TVSins: Everything Wrong With "The Man Trap"

[JonnyQuest037]

I vaguely remember Nichols saying that she improvised the line "If I have to say 'Hailing frequencies open' one more time, I'll scream. Why don't you tell me I'm an attractive young lady?" during a shoot. They likely built the scene around that.

If I had to guess on which episode she did this on, I'd say "The Corbomite Maneuver," the very first episode Nichols shot and one in which she has literally no other lines to say. Amazingly, Star Trek Script Search shows that Nichols said the phrase "hailing frequencies open" only seven times in all of TOS and the original cast movies, and of those, FIVE of them were in "The Corbomite Maneuver!"

So yeah, she probably got sick of saying that line her first week on the set.

 

[JonnyQuest037]

What always lent credence to her story was that Nimoy did such a good job of letting Spock be stumped for a moment, like he really didn't know what to say. But actors can do that.

Yup. Particularly when they're good.

 

[JonnyQuest037]

Small correction: Out of curiosity, I ran the script search on the phrase "hailing frequencies open" on TOS again, this time eliminating the name "Uhura" to see if anyone else ever said that phrase on TOS (Only one other character did: Sargon). And this time, an instance of Uhura saying it in Star Trek V came up that didn't appear in my results before, even though it should have.

So Nichols said it once in the movies, too.

 

[ZapBrannigan]

Only one other character did: Sargon.

You mean Kirk said it when Sargon hailed them:

KIRK; Are your hailing frequencies open?
UHURA: No, Sir.

 

[JonnyQuest037]

You mean Kirk said it when Sargon hailed them:

KIRK; Are your hailing frequencies open?
UHURA: No, Sir.

You're right. They missed hitting "return" after Sargon's line, so I missed the "KIRK" credit for that line of dialogue. Link.

Thanks for the correction.

 

[Harvey]

You're making sense. Maybe Harvey's claim that the whole bit was scripted comes from a revision in which they put Nichelle's idea in, before the scene was shot. Maybe. And pending more info, it's entirely possible she didn't really have the input she claimed, and the whole scene was in the script to begin with.

• The scene as shot was revised on 6/17/66, about a week before the scene was filmed (6/22/66).
• A variation on the scene (which has the same gripe about saying "hailing frequencies open" in it) is in a previous rewrite dated 6/13/66.
• And we know the scene was in an even earlier iteration (delivered on 5/31/66) because it's referenced in both a Gene Roddenberry memo to George Clayton Johnson and a Bob Justman memo to John D.F. Black (both dated 6/2/66). This appears to be the draft the scene first appeared in, based on Justman and Roddenberry's comments.

There's really no evidence the scene came from Nichols. It first appears in a draft by Johnson, who wasn't on staff and wouldn't have been hanging around on set. I've been reading Star Trek Lives! for research and haven't come across something like this, but I haven't finished the book yet. If you find the source of this tale, I'd be curious to know more.

Plus, "The Corbomite Maneuver" didn't start filming until 5/24/66 (with a rehearsal day on 5/23/66). Not a lot of time for Nichols to get fed up with this catch-phrase and word to get to Johnson, a freelancer, in time for a draft that was delivered on 5/31/66.

 

[ZapBrannigan]

Good info, Harvey.

There's really no evidence the scene came from Nichols. It first appears in a draft by Johnson, who wasn't on staff and wouldn't have been hanging around on set.

If you meant the whole of her dialogue, then that's that. The anecdote I saw was probably that she surprised Nimoy with her second bit: "No, you have an answer: I'm an illogical woman..." and she spins this unscripted banter and winds up at a full moon on Vulcan. And Nimoy supposedly played along and ad libbed that Vulcan has no moon.

But if that was her doing, then she was discouraged from getting playful as the series went on. They didn't want risk Star Trek turning into Julia. Shatner and Nimoy would both have been threatened by that. The example of Jonathan Harris on Lost in Space looms large.

The "no moon" line gives us a problem when TMP comes along, but that's the movie era for you. Continuity was not a priority.

 

[BillJ]

People take the "Sins" thing way too seriously. It's really just a format for them to make jokes.

Yeah, I made that leap. Didn't find them particularly funny either.

 

[Commishsleer]

I think it's a very good episode, honestly. Good chemistry among the cast even that early on. Cool monster, too. One of the most memorable critters in all of Trek.

I agree.
As others have pointed out it shows the female regulars with a bit of a personality (compared to the rest of the series) for Rand and Uhura showing they both had a bit of spunk dealing with the "monster".
I don't think the tvsins analysis was all that harsh. A lot of their criticisms dealt with things like showing Spock was emotionless in a way they didn't like or a crewman wasn't named which are necessary shortcuts.in a one hour show.
I quite like Uhura's banter. I don't take it as sexual harassment but just something to fill in the time on a boring day orbiting a planet.
Unfortunately they mentioned the "homoerotic" themes and now I'm seeing it everywhere... ARRRGHHHH.

Anyway the Agony Booth stuff is a bit funnier

 

[Ryan Thomas Riddle]

Less than a minute in, they count five "sins". Not sure they really understand the context in which they use the word.

After that, I cut it off.

CinemaSins isn't really "sins" committed by films but rather what the sin counter finds annoying in films. Seems the same here for the new TVSins. I stopped watching their videos a while ago when the snarky remark trumped actual film critique.

 

[johnnybear]

The "no moon" line gives us a problem when TMP comes along, but that's the movie era for you. Continuity was not a priority.

I've always assumed that the giant sphere seen in the sky above Spock in TMP must be another planet in Vulcan's solar system as I've never forgotten his comments about Vulcan having no moon in The Man Trap!
JB

 

[Vger23]

This video really stretches for material.

 

[Henoch]

I've always assumed that the giant sphere seen in the sky above Spock in TMP must be another planet in Vulcan's solar system as I've never forgotten his comments about Vulcan having no moon in The Man Trap!
JB

Or maybe Spock was attempting his hand at making a joke during the banter exchange in TMT, and we didn't get it.

 

[johnnybear]

Vulcans never lie, bluff or joke! Or that's the story anyway!
JB

 

[Henoch]

Vulcans never lie, bluff or joke! Or that's the story anyway!
JB

That's another Vulcan joke we didn't get. Vulcan humor is so misunderstood.

 

[johnnybear]

But we find out that Vulcans never lie is a lie in itself!
JB

 

[Nerys Myk]

But we find out that Vulcans never lie is a lie in itself!
JB

Vulcan is covered in grains of sodium chloride.

 

[Marsden]

Listen to me carefully JB, everything I say is a lie and I am lying.

 

[1001001]

Vulcans never lie, bluff or joke! Or that's the story anyway!
JB

Tuvok told a joke on Voyager, so we know that part isn't true either.

 

[Timo]

The "no moon" line gives us a problem when TMP comes along, but that's the movie era for you. Continuity was not a priority.

TAS "Yesteryear" was happy with showing a giant orb on the Vulcan sky (both day and night!), so the possible gap in continuity sits there...

...Although interpreting that heavenly phenomenon from TAS as a "moon" would really stretch the astronomical definition.

Timo Saloniemi