I finally discovered that a San Fran channel shows the suped-up TOS on Sat/Sun at midnight. So for the past few weeks I’ve been DVRing them for my own little random rewatch. First got Devil in the Dark followed by The Enterprise Incident, two real classics. Last weekend was Spock’s Brain. I remember that one leaving quite an impression on me as a kid, but it I really see that it doesn’t hold up well once your into you’re third dacade or so. The story that Someone here told about it being a joke plot presented by the writer does make some sense. But it’s great to see how the cast still try to sell it though…
Got the blu ray of the first season and LOVING it! Has the option to switch back and forth between the original and enhanced versions.
That was Pike…um I mean…Wheelie Cyberman.
Transform!
Isn’t that what I said? 
No, Someone is somebody else entirely.
Oh, are you That One?
Wow…I had totally missed this thread…ha!!
So anyway, as I was nudged to come over during the Prometheus discussion…I’m about 80% through the series so I’m going to lay out some general observations:
– I’ve said this before…Rodenberry got lucky they told him to re-do the entire cast…imagine TOS with Pike and the dull vanilla cast it had for the pilot episode…oiii…
– there is ZERO continuity between episodes…you can literally watch them at random and not miss a thing…a few episodes ago, McCoy was terminally ill and the people on the asteroid planet had the cure in their files…I’d have liked to seen that story carry on (I’m assuming this is how network TV was back then that’s all)
– the Blu-Ray upgraded visual effects…AWESOMMMMEEEE 
– I can’t imagine any military allowing their captain, the XO and the chief suregon going down to every planet and being put in all kinds of danger like they were (Spock makes sense since he was the top science guy in all of Starfleet…but geesh, I’m glad they fixed that with the “captain stays ON the ship” rule in Next Gen)
don’t get me wrong I’m enjoying every second of the re-watch (or for about half of these episodes it’s a first viewing)…it’s AMAZING the political and social commentary they got away with behind the label of “sci-fi”, but I was a little analytical about this as I was watching them all…usually one a night…I really can’t target a favorite episode…though I still hate the damned Apollo episode to high holy heaven /end rant
I’ll add more as I think about it
Uh-oh. Them’s fightin’ words, Scott.
Now, I am not a Shatner-hater. I have nothing but respect and affection for the entire original series cast. That said, “The Menagerie” has always been my favorite TOS episode, not only for the “framing material” with the cast everyone knows and loves, but also for the material from “The Cage.” I think Roddenberry created several very compelling characters. Pike clearly shares Kirk’s courage and intelligence - we are catching him at a low moment, remember, shortly after the fight on Rigel VII. Kirk had his “down” moments, too (e.g., his anxiety about everyone looking to him to make a decision in “Balance of Terror” - but, like Pike, Kirk pulls it together when he needs to, on the bridge, in the center seat). Especially in some of the scenes cut in order to make “The Menagerie,” we see flashes of Pike’s humor, too: “As in all ship’s doctors are dirty old men.” “What are we running here, a cadet ship?” (Yes, we also see flashes of Pike’s sexism - “can’t get used to having a woman on the bridge” hardly seems right in the Trek universe as we woud come to know it - but it was the 1960s.) “The Cage” is really a story about Pike rediscovering his vocation, so that has to be taken into consideration.
Their screen time is necessarily limited, but there are other great characters in “The Cage,” too. Spock is an utter engima, and enigmas are always intriguing. Number One reveals hints of a lot going on beneath the surface (note her reaction when Pike tells her she can’t lead the landing party to Talos IV; and, in a cut scene, her reaction in the “coda” when Yeoman Colt asks Pike, “Who would’ve been Eve?”). Dr. Boyce is a delightful character - that “doctor bartender” scene is one of my favorites from all of TOS. “Who wants a warm martini?” indeed?
there is ZERO continuity between episodes
Granted this is mostly the case, but not always. Harry Mudd shows up twice, after all.
Still, glad to hear that overall you are enjoying the viewing!
Hockey player loves fighting…it’s all good
I’ll also concede that it took half the first season to see Kirk chasing skirts, McCoy and Spock banter…and all that would have probably done the same with the original cast…but the cast we all know famously had a unique chemistry and that is hard to account for…it is a fun “what if” game though…
Spock SMILED in the pilot…that still weirds me out…
Harry Mudd was about the only thing I can remember carrying over
I wonder if continuity between episodes had been more prevalent back then would we have seen Pike and Co perhaps on another ship and done some cross-overs, though how he got his pilot on TV anyway was genius (and that was the lone two-part’er)
Nerdist has a new podcast produced by Roddenberry Entertainment, dedicated to all the series, one episode at a time, starting with TOS:
http://www.nerdist.com/podcast/mission-log-a-roddenberry-star-trek-podcast/
oh hells yes … clicking the download button now
OB
BAM!! Subscribed.
I’ve listened the first two. It’s great! Deep, thot provoking, but they dont take them selves too seriously
I’m watching TOS on Netflix for the first time with my husband. He’s a fan, and has seen the series before, but I’m not very familiar with it at all. We’re only up to the 4th episode. The pilot was rather dull, and I had no idea Shatner was not even in it! And Spock’s character was very different in the early episodes. Why did he look so jaundiced? But I’m looking forward to watching the series properly, and in order.
I’ll post more in this thread as we watch more episodes.
Regarding coloration in 60s television … this might help put it in perspective …
OB
Evolutiongirl also told me about this podcast at the meetup, and I have listened to 2 episodes so far. I really like the behind the scenes info they give in the podcast. The quick episode recap is helpful as well.
As far as watching episodes, I have completed both parts of The Menagerie. Not very far into the series, I know! After the Trek forum talk at the meetup, I have been inspired to keep going and watch all the episodes. There’s definitely a different feel to this series compared to TNG, which was the first Trek series I watched. I know a little of the TOS characters from the movies, so seeing them in these early episodes is enjoyable. I feel like I am learning so much about them now in greater detail.
And now I can say I know where FrakkinTalos got his forum name from!
I truly envy you the ability watch Trek fresh and new. It is so inherent in my personal history I cannot recall when I first watch Kirk and company. Kind of like learning to swim. I’m sure I was taught, I just have always known how
OB
One of us. One of us. One of us.
MissionLog is OSSIM!
Recently, they’ve posted “Discovered Documents”. All you Trek folk out there, check 'em out.
That scene at the end of the pilot to see Spock smiling and laughing just kinda still hurts my brain to this day…just so hard to comprehend Vulcans being joy d’vive folks …
Mmm… C’est joie de vivre!!!
But I recall that Roddenberry didn’t know what to do with the vulcan yet.