Follow TV Tropes

Following

Context Trivia / StarTrekTheOriginalSeries

Go To

1!!Listed Trivia:
2
3* AccidentallyCorrectWriting:
4** In "[[Recap/StarTrekS1E19TomorrowIsYesterday Tomorrow is Yesterday]]," which aired in 1967, it's mentioned that three astronauts are going to lift off for a moon landing "next Wednesday." ''Apollo 11'' and its three astronauts would launch two years later — on a Wednesday.
5** In "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS2E26AssignmentEarth}} Assignment: Earth]]", the ''Enterprise'' travels back in time to 1968. and it's mentioned that "an important assassination" will take place and that a government coup will take place in Asia. Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy were both assassinated later that year, and this was the year of Iraq's July 17 Revolution in which the Ba'athist Party and UsefulNotes/SaddamHussein first came to power. There was also a Saturn V rocket launch that went wrong, which given Kirk's statement about how the "real" events were never generally revealed, which would imply the actual real world events were a cover-up for what happened in the Star Trek timeline.
6* ActingForTwo:
7** Creator/WilliamShatner plays both Kirk and sinister-impostor-Kirk in "[[Recap/StarTrekS1E5TheEnemyWithin The Enemy Within]]" (transporter accident), "[[Recap/StarTrekS1E7WhatAreLittleGirlsMadeOf What Are Little Girls Made Of?]]" (android double), "[[Recap/StarTrekS2E4MirrorMirror Mirror, Mirror]]" (mirror universe), "[[Recap/StarTrekS3E14WhomGodsDestroy Whom Gods Destroy]]" (shapeshifter), "[[Recap/StarTrekS3E24TurnaboutIntruder Turnabout Intruder]]" (body swap), and ''Film/StarTrekVITheUndiscoveredCountry'' (alien shapeshifter).
8** Shatner also does brief double duty in "[[Recap/StarTrekS1E29OperationAnnihilate Operation: Annihilate!]]", in the scene where Kirk discovers the body of his brother Sam.
9** A quirk of production: Malachi Throne provided the voice (but not the face) for the Talosian Keeper in the unaired ''Trek'' pilot, "[[Recap/StarTrekS1E0TheCage The Cage]]". Almost two years later, Throne was cast as Commodore Mendez for "The Menagerie" two-parter, which recycles footage from first pilot. His voice for The Keeper had to be electronically altered so the audience wouldn't recognize it as the same guy.
10* ActorInspiredElement:
11** Many elements of the Spock character were improvised by Creator/LeonardNimoy during production. For instance, the "Vulcan neck pinch" was his suggestion during filming of "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS1E5TheEnemyWithin}} The Enemy Within]]" for how Spock could subdue an opponent. The "Vulcan salute" was created during the production of "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS2E1AmokTime}} Amok Time]]" using a version of a traditional Jewish religious hand gesture as a distinctive Vulcan greeting.
12** Creator/GraceLeeWhitney was the primary catalyst for the development of the (in)famously short skirt worn by female crew and officers. Whitney, a dancer, wanted the uniform to show off her legs, and pushed for a short microskirt. She also contributed to the design of what would eventually become the tricorder, assisting Roddenberry with designing a gadget she could carry in a bag around her shoulder to assist Kirk during missions.
13** Kirk being flamboyant and an AgentPeacock is a result of Shatner and his LargeHam, and the writers playing to that strength. Roddenberry wanted a stoically complicated macho hero, despite Kirk using/appreciating his femininity getting him feminist praise in the early seventies.
14* ActorSharedBackground:
15** Both Creator/DeForestKelley and Bones are natives of Georgia and have Irish sounding names.
16** Creator/JamesDoohan had a degree in Engineering and even used it to save Creator/GeneRoddenberry from danger when they went out boating and ran into trouble. No record exists of him saying that the boat "cannae take much more of this" though. [[note]] It came into play when someone asked about Scotty's {{Unishment}} in "[[Recap/StarTrekS2E15TheTroubleWithTribbles The Trouble with Tribbles]]" spending shore leave in his quarters with tech journals. The reply was "Scotty reads tech journals because ''James Doohan'' reads tech journals." [[/note]]
17* AlanSmithee:
18** "[[Recap/StarTrekS2E19APrivateLittleWar A Private Little War]]" is meant as a commentary on UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar, which was still ongoing. Though friends with Roddenberry since their days as LAPD officers, Don Ingalls did not like Gene's re-write (removing Kor from the story, softening the Vietnam references), and credited himself as Jud Crucis (this phrase does not mean "Jesus Crucified" but referred to ''judicium crucis'', solving a conflict by a competition between two champions).
19** The writer of "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS2E20ReturnToTomorrow}} Return to Tomorrow]]" had himself credited under a pseudonym in protest against a change that was made to the ending.
20** Two episodes in the third season, "[[Recap/StarTrekS3E17ThatWhichSurvives That Which Survives]]" and "[[Recap/StarTrekS3E20TheWayToEden The Way to Eden]]", were developed from storylines by Trek veteran writer D.C. Fontana, but bear the credit "Story by Michael Richards" because Fontana felt the final episodes diverged too far for her to feel comfortable putting her name on them.
21* ApprovalOfGod: Kirk/Spock SlashFic wasn't published in fanzines until [[https://fanlore.org/wiki/A_Fragment_Out_of_Time 1974]], although stories had circulated privately since at least 1968. Roddenberry and Shatner/Nimoy knew about fan fiction, of course; fans published and sent copies of (non-slash) fanzines like ''T-Negative'' and ''Spockanalia'' and Roddenberry's letters in response expressed surprised appreciation. According to rumor, he and Shatner/Nimoy knew slash was out there as well. Were they all fine with the idea? Speaking in 1979 for the Marshak/Culbreath biography ''[[https://tinyurl.com/bdfw9m2r Shatner: Where No Man]]'', Nimoy, with characteristic reserve, said he and Shatner must have done something they were unaware of "that provokes all these questions -- including the erotic questions and the pornographic questions." Shatner, of course, has always teased and danced around the subject. Roddenberry played it up in his novelization of ''Film/StarTrekTheMotionPicture'' with his invention of the expression ''t'hy'la'' and [[WordOfGay the infamous]] [[https://fanlore.org/wiki/The_Roddenberry_Footnote Roddenberry Footnote]]. The second volume of professionally published ''Star Trek'' fan fiction, ''[[https://vakarangi.blogspot.com/2014/03/myriad-universes-star-trek-new-voyages.html The New Voyages]]'' (1976-1978), even has a story partly written by Nichelle Nichols, "Surprise!", that some fans interpret as subtextual SlashFic, although the brief erotic moments feature ''Uhura'' shamelessly flirting with Spock, even kissing him.[[note]]''New Voyages'' editors Marshak and Culbreath were definitely hardcore slash fangirls and notoriously tinkered with the stories sent to them, so the slash elements in that story are probably theirs.[[/note]]
22* BannedInChina:
23** The first BBC broadcast of "[[Recap/StarTrekS1E8Miri Miri]]" led to protests over its allegedly over-horrific nature (since it involved children in peril and adults getting killed), and as a result it and three later episodes--"[[Recap/StarTrekS3E10PlatosStepchildren Plato's Stepchildren]]", "[[Recap/StarTrekS3E12TheEmpath The Empath]]" and "[[Recap/StarTrekS3E14WhomGodsDestroy Whom Gods Destroy]]"--were suppressed from BBC broadcasts of the show until the 1990s due to being considered excessively violent and horrific.
24** "[[Recap/StarTrekS2E21PatternsOfForce Patterns of Force]]" was not aired on German TV before the 1990s, as the frequent use of Nazi imagery and claims of Nazism making for an efficient society meant it was (understandably, and as is quite common in the country) deemed unsuitable for entertainment in Germany. It finally made its public TV debut in 2011, though it had already been shown on German pay TV in 1996 and included in the DVD/blu-ray sets.
25* {{Blooper}}: In "[[Recap/StarTrekS1E5TheEnemyWithin The Enemy Within]]", the scratches on Evil Kirk's face change side during his VillainousBreakdown near the end.
26** One by the costuming department ended up creating a longstanding piece of CommonKnowledge that even the production staff of the various shows themselves have had a hard time shaking. In a nutshell, the original intent for the show was for all Starfleet officers on starships to wear the "arrowhead/delta" insignia associated with the Enterprise. However, William Ware Thiess accidentally created a new insignia for the crew of the USS Exeter. This error, along with other branch insignia (such as the "starburst" insignia used by starbase personnel, the distinctive insignia worn by flag officers like "The Doomsday Machine"'s Commodore Decker, and the Merchant Marine symbol worn by crewmen from the USS Antares in "Charlie X") led fans to believe that every ship was intended to have its own distinctive logo. Finally, after discovering a sternly, but humorously, worded letter from Bob Justman in the archives, Startrek.com was [[https://www.startrek.com/article/starfleet-insignia-explained able to set the record straight]]. All Starfleet crews wear the arrowhead, and always were meant to.
27* BeamMeUpScotty: TropeNamer:
28** Kirk's the TropeNamer, by omission. No, he never said it. (No, not even in ''WesternAnimation/StarTrekTheAnimatedSeries''--there he says "Beam ''us'' up, Scotty".) The closest he comes is in ''Film/StarTrekIVTheVoyageHome'' where he says all the right words, but in the wrong order: "Scotty, beam me up." (Ironically, ''Star Trekkin''', which is responsible for multiple instances of this, actually gets this one ''right''.)
29** Spock never said "It's life, Jim, but not as we know it"; that's from ''Star Trekkin'''. The closest he ever came in canon was the episode "[[Recap/StarTrekS1E25TheDevilInTheDark The Devil in the Dark]]":
30--->'''Spock:''' Within range of our sensors, '''there is no life''', other than the accountable human residents of this colony beneath the surface. '''At least, no life as we know it'''.
31*** He also says a similar line in the very next episode, "Errand of Mercy" regarding the Organian's true forms:
32--->'''Spock''': It's not life as we know it at all.
33** Scotty is universally remembered as complaining that the engines "cannae take much more ah this, Cap'n", for fear that "she's gonna blow", or some variation thereof. He's also known to protest that "ah doon have th' pow'r, Cap'n!" He never used ''any'' of those phrases on the show; they're cobbled together out of a dozen different lines from different episodes, and have become ubiquitous in parodies ever since.
34** Scotty's also said "'''''Ah''''' cannae change the laws of physics", and ''not'' "'''''Ye''''' cannae". That's from ''Star Trekkin'''.
35*** He didn't say either. He said, exactly, "I can't change the laws of physics. I've got to have thirty minutes!" Most parodies play the accent up far beyond the original.
36*** ''Spock'', of all people, [[CharacterizationMarchesOn shouted]] "she'll blow soon" once, in "[[Recap/StarTrekS1E10TheCorbomiteManeuver The Corbomite Maneuver]]".
37** Don't expect to ever hear Sulu say "''Oh, my''." That's Creator/GeorgeTakei's personal {{catchphrase}}, originating from his first appearance on ''Radio/TheHowardSternShow'' in 1990. Sulu himself was the only regular who lacked a memorable CatchPhrase or VerbalTic, one of the reasons he didn't show up in too many parodies (and when he did, he was usually the StraightMan).[[note]]For their famous "Last Voyage of the Starship ''Enterprise''" sketch, ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' decided to cast the show's ''production designer'' in the role of Sulu, which he has reprised in every ''Star Trek'' parody the show has done ever since, including a TNG sketch with Creator/PatrickStewart.[[/note]] More recently, given Takei's predilection for AdamWesting, parodies of Sulu are basically parodies of Takei (including the CampGay antics--see below).
38** Many parodies from "[[Recap/StarTrekS2E1AmokTime Amok Time]]" show Spock and Kirk conversing with each other (this [[Film/TheCableGuy springs to mind]]). This never happened in the episode as Spock was deep in the blood fever and never conversed with Kirk during the battle; Spock only spoke to T'Pau at the time.
39* TheCastShowoff: Creator/NichelleNichols got to show off her singing ability a couple times, as did Creator/LeonardNimoy once (under the influence of aliens, since crooning would be out of character).
40* CastTheExpert: Trained belly-dancer Tania Lemani appeared as the dancer Kara in "[[Recap/StarTrekS2E14WolfInTheFold Wolf in the Fold]]", and did her own choreography for the dance routine that occupies most of the character's screen time.
41* CastTheRunnerUp: Creator/DeForestKelley was originally offered the part of Spock. He turned it down, but eventually accepted the role of Dr. [=McCoy=] (the first two pilots had different doctor characters). Creator/NichelleNichols claimed she was offered the role.
42* CharacterOutlivesActor: Harry Mudd was slated to make an appearance in ''Next Generation'', but Roger C. Carmel died before that could happen.
43** A third TOS Mudd episode, titled "Deep Mudd," was actually written; it was a direct sequel to "[[Recap/StarTrekS2E8IMudd I, Mudd]]" and would have had him escape the androids' planet by tricking them into revealing the location of a cache of super-advanced devices which then end up in the hands of a band of {{space pirate}}s; unfortunately, Carmel was busy with another project and the script was dropped.
44** The producers of ''Film/StarTrekIVTheVoyageHome'' also considered having him appear in a cameo as a character witness for the ''Enterprise'' bridge crew's trial. This would have been an ironic ContinuityNod to the end of "[[Recap/StarTrekS1E6MuddsWomen Mudd's Women]]" where Kirk jokingly offered to be a character witness at ''Mudd's'' trial.
45** Harry finally reappeared in ''Series/StarTrekDiscovery,'' played by Creator/RainnWilson.
46* CreatorBacklash:
47** Creator/HarlanEllison's opinion of "[[Recap/StarTrekS1E28TheCityOnTheEdgeOfForever The City on the Edge of Forever]]" is in the Creator Backlash Hall Of Fame.
48** Creator/GraceLeeWhitney had some choice words about the episode "[[Recap/StarTrekS1E5TheEnemyWithin The Enemy Within]]" later on:
49--->'''Whitney:''' At the end of "The Enemy Within," there is a badly botched attempt at humor. In a poorly motivated and out of character moment, Mr. Spock needles me about my feelings towards the evil Kirk (who came to be called "the Imposter," even though he was supposedly every bit as much a part of the "real" James T. Kirk as the good Kirk). There is almost a nasty leer on Spock's face as he says to me, "The Imposter had some very interesting qualities, wouldn't you say, yeoman?" My response was to ignore the jibe. I can't imagine any more cruel and insensitive comment a man (or Vulcan) could make to a woman who has just been through a sexual assault! But then, some men really do think that women want to be raped. So the writer of the script (ostensibly Creator/RichardMatheson--although the line could have been added by Creator/GeneRoddenberry or an assistant scribe) gives us a leering Mr. Spock who suggests that Yeoman Rand enjoyed being raped and found the evil Kirk attractive!
50** David Gerrold, whose first script for the series was only [[Recap/StarTrekS2E15TheTroubleWithTribbles one of the most loved episodes ever]], submitted an outline called "Castles In The Air." By the time [[Recap/StarTrekS2E16TheGamestersOfTriskelion Margaret Armen]] and [[Recap/StarTrekS3E15LetThatBeYourLastBattlefield Oliver Crawford]] were through with it[[note]]Armen has teleplay credit, Gerrold shares story credit with Crawford[[/note]] it became "[[Recap/StarTrekS3E21TheCloudMinders The Cloud Minders]]," and he wasn't happy with the finished product.
51** Creator/WilliamShatner, while working on his documentary ''The Captains,'' had a revelation after talking with Creator/PatrickStewart about his own performances. To hear Shatner tell it...
52-->'''Shatner:''' While talking to Patrick about his dedication to the craft, it came to me suddenly that during the filming of the series, I'd basically been a lazy bum, turning in hack performances for an easy paycheck. I'd been doing them a complete disservice to the other actors. Unfortunately, it was too late to apologize to Creator/JamesDoohan or Creator/DeForestKelley, but I did get a chance to apologize to Leonard before he died. The magnanimous son-of-a-bitch forgave me.
53** "The Way To Eden." By the way, the "Michael Richards" who has co-story credit isn't ''that'' [[Series/{{Seinfeld}} Michael Richards]] but a pseudonym for D.C. Fontana, who wrote the original script for "Joanna" (the episode's initial title); she washed her hands of it after the rewriting took effect.
54* CreatorBreakdown: According to “Where No Man”, Shatner was miserable the last two years of Trek, still feeling the effect of his dad’s death, had suicidal feelings and was losing most of his money in a bitter divorce, all which might account for at least a little why he was such a dick on-set.
55* CreatorsFavoriteEpisode:
56** In a TV Guide interview two months before his death, Creator/GeneRoddenberry listed his ten favourite episodes - "[[Recap/StarTrekS2E1AmokTime Amok Time]]", "[[Recap/StarTrekS1E14BalanceOfTerror Balance of Terror]]", "[[Recap/StarTrekS1E28TheCityOnTheEdgeOfForever The City on the Edge of Forever]]", "[[Recap/StarTrekS1E25TheDevilInTheDark The Devil in the Dark]]", "[[Recap/StarTrekS1E5TheEnemyWithin The Enemy Within]]", "[[Recap/StarTrekS1E11TheMenageriePartI The Menagerie]]" ([[Recap/StarTrekS1E12TheMenageriePartII Two Parter]]), "[[Recap/StarTrekS1E4TheNakedTime The Naked Time]]", "[[Recap/StarTrekS1E21TheReturnOfTheArchons The Return of the Archons]]", "[[Recap/StarTrekS1E3WhereNoManHasGoneBefore Where No Man Has Gone Before]]" and "[[Recap/StarTrekS2E15TheTroubleWithTribbles The Trouble with Tribbles]]"
57** "[[Recap/StarTrekS1E25TheDevilInTheDark The Devil in the Dark]]" was Creator/WilliamShatner's favourite episode. He thought it was "exciting, thought-provoking and intelligent, it contained all of the ingredients that made up our very best ''Star Treks''." His father died during its filming, but Shatner insisted on going through with production, and felt closer to the cast and crew for helping him through the difficult time. "[[Recap/StarTrekS1E28TheCityOnTheEdgeOfForever The City on the Edge of Forever]]" was his second favourite.
58** Creator/LeonardNimoy's favourite episodes were "[[Recap/StarTrekS1E24ThisSideOfParadise This Side of Paradise]]", "[[Recap/StarTrekS2E1AmokTime Amok Time]]", "[[Recap/StarTrekS1E28TheCityOnTheEdgeOfForever The City on the Edge of Forever]]", "[[Recap/StarTrekS1E4TheNakedTime The Naked Time]]", "[[Recap/StarTrekS2E10JourneyToBabel Journey to Babel]]" and "[[Recap/StarTrekS1E25TheDevilInTheDark The Devil in the Dark]]".
59** Creator/DeforestKelley's favourite was "[[Recap/StarTrekS3E12TheEmpath The Empath]]".
60** Creator/JamesDoohan's favourite was "[[Recap/StarTrekS2E6TheDoomsdayMachine The Doomsday Machine]]".
61** Creator/GeorgeTakei's favourite was "[[Recap/StarTrekS1E4TheNakedTime The Naked Time]]".
62** Creator/NichelleNichols' favourite was "Plato's Stepchildren". Her typical response to what her favourite was, "Anytime Uhura got off the bridge".
63** Creator/WalterKoenig's favourite was "[[Recap/StarTrekS3E6SpectreOfTheGun Spectre of the Gun]]".
64** Creator/GraceLeeWhitney's favourites were "[[Recap/StarTrekS1E0TheCage The Cage]]", "[[Recap/StarTrekS1E2CharlieX Charlie X]]", "[[Recap/StarTrekS1E25TheDevilInTheDark The Devil in the Dark]]" and "[[Recap/StarTrekS1E28TheCityOnTheEdgeOfForever The City on the Edge of Forever]]".
65* CreatorsFavorite: Creator/DCFontana named Spock as her favourite of the crew.
66* CrossDressingVoices: The Talosians in "[[Recap/StarTrekS1E0TheCage The Cage]]"/"The Menagerie" are played by female actors but their voices are dubbed by male actors, most notably, Malachi Throne, who voices the lead Talosian.
67* TheDanza:
68** Creator/GaryLockwood as Gary Mitchell in "[[Recap/StarTrekS1E3WhereNoManHasGoneBefore Where No Man Has Gone Before]]".
69** Phillip Pine as Colonel Phillip Green in "[[Recap/StarTrekS3E22TheSavageCurtain The Savage Curtain]]".
70** One of Adams' assistants in "[[Recap/StarTrekS1E9DaggerOfTheMind Dagger of the Mind]]" is named Eli. The actor playing him is named Eli Behar.
71* DarkhorseCasting: Prior to the series, Creator/DeForestKelley had appeared in many films and television shows, but mostly in smaller roles that showcased him as a villain. Creator/LeonardNimoy also had previous television and film experience but was not well known either. Creator/WilliamShatner was well known in the trade, having appeared in several notable films, played Theatre/CyranoDeBergerac on Broadway, and even turned down the part of Dr. Kildare. However, when roles became sparse he took the regular job after Jeffrey Hunter's contract was not renewed.
72* DawsonCasting:
73** Robert Walker was 26 years old when he played 17-year-old Charlie Evans in "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS1E2CharlieX}} Charlie X]]".
74** Michael J. Pollard (27 years old) and Kim Darby (19) play pre-pubescent children in "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS1E8Miri}} Miri]]".
75* DevelopmentGag: In “The Enterprise Incident”, DC Fontana complained because she wanted Kirk to be in the wrong, but in the episode he was just faking having a breakdown. ''Literature/TheAutobiographyOfJamesTKirk'' gave her a nod, as he’s still faking it, but not completely, saying it was just a shade more acted than how he was feeling with all the trauma of season three.
76* EnforcedMethodActing:
77** In "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS1E3WhereNoManHasGoneBefore}} Where No Man Has Gone Before]]", Gary Mitchell's GlowingEyesOfDoom were achieved by Gary Lockwood wearing silver contact lenses. Very primitives ones, with very small holes that he could only see through by raising his head and looking down his nose at everyone else, making his AGodAmI act more believable.
78** In "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS2E15TheTroubleWithTribbles}} The Trouble with Tribbles]]", Creator/WilliamShatner was quite genuinely annoyed during the "Tribble waterfall" scene. The people throwing the Tribbles at him couldn't actually see what they were doing and kept it up long after it should have stopped.
79* ExecutiveMeddling:
80** Spock's pointed ears were almost the victim of panicky Creator/{{NBC}} executives, who were afraid that superstitious hordes of TV viewers would think he was Satanic. They went so far as to airbrush the points out of a number of promotional photographs. Creator/GeneRoddenberry managed to save Spock's ears by promising plastic surgery for the character if audience response was poor. As we know, it was anything ''but'' bad. After Spock's popularity was established, no one at NBC would ever admit to being anything but ''for'' pointed ears.
81** Similarly, Roddenberry's original plan for perfect 50-50 gender equity among the crew of the ''Enterprise'' was scuttled by nervous suits who said, "Don't you see? It makes it look like there's a lot of ''fooling around'' going on up there!" It was only with great effort that he was able to retain a 30% female crew.
82*** The archival record doesn't seem to agree with this claim, which is probably something Roddenberry (as usual) invented later to embellish his heroism. There's only one surviving memo from NBC in the UCLA archives concerning female crew members in general, and it's actually asking for MORE female extras because NBC thought the show might be more interesting for women that way.
83** Uhura, the most visible female character, was denied a chance to command the ''Enterprise'' in one episode because an executive flat out told Roddenberry "we don't believe her in charge of anything". Creator/NichelleNichols got a lot of crap thrown her way by the executives for reasons that today are obviously both racist and sexist; for the first season, she wasn't a regular member of the cast, and her ''fan mail was kept from her''. She almost left the show, until she met Martin Luther King Jr. at a party, who convinced her to stay on and serve as a black role model.
84*** Though ironically enough, the part about not making her a regular meant she actually made more money than her co-stars by getting a guest star's salary for every episode.
85** The original {{pilot}} episode for the original series, "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS1E0TheCage}} The Cage]]", was considered "too intellectual" by the executives, so a new one was made. Gene Roddenberry then created the two-parter "The Menagerie" as a FramingDevice in order to utilize footage from "The Cage". "The Menagerie" won a Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation. And in a wonderful bit of serendipity, the story also established the concept of a "Star Trek universe" spanning decades which later became one spanning centuries with later revival series and spinoffs (with the exception of soap operas, TV series of the era rarely established any sort of long-standing history of their fictional universes).
86** David Gerrold suggested a subplot for "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS2E15TheTroubleWithTribbles}} The Trouble with Tribbles]]" which would have involved two companies engaging in mutual corporate espionage, even each sabotaging the other's efforts to colonize Sherman's Planet (the tribbles would have been an element of this sabotage). This was rejected with a scrawl of "Big Business angle out" in the margin; in 1967 it was, at least in the eyes of the show's sponsors, utterly unacceptable to suggest that ''any'' corporation -- even centuries in the future -- might ''ever'' engage in behavior less than completely and shiningly ethical.
87** The episode "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS3E21TheCloudMinders}} The Cloud Minders]]" was based on an outline by Gerrold, "Castles in the Sky". In his original outline, the planet's mine workers were rebelling, caught between two different leaders: a [[UsefulNotes/MalcolmX violent militant]] and a [[UsefulNotes/MartinLutherKingJr revolutionary pacifist]]. The story would have culminated with Kirk literally sitting the three leaders -- the militant, the pacifist, and the overlords' leader -- down ''at phaserpoint'' and commanding them to talk to each other; the end would have had Kirk congratulating himself that at least they were now ''talking'' to each other, so given enough time they'd work things out, and [=McCoy=] answering, [[WhamLine "Yes, but how many children will die in the meantime?"]] Gerrold was profoundly disappointed when the final script established that the mine-workers were only acting the way they were because of the pernicious effects of "zenite gas" in the mines. Or as he put it, deeply sarcastically, "If we can just get them troglytes to wear gas masks, then they'll be happy little darkies and they'll pick all the cotton we need." He deeply disliked how the finished episode gave Kirk a much less dramatic choice with no hard consequences for anyone, and changed the script's intended radical political message to a watered-down gradualist one.
88** According to David Gerrold, Roddenberry wanted Kirk to be an IdealHero (a bit like how Pike was), and Gerrold says it’s both a credit for the writers and surprisingly, Shatner that he was allowed to have as much depth and flaws as he did. Not having this restriction let the movie novelisations and ''Literature/TheAutobiographyOfJamesTKirk'' go darker.
89** Roddenberry deleted all the lines about Adams’ motivation in “Dagger Of The Mind” (essentially he felt like he deserved more, and couldn’t be optimistic about mankind like Kirk) because “humans have moved beyond that”.
90** Thanks to sixties network standards about StatusQuoIsGod, the writers couldn’t have as much continuity as they wanted (there’s more continuity in the production order of episodes for example, and “Tomorrow Is Yesterday” was supposed to be a two parter with “The Naked Time”). Shatner, Nimoy and Kelley all talked about how much they tried to have Kirk, Spock and Bones go through as much CharacterDevelopment as they could.
91** DC Fontana was angry about "[[Recap/StarTrekS3E2TheEnterpriseIncident The Enterprise Incident]]" being rewritten: Kirk was meant to have had real SanitySlippage due to the events of previous produced episodes "[[Recap/StarTrekS3E13ElaanOfTroyius Elaan of Troyius]]" and "[[Recap/StarTrekS3E3TheParadiseSyndrome The Paradise Syndrome]]", and she apologised to Nimoy for the scenes he had with the Romulan Commander.
92* FakeAmerican: The Canadian Creator/WilliamShatner as Iowa native James T. Kirk.
93* FakeNationality:
94** Creator/NichelleNichols (an American) played Uhura, whose native language is established as Swahili, implying Uhura is from somewhere in eastern Africa.
95** Averted for Sulu, a Japanese-American from San Francisco, as is Creator/GeorgeTakei. Played straight in the 2009 {{film}}.[[note]] They were leery of casting an actor of non-Japanese descent until Takei himself assured them that it would be all right, claiming that the character represents all of Asia (note that Sulu is not a Japanese name). This paved the way for Korean-American John Cho to assume the role.[[/note]] In some of the non-canon novels, Sulu explains that his background ''is'' mixed, but primarily Filipino and Japanese.
96** In the episode "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS1E22SpaceSeed}} Space Seed]]", Khan Noonien Singh is an Indian Sikh, played by Mexican actor Creator/RicardoMontalban.
97* FakeRussian: Creator/WalterKoenig is a partial case: his parents were Russian Jews but Koenig himself was an American citizen playing the Russian Chekov.
98* FakeScot: The Canadian Creator/JamesDoohan as Scotty. He initially tried to use an accurate Scottish accent as Scotty but [[RealityIsUnrealistic was told by execs it sounded fake]]. Creator/CraigFerguson vowed revenge on James Doohan as a teenager and would go on to play a [[IAmVeryBritish grossly-exaggerated Englishman]] on ''Series/TheDrewCareyShow'' just to spite ''Star Trek'' casting directors.
99* FlipFlopOfGod: Shatner’s infamous February 2, 2021 tweet over "Kirk can’t be bi"[[note]]"If Kirk were bisexual Star Trek would have never have happened. It would not have influenced Star Wars & it would be a blip in the history of the Roddenberry family. How is it you don’t understand the social constructs of the 60’s? Why did Stonewall happen in 69 if all was [okay]? ... Rock Hudson, a real person, couldn’t express his sexuality because he wouldn’t have been cast for the times in his career he was at his peak. Kirk, a character, would never have been allowed to be bisexual on TV or the movies in the timeframe he was created. Oranges & Apples."[[/note]] is a NeverLiveItDown moment for him, but he worked with slash fans Sondra Marshak and Myrna Culbreath with assistance from slash editor Carol Frisbie on a biography (''[[https://fanlore.org/wiki/Shatner_Where_No_Man Shatner, Where No Man…]]'') in the '70s -- although slash wasn't mentioned in it -- and has always been happy to tease about Kirk/Spock in interviews[[labelnote:1979]]Shat was interviewed on WNEW's ''Midday Live'', hosted by Bill Boggs. Asked "What do you think about this trend in fandom, where Kirk and Spock are more than friends?" Shatner replied: "Well, they're gay, what do you think?" He followed that up with "There's this sociological thing in the U.S., people are uptight about homosexuality. The fact that two men are close to each other can invite speculation that they are more than just friends."[[/labelnote]][[labelnote:2011]]In an interview with James Jackson in the ''Times of London'', March 12 2011, he was asked who was his favorite romantic conquest as Kirk and said "Spock, actually!"[[/labelnote]] or get handsy with Nimoy during their friendship.
100* FriendshipOnTheSet: The friendships formed between cast members on the set of this show would last most of them for the rest of their lives:
101** Creator/WilliamShatner didn't make friends easily and there was a decided FriendlyRivalry between he and Creator/LeonardNimoy during the show's run (because Nimoy played the only character more popular than Shatner's Captain Kirk, and because Nimoy got critical praise and Emmy nominations for Spock where Shatner did not), but nevertheless the two formed a legendary friendship which would last for decades and define both of their careers.
102** Creator/DeForestKelley befriended both Shatner and Nimoy during the show's run, with both of them remembering him fondly in the years after his passing.
103** Creator/GeorgeTakei and Creator/WalterKoenig, like their characters, became best friends and Koenig served as the best man at Takei's wedding. Both were also close with Creator/NichelleNichols, who was Takei's matron of honor.
104* GeorgeLucasAlteredVersion: The 40th anniversary "Remastered" versions (also known as TOS-R), which replace the original practical effects (mostly involving ships, planets along with [[AlienSky their skies]], and phasers) with CGI. Many versions allow an instant switch from original to remastered effects at any time, allowing viewers to choose which they prefer.
105* HeyItsThatSound:
106** The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gASm1AMYGHk transporter sound effect]] was based on [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOpsaGCCNww part of the "TARDIS taking off" sound effect]] in ''Series/DoctorWho''.
107** The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34FsrucOOBY sound effect for the photon torpedoes firing]] was taken from [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUY1KYEABz0 the green disintegrator rays]] in ''Film/TheWarOfTheWorlds''.
108* HostilityOnTheSet:
109** Creator/WilliamShatner was disliked by most of the cast of the show, who accused him of stealing lines and screentime from them. Some saw it as an "us and them" situation (Shatner, Creator/LeonardNimoy and Creator/DeForestKelley on one side, and Creator/JamesDoohan, Creator/GeorgeTakei, Creator/NichelleNichols[[note]]When the two filmed their famous kiss, they both stated in their memoirs that keeping the scene unedited despite the racial tensions of the time was the ''only'' thing they ever agreed on[[/note]] and Creator/WalterKoenig on the other). Furthermore, Shatner was initially jealous of Nimoy's popularity, which Nimoy attributes to the both of them having a sort of FriendlyRivalry. Apparently, Shatner was oblivious to much of his co-stars' disdain, until he sat them down for interviews while working on the book ''Star Trek Memories,'' and many of them called him out over his glory-hogging, especially Creator/NichelleNichols. Shatner has at least ''somewhat'' mellowed out since then.
110** Creator/YvonneCraig was a guest star in the episode "Whom Gods Destroy," and she was not exactly a fan of how Shatner was behaving on set, which included him ''physically'' moving her around for "the betterment of his profile." The kicker is that at the end of one of the shooting days, she walked in on him without his toupée on.
111* LifeImitatesArt: This show inspired so many things...
112** Possibly its ultimate triumph was that Creator/NichelleNichols's role on the show was the inspiration for Dr. Mae Jemison, ''America's first female African-American astronaut'', who later did a cameo on ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration''. Appropriately, Jemison contacted Houston with "Hailing frequencies open!"
113** [[http://www.popfunk.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/uhura029.jpg The earpiece worn by Uhura]] and sometimes by Spock may have been one of the inspirations for the Bluetooth headset.
114** The show is often credited as the inspiration for Dr. Martin Cooper to invent the cell phone (and who hasn't wished that their flip-phone made that sound effect when you snapped it open?), but it also accurately predicted the tablet PC. Kirk is often shown using a stylus to sign a document on one, as we sign on electronic forms for credit card purchases today.
115** The 3.5" one-megabyte computer disc looks like the small square tile discs used in the series.
116** At the time the show was in production, the diagnostic panels over the beds and the "salt shaker" hand scanners used by [=McCoy=] were being developed and medical engineers were asking how the show's production designers had gotten hold of their plans. Today the diagnostic panels are commonplace.
117** The military and many high-level police agencies are (and were, in 1967) experimenting with non-lethal heat and sound beams to disperse riots and disarm attackers without killing them. Phasers on Stun, anyone?
118** Automatically opening doors first came into common usage in the 1940s, but automatic ''sliding'' doors were still in development. The producers used to get mail from engineers demanding to know how they got their doors to open and close so fast. (They were operated by stagehands.) This lit the fire under more than a few engineers to perfect the automatic sliding door, which is commonplace today.
119** The replicators used to make food have started to make their appearance as well; it is now possible to 3D print food.
120** It's impossible to look at the [=PADD=]s and not be reminded of the Ipads. The same thing with isolinear chips and USB sticks.
121** Digital assistants like Apple's Siri and Amazon's Alexa are obviously inspired by the ship computer.
122** Much of the technology on the show was noted at the time in ''Popular Science'' (December '67) and ''Analog'' science fiction magazine (February '68, with an article by G. Harry Stine, who later wrote a ''Star Trek'' novel).
123* MagnumOpusDissonance: Although "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS2E6TheDoomsdayMachine}} The Doomsday Machine]]" usually places very highly in fan polls and best-of lists, certain members of the production staff were (and are) a good deal less enthused. Writer Norman Spinrad disliked the end result, complaining about the casting (he wanted Robert Ryan for Decker) and the underwhelming depiction of the planet killer (which he envisioned as having been "bristling with weapons"). In an interview for the Archive of American Television, story editor D.C. Fontana actually named it as her least favourite episode.
124* TheMerch: One of the rarest of the Mego action figures to come out in the '70s (and the only one tied to a specific episode) was of a Cheron from "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS3E15LetThatBeYourLastBattlefield}} Let That Be Your Last Battlefield]]".
125** As the third season wound down, Roddenberry started inserting things into the show that would make for nice trinkets to sell from his own mail-order merch store that he was running with his then-mistress Majel Barrett. The most blatant incidence of that was a jarringly clunky dialogue scene over Spock's never-seen-before-or-since "Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combination" (IDIC, the Vulcan's "civilizational" motto) pendant into the episode "Is There in Truth No Beauty?" Which was done purely so that they could sell replicas later.
126** Also at the same time, Roddenberry was stealing production scripts, film frames, props, and stationary from the Star Trek production office to sell. This was both an actual crime as theft of company property and an union offence that could have gotten him blacklisted from the Writer's Guild of America and Hollywood itself (profiting from scripts without cutting in the author). In the end, Roddenberry managed to escape with only having to pay a cash settlement.
127* NoBudget:
128** In order to cut costs, incidental music avoided scoring anything for violins. Melodies in the strings are played by violas. Violinists charge that much more, apparently.
129** Also, [[StockFootage space and bridge scenes are recycled over and over]], and a few props and sets are recycled into later episodes. In the third season, the recycling of footage became much more apparent as super-fan Bjo Trimble stole all of the un-used special effect footage on Roddenberry's orders so they could be sold on the convention circuit.
130** The running gag of Kirk's shirt tearing pretty much constantly was actually due to the fact that the shirts were of obscenely low quality because of the show's very low tailoring budget.
131** One of the many reasons for the strained production capacity at the outset was that Desilu had not expected Herb Solow to sell both ''Star Trek'' (to NBC) and Bruce Geller's new series, ''Series/MissionImpossible'' (to CBS). The tiny studio strained to make both series alongside ''Series/TheLucyShow''; its success in doing so allowed Creator/LucilleBall to advantageously sell her shares in Desilu to Gulf+Western in 1968.
132* TheOtherDarrin: Creator/WilliamShatner's predecessor, Jeffery Hunter, played Captain Pike in "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS1E0TheCage}} The Cage]]". This footage was later re-used in "The Menagerie", with Pike himself appearing a motionless deformity in an iron lung-type device. This was primarily to disguise the fact that Hunter was unavailable; this new Pike was played by a lookalike (such as he is) named Sean Kenney. What's interesting is that Captain Pike was retconned into Kirk's predecessor, as well; He was the original Captain of the ''Enterprise'', with Mr. Spock as his science officer. This is still canon in the Abrams film, in which Bruce Greenwood plays Pike.
133%%* TheOtherMarty
134* OutOfOrder: The original run had different production and broadcast orders. Fortunately [[StatusQuoIsGod the status quo was God]].
135* ThePeteBest: Creator/JeffreyHunter's Captain Christopher Pike has gained something of a loyal following as being "the ''Star Trek'' captain who wasn't". Adventures featuring him have appeared in the expanded universe, in novels and in comic books; and he also made a reappearance in [[Film/StarTrek2009 the 2009 reboot movie]], as played by Creator/BruceGreenwood. Captain Pike, this time portrayed by Anson Mount, finally became a main character on the second season of Series/StarTrekDiscovery, and lead of his own series in Series/StarTrekStrangeNewWorlds.
136* PlayingAgainstType: Creator/DeForestKelley primarily played villain roles before TOS.
137* PopCultureUrbanLegends: Cyrano Jones is such a similar character to Harry Mudd that a story got started that he was written as Mudd, but changed when Roger C. Carmel was unavailable. In fact, the original script for "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS2E15TheTroubleWithTribbles}} The Trouble with Tribbles]]" does have the character of Cyrano Jones, (though his last name was originally Smith).
138* PostScriptSeason: After an unprecedented (at the time) letter-writing campaign saved the show from cancellation, fans were "rewarded" with a third season containing many of the show's weakest and/or goofiest episodes (even by the standards of the series), including the infamous ''[[Recap/StarTrekS3E1SpocksBrain Spock's Brain]]'' as season premiere. Since the series was always purely episodic, the usual reasons for a lackluster Post Script Season don't apply; what really killed the show was that the network promised a solid Tuesday night slot and then was moved to a [[FridayNightDeathSlot Friday... er, Saturday Night Death Slot]], violating a verbal contract with creator/producer Creator/GeneRoddenberry. He left the show in protest and had little involvement in the third season. That said, some strong episodes did churn out.
139* RealitySubtext:
140** Scotty's refusal to lower the shields against orders in "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS1E23ATasteOfArmageddon}} A Taste of Armageddon]]" is based on an actual story from Creator/JamesDoohan's military service.
141** Any resemblance to the Vietnam War in "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS2E19APrivateLittleWar}} A Private Little War]]" is entirely deliberate.
142** The [[AnAesop aesop]] about the destructive futility of racial hatred in "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS3E15LetThatBeYourLastBattlefield}} Let That Be Your Last Battlefield]]" came shortly after the assassination of UsefulNotes/MartinLutherKingJr.
143* RealLifeRelative: Many of the Onlies in "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS1E8Miri}} Miri]]" are children of various members of the cast and crew. The little girl Kirk picks up is played by Creator/WilliamShatner's daughter, Melanie Shatner. (She cameoed again in ''Film/StarTrekVTheFinalFrontier''.)
144* RealLifeWritesTheHairstyle: Creator/WalterKoenig wore a [[Music/TheMonkees Davy Jones]]-style wig in his first four episodes, which he detested.
145* RecycledSet: The same backlot is used as 1930s New York in "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS1E28TheCityOnTheEdgeOfForever}} The City on the Edge of Forever]]", a Space Amish town in "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS1E21TheReturnOfTheArchons}} The Return of the Archons]]", and a planet that coincidentally looks exactly like 1960s Earth in "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS1E8Miri}} Miri]]". (It's actually the same backlot used as Mayberry in ''Series/TheAndyGriffithShow''; Kirk and Edith even walk past "Floyd's Barber Shop".)
146* RoleEndingMisdemeanor: There are conflicting reasons as to why Janice Rand was written out of the series after only eight appearances during the first season. Creator/GeneRoddenberry has said it was a budgetary move, but others have claimed that as the show progressed her role as the Captain's Woman, or potential loved interest for Kirk became impractical. Other stories have claimed that Grace Lee Whitney was having issues with alcoholism, which was said to be affecting her work on the series. Whitney herself said she may have been let go to keep her quiet over accusations of a network executive having sexually assaulting her.
147* RomanceOnTheSet: Creator/GeneRoddenberry was having extra-marital affairs with Creator/MajelBarrett and Creator/NichelleNichols. Nichols broke off her affair with Roddenberry not long after the series began, not wanting to be "the other woman to the other woman". Barrett would eventually marry the series creator. They remained together until his death.
148* ScienceImitatesArt:
149** ''Conus tribblei'', a sea snail, is an indirect version. It was named after one of its discoverers' pet cat, who was in turned named after ''Star Trek''[='=]s tribbles.
150** ''Paridris gorn'', a wasp, was named after its compound eyes that resembled those of reptilian Gorns.
151** ''Ledella spocki'' is a clam whose valves resemble Vulcan ears.
152** The astroid 2309 Mr. Spock is an indirect example; it was named for its discoverer's ''pet cat'', which was named after the character.
153* ScienceMarchesOn:
154** It's mentioned in "[[Recap/StarTrekS1E1TheManTrap The Man Trap]]" that buffalo are extinct. It is true that overhunting brought the buffalo very close to extinction at the end of the nineteenth century. In the 1960s, it was a fairly reasonable assumption that buffalo might be extinct in the future, although probably not the best guess since conservation efforts had started decades earlier. Today they are no longer considered endangered at all. (The episode also mentions passenger pigeons, which were already extinct when the episode was made.)
155** In "[[Recap/StarTrekS1E19TomorrowIsYesterday Tomorrow Is Yesterday]]" the ship is thrown back in time by an encounter with a "black star". At the time, there was no widely-accepted term for a star which had collapsed into a singularity and had gravity so strong light could not escape, which we now call a "black hole". The term "black hole" was not generally accepted until later in 1967.
156** In "[[Recap/StarTrekS1E29OperationAnnihilate Operation -- Annihilate!]]", Spock reports light intensity (also called illuminance or, archaically, brightness) in candles per square inch, a variant on the traditional foot-candle (which would be 144 times an "inch-candle"). The currently preferred measure of illuminance is the lux, or lumen per square metre.
157** In "[[Recap/StarTrekS2E3TheChangeling The Changeling]]", Kirk shows Nomad a map of the solar system with nine planets. This was before the upgrade of Ceres, the downgrade of Pluto and the discovery of Eris.
158** In "[[Recap/StarTrekS2E6TheDoomsdayMachine The Doomsday Machine]]", the air pressure aboard the ''Constellation'' is measured in Pounds per Square Inch. kPa (kilopascal) is currently the preferred measure of pressure. It's also one of the few episodes to refer to distances in miles instead of kilometers.
159** In "[[Recap/StarTrekS2E15TheTroubleWithTribbles The Trouble with Tribbles]]", Bones uses the word "bisexual" for the concept which is now referred to as "hermaphroditic". Writer David Gerrold stated in his book on the episode, this was a case of ExecutiveMeddling.
160** In "[[Recap/StarTrekS2E18TheImmunitySyndrome The Immunity Syndrome]]", Spock reports the dimensions of the giant space amoeba in miles. Most scientists prefer the accuracy of the metric system and would use kilometers instead. Especially noticeable since kilometers were used earlier in the episode when reporting how far away the thing was.
161** In "[[Recap/StarTrekS2E23TheOmegaGlory The Omega Glory]]", Captain Tracey thinks that the extended lifespan of the Omegans is due to a local disease, and hopes to isolate it and reproduce its benefits for other populations, but his hopes come to nothing after [=McCoy=] determines that the lifespan is the result of a genetic adaptation. Roddenberry didn't foresee that a genetic adaptation allowing for long life would today be just as identifiable, and perhaps in the future just as reproducible, as a serum.
162** In "[[Recap/StarTrekS3E15LetThatBeYourLastBattlefield Let That Be Your Last Battlefield]]", Spock rightly points out that "evolution is man evolving from apes" is a grossly misleading and deliberate mischaracterization--but describes evolution as life forms [[EvolutionaryLevels evolving from "lower" to "advanced" stages]]. Now, evolution is understood as life forms changing over time to suit their environment. While they ''usually'' become more complex than their ancestors, they do sometimes become less complex if losing a trait 1. makes them more successful in their environment or 2. doesn't hurt them either way.
163* ScrewedByTheNetwork:
164** The series was mistreated by NBC from the very beginning of it being broadcast: the network aired the episode, "[[Recap/StarTrekS1E1TheManTrap The Man Trap]]" as the first episode over the protests of the producers who knew it was one of their weaker productions because it had a monster in it. As such, the series got some very poor reviews because of this premiere and the series had struggles from then on to turn that bad impression around.
165** The whole third season. A PostScriptSeason aired in a [[FridayNightDeathSlot terrible Saturday night slot]].
166* ScullyBox: According to producers Herbert F. Solow and Robert H. Justman, Creator/WilliamShatner originally wore 1.5" lifts in his shoes so he would appear taller than Creator/LeonardNimoy. Since Shatner was only 5'9", the combination of lifts and the 2" heels of his shoes brought his height to over 6'. It distorted his posture to such a degree, his stomach stuck out. Understandably, Creator/GeneRoddenberry forbid him to wear them, instead opting to dress Nimoy and Creator/DeForestKelley in shoes with only a 1" heel as opposed to Shatner's 2" heel.
167* SendingStuffToSaveTheShow: The third season was greenlit after thousands of letters were sent to NBC, which along with showing the show had a following, and a high-income one no less (those writing included New York governor Nelson Rockefeller, as well as doctors, scientists, teachers, and other professionals), was actually costing NBC money as they had a policy to answer all fan mail.
168* SerendipityWritesThePlot:
169** The transporter was created because it would be too expensive to have the crew land on the planets in a shuttle every episode. (Ironically in [[Recap/StarTrekS2E10JourneyToBabel "Journey to Babel"]] Spock's parents arrived on board by shuttle because they couldn't afford the transporter effects- they used StockFootage from [[Recap/StarTrekS1E16TheGalileoSeven "The Galileo Seven"]] instead.)
170** During production of "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS1E3WhereNoManHasGoneBefore}} Where No Man Has Gone Before]] ", Gary Lockwood found the silver contact lenses painful and difficult to see through. Gary Mitchell's imperious stare is a result of Lockwood having to look down his nose through the pinholes in the lenses.
171* StarMakingRole: To some extent for all of the main cast, but especially Creator/LeonardNimoy. By his own account, he had never had an acting job that lasted more than two weeks before playing Spock. For the rest of his life he'd be in high demand as an actor, while also becoming a successful director.
172* TechnologyMarchesOn:
173** That big ass tape deck that Kirk uses to record his CaptainsLog on, as seen in "[[Recap/StarTrekS1E9DaggerOfTheMind Dagger of the Mind]]".
174*** Said big ass tape deck is a [[http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Tricorder tricorder]], the same one you see Spock walking around with on planets. It is essentially a handheld computer. Roddenberry originally developed it as a practical device but also as a marketable "toy for female-type children".
175** "The Menagerie", in depicting Pike's condition, severely underestimated how far computer-assisted communication would come in just a few decades (think Stephen Hawking). However, it could be justified that Pike's nervous system was so profoundly damaged by the delta ray exposure that the single flashing light is all he can do with such injuries.
176** In "[[Recap/StarTrekS1E13TheConscienceOfTheKing The Conscience of the King]]", Kodos faked his own death with a body "burned beyond recognition" and started again with a new identity. Since the episode first aired, several technologies have become commonplace (such as DNA matching) that would have made the question of identification less difficult for the heroes.
177*** Unless of course the body was disfigured by chemicals or radiation that degraded the DNA making it unidentifiable.
178** In "[[Recap/StarTrekS1E14BalanceOfTerror Balance of Terror]]", Spock removes a panel to reveal that some internal electronics have caught fire. (And then he puts the fire out with his hands. Love that Vulcan stoicism.) It seems unlikely that an interstellar spaceship wouldn't have an over-current protection device that would prevent such a fire.
179*** The reason that he was able to "put the fire out" was because power was cut off. An electrical fire will continue to burn as long as there is power applied and fuel to burn.
180* ThrowItIn:
181** The Vulcan mind-meld, neck pinch and salute are all examples of this. All were suggestions made by Creator/LeonardNimoy. In the case of the first two, they replaced more mundane, conventional ideas in the original scripts (respectively, a simple interrogation in "[[Recap/StarTrekS1E9DaggerOfTheMind Dagger of the Mind]]", and Spock slugging evil Kirk with a pistol butt in "The Enemy Within").
182** Spock's iconic Vulcan salute was actually a last minute change. The original salute would have involved one Vulcan kneeling in front of another, while the standing Vulcan grabs the kneeling Vulcan's shoulders with both arms. Leonard Nimoy changed the salute because he felt it didn't fit the Vulcans' characterization, as they would have considered such physical contact a violation of privacy. Nimoy, being Jewish, adapted a traditional Jewish blessing to create the salute.
183** In [[Recap/StarTrekS1E4TheNakedTime "The Naked Time]]", Uhura's response to being cast as the "fair maiden" in Sulu's swashbuckling fantasy ("Sorry, neither.") was an ad lib by Creator/NichelleNichols during rehearsals.
184*** The entire scene in "Naked Time" where Spock struggles to remain in control of his emotions was suggested by Creator/LeonardNimoy. They only had time for one take, which was entirely improvised.
185** According to legend, the stagehands didn't like Creator/WilliamShatner very much, so in the episode "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS2E15TheTroubleWithTribbles}} The Trouble with Tribbles]]", they continued the avalanche of tribbles much longer than was scripted (including the final tribble that bounces off his head at the end). Shatner can clearly be seen glancing up at the prop men with annoyance.
186** "[[Recap/StarTrekS3E6SpectreOfTheGun Spectre of the Gun]]" was originally planned to be filmed on an existing Western town set on the backlot. However, serious budget cuts for the series' third season made this impossible. So, it was instead made on a soundstage in a surreal, incomplete, plainly artificial environment. Though some (including Creator/LeonardNimoy) were skeptical over this move, it's now largely viewed to have been a good choice for the story.
187** In a meta example, the actual colors for the three departments on the ship were blue (for sciences), red (for engineering, and security and miscellaneous operations) and ''lime green'' (for command/line officers). However, the velour costumes for Kirk and other green-shirts came up looking anywhere from a bright yellow to a greenish-tinged gold (as seen in the main page image) on film. A good representation of the color they were ''actually'' shooting for are the wraparound tunic and dress uniform Kirk wore on occasion, which were not made from the same material as the usual tunic. However, subsequent ''Trek'' productions have rolled with this when depicting TOS-era ''Trek'' and retroactively made gold the color, starting with ''WesternAnimation/StarTrekTheAnimatedSeries'', which colored the tunics a yellow-orange color, and the ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' episode "Trials and Tribble-ations", which used a yellow fabric for the tunics that Sisko wore.
188** During the making of "[[Recap/StarTrekS2E23TheOmegaGlory The Omega Glory]]", producer Robert Justman [[http://www.startrek.com/article/starfleet-insignia-explained informed]] costume designer William Theiss that he'd given Captain Ron Tracey an incorrect badge on his uniform; he should have had the same badge as the Enterprise crew. Justman allowed the error to stay in the episode, which may have led to the [[CommonKnowledge common fan misperception]] that the badge shapes are different for every ship, as opposed to representing the kind of assignment the character was on.
189* TouristBump: Captain Kirk is born in Iowa[[note]]A fact first stated in the book ''The Making of Star Trek'' in 1968, though most people know it from the fourth movie[[/note]]. In 1985 the town of Riverside asked Gene Roddenberry for official authorization as the future birthplace of Kirk (now canonized in ''Series/StarTrekStrangeNewWorlds''). Now there are many Trek related attractions in the area, including a big sculpture of the U.S.S. Enterprise.
190** The town of Vulcan, Alberta celebrates Spock Days in June. In April 2010 Creator/LeonardNimoy visited. The town has a space station style tourist centre and a Starship statue, along with many references through the town. Many stores sell Spock Ears. The town’s name predates the show.
191* TroubledProduction:
192** Production was rife with problems. The root cause for much of it was the network wanting an action-oriented SpaceWestern and the production team wanting to do serious science fiction. Low budgets were also a big problem, something you'd [[SpecialEffectFailure probably figure out from watching almost any episode]]. Things got especially bad in the infamous Third (or "[[SeasonalRot Turd]]") Season. The show was renewed thanks to a fan letter-writing campaign, but with budgets slashed further and a move to the FridayNightDeathSlot. This led to Creator/GeneRoddenberry quitting his job as ShowRunner. As a result of all this, the third season had a marked decline in quality with an accompanied increase in campiness. Creator/LeonardNimoy found himself frequently clashing with writers and directors who wanted Spock to do OutOfCharacter things like use violence or hit on the GirlOfTheWeek. By the end of that season, the show had predictably crashed and burned itself into {{Cancellation}}.
193** If there's any single episode of TOS that suffered from this trope, it was "[[Recap/StarTrekS1E27TheAlternativeFactor The Alternative Factor]]" during the first season. John Drew Barrymore, John's son and Drew's father, had been cast as Lazarus, the main guest role ... and then didn't show up on the first day of filming. His agent and lawyer couldn't find him, so they cast [[LargeHam someone else]] in a big hurry (Barrymore's absence led to him getting suspended by SAG for six months after Desilu filed a grievance). The beard for the replacement was improvised from what had been designed for Barrymore, and it shows. The script has howler lines like "Starfleet has been getting reports from [[WritersHaveNoSenseOfScale all over the galaxy and far beyond]]..." It also had a subplot in which Lazarus became romantically involved with a black member of the crew -- which admittedly seems out of place on the eve of universal Armageddon and didn't have much to do with anything. That was actually filmed ... and hastily edited out when NBC got paranoid about how the Southern affiliates would react, resulting in the finished episode's choppy feel.
194** "[[Recap/StarTrekS1E28TheCityOnTheEdgeOfForever The City on the Edge of Forever]]" may be a contender for the high point of the entire franchise, but it had a troubled time getting there:
195*** Creator/HarlanEllison's first draft was agreed by just about everyone to be a masterpiece in its own right, but didn't really feel like a ''Star Trek'' episode, with Creator/GeneRoddenberry's chief complaint being the inclusion of a drug-dealing character who helps get the plot of the episode underway, along with Kirk having him executed via firing squad in the episode's climax. On top of that, Ellison added in an element of barely-suppressed racial undertension between Kirk and Spock, even though Kirk making such remarks had served as an instant OutOfCharacterAlert in "[[Recap/StarTrekS1E7WhatAreLittleGirlsMadeOf What Are Little Girls Made of?]]" earlier in that season.
196*** The job of rewriting Ellison's script was given to script editor Steven W. Carabatsos, only for the resulting script to turn out so awful that it nearly resulted in Ellison quitting the project in fury, and played a major part in Carabatsos being let go from the series and replaced by D.C. Fontana shortly afterwards. Ellison then went back and did another rewrite himself, with input from producer Gene L. Coon, and despite deleting the racial elements and changing the drug dealer's demise to a KarmicDeath inflicted by the Guardian of Forever, Roddenberry still wasn't happy with it.
197*** At this point, Fontana herself took a shot at the script, essentially starting over using Ellison's basic story outline as a start point. This time, everyone involved agreed that Fontana had absolutely nailed the story, with only a few small rewrites subsequently being done by Roddenberry and Coon, mostly to account for actor, set and prop availability.
198*** Filming was comparatively more smooth, though the demands of the shoot meant they needed an extra two days to film everything. Production designer Matt Jefferies was also laid low with a flu virus in pre-production, resulting in his supervisor, Rolland M. Brooks having to design the Guardian of Forever.
199*** Before the episode was broadcast, Roddenberry publicly badmouthed Ellison's work on the episode, which infuriated the writer and caused him to demand that he be credited under his pseudonym, "Cordwainer Bird." Since it was already widely known even in 1967 that he used this to flag works which had been wrecked by ExecutiveMeddling, and that this would [[TaintedByThePreview cause viewers to expect the episode to suck even before watching it]], Roddenberry used every means he could to drag out the Writer's Guild arbitration process until the episode was ready to air, and it was too late to do anything more about it. However, this also meant that Fontana, who should have been credited as co-writer, ended up having to go without credit.
200*** Ellison's original script won the Writer's Guild of America's award for Best Episodic Drama on Television. The produced episode won the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation.
201** The effects for the show itself also proved no end of production issues with the crew:
202*** The main company hired to do the series, Creator/TheHowardAndersonCompany, managed to do both pilots on a decent time scale. But when it came to the first ''actual'' episode produced ("[[Recap/StarTrekS1E10TheCorbomiteManeuver The Corbomite Maneuver]]"), their workload increased to the point where there was no alternative but to hire other vendors to help out with the show.
203*** One of these, effects veteran Linwood Dunn's Film Effects of Hollywood, would go on to produce most of the effects during the first and second seasons[[note]]and would be further joined by several other houses, namely The Westheimer Company, Van Der Veer Photo Effects and Creator/CinemaResearch[[/note]]. By the time season 2 started, Dunn and the studio were clearly not getting along with each other (The company worked on the series on an episodic basis), resulting in sub-par effects given to the supervisors and editors[[note]]in one instance, the company finished four composite shots of the Enterprise, but only sent them ''two'' due to their poor quality.[[/note]]. The company left the series by the time of season 3 due to budget cuts, but their involvement left a sour taste in everyone's mouths.
204*** The 11-foot model of the Enterprise was one of the reasons why Dunn's company was hired to begin with. As the ship proved too huge for both of Anderson's effects stages to film it properly. Once Film Effects was dropped from the series, the model and its 3-foot counterpart were subsequently retired, with heavy use of StockFootage being used for the ship for the third season.
205* {{Typecasting}}: The show is infamous for doing this to its main cast for decades to come (Creator/WilliamShatner sort of overcame the problem some twenty years later).
206* UnfinishedEpisode: More details [[http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Undeveloped_Star_Trek:_The_Original_Series_episodes here]]
207* VindicatedByReruns: Possibly the TropeCodifier. It was a modest ratings success until Creator/{{NBC}} developed the habit of [[ScrewedByTheNetwork switching its timeslot around]]. The [[ExecutiveMeddling extensive rewriting of scripts]] and lack of immediate success made many of its more talented writers leave, which caused [[SeasonalRot the quality to slip noticeably in a short time]]. It was cancelled after the second season, but quickly UnCanceled following an extensive letter-writing campaign from its fans. The third season saw even worse ratings, and NBC cancelled it for real. Shortly afterwards, American television industry discovered the use of {{demographics}}. When stations noticed that, according to the new standards of how ratings were calculated, ''Star Trek'' should have been one of the most successful shows on TV (and that NBC had killed what could have been their golden goose), they were rushing to throw on ''Star Trek'' reruns to attract the young demographic that it had been popular with. It didn't take many years of reruns before the show's modest fanbase grew into a force to be reckoned with. The rest is history.
208* WagTheDirector: The story is that Creator/WilliamShatner spent a lot of time taking lines away from other actors. Things worsened when the movies became popular. Think about it: Creator/NichelleNichols, who doesn't get a lot of work, gets maybe 12 lines in the whole movie. That's her acting job for this ''decade''. Apparently, Shatner was always sidling up to directors and saying things like, "You know, this scene really doesn't make much sense. It would be so much more dramatic if you just went into tight close-up on ''me'', and then I could say the line, instead of Nichelle."
209** When called out on it, his response was always the same: ''I was just trying to make the best, most dramatic movie, and that simply meant more of ''me''.'' His castmates could do nothing as their roles were whittled down to nothing. You could say that it was sour grapes, but consider this: Shatner has always said that he wasn't the only star of the show, that the show revolved around him and Nimoy (one of few actors who had no hard feelings towards Shatner). But none of the actors hate Nimoy. Because he didn't treat them like extras.
210* WordOfStPaul: Word of Shatner is that if Kirk had to stay in Janice Lester’s body, he would have run with it and done what he always does, use seduction as a tactic to get their way.
211** When asked about how Spock felt over Kirk’s seduction tactics, Nimoy stated that it was less jealousy on Spock’s part and more sympathy, as Kirk has to use his attractiveness to get out of bad situations, and it always happens to him instead of Scotty, Chekov, Sulu etc.
212* WhyFandomCantHaveNiceThings: Proving that boundaries being needed have always been a thing, Sondra Marshak and Myrna Culbreath (and by extension fandom as a whole) were originally accepted by the Trek writers and cast, partly through their friendship with convention organizer Joan Winston. They wrote a Shatner biography (''[[https://tinyurl.com/2we974un Where No Man...]]'') and ''Star Trek Lives!'', on ''Star Trek'' as cultural phenomenon, then [[Literature/StarTrekTheNewVoyages two anthologies of the best FanFic]] (after editor Fred Pohl [[MoneyDearBoy smelled money]]). And then it turned out they had, without the authors' permission, edited the ''shit'' out of the original stories they'd been entrusted with and added slash "subtext" elements. Keep in mind that ''Star Trek'' fan fiction has ''never'' been All Slash All The Time, especially in those early days; [[https://fanlore.org/wiki/Slash_Controversies the majority of fanzines refused to print slash]] or even explicit heterosexual narratives, and those that did were risking imprisonment for sending "pornography" through the U.S. Mail. On top of everything else, Marshak and Culbreath had to start pushing the idea that Kirk wanted to be raped -- by ''Spock'' -- amongst other sexual fantasies, and the crew cut ties with them, Fontana and Gerrold especially being sick of slash fans.
213** Fontana is on record that there was no intended "slash subtext" in any ''Star Trek'' episode. Gerrold, who is gay, [[https://fanlore.org/wiki/Open_Letter_to_K/S_Fandom_by_David_Gerrold considers the idea ludicrous and its promulgators obsessive]].
214** The monumental ''[[https://fanlore.org/wiki/Kraith Kraith]]'' fanfic series ([[http://www.simegen.com/fandom/startrek/kraith/ read it here]]) by [[Literature/SimeGen Jacqueline Lichtenberg]] and a host of co-authors was controversial for other reasons, but completely heterosexual, at least until Sondra Marshak started to contribute. Marshak is also fond of excruciatingly convoluted storylines and complicated twists within twists. She managed to completely demolish Lichtenberg's original plot plans, and ''Kraith'' was never completed.
215* {{Woolseyism}}: Hikaru Sulu is meant to be Japanese, but Sulu isn't actually a Japanese surname but taken from the Sulu Sea and meant to be representative of all of Asia rather than just Japan. (The name was was chosen in tribute to Desilu executive Herb Solow, who sold this series to NBC and ''Series/MissionImpossible'' to CBS simultaneously.) The Japanese dub changed his surname to Kato, a common family name.
216* WriterRevolt: David Gerrold was annoyed with how much Roddenberry wanted Kirk to be an IdealHero (he wasn’t the only one, Gene Coon, DC Fontana and even Shatner felt the same), so his episodes always featured Kirk being TheChewToy.
217* WritingByTheSeatOfYourPants: Happened to several episodes, most notably "What Are Little Girls Made Of?", "Court Martial", "Shore Leave", "Bread and Circuses", and "Is There in Truth No Beauty?" (the latter because of the Roddenberry / IDIC pin incident).
218* WordOfGay:
219** Inverted. Since Creator/GeorgeTakei has come out of the closet, many have speculated that Sulu is gay too, but Takei asserted that he had played Sulu as being straight.[[note]]Sulu is the only one of the six male regulars who never has a love interest in the show, so technically we have no canon evidence of this either way. In the movies, canon is clear that he has a daughter, but makes no mention of any spouse or partner. Interestingly, only the Sulu in the mirror universe shows any interest in women - you know, the one from the universe where everything is the opposite of how it normally is?[[/note]] However:
220*** It didn't stop David Gerrold from inserting some cute dialogue in the fan-staged "Blood and Fire" which has a gay couple.
221--->'''Alex:''' ''[hugs Pete from behind]'' Guess who?\
222'''Pete:''' Mr. Sulu.\
223'''Alex:''' You wish.
224*** It also led to a minor controversy over the Kelvin Timeline film ''Film/StarTrekBeyond'' when they decided to make their version of Sulu gay. The writers claimed to have done this in tribute to Takei, but this backfired when Takei himself was one of the most vocal protesters against it (he has said many times before that he played Sulu as being straight, as such felt the change was pandering to him and the audience rather than being respectful to the character).
225*** [[https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2020/sep/05/this-much-i-know-george-takei-getting-cast-as-lt-sulu-in-star-trek-was-life-changing Takei]] mentioned that he tried to get Roddenberry to do an allegory for homophobia, but Roddenberry said all the characters had to be straight if he wanted to stay on TV.
226* YouLookFamiliar:
227** Morgan Woodward guest-starred twice, as Dr. Simon Van Gelder in "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS1E9DaggerOfTheMind}} Dagger of the Mind]]" and as Captain Ronald Tracey in "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS2E23TheOmegaGlory}} The Omega Glory]]".
228** Bruce Mars featured as Finnegan the Irish bully in "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS1E15ShoreLeave}} Shore Leave]]" and also appeared as a New York officer in 1968 in "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS2E26AssignmentEarth}} Assignment: Earth]]".
229** Craig Hundley appeared as Kirk's nephew Peter in "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS1E29OperationAnnihilate}} Operation: Annihilate!]]" before featuring as Tommy Starnes in "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS3E4AndTheChildrenShallLead}} And the Children Shall Lead]]".
230** Diana Muldaur guest-starred twice, as Dr. Ann Mulhall in "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS2E20ReturnToTomorrow}} Return to Tomorrow]]" and as Miranda Jones in "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS3E5IsThereInTruthNoBeauty}} Is There in Truth No Beauty?]]". (And then she returned in ''TNG'', but that's beyond the scope of this page.)
231** Mark Lenard first appears as the Romulan commander in "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS1E14BalanceOfTerror}} Balance of Terror]]", then as Spock's father Sarek in "[[Recap/StarTrekS2E10JourneyToBabel Journey to Babel]]". He then shows up as a Klingon in the prologue of [[Film/StarTrekTheMotionPicture the first movie]], thus appearing as a member of three of the major galactic powers of the era.
232** Skip Homeier played the main antagonist in both "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS2E21PatternsOfForce}} Patterns of Force]]" and "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS3E20TheWayToEden}} The Way to Eden]]".
233** Minor RedShirt extras, often played by stuntmen, were often killed off and continued to appear in the background in later episodes with different names. David L. Ross played both Lt. Galloway and Lt. Johnson.
234

Top