In the scenes where the actors are being thrown (throwing themselves?) around the corridor, you can see that one guy is wearing camoflauge pants, and another guy is wearing what looks like a down vest (I thought those went out with the '70s. I guess they make a comeback in the 23rd century). I guess it could be some kind of engineering uniform though... But why does he hang around in the hall wearing it?
When Spock is trying to find the origin of the cube, he tells Kirk that star maps of the sector show no inhabitable planets nearby. What star maps? Isn't this the Enterprise's mission in this episode, to photograph the area they are in so that it could be mapped? Didn't Spock say earlier that the Enterprise was the first ship to explore here? Of course, he could be referring to maps the Enterprise had just made, but this seems unlikely to me. I would think it would take time to construct maps from photographs, and also to determine the existence and nature of any planets which might contain intelligent life.
Spock calculates the size of the Fesarius as "a mile in diameter." Seeing as how it dwarfs the Enterprise, how small does that make the Enterprise? The fact that the reading goes off his scale also suggests that Spock needs to re-calibrate his instruments if they are going to be any use in measuring objects in space.
How come the red alert siren is audible everywhere else in the ship except sickbay? Kirk doesn't know there's an alert until he gets off the examination table and sees the flashing light in the room, although the alarm is heard loudly in all the corridors just outside.
After the Enterprise destroys the cube, Kirk gives Bailey a navigational order. Bailey punches the data in. Meanwhile, there is another crewman conducting repairs in an open panel under the navigation console. Shouldn't Bailey wait till this guy is through fixing the control board before he uses it?
This First Federation must have some powerful enemies. At least Balok's treatment of the Enterprise is kind of paranoid. Despite his technical superority, he carries on his masquerade until he's absolutely sure the starship is friendly towards him. He even believes that all the voluminous data in the record banks might have been a fabrication!
Why haven't we heard of the First Federation again? What are they doing during the Dominion war? We seem to have forgotten them.
My dad used to have an old puzzle. (This was WAY back before Rubik's cubes.) His puzzle consisted of 5 or 6 cubes, roughly 1 and a half inches square, colored randomly on each side. The idea was to line up the cubes so that their colors matched. That spinning cube the Enterprise fired on looked exactly like one of my dad's!
When watching the beginning of this episode, where Lt Dave Bailey is bored with the star mapping, I thought up this "groaner": What is Bailey doing? He`s boredly going where no man has gone before!
When Kirk and McCoy are going off to Kirk`s quarters, some background voices can be heard. Not only the usual stuff like "Damage report - all decks" and "Gravity is down to point eight", but also "I can`t get a good look at the console, I need a green light", "Phaser crews - respond! Come on, let`s get with it!" and "Where`s my green light?!"
Now to the nits!
First of all, Uhura and McCoy were called to the briefing room meeting for absolutely no reason. They have nothing to say, and nobody asks them anything.
Kirk calls the Enterprise a "United Earth ship". He seems to think that the "United" in "USS" refers to United Earth. Doesn`t it mean the United Federation of Planets?
ObNit: Spock's cheeks are very red (rouged) and he sweats. Vulcans have no sweat glands, and blush green.
When did Scotty leave the bridge? He was there for the countdown and we don't see him leave, but Spock has to give the engine reports because Scotty is down in engineering.
Comment: My understanding (according to Nimoy's autobiography) is that this was the first ep actually filmed (pilots aside), so perhaps the Spock nits are forgivable...
After Kirk greets Balok on the First Federation ship, the little alien says "And McCoy, and Bailey". Watch his eyes. When he says McCoy, he looks at Bailey, and vice versa.
GUEST STAR PATROL
Clint Howard (Balok) is the brother of director (and Opie/Richie) Ron Howard. Clint starred in "Gentle Ben", appeared as Grady in DS9's "Past Tense--Part II", and played a Radar Controller in "Austin Powers". He says that Big Boy "never really went away".
Clint Howard is in a lot of stuff. He was the Smog Strangler in the L.A. episode of Seinfeld. He was a Mission Control guy in several segments of From The Earth To The Moon (and may have been one in Apollo 13 too). Plus the stuff that was mentioned above. And every time I see him I wonder if he's gonna break out the Trania, which, I learned from the Sci-Fi Channel, was actually warm pink grapefruit juice, and he hated it (which you can tell if you watch him closely).
In this episode Uhura is wearing a yellow outfit instead of her usual red outfit.
How did Bailey get assigned to the Enterprise? In Bread And Circuses there is talk about psychological tests that people have to pass.
Do you think Bailey is related to Barclay of the Next Generation?
Spock says that the mass reading of Balok's ship goes off his scale, it must be a mile in diameter. However, planets are thousands of miles in diameter and the ship's sensors don't seem to have a problem reading the mass of those things.
Kirk uses the idea that aliens capable of space travel would be peaceful. Hmmm, I guess he just forgot that a 100 years ago Earth fought a war with the Romulans?
Kirk relieves Bailey of duty, but no one takes his place.
If this "First Federation" is so powerful, then how come we haven't heard of them since? Were they forced to change their name by order of The Galactic Court for Race Name Conflict Resolution?
I don't fully understand this test of Balok's. It seemed like everything was designed to provoke a negative reaction: the cube's radiation; the threat of destruction; the refusal to listen to explanations It seems unlikely that Balok would have made the offer to tow the ship to an internment planet without the Corbomite bluff. So what was the point of the test, finding out how much s**t you can shovel onto Humans before they finally snap and let you have it?
When Kirk, McCoy and Bailey beam aboard Balok's ship, Balok acts like they passed his 'test', but how did he know that they weren't some raiding party come to kill the crew and steal the ship and it's technology? ("Eat phaser, Balok!" Zap!)
Perhaps the recalcitrant and suspicious nature of the First Federation is the reason we don't ever hear of them again.
Happy birthday, Clint Howard !
Spock tells Bailey it's unnecessary to raise his voice when in fact it has been Spock who has been speaking with a raised voice.
The light cast by the rotating cube (well, by the viewscreen) travels in the wrong direction on the walls, turbolift doors, etc. of the bridge.
Spock says the mass of the Fesarius is off the scale even though he was able to find the mass of Miri's planet, which is much heavier.
Spock uses the imperial measurement "mile", McCoy the imperial measurement "pounds". (What else is new?)
Various characters pronounce "Balok" differently.
Clint Howard Update: I believe he was in "Austin Powers II", as well as the original!
If Vulcans don't have sweat glands how do they cool off, won't they just pass out? The same goes for Klingons who it seems have no tear ducts but their eyes don't dry up.
He was in AP2. Another reason to laugh...
I guess Vulcans and Klingons have other body mechanisms to do those things - not every creature has lungs to breathe... some have gills, others breathe through their skin.
I don't think Spock said anything about not having a sweat gland, it was an adrenal gland he was referring to.
Didn't Clint Howard also have a recurring role on his brother's show "The Andy Griffith Show"? I think he played the kid who wore the cowboy hat and also had a peanut butter-jelly sandwich in his hand.
I saw this nit on ABC's millinium coverage. They had a count down timer on screen that didn't count down right. It went as follows:
11:02
11:01
10:00
10:59
10:58
and so forth. It was just like Sulu's manfunctioning clock in this episode.
Y2K has struck!
When everyone is doing repairs ont he bridge, some guy in a blue pilot uniform can be seen at the communications console. Uhura is nowhere to be seen. Was this scene filmed before Nichelle Nicols was added to the cast?
Balok sounds like Ruk from
"What are Little Girls Made Of?"
Hmmm. I wonder why?
I think a plausible reason you can't hear the red alert klaxon in Sick Bay is because it's a hospital, you need quiet.
PLUS....
The doors are sound-proof...and they keep the noise out. That's why you can't hear the alarm from the hallway.
However, it does bring to light a new nit....
If Spock knew that Kirk was in Sick Bay and that you can't hear the alarm there, why didn't he page Sick Bay to have Kirk come to the Bridge?
Here's a weird nit...
When Rand comes into Kirk's quarters and gives him a dietary salad, she tries to take Kirk's drink away and he says, "Quit hovering over me, Yeoman"
James T. Kirk...the intergalatic gigilo.... doesn't WANT Janice Rand to hover over him???
(I would!)
Of course he does reconcile himself by saying, "I've already got a woman, her name is the Enterprise."
No alert siren in sickbay is easy to explain; McCoy obviously turned the sound off, because he gloats to Kirk that he 'finally finished a physical' on the captain.
Two nits;
1. As the countdown to Balok destroying the Enterprise narrows down below '10', Scotty stands up twice from the railing behind Spock.
2. Kirk was on his way to the bridge, sweating, without his shirt on, and carrying his boots, from his physical, until he speaks to Spock via intercom in the turbolift, and then changes his mind, and gets dressed in his quarters. Huh?! The captain, who Spock says in 'The Enemy Within' can't afford to be anything less than perfect in the eyes of the crew, is going to show up on the bridge half dressed, glistening with sweat, and probably a little b.o. to boot? Kinda turning into a exhibitionist, isn't he? Good thing he changed his mind.
He already IS an exhibitionist!
He walked out into the hallway all the down to the turbolift with his shirt off and there were crew members walking about!
MISSED OPPORTUNITY....
I'd LOVE to rewrite this episode and have Rand bump into Kirk, place her hand on his chest and say, "Excuse me, Captain."
Then when Kirk enters the turbolift, Rand grits her teeth, clenches her fist, thrusts it downward and shouts, "YES!"
D'OH! Of course, he's an exhibitionist! I overlooked that LOOONG walk he just happens to take as he heads from sickbay. I think there's a turbolift a little closer to sickbay over here, Jim! Uh, Jim! Show-off!
Somebody above mentioned that it would have been interesting to see those huge First federation ships take on the Dominion, but not me! I'd have rather seen Balok's sphere ship take on a Borg cube, not just because they're about the same size, but I think the First Federation has bigger balls than those squares! Heeheehee.
I'm surprised some young yeoman didn't start singing, "There he is...Mr. Universe!"
(With a few "wolf whistles")
When Kirk was doing his "catwalk" down the corridor.
I'm... too sexy... for my... shirt...
Too sexy... for my... shirt...
So sexy... it... hurts...
I'm a... Captain...
You know... what that... means...
I don't understand why Balok's walls are made of curtains.
There's a big window next to Balok's chair and you can see even more curtains.
Was that big window supposed to be the viewscreen?
Were the big curtains a "salute" to "The Wizard of Oz"?........."Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain" If so, it's pretty clever.... because in a way, it has the same idea.
Balok was hiding behind his "curtain"...the puppet...when in reality he was just a plain, ordinary man.
At one point Sulu increases speed to "point five-oh". This should be "point five" but at least he didn`t say "point fifty".
Bailey uses the same controls on the nav console to photograph and to set a course. (They might not be exactly the same switches, but you`d expect a small panel to contain similar uses for each switch)
Several of the crewmembers in the corridor when Kirk gives his speech to the crew are on the bridge at the same time. The best to look out for is Leslie, who is a red-shirted ensign on the bridge and a gold-shirted Lieutenant in the corridor.
How does Balok know about Jekyll and Hyde? Were they in the Enterprise`s memory banks?
The Curtains were to disguise the Conference room. I guessed that the First Federation is a fabrication as part of Balok's defense, or they became recluse, or they joined the Federation.
Bailey uses the same controls on the nav console to photograph and to set
a course. (They might not be exactly the same switches, but you`d expect
a small panel to contain similar uses for each switch)
Actually, this makes sense. In the one case he is downloading data from the sensors and then uploading it into the main computer. In the other, he is downloading the same type of data (star maps) from the main computer and uploading it into the helmsman's console
The panel behind Balok's puppet is the status panel later seen in engineering.
"The Corbomite Manuver" marks one of the few times in the Original Series that the episode ended somewhere else aside from on board the Enterprise.
Clint Howard, interestingly enough, was given a MTV Movie Lifetime Achievement Award in 1998.
The opening shot is from The Cage. This is also the first appearance of the stock scene of Sulu looking at the viewscreen.
The collars are wider than in later episodes, particularly Spock`s.
In this episode phaser beams are red and fire in short bursts.
Kirk had a female yeoman in the second pilot.
The opening shot is from The Cage.
Yep, you can even see a bit of the bridge interior...
This is also the first appearance of the stock scene of Sulu looking at the viewscreen.
I'm pretty sure it was filmed for/in conjunction with this episode, as the lighting is the same as in the rest of the episode.
So, who do we guess the navigator is? From a picture in "Inside Star Trek: The Real Story", I would guess it is Frank da Vinci.
Ooops, that should have been "Inside Star Trek: The Real Story".
Yep, you can even see a bit of the bridge interior...
Oh, I`m gonna check that out!
So, who do we guess the navigator is? From a picture in "Inside Star Trek: The Real Story", I would guess it is Frank da Vinci.
I`da thought it was Bailey... but, hey, what do I know?
I wonder if Lt. Bailey's first name was Bill?
That way, Kirk can sing, "Billy Bailey Won't You Please Come Home?"
It was Dave.
OK....
"Dave Bailey Won't You Please Come Home"
:p
I don't think he was ever called "Dave" or "David" in the episode, but he was credited with that name.
Someone here wondered why Spock didn't page Kirk to come to the bridge...It's been awhile, but I seem to remember Sulu saying, "Captain Kirk, to the bridge." And yet Kirk didn't seem to get that page.
I figured it out.....the answer to "Why is Spock yelling?"....well...just have Mr. Courage turn down that music and ya' might be able to hear something!
It happened before on "The Cage" in which someone gave a hand signal to indicate that they have achieved warp drive.
Bailey certainly is a risk-taker, isn't he?
He is dismissed from duty and told McCoy to escort him to his quarters for being "out of line" on the Bridge. But later, Bailey returns to the Bridge ON HIS OWN to ask if he can return to duty.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't there a regulation in our naval services that states that if you're dismissed from duty (like Bailey was) you can't come back unless the Captain calls for you? If that same regulation applies to Starfleet,then Bailey should be in big trouble for not staying in his quarters like the Captain told him to.
THEORY BEHIND UHURA'S DISAPPEARANCE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE EPISODE....
Padawan Nitpicker made a keen observation that Uhura "disappears" during the repair scene and a man with a blue shirt now sits at the communications panel. First of all, good observation, Padawan...keep eating those carrots.
Now for my theory....
It is POSSIBLE that Nichelle Nichols stormed off the set after the last sequence was filmed because she felt useless...90% of her monologue consisted of "Hailing frequencies open" in this episode and in the conference room, all she did was lean on her hand, sit on a chair and look pretty.(She did a good job at that, by the way)
I THINK that during the repair scene, behind the curtains, Roddenberry was comforting a tearful Nichelle Nichols to return to the set and finish the episode and reassured her that she is important to the show, no matter what she is told to say or do...I THINK Nichols' meeting with Martin L. King Jr. supports my theory.
You may be right. Nichelle was a day player at the time, not even considered a regular. I got the impression that she was somewhat bored during the conference; maybe thinking "Is that all there is to my part here?"
No one answered Johnny Veitch's question about Kirk refering to the Enterprise as an United Earth Ship instead of a Federation ship. The explaination is simple: premise change. At the time the episode was written and filmed its likely Roddenberry and co. were still thinking of the Enterprise as simply being an Earth ship, and hadn't yet come up with the idea of a United Federation of Planets that involved various species working together.
As the Chief and ScottN are fond of saying, "Nitpickers don't deal in reality!"
Until "Tomorrow is Yesterday," the Enterprise was under the jurisdiction of UESPA, the United Earth Space Probe Agency. (I think it was used in one of the Captain's Logs in this episode.) After "T is Y", we never heard mention of UESPA (Kirk pronounced it "you-spa") again.
If Vulcans don't have sweat glands how do they cool off, won't they just pass out?
There are many mammals that dont have sweat glands, from what I understand humans are actually one of only a few species that actually have them (two prime examples of species that dont, are cats and dogs, well they do have them on their feet, but that is it) Rabbits, and chinchillas for example dont have em, and get rid of heat by raidating it out of their ears
Ohhhhhh, so THAT'S why Vulcans have pointy ears: to release heat!
Where does it say Vulcans don't have sweat glands?
I just browsed through the nitpicks and maybe I missed it, but I didn't see the nitpick I always notice when I watch CM:
Sulu is reading off the chronometer "1 minute" and then, for no reason at all he turns around and says "I knew He Would..."
I always wondered why he said that!
Then, I saw the teaser to CM, where occasionally they have moments edited from the final show. It has Balok saying "You have 1 Minute!"
I'll bet that piece of dialog was lost when editing together the episode because it was used in the teaser. Therefore, Sulu reacts to Balok announcing "You now have 1 minute!" when it never is heard in the show.
The Enterprise musta gone thru a refit....
The Enterprise in "Where No Man Has Gone Before"... there were gooseneck viewers on the Bridge, however in this episode, they're gone.
("Where No Man..." was produced before this episode)
Tell ‘em McCoy is on the golf course!
When the general alert is sounded at the end of the teaser, and in the beginning of Act 1, the lights, klaxons and announcements by Sulu are seen and heard in the corridors, but in sickbay, only the light is seen. There are apparently no loudspeakers or klaxons there, and sickbay is apparently soundproofed from the corridor outside. Why is this? What is the bridge crew supposed to do if someone on the bridge needs emergency medical attention?
Has anyone seen my calculator? Whataya mean I "have to do it by hand?"
After the Fesarius goes nose to nose with the Enterprise for the first time in the episode, Kirk asks Spock for a mass reading, and Spock says that the readings are off scale, and that it must be a mile in diameter. First, did Spock intend for those two comments to be related, or was he simply saying, "the mass is off scale, and by the way, it’s a mile in diameter"? Let’s assume it’s the latter, since diameter is a measure of size, not mass. But why would it be off scale? When the small pilot ship breaks away from the Fesarius, Spock says it is 2,000 metric tons. So if the pilot ship is, say, one hundredth of the Fesarius, wouldn’t the Fesarius be 200,000 metric tons? Does the dipole on Spock’s little gauge not go up to the hundred thousandths place? Sulu said the cubical probe buoy encountered at the end of the teaser was 11,000 metric tons. Are you telling me the readouts on the bridge only go up to the ten thousandths place?
OK, so I was just guessing. After all, does Kirk really need to know the exact mass of the big ship that’s about to destroy us?
Also, Spock is staring at the main viewer when he says this. Did he take a peak before Kirk asked the question?
What they forgot to mention is that Spock and Bailey’s consoles were manufactured by the same NASA scientists in charge of the last two Mars probe missions. D’Oh!
Also, Spock says it’s a mile in diameter, and Bailey says its 5000 meters away. Given the shot of the Fesarius and the Enterprise, I don’t think these two figures are possible. Five thousand meters is slightly over 3 miles. If the Fesarius is only a mile in diameter, then it looks A LOT closer than 3 miles away. If, on the other hand, it is 3 miles away, it looks A LOT larger than only 1 mile in diameter.
Of couse, some people are gonna die sooner if they don’t shut up, SULU!
When Sulu notes that they have 4 minutes, 30 seconds left, Scotty tells him he has an annoying fascination for timepieces. "4 minutes, 30 seconds" is a measurement of time, not a timepiece. A timepiece is a device for keeping time. (Pick, pick, pick!)
No, but he IS staring at a clock, which is a timepiece
True, but there's a difference between people who have an affection for timepieces, like say, someone who owns a grandfather clock, and people who are so obsessive that they stare at a clock counting the seconds and minutes. I don't the think clockmakers, clock shop owners or people who own grandfather clocks do the latter. Sulu seemed to be, or at least Scotty seemed to accuse him of, the latter.
Regarding the alert not sounding in sickbay: Perhaps sickbay is on it's own, separate, comm system, so that the alert klaxon doesn't startle the patients, or the doctors if they are performing delicate surgery. The lights flash to alert them, but the sound isn't there to disturb them. If someone wants to contact sickbay, they use the sickbay channel on the comm system. (I have an intercom in my house that has 3 separate channels, so this could be an option for them.)
I mentioned that very same thing on Feb.6,2000
Scroll up.
Good point, guys.
Sickbay is definitely on a separate channel on the intercom. When Kevin Riley had the whole system jammed ("I'll take yooouu Home again, KaaathLeeeeeen!") the bridge was still able to talk to sickbay, even though they couldn't shut Riley off. I would guess that's a separate, secure, unassailable channel. It ought to be.
Balok's minutes are rather long. Perhaps he hasn't got this measurement of Earth time down yet. Between the time he announces eight and seven minutes, a full two minutes elapse. About ninety seconds elapse between every other "minute" pronouncement. Sulu probably knew he would give the one minute signal because by this time the helmsman had figured out that Balok's "minutes" were actually about a minute and a half in length.
For the Corbomite Maneuver - I have uncovered three names for Crewwoman Actress's names. Could one of them be the Bridge Lady?
Mittie Lawrence
Ena Hartman
Gloria Calomee
Maybe...but which one is the Church Lady?
Watch McCoy when he and Kirk and Wack-o Bailey crouch down to beam over to Baloks ship. He has his hands on his legs and the strap to the tricorder is interlaced between his fingers. When they re-materialize he is not holding his legs anymore and the strap is not through his fingers anymore.
Ever notice how much the actor who plays Bailey (Tony Call) looks like Russell Johnson, the professor from Gilligan's Island?
NANJAO: This episode gives us the "first look" at the type 1 phaser.
NANJAO # 2: This episode also gives us the "first look" at the Enterprise's main phasers (red lines....they would change to blue later in the season...even show up purple in "Journey to Babel")
FUNNY THOUGHT: I wonder if Balok got his warning buoy from someone called "Rubik" ?
Or from "Domino."
Balok got his buoy from Largo's daughter?
Scott, you watched "Never Say Never Again" (or "Thunderball") one too many times. I referred to the sugar company.
Adam... both (though I prefer Thunderball). I knew what you were referring to, I just have a really nasty habit of making bad jokes (just ask KAM!).
Just ask anyone. 
"Thunderball" has the much better theme-a bombastic John Barry melody, performed by Tom Jones.
Kirk is performing the same type of stress test (pushing those wall thingies in Sickbay with his legs) in this, the first filmed episode, as well as in the last filmed episode ("Turnabout Intruder," with Dr. Lester taking over Kirk's body.)
The circuit board that we see behind the Balok puppet in his communications comes from Engineering.
Sorry ScottN...that nit was already posted by By Christer Nyberg on Wednesday, July 26, 2000 - 05:24 pm:
To quote the clown from "The Thaw"(VOY): Drat.
The guy with curly hair that was threatened by Sulu with a sword in the corridors in "The Naked Time" who was wearing a red tunic at that episode is wearing a tienne/gold tunic here, naturally other people have also mentioned Lt. Uhura wearing a different color uniform-making this a clearly legite nit. Not only is this a legite nit-pick but books like "The Starfleet Technical manual" which are published after the show say that tienne/gold denotes command, red denotes egineering & security, and blue/aquamarine denotes sciences (which kept changing) actually screw up continuity of the show even more !!!
When dealing with the cube (a large radioactive fisher price toy !) Bailey "votes" why not blast it with phasers, then in briefing he anticipates that command (because it's what he wants to hear) and begins executing it which gets him reprimanded. Then when the situation finally gets out of control and he is ordered to lock phasers, he hesitates-why ??? He was the one who wanted to blow it up in the place ...
Because he is scared out of his ever-loving mind.
Yeah. He doesn't hesitate because he has a sudden change of heart about the cube. He hesitates because he freezes up in an actual combat situation.
**Leslie Alert**
Mr. Lesley (Eddie Paskey) appears at the Engineer's station several times in this episode.
(But he's not mentioned in the credits--SAG anyone?)
At one point Spock chides Bailey for raising his voice. Yet later in the episode, Spock does his own fair share of yelling.
DELETED LINE: Kirk:"TURN DOWN THAT MUSIC!"
At one point Spock chides Bailey for raising his voice. Yet later in the episode, Spock does his own fair share of yelling.
Because at that point in the series (according to Nimoy), the creators' notion of a First Officer had much more of a Royal Navy overtone, including shouting out updates to the Captain as if he were fighting to be heard o'er the waves.
Thus Spock has a 'logical' reason to be yelling, while Bailey doesn't - he's just supposed to sit there and enter course changes.
Okay, a couple'a weird nits and notes for this 'un:
At one point, McCoy and Scotty arrive on the bridge via turbolift. Scotty goes to the viewer's right while McCoy goes left and the camera follows him. He passes a Uhura and another goldshirt working nearby. As he does, the other goldshirt looks up and sneers at him! At least, it looks like he does- I just thought it looked amusing enough to warrant a mention.
Later in the episode, Kirk relays contact instructions to Uhura, who is standing behind the captain's chair for some reason. The camera frame is focused on Kirk with Uhura in the background. When Kirk orders Uhura to open communications, she waves her hands in the general direction of her console and declares them open. The same thing happens when Kirk declares the channel closed. Sorry, Uhura, but I couldn't buy that you were within arms' reach of your station there.
When Kirk and co. finally meet up with the real Balok, he's reclining next to this bizzare structure with red and yellow lights on it (I really can't come up with any other description than that). When Balok first appears, the lights are on, but when Kirk and co. enter the room, they're off. There's enough time elapsing for this to not be a nit, but again, I thought I'd mention it for the sake of completeness.
This is the first episode to use the term "tractor beam". The term, I believe, was first coined by science fiction writer Elmer E. "Doc" Smith for use in his Lensman novels. He may also have come up with the term "deflectors". Somebody who came up with some of the Trek terminology must have been a big Smith fan.
John A. Lang has made the observation that this episode does not end on the Enterprise...I checked all the episodes and made note of all that do not end on the bridge of the Enterprise and found only 2 in the first season...any guesses on how many total in all three seasons?
My dad used to have an old puzzle. (This was WAY back before Rubik's cubes.) His puzzle consisted of 5 or 6 cubes, roughly 1 and a half inches square, colored randomly on each side. The idea was to line up the cubes so that their colors matched. That spinning cube the Enterprise fired on looked exactly like one of my dad's!
I believe this was marketed as "Instant Insanity" in the '80s.
**LESLIE ALERT II**
Eddie Paskey also shows up wearing a yellow shirt in the corridor during one of Kirk's intercom speeches.
(Golly, this guy sure gets around)
Another bad day for Jerry Finnerman: In the last scene on the bridge, when we see Bailey say "Me, sir?", the bridge railing is visible behind him. However, the panels are not. In fact, the whole background is a blur. Was the rest of the set even in place when the scene was shot?
Another good day for Jerry Finnerman: In the first bridge shot of the episode, we see the camera first on Spock, then do a pull back to show the whole bridge from above, then zoom in on Bailey's hands on the Nav console. Way to go.
Someone asked if Bailey was ever actually called by his first name "Dave," or if the name was only in the scpipt and credits.
Yes, McCoy says something like, "Calm down, Dave," when Bailey throws his temper tantrum and gets himself dismissed by Kirk.
NANJAO: Anthony Call has one hell of a big flesh lump/mole behind one of his ears (left, iirc). I can't stop looking at the thing when he is filmed from that side.
Balok's light thingy looks like an old-fashioned British traffic light (a little).
Sir Rhosis
NANJAO: This episode marks the first appearance of the rectangular viewscreen on the Bridge. In "Where No Man Has Gone Before", the Bridge had the "Pike viewscreen" from "The Cage". The "Pike viewscreen" would be moved to the briefing room where Spock's court martial hearing will be held in "The Menagerie". It is also see in the Auxillary Control room of the Constellation in "The Doomsday Machine"
Before Kirk tells Balok about the Corbomite, Kirk asks Uhura to open the Hailing Frequencies. She does...while standing behind Kirk's chair. She closes the Hailing Frequencies the same way.
That's quite a long reach Uhura has!!!!!
Why does Uhura have on a yellow dress this time? Her station is different as well.
Spock's shirt has a higher collar than normal. Was this an early episode or something?
The uniforms were from "The Cage"....the pilot episode.
As far as Uhura's yellow dress, it may have had something to do with the "Lieutenant" rank she held.
Uhura wears a gold tunic in this episode and "Mudd's Women", which were the first two produced episodes of the season. I guess Nichelle decided gold wasn't her color.
CG enhancing: Following up on an idea in the Space: 1999 threads, if Star Trek the Classic Series could be enhanced with CG, these are ideas I have for this episode.
Don't know if anyone would want to try to change gold uniforms to red when appropriate (e.g. Uhura), however, the pilot episodes should be left as is, since even Where No Man has the feel of being an Enterprise, commanded by Kirk, just prior to a refit. (That refit probably fixed up damage sustained in that barrier encounter: removal of last goose-neck viewer, change of viewscreen to a rectangular one from one with rounded corners, addition of hood on centre of transporter console, replacing straight front of transporter chamber ceiling with a rounded front.)
The insert showing the engine manifold temperature is a nice quality touch and should serve as a design model for other instrument readouts of mid-23rd century technology.
While it is an awesome shot of the Enterprise like a sitting duck, as Balok's ship comes up and stops, barely brushing the starship, how can the Enterprise subsequently get a shot of the entire Fesarius if it is so close? Bailey said it is "over" 5000 metres away, and yet the 288 metre long starship appears to be about 100 metres away, at most! Spock estimated it was "over a mile" in diameter, and yet it appears to have a diameter that is 30 to 50 times the Enterprise' length; let's say, 40, and that would make it 11.5 kilometres (7.3 miles) in diameter. The Fesarius and Enterprise need to have their visual appearances adjusted to make the Fesarius perhaps 1900 metres (1.2 miles) in diameter, closer to Spock's off-the-cuff estimate.
I suppose we could have Fesarius brush by Enterprise at close range, cut it off as if drawing a line in the sand, then swing around and take up position 5 km (5000 metres) away. Perhaps there should be a slight colour "wave" as it decelerates, the globe lights on its surface indicating that inertial dampers and retro-motion have been initiated.
The cube buoy, however, is shown far too close for its size and that of the Enterprise, and should be adjusted (we know the exact size of the Enterprise, and we hear the dimensions of the cube, and Bailey said it is 1593 metres away, yet it looks like about 60 metres, 75 tops). Sulu said each edge measures 107 metres, about 1/16 of what Bailey gave as its range, and yet if we use the buoy size on screen, it appears to be perhaps 300 metres away.
And Balok's voice saying "one minute left" could be dubbed in; there is an outtake in "scenes from the next episode" that is available.
The clock on the helm console is mechanical?! Quaint... but simply not believable. (I once had a digital clock like that one.) Perhaps it could be overlaid, using computer animation, with a digital readout. Perhaps the text on the tiny display screen, instead of saying "Hrs (light) Min" and "Sec", it could have "Terran Standard Clock" below a stardate readout, plus space (often blank) for any desired countdown.
See Stardates comments in the DVD release of Star Trek Sink. If it sounds reasonable, then a stardate readout on Sulu's console in this episode would have a 7-digit stardate showing 415 as the middle three digits, starting at 0541512.2 (although not seen). Each day of the year would consume approximately 2.738 units. I don't recall how many hours the Enterprise hovered at the buoy, but if this and the time trying to get around it, retreat from it, destroy it, then fly forward, then encounter the Fesarius, and then hear Balok's deadline, totals about 17 hours, then the stardate when Balok announces 10 minutes would be approximately 0541514.1. If this makes sense, two readouts on the chronometer screen could show both stardates and Terran clock readouts at the same time, and a third readout showing the countdown that Bailey complains about.
The Balok puppet has an Enterprise instrument panel (from Sick Bay at the beginning of the episode) as background. While the panel might originally have been created for Balok's ship, it is a familiar part of the Enterprise, and could be adjusted, perhaps in colour and adding some alien script.
Balok's control pedestal appears to completely light up all at once when he touches a control, instead of in some kind of pattern of the different light outputs. Looks like a Christmas tree light string - all on or all off.
On to Part 2.