Kirk's Shirt

[Trekfan12]

I was wondering how many times Kirk's shirt got ripped. I was watching "Naked Time" and wondered why McCoy had to tear his shirt in order to give him the shot? It didn't make much sense to me. (also, and I believe I have brought this up before in a previous post, some time ago) Would they have been able to break orbit in the time they had before the Enterprise would have burned up in the atmosphere? They only had 4 mins, maybe 5 according to Kirk. (I just love that scene between him and Spock in the briefing room)

Also why didn't anyone else's shirt ever get ripped? I am assuming they are made out of the same material.

 

[ZapBrannigan]

"The Naked Time" builds to a sensational final act. The Enterprise is about to be destroyed, with only a one in ten thousand chance of reprieve. This is actually a mournful moment. Superb music by Alexander Courage underscores that point. The characters are pretty sure all is lost.

I wonder if Shatner himself suggested McCoy rip Kirk's sleeve as a way of alluding to the rending of garments that is done in traditional Jewish grieving. In Shatner's mind, this would not be so much a religious statement as a way to get high drama across. He had a lot of theatrical flare.

 

[Push The Button]

The very first shirt was ripped in Where No Man Has Gone Before, literally the first Kirk episode. It must have been in Shatner's contract ..

Our friends over at Ex-Astris-Scientia have compiled this wonderful database:
http://www.ex-astris-scientia.org/database/kirks_shirt.htm

 

[scotpens]

As I've mentioned before, in later episodes McCoy's hypospray could give an injection right through clothing. In "The Tholian Web," Kirk gets injected through his spacesuit! What good is a porous spacesuit?

 

[Tenacity]

What good is a porous spacesuit?

Once Kirk's back abroad the ship, what different does it make if McCoy punches a hole in it?

Kirk's life is more important than whether a spacesuit has to be repaired.

 

[RColtrane]

Spock rips Kirk's shirt with a promitive weapon in Amok Time.

 

[MGagen]

In "The Tholian Web," Kirk gets injected through his spacesuit! What good is a porous spacesuit?

The type of suits depicted in TOS are really quite advanced. They were based on actual proposals for future US suits. The technology is only just catching up to the concept so they are only now really working on them. Here's the concept: The suits are form fitting and apply mechanical pressure to the human body, enabling the wearer's skin to be able to withstand vacuum. Any area that doesn't make full contact with the fabric requires some form of void filling material to be worn. Think of a type of putty to fill certain personal areas... The only part of the suit that actually has pressurized atmosphere is the helmet. The advantage is a much fuller range of movement and less bulk.

Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle described just such suits in The Mote in God's Eye. Dr. Pournelle worked in the space program in Human Factors and this was right up his alley. Mote was published in 1974.

Another feature would be that the material would be semi permeable and your natural perspiration would aid in controlling your temperature. Perhaps a hypo working through the material isn't so far fetched after all.

I was always disappointed by the later Treks' use of bulky, NASA-looking suits. They are a step backward in technology and show a real lack of imagination when compared with TOS.

M.

 

[Trekfan12]

"The Naked Time" builds to a sensational final act. The Enterprise is about to be destroyed, with only a one in ten thousand chance of reprieve. This is actually a mournful moment. Superb music by Alexander Courage underscores that point. The characters are pretty sure all is lost.

I wonder if Shatner himself suggested McCoy rip Kirk's sleeve as a way of alluding to the rending of garments that is done in traditional Jewish grieving. In Shatner's mind, this would not be so much a religious statement as a way to get high drama across. He had a lot of theatrical flare.

That is an interesting idea that had not occurred to me. I am Jewish and it was at one time a standard custom to rent one's clothing as a sign of grief. Keriah is now done to a piece of black ribbon that is cut and worn by the person grieving.
Perhaps Kirk's ripped sleeve could be a symbolic act as a dramatic flare

 

[Trekfan12]

The very first shirt was ripped in Where No Man Has Gone Before, literally the first Kirk episode. It must have been in Shatner's contract ..

Our friends over at Ex-Astris-Scientia have compiled this wonderful database:
http://www.ex-astris-scientia.org/database/kirks_shirt.htm

Thanks for the info

 

[geotrek]

This really doesn't pertain to the "ripping" question... but it's sorta related. Am I the only person who abhors that green wrap-around shirt Kirk occasionally wore? Man, I hate that shirt.

 

[urbandefault]

Shatner was the star, Kirk was the main character. Ripping the shirt was for dramatic effect. Later, shooting the hypo through the shirt was to save money on costuming. Most people could figure this out without a thread on a forum.

Really, there's no need for an explanation for everything.

 

[Spock's Barber]

This really doesn't pertain to the "ripping" question... but it's sorta related. Am I the only person who abhors that green wrap-around shirt Kirk occasionally wore? Man, I hate that shirt.

It was okay looking, but I'm glad it disappeared. Sometimes it made Shatner look kind of chubby around his equator.

 

[2takesfrakes]

I never hated the green shirt, but I was definitely under the impression that it was the only one in wardrobe. That there weren't multiples, in the back, somewhere. Shatner wears it during his fight with the Andorian in "Journey to Babel," but it's not ever in any danger of getting frayed, or torn, the way the fight's choreographed. And it's usually like that, when he's got that shirt on. I liked the green, because on the bridge, surrounded by his crew in uniform, it just made the set seem bombarded with colour. I like that, actually ... how it punches the colour up; makes it pop out, more.

 

[JonnyQuest037]

This really doesn't pertain to the "ripping" question... but it's sorta related. Am I the only person who abhors that green wrap-around shirt Kirk occasionally wore? Man, I hate that shirt.

I loved it. Great switch from the norm. I wished he wore it more often.

 

[Trekfan12]

This really doesn't pertain to the "ripping" question... but it's sorta related. Am I the only person who abhors that green wrap-around shirt Kirk occasionally wore? Man, I hate that shirt.

I liked the green shirt

 

[geotrek]

Sometimes it made Shatner look kind of chubby around his equator.

Exactly.

I liked the green

The green doesn't bother me as much as the stupid wrappy shape. Truly yucky (IMO).

 

[ZapBrannigan]

I never hated the green shirt, but I was definitely under the impression that it was the only one in wardrobe. That there weren't multiples, in the back, somewhere.

I would think there was at least one spare copy of the costume, so a show could finish filming after a coffee spill. Also, there were three different versions of it, in the first two seasons, as its look evolved.

What I don't like about Kirk's green wrap-around tunic is that it shows too much skin with its plunging neckline. You never see that in professional or military men in real life, when they're dressed for work. "The Trouble with Tribbles" is one where I really notice the skin exposure, and it doesn't work for me (but I like that episode).

The first green wrap-around was created to highlight two different Kirks in "The Enemy Within" (E5). Then apparently they put the wrap-around tunic into "Charlie X" (E8) for variety, and that was a fiasco because they didn't plan for it properly. Kirk gets on the elevator wearing one shirt and arrives on the bridge wearing the other.

The wrap-around would not return until "Court Martial" (E15), for all of Kirk's scenes in Stone's office. This causes Kirk's shirt to switch back and forth during the episode, but there's room in the plot for him to be plausibly changing clothes so as to be dressed up for the commodore.

Maybe in E15 they felt that literally having gold braid on Kirk's shoulders would give him more authority, more presence, in the meetings with his superior. I wonder if Shatner himself suggested it. He would no doubt have remembered all that gold on the uniform from "The Enemy Within," and he was famously astute at visual drama.

Appearances of green wrap-around:

Version 1:
E05 The Enemy Within
E08 Charlie X
E15 Court Marital

Version 2:
E35 The Doomsday Machine

Version 3:
E36 Wolf in the Fold
E38 The Apple
E39 Mirror, Mirror
E41 I, Mudd
E42 The Trouble with Tribbles
E43 Bread and Circuses
E44 Journey to Babel
E48 The Immunity Syndrome

 

[geotrek]

^^ Nice.

 

[2takesfrakes]

There's a lot more to the green shirt, apparently, than meets the eye! A lot of history going on, there. I know there are a lot of fans who crack up at the various elements comprising the shirt. Like the glittery gold trim along the neckline, for instance ... as well as how it's a plunging neckline, in the first place. But there were never any cool outfits in TOS, when you think about it. They were all cheesy. The dress uniforms are particularly bad. But I liked it that the Captain was the one with all of these "perks" if you can even call them that. He had the biggest, most solid chair on the bridge. He had a different costume the rest of the bridge officers didn't have. He had his own, personal yeoman ... "Rank hath its privileges" and it helped make Kirk stand out, all the more.

 

[FormerLurker]

I would think there was at least one spare copy of the costume, so a show could finish filming after a coffee spill. Also, there were three different versions of it, in the first two seasons, as its look evolved.

What I don't like about Kirk's green wrap-around tunic is that it shows too much skin with its plunging neckline. You never see that in professional or military men in real life, when they're dressed for work. "The Trouble with Tribbles" is one where I really notice the skin exposure, and it doesn't work for me (but I like that episode).

The first green wrap-around was created to highlight two different Kirks in "The Enemy Within" (E5). Then apparently they put the wrap-around tunic into "Charlie X" (E8) for variety, and that was a fiasco because they didn't plan for it properly. Kirk gets on the elevator wearing one shirt and arrives on the bridge wearing the other.

The wrap-around would not return until "Court Martial" (E15), for all of Kirk's scenes in Stone's office. This causes Kirk's shirt to switch back and forth during the episode, but there's room in the plot for him to be plausibly changing clothes so as to be dressed up for the commodore.

Maybe in E15 they felt that literally having gold braid on Kirk's shoulders would give him more authority, more presence, in the meetings with his superior. I wonder if Shatner himself suggested it. He would no doubt have remembered all that gold on the uniform from "The Enemy Within," and he was famously astute at visual drama.

Appearances of green wrap-around:

Version 1:
E05 The Enemy Within
E08 Charlie X
E15 Court Marital

Version 2:
E35 The Doomsday Machine

Version 3:
E36 Wolf in the Fold
E38 The Apple
E39 Mirror, Mirror
E41 I, Mudd
E42 The Trouble with Tribbles
E43 Bread and Circuses
E44 Journey to Babel
E48 The Immunity Syndrome

I KNEW there were three versions of it! Correct me if I'm wrong, but ver. 1 and 2 each have the braid at the collar, but going different directions, right? While ver. 3 has the braid at the sleeve, like the regular tunics?