TOS FAQ questions

[Lord Garth]

I'm updating the TOS FAQ. This is your chance to submit questions that you think ought to be in there that weren't last time. Please review the existing FAQ if you need to.

These are the requirements:

1. Basic questions that won't impede forum discussion.
2. Answers must be fact-based instead of opinion-based.
3. Answers to questions must not change over the passage of time.

All perishable, time-sensitive information is going to be removed from the new version.

 

[ZERO_of_ZERO]

Ive been prompted to read your FAQs for the first time by this thread, well done its very good.

No need to mention that TAS has been released on DVD (Whoops I just did)


There are 3 faqs that I find extremley interesting that if included may possibly surprise some newcomers ....... Briefly as Im sure you know stories:

1. Platos stepchildren is credited as the first inter-racial kiss on TV.
2. Nichelle Nichols was persuaded to stay on the show by Martin Luther King as a role model.
3. An article in Pravda resulted in the Russian Chekov rather than an English character.

Not basic information but great Star Trek "Political" faqs, If you choose to include them.

Hope this is what your looking for

ZOZ

 

[Therin of Andor]

Im sure you know stories
An article in Pravda resulted in the Russian Chekov rather than an English character.

According to Richard Arnold, some researchers tried to track down the article for the 20th anniversary celebrations, but were unsuccessful. It's more likely Roddenberry misremembered. Perhaps he simply had a discussion with a Russian journalist, not that an article was actually written?

 

[ZERO_of_ZERO]

Im sure you know stories
An article in Pravda resulted in the Russian Chekov rather than an English character.

According to Richard Arnold, some researchers tried to track down the article for the 20th anniversary celebrations, but were unsuccessful. It's more likely Roddenberry misremembered. Perhaps he simply had a discussion with a Russian journalist, not that an article was actually written?

Thanks.
Yes in fact looking again, this may not be true, but possibly GR may have believed it to be so, or possibly not .... still may be a good "Star Trek Rumour FAQs"

Anyway the first 2 are true .. he says with 99.99% belief

 

[Lord Garth]

Platos stepchildren is credited as the first inter-racial kiss on TV.

Consider it added.

Nichelle Nichols was persuaded to stay on the show by Martin Luther King as a role model.

Sounds good. What I understand from Andor and another former member is the story grew over time but the point stands.

An article in Pravda resulted in the Russian Chekov rather than an English character.

I wonder how the Soviets would even know about Star Trek in 1966 or 1967. The international release dates on IMDB would strongly suggest against it.

 

[Lord Garth]

Notes:

1. I've decided to include the question about Chekov's additon afterall but will answer by discussing The Monkees, Davy Jones, and mention acknowledgment of the Russians and their space program.

2. TOS will always be released into some sort of format. I wouldn't be surprised if there were eventually separate Blu-Ray sets for TOS and TOS-R. Maybe even Blu-Rays or DVDs that include both versions. If it worked for Blade Runner or the Alien Quadrilogy then why not? So I'll eliminate anything dealing with future video releases.

I want to keep my FAQ primarily focused on 1964-1974, TOS and TAS, so I'll keep anything afterwards short. This relates to points 3-5 below.

3. The Phase 2 category seems extraneous but I figure that it comes up often enough so I'll converge all four (?) questions from that category into one. I'll keep it to the point and say it was an aborted attempt to bring Star Trek back to televison.

4. I'll follow with a question about the movies and say the pilot, "In Thy Image" was turned into TMP which began a continuing series of movies. That type of answer is broad enough to incorporate any Star Trek movie whether it's 1979 or 2009.

5. I'll mention TOS-R and how the effects were redone for high-definition resolution.

This will all end up looking less wordy than what I just posted. I'm just thinking while I type. I'll post a draft of the new FAQ in this thread one week after the original post. Then we can proofread and hash it out.

Sound good?

 

[c5maier]

An article in Pravda resulted in the Russian Chekov rather than an English character.

I wonder how the Soviets would even know about Star Trek in 1966 or 1967. The international release dates on IMDB would strongly suggest against it.

When I read that story first, it mentioned that the Russians had seen it "in Germany". That surprised me, as the German TV started to broadcast (part of) the show only in 1971.
The possible solution I came up with is (and I would sure like to hear from any informed sources about the validity of my assumptions):
1. There was an extensive number of US troops stationed in West Berlin in the late 60's (certain).
2. There was a (probably more) extensive number of Soviet troops stationed in East Berlin in the late 60's (certain).
3. There was a special TV programme produced and broadcast for the US troops wordwide, showing content from US national networks (almost certain).
4. This programme was broadcast not via cable but by small directional transmitters (pretty certain).
5. "Star Trek" was among the content in the 1966/67 season, (almost) parallel with first screenings on NBC (possible).
6. Reception of the transmitters (in spite of them being directional) could not exactly be limited to the perimeter fence of the garrisons, so the programmes could be picked up in the vicinity as well (pretty certain).
7. Among those able to see it were Soviet military or ambassadorial staff (quite possible).
8. While it was certainly forbidden to the majority of them to watch US TV, some may have done so nonetheless, while some (few) others would have had the destinct order to monitor the programmes (pretty certain).
9. Knowledge gained from this excercise about "Star Trek" was not seen as so classified that it would have to remain secret but could be shared with the readers of the (youth supplement of) Pravda (the greatest obstacle to my idea).
Can anybody prove or disprove this theory?

 

[Lord Garth]

Well, we're expecting massive amounts of snow over the next four days in Massachusetts starting in an hour-and-a-half. A state of emergency was declared and since I work at a college that means I have the day off.

No more grad school to worry about either. And I'm obviously not going anywhere today or over the weekend -- thanks to the snow.

Soooo...

Let's get this taken care of. I'm going to work on a draft and post it later on in the day. Speak now or forever hold your peace.

EDIT

BTW, I've decided to add a question about how many roles Majel Barrett played. Maybe there are some people out there who don't know she was also the Enterprise Computer. Even if they do, I'll put it in there anyway.

 

[Lord Garth]

***STAR TREK (TOS) FAQ***
Version 4.0
December 19, 2008

Written by Lord Garth

Introduction

The purpose of this FAQ is to provide basic information about the original and animated Star Trek that's either of general interest or might not be remembered. It's not intended to be comprehensive, even though it probably looks that way.

FAQ History

Version 4.0: December 19, 2008
Version 3.1: June 15, 2005
Version 3.0: December 27, 2004
Version 2.1: September 1, 2004
Version 2.0: August 31, 2004
Version 1.0: April 17, 2002

Table of Contents

Part I. The Original Series
Part II. The Animated Series
Part III. Subsequent Projects


Part I. The Original Series (TOS)

1. Who created Star Trek?
Gene Roddenberry (1921-1991). His second wife, and girlfriend during TOS, was Majel Barrett (1932-2008).


2. How long did Star Trek last?
Despite having the Enterprise on a "five-year mission", Star Trek only lasted for three seasons, from 1966-1969. There were a total of 79 episodes, 80 if "The Cage" is included.


3. When did Star Trek first premiere?
September 8, 1966.


4. Who starred in the original Star Trek?
William Shatner... Captain James T. Kirk
Leonard Nimoy... Commander Spock
DeForest Kelley... Dr. Leonard McCoy, a.k.a. "Bones"
Grace Lee Whitney... Yeoman Janice Rand (Season 1, first half)
James Doohan... Lt. Cmdr. Montgomery Scott, a.k.a. "Scotty"
Walter Koenig... Ensign Pavel Chekov (Seasons 2-3)
Nichelle Nichols... Lieutenant Uhura
George Takei... Lieutenant Sulu
Majel Barrett... Nurse Christine Chapel


5. Is it Dr. Spock or Mr. Spock?
Mr. Spock. He was the science officer but not the doctor. That's McCoy. Dr. Spock was a real-life child psychologist.


6. How many roles did Majel Barrett play total?
In addition to Number One and Nurse Chapel, she was also the Enterprise computer’s voice. She played the Starfleet computer voice in every Star Trek series from 1987-2005 and several of the movies, up to J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek, released theatrically in 2009.

Majel Barrett also played Lwaxana Troi, a recurring character on Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.


7. Where can I find out more information about the cast?
You can find out on the Internet Movie Database. It has information on their birthdays, other film or related projects they've done, and much more.


8. What is "The Cage"?
"The Cage", starring Jeffrey Hunter as Captain Pike, is the first episode of Star Trek. A pilot episode to show NBC what Star Trek would be like. It was produced in 1964 and had a mostly different cast. The only two familiar cast members are Leonard Nimoy (as Spock) and Majel Barrett (as "Number One"). NBC rejected Star Trek for being "too cerebral" and ordered a second pilot.

Footage from "The Cage" was later re-used in "The Menagerie”, during the first season. “The Menagerie” was the first and only two-part episode in the series.


9. What is the second pilot?
"Where No Man Has Gone Before", starring William Shatner as Captain Kirk. It was produced in 1965 and the entire cast was replaced except for Leonard Nimoy. Majel Barrett returned later in the role of Nurse Chapel. This time Star Trek was accepted and it was added to NBC's 1966 fall schedule.

"Where No Man Has Gone Before" being produced a year before the rest of the first season is the reason it looks so different.


10. Why did Yeoman Rand leave in the middle of the first season?
Several episodes had shown Kirk and Rand to be interested in each other and the writers and producers didn't want Captain Kirk tied to one woman throughout the entire series.

There is speculation as to whether or not there may have been more to why Grace Lee Whitney left but the official reason is indeed the official reason.


11. Nichelle Nichols almost left the show?
Nichelle Nichols was frustrated with her limited role as Uhura during the first season and she wanted to leave the series. She was influenced by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to stay. Her presence on the bridge showed that in the future humanity would be color-blind.


12. Where's Chekov in the first season?
Chekov doesn't appear until the second season.


13. But "Space Seed" is a first season episode! So how does Khan know Chekov in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan?
It was an oversight. Two common rationalizations are that Chekov was in the lower decks at the time or that he just wasn't seen. Any other rationalizations can be used as well.


14. What prompted the addition of Chekov?
Chekov was added to appeal to the series’ younger viewers. His hairstyle was modeled after Davy Jones, the lead singer on The Monkees, a TV series at the time and also a band.

Chekov was originally going to be an English character but was made a Russian in order to acknowledge their space program.


15. Star Trek featured the first inter-racial kiss?
Star Trek is credited for portraying the first inter-racial kiss on television between a white man and a black woman when Kirk kissed Uhura in “Plato’s Stepchildren”, first aired in 1968.


16. Why do the Klingons in TOS look so different?
There was a change in make-up beginning in 1979 with Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

No on-screen explanation was given until Star Trek: Enterprise in 2005. The episodes in question were "Affliction" and "Divergence". The reasons given were a combination of genetic engineering and viral mutation.


17. Didn't McCoy say first contact was made with the Klingons 50 years ago in "Day of the Dove"?
This was never said in any version of the episode, cut or uncut.


18. Was Spock the first Vulcan in Starfleet?
This was also never said. In fact, "The Immunity Syndrome" mentions an all-Vulcan crew onboard the USS Intrepid, which would suggest against it.


19. How do stardates work?!
Stardates in TOS are a four-digit number that are used to mark time. Stardates aren't consistent from episode to episode and were used so that the writers wouldn't have to pin-down Star Trek to an exact date on the Gregorian calendar.

An episode of Star Trek: Voyager, “Q2” in 2001, later established 2270 as the end of the five-year mission.


20. What happened to Star Trek after it was cancelled?
After it was cancelled, the original Star Trek went into strip syndication. Episodes were shown everyday and Star Trek became more popular in reruns than it ever was on NBC.


Part II. The Animated Series (TAS)

1. How did TAS come about?
By 1973 NBC decided it made a mistake cancelling Star Trek and wanted to bring it back. When they realized it would cost more than they wanted to spend to reconstruct the sets a compromise was made that Star Trek would return as an animated series.


2. When does TAS take place?
It takes place after the third season of TOS. Essentially it's a fourth (and fifth) season, except animated.


3. How long did TAS last?
The first season aired in fall 1973 and lasted 16 episodes. Six more episodes were added in fall 1974, bringing the total to 22.


4. But wasn't TAS an ‘80s cartoon on Nick?
It was only rerun on Nickelodeon.


5. Where's Chekov?
Incidentally, the low budget for voice actors is also why Walter Koenig had to be cut.


6. Who are Arex and M'Ress?
Arex and M'Ress are two alien characters added to the series. Arex is the navigator with three arms and he's voiced by James Doohan. M'Ress looks like a cat and she's voiced by Majel Barrett.


7. Why do so many guest characters sound the same?
1970s animation was notorious for its low budgets which also extended to the voice cast, leading James Doohan, Nichelle Nichols, and Majel Barrett to provide most of the voices.


Part III. Subsequent Projects

1. What is Phase 2?
In 1977, Paramount wanted to create its own network. The flag-ship series for this network was going to be Star Trek: Phase 2, set to premiere in February 1978.


2. What would've changed?
This series would've depicted a second five-year mission and the look of the Enterprise would've been updated for the '70s.

All the original cast was going to return except for Leonard Nimoy. Spock would've left to teach at the Vulcan Science Academy and been replaced with a 20-year-old full-Vulcan named Xon as science officer. Also added to the cast would've been Decker, the new first officer, and Ilia, a new navigator to replace Chekov who moved to security.


3. What happened to Phase 2?
Paramount backed away from creating its own network (until 1995) and Phase 2 was cancelled in pre-production upon the theatrical releases of Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

When Paramount started the UPN network in 1995, Star Trek: Voyager filled the same role Phase 2 was supposed to.


4. When do the movies come into all this?
Paramount turned what would've been the pilot for Phase 2, "In Thy Image", into Star Trek: The Motion Picture (TMP). Leonard Nimoy was finally persuaded to return, eliminating the need for Xon. Decker and Ilia still made it into the film. TMP then led into a continuing series of Star Trek movies.


5. What is Star Trek Re-Mastered?
With the advent of High-Definition resolution, all of the effects for every TOS episodes, particularly exterior shots, were redone. Also known as TOS-R, these re-mastered episodes were first broadcast in syndication from 2006-2008.


copyright 2008
Permission to reproduce this document on the Internet is granted under Fair Use Doctrine.

 

[Sir Rhosis]

LG,

Looks good so far. Just a couple suggestions. Instead of just saying something like "Dr. Spock was a real life child psychologist," I would make it something like "The confusion in the fictional Spock's title likely arose because of real-life child psychologist Doctor Benjamin Spock (BORN YEAR - DIED YEAR), whose controversial child rearing philosophies made headlines during the time of the series' original production."

Also I would modify the statement about the kiss in "Plato's Stepchildren" to reflect that it was the "first interracial (Caucasian and African American) kiss between fictional characters on U. S. television."

An interracial kiss between characters on UK television had already taken place a few years earlier. Also, Sammy Davis, Jr and Nancy Sinatra had openly kissed in greeting and affection on a variety television special in 1967 (before this ep aired).

Best,

Sir Rhosis

 

[Lord Garth]

Having read through the entire document I noticed my writing style has changed since 2004. I used to be a huge fan of unnecessary commas and run-on sentences. I also have to make sure all tenses are consistent and appropriate.

Instead of just saying something like "Dr. Spock was a real life child psychologist," I would make it something like "The confusion in the fictional Spock's title likely arose because of real-life child psychologist Doctor Benjamin Spock (BORN YEAR - DIED YEAR), whose controversial child rearing philosophies made headlines during the time of the series' original production."

I hadn't thought about that. Thanks.

Also I would modify the statement about the kiss in "Plato's Stepchildren" to reflect that it was the "first interracial (Caucasian and African American) kiss between fictional characters on U. S. television." An interracial kiss between characters on UK television had already taken place a few years earlier. Also, Sammy Davis, Jr and Nancy Sinatra had openly kissed in greeting and affection on a variety television special in 1967 (before this ep aired).

I found this question problematic to approach for all those reasons and because I kept thinking back to Lucy and Desi. Wouldn't a white kissing a hispanic also technically be considered inter-racial?

 

[Lord Garth]

Still fiddling around. Almost done.

EDIT: Finished. Please see the new thread.