Product Details

• Actors: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, Nichelle Nichols, James Doohan
• Directors: Don McDougall
• Writers: Gene Roddenberry, Paul Schneider
• Producers: Gene L. Coon, Gene Roddenberry, Robert H. Justman
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, HiFi Sound, NTSC
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: CBS Paramount International Television
• VHS Release Date: April 15, 1994
• Run Time: 46 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6300213226
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #342,867 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

A real treat for long-haul Trekkers: "The Squire of Gothos" is an entertaining program in its own right and the obvious blueprint for "Encounter at Farpoint," Gene Roddenberry's pilot episode for Star Trek: The Next Generation. Guest star William Campbell plays Trelane, a bratty, impulsive alien given to wearing costumes appropriate for an 18th-century French aristocrat. Equipped with godlike powers that allow him to alter and manipulate the world around him, Trelane is the prototype of The Next Generation's beloved quasi villain, Q (John de Lancie). Like Q, Trelane regards the crew of the Enterprise as playthings, and when Captain Kirk (William Shatner) disrupts his games, the omniscient boy-man puts humanity itself on trial. Great stuff. --Tom Keogh

From the Back Cover

En route to Colony Beta Six, the Enterprise is trapped in orbit around an uncharted planet-a planet run by a strange but powerful being.

TREK TRIVIA
William Campbell (Trelane) would later return as Captain Koloth in "The Trouble With Tribbles."
The voices of Trelane's parents were provided by James Doohan (Scotty) and Barbara Babcock, who guest-starred in "A Taste Of Armageddon" and "Plato's Stepchildren."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best of the original series and a harbinger, October 13, 2003

By 

Charles Ashbacher (Marion, Iowa United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Star Trek - The Original Series, Episode 18: The Squire of Gothos [VHS] (VHS Tape)

There are two ways in which this is one of the best episodes in the original Star Trek series. The first is that the crew of the Enterprise encounters a creature (Trelane) that can command great power, and that considers the Enterprise crew to be playthings. This premise is a very interesting one, because it is so plausible. We humans are culturally conditioned to consider ourselves to be higher level beings, but the law of averages as played out in the universe dictates that we are most certainly not. Our foibles, nature and actions could very likely be a source of amusement for beings capable of easily moving planets.
The other way is that it sets the table for some of the best episodes of Star Trek, The Next Generation, as the Q character is obviously modeled from Trelane. "Encounter At Farpoint", the first episode of TNG, involves humanity being placed on trial, much like Trelane's placing Captain Kirk on trial in this episode. Trelane has studied Earth history, but somehow doesn't quite get it right. Q and the members of the continuum also never seem to quite be able to accurately solve the human equation, despite their ability to treat time and space like some of us use a television remote.
I went back and watched this episode again after viewing the TNG episodes that involved Q. The episode is so well acted and the repartee dialog so well written that I found myself enjoying it more than I ever had before. I found myself wishing that Trelane had made a second appearance in the original series.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Light hearted entertainment, May 8, 2001

By 

"sukhisoo" (Mesilla Park, NM USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Star Trek - The Original Series, Episode 18: The Squire of Gothos [VHS] (VHS Tape)

In my younger days, I didn't like this episode because it was unrealistic and Squire Trelane's childishness got on my nerves. Now he makes me laugh. William Campbell has fun playing the fop who happens to have extraordinary powers.

But he has no sense of substance, and that is the key to his charm. He is simultaneously all-knowing and hopelessly naive. It's quite entertaining, even though the ending could have been done better. I always prefer that the crew of the Enterprise solve their problems without outside help.

All-in-all, a light hearted, amusing episode.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Before Q there was Trelane, August 21, 2002

By 

picardfan007 (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Star Trek - The Original Series, Episode 18: The Squire of Gothos [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Long before the Next Generation there was a god like being who was Kirk's foil for once. Too bad he wasn't a regular character. Perhaps this is what Gene wanted with the original series and tried for this in NG...who knows. This episode is fun because Kirk has to outsmart a god who knows no bounds. He wants to keep the crew of the Enterpise as pets for his amusement. From a historical perspective you can see how Q in Next Generation is very close in character.