All Yeomen are Women?

[ZapBrannigan]

On the subject of women in Starfleet, I'm pretty sure we never saw a female security officer.

In TOS, no, but in the animated series we saw Lt. Anne Nored in "The Survivor" and an all-female security team in "The Lorelei Signal." There were some female personnel in security colors in the rec-room crowd scene in ST:TMP as well. I don't remember if there were any in the later TOS movies.

I don't have the teleplay to prove it, but I suspect Martha Landon in "The Apple" was supposed to be a security guard, and Shatner addressed her (once I think?) as "Yeoman" from force of habit, or as an ill-informed ad lib.

Landon kicked ass. She was using real karate moves in a brawl, with no cringing and no male assistance. She made Batgirl on ABC look like a ballet dancer!

Early Kirk was the exact same character as Pike; he only became different once the writers began to be influenced by Shatner's performance, and presumably as the network pushed for him to become a more conventional womanizing action hero. And of course McCoy was the exact same character as Boyce. Sometimes I wonder why Roddenberry even changed the names of the characters when they were recast. He kept the original character names when his Genesis II characters were recast (mostly) for Planet Earth, so why change them here? Maybe he already had the idea of incorporating the pilot as a flashback story.

Yeah, he must have been planning from the start to salvage "The Cage," which had been so expensive to make. My first thought would be, just drop it in as a stand-alone episode. Science fiction fans were super-accustomed to anthology series. I'm surprised they didn't do that.

I'd have a narrator say at the top of Act 1, "Years before Captain Kirk took command of the Enterprise, this happened!" Bam. Done. No need for a framing story.

 

[The Old Mixer]

Contracts? Shatner and Nimoy might have objected to having an episode that they weren't in.

 

[scotpens]

It could be argued that computers and yeomen play equally subordinate roles.

From TMOST:

[The computer] uses a feminine voice, a familiar occurrence, even today. The pre-take-off computer systems used on today's F-105 fighter, for example, speak to the pilots in a female voice because it has been discovered that the feminine voice penetrates noise better and results in improved response by men (and women).

Probably the same reason today's Siri and Cortana computer assistants speak in female voices.

I believe that computers on vessels and space stations under Starfleet's aegis always have female voices.

Nah, there was the refit 1701 in TMP, the Excelsior in STIII, and the Vengeance in ST12. And there are probably more, I just cannae remember.

The computer of the evil Enterprise in "Mirror, Mirror" had a male voice.

. . . Sometimes I wonder why Roddenberry even changed the names of the characters when they were recast. He kept the original character names when his Genesis II characters were recast (mostly) for Planet Earth, so why change them here? Maybe he already had the idea of incorporating the pilot as a flashback story.

Yeah, he must have been planning from the start to salvage "The Cage," which had been so expensive to make. My first thought would be, just drop it in as a stand-alone episode. Science fiction fans were super-accustomed to anthology series. I'm surprised they didn't do that.

I'd have a narrator say at the top of Act 1, "Years before Captain Kirk took command of the Enterprise, this happened!" Bam. Done. No need for a framing story.

"The Cage" in its original pilot form runs about 65 minutes. Some 15 minutes would have to be cut to fit it into Star Trek's 1-hour time slot as a stand-alone episode. That could have made the story choppy and difficult to follow.

 

[Christopher]

From TMOST:

[The computer] uses a feminine voice, a familiar occurrence, even today. The pre-take-off computer systems used on today's F-105 fighter, for example, speak to the pilots in a female voice because it has been discovered that the feminine voice penetrates noise better and results in improved response by men (and women).

Probably the same reason today's Siri and Cortana computer assistants speak in female voices.

I dunno... When I've read that passage you quoted, I've often wondered if the reason a female voice penetrated noise better in that '60s military context is because all the other voices were male, and so a female one would stand out. In a more modern, gender-balanced environment, would a female voice have the same noise-penetration advantage?

Yeah, he must have been planning from the start to salvage "The Cage," which had been so expensive to make. My first thought would be, just drop it in as a stand-alone episode. Science fiction fans were super-accustomed to anthology series. I'm surprised they didn't do that.

I'd have a narrator say at the top of Act 1, "Years before Captain Kirk took command of the Enterprise, this happened!" Bam. Done. No need for a framing story.

"The Cage" in its original pilot form runs about 65 minutes. Some 15 minutes would have to be cut to fit it into Star Trek's 1-hour time slot as a stand-alone episode. That could have made the story choppy and difficult to follow.

I believe Roddenberry's original plan was that if the series didn't sell, he'd shoot enough extra footage to release "The Cage" as a feature film (although it had actually been retitled "The Menagerie" by the time it was shot -- we just call it "The Cage" to distinguish it from the 2-parter). Even with the series selling, a feature version of the pilot could've still been an option. A number of shows back then had feature-film versions made during or just after the shows' runs -- Batman, Dragnet, Munster Go Home, A Man Called Flintstone, a couple of McHale's Navy features, etc. And some shows, like The Man from UNCLE, had 2-parters released as features overseas, with additional footage shot to make them more feature-worthy (the TMFU films added more sex and violence for the movie versions, though they were still pretty tame by today's standards).

Perhaps it was Jeffrey Hunter's decision not to participate any further in Star Trek that scuttled the idea of expanding the pilot into a feature. For a standalone film, it might've been confusing to have one Enterprise crew introducing an adventure of a different Enterprise crew, so it would've been preferable to go with the original plan and just shoot new footage with the pilot cast. With Hunter walking away -- and with NBC being underwhelmed with the rest of the pilot cast -- I guess that wouldn't have been feasible anymore.

 

[The Wormhole]

Contracts? Shatner and Nimoy might have objected to having an episode that they weren't in.

Well, Shatner might. Nimoy wouldn't since he was in the episode anyway.

 

[Nebusj]

That's so true. There are three females on the bridge at the time he says that. That's about a fourth of the bride crew.

"Except for you printout girl; you're different of course."

True. It is a common sort of human prejudice, admittedly. ``Oh, you can't even reason with a Slobbovian. I don't mean you, Mr Blxfpt. You're not like the ones I mean.'' But that would also be a weirdly human emotion on display in ``The Cage'', if it were being done deliberately.

 

[Melakon]

If there were male yeomen, by the time of the second pilot, they must have been upgraded to expendable security guards.

 

[The Old Mixer]

Contracts? Shatner and Nimoy might have objected to having an episode that they weren't in.

Well, Shatner might. Nimoy wouldn't since he was in the episode anyway.

( )

 

[Pauln6]

I don't have the teleplay to prove it, but I suspect Martha Landon in "The Apple" was supposed to be a security guard, and Shatner addressed her (once I think?) as "Yeoman" from force of habit, or as an ill-informed ad lib.

Landon kicked ass. She was using real karate moves in a brawl, with no cringing and no male assistance. She made Batgirl on ABC look like a ballet dancer!

Batgirl WAS a ballet dancer...

I think it's probable that Landon got some action because the actress was trained in judo and they decided to make use of that on the day. It's doubtful that she was employed BECAUSE she was trained in judo however so she was probably always intended to be a yeoman.

Mind you, compare that to Q Who where Sirtis and McFadden were the only actors trained in fencing where the director on the day gave them vases instead of blades so it doesn't always work out ;P

In the reboot comic Yeoman Zahra has turned into a security lieutenant and Yeoman Rand has also provided security support. I'm ambivalent about this. I don't see why a non-com has to be promoted to a lieutenant just because she's now in security but then this applies equally to Keenser who acts and is shown as being little more than a mechanic but might actually be the assistant chief engineer. I think many of the writers have a poor understanding of why officers are officers as opposed to crewman and senior non-coms and it has little to do with being good at your job, as evidenced by a lot of very stupid officers in TOS.

As far as Rand goes, I think Yeomen should be fully trained to act as security support on a mission where you want your yeoman with you but I would question why you'd choose a yeoman, who has a lot of admin duties to perform, as primary security support when you have a ship full of security officers who don't have other full-time jobs.

 

[Maurice]

I don't have the teleplay to prove it, but I suspect Martha Landon in "The Apple" was supposed to be a security guard, and Shatner addressed her (once I think?) as "Yeoman" from force of habit, or as an ill-informed ad lib.

From the story outline May 4, 1967

Nnnnnnope. A yeoman from the outline stage onwards.

Ad libs appear to have been rarely tolerated. There are memos warning against changing dialog without the consent of the producers or Justman.

 

[J.T.B.]

From TMOST:

[The computer] uses a feminine voice, a familiar occurrence, even today. The pre-take-off computer systems used on today's F-105 fighter, for example, speak to the pilots in a female voice because it has been discovered that the feminine voice penetrates noise better and results in improved response by men (and women).

Probably the same reason today's Siri and Cortana computer assistants speak in female voices.

I dunno... When I've read that passage you quoted, I've often wondered if the reason a female voice penetrated noise better in that '60s military context is because all the other voices were male, and so a female one would stand out. In a more modern, gender-balanced environment, would a female voice have the same noise-penetration advantage?

Yeah, I believe the basis for the military system ("Bitching Betty") was largely anecdotal, originating with the wide use of female air traffic controllers stateside during WW2. Subsequent study has shown there is no significant difference. Boeing has used a male "TERRAIN! PULL UP!" for its ground proximity warning for a long time.

 

[Christopher]

^Good to know, thanks.

Still, I think there are probably differences in cultural expectations. That "pull up" warning would perhaps call for a male voice because it's supposed to be alarming (literally), and male voices are seen as more intimidating; while something like Siri or Cortana is probably female because it's considered friendlier and more reassuring.

 

[Maurice]

^Good to know, thanks.

Still, I think there are probably differences in cultural expectations. That "pull up" warning would perhaps call for a male voice because it's supposed to be alarming (literally), and male voices are seen as more intimidating; while something like Siri or Cortana is probably female because it's considered friendlier and more reassuring.

But the default Siri voice in the UK is male.

 

[Christopher]

^Well, there are probably different cultural factors in play there. Maybe it's tapping into the tradition of the English butler.

 

[Harvey]

Perhaps it was Jeffrey Hunter's decision not to participate any further in Star Trek that scuttled the idea of expanding the pilot into a feature. For a standalone film, it might've been confusing to have one Enterprise crew introducing an adventure of a different Enterprise crew, so it would've been preferable to go with the original plan and just shoot new footage with the pilot cast. With Hunter walking away -- and with NBC being underwhelmed with the rest of the pilot cast -- I guess that wouldn't have been feasible anymore.

As far as I know, the idea of expanding "The Menagerie" into feature-length for theatrical exhibition never made it much further than Roddenberry suggesting it to Hunter in a letter written to the actor shortly after he elected not to participate in a second pilot.

There was a line in the agreement between Desilu and Hunter releasing him early from his contract, which allowed the studio to bring back the actor (subject to his availability) at a rate of $1,000 per day "for any additional shooting we may require in connection with releasing Star Trek #1 as a feature film."

We can only speculate why this didn't happen. Perhaps the price was too steep? Perhaps Hunter was simply unavailable? Perhaps, once the series was picked up, it was deemed more cost-effective to recoup some costs from the first pilot by re-editing it with new footage shot on a short schedule than exhibiting it theatrically? Perhaps it was a combination of these factors.

 

[Christopher]

Okay, Inside Star Trek covers the question on pp. 250-251 of the hardcover edition. It says Hunter "rebuffed Roddenberry's request to shoot added scenes to lengthen the pilot and attempt to get a theatrical release for it." It also says that there had been an initial plan to broadcast it as an NBC Movie of the Week, I guess when the theatrical plan fell through. (Although they would've still needed to add at least ten minutes even to fit a 90-minute movie time slot with commercials.)

But the decision to do it as a 2-part episode had to do with keeping the show on schedule. Because the writing needs of the show were more challenging than those a typical formulaic TV series, they were falling behind on script development and were in danger of running out of scripts and going on an unplanned production hiatus. So Bob Justman suggested using the already-made first pilot to give them a grace period to catch up. Building a 2-parter around it, only needing to write and shoot one episode's worth of material to span two weeks, helped them get back on schedule.

 

[Harvey]

Thanks for checking that. That makes total sense, and aligns with the archival record. I need to read INSIDE STAR TREK again soon, obviously!

Incidentally, Roddenberry's letter to Hunter indicates that with a little padding ("via stock and long cutting"), the first pilot could have been brought to feature length without any additional shooting -- but it wouldn't have been their best work.

 

[Warped9]

Although it isn't absolutely necessary I'd like to have seen a few more shots of the Enterprise exterior in "The Cage" although they wouldn't have been needed for "The Menagerie" two-parter. As is there's really only one good shot of the ship in the very beginning and the remaining shots woth the three-footer are underwhelming.

 

[The Old Mixer]

They also could have shot some scenes of additional jeopardy to the ship while Pike is on the planet (e.g., the Talosians throw some illusionary threats at them)...and/or perhaps some additional rescue efforts on the part of the crew...without needing to shoot another frame of Hunter.

 

[Christopher]

Incidentally, Roddenberry's letter to Hunter indicates that with a little padding ("via stock and long cutting"), the first pilot could have been brought to feature length without any additional shooting -- but it wouldn't have been their best work.

Interesting. I guess "long cutting" would mean stretching out the timing -- putting in longer gaps between lines and such, adding more reaction shots and establishing shots, using more coverage of things like the Rigel fight or the Vina dance, that sort of thing. But I wonder if they had any deleted lines or scenes that they could've put back in to pad it out for a Movie-of-the-Week slot, as they did with TMP. If only the original master negatives survived, it might be an interesting project for someone to attempt to construct a movie-length edit of the pilot as it might've been done at the time.

Although it isn't absolutely necessary I'd like to have seen a few more shots of the Enterprise exterior in "The Cage" although they wouldn't have been needed for "The Menagerie" two-parter. As is there's really only one good shot of the ship in the very beginning and the remaining shots woth the three-footer are underwhelming.

I suppose the "stock" Roddenberry mentioned could've included Enterprise miniature footage from the second pilot. Although during the series proper, they didn't seem to have a problem with cutting between mismatched shots of the pilot and series versions of the ship, so GR might've been fine with inserting stock footage of the series version.