Why Number One?

[T'Girl]

Majel Barrett didn't project all that much in "The Cage," but then not many of the regular cast did.

I thought Tyler came off as young, energetic, and enthusiastic. He's about the only one I wanted to learn more about based on what I saw in the pilot.

 

[scotpens]

From G.R.'s original series outline, as quoted in TMOST:

The Executive Officer. Never referred to as anything but "Number One," this officer is female. Almost mysteriously female, in fact -- slim and dark in a Nile Valley way, age uncertain, one of those women who will always look the same between years twenty and fifty. An extraordinarily efficient space officer, "Number One" enjoys playing it expressionless, cool -- is probably Robert April's superior in detailed knowledge of the equipment, departments, and personnel aboard the vessel. When Captain April leaves the craft, "Number One" moves up to Acting Commander.

So it seems that the original intention was for her name to remain a mystery. We never learned the real name of Get Smart's Agent 99 either.

. . . Early Voyages say her last name is Robbins and her first name begins "Eu--."

Eudora? Eugenia? Eugenie? Eula? Eulalia? Eulalie? Eunice? Euphemia? Eurydice? Eustacia?

 

[Cicero]

. . . Early Voyages say her last name is Robbins and her first name begins "Eu--."

Eudora? Eugenia? Eugenie? Eula? Eulalia? Eulalie? Eunice? Euphemia? Eurydice? Eustacia?

Eureka!

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

. . . Early Voyages say her last name is Robbins and her first name begins "Eu--."

Eudora? Eugenia? Eugenie? Eula? Eulalia? Eulalie? Eunice? Euphemia? Eurydice? Eustacia?

Eureka!

Just dug out "Flesh of my Flesh", and Pike gives the start of her name as "Eure-". I went looking for possibilities a while ago and found 'Eurena', which is the name I give to Lt. Commander Robbins.

In my continuity, she got her much-deserved promotion to Captain and was in line for the Enterprise, before Fleet Captain Pike offered her the first Titan-Class long-range explorer, a bigger and newer ship which looks remarkably like the Enterprise redesign from "Planet of the Titans".

 

[Therin of Andor]

Dorothy Fontana, in her Pike-era based novel, Vulcan's Glory, has Number One reveal to Pike that she comes from a planet of genetically engineered women, and that she was literally the Number one female intellect of her generation

Which is essentially the personal character background that Majel Barrett created for herself when preparing for the role. She mentioned it in a "Starlog" interview, IIRC.

And DC gives the planet as Ilyria.

 

[T'Girl]

So it seems that the original intention was for her name to remain a mystery. We never learned the real name of Get Smart's Agent 99 either.

IIRC we eventually learn 99's last name. There's an episode were Max and 99 visit 99's mother and Max refers to the mother by her last name, it's the same episode where we learn 99's father was also a spy.

 

[Maurice]

Questions are almost always more interesting than answers. If I'd been making the show and had that character I'd have never revealed her real name, just like we never learned Spock's family name.

 

[scotpens]

IIRC we eventually learn 99's last name. There's an episode were Max and 99 visit 99's mother and Max refers to the mother by her last name, it's the same episode where we learn 99's father was also a spy.

"I did not know that."

 

[Nerys Myk]

Wiki says otherwise.

 

[Therin of Andor]

IIRC we eventually learn 99's last name. There's an episode were Max and 99 visit 99's mother and Max refers to the mother by her last name, it's the same episode where we learn 99's father was also a spy.

And at the end of the episode ("99 Loses CONTROL") 99 explains that "Susan Hilton" is only a cover name. 99's real name is never revealed, even at their own wedding in Season Four.

Wasn't the mother only ever referred to as "Mrs 99" or "99's mother"? ("Sheroes: Bold, Brash, and Absolutely Unabashed Superwomen" by Varla Ventura.)

 

[T'Girl]

Questions are almost always more interesting than answers. If I'd been making the show and had that character I'd have never revealed her real name, just like we never learned Spock's family name.

Or how to pronounce his first name. Which kind of begs the question, what is "Spock," a middle name?

 

[Nerys Myk]

Questions are almost always more interesting than answers. If I'd been making the show and had that character I'd have never revealed her real name, just like we never learned Spock's family name.

Or how to pronounce his first name. Which kind of begs the question, what is "Spock," a middle name?

A diminutive. His full name is Spockadvoratrelundar

 

[The Old Mixer]

Judging by the scene on Vulcan in TMP, his real name is "Shhhpock."

 

[Nerys Myk]

Or it's a human name from his mother's family.

 

[Hober Mallow]

Judging by the scene on Vulcan in TMP, his real name is "Shhhpock."

Close. It's "Shhhpoa(PHLEM)."

 

[T'Girl]

T'Pau: "Spook."

 

[FormerLurker]

I thought 'Spock' was his first name.

 

[Melakon]

Maybe his name is Spock Ukoodentpronownsit.

Or it's a human name from his mother's family.

I'll guess that his middle name is Jackson. Since Nimoy's first name was used for McCoy (which always seemed a bit self-aware to me), maybe DeForest Kelley's first name is Spock's middle name.

 

[Push The Button]

Maybe his name is Spock Ukoodentpronownsit.

Or it's a human name from his mother's family.

I'll guess that his middle name is Jackson. Since Nimoy's first name was used for McCoy (which always seemed a bit self-aware to me), maybe DeForest Kelley's first name is Spock's middle name.

Some of my Asian coworkers have adopted Western first names like Steve and Lisa, probably for the benefit of their non-Asian coworkers like me that would have trouble pronouncing their real first names if we had to.

Anyway, I can see Spock adopting a "human" first name like Issac or Albert.

 

[mb22]

It can't be easy to establish a character rather than a type in a pilot episode. But compare "The Cage" with "Where No Man Has Gone Before" and in there is a marked difference. WNMHGB radiates energy and the characters come across as more fleshed out even though we still know next to nothing about them. Shatner is magnetic as Kirk as opposed to a sense of detachment with Hunter. All the characters in WNMHGB seem to have more presence. The inclusion of Sulu, Scotty and even Alden in the background is a step away from the all white, all American like cast in "The Cage." It's not hard to see, though, how "The Cage" setup could have been tweaked to work much better.

Boyce in "The Cage" does a lot more than Piper (and thus has a lot more "presence") does in WNMHGB. The first pilot is basically interested in Pike, Number One, Boyce and Colt. While Nimoy is the second billed regular, Spock (along with Tyler) is pretty much peripheral to the actual plot.