ALL SCI-FI Forum Index ALL SCI-FI
The place to “find your people”.
 
 FAQFAQ   SearchSearch   MemberlistMemberlist   UsergroupsUsergroups   RegisterRegister 
 ProfileProfile   Log in to check your private messagesLog in to check your private messages   Log inLog in 

For the World is Hollow & I Have Touched the Sky ep. 65
Goto page 1, 2  Next
 
Post new topic   Reply to topic    ALL SCI-FI Forum Index -> Star Trek on Television
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
Bogmeister
Galactic Fleet Vice Admiral (site admin)


Joined: 14 Dec 2013
Posts: 574

PostPosted: Wed Jun 12, 2019 4:59 pm    Post subject: For the World is Hollow & I Have Touched the Sky ep. 65 Reply with quote

____________
____________

___________ For The World Is Hollow . . . Trailer


__________


There's a drawback to this episode from the get-go. There's this startling revelation about one of the main crew members in the pre-credits sequence.

This early scene has so much dramatic impact that the rest of the episode cannot help but be somewhat anti-climactic in comparison. I've never been able to pin down exactly why this episode is so far down my lis. It seems to have all the right ingredients — a wild sci-fi concept and fairly diverting story.

Is it the pretentiousness of the longest title on the show? Nah.

So, I suppose it does boil down to the first pre-credits sequence. The shocking plot thread at the start is resolved very conveniently at the end and, well . . . more on that later.




The plot has to do with one of those "enclosed world" concepts well known in science fiction. The inhabitants of a huge ship built inside an asteroid believe themselves to be on a typical planet — their 'sky' is actually the inner shell of the asteroid. There was a similar story on at least one other sci-fi TV series (The Starlost), involving a huge ship, and plenty of sci-fi stories & novels have touched on this, I'm sure.

You can also look at this as the outer space version of the hollow Earth concept developed by Edgar Rice Burroughs for his Pellucidar sci-fi/fantasy stories.

It's intriguing and fanciful; the people of this Yonada worldship have a different (and erroneous) view of the universe. They're not stupid, simply misinformed, and need someone like Kirk and his crew to explain the reality of things — kind of like getting away from the whole 'the Earth is flat' view.

The hook to the episode is that things need to be righted fairly quickly, though not immediately — Yonada is on a collision course with a planet, set to strike in a little over a year.




The strange thing about this episode is that when I first saw it as a kid, I didn't really understand the entire set-up. You see, I was already old enough to figure out that the studio set landscapes were fake. The differently-colored skies we would see in many episodes were, I knew, not real.

So, when I listened to the explanation in this episode, that the sky of Yonada was not real, I just couldn't register it. The episode was saying to me, "The make-believe sky in this story really IS unreal this time, even for the characters."

I guess it was too much — too much of an inverse logic or something. When I got into my thirties . . . er . . . twenties, I was finally able to grasp it. Rolling Eyes




This isn't that bad of a 3rd season episode, but it doesn't really go anywhere with the intriguing concepts. The story falls back on the now-tiresome 'ruling machine gone wrong' plot, with any of the lackluster tension stemming from the main Enterprise trio getting zapped by this Oracle-instrument as punishment.

I also wondered why this machine resorted to heating a room at the end instead of the tried-and-tested zapping attack.

There may be another reason I dislike this episode. After the pushy machines depicted in Return of the Archons, The Ultimate Computer, The Changeling and The Apple, I just couldn't stand another obnoxious set of wires & circuits.

Spare me these boorish mechanical mobsters, please!



The one deviation of the usual scripting is that the high priestess (Kate Woodville) of these people falls for McCoy instead of Kirk (or instead of even Spock or Scotty).

This episode is McCoy's story all the way, and actor Kelley gets the opportunity to show some range here, further developing the sober dramatic aspects of his character.

However, as with the rest of the story, the good set-up is abandoned towards the end. Out of necessity, McCoy essentially abandons (not divorces) his new wife and new life to continue his adventures on the Enterprise so that we can see him in a few more episodes for the rest of the 3rd season.

If there had been a 4th season, we may have seen a sequel to this episode then. As it is, we never find out what happens regarding the McCoy-Natira relationship, and that's a shame. Or . . . a cheat, if you will.

Free Love, 23rd-century style?



Extra Trek Trivia:

~ The asteroid of Yonada is 200 miles in diameter.

~ James Doohan again provides the voice of the nasty machine, the Oracle, in this episode; he also voiced the M-5 in The Ultimate Computer.

~ In the original version of this story, Scotty was the ill crew member; a-Ha! and, he would have a fight scene with Kirk! That would have been something to see.

BoG's Score: 6 out of 10





BoG
Galaxy Overlord Galactus


Last edited by Bogmeister on Thu Jun 13, 2019 12:41 pm; edited 1 time in total
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Bud Brewster
Galactic Fleet Admiral (site admin)


Joined: 14 Dec 2013
Posts: 17016
Location: North Carolina

PostPosted: Wed Jun 12, 2019 6:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

Bogmeister's negative opinion of this episode seems to stem from the fact that he saw it when he was too young to understand the idea that the set used as the "inside" of the asteroid looked just like the standard sets of planetary surfaces in the series, so he disliked the story because it was confusing! Sad

He states he didn't really "get it" until he saw it again in his thirties! Shocked

If I didn't know how intelligent the late Andrew Bogdan had been, this revelation would make me think he was a little slow on up the uptake during his teenage years!

In view of his initial unfavorable reaction to the episode when he was so young, his objection to Dr. McCoy's decision not to stay with the "wife" he acquired during this episode seems consistent with an impressionable teenager's disapproval of a man's choice to dissolve his romantic commitment because of his changing emotions and the responsibilities to others he feels he has.

Older people understand this because we've learned the hard way that life can be very complex.

Here's the situation in this episode.

McCoy thought he only had one year to live, and Kirk had already requested a replacement for his ailing chief surgeon. McCoy's lifespan was suddenly very limited, and his Star Fleet career was over.

The gorgeous lady he met told him she accepted the limited time he had left, and she was overjoyed to spend it with him.

In other words . . . McCoy was facing the best possible situation for a man who was facing eminent death. His limited lifespan was about the same as the time the asteroid had left to survive, but he could spend it in the loving arms of a lovely woman. (Damn . . . I should be so lucky! Cool)

But when McCoy found out that the asteroid's course could be changed and he called Kirk with the good news, the small device that had been put into his head by the master computer to control him suddenly render McCoy unconscious.

Spock and Kirk beamed down from the ship and removed device. Desperately Kirk managed to talk sense into the lovely but deluded lady who blindly obeyed the master computer's orders.

Kirk explained the history of the asteroid and the ancestors who built this multi-generational ship. But when he does, the master computer starts torturing the lady, and she runs out. However, after confronting the master computer with the new evidence she's gained about how the computer has been lying to the people, she realizes that her race is living a lie!

Folks, unlike Bogmeister, I think this is an intelligent and thought-provoking episode. It's message is relevant to what's happening in America today! We have politicians who debate and distort the truth, and news outlets who accuse each other of presenting "fake news".

I wish Andrew Bogdan was still alive to express his opinions about a government which can't perform it's oversight duties, and a leader who denies the advice he receives from both political and science advisers on matters like Russian interference and climate change.

This country is on a collision course just as dangerous as the one depicted in this Star Trek episode. I sincerely hope the American people will prove to be as intelligent as the folks in Star Trek and deal with the threat of people who use lies and deception to control an entire population.

We need to wake up . . . the same way the characters in this episode did. Sad

_________________
____________
Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)


Last edited by Bud Brewster on Mon Mar 11, 2024 1:24 pm; edited 1 time in total
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
johnnybear
Mission Specialist


Joined: 15 Jun 2016
Posts: 442

PostPosted: Sat Jun 15, 2019 9:05 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Interesting fact here was that Natira was once Mrs. John Steed, believe it or not! She was in a few of the early Avengers shows too apparently!
JB
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Pow
Galactic Ambassador


Joined: 27 Sep 2014
Posts: 3400
Location: New York

PostPosted: Mon Jun 17, 2019 12:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Fun Facts } The giant asteroid/space ship of Yonada is recycled footage of the asteroid threatening the alien world in the earlier season's episode "The Paradise Syndrome.''

The idea of inhabitants on board a multi~generational star ship was originated in the Robert Heinlein 1941 short story "Universe.''

Harlan Ellison utilized the same concept for his 1973~'74 sci~fi TV series "The Starlost.''

In the original version of the script it was Scotty, not McCoy, who has the fatal blood disease and was to have been very angry about it all.

Matt Jeffries, set designer, stated that his favorite set created for the series was the castle from "Squire of Gothos.''

Now it was the temple/oracle room from TWIHAIHTTS.

Always found this episode one of the superior season three episodes...and there weren't all that many from that season.

It was quite imaginative, and for fun we got to see McCoy featured for a change of pace. Here he faces his life threatening diagnosis, goes on a mission involving a space ark, and falls in love with the beautiful Katerine Woodville (Natira).

The budget limitations and visual FX technology of this era could not really do justice to the concept.

Hiding the ark inside an asteroid would eliminate the expense of creating an enormous star ship.

I would have loved to see such a vessel.

I have to say though that the idea of placing the ark inside an asteroid in order for it to avoid hostile or curious star ships on its journey wasn't a bad scheme.

The awesome CGI we now have for creating virtual sets would have benefited this episode immensely. CGI would have been able to show us fantastic scenes and the inner workings of the asteroid/interstellar ark.


Last edited by Pow on Wed Jul 17, 2019 1:44 pm; edited 1 time in total
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Bud Brewster
Galactic Fleet Admiral (site admin)


Joined: 14 Dec 2013
Posts: 17016
Location: North Carolina

PostPosted: Mon Jun 17, 2019 2:21 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

Katherine Woodville was a good choice for McCoy's romantic lead. She was convincing as the lovely and dignified lady who realized that she and MrCoy would be a good match.



And her costume was very attractive. Those nice bare areas kept grabbing my attention. Cool



_________________
____________
Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Krel
Guest





PostPosted: Mon Jun 17, 2019 6:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Pow wrote:
The idea of inhabitants on board a multi~generational star ship was originated in the Robert Heinlein 1941 short story "Universe.''

It goes back further than that. I have a book of Buck Rogers strips from the 30s, and in one Buck and Doctor Huer encounter a generation ship.

There is artwork from the early 60s, where they propose building a multi-generation starship using an asteroid. The thinking being that the asteroid would save on building the hull, provide shielding, plus any ore in the rock would help save on costs.

David.
Back to top
Robert (Butch) Day
Galactic Ambassador


Joined: 19 Sep 2014
Posts: 1437
Location: Arlington, WA USA

PostPosted: Tue Jun 18, 2019 2:29 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Krel wrote:
There is artwork from the early 60s, where they propose building a multi-generation starship using an asteroid. The thinking being that the asteroid would save on building the hull, provide shielding, plus any ore in the rock would help save on costs.

David.
Do you mean these?





The only page that I have of the original article:


_________________
Common Sense ISN'T Common
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
Krel
Guest





PostPosted: Tue Jun 18, 2019 1:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The first two are the ones I've seen. I've never seen the thrid one before. Thanks Butch.

David.
Back to top
Pow
Galactic Ambassador


Joined: 27 Sep 2014
Posts: 3400
Location: New York

PostPosted: Fri Dec 24, 2021 4:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Nitpicker's Guide:

At the beginning of this episode, Dr. McCoy tells Captain Kirk that he has a terminal disease and makes two requests. Having only a year to live, Bones asks that Kirk allow him to continue working and that the captain keep the information to himself. According to the captain's log, Kirk promptly requests a replacement for McCoy. Then the captain almost refuses to allow him to go with the next landing party, and a short time later tells Mr. Spock about the doctor's illness.

Do these sound like the actions of a friend?

My take on it: They sound like the actions of a captain of a star ship with 300 crew members. They don't really spell out exactly what medical issues McCoy will undergo with this disease as it develops. However, isn't a captain responsible for the safety of all his crew? McCoy's illness could seriously jeopardize his performance as Chief Medical Officer of the Enterprise, let alone going on landing party missions. That in turn could endanger other crew members. Although it broke Kirk's heart, he made the right call regarding the good doctor. He chose the safety of the ship and its crew over his personal friendship with McCoy. He had to.

And Kirk could have gotten himself into serious trouble with Starfleet command had he allowed McCoy to continue performing his medical duties as if nothing was wrong.

Plus, aren't there regulations to cover such a scenario? Kirk would be subject to yet another court martial by violating the regs because Bones was his buddy.

As for informing Spock about the doctor's illness. Yes, that is a breach of confidence between the captain and the doctor. However, right or wrong, Kirk made a judgement call because he knows that underneath all their bickering, McCoy & Spock are amigos and that the Vulcan could be trusted with such a personal secret.

After all, Spock was allowed to have two best friends accompany him to the planet Vulcan in "Amok Time," and Spock picked both Kirk and the doctor.

Nitpicker's guide: Before beaming over to Yonanda, Kirk orders Sulu to match the speed of the apparent asteroid. Moments later, a graphic shows the Enterprise flying in front of Yonanda, which is clearly gaining on the star ship.

Sidebar: Ah, the pitfalls of having a reduced budget and being forced to utilize stock footage from "The Paradise Syndrome" episode.

Sidebar: Does anyone else think that such a sophisticated generational star ship as Yonanda wouldn't have some form of an alarm system that would have let its inhabitants know that the vessel was off course and required a correction? I can't recall if that had something to do with its engine systems malfunctioning. In any event, are we supposed to believe that their security/alert system was also failing?
Certainly could happen, but a line of dialogue at the end of this episode would have nicely explained it.

I realize that the voyagers on/in Yonanda had lost the knowledge on how to make any repairs to the ship, so an alarm would not have made any difference to their plight other than frightening 'em.

The gorgeous British actress Kate Woodville played a treacherous espionage agent in the Mission: Impossible episode "The Spy," from January 7, 1968. Quite a different role from Natira on this Star Trek episode.

She even smokes a cigarette on the Mission episode!!!

Kate was married to actor Edward Albert, Jr.,son of Eddie Albert.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Krel
Guest





PostPosted: Sat Dec 25, 2021 5:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

If you look at the second photo in the first post, you can see the actual green color of Kirk's shirt.

David.
Back to top
Pow
Galactic Ambassador


Joined: 27 Sep 2014
Posts: 3400
Location: New York

PostPosted: Sat Dec 25, 2021 10:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The fact that Kirk's uniform shirt was created to be green but once filmed under the lights on the set and due to the material of the shirt appeared gold or mustard colored was truly a happy accident.

Gold always seemed to me to be a better choice of color for the command officers rather than green. The green was okay on those two uniform shirts worn in the first and second seasons. The first season shirt looked like a different material compared to the second season one.

However, lots of folks hated them.

Always thought that they should have selected green colored uniform shirts for their security details.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Krel
Guest





PostPosted: Sun Dec 26, 2021 12:59 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The shirt turned gold when the film was color corrected for some scenes, the blue and red also changed hue. In some scenes the red shirts appeare almost orange.

The wraparound shirt was always to be a temporary measure while William Ware Theiss tried to figure out how to make the shirts stay green with the color correction. I think they didn't use the wraparound shirt fabric because of a durability problem, like with the velour costumes. Kirk's dress uniform was also green.

I like the green better. But then it's my favorite color*, and I have never cared for gold or yellow. Personal choice. Laughing

David.

*Certain shades. Some greens are hideous.
Back to top
Pow
Galactic Ambassador


Joined: 27 Sep 2014
Posts: 3400
Location: New York

PostPosted: Sat Mar 05, 2022 1:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I read somewhere that the green uniform shirt that Captain Kirk wore was to address William Shatner's weight gain over the course of a season.

From Marc Cushman's book "These Are the Voyages."

Kirk, Spock, and McCoy beam down to investigate the spaceship inside the asteroid, alone. They take no technicians or security crew.

Later, after talking to McCoy on the communicator and hearing that the doctor is perhaps dying, the Captain & his First Officer again beam over to Yonada, and again they do so alone. Why not take a medical person along — Nurse Chapel, perhaps?

Sidebar: Fewer extras equals keeping the severely slashed third season budget down. Unfortunately such economic actions mess with the logic the scripting should have in it.

Problems aside, "For the World is Hollow . . . " remains and imaginative and entertaining tale.

Sidebar: I agree with Mr. Cushman on that score.

There are many good moments, such as when Spock places a helping hand on the injured and fatally ill McCoy. The doctor looks first to the hand, then to Spock, then to Kirk, who is guilty of divulging a secret.

"Spock knows," Kirk says, in a beautifully underplayed Shatner moment. Great emotion comes from this very subtle scene.

Sidebar: Yeah, ole' Bill wasn't much known for underplaying many moments throughout his career. Someone once commented after seeing an episode of The Fugitive on which Shatner guest starred, that it was really entertaining to see an actor well known for overplaying scenes (Sharner), alongside an actor known well for underplaying scenes, David Jansen.

It happens again later, when Kirk tells Scotty to beam only himself and Spock back to the ship. Scotty says, "But, Captain, what about Dr. McCoy?" McCoy takes a step back from Kirk and Spock. The looks between the Captain and the Doctor make for another perfectly understated yet immensely effective scene.

Sidebar: I also liked the moment when Spock tells McCoy that his choice of remaining on Yonada with Natira is illogical.

McCoy simply counters with "Is it really, Spock?"

Spock remains silent because he knows that Bones is correct and our resident Vulcan cannot out-debate the good doctor this time. I also saw it as Spock's way of not wanting to leave his friend behind for the sake of friendship, so he makes a stab at convincing him to return to the Enterprise.

A weak attempt in the logic department by Spock, and that's something he never does. However, here his emotions get the better of him due to McCoy's fatal illness, as well as having to depart from one another.

A poignant Spock and McCoy scene.

To give added depth on the make-believe planet set, the cylindrical entrances to the underground areas were built in two sizes: those seen in the distance are smaller replicas, giving the forced-perspective illusion of distance.

The colored gels cinematographer Al Francis used on the big stage lights to shade the sky could not handle the temperature change, and burned up.

Francis was only on his second episode after replacing Jerry Finnerman (following "The Tholian Web") and this was his first time painting the sky with light on a planet set.

A more durable set of gels were selected, resulting in a different color sky than Francis had originally hoped for.

Culver City Stage 8 had been converted at great expense into the underground world of Yonada.

The Fabrini hieroglyphics that appear inside the triangles in the temple were based upon the Mayans.

The Howard Anderson Company handled creating the optical effects, including new shots of the Enterprise in front of the asteroid which had been featured in "The Paradise Syndrome," but, this time, approaching it instead of backing away from it.

Sidebar: This is another cool case of how splendid the remastered version of Star Trek can be. The effects crew designed a totally different looking asteroid for this episode, instead of merely reusing the stock footage of the exact same asteroid featured in "The Paradise Syndrome."

"For the World is Hollow and I Touched the Sky" was pricier than any other Third Season episode. The per-season-average cost of an episode was $178,362. "For the World..." came in at 201,371. Director Tony leader was not asked back because of this.

In Tony Leaders' defense, this overly-ambitious script could not have been shot in six days, especially for a first time Star Trek director.

And the episode could not have been made for the usual $178,362 budget.

There were too many new sets to build, a third sound stage to rent, with a location move to get there, plus all new costumes for the people of Yonada, and the people themselves, requiring a multitude of extras.

Sidebar: So just how many fine directors weren't asked back to Trek (or any other television series for that matter) because there were factors out of their control requiring budget increases and a longer shooting schedule? I'm guessing plenty. Pretty unfair system if you ask me.

TV Guide: The men of the Enterprise make an incredible discovery: a huge spaceship hurtling through space disguised as an asteroid.

The ship is Yonada, a microcosm ruled by an oracle that prevents its people from knowing that their "world" is on a collision course with another planet. The situation is complicated by a critically ill Dr. McCoy. With only a year to live, McCoy falls in love with Yonada's high priestess Natira — and chooses to share her fate.

Sidebar: So if the production was required to hire a number of extras for this episode, couldn't they have had the Yonada people extras change into Enterprise crew uniforms so that it would address Marc Cushman's critique about Kirk not beaming over to Yonada with technical, medical, or any security people? We all realize that with so many personnel hovering around it would have somewhat made the moving scenes between McCoy with Kirk & Spock less powerful.

Perhaps it was never a case of the story editor didn't see the impracticality of Kirk not transporting over with all these star ship specialists; or it was a budget issue. Maybe it was viewed that the scenes between the show's three leads was diminished by having other crew members nearby.

Interesting to read what the budgets were for these shows back then. I read that Star Trek: Discovery can cost $8,000,000 per episode. That's why it looks unlike a TV episode and like a feature film with all its lavish looking production values.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Pow
Galactic Ambassador


Joined: 27 Sep 2014
Posts: 3400
Location: New York

PostPosted: Sun Mar 10, 2024 1:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

For the World is Hollow and I have Touched the Sky & The Starlost similarities.

The asteroid/spaceship Yonada's Fabrini civilization fled their planet due to their sun going nova.
The Earthship Ark fled Earth due to some cataclysmic event. Harlan Ellison never specified precisely what event had occurred, but he did suggest several possibilities, and one was our sun dying.

Yonada experiences some kind of mechanical mishap that causes their asteroid/spaceship to go off course which will have it collide with the planet Darian V.
Some mysterious event damaged the Ark which causes it to go off course and now head directly into a star.

Yonada & Earthship Ark are multi-generational vessels.

The Fabrini race believes that Yonada is a real planet and has no knowledge of its distant past. They do not realize that they are on board a spaceship disguised as an asteroid, or that they are heading towards their doom.
The humans occupying the many biospheres of the Ark have no knowledge that they are on board a spacecraft heading to its death. They truly believe their domes are their real world and nothing exists outside it.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Pow
Galactic Ambassador


Joined: 27 Sep 2014
Posts: 3400
Location: New York

PostPosted: Sun Mar 10, 2024 8:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

This episode might have actually made for an entertaining Star Trek feature film with the original cast. While I enjoy this episode it certainly not a top ten episode from the series.

However, I could see the epic scope to this plot about a multi-generational spaceship camouflaged as an asteroid as having fantastic visual effects possibilities on the silver screen with a lavish budget. They could depict Yonada's interior with elaborate visuals this time around. Naturally it would have to be expanded to a two-hour format for a film. Perhaps the Dr. McCoy love story could still be a part of it. Perhaps a whole new plot that would give us more action and suspense would have to be devised.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic   Reply to topic    ALL SCI-FI Forum Index -> Star Trek on Television All times are GMT - 5 Hours
Goto page 1, 2  Next
Page 1 of 2

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group