TGOT is a legendary episode, if for many wrong reasons. (But is cheesiness that "wrong"?) The plot is more-or-less idiotic and linear, being a mere excuse to have Kirk-Fu fight-scenes, which no doubt pleased the younger viewers and the NBC top echelon - both of which are/were at about the same level of mental development. While the aliens are silly, they aren't a match for the camp factor of the Mugatu ("A Private Little War"), or the pizza-monster in "Devil In The Dark" (that episode always made me hungry), nor is the dialogue anywhere near as unintentionally amusing as it is in "The Galileo Seven" or "That Which Survives". The sets look nice, though. Perhaps I'm a little miffed that Kirk's love-interest looks like Barry Manilow. Angelique Pettyjohn later did porn. Funny, that, because usually it goes the other way round: first porn and then legit acting stuff (which around 0.0001% of all porn stars succeed at).
So what else happens? Not much... Uhura almost gets raped. (But really, she should be glad they didn't send Kloog to mate with her.) Chekhov has to deal with a woman with a man's voice, and Kirk gets to argue with three pieces of jelly (yellow, green and red) that impersonate advanced brains. The irony is that the conversation between Kirk and the brains reveals that the latter are probably just as underdeveloped as the gray matter of NBC executives, hence the whole premise of the intellectually superior adversaries falls into water. The three "super brains" get duped and patronized to by Kirk in a manner that is more reminiscent of Kirk talking to his own daughters. (Well... reminiscent to Shatner, of course. I assume he talked that way to them when they were as young as these jello brains.) There is also something of a first(?) in TV, when Kirk first kisses and then PUNCHES the porn Manilow. (Perhaps Captain Kirk learned this trick from she-android Andrea ("What Are Little Girl Made Of?"), from the way she kissed and then slapped Kirk...)
Something tells me that this scene was very popular on a sub-conscious level since so many of us wouldn't have minded seeing that being done with the real Manilow.
Plus, if you're a fan of Spock vs. McCoy (one-sided) bickering, there's plenty of that here. Nearly every scene on the bridge is McCoy bitching about something, and when he tires of it, taking a brief breather, Scotty jumps in to help him. That is what is known as "creating conflict for the sake of it (the drama)", because it makes no sense that two intelligent people such as Scotty and McCoy would be so adamantly against every logical decision Spock makes.
Still, even an average ST episode is quite fun.
If you want to read "The Chapel Factor" and other "lost ST episodes", contact me by e-mail.
So what else happens? Not much... Uhura almost gets raped. (But really, she should be glad they didn't send Kloog to mate with her.) Chekhov has to deal with a woman with a man's voice, and Kirk gets to argue with three pieces of jelly (yellow, green and red) that impersonate advanced brains. The irony is that the conversation between Kirk and the brains reveals that the latter are probably just as underdeveloped as the gray matter of NBC executives, hence the whole premise of the intellectually superior adversaries falls into water. The three "super brains" get duped and patronized to by Kirk in a manner that is more reminiscent of Kirk talking to his own daughters. (Well... reminiscent to Shatner, of course. I assume he talked that way to them when they were as young as these jello brains.) There is also something of a first(?) in TV, when Kirk first kisses and then PUNCHES the porn Manilow. (Perhaps Captain Kirk learned this trick from she-android Andrea ("What Are Little Girl Made Of?"), from the way she kissed and then slapped Kirk...)
Something tells me that this scene was very popular on a sub-conscious level since so many of us wouldn't have minded seeing that being done with the real Manilow.
Plus, if you're a fan of Spock vs. McCoy (one-sided) bickering, there's plenty of that here. Nearly every scene on the bridge is McCoy bitching about something, and when he tires of it, taking a brief breather, Scotty jumps in to help him. That is what is known as "creating conflict for the sake of it (the drama)", because it makes no sense that two intelligent people such as Scotty and McCoy would be so adamantly against every logical decision Spock makes.
Still, even an average ST episode is quite fun.
If you want to read "The Chapel Factor" and other "lost ST episodes", contact me by e-mail.