Turn The Channel On This TOS Episode…

[Spock's Barber]

TOS produced some outstanding sci-fi episodes that I still enjoy watching after many decades. I’d watch just about any TOS episode, but the one that makes me really itch to turn the channel on satellite tv is “Friday’s Child”. I don’t hate it, nor do I love it. I’m ambivalent whenever it appears on the tube.

Are there any episodes where you have the same reaction?

 

[Ssosmcin]

The Cloud Minders was one I would definitely probably not sit through these days.

As a kid, there wasn't a single episode I'd skip though.

 

[Warped9]

The one I’d be most inclined to turn from would be “And The Children Shall Lead.” There is a honest good horror story lurking within it, but it’s botched.

 

[BillJ]

Skip? Never. When there were just the original 79 episodes, I never skipped one.

As we got more Trek, I became less and less interested.

 

[Spock's Barber]

The one I’d be most inclined to turn from would be “And The Children Shall Lead.” There is a honest good horror story lurking within it, but it’s botched.

Yes, with a competent actor as Gorgon wearing a different costume I probably could tolerate that episode but I agree with you.

 

[JunkTARDIS]

Maybe Assignment: Earth. It felt like it was trying to do Doctor Who but didn’t quite get there…was there talk of a spin-off for Mister Seven?

 

[Phaser Two]

Not a single one. And especially not "Friday's Child," which is in my top 10.

 

[Spock's Barber]

Maybe Assignment: Earth. It felt like it was trying to do Doctor Who but didn’t quite get there…was there talk of a spin-off for Mister Seven?

Yes, it was a pilot episode for a series that didn’t sell. I’m sure if it had been picked up by a network it would have barely lasted a year, if even that long.

 

[BillJ]

Yes, it was a pilot episode for a series that didn’t sell. I’m sure if it had been picked up by a network it would have barely lasted a year, if even that long.

It is about the only Trek-related concept that I care about anymore. If CBS wants to make it, I’m there. Otherwise, I’m simply no longer interested in what they’re peddling.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

Turn the channel on TOS? Sacrilege!

 

[Captrek]

The one I’d be most inclined to turn from would be “And The Children Shall Lead.” There is a honest good horror story lurking within it, but it’s botched.

“Miri” is almost as unbearable. TOS can’t do children.

 

[BillJ]

Maybe Assignment: Earth. It felt like it was trying to do Doctor Who but didn’t quite get there…was there talk of a spin-off for Mister Seven?

It would’ve been early 1968. I’m not sure if Doctor Who had made it to the US yet.

EDIT: Looks like it premiered in the USA in 1972.

 

[Captrek]

It would’ve been early 1968. I’m not sure if Doctor Who had made it to the US yet.

From everything I’ve read, it was just a lot of coincidences.

 

[BillJ]

From everything I’ve read, it was just a lot of coincidences.

Seems pretty likely.

 

[scotpens]

Maybe Assignment: Earth. It felt like it was trying to do Doctor Who but didn’t quite get there…was there talk of a spin-off for Mister Seven?

"Assignment: Earth" wasn't originally meant to be a Star Trek spinoff. It was a half-hour pilot script for a very different kind of sci-fi show set on Earth in the present day. When G.R. couldn't sell the idea to any of the networks, the script was awkwardly shoehorned into a Star Trek episode.

 

[Captrek]

Seems pretty likely.

But seriously… a time-traveling do-gooder, an “ordinary Jane” earth-origin companion who gets caught up in the adventure by happenstance, and a sonic screwdriver? What are the odds? I can’t blame people for assuming it’s more than coincidence.

 

[BillJ]

But seriously… a time-traveling do-gooder, an “ordinary Jane” earth-origin companion who gets caught up in the adventure by happenstance, and a sonic screwdriver? What are the odds? I can’t blame people for assuming it’s more than coincidence.

It is possible Roddenberry caught wind of it and stole the ideas. Without proof I’m fine calling it a coincidence.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

The premise that Gary Seven's servo was based on the sonic screwdriver was roundly and completely debunked in this thread, ironically for the OP.

I'd think riffing on James Bond was far more likely than riffing on a character and show all but unknown in the US. In any case, not changing that channel.

 

[JunkTARDIS]

It would’ve been early 1968. I’m not sure if Doctor Who had made it to the US yet.

EDIT: Looks like it premiered in the USA in 1972.

Wouldn’t have had to have made it to the US for it to be a borrowed idea though. Doctor Who premiered in 1963, plenty of time for someone to try and sell a “copied” version of it to an American audience. Of course, I’m also just speculating here.

 

[Captrek]

Wouldn’t have had to have made it to the US for it to be a borrowed idea though. Doctor Who premiered in 1963, plenty of time for someone to try and sell a “copied” version of it to an American audience. Of course, I’m also just speculating here.

Yes, you’re speculating, and while it’s a very understandable speculation, I think it has been well debunked.