III. You are therefore posted, effective immediately, to command the following: The U.S.S. ENTERPRISE
Cruiser Class - Gross 190,000 tons.
Crew Compliment - 430 persons
Drive - space-warp
Range - 18 years at light-year velocity
Registry - Earth, United Space Ship
IV. Nature and duration of mission:
Galaxy exploration and investigation: 5 years
V. Where possible, you will confine your landings and contacts to Class "M" planets approximating Earth-Mars conditions.
VI. You will conduct this patrol to accomplish primarily:
(a) Earth security, via explorations of intelligence and social systems capable of galaxial threat, and
(b) Scientific investigation to add to the Earth's body of knowledge of alien life forms and social systems, and
(c) any required assistance to the several Earth colonies in your quadrant, and the enforcement of appropriate statues affecting such Federated commerce vessels and traders as you may contact in the course of your mission.
Like many Science Fiction fans I began my life-long love of the genre by watching “Star Trek”. I honestly didn’t discover the series on my own. I was “persuaded” to watch the series by my older cousin Rick, who was an avid fan. The first episode I ever saw was “Arena” which pitted Captain Kirk against the lizard-man captain of the Gorn species in a fight to the death orchestrated by yet another unseen alien species. Being a young man who was in love with Dinosaurs the reptilian Gorn first captured my interest, but it was the intelligent and well-written story that brought me back for more episodes. My own youthful spirit of adventure combined with a longing to travel beyond the boundaries of my own back yard were a perfect match for the series exploration storylines and charismatic characters. What six-year-old boy doesn’t long to pilot a starship across the vast unexplored regions of infinite space? Thus I became a Trekkie and a Sci-fi fan for life.
Although the show did enjoy a loyal fan following during its initial run on prime-time television it never was a ratings success. The network that aired the program, NBC, often switched the shows time slot and many times placed it opposite the competitions most popular programs. As is the case almost every time a show receives this form of shuffling, it spelled doom for “Star Trek” and the series was soon on the road to cancellation. A mass letter writing champagne organized by the shows loyal fans did persuade the network to extend the series one more season, but ultimately the ratings figures just weren’t high enough to keep the show on the air.
Syndication was the saving grace for “Star Trek”. Soon after the show had been canned by NBC, Paramount, who had purchased the rights to the show from Desilu, began shopping the show around to local TV affiliates. The show gained a huge following when it was marketed to younger viewers as part of their after school programming. Soon “Trek” toys began appearing on store shelves and a mass marketing snowball began rolling. Lunch boxes, posters, miniature starships and even an animated series were all hurriedly put into production. Fans began to organize fan clubs and conventions that quickly grew into large-scale star-studded events. Never before had a series been reborn in the manner “Star Trek.” did after it was syndicated. “Star Trek” quickly moved from a mere TV series to a cult phenomenon.
“Star Trek” would employ some of the best writers in the genre including Robert Bloch and Jerome Bixby. (Fantastic Voyage, It! The Terror from Beyond Space) This talent pool would be responsible for some of the best series writing in the history of Sci-Fi TV. Ultimately many of these writers would come to resent the constant interference of both producer Gene Coon and consultant Dorothy C Fontana who were both responsible for adapting each screenplay. Many times the writers complained that what ended up on television didn’t live up to what they had put to paper. In fact Jerome Bixby’s son mentioned to me how much his father disliked the way his scripts had been reworked. He also stated that his father became visibly upset each time the episodes aired. Such is the television and movie business I suppose.
The show was designed to center around the Enterprises charismatic girl-chasing captain James T Kirk (William Shatner) however the focus of attention would belong to the ships second in command the always logical and unemotional half Vulcan half human Science Officer Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy). This came much to the surprise of the series producers. Spock, it would seem, would become an unintentional sex symbol and icon to the shows female audience. It may be hard to believe but in the late 1960s’ Spock was considered the ultimate symbol of cool. Spock cooler than Captain Kirk? Initially yes. This factor would ultimately find its way into some of the series later episodes. Who’s cooler than someone who doesn’t seem to give a damn? Don’t tell Shatner. He still thinks it’s his show.
"Star Trek is Costly Sci Fi Epic," from Sept. 21, 1966 - L.A. Times staff writer Don Page
This is the set of NBC's "Star Trek," one of the most expensive and elaborate productions in the history of television. The color series stars William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy and a cast of hundreds (mostly weirdos).
Foremost Writer
The executive producer and architect of "Star Trek" is Gene Roddenberry, former Los Angeles policeman, who served his apprenticeship as one of the medium's foremost writers.
Briefly, "Star Trek" involved the expeditions of the USS Enterprise, an interplanetary cruiser that investigates new worlds and makes diplomatic calls on alien civilizations.
Roddenberry had the idea for the series six years ago, but as he explains it, "At that time television had no interest in science fiction."
Gene's main obstacle was being slightly ahead of his time.
"Science fiction became a dirty word because of cheap B movies," he said. "But the real science fiction movies were things like 'On the Beach' and 'Seven Days in May.'"
Roddenberry is attempting to combine the quality of the A movie with the science fiction concept, no easy task. Building a solid foundation, Roddenberry has employed a formidable force of Hollywood's outstanding writers.
Very Popular
"Science fiction," he continued, "is very popular now because of our space program and moon rockets. Everything we do is based on fact. We've consulted with aeronautical engineers and the Rand Corp."
The only Hollywood ingredient added is imagination, which even the Rand people utilize.
Walking through the spectacular set, Roddenberry pointed at some significant advances in production techniques, including a plastic spray machine that can formulate a tremendous stone in minutes, of mountainous caverns in a few hours. Heretofore it would take days to build similar structures.
A truly impressive prop was the bridge of the Enterprise, an expansive control area boiling with multicolored lights. At that moment, if someone said it was going to blast off, you would have asked for oxygen.
If the show happens to fail on television, they could easily turn the set into a tourist attraction.
Star Trek - The Trouble With Tribbles - Retro Style Lobby Card Print
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This is a poster graphic print featuring an image from the classic Star Trek episode "The Trouble With Tribbles." The print looks amazing matted and framed and will make a great addition to your movie memorabilia collection. A must for all Star Trek fans!
The Man Trap
From the get go NBC wasn't sold on the show, the pilot episode that Gene Roddenberry delivered to the network, 'The Cage', wasn't what he had promised them, a western set in space, but a pure sci fi story. More "Forbidden Planet" than "Waggon Train", and the execs didn't like it. Well, to be honest, they didn't understand it, feeling that the episode was "too cerebral" for your average American TV viewer.
At this particular time in television history, the people in charge of the big networks didn't 'get' sci fi. Westerns they understood, comedies and dramas they could get their minds around. Spaceships, lasers, Vulcans and other worlds were way out of their league. Sure that kind of stuff worked in movies made for kids, but would a grown-up working man want to come home after a long day at work and want to watch a model space craft zooming around?
There were two things that they did know about sci fi, it was risky and expensive and they weren't about to loose advertising dollars on anything that they believed wouldn't hit a home run.
Despite their better judgement, NBC gave Roddenberry another shot, and his second pilot episode for "Star Trek", "Where No Man Has Gone Before", was a little more in line with what the network thought sci fi TV should be like.
Reluctantly NBC agreed to air "Star Trek", but behind closed doors the network still had major doubts about it and ultimately wished that Roddenberry and his 'space-opera' would simply just go away.
It is safe to say, now at this juncture, that making "Star Trek" fail seemed to be NBC's plan when it announced that it would place the show on Thursday night opposite the very popular "Bewitched " on ABC and "My Three Sons" on CBS. Throughout the series three-year run NBC repeatedly placed the show opposite other such high rated programs on rival networks before dumping it in the legendary Friday night "death slot" at 10pm EST.
Surprisingly, NBC opted not to open the series with the pilot episode, leaving Roddenberry and his crew in an awkward position. With only a few episodes in the can there weren't many options for a debut episode. Out of the episodes in hand producer Robert Justman suggested that the episode "The Naked Time" would fit due to it's strong character driven story. NBC, on the other hand, selected "The Man Trap" because it was action packed and had a monster in it.
So, on September 8th 1966 "Star Trek" made it's television debut, and surprisingly won it's time slot against the comedy series reruns it was up against. That success would be short lived, however. The very next week "Trek" would fall to second place when ABC aired a new episode of "Bewitched".
Here is the plot for "The Man Trap":
Stardate 1513.1: The Enterprise arrives at planet M-113 for routine medical exams of archaeologist Professor Robert Crater and his wife Nancy. First Officer Mr. Spock is left temporarily in command. Kirk, McCoy, and Crewman Darnell beam down and Kirk gives McCoy a friendly hard time that he and Nancy Crater were an item ten years ago. Nancy arrives and each of the three men seems to see her differently: McCoy as she was ten years ago, Kirk as she should look age-wise, and Darnell as a totally different attractive younger woman. Kirk sends the dazed Darnell outside and when Nancy goes out to fetch her husband, she beckons Darnell to follow her.
Professor Crater arrives and doesn’t appear happy to see them, telling them that he and his wife don’t need a medical examination. But then, he adds that he's glad to see McCoy as an old friend of his more social wife. Nancy appears, nervously insisting they restock their salt tablets. Kirk orders Crater to submit to the medical exam but before McCoy can proceed they hear a scream from outside. They go out to find Darnell, dead, with red ring-like mottling on his face. There’s a plant root in his mouth and Nancy comes up, saying she saw Darnell taste the plant and she couldn’t stop him. Kirk is skeptical that an experienced crewman would taste an unknown plant. Kirk has Darnell’s body beamed up to the ship.
Spock analyzes the plant, the Borgia root (named for Lucrezia Borgia, a notorious poisoner) and confirms records showing it’s poisonous but skin mottling is not a usual symptom. McCoy conducts the initial exam but can’t find any cause of death, poisoning or otherwise. Kirk and McCoy compare notes on Nancy, and McCoy admits he might have been seeing her the way he imagined her from ten years ago.
Kirk decides to remain to investigate Darnell’s death. McCoy, along with Spock, finally determine that Darnell had every bit of salt drained from his body. Spock adds that he would die almost instantly. Kirk beams back down to the planet with McCoy and two crewmen, Green and Sturgeon. They spread out but Crater slips away and calls out to Nancy saying he has salt. Kirk and McCoy find Sturgeon’s body, unaware that Nancy is nearby over Green’s corpse. Both the bodies have the same red rings on the faces. She pauses and then changes her shape, turning into a duplicate of Green. He meets with Kirk and McCoy and they beam back up to the ship to conduct a search from orbit.
"Green" roams the halls and runs into Rand, who is taking a food tray to Sulu in his quarters. "Green" is attracted to the salt and follows her in, but the plants react badly to him. He leaves and runs into Uhura, taking the hypnotizing form of a crewman from her memories. Rand and Sulu arrive and Uhura is summoned to the bridge.
In his quarters, McCoy is trying to get some sleep. Kirk reminds him of the sleep medication McCoy gave him once. Spock confirms that the scans only show Crater on the planet, and he and Kirk beam down to capture the professor. "Nancy" assumes her female form and goes to McCoy’s quarters, and seems reassured by the fact he has strong memories of her that she can rely on. Nearby, Sulu and Rand find a dead crewman with the same red mottling.
With Crater, Kirk calls a meeting. McCoy & Spock join them, but the officers are unaware that McCoy isn’t McCoy. "McCoy" suggests they try to deal with the creature peacefully and Crater clearly recognizes it for what it is. Kirk prefers to eliminate the predator creature and insists that Crater help identify it. Refusing, Kirk orders McCoy to administer truth serum. They go to sickbay and a suspicious Spock insists on going with them. The alert goes off and Kirk arrives in sickbay to find an injured Spock. Crater is dead, killed by the increasingly desperate creature. Fortunately, Spock’s Vulcan blood made him immune to the creature’s hunger.
Back in her "Nancy" form, the creature goes to McCoy’s quarters and asks him for help. Kirk arrives with a phaser and a handful of salt and tries to entice the creature into attacking. McCoy refuses to believe Nancy is false and gets in the way so the creature can attack Kirk. It hypnotizes him and starts to feed off of him while McCoy holds the phaser, indecisive. Spock arrives and tries to use his superior strength against the creature, but it is stronger than Spock. McCoy realizes the creature isn’t his "Nancy" and, with his phaser, fires at it. The creature reverts to its true alien appearance and McCoy continues firing, finally killing it, saving Kirk.
As one would expect, the critics of the day weren't exactly kind when they wrote about "Star Trek's" debut. Daily Variety columnist Jack Hellman gave the episode an unfavorable review, stating, "Not conducive to its popularity is the lack of meaningful cast leads. They move around with directorial precision with only violence to provide the excitement."
Looking back on it now, it is easy to see why "The Man Trap" may have failed to bring new viewers into the "Trek" fold. It certainly isn't one of the series best episodes, though it isn't one of it's worst either. One can only speculate now what may have happened if NBC would have gone with "Where No Man Has Gone Before" or "The Naked Time". Possibly the show may have been a bigger hit, or then again possibly not.
Regardless "The Man Trap" gave all of us Trek fans a look into McCoy's love life, a preview of Kirk's womanizing ways and a good monster, in this case the Salt Vampire, to boot.
Can't complain there.
Nichelle Nichols: The Theme From Star Trek
Although she is perhaps best-known for her role as Lieutenant Uhura in the '60s television series Star Trek and the resulting string of Star Trek movies, Nichelle Nichols also forged a successful career as a singer when she toured with both Lionel Hampton and Duke Ellington across two continents. She has a number of recordings to her credit, and many of them are tied in to the sci-fi series. Included in her discography are the 1967 Epic release Down to Earth, the 1986 R-Way release Uhura Sings, and GNP Crescendo's Out of This World, from 1995. Nichols is also featured on Sultry Ladies, a 1996 Sony compilation, as well as on a good number of related Star Trek releases, including Sony's Star Trek: 20th Anniversary Collectors' Edition Soundtrack, issued in 1999.
Out of This World includes "Gene," a song Nichols sang in honor of Gene Roddenberry, the man who created Star Trek. He shared a personal relationship with the actress/singer, which she wrote about in Beyond Uhura: Star Trek and Other Memories, an autobiography published in 1994. Roddenberry was also the producer of a police drama called The Lieutenant, a 1963 television program that Nichols appeared in three years before Star Trek made its first appearance. In addition, the album features Nichols singing the theme from Star Trek.
Nichols, a black actress who broke many color barriers and faced instances of racial prejudice on the job, was born and raised in black-governed Robbins, IL. The great-granddaughter of a slave, she started dancing and singing professionally when she was 14 years old, and years of nightclub work followed. She married for the first time in 1951, while she was still in her teens. Her husband, who was more than a decade older, was a dancer. He ran out less than six months later, and a pregnant Nichols forged on alone to become a single parent to her son. The actress/singer wed a second time in 1968, but this marriage dissolved within several years. In addition to her autobiography, Nichols also wrote Saturn's Children, a 1995 science fiction novel. For about a decade through 1987, she worked with NASA in the recruiting of minority astronauts, among them Dr. Mae Jemison.
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Star Trek Giant Poster Book Voyage Two (1976) was published by Paradise Press in conjunction with Paramount Pictures. Star Date: 7610.01. Includes pictures of the cast as well as articles on the Star Trek technique for Special FX's, a critique of Harlan Ellisons "City," and the relationship between Kirk, Spock, and McCoy. Slick paper-stock, 8.25-in. x 11-in. (unfolds into a 22-in. x 33.5-in. poster). Giant movie poster of Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock, and Dr. McCoy.
Know Thy Enemy:
The Klingons
Klingons (Klingon: tlhIngan, pronounced [ˈt͡ɬɪŋɑn]) are a fictional warrior race in the Star Trek universe. They are recurring villains in the 1960s television show Star Trek: The Original Series, and have appeared in all five spin-off series and eight feature films. Initially intended to be antagonists for the crew of the USS Enterprise, the Klingons ended up a close ally of humanity and the United Federation of Planets in later television series.
As originally developed by screenwriter Gene L. Coon, Klingons were darkly colored humanoids with little honor, intended as an allegory to the then-current Cold War tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union, though Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry did not aspire to any political parallels. With a greatly expanded budget for makeup and effects, the Klingons were completely redesigned in Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979), gaining ridged foreheads that created a continuity error not explained by canon until 2005. In later films and the spin-off series Star Trek: The Next Generation, the militaristic traits of the Klingons were bolstered by an increased sense of honor and strict warrior code.
Among the elements created for the revised Klingons was a complete language, developed by Marc Okrand off gibberish suggested by actor James Doohan. Klingon has entered popular culture; the works of William Shakespeare and even parts of the Bible have been translated into the guttural language. A dictionary, a book of sayings, and a cultural guide to the language have been published. In addition, according to Guinness World Records, Klingon is the most popular fictional language by number of speakers.
ROMULANS
The Romulans are a fictional race of alien humanoids within Star Trek. First appearing in the original Star Trek series in the 1966 episode "Balance of Terror", they have since made appearances in all the main later Star Trek series: The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager and Enterprise. In addition, they have appeared in various spin-off media, and prominently in the two films Star Trek Nemesis (2002) and Star Trek (2009).
Throughout the series they are generally depicted as antagonists, who are always at war or in an uneasy truce with the United Federation of Planets, the show's galactic organization of which Earth is a member.
The Romulans also act as a counterpoint to the logical Vulcan race who share a common ancestry. As such, the Romulans are characterized as passionate, cunning, and opportunistic — in every way the opposite of the logical Vulcans. The Romulans are also the dominant race of the Romulan Star Empire, the largest empire in the Beta Quadrant of the Milky Way galaxy (although its positioning in the Beta Quadrant is never mentioned in any film or television episode and indeed several episodes of Deep Space Nine imply it is in the Alpha Quadrant).
The Romulans were created by Paul Schneider, who said "it was a matter of developing a good Romanesque set of admirable antagonists ... an extension of the Roman civilization to the point of space travel". There are some differences in their history and the way they are portrayed on television, in the motion pictures and in several books by Diane Duane, called the Rihannsu series, after the term they use to refer to themselves in their Romulan native language.
The Romulans began as a revolutionary group of Vulcans who were referenced as "those who march beneath the Raptor's wings" and refused to accept the Vulcan philosopher Surak's teachings of complete suppression of emotions. Around 400 AC, the dissident group split off from Vulcan society and began the long journey to the planets Romulus and Remus.
The Romulans are of the Vulcan species. One of three theories regarding how the Romulans arrived at the stellar system that includes the planets Romulus and Remus involves Sargon's people, referred to in conjecture as the "Arretians", as mentioned in the Star Trek: The Original Series episode "Return to Tomorrow". Sargon claimed that his people had seeded their species throughout the galaxy, and Spock said that could explain some enigmas of Vulcan pre-history. Hanoch, one of Sargon's people and a rival, further claimed that Spock's hybrid Human-Vulcan body was a "good fit" for his alien physiology. If these claims are true, then the Arretians may have been the antecedents for the Romulans — and indeed, they may have also been the species known as the Preservers. The inhabitants of Mintaka III ("Who Watches The Watchers?") seem to support this theory.
THE GORN
In Star Trek, the Gorn are humanoid reptiles from the Gorn Hegemony.
The Gorn had contact with the Orion Syndicate as early as 2154. The name of their government was established as the Gorn Hegemony in the Star Trek: Enterprise episode "Bound" although, in the games "Star Trek: Starfleet Command" and "Star Trek: Starfleet Command II: Empires at War" The Gorn's government was referred to as the "Gorn Confederation".
The Gorn made first contact with the Federation at Cestus III in 2267 when a misunderstanding nearly led to war (original series episode "Arena", the Gorn played by Bobby Clark). Although the Gorn made territorial claims, the Federation had a settlement there in 2371, indicating tension later softened.
The Gorn have become one of the most popular hypothetical bioforms to appear on Star Trek, due to the striking design by artist Wah Chang, and the Gorn's memorable personality. A hissing, slow-moving, but lethal beast, the Gorn captain is also shown to be quite cunning and devious; chuckling wickedly to himself as he sets a trap for Kirk, and later promising that if the captain gives himself up, the Gorn will make his death "merciful and quick". "Arena" is also considered one of the series' classic episodes and was the template for a similar, critically acclaimed episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation entitled "Darmok".
For years, "Arena" marked the only live action appearance of the Gorn, although the race was "name dropped" from time to time. In 2005, an episode of Star Trek: Enterprise featured a Gorn (albeit in the Mirror Universe) in the episode "In a Mirror, Darkly Part II". In that episode, the Gorn (whose name was Slar) was an overseer of a group of slaves belonging to the Mirror Universe's Tholians in an attempt to steal technology from the Defiant which had been lured into the Mirror Universe from ours. Slar hid in the ship's corridors and killed several crewmembers until it was killed by Jonathan Archer. For this appearance, Slar was designed using computer animation (and much to the chagrin of some fans, appeared radically different from the original Gorn). Since "In a Mirror, Darkly" takes place entirely within the Mirror Universe, the contact seen between the Earth Empire and the creature does not contradict the first contact seen in "Arena".
He was Spock, He was not Spock
Leonard Nimoy was born on March 26, 1931 in Boston, Massachusetts to Orthodox Jewish immigrants from Iziaslav, Soviet Union. He began acting at the tender age of eight at a local children's theater. Bitten by the acting bug he would later attend Boston College where he studied drama, though he never completed his studies.
In 1965 Nimoy turned down a role on the soap opera Peyton Place to shoot a pilot called "The Cage" for yet another science fiction themed television program called Star Trek. Though NBC initially rejected Gene Roddenberry's cerebral vision of a prime time television series about space adventurers, the show was given yet another chance, in a more Joe public friendly format, and Nimoy was the only cast member from the original pilot invited back. As they say "the rest was history", we all know that Star Trek lasted a mere three seasons on television despite capturing legions of fans, many of them women who actually found Spock more sexy than his dashing counterpart Captain James T. Kirk, played by William Shatner.
After Trek Nimoy was immediately hired on the spy series Mission: Impossible, in which he replaced actor Martin Landau. Nimoy was cast in the role of Paris, an IMF agent who was an ex-magician and make-up expert "The Great Paris." He played the role during seasons four and five (1969–71).
Though Mission: Impossible was a popular series it was his work on the show In Search of..., which was a documentary series about the paranormal, monsters, UFOs and other phenomena, that many fans remember fondly today.
Though many unsuccessful attempts were made to bring Star Trek back to primetime television, the show was in essence reborn as an animated series aimed at the young audience that made the series a huge success on afternoon syndicated television. All of the original cast members were brought in to voice there respective characters including Nimoy and his alter ego Spock.
In 1977 Nimoy wrote his first autobiography entitled "I am Not Spock" in 1975 where in the actor tried to tell the story of his life aside from his most famous television persona. The fans, to put it mildly, didn't welcome the memoirs with an open mind and in 1995 he wrote a follow-up book entitled "I am Spock". In this more fan friendly volume Nimoy actually had factious conversations with his half-Vulcan-half-human alter ego in the end coming to the summation that Spock was indeed a part of his soul ... and vice versa.
In the later years of Nimoy's career he would amass a very large resume of work both in front and behind the camera in both movies and television. He also had a very successful career as a theater actor staring in acclaimed roles in productions such as Fiddler on the Roof, The Man in the Glass Booth, Oliver!, 6 Rms Riv Vu, Full Circle, Camelot, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, The King and I, Caligula, The Four Poster, Twelfth Night, Sherlock Holmes, Equus, and My Fair Lady.
As time passed from the seventies to the eighties and beyond Nimoy would again take on the Spock character in numerous movies and television adaptations culminating in JJ. Abrams' 2009 reimagining of Star Trek in which has passed the Spock torch on to actor Zachary Quinto.
Though Nimoy was known as an actor, director, writer, and producer he was also a renowned photographer and vocalist who produced numerous albums including Leonard Nimoy Presents Mr. Spock's Music From Outer Space, Two Sides of Leonard Nimoy, The Way I Feel, The Touch of Leonard Nimoy, and The New World of Leonard Nimoy. He also had a minor hit song with the cult favorite "The Ballad Of Bilbo Baggins" based on J.R.R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" books.
Leonard Nimoy's contribution to the fantasy and science fiction genre have made him an enduring pop culture icon who's true body of work has been an inspiration to, and will continue to inspire, actors and writers for generations to come. Ironically, through the character of Spock, Nimoy has in a sense become immortal and undoubtedly when mankind does "boldly go where no man has gone before" the character will travel with them. I can't imagine a future without Star Trek airing somewhere.
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