The 24th episode of the second season of Star Trek (TOS), The Ultimate Computer, aired March 8, 1968. The crew of the Enterprise is ordered to test an artificial intelligence computer, the M-5 Multitronic system. Star Fleet is considering having the M-5 computer replacing crews on star ships.
What could possibly go wrong?
The computer goes berserk and starts attacking everything. Captain Kirk has to talk the computer down, which he did several times during the series.
The episode stands out in a couple of ways. First, it contained most number of galaxy-class starships in one episode - five: Enterprise, Lexington, Potemkin, Excalibur, and Hood.
Second, it was considered ground-breaking in casting an African-American actor, William Marshall (as Dr. Richard Daystrom), as the Nobel-prize-winning black cyberneticist. During the era of Martin Luther King and Civil Rights, it was important to have a white captain deferring to a black man. Marshall said that he, as an African-American, was referred to as "sir" throughout the episode.
No comments:
Post a Comment