The Unauthorized History of Trek. James Hise van

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СКАЧАТЬ in the underground colony of Janus VI. The Enterprise is called in on the crisis, but Spock discovers, by means of the Vulcan mind meld, that it is actually a mother protecting its young, in this case spherical eggs which had previously seemed only peculiar geological phenomena. The real conflict of this story is the need to overcome the fear and hostility of the human miners when they are faced with something new and incomprehensible.

      The Horta costume, designed and worn by Janos Prohaska, was originally used in the last Outer Limits episode, “The Probe,” but was customized and refurbished for its appearance on Star Trek.

      “Errand of Mercy” sends Kirk to the peaceful, pastoral world of Organia, which is in danger of Klingon attack; Klingon/Federation relations have become increasingly strained, and war seems imminent. When Commander Kor and his Klingon force invade and take over, they arrest Spock and Kirk, but the Organians themselves seem unperturbed by the occupation. Still, the Organians rescue Kirk and Spock, and avert war by the use of their previously unsuspected mental powers, which render all weapons ineffective. They are in fact completely evolved beings whose human forms were a disguise, and they promise to keep a watchful eye on the enemy factions. In spite of the major plot element represented by the Organians and their ability to force an end to war, they were never used again in any subsequent Star Trek episode.

      “The Alternative Factor” involves the battle between Lazarus and his antimatter double Lazarus; the fate of the universe hangs in the balance, and once again hinges on the need for dilithium crystals.

      “The City on the Edge of Forever” is generally regarded as one of the best Star Trek episodes; it is also perhaps the episode with the most interesting background history. Harlan Ellison’s original script was rewritten by Gene Roddenberry, perhaps unnecessarily, and has become a long-standing source of annoyance for the writer. Roddenberry’s reasons for the rewrite have become somewhat clouded with the passage of time; he has claimed that Ellison’s script included huge crowd scenes and other factors which would have drastically exceeded the show’s budget (not exactly true), and even that the script had Scotty dealing drugs!

      Ellison’s original draft did hinge on a low-ranking crew member dealing in illegal drugs, but it was not Scotty by any means; perhaps Roddenberry was simply aghast that someone might dare to show a seamy underside to his perfect human civilization of the future. The script as written by Ellison was published in the now-out-of-print Six Science Fiction Plays, edited by Roger Ellwood, and is due to be published again soon … with an extensive introduction by Ellison detailing the controversy in all its gory details. But, despite Ellison’s disavowals of the filmed product, his original story still shines through Roddenberry’s rewrite, and the story retains its fascination.

      In the story as filmed, Dr. McCoy accidentally injects himself with a powerful experimental drug and becomes completely unhinged. (Apparently Roddenberry would rather impugn the good doctor’s basic competency than allow the blame to fall on a dishonest drug-smuggling crewman.) Meanwhile, Kirk and Spock are investigating a mysterious time portal, the Guardian of Forever, on the planet below.

      McCoy beams down and leaps through the portal, disappearing into the past; the Enterprise suddenly ceases to exist, leaving Kirk and Spock stranded in a distant corner of the universe. They must go to the past and undo whatever it is McCoy has done to disrupt history. In 1930s New York, Kirk falls in love with Edith Keeler (Joan Collins), not realizing that she is the key to their predicament.

      Spock manages to create a time-scanning device with his tricorder and the primitive technology of the period, and ultimately discovers that Keeler will, if she lives, lead a pacifist movement that will keep the USA out of World War Two. The Nazis will win the war and make history on Earth a veritable hell; thus, Keeler’s humanitarian impulses contain the seeds of humanity’s destruction.

      Kirk must then force himself to keep the still delirious McCoy from saving Edith from her death under the wheels of a car. History is restored to its proper form—but not without some wrenching decisions for Kirk.

      This was to be DeForest Kelley’s favorite episode of the series. According to him, Edith was to have been the key character, but the story was rewritten to give McCoy a greater role.

      “Operation: Annihilate!” features William Shatner in a second role: that of the dead body of Kirk’s older brother George, complete with a mustache and gray hair. This personal tragedy is discovered on the planet Deneva, where alien parasites are attacking humans and driving them to excruciatingly painful deaths. This episode’s effectiveness is somewhat enhanced by the fact that the creatures look like enormous airborne fried eggs. Held to a wall with electromagnets, these creatures fell to the ground quite convincingly when hit by phaser fire.

      This episode brought the first season to its end. Leonard Nimoy would be nominated for Best Supporting Actor in a Dramatic Series for this year’s work.

      Between seasons, in its issue of July 15, 1967, Nichelle Nichols was profiled in TV Guide.

      Although her presence on the show at all was considered daring, the actress felt strongly that her character was too limited. She told TV Guide, “The producers admit being very foolish and very lax in the way they’ve used me—or not used me.” Gene Coon, a producer, defended Uhura’s small role: “I thought it would be very ungallant to imperil a beautiful girl with twenty-toed snaggle-toothed monsters from outer space.”

      Nichols, however, did not feel imperiled by additional dialogue, and by the end of the first season had increased her dialogue quotient. No longer confined to “All hailing frequencies open, sir,” Nichols also began ad-libbing, including the famous line, “Mr. Spock, if I have to say ‘Hailing frequencies open’ one more time, I’ll blow my top! Why don’t you tell me I’m a lovely young woman?”

      TV Guide saw this development as more important than it turned out to be, alas, as borne out by a careful examination of the seventy-nine known episodes of Star Trek. But Roddenberry commented to TV Guide at the time, “We’re thinking about taking her down on the planets next season. Maybe we’ll have wardrobe make her an appropriate costume for planet wear.” In fact, female characters in addition to Uhura eventually beamed down to planets, still wearing the daring miniskirt uniform and getting involved in dangerous, often romantic, situations.

      At the end of the first season, however, Nichols was so dismayed by her character’s limitations that she considered quitting the show. But when she met civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., he told her to stay with it; just appearing on the show as a bridge officer in a position of responsibility, he told her, she was providing a positive message that would be beneficial both to blacks and to the perception of blacks by others. (And somewhere in Brooklyn, the girl who would someday take the stage name of Whoopi Goldberg was inspired by Lieutenant Uhura.)

      Of the famous tension between Spock and McCoy, DeForest Kelley tried to use elements of comedy and drama in the relationship, as related in a 1974 interview with Joseph Gulick:

      “I never wanted it thought for a minute that McCoy truly disliked [Spock]. McCoy had great respect for Spock, and I thought and felt that the best way was to somehow lighten it with an expression or a line. I did that purposefully. I didn’t want to lose fans by being too hard with Spock under certain circumstances. McCoy liked him. It became a kind of battle of wits.”

      The on-screen battle of wits came about through hard work offscreen. Kelley and Nimoy discussed their scenes at great length, working on how they should be acted. According to Kelley, all the actors’ deep caring for the show made for a unique taping situation. Unlike other shows, where actors would read a book or the trade papers between scenes, the crew of the Enterprise worked with the producer, breaking down future scenes and working СКАЧАТЬ