Day 6. Happier times between Shatner and Doohan (Courtesy of Gerald Gurian)
Stewart Moss said, “I don’t remember my part as ‘scary,’ but I didn’t have to do all the things that Bruce did. I mean, Bruce singing ‘Take Me Home Again, Kathleen’ for hours on end. I thought he was wonderful. I thought it was hysterical.... I think he stole the episode in spite of everyone getting to ‘chew the scenery.’” (122-3)
After Hyde’s emotional performance, it was Nimoy’s turn to try hitting all the right emotional notes. Last up that day: his breakdown in the briefing room.
Nimoy recalled how Roddenberry and two of his production assistants came to the set to let it be known by their “silent, ominous presences” that the clock was being strictly watched and the scene had to be finished by 6:18 p.m. -- the preferred “wrap time,” allowing the fast-moving camera crew to store away equipment, wrap up the cables and make room for the electricians to turn off the lights, all before overtime kicked in at 6:31. With this pressure, Nimoy recalled that he and Daniels had only one take to get it right.
“The clock ticked and the cameras rolled,” Nimoy remembered, “and through some miracle or magic, the scene went as planned. We got a lovely take the first time out and, at precisely 6:18 p.m., we wrapped.” (128-3)
It was a perfect take. But, contrary to Nimoy’s recollection, the company wrapped his scene at 7:25 p.m., not 6:18. And this explains why Roddenberry and perhaps Robert Justman and Greg Peters were there, watching their watches.
The final shots from Monday, July 11, finished up the work in the briefing room, and this included the dramatic confrontation of Spock by Kirk, and the Captain’s anguished admission of his obsessed love of a “she” called Enterprise. Daniels wrapped production at 1 p.m., and then, following a 60-minute lunch break, director Lawrence Dobkin took over to begin filming “Charlie X.”
Post-Production
July 12 through September 19, 1966.
Music score recorded on August 31, 1966.
As with “The Man Trap,” even after the filming was over, the rewriting was not. Revised script pages dated August 11 were needed to add in additional Captain’s log entries. In this early period of the series’ development, the creative staff worried that the Captain’s log might become tiresome if overused and therefore mandated that it be utilized sparingly in the scripts. This line of thinking soon changed, due first to the needs of the editors, then to please the viewing audience once the series hit the air and viewer feedback began arriving -by the sackfuls.
The editor who requested the additional log entries was Bruce Schoengarth, with Team #2, on their second assignment, following “Mudd’s Women.”
Alexander Courage scored his fourth episode with “The Naked Time,” this time jettisoning the sci-fi feel of the music for “The Man Trap.” This new score, along with those being written by Fred Steiner, were instrumental in setting the tone for the series: action/adventure laced with romance and mystery. Lighter moments are also present, including a hint of an Irish melody for Lt. Riley, and a nod toward swashbuckling fanfare for Sulu. The best is saved for last, which the exciting music for the Enterprise’s journey back through time provides.
The Howard Anderson Company handled the optical effects, including the planet spinning round and round on the bridge viewing screen, and that wild star journey back through time. But, due to a delivery deadline (this was the fourth episode to air), there was no time left to add in a phaser beam as Scotty burns through the bulkhead outside Engineering.
Because this was primarily a bottle show, the final cost of “The Naked Time” was kept to $174,269 ($1.3 million in 2013).
Release / Reaction
Premiere air date: September 29, 1966. NBC repeat broadcast: April 27, 1967.
RATINGS / Nielsen 30-Market report for Thursday, Sept. 29, 1966:
Star Trek again won its time slot. More significant than beating My Three Sons and The Tammy Grimes Show at 8:30 p.m. was the victory at 9:00 over Bewitched and The CBS Thursday Night Movie. Bewitched came in third, just under the television premiere of By Love Possessed, starring Lana Turner, Jason Robards Jr., Efrem Zimbalist Jr., and George Hamilton.
Immediately following the first broadcast of “The Naked Time,” Leonard Nimoy knew that this episode had an enormous effect on both the show’s popularity and Spock’s appeal. In 1968 he told a reporter, “Within two weeks after that show, my mail jumped from a few hundred letters to 10,000 a week. That scene got to a lot of people, and I knew what I had to play in the scripts that followed -- it solidified everything. I knew that we were not playing a man with no emotions, but a man who had great pride, who had learned to control his emotions and who would deny that he knew what emotions were. In a way, he was more human than anyone else on the ship.” (128-17)
Star Trek’s ratings remained strong through the repeat season, as further demonstrated by the second airing of this episode.
RATINGS / Nielsen 30-Market report for Thursday, April 27, 1967:
With the repeat of “The Naked Time,” Bewitched grabbed the No. 1 spot at 8:30, but with less than a half ratings point lead over Star Trek. My Three Sons, still considered a hit at CBS and with many more seasons ahead of it, was a weak third. At 9 p.m., the winner was The CBS Thursday Night Movie with the television premiere of 1963's Toys in the Attic, starring Dean Martin and Geraldine Page, but Star Trek’s audience remained loyal and kept the repeat of “The Naked Time” in second place. That Girl, in its first of five seasons on ABC, settled for third.
From the Mailbag
Dated October 6, 1966, the week after the first airing of “The Naked Time”:
Dear Mr. Roddenberry... to begin with, I must say I enjoy your television program Star Trek, but I have one complaint. All of the episodes are exciting. I suppose that isn’t really too bad, but if all the episodes are exciting, and there are no dull ones, the exciting ones start to become dull, and people stop watching. I wouldn’t want that to happen. I want the show to go on for maybe 12 or 15 seasons but, if you use up all the good plots on the first season, it just can’t last. Anonymous.
Memories
Bruce Hyde recalled, “It was a strange experience, being one of the first times I’d seen myself on film. At this point most of my acting experience was on the stage. So the Star Trek episodes were almost the first things I’d done that were actually going to be televised. This prospect would have excited me regardless of the role. It also scared me because of my inexperience.... I think what seemed unusual was the whole idea of doing sci-fi on TV. At this point TV sci-fi had been confined almost entirely to children’s shows. So it wasn’t a genre into which adult TV had ventured much.” (88-4)
Stewart Moss said, “A few days after ‘The Naked Time’ aired, I got a note in the mail from the writer John D.F. Black, thanking me for making him look good. That was a first and a last for me. I was worried about my performance because I had some dialogue that was a little much. I had asked Marc to make sure I didn't get too big. He assured me I was believable. Yet the note from John was very much appreciated.” (122-3)
John Black said, “Stewart was marvelous. He’s a fine actor. He was and I think he always stayed that way. He certainly deserved a note from me. An actor like that deserves a lot of notes of praise. He gave that role everything he had and everything it needed.” (17)
Grace Lee Whitney remembered the excitement, both in making Star Trek and in watching it. She said, “If you could have seen us when we saw us -- when we saw the dailies after the first few shoots. I was so blown away; I couldn’t imagine that we were so good together. All of us were so good together -- the crew and the cast. That’s what made the show, the interaction between the crew and the actors -- the chemistry. It was rollin’, let me tell you.” (183-6)
Shatner gets his revenge in this posed publicity shot (Courtesy of Gerald Gurian)
Roddenberry said, “That was an important show, and another way of establishing who our people are. We had Jerry�
��s story [‘The Corbomite Maneuver’], how people reveal certain things about themselves when under pressure. They also do that when under the influence. So, a device like that, it’s a good way to strip away a lot of things, show who is really in there. And much of that, what we were able to do there, comes back. What we learn about our Captain, and Mr. Spock and some of the others, is now part of the series. You don’t lose sight of those character traits as you move forward.” (145-12)
Aftermath
“The Naked Time” almost gave us double the nakedness -- it was actually intended to be a two-part episode. As presented, up until the final few minutes, we see Part 1. Part 2 was to deal with the Enterprise traveling back in time. That chapter of the story would have to wait (see “The Story Behind the Story” of “Tomorrow Is Yesterday”).
This episode worked so well, in fact, that Roddenberry wanted to do a sequel. A treatment was written in May 1967 before the start of the second season, then it was put aside for 20 years -- eventually becoming “The Naked Now” for Star Trek: the Next Generation.
The “formula” used to jump-start the engines of the Enterprise and send the ship hurtling back in time was used again too, as Kirk foreshadows with the line: “One day we may risk it.” That day would come, in Season Two’s “Assignment: Earth.”
George Takei named “The Naked Time” his favorite Star Trek episode. Gene Roddenberry put it on a list of his Top 10. William Shatner considered it to be “one terrific episode.”
The sci-fi community agreed and this episode was nominated for a Hugo Award in 1967. The category was Best Filmed Science Fiction. This was the second Star Trek episode from Season One to receive a nomination -- the other being “The Corbomite Maneuver.” And there would be a third (the winner will be revealed in a later chapter).
13
Episode 7: CHARLIE X
Teleplay by D. C. Fontana
Story by Gene Roddenberry
Directed by Lawrence Dobkin
Robert Walker, Jr. and Grace Lee Whitney in NBC publicity photo (Courtesy of Gerald Gurian)
From the October 10, 1966, issue of TV Guide:
“Charlie X.” Spock is suspicious of Charlie Evans. The 17-year-old says he was the sole survivor of a spaceship crash when he was three -and that he managed to live completely on his own.
Charlie has a secret -- and a power. The awkward, shy teen may already be responsible for the destruction of a rescue ship and the deaths of its crew. Is the crew of the Enterprise next?
As with most Star Treks, the beast is Man himself, fueled by his inherent weaknesses. Corruption of power, already examined in “Where No Man Has Gone Before,” is back with a twist: beware a god who is going through puberty.
SOUND BITES
- Charlie, to Yeoman Rand: “The other girls on this ship... they all look like Tina.... You’re the only one that looks like you. If I had the whole universe, I’d give it to you. When I see you... I feel like I’m hungry all over.”
- Kirk, to McCoy, about Charlie: “He's a boy in a man's body, trying to be an adult with the adolescent in him getting in the way.”
- Charlie, to Kirk: “Everything I do or say is wrong. I’m in the way... I don’t know the rules... I don’t know what I am or what I’m supposed to be... and I don’t know why I hurt so much inside all the time.... It’s like I’m wearing my insides outside!”
- Kirk: “Charlie, there are a million things in the universe that you can have... and another million things you can’t have. There’s no fun in facing that... but that’s how things are.” Charlie: “Then what am I going to do?” Kirk: “Hang on tight and survive. Everybody has to.” Charlie: “You don’t.” Kirk: “Everybody, Charlie... me too.”
- Charlie, to Kirk, after Janice Rand vanishes: “Growing up isn’t so much. I’m not a man and I can do anything! You can’t.”
ASSESSMENT
A near perfect episode, “Charlie X” is a harmonious collaboration between Dorothy Fontana and Gene Roddenberry (his idea, her script, his script polish). The story relates the anxieties of adolescence in ways seldom achieved in film or television. At its core, and with its conclusion, this is a tragedy. Nothing conveys this more than Charlie’s final moment, as the Thasians return to claim him and he pleads, “Please don’t let them take me. I can’t even touch them! They don’t care... not about anything.... They don’t love anybody. Please... I want to stay... stay... stay...”
This story reveals what can happen when power is placed into the hands of an emotionally immature person. Charlie is a victim of his upbringing. Blame his foster parents -- the Thasians.
THE STORY BEHIND THE STORY
Script Timeline
Gene Roddenberry’s story premise in Star Trek series proposal: March 11, 1964.
Roddenberry’s story outline, “Charlie Is God”: April 23, 1964.
Roddenberry’s revised story outline: August 28, 1964.
Roddenberry’s updated story outline (with new ship crew members), now called “Charlie X”: April 14. 1966.
Roddenberry’s revised outline: April 23, 1966.
D. C. Fontana’s outline, based on Roddenberry’s story, ST #21: April 27, 1966.
Fontana’s revised outline, gratis: May 9, 1966.
Fontana’s 1st Draft teleplay: June 6, 1966.
Fontana’s 2nd Draft teleplay: June 27, 1966.
Mimeo Department reformatted “Yellow Cover 1st Draft” script: June 30, 1966.
Gene Roddenberry’s script polish (Final Draft teleplay): July 5, 1966.
Additional page revisions by Roddenberry: July 11 & 13, 1966.
The kernel of “Charlie X” first appeared as a single paragraph in Roddenberry’s 1964 Star Trek series’ proposal. The title then: “The Day Charlie Became God.” Roddenberry expanded on his idea for a story treatment, with the shorter title “Charlie Is God.” The theme of the story would become familiar to fans of Star Trek -- that of absolute power corrupting absolutely. What made it unique was the story’s unusual villain.
Roddenberry said, “We didn’t tell conventional monster stories. The alien creatures who posed a threat to our people had reasons behind their actions. Well, teenagers have reasons for what they do, too. The danger there is that they are like a sort of volatile mix of ignorance and arrogance -- and insecurity -- like putting certain chemicals together and suddenly you have a highly unstable explosive.
“Children have a lack of morality in that morality is primarily a learned behavior. That’s not to say children don’t process traces of humanitarianism, but, for the most part, they have to be taught [right from wrong]. We are inherently reckless when we’re young and not able to fully empathize with others -- people or animals or any living thing. Now you take an inexperienced person like that and give him the ability to ‘think’ someone out of existence and you have a real danger. You run the risk that if you reject this immature person -- deny him what he wants, tell him he’s wrong about something, provoke him in any way -- he will more than likely use that power. Seeing it this way, if you’re going to tell what some may call a monster story, what better [antagonist] than a teenager?” (145-12)
In a pair of story outlines written in April, 1966, utilizing the new cast of Star Trek, Roddenberry shortened the title of his unconventional monster tale to “Charlie X.”
“You remember in the westerns,” he explained, “and someone would say, ‘Make your mark here.’ And the prospector or ranch hand draws his ‘X.’ And you understood he had no formal education. Well, I think we explained it that Charlie learned to talk from playing back taped recordings on the wrecked ship. That’s the way he explained it, anyway. But you have to wonder who would have taught him to read and write? The ‘Charlie Is God’ title gave too much away. Changing that to ‘Charlie X’ only told us that he is uneducated -- and uneducated at many things, [like] understanding people, knowing how to fit in, knowing how to control his temper.” (145-12)
Roddenberry abandoned the concept after deciding it lack
ed the action/adventure elements NBC was looking for in each episode.
Dorothy Fontana, Roddenberry’s 27-year-old secretary and part-time writer with a half dozen screen credits, felt differently and asked for a chance to develop the story. She found it easy to relate to the character of Charlie Evans, saying, “I had two teenage brothers at the time. I think it was an unconscious tapping of that, ‘What would a teenager do?’ I was kind of aware of the things that were frustrating them; things that were driving them.” (64-2)
But Charlie Evans didn’t have a normal upbringing, and his teenage angst was also beyond the norm. Fontana added, “Here’s this kid who hasn’t had any exposure to other humans, and I felt that this incredible humanity shock to him is a little like growing up. You’re a child, then, suddenly, you’re considered an adult. Plus you’re starting to really appreciate but not understand the other sex. And he had not built up to that, where, at least, your average human child has had other human companionship, someone to talk to, someone they felt they could go to, whether it be a teacher or a parent or whatever. Charlie had none of that. So everything that landed on Charlie landed with both feet all at once. And he had no way to know how to deal with it, except to react in the way he was taught to survive.” (64-1)
It was this deep understanding of the character that helped Fontana’s story and script stand out. Charlie Evans, with all the terrible things he was capable of, was a character we cared about. Even with all the sci-fi tricks that surrounded him, the character never stopped being believable. And we believed that those on the Enterprise could both fear him and feel compassion for him.
Fontana’s version, told in a story outline, was delivered to her bosses on April 27. Robert Justman wrote Roddenberry:
A very good treatment. Clean, straight and to the point with interesting character development.... I really think it is fine. (RJ7-1)
These Are The Voyages, TOS, Season One Page 37
