Alden Bates' Weblog
Feigning normality since 1973
Star Trek
Filed in: TV & Movies.
I've been watching a lot of Star Trek (the original series) recently. Once you know James Doohan is intentionally keeping his right hand out of shot so you can't see (or rather fail to see) his missing finger, it becomes intensely distracting. My eyes are drawn to following his right wrist around just trying to catch a glimpse of his hand.
Or maybe I'm just weird.
I'm currently partway through season 2. Great series, but then I haven't yet watched such clankers as Spock's Brain or And the Children Shall Lead yet...
Posted January 5, 2005 6:54 PM
Comments
His missing finger is visible briefly in Friday's Child when he grasps a pen in order to sign a report... As far as I know, the cartoon Scotty has all his fingers. :)
Posted by: Alden Bates | January 6, 2005 11:26 AM
The character "Radar" on the show "Mash" keeps one hand hidden, also. He was born with a defect and usually holds a clipboard to cover it up.
Posted by: Junebugg | January 6, 2005 10:07 PM
Scotty lost that digit trying to get more power. He told Cap'n James T. that he didn't think the NCC-1701 would make it and that scene stealing bugger wouldn't listen. Turns out Kirk was right, but did Scotty have to sacrifice a finger just to prove a point. I think not.
Posted by: Hank Jr | January 6, 2005 10:30 PM
John didn't get very far watching Season three when we picked it up recently, but we did get through Spock's Brain--sort of. I was in the next room part of the time, and so, I think, was he.
Even so, it was surprising how many lines of dialogue I remembered fondly, even from that episode. I hadn't seen it in 30 years or so, but the dialogue was still in my brain, waiting to pounce.
Posted by: Karen Funk Blocher | January 9, 2005 12:27 AM
Scotty is missing a finger!? Who did it!? Was it Bones -- I always felt there was some tension between those two. J/k. I am going to watch for that now though...thanks for the heads up.
Posted by: Suburby | January 9, 2005 10:57 AM
Scotty's missing finger is onscreen again during "Trouble with Tribbles", during a scene where he's holding a pile of them in his arms!
Posted by: Alden Bates | January 9, 2005 12:06 PM
Doohan lost his finger during the war.
Its a funny story, actually. He was on the front lines, and took a bullet in the hand. He panicked and ran to the MASH tent (the doctor's tent, for those that don't know).
Comes running in holding his bloody hand, Doc looks it over, says he'll have to amputate the finger, then says he wants to take a look at Doohan's knee.
Doohan looks puzzled and says there's nothing wrong with his knee. Until he looked at it. Somewhere during his run, he had been shot in the knee, and the bullet lodged in the joint. By all rights, he should not have been able walk on it at all, but he was so fixated on his finger that he didn't even notice.
Posted by: Edymnion | April 19, 2005 5:23 PM
Thanks for that. I will now be looking at the right hand as I watch the remaining episodes. In other news, ST:TAS comes out in March 2005, I am told. Does the cartoon Doohan have a full complement of fingers? Yes, you do indeed have clunkers ahead, but some good stuff too.
Posted by: ringbark | January 6, 2005 12:01 AM