Appendix A, Part II: Star Trek, Season 3 (1968-69)
Here we are again, this time taking a look at the third (and IOTL, the last) season of Star Trek. Just like last time, we’ll be taking a top-down overview of the production details of the series. (As always, my editorial comments and explanations of changes from OTL will be highlighted in RED and placed in brackets.)
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Ratings for the series are excellent. The season finishes with a 21.0 rating, which translates to over 12 million households watching the average episode. In terms of rankings, this is enough to put the series comfortably within the Top 30; a few episodes, including the highly-rated season premiere, are even able to crack the Top 20. On these occasions, Star Trek has been able to win its timeslot against “Gunsmoke” on CBS, though usually the venerable and long-running western has emerged victorious. Demographics, on the other hand, are spectacular; breakdowns have shown the show’s audience to be arguably the most valuable, per capita, of all shows on television.
The production budget per episode is slightly over $215,000 – above the intended figure of $210,000, due to the occasional cost and schedule overruns – Desilu, as always, was remarkably accepting of the situation; NBC, happy with the show’s strong ratings, had little room to complain. (This is how TV works, folks; high-rated shows get away with murder. Also, Desilu was a far more tolerant and patient taskmaster than Paramount, and it really shows here. IOTL, the production budget per episode was a paltry $180,000, which was a further reduction from the OTL Season 2 budget of $185,000. TV production budgets tend to inflate over time, and Star Trek doing the opposite had catastrophic effects on production values. These include: virtually eliminating location shoots; constant reuse of props, costumes, sets, and model shots; dramatically reduced number of extras and recurring characters, beyond the core regulars; less time and money for rewrites, retakes, and reshoots; and, of course, dreadful morale.)
All five members of the “Big Five” return, with this season beginning to blur the distinction between their precise roles in the production; Gene Roddenberry begins to distance himself from the decision-making process, his fertile mind already beginning to develop ideas for new series; Gene L. Coon thus becomes the showrunner in all but name. Several people begin to shoulder some of Coon’s lesser responsibilities, primarily Robert Justman, who joins Coon and Story Editor D.C. Fontana in approving story ideas and scripts for the series. Herb Solow remains the Executive in Charge of Production; of the three shows he produces for Desilu, he devotes the most time and energy to this one. His preferential treatment for it over the other two is the worst-kept secret on the studio lot. (IOTL, Roddenberry, Coon, Fontana, and Solow were all effectively gone by the beginning of Season 3; though Coon and Fontana continued to contribute scripts and story ideas, usually under pseudonyms. Justman, promoted to Co-Producer, was the only one who remained; he left when it became clear to him just what Star Trek had become.)
Among the other key people of Season 3 are new staff writers John Meredyth Lucas, who also becomes a frequent director for the series, and 24-year-old David Gerrold, the youngest staff writer not just on Star Trek, but on all of network television. In addition, Production Assistant Edward K. Milkis and Unit Production Manager Gregg Peters assist Justman in assisting Coon, effectively becoming junior producers themselves. (IOTL, both Milkis and Peters did indeed become Associate Producers in Season 3, to help fill the creative vacuum. This proved a very effective springboard for Milkis, who teamed up with executive Thomas L. Miller to form a production company that created “Happy Days” along with Garry Marshall. Then Milkis and Miller joined forces with a fellow named Boyett…) Other returning members of the production staff include art directors Matt Jefferies and Rolland Brooks; cinematographer Jerry Finnerman; costume designer William Ware Theiss, prop master Irving Feinberg; and, still uncredited, creature and effects designer Wah Chang. (IOTL, Chang and Brooks were gone before the end of the second season; Finnerman left in the middle of the third. I want to stress how much better the show will look and feel ITTL with all of them still in place.)
The entire regular cast also return. William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, and DeForest Kelley, who are billed in the opening titles, appear in every episode of the season, as does James Doohan as Scotty. Doohan, however, along with all the other regulars, appear only in the end credits, often listed under a “featured” credit or even as a “guest star”. Nichelle Nichols appears in Lt. Uhura in all but three episodes; George Takei as Lt. Sulu can be seen in all but four; Walter Koenig as Ensign Chekov misses only five. John Winston as Lt. Kyle appears in fourteen episodes; Majel Barrett as Nurse Chapel appears in thirteen, or half the episodes of the season. (In most cases, these appearance levels are similar to OTL, with the exception of Kyle, who appeared in only one Season 3 episode: “The Lights of Zetar”. Again, higher budget means they can afford to bring him back on a semi-regular basis.) Other actors who make multiple speaking appearances as the same character in the season include: Barbara Baldavin as Lt. Angela Martine, a tactical officer introduced in the first season episode “Balance of Terror”, in three episodes; and Diana Muldaur as Lt. Cmdr. Ann Mulhall, a scientist introduced in the Season 2 episode “Return to Tomorrow”, in two episodes. Both women appear at the behest of D.C. Fontana, who feels that the female crew should have a more visible and diverse presence on the ship. Baldavin and Muldaur are both popular with producers and get along well with the two female regulars. (IOTL, Baldavin and Muldaur appeared in the third season, though only Baldavin appeared as her previous character. Having a stronger female cast is going to pay big dividends in the very near future.)
The editorial decision made by the “Big Five” to present unflinchingly allegorical stories in numbers beyond even the first two seasons is a double-edged sword. Though critics praise their audacity, more staid forces, especially within the network, balk at some of their more bold ideas. Lucille Ball, always the show's fiercest defender, comes to their rescue on more than one occasion. (Surprisingly, many of the show's most overtly political and controversial episodes were produced in the third season IOTL. Of course, they were incompetently executed; imagine them here, in the hands of people who actually know what they're doing.) This does have some drawbacks; the Emmy for Outstanding Dramatic Series is eventually awarded to the "safer" choice of "Mission: Impossible", which also wins for Actor and Actress; Desilu throws their weight behind it to deflect the accusations of preferential treatment dogging both Ball and Solow, and CBS does the same as it is their only nominee in the category. (IOTL, "NET Playhouse", an anthology series on public television, won instead.)
26 episodes are produced in the third season. The five primary directors are series veterans Marc Daniels, Joseph Pevney, Ralph Senensky, Vincent McEveety, and Lucas, who between them direct 21 episodes. (IOTL? Six.) Some of the highlights for the season:
"The Enterprise Incident", written by D.C. Fontana, is the fourth episode produced, but is chosen as the season premiere. Loosely based on the real-life USS Pueblo incident early in 1968, the episode is an intriguing thriller in the vein of "Balance of Terror". (Even IOTL, this is considered one of the best episodes of Season 3. ITTL, it's considered one of the best episodes of the entire show, and is a common sight on Top 10 lists. It's not quite the triumph that "Amok Time" was, but it confirms the show's tradition for coming strong out of the gate.)
Another lauded episode is the Captain-Kirk-goes-missing, Enterprise-is-a-sitting-duck story "The Tholian Web", another episode that owes much to "Balance of Terror". (Basically the OTL episode with a little more spit and polish to it. For the record, this episode is this editor's choice for best episode of the Turd Season IOTL.)
Popular trickster adversary Harry Mudd returns in “Deep Mudd”, a direct continuation the previous season's “I, Mudd”. (Never made it past the outline stage IOTL. The new showrunner didn't want any "comedy episodes". Yes, I realize the irony.) Also making a third appearance in the third season is the nefarious Klingon Captain Kor in “Day of the Dove”. (IOTL, it was Kang, played by Michael Ansara, who served as villain; John Colicos was invited to reprise his role as Kor, but was busy.)
Three episodes are directed by their writer: "The Beast" by Marc Daniels (not made IOTL); "Elaan of Troyius" and season finale "The Godhead", by John Meredyth Lucas. ("The Godhead" was also not made IOTL.) "The Godhead" is an episode in the fine tradition of those "Kirk confronts - and defeats - a seemingly-omnipotent being" stories. (Ansara is instead cast as this episode's villain, Ehdom.)
Theodore Sturgeon makes his third contribution to the series with “The Root of Evil” (not made IOTL). A “joy machine” featured in the episode is a transparent allegory for addiction; hallucinogens and the like are hardly alien to audiences of the late 1960s. David Gerrold, for his part, provides just two scripts, most of his duties as staff writer being focused on uncredited rewrites: "The Cloud Minders" and "Bem". ("Bem" resurfaced as an episode of the animated series, but Gerrold pitched it hard to Roddenberry, who approved, and it very much looked like it was going to be produced before the changing of the guard.) The latter episode is notable in that it is the first to show Lt. Uhura - a black woman - in command of the ship (though this is not explicitly mentioned in dialogue).
Among the new writers in the third season are several women: Joyce Muskat, a librarian, writes "The Empath"; Jean Lisette Aroeste provides two episodes, "Is There In Truth No Beauty?" and "All Our Yesterdays". There are also a number of episodes co-written by women: "The Tholian Web" is one, and "The Lights of Zetar", co-written by "Lamb Chop" creator Shari Lewis and her husband Jeremy Tarcher, is another. Lewis makes an onscreen appearance in her episode as Mira Romaine. (IOTL, Lewis wrote the part of Romaine for herself, but was not cast. Yet they decided to cast a lawyer to play another episode's villain...) Fontana, for her part, writes or co-writes four scripts.
One of them, “Joanna”, explores the past of Dr. McCoy, introducing his eponymous daughter. An allegory of the generation gap, as fathers are confronted with the very different ideals of their baby-boomer children, Bones also becomes disturbed when Joanna seems to develop romantic feelings for his best friend, Captain Kirk. This very human element speaks to the appeal of Star Trek, and what made it distinctive from the traditionally cold and clinical science fiction of the past; as such, this episode is widely considered a standout of the season and, arguably, the series as a whole. (IOTL, the story treatment that became this episode instead developed into a very different one called… “The Way to Eden”. Yes, that's right, The One With The Space Hippies.)
But the most controversial episode of the entire series, let alone the season, is “Bondage and Freedom”, which tells the story of a planet with a dark-skinned people and their fair-skinned slaves. A Federation diplomatic envoy including Captain Kirk is sent down, but lost; Dr. McCoy and Lt. Uhura are sent after them, and they are forced to infiltrate their society to rescue their crewmates, with Uhura as "master" and McCoy as her "slave". Based on a story idea by Roddenberry himself, it marks the first direct collaboration between Gene Coon and D.C. Fontana, neither of whom are truly satisfied with the script, but it is filmed anyway, at the urging of many in the cast and crew. Most famously, the episode contains what is often called the first interracial kiss (between Kirk and a dark-skinned noblewoman who is also the daughter of the episode’s primary villain) in television history. (IOTL, this was the pet project that never came to fruition; everybody wanted to make it, but nobody could figure out how. Here, they found a way. It’s very heavy-handed, even by Star Trek standards, but even as people criticize that, they find it very difficult not to praise the episode’s message. The title is taken from an autobiography of Frederick Douglass. Kirk, naturally, gets to give what ITTL is one of his most famous speeches, equal parts Douglass and Martin Luther King, Jr. It gets made because Lucille Ball pushes hard for this episode; some Southern affiliates refuse to air it. Public reaction is on par to OTL "Plato's Stepchildren" was in this regard alone: overwhelming praise for the "controversial" aspects. It's an excellent microcosm of the season as a whole: ambitious, allegorical, well-executed overall but sometimes a little too blunt or clumsy for its own good.)
(The following episodes were not produced for TTL Season 3 in any form: “Spock’s Brain”, “And The Children Shall Lead”, “Plato’s Stepchildren”, and “Turnabout Intruder”. Why yes, those are four of the worst episodes of OTL Season 3, thank you for noticing! As for all other episodes I didn't mention, they were made ITTL, but just imagine them with better props/sets/effects, all the glaring flaws ironed out, and various little personal touches added here and there.)
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One special note about OTL Season 3: The perpetual scapegoat, replacement showrunner Fred Freiberger, has been absolved of blame for its failings by virtually everyone else involved, including Justman, who would be in a better position to know than anyone else. Freiberger, a WWII veteran who was a Nazi P.O.W. for nearly two years, has actually said that producing Star Trek was the worst experience of his life. (Because he spent the rest of it dealing with the fallout. He lived until 2003 – that’s 35 years.) Now, I’m not saying that the show wouldn’t have been better if Coon were Producer, but I have to admit, I feel for him.
Now, as for TTL, I want to stress that this season is considered on par with the first two - perhaps even slightly worse. Some episodes are stale, and others are more a case of reach exceeding grasp. Of course, with the “Big Five” in charge, “reach exceeding grasp” is along the lines of not quite being able to get something on the top shelf of your kitchen cupboard. IOTL, it was more along the lines of a baby lying in its crib, trying in futility to grab at the mobile hanging overhead. But season three is considered a worthy successor to the first two, and several of its episodes are mentioned alongside all the ones we think of when asked to name the best IOTL.
And now to officially, explicitly reveal the worst kept secret of this TL: Star Trek will be back for a fourth season! Yes, it's true! NBC will bring it back on Mondays at 7:30 for the 1969-70 season. Now, it won't be all smooth sailing; there are going to be plenty of wrinkles. But we'll cover them as we come to them. So join me for the next update, when we finally begin to say our Long Goodbye to the 1960s!