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What happened to your crew?
Oh, we were dead.
Mr. Sulu...
you will lay in an evasive course
back to the constellation. Aye, aye, Sir!
Belay that last order, helmsman!
We're going to attack.
You will carry out my last order, Mr. Sulu.
I am assuming command of the Enterprise.
But I would advise against it.
Scotty, get us outta here!
Prepare to beam me aboard on my signal.
Gentlemen, I suggest you beam me aboard.
Stardate update
Opening Comments Leonard Nimoy
the Soviet Union developed atomic arms soon after,
and the fear of nuclear war shaped the society
of the 1950s and 60s.
Fallout shelters were built as part of many homes.
Children were taught to duck and cover in case of an attack.
The idea of a limited war had America believing
that surviving a nuclear war was possible.
As the weapons grew stronger and stronger,
it became apparent that both superpowers
had the capability to destroy the worid many times over.
A limited war was an illusiĆ³n.
Scientists invented the idea of the doomsday clock,
a measure of how close mankind was to ultimate destruction.
They set the hands at a few minutes to midnight,
in other words... doomsday.
End of Nimoy comments
don't just watch.. beam aboard the dominion
at scifi dot com right now
enter the trek chatroom and
experience 'Star Trek' the interactive way.
'Star Trek The Scifi Channel Special Edition will continue after these messages.
Star Trek Insights We're on a role...
it was a job.
It was a job. It was a job.
I think I got the part because I looked good in a bearskin.
Just a little bit more animosity
than the average show those days.
When we read the script- at least, speaking for myself-
it really looked like somewhat of a dud.
It was like a party for me.
I thought, "all right, fine. I'm making my money.
I'm guest-starring, and I'm out of here. "
it was pretty much like going to any other job.
Who's got the best dressing room?
Who's got the highest chair? Who has to come in last? ## da da da, dee dee ##
it was fun for me.
That's what I remember most of all-
that it was great fun, and they were paying me for this, you know?
And billing me as a guest star. I liked that very, very much.
End of insights
"The Doomsday Machine"
Captioning made possible by the SciFi Channel and U. S. Department of Education
Star Trek Insights My Favorite Episode
James Doohan: "The Doomsday Machine"
because William Windom was in it,
and he's one of the best character actors
in the business, you know. Terrific guy.
You're the lunatic who's responsible for almost destroying my ship?
Windom: Marc Daniels was our director.
I got along very well with him,
and in the "pivotal" scene of me going bananas,
he said, "Bill, I don't know what the hell to do with this.
"Turn the chair around, sit in it, look into the lens,
and I'm going go have a smoke. "
attack that- that thing.
"Help yourself. " isn't that a nice director?
They say there's no devil, Jim...
but there is.
Right out of hell I saw it!
So they cut up what they needed, and that's the show.
"Oh, how did you do that? Oh my goodness!"
It was scatter-gun. Shoot it all-
you know, you gave them, what? 11 minutes,
and they used 1-1/2.
Matt, where's your crew?
On the third planet.
There no third planet!
Don't you think I know that?
There was, but not anymore!
End of Insights
Captain, a most curious development
on scanner 57.
Let's all take a look at it, Mr. Spock.
Lieutenant Nyota UhUra
What happened to your crew?
Oh, I had to beam them down!
Oh, we were dead!
No power, our phasers useless.
I stayed behind- last man.
The captain-last man aboard the ship.
That's what you're supposed to do, isn't it?
Half Time Comments William Shatner
The disturbed commodore decker was played by character actor William Windom.
Quite a familiar face to televisiĆ³n audiences of the 1960's and 70's.
Remember "The Farmer's Daughter" and "My Wworid and Welcome to It?"
Now, on the blooper side of things: Listen closely to Scotty.
His Scottish lilt mysteriously vanishes... as he says - 30 seconds later - poof
his Scottish accent "poof!"
End of Half Time Comments
Half Time Comments Leonard Nimoy
William Windom plays Commodore Decker in "The Doomsday Machine. "
His convincing performance of a commander
destroyed by the deaths of his crew
is both riveting and touching.
Scotty...
give me that power.
You've got just enough to move us. I can't do better.
That'll do.
Full ahead, Mr. Scott!
[engines whine]
I'm a doctor, not an engineer.
I'm doctor, not an escalator!
I'm a doctor, not a bricklayer.
I'm a doctor, not a mechanic.
I'm not a magician, Spock-
just an old country doctor.
Star Trek Insights The Doomsday Role
But don't you understand? We've got to destroy it!
Windom: The 'Star Trek' people- they know your home address,
how many brothers and sisters you have, how much education,
have you been to Europe- they know everything about you.
There's nothing they don't know, and all they really want
is a signature and a little chat about...
"The Doomsday Machine" and "How did you do it?" Type of thing,
So they're fabulous people, and I owe them that much.
You're bluffing.
Vulcans never bluff.
No.
No, I don't suppose that they do.
Windom: I would have been more smart-aleck than I already am
back in the old days about it. I used to make fun of them.
I'd say "What are you? Come on. "
I did like Shatner. "Get a life!"
McCoy: You can't let him do this, Spock!
Doctor, you are out of line.
So are you
Sir.
Windom: But he didn't do that anymore,
and I don't, either-
not that I have the financial reasons he does,
but you got to have respect for people
no matter what their interests are.
Fire!
Windom: I'd say it was an exciting TV show.
If you liked it, I can tell you it was fun to make.
I've been prepared for death ever since I-
ever since I killed my crew.
Wish they'd let Matt Decker live instead of his dumb son
and I could have gone on and had a whole career of it,
but I didn't, and I'm glad you remembered the one show,
and here's-you don't want my autograpH? Here's the-.
He's gone.
End of Insights
Constellation, come in, please.
Captain, a most curious development
on scanner 57.
Let's all take a look at it, Mr. Spock.
Captain James Tiberius Kirk
Transporter is out, Captain. You'll have to stand by.
I can't. Power level's dropping too fast. Hurry.
Acknowledged.
Mr. Scott, speed is of the essence.
[electrical crackling]
Closing Comments Leonard Nimoy
Captain Ahab's pursuit of the elusive white whale Moby ***
was an obsession that cost him his leg,
his ship, and eventually his life and the lives of most his crew.
Commodore Decker's pursuit of the Doomsday Machine
is drawn directly from the Herman Melville classic.
It's not the last time that Star Trek would draw inspiration
from this literary work.
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
drew heavily from Moby *** in many ways.
Khan's obsession would prove as deadly
as both Ahab's and Commodore Decker's.
Closing Comments William Shatner
Obsession and guilt - a fatal combination.
It's not hard to imagine James Kirk in the same
situation as Decker. An explorer on a mission of
discovery, as always in a high risk situation
where anything can happen.
It's where the slightest error in judgment can be deadly.
Knowledge comes at a high price...
one that Commodore Decker was forced to pay.