These Are The Voyages, TOS, Season One

by Cushman, Marc

  Justman, who already had too much on his plate, declined. So Roddenberry had John Black do a polish. Of this, Black later said, “I remember that one was tough. We were dealing with the Romulans and the Spock relationship to them, and that was something that needed very special handling.” (17-4)

  After reading Black’s script polish (the Mimeo Department Yellow Cover Draft from June 21), Stan Robertson wrote Roddenberry:

  From a purely dramatic stand point, this may possibly be the classiest of the scripts we have received to date. It is very reminiscent of some of the classic “formulas” which have been guide points for those concerned with the art of creative writing, such as The Enemy Below. Particularly are the “humanistic aspects” of our protagonists, antagonists, and minor characters developed superbly in the script. The quality of Mr. Spock, Kirk’s strength in the face of this quandary, the antagonism of Styles [sic] and his heroic death [he would live in the final draft], the warm “G.I. Joe” type relationship between the young crewmen and the scarred veteran [later dropped], and the poignant, bittersweet story of the newly-weds, are all excellent touches. (SR8-2)

  Robertson did have critical notes, as well. His memo continued:

  Our concern, Gene, as mentioned to you on the telephone today, does not at this stage involve the dramatic elements. They are all there. What we would question at this point would be the pacing and setting. 1) Pacing. Although this is a highly dramatic script, it appears that it is very slow in getting started and moving into the real meat of our story…. Again, as has been one of our continuing points of criticism, it seems as though the usage and interest in the gadgetry aboard the Enterprise stands in the way of story-telling. In short, our plot is made stationary [rather] than mobile at this point. 2) Setting. Another subject which has taken up a great deal of our discussions is our feeling that we do ourselves no good… by beginning each of our stories on board the Enterprise…. The need to move away from the ship as much as possible, doing stories which will be set on planets.… Since the action in this story takes place either on the Enterprise or on the Romulan spaceship, a suggestion would be that we begin our story with an attack by the Romulan vessel on station 4203. This would seem to us to serve several purposes. Among them would be that it would give us a different and exciting opening, which should be a great audience hook. Further, having this set up the Romulans, it would seem that what follows should be more powerful and meaningful. (SR8-2)

  And then, as with the scripts to the seven episodes produced prior to this, Roddenberry did a rewrite of his own.

  “Gene rewrote everything,” said Justman. “But the original writers got the credit.” (94-6)

  Schneider appreciated the credit, but said, “It’s painful to watch my stuff on TV. About the only thing I recognize is my name.” (154)

  One of the many changes Roddenberry made was with the dialogue Schneider wrote for that “Kirk-McCoy stateroom scene.” As written, it was too obvious, with Kirk saying, “I’m a Starship Captain. This is a decision for diplomats, not one man! How can I decide if we risk starting a war -- risk millions of lives?” Roddenberry preferred the less direct approach, having Kirk tell McCoy, “I wish I was on a long sea voyage somewhere. Not too much deck tennis, no frantic dancing. And no responsibility.” Then, after a pause, he asks, “Why me, Bones?”

  Pre-Production

  July 12-15 and July 18-19, 1966 (6 days prep).

  Vincent McEveety was hired to direct. His resume included multiple episodes of Rawhide, Branded, and Gunsmoke. For the latter, he directed a whopping 45 episodes between 1965 and 1975. In 1959, he won the DGA Award (Directors Guild of America) for his direction of “The Scarface Mob,” the pilot for The Untouchables. Roddenberry knew McEveety well -- he’d directed five episodes of The Lieutenant.

  Regarding the preparation McEveety was given for this strange new series which hadn’t even hit the air yet, he said, “They showed me the pilot, and I had a little advantage of seeing the sketches and some additional film they’d already shot with the miniature of the ship itself, and some effects that they had. They talked about it being like The Enemy Below while they were developing it, so that gave me a clear idea as to the approach. Other than technical aspects, the bridge of the space ship and one on a destroyer were not that different, any more than the enemy vessel and a submarine were that different. And racial bigotry is the same, whether it’s a white military man in, say, Vietnam, not trusting a colleague of Asian descent or an Earth man not trusting a shipmate with pointed ears. It’s the human aspects of the story that we relate to.” (117-4)

  Paul Comi in “The Odyssey of Flight 33,” one of three trips into The Twilight Zone

  Paul Comi, a prominent guest performer in this episode, considered McEveety to be “a very underrated director,” adding, “He doesn’t give you a whole lot of direction because he believes in you. He helps you find your own talent and gives you the confidence to find the answers within you.” (35)

  Comi, cast as Navigator Stiles, was 39. He worked often in TV, with multiple appearances on series such as The Wild, Wild West, The Virginian, 12 O’clock High, and The Twilight Zone. For the latter, he appeared in “People Are All Alike” with Susan Oliver (Vina, from “The Cage”). Prior to Star Trek, he played Deputy Johnny Evans for one season on the western Two Faces West. He had also worked for Gene Roddenberry, twice.

  “Vincent McEveety was the one who called me in for that role,” Comi said. “He had been an assistant director on an Untouchables episode I was in. Then directed me in an episode of The Lieutenant. He also cast me in a half-hour pilot Roddenberry had written [“Police Story”] as a somewhat retarded kid in a red cap who was working on the roofs of buildings and was mistaken for a shooter who also wore a red cap.” (35-1)

  McEveety also directed Comi in several episodes of Rawhide where the actor had a reoccurring role as a cowboy named Yo-Yo. The director knew that Comi had great range as a performer.

  John Warburton, Lawrence Montaigne (in helmet) and Mark Lenard (Unaired film trim courtesy of Gerald Gurian)

  “It was McEveety who contacted my agent about doing Star Trek. But Roddenberry didn’t think I would be right because he’d seen me play the retarded character. He said, ‘I don’t think he’s strong enough to play Stiles.’ And McEveety said, ‘You don’t know Paul.’ So they arranged for me to meet Roddenberry. And he was really a lovely man. He was fantastic. We talked about writing, because I had written a sort of comedy super-hero script with a friend of mine from college. Roddenberry read it and told me he had never laughed so hard in his life. And that’s how I got the job.” (35-1)

  Mark Lenard was 41 when he stepped into Star Trek to play the Romulan Commander. Beginning in television in 1959 as a cast member in a pair of daytime soaps --Search for Tomorrow, followed by Another World -- he soon moved into prime time for guest spots on numerous network series, often as villains.

  McEveety said, “I liked Mark. He’s a classic kind of heavy. He could do anything, I think, any kind of major heavy role, Shakespeare or anything like that. I think he was excellent for that part.” (117-4)

  This was the first of many Star Treks for Lenard, even though the character he plays meets with a tragic but honorable end. He would appear next as Sarek in the classic second season entry, “Journey to Babel.”

  Lawrence Montaigne, playing the Romulan war hawk Decius, was 35. He worked often in front of the camera in character parts, and in much bigger parts than seen here. He was POW Hayes in charge of “Diversions” in The Great Escape. On TV series, he was featured well in episodes of Dr. Kildare, The F.B.I. and The Fugitive. He also appeared in “Cold Hands, Warm Heart,” an episode of The Outer Limits, starring William Shatner and future Star Trek guest player Malachi Throne.

  “When I went in for the audition with Roddenberry, I actually read for the part of the Commander,” Montaigne recalled. “When I got home, my agent called and said, ‘You didn’t get the part, but they want you to play Decius.’ Well,
who the hell knew what that was? He says, ‘He’s the bad guy or something; but Mark Lenard is cast as the Commander.’ Well, Mark and I had just finished a show together and I thought it would be a lot of fun to work with Mark again, because he was a great guy. And that’s why I took the smaller role -because of Mark Lenard.” (119a)

  Montaigne would return to Star Trek, again wearing pointed ears, for the second season award-nominated “Amok Time.”

  Stephen Mines played Tomlinson, the weapons officer whose marriage is interrupted by the Romulan attack on an Earth outpost. He was a regular in a pair of daytime soaps right before this (Paradise Bay and Days of Our Lives) and a third (As the World Turns) immediately after.

  Barbara Baldavin, the bride-to-be, would do better than her intended groom. She lived through the battle and returned to Star Trek in “Shore Leave” and “Turnabout Intruder.” In real life, Baldavin was married to Joe D’Agosta, Star Trek’s head of casting.

  D’Agosta said, “I never used my position to force her on anybody. In fact, just the opposite; I always resisted casting Barbara. But all of my producer and director friends, including Gene and Bruce [Geller], always encouraged me to hire her. All of these producers and directors seemed to have wives who were a little on the straight side, kinda just upright-types. Barbara was playful and sexy and fun. She was a guy’s gal. So I’d make suggestions for parts, and they’d say, ‘What about Barbara?’ And I’d say, ‘Look, are you sure you don’t want to hire this one over here?’ They’d say, ‘No, let’s just get Barbara.’

  “She’s held it against me to this day, saying, ‘You always resisted hiring me!’ And it’s true, I suppose. It was always my producer friends who got her the jobs. In fact, Gene Roddenberry had a little crush on her. Just like mine with Sherry Jackson [who would appear in the upcoming ‘What Are Little Girls Made Of?’].” (43-4)

  Sean Morgan, seen here as one of the crew members in the phaser control room, made his first of five appearances in Star Trek. He remembered, “Joe [D’Agosta] and his wife Barbara; we were all college mates together. I had done a whole bunch of stage work, as Joe had. So he had cast me in several shows he was working on, and Star Trek was just a natural thing to go in to.” (120b)

  Gary Walberg as Commander Hansen on Outpost 4 (Lincoln Enterprises film trim courtesy of Gerald Gurian)

  John Warburton was 66 when he played The Centurion. His film and TV career spanned 1932 through 1978, including the hits King Rat, Funny Girl, and Charlie Chan’s Greatest Case. On TV, he appeared 18 times on Fireside Theatre and dropped in eight times for Judge Roy Bean. The same year as his appearance in this Star Trek, he was featured prominently in The Wild Wild West episode “The Night of the Brain.”

  Gary Walberg played the doomed officer on Outpost 4. The prolific actor had hundreds of TV and film credits spanning the 1950s, ‘60s, ’70s, and ‘80s. Surrounding the filming of this episode of Star Trek, from 1965 through 1968, he was a regular on the primetime soap Peyton Place as Sgt. Edward Goddard. From 1970 through 1974, he played Speed, one of Oscar’s and Felix’s poker playing buddies on The Odd Couple, and, from 1976 through 1983, he appeared in 145 episodes of Quincy, M.E. as Lt. Frank Monahan.

  McCoy continued to be well utilized by the writers. This was his seventh appearance in the series. His contract had been fulfilled. The next script to come down the chute had already been circulated to cast and crew and the character of McCoy was not present. DeForest Kelley, whose wife had said that seven episodes would pay the mortgage for a year, had no way of knowing if there would be seven more. Or even one more. They soon found there was no cause to worry.

  Production Diary

  Filmed July 20, 21, 22, 25, 26, 27 & 28 (1/2 day), 1966

  (Planned as 6 day production; finished 1/2 day over; total cost: $236,150).

  Frank Sinatra had the top selling record album in America with Strangers in the Night. At No. 2, The Beatles were breathing down Old Blue Eyes’ neck with Yesterday… and Today. “Hanky Panky” by Tommy James and the Shondells remained the most played song on the radio. The Red Skelton Hour was normally the most watched Tuesday night TV show in the nation but, on this night, before the Wednesday morning production start on “Balance of Terror,” the Skelton Hour was preempted by a variety special called “Hippodrome,” where host “funny man” Woody Allen presented the dancing Kessler Twins, comedienne Libby Morris, a diversity of circus acts, including the aerialists Flying Armours, the motorcyclists Olaffs, magician Michael Allport and Jennifer, a boxing kangaroo, and, for the teenagers, vocal group Freddie and the Dreamers. On the news, and after a race riot in Cleveland, Ohio, Governor James Rhodes declared a state of emergency. And 50-year old Frank Sinatra, celebrating that top selling album, married 21-year old Mia Farrow. Oh, and American astronomer Carl Sagan turned 1000 billion seconds old.

  Paul Comi, Eddie Paskey and George Takei (Lincoln Enterprises film trim courtesy Gerald Gurian)

  For the second episode in a row, only Stage 9 was needed. New sets included the weapons room (a modification of engineering), a control room on the Earth outpost, the Romulan bridge, and a wedding chapel (a make-over of the briefing room).

  Filming began Wednesday, July 20, 1966. The first four days, the company stayed on the bridge.

  Paul Comi, present at the helm for this portion of the filming, expressed admiration of all three of Star Trek’s leads, saying, “My main impression of Leonard Nimoy was how serious he was. I almost got the feeling he already knew what was going to happen with Star Trek.” (35)

  McEveety had the same impression, saying, “Leonard was a very good actor but, literally, no sense of humor. He was always in character. I got the impression he was always unhappy, too. I don’t know why. I mean, once in a while he was pleasant, if the spirit moved him, but he couldn’t just come on the set with a pleasant attitude. Bill [Shatner], on the other hand, always did, even though nobody would laugh at his jokes. He knew they weren’t that funny, so he made fun of himself. It was that kind of thing. He’s one of the few actors who may be full of himself -- because most of them are -- but has a sense of humor about it. You could tease him about it. And plenty of laughs… he’s generally quite funny.

  “I just think Bill’s very enjoyable to work with and I liked him a lot. And yet when he got into character, he’s as good as any actor around. Bill’s a very, very, very good actor. And he’s a gentleman; a total professional, there’s no question about it. I never had any problem about that at all. And I think his best work, actually, with all the work I did with him over the years, was from Star Trek.” (117-4)

  Comi said, “William Shatner was much looser [than Nimoy]. He’s very methodical in his acting style. His technique is visible when he acts, bringing a certain style to his work.... I was impressed with [DeForest Kelley’s] portrayal of ‘Bones.’ His character is really one of the wonderful ones in Star Trek. The chemistry created by the three stars is attributable for much of Star Trek’s success. It was a brilliant job of casting.” (35)

  Grace Lee Whitney remembered this “bottle show” as being structured very much like a sci-fi stage play. She also acknowledged the importance of good chemistry between talented actors and the importance of a good captain. She said, “Bill was a rock. We bounced off him; everybody bounced off him. When I did a scene with Bill, I was compelled to be a good actor…. There was no way I could be bad if I was in a scene with Bill Shatner.” (183-6)

  McEveety shot until 6:50 the first day; 6:55 the second; 6:45 on the third. More than half the episode took place on the bridge. The company was on schedule.

  Barbara Baldavin knocked to the floor in the phaser control room (Lincoln Enterprise film trim courtesy of Gerald Gurian)

  Day 4, Monday, July 25. A few last shots on the bridge were taken, and then the company moved to the ship’s chapel and phaser room. Sean Morgan, assigned to work in the phaser room, remembered his first impression of Stage 9, saying, “When I walked onto the set, I thought, ‘My God, this is spectacular.�
� I mean, the size of it and all the gizmos and the flashing lights. At the time, it was really something. You did have a feeling -- at least I did, when I walked on there -- that I had somehow left Los Angeles, at least for a few hours, and I was somewhere else. You could obviously tell that there was a lot of money spent in comparison to what we were used to doing in television prior to that.” (120b)

  Actors usually enjoy performing in death scenes. Stephen Mines, who played Tomlinson, had a different reaction, as the set filled with the colored gas that would take the life of his character. He said, “It was a terrible red powder that they fluffed into the air, and it damn near did kill me. It was very irritating and I could barely breathe. It stayed in my lungs for days afterward. It was probably something very innocuous, but I was coughing up pink and red stuff for a while.” (119aa)

  Camera rolled until 7:30.

  Day 5, Tuesday. Filming took place in Kirk’s quarters, the briefing room, sickbay and the ship’s corridors. Also filmed, and still on Stage 9, was a section of the Enterprise dressed to appear as the blown apart communications center of Outpost 4. Jim Rugg gave the room a workout with plenty of sparks and smoke.

  McEveety covered a great deal of ground, cutting camera at 7:20.

  Day 6. Romulans through “Coke bottle” lenses (Courtesy of Gerald Gurian)

  Day 6, Wednesday, July 27. The morning hours were spent filming in McCoy’s office, and then the company moved to another section of Stage 9 where the Romulan bridge had been built.

  Of the Romulan Bird-of-Prey’s lighting and filming, Jerry Finnerman said, “Well, that was something. I have to tell you, when I left Warner Brothers, they gave me an old set of film filters that Ernie Haller had. Ernie Haller was a famous Cinematographer, like Gone with the Wind [and “Where No Man Has Gone Before”]. And you’d look through these filters and you couldn’t see anything. Some of them looked like Coke bottles. I mean, they were curved and oblique.... And, on this particular episode, I put in so much color on the Klingons [sic] that I figured, ‘Well, let’s do something different; let’s put these filters in.... And you’d look through the lens and you’d swear they were out of focus. But I knew Ernie Haller had used them, so they couldn’t have been out of focus.... But they were pretty diffused. And it really gave it a weird look.” (63-3)