McCoy in "Friday's Child"

[Wingsley]

There is an odd passage in the Memory Alpha entry (background information section) for "Friday's Child" that I do not understand:

In the footage seen in the briefing room of Dr. McCoy's previous visit to Capella IV, he is seen wearing his present day Enterprise tunic, rather than a TOS: "Where No Man Has Gone Before" era tunic, which would have been appropriate for that time period. He is also seen wearing the Enterprise insignia before he joined the crew.

Why is it assumed that McCoy's visit to Capella occurred before he was assigned to the Enterprise? I don't recall any reference in the ep clearly stating when his earlier mission to Capella would have occurred. I always just assumed that McCoy was assigned to the mission during some time either late in TOS Year 1 or just before the events of TOS Year 2.

 

[Maurice]

Silly. We see other Starfleet personnel wearing the same arrowhead as the Enterprise crew, and everyone in the fleet wears the same uniforms throughout the series, so his wearing both makes sense. As to the "Where No Man" type uniforms, we have no actual timeframe for that episode and maybe the new duds came aboard the ship when McCoy did...assuming one can't accept the aberrations of a TV pilot for what they are.

Interestingly, it seems that at one point the Enterprise logo was supposed to be THE insignia for "starship personnel" and Bob Justman wrote a funny but chastising memo to Theiss complaining about it, pointing out that the guys in Charlie X were different, because,

...the personnel of that other ship in that show were the equivalent of merchant marine or freighter personnel -- and therefore not entitled to bear this proud insignia on their individual and collective breasts.

I don't know what Theiss's reply was, but Justman's memo was dated December 18, 1967, which was early in the shooting of "The Omega Glory", which was shot right after "The Ultimate Computer" and well after "The Doomsday Machine", wherein different insignias were used, and I suspect Theiss's reply was likely some pithy variation on, "too late."

 

[GSchnitzer]

There is an odd passage in the Memory Alpha entry (background information section) for "Friday's Child" that I do not understand:

In the footage seen in the briefing room of Dr. McCoy's previous visit to Capella IV, he is seen wearing his present day Enterprise tunic, rather than a TOS: "Where No Man Has Gone Before" era tunic, which would have been appropriate for that time period. He is also seen wearing the Enterprise insignia before he joined the crew.

Why is it assumed that McCoy's visit to Capella occurred before he was assigned to the Enterprise? I don't recall any reference in the ep clearly stating when his earlier mission to Capella would have occurred. I always just assumed that McCoy was assigned to the mission during some time either late in TOS Year 1 or just before the events of TOS Year 2.

I think the notion is that since Scotty says "How long were you stationed on the planet, Doctor?," McCoy must have been stationed on Capella IV at some time when Scotty wouldn't have been aware of McCoy's comings and goings. (Scotty would have known exactly how long McCoy had been stationed there if it had happened during the First or Second Season.)

If Scotty's lack of knowledge on McCoy's visit to Capella IV is any indication, then McCoy must have been on Capella IV at some point before McCoy and Scott began to serve together. Of course, Scotty seems to have arrived on the Enterprise before McCoy--if the presence of Dr. Piper in "Where No Man Has Gone Before" is any indication.

 

[Wingsley]

Well, the earliest eps of TOS are obviously out of sequence, with "Where No Man..." having aired after other outings. If we assume that the Enterprise's visit to Delta Vega predates the rest of TOS by at least several months, and that McCoy arrived on board the Enterprise months after Mitchell's death, then McCoy could have been issued his TOS-era uniform and visited Capella in that time frame, perhaps prior to being assigned to the Enterprise.

We can also assume that since TV shows have a "summer hiatus", maybe that's time unaccounted for in the TOS Universe. (An example would be "The Return of the Archons", in which we see Sulu and O'Neil already on the planet with their scouting mission in progress; we can readily assume by their behavior that they've been on the planet for at least long enough to begin to understand what's going on.) So maybe McCoy visited Capella during time when Scott was busy working on the ship in a spacedock and could not be disturbed.

Here's the transcription of the briefing room scene, courtesy of chakoteya.net :

MCCOY: They're quite large. Seven feet tall is not unusual. They're extremely fast and strong. Lieutenant?
(Uhura turns on a monitor) Make no mistake. They can be highly dangerous. The Capellans' basic weapon, the kligat. At any distance up to a hundred yards, they can make it almost as effective against a man as a phaser.

(On the monitor, we see McCoy being given a demonstration in which a small sapling is cut in half by one of these hand-thrown objects.)

MCCOY: In addition, an assortment of swords and knives.

UHURA: Call from the bridge, Captain.

SULU [off-camera]: Bridge, Helm, sir.

KIRK: Yes, Mister Sulu. Report.

SULU [on monitor]: Now in standard orbit, sir. I've pinpointed their encampment below.

KIRK: Very good. Have the transporter room stand by.

SULU [on monitor]: Aye, sir.

SCOTT: How long were you stationed on the planet, Doctor?

MCCOY: Only a few months. We found them totally uninterested in medical aid or hospitals. They believe only the strong should survive.

KIRK: Analysis, gentlemen.

SPOCK: Ordinarily, under these circumstances, I would recommend a large, well-armed landing party.

KIRK: Yes, but in this case, with the more people we take down, the greater chance we have of violating one of their taboos.

MCCOY: Agreed. Once they've got it into their heads we're showing force, you can forget them signing any mining treaty.

KIRK: Very well. Scotty, you're in command. Bear in mind that the Klingons have been sighted in this sector. While we're negotiating down there, we don't want the Enterprise to become an incident up here.

SCOTT: Aye, sir. We'll keep on our toes.

This passage has me scratching my head. It's easy to interpret "only a few months" as anywhere from 2 to 4 months, reasonably settling on 3, but the specific number of days doesn't have to be precise. I still like to think it's possible that McCoy was dispatched to serve with a landing party on Capella IV at the end of TOS Year 1, but before Year 2 began.

As for the insignia issue, I like to think that the different badges signify unit/flotilla, and maybe the arrowhead is First Fleet, Decker's pretzel-like badge is Sixth Fleet, Tracey's rectangular badge is Second Fleet, and so on. And I assume that First Fleet is by far the largest unit in the Federation service. YMMV.

 

[Maab of the Ten Tribes]

The footage they show on the view screen looks to me like footage taken from the episode late in the episode where Maab is going to have the final showdown. I've always overlooked that though.

 

[Wingsley]

Does anyone know how long it took to shoot the outdoor scenes in "Friday's Child"?

It looks like the ep is a mix of "fake" outdoor (soundstage) action and on-location action.

 

[TOSalltheway]

Hate those cheesy planet sets. TOS looks so great in natural light and outdoors. Looks horrible on those astro turf grass sets.

 

[plynch]

Hate those cheesy planet sets. TOS looks so great in natural light and outdoors. Looks horrible on those astro turf grass sets.

Yup, just watched "Bread" and it has great on-location filming.

 

[RPJOB]

Silly. We see other Starfleet personnel wearing the same arrowhead as the Enterprise crew, and everyone in the fleet wears the same uniforms throughout the series, so his wearing both makes sense. As to the "Where No Man" type uniforms, we have no actual timeframe for that episode and maybe the new duds came aboard the ship when McCoy did...assuming one can't accept the aberrations of a TV pilot for what they are.

Interestingly, it seems that at one point the Enterprise logo was supposed to be THE insignia for "starship personnel" and Bob Justman wrote a funny but chastising memo to Theiss complaining about it, pointing out that the guys in Charlie X were different, because,

...the personnel of that other ship in that show were the equivalent of merchant marine or freighter personnel -- and therefore not entitled to bear this proud insignia on their individual and collective breasts.

I don't know what Theiss's reply was, but Justman's memo was dated December 18, 1967, which was early in the shooting of "The Omega Glory", which was shot right after "The Ultimate Computer" and well after "The Doomsday Machine", wherein different insignias were used, and I suspect Theiss's reply was likely some pithy variation on, "too late."

I've always thought that the insignia were fleet designations, not specific to a ship. The arrowhead could be for the 4th fleet and the rectangle for the 7th for instance. The crew in Charlie X could have been in the Merchant Marine or such as well.

 

[Forbin]

The problem with location shooting is that every planet looked like Vasquez Rocks!

 

[Gov Kodos]

There is an odd passage in the Memory Alpha entry (background information section) for "Friday's Child" that I do not understand:

In the footage seen in the briefing room of Dr. McCoy's previous visit to Capella IV, he is seen wearing his present day Enterprise tunic, rather than a TOS: "Where No Man Has Gone Before" era tunic, which would have been appropriate for that time period. He is also seen wearing the Enterprise insignia before he joined the crew.

Why is it assumed that McCoy's visit to Capella occurred before he was assigned to the Enterprise? I don't recall any reference in the ep clearly stating when his earlier mission to Capella would have occurred. I always just assumed that McCoy was assigned to the mission during some time either late in TOS Year 1 or just before the events of TOS Year 2.

Probably to avoid a palimony suit from Eleen.

 

[Warped9]

I ignore the uniform McCoy is wearing in the view screen footage as either a cost saving measure and/or a production oversight. Not the first time we've had to overlook such an oversight. I accept that McCoy's tour to Capella happened before he joined the Enterprise.

 

[Classic Fan]

I have always just over looked it. To be fair in TOS, continuity was never a strong point, and I doubt at the time they ever thought anyone would ever over analyse the episode nearly 50 odd years later. I just accept that maybe at some point, the Ent dropped McCoy off and picked him up a few months later. Hence he only had supplied uniforms/lounge wear from the Enterprise.

The problem with location shooting is that every planet looked like Vasquez Rocks!

Lol. Same as every planet in Stargate looks like a Vancouver national park, wether it's a hot planet or cold wet one. And the planets look strangely like the on location pre season 6 LA shoots for the X Files.

 

[AtoZ]

My assumption from day 1 (back in the day) was that, based on the different insignia's we saw in Charlie X, The Doomsday Machine, The Ultimate Computer and Omega Glory, different starships had different insignia's. Of course in Court Martial we saw Kirk interacting with officers that had the arrowhead insignia, and my impression was that it was crewmen from his ship, off duty and speaking frankly with Kirk.

As for Friday's Child.....why send McCoy on assignment as opposed to somebody else, from Starfleet, who might be more culture specific, etc?

My overall impression of this episode? Not bad but not great, with some good, key character moments that reflect well on the series.

 

[Nerys Myk]

My assumption from day 1 (back in the day) was that, based on the different insignia's we saw in Charlie X, The Doomsday Machine, The Ultimate Computer and Omega Glory, different starships had different insignia's. Of course in Court Martial we saw Kirk interacting with officers that had the arrowhead insignia, and my impression was that it was crewmen from his ship, off duty and speaking frankly with Kirk.

As for Friday's Child.....why send McCoy on assignment as opposed to somebody else, from Starfleet, who might be more culture specific, etc?

My overall impression of this episode? Not bad but not great, with some good, key character moments that reflect well on the series.

The officers in question are from other ships.

(Kirk and McCoy enter, and go to the bar.)
KIRK: Timothy, I haven't seen you since the Vulcanian expedition. (no reply) Well, I see our graduating class from the Academy is well represented. Corrigan. Teller. How you doing, Mike?
MIKE: (An older man in a gold shirt) I'll get by, Jim.
TIMOTHY: (Dark hair, red shirt) I understand you're laying over for repairs. Big job?
KIRK: Couple of days.
TIMOTHY: You moving out then?
KIRK: In a hurry to see me go?
TIMOTHY: Oh, I just wondered how long it'd take to get a new records officer.
KIRK: You can talk plainer than that.
TIMOTHY: I can, but I think the point's been made. Ben was a friend of ours.
MCCOY: Come on, Jim. Let's go.
KIRK: Go on. Finish. Ben was a friend of yours, and
MCCOY: Jim.
KIRK: Go on. I'm waiting to hear the rest.
MIKE: Why don't you tell us?

 

[AtoZ]

My assumption from day 1 (back in the day) was that, based on the different insignia's we saw in Charlie X, The Doomsday Machine, The Ultimate Computer and Omega Glory, different starships had different insignia's. Of course in Court Martial we saw Kirk interacting with officers that had the arrowhead insignia, and my impression was that it was crewmen from his ship, off duty and speaking frankly with Kirk.

As for Friday's Child.....why send McCoy on assignment as opposed to somebody else, from Starfleet, who might be more culture specific, etc?

My overall impression of this episode? Not bad but not great, with some good, key character moments that reflect well on the series.

The officers in question are from other ships.

(Kirk and McCoy enter, and go to the bar.)
KIRK: Timothy, I haven't seen you since the Vulcanian expedition. (no reply) Well, I see our graduating class from the Academy is well represented. Corrigan. Teller. How you doing, Mike?
MIKE: (An older man in a gold shirt) I'll get by, Jim.
TIMOTHY: (Dark hair, red shirt) I understand you're laying over for repairs. Big job?
KIRK: Couple of days.
TIMOTHY: You moving out then?
KIRK: In a hurry to see me go?
TIMOTHY: Oh, I just wondered how long it'd take to get a new records officer.
KIRK: You can talk plainer than that.
TIMOTHY: I can, but I think the point's been made. Ben was a friend of ours.
MCCOY: Come on, Jim. Let's go.
KIRK: Go on. Finish. Ben was a friend of yours, and
MCCOY: Jim.
KIRK: Go on. I'm waiting to hear the rest.
MIKE: Why don't you tell us?

Thank you. You nailed it.

 

[Wingsley]

Yes, "Court Martial" seemed to "nail" it that the arrowhead insignia is worn by more than just Starship Enterprise personnel.

 

[Maurice]

Who's to say those officers in "Court Martial" weren't from other starships?

 

[AtoZ]

Yes, "Court Martial" seemed to "nail" it that the arrowhead insignia is worn by more than just Starship Enterprise personnel.

But how do we explain Capt'n Tracy's insignia, or that of Wesley and Decker. Wesley and Decker were commodore's....but what of Tracy?

 

[Nerys Myk]

The various fleets idea is what most people go with.