A month passed. Sohl had cooled down. He sent Roddenberry a short but sweet peace offering, writing:
Dear Gene: That episode of Star Trek with Ricardo Montalban [“Space Seed”] was, in my estimation, the show’s finest hour. Warmest Regards, Jerry. (JS25-3)
Roddenberry responded, but not necessarily warmly. His letter read, in its entirety:
Dear Jerry: Thank you for your comments on the Star Trek episode “Space Seed,” starring Ricardo Montalban. Comments on individual episodes are always helpful and always appreciated. Yours Truly, Gene Roddenberry, Executive Producer, Star Trek. (GR25-4)
There was no mistaking the tone. Someone was going to have to instigate a conversation and try to repair the damage. Sohl, knowing he had fired the first shot, now knew he would have to swallow his pride. His letter to Roddenberry, a few days later, attempted to explain his side of the misunderstanding. He wrote:
I had submitted “The Way of the Spores” final draft on October 16, hearing only from Gene L. Coon, who said, “It’s an excellent rewrite,” and later said there would be some minor revisions. When I had come in to see you, you were busy... [and] said I should come back in a couple weeks. Even then I sensed something was wrong. So I phoned. I never received a return call. After a few days, I called again. Once again there was no return call. So I wrote to you on December 12, and I said I felt left out and I asked how “The Way of the Spores” was doing. The next day I received a copy of ‘This Side of Paradise’ by D.C. Fontana.... As a creative person I guess I can be as unstable as most, if not more so. I was hurt.... I started calling around among science fiction writer friends to ask them if they knew what was going on. One of them who had written a script for the show said that he was disgusted with the way he was treated and would never again write for the show. Another s-f writer who had written for the show said that he did not like your cavalier treatment of him and that he would never work for you again. Ordinarily I would disregard such remarks as just sour grapes or the reactions of neurotic writers, or perhaps they might be rationalizations to cover their own inadequacies. But it fit in with what I thought was an emerging pattern.... I felt somehow used. (JS25-4)
Sohl added that much of his confusion and hurt came about as a result of Harlan Ellison’s “tirade” in the SFWA newsletter. He believed Ellison was speaking on behalf of Roddenberry, accusing Richard Matheson, George Clayton Johnson, and himself of being “leeches” who were trying to “grab a few bucks from those [TV] schmucks.” Sohl couldn’t understand how Roddenberry, his newfound TV friend, could think such things after all the help he had given Star Trek in the early days, recommending writers for the series, and helping to flesh-out the characters and premise with his “Corbomite Maneuver” script. And so he reacted as he did, and now he was sorry. Sohl closed his letter, writing:
I have been guilty of not being patient, of not being trusting. I have been judging instead of loving. For all of that all I can ask is your forgiveness. Love, Jerry. (JS25-4)
Roddenberry wasn’t feeling forgiving, or loving. He wrote back:
Let me correct a few misconceptions. Firstly, Harlan does not speak for me. Star Trek has not “reverted to Hollywood hacks.” I have never produced a show using “hacks” nor do I ever intend to.... Reference your assistance during the early stages of Star Trek, I am most grateful for it. However, let’s not create any legends between ourselves that you introduced me to science fiction. I had been a fan of that field of literature since the 1930s, written one of televisions early SF scripts [“The Secret Weapon of 117”], and had the Star Trek format and first pilot conceived and executed before we met. Understand, this is not to diminish the value of your friendly and even enthusiastic cooperation. There is, however, one damage which has not been repaired. In the article printed in SFWA you intimated that I am a liar and a cheat. Or, at least, so a number of people interpreted it. I feel that you owe it to me and to yourself to find some way in that same publication to correct that “infamous letter” as you describe it. Sincerely yours, Gene Roddenberry. (GR25-5)
Sohl attempted to clean up the matter with the Science Fiction Writers Association. Roddenberry, smarting over the accusations that the science fiction writers having written for Star Trek so far would never return, attempted some damage control of his own, writing to SFWA newsletter editor Damon Knight:
Incidentally, Harlan [Ellison] can hardly be characterized as a leech, since we have not even shot his show yet. We intend to before the season is out and, liking it very much, we will undoubtedly want to sign him for further scripts should we go to a second season. Ted Sturgeon has already been signed for a second. Robert Bloch and Richard Matheson have received offers from us and we are waiting until they get some free time. We have contacted Lester del Rey, Poul Anderson, Isaac Asimov, Norman Spinrad, and others, soliciting ideas for stories, although we are bought-up for this particular television season. We are hoping to heavily use such talent should we go to a second year. (GR25-2)
The second assignment Roddenberry referred to for Theodore Sturgeon, planned for the end of the first season, was “Amok Time.” Norman Spinrad would respond and send in an idea, although not the one that eventually was purchased and developed into “The Doomsday Machine.” Bloch would return to write for Star Trek again (“Catspaw” and “Wolf in the Fold”). Richard Matheson came in for a pitch but didn’t stir interest in his idea. The others would pass.
As for Jerry Sohl, he remained estranged from Roddenberry for over a year. He would get a chance to write for Star Trek again, but not until the halfway point of Season Three, and that experience would not go well (see “Whom Gods Destroy”).
From the Mailbag
Sent out 11 days after the completion of filming of “The Side of Paradise”:
Dear Ralph: I would like to have you know how much I enjoyed the work that we did together on “This Side of Paradise.” It was not only a special Spock experience, but it was special for me as well in that I felt safe in the hands of a capable and sensitive director. Unfortunately, a rare experience in TV. I sincerely hope that we will spend much more time working together on sound stages and locations in the future. Many, many thanks. Sincerely, Leonard Nimoy. (January 24, 1967).
Received the week after “This Side of Paradise” aired:
To Whom It May Concern... As part of this country’s vast viewing audience, we would like to commend you on putting forth such fine, creative, entertainment as Star Trek. It is indeed one of the finer shows on television. However, we also feel that, as a viewer, it is our duty to make several comments on the offering for Thursday, March 2nd. Like many other viewers, we seem to especially like the Mr. Spock character in the series. He lacks the conceited, smug, and egocentric attitude that we find in certain other characters on the show. Unfortunately, his image was disastrously ruined on the March 2nd offering. With no regard for quality, the script writer changed Mr. Spock into a kind, sentimental, and (if you’ll pardon the expression), “mushy” human…. We don’t wish to sound crude or vehement in our criticism, but we must demand a digression from things of this sort in the future lest it provoke your large Thursday night audience into desertion. The National Association for the Betterment of Television Viewing.
Mr. Gene Roddenberry, well thank goodness, it finally happened!! I’ve been waiting since September for my hero to blow his cool and, after watching “This Side of Paradise” last night, I can see it was all worth waiting for. They almost had to use a net to get me back down out of the clouds this morning. That episode generated more excitement around our office than the time Pat Boone took his first drink…. I hope, when next season rolls around, we can look forward to seeing that great big hunk of stoic sex appeal getting another girl to romance (however briefly). I really don’t think one mental lapse per season would be too much to ask. He looks so divinely handsome when he smiles; I hope you will let him do that once in a while, too. Mrs. Beverly C. (Toledo, Ohio).
Memories
Jerry Fin
nerman, as impressed with Senensky as Senensky was with him, said, “‘This Side of Paradise’... was a well-directed show.... I thought he [Ralph] did a wonderful job at directing the women [Jill Ireland here; Elinor Donahue and Diana Muldaur in future episodes], and he had a sensitivity. And he wouldn’t compromise, either. I liked that about him.” (63-3)
Ralph Senensky said, “‘This Side of Paradise’ has to do with love, the ability to love and the themes that go beyond the confines of the space genre in which it was written.... I’ve always loved that last line ... where Spock says, ‘For the first time in my life, I was happy.’ That pulls on the heart and it makes a universal statement, which TV or movies too seldom make today.” (155-2)
Dorothy Fontana said, “I love it. I thought it worked out really well. And NBC liked it very much. And Gene liked it very much. So I got to be Story Editor.” (64-2)
34
Episode 26: THE DEVIL IN THE DARK
Written by Gene L. Coon
Directed by Joseph Pevney
NBC’s press release, February 14, 1967:
Nimoy mind melds with the Horta (Unaired film frame courtesy of Gerald Gurian)
A distress call from a mining station on an ore-rich planet leads the Enterprise crew to an encounter with a space creature who has been thwarting delivery of critically-needed metals, in “The Devil in the Dark” on the NBC Television Network colorcast of Star Trek.... Captain Kirk (William Shatner) and Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy) join Chief Engineer Vandenburg [sic] (Ken Lynch) of the planet outpost Janus VI in a desperate attempt to stem the harassment of their important mining operation by Horta, a strange and apparently indestructible life-form. While tracking Horta through a maze of subterranean shafts, the men are isolated during a cave-in and Kirk finds himself face-to-face with the creature.
The Horta, who is capable of moving through solid rock, kills without warning and, seemingly, without purpose. Now it has taken components needed to keep the life support systems on Janus VI working, forcing Kirk and the miners to race against a ticking clock as they search for the missing equipment.
As with “Arena,” this story offers a study of bigotry and fear, and gives challenge to the meaning of “monster.”
SOUND BITES
- Kirk, after the Horta attempts to communicate: “‘No kill I.’ What is that? A plea for us not to kill it? Or a promise that it won’t kill us?”
- Vandenberg: “That thing has killed 50 of my men!” Kirk: “And you’ve killed thousands of her children!... Those round silicon nodules you’ve been collecting and destroying are eggs.... She’s intelligent, peaceful and mild. She had no objection to sharing the planet with you people ... until you broke into the nursery and started destroying her eggs. Then she fought back in the only way she could -- as any mother would, when her children were endangered.”
- McCoy, after Kirk tells him to help the Horta: “I’m a doctor, not a bricklayer.” Kirk: “You’re a healer, there’s a patient -- that’s an order.”
- Spock: “The Mother Horta said to me that our appearance is revolting, but she thought she could get used to it.” McCoy: “Oh? She didn’t happen to make any comments about those ears, did she?” Spock: “I did get the impression she thought they were the most attractive human characteristic of all. I didn’t have the heart to tell her that only I...” Kirk: “She really liked those ears, did she?” Spock: “The Horta is a remarkably sensitive and intelligent creature, with impeccable taste.” Kirk: “Because she approved of you?” Spock: “Really, Captain, my modesty...” Kirk, interrupting: “Does not merit close examination.”
ASSESSMENT
“The Devil in the Dark” represents a rare and early instance in science fiction where a monster is transformed from a thing to be feared to, unexpectedly, and object of Kirk’s (and the viewer’s) empathy. An exceptional moment in Gene Coon’s script comes when Spock is in telepathic contact with the Horta. The scene itself, depending on one’s tastes and patience, plays either as brilliant or overly long and somewhat silly, but the cleverness is in the words Coon has the Horta choose when describing its enemies -- the humans. Vandenberg and his men have already called the Horta a “devil” and repeatedly referred to it as a “monster.” In turn, the Horta accuses the humans of being both “devils” and “monsters.”
Once again, Jonathan Swift had been effectively channeled through a writer/producer of Star Trek, albeit a different Gene. The humans and the Horta, seeing one another as killers and thereby blinded by prejudice and fear, are determined to annihilate the other. They could have just as easily been written as Americans and Russians; or blacks and whites; or Republicans and Democrats; or, even, male versus female ... except NBC would have never put the show on the air, not in 1967, anyway. Flesh-and-blood people versus a silicon-and-rock creature, however, were completely acceptable for the American airwaves of this era. This episode broke new ground, enlightened its audience, and is rightfully considered to be a classic.
Nonetheless, “The Devil in the Dark” is dated and flawed. It is claustrophobic. The smooth stage floors in these tunnels are a distraction. The matte painting of the underground complex is so clearly a drawing that it draws attention to itself, as do the absurdly simplistic charts and maps that decorate Vandenberg’s office.
Beyond the cosmetics, there is sloppiness in the plotting and execution: the illogic of Chief Vandenberg, after losing 50 men to the “monster,” to continue to post sentries deep in the tunnels, not in pairs but on their own, each to become yet another victim; or why these miners have no replacement parts for their “antique” 20-year-old fission power reactor and its circulating pump, which, if it breaks, will result in the death of all on the planet long before help can possibly arrive; or how Vandenberg’s men, who fear the Horta, are, in the end, willing to charge it manned only with clubs. The Enterprise crew doesn’t behave any more sensibly. Knowing 50 men have died, Kirk allows his security team to go in search of the creature, and even splits them up, leaving one man searching alone to be the next to die. And Kirk and Spock hold a portion of the recently severed hide of the Horta in their bare hands, without Spock even taking a tricorder reading first to be sure it is not covered in the corrosive acid which has already killed numerous men and burned holes through metal and solid rock. It strains credulity to imagine how this immensely heavy rock-creature, which we only see scurry across the stage floor, can leap into the air and pounce on a man twice its own height, or clear its way through a hole it made in a wall when that hole doesn’t even reach to the ground ... or how it makes off with the circulatory pump, without hands, without pockets, without a buggy.
“The Devil in the Dark,” while an important episode with a profound message, is far from perfect. But, with thought-provoking material such as this, who needs perfection?
THE STORY BEHIND THE STORY
Script Timelines
Gene Coon’s story outline, ST #44: November 29, 1966.
Coon’s revised outline, gratis. December 5, 1966.
Coon’s 1st Draft script: December 19, 1966.
Coon’s Second Draft script (Final Draft): December 22, 1966.
Script page revisions from Coon: January 16, 1967.
Janos Prohaska, with Star Trek from 1964 through 1968 as both maker and wearer of monster costumes
“The Devil in the Dark” came about as a result of a Hungarian immigrant turned Hollywood stuntman who began his career dressed as apes in the circus. Janos “James” Prohaska had an arrangement with Star Trek -- if he came up with a creature the producers liked, they would not only rent it from him but would also pay him to be the man inside the horrible thing.
In the January 25, 1969, issue of TV Guide, Prohaska explained, “First TV series I do is Riverboat... it is about a traveling circus, and I played the chimp. But then I got type-roled. People keep telling me, ‘Thank you, we don’t need no chimps today.’ Then Ivan Tors put me in Man and the Challenge. I played a gorilla, and I saw they needed a bear, so I make bear. The
n when monster shows start, I start to make monsters.”
Regarding the Horta, Prohaska used a similar looking alien for “The Probe,” the last episode of The Outer Limits. After some alterations, and hidden inside the costume, Gene Coon recalled Prohaska crawling into his office to make a presentation. Dorothy Fontana remembers it happening outdoors.
“Janos asked Gene Roddenberry, Gene Coon, Justman (and I was included) to look at his proposal OUTSIDE THE OFFICE BUILDING IN THE STUDIO STREET. He had backed off a bit to hide the ‘blob creature,’ but he brought it up to us as we stood in the street.” (64-4b)
Robert Justman said, “Suddenly, the blob skittered around the corner, making straight for us. Then it stopped, curiously, backed away, and rotated in place.” (94-8)
Fontana added, “The ‘creature’ backed and bobbed a bit, then ran up, paused, and left a skeletal chicken ‘drop’ in the street as it skittered off.”
Justman and Coon said it was a large egg-like object that the creature left behind. Roddenberry claimed it was not, that the idea for the egg came later.
Justman said he was “dumbfounded.” He had watched this thing give birth.
These Are The Voyages, TOS, Season One Page 89
