" at the time. We could have had Clarence the crosseyed lion and Judy the chimp show up, they were both owned by Ralph and Toni Helfer who ran the park... Unfortunately the park was destroyed in a flood caused by a rainstorm just a little over two years after this episode originally aired and "Africa USA" had to relocate to Redwood City. Before "Africa USA", Helfer had a park called "Nature's Haven" at... _drum roll..._ Vasquez Rocks. Yes, the same Vasquez Rocks that served as the respective "alien planet" in four other episodes of original Trek and where Kirk famously fought the "Gorn captain" in the episode "Arena", that premiered three weeks after "Shore Leave" aired, in one of the most hilarious fight scenes ever performed by a hammy Canadian overactor in a girdle and a toupet and a stunt man in a weird, very awkward rubber costume. Ralph Helfer also trained Zamba the lion, who "played" Leo the Lion, the eighth and last Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer lion, in 1957 and can be seen in the first seconds of every MGM movie since then. Seeing the "Yeoman Rand" replacement get attacked by "Don Juan" and immediately accused of "making it up" is just... vile and nasty, considering that Grace Lee Whitney, who played Rand, wrote in her autobiography that she was sexually assaulted by an NBC executive during the filming of the episode "Miri". According to her, that incident, not the difficulties with the small budget that usually get cited, was the main reason she was fired from the show after the fourteenth episode "Balance Of Terror" (the one that aired before "Shore Leave") was finished. Maurice Hurley was far from being the first - or only - Star Trek behind-the-scenes creep.

[@MegaMagicdog]

I have heard about the rape but there was a rumor the rapist was none other than Gene Roddenberry himself!! I always felt bad for Grace due to her being abused and crashing and burning personally and professionally because of it. At least she came back in the big screen films.

[@Jokie155]

Given some of the details she mentioned, like the 'executive' having a rock collection on his desk, I'm yet to be convinced it was someone other than Gene Roddenberry who assaulted her. But since both parties are deceased, it's obviously never going to be investigated properly anymore.

[@CaptainXJ]

@@Jokie155 cry more...

[@joshuamoore8560]

The freeze frame of Sulu holding the pistol and smiling (well, baring his teeth, anyway,) totally caught me off-guard. "Ermagerd, gurns!"

[@GrannyGamer1]

Dang! You didn't even mention how they created "alien" flora by spray painting the hell out if live plants! I was only 13 when this came out, but I was tickled by the high camp, even then.

[@caitm4138]

I would listen to you talk about Star Trek forever. You have such a great combination of love for the series and delight over it's less-than-perfect pieces. It's so much fun!

[@AllisonPregler]

aw thank you!!

[@MinaF99]

The gag about the sexy ladies choosing Sulu and Spock to cozy up to made me do a spit take

[@motomike71]

One of my favorite episodes because it is so campy. It's funny to think that Kirk was really a nerd at the academy despite cheating on the Kobiashi Maru test. Maybe being a nerd is what allowed him to be able to reprogram the test to let him win. Nerd.

[@Tareltonlives]

I think Kirk was absolutely a nerd at the academy

[@98.11Deet]

If they ever figure out a way to jump into alternate universes, I want to go to the one where Shatner wrestled the Tiger.

[@BronzeBoy520]

Fun fact about Kirk Spock Slash, the lawyers of Star Trek wanted to ban a lot of the fanfics being posted (yes, fanfics were being written in the 60’s and posted in journals) but Gene said no, he wanted fans to engage in stuff to make them watch more of Star Trek. That created one of the first modern fandoms ever and is a major part of fandom today. Yes really. Gene Roddenberry knew women were watching for the gay subtext.

[@gracekim25]

Um yeah I’m not surprised fanfiction was written back then 🤷‍♀️ But thanks for explaining 😊

[@wearetomorrowspast.5617]

I met someone that wrote Slash fiction a couple of years ago. Crikey, she was an odd one.

[@1Lanavis1]

Good on him

[@Iamafishproductions]

Broke: Ann Rice and J K Rowling making fanficiton writers terrified of having their work taken down arbitrarily Woke: Gene Roddenberry actively encouraging fans to make Kirk and Spock super gay Bespoke: Gene Roddenberry also getting massively pissed when those fanfics included buttons or zippers on clothes

[@BronzeBoy520]

@@gracekim25 not the fact it was written, I mean straight up published so others could read it. Imagine just finding a magazine that is just a gay fanfic.

[@parvanaturalia]

Flat-butt Kirk is possibly the greatest thing I've ever heard anyone say in relation to Star Trek.

[@Elnont]

Any episode where McCoy gets significant screentime is a win for me tbh

[@wstine79]

Ironically, the Enterprise crew would deal with another giant White Rabbit in the Star Trek Animated Series.

[@rayceeya8659]

I always thought episodes like this happened because the writers would run out of ideas they would just dive into the Paramount costume department looking for insperation.

[@societycrumbles]

I've never even seen this show, but you are such a comfort creator to me, I enjoy every second of it.

[@AllisonPregler]

Aw thanks!!

[@mynaemismoos]

At hearing “Alice in Wonderland,” the thought “Allison Wonderland” came up and who knows exactly what that entails, but it is probably pretty magical, whatever it is. A land of Baywatching and funny character voices and fun!

[@jeremy1860]

This show might have had its fair share of silly moments, but I'd wager that silliness is a big part of why so many people remember it as fondly as they do 😊

[@DarthAzabrush]

One of the Discovery novels actually revealed what became of Finnegan. He was a burn out who went rogue before being given a suicide squad detail by Section 31 and dying gloriously but unremarked... That's kinda just as random as his appearance here...

[@manicpixiefangirl4189]

Ah Discovery, going straight for the Ultimate Soap Opera Drama option every time. Tell me, how many times did someone cry?

[@alionfish5]

Geez, Discovery is really adverse to anything that could be considered as low stakes

[@DrDestructo]

Possibly the most "I dunno, I guess we just wanted to film outside because it was a nice day?" episode of television that ever aired. PS: 6:51 I was expecting Neil Breen to come in from the opposite side of the frame, screaming into the distance.

[@fixxxer3456]

This is the most 60's episode that ever happened. It's like they tried to recreate the hippie stuff but an old man wrote it

[@gregcourtney751]

No future hippies willingly infect their comrades with fatal illbesses. We shouldnt copy them.

[@SonicAlpha]

The voices, perfection as always.

[@old4mat]

When I was a kid, I didn't understand why Kirk was so adamant about chasing Finnegan down when he was A: Clearly Kirk s bully, and B: An illusion that Kirk didn't have to fight, so I spent many years siding with Spock who tried to talk him out of it. It wasn't until I was in my thirties when I finally drew the conclusion that Kirk had been waiting all those years to end it then and there when Spock asks "Did you enjoy it, captain?" Yes, Spock, he did. And that was when I realized how smart Star Trek's writing was.

[@jasonblalock4429]

Yeah, I have a soft spot for this one too. Definitely one of the best of the bad TOS eps. And I kind of love the ending; it's so anticlimactic that it wraps around to being a clever subversion. The episode genuinely had no stakes whatsoever, which is hilarious. Also, it did get in some character development, even if it was iffy, but there hadn't been much up to this point. (Aside from Naked Time.)

[@wearetomorrowspast.5617]

Shatner fighting a tiger. Nothing sounds cooler. I'll bet he wanted to fight the elephant as well. Great vid. I laughed like a drain.

[@STho205]

The last line with the dancing girls fawning over Sulu and Spock was great.

[@CamCamGaming]

“Take that plants! I hate botany and everything it stands for!” 🤣 That line had me dying for a solid 2 minutes. This episode is completely unhinged and I kind of love it for that. It’s objectively terrible, but falls into a “so-bad-it’s-good” category for me personally.

[@cartoonkelly7924]

This episode is extra hilarious if you consider it real life foreshadowing for DeForest Kelley’s appearance in Night of the Lepes.

[@Tareltonlives]

If I had a nickel every time DeForest Kelley saw a giant rabbit, I'd have two nickels, which isn't a lot but it's weird that it happened twice

[@Augustus087]

Once again your humor wins through. Please consider making a commentary based on the animated episode, so I can once more howl with laughter =)

[@JICheshired]

I think my favorite thing about the old Trek uniforms is their ability to somehow enhance the sassy Wonder Woman poses they make.

[@bS0up]

Not shocking the writer of this episode is also the man responsible for Sturgeon's Revelation: "90% of everything is crap." Gotta admit though, I do have a soft spot for goofier episodes like this in the original series. Truly a product of its time

[@matthewryan6187]

I learned today

[@brandonlink6568]

Shore Leave managed to be fun goofy instead of annoying goofy which can be hard to pull off, specially in the 60s. I like the hastily painted flora to make it look alien and that they broke out the dolly for the sweeping shots of them running, the camera didn't move much in TOS and when it did it was usually handheld and predated the Steadicam by a couple decades.

[@Morbos1000]

A school bully at Starfleet Academy makes no sense. That is at most a high school thing, and more appropriately a elementary or middle school thing. If I was getting bullied by a fellow student in college I'd be contacting school administration and possibly the police. Yeah, you might dislike someone and maybe even get in a fight at a party in college (like when Picard got stabbed by the Nausicans), but a bully in the sense of this guy when they are adults at a prestigious academy is absurd.

[@BronzeBoy520]

My best guess is that the bully character is a heavily exaggerated version of a guy Kirk hated and gives him an excuse to kick the shit out of.

[@LexysHereAfter]

@@BronzeBoy520 in truth it was a kid that Kirk bullied in school not the reverse

[@jbwarner8626]

Everyone knows that real bullying at Starfleet Academy takes the form of pressuring your roommate to commit perjury so you don't get expelled for manslaughter.

[@prismpyre7653]

military academies are not like other colleges... you should look up what passes for 'hazing' at the Citadel... sometimes it *does* in fact involve people getting shot >.>

[@hagbardceline7118]

I would love a Kirk at the Academy series where he's getting pranked every episode by a 20 year old Irish Stereotype.

[@RoseKoneko]

Showed the title of this to my roommate who is an even bigger Trekkie, asked if this was accurate; she snorted, laughed, and nodded “extremely.” I also learned the cannon reason of why Klingons look different, which is weird trivia that I will add to the pile that’s currently overwriting math.

[@mastermarkus5307]

What's the canon story with the Klingons?

[@user-lb9xw4xf2q]

Impressions are great - which goes without saying - so, I'd also like to note I appreciate your varied singing while staying faithful to each character!

[@lanagievski1540]

I always loved that between the thoughtful, philosophical, classic Trek episodes throughout all the shows, they have some absolutely randomly bonkers ones too

[@LauraSusanJohnson]

Your McCoy/Sulu duet of So Happy Together! Oh, my midsection! 😂😆

[@mikekz4489]

So, it wasn’t until this review of Shore Leave that I finally a reference made to it on MST3K. In season eight when Mike and ‘Bots are lost somewhere in time and space. When they find the Brain Guy planet one of them begins messing with Mike and summons “Finnegan from the academy days”. Played with a gleeful Irish brogue by Paul Chaplin. He keeps punching Mike who has never seen Finnegan before in his life. I was never much into the original Star Trek series, so I never got the reference back then.

[@Tareltonlives]

Same. That was hilarious. "Oh, I know! Wish for Adrian Barbeau!" "Hadrian!?" Emperor Hadrian (Kevin Murphy) quotes his book while beating up Mike. Then Adrianne Barbeau shows up (Bridget Jones Nelson) and takes her shots at beating up Mike. What episode was this? It's one of my favorite skits

[@bluecoin3771]

The Easter Bunny was when I had to pause the DVD and fell to the floor laughing.

[@RooneyToony]

I would love to know how the original script was going to play out if this is the kookier version.

[@glenoneill3950]

It is this sense of humor that made the original series so special......Not taking itself to seriously....

[@cartoonkelly7924]

“I’ve got the edge” says the guy who is clearly out of breath.

[@Keyboardeater1]

George Takei seems like he's having fun.

[@animefan25]

RIP Nichelle Nichols.

[@sethmaki1333]

Certainly this was one of my favorites, one of the episodes that got me hooked on the show back in the day when all we had was the one series and three movies. The plot is as "Star Trek" as it gets.

[@francoislacombe9071]

What I find weird is that there's no one on the planet, except for the caretaker. If this is an amusement park, where are the customers? It's like someone visiting Disneyland and finding it deserted.

[@Amaritudine]

I'd sure as heck desert Disneyland if the mascots could literally murder me over and over again.

[@GamesFromSpace]

The command crew's incredulity is the most unbelievable thing about this group of space dudes who have met multiple greek gods.

[@gregcourtney751]

Supposed god and that was season 2 this was season one.

[@TheDawnofVanlife]

I have missed your star trek videos. Been a minute.

[@Starch-Wreck]

4:56. Now that I know those aren’t Patrick Stewart’s hands playing the flute in that scene. I can never stop being creeped out by it.

[@chavesa5]

Your voices remain on point. I bust out when Alice did the wobbles into the bush.

[@MeganKoumori]

Original Recipe Trek is my favorite Trek flavor.

[@eldrichnemo9312]

I showed this to my much younger sibling and the first thing they said was "oh, the hot springs episode!" 🤣

[@de_la_Nae]

i love this episode. it's so bad, but also weird, but also messy. and bad. love it thank you for talking about it, i learned a few things : )

[@abelq8008]

Oh hey one of my favorite creators doing my favorite show and I never got a suggestion, just found it 8 days late on my own. Good job youtube!

[@HappyBeezerStudios]

"Captain, should I beam down an armed party?" "No, it's already pretty wild down here, we don't need any more parties than we already have"

[@jodieg6318]

I have very fond memories of this episode. I was 7 or 8 and was one of the first Star Trek episodes I ever saw. I specifically had a stuffed animal white rabbit complete with vest and pocket watch that I specifically had to hold and watch the episode with every time we popped in the video tape.

[@playlist9y]

That episode had the best music soundtrack of any original series episode. Gerald Freid did some of his best work (Ruth, Finnigan's Theme, Sulu Finks Out) and creatively wove in the required canned incidental music. It is TOS's most listenable soundtrack as a stand-alone work.

[@MattMcIrvin]

This was one of the very first episodes of Star Trek: TOS I ever saw as a child. I remember my reaction being "wait... live action Star Trek did GOOFY stuff?" Yes. Yes it did.

[@MattMcIrvin]

(I think the very first Star Trek of any kind I ever saw was the Animated Series episode "The Time Trap", which is actually way more serious than this one)

[@CaptainPikeachu]

There is so much goofy in Star Trek, I wish we have more of it. Sometimes a space show should just get to be weird lol 😆

[@CaptainPlainJaneway]

I would blackmail a kid with cancer to make their Make-A-Wish wish be you dubbing the entirety of TOS.

[@TheNeonRabbit]

I actually remember really enjoying this episode when It first aired. Of course I was six and it was the first time I'd ever seen a color television so....

[@bgood8299]

For those who like useless trivia, Emily Banks ("Yeoman One Episode) had a long history of portraying characters who would show up for 1 episode of a popular series never to be seen again. Years after Shore Leave, she also showed up in a episode of Knight Rider directed by Winrich Kolbe who, of course, would later direct episodes of ST:TNG, ST: Voyager, ST: DS9, as well as Star Trek World Tour. I warned you it was useless.

[@mathieuleader8601]

this episode was very surreal

[@ShamrockParticle]

Another great review, thanks! Red Dwarf had an episode called "Better than Life", which encapsulates every wacko trope in this episode but with a far better explanation. Also, this episode is surely not the real reason for the 1967 song. 😁

[@tomsenior7405]

Excellent stuff. Cheers Allison. Back in the 1960s, I didn't watch Star Trek regularly. Whenever my mates convinced me to watch it with them, it was always this bloody episode. I swear between this and that one where Spok goes blind, I thought Star Trek consisted of just two episodes.

[@indetigersscifireview4360]

It did consist of only two episodes up until about 1991. Then the two spawned another 70+ episodes overnight and were on the air the next day. 😎

[@tomsenior7405]

@@indetigersscifireview4360 Excellent. That is genius.

[@El_Omar2203]

The way you deliver "Classic Bones" cracks me up every time

[@InformantNet]

I thought it was a cute, fun episode. And the flirtation between Bones and the pretty yeoman was adorable

[@PapaLaw426]

This was the first episode I ever saw as kid... I thought it was amazing

[@Scipio488]

As soon as you said "ice skater" it all fell into place.

[@Icypenguigo]

Oh my god can we live in the alternate timeline where William Shatner wrestled a freakin' TIGER in an weird-ass episode of Star Trek?!?! (And hopefully didn't get his face ripped off and/or died....lol)

[@janistransbian]

i had to look up the word "unflappable". so i learned something.

[@juliomontoya8824]

I kinda really like this episode. It is a hodgepodge, but it strangely works in its favor, I think. It helps that I already always feel the Man Behind the Curtain in The Original Series, so this kind of outlandishness, with people running around in costumes they clearly just happened to have feels like they are just going for broke. Still, leave it to Allison to make it even funnier. I really love your Trek videos.

[@CaptainPikeachu]

Every time you do a Star Trek episode, my life gets brighter, soon enough I won’t need any lightbulbs

[@wstine79]

Another great video from Yeoman Allison Preger.

[@schmoobmcfroob2800]

1:34 ‘Heledebehilibibible’ instant replay button

[@fredjones2170]

For some reason that was very reminiscent of Smiling Friends for me

[@fANYA_KOPlan]

1. Kirk said that the girl he used to date "haven't aged" in 15 years and the actress is obviously 30 X) 2. That other girl in golden uniform is played by the same actress as a character who lost her almost-husband in the previous episode and I'm still confused if those two were supposed to be the same character.

[@jvgreendarmok]

I'm not sure the people who made the episode knew either. 😁

[@Stephen-Fox]

Gene Roddenberry tried to nuke Kirk/Spock from orbit in the novelization of The Motion Picture... ...He accidentally made Kirk come across as closeted while peeving off the fans who's campaigning managed to get him a movie.

[@willday980]

It's like a Lost In Space episode!

[@JulianGreystoke]

One of my favorite eps as a kid!

[@masonvaughn2603]

If you did entire series reviews that would be awesome. I wouldn't even care if they were 3 hours long it would just be amazing.

[@SwiftNimblefoot]

This nicely ties in to Night of the Lepus, actually. We can assume that whole movie happened as a fever dream of McCoy while he was on this magic mind-reading planet. :D

[@colonelsanders3674]

I love the Kirk impressions. They are just golden!

[@KoosFramboos]

You make the best sound effects in the business!

[@MforMovesets]

The episode RLM warned us from.

[@AllisonPregler]

They are cowards!!!