UPDATE: CBS just sent over a couple of cool new images of the Romulans from “The Deadly Years” airing this weekend. (click to enlarge)
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VIDEO PREVIEW
The crew gets old and then some darned Romulans won’t get off their lawn!
The remastered “The Deadly Years” airs this weekend. Video preview courtesy of STARTREK.COM
The Romulan ships here look so much nicer than in Balance of Terror, I look forward to seeing them up close.
As opposed to last week’s “Metamorphosis,” this is a fairly trite, thoroughly by-the-numbers episode. It’ll be worth tuning in to see the revamped FX, but that’s just about it.
I like how they make kirk appear to have died, but wish they would have used checkov’s comment about the romulan’s not taking prisoners..it would have made me smile..(which I did anyways)
Re: #3
I know some people love the New Voyages. They’re not my cup of tea (but hey, God Bless ‘Em. They’re having fun and entertaining folks and ain’t nothing wrong with that)
But the episode which was a followup to this episode… it was a bit weird. I know it was written quite some time ago, but it was a bit weird to have the “big events” in that episode completely ignored in the next episode.
By the way New Voyages folks, Trek is about moving forward, you have some great talent. So tell some new stories instead of letting each episode be a callback to nine old stories. We don’t need Gary Seven kidnapping Harry Mudd on the Botany Bay.
The plot device for this one may be a bit contrived — but Star Trek has always excelled at overcoming its own contrived plot devices and still somehow tell a quality story — as is the case with this ep.
‘Deadly Years’ isn’t one of my favorites, but it isn’t among my least favorites, either.
Maybe the remastered version will show (using CGI) how Kirk’s hair went from thin and grey to back to normal (thin and brown) in a few minutes. ;)
^5
What’s wrong with grey, thinning hair?!! LOL!!!
Picard / Marcus ’08
What’s the deal with idiot commodores? And what’s Sulu doing, his nails? Why couldn’t he take the helm and haul nacelles to the nearest star base?
Pretty basic ep for Trek, not terrible, not great. Kirk’s ex girlfriend doesn’t quite live up to standards in this one. But, it’s always nice to mess with the Romulans’ minds.
Why don’t the CGI the real, old Shatner?
Sorry, I meant: Why don’t the CGI in the real, old Shatner?
Kirk’s ex girlfriend is possibly the worst female character shown on the series–most of the others, from Janice Lester to Helen Noel, managed to convincingly combine Sixties glamour with a semblance of scientific competence, but this woman is 100% bimbo.
Yes, the episode’s not great–but Shatner’s terrific in it. His courtroom interrogation at the hands of Spock is a masterpiece of pathos: “Anyway, you don’t command a starship by answering a lot of fool questions! …. Go ahead…ask me anything!” And I like how McCoy gets a thousand percent more Southern fried as he ages…
#9 THAT would be very cool! (but hopefully not unintentionally humorous).
One of my favorite episodes! Always good to have a space battle once in awhile. :-) As a kid seeing it for the first time back in the 1960’s, I always wondered, “How will they get out of this? And this? And…”
In the Remastered preview, I see we have a shot of the Romulan Warbird in the foreground left with the Enterprise in the background right. Interesting… very reminiscent of the similar shot in Star Trek III with the Enterprise in foreground left with Romulan Bird-of-Prey in background right. In the Remastered preview, it seems that the energy bolts that the Warbirds are shooting are different from the plasma bolts used in the Remastered Balance of Terror episode. Perhaps the Romulans realized that the distance limit on the plasma bolt was too restrictive and went back a more standard weapon,
Shatner wore a wig on top of his wig in this one – priceless!
#2 – It amazes me how many people were commenting on how much they liked Metamorphosis. I was laughing out loud most of the way through. I remember seeing it in syndications when I was about 8 for the first time, and I didn’t much enjoy it then. I’ve watched it again over the years, and it doesn’t get any better. When Cochran says, “Oh, well you are here to keep me company” and the crazy lady in the green dress starts in with the “OH MY GOD! THAT’S DISGUSTING!!!” Cochran says at one point “Oh…nothing will work here in the dampening field”, and then both the “Cloud Zapper 6000” and the universal translator seem to work. Let’s not forget when Kirk says, “Hey…it’s female! Didn’t you hear the voice? Male and Female are universal constants!” Really?
I wanted to like it. I’ve tried to like it for years. It just doesn’t do anything for me. I would like to know what was so magical about it, in all honesty, in case I’m missing something. Or is this just one of the ones we decide is genius because Coon wrote it?
#4
We don’t need Gary Seven kidnapping Harry Mudd on the Botany Bay
Now that would be cool. Might it have looked like this?
http://youtube.com/watch?v=s6lmBbV3VWo
Oh, for Pete’s sake. Coon wrote “Spock’s Brain” and “Spectre of the Gun” too, and do you hear anyone proclaiming either as a work of genius?
Tastes differ, and if you don’t care for “Metamorphosis” that’s fine (though what your comments about it are doing in this thread are anyone’s guess). IDIC and all that. But you don’t need to introduce strawmen about fans genuflecting at the altar of Gene Coon to justify your tastes, even if you’re in the minority. Coon was, by any fair measure, an outstanding television writer, and one of Trek’s top contributors, but as with Roddenberry he was clearly more than capable of pulling a clunker every now and then.
Wow, the make-up is amazing. Kirk as an old man looks exactly like Shatner now. Kudos to the make-up department.
Really, you think so? I was just reflecting that the makeup doesn’t look anything like Shatner does now. (Though I do agree the makeup was very well done.)
Dr. Janet Wallace helped find the cure for hyper-aging. Maybe she was making ammends for putting her hubby in the sod at the ripe old age of 60. No wonder Kirk wanted no part of her. He was scared!
#15
Great ‘Assignment Earth’ faux opening credits. That’s very much the kind of opening credits I would have expected from this failed spinoff (if it ever had the chance to air).
For some reason it reminds me of the opening credits for ‘The Prisoner’.
Old Kirk hasn’t had the facelifts Old Shatner has (look at the stretched out wrinkles on Shatner’s forehead sometime.)
#13
Actually in one of the many books out there, it’s stated that Shatner actually took OFF the hairpiece to make it easier for the makeup artists to do their thing.
I’ve always liked this episode. It’s fun watching the actors shuffle around the ship and act all grumpy and forgetful. :D
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd93/buggeroffnow/ISF07-Shatnerbbb.jpg
#9
I was thinking that Kirk ages A LOT in a very short time in this episode. It would make sense that his posture and mid-section would be relatively unchanged. As opposed to the somewhat buoyant Shatner we have today. :D
“Behind enemy lines”?
“The crew must do without Kirk”?
They are pumping up the hype on this mediocre 2nd Season episode.
I always thought that it was rather improbable that a commodore would violate the Neutral Zone under any circumstances and then freeze like a deer in the headlights when attacked.
“The old Corbomite gag, it’s the second time the Romulans fell for that this month !” (Sorry, Max….)
I will watch it for the 1:30 of remastered effects…
Rare (genuine) pic of Shatner sans wig. The first I have ever found
http://shatmag.com/v-web/gallery/grand-opening-exhibit/cobbwife
Make up being applied (for this episode?)
http://shatmag.com/v-web/gallery/grand-opening-exhibit/williamshatnermakeupphoto
Looks no different to me… ?
Cool foreground shot of the Mitt Romulans! :)
These warbirds seem way better than BOT’s warbirds. Shame they won’t go back and insert them into BOT.
One of the few things I’ll give CBS-D is that they do a great job of dustbusting the old 3rd-generation film footage. I can’t find stray hairs and blips anywhere!
Those Warbirds rock, but that geezer makeup is comically bad, given how the principals have actually aged over the last 40 years. The Shat won’t be that old AND thin until he’s been in a pine box for a few months. LOL ;-)
#26-Al, looks like Shatner’s post-Trek hairstyle, I would guess that makeup photo is from his (mercifully) shortlived series “Barbary Coast”.
I think it was perhaps a makeup photo for “The Devil’s Rain,” but I could be wrong.
#23 AI and #26 AI–
Bill doesn’ look too bad bald in the photbucket pic!
And I always assumed Bill didn’t wear a hairpiece in TOS. I always figured the hairpiece started sometime after the end of TOS and before TMP…
Anyone know for sure (besides Bill)?
Nope, he was wearing in TOS. See Solow and Justman’s book, plus comments by Joan Collins. The first image in #26 shows him sans wig, eg very thin at the front – I imagine he wore a piece with his own hair combed over the top at the hairline.
I agree, he actually looks good bald in #23
33
I don’ t think he was ever truly that bald. According to Doohan, his hair was just a little thin and patchy during TOS. The hairpiece was just to make it look thicker under the bright lights on the set (something a lot of actors probably did).
I see they included the infamous shot of Kir’k’s crotch as he gets younger.
#12, the Enterprise would not have survived to be in another episode if the Romulans had used the plasma weapons in Deadly Years…
#16
I’ve always liked “Spectre of the Gun”. The unique score (weird bar room piano music) and the sneering Doc Holiday and his gang. Fun episode. Plus the crazy Sherrif. “Kill ‘Em Man. ” “Do it any way you can.” Which I quote a lot in real life. And quite possible………….Chekov’s (Takei’s) finest moments on the show. “Mr. Earp,…..Get yur hands off a her-r.”
38
Sorry…I met Koenig’s moments on the show
Ok…..I just have to ask but does anyone in the Internet world or elsewhere have a picture of William Shatner minus his wig as he was during the filming of ST-OS or for that matter at any time?
I like Metamorphosis and this one too.
There are some great character moments in this between Kirk and Spock and Spock and McCoy.
somewhat OT, but I don’t know where else to put this…
Several retailers have dropped the price of the Toshiba HD-A2 HD-DVD player, from $300 down to $200, and last Friday WalMart had a 1 day deal to buy it for $99 (and I bought one).
I wasn’t planning on buying the ST-R HD-DVDs, but now I may, given the big price drop in the player. As Black Friday draws closer, anyone who wants the Remastered DVDs should keep their eyes peeled for a repeat sale at $99.
#35 – yes, agree that was likely so. Close ups don’t show a “lace”; later however, he was into the full system and he probably does look like the photoshopped image in reality. The image in 26 probably pre-dates TOS? I can’t get the reference to Cobb’s wife in the caption.
It’s poisoning, not time travel, so they don’t need to look like they do when they’re really older.
#5
Sci-fi TV characters often look normal right after they’re miraculously cured. The real mystery is how Kirk gets thick white hair at the final stage of the disease. DeForest Kelly’s wig is a bit ridiculous too.
#26
Good find, the natural-hairline pic. Can it be dated more precisely? (The sideburns say he’s not shooting TOS in the following few days at least.) Anyway the hair is consistent with what various sources have said so I don’t think there’s anything else to add to the TOS hairpiece topic/controversy.
40. I swear as a kid I remember watching Entertainment Tonight, and their was a scene of Shatner directing Nimoy, wearing a white shirt with suspenders, and his tupee off.
…during the making of Star Trek 5… could be wrong, but I can still picture it in my head.
I have an original document from the series which gave the budget items for all aspects of the production. One item was Shatners hairpiece. And this was in 1966. Case closed.
In regard to the photo that # 23 posted: Can anyone confirm whether thats really William Shatner?
And also….in the photo gallery they show a picture of him with a replica of his ST-OS outfit when
he was on Hollywood Squares. Can anyone provide a bigger or better quality picture of this or does anyone know when that photo was taken? It would seem very strange he would appear in uniform on any show…..Thanks all!
as long as we’re talking about hair, was Nimoy’s bowl cut a wig, or his own hair?
Hope the Romulans look better than they did in Balance of Terror – can’t really tell from the preview and the hits on the E don’t look that great. We shall see
Kahl – It was Leonard’s hair