Get Cut In For ‘A Piece Of The Action’ Preview

| April 17, 2007 | By: Anthony Pascale 63 comments so far

StarTrek.com have put up an early preview for next weekend’s "A Piece Of The Action" Remastered.


click image to play in WMP or Click Here for QT

NOTE: this weekend is "All Our Yesterdays"

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I LOVE IT!!! Beautiful effect of the Enterprise’s phasers firing on the mobsters from orbit. GORGEOUS!!!

And… first?

Are both phaser shots the same as the original or have they been tweaked?
I need to brush up my Fizzbin before next weekend.

The best humour in Star Trek was when it came from something organic to the scene or story. This episode exemplifies the worst kind of humour Trek could sink to, when given the opportunity. It appears now, with hindsight, that it was probably a blessing that Star Trek never got renewed for a fourth season! What a piece of CRAP!!

So… red for stun in space, blue for kill in space, and green for stunning gangster with Brooklyn accents? Got it.
I think the “splash” on each of the phaser effects is either original or in keeping with the original. CBS-R could have gone a different route, but this isn’t a dark or serious episode.
Took me years, by the way, to figure out it was Doohan doing the radio spot for “the sweetest little automatic in the world.”

They are definitely changed. The firing on the two mobsters in the original was the no-beam bright green flash they used a great deal in the third season. And with the Enterprise firing from orbit, they again just used bright green flashes. It looks like they added a pair of huge beams to the effect for the remastered version. And, like I said, it’s GORGEOUS! Of course, it kind of breaks from their standardized blue-beam ship’s phasers. But, I can forgive them because I assume there was no way to remove the original green blast.

ok… beams. got it.
i’m writing this phaser etiquette down for a book.
one more, then i’ll hush:
Do you think the eponymous Horizon mentioned in Enterprise is the same ship that left The Book?

Ah, another one of the “We go to a planet where…” episodes. As in:

We go to a planet where…

A. The inhabitants are Chicago Gangsters
B. The inhabitants are Nazis
C. The inhabitants are Native Americans
D. The inhabitants are Roman Empire leaders

Etc. etc. Truly a lazy way to come up with a script.

E. The inhabitants are pidgen-speaking, gogo boot wearing, brain-swipin babes

#6: I always kind of thought so. Apparently there is the book Chicago Mobs of the Twenties that can be seen as part of the set dressing in the Enterprise episode set aboard the Horizon (can’t remember the title offhand). I’ve never seen it, but I haven’t looked for it either. I think I remember someone saying that it can be seen in Mayweather’s old quarters.

9 – Cool. Thanks.

Oh. The name of the episode was “Horizon.” Hence your use of the word “eponymous.” Boy, is my face red.

no worries… stole that trick off a movie review. don’t get to use the 10-cent words often. got a bunch from trek.

What a great ans outstanding comedy episode!

The late Vic Tayback is wonderful in dis piece!

And Kirk’s driving!…oh my gods!!!…this is one the all time favourites!

Truly can’t wait to see it!

Anybody who doesn’t l;ike did episode…needs a “shronk”!…cept on tuesdays…!!!!!!!!

;-)

Cement overshoes………….
You mean concrete gollashes?
Enterprise this is Koik………
Koik… Right?
Spocko… Check!
I love this eps. :-) :-)

I agree with Gun Moll. Modern trek could not be this funny

this ep was so funny. its still fun to watch. silly fun. check?

What a mixed bag the first run of Star Trek was, when you think about it. One week it was high drama, the next, farcical comedy. It sure would have kept the actors on their toes! “Course, that still doesn’t change the fact that out of 79 episodes, 30 were brilliant, 30 were good and the rest were PURE CRAP! And hey, calling them “pure crap” is on a kind day! Peeyooo!

Right?

This is one of my favorite episodes and argueable one of the funniest Star Trek TOS episodes too!

Mike :o

MUSIC — where in god’s name did they find the music for this trailer??? it sounded a teeny bit like trek, with a healthy dollop of loony tunes.

#18 Check!

;-)

Hey everyone…on a light note….may I share with you a short funny off topic vid clip a friend online sent to today? (it’s a sorta still scifi adventure alternate timeline thingy?)

:-D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E00Ikj2B0xg

I laughed so hard I peed!

P.S. back on topic…” We are takin over da whole balla wax!”

;-)

I like having the occasional semi-comedic episode. When I first saw this one, I thought it was the greatest. Still like it. Tayback and Antonio were excellent and it was fun to see Kirk put on his act and to have Spocko going along with it, somewhat befuddled.

This is a fav, can’t wait to see this one remastered. Watching this clip I’m reminded of yet another virtue of the TOS cast and how effortlessy they could pull off drama and action, yet could easily slide into a comic performance . Shatner and Nimoy’s comic timing is priceless and spot on. This episode showcases why Shatner and Nimoy, and their chemistry together, is so important to the likability of these characters. Again, I can’t wait for the new movie and will be there opening day…but episodes like this remind me of how much I enjoy these characters and why…it’s not the words the actors speak, its the way they speak them. These guys are just fun to watch, plain and simple.

Yes it looks like they have tweaked the handphaser hallway stun and the street Enterprise stun slightly.

GADS! Some people think I am doom and gloom, but how can a person NOT like this episode. By far the best “parallel planet” episode they made. The Shat and Lenny showed their comedic genius and timing here, I’m sure that’s why they used it again in Star Trek 4.

I thought was one of the funny ones myself I’m not really going to look into the enhanced effects too closely of this particular episode.

I really enjoyed Victor Tayback as Jo Jo Krako. When I was growing up I also remember him as Mel (the diner owner and chef from “Alice” in the late 70’s early 80’s. My family who are not even fans actually likes this episode. After two weeks of so so and Dull third season on crack episodes this will be a nice break.
One of the things I really like about the remastered Trek is how new and vibrant the colors look.

I love the line.
“Who’s you’r friend with ears Kirk?” lol priceless.

Oh yeah this was always a favorite episode of mine as a kid. Who doesn’t love this episode… only on alternate tuesdays…

^#26

Agreed. Alternatively, I’ve always thought that their shtick in STIV was inspired by how great they are in the early scenes in City on the Edge of Forever.

From TrekCore:

Hand phasers in the hallway:

http://tos.trekcore.com/gallery/displayimage.php?album=68&pos=234

The clip in the preview is so fast, it’s hard for me to say it was tweaked too much.

Phaser blast on the street:

http://tos.trekcore.com/gallery/displayimage.php?album=68&pos=337

Definitely remastered and improved. No cartoony star shaped “Pow!” balloons over the cars and the addition of actual beams.

I guess phasers are green for stun, whether they’re hand phasers or ship phasers. Blue could mean more power than red.

Would I have wanted episodes like “A Piece of the Action” every week? No. Did the second season feature way too many ‘parallel Earth’ episodes? Definitely.

But the part of me that remains young is still glad they made this one.

Who writes the voiceovers for these previews? It makes it sound like this episode involves time travel. Does the writer even watch these episodes before he writes the script?

#s 6, and 9:

Here’s a picture of the ENT book and the TOS book inset. Looks like the ENT volume is “Chicago Gangs (of the Twenties?)” while the TOS book is “Chicago Mobs of the Twenties,” but it’s pretty hard to tell.

http://www.jason.petri.com/ChicagoMobs.html

I really love this episode. It is funny, but the humor is well written and well presented and I’m laughing along with the characters, not at them. I can’t put my finger on why but when the TOS cast tried comedy I laughed, when the other casts tried it I just cringed.

5 —

There may have been no way to remove the green blast from the original, but…

… don’t tell me they couldn’t have made it blue. This is 2007.

Green is usually stun, and without beams of any kind. Why would they change that? Those green beams in space will be weird, but they already added beams with the phaser 2s in Wink of an Eye. I guess they’re using TNG type rules. I think even the first time they used stun in Man Trap it was a quick, pellet-like, burst, rather than a continous beam; after that the green color and burst effect was well established in many eps. But, you do what you have to against Iotian? mobsters, I guess.

Here’s the fact:

-green phasers indicate stun.
-blue phasers indicate kill.
-red phasers indicate nothing because the remastered team discarded the red and replaced it with blue for consistency.

Since this is the only ep where the ships phasers are put on stun, and the only one where they’re green, logically green means stun.

I’m looking forward to this one. It’s always been a favorite!

re: 24 jonboc
“episodes like this remind me of how much I enjoy these characters and why…it’s not the words the actors speak, its the way they speak them. These guys are just fun to watch, plain and simple.”

Well said. Can’t be duplicated or equalled.

With these episodes now getting done so fast I can’t help but wonder:
How many times at bat = times that they will redo or upgrade each episode before their finally happy with the end result and will be done with it to be released in its final form?

This is one of my favorite episodes. Kirk’s Fizbin game is a classic.

Kev wrote:

> Green is usually stun, and without beams of any kind.

Nope, stun beams were used in all 3 seasons. Stun bursts appeared in season 2 and 3.

> …but they already added beams with the phaser 2s in Wink of an Eye.

Uh, the stun beam was already there in Wink of an Eye. It was enhanced in the Remastered version.

> …after that the green color and burst effect was well established in
> many eps.

The stun burst was only used in some episodes.

jonboc wrote:

> it’s not the words the actors speak, its the way they speak them. These > guys are just fun to watch, plain and simple.

Very much in agreement! Great episode, great interactions. Fun, fun, fun.

This episode totally rocks. Anyone who think it’s too “silly” or “funny” can just go watch some deadly serious (and dreadfully boring…) Voyager eps. instead.

No. 5
“I assume there was no way to remove the original green blast.”

Well, they tell us that they’re remastering from the original film shot by the cameras.

No. 41
“With these episodes now getting done so fast I can’t help but wonder:
How many times at bat = times that they will redo or upgrade each episode before their finally happy with the end result and will be done with it to be released in its final form?”

I imagine only once. That way they can redo them in ten years time claiming that ‘new technology that wasn’t available ten years ago can create better effects like adding CGI Kirk and Spock walking around and flying shuttles etc.

Then you can go and buy them all again.

PS. What is bat = times?

A definately FUN episode. :D

#47 non-fanatic
I sure hope if they can get enough time to redoe the earliest remasters with their second CGI model of the “E”… 10 years would be TOO long to have to wait for that. ;)

Sorry, I’m having a bad “typo” day.

#42

Infrequently, as a way to break some humor into a tense discussion (informal only, 95% of most tension-breaking humor isn’t appropriate when doing testimony in land-use hearings) about technical discussion ‘how/why this has to be done THIS way’, I’ll add

“except on Tuesdays, or at night, when…”

Works REALLY well with people (ahem) in their 40s or 50s who recall this ep.

Also works in reverse, long, drawn-out, overly bureaucratic responses from colleagues sometimes elicits either that statement, or, “Ahh. A new addition to the rules for Fizzbin.”

I won’t even mention the humor running around the office when a property owner proposed to subdivide his property…

The working name for the project (based upon the owner’s last name) was the plat of …

K-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-H-H-HN!

(we resisted the temptation to wear movie-era Star Fleet uniforms for the hearing)