If you get the chance to watch Star Trek The Original Series on Netflix, I highly recommend you do. The episodes are remastered, and all the exterior shots, and images on viewscreens and panels are enhanced. It just makes the show look crisper, with less distracting cheesiness to take away from what it its biggest strength: the scripts.
I just finished watching Season One, and have watched the first episode of Season Two: Amok Time, where Kirk and Spock have to fight "to the death" on Vulcan.
Some things that amazed me:
1. The writing is better than I remembered. There are some truly standout episodes, which really explore some cool ideas.
2. The acting is FAR better than I remembered. Shatner absolutely shines in some of these episodes, and DeForest Kelley and Leonard Nimoy are fantastic. The comradarie between the characters is very enjoyable.
3. The sets are pretty darned good. This is the first Enterprise bridge set, and I don't really see any of the subsequent series' bridges as any kind of improvement over it. It does what it has to do; allow you to suspend disbelief, and feel like the characters are traveling in space.
4. The women are incredibly hot. I don't feel I need to say any more about that.
5. There was nothing they could do about the Gorn Captain. With all the improvements, that actor's cheesy lizard head, with no movement, and Shatner's obvious stunt double make some of the scenes on that episode look a bit like my other favorite sixties sci fi: Doctor Who.
Doctor Who, in that era, was still, for the most part, a children's show. 1966-1968 was the Troughton era, with so many episodes gone. It was a lovely show, but for me, the show really hit its stride in the later Pertwee/Baker era, which means Star Trek: TOS rules as the greatest of early TV Sci-Fi. I do not include such shows as Lost in Space, Time Tunnel, etc, because they simply weren't up to the level of quality, and I don't know if we can accurately call The Twilight Zone sci-fi, as it sort of transcends the genre.
I just finished watching Season One, and have watched the first episode of Season Two: Amok Time, where Kirk and Spock have to fight "to the death" on Vulcan.
Some things that amazed me:
1. The writing is better than I remembered. There are some truly standout episodes, which really explore some cool ideas.
2. The acting is FAR better than I remembered. Shatner absolutely shines in some of these episodes, and DeForest Kelley and Leonard Nimoy are fantastic. The comradarie between the characters is very enjoyable.
3. The sets are pretty darned good. This is the first Enterprise bridge set, and I don't really see any of the subsequent series' bridges as any kind of improvement over it. It does what it has to do; allow you to suspend disbelief, and feel like the characters are traveling in space.
4. The women are incredibly hot. I don't feel I need to say any more about that.
5. There was nothing they could do about the Gorn Captain. With all the improvements, that actor's cheesy lizard head, with no movement, and Shatner's obvious stunt double make some of the scenes on that episode look a bit like my other favorite sixties sci fi: Doctor Who.
Doctor Who, in that era, was still, for the most part, a children's show. 1966-1968 was the Troughton era, with so many episodes gone. It was a lovely show, but for me, the show really hit its stride in the later Pertwee/Baker era, which means Star Trek: TOS rules as the greatest of early TV Sci-Fi. I do not include such shows as Lost in Space, Time Tunnel, etc, because they simply weren't up to the level of quality, and I don't know if we can accurately call The Twilight Zone sci-fi, as it sort of transcends the genre.
