ALL SCI-FI

[scotpens]

[Bud Brewster]

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Agreed, sir!

Vulcanite would be a remarkable rubber which is used to make tires that were virtually puncture proof.

On the other hand, the term Vulcanized (a process that improves a tires elasticity, hardness, tear strength, and resistance to organic solvents and abrasion) sounds more like a "training program" that would convert a non-Vulcan life form into someone who controlled his emotions and sharpened his ability to use logic and reason.

The noun form would be Vulcanization, the process by which a non-Vulcan becomes a naturalized citizen who can vote and pay taxes!


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

[mach7]

The season 1 Blish Novelizations were adapted from very early versions of the screenplay. I believe that was done to have the books in bookstores early in the shows run.

The writing on Star Trek was a very long ordeal. Many rewrites by the author and then a few rewrites by the writing staff, and early episodes usually had a polish from Roddenberry himself.

Most changes were made for dramatic, character "voice", time, and cost reasons. The aired version is usually a much more tighter and entertaining show.

It's also interesting to see the migration of dialog/action from secondary cast members to Spock and Kirk. Something the secondary cast complained about with Shatner, but never Nimoy.

For me this is one of the 3 pivotal/defining 1st season episodes of Star Trek. It solidifies character voices/actions and starts Trek on the road to its ethos. Interestingly that this significant episode is pre Gene Coon.

[Bud Brewster]

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I imagine its difficult for writers to keep their ideas within the bounds of what can be done on a TV show's budget. Imagination puts no limits on what can be done. But network execs aren't quite so boundless!
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[mach7]

Another show that was based on a movie was "The Galileo Seven".

It was based on the old movie "Five Came Back".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Galileo_Seven

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Came_Back

[Maurice]

Just FYI the reason the Romulan ship looks as it does is that while script was in development Roddenberry suggested (I have the memo) that as a money-saving measure the story could include an espionage angle which would rationalize using the 11' Enterprise model's saucer as the enemy ship, with some removable markings added. This is why there's talk of Romulan spies in the finished episode. If you look at the Romulan ship's fuselage from the front you can see how saucer-like it is, even after they went to the trouble to make a custom miniature.

Also, since the saucer has no warp engines, it's possible this is where the "simple impulse" line came from.

As to the story that the Romulans were supposed to be recurring baddies but Klingons were cheaper, I think that was an after-the fact decision. Having gone through the Roddenberry papers at UCLA I can tell you they were rarely planning anything ahead.

They'd made a fair number of Klingon costumes for "Errand of Mercy," which was Gene Coon's baby, so naturally I think he leaned towards using Klingons over Romulans. That they had more costumes and the makeup was cheaper likely sealed the deal.
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"The absence of limitations is the enemy of art."
― Orson Welles

[Bud Brewster]

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Interesting comments, Maurice.

Just for fun, I went looking for images which illustrated your observation below.

[Maurice]

Bud, I think they filmed it with the idea the enemy ship was based on a starship saucer (the storyboards even show this), and then they went a different direction for the model and it simply didn't match the dialog about "simple impulse."

An enemy stuck at sublight speed made no sense, anyway. It would take them years to get to any neighboring systems.

If you look at the Romulan ship on the screen just before it fires its weapon the resemblance to the Enterprise saucer is more apparent.
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"The absence of limitations is the enemy of art."
― Orson Welles

[Bud Brewster]

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Thanks, Maurice.

We all have to accept the fact that these stories about "the future" were produced more than a half-century ago.

But they actually did a remarkable job of predicting some of things that might have been in store for mankind in the years to come.

So, it's not fair for us to sit here in 2024 and scoff at movies and TV series which didn't foresee all the wonders (and the terrors) we have to deal with today!
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Maurice]

Bud, I don't see how your last post relates to anything I said. I was talking about the why of how the episode ended up as it did from a production standpoint. I didn't mention anything related to when it was made and what they might have failed to get right.
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"The absence of limitations is the enemy of art."
― Orson Welles

[Bud Brewster]

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You're absolutely right. I goofed.

I apologize for the unfortunate wording. I went off into a sermon about something unrelated to your comment.

Please accept my apology. And thanks for making me aware of my mistake so I could address it
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Pow]

A few more observations.

The remastered version of BOT is marvelous. The comet with its tail is splendidly done as it sails along in outer space. Problem: Comets tails occur when they are passing by a star. The tremendous heat from the star causes the comet to develop a tail. In this episode we do not see the comet in question anywhere near a star of any kind.

If the Romulans do not have warp speed capability for their vessels, just how foolish is it for them to provoke a war with Federation starships that do possess warp speeds?
Or, was that something the Romulans did not know about the Federation of Planets since a century had passed between them after the war?

And, of course, we all caught the mistake that every time Captain Kirk ordered phasers fired we saw the visual effect used for photon torpedoes.

[Maurice]

The Enterprise weapons in the episode were not intended to be torpedoes. The production documents refer to them as phaser "blips." Later, they codified the phasers as beams and added the photon torpedoes. It only seems like a mistake retroactively.
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"The absence of limitations is the enemy of art."
― Orson Welles

[Bud Brewster]

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Thanks for the clarification, sir.

This series was exploring new territory for a science fiction TV series, so we should appreciate the fact that the writers worked hard to develop their concepts.

Naturally they had to do some fine tuning along the way.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Pow]

The writers and science consultants established for the viewing audience the concepts of faster-than-light space travel. Nowadays SF fans just refer to it as FTL travel. We've come a ways since those days.