Post by Dimitris on Aug 26, 2004 8:19:19 GMT -5
Trivia for
"Star Trek" (1966)
James Doohan ("Scotty") lost his right middle finger during WWII (c.f. Saving Private Ryan (1998)). Most of his scenes are shot to hide it. However, it is very noticeable in the episode "Catspaw." Scotty is hypnotized and holding a phaser pistol on Kirk & Spock in Korob & Sylvia's dining hall. When Scotty is in the shot, only two fingers are holding the butt of the phaser.
Martin Landau was originally offered the role of Spock, but declined. Later, Leonard Nimoy, who did accept the part, took over the role of disguise-expert on Mission: Impossible when Landau left that show. Landau later headed his own sci-fi series, "Space: 1999" (1975).
The transporter was a plot device intended to eliminate the pacing and production problems involved in depicting the ship landing and taking off all the time. Budgetary constraints on effects were also a consideration. The first landing of a starship would not occur until Star Trek: Voyager episode #2.1, The 37's, broadcast 28 August 1995.
Shortly after the cancellation of the series, the staff of the marketing department of the NBC TV network confronted the network executives and berated them for canceling Star Trek, the most profitable show on the network in terms of demographic profiling of the ratings. They explained that although the show was never higher than #52 in the general ratings, its audience profile had the largest concentration of viewers of ages 16 to 39, the most sought after television audience for advertisers to reach. In other words, the show, despite the low ratings, had the precise audience advertisers hungered for, which was more than ample justification to consider the show a big success.
In 2000, Star Trek is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as having the largest number of spin-off productions, including the feature film series and the numerous TV series.
Many elements of the Spock character were improvised by Leonard Nimoy during production. For instance, the "Vulcan neck pinch" was his suggestion during filming of "The Enemy Within" for how Spock could subdue an opponent. The "Vulcan salute" was created during the production of "Amok Time" using a version of a traditional Jewish religious hand gesture as a distinctive Vulcan greeting.
Sulu and Uhura didn't have first names in this series. Sulu did get a first name (Hikaru) but not until Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991). Fans have tried to give Uhura a first name ("Nyota" or "Penda") but there has never been any official confirmation.
Lloyd Bridges and 'Jeffrey Hunter' (who had played Captain Pike in the original pilot) both turned down the role of Captain Kirk.
The episode "Assignment: Earth" was written to introduce a hoped-for spin-off series that never materialized. It would have featured Robert Lansing as Gary Seven, Barbara Babthingy as Isis, and Teri Garr as Roberta Lincoln. In the new series, the intrepid three would have worked to make sure humanity achieved the destiny glimpsed via the Trek characters and Seven's mysterious extraterrestrial information.
The first interracial kiss on American network television was in the episode "Plato's Stepchildren," which aired on 22 Nov 1968, when Captain Kirk ( William Shatner) kissed Lieutenant Uhura ( Nichelle Nichols). The studio expressed some concern, and it was suggested instead that Spock should kiss Uhura 'to make it less of a problem for the southern [US] audience'. Some stations in the South originally refused to air the episode. Kirk did not kiss Uhura *voluntarily*; they were forced to do it by aliens controlling their bodies. So the first interracial kiss, although between two of the good guys, was the moral equivalent of sexual assault.
Despite the controversy of the first interracial kiss of Kirk and Uhura on television in the episode "Plato's Stepchildren," they never actually kissed on-screen - Kirk turns away from the camera as they draw closer keeping Uhura in front of him, obscuring the fact that their lips stay an inch or so apart.
In the episode "The Trouble with Tribbles" Tribbles continue to fall on Kirk after the container should have emptied out onto him. It is later revealed in the "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" (1993) Episode "Trials and Tribble-ations" that the Tribbles are being tossed down the hatch at Kirk as they are being discarded for not being a Tribble-bomb which Sisko and Dax are attempting to find.
Gene Roddenberry originally conceived the Klingons as looking more alien than they do in the series, but budget restriction prevented this. When Star Trek moved to the big screen, he was finally able to make Klingons look more alien. The resulting continuity break between TOS and the movies and later series was finally addressed in the "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" (1993) episode "Trials and Tribble-ations" in which the character of Worf confirms that something did happen to make the Klingons appear human, but he refuses to elaborate.
The episode "Balance of Terror", focusing on the Enterprise hunting a cloaked Romulan destroyer, was inspired by the film Enemy Below, The (1957).
Gene Roddenberry once hypothesized that the Enterprise carried a platoon of Starfleet Marines, but they never appeared onscreen in the original series. The Starfleet Marines would eventually make an appearance, but not until Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991) and "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" (1993). The idea was revived with the addition of a group of "space marines" beginning in the 2003-2004 season of "Enterprise" (2001).
One of the writers, D.C. Fontana, was told to use the initials "D.C." by Gene Roddenberry because studios at the time generally wouldn't hire women writers. Her first name is Dorothy.
Dr. McCoy's handheld "medical scanners" were actually modified salt and pepper shakers. Another medical device, seen in the episode "Court Martial" is obviously a hand-held microphone.
Contrary to popular belief, Captain Kirk never said "Beam me up, Scotty" in any episode.
imdb.com/title/tt0060028/trivia
"Star Trek" (1966)
James Doohan ("Scotty") lost his right middle finger during WWII (c.f. Saving Private Ryan (1998)). Most of his scenes are shot to hide it. However, it is very noticeable in the episode "Catspaw." Scotty is hypnotized and holding a phaser pistol on Kirk & Spock in Korob & Sylvia's dining hall. When Scotty is in the shot, only two fingers are holding the butt of the phaser.
Martin Landau was originally offered the role of Spock, but declined. Later, Leonard Nimoy, who did accept the part, took over the role of disguise-expert on Mission: Impossible when Landau left that show. Landau later headed his own sci-fi series, "Space: 1999" (1975).
The transporter was a plot device intended to eliminate the pacing and production problems involved in depicting the ship landing and taking off all the time. Budgetary constraints on effects were also a consideration. The first landing of a starship would not occur until Star Trek: Voyager episode #2.1, The 37's, broadcast 28 August 1995.
Shortly after the cancellation of the series, the staff of the marketing department of the NBC TV network confronted the network executives and berated them for canceling Star Trek, the most profitable show on the network in terms of demographic profiling of the ratings. They explained that although the show was never higher than #52 in the general ratings, its audience profile had the largest concentration of viewers of ages 16 to 39, the most sought after television audience for advertisers to reach. In other words, the show, despite the low ratings, had the precise audience advertisers hungered for, which was more than ample justification to consider the show a big success.
In 2000, Star Trek is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as having the largest number of spin-off productions, including the feature film series and the numerous TV series.
Many elements of the Spock character were improvised by Leonard Nimoy during production. For instance, the "Vulcan neck pinch" was his suggestion during filming of "The Enemy Within" for how Spock could subdue an opponent. The "Vulcan salute" was created during the production of "Amok Time" using a version of a traditional Jewish religious hand gesture as a distinctive Vulcan greeting.
Sulu and Uhura didn't have first names in this series. Sulu did get a first name (Hikaru) but not until Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991). Fans have tried to give Uhura a first name ("Nyota" or "Penda") but there has never been any official confirmation.
Lloyd Bridges and 'Jeffrey Hunter' (who had played Captain Pike in the original pilot) both turned down the role of Captain Kirk.
The episode "Assignment: Earth" was written to introduce a hoped-for spin-off series that never materialized. It would have featured Robert Lansing as Gary Seven, Barbara Babthingy as Isis, and Teri Garr as Roberta Lincoln. In the new series, the intrepid three would have worked to make sure humanity achieved the destiny glimpsed via the Trek characters and Seven's mysterious extraterrestrial information.
The first interracial kiss on American network television was in the episode "Plato's Stepchildren," which aired on 22 Nov 1968, when Captain Kirk ( William Shatner) kissed Lieutenant Uhura ( Nichelle Nichols). The studio expressed some concern, and it was suggested instead that Spock should kiss Uhura 'to make it less of a problem for the southern [US] audience'. Some stations in the South originally refused to air the episode. Kirk did not kiss Uhura *voluntarily*; they were forced to do it by aliens controlling their bodies. So the first interracial kiss, although between two of the good guys, was the moral equivalent of sexual assault.
Despite the controversy of the first interracial kiss of Kirk and Uhura on television in the episode "Plato's Stepchildren," they never actually kissed on-screen - Kirk turns away from the camera as they draw closer keeping Uhura in front of him, obscuring the fact that their lips stay an inch or so apart.
In the episode "The Trouble with Tribbles" Tribbles continue to fall on Kirk after the container should have emptied out onto him. It is later revealed in the "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" (1993) Episode "Trials and Tribble-ations" that the Tribbles are being tossed down the hatch at Kirk as they are being discarded for not being a Tribble-bomb which Sisko and Dax are attempting to find.
Gene Roddenberry originally conceived the Klingons as looking more alien than they do in the series, but budget restriction prevented this. When Star Trek moved to the big screen, he was finally able to make Klingons look more alien. The resulting continuity break between TOS and the movies and later series was finally addressed in the "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" (1993) episode "Trials and Tribble-ations" in which the character of Worf confirms that something did happen to make the Klingons appear human, but he refuses to elaborate.
The episode "Balance of Terror", focusing on the Enterprise hunting a cloaked Romulan destroyer, was inspired by the film Enemy Below, The (1957).
Gene Roddenberry once hypothesized that the Enterprise carried a platoon of Starfleet Marines, but they never appeared onscreen in the original series. The Starfleet Marines would eventually make an appearance, but not until Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991) and "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" (1993). The idea was revived with the addition of a group of "space marines" beginning in the 2003-2004 season of "Enterprise" (2001).
One of the writers, D.C. Fontana, was told to use the initials "D.C." by Gene Roddenberry because studios at the time generally wouldn't hire women writers. Her first name is Dorothy.
Dr. McCoy's handheld "medical scanners" were actually modified salt and pepper shakers. Another medical device, seen in the episode "Court Martial" is obviously a hand-held microphone.
Contrary to popular belief, Captain Kirk never said "Beam me up, Scotty" in any episode.
imdb.com/title/tt0060028/trivia