1/2
The people of Dramia are real ingrates. The Enterprise comes to deliver medical supplies and they wind up arresting Dr. McCoy. Last time he was in the nabe he helped innoculate the population and this is thought to have led to a widespread plague. Some sleuthing, however, shows that it was something else. (I don’t remember what exactly, I saw this a few days ago already.) Best is when the crew get sick: they all turn deep blue. McCoy and Spock (working together!) save the day.
Dumb.
There are dozens of good pictures and little videos I may put up in the next few days, but this one kinda says it all.
It took a long time for me to get caught up with Battlestar Galactica and I wasn’t going to let a vacation get in the way. So I blew the dust off the VHS and set the clock and — Jay Leno be damned! — the sucker actually worked. I felt kinda gross for using such old technology. . .but it was better than watching in in 10 minute blocks on YouTube or buying it off of iTunes. Next I’ll be telling you I only listen to vinyl.
Bo Diddley doesn’t just tour with a middle-aged female in his band, he tours wih TWO middle-aged females in his band. (Bass and Hammond B3.) Truly radical.
He also tells stories about how the Bo Diddley beat keeps a lunchmeat sandwich in his ice box and farina in his bowl.
And he gives the most embarrasing rap since Rodney Dangerfield.
God bless Bo Diddley!
Spock’s Vulcan physiology usually saves the day (inner eyelid, copper-based blood, etc) but this time it makes him the only one susceptible to a disease. There’s an antidote, but it is too far away! Starfleet sets up a rendezvous with a dilithium cargo ship that can pick up the drug, but the window is tight — certainly too tight to fight off any Orion Pirates! Holy ticking clock, Batman! And these Orion Pirates are such jerks! Don’t they know Spock is about to drop dead? I really got into this one — I practically moved a few centimeters toward the edge of the couch, hence slightly stirring me from my near comatose state of all-day marathon Animated Star Trek viewing. I then belched, scratched myself, and slipped further into lethargy.
1/2
Muslims in Space? Not so much — yet the term Jihad as “Holy War” is also used by a race of bloodthirsty yellow birdmen called the Skorr (not to be confused with the Aurelians.) The Skorr have pacified over the years thanks to a now deceased elder whose spirit lives in a holy shrine. But the shrine has been stolen and placed on a dangerous planet in a roundabout attempt to lure the Skorr back into their old crypto-Islamofascist ways. So a ragtag group of super guys (including Kirk, Spock, a bossy Skorr, a grunting rock man, a whiny & vaguely Hebraic lizard-ly lock-picker and a tough tracker chick who is totally hot for Kirk) go on a search. In other words: ample room for spinoff should this series take off. They find the spirit (a giant glowing shoelace) and then there’s a not-very-surprising turnabout. In the end, all is well.
A race of hyper-intelligent space walruses put humans in a zoo. Until Scotty convinces them not to. Along the way, lots of dumb looking monsters that look lame.
1/2
There’s no way an 8 yr old kid watching Saturday morning cartoons could follow this episode. I certainly couldn’t. Apparantly, a gajillion years ago, all the known galaxy was very different. There were plenty of different life forms, but they all lived under the yoke of the Slavers. But all that is gone & all of creation (the Humans, Vulcans, Andorians, Klingons, etc.) started from scratch again. The only thing that is left of this early pre-pre-history are in a handfull of glowing yellow boxes that exist outside of time. (You with me so far? We’re only about two minutes into the episode.) Anyway, these boxes, much like the Question Mark boxes in Super Mario Brothers contain different things. The box could have a cool star chart, the box could be a booby trap. The box could be empty. Or the box could have a weapon of unimaginable power!!!! And the only way to find a box is to have a box act as a beacon.
Okay, so . . .shwew. . .glad we got that out of the way. Now: on to the episode! Spock, Uhura and Sulu are captured by Cat People who want to eat them. And they can read your thoughts. How do you stop them? Think about vegetables!!! Why? ‘Cause the Cat People hate vegetables!!! (We’re now, like, six minutes into the episode.)
Finally the box is open. A green gizmo with lots of cool functions and so obviously NOT a prototype for a new toy by Mattel is displayed. At first it seems like nothing the Federation don’t already got. Until it is discovered that it actually has. . . unimaginable power!!!!!!.
Mr. Sulu is kind’ve in control of this episode, and that’s about the only thing going for it. Who doesn’t want to see more Sulu? See, the Cat People are sexist and won’t deal with Uhura. . .and they won’t talk to Spock either because he is a vegetarian (I’d kinda forgotten that about Spock. . .but who can forget that great quote from All Our Yesterdays, when Spock remarks with disgust at his own behavior: “I have eaten animal flesh and I’ve enjoyed it!”) Anyway, as a result, it is Sulu’s time to shine. Too bad it is in such a dumbass episode.
Something’s gone fishy! Spock and Kirk have gills! The Enterprise’s cool aquacraft is attacked by a flaming squid monster and some Mer-pacifists save Spock & Kirk (against the protestations of their uptight reactionary leadership who don’t trust those nasty air-breathers!) Then there’s some race against the clock and everyone is happy at the end. I kinda forget. But I love seeing Kirk considering to command the Enterprise from inside a fish tank!
A space Bermuda triangle where disparate species live in unambitious peace. A decent premise devolves into Klingon cat-and-mouse.
Star Trek comes to Tiny Town. A beam makes everyone on board go shrinky-dink (hence jerry-rigging nets to push console buttons) but not for the evil purposes you might think. Entertaining! I’m begginning to make peace with The Animated Series and its rushed 22 minute story structure. Maybe I’m just that easy.
I’ve long been a fan of Van Morrison. I don’t want to sound like a pussy or nothin’, but I find his music very soothing, spiritual and incredibly emotional. I can’t tell you which is his best album or even his best style. (He’s changed so much over the years.) I loved the albums “Days Like This” and “The Healing Game” that came out in the mid-90s, and when I saw him live at this time (at Randall’s Island) I was convinced I’d never see a better live concert.
Anyway, for those that just know him from the hits, you should dig up an early album called “Saint Dominic’s Preview.” On it is a song also called “Saint Dominic’s Preview” that might just be the best individual track he ever recorded. I don’t know why it wasn’t a hit.
I first heard this song when I was, say, 18 or 19 and it instantly takes me back to that time. I can’t say I know what the hell he is talking about (why would a Saint have a preview?) and I never bothered to investigate. The specifics of the lyrics are much less important to me than the generalities of the emotion in the singing and the song.
I was lucky enough to find the song online here. Tell me if you agree.
This doc goes to such lengths to paint Duke Ellington as an asshole that my sympathies went full circle and I started to hate Strayhorn. If the guy screwed you out of credit so many times why didn’t you just find work somewhere else? Anyway, there are some interesting moments here and there — Strayhorn comes on like a black Truman Capote in some old footage — but there isn’t too much insight into either the man or his music. I’m sick to death of straight vox pop docs about great dead people.
1/2
Harry Mudd is back! I really dig Harry Mudd. Space pirate with the vague Irish brogue, more of a pest than anything else. This time he is caught selling snake oil that actually works. A love potion! And Nurse Chapel uses it on Spock! (I gotta say, Nurse Chapel is a lot sexier in animated form then she is in real life — Spock catches a break here.) Also, the weird Catwoman who sits in for Lt. Uhura (Lt. M’ress, a Caitian, if you must know) falls for Scotty.
But one attempted kidnapping and a battle with some rock monsters later and things wind up back to normal. You can trust that Spock describes his emotional outburst as most illogical.
A revisitation of the episode Shore Leave. When you lose the camp factor of the original, you find yourself quite bored.
Now’s as good a time as any to state this: I love the music of TAS. But unlike the original show, there is much less of it — meaning, there are only three (I think) themes they could afford to record. . .so they re-use it over and over again. My favorite is the action music, with its blasting trumpets and driving strings. I hear it now whenever I turn a corner.
