Talk:Arena (episode)

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Original story

Worth noting is that the original Brown story does NOT end with a merciful human hero sparing the life of the enemy alien: He just blows him away. -<unsigned>

Urm... okay. That would have beeb interesting to see. :P Would you mind sharing the source of this information? Perhaps then it can be added as background info. --From Andoria with Love 04:56, 11 Dec 2005 (UTC)

The original source is "Arena" by Fredric Brown (the short story was published before it was used as a script).. i have a reprint in an early Starlog issue -- but since it is a reprint i think the original publication date would be the most relevant. -- Captain Mike K. Bartel^talk 15:08, 11 Dec 2005 (UTC)

2 New Background Notes

A couple of new notes have been added to the background:

• The sequence of lights below the bridge viewscreen is much slower and clunkier in the long shots than in the close up shots.

Can someone confirm this one? I am leaving it alone for now.

• Kirk is at his Kirkest at the beginning of this episode - dodging explosions on the ground while simultaneously giving orders for the space battle above via communicator!

I am removing this one. I feel it adds nothing, and is poorly written. It is just the type of note we have been talking about getting rid of in the forums. --OuroborosCobra 03:01, 25 June 2006 (UTC)

Background notes

Cleanup. Here's the removals:

• Brown's story involved a human pilot -- Carson -- of a scout ship (part of a human armada massing to fight off an alien invasion of the Solar System), being forced by omnipotent aliens to fight a member of the invading race (called both "Outsiders" and "Rollers," due to their beachball-like appearance with extendable/retractable cilia-like limbs) in an enclosed dome approximately five hundred feet wide at all points, filled with blue sand, rocks and scraggly bushes and vines, divided down the middle by an invisible forcefield which will only allow inanimate objects and dead beings to pass through. The unseen omnipotent aliens declare the race of the loser will be totally destoyed. Totally naked, with no weapons, they throw rocks at each other. Carson takes a hit on his calf which soon is infected. He keeps as far from his side of the forcefield as he can so the Roller cannot hit him again, but the alien builds a small catapult to hurl larger stones. Eventually Carson discovers that unconscious living beings can also pass through the forcefield after he finds a lizard-like creature the Roller killed and threw through the forcefield to his side was not actually dead, but unconscious. Carson devises a plan--he makes a spear from a scraggly bush, holds it tightly against his body with one hand, leans against the forcefield, and bashes himself on the head with a rock. Unconscious, he falls through the forcefield to the other side, luckily comes to right away, fights the Roller, finally runs his spear through it, killing it. Immediately, he is back in his ship, where he discovers that the entire Outsider/Roller race was annihilated by one blast from a human ship's laser which "jumped" from ship to ship, destroying them all. He almost believes it was all a dream until he finds tell-tale scars on his body from his time in the arena.

The previous note had already established the similarity. I don't think we need a huge, unreadable paragraph as further proof.

The overhead shot of the destroyed outpost that closes the teaser and opens Act One is one of the series' most impressive camera shots.

Again, opinion, not needed here. --OuroborosCobra ^talk 03:48, 10 July 2006 (UTC)

Excuse me? In what other episode did the camera crew use a crane (or moving the camera to the top of the fort set, either way, gaining great elevation) to shoot a scene? This is the only overhead shot in the series that I can remember. If you wish to add "technically impressive", fine, but this took extra work by the director to pull off and deserves mention. Further, by simply removing that part of the paragraph, you rendered the rest of it completely confusing, with no reference to the content of the comment.

All that is needed is a note saying that the two are similar, not a long drawn out explantaion of the other strory, and where in particalar they are similar. Also, what is this you are talking about cranes and such? I don't see anything about that in the note I removed. Furthermore, I did not remove "part of a paragraph", I removed an entire note, or "paragraph". --OuroborosCobra ^talk 23:25, 2 September 2006 (UTC)

Oh, sorry, you are talking about the second note I removed. Been so long since I did this edit I forgot what it was that I did. As for the edit you are talking about, whether you like it or not, calling a shot "the most impressive" is flat out opinion. Other people may find other shots in the series to be more impressive (don't argue why you think this one is, as it does not matter why you do). Now, if this was the only one to use a crane or something, that would be noteworthy, but that is not what the note read, and there was no way for me to know that is what was meant. I don't have TOS on DVD, so I cannot confirm that this is the only crane shot. I would be opposed to something getting put back unless we knew it was the only one. As for the rest of the paragraph there, it reads just fine without the "most impressive shot" part. The rest of that paragraph is fact, not opinion. --OuroborosCobra ^talk 23:40, 2 September 2006 (UTC)

Granted, I am late in coming to this discussion, but there are a few points worth noting about the genesis of this teleplay. First, the third and fourth acts of the script bear are marked (if not plagiaristic), resemblence to Frederic Brown's short story "Arena". (I am not casting aspersions here, as Coon passed away dedades ago and his side of the story cannot be told. Still, it is possible that a young man could have read this story and forgotten it, only to incorporate into an original work.) It is really for an individual to review the material and form an opinion. Next, it was the first script submitted by Coon (as the newly installed producer), to be filmed. Whether the similarties between Brown's story and the episode were coincidental is really a matter of --well-- opinion. It might be that Coon innocently replicated Brown's story, or perhaps it was something more sinister. (See, e.g., Rod Serling's The Comedian.) Finally, there can be no doubt that Brown was given a "story by" credit, despite the fact he neither submitted a treatment nor was he even aware that Star Trek claimed any connection to his work until after Coon had completed the script. (Cf. Inside Star Trek: The Real Story.)

The real question here is whether Memory Alpha is exceeding its mission by making comment about the history of any given production. For example, it is permissible to note that the pilot film "The Cage" was the basis of "The Menagerie, Part I", and that "The Omega Glory" was initially rejected as the second pilot. Similarly, should we not discuss the beginnings of any production, so long as the article can be supported by evidence?

It may be that a separate category dealing with popular culture, criticism, and analysis is needed. If not, then a consensus regarding the scope of "Background" will need to be reached. For my part, my intention was to reserve my commentary on the article as written for Talk:Arena, when I discovered this discussion. Seeing what has already been written, though, I think it may be time to decide what "supportable" criticism and analysis can be presented on MA as oppossed to that which is simply out of bounds..--GNDN 01:22, 14 October 2006 (UTC)

Actually, according to Inside Star Trek: The Real Story, once the similarities were noted, Brown was called and his story was bought. So, he was aware that ST was "adapting his story." We know the full story behind it, he proabbaly never did, but you cannot say he was not aware that ST made any connection to his work. Sir Rhosis 15:19, 14 October 2006 (UTC)

You are quite correct, but the contact and the sale was made after the script was written. Brown could have declined to sell the story or taken other action. Again, I don't believe that Coon intentionally plagiarized Brown's story, but the similarties are too overwhelming to ignore. Coon and Norway Productions did the right thing by reaching out Brown. --GNDN 19:22, 14 October 2006 (UTC)

Strange Ghost image

Did anyone else notice the strange ghost image of the Metrons clothing about a foot to the left of him when he was talking to Kirk? What caused that? Wheatleya 21:35, 14 June 2008 (UTC)