These Are The Voyages, TOS, Season One

by Cushman, Marc

  Justman’s reaction to the rewrite, again sent to John D.F. Black with “cc” to Roddenberry began on a deceptively good note. He said:

  I think this screenplay is greatly improved over the previous draft…. Taking that as a blatant judgment, I will now get down to quite a few points which I think need correction in this version. (RJ13-3)

  Those few points took five pages to convey. Some examples:

  On page 19, Spock establishes the fact that they have ample food, water, and medical supplies for an indefinite stay. Why do they have this? And why do we have to make a point of it? Wouldn’t it be better to establish the fact that we don’t have enough for an indefinite stay?... On here, Spock and Butler follow Swan’s tracks to the edge of a deep crevice in the earth. It’s going to be difficult for us to show a deep crevice in the earth. But it might be very effective for them to find Swan’s body impaled with one of those big old spears.... On here, we see the Galileo explode. I sure would like to avoid doing this. (RJ13-3)

  The biggest challenge in realizing this episode remained in the making of the Galileo. Roddenberry had reluctantly done without a shuttlecraft for “The Enemy Within” but this new script, and the upcoming one for “The Menagerie,” could not be produced without this essential -- and expensive -- “prop.” Yet Desilu said no. Work on the script abruptly stopped and remained stalled for over two months. Then opportunity knocked.

  In July, NBC had begun to run on-air previews of its new series for the fall. Glimpses of the magnificent Enterprise, as seen in the two pilot films, were now being beamed across America. Among those who caught sight of the unusual starship were the heads of AMT Corporation, a model kit manufacturer. Even though Star Trek had yet to premiere and there was no way of knowing whether it would last beyond 16 episodes, AMT wanted in.

  Specialty car designer Gene Winfield, who helped make the Galileo, recalled, “When Desilu needed a shuttle, and AMT wanted the kit contract [for the Enterprise], they made a deal where AMT built and supplied the shuttle free to the series.” (188)

  The deal was closed on August 1, 1966, having been negotiated between Ed Perlstein of Desilu and Don Beebe of AMT. That same day, Robert Justman sent a memo to Roddenberry, saying:

  [Perlstein] has made what I consider a very advantageous deal and has accomplished this at a time when everyone thought all was lost. (RJ13-4)

  AMT got the exclusive model kit rights for the starship Enterprise in exchange for providing two full-sized shuttlecrafts, one for exterior filming and a second for the interior shots, plus a miniature of the shuttle to be used for creating the photographic effects.

  Roddenberry turned his attention back to the script. It was felt Crawford’s simplistic handling of the material was not making the most of the underlying plot. It was also felt Crawford’s agent would rightfully want additional money for his client doing additional rewrites. A decision was made: If additional money were to be paid, someone other than Crawford should make the changes.

  Shimon Wincelberg, having impressed Roddenberry with his initial handling of “Dagger of the Mind,” was paid to add needed depth to the story. Crawford shrugged it off, saying, “They probably felt that I had run dry on the idea and came as far as I could.” (42-2)

  John D.F. Black later said, “Oliver Crawford was like Barry Trivers. His scripts were about half there. That’s fair. And true. We had a lot of problems with his script. And they continued to have a lot of problems after I left.” (17)

  Wincelberg turned in his version of “Galileo Seven” on August 18, ten days after Gene Coon came on as Star Trek’s new front line producer. New in the script: High Commissioner Ferris, pestering Kirk to abandon the search for Spock and the crew of six. Also added: Yeoman Janice Rand, replacing “Yeoman Butler” as one of those six. Wincelberg also came up with the character names of Latimer, Boma, and Gaetano, taking away Finney, Guines, and Swan.

  Stan Robertson remained supportive, writing:

  I like the idea of introducing Commissioner Ferris into the story. It gives us a link with Earth and the fact that there is a higher body to which Captain Kirk is responsible. (SR13-2)

  Days after Wincelberg’s script arrived, Justman directed his memo to Roddenberry, not the newly-instated Coon, saying:

  Have just finished reading Shimon Wincelberg’s rewrite on “The Galileo Seven.”... I am a little concerned about characterization in this show -especially the characterization of regular performers such as Mr. Spock. They don’t ring true. (RJ13-5)

  Justman had many other issues, among which, to no big surprise, were monetary concerns. He wrote:

  In adding much excitement to this show, Shimon has also added many, many dollars. (RJ13-5)

  After digesting Justman’s eight pages of critical notes, Roddenberry told Coon:

  Agree this is an improvement over Oliver Crawford’s in some areas -- in other areas I am quite disappointed. Suggest we should immediately decide whether to get some more work out of Wincelberg on this or to go into immediate rewrite of this ourselves. Most disappointing is that we have not developed a truly personal story of strong and believable conflicts between individuals. We had hoped that this might become a story of Mister Spock, always second in command in the past, getting full command here. Thus, this was to have been a story of Spock attempting now to apply cool and precise logic to a command situation. (GR13-3)

  So far, on an emotional level, it wasn’t coming across that way. A few days later, Roddenberry again wrote to Coon, saying:

  The three of us [including Justman] should sit down and get together on whether or not we can show the denizens or a denizen of this planet somewhere along the line. Dorothy had a suggestion about how Bob [Justman] once used seven-foot basketball players in another show for a similar premise and I thought it’s worth discussions here, if only the use of one of them so that the audience will not feel cheated. (GR13-4)

  Surprisingly, no draft of the script had yet called for the giant humanoid creatures to be seen. Only their giant spears gave indication as to their size.

  To “meet budget,” Roddenberry mandated that any “scenes involving transporter room, elevator and other sets will be deleted from script.” (GR13-4)

  Steven Carabatsos was given the task of polishing Wincelberg’s script. He completed his script on August 31, constituting the Mimeo Department’s Yellow Cover First Draft. Roddenberry rejected it as such and wanted it revised before sending to NBC. His memo the following day, to Coon, Justman and Carabatsos, included:

  - Generally, Kirk is not under a lot of pressure on the Enterprise. Even the presence of Ferris does not create problems for Kirk. He has two days before he has to leave off the search. Let’s put real pressure on Kirk -- cut the time available -- make delivery of medical supplies much more imperative -- put Ferris really on Kirk’s neck -- and make Kirk’s decisions tough ones -- keep him “alive” even when we’re devoting more time to the others…. The “Spock in command and logic not serving him” theme has to be brought out. But Spock can’t be entirely wrong or we wonder whether he is as good an officer as we’ve established. Spock has to come out on top -- logically. And we have to counterpoint with Kirk doing the right things -- emotionally…. Dialogue throughout -- people do not talk this way…. I have a feeling “mists” [atmospheric effects] are going to cause Bob a great deal of pain…. Still cheating the audience when we only tell them, via Janice, the creatures are horrible. We’ll have to face the fact we’ll have to show at least a couple of them. (GR13-5)

  Gene Coon took over the rewriting. His Yellow Cover Revised First Draft was completed on September 13, the third script he had now rewritten (following “Miri” and “The Conscience of the King”). The Grace Lee Whitney departure had since occurred and, with this draft, Janice Rand was replaced with Yeoman Mears. As Coon had done with “The Conscience of the King,” the conflict between McCoy and Spock was amplified. He also injected humor into the story in the only place where it could be added -- at the very end.
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  It was this version that was sent to the network. And the network remained happy. Stan Robertson immediately wrote back, telling Roddenberry, not Coon:

  I personally believe that this is the strongest Star Trek script that we have received to date. It seems to contain the ingredients and elements which we have been striving to interject into our stories since my association with the series. This is an appealing, exciting, action-adventure story with mounting tension, jeopardy, the alluring mystique of outer space, fine development and emotional conflict with a resolve which can only truly be described in trite terms -- it leaves me breathless.... I would strongly suggest that you and your colleagues make every effort to get this script into production as soon as possible so that it can be scheduled, depending naturally upon the filmed results, at the earliest. (SR13-2)

  Another branch of NBC was less enthusiastic. Jean Messerschmidt from Broadcast Standards sent numerous notes. Among them:

  Caution on the makeup used for Spock’s wound as green blood may be somewhat jarring ... [and] …Here and wherever else the creature appears, please use restraint so it is not unnecessarily alarming or gruesome. (NBC-BS13)

  The green blood was so underplayed it never even registered. The creature, however, was shown with too little “restraint” and was considered to be “unnecessarily alarming and gruesome” to Messerschmidt. All shots featuring its face were edited out of the finalized episode before broadcast. And the shot revealing Latimer, lying face down with a giant spear protruding from his back, had to be covered over by additional “mists,” added in post.

  Pre-Production

  Galileo design & construction: August/September, 1966.

  Director’s prep:

  September 14-16 and 19-21, 1966 (6 days).

  Auto designer Thomas Kellogg was asked to realize Matt Jefferies’ plans for the Galileo. Gene Winfield of AMT’s Speed and Custom Division, who had built the futuristic-looking Piranha car for The Man from U.N.C.L.E., led a crew of specialty builders in the construction.

  Building the shuttle craft from AMT in Phoenix, AZ to Desilu Stage 10 (Courtesy of Gerald Gurian)

  The first full-size shuttle, with a hollowed out interior and designed for exterior filming only, was made of plywood and fiberglass set onto a metal base. The second version, built for interior shots, had removable “wild sections” which could be separated, allowing better access for the camera. The work was done in August in Phoenix, Arizona. Coon flew Matt Jefferies out at 7 a.m. on Monday, August 15 to inspect and report back as to the progress of the work. It was an economy flight. Jefferies returned that same afternoon at 4:40 p.m. with a positive report, and was rewarded with a first class ticket home.

  Various versions of the Galileo were delivered to Desilu on September 12. The price tag was double what Matt Jefferies estimated -- $24,000, fully absorbed by AMT ($173,000 in 2013’s economy).

  Richard Datin, who built the Enterprise models, returned to design and build the model for the shuttle flight deck on the Enterprise. This miniature hangar bay was over ten feet long, more than six feet wide and six feet tall. The total cost: $2,100, charged to the episode’s budget.

  But, as with all the miniatures and optical effects photography, money was only half the concern. The other half was time. On September 9, after reading Carabatsos’ polish of Wincelberg’s rewrite of Crawford’s script, Robert Justman finally wrote a memo directed to the series’ new producer, and then proceeded to scold Coon:

  In recent weeks I have been reading scripts and delivering memos with regard to the amount of Miniatures and Optical Effects contained therein. Please believe me when I say I am not trying to damage or cheapen the show by at times plaintively crying for certain effects to be eliminated from our show. Goodness knows, if we had time to get them in, I would be more than happy to go along with everything that we could possibly afford. However, I am going to make a prediction right now. Unless someone starts paying attention to what I say in my memos about Optical Effects, we are going to start missing Air Dates, one right after another. (RJ13-6)

  The need for optical effects was scaled-back to some degree in the September 13 rewrite but, by the very nature and design of this story, Coon could only appease Justman to a point. “The Galileo Seven” would have to be one of the hard ones, and one of the slow ones, even though Stan Robertson was eager to push it forward in the schedule and air on NBC as soon as possible. Star Trek’s 13th produced episode would be its 17th to be broadcast.

  Robert Gist, 42 when hired, was an actor-turned-director thanks to producer Blake Edwards. Gist was cast in the movie Operation Petticoat when he mentioned to Edwards that what he really wanted to do was direct. Edwards gave him that chance, for TV’s Peter Gunn. Other credits included The Naked City and The Twilight Zone. Roddenberry met Gist when the latter directed an episode of The Lieutenant.

  John Crawford, playing High Commissioner Ferris, had appeared with Leonard Nimoy in 1952's Zombies of the Stratosphere and DeForest Kelley in 1956's The Man in the Grey Flannel Suit. Among 100 plus TV credits: Superman, The Lone Ranger, The Twilight Zone, My Favorite Martian, Batman, The Time Tunnel, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Wild, Wild West and, 14 times, no less, on Gunsmoke. His favorite acting job was for Lost in Space, as Dr. Chronos in “Time Merchant,” which he said he “really flipped over.” (41)

  Don Marshall, 30 when hired to play Lt. Boma, had his first big role in TV on Roddenberry’s The Lieutenant with the controversial episode “To Set It Right,” co-starring Dennis Hopper and Nichelle Nichols. With that exposure, he began working often, including multiple appearances on Rawhide, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, and Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre. Then the producers of Daktari wanted Marshall as a regular for the fall of 1966, and this, in an unusual turn, brought him back to Roddenberry.

  “I didn’t want to be a regular on Daktari,” Marshall admitted. “As it turned out, I did three episodes but I really didn’t even want to do one. My agent at the time said, ‘Come on, these are my friends, do the pilot.’ I said, ‘But I’m playing second to Marshall Thompson and a cross-eyed lion. What will happen to me -- my character?’ And he said, ‘You don’t have to sign a contract, so just do it.’ So we did the pilot and no one said anything about a contract. But in the middle of the third episode, they came in and told me I had to sign one. I called my agent and he told me that if I didn’t do it he’d blacklist me. My own agent! And then the work suddenly stopped coming. I called Gene and said, ‘Can you check for me and see if I’m being blacklisted?’ He called me the next day and said, ‘Don, I’m afraid you are. Look, there’s a one-day thing on Mission: Impossible. Go do that and get your name in the trades that you’re working.’ So I did it, and then Gene called and said, ‘I got a part I want you to do.’ And that was for ‘The Galileo Seven.’ Gene was right about getting my name in the trades, because, after I finished that show, then everybody was hiring me again.” (113b)

  Peter Marko, as the doomed Lt. Gaetano, had a short career in front of the camera. Among his handful of credits was “The Invisible Enemy,” an episode of The Outer Limits where Marko, playing an astronaut, also dies at the hands of a sci-fi monster. That episode, incidentally, was written by Star Trek scribe Jerry Sohl.

  Rees Vaughn, at 31, played Latimer, the first to die at the hands -- and spears -- of the giants. He had already made multiple appearances on Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Virginian, and 12 O’Clock High.

  Phyllis Douglas, as Yeoman Mears, stepping in for the sacked Grace Lee Whitney, made her acting debut at age two in Gone with the Wind as little Bonnie Blue Butler. As a young adult she worked often in TV, including a pair of Batman episodes. She would return to Star Trek as Hippie Girl #2 in the notorious 1969 episode “The Way to Eden.”

  Robert “Big Buck” Maffei, who was seven feet one inch tall, was cast as the giant. He appeared in a handful of TV shows and small films, usually playing circus strongmen and the like, and had been in a pair of first season Lost in Space e
pisodes as The Giant Cyclops.

  Grant Woods, as Lt. Kelowitz, would be seen in two more Star Treks: “Arena” and “This Side of Paradise.”

  David Ross (as Transporter Chief), Bill Blackman (with his first turn at the helm), Frank de Vinci, Eddie Paskey, and Ron Veto were all on the bridge, and were familiar faces on Star Trek; each would be seen in anywhere from 10 to 60 episodes.

  Production Diary

  Filmed September 22, 23, 26, 27, 28, 29 & 30, 1966

  (Planned as 6 day production; finishing one day over; total cost: $232,690).

  Unused camera angle of giant Buck Maffei revealing top of set in upper left corner (Courtesy of Gerald Gurian)

  Production began Thursday, September 22, 1966. The Beatles continued to have the best selling album in the nation with Revolver. Otherwise, the over-30 crowd had a hold on the LP charts, with the soundtrack to Dr. Zhivago at No. 2, Somewhere My Love by Ray Conniff at No. 3, followed by the soundtrack to The Sound of Music, a pair of albums by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass (What Now My Love and Whipped Cream & Other Delights), and Frank Sinatra with Strangers in the Night. The average cost of each was $3.99. On a tighter budget, the teenagers flocked to buy 45 rpm singles for 99 cents each, with “Cherish” by the Association in the top spot. A trip to the record store amounted to only pennies. You could fill your tank up for 32 cents a gallon. Or you could stay home and watch TV, as most Americans did the night before. NBC had the show with the highest audience share -- I Spy, pulling in 40.9% of the TV sets running in the 30-Markets area surveyed by A.C. Nielsen.

  Director Robert Gist’s unique shot of bridge from above (Courtesy of Gerald Gurian)

  Filming of “the Galileo Seven” began on Stage 9 and the bridge set. Robert Gist worked half as quickly as hoped and was a half day behind when filming stopped at 7 p.m., barely allowing cast and crew time to get home for the 8:30 p.m. premiere of “Where No Man Has Gone Before,” Star Trek’s third episode to air. They were not alone in watching. A.C. Nielsen championed Star Trek as winning its time slot, with 34.5% of the TV sets in use across the country. My Three Sons, in second place, delivered a 28.2 audience share for CBS. Star Trek had to settle for second position at 9 p.m., in a close race with ABC’s hottest show, Bewitched, which put a spell on 31.8% of the TV households. Star Trek had 31.0%.