The Menagerie, Part 1

Welcome to procrastination station currently inhabited by ME! I have this paper due on Wednesday (or Friday… apparently my current professor is encouraging procrastination) and I have not started it yet. One reason is that I am a little more than frustrated with the way this class has been run. Two, I’m not that into this content area. I had originally thought ABA would be interesting and a possible second master’s degree… NOPE! The third reason is that It is summer and there are always better things to do than work on a paper. So here I am writing a blog instead of a paper, but right after this I am hunkering down and getting at least a few parts of the paper written.

Today’s Workout-

Treadmill: 2.2 miles and 254 calories burned (I even ran for about a total of 4 minutes in a 1 on 1 off cycle)

The Menagerie, Part 1

Well about 15 weeks into production the executives figured out they were running out of scripts and that the episodes were taking a long time to finish in post production. They also had about 90 minutes of pilot footage that was to go unused as that pilot was not approved for TV. The solution was simple… write a simplistic storyline in which the footage from the pilot could be used, thus The Menagerie was born. Star Trek-The Original Series’ only two part episode, though it uses only about 40 minutes of new footage to tell the story.

In this episode Spock hijacks the Enterprise to return his former captain, Christopher Pike to Talos IV,  a planet they visited 13 years ago. Captain Pike has been severely injured in a starship accident and is paralyzed and unable to communicate, except for a light that blinks to represent yes and no. I know it was a plot device but we have far surpassed this level of technology about 20 years ago. Now we have dynamic speech output devices that people with communication disorders can use. I love how so much of the technology in Star Trek is starting to become reality.

But back to the Show… The Enterprise leaves orbit without Kirk, who departs in a shuttlecraft to pursue Spock. The Shuttle looses power and Spock is obligated to rescue his captain and the commodore from the starbase. Once on the ship Spock is court martialed for mutiny. During the trial Spock shows footage from the mission 13 years ago (pilot footage). The transmissions are revealed to be coming from Talos IV. To add more drama, visiting Talos IV is punishable by the death penalty. The episode end here with the trial in progress and Kirk not understanding Spock’s motives.