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TOS episode #46 - The Gamesters of Triskelion
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Bogmeister
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PostPosted: Sat Jun 08, 2019 2:08 pm    Post subject: TOS episode #46 - The Gamesters of Triskelion Reply with quote

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___ TOS 2x16 'The Gamesters of Triskelion' Trailer


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This is certainly not the worst episode or even among the worst, but it hovers in that nebulous region when one reaches the bottom quarter of all the episodes, as I see them in terms of quality.

This is the point at which I regard an episode as definitely below average. And it says something for the show that even in these I find moments worth watching again, if just for some agreeable cheese.

Which brings us to The Gamesters of Triskelion.

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This episode is one of the more familiar ones on TOS — visually, stylistically and thematically — but contributing to an impression of cheesiness afflicting the series.

One could argue that there’s nothing very wrong with cheese at times, but many fans prefer that TOS should be known for its ideas and philosophy.

For this episode, it's time to set aside philosophy and kick some behind with your weapon of choice; this was gladiatorial combat, 23rd century-style. In the plot, Kirk and two key officers, Chekov & Uhura, are shanghaied from the good ship Enterprise just as they are about to beam down to a planet. They are whisked a dozen light years away to another planet ruled by so-called Providers, who turn out to be disembodied primary brains, and their only means of diversion is to kidnap various aliens for their amusement as space-age gladiators.

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Gladiatorial combat in an arena had already been depicted in the episode Bread and Circuses and much more effectively, in my view. The circumstances were much more dire and severe in that other episode, and such bloodsports for an audience offered a biting commentary on the dark side of human nature.

Here, the concept is hamstrung by an almost tongue-in-cheek style. Others have raised the notion that these ruling brains represent the limited thinking of network executives, the ones who usually dumb down such stories as these for the masses.

Another famous scene is Kirk’s response to the question on what is beautiful? Rather than offering some poetic insight, common to many of the better-written episodes, Kirk presents the female with a reflection of herself and she stares at it like a deer in the headlights. There’s no poignancy here, just opportunity for another eye-roll (and asking oneself what happened to the writing).

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This could have been a serious indictment of slavery, represented by those intense, brutal collars-of-obedience, but despite Kirk's seething display of resentment as he finally rips his off near the end, this episode is best known for its cheese factor rather than any deep commentary on such a serious issue.

If anything, much of the episode reminded me of a typical, action-oriented episode of the Lost in Space TV show — cheesy and somewhat laughable.

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It's best remembered now for the gladiatrix Shahna, outfitted provocatively. She was played by actress Angelique Pettyjohn, who went on to adult-film roles, gaining this episode some measure of notoriety. It's typical of the episode that Kirk spends a lot of time seducing Shahna — his . . .uh . . . drill thrall — in almost touching scenes, but he ends up clocking her.

Chekov, meanwhile, makes the acquaintance of a large female gladiator named Tamoon, while Uhura is almost raped by another rough-looking fighter (Steve Sandor). Some of this also reminds me of those exploitation prison-thrillers of the seventies — such as the ‘women-in-chains’ sub-genre — just that this takes place on another planet.

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There are a lot of different aliens on display in this one, accompanied by the usual limitations of the make-up FX back then. To get a truly distinctive alien in the sixties they would cast a giant actor (Mickey Morton as Kloot) for example. Joe Ruskin as Galt, however, manages to come across as truly alien in a creepy fashion, his movements suggesting that he is gliding rather than just walking.

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Overall, though, it's sub-average escapist fare, with usually silly dialog, Shatner over-emoting ("You're Killing Herrrrrr...!") and not much thought put into such issues as what these all-powerful brains do with their version of money, quatloos (I assumed, hearing their betting frenzies, it's their version of monopoly money).

This boils down to a final combat where Kirk breaks all the rules and wins anyway. Despite the cheesy entertainment, for my quatloo the best scene is on the Enterprise with Spock, McCoy and Scotty. There, Spock shows he's ready to be a full time commander when McCoy & Scotty try to team up against him. The scene was also overdone, like most of the episode, depicting the two officers as somewhat petulant and juvenile.

BoG's Score: 6.5 out of 10

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Extra Trek Trivia: Provider One is the red brain; Provider Two is green; and Provider Three is orange. What will you do with this fantastic information? Well, you can tell which Provider bought the three Starfleet officers by the color of their collars. One of the Providers states that their cave is located over 1000 meters below the surface. (Deep!)

Dick Crockett, a stuntman/choreographer on several Trek episodes, plays the Andorian thrall in this one. This is one of the episodes where Sulu’s part was taken over by Chekov because actor George Takei was stuck elsewhere, filming The Green Berets with John Wayne.


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BoG
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johnnybear
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PostPosted: Sat Jun 15, 2019 8:35 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Apparently Tamoon was quite a looker in real life! Razz
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Pow
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PostPosted: Sat Jul 27, 2019 12:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

"The Gamesters Of Triskelion" Fun Facts }
Early title : "The Gamesters Of Pentathlon."

Bart LaRue who was the voice of the Guardian of Forever on what many critics and fans consider the greatest ST: TOS episode produced "The City On The Edge Of Forever,'' was the voice for Provider #1 on this episode.

Walker Edmiston was the voice of Provider #2. He had also done the voice for the small alien Balok on "The Corbomite Maneuver," as well as The Keeper from "The Menagerie."

The voice of Provider#3 was Robert Johnson. Bob is well remembered as the voice on the tape recorder which gave Dan Briggs, and later, Jim Phelps their assignments on Mission: Impossible (1966~73) each week.

In the Providers cave you can see in the background the matte painting originally used for the mining colony operation on "The Devil In The Dark.''

It was announced during the filming of this episode that ST: TOS had been canceled by NBC. So it became a sad set & difficult for the cast and crew.

The network changed its decision a couple of days later and ordered eight more episodes.

An okay episode for the second season but hardly outstanding.

Seems as if most sci~fi TV series dig up the old trope of having its cast be placed into a gladiator-combat scenario.


Last edited by Pow on Sun Jul 28, 2019 12:53 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Sat Jul 27, 2019 3:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Pow wrote:
Seems as if most sci~fi TV series dig up the old trope of having its cast be placed into a gladiator-combat scenario.

Which seems to rewrite an old expression, giving rise to this new one.

When in Hollywood, do as the Romans do! Laughing
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Pow
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PostPosted: Mon Aug 24, 2020 4:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

More Trivia } The original title for this episode was "The Gamesters Of Pentathion." Sounds like the writer was going for a variation of pentathlon.

Kirk, Uhura & Sulu were to have been traveling by shuttlecraft in the opening of the episode and then captured.

It was decided that this scene would have been too much like the episode "Metamorphosis" where Kirk, Spock, and McCoy are kidnapped by the alien energy life form.

The Delka Vine was to be a slithering plant that would grab hold of Shahna & throws her into a pond. Kirk would rescue her. The scene was dropped due to budgetary considerations.

As previously noted, this episode was intended to feature Sulu and not Checkov, but George Takei was on location shooting the film "The Green Berets. George was sorry to have missed out on the episode because he felt it would have helped developed his Sulu character.

Doesn't seem to me as if he'd have been able to expand Sulu's role by very much with this episode. But I guess for a supporting cast member any extra scenes and dialogue was a godsend for them compared to their usual few moments on screen.

The planet ruins that Kirk and Shahna jog through are a reused set from the first season episode "The Man Trap" on planet M~113.

The top of Lazarus' spaceship from "The Alternative Factor" is the glass bubble we see encasing the Providers.

TAF episode makes TGOT look like an Emmy Award episode.

The daggers that the Thralls use are the same ones used by the Terran Empire in "Mirror, Mirror."

Living brains under glass, how "Donovan's Brain" of the producers. Another sci~fi trope.


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johnnybear
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PostPosted: Sat Aug 29, 2020 7:51 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

And the monetary term Quatloos started here too! Much used and derided by many TV shows ever since!
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Pow
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PostPosted: Sat Sep 04, 2021 12:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Nitpicks Guide

After the Providers have kidnapped Kirk, Uhura, and Chekov and brought them to the planet Triskelion, Kirk makes a log entry.
How is he making this entry? Where is it being recorded? How does he know the exact star date? True, they have just left the Enterprise but Kirk has no way of knowing if they've traveled through space or traveled through time as well. Kirk even admits a few minutes later that they all could be in a parallel universe.

In the final battle, the Providers assign Kirk to the sections of the floor colored yellow and his opponents to the sections colored blue. Anyone landing on an opponent's color supposedly will lose a weapon. Yet Kirk steps all over the blue areas and nothing happens!

This episode was only so-so for me. Star Trek's first season had many wonderful episodes to it, only a few were letdowns. Second season Trek had some incredible episodes to it, but quite a few mediocre ones too.
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Sat Sep 04, 2021 2:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Pow wrote:
After the Providers have kidnapped Kirk, Uhura, and Chekov and brought them to the planet Triskelion, Kirk makes a log entry.

How is he making this entry? Where is it being recorded?

Yep, the producers cheated a bit with that log entry being made in the present tense, rather than as a "report" being filed after the event.

The log entries were a clever way of helping the audience keep up with the story, especially after a commercial break interrupted it. In this case, however, it's not (dare I saw it?) — logical for Kirk to make a long entry when he's not even in communication with the Enterprise.

It's unfortunate that Kirk wasn't routinely equipped with a recording device he could use to make log entries and later upload them to the Enterprise computer.

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scotpens
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PostPosted: Sat Sep 04, 2021 2:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Pow wrote:
Walker Edmiston was the voice of Provider #2. He had also done the voice for the small alien Balok on "The Corbomite Maneuver," as well as The Keeper from "The Menagerie."

That last one is incorrect. The Keeper's voice was dubbed by Malachi Throne. When the original pilot was incorporated into the two-part "Menagerie" episode (with Malachi Throne as Commodore Mendez), the Keeper's voice was altered to avoid confusion.

Here's a link to the machine that was used to pitch-shift Throne's voice: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eltro_information_rate_changer


Pow wrote:
The top of Lazarus' spaceship from "The Alternative Factor" is the glass bubble we see encasing the Providers.

TAF episode makes TGOT look like an Emmy Award episode.

I can't agree. Both episodes are equally bad, but in different ways. "The Alternative Factor" is muddled, confused, has ridiculous science, and doesn't make a lick of sense. "Gamesters of Triskelion" is merely corny and cheesy.

(Hmm, now I could go for some cheese-flavored corn puffs.)


Pow wrote:
Living brains under glass, how "Donovan's Brain" of the producers. Another sci~fi trope.

Not just living brains, but glowing brains in bright primary colors!

Pow wrote:
After the Providers have kidnapped Kirk, Uhura, and Chekov and brought them to the planet Triskelion, Kirk makes a log entry.

How is he making this entry? Where is it being recorded?

There are several episodes in which Kirk makes a "log entry" when away from the ship and without access to a tricorder. At this point, the "Captain's Log" lost all pretense of being an actual log recording and became simply an expository voice-over to bring the audience up to speed.
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Gord Green
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PostPosted: Sun Sep 05, 2021 2:12 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

But...But... Angelique Pettyjohn was just so HOT!

Was there a story around her????? Who cares! Everytime she was on screen I could care less what else was going on!

She was a teenage dream of womanhood!

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scotpens
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PostPosted: Sun Sep 05, 2021 2:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Gord Green wrote:
But...But... Angelique Pettyjohn was just so HOT!

Was there a story around her????? Who cares! Everytime she was on screen I could care less what else was going on!

She was a teenage dream of womanhood!

Meh. She wasn't my type. I was more into classy babes like Sally Kellerman ("Where No Man Has Gone Before"), Barbara Babcock ("A Taste of Armageddon"), Barbara Bouchet ("By Any Other Name"), and Susan Denberg ("Mudd's Women") -- despite her thick Austrian accent and total lack of acting ability.
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Sun Sep 05, 2021 3:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

Gentlemen, when it comes to Star Trek Space Babes, our dearly departed friend, Bulldogtrekker, was the leading authority
on the subject.



____________


Mr. Tim Edwards staunchly maintained that the sexy ladies in (and OUT) of TOS uniforms were the ultimate Dream Come True for all American males!

Here's a few of my favorite examples which prove Bulldogtrekker to be correct.














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johnnybear
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PostPosted: Sat Sep 18, 2021 7:28 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Angelique Pettyjohn was to be in Planet of The Apes as Nova but somehow she was tossed aside in favor of Linda Harrison!

How could they have done this? It's pretty much bizarre as Pettyjohn didn't look very attractive in the pictures I've seen of her in cavewoman attire where as Linda was very impressive to say the least! Razz
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johnnybear
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PostPosted: Sat Sep 18, 2021 7:32 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Angelique's real name was Dorothy Lee Perrins, born on March 11th 1943 and died February 14th 1992. Sadly she passed away from cancer on Valentine's Day too! Shocked
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Sat Sep 18, 2021 9:25 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

johnnybear wrote:
Angelique Pettyjohn was to be in Planet of The Apes as Nova but somehow she was tossed aside in favor of Linda Harrison!

I think Linda had that poor-pitiful-me look that was needed to make her look both attractive and yet helpless in her unpleasant situation.

Miss Pettyjohn could look either deviant or puzzled — but that's about it.
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