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TOS episode #48 - The Immunity Syndrome
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Sun Jun 27, 2021 9:41 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

I was surprised to learn that the gold tunics were actually green, but the color correction turned them gold.

Are there any publicity photos that show the actual color of the gold tunics? It's hard for me to imagine them as being green. Confused

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Last edited by Bud Brewster on Sun Aug 13, 2023 8:00 pm; edited 2 times in total
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 27, 2021 10:42 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Pow wrote:
This episode's finale did bug me. At the conclusion we see Kirk eyeing a pretty Yeoman, smiling and telling Bones he can't wait to get to some R&R.

Oh wait, an entire Federation Star Ship was destroyed by this monster cell. Four-hundred Star Fleet members died, as well as all life in the Gama 7A star system. Bur aside from that . . .

Guess they felt the need to tack on a lighthearted ending 'cause we can't leave the viewers with any sadness.

Yes, the networks didn't want to leave their viewers in a bad mood or they might do some absolutely unthinkable! Shocked

They might change the channel. Sad

To be honest, however, I don't have the same objection to the attitude of Kirk at the end. Here's why.

When seasoned Starfleet personnel have endured stressful situations and suffered the loss of shipmates, the best way to move past these situations is to put on a brave face and focus on the present.

Kirk may have smiled when he said he needED some R&R, but he and the crew had certainly earned a rest. The smile didn't indicate that he wasn't moved by the Vulcan ship's tragedy, he was just showing the crew that their captain was calm and in control.

And perhaps a bit horny . . . Very Happy

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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 Thu Dec 29, 2022 5:20 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Pow
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 25, 2022 8:45 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

From NBC press release, issued December 28,1967:

Captain Kirk (William Shatner) and his crew must destroy a virus which has annihilated three solar systems and another starship or suffer the same fate, in "The Immunity Syndrome" on NBC Television Network's Star Trek colorcast Friday, Jan. 10....

The Enterprise is en route for rest and recreation when Star Fleet Command orders Kirk to investigate the disappearance of Starship Intrepid. Simultaneously, Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy) suffers a spasm. Upon recovering he announces that he "felt" the death of the Intrepid and 400 Vulcans who were aboard. When the Enterprise gets close enough to probe a black mass which threatens the very existence of the universe, Kirk has no alternative but to pierce it with his own ship and attack it from within.

Thoughts: This is another one of those press releases that reveals too much detail for a brand new upcoming episode (at the time).

This press release tell you right in the first sentence that the culprit is a virus. So there goes any mystery regarding what forces are at play here.

Then they established that the Starship Intrepid is missing in action. Cool, we have a mysterious vanishing going on for the Enterprise to delve into. Not for long. The press release informs us that the Intrepid, and entire crew, have all been killed.

The press release then says that "Kirk has no alternative but to pierce it (the virus) with his own ship and attack from within."

That's a big reveal. As the episode unfolded the Enterprise finds it drawn into the gigantic space creature against its will. The situation looks dire until brilliant Kirk comes up with the idea that the Enterprise is, in essence, a virus to the creature. Karma!

However, this spill the beans press release informs us of this surprising dramatic moment.

I'm amazed that the press release left out that Spock goes out in a shuttlecraft into the titanic virus, is lost and believed deceased, and then safely returns to the Enterprise.
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Pow
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PostPosted: Thu Dec 29, 2022 3:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

These Are The Voyages: TOS, Season Two.

The direction is top notch. Joseph Pevney was able to deliver a fascinating concept, rich with personal jeopardy and conflict, from a script somewhat stagnant and in need of maybe just one more polish.

With the written material needing a bit more sharpening, and a proper Tag scene, which this episode badly lacks, "The Immunity Syndrome" is not Star Trek at its best, but it isn't far off. The concept is intriguing, the drama taut, and the visuals dazzling. Do we really need better than this?

Writer Robert Sabaroff was told by story editor Gene Coon in a meeting that they had run out of guest star money but they still had a special FX budget. He asked Robert to write a story that wouldn't require a guest star.

Sabaroff's original ending was dark and very cerebral. Kirk asks the computer, "Assessment -- probability of recurrence of current phenomenon? The computer answers, "The period of the human existence may expect to encounter the occurrence of new life three times. You who built me evolved from the first such occurrence. You who have built me just ended the hope of the second. Your comprehension and my program are insufficient to conceive the third."At his point, Spock, who is listening, slowly closes his eyes. FADE OUT.

Gene Roddenberry said, "Getting that episode on the network was a small miracle because of NBC not wanting to challenge anyone's ideas concerning the origin of life or the purpose of Man. Some things were lost from the story as a result."
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Thu Dec 29, 2022 5:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Pow wrote:
Kirk asks the computer, "Assessment -- probability of recurrence of current phenomenon? The computer answers, "The period of the human existence may expect to encounter the occurrence of new life three times. You who built me evolved from the first such occurrence. You who have built me just ended the hope of the second. Your comprehension and my program are insufficient to conceive the third."At his point, Spock, who is listening, slowly closes his eyes. FADE OUT.

I could use a little help understanding what the computer meant by that. Don' be afraid to "put it simply for good old Bud." Very Happy
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Pow
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PostPosted: Thu Dec 29, 2022 9:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

It sounded like the Enterprise's computer was informing them that humanity resulted from this very event of the giant space cell. I didn't know how that could be, since the darn thing seemed to be wiping out everything in its path. How could humans arise from such an event?

Then the computer states that the crew has destroyed the gigantic cell. Now this cell, while threatening wasn't of, or in itself, evil. So the Enterprise murdered a lifeform which is against the Federation of Planets space missions code. I suppose that the computer could also be stating that by destroying this organism that it will not be able to create life such as it had done for humans. The Enterprise committed matricide & patricide, in a sense because this cell might have even been the one that gave birth to humans, and it would have given birth to other races. It might be the only being of its kind and therefore responsible for many races.

The final statement by the computer may support the fact that this cell was a one-of-a-kind being. So in obliterating it we've not only eradicated a living entity that was not inherently evil and was responsible for life throughout the galaxy, we ended the existence of the only such being that lived. There were no others like it at all in all the universe.

I believe that is where NBC was having issues with this part of the script. The writer was putting forth the idea that this enormous cell was responsible for all life on earth, not the God of religions. This is all speculation on my part of course, Bud. Unfortunately These Are The Voyages: TOS, Season Two does not offer anymore insights beyond this
section of dialogue I've quoted from it which was never featured on the aired episode.
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Fri Dec 30, 2022 1:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

__________________________________________________

Miie, I suspect that your speculations are correct, especially with regard to the reason the network wanted the scene removed.

And if your assumptions about the giant Space Ameba are correct, the whole concept is deeply flawed, as you pointed out. One that that really jumped out was that the Enterprise had "eradicated a living entity that was not inherently evil".Evil is a subjective concept.

The cell showed no evidence of sentience, so it can't be accused of knowingly destroying other life forms. And if it was sentient, it either didn't know or didn't care that it was destroying inhabited worlds.

Either way, the Enterprise was perfectly justified in destroying it for the sake of all the worlds it would eventually annihilate.

Hell's bells, if the damn thing had been God himself, they'd still have the right to nuke the Him if He was going around gobbling up planets!

That's the nice thing about "free will". You can disagree right to God's face. Free will was His idea. Twisted Evil

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