Masterpiece Science-Fiction Theater

In this episode:  This is an audio version of my essay, The Enterprise is not a White Space: why minority representation on Star Trek was so radical and risky in the 1960s.   Much of American society, including genre TV and film, has historically been cordoned off into white spaces, which is a term coined by Sociologist Elijah Anderson to describe spaces predominantly filled with white people and where Black people are treated as outsiders. In its earliest years, Star Trek showed its audience that it was not a white space, but a diverse and inclusive space.  To prove the point, my article is a deep dive into casting choices and the creative input of Black actors in Star Trek’s first season. There is more to the story than Uhura and Sulu, as important as those iconic roles are. People of color were chosen as background extras, small speaking roles, and guest stars. Using analysis and many images, my article celebrates unheralded roles like these:  They all made an impact since even the smallest role kept the Enterprise from being considered a white space. Every week of the 1966-67 television season except for one, you would have tuned in to see Black and brown people in uniform on board a starship. Sections:  Explanation of Anderson’s thesis on white and Black spaces; brief survey of Jim Crow laws that were being passed in the 1960s Background Extras Speaking Guest Roles Guest Stars  

In this episode: A complete analysis of World Building in Season One of Star Trek The Original Series: A Survey of all strange new worlds (30) and all new life forms and civilizations (25)A breakdown of categories for each, from barren desolate planets to advanced ones, and primitive aliens to evolved non-corporeals The State of the Star Trek Universe after only one season: it truly is the final frontier, visiting no member worlds and only 5 Federation colonies–four of which ended in bloodshed and disaster! 

In this episode: The first part of our post-season 1 analysis of Star Trek: The Original Series, with a focus on trends in narrative structure. Antagonist Type: There are more monster episodes than you might think, but the monsters and the villains are depicted in unconventional ways. Monster: 11/28 (39.2%) Villain: 9/28 (32.1%) Computer: 4/28 (14.2%) Other: 6/28 (21.4%) Science Fiction Element Spectrum: Only a quarter of episodes are heavy science-fiction; while more than a third have only one notable Sci-fi element Above Average (4+ elements) 1. Where No Man Has Gone Before (4) 9. What are Little Girls Made of? (4) 29. Operation Annihilate (4) 20.The Alternative Factor (5) 28. The City on the Edge of Forever (5) 15-16. The Menagerie (6) 22.The Return of the Archons (8) Below Average (1-2 elements) 3. Mudd’s Women(1) 10. Dagger of the Mind (1) 12 The Conscience of the King(1) 14. Court Martial(1) 27. Errand of Mercy(1) 4. The Enemy Within (2) 6. The Naked Time (2) 7. Charlie X (2) 21.Tomorrow is Yesterday(2) 26. The Devil in the Dark(2) Average (3 elements) 2. The Corbomite Maneuver 5. The Man Trap 8. Balance of Terror 11. Miri 13. The Galileo Seven 17. Shore Leave 18. The Squire of Gothos 19.Arena 23. Space Seed 24. A Taste of Armageddon 25. This Side of Paradise Conflict Resolution: A strong majority of the episodes end with the character coming up with clever solutions to get them out of their problem Wits: 12 (43%) (75%) Wits & Fists: 9 (32%) Fists: 4 (14.2%) Other: 3 (10%)

In this episode: an analysis of “Operation: Annihilate!” the last aired episode of Season One of Star Treka fitting season finale (even though 60s TV did not really do those as we understand them) because it has a grand scale and important character development for all three leads–Kirk, Spock and McCoy–which is unusuala strong science-fiction outing with an alien that spreads “mass insanity” throughout the galaxy–and they look like flying jellyfish. 

In this episode:  An analysis of The City on the Edge of Forever: How the episode still lives up to the hype five decades later Edith Keillor voices Star Trek’s Mission Statement, and is a stand in for all Star Trek fansA comparison with Ellison’s script–the good, the bad and the ugly–especially Keillor, whom Ellison wrote as a Pentecostal evangelical crossed with L. Ron Hubbard. Hint: the filmed version is better. 

In this episode: An analysis of Errand of Mercy. The origins of the Klingon culture–hint: another Vietnam-era analogy. The Klingon look–not just swarthy villain stereotypes NOTE: I did not address connections to Star Trek: Discovery in the podcast, due to time. But I have included quotes from the episode that speak how Kirk viewed the Klingons at that point in time. I see nothing in the dialogue that contradicts the war depicted in DSC Season 1. In fact, I can sense that Kirk, Spock and Kor are speaking here with the living memory of having experienced the socio-political situation of that war.    Kirk: “We both guessed right. Negotiations with the Klingon Empire are on the verge of breaking down. Starfleet Command anticipates a sneak attack…. Well there it is. War. We didn’t want it, but we got it.” Spock: “Curious how often you humans manage to obtain that which you do not want.” Kor: “Do you know why we are so strong? Because we are a unit. Each of us is part of a greater whole. Always under surveillance, even a commander like myself.”

In this episode: A literary analysis of The Devil in the Dark Everyone’s favorite silicone-based lifefrom, the Horta Roddenberry and his producers believed this episode provided Stark Trek with its organizing thesis about how to treat aliens and “the other” and the show, but I argue this thesis was marbled through the first season back to the earliest episodes

My initial throughs on Discovery’s second season premier, “Brother.” New and old characters on a new adventure. I also share some musings about where I think the season is headed thematically: the clash between secular society and religious faith. It may prove to be more controversial than a new Spock or the colors of the uniforms. If you are interested in this question below are some pre-readings on the subject. They just a small starting point to the concept of what we mean when we talk about secular society, and what it means to have faith in another way of perceiving the universe. Best to read them in the order listed below. The Secular Society Religious Experience and the Modern Self Ghosts in a Secular Age

In this episode: This Side of Paradise a heavy sci-fi episode by TOS standardsthe third episode by Trek’s best woman writer, DC Fontanaa counterpart to The Naked Time with strong Kirk and Spock character developmentA return to a major TOS theme: Life’s a bitch and you like it that way (ok, the Kirk speech is better)

In this episode: “A Taste of Armageddon” Another rare pure science-fiction Star Trek episode: a 500 year war waged by computers. While the Federation was first mentioned in “Arena” this episode is first to mention the full name: United Federation of Planets The message is not explicitly anti-war, but that if you are going to wage war do so honestly in a way that does not hide the costs. Also, the Kirk speech equates human tendency to kill to an addiction that can be overcome with an approach from a 12 Step program.    This episode’s Kirk speech serves as an expression of Star Trek thesis of the optimistic human future: it’s not that people will evolve beyond our flaws and brutality, but that we will learn how to better manage them. Coon wrote this speech, but Roddenberry expressed similar ideas in previous episodes including the second pilot “Where No Man…”. He did seem to forget it when he wrote early TNG, where humans were presented as thought their nature had been fundamentally changed, perfected. This was dropped in later seasons. DS9 explicitly returned the idea that humans were imperfect, always struggling to do right. And DSC has been even more explicit about this. But the message is deep in Trek’s DNA going back to the first season of TOS, as this episode makes clear.

Space Seed: an episode that is not as good, and more problematic (#MeToo) than I remember it. Still a classic, but not a masterpiece. Excellent sci-fi elements: Most extreme and detailed “future history” Trek has ever attempted: Mid 1990s Eugenics Wars; a dictator from Northern India region (possibly a Sheikh), leading a band of genetic mutants from all over the world  (Western, mid-European, Latin, Oriental) who were created by a pack of ambitious scientists; Earth on the verge of a dark ages, whole populations bombed out of existence. We dispense with the notion that the 1990s depicted here has to be ret-coned with our actual reality. Interpreted as written (in the mid-1960s) this episode deepens our understanding of the Star Trek universe by showing us that the people we meet on the Enterprise are part of a society that learned a some very hard lessons in its relatively recent history. Small nitpick of a plot hole I’ve never thought about until now: Kahn rules from 92 to 96; since he is clearly in his 40s at this time, he was likely born in the 1950s. So the Eugenics Wars had their beginnings in the fictional universe even before decade the show is being made in our actual universe. The TOS message about the Eugenics Wars and genetic manipulation was not that you might create people with Terminator-like powers who will turn on you. It is a similar sci-fi theme as expressed in the Terminator movies, but with a different emphasis: not on the created product, but on the creators. The real villains are the scientists who designed them, and the message is one that Trek has made in many episodes going back to both pilots: there are no shortcuts; shortcuts of hard problems of human nature only cause more problems than you solve; using science and technology as a cureall *really* causes problems. (Listen to the analysis of McCoy’s speech about the Eugenics scientists.)    Kahn is written as a product of ambitious scientists trying to design the perfect person: arrogant; self-assured; entitled to take what he wants; utter lack of empathy; sociopathic; he speaks with great arrogance. This makes him an unlikable character, even as a villain. Montalban’s performance elevates him.   Marla McGivers: another problematic representation of a female character. Kahn’s relationship with McGivers: Not only was it over the top misogyny (that some producers objected too even by 1966 standards), other parts were cliche and predictable. Too many of his scenes are devoted to portraying him as a virile sex object, the long scene pulling down her hair in the mirror being a prime example. All that and more in the podcast.

In this episode, an analysis of the third quarter of Season 1 of Star Trek, where we cover the following episodes: The Menagerie Parts I and II Shore Leave The Squire of Gothos Arena The Alternative Factor Tomorrow is Yesterday The Return of the Archons We discuss narrative structure; science-fiction and technobabble elements; world building, including a tally of the new planets and aliens that are introduced; representation of diversity on screen, and the quality of female representation; common themes, and the overall ranking of episodes.   

In this podcast: The Return of the Archons One of Season One’s more science-fiction-y episodes, with many great Trekian themes Kirk talks a computer into frying its own circuits–not for the first or last time! One of Roddenberry’s top 10 episodes (of course he wrote it).

In this podcast: The Star Trek franchise’s very first time-travel romp; sets the precedent for Trek’s mix of time travel and fish-out-of-water comedy; thoughts on why TOS’s long lasting narrative tropes need to be retired in the era of Star Trek: Discovery.

In this episode: The Alternative Factor, Star Trek’s first W.T.F episode. The plot is a mess, but it did give us one of TOS’s few strong female black guest roles, and that classic closing line… What of Lazarus…?

In this podcast: Revisiting Season 8 of the X-Files, how Mulder was abducted and returned, then killed off and resurrected; how the mythology can convey great drama and pathos, but the ultimate end points and explanations ring hollow in late seasons.

In this podcast, a discussion of the narrative structure of the first half of season one. Serialized Frame with Stand Alone Episodes 1-2: Premier (Prologue) 3-5: Ripper Arc 6-8: Stand Alone Arc 9: Fall Finale (Chapter 1 Conclusion) Pacing Every episode has that fast-paced, must-defuse-the-bomb-in time segment: Pacing (ticking clock) Moral Decision Point Premier 1 Vulcan Hello Burnham/Klingon Vessel The mutiny 2 Battle of Binaries The battle Gorgious sacrifice to beam over; Burnham’s life sentence Ripper Arc 3 Context is for Kings Mystery of Dsc, and Ripper attack Burnham/ Lorca’s decision to stay on Dsc 4 Butcher’s Knife Figuring out Spore drive to save the dilithium mine Using Ripper 5 Choose your Pain Lorca escape from Klingon ship Using Ripper/ Stamets Stand Alone Arc 6 Lethe Rescuing Sarek Sarek’s choice 7 Magic Mudd’s Bomb None 8 Si Vis Fight Saru Saru’s decision to strand them on Phavo Fall Finale 9 Into the Forest Battle with Koll, 133 jumps Lorca’s decision to push Stamets to jump + Stamets decision to quit Plot Contrivances A plot contrivance happens when a writer needs something to happen–an action sequence, getting two characters into a room together, etc–and there is no previously established reason for that to happen. Contrivances have a negative connotation because we want our stories to have meaning, and we want our storytellers to follow a set of narrative rules and standards, ie not just making it up without any attempt at craft or artistry. We want a story. This creates problems: the insertion of story elements to juice up the action that seem significant in the moment but are not used again. They do not carry meaning beyond their immediate purpose. This creates bad feelings for two reasons: 1) we feel a bit cheated by the hollowness of the moment; 2) we know we don’t have to ever think about this again, which means, as Trek fans, or any genre fans, we don’t need to hold it very high in our head canon.   These kind of Contrivances work when: The resulting action is satisfying enough that we overlook the contrivance The contrivance is elevated to something greater through integration with other narrative elements such as character or theme List of Plot Contrivances: T’Kuvma (and the Klingons) His ships: Sarcophagus and Clever Space Bugs (Species GS54) Ripper Dilithium Mine Lorca’s Escape from the Prison Ship Sarek in Distress Mudd’s Time Bomb The Phavans Kol

In this podcast: An analysis of “Arena” with strong elements of science-fiction, theme, and world building (including the first mention of the Federation and Photon Torpedoes). Plus a major Star Trek: Discovery easter egg: how to watch “Arena” as a companion piece to Discovery’s two-part premier.   

In this podcast, my “not a fan, not not a fan” cohost Vince and I discuss the first three episodes of Discovery: Burnham’s No-Win Scenario Our hopes and predictions Vince’s impressive knowledge of Lord of the Ring and Harry Potter trivia

In this episode: A literary analysis of The Squire of Gothos, from Vietnam analogies to connections to Q. Two Star Trek: Discovery easter eggs the writers snuck into TOS 50 years before Discovery was created. Really.   

In this podcast: An analysis of “Shore Leave.”

In this podcast: An analysis of TOS’s only two parter, “The Menagerie.” Why Star Trek’s first, rejected pilot “The Cage” was resurrected in this episode. How much of the world building, diversity and inclusivity, and thematic elements that became the hallmark of the series were evident in “The Cage.”

In this podcast: We perform a mid-season analysis of the first season of Star Trek . 2nd Quarter Trends: no technobabble; world building is fleshed out with Starfleet Command; strong roles for women and people of color; dominant theme of humanism being superior to technology. Overall, a weaker batch of episodes than the first quarter of season one.  

In this podcast: Justin introduces his co-host for the Discovery series: Vincent Marigna, who happens to be his husband, and who offers a unique perspective by being “not a fan, but not a hater either.” We discuss our visit to the Original Series sets of Trekonderoga and meeting Nichelle Nichols with our daughter, and our approach for how we are going to cover the new Trek series in future podcasts.

In this podcast: Kirk goes on trial and we meet Samuel T Cogley, attorney at law. In some stirring monologues, Star Trek firmly establishes itself as a sci-fi show that values the human over technology. A strong diversity episode with a black Commodore who dresses down Kirk, and a strong woman who prosecutes him.  

In this podcast: A very 60s episode about how a powerful military can’t squash a more primitive enemy, and a black man goes toe-to-toe with a white superior officer without it being about race–yeah, this episode has nothing to say to 2017.

In this episode: Star Trek does Shakespeare for the first but by no means the last time. Kirk continues his habit of seducing women to get close to a criminal mastermind–this time with another TOS sexist female stereotype character. And she hides a phaser on overload in the most easily foiled murder plot ever.

In this podcast: Another case of the producers hammering home the idea that Star Trek should not  be be written as straight Science-Fiction An exploration about how this episode used the parallel Earth trope, and how future Trek writers tried to explain/retcon its use for Miri’s World A takedown of the episode’s premise: 300 year old children would not act this… childish.

In this podcast: A fascinating window into the producers’ views on how to avoid technobabble and other science-fiction cliches The first episode that depicts Kirk as a cad, and not just because he kisses a sexy android Another average episode about a mad scientist who lacks clear motivation for his dastardly deeds–didn’t this happen in last week’s episode?

In this episode: Why this TOS episode earns its reputation as one of the most disappointing–it could have been great but unravels in the last act. Poor Nurse Chapel–why she is not well loved, even by the actress who played her. But it can’t be all bad when you have a dead alien race called the Old Ones killed off by their android progeny (Take note Silicon Valley singularity hustlers).

In this episode we discuss: Why this classic is good but by no means perfect Roddenberry’s explanation of why NOT to use technobabble and HOW to avoid it More world building: still no mention of Starfleet or a Federation More on Kirk’s inner conflict and how it explains his deep friendship with Spock Oh, and we get one of the best alien species introductions in all of Star Trek: the Romulans

In this episode of Masterpiece Science-Fiction Theater we look at the narrative trends over the first 7 episodes of Star Trek. Listen for the analysis, but you can see some of the tabulations below: Narrative Structure Antagonist Type Monster Episode: a non-human, mysterious antagonist puts the ship and/or crew in danger     Where No Man… (1) The Man Trap (5) Charlie X (6) The Corbomite Maneuver (2) The Enemy Within (4) 71% Action/Adventure: a human(oid) antagonist or a force drives the conflict; the ship and crew overcome a series of obstacles to achieve a goal The Naked Time (7) Mudd’s Women (3) 29% Narrative Type Boiling the Frog Plot: introduce a threat and ratchet up its danger over several acts Where No Man… The Man Trap Charlie X 43% Dodgeball Plot: continuous pile on of multiple conflicts and narrative threads The Corbomite Maneuver Mudd’s Women The Enemy Within The Naked Time 57% World Building Michael Okuda: Whenever you have an invented universe, the most important thing is your look, your style. Even if you have a huge budget, you can’t really build a Starship enterprise, you cannot really build Star Fleet Command. What you can do is suggest it and let the audience’s mind fill it in. So you do you do that? It turns out, you pick a style, you pick a particular color planet, a particular way of shooting things, a particular way of shooting visual effects, a particular way of telling stories, and that becomes your style. And once you define that, if you defined it well, if you believe in it, if your stories believe in it, the audience will by into it.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHOpSrDwZNM 5 planets–all desolate and deserted or near-deserted: WNM: Delta Vega Mudd’s Women: Rigel 12 Enemy Within: Alpha 177 Man Trap: M-113 Naked Time: Psi 2000 Charlie X: Thasus TNG Season 1 comparison: Encounter; Lonely Among Us (Antica and Selay): 2 of first 6 are exclusively about admission to the federation. 9 of 25 episodes (36%) are either have either the A plot or the B plot be about the Enterprise settling a political dispute between different worlds or between the Federation and an alien group (and I’m not counting the Ferengi, Klingon or Romulan episodes)    Final Analysis Masterpiece (5 points) Corbomite Maneuver The Naked Time 10 Classic (4 points)   Where No Man Enemy Within Man Trap Charlie X 16 Average Outing (3 points)   2 Dime Store Paperback (2 points)   Mudd’s Women Hackish Drivil (1 point) Total Score 28  

In this podcast episode I discuss my big take aways from the first Discovery trailer. If you have not see it yet, here is the link to Trekmovie’s screen cap breakdown. Also, if you have not read my piece on the implications of Sonequa Martin-Green’s Commander Burnham being the lead character but NOT the captain, check it out here.

In this episode: A return to the Trekian theme of absolute power corrupting absolutely, this time with a hormonal teen Some interesting world-building tidbits: our first non-Enterprise Earth ship Discussion of the studio conflict with Roddenberry over ship-board versus planet-based stories (Spoiler Alert: Roddenberry won) The first Trek episode written by a woman: D.C. Fontana

In this Episode: An explanation of why Spock became the most iconic Trek character Why this episode is the one of the most consequential episodes of the Trek franchise How Spock invented time travel, and how Star Trek might have become Time Trek Kirk, Spock and Queer Theory–because why not?

In this episode: Boy oh boy, the critics really did not like this first episode of Star Trek to premier on TV Uhura gets a great few scenes–is her fourth episode the highlight of her character’s career? We look at the the conflict between the original writer and Roddenberry’s re-writes, and how it resulted in another great Kirk speech Also, I know it’s Nancy CRATER not CARTER. I’m not a bad fan, just a bit dyslexic

In this episode: It took only four episodes for a transporter accident to happen–and I thought it was the safest way to travel How “The Enemy Within” is an improvement on its literary forbearer Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde The first show written by an established sci-fi author, Richard Matheson, and it shows: a deep, multi-faceted exploration of the theme of the primacy of human intellect. Credit where credit is due: an enlightened and sophisticated depiction of a rape accusation by a low-ranked woman (Rand) against her superior officer (Kirk)  

In this episode: Mudd’s Women: some fans love it, others wish they could forget it Justin discusses the show’s feminist strengths (yes, there are some) and problems A historical mini-lesson on “wiving settlers” and mail-order brides The world-building that Mudd’s Women contributes to the series cannot be ignored A Star Trek: Discover update–implications for Mudd’s return

In this episode: The Corbomite Maneuver: how Trek self-parodied its technobabble decades before technobabble became something to parody The introduction of Uhura and Yeoman Rand Discussion of how people of color are represented on Star Trek versus other sci-fi franchises Interesting facts about how much the Trek actors were paid

In this episode: Justin explains the four literary elements he will us to analyze the first season of Star Trek The Original Series: Narrative Tension; World Building; Diversity & Inclusivity; The Message Discussion of how the Star Trek Universe was first introduced to viewers A feminist defense of Trek’s first female lead character, Dr. Dehner The first Kirk Speech! Also, how this is all preparation for the new Star Trek series on CBS, Star Trek: Discovery