It’s a fun song that never gets old….they produced it themselves. They had been recording for Motown but left the label in 1968 to take more control of their music. This was their first release after leaving Motown, and it was a huge success, hitting #1 on the R&B charts and selling over two million copies.
The group never had a bigger chart hit in America, but became one of the top acts of the ’70s, enjoying the creative control that came with recording on their own label. The song peaked at #1 on the Billboard R&B Charts, #2 on the Billboard 100, and #3 in Canada in 1969.
Ernie Isley, just 16 years old, played bass on this song…the first time playing that instrument on a recording. Isley had played the bass when they were rehearsing the song, but a studio musician was supposed to handle it on the recording. When this hired hand couldn’t match what Ernie did at rehearsal, Ronald Isley made the call to have his younger brother play it instead. Ernie later said he was in “complete fear” during the recording.
Barry Gordy evidently wasn’t a fan of the Isley Brothers after they left him. When this song took off, Motown head Berry Gordy filed a lawsuit claiming The Isleys were still under contract when they recorded it. The court case went on for 18 years before a federal judge ruled that The Isley Brothers had recorded it after the Motown contract had lapsed.
They use the phrase “sock it to me” which Aretha Franklin had made popular with the song Respect. It also started to be used on the 60s show Laugh-In. This song also won a Grammy for best R&B vocal by group or duo in 1970.The song was written by Ronald Isley, O’Kelly Isley, and Jr.Rudolph Isley.
Ronald Isley said that he wrote the song while dropping his daughter off at her school one day. He hummed it over and over so he wouldn’t forget the lyrics. After he reached his mom’s house…he sang it to his older brother O’Kelly Isley…his brother told him right away…that is a hit!
The guitar player in this session was Charles Pitts Jr. who later played the famous wah-wah on “Theme From Shaft” by Isaac Hayes.
It’s Your Thing
It’s your thing
Do what you wanna do
I can’t tell you
Who to sock it to
It’s your thing
Do what you wanna do now
I can’t tell you
Who to sock it to
If you want me to love you, maybe I will
I need you woman, it ain’t no big deal
You need love now, just as bad as I do
Make’s me no difference now, who you give your thing to
It’s your thing (It’s your thing)
Do what you wanna do
I can’t tell you
Who to sock it to
It’s your thing (It’s your thing)
Do what you wanna do now
I can’t tell you
Who to sock it to
It’s your thing (It’s your thing)
Do what you wanna do
I can’t tell you
Who to sock it to
I’m not trying to run your life,
I know you wanna do what’s right,
Ah, give your love girl, do whatever you choose,
How can you lose, with the stuff you use?
It’s your thing (It’s your thing)
Do what you wanna do
I can’t tell you
Who to sock it to
It’s your thing (It’s your thing)
Do what you wanna do
Don’t let me tell you
Who to sock it to
Let me hear you say it’s my thing (It’s your thing),
I do what I wanna do…
If you want to see where we are…and you missed a few…HERE is a list of the episodes in my index located at the top of my blog.
This show was written by Gene Roddenberry, Jerome Bixby, and Arthur H. Singer
I think this one ranks up there with the best of the 3rd season. Klingons and the Enterprise crew are controlled by an alien. Things are still tense between the Federation and the Klingon Empire. Anything can set it off and in this episode something nearly does.
The Enterprise responds to a distress call from a colony but finds no sign of them; it is as if there were no colony. Shortly afterwards a Klingon vessel arrives and suffers damage without the Enterprise firing a shot. A Klingon landing party, led by Kang, confronts Kirk on the planet and blames him for the attack on his ship while Kirk accuses him of wiping out the colony. Kang intends to take the Enterprise by forcing Kirk to beam them up… his plans fail and he is the one captured.
Things don’t stay that way for long though, a strange entity appears to be playing one side against the other. It turns the crew’s phasers into swords and similarly arms the Klingons. Fights ensue but injuries soon heal no matter how serious and the hatred is magnified as each side’s distrust grows. If they are to avoid an eternity of fighting they will have to come to an understanding; something that won’t be easy.
I thought the concept excellent… a being that feeds on violent, negative emotions and with the wounds healed…could go on forever. This nicely brings the crew of the Enterprise back into conflict with their most famous enemy… the Klingons.
The fact that to win they must persuade the Klingons that they can be trusted serves to make it more interesting and the conflict before that involves some enjoyable sword-fighting action. We also get Chekov ranting about wanting revenge for the death of an imagined brother and even the doctor is demanding revenge.
The regular cast do a solid job but it is Michael Ansara’s strong performance as Kang that stands out… this performance enables us to believe Kang would torture Chekov to death in an early scene and also believe he would agree to a truce when he saw their fighting had no purpose. Susan Howard also puts in a likable performance as Kang’s wife, Mara, without whom the peace couldn’t have been established.
From IMDB:
Although intra-ship beaming is routine in later incarnations of ‘Star Trek’ (where it is called “site-to-site transport”), this is the first and only time it is done in the original series, although it is also referenced in Shore Leave (1966) when Sulu notes that Spock is beaming down “from the bridge”.
Near the end of the episode, Scotty tells Kirk that the ship’s dilithium crystals are deteriorating. Kirk asks “Time factor?” Scotty replies “In 12 minutes we’ll be totally without engine power.”
This happens with exactly 12:00 minutes left in the episode.
Mara is the only female Klingon with a speaking role on TOS. Another female is beamed on board the Enterprise at the same time, but only seen briefly.
This episode was originally written with Kor from Errand of Mercy (1967) as Kirk’s Klingon adversary. Although John Colicos wanted to reprise his role, he was in Europe making Anne of the Thousand Days (1969) and was unavailable. The part was recast with Michael Ansara as “Kang”.
The spinning alien entity effect was created with a child’s spinning windmill bought from a stand at Santa Monica beach. Visual effects supervisor James Rugg was told to be creative as the production budget for season three had been drastically cut. He bought it after noticing how it glistened in the sunlight and filmed it against a black velvet cloth from several different angles, deliberately out of focus, turning with the help of a desk fan and with different gels on the spotlights. To help make it feel unearthly and disguise what it was, he also under-cranked the film in the camera to make it appear to spin faster and ran the film backwards.
This episode affords a second and final glimpse of the “working” communicator’s central spinning moiré disc, which was controlled by an inner stopwatch mechanism. Its first appearance was in Friday’s Child (1967).
As in the Imperial Starfleet of the Mirror Universe (first seen in Mirror, Mirror (1967)), the regular universe’s Klingon Empire uses agonizers on Ensign Chekov. These were developed further as the “painsticks” often seen on Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987).
Kang wears the same golden sash worn by Kor in Errand of Mercy (1967). The same sash would be worn (albeit on the opposite shoulder) by Lieutenant Worf in the first season of Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987).
The Klingon who says, “Stand and fight, you cowards!” is Pete Kellett, who previously appeared in Mirror, Mirror (1967) as Farrell, Kirk’s henchman.
Mark Tobin, who plays a Klingon in this episode, would return more than 30 years later to play a Klingon in Barge of the Dead (1999). He previously played Khan’s right-hand man, Joaquin, in Space Seed (1967).
Footage of the Klingon ship is reused from Elaan of Troyius (1968) which was filmed earlier, but aired later.
For most of the fighting, Kirk has a US Model 1860 cavalry saber.
Scottie is delighted to find a claymore (Scottish longsword). The kind he had was a basket-hilt claymore, a good battlefield weapon. The earliest claymores were 15th century but the basket-hilt designs (as Scotty has) appeared in the 18th century. Claymores weighed about 2.2-2.8 kg and were 1.2-1.4 m long. They were two-handed weapons that could take the legs off of a cavalry horse.
This is the only time Sulu is seen in engineering or working in a Jefferies tube.
Kang gives his name to one of the two cyclopic alien squids who repeatedly plague The Simpsons (1989) in their Halloween fantasies. The other is Kodos who takes his name from The Conscience of the King (1966).
David L. Ross plays a character called Lt. Johnson. This appears to be the same crewman who is otherwise known as Galloway.
The footage of engineering, with the hovering entity, was recycled from The Tholian Web (1968), which featured a floating Kirk in place of the entity.
Multiple spellings exist for Chekov’s imaginary brother. It’s a foreign variant of “Peter” that has been spelled as Piotr and Piotre. “Piotre” is an unusual spelling that can’t readily be found anywhere (leastwise, not outside the 23rd century). “Piotr” does exist in European spellings, but it is Polish rather than Russian. The standard transliteration of the Russian name (from the original Cyrillic) is “Pyotr”, although “Piotr” is phonetically equally valid.
The transporter can beam up more than six at a time. Mr. Scott had isolated and beamed through Enterprise party first, and held the additional Klingons in status somewhere within the transporter buffer.
Michael Ansara later reprises his role as Kang in Blood Oath (1994) and Flashback (1996). In Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (1979) he appeared as a character with a difference of only one letter: Kane.
Klingon battle cruisers can hold up 440 people. (Kang said four hundred of his crew were killed, and forty survivors were beamed aboard the Enterprise.)
This takes place in 2268.
Michael Ansara and Leonard Nimoy appeared together previously in Showdown (1965), as brothers that were also lawmen. The episode was written by TOS producer/writer Gene L. Coon.
James Doohan and Michael Ansara previously both appeared in Hot Line (1964), but did not share any scenes.
Summary
Having found a Federation colony of 100 people completely destroyed, Kirk and the Enterprise have to deal with a nearby Klingon vessel which they believe must be responsible for the colony’s destruction. When the Klingon ship is disabled, they, in turn, assume they were attacked by the Enterprise. There is obvious tension between the Enterprise crew and its Klingon enemies. Unbeknown to Kirk and his Klingon counterpart, Kang, this is the work of an alien being that gets its energy from the friction and emotions between sentient beings. The natural animosities between the two parties feed its appetites. When the creature is beamed aboard the Enterprise, it purposely creates tension among the crew, to its benefit. The situation eventually forces Kirk and Kang to work together to defeat it.
CAST
William Shatner … Captain James Tiberius ‘Jim’ Kirk Leonard Nimoy … Mister Spock DeForest Kelley … Dr. McCoy Michael Ansara … Kang Susan Howard … Mara James Doohan … Scott Walter Koenig … Chekov George Takei … Sulu Nichelle Nichols Nichelle Nichols … Uhura David L. Ross … Lt. Johnson (as David Ross) Mark Tobin … Klingon Phil Adams … Klingon Soldier (uncredited) Albert Cavens … Klingon Crewman (uncredited) Dick Geary … Security Guard (uncredited) Eddie Hice … Security Guard (uncredited) Roger Holloway … Lt. Lemli (uncredited) Jay D. Jones … Klingon (uncredited) Pete Kellett … Klingon (uncredited) Hubie Kerns … Klingon Crewman (uncredited) Victor Paul … Klingon Crewman (uncredited) Charlie Picerni … Klingon (uncredited) George Sawaya … Klingon Crewman (uncredited) David Sharpe … Security Officer (uncredited)
If you want to see where we are…and you missed a few…HERE is a list of the episodes in my index located at the top of my blog.
This show was written by Gene Roddenberry, Gene L. Coon, and Arthur H. Singer
This one really caught my attention. It’s one of my favorite episodes. It’s a bit surreal and I like the sparse half-done sets. We have a few of the crew of the Enterprise visiting the OK Corral. Doc Holliday, Morgan, Virgil, and Wyatt Earp all are here.
Westerns were all the rage in the 50s and 60s, and I suppose Star Trek had to pay homage to the genre in some form or fashion. “Spectre of the Gun” offers that, just as other episodes touched on medical and courtroom drama formulas.
The Enterprise arrives in Melkotian space, Kirk’s goal is to set up relations with the secretive race. The Melkotians don’t take kindly to visitors, however, and, as a form of punishment, seemingly send Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scotty, and Chekov to a warped version of Tombstone, circa 1881, based on information they plucked from Kirk’s mind. To Spock’s credit…he thought they should have turned around and left but Kirk was determined.
The buildings are there but only halfway done. You only see fronts of buildings and nothing is quite right about this version of the old west. A powerful Melkotian tells Kirk, Spock, Bones, Checkov, and Scotty they are to be punished for their “disobedience”, recreating a frontier town with only a few buildings on some fake ground representing Tombstone, Arizona.
The Melkotian tells them they have been sentenced to death and the means of the death will be based on Kirk’s cultural memories of the Wild West town of Tombstone. The town they find themselves in is rather strange and their phasers have become revolvers and the locals believe that the landing party, Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scotty and Chekov, are actually the Clanton Gang. To make matters worse it is the day of the famous Gunfight at the OK Corral where the real Clantons were gunned down.
Chekov, who is playing the part of Billy Claiborne is gunned down in a fight over a woman but the real Billy Claiborne was the sole survivor from the Clanton Gang. It becomes apparent that normal rules don’t apply here; if they believe they won’t die then maybe they won’t. As the allotted time approaches, they will find out.
A very different type of episode for Star Trek. When you watch the video below…remember…everyone sees them as the Clanton game with normal western clothes.
From IMDB:
The original script called for filming on an outdoor location but, due to budget constraints, filming took place in the studio. These constraints also prevented the set designers from building a complete Western town and the concept of pieces of a town drawn from Kirk’s mind was developed.
DeForest Kelley appeared in other dramatizations of the same historical events, playing Ike Clanton in The Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (October 26, 1881) (1955) and Morgan Earp in Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957). He was also offered a role in Hour of the Gun (1967) (the movie this episode is named after) but had to decline due to his Star Trek commitment.
For the third season, the velour tunics from the first two seasons have been replaced by polyester ones, which are better-fitting but lack the luster of the original velour. The new fabric was a heavy diamond-weave nylon double-knit material akin to that used in professional baseball uniforms. The switch was made because the original velour shrank every time it was dry-cleaned. This was a problem because union rules required that costumes be cleaned before each use.
The writing of this episode was influenced by NBC executives who wanted Chekov to be featured more in the third season than he had been in the second season.
This is the only episode to end with the Enterprise heading toward a planet.
Written by Lee Cronin, the pseudonym of Gene L. Coon. Some have assumed that it was used because he was unhappy with the results. Actually, it was because he had left Paramount and was under contract with Universal, so he was not supposed to be working for Paramount as well.
Gene Roddenberry originally wanted to film ‘Spectre of the Gun’, about the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, in Arizona, either at Old Tucson Studios in Tucson, Arizona, or at Apacheland Studios in Apache Junction, Arizona. He found out that there was no budget to do it and had to rely on camera angles, bright colorful lights, and dreamlike sets, which added to the episode’s strange alien quality.
This was the first episode produced for the third season but it aired as the sixth episode of the season.
Kirk, Spock, and Scotty are all in the landing party and Sulu doesn’t appear. The storyline never states who is in command of the Enterprise while the senior ranking officers are away, although Uhura is the next in line.
According to James Doohan, NBC executives told him to comb his hair back for the third season. Doohan hated wearing his hair this way and stopped doing so during The Tholian Web (1968).
After Season 2, Star Trek was very nearly cancelled. After a fan-led campaign, a third season was finally commissioned by the network, providing a budget cut of 25% was instigated. This is why the third season has little location filming, re-used and re-purposed props, and recycled special effects. Seasons 1 and 2 already had tight budgets, so a reduced budget was always going to be noticeable This episode is one example where the budget cutbacks started to become apparent as the producers tried to keep expenditures down.
A very subtle change in the third season was the use of new sound effects for the pushing of buttons on the bridge.
The episode was first broadcast on October 25, 1968, only one day before the 87th anniversary of the actual Gunfight at the O.K. Corral.
A scene that was never filmed included McCoy/McLowery (DeForest Kelley) offering to share his medical expertise with Doc Holliday (Sam Gilman) to treat his progressing tuberculosis.
Another difference this episode brings is the “singing plant” background noise from The Cage (1966), used for nearly every planet in seasons one and two, is replaced here by a warbling sound used before in The Gamesters of Triskelion (1968). This will again be used intermittently throughout season three for example, in For the World Is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky (1968) and The Cloud Minders (1969).
In this episode, Kirk refers to the ships phasers as ‘phaser guns’.
Clocking in at approximately five minutes and 25 seconds, this episode’s teaser is the second longest in the original series, lasting 10 seconds shorter than the teaser for I, Mudd (1967).
The original title for this episode was “The Last Gunfight”.
This is The Original Series’ only foray into surrealism, with unique set designs by Walter M. Jefferies.
Some errors regarding the historical gunfight: Morgan Earp is referred to by Kirk as “the man who kills on sight” when the real-life Morgan, by most reliable accounts, was an even-tempered lawman who used his gun only when he was forced to. The gunfight in the Melkotian scenario is treated as a prearranged event when, actually, it was a more or less spontaneous affair. The gunfight took place near the hour of three o’clock, rather than the five o’clock in the episode. Finally, although it may have seemed that Chekov’s Billy Claiborne was the youngest (he turned twenty-one, the day before the gunfight), Billy Clanton, the role Scotty played, was nineteen.
Jerry Fielding’s unique score adds atmosphere. When the villains are first seen in the saloon, Fielding has the piano play stereotypical “menace” notes and a bizarre rendition of “Buffalo Gals”. Fielding’s other Star Trek contribution was his score for The Trouble with Tribbles (1967).
For the incomplete mock-up of the Sheriff’s office, the sign with the word “Sheriff” on it is written in the same font as the opening credits to the series (the Fs have the same slant in the center).
This is the second time that McCoy believes he cannot be harmed by a weapon (this time due to Spock’s convincing in a meld); the first time, when he stands his ground as the Black Knight charges him in Shore Leave (1966), this strategy was unsuccessful, as the weapon (a lance) was physically real, not merely an illusion.
Chekov is the only member of the landing party who wears a two-holstered gun belt.
Rex Holman (Morgan Earp) later played the settler J’onn in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989).
When Spock and McCoy are in the bar, discussing the tranquilizer, the table with the supplies that are used to make it also has a double-barreled shotgun on it, whose presence goes unexplained.
Although Sam Gilman (Doc Holliday) was 53 years old when this episode was made, Holliday was only 30 at the time of the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral on October 26, 1881 and 36 at the time of his death on November 8, 1887.
Gregg Palmer (Rancher) previously played Tom McLowery in Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1961).
Charles Seel plays the saloon bartender. He also played a Western bartender in the series Tombstone Territory (1957), Bat Masterson (1958), Wanted: Dead or Alive (1958), and The Guns of Will Sonnett (1967) as well as the feature films The Texas Rangers (1951) and The Horse Soldiers (1959).
Abraham Sofaer, the voice of the Melkotian, also provided the voice used for the Thasian in Charlie X (1966).
Other USS Enterprise crews visited the Old West in A Fistful of Datas (1992) and North Star (2003).
The “sparkling” sound effect heard in the background while the crew is in Tombstone is also heard in the “Orson reports” at the end of most episodes of Mork & Mindy (1978).
Sulu does not appear in this episode.
Charles Maxwell, who plays Virgil Earp, was a veteran character actor on TV westerns of the era, including Bat Masterson (1958), Bonanza (1959), Rawhide (1959), The High Chaparral (1967), and others.
This takes place in 2268.
This was Bonnie Beecher’s penultimate role before retiring from acting. Now known as “Jahanara Romney”, she works with her husband Wavy Gravy (born Hugh Romney) running a performing arts camp. Beecher grew up in Minnesota where she knew the young Robert Zimmerman, now known as Bob Dylan. Beecher even sang on some of Dylan’s earliest homemade recordings, and is one of the possible inspirations for the song “Girl From The North Country.”
James Doohan voiced the Melkotian warning buoy.
When Kirk (Ike Clanton) attempts to appeal to Wyatt and Virgil Earp in their office, he is taunted by Virgil, who punches him. Kirk reacts and places Virgil in an arm lock. After Kirk releases him, Wyatt wants to kill Kirk and tells him to draw, but Virgil intercedes and tells Wyatt that, when the time comes, he will make him pay for what he did, but,during the gunfight at the end, it is Wyatt who move forward to confront Kirk.
Summary
When the Enterprise trespasses into uncharted territory, Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scott and Chekov are transported to a location that has all the trappings of the American Old West. It’s October 26, 1881, and Kirk soon realizes they are in Tombstone, Arizona, on the day of the famed gunfight at the OK Corral between the Clanton gang and the Earps – with Kirk and company representing the ill-fated Clantons. If history is to be repeated, they will fairly all be killed so must use whatever resources availed to them to defeat the threat and survive. The solution, however – and the only way of escape – lies within them.
CAST
William Shatner … Captain James Tiberius ‘Jim’ Kirk Leonard Nimoy … Mister Spock DeForest Kelley … Dr. McCoy Ron Soble … Wyatt Earp Bonnie Beecher … Sylvia James Doohan … Scott Walter Koenig … Chekov Nichelle Nichols … Uhura Charles Maxwell … Virgil Earp Rex Holman … Morgan Earp Sam Gilman … Doc Holliday Charles Seel … Ed Bill Zuckert … Johnny Behan Ed McCready … Barber Abraham Sofaer … Melkotian (voice) Richard Anthony … Rider (uncredited) Paul Baxley … 1st Cowboy (uncredited) Bill Blackburn … Lieutenant Hadley (uncredited) Charles Cirillo … Barfly (uncredited) Roger Holloway … Lt. Lemli (uncredited) Jeannie Malone … Yeoman (uncredited) Bob Orrison … 2nd Cowboy (uncredited) Gregg Palmer … Rancher (uncredited) Eddie Paskey … Lieutenant Leslie (uncredited)
Maybe the first “”Supergroup”…In 1968 John Lennon, Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, and Mitch Mitchell got together and played the Beatle’s Yer Blues. The Rolling Stones were taping a Television special featuring The Who, Jethro Tull, Taj Mahal, and Marianne Faithfull, called “The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus” but was shelved for 28 years.
Yer Blues was on the White Album and had only been released 3 weeks before this December 11th recording. John Lennon came up with the band name “Dirty Mac” from a play on words of the hot new group at the time…Fleetwood Mac. I always wondered what a band would have sounded like headed by John Lennon and Keith Richards…this is as close as we will ever know.
I would have loved to hear John Lennon sing in close quarters more than about anyone else. John was an interesting lead guitarist. He never played much lead with The Beatles but he would work a chord and get a solo out of it. He also came up with some great rock and roll riffs. Day Tripper, I Feel Fine, And Your Bird Can Sing, and many more. He did play lead a year later on the song Get Back.
The show did not see the light of day until 1996. The Stones were not happy with their performance which would be the last with Brian Jones. They had been up for days and were worn out. The Who had just returned from a tour and were really tight and some thought upstaged the Rolling Stones. I’ve read that Keith, Mitch, and Clapton wanted to stay as close as possible to the Beatles recording…and they did.
The best thing to come out of the film to me is this performance…and The Who performing “A Quick One, While He’s Away.”
The Dirty Mac performed two songs…Yer Blues and “Whole Lotta Yoko” with Yoko…uh…”singing” so we will stick with this one.
A DVD of this event was released in 2004…It’s worth buying.
Yer Blues
Yes, I’m lonely, wanna die
Yes, I’m lonely, wanna die
If I ain’t dead already
Woo! Girl you know the reason why
In the morning, wanna die
In the evening, wanna die
If I ain’t dead already
Woo! Girl you know the reason why
My mother was of the sky
My father was of the earth
But I am of the universe
And you know what it’s worth
I’m lonely, wanna die
If I ain’t dead already
Woo! Girl you know the reason why
The eagle picks my eyes
The worm he licks my bone
I feel so suicidal
Just like Dylan’s Mr. Jones
Lonely, wanna die
If I ain’t dead already
Woo! Girl you know the reason why
[Instrumental Break]
The black cloud crossed my mind
Blue mist round my soul
Feel so suicidal
Even hate my rock and roll
I’m lonely, wanna die
If I ain’t dead already
Woo! Girl you know the reason why
[Instrumental Break]
Wanna die, yeah, wanna die
[Instrumental Break]
If you want to see where we are…and you missed a few…HERE is a list of the episodes in my index located at the top of my blog.
This show was written by Gene Roddenberry, Jean Lisette Aroeste, and Arthur H. Singer
A story that would always interest me in school was Medusa. You would turn to stone when you saw her. This one is built off of that story.
Before I start…I will say that in the 3rd season, the camera crew did a good job. They added some different shots like using a fish-eyed lens. I liked the different angles they used because it made it feel different and it was effective.
The Enterprise is tasked with transporting an ambassador from a race who is perceived as so ugly, that just the sight of one by human eyes will cause instant madness. The Medusan ambassador Kollos is accompanied by a telepathic human aide named Miranda, who claims that her life of training on Vulcan allows her to see him without insanity ensuing.
A scientist aboard happens to be a scorned lover of Miranda’s. In a fit of jealousy, he attempts to murder Kollos, predictably causing him to go mad. He takes over control of the engines and shoots the Enterprise out of the galaxy into a disorientating patch of space. Only Kollos’s ultra-intelligent mind can bring the Enterprise back.
But he needs control of the bridge, something that is obviously infeasible. Spock must attempt a mind-meld with Kollos, merging the two men into Spock’s body. Miranda feels a special connection to Kollos and attempts to stop this from happening. But Spock wins out and the two merge and help the Enterprise reenter the galaxy.
Miranda sabotages Spock out of jealousy, trying to make him go mad. A now sick Spock needs a mind-meld with Miranda. Kirk is able to convince her to do it.
It’s a very good episode.
From IMDB:
Diana Muldaur was given a dark wig to wear for the role of Miranda. This was largely to help distinguish the character from her previous guest role as Dr Ann Mulhall in Star Trek: The Original Series: Return to Tomorrow (1968).
Although often cited by some fans as evidence of a “larger message” in Star Trek, the “IDIC” (“Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations”) medallion that Spock wears during the dinner scene had much baser origins. Leonard Nimoy was originally supposed to give a lengthy speech about the medallion and what it represented. Nimoy found the speech completely unsuited to the plot, and refused to say the lines until he got an explanation from producer Gene Roddenberry, who had had the lines and the use of the medallion inserted into the script. Roddenberry came to the set and admitted to Nimoy that he was selling the “IDIC” medallions through his personal marketing company, Lincoln Enterprises, and inserted the scene about the “IDIC” purely as product placement to generate sales. Nimoy ultimately refused to say the lines, and instead the scene was re-written with Capt. Kirk and other characters commenting on Spock’s wearing of the medallion instead.
This episode included a rare glimpse of the seldom seen left side of the bridge opposite the turbolift.
Spock/Kollos says to Miranda, “O Brave New World that has such creatures in it.” She replies, ” ‘Tis new to thee.” These are lines in As You Like It (1908)’s The Tempest, Act V, Sc. 1, whose heroine is named Miranda.
The episode title is from a poem by the 17th century English poet and clergyman George Herbert, from his poem “Jordan (I)”, line 2: “Who says that fictions only and false hair/ Become a verse? Is there in truth no beauty?”
Shots of the Enterprise in the galactic void are recycled from Star Trek: The Original Series: Where No Man Has Gone Before (1966).
The remastered version replaced the Medusan home-world effect with that of a newly-designed Federation vessel. It strongly resembles one of the early sketches that art director Walter M. Jefferies drew of the USS Enterprise, as reproduced in ‘The Making of Star Trek’.
A very rare stock shot of the Enterprise is used when the ship warps towards the barrier under Marvick’s control: it is taken from the opening of Star Trek: The Original Series: The Cage (1966) (just before the “Guest Star Susan Oliver” credit) and shows the Enterprise at high speed blasting towards the camera. The same shot is reused later in Star Trek: The Original Series: That Which Survives (1969).
The name Kollos, is pronounced kàlos, a reference to the Greek word Kallos which means Beauty.
The tartan Scotty wears as part of his dress uniform during the dinner with Amanda Jones IS in fact the dress tartan for the clan Scott.
The arboretum was originally built for Star Trek: The Original Series: Elaan of Troyius (1968), but its appearance ended up as a deleted scene. Apart from this one, it was only seen in Star Trek: The Original Series: And the Children Shall Lead (1968).
The dinner scene marks the first presentation of the Vulcan IDIC (Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations) symbol.
Jessica Walter was offered the part of Dr. Miranda Jones but was unavailable.
In Star Trek: Enterprise (2001) it is explained that Commander Trip Tucker designed the Constitution-class Enterprise warp engines that Doctor Larry Marvick commandeers from Scott.
This is one of only two instances in which Scotty wears a dress uniform complete with ancestral tartan. But whereas he wears white socks here, in Star Trek: The Original Series: The Savage Curtain (1969) he wears red ones.
When David Frankham guest-starred on The Outer Limits: Don’t Open Till Doomsday (1964), his character was also the victim of an alien hidden in a box which injured those who glimpsed it.
This was Eddie Paskey’s last appearance in the series.
This is the last appearance of antigravs in the series.
The pictures of exotic planets seen in the dining room reappeared in Kirk’s quarters in other third-season episodes.
The second mention of Scotty’s first name: Montgomery. The first was Star Trek: The Original Series: Wolf in the Fold (1967)(#2.14).
One of two episodes written by Jean Lisette Aroeste, a UCLA librarian and Star Trek fan whose unsolicited scripts were read and recommended by co-producer Robert H. Justman. Her other story was “A Handful of Dust,” which was produced as “All Our Yesterdays.” (S3E23)
The script was written by Jean Lisette Aroeste, one of four writers of Star Trek who had no prior TV writing credits. The other three were David Gerrold (‘The Trouble with Tribbles’, ‘The Cloud Minders’), Judy Burns (‘The Tholian Web’) and Joyce Muskat (‘The Empath’).
McCoy comments that a blind person couldn’t pilot a space craft. However, in Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987), the blind Geordi LaForge piloted the Enterprise-D as the ship’s helmsman during the show’s first season. Dr Jones’ neural net can be seen as a precursor to LaForge’s VISOR.
This is the third of five “Star Trek” episodes to feature a question mark in the title. The other four are Star Trek: The Original Series: What Are Little Girls Made Of? (1966), Star Trek: The Original Series: Who Mourns for Adonais? (1967), Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Who Mourns for Morn? (1998) and Star Trek: Discovery: Will You Take My Hand? (2018).
Apparently, many people think that members of the Enterprise crew can not walk and listen at the same time. Often, when a ship wide announcement is made, they stop to listen to the announcement. However, is has always been policy that when a captain speaks, the whole crew stops non-essential work to listen, out of respect.
This takes place in 2268.
Miranda Jones wears her hair in a loosely draped style with a toroidal loop on top, very similar to that worn by Kelinda in Star Trek: The Original Series: By Any Other Name (1968). Roses also play an important role in the narrative for each character.
Leonard Nimoy appears to be suffering from nasal congestion during this episode
The first of two times that William Shatner stars with a character who is a blind woman. He would do so again in T.J. Hooker: Blind Justice (1982)(#2.4).
Summary
The Enterprise is tasked with transporting the Medusan ambassador, Kollos, to his home planet along with his human aide, Dr. Miranda Jones, who, for reasons initially understood only by Dr. McCoy, can safely travel be with the Medusan. Medusans are formless creatures, the very sight of whom makes humans go insane. (Like the snake-haired Medusa of ancient Greek mythology whose looks caused humans to turn to stone.) For that reason, aside from Dr. Jones, only half-Vulcan Spock can be in the same room with the ambassador. She expresses envy of Spock. When Engineer Laurence Marvick, unrequitedly in love with Dr. Jones, tries to kill Kollos, he goes insane and dies, after sending the Enterprise beyond the edge of the galaxy. Only Spock and the ambassador (with Miranda’s help) can navigate the starship back to known space.
CAST
William Shatner … Captain James Tiberius ‘Jim’ Kirk Leonard Nimoy … Mister Spock DeForest Kelley … Dr. McCoy Diana Muldaur … Dr. Miranda Jones David Frankham … Larry Marvick James Doohan … Scott George Takei … Sulu Nichelle Nichols … Uhura Walter Koenig … Chekov Bill Blackburn … Lieutenant Hadley (uncredited) Bob Bralver … Yeoman (uncredited) Frank da Vinci … Lt. Brent (uncredited) Vince Deadrick Sr. Vince Deadrick Sr. … Engineer (uncredited) Louie Elias … Engineer (uncredited) Dick Geary … Security Guard (uncredited) Roger Holloway … Lt. Lemli (uncredited) Jeannie Malone … Yeoman (uncredited) Eddie Paskey … Lieutenant Leslie (uncredited)
If you want to see where we are…and you missed a few…HERE is a list of the episodes in my index located at the top of my blog.
This show was written by Gene Roddenberry, Edward J. Lakso, and Arthur H. Singer
Walter Koenig was not happy about this episode. While he felt that the episode was very poor overall, his biggest complaint was the casting of noted criminal attorney Melvin Belli as Gorgan, firstly because it severely undermined the main villain, and secondly, because he considered it an act of stunt casting which had robbed professional actors from a potential job. Belli’s son played one of the children…Stevie.
Have you ever seen Children of the Corn? There is a little of that feeling in this. The Enterprise comes to an outpost to check on the Starnes Exploration Party and finds that all the adults committed suicide. All that remains are the kids, who oddly seem quite happy and indifferent to the deaths. So, despite all the warning signs that there is a major problem, the kids are taken back to the ship where they unleash their reign of terror after a little bit.
Something has been influencing them since they were on the planet. The something was an evil presence named Gorgan. The Starnes Exploration Party accidentally released Gorgan from his cave. He used the party’s children to evoke the fears of the adults, eventually rendering the adults mentally unstable and driving them to commit mass suicide. He manipulated the children to follow him in his quest of conquering the universe.
While this episode might have been poor, it is written with a decent understanding of how children can resent their parents and deal with grief through denial. That’s about the best thing I can say about it. After the kids use Gorgan’s power to manipulate the crew…Kirk talks to the kids to make them understand they have been used.
From IMDB:
This was lawyer Melvin Belli’s (Gorgan) first time playing a fictional character. His son Melvin Caesar Belli plays one of the children (Stevie).
Leonard Nimoy explained that when he complained about the script to Fred Freiberger, Freiberger said, “This script is going to be what ‘Miri’ should have been”. Nimoy objected, calling Star Trek: The Original Series: Miri (1966) a beautiful, well-acted story, and felt that Freiberger’s comments were as much as saying, “‘Miri’ was a piece of trash”.
This is the only episode of the original series in which we see the fully fledged United Federation of Planets flag. Previous appearances, such as Star Trek: The Original Series: The Menagerie: Part II (1966), simply used the pre-existing United Nations flag.
During one scene on the bridge, Kirk tries to give orders to Leslie, but his words are garbled. If the audio for this scene is played in reverse, Kirk can be heard to say, “Remove Lieutenant Uhura and Mr. Spock from the bridge. Confine them to quarters. Did you hear me? Take Mr. Sulu to his quarters. He’s relieved of duty. Remove Lieutenant Uhura and Mr. Spock from the bridge. Confine them to quarters. Take Mr. Sulu to his quarters, I said. (garbled) Mr. Spock from the bridge. Confine him to quarters. Mr. Leslie, take Mr. Sulu to his quarters. He’s relieved of duty.”
Producer Fred Freiberger hoped that the presence of Melvin Belli would boost ratings. This plan failed and Freiberger realized it would have been more appropriate to cast an actor in the role.
Actor Craig Hundley also made a musical contribution to “Star Trek.” Under the name Craig Huxley, he invented the Blaster Beam, an 18 foot long aluminum bar strung with piano wire and played with artillery shells. The instrument’s distinctive metallic twang was used to represent V’Ger on Jerry Goldsmith’s soundtrack to Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979). James Horner used it as well for his “Star Trek” soundtracks, and Huxley composed “Genesis Project” for the Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) soundtrack.
Craig Huxley (Tommy Starnes) previously appeared in Star Trek: The Original Series: Operation — Annihilate! (1967) as Kirk’s nephew Peter.
In James Blish’s novelization, Sulu is terrified by the sight of missiles on the view-screen, not swords. More interestingly, the children sing spells to cause havoc among the crew rather than making the fist-pumping gesture which has earned a lot of ridicule among fans.
It is never explained how Kirk knew to refer to the Friendly Angel as “Gorgan”. Based on early drafts of the script, and in a bit of sloppy editing, episode writer Edward J. Lakso alternated between the various names, explaining why it appeared and stuck so late in the episode. A deleted scene had revealed that Tommy did tell Kirk the name. However, this scene took place in the script after Kirk had used the name.
The title paraphrases the last line of Isaiah 11:6: “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.”
Raymond Burr was the director’s, and several of the main cast’s, original choice to play Gorgan. However, he was either unavailable/too expensive/not interested or the director was overruled by the producers (depending on the source).
Professor Starnes and the other male colonists wore jumpsuits left over from Star Trek: The Original Series: The Devil in the Dark (1967), which were reused many times during the series.
The name on one of the tombstones of the parents is “Tsing Tao” which is the name of a city in China, now written as Qingdao. Tsingtao beer was originated there.
The mirror in which Uhura sees her aged reflection at the communications station is never used in any other episode. Of course, like Uhura’s reflection, the mirror itself may have been an illusion created by the children.
All eight major regular performers of the second and third seasons – Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scotty, Sulu, Uhura, Chapel, and Chekov – appear in this episode.
A female Expedition Party member wore Martha Leighton’s costume from Star Trek: The Original Series: The Conscience of the King (1966).
This episode borrows elements and concepts from several sources, including Greek mythology (Gorgan), the Old Testament (the Book of Isaiah), and puritanical/colonial witchery (the incantations). It also has a similar plot to the first-season episode Star Trek: The Original Series: Charlie X (1966).
The arboretum set was originally built for Star Trek: The Original Series: Elaan of Troyius (1968), but became a deleted scene due to time constraints. It was later modified for the arboretum that appeared in Star Trek: The Original Series: Is There in Truth No Beauty? (1968).
This episode is the first appearance of the set piece depicting the entrance to the Gorgan’s cave. It would be seen again in many third season episodes, including Star Trek: The Original Series: Spock’s Brain (1968), Star Trek: The Original Series: The Cloud Minders (1969), Star Trek: The Original Series: All Our Yesterdays (1969), and Star Trek: The Original Series: That Which Survives (1969).
The dress worn by the one of the female members of the Starnes Expedition Party was also created by William Ware Theiss, and was previously worn by Janet Wallace in Star Trek: The Original Series: The Deadly Years (1967). ) In fact, both costumes worn by Wallace can be seen in this episode, one worn by Don Linden’s mother and the other worn by an unnamed woman (who commits suicide in the teaser).
Pamelyn Ferdin and Brian Tochi would later co-star on the live-action children’s science fiction TV series Space Academy (1977), which was developed out of a rejected concept for Star Trek: The Animated Series (1973) and starred ‘Lost in Space’ (1965) veteran Jonathan Harris.
This episode was the twenty-sixth remastered episode of the The Original Series to air. It premiered in syndication the weekend of 14 April 2007 and, aside from the standard CGI replacement footage of the Enterprise, this episode most notably featured new effects shots of the planet Triacus.
Kirk’s request for “a very small” dish of ice cream, which he never actually eats, may have been a reference to the fact that William Shatner had put on considerable weight between seasons 2 and 3. According to producer Robert Justman, Shatner was invited to see the rushes (raw footage) from the first day of photography for “Spectre of the Gun.” He was aghast at how he looked on screen and immediately went on a crash diet.
Cameo Chad Everett: uncredited as the crewman in Auxiliary Control who helps Scotty fight off Kirk and Spock.
Summary
The Enterprise responds to a distress call from the scientific colony on Triacus and arrives to find that all of the adults are dead. Oddly, the children seem unaffected by the deaths and continue to play as if nothing had happened. When questioned, they show no remorse whatsoever and express a dislike for parental authority. Expedition logs reveal that the expedition had discovered an ancient civilization and that there might be one survivor. In fact, the Gorgon thrives on the innocence of the children and the adults’ self-doubt.
CAST
William Shatner … Captain James Tiberius ‘Jim’ Kirk Leonard Nimoy … Mister Spock DeForest Kelley … Dr. McCoy Craig Huxley … Tommy Starnes (as Craig Hundley) James Wellman … Professor Starnes Melvin Belli … Gorgan James Doohan … Scott Majel Barrett … Nurse Chapel Nichelle Nichols … Uhura George Takei … Sulu Walter Koenig … Chekov Pamelyn Ferdin … Mary Melvin Caesar Belli … Steve (as Caesar Belli) Mark Robert Brown … Don Brian Tochi … Ray Louie Elias … 1st Technician (as Lou Elias) Paul Baxley … Security Guard (uncredited) Bill Blackburn … Lieutenant Hadley (uncredited) Frank da Vinci … Transporter Operator (uncredited) Dick Dial … Security Guard (uncredited) Roger Holloway … Lt. Lemli (uncredited) Jay D. Jones … 2nd Technician (uncredited) Jeannie Malone … Yeoman (uncredited) Eddie Paskey … Lieutenant Leslie (uncredited) Leslie Carol Shatner Leslie Carol Shatner … Child (uncredited) Victor Toyota … Tsing Tao (uncredited)
If you want to see where we are…and you missed a few…HERE is a list of the episodes in my index located at the top of my blog.
This show was written by Gene Roddenberry, Margaret Armen, and Arthur H. Singer
I like this episode. I remembered seeing it and I searched through all of the seasons to find it again. It had been a long time. This movie was Armageddon before the Bruce Willis movie. Oh, and Kirk gets married and seemed ready to settle down…although his memory is gone.
Kirk is missing and presumed lost on a Class M planet after he accidentally falls into an obelisk-shaped alien structure and is hit with a memory beam. He then suffers from amnesia on the planet which is populated by native Indians while Spock and McCoy are forced to abandon their search for the captain for 2 full months! They had to return to the Enterprise to unsuccessfully divert a giant asteroid from destroying the planet where Kirk was lost…that is why they are there. Kirk and McCoy are struck by how much like Earth it is.
When Kirk vanished Spock told McCoy they had to beam back up to the Enterprise. McCoy argued about leaving the Captain there but Spock slowly explained to the Doctor that if they cannot divert that asteroid…there would be no planet to search. The asteroid was 2 months away but they had to go to a certain spot to divert it there…they couldn’t divert it when it was close.
When Kirk regains consciousness and walks out of the alien obelisk, he is seen by Miramanee, a native Indian woman who thinks he is a god. Kirk then promptly saves the life of a drowning child thus instantly becoming the native Indian’s new medicine chief Kirok. However, he makes an enemy, the former medicine man (Sallish), and has to deal with that throughout the episode. Shatner did a good job of acting here…he seems nonstressed compared to his regular job…of course, he cannot remember what that job is.
The theme in this one involves placing Kirk in a scenario completely divorced from his usual duties and watching his other true self emerge…the gentle, unhampered Kirk existing with the Indians. Miramanee and Kirk fall for each other and got married. The episode is beautiful, and the fact that Miramanee carried Kirk’s baby is a bit shocking even today. Certainly, it had to be powerful stuff back in 1960s television. It was touchingly and sensitively acted by William Shatner.
It’s the action of Spock aboard the Enterprise that grounds this episode back to Star Trek reality. He has to come up with a way to deflect a moon-sized asteroid from obliterating the Indian home planet while pushing the Enterprise to its physical limits. All the while…Spock is studying the obelisk.
They do make it back to the planet and just in the nick of time. Kirk and Miramanee are getting stoned to death because of Sallish..after Kirk is slashed and bleeding. Gods don’t bleed.
This is an odd…but very good episode…one of the best ones of the third season. Just a side note…everytime Kirk is missing and Spock takes over…McCoy gives him hell over every decision. I think sometimes the writers went overboard on that. Sometimes the Doctor is not mean but cruel to Spock.
From IMDB:
The obelisk in this episode, constructed at Franklin Lake in the Franklin Canyon Reservoir above Beverly Hills, was erected in the same spot where Opie Taylor throws a rock into the lake during the opening credits of The Andy Griffith Show (1960).
The only episode in Season 3 to be filmed on location and not entirely in the studio.
Only in this episode do we see the ship firing its gold deflector beam.
After living on the planet Kirk’s sideburns lose their distinctive pointed ends and become squared off. This was done to emphasize the passage of time and to show Kirk was becoming assimilated to his new life.
The characters on the asteroid-destroying Obelisk are the basis of the alphabet and characters used by the Predators of the Alien-versus-Predator movie franchise.
During the first attempt to deflect the asteroid, a rare top shot of the Enterprise is shown, first used in the Star Trek: The Original Series: The Changeling (1967).
Paradise Syndrome – though not officially recognized as a mental condition by psychologists – is a term conferred upon those who feel dissatisfied despite having achieved all their dreams. Here it is used merely to describe someone who is overworked and needing a break – whether ostensibly Captain Kirk or, obliquely, series creator Gene Roddenberry.
Although not mentioned on screen, the planet was rather unsubtly called “Amerind” in the script.
This episode takes place over the course of approximately two months.
The first Star Trek production to feature Native American Indian culture as a key plot element. Other examples are Star Trek: The Animated Series: How Sharper Than a Serpent’s Tooth (1974), Star Trek: The Next Generation: Journey’s End (1994), and several episodes of Star Trek: Voyager (1995).
This is one of very few occasions where Nurse Chapel is beamed/transported down to a planet surface.
This takes place in 2268.
The Native Americans depicted display none of the cultural elements of the tribes mentioned (Navajo, Delaware, Mohican). The houses are tipis, used by plains peoples. The clothing bears no resemblance to actual Native American clothes, and the names of the characters match no Native naming styles. Also, the Navajo were not peaceful. They were very fierce warriors, as were the Mohican. The Delaware were not called “Delaware,” but rather, were the Lenne Lenape.
During the love scene where Miramanee tells Kirk she’s pregnant, a fly lands on Kirk’s face for several seconds.
Dr. McCoy comments about the “Preservers” that he had always wondered about why there were so many humanoid races. In Star Trek: The Next Generation: The Chase (1993), the question is answered in a slightly different way.
When the Enterprise engines burn out, Mr. Scott laments, “my bairns, my poor bairns”. This is Scottish/English meaning “my poor children”.
Summary
Kirk, Spock and McCoy beam down to a planet that is in the path on an oncoming meteor. They find an idyllic place that is very similar to Earth and whose population is virtually identical to North American Natives. Their visit is meant to be a short one since their mission is to deflect the meteor, still several months away. Before they can return to the ship, Kirk disappears and loses his memory in an accident, forcing Spock to take command of the Enterprise and to leave him behind. On the planet, Kirk is treated like a god when they see him emerge from an obelisk that is actually a deflector beam (which no one remembers how to use, however). When the Enterprise fails to deflect the meteor, they return to the planet only hours before the annihilating meteor’s arrival.
Youtube…has got to the point where any video I try to post has an age restriction if someone slaps someone on the back…youtube blocks me from posting it. So…if there is any action going on…you can forget it. I found the one below that actually allowed me to post it.
CAST
William Shatner … Captain James Tiberius ‘Jim’ Kirk Leonard Nimoy … Mister Spock DeForest Kelley … Dr. McCoy Sabrina Scharf … Miramanee Rudy Solari … Sallish James Doohan … Scott George Takei … Sulu Walter Koenig … Chekov Richard Hale … Goro Majel Barrett … Nurse Chapel Naomi Newman … Indian Woman (as Naomi Pollack) John Lindesmith … Engineer Peter Virgo Jr. … Warrior Lamont Laird … Indian Boy Bill Blackburn … Lieutenant Hadley (uncredited) Roger Holloway … Lt. Lemli (uncredited) Foster Hood … Indian (uncredited) Jeannie Malone … Yeoman (uncredited) Nichelle Nichols … Lieutenant Nyota Uhura (archive footage) (uncredited) Vincent St. Cyr … Father of Drowning Boy (uncredited)
If you want to see where we are…and you missed a few…HERE is a list of the episodes in my index located at the top of my blog.
This show was written by Gene Roddenberry, D.C. Fontana, and Arthur H. Singer
***If you have time please check out my new feature Max Picks coming up right after this.***
This episode is excellent. We are going from a bad episode to one of the best of the 3rd season. The plot was pretty exciting plus it gave Spock a big chance to stretch himself as a character–without McCoy or Shatner tagging along. Also, any episode with the Romulans is great fun, as they were in many ways a more dangerous and more of a foe than the Klingons.
The episode begins with Kirk behaving very erratically. He even orders the ship into Romulan space and nearly starts a war. It seems that the Captain has gone mad and the Romulans take possession of the ship. At the same time, Spock becomes very chummy with the beautiful Romulan commander, a lady who seems determined to have Spock. I’d like to say more, but it really would spoil the suspense. Just let me say that there is a lot more to the story than this and the show is both interesting and keeps you guessing.
The commander charges Kirk with espionage and locks him up… Kirk injures himself whilst trying to escape. The Romulan commander is attracted to Spock and attempts to turn him. Everyone aboard the Enterprise thinks Spock is a trader and you are wondering while watching. Spock gives Kirk a “Vulcan Death Grip” ostensibly to kill him.
This is one of the best episodes from the 3rd season. It exploits the rivalry between the Romulans and the Federation, and it has some of the best acting of William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy combined with a compelling and unpredictable storyline. I also liked the cool and controlled Joanne Linville as the Romulan Commander who never raises her voice, even when she condemns Captain Kirk to death.
From IMDB:
This episode is the first to feature a female starship commander.
The Romulan cloaking device prop was created using the Sargon globe (Star Trek: The Original Series: Return to Tomorrow (1968)) and portions of the Nomad probe (Star Trek: The Original Series: The Changeling (1967)).
First broadcast episode of TOS to feature the D7 Klingon battle cruisers. Although the episode Star Trek: The Original Series: Elaan of Troyius (1968) was produced three months before this episode, and technically the first to feature the D7s, this episode was aired on television first, since NBC changed the airing order for all the episodes. For the Remastered series in 2006, digital shots of the D7s were inserted into scenes in the episode Star Trek: The Original Series: Errand of Mercy (1967), which now officially makes that episode to be the first to have the D7s.
D.C. Fontana’s initial inspiration for this story and its title was the Pueblo incident which involved the capture of an American intelligence gathering ship, the USS Pueblo (AGER-2), by North Korean forces during the Vietnam War. North Korea claimed, without evidence, the ship had violated its territorial waters. The incident occurred on January 23, 1968, just two months before Fontana completed her first draft story outline. Although the crew was released after nearly a year, NK still maintains possession of the vessel as a “war trophy”.
This was the last live-action appearance of the Romulans in the “Star Trek” franchise until Star Trek: The Next Generation: The Neutral Zone (1988) 20 years later.
In the opening segment, in regard to the enemy vessels, Spock declares “Romulans now using Klingon design!” Several explanations/theories have been advanced as to why the Romulans use Klingon ships. The real reason is simply because the original Romulan model ship was gone. Non-union, independent creative designer Wah Chang designed and built the original Romulan Bird of Prey model for Star Trek: The Original Series: Balance of Terror (1966). He is also the creator of several iconic Trek costumes and props, including the communicator, original phaser, salt vampires, and tribbles, to name a few of his contributions to the show.
After “Balance of Terror”, the model Bird of Prey was returned to Chang, per his contract, but he eventually disposed of it as he had limited storage and there was never any contractual obligations with CBS to retain it. However, either through poor planning or poor communication or both, season three’s “Enterprise Incident” production staff, expecting to re-use the season one Romulan model, learned from Chang that it was gone. The decision was made to modify the story to use only Klingon model ships, which were kept by the studio, although in recent airings one of the three ships appears to be the original Romulan model. Asking Chang to construct a new Romulan model ship would have been prohibitively costly. Economically, switching to Klingon vessels was the obvious solution.
The Walter M. Jefferies-designed Romulan symbol, composed of a yellow hexagon in the center with three colored spokes coming out of it, can be seen outside the commander’s quarters, above her door. This symbol never appears again in any Star Trek series or movie.
One of the few episodes that opens with McCoy making entries in his medical log.
Jack Donner, who played The Romulan Sub-Commander Tal, was one of only three actors to appear in both the original series and in Star Trek: Enterprise (2001). The others are Joseph Ruskin and Clint Howard.
The Romulans use Klingon disruptor pistols.
Spock scans space out to one-half parsec and says that there are no ships present. As the Enterprise enters the Neutral Zone, Romulan ships appear from nowhere. Later, Spock says that the Romulans must have invented a cloaking device, but they already knew the Romulans had one as they witnessed it in use in Star Trek: The Original Series: Balance of Terror (1966), and their whole mission is to obtain that cloaking device.
In Star Trek: The Original Series: Balance of Terror (1966), the Romulan ship only had simple impulse engines. In this episode, the Romulan ship is capable of going faster than Warp 9 – a major upgrade in capability for such a short time.
Joanne Linville’s Romulan Commander is given the name Dion Charvon in a 1977 Star Trek novel called “The Price of the Phoenix”, by Myrna Culbreath and Sondra Marshak. In the 1999 novel “Vulcan’s Heart” by Josepha Sherman, her name is given as Liviana Charvanek. It’s not clear if either novel is “canonical” but Liviana Charvanek seems to have higher authority and credibility. In addition, Diane Duane’s 1984 novel “My Enemy, My Ally” states that the commander had her name stripped from her because of the events of this episode, and introduces the commander’s aunt, Ael t’Rllaillieu.
This episode takes place in 2268.
One of the most famous lines from this episode is “There’s no such thing as a Vulcan death grip.” In Peter David’s ‘New Frontier’ series, Soleta, a Vulcan, kills a Romulan guard with what she calls the Vulcan death grip. When another character says there’s no such thing as a Vulcan death grip, Soleta glances at the body, and then replies, “There is now.”
During Spock and the Romulan Commanders romantic moment she clearly smears the makeup on Spock’s face
The drink that Spock and the Romulan commander are drinking is very similar to Tranya.
When Spock and Kirk are about to transport over to the Romulan ship, they step onto two of the transport pads. How would they know which pads to step onto as the two Romulans transport over to the Enterprise at the exact same time.
Summary
The Enterprise deliberately crosses the Neutral Zone, on Kirk’s orders, into Romulan space and is promptly surrounded by Romulan warships, each equipped with a “cloaking device” that renders it undetectable. Spock betrays the apparently irrational and paranoid Kirk to the Romulan commander, a woman who is obviously attracted to Spock. A deadly game between Kirk, Spock and the Romulans risks not only the Enterprise but the tenuous cease-fire between the Romulans and the Federation.
CAST
William Shatner … Captain James Tiberius ‘Jim’ Kirk Leonard Nimoy … Mister Spock DeForest Kelley … Dr. McCoy Joanne Linville … Romulan Commander Jack Donner … Tal James Doohan … Scott Nichelle Nichols … Uhura George Takei … Sulu Walter Koenig … Chekov Majel Barrett … Nurse Chapel Richard Compton … Technical Officer Mike Howden … Romulan Guard Gordon Coffey … Romulan Soldier Roger Holloway … Lt. Lemli (uncredited) Eddie Paskey … Lieutenant Leslie (uncredited)
4th of July memories… I have a few but one of the many stupid things I remember is my sister (who is 8 years older) and I would chase each other around with Roman Candles on the 4th of July.
These fabulous weapons of destruction shot out fireballs and sometimes I landed a great shot. I was 8-10 years old and harder to hit. By some miracle, we were never hurt…bad anyway. Scorch marks yea…but we kept all of our limbs. Sorry…now to the song.
I first heard this song in Rocky IV. It was good to see Brown have a hit song. Living In America was released in December of 1985 and was his first Billboard charting song since 1976. The horns on this song sound incredible. They were called The Uptown Horns who also backed The J. Geils band on the Freeze Frame album and The B-52’s on Love Shack.
This was written by Dan Hartman (“I Can Dream About You”) and Charles Midnight. The song won the 1986 Grammy Award for Best Rhythm & Blues Vocal Performance. The song was a huge hit. It peaked at #4 on the Billboard 100, #5 in Canada, #5 in New Zealand, and #5 in the UK in 1986. The song blends elements of soul, funk, and R&B.
When I saw the lead guitar player on this song I was stunned because I’d never heard of him playing on this. The guitar player was Stevie Ray Vaughan and this was around the time when his career was really taking off. He finished up playing on David Bowie’s album Lets Dance just a couple of years before.
The song’s co-writer Dan Hartman later included his recording of the song on his 1994 album Keep the Fire Burnin’.
Living In America
Yeah, uh
Get up, ow
Ow
Knock it out this
Woo
Super highways, coast to coast
Easy to get anywhere
On the transcontinental overload
Just slide behind the wheel
How does it feel
When there’s no destination that’s too far?
And somewhere on the way you might find out who you are, woo
Living in America (ow)
Eye to eye, station to station
Living in America
Hand in hand, across the nation
Living in America
Got to have a celebration
Rock my soul, huh, ow, huh
Smokestack, fatback
Many miles of railroad track
All night radio, keep on runnin’
Through your rock ‘n’ roll soul
All night diners keep you awake
On black coffee and a hard roll, woo
You might have to walk a fine line (say it)
You might take the hard line
But everybody’s workin’ overtime
Living in America (huh)
Eye to eye, station to station
Living in America
Hand in hand, across the nation
Living in America
Yeah, got to have a celebration, woo
I (I) live in America
Say it loud
I live in America
Wait a minute
You may not be lookin’ for the promised land
But you might find it anyway
Under one of those old familiar names
Like New Orleans (New Orleans), Detroit City (Detroit City)
Dallas, uh (Dallas), Pittsburgh, PA, (Pittsburgh, PA)
New York City (New York City), Kansas City (Kansas City)
Atlanta, woo (Atlanta), Chicago and L.A.
Living in America
Hit me
Living in America, yeah
I walked in and out
Living in America
I live in America
Say it loud, It’ll make you proud, uh
Said, I live in America
Hey, I know what it means, ah
Living in America
Eddie Murphy, eat your heart out
To the bridge, ay
Living in America
Hit me
I said now, eye to eye
Station to station
Living in America
Oh, so nice with your bad self (uh)
Living in America
Whoa, I feel good
Happy Independence Day! Hendrix did a great version of The Star Spangled Banner in my opinion. He had served as a paratrooper in the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell in Clarksville Tennessee in the early 60s.
Yes, this is my favorite version of the song. The poem that formed the basis of the lyrics was penned in 1814 during the War of 1812 by Francis Scott Key, a 35-year-old lawyer who was sent to negotiate with the British in an attempt to gain the release of an American prisoner they were holding.
Later, Key watched the bombardment of Fort McHenry from a ship he was on. The next morning he saw the Americans take down the battle-torn US flag at the fort and replace it with a larger one.
Key’s poem was published on September 17, 1814, the day after he returned to Baltimore. The poem was sung to the music of a popular British drinking song called “To Anacreon in Heaven, ” attributed to John Stafford Smith.
Any time someone does an unusual approach to this song…there is always a lot of complaining from people. Once when Jose Feliciano did the song in Game 5 of the MLB World Series in 1968 on guitar and singing…all hell broke loose. Some listeners thought he had “desecrated” and disrespected the national anthem but when asked about it, Feliciano explained that the reason he offered a non-traditional rendition of the anthem was to get people to pay attention to it. It was a great version of the song.
Hendrix took the stage at Woodstock at 8am…only around 30,000 were left out of the huge crowd there. He had been warned not to do the anthem when he toured but did it anyway. He even recorded a studio version and after his death, the takes were put together and released but the Woodstock performance is the one that is best known. What amazes me is when he is imitating bombs dropping…he suddenly goes right back in on time and doesn’t miss a lick.
He didn’t get as much flack as Feliciano did…I think because it wasn’t on prime time during a World Series.
I have heard this song all of my life and never knew much about it. I like the song because of the sad lyrics set against upbeat music.
Don Gibson wrote this song and it was produced by a legend of country music…Chet Atkins. Atkins, meanwhile, was inducted into the Country Music, Rock & Roll, and Musicians Halls of Fame. Atkins is also one of the primary figures credited with creating the “Nashville sound,” which transformed country music in the 1950s with a sound much cleaner and smoother than the style that preceded it.
Gibson released this in 1958 and it peaked at #7 on the Billboard 100. This was his only top-10 entry in the pop charts. Gibson, an inductee of the Country Music, Nashville Songwriters, and North Carolina Music Halls of Fame, wrote multiple songs now considered country standards.
It’s been covered by a lot of artists. Neil Young and The Kentucky Headhunters are just two that covered the song as well. It was the biggest hit The Headhunters had and it peaked at #8 on the Billboard Country Charts and #19 on the Canadian Country Charts in 1990.
Others who covered it are Johnny Cash who took it to #13 Country and #93 on the Hot 100 in 1961…Stonewall Jackson’s 1970 rendition went to #63 Country. Other acts to cover the song include Bing Crosby, Bob Luman, Southern Culture on the Skids, Ray Charles, Connie Francis, and Bobbi Martin.
Neil Young covered it on his album After The Gold Rush in 1970.
Oh Lonesome Me
Everybody’s going out and having fun
I’m a fool for staying home and having none.
I can’t get over how she set me free.
Oh, lonesome me.
There must be some way that I can lose these lonesome blues
Forget about my past and find someone new
I’ve thought of everything from A to Z
Oh, lonesome me.
I’ll bet she’s not like me.
She’s out and fancy free,
Flirting with the boys with all her charms
But I still love her so,
And brother don’t you know
I’d welcome her right back here in my arms
If you want to see where we are…and you missed a few…HERE is a list of the episodes in my index located at the top of my blog.
This show was written by Gene Roddenberry, Gene L. Coon and Arthur H. Singer
Season 3 is upon us! This may just be me…so all you Star Trek fans weigh in but I think this is the worst episode of the original series. I haven’t heard one of the cast speak good of this episode either. William Shatner has called it one of the worse and Leonard Nimoy was embarrassed during the entire shooting of this episode.
When you look at the complete picture though…I only see two really bad episodes so when you are talking about 3 seasons with 79 episodes…that is a good track record. With this episode…I guess they tried something different and it just did not work.
It’s unfortunate that this episode may have been the introduction for many late viewers to the Star Trek series because it kicked off the 3rd season. Basically what we have here…instead of “The Search for Spock” we have The Search for Spock’s brain.
A mysterious woman magically arrives on the ship. The pushes some buttons on a box on her arm and everyone falls unconscious. When they are under, she steals Spock’s brain. Then, when they awaken, McCoy informs the Captain that this occurred at which point, Kirk asks if Spock will be okay…uh ok. I couldn’t help but laugh the first time I heard this! What was Kirk thinking?
It gets even worse when they use a cool box on Spock’s body to reanimate him. It seems, according to McCoy, that although Spock has no brain, since he was a Vulcan that his body would live on for 24 hours without dying. What that meant…the clock is ticking while on the search for Spock’s brain.
It has a 5.2 rating at IMDB but most of the episodes get a 6.5 or above. Maybe I’m being too hard on it? Give it a watch when you can and tell me that is the case or was I completely right?
From IMDB:
Written by Lee Cronin, the pseudonym of Gene L. Coon. Some have assumed that it was used because he was unhappy with the results. Actually, it was because he had left Paramount and was under contract with Universal, so he was not supposed to be working for Paramount as well.
First appearance of Scotty’s new hair style, where it was brushed back instead of parted to the side.
The Controller is “Nomad” repurposed from Star Trek: The Original Series: The Changeling (1967) with a globe on top.
This is the only Original Series episode to use a regular character’s name in the title.
This is the first episode in broadcast order in which the credits are displayed in blue font as opposed to the yellow font of the first two seasons.
TOS Seasons 3 marks the first time Star Trek is credited as being produced by Paramount. During Seasons 1 & 2, Star Trek was a Desilu property. In the summer of 1968, it was sold to Paramount.
This is the only time moving stars are shown on the bridge view screen via rear-projection. This is evident because the camera pans across the screen and people move in front it with stars moving, which would not have been possible if the view screen scenery had been matted in later. (In Star Trek: The Original Series: The Doomsday Machine (1967) they walk in front of the screen, but it is a static picture of stars, although in the digitally mastered edition they did add some moving objects.)
In informal surveys taken at science fiction conventions, this episode is promptly and almost universally named as the worst of the original series.
Footage of the Eymorg computer’s displays in operation is recycled from Star Trek: The Original Series: Assignment: Earth (1968) and Star Trek: The Original Series: The Paradise Syndrome (1968).
Gene Roddenberry was fascinated by the idea of a matriarchal society, and revisited the idea in Genesis II (1973) and Star Trek: The Next Generation: Angel One (1988).
Although scantily clad young women were common in this series, the Eymorgs, with their mod mini-dresses, were purportedly a response to Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In (1967) which featured them on a regular basis. Luma, in particular, was a response to Goldie Hawn’s air-headed persona.
The Vulcan philosophy of “the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few,” is paraphrased. In reference to Spock’s brain Kara says, “The need of my people for their controller is greater than your need for your friend.”
According to her official website, Marj Dusay said she had not viewed this show until a fan sent her a VHS tape in the 1990’s. The multitude of autograph requests she received over the years led her to believe that this show was popular. She described having fun in the role, and that she was delighted with the costume and boots designed for her.
This takes place in 2268.
There are two Morg guards in the scene where Kirk and his men are held captive. The big one who guards the communicators and other items taken from the Enterprise crew is played by Pete Kellett. The bald one by the door who says “Yes, mistress,” is none other than an uncredited Sid Haig.
Pete Kellett, the uncredited actor who played a Morg guard, has the single, dramatic line, “Yes, mistress”. He was the only Morg that had dialogue.
Marj Dusay played the role of Kara, which was the name of the cabaret dancer character in the opening scene of this season’s show “Wolf in the Fold”.
James Daris, the creature that Kirk stuns with his phaser, had a role in the “Mission: Impossible” show “Encore” in which William Shatner played one of main adversaries of the IMF team. As one of the henchmen of the other adversary, he did not share scenes with Shatner’s character.
Sheila Leighton (Luma) and Marj Dusay (Kara) each appeared separately in shows of “Hogan’s Heroes”. Leighton was cast in one role, and Dusay played three different roles.
Summary
When the Enterprise encounters an ion-powered vessel – far more advanced than their own warp-powered technology – they soon find themselves knocked unconscious by a beautiful alien who suddenly appears on the bridge. When they come to, they find that Spock’s brain has been surgically removed using technology way beyond their own current level of development. Following the ion trail left by the spacecraft, they arrive at a barren, ice-covered planet where the men live on the surface and the women in a highly advanced underground complex. Spock’s brain is now the central intelligence that runs the entire complex. The problem before them: how to reunite his brain to his body.
CAST
William Shatner … Captain James Tiberius ‘Jim’ Kirk Leonard Nimoy … Mister Spock DeForest Kelley … Dr. McCoy Marj Dusay … Kara James Doohan … Scott Walter Koenig … Chekov George Takei … Sulu Nichelle Nichols … Uhura Majel Barrett … Nurse Chapel Daris … Creature Sheila Leighton … Luma Bill Blackburn … Lieutenant Hadley (uncredited) Frank da Vinci … Lt. Brent (uncredited) Roger Holloway … Lt. Lemli (uncredited) Pete Kellett … Morg Guard (uncredited)Jeannie Malone … Yeoman (uncredited) Eddie Paskey … Lieutenant Leslie (uncredited)
Hello everyone…I changed the name of this series…I never liked the original name and I heard from a couple of commenters and I totally agreed… Last week I got great responses from many of you and I appreciate it.
1956
Rock and Roll was reviving up now. The song that represents it the most this year to me was Be-Bop-a-Lula. The song is a perfect piece of rock and roll. His voice with reverb is just magical and artists have been chasing that sound ever since. I can’t imagine hearing this on the radio back then. Gene Vincent must have sounded so alien to some people but it’s what rock and roll needed. The song was written by Gene Vincent, Donald Graves, and Bill “Sheriff Tex” Davis.
“That beginning – ‘we-e-e-e-e-l-l-l-l-l!’ – always made my hair stand on end.” John Lennon
***We have a bonus today at the bottom out of Lubbock Texas***
Yes, I could have gone with the Elvis version but I wanted the rockabilly man who wrote the song. Carl Perkins with Blue Suede Shoes. This was released in January of 1956 on Sun Records. Carl was amazing with his songwriting, guitar playing, and singing. The man could rock with the best.
I will make a confession here…out of all the 50s artists…Buddy Holly was probably my all-time favorite. The man had it all and he was ahead of his time. I’ve said this before but if he would have lived…out of all the 50s artists…he is the one that could have made a huge mark in the 60s alongside the British Invasion bands. They were playing modified versions of the songs he already wrote. This was not a massive hit… in fact it was a B side but one I’ve always liked. Blue Days, Black Nights. You WILL be seeing/hearing more Buddy in this series.
Now we are getting to the meat on the bone. Little Richard sings what was my dad’s favorite rock song…Long Tall Sally. The only time I remember getting a standing ovation is when I was 16 in a bar (shhhh don’t tell) playing this song with our band. Little Richard’s voice was fierce…I compare it to Jimi Hendrix’s guitar…just relentless. The song was written by Enotris Johnson, Robert Blackwell, and Richard Penniman (Little Richard).
Saw Uncle John with Long Tall Sally They saw Aunt Mary comin’ So they ducked back in the alley
It’s hard to go through these songs and pick only 5. Let’s close things out with The Man in Black! Johnny Cash released this in 1956 on Sun Records.
***BONUS: Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Scotty Moore, and Carl Perkins all in one place….backstage at a High School in Lubbock Texas in this really short clip. I wish we could hear the music.***
If you want to see where we are…and you missed a few…HERE is a list of the episodes in my index located at the top of my blog.
This show was written by Gene Roddenberry and Art Wallace
We are now at the last episode of the 2nd season…I can’t believe we are this far already. One more season to go. This is a different kind of episode for Star Trek. It reminded me right away of Doctor Who or a Scifi James Bond. It was planned as a spin-off episode but didn’t end up that way. Robert Lansing played Mister Seven and he was great. I would have watched the show if they would have spun it off. He had magnetism and was perfect for that role.
This was in reality a pilot episode about Gary Seven and his assistant played by future star Teri Garr when she was 20 years old. It is a show I wish would have been picked up. I could have been writing about that one today.
The Enterprise travels back in time to observe Earth during a particularly tumultuous period in its history. However, upon arriving they intercept a mysterious alien transmission and end up beaming aboard a man wearing a 20th-century business suit and carrying a cat. Kirk doesn’t know if he is human, alien, good, or bad. Seven is not a fool though and knows enough to escape the Enterprise with the transporter.
Seven is a human trained by an unnamed alien race to protect humanity against threats to world peace. In this story, his mission is to transport to Earth and prevent the US from shooting a military satellite into space that could set off a nuclear exchange between the US and the Soviet Union.
When the Enterprise captures Seven en route to Cape Canaveral, Kirk is reluctant to let him go, fearing Seven’s mission may not be as altruistic as he claims. Mr. Seven then escapes the ship, beaming down to the city of Manhattan with Kirk and Spock in hot pursuit.
Seven does get to finish his mission when Kirk finally realizes that Seven is telling the truth.
From IMDB:
While at the launch base and showing his ID to the security person, Mr. Seven shows a National Security Agency credential card. The NSA was one of the worst kept government secrets, but was not publicly acknowledged until nearly 25 years after this episode originally aired.
This is the only episode of Star Trek in which time travel is treated as “routine.” The Temporal Prime Directive does not yet appear to have been proposed, least of all taken effect.
This is the only episode of Star Trek in which a guest star is listed after the opening credits rather than in the end credits: “Guest Star Robert Lansing as Mister Seven” is displayed when the character is first shown in the transporter chamber.
Gary Seven’s computer display is the same one used as Dr. Daystrom’s M-5 computer in Star Trek: The Original Series: The Ultimate Computer (1968), as well as being used by Mr. Atoz, the librarian, in Star Trek: The Original Series: All Our Yesterdays (1969).
This episode features one of the first uses of stock footage of the first test launch of the Saturn V moon rocket in November 1967.
Spock mentions all the events which are to occur on that date the Enterprise travelled back in time to the 20th century and met Gary Seven. Among the events mentioned was an important political assassination. As it turned out, there were ultimately two important political assassinations in 1968: just six days after this episode aired on March 29, 1968, Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. was shot and killed in Memphis, Tennessee on April 4, 1968, and two months later, on June 6, 1968, Senator Robert F. Kennedy was killed in Los Angeles, California on the night that he won the California Democratic presidential primary.
The script called for Isis the cat to make various cat sounds on cue (meows, purrs, growls, etc.) Since finding appropriate real cat sounds for the soundtrack proved problematic, the director discovered that Barbara Babcock, who was hired to do the voice of the Beta 5 computer, could vocalize convincing cat sounds.
Teri Garr had such an unpleasant time filming this episode she refused to ever talk about Star Trek again, although she did do an interview with STARLOG magazine many years later in which she was very disparaging of both the show and its fans. One reason was Gene Roddenberry’s frequent clashes with the costume designers over the length of Roberta’s skirt; Roddenbury wanted it shortened to the extent that Ms Garr’s underwear is glimpsed on occasions. However, she clearly had no such inhibitions in her roles other productions, such as the sultry and provocatively dressed Inga in ‘Young Frankenstein’ (1974) or wearing even an even skimpier outfit (see-through baby-doll nightie) as a Pajama Girl in ‘Pajama Party’ (1964).
The main plotline of countries launching nuclear weapons into space had a real-world parallel at the time. The major world powers pledged to use outer space for peaceful purposes in the “Outer Space Treaty” that became official on October 10, 1967.
Three black cats were used for the role of Isis.
No scenes for this episode were actually shot at Cape Kennedy itself. The illusion of being in Florida was achieved by using a combination of stock footage and Paramount studio locations.
This is the only episode where a Federation transporter system is used to intercept and re-direct another transporter beam.
Star Trek: Voyager: Prime Factors (1995) was originally going to be based on “Assignment: Earth”. David R. George III and Eric A. Stillwell’s original story involved the crew of Voyager encountering the race that had dispatched Gary Seven. However, this was declined as the Aegis’ technology could transport individuals over thousands of light-years, thereby providing an easy “out” for the USS Voyager and precluding the series.
Gene Roddenberry would later rework key elements of this story – an agent to Earth by aliens to shepherd humanity out of its “childhood”, with help from a human – into another unsuccessful pilot titled The Questor Tapes (1974), with the agent being an android..
Gary Seven’s “servo” is used in ways not unlike Doctor Who (1963)’s “sonic screwdriver”, which had been ‘invented’ for the now-famous BBC series just a couple of years earlier. Seven also has a young, naive, attractive human companion, much as the Doctor often has. Whether this is coincidence or the writers had some awareness of Doctor Who’s now-iconic tool is unknown.
This episode takes place in 1968. Along with Star Trek: Enterprise: Storm Front (2004) (which takes place in 1944), this is one of only two “Star Trek” episodes to take place entirely in the 20th Century. Furthermore, both episodes take place mostly in and around New York City.
The sound when Scotty was zooming in on Gary Seven’s position is the same as the one used for the poison dart flower in Star Trek: The Original Series: The Apple (1967).
The art on the wall in the office is from Reginald Pollack.
Gary Seven’s cohort Isis, is established as being a shape-changer, but it is unclear whether Isis is a cat who can appear as a woman, a woman that can appear as a cat, or some creature that can assume both and other appearances at will.
The name “Roberta Lincoln” is a feminine version of Robert Lincoln. Robert Todd Lincoln was a lawyer, politician, and businessman who had a long career and was present at or near the violent deaths of three USA Presidents: Abraham Lincoln (his father), James A. Garfield, and William McKinley. In the “Assignment: Earth” spin-off series, Gary Seven and Roberta Lincoln would have been in the business of rescuing people from assassination.
James Doohan was one of the Mission Control voices.
The aliens which Gary Seven represents call themselves “The Aegis” – another word for “shield”. Gary’s tool/weapon is known as a “servo”. The Marvel Comics fictional agency S.H.I.E.L.D. (Strategic Hazard Intervention, Espionage & Logistics Directorate) was depicted as S.E.R.V.O., which sounds like “brain” (cerveau) in French.
Gary Seven and/or Roberta Lincoln appear in Star Trek novels such as “Assignment: Eternity” (1997) by Greg Cox, “Star Trek: The Eugenics Wars: The Rise and Fall of Khan Noonien Singh” (2001), also by Cox, and “From History’s Shadow” (2013) by Dayton Ward. In the short story “Seven & Seven” by Kevin Hosey in “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds”, Volume VI, (2003), Gary Seven teams up with Seven of Nine from Star Trek: Voyager (1995).
The final use of Sol Kaplan’s “Planet Killer” theme (in the climactic scene).
Roberta Lincoln was born in 1948.
During the street scene, a woman passes by wearing a two-piece fur suit, the top of which had been worn as a dress by Barbara Anderson as Lenore Karidian in the Star Trek episode, “The Conscience of the King”.
Roberta tells Gary Seven that she understood the work of her previous employers (his predecessors in that office) to be “research for a new encyclopedia”. This is most likely a hat tip to Isaac Asimov’s seminal Foundation novel, where the Foundation is working under the guise of producing an encyclopedia.
47 Reference: While scanning Kirk’s and Spock’s location on earth from the Enterprise, Scotty tells them to proceed 5 meters, 247 degrees true.
The sticker on the windshield of the car that Gary Seven uses says Mission Director Cromwell. An actor named James Cromwell later played several roles in the Trek Universe, most famously as Zefram Cochrane in Star Trek: First Contact (1996).
The first episode to use the new phaser stun effect.
The second time to star a black cat: The first was Star Trek: The Original Series: Catspaw (1967)(#2.7).
Gary Seven’s computer said Roberta Lincoln (Teri Garr) was 20 years old. Teri Garr was born December 11, 1947 which would have made her 20 when this episode was filmed.
Cameo Bruce Mars: Finnegan from Star Trek: The Original Series: Shore Leave (1966) can be briefly seen as a New York Police Department officer.
Summary
Having traveled back in time to visit Earth on a historical information-gathering exercise, the Enterprise intercepts a space traveler being beamed to Earth. Gary Seven is human but clearly comes from an advanced civilization that claims to have been specially trained for a mission to save mankind from itself. Captain Kirk isn’t at all sure that Seven isn’t there for malicious purposes and puts him in the brig. Seven does manage to escape however and with Kirk and Spock in pursuit, tries to complete the mission that two missing agents were unable to finalize. For Kirk, the decision he has to make is very real: does he stop Seven or let him finish – a wrong decision may mean altering Earth’s history altogether.
A later Star Trek referencing Gary Seven
CAST
William Shatner … Captain James Tiberius ‘Jim’ Kirk Leonard Nimoy … Mister Spock DeForest Kelley … Dr. McCoy Robert Lansing … Mister Seven Teri Garr … Roberta Lincoln (as Terri Garr) James Doohan … Scott George Takei … Sulu Nichelle Nichols … Uhura Walter Koenig … Chekov Don Keefer … Cromwell Lincoln Demyan … Sergeant Morgan Jones … Col. Nesvig Bruce Mars … First Policeman Ted Gehring … Second Policeman Paul Baxley … Security Chief Barbara Babcock … Beta 5 Computer / Isis (voice) (uncredited) Bill Blackburn … Lieutenant Hadley / Rocket Base Technician (uncredited) Frank da Vinci … Lt. Clifford Brent (uncredited) Rudy Doucette … Staff Member (uncredited) Bob Johnson … Ground Control (voice) (uncredited) Eddie Paskey … Lieutenant Leslie (uncredited) Edwin Rochelle … Man With Newspaper (uncredited) April Tatro … Cat Girl (uncredited)
If you want to see where we are…and you missed a few…HERE is a list of the episodes in my index located at the top of my blog.
This show was written by Gene Roddenberry, Gene L. Coon, and John Kneubuhl
This is one that I like more than some Star Trek fans.
The Enterprise is on its routine patrol when it runs across some wreckage of the SS Beagle. The Beagle has been lost for 6 years and its captain was R. M. Merik, a man Kirk once knew. They find no signs of humans so they guessed that the crew was able to leave the ship before it was destroyed. They follow the debris trail to an unknown planet – never charted before. They discover the planet is very much like planet Earth and even pick up radio and video signals from it.
The ship’s computer picks up survivors from the Beagle on the planet. Kirk, Spock & McCoy beam down to the planet’s surface and are soon met with a group of men with shotguns – they are runaway slaves. Kirk, Spock, and McCoy befriend the runaway slaves. It is revealed that their slavery is over a belief or dispute of gods: sun god vs other gods. Kirk is looking for Captain Merik the slaves have mentioned a man named Merikus – is it one in the same man?
The planet is similar to Earth’s ancient Rome but mixed with 20th-century Earth and soon they find themselves in a 20th-century jail cell while searching for Merik… they soon find Merik. Merik takes them to the pro-council where Merik explains what happened to him, his crew, and the Beagle. Later Kirk is made to order some of his crew members down to fight in the old Roman-style arena. The mix of old Rome with the 20th Century with the gladiators and TV cameras takes a minute to get used to.
He tells Mr. Scott code green, all is well. Scotty knows that means trouble, don’t interfere but stand by. Kirk refused to bring down his men so Kirk, Spock, and McCoy are taken to the arena in a real fight to the death which is broadcasted on television. The Enterprise can pick up television signals but must stand by under the captain’s orders…Scotty cannot send down a landing party but he can do other things from the ship.
It’s a very interesting episode and one that I appreciate much more now that I have rewatched.
From IMDB:
The caves where the Children of the Sun hide out are one of the most-used locations in television and movies. In addition to being the entrance to Batman (1966)’s Batcave, they are also seen in Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Kung Fu (1972) and various police and western shows. They are located right below the famous Hollywood sign.
One of several “parallel Earth” plots in the series, contrived to save money by avoiding the necessity for “alien” sets, costumes, and makeup.
The coat of arms on the clothes of the Proconsul Claudius Marcus is William Shakespeare’s.
The title “Bread and circuses” is a translation of “Panem et circenses”, an ancient Roman metaphor for people choosing food and fun over freedom. It first appears around AD 100 in the Satires of Juvenal, which also provided the title of another Star Trek production about 20 years later: Star Trek: The Next Generation: Who Watches The Watchers (1989).
The episode parodies the television industry in several ways. Fake applause and catcalls are used to simulate a studio audience, and the race for high television ratings is lampooned several times. The TV station manager threatens the now-pacifist runaway slave that he had better fight convincingly: “You bring this network’s ratings down, Flavius, and we’ll do a special on you!” Later, the Proconsul sneers at Kirk about the captain’s impending death, to be televised from the arena, by telling Kirk that “You’re centuries beyond anything as crude as, television.” Kirk replies, “I’ve heard it was… similar,” an oblique reference to the series’ own ratings difficulties. Comic relief is in the scene where McCoy and Spock heckle each other on the TV Stage during the gladiatorial duels.
When Kirk and Spock are breaking out of their cell, two phalanxes of about 5 machine-gun-armed guards each run to block off each end of the corridor which would lead the flag officers to freedom. In the blooper reel, the lead guard of the group closest to the camera reaches his ‘mark’, but is unable to stop; his feet slide out from under him and he falls and goes sliding toward screen-right, after which everyone breaks out in laughter. When you watch the aired version of the scene closely, it has been edited in such a way that you never see that Roman trooper come to a complete stop. It seems they USED the ‘take’ and cut the embarrassing part (for the extra) out.
During the location shooting for this episode, the new producer John Meredyth Lucas visited the set, accompanied by Gene Roddenberry. Lucas was struck by the tension and bad atmosphere among the cast. “Shatner came around the corner, and when he saw Gene, he turned around and went the other way. And the cast was fighting too. All the actors complained to me about all the other actors.”
The Jupiter 8 car was actually the Reactor, a custom aluminum show car designed by Gene Winfield and completed in 1965. The Reactor was based on a 1956 Citroën DS chassis and powered by a Chevrolet Corvair engine. It also made appearances in Mission: Impossible (1966) and Bewitched (1964).
Claudius Marcus recommends the sparrow broiled in garum. Garum was a sauce made by salting the intestines of fish and collecting the fermented juices that dripped out. It was very popular in classical Greek and Roman cuisine.
The DVD and earlier VHS editions of this episode contain what is probably the best McCoy/Spock dialogue of the series, which was always edited out in syndication.
This episode marks the final appearance of Kirk’s second season green wrap-around tunic. Beginning in Star Trek: The Original Series: Assignment: Earth (1968), which followed, and when the series returned for its third and final season Kirk goes back to wearing his standard gold and black v-neck shirt full-time.
One of the shots of the planetary capital (in the opening of Act II) is of the Great Dome at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, whose words can be read (somewhat) above the pillars. The next shot shows the Legion of Honor on the Left Bank in Paris. Its motto ‘Honneur et Patrie’ is not Latin but French.
This was one of the first second-season episodes filmed, but the penultimate one aired.
This is one of only two TOS episodes featuring dialog between the credits and the episode title card. The other episode is Star Trek: The Original Series: A Private Little War (1968).
Gene Roddenberry and Gene L. Coon wrote this episode’s teleplay from a story by playwright and television writer John Kneubuhl. However, Roddenberry and Coon received sole writing credit for the episode.
Gene Roddenberry revised the shooting script as the episode was being filmed. Director Ralph Senensky remembers picking up the day’s script pages when arriving to the set in the morning.
Ian Wolfe later made a second Star Trek appearance in Star Trek: The Original Series: All Our Yesterdays (1969), as Mr. Atoz.
The name of Merrick’s merchant vessel, the S.S. Beagle, is a reference to the vessel famous for carrying Charles Darwin on the mission to chart South America, the H.M.S. Beagle, which would, coincidentally, turn into a five year mission, and the early basis for Darwin’s “On the Origin of Species.”
The automatic weapons that the Roman guards wield are Danish Madsen M-50 sub-machine guns.
George Takei does not appear in this episode. He was shooting The Green Berets (1968) at the time.
Consistent with the Roman themes throughout this episode, the escaped slaves which Kirk, Spock, and McCoy first encounter are references to and representative of the Spartacus group of gladiators and slaves in rebellion against ancient Rome.
47-reference: The S.S. Beagle had a crew complement of 47.
This takes place in 2268.
Much like the “red shirt syndrome” in normal episodes, each Roman who dies seems to be wearing a red cape or cloak.
Ian Wolfe (Septimus) also starred in THX 1138 (1971) which indirectly connects him to the Star Wars & Star Trek franchises. Since THX-1138 is not an actual part of the STAR WARS franchise, this is not exactly true.
An outtake from a deleted scene is in the famous blooper reels: Spock and McCoy are reluctant to come out to fight in the games and the Game Master shouts, “If they refuse to move out on cue, skewer them!” Instead, he shouts, “If they refuse to move out on cue, screw them!” At that point, the onlooking cast bursts out laughing.
William Smithers (Merik) and Logan Ramsey (Claudius Marcus) both appeared in two different shows of the original “Mission: Impossible”, another Desilu production.
During the arena combat scene of Spock and McCoy, Merik mentions that a star ship is a very special vessel and crew, and that he tried for such a command. During the opening scene upon learning that Merik captained the SS Beagle, Kirk states that Merik was dismissed from the academy and went into the merchant service. When prodded by Spock in the cave of the Son Worshippers, he revealed that Merik failed the psycho-simulator test because of a split-second of indecision.
Summary
While searching for the crew of a destroyed spaceship, the Enterprise discovers a planet whose oppressive government is a 20th-century version of Earth’s Roman Empire. Kirk, Spock and McCoy meet the rebels, seemingly sun worshipers, but are soon thereafter apprehended by the regime. The missing Captain Merik is revealed as the “First Citizen” and a pawn of the regime, but he and the rebels ultimately help Kirk and company to escape. Back on the Enterprise, Uhura observes that the crew’s understanding of the rebels as sun worshipers was not completely accurate.
CAST
William Shatner … Captain James Tiberius ‘Jim’ Kirk Leonard Nimoy … Mister Spock DeForest Kelley … Dr. McCoy William Smithers … Merik Logan Ramsey … Claudius Ian Wolfe … Septimus William Bramley … Policeman Rhodes Reason … Flavius James Doohan … Scott Nichelle Nichols … Uhura Walter Koenig … Chekov Bart La Rue … Announcer (as Bart Larue) Jack Perkins … Master of Games Max Kleven … Maximus Lois Jewell … Drusilla Paul Baxley … Policeman #1 (uncredited) Bill Blackburn … Lieutenant Hadley (uncredited) Frank da Vinci … Lt. Brent (uncredited) Tony Dante … Legionnaire (uncredited) Chester Hayes … Sound Effects Man (uncredited) Roger Holloway … Lt. Lemli (uncredited) Shep Houghton … Cameraman (uncredited) Jeannie Malone … Yeoman / Slave Girl (uncredited) Bob Orrison … Policeman #2 (uncredited) Eddie Paskey … Lieutenant Leslie (uncredited) Gil Perkins … Slave #3 (uncredited) Paul Stader … Slave #1 (uncredited) Tom Steele … Slave #2 (uncredited) Joe Walls … Slave (uncredited)
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