esmith@uok.UUCP (07/20/84)
#N:uok:8400087:000:1527
uok!esmith Jul 20 15:30:00 1984
Reprinted from "THE OKLAHOMA DAILY", Jul 18, 1984. (without permission)
LONDON (AP) - The British Broadcasting Corp. will not televise four
"Star Trek" episodes because they are unsuitable for children, a BBC
spokeswoman said Monday.
The episodes are not suitable to be shown on early evening television
when children watch, said Ann Rosenberg, the network's publicity officer.
She said the BBC received complaints after one of the four shows,
"Miri" was broadcast. In the program, the crew of the starship
Enterprise saves the surviving inhabitants of a planet - all children -
where everyone dies upon reaching puberty.
The other three episodes are: "The Empath," in which Capt. James T
Kirk and his top officers are tortured by aliens to test the psychic
healing powers of a young mute woman; "Whom the Gods Destroy," in which
inmates escape from an intergalatic asylum and try to destroy the universe;
and "Plato's Stepchildren," in which the Enterprise crew is captured by
aliens with psychic powers.
/*----------------*/
What will they think of next? banning reruns of "Dr. Who" because
the Dr. has to fight someone. (no way will they do that). Lets get
serious isn't this carrying censorship a little to far? censoring
shows that were broadcast originally from '66-'68. (I do have to
admit that these four are not on the top, or even the middle of my
list of favorite Star Trek episodes.) But this is absurd.
-Eric L. Smith
!ctvax!uokvax!uok!esmithhawk@oliven.UUCP (07/24/84)
Seems to me that banning "Plato's Stepchildren" (or the empath, for that
matter) because it is inappropriate for small children lies somewhere between
ironic and self defeating.
hawk
While I'm at it, an emotional reaction from Spock in the first Star Trek pilot
would be quite reasonable. Number One (Same Actress as Nurse Chapel) had no
emotions, not spock.
also, the bit on vulcan names being S???K comes from _The Making of Star Trek_.
No specifics, I haven't read (or seen) the book for about 10 years.
--
(Rick Hawkins @ Olivetti ATC)
{hplabs|zehntel|fortune|ios|tolerant|allegra|tymix}!oliveb!oliven!hawkpedz@smu.UUCP (07/24/84)
I like "Miri" because it examplifies the generation gap of the 60's. If you will recall, this "problem" was of major concern back then. This show has the "onlies" (sp?) so afraid and apart from the "grumps" (sp?) and it made the real generation gap problem seem trivial. Yet, Captain Kirk and crew were able to work things out. I like "Plato's Stepchildren" and "The Empath" because of their classic fable basis. Althought both were perhaps a bit overdone, I can not find anything wrong with them and many good things. As far as "Whom the Gods Destroy", this episod contains the classic 3-D chess move password. I forgot the exact sequence. I think it was Queen to Queen's level 3 followed by King to King's level 2.? In any case, how could one grow up to be a compatent Trivial Pursuit player without having seen this episod? :-) Perry convex!smu!pedz
paul@wjvax.UUCP (Paul Summers) (07/27/84)
> I like "Plato's Stepchildren" and "The Empath" because of their > classic fable basis. Althought both were perhaps a bit overdone, I > can not find anything wrong with them and many good things. > > As far as "Whom the Gods Destroy", this episod contains the classic > 3-D chess move password. I forgot the exact sequence. I think it was > Queen to Queen's level 3 followed by King to King's level 2.? In any > case, how could one grow up to be a compatent Trivial Pursuit player > without having seen this episod? :-) Regarding "Plato's Stepchildren", this episode had a very "controversial" scene in it. The scene was when Kirk, Spock, Uhura and Chapel were "providing entertainment" for the natives. The leader (what was his name?) was forcing the two couples to do humiliating things in front of the others, including the Doctor. The "drama" culminated with Spock pasionately kissing Chapel (much to the delite of his fans) and Kirk kissing Uhura (much to the dismay of certain groups of people). Believe it or not, this scene was one of the first (if not the first) bi-racial (black-white) kisses on the tube. This scene alone was the probable cause of the boycott. I believe the reference for this is "The Making of Star Trek" (read it a looooong time ago). As to the famous chess move in "Whom Gods Destroy": Scotty: Queen to Queen's level 3? Spock: Queen to King's level 1.