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Star Trek: The Original Series 225-226 (Patreon)

Published:
2025-01-15 13:00:09
Edited:
2026-01-07 18:52:45
Imported:
2026-06
Tags:

Content

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Comments

Da Big Appa

George – “It’s like they are lovers” Simone – “They keep coming at each other” George – “ hehehe” deciding if he wants to say the joke out loud. I see you George, I thought the same joke.

Bruce Woodcock

Whomever told you there were only 12 starships in Starfleet was incorrect. At the time of TOS, there were only 12 Constution Class (same as the USS Enterprise) starships in the fleet; this was mentioned in the episode "Tomorrow is Yesterday". These were the top of the line Starfleet ships at the time, but they had hundreds of other ships of smaller size (Destroyers, Scouts, etc.). And the other members of the Federation, like the Vulcans, also had military ships of their own. The SS Beagle mentioned in this episode was part of the Starfleet version of the Merchant Marines, who are civilians and not military personnel. Tne number of such vessels is likely quite high. So no, the SS Beagle going missing was nothing out of the ordinary. It is, however, probably why years later Starfleet eventually sent the USS Enterprise to explore the same sector the SS Beagle was originally assigned to survey.

Darin Foat

The term "bread and circuses" is credited to the Roman poet Juvenal. It refers to the idea that as a long as a government keeps their people fed and entertained, they won't care about larger issues, and can be easily controlled.

Lintrinsic

Some things get explained in future Trek, much of it doesn't. But the whole parallel Earths thing seems to be popular in sci-fi in the 60's. The idea of alternate universes appeared around the mid-fifties so it was a fairly new concept. Much like a lot of fiction involving hadron colliders following the experiments at Cern and a fascination with all things Egyptian in fantasy after the discovery of Tut Ankhamun's tomb. Only thankfully the parallel Earth fixation didn't have the same staying power, probably when people realised how naff and incredulous it is.

prunyan prunyan

Yep, you hit it on the head. Gene Roddenberry pitched another show to NBC, and "Assignment: Earth" was, in essence, the pilot for the new show. It's one of my favorites. And you also are correct, Robert Lansing (Gary Seven) was a staple of sci-fi movies and TV shows in the 50s and 60s. Everyone knew him. The secretary (Terri Garr) became famous as a character actor as well (Dr. Frankenstein's assistant in Young Frankenstein, Richard's Dreyfuss's wife in Close Encounters of the Third Kind). She just recently passed away. It's a pity NBC never picked up the new show. I would have watched it.

prunyan prunyan

This is also the only time in TOS where they intentionally time travel using the Enterprise in a controlled fashion. So yeah, they basically made that up for this one episode. But it's so unique and the plot so solid I always enjoy watching it.

WayneC

The rocket appears to have been Saturn V. Perhaps Appollo 4 launched in November 1967, a few months before the episode aired. Sputnik went into orbit in October 1957. The US's first successful launch was in early 1958.

Monica Alarcon

For this season you should do the five best and the five worst episodes for the YouTube versions. Your reactions to the bad episodes were hilarious!

Data Cable

At the time, "Starship" specifically meant Enterprise-type, what came to be known as Constitution class. The dedication plaque identifies the Enterprise as "Starship Class." It's perhaps made most clear when Merrick draws a distinction between a "space ship" and a "Starship."

Data Cable

Though they did use the same technique accidentally discovered in Tomorrow is Yesterday.

3dbadboy1

Originally because of failing ratings, they were going to cancel the series at the end of season 2. In it's place Gene wanted to start another series so they put it into Star Trek. After it was canceled fans caused an uproar and NBC executives decided to give season 3 the go. Because it was last minute some of the episodes in season 3 were a bit rushed and it shows lol.

3dbadboy1

Also Teri Garr and Robert Lansing were popular actors at the time. Teri played Phoebe's mom in Friends btw.

Kyle Baker

Old tv shows used to make their season finale's backdoor pilots all the time.

Skyruff Creative

Later in TNG, partially in response to people asking exactly what you did George about why so many aliens are close to human, they do address that question directly. Later attempts are made by writers to explain why Roman like worlds would developed independently but as noted in an other post, it was more a trope of 50s-60s sci-fi that people just excepted. Season three is not as good overall as the first two. Gene Roddenberry is basically out of the show and while the season has some good episodes, the third season is often called the monster of the week season.

Skyruff Creative

So much of the “world building” happens in what the crews say verses what the production can afford to show. TOS takes place roughly 100 years after “the united federation of planets” UFP was founded. They started with 4 home worlds, by TOS there dozens of species. While each planet has its own primary defense fleets, the members of the federation are starting to use the earth force “starfleet” as their exploration force for all planets. TOS was intended to have half the crew as aliens but production could not afford it. This plays out far more in the THe Animated series(TAS). TNG had the same problem in that they could not afford all the alien crew they wanted to be on the ship each week making it look like it is almost all human. Although TNG is roughly another 100 years past TOS and the UFP had hundreds of members at that point.

Lintrinsic

The episode mentions Hodgkin's Law, a fictional theory that planets with similar environments will produce similar lifeforms. But expanded to assume those lifeforms will form similar or identical societies - which is a massive stretch even for a fictional theory, But that seems to be the show's attempt to explain all the parallel versions of Earth. The prevalence of humanoid life gets expounded on further in later Trek,

Bruce Woodcock

Yeah in the TOS era they tended to use "starship" to only the Starfleet (military) vessels, and sometimes only to the Constitution Class itself, also known as the "Starship Class". And other space vessels were called "spaceship". But this distinction was not universal and by the time TNG comes around there's no longer a distinction. Merrick's point here is not really terminology, but that the Captain and crew of a Federation flagship Heavy Cruiser are going to be far more trained and disciplined than those of a merchant marine vessel. The whole point of the Merrick's backstory is to establish that he couldn't make the cut as a Starfleet officer because he couldn't make the hard choices required (as Kirk did in this episode). Of course Kirk makes a whole career of wriggling out of the hard choices whenever possible.

Kozmo

Since it’s been sometime since the copy right stroke, do you guys plan on adding A24 films back on the polls?

HansD

Yeah, I'm going to skip the rest. See you guys when you get to the movies and TNG.

D. T. Nelson

Ah, the 1960's and their clumsy attempts at morality plays. Bread and Circuses was clearly another propaganda episode. One of the big "attacks" against communism in the 50s and 60s was distinguishing the communist's rejection of religion—specifically christianity). (It was the driving force in Congress passing a law that put the term "In God we Trust" on U.S. currency in 1955). It was pretty clear early on in the episode they were going in that direction, and were talking about the message of the son (not sun). When the guards first caught them in the beginning and referred to them as "four fleeing fish" (the fish being one of the main symbols of christianity) that it became obvious to me. The ham-fisted "revalation" at the end of the episode was definitely in the same vein as The Omega Glory (though maybe not quite as blatent and ridiculous). As you have seen by now, Star Trek (the OG Star Trek in particular) likes to draw on old civilizations (particularly Roman and Greek mythology) and literature for their episodes. TNG gets better at this (mostly) through the use of a little invention called the holodeck. As for George referring to the whole panspermia-like theory of planetary evolution needing to be canon... well, I'll just say keep it in mind when you get the the later seasons of TNG. Yes, Assignment: Earth was originally written as a pilot for a new series, but it wasn't picked up by any network, so it was rewritten as part of a Star Trek episode in the hopes it would garner some interest. It didn't. The secretary was played by Terri Garr (Young Frankenstein, Close Encounters of the Third Kind). It was one of her first roles.

Gaius Frakking Baltar

In 2022 the actress who played Isis (the humanoid version, not the feline version), April Tatro, gave a fun interview about her participation in "Assignment: Earth". A link to a YouTube video of the interview is below. She said that after filming was done, Shatner called and asked her for a lunch date. Tatro said yes, even though she was due to get married just two weeks later! But "He was so handsome and so polite" that she agreed to the date. She never told Shatner about the impeding marriage, btw. So Shatner later called Tatro at home after the marriage had already taken place, and her new husband answered the phone - awkward! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_Bng1zJDFc

Badger

If you didn't know- There are words to the opening theme. Gene Roddenberry wrote lyrics for the "Star Trek" theme song primarily to secure a share of the royalties from the music, as he could claim co-composer status by adding lyrics, even though they were never intended to be sung on the show. A clause in the contract with Alexander Courage allowed him to write the lyrics and claim half the royalties for the music. Mr. Courage was royally pissed with Roddenberry unfairly taking advantage of a technicality in the contract. I am going to guess we would all pay $5 to listen to Simone sing the theme song, in uniform of course. George should be in uniform as well, doing some Spockian thing in the background.. Beyond The rim of the star-light My love Is wand’ring in star-flight I know He’ll find in star-clustered reaches Love, Strange love a star woman teaches. I know His journey ends never His star trek Will go on forever. But tell him While he wanders his starry sea Remember, remember me. ------------------ Kirk's throwaway line in Bread and Circuses ..Spock "are you ok" . Kirk"they threw me a few curves" after he just got laid -Priceless.. I always laugh at the outdoor shots and the poor guy that holds the giant reflector try to keep the light in the scene on the actors faces..in the background you can always see the reflection moving around on the rocks.. RIP the great Teri Garr. I am surprised you didn't catch that, even though she was really young in that episode, that was the first show I ever saw her in..til Close Encounters..

Badger

Thanks! A new one for me!

Michael Nemo

Guys your analysis stomps all over dialogue. I realize you can read the captions but how can your audience follow the narrative if we can't hear the dialogue.

Itbewhatitbe

because sane people watch reactions to things theyve already seen and know the plot of. who the hell watches something brand new with commentary that is insane.

Michael Nemo

So you didn't understand what I wrote. Got it.

Tsuyama

no.. no it sounds like you didnt understand what he said. their audience can follow the narrative because theyve seen the show before and know the story. to not know it means they havent seen it, and watching a reaction as the first time viewing is, as over capacity puts it, insane.

SpankTheMonk

Let’s boldly go!! 🖖🎉🎊

REDR58
>>161426489

The problem is that Simone and George have no idea what dialogue is important as they watch for the first time. They cannot just sit there silently.

REDR58
>>161385820

Agreed. There really is no need to go through the whole thing now.

Tsuyama

yeah but this is also old TOS star trek.. like.. its not that serious. the plot arent that deep and i think they know that. look how long they remain quiet during Shogun, cause they know that show is serious and plot heavy. this isnt that kind of show, this is goofy and dumb a lot of times. and its not like they arent following either.

Jeff K.

Unrelated to the actual series, and just a general comment about this Patreon page: man, do I appreciate how on the dot all of the drops are. I know that every Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thurdsday, and Saturday (and occasionally Friday, and obviously the poll on Monday and the weekly lineup on Friday), I can log in at 7 AM (I'm Central time zone) and sure enough, there's the new upload. I'm on a couple other Patreons and while I enjoy those channels, I never know when something new is gonna drop. So just a shout out to you guys for being consistent and not making us guess as to when something is gonna be coming to the page.

REDR58
>>161379693

There was an entire season of a show called “Otherworld” (starring Jonathan Banks!) that came out in 1985. It was about a parallel Earth (if not in name, it’s basically Earth) and involved, you guessed it, Egyptian elements: https://youtu.be/U8idvQeM0kA?si=AZQ7ZkXiE7SYOlNd It only lasted 8 episodes but I remember watching it. Here are all 8 episodes for those who want to check it. It’s goofy as heck: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkznR7IJI-XMLoDVuD-xGg3Y67-upTf9o&si=7zpYMti5Ob7jLrKn

REDR58
>>161426489

Totally agree. They can and should talk during the show. It’s the whole reason we are here watching! :)

Michael Nemo

No one is advocating for silence.

Grumblefunk
>>161439064

100% agree, I've paid into a few other reactors over the years but never longer than a month due to the shitshows they actually are behind the scenes. G&S both do this full time so I've only ever felt value for my actual $$ here.

Actuarial Lurker

The inside joke about ratings and the TV station in "Bread and Circuses" was that the series was about to be cancelled after 2 seasons and Lucille Ball of I Love Lucy whose Desilu Productions funded Star Trek had her fans do a massive write in effort to demand a third season, which succeeded and Star Trek was brought back for a third season with enough episodes for syndication and the rest is history...

Actuarial Lurker

The jail in Bread and Circuses is the same one from the Nazi planet a few episodes back. Recall that after being whipped Spock and Kirk use the tiny crystal to make the laser beam and break out....that was the same set

Actuarial Lurker

Gary 7's secretary is played by actress Terri Garr who of course starred later in Young Frankenstein and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Tootsie and other 70s and 80s films

Actuarial Lurker

Yes- when they thought TOS was being cancelled they turned the last show of Season 2 into a potential pilot for a new space time travel spy show

Kurt Hockenbury

Tamper your expectations for Season 3,. There are a few gems, but more dross, including three episodes rated lower (on IMDB) than "Omega Glory". Though I will admit I do have a soft spot for one of those.

Actuarial Lurker

There are 7 or 8 very good or excellent episodes out of 26 in Season 3, which has been pointed out was rushed out if cancellation. I was EIGHT in 1974, and TOS was already so popular in syndication reruns that I remember as a 2nd grader going with my father and some school friends to a Trek convention in Madison Square Garden in Manhattan and buying gear, I had the action figures the plastic model Enterprise, phaser, tricorder, and shuttle craft and a friend had the Enterprise Bridge for the action figures etc. The Animated Season was first run on TV starting in 1973 with the original cast doing voice overs. My favorite sequels are Deep Space Nine which has superior acting and writing and of all things the maligned prequel Enterprise since it gives all the lore backstory . My least favorite are TNG and all the various spinoffs airing now on cable....

Rocky Raccoon

Yes, A little disappointed they didn't recognize her. Maybe that's just because I've always had a huge crush on her. LOL

Rocky Raccoon

I get it that sometimes they talk over a plot point and then later they don't understand something and I'm like they totally explain that while you were jibber jabbering. But the jibber jabber is all part of the fun.

Alan Kobb

Bread and Circuses was a phrase coined in the 2nd century AD. It described how the Roman government distracted the populace from civil unrest by handing out free food and holding spectacular entertainment events. This episode, written mostly by Gene Roddenberry and Gene Coon, is intended to lampoon and criticize the state of the television industry, our modern gladatior matches fought with balls and the circuses on the evening news. You'll catch a lot of lines that take stabs at TV and the fake applause and catcalls during the gladatior battle. If you think of it in those terms and not in the literal way that you took it, then the episode actually works quite well. In the 1960s, Paramount made quite a few movies about the Roman Empire (The Sign of the Cross, Cleopatra, and The Crusades). One reason for this episode was so they could save money by reusing costumes, props and set pieces from those movies in the Paramount storage warehouse.

Alan Kobb

Both of you made some very good guesses as to Assignment Earth. As the 2nd season of Star Trek drew to a close, it became obvious to Gene Roddenberry that the show was going to be cancelled. He had been working on Assignment Earth as a new series, but had not been able to convince the network to buy a pilot episode, so he decided to make an episode of Star Trek into his pilot. So, the network did not buy Assignment:Earth the series, but they did give Star Trek a reprieve for a 3rd season, although a lot of that was due to the outpouring of support from the fans. By the way, the "ditzy sidekick" was played by Terri Garr, who also played the mother of the little boy in Close Encounters of the Third Kind and most memorably Inga in Dr. Frankenstein (You will recall that she had big knockers..). Interestingly, the woman who played the human form of Isis was not given screen credit. Her name was not known until 2019 when a podcast called The Trek Files found the callsheet for the episode, found her name, and called her for confirmation. She was a dancer and contortionist who occasionally played some minor TV roles named Arpil Tatro who received $84.51.

The Real Andrew Kim

First off, in Bread and Circuses, they did "explain" why they were romans by throwing out the line about Hodgkin's Law of Parallel Planetary Development which apparently was real contemporary theory at the time. Second, in regards to the panspermia stuff, you will have to wait until late season 6 of TNG to find out about what you hinted at.

Kinokind

1968 was, indeed, a terrible year. Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr. were both assassinated in '68. The Vietnam war was worsening with troops moving into Cambodia. A Lt. Calley led his soldiers to murder the innocent inhabitants of an entire Vietnamese village in what became known as the My Lai Massacre. The Hippie movement was at its peak and there were massive anti-war protests in the streets. On the other hand, the space program was moving along toward the first moon landing the next year (The first satellite, the Soviet Sputnik was launched in 1957, and the first laser was also demonstrated that year). I used to think it was the worst year in my life . . . until about eight years ago.

Simon Pegged Me

I'm totally insane. I watch the Better Call Saul reactions, and I've never seen the show before. The same for some of the movies, especially the poll winners—never seen them. I watch the reactions anyway. It's fun.

Simon Pegged Me

George is always doing some Spockian thing in the background. He's Chinese.

Rupert Purcat

2 words, spinoff show - probably in competition to the uk doctor who. Mork and Mindy started on 'Happy Days'. "the script was reworked to fit into Star Trek as a backdoor pilot for the proposed Assignment: Earth series. The spin-off series was never produced." Wikipedia the font of all knowledge.

Ginger

It would be super great if you could add the episode titles to the description <3

SpankTheMonk

Helios is Greek, while Sol is Roman. And oh Wow the end of the episode is just wow. Amazing what the shows would get with 3 networks, and PBS. Also they may not have thought about season ending arcs for storylines but someone did mention holiday specials. So you know by now the constraints of the tv show, production studio reqs, and USA gov standards, and their need for compelling scripts for 26 average episode seasons. But they also didn’t know what they could or couldn’t get away with for the productions, so they could try to add curve balls to the script story to solve their business needs. 47 🖖 Interesting that there are so many prime directive episodes, guessing another budget creative work around. Non-interference gets really detailed in TNG. I believe they do adjust the “37” million later on for the death toll of WW3. I believe in next gen movie? So meta with that ratings line, also Macoy being coy in the fight - he he 😁 “Pointed eared hobgoblin” is a rare insult 😈 Kirk is in danger like Monty Python and the Holy Grail Sir Galahad.

punterjoe

George's speculation on Trek addressing all the similar species and civilizations having a possible common source WAS actually addressed - but not until TNG. ...something to look forward to 😄

gfixler

I just learned how American I really am, when the video opened with George saying "This week's shooting is just way out of whack," and my first thought was that there had been another mass shooting event.

gfixler

RIP, Teri Garr, who recently passed on October 29th.

gfixler

I'm not watching anything twice. That's what I find insane.

Lana Gorgeous

You guys just did not get Assignment Earth. Or maybe it was just not for older adults critiques from 60 years in the future . I saw it in real time when it premiered when I was 10 and absolutely loved it. Oh assassination in 1968, Bobby Kennedy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYSqYNd4ic4 and Martin Luther King https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spfPTHdfEF8. Teri Garr became a very renowned actor, you must watch the movie Mr. Mom. This was her first role https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teri_Garr. But you were astute about it becoming a possibly different show https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assignment:_Earth . 1968 was a crazy year in world history, I guess even in Canada, LMAO https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tH_Dy4zy68

Sergio Meira

From what I understand, Assignment: Earth was meant to introduce a new TV Series with Mr. Seven as its main character.

gfixler

I found a long form interview with April Tatro, Isis the cat from Assignment Earth. She's had a really interesting life. She's a dancer and contortionist, and worked with Milton Berle, and The Rat Pack, and a bunch of other things. I also love that her cat, a black cat named "Clawed" (not "Claude"), is walking around in the background during the interview. He was a stray who walked out of the bushes and chose her. Must have recognized his own kind. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_Bng1zJDFc&ab_channel=TrekUntold

Michael Kemmet

I'm late to the party, but I wanted to point out a little something S&G had a problem with: The Enterprise leaving before rescuing the rest of the Beagle crew. During the TV broadcast early in the episode, the gladiator killed is referred to as the last of the barbarians. And Merik later states that his entire crew(less than 50) either assimilated into Roman society or were sent to the arena. So by the end of the episode, there's no one left to save. If there were any Beagle crew still left alive, they were the Merik collaborators.

kramerscove

Well, season 3 Paradise Syndrome definitely referred to a common denominator for all the humanoid species in all these solar systems.