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By Matt, August 29, 2009 12:00 pm

Spock kidnaps his former commander Christopher Pike, locks the Enterprise on a course to the forbidden planet Talos IV, and turns himself in for court-martial.

Part 1

Part 2

Wikipedia notes:

“The Menagerie” is the only two-part episode of Star Trek: The Original Series. It is episodes #11 and 12, production #16. Part one of the episode was broadcast on November 17, 1966 with the second part broadcast a week later on November 24, 1966. NBC repeated the two shows on May 18 and 25, 1967. The episode’s screenplay was written by Gene Roddenberry. Since the true 1965 pilot episode “The Cage” was not shown on television until 1988 and The Original Series began with a second pilot “Where No Man Has Gone Before”, Desilu—the show’s production company—made a decision on what should be done with the wasted footage from the unused pilot movie.

Gene Roddenberry decided that in order to utilize “The Cage” footage, he would write an entirely new bookend story, so that “The Cage” would serve as a back story for the Starship Enterprise’s early history. New footage would be combined with the old and placed into the continuity of the overall Star Trek storyline.

“The Menagerie” won a Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation.

“The Menagerie” solved two problems, by re-using the expensive footage from “The Cage”, and also a script crunch. The script was written by Gene Roddenberry, creator of the show, and also the writer of “The Cage”. The script for both parts of this episode is only 64 pages long, shorter than the scripts for some single episodes. Part I is 43 pages in length, while Part II runs to only 21 pages.

New filming took place for the framing story for “The Cage”. Since actor Jeffrey Hunter was unavailable to reprise his role as Captain Pike, a look-alike actor Sean Kenney played the injured captain in the new scenes, although Hunter was represented in the “Cage” flashback footage and credited accordingly (along with the original “Cage” cast).

Also in the new scenes, Malachi Throne (who provided the voice of the Keeper in the original “Cage”) portrayed Commodore Jose Mendez, while Julie Parrish played personal assistant Miss Piper. Because Throne played a second role in “The Menagerie”, the Keeper’s voice was re-recorded by another actor, Vic Perrin. The trailer for part two uses Throne’s original Keeper’s voice.

The framing story was directed by veteran Trek director Marc Daniels. Since the majority of his footage was used in Part I, he was given directing credit for this part. The director of The Cage, Robert Butler, was given credit for Part II, as the majority of that footage was from the original pilot.

In the scene on Rigel-7, Vina actually plays the slave girl painted in green makeup and dancing for Captain Pike. During pre-production makeup tests (using Majel Barrett as a stand-in), they sent the footage out for printing and when the film returned, the slave girl was Caucasian. The first time this happened, they re-shot the film with a darker green, and sent it out again for printing. The same thing happened again. It was discovered that the color lab had been correcting the slave girl’s skin tone to make her Caucasian.[1]

Footage from the master negative of “The Cage” was edited into the master negative of “The Menagerie”. No other color or 35 mm copy of “The Cage” existed, only a black and white 16 mm print owned by Gene Roddenberry. In 1987, the full-color negative “trims” from “The Cage” that had not been used in “The Menagerie” were discovered at a film laboratory in Los Angeles, and returned to Paramount Pictures.

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By Matt, August 22, 2009 12:00 pm

The USS Enterprise encounters a massive starship and its unusual pilot.

Wikipedia notes: “The Corbomite Maneuver” is a first season episode of Star Trek: The Original Series, first aired November 10, 1966, and repeated May 11, 1967. It is episode #10, production #3, the first regular episode of Star Trek produced after the two pilots, although it was aired later in the season. It was written by Jerry Sohl, directed by Joseph Sargent, and created and produced by Gene Roddenberry.

The episode features a very young Clint Howard, brother of actor-turned-director Ron Howard, who plays the alien “child” at the end (with an overdubbed, deep voice provided by Vic Perrin). This was also the first episode in which DeForest Kelley played Dr. Leonard McCoy, Nichelle Nichols played Lt. Uhura and Grace Lee Whitney played Yeoman Rand, although viewers saw them for the first time in “The Man Trap”.

The episode was the first episode of the regular series to be produced, after the two pilots, “The Cage” and “Where No Man Has Gone Before”, which had been made in 1964 and 1965. It was shot at a different stage, in Hollywood. Sets were transferred from Desilu’s Culver City location, and a new engine room set constructed. Shooting started on May 24, 1966. The episode was held back until November, becoming the 10th episode to be broadcast, as it was decided to focus on planet-based stories early in the show’s run.

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By Matt, August 15, 2009 12:00 pm

A new treatment for the criminally insane has deadly results.

Wikipedia notes:

“Dagger of the Mind” is a first season episode of Star Trek: The Original Series. It is episode #9, production #11 and was broadcast November 3, 1966. It was written by Shimon Wincelberg (under the pen name “S. Bar-David”), and directed by Vincent McEveety.

his episode marks the first occurrence in Star Trek of the Vulcan mind meld. According to the book The Making of Star Trek by Gene Roddenbery and Stephen Whitfield, the Vulcan mind meld was conceived as an alternative to using hypnosis to tap Van Gelder’s subconscious. The writers wanted to avoid improperly depicting hypnosis as a medical technique. Also, they did not want to shoehorn into the dialog an assurance that Spock is legitimately qualified and certified to use hypnosis given his non-medical credentials. Lastly, they did not want to risk accidentally hypnotizing viewers at home.

Yeoman Janice Rand was supposed to be the female protagonist in the episode before she was replaced by Dr. Helen Noel. According to Grace Lee Whitney, it was a creative decision because the script brought the underlying mutual attraction between Kirk and Rand too much out in the open.

In articles in the magazines Starlog and Entertainment Weekly, actor Morgan Woodward called the role of Dr. Simon Van Gelder the most physically and emotionally exhausting acting job of his career. Desperate to get out of Westerns and expand his range, he was cast against type for this episode and was so well regarded that he came on board next season to play the tragic Capt. Ronald Tracey in “The Omega Glory.” Playing Van Gelder did take its toll on his personal life, as he confesses that for three weeks afterwards he was anti-social towards friends and family. He is grateful that this episode opened up whole new opportunities for him.

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By Matt, August 8, 2009 10:00 am

The Enterprise discovers an exact duplicate of Earth, where the only survivors of a deadly plague are some of the planet’s children.

Wikipedia notes: “Miri” is a first season episode of Star Trek: The Original Series, that was first broadcast October 27, 1966, and repeated June 29, 1967. It is episode #8, production #12, written by Adrian Spies and directed by Vincent McEveety. The planetary exteriors were shot on the set used for fellow Desilu series The Andy Griffith Show.

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By Matt, August 1, 2009 12:00 pm

Nurse Chapel’s long-lost fiancé is found — along with his androids

Wikipedia Notes: “What Are Little Girls Made Of?” is a first season episode of Star Trek: The Original Series. It is episode #7, production #10, and was first broadcast October 20, 1966. It was repeated two months later, on December 22, 1966, and was the first episode of the series to be repeated on NBC. It was written by Robert Bloch and directed by James Goldstone. The title of the episode is taken from the fourth line of the 19th century nursery rhyme “What Are Little Boys Made Of?”.

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By Matt, July 25, 2009 12:00 pm

The Enterprise rescues con artist Harry Mudd and his “beautiful” female cargo.

Wikipedia trivia:  “Mudd’s Women” is an episode of Star Trek: The Original Series first broadcast October 13, 1966 and repeated May 4, 1967. It is a first season episode #6, production #4, and was written by Stephen Kandel, based on a story by Gene Roddenberry and directed by Harvey Hart. The episode introduces the recurring character Harcourt Fenton Mudd.

The story was one of three submitted for production as the second pilot of Star Trek: the others being “The Omega Glory” and the selected episode, “Where No Man Has Gone Before”.

It was filmed as the second episode of the first season, after “The Corbomite Maneuver”

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By Matt, July 18, 2009 12:00 pm

A transporter malfunction creates an evil Kirk

Wikipedia notes:”The Enemy Within” is an episode of Star Trek: The Original Series, and was broadcast on 6 October 1966. It is a first season episode #5, production #5, and was written by Richard Matheson and directed by Leo Penn.

This episode is one of the small group for which a full score was written, in this case by Sol Kaplan. Jeff Bond notes, “Although he wrote only two scores for the series, New York composer Sol Kaplan’s music was tracked endlessly throughout the show’s first two seasons. … ‘The Enemy Within’ is a thrillingly intellectual score, by turns overcome with compassion for Kirk’s plight and clinically detached in its melodic experimentation with the situation… [T]he aggressive, threatening ‘evil Kirk’ music made major contributions by being tracked into other episodes.”

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By Matt, July 11, 2009 2:00 pm

You may have missed the first time it aired or just want to watch it again.  It is good enough to see twice.

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Wikipedia notes: Virtuality is the title of a series pilot co-written by Ronald D. Moore and Michael Taylor that aired on the FOX Network. Virtuality was filmed as a pilot but aired as a movie when FOX failed to pick up the series. On Friday June 26, 2009 Jessica Blank, wife of actor Erik Jensen who portrayed Dr. Jules Braun, posted a call to action on her husband’s Facebook page urging people to watch the movie and write in support of more episodes.

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By Matt, July 11, 2009 12:00 pm

The Enterprise crew catch a virus that removes their inhibitions

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Wikipedia notes: “The Naked Time” is an episode of Star Trek: The Original Series first broadcast September 29, 1966, and repeated on April 27, 1967. It is a first season episode #4, production #7, and was written by John D. F. Black and directed by Marc Daniels. It has a sequel in Star Trek: The Next Generation, the episode “The Naked Now”.

This was originally intended to be a two-part episode, with part one ending with a cliffhanger (with the Enterprise going back in time). The ending was revised so that the episode would become a stand-alone episode. What would have been part two eventually became another stand-alone episode, “Tomorrow is Yesterday”.

George Takei has repeatedly mentioned in interviews that this is his favorite episode, and spends a chapter on it in his autobiography.

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By Matt, July 4, 2009 2:00 pm

After the Enterprise attempts to cross the Great Barrier at the edge of the galaxy, crew members Gary Mitchell and Elizabeth Dehner develop “godlike” psychic powers which threaten the safety of the crew.

Wikipedia notes:  “Where No Man Has Gone Before” is the second pilot episode of the television series Star Trek (later known as Star Trek: The Original Series). It was produced in 1965 after the first pilot, “The Cage”, had been rejected by NBC. The episode was eventually broadcast third in sequence on September 22, 1966, and was re-aired on April 20, 1967.

“Where No Man Has Gone Before” was written by Samuel A. Peeples, directed by James Goldstone, and filmed in July 1965. It was the first episode of Star Trek to feature William Shatner as Captain James Kirk. James Doohan and George Takei played Scotty and Sulu, respectively, for the first time. In the episode, the Starship Enterprise journeys to the edge of the galaxy, where two crew members develop dangerous psychic powers. The episode’s title was adopted as the final phrase in the opening credits’ voice-over that famously characterizes the Star Trek series, and has entered popular culture.

The episode’s name is the first usage of the phrase “Where No Man Has Gone Before” in Star Trek. The phrase would be incorporated into the opening credits sequence in following episodes, as part of the famous “Space: The Final Frontier…” speech given by Captain Kirk.

The phrase would also be used (with “man” changed to the gender-neutral “one,”), in the credits voice-over of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Kirk’s middle initial is given as “R.” in “Where No Man Has Gone Before” and is seen clearly on the gravestone fashioned by Mitchell for Kirk; subsequent episodes use “James T. Kirk”, and Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country later made official the middle name “Tiberius” (used previously in “Bem”, an episode from the animated series). Various suggestions have been made to explain this discrepancy; Michael Jan Friedman’s My Brother’s Keeper trilogy speculates this results from an in-joke between Mitchell and Kirk. Roddenberry cited human error on Mitchell’s part. Peter David’s novel, Q-Squared, placed the events of this episode in a parallel universe in which, among other differences, Kirk’s middle initial was indeed R.

Many changes to the Enterprise bridge were made after this episode was produced. Among these were a new forward viewscreen and an updated helm/navigation console. Also, the positions of the helmsman and navigator were swapped (in this episode, the navigator sat on the port side of the console, and the helm officer was to starboard. In the regular series, the opposite was the case). When production of the series proper began, it was also decided to introduce a new uniform design for the Enterprise crew, although in the first regular episode produced, The Corbomite Maneuver, some characters, such as Uhura, are shown wearing the uniform style of Where No Man Has Gone Before. Adjustments to Spock’s make-up were also made, specifically to the angle of his eyebrows, refinement of his haircut and tempering of the overall greenish-yellow cast of his skin.

Spock also makes reference to his ancestor marrying a human when in a later episode, his mother was introduced as a human.

In this episode the helm and navigation station console was used for the transporter room console. In future episodes a dedicated station would be built with the iconic sliding controls and centrally located, hooded beam-down coordinate selection screen.

The sickbay in this episode uses conventional sheets on the beds; later episodes used the more “futuristic” metallic weave materials. The “bio-probe”, located under the medical monitor panel, pointed to and monitored the physiological functions of the patient. It was a simple rod, later replaced with the more detailed, internally-lit acrylic set piece.

The phaser rifle prop only appears in this episode.