ALL SCI-FI

[Bud Brewster]

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And upside down Enterprise? And nobody at the magazine pointed that out?

Hmmm . . . That is highly illogical.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Pow]

NBC press release, issued October 21, 1968:

Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy) and Dr. McCoy (DeForest Kelly) attempt to locate Captain Kirk's body, which fades in and out of view in space while the Enterprise is gradually engulfed in a trap, in "The Tholian Webb" on NBC Television Network's Star Trek colorcast of Friday, Nov. 15 . . . . Captain Kirk (William Shatner) is unable to beam back to the Enterprise from a disintegrating vessel as it, and Kirk, simply wink out of view leaving Spock and McCoy facing internal disease aboard the Enterprise and an alien web externally. They cannot fight the trap because they dare not disturb the space in which they hope to recover the captain's body.

Sidebar: I was always surprised that Shatner went along with this story. Not that it isn't a darn good yarn, because it is. Given his ego & always wanting his character front and center in the spotlight for each episode, how did he allow Kirk to literally vanish early on in the episode and then not reappear (except for a few glimpses) until the finale? Sure doesn't sound like Shat.

[Pow]

Scriptwriter Judy Burns (along with Chet Richards) created force field belts for the Enterprise crew for this episode. She was disappointed to see the idea cut out.

"One of the things that I was sorry to lose was the force field [belts]. I was very fond of the idea of the belts, to have come up with it, and I thought it was really classic. I was a sci-fi reader -- I had read sci-fi since I was probably ten years old -- and I thought the force field belts would have made a great addition. But they [the producers] feared the belts, saying that the crew would never be able to get in trouble again in space, not if they had this device."

There was another reason. In a memo to Fred Freiberger, Robert H. Justman said the belts were "an interesting idea," however: We could not possibly handle an Optical Effect of this sort throughout all the cuts that it would be necessary to see them in.

Gene Roddenberry liked the idea, and once the expense and time of creating optical effects was no longer a concern, the "life-support belts" would make their appearance, in 1973, for Star Trek: The Animated Series.

Sidebar. I also liked the concept of the force-field belts. Their debut in ST: TAS was very cool. I did have a technical question regarding their operation. The belts would have to be immensely powerful with its protective aura surrounding crew members. It would have to not only provide oxygen & protection from the icy cold, it must shield the crew from all forms of deadly radiation found in outer space.

Exactly how would the crew operate their tricorders, communicators, and phasers in outer space? Wouldn't the awesome power of the force-field play havoc with those devices? Those tools would be encased within the field. How can they then transmit their beams through the field with no interference of any kind from the belt?

Also, would the transporter beams have difficulty dematerializing the crew through the force-field?

Or would we just have to write it off as science-fiction magic?

[scotpens]

[Bud Brewster]

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While reading the above posts I tried to image seat seat belts on the bridge. I understand the problems with creating high tech "force field" seat belts.

And when I tried to imagine ordinary seat belts which the crew would quickly fasten, it seemed sort of comical.

Besides, the scenes in TOS when the bridge would tilt suddenly (and the actors would pretend to be thrown around) were much more dramatic than watching everybody buckle up. It would look too much like a family in their car, getting ready to go shopping!
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Pow]

Exactly scotpens. The series simply had neither the time nor $$$ (the 2 big challenges in producing a weekly show) to create a force field aura around the crew.

How far we've come technologically in the area of special/visual effects since then. Seems like just about anything a writer can dream up these days for a weekly SF TV series, the effects teams can now pull off. Doesn't appear that too much is beyond their capabilities. Of course, even now, time & $$$ can still be problematic issues for any television productions.

[Bud Brewster]

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Of course, the TV viewing experience in general has also changed dramatically. When we were young, this is what we enjoyed out shows and movies on.





Today we enjoy that experience on widescreen HD televisions, with stereo sound!





So, today's home theater systems are certainly worthy of the improved special effects which are now possible.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)