What was the last TV show you watched?

[handymike]

Just finishing up Homeland season 3

 

[HoosierDaddy]

DC beats Rumble. Kinda shocked.

 

[Stearmen]

The other night I caught the tail end of the one about the monster on the airplane wing. There was never a time in Shatner's career when he didn't Shatner.

It was a Gremlin! So you can excuse Shatner, since there is nothing more frightening then an AMC on your wing! Sorry, couldn't resist.

 

[Trenchfriend]

In the pilot to Star Trek, Jeffery Hunter played the captain and, IMHO, did an excellent job. But I've read that the execs didn't think he did which is why they replaced him with Shatner. I'm always amazed at what nuance these execs think they see that I don't.

In Germany, we love "Star Trek II", because it's so funny, to see T. J. Hooker with uniform on the Enterprise.

 

[Stearmen]

In the pilot to Star Trek, Jeffery Hunter played the captain and, IMHO, did an excellent job. But I've read that the execs didn't think he did which is why they replaced him with Shatner. I'm always amazed at what nuance these execs think they see that I don't.

I always heard it was his then wife, Joan Bartlett, who convinced him, he was to good for that show, and he should stick to movies!

 

[Stearmen]

I know it's a cliche, but, The This Old House Hour!

 

[Touchofevil]

DC beats Rumble. Kinda shocked.

Yeah, kind of surprised as well. Cormier was gifted this shot (considering who he has not beaten or even competed against), but he made the most of it. I still believe those two are way behind Jones wherein talent is concerned. Unfortunately, Jones is in a fight he might not win.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

Yeah, kind of surprised as well. Cormier was gifted this shot (considering who he has not beaten or even competed against), but he made the most of it. I still believe those two are way behind Jones wherein talent is concerned. Unfortunately, Jones is in a fight he might not win.

I agree Jones and Rousey both were/are so way ahead of their competitors.

 

[Zombie_61]

In the pilot to Star Trek, Jeffery Hunter played the captain and, IMHO, did an excellent job. But I've read that the execs didn't think he did which is why they re.placed him with Shatner. I'm always amazed at what nuance these execs think they see that I don't.

I always heard it was his then wife, Joan Bartlett, who convinced him, he was to good for that show, and he should stick to movies!

I liked Hunter in the role as well, but the series would probably have been very different had he agreed to do it. I've also read that is was Hunter who chose to focus on a career in movies, and have never read anything that indicated the studio execs didn't like him.

Conversely, the studio all but ordered Roddenberry to re-cast the role of "Number One" because they felt a female authority figure was unrealistic. They also told him something to the effect of, "And while you're at it, get rid of the guy with the ears (Spock)." Roddenberry fought to keep both characters as-is, but ultimately chose to combine them into Nimoy's half-Human/half-Vulcan Mr. Spock and created the character of Nurse Christine Chapel for his future wife Majel Barrett to play.

 

[Fading Fast]

I liked Hunter in the role as well, but the series would probably have been very different had he agreed to do it. I've also read that is was Hunter who chose to focus on a career in movies, and have never read anything that indicated the studio execs didn't like him.

Conversely, the studio all but ordered Roddenberry to re-cast the role of "Number One" because they felt a female authority figure was unrealistic. They also told him something to the effect of, "And while you're at it, get rid of the guy with the ears (Spock)." Roddenberry fought to keep both characters as-is, but ultimately chose to combine them into Nimoy's half-Human/half-Vulcan Mr. Spock and created the character of Nurse Christine Chapel for his future wife Majel Barrett to play.

As you and Steermen both have the same view - it was Hunter himself opting out and not the studio - I'm sure that is the right answer, but I definitely reads somewhere that it was the studio because I remember being stunned when I read it. If Hunter made the choice - wow - talk about missing out (maybe it wouldn't have been the ultimate cultural phenomenon it became without the Shatner-Nimoy dynamic, but I doubt it).

I also liked the female number one - I thought Majel Barrett was excellent in the role and it is a shame that the narrow-mindedness of the time forced her into a nurses role.

 

[Zombie_61]

As you and Steermen both have the same view - it was Hunter himself opting out and not the studio - I'm sure that is the right answer, but I definitely reads somewhere that it was the studio because I remember being stunned when I read it...

The truth probably lies somewhere in the middle, i.e. Hunter turned down the role, and the studio wasn't too upset because they weren't sure he was right for it.

...If Hunter made the choice - wow - talk about missing out (maybe it wouldn't have been the ultimate cultural phenomenon it became without the Shatner-Nimoy dynamic, but I doubt it)...

Maybe, maybe not. If you were to talk to any of the actors associated with the original Star Trek series and get them to answer honestly, I'm fairly certain they would say it was both a blessing and a curse. In the long-run they attained a somewhat legendary status, but they all had difficulties getting work after the show was cancelled because they were so closely identified with their respective characters. And it wasn't until Star Trek: The Motion Picture, more than a decade after the show had been cancelled, before they were able to cash in on the show's success because even Shatner, Nimoy, and Kelley weren't in a position to bargain for residuals in the early-60s. But by the time Paramount decided to revive the series with a theatrical release, they could each walk up to the negotiating table and say, "Oh, you want me to be in the movie? Pay me!" Of course, considering Hunter died in May of 1969, his joy or dismay about his decision would have been short-lived.

...I also liked the female number one - I thought Majel Barrett was excellent in the role and it is a shame that the narrow-mindedness of the time forced her into a nurses role.

I like Majel Barrett, but I thought the character "Number One" was ill-defined in The Cage. The character's species was supposed to be non-human and have the repressed emotions that would later be associated with Vulcans, but I don't think that came across well in the pilot and may have led to the studio's opinion that Barrett wasn't a particularly good actress. Regardless, I think she got the last laugh by being both Nurse Chapel and the voice of the computers on all of the Federation's ships until her death in 2008.

 

[Stearmen]

Monaco Grand Pix. I personally don't like the new cars, with their paddle shifters, but the Monte Carlo track is still the greatest race track in the world! Where else do the cars slow to 31mph to make a corner and run through a tunnel under a casino? Nico Rosberg won, making him one of only four drivers to win three or more years in a row. Graham Hill, Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna. [video=youtube;E864MVSJ-NU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E864MVSJ-NU[/video]

 

[Fading Fast]

...I like Majel Barrett, but I thought the character "Number One" was ill-defined in The Cage. The character's species was supposed to be non-human and have the repressed emotions that would later be associated with Vulcans, but I don't think that came across well in the pilot and may have led to the studio's opinion that Barrett wasn't a particularly good actress. Regardless, I think she got the last laugh by being both Nurse Chapel and the voice of the computers on all of the Federation's ships until her death in 2008.

I agree, but as it was a pilot, it would have been interesting to see if the role and her development in it would have improved. But in the end, we got Spock and all that entailed and, as you said, she didn't do badly for herself.

Jeffrey Hunter did seem to just disappear with the '60s. I had never thought about it, but now that I know he died so young, it makes sense as he was a star that pops up in several things in the '50s and '60s and, then, nothing.

 

[Bushman]

Been watching "WWII In Color" for Memorial Day.

 

[AmateisGal]

Finished watching the HBO miniseries, "The Pacific." Very well done. I really appreciated that they included an entire episode about after the war ended and how the individual men dealt with it. We tend to forget that part of it - how they coped when they came home.

 

[Wally_Hood]

Recently we've started watching "Eureka" from the SyFy channel.

 

[Zombie_61]

I agree, but as it was a pilot, it would have been interesting to see if the role and her development in it would have improved. But in the end, we got Spock and all that entailed and, as you said, she didn't do badly for herself...

Viewed through an outsider's perspective, the very concept of a "pilot episode" appears to be a near-Herculean task. How could anyone possibly summarize all of the promise and potential a television series like Star Trek could have in only 64 minutes? Considering the phenomenon that Star Trek became, it's almost impossible to say whether the decisions made by the studio execs and/or everyone else involved in the production were right or wrong. Then again, those execs described The Cage as "too cerebral", "too intellectual", "too slow", and having "not enough action"--yet another example of The Powers That Be underestimating their audience. shakeshead Ultimately Star Trek became what it is, and Majel Barrett proved she had "the goods", so I suppose everything worked out as it was supposed to.

 

[Fading Fast]

Viewed through an outsider's perspective, the very concept of a "pilot episode" appears to be a near-Herculean task. How could anyone possibly summarize all of the promise and potential a television series like Star Trek could have in only 64 minutes? Considering the phenomenon that Star Trek became, it's almost impossible to say whether the decisions made by the studio execs and/or everyone else involved in the production were right or wrong. Then again, those execs described The Cage as "too cerebral", "too intellectual", "too slow", and having "not enough action"--yet another example of The Powers That Be underestimating their audience. shakeshead Ultimately Star Trek became what it is, and Majel Barrett proved she had "the goods", so I suppose everything worked out as it was supposed to.

Amazing that the executives thought The Cage too cerebral. The thing that distinguished "Star Trek" from so many (not all) of the other shows at the time was that it did ask you to think. For all the squawking I've done about cable, it was cable that broke the silly three network monopoly and really opened up TV to variety and better quality (and worse quality) - the full spectrum has burst forth now that we have so many channels to fill.

 

[AtomicEraTom]

Watching Jimmy Fallon, because there's nothing else on.

 

[Touchofevil]

Watching Jimmy Fallon, because there's nothing else on.

That is really bad when you have to consider Fallon as an option. QVC sounds like a better choice.