GB Star Trek The Original Series Retrospective/Review – Star Trek Retrospective Part 1

[geektalk]

A while ago this channel started making Star Trek videos and a modest audience has been watching ever since.

However, those old videos don’t really hold up super well in my opinion so I’ve decided to make some new Star Trek Retrospectives. Part 1 covers the history and quality of Star Trek The Original Series, including in depth behind the scenes info. Enjoy 🙂

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Rowan J Coleman

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a lot of people remember their first

star trek episode

or their first star trek movie but i

don’t

for as long as i can remember it’s just

been perpetually on tv in its various

forms

i grew up watching the original series

in the next generation and later in my

teens watched all of deep space nine

voyager enterprise and then kept up with

the franchise through its more recent

incarnations

star trek helped jumpstart my

imagination and helped me figure out

what i wanted to do with the rest of my

life

it’s a franchise which means a lot of

things to a lot of different people

and it all started with one man

[Applause]

the concept for star trek was of course

created by gene roddenberry

born in el paso texas in 1921 his father

was a los angeles police officer

from an early age roddenberry was an

avid reader of pulp magazines he was an

enormous fan of edgar rice borough’s

john carter of mars

as well as the skylark series by e.e

smith

in his college years he became

interested in aeronautical engineering

which eventually led to him joining the

us army air corps

where he served during world war ii

after the war and a brief career as a

pilot for pan-american airways

roddenberry followed in his father’s

footsteps to become a los angeles police

officer

all throughout his law enforcement

career however he dreamt of becoming a

writer

and he would later cite his experiences

as a police officer

as one of the major contributors to his

most famous creation

while working in the police department’s

public information division

roddenberry was brought in as a

technical advisor on a new television

version of

mr district attorney it was from this

role as an advisor roddenberry was able

to land his first writing gig with the

same show under the pseudonym

robert weasley after successfully

contributing scripts to mr district

attorney

as well as highway patrol roddenberry

saw his chance to pursue his dream and

soon

quit his job in the police department

throughout most of the 50s roddenberry

would write freelance contributing to

numerous westerns such as have gun will

travel

as well as other cop and

military-focused shows

it was during this time roddenberry met

actor deforest kelly as well as actress

major lee hiddick later known as majel

barrett

at the start of the 60s however

roddenberry set his sights on creating

writing and producing his own original

tv show

the burgeoning idea for star trek first

entered his mind at this time he often

talked with friends about the concept of

a racially diverse crew

and an airship exploring the world

inspired by jules verne’s master of the

world

however this idea wasn’t fully formed

and instead roddenberry went on to

create

the lieutenant the lieutenant was a

military drama following the lives of

several personnel on a base

with the backdrop of the unfolding cold

war it was here roddenberry also met

future star trek producer gene l kuhn

as well as actors gary lockwood leonard

nimoy

and michelle nichols who landed her

first television role on the lieutenant

it was a well-received show but one

which generated controversy behind the

scenes when roddenberry’s goal of a

progressive racial equality message

clashed with the department of defense

which was supporting the show

these clashes eventually led to the

department withdrawing its support

entirely

and with a suddenly much more expensive

series on their hands

mgm and nbc couldn’t commission a second

season

with his military drama off the air

roddenberry revisited his original idea

of a racially diverse crew on a mission

of exploration

rather than the jules verne aesthetic he

drew from the pulps he grew up reading

particularly smith’s skylark series

for the overall look of the show he took

a heavy inspiration from the landmark

science fiction film forbidden planet

and for the captain of his ship he drew

from cs forrester’s horatio hornblower

novels to craft the character

by march 11 1964 he had completed a

16-page pitch

on april 24th he registered the new

series with the writer’s guild of

america he titled this new show

star trek

[Music]

it’s hard to imagine just how different

the tv landscape was at the time

american tv was dominated with the

westerns thrillers and dramas

roddenberry had cut his teeth on in the

50s

there was very little in the way of

science fiction at least of the type

roddenberry was envisioning across the

pond in the uk

doctor who had only just begun airing

its first few episodes

in the us the space opera adventure

serials of flash gordon and buck rogers

had long since passed

sci-fi of the time was embodied by high

concept morality plays like the seminal

twilight zone

and the outer limits although they too

were winding down by the mid 60s

in general there really was nothing like

what rodenberg was proposing on tv at

the time

while his pitch was well received at mgm

who had produced the lieutenant

they didn’t make him an offer

roddenberry then took it to desilu

productions

the company co-founded by actress

comedian presenter producer and writer

lucille ball

known for her hit sitcom i love lucy

roddenberry took his pitch to head of

programming oscar katz

and the two began pitching to the

networks funnily enough their first stop

was cbs

however they were already developing

their own sci-fi show lost in space at

the time

and so they passed on star trek next

they took it to nbc

allegedly during the meeting roddenberry

struggled to convey his concept to the

executives

and believed he was blowing it that is

until oscar katz leapt into the

conversation

and pitched star trek as a space western

downplaying the sci-fi elements

it was here the phrase wagon train to

the stars was coined

convinced by katz’s exciting sounding

pitch nbc

agreed to greenlight a pilot with

production at desilu now underway

roddenberry quickly set about assembling

his team he brought on robert justman

who was a producer

on the outer limits at the time and

herbert f solo joined the team from the

board at desilu

wa chang was also brought over from the

outer limits to supervise much of the

production design and creature effects

work

for the music of the show roddenberry

approached composer jerry goldsmith

however due to other commitments he had

at the time he couldn’t join the project

instead goldsmith recommended alexander

courage for the job

while mostly a music arranger at the

time courage’s work in creating the

iconic star trek theme tune speaks for

itself

his work lends star trek an epic

operatic feel

quite different from the atmospheric

tones or bombastic cues of other shows

at the time

for the cast roddenberry had written the

role of number one with majel barrett in

mind and so she was the first

to be cast with the role secured it was

barrett who recommended leonard nimoy

for the part of spock

all three having had a good working

relationship on the lieutenant

roddenberry and nimoy were enthusiastic

to collaborate on a new show

the character of james t kirk was yet to

be created

instead jeffrey hunter was cast as

captain christopher pike

a name inspired by a character

roddenberry had created for the pilot

the wild blue

the cage originally named the menagerie

was a costly venture with some accounts

stating its price tag is over six

hundred thousand dollars

more than three times what was normal

for a tv episode of the time

shooting began on november 27 1964

and was completed by december 11th after

several weeks of post-production work

the very first episode of star trek was

delivered to nbc

[Music]

it’s worth noting that for a franchise

known for its sense of an

optimistic future the cage is a much

more

somber and gritty story than today’s

trekkies may expect

the enterprise rather than the flagship

of a mighty fleet

is a well-worn vessel staffed by a

skeleton crew

captain pike rather than a heroic lead

begins the episode tired of command and

the responsibilities that come with it

it’s also worth knowing how emotional

spock seems to be in this episode the

cultural concept of the vulcans had not

really fully materialized and nimoy

seeing the relatively low energy of

hunter’s performance sought to balance

the dynamic by lending more humor

sarcasm and even passion to his

performance overall the cage is a fine

sci-fi

story with interesting themes and ideas

the enterprise responds to a false

distress call from a ship long thought

lost

pike is soon kidnapped by a race of

powerful telepaths

who destroyed their world in a long

forgotten war in his prison the aliens

who name themselves as telosians

conjure telepathic visions to try and

force him into a romantic relationship

with the only survivor from the crashed

ship vena in the hopes their union will

birth a slave race

which could rebuild the telosians home

world it’s well worn stuff in today’s

star trek but for the 60s this was quite

a taboo-busting story

much discussion surrounds notions of sex

and relationships

possibly threatening the legitimacy of

the nuclear family of the time

questions are raised as to if human

behavior despite its advancement

could still be manipulated like animals

trained in a zoo

jeffrey hunter is a compelling lead in

an old west kind of way

while his dialogue is full of clever

deductive reasoning and his

characterization depicts him as a

resourceful and cunning man hunter still

embodies the gruff haymaker throwing

chisel jawed hero seen in many other

shows of the time susan oliver as vina

gives a stellar performance

a character who’s become completely

trapped by the telosians attempting to

enjoy the life she’s been given

despite always knowing it isn’t real she

has strong chemistry with hunter and

provides the emotional anchor for the

audience

the rest of the cast isn’t as well used

unfortunately

the character of spock was yet to be

fully conceived and thus leonard nimoy’s

iconic screen presence

doesn’t quite appear in the cage even

major barrett’s number one

like pretty much everyone else doesn’t

have much to do in this episode

the ending is also a little contrived

the usually

powerful and near omniscient telosians

are quite easily subdued and captured by

the end

despite its problems however the cage is

a solid star trek story the

comparatively large budget allows for

some terrific looking vfx

sets and monsters it features a lot of

tragedy but also a lot of fascinating

concepts for the audience to ponder

while it isn’t an

all-time classic of star trek it’s still

one worth several viewings from any avid

tracking

the executives at nbc however weren’t as

impressed

it’s easy to create the narrative that

nbc simply

weren’t smart enough for this first

pilot but the truth isn’t that simple

the executives were sold on a space

western by the original pitch

this no doubt conjured images of saloon

fisticuffs and quick draw shootouts

but inside spaceships and brandishing

rayguns

to be sold on this idea and then

delivered a far more cerebral plot which

has our main hero imprisoned for most of

the runtime

would be naturally disappointing further

test screenings failed to convince nbc

that star trek could work as a show

and so they decided not to pick up the

series

however in what is still a very rare

occurrence for network tv

star trek was given another crack at the

whip this go-ahead for a second pilot

came thanks to the co-founder of desilu

productions itself

as mentioned before lucille ball was a

highly successful figure on tv at the

time

during her career she had often faced

rampant sexism and was often pigeonholed

into the kinds of roles she could play

her sitcom

i love lucy and other comedic work seems

tamed by today’s standards but at the

time they were seen as boundary pushing

when it comes to the depiction of the

loyal american housewife allegedly while

ball didn’t have much interest in the

actual script

she was quite taken aback when she saw

the first officer of the enterprise was

a female character

recognizing the value of such a

progressively minded show

she pushed the board at desoluen nbc to

go for a second stab a pilot

roddenberry had shown three scripts to

both production companies for potential

pilot episodes

while they had chosen the cage another

script titled where no man has gone

before

was well liked using some studio notes

roddenberry rewrote the script to be

turned into a second pilot

one such note was nbc’s demand that the

character of number one be taken out

there are conflicting stories as to why

this demand was made roddenberry

insisted over the year that it was due

to pure sexism the nbc wouldn’t allow

the first officer of the ship to be a

woman

other accounts suggest nbc were

concerned about nepotism

at the time roddenberry and barrett had

begun an affair which several production

staff were aware of

allegedly this made some nbc

uncomfortable and this may have factored

into their demand to remove the

character of number one

whatever the real reason roddenberry

certainly believed it was a regressive

demand

and combated this by deliberately

writing in a more racially diverse crew

he cast nichelle nichols whom he had

worked with on the lieutenant

as communications officer nyota uhura he

also included an asian character hikaru

sulu actor george takei was encouraged

to see such a non-stereotypical role

being advertised

and successfully landed the par it

cannot be overstated just

how important the mere inclusion of

these two characters was

this was only two years after the

monumental civil rights march on

washington dc

led by martin luther king jr the anger

and violence being dealt to african

americans and other non-caucasian

ethnicities

was forefront in many people’s minds and

george takei has often recounted his

experiences being unlawfully imprisoned

in a japanese internment camp during

world war ii in a chapter of american

history

many still try to sweep under the rug to

this day

rounding out the cast where deforest

kelly is dr leonard bones mccoy

roddenberry had briefly worked with

kelly on the pilot 333 montgomery and

got along well with the actor

james dewan joined as engineer

montgomery scott the canadian actor had

a talent for accents and voices

it was a mutual decision by both duin

and roddenberry to make the characters

scottish

as doing reasoned the best engineers in

the world were scottish

when i was younger i used to think

doom’s accent wasn’t very accurate

that is until i found out he based the

accent on an aberdonian radio

operator he encountered in world war ii

for an attempted aberdeen accent it’s

actually not bad

in fact scotty sounds eerily similar to

my high school chemistry teacher

sometimes

jeffrey hunter had chosen not to return

for the second pilot after the cage was

met with a negative response

hunter was unsure about committing to

another pilot for the show and instead

chose to pursue other opportunities

the new character of james t kirk was

created

and roddenberry’s third choice for the

role william shatner

accepted the part

where no man has gone before brings up

many interesting ideas just like the

cage did

but it has a brisker pace to its story

which makes it a more enjoyable star

trek yarn we are introduced to the

enterprise as it attempts to traverse

outside the galaxy coming into contact

with a mysterious energy barrier which

soon grants god-like superpowers to one

of the crew

the episode has a much more optimistic

tone than the cage did a worn out ship

and captain are replaced with a colorful

flagship and charming lead

funnily enough it was shatner’s more

exaggerated style of acting

which prompted leonard nimoy to skew

closer to the more unemotional spock we

come to know

while the characterization isn’t exactly

in line with what spock would become

vulcan’s having a lack of emotion is

firmly established here an additional

great performance in this episode is

gary lockwood as gary mitchell the crew

member who becomes endowed with

incredible powers

his brief dialogue with kirk manages to

establish a sense of rapport and

friendship before the enterprise

encounters the barrier

afterwards his rapidly developing

abilities and superiority complex

turn mitchell from a friend met with

tragedy into a dangerous antagonist

a quirk of this performance results from

the thick contact lenses lockwood had to

wear

the only way he was able to wear the

lenses comfortably was by tilting his

head way back

the resulting change in body language

and demeanor enhances the transformation

mitchell is going through the heady

themes of humanity’s cosmic evolution

are fascinating

if only briefly touched on in this story

instead the true focus

is on the characters the relationship

between kirk and his former friend

this gives the episode a stronger

emotional core as the audience is given

a real relationship to invest in

not to mention more action with the

first appearance of shatner foo

while it doesn’t explore its themes in

as much detail as the cage

where no man has gone before is overall

more entertaining and emotionally

relatable with a stronger cast more well

established

faster pace and more action nbc was

satisfied with this second pilot

and after a few months star trek as a tv

show was finally given

the green light for the tv show proper

gene roddenberry brought on several more

key creative leads joining herb solo and

robert jasmine

jean l kuhn a western producing veteran

whose show wagon train was directly

cited by oscar katz in his original

pitch and who had gone to create many of

star trek’s most famous

icons was also brought on and finally

the key creative voice of dorothy

fontana

credited as dc fontana she had been

hired as roddenberry’s secretary during

the production of the lieutenant

and had contributed eight scripts to

various shows under a pseudonym for star

trek she was promoted to chief script

editor the day-to-day production of star

trek would mostly be handled by jasmine

and solo while roddenberry kunin fontana

would contribute most to the

storytelling of the series

it was this team which would ensure star

trek deliver a slew of high quality

stories

and deliver them well season 1 of star

trek is

easily its strongest with many of its

most acclaimed and most classic stories

appearing in its first year

the scripts were strong often perfectly

walking the line between complex sci-fi

ideas

and pulpy space adventure fun and while

the production values are dated today

the strong design work and colorful

effects make it highly pleasing to the

eyes

this was in large part thanks to the

contributions of matt jeffries

roddenberry first became aware of

jeffries when he viewed the 1957 movie

bombers b-52 on which jefferies worked

as a production designer

the two men had a terrific working

relationship and friendship

both sharing a love of engineering in

total it took geoffrey’s two months to

create the design for the uss enterprise

he reasoned that the engines of the ship

would be powerful and potentially

dangerous

and after consulting with nasa engineers

settled on a modular design

the saucer section taking inspiration

from the flying saucers he had seen in

many other sci-fi movies and tv shows

in the event of the engines becoming a

danger jeffrey’s reasoned that parts of

the ship could be jettisoned to keep the

crew

safe indeed the notion of a saucer

separation

was originally part of jeffrey’s design

many years before it made an appearance

on star trek the next generation

with the nasa consultation establishing

the ship as modular

jeffries brought in a few naval

influences for much of the interiors

even modelling the layout of the bridge

quite closely after real us navy

warships

with these elements combined and an eye

for simple aesthetic beauty

the iconic starship the enterprise was

born

now when it comes to choosing episodes

to highlight in this video there are

many important ones to choose

there is the enemy below inspired battle

of wits between the enterprise and bird

of prey in the very first appearance of

the romulans

or the introduction of the klingons and

errand of mercy however

being that the purpose of this new video

series is to re-examine and improve on

my previous videos discussing this

franchise

i don’t really see a need to come back

to these episodes i’ve already examined

them in detail in my various top 10s and

low revolution series

which you can see elsewhere on this

channel so instead i’ve decided to

discuss episodes which i truly

love but aren’t always as widely

discussed in star trek fandom or in pop

culture

space seed for example will be an

episode i’ll talk about in depth

during my eventual retrospective on the

wrath of khan these are episodes i

select when i want that quintessential

star trek experience

and one in particular which i’ve always

come back to for some sci-fi fun

is the squire of gothos this was the

first

instance of what would become a

well-worn star trek trope

that of god like alien beings toying

with the enterprise

or putting its characters through some

kind of trial in the squire of gothos

the enterprise encounters trelane an

alien being who has been observing earth

from afar

and has become quite a fan however due

to some time dilation errors

he still believes earth to be a warlike

world and assumes kirk to be a colonial

conqueror of some kind

and delights in goading kirk into

showing his more savage side

the true highlight of the episode is

easily william campbell is trelane

the actor is clearly having the time of

his life in the role his pure joy in

discussing the concepts of war and

violence is both amusing

and quite sinister i’d be extremely

surprised if john de lancie didn’t take

inspiration from campbell in crafting

his own mischievous alien cue

in star trek next generation it’s also

in campbell’s performance we get small

clues leading up to the final twist

the way he throws temper tantrums and

stomps his feet when he doesn’t get his

way is only made more appropriate when

it’s revealed

trolling is in fact a petulant child

whose playtime has simply gotten out of

hand

the way campbell shifts intonations from

a sadistic villain to a spoiled brat is

hilarious to watch

the episode is also classic for its

themes about human savagery

kirk’s insistence that humanity is no

longer the barbaric race trilane thinks

it is

concretely establishes the optimistic

view of this future

at the same time the character who

relishes violence and warfare the most

turning out to be an irritating child is

a funny lampooning of such a mindset

while the squire of gothos isn’t among

the most profound star trek stories

it’s certainly one of the most enjoyable

romps in the series

however similar themes brought up in

this episode would get a more serious

treatment in other episodes which i want

to talk about

arena is an iconic star trek episode and

one which is

instantly recognizable in pop culture

for its climactic gorn

face-off but while this scene is often

ridiculed as an example of the original

series dated production values

it’s actually part of a very strong

episode kirk spock mccoy and a few

others beamed down to a federation

outpost to discover it has been attacked

and destroyed by an

unknown alien aggressor after fending

off the attackers on the ground the

enterprise engages the alien craft in

hot pursuit

culminating in a showdown with the alien

captain while star trek is largely

inspired by the ray gun pulp adventures

of the hugo gernsbach style of science

fiction

arena is surprisingly brutal and gritty

in its depiction of the initial alien

attack

the chaos confusion and trauma of the

action is well captured by the script

and well conveyed by the cast what makes

the episode so gripping however

is the choice to keep the aliens unseen

for the first confrontation and

resulting

chase there is a palpable tension

surrounding the mystery of these aliens

and kirk’s apparent drive for revenge

that is until both ships are brought to

a standstill by another godlike alien

race

who set up the one-on-one battle between

the two captains

the final reveal of the gorn captain is

actually highly effective

after kirk has conjured this image of a

barbaric attacker

even he seems shocked at the monstrous

appearance of his foe

the resulting fight choreography is a

little unconvincing but the chases and

traps which follow bring back that

tension as kirk realizes how truly

outmatched he is

only thanks to his intelligence and

ingenuity is kirk able to take down the

gorn

but just as he’s about to strike decides

to let his full live

despite the gorn’s monstrous appearance

and actions kirk realizes

it too is an intelligent creature who

possibly cares quite deeply for its own

crew and its own people

thus the god like aliens the metrons

decide to let both captains and both

crews continue on

convinced they are not as inherently

savage as they both first seemed it’s

perhaps a little contrived but it’s

anchored by a strong performance from

shatner who manages

to convey his anger and determination

over the attack on the outpost but

without breaking into his often parodied

overacting

much of his actions are based on

assumptions and speculations

which we later find out to be unfounded

it’s a strong script which examines the

more savage side of human nature

something which is also examined in a

taste of armageddon sees the enterprise

attempt to establish diplomatic

relations with the planet which has been

at war for over three centuries

however upon arrival kirk spock and

mccoy are confused to see

no evidence of any prolonged war it soon

discovered that this war is fought

entirely with computers all attacks are

simulated

but the casualties are rendered real via

disintegration machines which

inhabitants of the planet are expected

to enter

if they are simulated as being caught in

an attack when the enterprise is

registered as being destroyed

kirk decides to bring the entire system

down it’s an absurd premise i’ll give

you that

which stretches the allegory to near

breaking point but the absurdity is part

of what makes its themes and messages

all the more impactful

the idea of a peaceful cooperation is

seen as so impossible by these two

worlds

that they have deemed this system of a

simulated war more reasonable the

episode is also noteworthy for a blatant

violation of the prime directive

which forbids starfleet from interfering

with the internal development of other

cultures

but this is an episode which harkens

back to the pulpy ray gun fights and

fisticuffs while still delivering a

positive social message

it may be a little daft but it’s one of

the stronger examples of the wagon train

format the show often went back to

just as the titular wagon train of that

show would journey to a new town and

become embroiled in the ongoing affairs

of that populace

so too did the enterprise become a key

trigger for change and tragedy to many

planets have visited throughout its

first season

[Music]

as season one drew to a close nichelle

nichols was feeling

unsure about continuing with the show

despite the importance of her casting

she and george takei were rarely given

much agency in the show

instead relegated to background

supporting roles in each story while

kirk spock and mccoy took center stage

since the debut episode many of the cast

had been receiving

letters from avid fans of the show

writing to their favorite characters in

the series

leonard nimoy received the most

following his performance in the naked

time

nichols however believed she was

receiving none until she discovered

mbc execs had ordered all of her letters

to be withheld while no explanation has

been given for this

nichols believed this order had racist

intentions which

is not hard to believe while performing

in star trek nichols had also received

several offers from musical theater

productions

which nichols had a background in seeing

prejudice from her current job

and opportunities elsewhere nichols

decided to leave the show

she handed in her letter of resignation

to gene roddenberry roddenberry

shocked at this decision asked nichols

to take the weekend

and if she still felt the same by the

following monday he would accept the

resignation

what happened next was truly a stranger

than fiction event

i believe it was an naacp fundraiser but

it might not have been but i

i think it was um

and so i went to do this on that

saturday night

and i had just been taken to the dais

and sat down

when the organizer came over and said

miss nichols

how are you and he said listen

there’s someone here who said

he is your biggest fan and he’s looking

cherokee you know and and he said and

he’s desperate to meet you he once

really wants to meet you so i got i said

certainly and i stand up

and turn and i’m thinking it’s a star

trek fan

he said his star trek fan i’m looking

for a young man who’s a star trek fan

i turn and instead of fan there’s

this face the world knows

with this beautiful smile on it and i

remember

thinking whoever that fan is

is going to have to wait because dr king

dr martin luther king my leader

is walking toward me and not 10 feet

away

with a beautiful smile on his face

and then this man says

yes miss nichols i am that fan

i am your best fan your greatest fan

and my family are your greatest

fans he said we admire you greatly you

know

and i he said some more things

and and the the man on which you’ve

created this role

has dignity and so forth and

and he said you know um

[Music]

and before he said i said dr king thank

you

so much um

[Music]

and then i got the courage to say and i

really am

going to miss my co-stars

and he said what do you mean dead

serious

what are you talking about i said well

i’ve had an

off he said you cannot and i said well i

i’m going to leave star trek because i

am going to say have an offer

to star in i never got that far

i said well i’m leaving star trek he’s

he said you cannot

you cannot

and i felt like that little boy willis

what you talking about dr king

but you know i didn’t say that no

he said for the first time on television

we will be seen as we should be

seen every day as

intelligent quality

beautiful people who can sing dance and

but who can go into space who can be

lawyers who can be teachers who can be

professed

who are in this day and yet you don’t

see it on television

until now whatever happened come monday

morning i went to gene and i’m not sure

to this day if i knew what i was going

to say

and i told him what happened and i said

if you

still want me to stay i’ll stay

i have to and he took out my

resignation which was torn into a

hundred pieces

and handed me the pile and we just stood

there looking at each other

and i finally said thank you gene

and he said thank you nichelle.

despite the high quality of its first

season roddenberry knew

star trek would likely be cancelled due

to its middling ratings at best

anticipating the bad news roddenberry

helped organize a massive

letter writing campaign from fans of the

show asking nbc to renew it for a second

season

this campaign was enormously successful

nbc allegedly received

more fan mail about star trek than any

other show they had running at the time

some fans even went so far as to picket

the fences of nbc

studios to show their support there was

this campaign which played a major role

in nbc commissioning a second season but

so too did demographics

for those unfamiliar with how tv nielsen

ratings work the success of a show

doesn’t solely depend on the amount of

viewers

this used to be the case where ratings

were measured per household

however during the late 60s this began

to change with the introduction of

demographics

age and gender brackets etc as many tv

networks depend on selling commercial

advertising slots for revenue the most

desirable demographic for advertisers

and therefore for networks

was and still is the 18 to 35 bracket

while star trek wasn’t scoring high

overall ratings

it was scoring very well in this

particular demographic

and so had the potential to be very

profitable for the network

also thanks to the letter writing

campaign nbc was aware that many star

trek fans were teachers

scientists engineers and other

accomplished individuals this gave the

show a sense of prestige in terms of who

was watching these two factors motivated

nbc to give star trek yet another chance

and renewed it for a second season

season 2

isn’t quite as good as season 1 but

still contains many great outings for

the show with a slightly reduced budget

it loses a little bit of the wagon train

format less alien cultures and less

location shooting but still a strong

season overall

season two saw the introduction of

ensign pavel chekhov played by

walter koenig the character was

originally created to fill in for sulu

while george takei was off filming the

green berets

the character was intended to appeal to

a younger female audience even styling

his hair to resemble davy jones from the

monkeys he was at first

meant to be a native englishman but by

this point in time the ussr was badly

beating the usa in the space race

so roddenberry decided to make the

character russian further emphasizing

his vision of a united

and cooperative humanity as a young

ensign chekhov is quite naive and

passionate

getting easily swept up in romances or

rising to the threats of bullish

klingons

arguably he had a lot more personality

and stronger material than george takei

sulu the season premiere amok time is a

true

classic of star trek the crew become

alarmed when spock begins acting

emotional and even

violent when mccoy discovers a chemical

imbalance which threatens spock’s life

kirk demands an explanation from spock

he subsequently reveals that he has

entered his pawn

far a physical condition which vulcans

enter into every seven

years which drives them to return home

and find a mate

against orders kirk chooses to save his

friend and returns to the vulcan home

world

most episodes surrounding spock are

terrific stories

such as season 1’s the galileo 7. as

mentioned previously spock became an

extremely popular character for his

emotional complexity and according to

some fans was quite the sex symbol so a

spock-focused episode where he is

emotionally unstable and in need of a

mate virtually guaranteed an

overwhelmingly positive fan reception

it’s a great character-driven story

rather than an entire planet or the

federation being at stake

the central concern is for spock and his

relationships with the enterprise crew

it’s also the first for many iconic

elements in star trek

this is of course the first appearance

of pond far but it’s also the first time

the phrases live long and prosper

and peace and long life were said it’s

also the first appearance of the vulcan

salute which was actually created by

leonard nimoy drawing inspiration from a

jewish ceremony he once witnessed as a

child

overall it’s a strong season premiere

which fans no doubt celebrated after

their favorite show was almost taken off

the air for good

luckily more great episodes kept coming

the doomsday machine

is one such great episode the enterprise

investigates a star system which has

been reduced to rubble by an

alien machine which originated from

outside the galaxy in its week of

destruction

it has also left the uss constellation

and its commanding officer

commodore matthew decker a wreck after

kirk and scotty become trapped in the

constellation

decker sees fit to take command of the

enterprise to exact revenge on the

powerful doomsday machine

this is a classic moby dick allegory

which star trek would come back to many

times

guest star william windham gives a

brilliant performance

a man utterly broken by the horror he

has witnessed

not just from the machine itself but

from his own actions which inadvertently

led to the death of his entire crew

much of the episode consists of decker

throwing the enterprise of the machine

again and again

in a desperate attempt to destroy it

meanwhile kirk and scotty work

tirelessly to eventually

regain control of their own starship

before it’s destroyed

it’s an action-packed episode filled

with extreme tension and tragedy

the simplicity of the overall plot

allows the focus to remain on the

characters with only speculations as of

the origins of this machine

but thus far amok time in the doomsday

machine are famously strong episodes

from the original series

the next episode i want to highlight

isn’t as well renowned but in my opinion

really should be the ultimate computer

is one of the first

instances of star trek really grappling

with the concept of artificial

intelligence

however rather than the far-reaching

implications of what it means to be

human

how sentience is defined and other

similar themes brought up in the likes

of blade runner or battlestar galactica

the ultimate computer tackles a far

older theme

dr richard daystrom boards the

enterprise to outfit it with the

m5 an advanced tactical computer system

which daystrom hopes could one day

completely automate ship operations

so that no more crew members need die in

deep space

however the notion of his position as

captain becoming obsolete is

deeply troubling to kirk as with most

sci-fi stories featuring ai

the m5 eventually malfunctions when it

uses live weapons during a war games

exercise

murdering hundreds on the opposing

starfleet ships the themes of the

episode spin off into many avenues the

automation debate is one which remains

highly relevant to this day

yet there is also the theme of

exploration versus merely acquiring

knowledge

the act of human beings journeying into

space to see the cosmos for themselves

brings with its scientific knowledge yes

but there’s also an emotional component

to it as well

are you only interested in scientific

discovery

send robots it’s cheaper you don’t have

to bring them home

you don’t have to feed them at least not

food

they’ll need energy from somewhere get

it from the sun

if you only care about science then

there’s no

rational reason to send humans really

for the cost of sending a human you can

send 100 robots

and robots are getting better smaller

cheaper faster

smarter all the above but here’s the

catch

i’ve never seen a ticker tape parade for

a robot

i’ve never seen a high school named

after a robot

i never saw a kid read a book about a

robot and say gee i want to be that

robot one day

there’s value of human inspiration

it’s less tangible than the the

scientific results of an experiment it’s

more emotional

it’s more philosophical it’s more

cultural it’s more

human however just like with the

doomsday machine this episode features a

fantastic

guest star william marshall lots of

williams in this show

as dr daystrom once again this was

pretty groundbreaking casting for an

african american to play such a role

it’s the classic tale of hubris as

daystrom refuses to believe the m5 could

have any flaws

but what i personally find fascinating

is the revelation that the m5 has had

daystrim’s own

engrams imprinted on its systems in

order to help form its operational

matrix

essentially the machine itself has much

of daystream’s own mind within it

thus the failure of the m5 in the story

is not

strictly the result of machines being

inferior to humans but instead

as a result of human fallacies impacting

a machine

the episode successfully replicates the

terrific sense of tension and brutality

seen in doomsday machine as the

enterprise crew watch helplessly as

their fellow starfleet officers

are slaughtered by their own ship the

ending is a bit of a cop-out i’ll admit

with kirk catching the m5 in a logical

loophole which ultimately leads to its

shutdown

despite this flaw however the ultimate

computer is an episode which i think

should be brought up more often by track

fandom what is often assumed to be a mad

scientist

killer machine story is a lot richer on

closer examination

a strange quirk of season 2 of star trek

is the presence of several

parallel earth stories these are stories

in which the enterprise encounters an

alien world

which resembles some historical period

from earth for some contrived reason

sometimes it’s due to cultural

contamination someone from earth

manipulating an alien world

other times it’s pure chance that this

world evolved along almost the exact

same path as earth did which is

pretty silly season 2 features several

of these stories

the only really fun one is a piece of

the action

in which an alien world has modeled its

society after prohibition-era gangsters

it’s a ridiculous idea but thankfully

the episode doesn’t take itself very

seriously

instead reveling in the fun of captain

kirk donning a striped suit

and brandishing a tummy gun with an

over-the-top new york accent other

episodes unfortunately take the concept

too seriously to

mixed results patterns of force gives us

a federation cultural expert

who somehow believed modeling an alien

world on nazi germany was a good idea

the omega glory depicts a post-nuclear

world

so exactly like the feared result of the

cold war

right down to both sides being called

yanks and commies that one wonders why

this wasn’t a time travel episode and

bread and circuses simply

wastes the idea of a roman empire which

lasted into the 20th century technology

level

it’s likely these stories were a

cost-saving measure

an excuse to reuse props and costumes

already in storage

and shoot on standing sets of various

backlots rather than expensive location

shooting while none of these mentioned

stories are awful by any means they were

an unfortunate indicator of where the

show would end up

[Music]

during the run of season 2 star trek was

successfully renewed for a third season

which would ultimately prove to be its

last once again the budget was slashed

ensuring virtually no location shooting

for any episodes

which severely limited the scope of many

stories this season featured some of the

worst episodes of the show

such as the paradise syndrome which

showcases insulting tropes about native

americans

as well as turnabout intruder an

outright sexist episode at worst

and an awkward unpleasant story at best

many other infamous examples such as the

way to eden

and the children shall lead and plato’s

stepchildren

which is outright embarrassing this

massive step down in quality can be

largely attributed to the big changes

happening behind the scenes

gene roddenberry gene l kuhn robert

justman herb solo and dc fontana

had been the driving force behind the

show’s strong production and

storytelling however by season three

kuhn jasmine and solo all left the show

either before

or during the season due to the

exhaustion brought on by the gruelling

schedule

dc fontana had found other work writing

for other shows

but still contributed three more scripts

to season 3 which included the

enterprise incident one of the stronger

outings for the season

even gene roddenberry had become weary

of the demanding job

and so took on a less active role

producer fred freberger was brought on

to effectively be the new showrunner but

without that core creative team

and with a much smaller budget he had an

extremely tough task ahead of him

over the years however many cast and

crew have blamed the poor quality of the

season on studio meddling for season 3

nbc moved star trek to a friday night

slot at 10 pm

the exact time its valuable young

audience would be out socializing with

friends after a week of work and study

indeed this time slot is also the same

slot which joss whedon’s firefly ended

up in

and has often been named as the time

slot of death even to this day

it’s quite possible nbc saw star trek as

simply too much trouble

for its worth while it did score well

with a valuable demographic

its overall ratings had been falling

since season one

on top of this the fierce letter writing

campaigns constantly made star trek a

fixture of boardroom meetings

it’s been estimated that the studio was

spending almost a hundred thousand

dollars a year

simply replying to the mountain of

letters they were receiving about star

trek as it was an internal policy at nbc

to reply to as much fan mail as possible

so it isn’t unlikely certain executives

decided to try and get the show

cancelled so they would never have to

hear about it anymore

unlike season 2 season 3 opens with a

truly embarrassing addition to star trek

canon

spock’s brain while exploring space the

enterprise is boarded by an alien woman

who promptly

knocks the crew unconscious when they

come to they discover that spock’s brain

has been

stolen and so kirk takes the enterprise

on a fierce

race against time to retrieve his brain

and restore it to his body

star trek certainly has some outlandish

concepts but this is an

absolutely ridiculous premise for an

episode

there are certain constants in any

universe sci-fi or otherwise and the

efforts this episode goes to

to make this idea sound plausible are

backbreaking

but beyond the central premise the rest

of the episode is easily some of star

trek’s weakest writing

full of worn out cliches and poorly

thought out plot points

for those curious myself and two friends

actually did a commentary of sorts on

another channel of mine where we react

to all the worst and most

unintentionally hilarious parts of this

episode oh

man i like i like spock’s new nifty head

gear

yes it looks fear

[Laughter]

gone

[Music]

link will be down below either way

spock’s brain remains one of the worst

episodes in all of star trek

it’s only valuable in providing

inadvertent comedy

for its audience that being said season

3 isn’t

totally bereft of good stories there’s

the aforementioned enterprise incident

as well as the debut appearance of the

tholians and the tholian web

but this time i wanted to highlight an

episode which is a little controversial

in terms of quality

spectre of the gun when the enterprise

intrudes into alien space

kirk spock bone scotty and chekhov are

whisked away to a strange recreation of

the old west town tombstone where they

are pitted against doc holliday and his

gang in their famous standoff

it’s a real head scratcher of a setup as

to the exact

reasons the alien intelligence has done

this but the scenario plays out in a

compelling way

there is a bizarre dreamlike or rather

nightmarish quality to the place the

crew have found themselves in with the

half-constructed western town an

oppressive blood-red sky

along with its heavy atmosphere the

episode has a truly gripping sense of

rising tension as kirk and coach try

desperately to avoid the impending

confrontation

they try leaving the town telling the

locals what’s really happening

constructing a gas grenade to tip the

odds in their favor but

nothing works the final solution is

either

fiendishly clever or a deus ex machina

depending on who you ask

after evaluating all the facts spock

concludes that they are in such a

blatantly unreal place

where the constant laws of physics don’t

apply that the coming shootout

is only a danger if it’s believed to be

such thus

the enterprise crew simply have to

believe strongly enough

that they cannot be harmed in this place

in order to prevail

personally i fall into the former of

seeing this as a clever resolution the

dreamlike atmosphere i mentioned before

already enhances much of the episode so

it’s a nice twist when the atmosphere

ends up being a plot point in and of

itself a fresh take on humans evolving

beyond savage violence

as previously seen in arena

unfortunately by this point the spark

was gone

even the fans who managed to stay in and

watch were growing increasingly let down

by the subpar

stories being presented to them each

week the already mediocre at best

ratings cratered

with its key demographic gone and

remaining viewers no longer happy with

the show’s quality

nbc finally decided the time had come

and canceled star trek

the last episode of star trek was

broadcast on june 3rd

1969 and for all anyone knew at the time

that was it star trek was over forever

roddenberry and the remaining creative

staff

moved on to new projects landing writing

and producing gigs

elsewhere most of the cast were able to

find reliable work on the stage and

screen

they were happy to move on from a show

which they believed had never achieved

hit status

and which had lost its audience but of

course

as the world knows the story of star

trek

was far from over

[Music]

thank you so much for watching guys if

this video was a hell of a lot of work

as you can imagine

i’ll be doing more retrospectives in

this style for

every other star trek installment right

up until star trek beyond

so subscribe to make sure you see those

when they come out

if you like what i do and want to help

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i’ve also recently started a youtube

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both platforms also have access to new

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soon if you’re keen on that

special thanks to all of my patrons and

members who are now appearing on screen

have a good one and as always live long

and prosper

[Author]

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