# Spock's Brain - worst episode ever? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 14, 2006, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spocks-brain-worst-episode-ever/372702 "2006-09-14T15:54:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spocks-brain-worst-episode-ever/372702/121 "2006-09-20T08:25:48Z")
[QUOTE=DSYoungEsq] But let’s be honest. TOS episodes, with VERY few exceptions, were poor. Very poor. Out of the 78 or so, there are fewer than 25 that are decent. Usually, you have trouble coming up with the good ones; the bad ones, well, they are legion. [/QUOTE] I squirm at the thought of agreeing with you, but you’re probably right. Even so, there’s enough goodness in there that I bought the collection on VHS a while ago 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spocks-brain-worst-episode-ever/372702/122 "2006-09-20T14:48:14Z")
[QUOTE=Pushkin] …I bought the collection on VHS a while ago 🙂 [/QUOTE] The stories of tomorrow, on the technology of yesterday! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Find\_Friends](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@Find\_Friends](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Find_Friends)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spocks-brain-worst-episode-ever/372702/123 "2006-09-20T20:48:00Z")
[QUOTE=Voyager] I’m with you. Antimatter was understood in late '40s sf. with Williamson’s Seetee series. If the bad, antimatter, Lazarus truly came to our universe, kablooey. And no great loss. [/QUOTE] Yeah, there would be quite a HE-GO-BOOM, but only enough to mar one side of a planet, I’d estimate. Two whole universes? (Or was it only two whole Galaxies?) C’mon! And ripples of non-existence? WHAT was up with that? Either Galactic annihilation happens, or it doesn’t. And how did the pencil-pushing bigwig know that the effects were felt in every quandrant of the Galaxy? I’ve heard of news spreading fast, but GOOD GRIEF! Were these ripples related to the ripples of time-distortion in “City”? [QUOTE=Voyager] Do people know that not only did Roddenberry write “Omega Glory,” but it was one of the three scripts written for the potential second pilot? We’re lucky they didn’t pick it. [/QUOTE] Yes, I came across that in one of my first ST TV series books, either “Making of ST” by Whitfield and Roddenberry or “Worlds of ST” by David Gerrold. Probably the first one. OG (hmmmm! – And I’m thinking of changing my SDMB name to “Og Trans Fat”!) may not have been such a bad episode-- originally. I’m thinking about something Bjo Trimble had in her ST Encyclopedia or whatever it was called. She (or someone writing under her) presented the people on that planet as having been descended from Earth. You know, the Space Seeders gimmick. It sure looks like an error on her part or her watch. But it sure makes the “worship” words more plausible. It’s just that several scripts have been reworked, often making something very different. Sometimes it made the episode better, but that would be at the very least questionable in some caes. “City” may have been even better in Ellison’s original submission. Oh sure, maybe _some_ of the changes _had to_ be made, for series continuity. But Edith’s speech to encourage the poverty-stricken folks at her soup kitchen sounded really silly in the episode showing. (I just can’t imagine how relieved I would be to hear her\* speculation\* – or maybe, “gifted insight” – as to how the future spaceship-men of Earth would come back with exxciting new technologies, including the means to end all human want. And I’m imagining myself as I am, pro-science. I think I would be inclined to come up after lunch and ask her if she happened to have any suspended-animation pills, so I could live long enough to enjoy her future vision.) Harlan would never have written anything like that. Everyone could see the hand of man-is-perfectible Gene Roddenberry in that! The Blish adaptations are generally panned, but this one was a composite of what he felt best from all versions. If you have read the motivational speech it just makes a heck of a lot of sense in comparison. It was plausible that Edith at least thought that it would do some good. Maybe to a fairly large audience of Depression-era average men it just might have “reached” one or two present. It was something about how, even in generally very bad circumstances, one can make choices each day that have good or bad results. I’m guessing that if Ellison even had a soup-kitchen speech, it was something like that. He certainly snorted contemptuously at Gene’s creation. * * * True Blue Jack ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2007, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spocks-brain-worst-episode-ever/372702/124 "2007-06-11T04:27:57Z")
So they aired the remastered version of it on Saturday. WTF? There aren’t BETTER episodes to remaster first? How about “The Ultimate Computer,” for one? Sheesh. C’mon, I’ll take a big space battle and Kirk’s angst about being replaced over Spock’s brain getting boosted any day. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2007, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spocks-brain-worst-episode-ever/372702/125 "2007-06-11T11:50:17Z")
[QUOTE=Elendil’s Heir] So they aired the remastered version of it on Saturday. WTF? There aren’t BETTER episodes to remaster first? How about “The Ultimate Computer,” for one? Sheesh. C’mon, I’ll take a big space battle and Kirk’s angst about being replaced over Spock’s brain getting boosted any day. [/QUOTE] And what, pray tell, did they “upgrade” some background shots or something? Some viewscreen visuals? The script? Givers of pain and delight indeed! ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2007, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spocks-brain-worst-episode-ever/372702/126 "2007-06-11T12:20:01Z")
[QUOTE=BMalion] And what, pray tell, did they “upgrade” [/QUOTE] Damn, I deleted it without looking. Probably the space craft at the beginning of the episode. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2007, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spocks-brain-worst-episode-ever/372702/127 "2007-06-11T13:22:36Z")
Some new bits are included in the preview on the [official Star Trek site](http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/series/TOS/episode/68782.html). A new landscape, a shot of the ion ship (not seen on the preview) and an enhanced remote control for zombie spock are all on the menu. Yum. ---
**Author:** ![NoCoolUserName](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5fc32e/32.png) [@NoCoolUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoCoolUserName)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2007, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spocks-brain-worst-episode-ever/372702/128 "2007-06-11T14:15:14Z")
[QUOTE=carnivorousplant] Nor did NASA want to cramp the Saturn V’s style by letting astronauts carry canceled stamps to the moon. 🙂 [/QUOTE] No, no, no. They commissioned the ship as a post office, took UNcanceled stamps and canceled them ON the moon. So they could sell them to collectors to pay for the trip. \*Talk about a hijack! Sorry. Please continue. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Rhosis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@Sir\_Rhosis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Rhosis)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2007, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spocks-brain-worst-episode-ever/372702/129 "2007-06-11T21:32:41Z")
FWIW, you all may like the original Gene Coon (writing as Lee Cronin so as not to get into trouble with Universal whom he was under contract to after he left ST) outline for _Spock’s Brain_ better than the finished episode. I review early drafts of ST scripts (I own the entire first season of scripts, various drafts, and a few from the 2nd and 3rd seasons, plus some other Trek-related material) on a page at a fanfic website. The link is in my sig. SB is under the “Outlines Which Became Episodes” section. Sir Rhosis ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2007, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spocks-brain-worst-episode-ever/372702/130 "2007-06-12T02:38:15Z")
I’m going to say Spock’s Brain was **not** the worst episode only because a) I’ll still watch it for laughs and b) it gave birth to a great gag on the Wonder Years. Kevin and Paul are Kirk and Spock, Winnie and a couple of her friends are the givers of pain and delight. Winnie keeps zapping Kevin with her wrist band torture ray. Turnabout Intruder isn’t the worst, because it showed that an actress playing Kirk could actually out-bad act Shatner playing Kirk. Herbert aside, The Way to Eden is simply unbearable. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2007, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spocks-brain-worst-episode-ever/372702/131 "2007-06-12T12:41:28Z")
[QUOTE=Sir Rhosis] I review early drafts of ST scripts (I own the entire first season of scripts, various drafts, and a few from the 2nd and 3rd seasons, plus some other Trek-related material) on a page at a fanfic website [/QUOTE] A fellow TrekBBSer? ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Rhosis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@Sir\_Rhosis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Rhosis)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2007, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spocks-brain-worst-episode-ever/372702/132 "2007-06-12T23:19:35Z")
^^^There are a couple of us over here. \*\* Aesiron\*\* (if I spelled that right; Hi, Robert) is another. Hey, we can be uber Trek geeks and still wish to have our ignorance fought! 😃 Sir Rhosis ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2007, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spocks-brain-worst-episode-ever/372702/133 "2007-06-14T08:15:47Z")
Well, we need somewhere outside of TNZ for that 😛 ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2007, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spocks-brain-worst-episode-ever/372702/134 "2007-06-15T15:08:36Z")
[QUOTE=Pushkin] Some new bits are included in the preview on the [official Star Trek site](http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/series/TOS/episode/68782.html). A new landscape, a shot of the ion ship (not seen on the preview) and an enhanced remote control for zombie spock are all on the menu. Yum. [/QUOTE] My favorite episode was _The Doomsday Machine_. (The one about a cigar shaped planet eater.) It is listed on that site as being remastered with new special effects. But for me to order it, I have to buy the entire season 2 dvd set. (I clicked on the “buy now” link, and it sent me to the online store with the second season dvd set picked out.) But the description of the dvd set does not include any mention of remastering done to the episodes. (When I click on the individual episode links, I get descriptions of the episodes, and whether they had been remastered, but no real assurances that the remastered episode is on the dvd set…) Does anyone know if all the episodes remastered yet? I don’t want to buy the dvd set(s) until I am sure that the episodes on that set are all finished/remastered… ---
**Author:** ![randwill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@randwill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randwill)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2007, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spocks-brain-worst-episode-ever/372702/135 "2007-06-15T15:25:13Z")
I don’t think the remastered episodes are available for sale yet. I doubt they will be until all the episodes are completed and aired. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2007, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spocks-brain-worst-episode-ever/372702/136 "2007-06-15T15:43:36Z")
[QUOTE=randwill] I don’t think the remastered episodes are available for sale yet. I doubt they will be until all the episodes are completed and aired. [/QUOTE] Okeedokee, thanks. I can wait. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2007, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spocks-brain-worst-episode-ever/372702/137 "2007-06-15T15:45:42Z")
[QUOTE=mlees] My favorite episode was _The Doomsday Machine_. (The one about a cigar shaped planet eater.) It is listed on that site as being remastered with new special effects. [/QUOTE] Shaped more like a carrot or a cornucopia. I’ve seen some snippets of the remastering - it looks good. ---
**Author:** ![kingpengvin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9dc877/32.png) [@kingpengvin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kingpengvin)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2007, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spocks-brain-worst-episode-ever/372702/138 "2007-06-15T16:30:38Z")
[QUOTE=kunilou] Herbert aside, The Way to Eden is simply unbearable. [/QUOTE] Herbert you are so stiff! I reach The Way to Eden. It is so Now! It’s like really. Now I’m gonna clap my hands and jump for joy I got a clean bill of health from Doctor McCoy! ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2007, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spocks-brain-worst-episode-ever/372702/139 "2007-06-15T20:34:46Z")
[QUOTE=mlees] But the description of the dvd set does not include any mention of remastering done to the episodes. (When I click on the individual episode links, I get descriptions of the episodes, and whether they had been remastered, but no real assurances that the remastered episode is on the dvd set…) [/QUOTE] Remember, the remastered versions loose some bits of the episodes to make room for the new shots. In the episode mentioned, The Doomsday Machine, there’s a snippet missing where Decker mentions that he doesn’t suppose Vulcans do bluff. Small, but important. I caught one of the remastered episodes, “The Immunity Syndrome”. Not terribly keen on the new theme, but the new effects are a bit of a hoot. I’d love to see one of the new landscapes from episodes like “Spock’s Brain” or “Amok Time”. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2007, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spocks-brain-worst-episode-ever/372702/140 "2007-06-15T20:39:16Z")
[QUOTE=Malacandra] Shaped more like a carrot or a cornucopia. I’ve seen some snippets of the remastering - it looks good. [/QUOTE] The remastering of “Doomsday Machine” is simply excellent. The _Constellation_ looks like a real ship and not just a model kit, the scaling between the _Enterprise_, the _Constellation_, the planet-killer and the shuttlecraft is consistent (unlike in the original), and the battle scenes are fast-paced and exciting (including a phaser “strafing run” by the _Enterprise_ against the planet-killer). There’s a cool shot as Commodore Decker lifts off in the shuttlecraft from the _Enterprise_’s main landing bay. There’s also a wonderful little detail in the shot of the _Constellation_’s upper primary hull, just before the _Enterprise_ landing party beams over - you can see a piece of planetary debris strike the hull and shatter. My God, I’m such a Trek geek… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spocks-brain-worst-episode-ever/372702.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spocks-brain-worst-episode-ever/372702.md?page=8)