These Are The Voyages, TOS, Season One

by Cushman, Marc

  Coon knew he would have to do a rewrite of his own, but was in the middle of giving “Space Seed” a makeover with his various drafts coming in on December 7 and 9, and the morning of the 12th. As Coon put that script to bed, he finally had time to read the latest memo from Justman, telling him that it would take eight to nine days to film “A Taste of Armageddon” based on the most recent draft by Steven Carabatsos. And production was supposed to begin in just three days. A quick decision was made to push “Armageddon” back in the production schedule and place “Space Seed” in front of it. The production numbering, however, was not changed, resulting in many other sources listing “Armageddon” as having been filmed first.

  Justman breathed a sigh of relief, hoping the delay would result in the script being “trimmed down to size.” (RJ24-4)

  Amazingly, before the end of the same day that Gene Coon finished his final rewrite of “Space Seed,” he did a major overhaul of “A Taste of Armageddon,” his Revised Final Draft script, also dated December 12, 1966.

  “To the best of my recollection,” said Dorothy Fontana, “it was Gene Coon who wrote the speech at the end that man has a reputation as a killer, but you get up every morning and say ‘I’m not going to kill today.’” (64-11)

  Director Joseph Pevney concurred, saying, “The final speech from Bill, the demand for peace and not giving up human lives to a computer, was rewritten several times until we got it the way we wanted. Gene Coon rewrote the script and it was quite powerful.” (141-3)

  Coon turned in two sets of page revisions, on December 15 and 21. These script changes, along with his massive one-day rewrite from December 12, were of such significance that the Writers Guild Arbitration Board determined Coon should receive a co-writing credit in second position to Robert Hamner. The latter received a separate credit for his original story.

  David McCallum is all tied up by David Opatoshu in a 1965 episode of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (MGM TV)

  Pre-Production

  December 15-16 & 19-23, 1966 (7 days).

  Joseph Pevney was chosen to direct this potentially difficult episode -- but this was not a back-to-back assignment for Pevney on the heels of “The Return of the Archons” as previous sources have indicated.

  David Opatoshu, 48, played Anan 7. He tackled hundreds of acting roles between 1948 and 1991. In the early days of television, he kept busy on the prestigious dramatic anthology series, including frequent appearances on Studio One, Philco Television Playhouse and Alfred Hitchcock Presents. He also appeared in multiple episodes of Dr. Kildare.

  Barbara Babcock in the 1960s

  Barbara Babcock, 29 when cast as Mea 3, had worked for Star Trek once before, providing the voice of Trelane’s mother in “The Squire of Gothos.” Her voice would be heard again in “Assignment: Earth” and “The Tholian Web.” The future Emmy Award winner would be seen in Star Trek again, in “Plato’s Stepchildren.”

  Gene Lyons, who played Ambassador Fox, was 45. He worked often in television during the 1950s and 1960s. Studio One, Kraft Television Theatre, and Goodyear Television Playhouse were among the series on which he made multiple appearances.

  Gene Lyons as Commissioner Dennis Randall on Ironside from 1967 through 1974 (Universal TV)

  James Doohan continued to rise in favor with both the producers and the network. This episode marks Mr. Scott’s second turn at commanding the bridge. He is still identified as Chief Engineer, not Lieutenant Commander, as in later episodes. But his status had clearly changed with the one-two-three punches of “The Return of the Archons,” “Space Seed,” and now “A Taste of Armageddon.”

  Miko Mayama had played Yeoman Tamula once before, in “The Return of the Archons.” She returns here to take the place of the departed Yeoman Janice Rand.

  David L. Ross was back for a third appearance as security officer Lt. Galloway, this time with dialogue. He says, “Get in line.”

  Sean Kenney, sitting in the helmsman’s chair, made his fourth and final appearance in the series as Lt. DuPaul (previously seen in “Arena”). Kenney also played the crippled Christopher Pike in Parts 1 and 2 of “The Menagerie.”

  Bill Blackburn mans the navigation station -- his 13th appearance so far.

  And Majel Barrett continued as the voice of the ship’s computer. This time, per the wishes of Gene Roddenberry, the voice sounded a bit more mechanical.

  Production Diary

  Filmed December 27, 28, 29, 30 and January 3 & 4, 1967

  (6 day production; total cost: $194,108).

  Production began on Tuesday, December 27, after a four-day Christmas break. Murderers’ Row, the second of four Matt Helm movies starring Dean Martin, was an unlikely holiday hit, knocking A Man for All Seasons out of the top box office position. The most watched TV shows from the night before were The Lucy Show and The Andy Griffith Show, on CBS, followed by Iron Horse and Peyton Place, on ABC. The songs getting the most radio play across the nation were “Snoopy vs. the Red Barron” by The Royal Guardsmen, “Winchester Cathedral” by The New Vaudeville Band and, about to hit the top of the charts, “I’m a Believer” by the Monkees. The “Pre-Fab Four” weren’t monkeying around in the record stores, either. They had the top selling album.

  Filming of “A Taste of Armageddon” started with the bridge scenes on Stage 9.

  On Day 2, the company finished on the bridge, then moved to Stage 10 to film in the corridor area near the Eminiar council room. Matt Jefferies had been working to create the world of Eminiar 7 on a shoestring budget. He was happy with the results, but acknowledged that the most difficult aspect of his job was “compromise.”

  “Usually what we wind up with is only a small part of what I would like to see,” he said in 1968. “But you have to go with the material you have available, the capabilities of the people working for you, time, money; bend for the lighting man, bend for the cameraman, for the director. The most difficult thing is to come up with something you visualized that is on budget and will work best for the company. Frequently, when we get up there to shoot, there’s not a lot left of the original concept.” (91-9)

  On Day 3, Pevney did additional filming in the Eminiar corridor areas built on Stage 10, including the sector with the disintegration machine and the area outside the detention quarters. This was one of the areas where Gene Coon’s rewrite helped to save money. In the script, where a second disintegration chamber is established, Coon wrote:

  Since all these corridors are identical, and since this, an advanced civilization, uses building modules, there is no reason this cannot be the same disintegration chamber we used before, with perhaps minor dressing changes in the immediate vicinity.

  When the chamber is destroyed, Coon’s script told Pevney:

  There is no reason why this cannot be a SECOND CAMERA SHOT, from a different angle, of the first disintegrator being destroyed.

  A shot from Stage 10 (above) combined with a matte painting of the futuristic city, painted by Albert Whitlock (below) (Courtesy of Gerald Gurian)

  The suggestions not only saved money but time, allowing cast and crew to make it home in time for the premiere broadcast of “Shore Leave.” A.C. Nielsen declared it the ratings winner at 9 p.m., by a nose, with Star Trek attracted a 32.6 audience share, compared to 32.5 for ABC’s top-rated show, Bewitched.

  On Day 4, Friday, December 30, work resumed on Stage 10. The scenes in the “Detention Quarters” were filmed, followed by the materialization area -- a section of white wall built in front of a giant blue screen to be used for the matte painting of the Eminiar city. Last up: Anan 7’s quarters.

  The company had three days off, given a Monday holiday as part of the New Year’s weekend.

  Day 5, Tuesday, January 3, 1967. When cast and crew returned in the new year, work continued on Stage 10 for the interior of the Council Chamber and the computer room where the mathematical war is staged. Pevney got a little sloppy here, in a scene where Anan 7 calls the Enterprise and pretends to be Kirk. The script made it clear that
Anan 7 was not a voice mimic. The passage in Coon’s Revised Final Draft read:

  Anan is sitting at a table, speaking into a device with a mike on one side and a speaker on the other ... as he holds Kirk’s communicator before the speaker. It is a voice duplicating machine and when he speaks, the voice is that of Kirk.

  Sadly, the way this scene was shot, the voice duplicating machine is not recognizable as such, and even though Pevney had Jerry Finnerman pan from a small electronic unit over to Anan 7 holding Kirk’s communicator and speaking, it merely appears that the Eminiar leader was an impressionist worthy of an appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show.

  Day 6, Wednesday, January 4 -- a full day continuing filming the scenes in the Eminiar council room. Pevney, amazingly, finished on schedule.

  Post-Production

  January 5 through February 14, 1967. Music score: Tracked.

  Bruce Schoengarth and Edit Team #2 did the cutting. This was Schoengarth’s eighth episode. Past work included the excellent “The Naked Time.”

  The music was recycled from previous episodes.

  Film Effects of Hollywood handled the photographic effects, including the matte shot placing the landing party in a courtyard with the Eminiar city looming in the background. All shots of the Enterprise, however, were created using stock footage.

  The show Robert Justman feared would take eight to nine days to film had, thanks to a great deal of rewriting and painful compromises, finished in six. The price tag, however, was a bit on the high side due to the construction required on Stage 10. The final toll: $196,486. The series’ deficit was now $89,436.

  Release / Reaction:

  Premiere air date: 2/23/67. NBC repeat broadcast: 7/20/67.

  RATINGS / Nielsen National report for Thursday, February 23, 1967:

  “A Taste of Armageddon” held at second place for the entire hour. On CBS at 9 p.m. was the television premiere of the 1962 Robert Wise film Two for the Seesaw, starring Robert Mitchum and Shirley MacLaine.

  “A Taste of Armageddon” was a well-received episode and solidified the tradition of Kirk mounting his soapbox in the name of humankind, something Coon and then Roddenberry had him do, to a lesser extent, in “Arena” and “The Return of the Archons.”

  David Opatoshu remembered the significance of “A Taste of Armageddon,” saying, “I was very excited about it. It made a social comment that was very important, showing the madness of people playing war with computers. I read the script and said, ‘By all means, I would love to do the part.’ You can say so many things that are taboo, all in the name of science-fiction and fantasy. And you can write about social problems without being stigmatized.” (133)

  Barbara Babcock recalled, “It’s one of the more philosophical episodes. And since this was filmed in ‘67, we were still at war with Vietnam, and that issue was paramount. For me, doing those episodes [this and “Plato’s Stepchildren”] was a thrill because they really were trying to keep up with the latest developments.” (7)

  Sean Kenney recently said, “‘A Taste of Armageddon’ was about two civilizations battling, where they thought they were humane to destroy each other just by walking everyone who had to die into a destruction chamber. You bring that script out now, on any show, and it’d be lauded as so futuristic. But we did it almost 44 years ago. That’s my argument -- that good things always survive.” (100-2)

  George Takei said, “Star Trek was about the only show that was infusing and enriching the television medium with pertinence, substance, and contemporary relevance. Star Trek, by using science-fiction as a metaphor, was reflecting the reality of the times in a medium that was characterized by the chairman of the FCC as ‘the vast wasteland.’” (171-2)

  From the Mailbag

  Received after the first airing of “A Taste of Armageddon”:

  Dear Mr. Roddenberry: Quite sincerely and honestly, I am flabbergasted by reports that the show is “weak,” or any implication it is “unpopular.” I live in rural Indiana and I assure you the show is popular with both children and adults, from everyone from Den Mothers to draftsmen to housewives who read Gothic novels. Isn’t there any way to throttle those arbitrary few thousand robots who determine Nielsen ratings? Their ratings do not, by God, reflect Star Trek’s ratings in this section of the boondocks. Sincerely, Juanita C., Hartford City, Indiana.

  But, as documented here, A.C. Nielsen – as well as its rival, TvQ – showed Star Trek to be doing strong business on Thursday nights, both in the boonies as well as, and even more so, in the big cities. The Den Mothers and draftsman and housewives who read Gothic novels in Hartford City, Indiana were right -- as NBC’s top-rated Thursday night show, Star Trek was deserving of hit status, something its broadcast carrier was refusing to acknowledge. The reason for all the misinformation, and the threats of cancelation, were complex. Gene Roddenberry had many strikes against him at this point at the network. Stay tuned.

  33

  D.C. Joins the Staff / “This Side of Paradise”

  D.C. Fontana (Courtesy of Gerald Gurian)

  As the stories Roddenberry assigned began arriving, many were proving to be unsuitable. Star Trek was in danger of running short on scripts. Coon would give out six additional assignments in December, all to writers who had proven themselves reliable. One assignment each went to Paul Schneider (ST 40, “Tomorrow the Universe”), Theodore Sturgeon (ST 41, “Amok Time”), Steven Carabatsos (ST 42, “Operation: Destroy”), and Dorothy Fontana (ST 43, “Friday’s Child”). The final two Coon assigned to himself (ST 44, “The Devil in the Dark” and ST 45, “Errand of Mercy”).

  Steven Carabatsos’ contract as Story Editor was for 13 episodes, ending with “A Taste of Armageddon.” Carabatsos later admitted that he was not a fan of science fiction and had far less exposure to the genre than series’ writers and sci-fi enthusiasts such as Samuel Peeples, Jerry Sohl, Harlan Ellison, Richard Matheson, George C. Johnson, and Theodore Sturgeon. Not to mention Gene Roddenberry and Gene L. Coon.

  For Carabatsos, Star Trek was no better or worse than the other series he had worked on -- like Peyton Place. He said, “The honest fact is that when it was first on, to me... it was just another show. Granted, because of all the famous science-fiction writers involved there was a sense of something else, a sense of more going on, but you have to understand, nobody knew what we had there. Nobody had any idea.... [Star Trek] didn’t light up the stars.” (28-1)

  Roddenberry would argue that. Most who worked on the series did feel that Star Trek was lighting up the stars. Not Carabatsos. Twenty-five years after leaving the series, he said “It beats the hell out of me why the show has gone on the way it has.” (28-1)

  Carabatsos had one last contractual obligation -- write an original script (he had been given co-writing credit for “Court Martial,” which was a rewrite). He didn’t have a storyline his bosses liked, so Roddenberry gave him one. Carabatsos went home to work on “Operation -- Destroy!” and left an empty office in the Star Trek building. Roddenberry, Justman, and Coon already knew who they wanted to put behind the desk in that room.

  Dorothy Fontana’s gamble -- resigning as Roddenberry’s secretary to become a full-fledged screenwriter -- had paid off. Now her former boss had nothing to lose in offering her a shot at being on staff. Nonetheless, for 1966, it was a bold move. Fontana later said, “To have a woman story editor on an action-adventure show... That was unheard of.” (64-2)

  Fontana brought much to the table. The two scripts she had already contributed, “Charlie X” and “Tomorrow Is Yesterday,” were among the series’ least problematic. They required less rewriting and were two of the least-expensive episodes filmed. And Fontana, unlike Carabatsos, embraced science fiction. She had watched The Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits faithfully and admitted to loving Byron Haskin’s movie Robinson Crusoe on Mars, as well as Forbidden Planet, the 1956 film that in many ways played like an episode of Star Trek. Perhaps, just as importantly, she loathed Lost in Space.

  Fontana had someth
ing else going for her. Along with a passion for writing, a story editor must know how to work within the system, to listen to the producers, to listen to the network, to understand budgets, and to know what is and is not possible in production. A story editor has to have a level of practical professionalism that many creative-minded people -- science-fiction-minded people, especially -- do not possess.

  Fontana explained, “I had dealt with the scripts all the time and had my own opinions about them. I just never put [those thoughts] down on paper, although I spoke to Gene [Roddenberry] and Gene Coon secretly about the shows they were doing.” (64-17)

  Those conversations and her two original screenplays showed the two Genes that Fontana understood Star Trek as well as they did. She recalled, “Gene came to me and said, ‘We have a script that’s not working and we’d like you to do a rewrite on it. And, if you can do a fast rewrite that satisfies the network and the studio, then I’ll invite you to join us as story editor.’” (64-1)