Two men are flailing away at one another with clubs. Another man chases a half-clad, screaming woman across the street, and they vanish in an alley. Several people lie motionless in the street. Up the street further there is a small riot, as eight or ten people fight wildly among themselves. A fire burns in the middle of the street. There is much screaming, yelling, crashing of glass.
Later still, after the festival ends, Reger is “holding the bloody, bedraggled figure of Tula, who is sobbing hysterically.” He tells his daughter, “It’s alright now, child. It’s over for another year.”
While the filmed episode depicted much of this action, it would have to be sneaked past Broadcast Standards, and that meant cooling down the script.
There were other problems. Justman’s memo to Coon continued:
I am now reading here and I am getting heartsick. We’re running into masses of people to outfit and wardrobe, which will cost a bloody fortune. And we are running into enormous Phaser animation costs. I do fear that we will have to change our conception of this part of the script. I swear to you that we cannot afford these costs. If it ends up that we have to throw the money we’ve spent on this screenplay out the window, then we will still be better off than if we attempt to make this particular episode in anything approaching the state it is in right now. I have to make a guess and say that this show in its present state has got to cost somewhere around $230,000. So, that means we either have to junk this script, or slash, slash, slash. (RJ22-4)
Even with further slashing, the final price tag proved Justman right. His cost estimates were not far off the mark.
Justman finished his bad news memo to Coon, writing:
We need a strong TEASER and TEASER ending. We need a strong Second Act ending. We need a strong Tag scene. We need a show we can shoot pretty soon. (RJ22-4)
Coon did a script polish of his own -- the Final Draft from November 10. This one went to NBC. As Justman had predicted, the network had grave concerns over what he had deemed as “the orgy.” Broadcast Standards wrote:
Please use restraint when filming the festival, do not over-sensationalize and make certain there is no brutality. Particular care is needed when Bilar hits Lindstrom with a club [and] please make certain the “half-clad” woman is clad enough not to embarrass or offend. (BS22)
Roddenberry read this draft of the script, as well. He had no new notes but he did have a request -- of Desilu Legal. His memo to Ed Pearlstein, in part, stated:
The script by Boris Sobelman entitled “The Return of the Archons” is taken from a written story which I gave him to read. Although he strayed away from my story on a couple of points, he keeps coming back to it.... I definitely want to put in for credit and I’m a little surprised that Sobelman has never offered proper story credit on any of his drafts. (GR22-2)
Roddenberry, knowing his name would end up on this script, took the time to do a polish of his own -- the November 29 Revised Final Draft, tightening the action and removing some redundant beats.
Pre-Production
November 28-30 & December 1-2 & 5, 1966 (6 days).
To address Stan Robertson’s wish that the production have “proper direction and handling,” Joseph Pevney returned to the series. He kept “Arena” on both schedule and budget, while rendering it grand in scope.
To fill up the town, and bring about the festival, “Return of the Archons” required more guest players and extras than any episode filmed so far. Only one would top it: “The City on the Edge of Forever.”
Harry Townes and Torin Thatcher (Unaired film trip Courtesy of Gerald Gurian)
Harry Townes played Reger, the owner of the boarding house and the first of the three leaders of the resistance we meet. He was 52 and had close to 200 credits in TV and film, including multiple appearances on The Twilight Zone, Thriller, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, and The Wild, Wild West.
Torin Thatcher played Marplum, the third leader of the resistance -- the inside man. He was 61. Starting in 1952, he appeared in roughly 200 roles for TV and films. One year before this, he was the title character in “The Space Trader,” an episode of Lost in Space.
Jon Lormer, seen as Tamar, the timid elder killed by the Lawgivers, appeared in three episodes of Star Trek. He was one of the crash survivors in “The Cage.” Later, he returned as the elderly man who gave us the title of “For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky.” In that episode, he also drops dead, again the victim of a computer controlling a society.
Morgan Farley, at 78, played the hostile Hacon. He had been working steadily in front of the camera since the 1920s. He would return to Star Trek, unrecognizable, as a Tribal Elder in “The Omega Glory.”
Brioni Farrell, 21, played Tula. She was new on TV, but already getting roles in The Man from U.N.C.L.E., The Wild, Wild West, and Bonanza.
Christopher “Karl” Held, at 35, played Lindstrom, a key member of the landing party. He worked often in TV, including as a regular on several series. Among those, and prior to this, he spent a year on Perry Mason. Two decades down the road, he’d enjoy a longer stay on Falcon Crest.
Sean Morgan and his character Lt. O’Neil, the one being chased with Sulu in the teaser and later absorbed by The Body, had already appeared in “Balance of Terror.” He would return for other episodes, most prominently in “The Ultimate Computer” and “The Tholian Web.”
Charles Macauley, 39, was a versatile actor. He was unrecognizable as the man who played Landru from his next role on Star Trek, as Jaris in “Wolf in the Fold.” From the same year, he took on an entirely different look and persona, as a frightening Nazi assassin for “Child Out of Time,” a startling episode of I Spy.
Lev Mailer, as Bilar, the reveler who calls out “Festival, festival!” and presumably rapes Tula, began working in television here. He would return to Star Trek for “Patterns of Force.”
Eddie Paskey, here as a member of the landing party and disguised enough to also play a member of The Body, was already making his 19th out of 59 appearances on the series. Also with the landing party was David Ross, making his third of nine appearances.
Bobby Clark, last “seen” as the Gorn in “Arena,” had his only speaking role in the series when he leapt through a window and, like the character of Bilar, cried out “Festival! Festival!” A frequent stunt performer on Star Trek who often doubled for Shatner, Clark would be seen later as one of the evil Chekov’s henchmen in “Mirror, Mirror.”
Production Diary
Filmed December 6, 7, 8, 9, 12, 13 & 14, 1966
(Planned as 6 day production; running one day over; cost: $210,793).
Return to 40 Acres (Courtesy of Gerald Gurian) (also on the internet courtesy Tom Redlaw and also startrekhistory.com)
Tuesday, December 6, 1966. The Monkees had the top-selling album in America. “Good Vibrations” by The Beach Boys was the most played song on radio stations. The U.S. and the U.S.S.R. prepared to sign a treaty to prohibit nuclear weapons in outer space. And production began on “Return of the Archons.”
Filming took place on Stage 9 and the bridge set. The viewing screens above the various control stations had been replaced after looking so worn and crumpled in the last few episodes, especially in “Tomorrow is Yesterday.”
Day 1, filming on Stage 9 (Unaired film trim courtesy of Gerald Gurian)
Next to film: the sequence in the transporter room, where a freshly absorbed and very tranquil Mr. Sulu beams up from planet Beta III. The third set of the day was a temporary one, for which many of the Enterprise sets had been collapsed to make room. The filming here in the “Interior Dungeon Cell” had to be left unfinished so that Desilu’s Culver City backlot could be used during the two days in which the town of Mayberry was not needed for The Andy Griffith Show.
On Day 2, the company returned for its second visit to Desilu 40 Acres. The first day was a long one, filming all the daylight scenes on the streets prior to the start of Festival, and then the violence of the festival itself, both in daylight and
at night.
Lev Mailer, playing Bilar, recalled, “People were walking on a ‘beat.’ I was so nervous, I couldn’t do it. And Joe Pevney, the director, came over and he took me by the hand and he said, ‘Now, walk with me.’ He walked me across the street [at the required pace and beat] to sort of settle me down. And then I was fine.” (112)
There was a curious continuity error regarding Mailer’s performance. He explained, “They said, ‘Oh, this is going to be New England, circa late 19th Century. I said, ‘So you want a little bit of old New England, ‘A-yah, come for festival, a-yah-a.’ And they said, ‘Oh, yeah, sure.’ But, of course, when I finally saw the program, I’m the only one with an accent. Everybody else is just doing it straight.” (112)
After dark, Joseph Pevney found a way around the censors. The eerie shadow of a man attacking a woman projected onto the wall of a building during the nighttime portion of Festival was more than an effective directorial touch. In 1967, a physical confrontation bordering on rape could not be shown on TV. Pevney not only snuck it by NBC Broadcast Standards by only showing it in giant shadow form, but he added greatly to the stylistic nature of the episode.
The same Desilu 40 Acres street in 1966 being used for The Andy Griffith Show (above) and Star Trek (below) (www.retroweb.com_40Acres)
On Day 3, the first shot taken was from the same position as the last from the night before -Kirk’s P.O.V. of the town’s main street -- but this time in daylight as the clock on the tower strikes 6 a.m. and the revelers suddenly become peaceful and, looking quite drained from their night of madness, go back to their normal zombie-like state. The clock tower itself was built specifically for this episode. Nearby, on this same piece of real estate in 1966 was the Marine base used in Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. and the German concentration camp from Hogan’s Heroes.
The remainder of the day, until sunset, was spent filming Kirk and his team making their way through the post-festival streets, including the scene where they are surrounded and stoned by the zombie-like crowds. Pevney wrapped early enough for cast and crew to make it home in time to see “The Conscience of the King” for its only NBC airing.
On Day 4, shooting resumed on Stage 9 and the special dungeon set. The script called for Spock to administer the “Famous Spock Neck Pinch” on one of the Lawgivers. But since he had already done this more than once in the episode, and the blocking Pevney had planned for this scene would make it difficult for Nimoy to position himself properly for this, Spock had to improvise -- by slugging one of the Lawgivers. Kirk’s reaction was an ad lib, courtesy of Shatner: “Isn’t that a bit old fashioned?”
Next came filming in two temporary sets on Stage 9 -- the interior of the absorption chamber and the interior of the upstairs room in the boarding house. For the final sequences, we see how Spock sleeps -with his eyes open. This, too, was not in the script. Nimoy got the idea during the filming.
Day 5, Stage 10, “Main Room/Vestibule” of Boarding House (Unaired film trim courtesy of Gerald Gurian)
On Day 5, Monday, the company worked on Stage 10 for the interior Subterranean Chamber where the landing party first encounter Landru, followed by interior “Main Room/Vestibule” of the Boarding House.
Day 6. The scene in the hallway leading to the Hall of Audiences was filmed, followed by Kirk and Spock’s second encounter with the projection of Landru, this time in the Hall of Audiences.
By Day 7, the production was running late. Work continued in the Hall of Audiences, now with the opened wall revealing the computer complex, and the filming of Kirk and Spock’s battle of wits with Landru the machine.
And, finally, one full day over schedule, Pevney called for a wrap.
Post-Production
December 15, 1966 through January 31, 1967. Music Score: Tracked.
Fabien Tordjmann and Edit Team #3 did the cutting. This was their sixth episode, following “The Enemy Within,” “Charlie X,” “Miri,” “Shore Leave,” and “Arena.” Not a bad apple in the bunch.
Film Effects of Hollywood handled the Optical Effects, including all those animated phaser blasts that Coon lectured Boris Sobelman about. The cost, just for the animated phaser beams: $8,000.
With a seventh day of production, including all the location work needed, extra set construction, and dozens of extra performers, “Archons” became one of the more expensive Star Trek episodes. That big supporting cast that worried both Justman and Coon cost the series $28,395. The sets, dressings, wardrobe and props ran more than $32,000 alone. The total cost: $210,793 ($1.5 million in 2013).
Release / Reaction
Premiere air date: 2/9/67. NBC repeat broadcast: 7/27/67.
RATINGS / Nielsen National report for Thursday, February 9, 1967:
Star Trek trailed as the third place entry in a close race during the first half-hour. My Three Sons bested it, but only slightly, with 29.9% to Star Trek’s 27.9%. Bewitched had the lead with 30.7% of the total audience. There are no losers when a race is this close. At 9 p.m., the television premiere of 1963's The Caretaker on CBS, a drama starring Robert Stack, Joan Crawford, and Robert Vaughn, took the lead, with Star Trek in second position.
From the Mailbag
Dear Mr. Roddenberry... I bought a Playtex bra today so that I could include the label in a letter to the manufacturer in which I praised Star Trek, and when it gets a little darker, I’m going to go and tear the sheet of paper they paste on the window of a new car off a Plymouth at a car lot and enclose it in a letter to Chrysler Corporation saying I bought a Plymouth because I like your show.... Your series is the best thing that has been done on television in the much-abused name of science fiction.... Star Trek gets much very favorable discussion among fans and we would all go to darn near any length to keep it on the air.... Not that I think you care for my carefully considered opinion all that much, but I am going to award you a weekly letter-of-comment in the interest of increasing your volume of fan mail by even that small amount.... You have a very fine show and I hope you have many seasons of success. Very truly yours. Kay A. (Albuquerque, New Mexico).
The reply:
Dear Miss A. ... On the contrary, your considered opinion is most cared for and much appreciated by all of us here on the Star Trek staff.... Although we certainly do appreciate our weekly checks and hope eventually to make a profit on our efforts, Star Trek has also been very much a “labor of love.”... We hope to continue to please you and merit your loyalty to the show.... Sincerely Yours. Gene Roddenberry, Executive Producer, Star Trek.
Aftermath
Boris Sobelman, with help from Carabatsos, Coon and Roddenberry, had put plenty of drama on the screen with “The Return of the Archons.” There was also a little drama behind the scenes regarding the names on the script. Roddenberry got the story credit he demanded and deserved, and the paycheck that went along with it. Sobelman, who neglected to add Roddenberry’s name to the script in the first place, never returned to Star Trek.
In early 1968, the script was nominated for a Writers Guild Award as Best Screenplay, One Hour Drama. It was a good script but certainly not the best of the Star Trek episodes aired during 1967. The reason the Guild singled this one out over all others: it was the only script shown to them that year, sent in by Roddenberry. Years later, Star Trek’s creator told TV Guide “Archons” was one of his 10 favorite episodes from the original series.
Memories
Karl Held, who played Lindstrom, said, “Star Trek was a well-done and imaginative series. The premise made for good stories, and they were realized by the writers.” (78a)
31
Episode 23: SPACE SEED
(Incorrectly listed in many sources as Production #24)
Teleplay by Gene L. Coon and Carey Wilbur
(with Gene Roddenberry and Gene L. Coon, uncredited)
Story by Carey Wilbur
Directed by Marc Daniel
Filming the Enterprise’s encounter with the Botany Bay on the stage of Film Effects of Hollywood (Courtesy of Gerald Gurian)<
br />
From the NBC press release, issued on January 26, 1967:
Ricardo Montalban guest-stars as the survivor of a tyrannical super race in ‘Space Seed,’ a drama in which Captain Kirk (William Shatner) and his crew are unwitting accomplices to an attempt to seize world power, on NBC Television Network’s colorcast of Star Trek.... Found aboard an ancient and foundering cargo vessel with his body in a state of suspended animation, Khan (Montalban) is allowed to convalesce on the USS Enterprise. Suspicious of Khan’s true identity, Kirk and Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy) soon determine their “patient” is one of a group of scientifically-bred super-beings bent on world domination, and put him under guard. With the aid of a sympathetic crew member, Marla (Madlyn Rhue), who has fallen in love with him, Khan escapes, wrests command of the Enterprise and threatens the entire ship’s complement with execution.
“Space Seed” is a study of human ambition and loyalty. It also explores power as an aphrodisiac.
SOUND BITES
- Spock: “I fail to understand why it always gives you pleasure to see me proven wrong.” Kirk: “An emotional Earth weakness of mine.”
- McCoy, referring to the transporter: “I signed aboard this ship to practice medicine, not to have my atoms scattered back and forth across space by this gadget.”
- Spock, regarding Khan: “The scientist behind [eugenics] had overlooked one fact. Superior ability breeds superior ambition.”
- Khan: “You’re an excellent tactician, Captain. You let your second-in-command attack, while you sit and watch for weakness.” Kirk: “You have a tendency to express ideas in military terms, Mister Khan. This is a social occasion.” Khan: “It has been said that social occasions are only warfare concealed.”
- Khan: “I am in fact surprised how little improvement there has been in human evolution. There has been technical advance, but how little man himself has changed. It appears we will do well in your century. Very well. Did you have any other questions?” Kirk: “Thank you. They’ve all been answered.”
These Are The Voyages, TOS, Season One Page 82
