A TOS Episode Without Kirk?

[Spock's Barber]

There are several TOS episodes where a regular supporting actor or actress is missing without any explanation in the scripts. For example, Uhura is noticeably absent from Turnabout Intruder, Sulu disappears from several S2 episodes, etc. The episodes seem to go on without them, but they are missed.

Could a TOS episode have been successful if Kirk was not in the script at all? For instance, if he was assigned to temorary duty at Starfleet Command, or if he was under medical care for injuries sustained in a Kirk fight, or........

 

[diankra]

Shatner was the lead, so he was not only in every episode, but took the lead role in every episode.
Having said that, there is evidence that TPTB wanted to make Chekov more central. So in an alternate universe, there might have been episodes in seasons three or four where Chekov led the landing party, with Kirk only can appearng at start or finish, or eventually not appearing at all.

 

[Herbert]

I think an episode sans Kirk could have worked. However, they would never have done this for obvious reasons. It probably would never even occur to them to try that.

The Tholian Web probably has the least amount of Kirk in it but the story still revolves around him.

 

[Spock's Barber]

I remember Shatner once voiced his concerns to the producers that he was involved in almost every scene, while other cast members could take breaks to relax in their dressing rooms, take care of personal business, etc. etc.

 

[diankra]

I remember Shatner once voiced his concerns to the producers that he was involved in almost every scene, while other cast members could take breaks to rekax in their dressing rooms, take care of personal business, etc. etc.

I guess the obvious precedent (or rather antedent) is that on Space 1999 Fred Freiberger double-banked episodes, with Landau heading a location episode while Anholt, Tate or Bain shot another on the standing sets.

 

[JonnyQuest037]

Could a TOS episode have been successful if Kirk was not in the script at all?

Outside of "The Cage," nope.

 

[Qonundrum]

Their absence is definitely noticed and are definitely missed. TOS isn't Trek without them.

Not sure about Nichelle's absence from "Turnabout Intruder" (contract only specifying x number of episodes?), but George in season 2 was taking time away from Trek not only to do a Hollywood movie, but to also ensure the reusable new placeholder reaction shots didn't include Chekov. Surprised they didn't redo reaction shots upon his return...

 

[Takeru]

There are several TOS episodes where a regular supporting actor or actress is missing without any explanation in the scripts. For example, Uhura is noticeably absent from Turnabout Intruder, Sulu disappears from several S2 episodes, etc. The episodes seem to go on without them, but they are missed.

They weren't even series regulars, so it's not surpising they didn't appear in all episodes.

Could a TOS episode have been successful if Kirk was not in the script at all? For instance, if he was assigned to temorary duty at Starfleet Command, or if he was under medical care for injuries sustained in a Kirk fight, or........

It could have been successful I think especially with Spock takimg the lead. Why would the writers do that though? I can't think of many shows where the lead simply didn't appear in an episode, of course there are many examples of the lead taking a backseat and only getting a short scene but not appearing at all is weird unless there's really no other choice like when Lucy Lawless broke her hip while she was on Xena but even then she only missed one episode completely iirc and had otherwise short scenes.

 

[Spock's Barber]

It could have been successful I think especially with Spock takimg the lead. Why would the writers do that though? I can't think of many shows where the lead simply didn't appear in an episode....

I was thinking specifically of The Wild, Wild West when the producers had to use guest stars after Ross Martin missed numerous episodes because of a serious health issue. It seemed to work, but the chemistry between Robert Conrad and his new partner(s) was different.

 

[BillJ]

In "The Slaver Weapon", Kirk is absent. Works okay. Nothing wrong with focusing on different combinations of characters.

 

[Emperor Norton]

The problem is the format of 1960s television. There was the star, then co-stars, and then the supporting actors. Shatner was the star, DeForest Kelley and Nimoy were co-stars, and the rest were considered supporting actors. In said formula and view of television, I cannot think of a situation (other than health problems or whatever the case may have been) of an episode devoid of the star.

 

[Green]

Contract hold out is the main reason stars missed episodes back in the day Redd Foxx, Freddie Prinz Sr., Valarie Harper, etc., etc.....

 

[F. King Daniel]

They definitely could have done a Spock-centric episode without Kirk. He was certainly popular enough.

But as others have said, contracts etc rule the day.

 

[Commishsleer]

I remember Shatner once voiced his concerns to the producers that he was involved in almost every scene, while other cast members could take breaks to relax in their dressing rooms, take care of personal business, etc. etc.

But then again didn't he demand the most number of lines per episode.
Can't have it both ways.

There was opportunity for Kirk not to be as involved in episodes such as Galileo 7 and the Slaver weapon or he had been recalled for some captains meeting somewhere and it make sense. Other series in that time period did have episodes where the lead took a break. Not maybe series like Julia or Daniel Boone but I'm not certain that Star Trek was that lead centric.

 

[Herbert]

Their absence is definitely noticed and are definitely missed. TOS isn't Trek without them.

Not sure about Nichelle's absence from "Turnabout Intruder" (contract only specifying x number of episodes?), but George in season 2 was taking time away from Trek not only to do a Hollywood movie, but to also ensure the reusable new placeholder reaction shots didn't include Chekov. Surprised they didn't redo reaction shots upon his return...

Uhura is also curiously absent from The Doomsday Machine. Why? who knows.

 

[dstyer]

Uhura is also curiously absent from The Doomsday Machine. Why? who knows.

Other than Kirk and Spock, all the "main" characters missed episodes. Uhura is listed as missing in 14 of them!

http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Main_character_non-appearances

 

[ItIsGreen]

There's no way Shatner would have stood for not being in an episode.

 

[Spock's Barber]

There's no way Shatner would have stood for not being in an episode.

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[inflatabledalek]

As I understand it, Shatner was down to direct the next episode of season 3 if the network had picked up the full order for the year. For those who've seen that script, did Kirk have a smaller role in it to accommoate that (as would happen with most of the later shows where a cast member directed), or would he have been doing that whilst carrying the weight of the episode?

 

[dstyer]

As I understand it, Shatner was down to direct the next episode of season 3 if the network had picked up the full order for the year. For those who've seen that script, did Kirk have a smaller role in it to accommoate that (as would happen with most of the later shows where a cast member directed), or would he have been doing that whilst carrying the weight of the episode?

Where did you obtain this information? Nothing I've seen in decades of following TOS indicates there was an intent to have Shatner direct an episode. In addition, there's nothing to indicate season 3 was not a full order. Sure, it had only 24 episodes (as opposed to 29 in season one and 26 in season two), but that sure seems like a full US TV season to me.