Sign in to follow this  
Big_Steve

Star Trek On The SciFi Channel

Recommended Posts

TUH has been posting topics related to Star Trek as recently seen on the SciFi channel ... nothing wrong with any of that, but beware, SciFi is butchering these episodes to death, I mean, to the point that the plot is no longer valid, and worse still, the story is completely changed.

 

I will be adding more to this as I'm currently capturing these episodes to my PC to create personal VCD's, I'm supplementing what has been edited out with what I have on VHS tape.

 

Star Trek on SciFi: Sunday at 9 and 10am. Tuesday at 3am (currently). May change back to M-F at 6pm after New Year ... just a hunch, as I briefly saw that startrek.com recently changed it's listing on scifi to M-F at 6pm, then quickly changed it back to the current schedule.

Edited by Big_Steve

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

What you say may be true for the most part with regular episodes but I know I've seen a version of The Cage on scifi which was the MOST complete version I had ever seen. Have you ever seen the scifi channels: Star Trek Special Edition? There are two versions for the entire series, one hosted by William Shatner and another hosted by Leonard Nimoy. I have the one hosted by WS (wish I had the LN one though) and it's pretty cool, lots of never before seen footage. One deleted scene I remember seeing in the SE was in Return to Tomorrow, you actually get to see one of the robot bodies they're building and it's the same prop used in What are Little Girls made of? you know the dummy that is put on the turntable to create a Kirk clone only for this shot it's been made more Human looking and spray painted silver. Oops, I rambled. :dude:

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

SCI-FI isn't butterring TOS, advertising is.

 

Back in the 60's, when TOS was on, a one-hour-show consisted 50 mins of air time and 10 mins of commercial. Today's one-hour-show consists 42 mins of air time and 22 mins of commercial.

 

Next time you see a TOS episode, record it and edit out the commecials. Then fast-forward to the end and see how long it is. If the length is about 42 mins, then the advertisers are to blame.

 

If it's something other than advertising that's leading to shorter shows and longer commercials today, please do tell.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Have you ever seen the scifi channels: Star Trek Special Edition?

Yes, that was about 5 years ago, and I really hope they do it again soon ... it has been 5 years ya know :dude:

 

I have the complete first season of the SciFi channels special edition of Star Trek on video cassette, and a few of season two. But there was a death in the family at that time (sister-in-law, only 33 years old) and I didn't get to record the rest. How I wish now that I could have fought the loss and kept recording.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
SCI-FI isn't butterring TOS, advertising is.

With all due respect, you're wrong. There may be set standards, but are they forced to follow them?

 

If the scifi channel is going to air Star Trek at such ungodly hours (3am? give me a break!), why can't they give us a more complete episode? I could better understand if they were being aired in the evening ... but how much money do you need?

Edited by Big_Steve

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
SCI-FI isn't butterring TOS, advertising is.

With all due respect, you're wrong. There may be set standards, but are they forced to follow them?

 

If the scifi channel is going to air Star Trek at such ungodly hours (3am? give me a break!), why can't they give us a more complete episode? I could better understand if they were being aired in the evening ... but how much money do you need?

ALL TV shows are short today, they only butcher TOS for the precious commercials. If it's not the advertisers fault, then how come "all" one-hour shows today have exactly 18 mins of comercials?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
If it's not the advertisers fault, then how come "all" one-hour shows today have exactly 18 mins of comercials?

I have to agree with Steve. It is a choice by the executives to limit production hours and sell more advertising time. Given that some "stars" make $1,000,000 per episode - the execs may feel they have no choice. Then there are production costs - a reason some shows are produced in Canada - cheaper labor. The more popular the show - the more advertising minutes sell for. But that is not a consideration with syndication of old shows - the only cost there is purchasing the rights besides general operating expenses.

 

Ultimately I guess it could be our fault for watching shows where the stars make such an obscence amount of money.

 

A few years ago I picked up a book that had salaries for various professions. At that time the minimum rate for a performance in a weekly tv show was $28,000. The actor had to speak at least four lines to qualify - have you noticed how on rotating ensemble casts the rest of the cast usually gets a chance to get in their four lines.

 

Let's see 22 episodes * 28,000 - that would be a minimum annual salary of $616,000 and that was a few years ago. I could work one year and be happy.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I agree with you Big_Steve. The episodes I have seen lately are butchered beyond recognition. They do not resemble the episodes that were first aired on the SciFi Channel. They have cut them up to the point that they don't flow together anymore. It is a shame that they had to butcher a classic like that.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
I agree with you Big_Steve.  The episodes I have seen lately are butchered beyond recognition.  They do not resemble the episodes that were first aired on the SciFi Channel.  They have cut them up to the point that they don't  flow together anymore.  It is a shame that they had to butcher a classic like that.

All Our Yesterday's was on SciFi a couple weeks ago and the character of Zarabeth was actually altered by all the editing.

 

In one particular sceen, just after Zarabeth brought Spock and McCoy to her cave home Zarabeth questions Spock, and this isn't word-for-word but close enough:

 

Zarabeth(ZB): The Atavachron is far away, but I think you come from farther away than that.

 

Spock: That is correct, I'm not from the world you know at all.

 

ZB: How interesting, I've always enjoyed reading stories in books about such possibilities ... but they were just stories/CUT/ back to Kirk in jail.

 

There is another minute to this sceen with ZB and Spock ...

 

ZB: the stories were not real, I must be imagining all this ... I must be going mad ... I'm going MAD!

 

Spock re-assures Zarabeth that she is not going mad and that he is real and the situation is very real. NOW we should cut to Kirk in jail.

 

In the SciFi version Zarabeth doesn't seem to have much of a problem with Spock being totally alien, but in the uncut version, Zarabeth was very upset about it and had a big problem with it. That changed the story AND Zarabeth's character.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I just saw The Cage on the Sci-Fi channel over Christmas vacation (my mother has cable). It was so butchered that it is hard to imagine anyone seeing it for the first time making sense of it. They receive a distress call. Then they are at Talos 4. Then they find the survivors, including Vena. Then Vena is with Captain Pike on that ledge ( why? they didn't show why they were there), and the aliens spray that stuff in his face, and take him away. Some of the dialogue between Pike and the aliens help establish that he was baited there falsely, but most of the scenes that show this were taken out. None of the scenes showing Pike's disillusionment, the fact that they almost didn't go to Talos 4 and that there were two distress signals were included...a lot of butchering.

 

I agree that old videotapes, or the Star Trek dvds would be a better way to view TOS.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Over the weekend I watched a few parts of Star Trek:TOS on the scifi channel. I had to stop watching because there were so many cuts and splices that the episodes didn't flow together. :)

 

Someone needs to speak with a producer of the scifi channel. Their programming is terrible especially were TOS is concerned. :lol:

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Whether or not it is due to advertising, I can't say, but at the Sci fi channel, they do seem to butcher the original, Star Trek, beyond recognition. It makes me sad. Some generations may never see this classic, which has been dubbed a phenomenon, the way it was originally aired. I'm glad I purchased my entire vhs collection of the series years ago. I'm currently purchasing them again on DVD. Some have suggested there are missing seconds on the dvd's. We have learned that the old film deteriorates over time, and I wouldn't be surprised that if they remastered what was left of these, a few seconds here and there may have been lost. I shall have to do a side-by-side comparison at some point, since my vhs collection was touted as un-cut. But I never did see them when they aired originally, which is too bad. I am old enough, just didn't catch the fever until it went into syndication in the early 1970's. Oh, well.

 

T'Bree

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
Sign in to follow this