But there was much more than the back story that Roddenberry felt needed to be changed -- the characters of Ericsson and McGivers annoyed the hell out of him. Roddenberry continued:
This script is an example of how illogical, unmotivated antagonists and protagonists can reduce science fiction to “space pirates.” (GR23-1)
Lt. McGivers especially bothered him. He told Coon:
Marla is so sophomoric, I doubt if any of us could stand her even today ... except, possibly, as an extremely shapely immoral actress, of which, unfortunately, due to gross negligence on the part of the casting department, we get too few of on this series. (GR23-1)
Roddenberry was also disturbed with how Kirk was portrayed. In Wilbur’s script, Kirk avoids making a decision about whether to revive Ericsson’s frozen shipmates. Roddenberry told Coon:
Worse than any of the preceding, our Starship Commander must wait on “higher command” to make a quite ordinary and human decision whether or not to revive a group of people who are presently in suspended animation. God help us if we’ve come no further than this in three more centuries! In fact, God help us if the Captain of the cruiser, U.S.S. Los Angeles, would wait for higher command in the Pentagon or State Department to make a simple decision like that…. There seems to be a compulsion among writers to picture the future as totally computerized, inhumanly authoritarian, and coldly big-brotherish. I know none of us want to go that direction, but God help Star Trek if our writers push us that-a-way. (GR23-1)
Roddenberry closed:
This is really getting to be a Robert Justman-type memo, isn’t it?... I have more comments, but I’ve run out of tape. (GR23-1)
Carey Wilbur was not asked to do a third draft of his script, as badly as a third draft was needed. Someone else would inherit that job: Gene Coon.
Following the directions set forth in Roddenberry’s memo, Coon did a major overhaul of the story, generating the Yellow Cover First Draft from December 7. Harold Ericsson was now John Ericsson, who is revealed to really be Ragner Thorwald, a major participant in “The First World Tyranny” of the 1990s. Coon didn’t show his script to anyone. He slept on it for two nights then on December 9 came in with a Final Draft -- tighter, cheaper, and sharper. This version never made it out of his office, either. A few days later, Coon had rewritten himself again, and now had a Revised Final Draft, dated December 12. He felt confident enough to send this one to de Forest Research, NBC, all Star Trek department heads including Justman, and to Roddenberry.
All seemed happy ... except Justman ... and Roddenberry. Twenty-four hours later, Roddenberry had rewritten the script himself -- a 2nd Revised Final Draft. In this draft, Ericsson finally became Khan.
Of the Final, Final, Final Draft, Bob Justman sent word to Roddenberry:
I would like to state that I find it well nigh incredible that you managed to do this complete rewrite in the space of one single night. And I also find it practically astounding that you have managed to clean up the story and streamline it into its present shootable condition. (RJ23-3)
One element Roddenberry had added disturbed Justman, who wrote:
Although I find that Khan’s badgering Marla in scene 56 is a very clever device to get her to finally capitulate, I feel that I must object strongly to having him shove her down on the floor. I feel that perhaps we should discuss this more fully. Also, I’m still not quite in a position to accept Marla’s final capitulation to Khan. (RJ23-3)
With this draft, Roddenberry listed himself as first writer, followed by Gene Coon. Wilbur’s name did not even appear on the title page. However, by the time the episode was aired, Gene Coon was listed as top writer, followed by Wilbur, who was also given a separate “story by” credit. This time, Roddenberry’s name was absent. A higher source had spoken. On January 6, 1967, the Writers Guild of America turned its thumb down to a request by Roddenberry to share the credit and payments for the script. Robert Justman, if asked, would have argued this point adamantly.
If Roddenberry’s name was omitted, he was in good company. Khan and Kirk both make reference to John Milton. The 17th Century English poet wrote the epic poem Paradise Lost, in 10 books (later expanded into 12), chronicling the temptation of Adam and Eve by Satan, and their expulsion from the Garden of Eden. Milton received no story credit, either.
Ricardo Montalban poses with Ande Richardson, Gene Coon’s secretary (Courtesy of Andrea Richardson-Kindryd)
Pre-Production
December 6-9 & 12-14, 1966 (7 days). .
Director Marc Daniels, after the crowning success of directing “The Menagerie,” returned for his sixth episode of Star Trek. Despite his weakness at staging action sequences, Daniels remained a favorite of the producers.
“During a drought, you pray for rain,” said Robert Justman. “During the first year of Star Trek, we prayed for Marc Daniels.” (94-8)
Montalban with Madlyn Rhue during Day 4 of the production (Unaired film trim, courtesy of Gerald Gurian)
Ricardo Montalban, everyone’s first choice to play Khan, was already a star. The 45-year-old had had top billing in films since 1947, usually as Latin-lover types. In fact, he was the male lead in a movie called Latin Lovers, from 1953, exchanging dialogue and kisses with Lana Turner. On the stage, in 1958’s Jamaica, he was nominated for a Tony award as Best Actor in a Musical. Roddenberry knew Montalban from their association in a 1956 sci-fi project for the Chevron Hall of Stars: “The Secret Weapon of 117” [wrongly listed on imdb.com and other internet sites as “The Secret Defense of 117”]. Montalban worked for Roddenberry again in an episode of The Lieutenant.
Joe D’Agosta said, “Ricardo was one of those people we all knew in Hollywood, because he was a movie star and just beginning to do television. We scored with a higher caliber actor than we expected.” (43-1)
Madlyn Rhue, at 31, played Lt. Marla McGivers. A well liked TV guest-star, she had been on television since 1957 and would work with Montalban on three occasions, first in a 1960 episode of Bonanza, then here, and ending with a 1982 episode of Fantasy Island. She also frequented many of the same series Montalban did, with appearances on either side of this Star Trek on I Spy (1966) and The Wild, Wild West (1967). And she too appeared on Roddenberry’s The Lieutenant.
Blaisdell Makee, 34, played Lt. Spinelli, taking Sulu’s place in this story. He returned to Star Trek for the 1967 episode “The Changeling,” as Lt. Singh (no relation to Khan Noonien Singh).
John Winston, in his second of 11 turns as Lt. Kyle, is knocked out by Khan.
James Doohan, and his Scotty, continued to gain stature. NBC was as pleased with Doohan and his character as the producers were and all were looking for ways to involve Mr. Scott in more episodes and to greater significance. After commanding the bridge for the first time in the previous episode, Mr. Scott is now included among the top officers attending the formal dinner with Khan. Other than Kirk, Spock and McCoy, Mr. Scott is the only other one to wear a dress uniform. Also included at the table is Mr. Leslie (Eddie Paskey), who had sat in the Captain’s chair in the past, but, as designated by the lack of formal attire, is now outranked by Mr. Scott.
Production Diary
Filmed December 15, 16, 19, 20, 21 & 22, 1966
(6 day production; total cost: $197,262).
Thursday, December 15, 1966. The day Star Trek began filming the classic “Space Seed,” Walt Disney died. He was 65. During the last months of his life, he saw the Disney studio’s Robin Crusoe, U.S.M., starring Dick Van Dyke, become the fifth top grossing film of 1966. And The Wonderful World of Walt Disney, for which he had served as host, placed at No. 19 for the season. Brand new in the movie houses (only one week old) and already a box office champ was A Man for All Seasons. The two most played songs on the radio seemed ages apart -- “Winchester Cathedral,” by the New Vaudeville Band, and “Mellow Yellow,” by Donvan. Big James Arness, as Matt Dillon, had the cover of TV Guide for the sixth of 12 times. Gunsmoke was in the middle of a 20-year run. And in a few days, CBS wou
ld premiere Dr. Suess’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas, destined to repeat annually for four-and-a-half decades to come, and counting … small potatoes compared to the amount of times “Space Seed” would repeat around the country … and the world.
For the production, Stage 9 got a workout. The bridge, two crewman’s quarters, sickbay, the transporter room, the briefing room, (plus a redress of the briefing room as a wardroom), the main engineering room, and the corridors were all used. A new addition was also needed for sickbay: the decompression chamber. Stage 10 was needed only for the Botany Bay sleeper ship set.
Filming began on the bridge. Daniels covered 10 pages of script, 15 numbered scenes in all. He wrapped at 5:55 p.m., allowing cast and crew to make it home in time for “Balance of Terror” on NBC -- the 14th episode to air.
Day 3: Scene 54, Take 2, December 19, 1966 (Courtesy of Gerald Gurian)
On Day 2, Daniels finished on the bridge, and then continued filming in McCoy’s office, followed by sickbay, where Khan holds a knife to the doctor’s throat. Twenty-one scenes, and 11 pages of script later, Daniels wrapped at 7:20 p.m., well into overtime but otherwise on schedule.
On Day 3, Monday, Daniels covered the action and dialogue in Marla McGivers’ quarters, the wardroom and, after a quick re-dress, the briefing room scene.
On Day 4, more shots were taken in the briefing room, followed by Khan’s quarters, and finishing in the corridor as Khan breaks out of his room and attacks the guard.
Marc Daniels said, “Part of the problem in ‘Space Seed’ was trying to visualize Khan’s tremendous power -- where he could turn out a finger and turn somebody upside down. That was difficult, but we got away with it thanks to stunt people and judicious cutting.” (44-2)
Day 4, for a redress of the Briefing Room (Courtesy of Gerald Gurian)
Day 5. All other corridor scenes were shot, as well as scenes outside sickbay, by the elevator, and outside Marla McGivers’ quarters. The latter was meant to give us our introduction to McGivers, where she interacts with another crew member (and friend), Angela Martine (Barbara Baldavin), who was previously seen in “Balance of Terror” and “Shore Leave.” Martine tells McGivers of a crewman interested in asking her out. McGivers is not interested in any man who doesn’t have the spine to do the asking himself. Later, this insight to McGivers’ character helps us to understand her immediate attraction to a man such as Khan. Due to time constraints, however, this very worthwhile scene was left on the editing room floor.
The transporter room came next, followed by a move to engineering for the fight between Khan and Kirk. Of this, James Doohan commented, “The fight scene in engineering, while nicely choreographed, made extensive and, unfortunately, very obvious use of Bill’s stunt double, Gary Combs. Stuntmen are most effective in quick cuts, but Combs was on screen for relatively lengthy sequences, with Bill only in tight close-ups.” (52-1)
Day 6: Slating the shot where a weakened Kirk to crawls from the decompression chamber (Courtesy of Gerald Gurian)
Day 6. The company was on Stage 10 filming the scenes inside the Botany Bay. Some of them never made the final cut. Dorothy Fontana revealed, “Jean Messerschmidt [of NBC Broadcast Standards] was very hard-nosed about the outfits on the people who had been awakened. And, if you look at the finished show, there are some of those people in the foreground who are talking to Khan, and others in the background that have just come out of cold-storage, if you will, and are stretching and bending. Well, those outfits were quite skimpy and we had deliberately hired dancers and gymnasts who had great bodies so that they could wear these costumes and look great. Jean insisted that a whole lot of that be cut -- as much as possible. The costumes were pretty revealing, and she said, ‘No!’” (64-3)
Next came a move to Stage 9 for a set built earlier that morning -- the decompression chamber.
Moods were good when cast and crew, having taken the last shots for “Space Seed,” left the set that evening. Jerry Finnerman explained the feeling, saying, “That was a very strong show, especially for the schedule we had.” (63-3)
Film Effects of Hollywood photographing the Enterprise and the Botany Bay (Courtesy of Gerald Gurian)
Daniels had finished on schedule, and early enough for everyone to make it home for the repeat broadcast of “What Are Little Girls Made Of?” which was taking the place of “Shore Leave” that night, as the latter episode was late getting to NBC. For many involved with Star Trek, this was their first chance to see “Little Girls.” When it aired the first time, several weeks earlier, the company was running late, stuck out of town at Vasquez Rocks filming (ironically) “Shore Leave.”
Post-Production
December 23, 1966 through February 5, 1967. Music Score: Tracked.
Two giant miniatures -- state of the art of 1966 (Courtesy of Gerald Gurian)
James D. Ballas, former editing assistant to Robert Swanson, was not blamed for his first go-round as lead editor on “The Alternative Factor,” and returned, now the permanent head of Edit Team #1.
The Westheimer Co. received screen credit for the optical effects, including matte shots (images on viewing screens) and transporter shimmers. But the primary optical effects, those of the Enterprise encountering the S.S. Botany Bay, were taken by Film Effects of Hollywood, without credit.
Designer Matt Jefferies, who came up with the Enterprise, inside and out, also designed the model of the Botany Bay. In 1968, for fanzine Inside Star Trek, #4, Jefferies said, “The Botany Bay was actually designed before the Enterprise. It was a little idea that popped up and was labeled ‘antique space freighter.’”
Star Trek once again spent more than its near-impossible episode allowance of $185,000. “Space Seed,” despite being primarily a bottle show, actually cost $197,262. Most of the overrun was due to the cost of building and photographing the Botany Bay miniature, and the design and construction of the interior of the sleeper ship. The running deficit was now up to $77,950.
Release / Reaction
Premiere air date: 2/16/67. NBC repeat broadcast: 8/24/67.
RATINGS / Nielsen National report for Thursday, February 16, 1967:
At 8:30 p.m., Star Trek held a respectable second position. At 9 p.m., even with this excellent episode, the numbers turned downward with the arrival of the Thursday Night Movie on CBS -- the 1961 Western One-Eyed Jacks, starring Marlon Brando.
From the beginning, it was clear that “Space Seed” would be a special episode. Sound editor Douglas Grindstaff recalled, “‘Space Seed’ was one of my favorites.... We won the Golden Reel Award given by the M.P.S.E. [Motion Picture Sound Editors] on that particular episode.” (76-1)
Audio effects and editing were essential to Star Trek. Sound Editing supervisor Jack Finlay said, “In those days the major studios wouldn’t give you what you wanted if you wanted it for television production. I called a friend over at Paramount and got some stuff from War of the Worlds [the photon torpedo effect].... I got that stuff, and whatever else I could scrounge from around the town. I went to libraries and got every possible thing that might work to put together. I ran those sounds backwards, slowed them down, and did whatever I had to do to them so they would work for us.” (62)
Second in charge in the sound department was Joseph Sorokin. He recalled, “I obtained all the sound effects from the Air Force Library... some of these sounds are rather hokey and corny now, but you have to view them in the context of the past. At the time that we were putting Star Trek together, the existing sound effects were like something out of Flash Gordon or Buck Rogers. So we had to come up with something else. Authenticity was very important to Gene Roddenberry.” (162)
Sound editor Grindstaff explained, “Every room aboard the ship had a sound, and every planet had a sound. It was a monumental thing. Gene Roddenberry once told me to think like a painter -- he wanted a ‘painted’ sound, which I’ll never forget.” (76-2)
After leaving Khan and his followers on an uninhabited world, Spock suggests it would be inter
esting “in a hundred years” to see what crop has sprung up from the seed they have planted. A line in an earlier draft of the script, not in the filmed episode, has Kirk say that he hopes the crop won’t “spring right out of the ground” and come looking for them. It took 16 years, not a hundred for Khan’s return, in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.
Entertainment Weekly picked “Space Seed” as the second best Star Trek ever made. “Seed” also made sci-fi magazine Cinefantastique’s Top Ten list for Star Trek’s all-time best.
From the Mailbag
Received shortly after the first airing of “Space Seed”:
Dear Gene, that episode of Star Trek with Ricardo Montalban was, in my estimation, the show’s finest hour. Warmest regards, Jerry (Sohl).
And, in response to a letter from Miss D. Jones in Berkeley, California:
My Dear Miss Jones: Thank you for your kind letter concerning our sponsorship of Star Trek. Our official position is that it is a good program with good ratings. As a personal opinion, I think it is the best program on the air and perhaps the best program over the last five years. It is practically the only program I ever watch. I hope you will continue to watch it. I know I will. Maybe with you working on the West Coast and me endorsing it on the East Coast, we can build it into a run-away success. -- Edward E. Permelee, Assistant Director of Advertising Services, Bristol-Myer Company, New York.
Memories
Ricardo Montalban said, “I thought the character of Khan was wonderful.... He was an overly ambitious man that had dimension. Sometimes when you read a villain, he’s a villain through and through, but this man had facets. He was genetically engineered with mental and physical superiority and it’s only natural that he uses that superiority and wants to conquer. On the other hand, he falls in love. He takes his girl as his wife when he goes into exile. It was a love that was very real; it humanized the character for me.” (120-1)
These Are The Voyages, TOS, Season One Page 84
