Episode of the Week : The Devil in the Dark

[HarryM]

I gave it a 10, pretty rare for me. This one really sums up best what Star Trek is all about.

 

[scotpens]

I love the Horta design. We so rarely got truly alien creatures in Star Trek that weren't "energy beings" or some such nonsense. It's great when they pull it off so well, despite the technical limitations of the time.

For which we can thank the late Janos Prohaska, stuntman, acrobat and creature designer. His Horta costume was a reworking of a "giant microbe" originally used in the Outer Limits episode "The Probe."

 

[fireproof78]

Behind the scenes, "The Devil in the Dark" is the episode that was filming when Shatner got the news that his father had died. For the show's sake, he opted to finish the day before traveling back to Canada for the service.

I thought he flew to Florida for the funeral.

That's how I remember the story, as well.

I wonder how the Horta and the miners got along far afterwards.
Hope they never depleted their mineral deposits.
Great episode. One of the greatest.

It doesn't seem like that arrangement was going to last for very long, to me. I guess we'll never know - did any extended universe stories go back to Janus?

The only one that I can recall is a comic series that has a Horta Starfleet officer, who has a universal translator built on to it in order to communicate. Here is a picture.

Memory Beta's article is pretty intensive on the details of the Horta, and they apparently featured in several novels, so there were a part of Trek lore for a while. I'm always glad to see that because the creature was such an interesting design.

 

[Spock's Barber]

One of Gene Coon's finest scripts. IIRC, It's also the only TOS episode where none of the series regulars are shown in the teaser.

 

[Push The Button]

One of Gene Coon's finest scripts. IIRC, It's also the only TOS episode where none of the series regulars are shown in the teaser.

Tomorrow is Yesterday, unless you count the Enterprise herself as part of the cast, which maybe I think I do..

 

[Spock's Barber]

One of Gene Coon's finest scripts. IIRC, It's also the only TOS episode where none of the series regulars are shown in the teaser.

Tomorrow is Yesterday, unless you count the Enterprise herself as part of the cast, which maybe I think I do..

Good point! You're promoted to Admiral for passing the Starfleet Trivia Test!

 

[Corylea]

One of the best they ever made, in my top 3. I give it a 10, all the way.

The underlying message is still as relevant as it was in 1967, and I think it would be a better world if everyone in it saw this episode. Make that "saw this episode every year," in fact.

Plus, you gotta love any episode where Leonard Nimoy mind-melds with a ROCK. He really IS a great actor, to have been able to sell that one.