Star Trek: Season 1 - Episode 6: 'Mudd's Women' (1966) - TV EpisodeReview

Official Score = 1 1/2 Devils 

Star Trek... I mean this show, even by todays standards is one of the best shows that has ever been created for Science Fiction in general, and all of it's subsequent spinoffs are frankly just as good!

The reason for this I believe is the air of possibility that it could actually happen based on the era in which the current form of Star Trek is being made... A great example of this is, 'Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'... This show had everything, the horrors of war, love, loss and tragedy, humor and joy, and everything else surrounding a community of people that are living on a space station!

Now admittedly, the original series took on a strong 'camp' feel to it... But I mean that was the sign of the times in Science Fiction at that time... It still had that aura of potential realism, in a time when mankind is exploring space!

Now you might be wondering why I mention this... Well honestly, the reason that I mention this, is because the latest episode of, 'Star Trek' has to do with one of man's oldest conundrums!

This episode, which stars: William Shatner (The Babysitter), Leonard Nimoy (Invasion Of The Body Snatchers), DeForest Kelley (The Night Of The Lepus), James Doohan (The Duke), George Takei (Heroes), Nichelle Nichols (Drones, Clones & Pheromones), Roger C. Carmel (Transformers: The Movie), Karen Steele (Marty), Maggie Thrett (The Devil's Brigade) & Susan Denberg (Frankenstein Created Women).

Captain Kirk trying to deal with mankind's oldest problems!

Now what I meant by this is that the Enterprise ends up picking up a man and his three traveling companions... Now at first everything seems fine with them... The guy is just escorting Eva McHouron (Karen Steele), Ruth (Maggie Thrett) & Magda (Susan Denberg) to a colony to marry men that are there...

Well there is something more sinister to this group, and as more and more of the men on board the Enterprise becomes hopelessly infatuated with the female guests, it will be up to the Enterprise crew to find out what is going on before they end up on the hook, and ole Harry Mudd (Roger C. Carmel), can take them for all they are worth!

Mudd's women may be a problem for Kirk's men, if they can't find a resolution!

Ultimately this episode is one that won't make much of a difference in the grand scheme of the series... But the truth is, is that it is pretty funny, and it does introduce a character, that even though he would never make it out of the original series, would still go on to be 1 of the top 10 star trek characters of all time, (I am talking about the shyster, 'Harry Mudd'!)

In the end, check it out, it might not be pivotal to the series, but you might have a few good laughs, and some times that is all it takes, eh?

Star Trek: Season 1 - Episode 5: 'The Enemy Within' (1966) - TV Episode Review

[caption id="attachment_325" align="alignright" width="263"] Official Score = 3 Devils[/caption]

One of the things that Star Trek really brought to the world of Science Fiction is the fact that Star Trek brought to the world, the, 'Mirror Universe'! For those of you who don't know what the mirror universe is, it is a universe that is the polar opposite of our dimension, in that some one in our universe who is a happy go lucky type, may end up being a depressed homicidal lunatic, and an Adolph Hitler type in the mirror universe, might be some one who exclusively loves life!

The reason that I mention this, is that before the first, 'Mirror Universe' episode, we got a sneak peak of it with, 'The Enemy Within' (1966)!

Written by: Richard Matheson (The Twilight Zone: The Movie) & Gene Roddenberry (Star Trek: Voyager) & Directed by: Leo Penn (Judgement In Berlin). Starring: William Shatner (Kingdom Of The Spiders), Leonard Nimoy (Invasion Of The Snatchers), DeForest Kelley (Night Of The Lepus), Grace Lee Whitney (Star Trek: The Motion Picture), George Takei (Archer), James Doohan (Birth Of A Timeless Legacy) & Nichelle Nichols (The Cabonauts).

This episode tells the story of how during the investigation of a planet, Captain Kirk (William Shatner), transports back up to the ship....

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="427"] Kirk and Sulu before Kirk transports back to the ship![/caption]

After he transports up, there is an incident that occurs in which, Captain Kirk is split in to 2 different personalities, the first one being everything that is good and right in the world, and the second one being everything that is the absolute definition of pure evil!

And as Kirk is becoming more and more different, the crew of  the Enterprise is going to have to figure out how to fix Kirk before the crew that they had to leave on a planet that is getting colder and colder as the minutes go by, freezes to death!

In the end, this episode is pretty freaking awesome, it will keep you on the edge of your seat, and if you get a chance to see it, then I do recommend it!

http://youtu.be/_AYsdW1RbWw

Star Trek: Season 1 - Episode 4: 'The Naked Time' (1966) - TV Episode Review

[caption id="attachment_325" align="alignright" width="263"] Official Score = 3 Devils[/caption]

One of the signs of a truly great show is when that show entertains audiences generation-ally... A show that you could honestly say that certain episodes that you liked, your parents liked, and hell maybe even Grand Parents liked...

Star Trek is certainly one of these shows!

And you know what? There is one episode in particular that I would say, rather you are a trek fan or not, is an episode that is universally considered to be pretty damn good!

That episode of course being: 'The Naked Time'!

[caption id="attachment_2851" align="aligncenter" width="450"] An infected Hikaru Sulu living out his dream of being a, 'swashbuckler' in the Star Trek: TOS episode, 'The Naked Time'![/caption]

Why is this episode so great you ask? Well, if you can pull it off (and trust me when I say that not all shows can pull this off,) but if you are a serious show that can pull off an episode that makes fun of itself, and still draw in a major crowd and keep them entertained... Then more power to you!
And, 'The Naked Time', is both 2 parts serious, and 2 parts making fun of itself!

You see, this episode, which was written by: John D.F. Black (Shaft) & Directed by: Marc Daniels (I Love Lucy). Starring: William Shatner (Kingdom Of The Spiders), Leonard Nimoy (Fringe), Stewart Moss (Raise The Titanic), Majel Barrett (Star Trek: The Next Generation), DeForest Kelley (Night Of The Lepus), Grace Lee Whitney (Irma La Douce), George Takei (Heroes), James Doohan (Birth Of A Timeless Legacy), Bruce Hyde (That Girl) & Nichelle Nichols (Escape From Heaven).

This episode tells the story of how the Enterprise is sent in to investigate a Science Outpost that had been initially set up to research the collapse of a planet!

[caption id="attachment_2853" align="aligncenter" width="450"] Spock and his team investigating the dead science outpost.[/caption]

Well when Spock (Leonard Nimoy) and his assistant arrive there, the whole base is pretty much dead... With everyone frozen, but having died in strange ways... What I mean is that for example, one person seemed to have frozen to death while in the shower and with all of their clothes on...
After Spock's assistant gets infected, (He takes off his mask to itch his nose and decides not to put it back on)... The Enterprise crew is about to get a new form of drunk... One where they don't have to drink!

The problem is, is that this new type of drunk is killing them, and if they don't figure out how to resolve this, and resolve this quick, well... At least they'll die happy!

The last thing that I thought that I would mention here is that there are two hilarious scene's in this episode that you should look out for involving, 'Sulu' (Takei) in one scene and, 'Kevin Riley' (Bruce Hyde) in a separate one!

Check this one out... You might really enjoy it... I did!

http://youtu.be/-3OsxVGOtdM

Star Trek 2: The Wrath Of Khan (1982) - Movie Review

[caption id="attachment_557" align="alignright" width="307"] Official Score = 3 1/2 Devils[/caption]

Let me ask you guys a question... Which series do you like better? The original Star Trek series or the rebooted series? For me it is a hard question, because the original series was absolutely truly amazing, and the first rebooted movie was truly awesome as well... But the rebooted part 2... meh...

But the original Star Trek 2 is a freaking awesome movie! It had a great cast of original series actors that include the likes of, William Shatner (Kingdom Of The Spiders), Leonard Nimoy (Invasion Of The Body Snatchers), DeForest Kelley (Night Of The Lepus), James Doohan (The Duke), Walter Koenig (Babylon 5), George Takei (Futurama), Nichelle Nichols (Heroes).

This movie brought in a lot of other great actors as well, including: Merrit Butrick (Star Trek: The Next Generation), Paul Winfield (The Terminator), Kirstie Alley (Cheers) & Richardo Montalban (Battleground).

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="450"] The smiling face of the man who wanted everything... And ended up with nothing![/caption]

You see this movie is actually a continuation of an original series TV episode, when after Captain Kirk (William Shatner) & the crew of the, 'U.S.S. Enterprise' maroon a crew of extremely dangerous super men on a planet in the hopes that they can become their own society... They end up breaking free and taking over the Federation Starship, 'U.S.S. Reliant'...

With revenge in his heart, it will be up to Kirk and crew to come together one more time to stop Khan (Ricardo Montalban) from taking out his revenge on not just Kirk and his crew, but also to the rest of the human race that tried to dump him and his group!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="618"] Kirk and crew, when Khan and his followers strand them in an underground paradise.[/caption]

In the end, this movie is one of my personal favorite of this series, and if you get a chance, I do recommend checking it out, it is well worth it!

http://youtu.be/UJTi7KJPx_E

Star Trek: Season 1 - Episode: 1, 'The Man Trap' (1966) - TV Episode Review

[caption id="attachment_385" align="alignright" width="353"] Official Score = 2 Devils[/caption]

One of the most important contributions that I really believe that Hollywood has every made, and probably will ever make is creating for the world, 'Star Trek'... Hey I know that sounds cheesy as hell, but it is true! I mean if you really think about it, it is nice to help a city/state/country that just got hit by something massive (I genuinely applaud Hollywood and the rest of the world for their contributions toward helping reconstruct a disaster zone)... But I still think that Hollywood's biggest contribution to the world is, 'Star Trek'!

You see Star Trek in a lot of respects represents humanity at a time where it has expanded beyond it's petty nonsense, and has finally unified in a way that I think at this point in the world that most people just don't believe could happen... And well they do all this while entertaining the world with the adventures of an intrepid, 'Starship', and the problems they have to resolve...

Well the truth is, is I know that I have probably just oversold the whole episode, but despite this episode's mundane trappings... (and I will be honest and say that this episode is amusing, compared to the larger scope though, of a lot of the future episodes, this particular episode kind of suffers from being so mundane... But we will get to that in a moment...)

Written by: George Clayton Johnson (Logan's Run), Gene Roddenberry (Earth: Final Conflict) & Directed by: Marc Daniels (I Love Lucy). Starring: William Shatner (Kingdom Of The Spiders), Leonard Nimoy (Invasion Of The Body Snatchers), Alfred Ryder (True Grit), Jeanne Bal (Company Of Killers), DeForest Kelley (Night Of The Lepus), Grace Lee Whitney (Ironside), George Takei (8) & Nichelle Nichols (Heroes).

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Dr. McCoy (DeForest Kelley) better beware, there is more to this girl then meets the eye![/caption]

The truth is, is that 40 or 50 years ago this episode would I believe have been a little bit more fun, the problem is, is that this episode is almost like a futuristic episode of a, 'Soap Opera' that is set another planet!

You see, this episode tells the story of how the crew of the Starship Enterprise are sent on a mission to give the annual physicals to Professor Robert Crater (Alfred Ryder) and his wife, 'Nancy' (Jeanne Bal), the only problem is that Nancy Crater happens to be a former love interest of Dr. McCoys!

So at first, with the exception of the fact that Dr. McCoy is a little to nervous to see Nancy, and Professor Crater not really wanting the Enterprise crew there, also ordering an obscene amount of salt, everything seems to be fine... That is until the first crewman dies... And then more and more...

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="594"] Kirk (WIlliam Shatner) and Spock, (Leonard Nimoy) as they find another dead crewman on the planet.[/caption]

And as the Enterprise crew is dying off one by one, the crew is going to have to find out what the Craters are hiding before what they are hiding ends up killing them!

In the end though,  this episode may not be the best, but if you keep with the show, I think you might find that it gets better and better!

http://youtu.be/vqfx3wuqjBI

Star Trek Season 1 - Episode 3 - Pilot 2: 'Where No Man Has Gone Before' - TV Episode Review

[caption id="attachment_322" align="alignright" width="258"] Official Score = 1 1/2 Devils[/caption]

Since I was a kid I have always strongly gravitated to the Science Fiction genre... Rather it be with the, 'Alien' movie series, or even, 'Futurama' on TV... Science Fiction often times gives the viewer an awesome opportunity to glimpse in the many different awesome or scary futures... And none does both better, and really gives a potential look at mankind in a few hundred years than it does in, 'Star Trek'!

Rather it be the original crew of the, 'U.S.S. Enterprise' as they boldly go where no man has gone before, or on, 'Deep Space Nine' as humanity tries to help out many races on many war torn planets to finally resolve the issue facing them and get their worlds so that they can become sustainable again, all of these shows truly give a great example of what mankind could be doing in a few hundred years from now, but in a way that most of the time is pretty fun an entertaining sort of way!

I just wish Star Trek Season 1, Episode 3 (rather known as the second pilot), 'Where No Man Has Gone Before' still held that kind of sway... But we will get in to that in a moment!

Written by: Samuel A. Peeples (A Real American Hero), Gene Roddenberry (Star Trek: The Next Generation) & Directed by: James Goldstone (Earth Star Voyage). Starring: William Shatner (Disaster On The Coastliner), Leonard Nimoy (Invasion Of The Body Snatchers), Gary Lockwood (2001: A Space Odyssey), Sally Kellerman (MASH), George Takei (Heroes), James Doohan (Through Dead Eyes), Paul Carr (Raise The Titanic) & Paul Fix (El Dorado)

In this latest episode, the Star Ship Enterprise is attempting to go outside the Galaxy, and also while doing so, end up coming to discover an ancient human distress beacon from a human ship by the name of, 'Intrepid'...

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="665"] The crew of the, 'U.S.S. Enterprise' as they are about to head out of the Galaxy![/caption]

Well when they bring it on, obviously their is a lot of damage to it, but it is weird, you see this recorder talks about how after the, 'Intrepid' was sucked out of the galaxy and managed to make it back in, and how after that, everything fell apart and eventually the Captain of that ship had to blow it up...

Well the Enterprise is about to find out the truth about the Intrepid... You see, they did end up going outside of the Galaxy, and while there, a strange energy entered the ship almost everybody it attacked, with the exceptions of: Lieutenant Commander Gary Mitchell (Gary Lockwood) and Doctor Elizabeth Dehner (Sally Kellerman)... But it is changing them slowly!

You see, it turns out that both Dehner and Mitchell have high esper ratings, and the energy that went after them seems to be giving them powers... Well as Mitchell seems to be getting more and more powerful, and more and more crazy with the power he is getting, and with Captain Kirk and Gary Mitchell being friends, it looks like Kirk may end up having to sacrifice his friend to save his ship!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="594"] Kirk as he is trying to destroy the far to powerful, 'Gary Mitchell'![/caption]

In the end, I know that a lot of people like this episode, and to be fair I did when I first watched it as well... But the truth is, is that this episode still has it's moments, but at this point at least for me, I have found that this episode is stale, dull and old and out of date... frankly boring!

Besides that though, if you are just getting started with the series, stick with it, if you like what you have seen so far, then trust me when I say it is definitely worth continuing on!

http://youtu.be/kdrQmE7KhdM

Batman Beyond: Season 1 - Episode 1: 'Rebirth Part 1' - TV Episode Review

[caption id="attachment_325" align="alignright" width="263"] Official Score = 3 Devils[/caption]

When I was a kid one of my favorite shows was, 'Batman: The Animated Series' It was sleek, it was dark, it was cool, and it had finally dropped all that campy stuff that made Batman so popular from the 60s through the 80s!

So when I discovered, 'Batman Beyond' in the early 2000s, I found the concept of, 'What if Bruce Wayne had to retire and pass the mantle of, 'Batman' to the next generation' and what that would be like.  Now I will admit that I have not really seen to many episodes of this new series yet, but I will admit that so far, that I have found this show to be pretty awesome!

And so far, starting with Episode 1 of Season 1, the show has been a great way to start... But we will get in to that in a moment!

Written by: Alan Burnett (Superman), Paul Dini (Batman Beyond: Return Of The Joker) & Directed by: Curt Geda (Ultimate Avengers). Starring: Will Friedle (Boy Meets World), Kevin Conroy (Batman), Teri Garr (Tootsie), Michael Gross (Tremors), Sherman Howard (Day Of The Dead), George Takei (Star Trek) & Lauren Tom (Futurama).

This first episode tells the story of how 50 years in the future, Gotham City is a whole different place... The technology of the future is there, including hover cars, and an over grown bustling Gotham City... The only problem is that Batman retired years ago, and the Police are essentially under the control of, 'Derek Powers' (Sherman Howard)...

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Derek Powers (Sherman Howard) as he is having a frank discussion with Warren McGinnis (Michael Gross)... And boy is it the discussion of a life time![/caption]

Now Derek Powers is an up and coming billionaire playboy who is slowly replacing Bruce Wayne (Kevin Conroy)... Being that Powers is buying up Wayne Enterprises one company at a time!

But there is a secret that Derek Powers is harboring, and it will hit the McGinnis family pretty hard!

You see after his fight with his father, Terry McGinnis (Will Friedle) takes off to go and be with his girl friend, 'Dana' (Lauren Tom)... While there Terry is confronted by, 'The Jokerz' a street gang that modeled themselves after the legend of the original, 'Joker'!

Well in the end, they chase Terry up to Wayne Manor... Once there McGinnis meets an aged Bruce Wayne, who helps McGinnis take down the, 'Jokerz' and after helping Bruce up to, 'Wayne Manor', Terry ends up accidentally stumbling on to the Batcave and discovers who Batman really is! Well after he gets home and discovers that his father is dead and decides to enlist Bruce's help in trying get vengeance...

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="600"] It's gonna be like a buddy cop movie, ya know?[/caption]

Since this is a 2 parter, stay tuned for part 2 of this review!

In the end though, the acting in this episode was good... Not exceptional, but good... The animation was good... Not exceptional, but good... In the end what really held my interest in this episode was the story! I love stories that quickly establish great back stories... which this episode did really nicely (what with having shown how Bruce Wayne initially retired as, 'Batman'... And it also quickly established a great story and motivation for bringing, 'Batman' back to life!

In the end, this episode was fun, and if this series continues this way, it is sure to get better and better!

http://youtu.be/3ABcSoiDnFQ