WI: The Enterprise completes its five year mission (Star Trek survives for 5 seasons)

[Ogrebear]

Interesting. I will be watching this one.

You may wish to add some Tags to your timeline to make it easier to find.

 

[dsp19]

Interesting. I will be watching this one.

You may wish to add some Tags to your timeline to make it easier to find.

Done and done. Tomorrow, I'll add two more updates. The two I completed today are a lot to read and digest.

 

[neopeius]

The Trouble with Tribbles was also camp, but I agree, a good portion of the series was serious allegory (Let That Be Your Last Battlefield, A Private Little War, Day of the Dove amongst others). Some aspects of the show came off a little campy, like the dialogue (Kirk constantly pausing, Spock going to the illogical phrase as often as he did) and some of the character actions (all the Bones/Spock confrontations).

Just because a show is sometimes light in tone does not make it camp.

To be camp, it is the conscious exaggeration that creates the comedic effect. Shatner has delivery habits that we've latched onto over the years as somehow unnatural and humorous, but 1) he didn't intend them to be, 2) they weren't as bad as subsequent impressions would lead one to believe, and 3) we all have verbal tics.

Spock going to his illogical phrase is a character bit (or a writers' crutch) but it's not camp.

Bones and Spock have a playfully antagonistic relationship. It is sometimes humorous. It is not camp.

One could argue that Trelane in Squire of Gothos was affectedly camp as part of his persona, though the episode, itself, is not camp.

Anyway, again, I will die on this hill. The idea that Trek is camp is a fairly recent one, and is probably a defense mechanism -- it's easier to admit liking something if it's a guilty pleasure than actually enjoying it for its simple merits. Trek has aged: it has now-outdated modes of gender relations, its effects have been superseded (though many hold up just fine on their own terms), some of the show is just silly, scientifically, etc. etc.

So folks dismiss it as camp and it's okay to enjoy -- just don't take it too seriously. Certainly it's not real television worth watching, though it gets a point or two for having vaguely progressive elements (but Roddenberry was a lech and a hack, so even that is alloyed).

If I seem sensitive to this point, it's just that I'm tired of it. I've now lived through the Trek era twice . The first time was as a boy in the 70s and 80s experiencing Trek in reruns and absolutely loving it. No one called it camp then. We laughed at some of its less effective elements (and they are legion!), but the show, as a whole, was something special.

I'm also living through the 60s anew through Galactic Journey. I have waded through Newton Minow's "Vast Wasteland" for four years with my very own TV station that broadcasts what was on exactly 55 years ago. I have watched some good shows, a lot of mediocre shows, and too many horrible shows. I've seen Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea and Lost in Space and both Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits (the last two ranging from sublimity to excrescence).

When Trek came out in 1966, it was something new. It was the first real science fiction on television, in part written by real science fiction writers. Between Trek and 2001, space-based SF became mainstream, something everyone could enjoy, not just the propeller-beanies. It also became egalitarian -- before Trek, women wrote 5-10% of the published SF. Trek catapulted a trend that has culminated in rough gender parity.

Trek was many things. Innovative, conservative, brilliant, clunky. It was even occasionally (and when it happened, usually deliberately) campy. But the basic show was not camp.

---

To the point of your what if, I have to wonder if arc-y, war-themed stories would be what the audience wanted back then. Trek flirted with continuity, like having Mudd show up a couple of times, or having the Enterprise use the slingshot effect deliberately after The Naked Time, but going full arc seems like a bigger jump. It's also somewhat rare for a TV show to make such a sudden jump in style (though it was not unheard of back then -- I'm thinking of how East Side/West Side evolved, for instance). It could happen, and it could work, but it would be a big shift.

Still, you're making interesting television, so keep spinning, please.

 

[neopeius]

I'm going purely from memory but there was a persistent but constantly deferred idea of a recurring Klingon villain in the show. Deferred because the actors were not available when needed. I believe initially it was Kor, then it was going to be William Campbell's Koloth. And the actor who played Kang was originally going to be Kor again, but he was unavailable. And the actor who played Kang was willing to return but the show was cancelled.

Quoting Campbell:
"Had they been continuing, I would have been signed for 13 episodes as Koloth and I would have liked to do that [....] I think Roddenberry zigged when he should have zagged. He never should have allowed the Kirk and Koloth thing to die there." (Starlog #128)

Indeed, Kor comes back as commander of a starship in Time Trap (which happens to be the first Trek I ever saw all the way through -- I was four). The animated series, brought back Mudd, tribbles, the Guardian of Forever, and the pleasure planet from Shore Leave as well. I imagine a lot of those stories might have popped up in a fourth season of live action Trek, which is an argument in support of what dsp19 is doing (building greater continuity into the show).

 

[Emperor Norton I]

Indeed, Kor comes back as commander of a starship in Time Trap (which happens to be the first Trek I ever saw all the way through -- I was four). The animated series, brought back Mudd, tribbles, the Guardian of Forever, and the pleasure planet from Shore Leave as well. I imagine a lot of those stories might have popped up in a fourth season of live action Trek, which is an argument in support of what dsp19 is doing (building greater continuity into the show).

Another source in that vein is the 25th anniversary PC game. It is very true to TOS / TAS, perhaps more so than any Trek media after the 1970s. And it brings back old favorites like Trelane and Mudd.

 

[dsp19]

Just because a show is sometimes light in tone does not make it camp.

To be camp, it is the conscious exaggeration that creates the comedic effect. Shatner has delivery habits that we've latched onto over the years as somehow unnatural and humorous, but 1) he didn't intend them to be, 2) they weren't as bad as subsequent impressions would lead one to believe, and 3) we all have verbal tics.

Spock going to his illogical phrase is a character bit (or a writers' crutch) but it's not camp.

Bones and Spock have a playfully antagonistic relationship. It is sometimes humorous. It is not camp.

One could argue that Trelane in Squire of Gothos was affectedly camp as part of his persona, though the episode, itself, is not camp.

Anyway, again, I will die on this hill. The idea that Trek is camp is a fairly recent one, and is probably a defense mechanism -- it's easier to admit liking something if it's a guilty pleasure than actually enjoying it for its simple merits. Trek has aged: it has now-outdated modes of gender relations, its effects have been superseded (though many hold up just fine on their own terms), some of the show is just silly, scientifically, etc. etc.

So folks dismiss it as camp and it's okay to enjoy -- just don't take it too seriously. Certainly it's not real television worth watching, though it gets a point or two for having vaguely progressive elements (but Roddenberry was a lech and a hack, so even that is alloyed).

If I seem sensitive to this point, it's just that I'm tired of it. I've now lived through the Trek era twice . The first time was as a boy in the 70s and 80s experiencing Trek in reruns and absolutely loving it. No one called it camp then. We laughed at some of its less effective elements (and they are legion!), but the show, as a whole, was something special.

I'm also living through the 60s anew through Galactic Journey. I have waded through Newton Minow's "Vast Wasteland" for four years with my very own TV station that broadcasts what was on exactly 55 years ago. I have watched some good shows, a lot of mediocre shows, and too many horrible shows. I've seen Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea and Lost in Space and both Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits (the last two ranging from sublimity to excrescence).

When Trek came out in 1966, it was something new. It was the first real science fiction on television, in part written by real science fiction writers. Between Trek and 2001, space-based SF became mainstream, something everyone could enjoy, not just the propeller-beanies. It also became egalitarian -- before Trek, women wrote 5-10% of the published SF. Trek catapulted a trend that has culminated in rough gender parity.

Trek was many things. Innovative, conservative, brilliant, clunky. It was even occasionally (and when it happened, usually deliberately) campy. But the basic show was not camp.

---

To the point of your what if, I have to wonder if arc-y, war-themed stories would be what the audience wanted back then. Trek flirted with continuity, like having Mudd show up a couple of times, or having the Enterprise use the slingshot effect deliberately after The Naked Time, but going full arc seems like a bigger jump. It's also somewhat rare for a TV show to make such a sudden jump in style (though it was not unheard of back then -- I'm thinking of how East Side/West Side evolved, for instance). It could happen, and it could work, but it would be a big shift.

Still, you're making interesting television, so keep spinning, please.

Thanks, and I agree that a large part of the series isn't intentionally unserious, it's just that some aspects of the show came off that way (or come off that way because it is a bit dated). I could understand at the time, the show definitely not being campy compared to other TV at the time which certainly was. As for the story arc, it's probably the only one I'm planning for the show, because there will be consequences for Justman going over budget from Paramount which we will see in the updates tomorrow. Thanks for contributing to the thread!

 

[Wiw]

Can you imagine the New Voyages or Continues team making these episodes?

 

[dsp19]

Can you imagine the New Voyages or Continues team making these episodes?

Didn't the Continues team write a sequel to The Enterprise Incident too? I'm pretty sure they did. I recall Gene Roddenberry's son saying that Continues was so good it should be considered canon

 

[The Wooksta!]

Jim Cawley is a better Kirk than Shatner and then he left and was replaced by a guy who was as bad as Shatner and played him in the same way.

 

[dsp19]

So here we go! The end of the brief Romulan war story arc, and the consequences facing the series from Paramount for going over budget:

October 14, 1968

ALL THE DEVILS ARE HERE was one of the rare episodes where our heroes were facing a cliffhanger. We would not know what would happen to them for another week? How would Kirk, Spock and the crew defeat the Romulans while outmanned and outgunned by three to one? THEY SHALL NOT PASS, written by Theodore Sturgeon, was named in honor of World War I general Robert Nivelle, who in World War I at the Battle of Verdun, told the French soldiers, they (the Germans) shall not pass (Verdun).

Kirk immediately begins the episode by closing ship to ship communications with the Romulans. He asks Scotty, "where is the cloaking device, and will it work." Scotty says, "I can give you a cloaking device, Captain, but it will only work for two hours. Then, we are sitting ducks again." Kirk orders Scotty to engage the cloaking device. As they do, the Romulan fleet fires on the Enterprise, which shakes a little bit, but evades most of the damage. Kirk orders Sulu to set a course to neighboring Altair V to keep the Romulans out of range. Instead of pursuing, the Romulans are unaware of where Kirk is, because they do not fully know how to scan a Constitution class vessel cloaked.

Livia: "Where is the Enterprise?"
Sub-Commander Tal: "The Enterprise cloaked, Commander. We cannot scan her."
Livia: "Don't we have the schematics for the Enterprise?"
Sub-Commander Tal: "We received general schematics for the class of Federation vessel the Enterprise belongs to, but the Enterprise seems to behave differently."
Livia: "How did our Vulcan friends fail to provide us all the information?"
Sub-Commander Tal: "I do not know, Commander. They gave us what appear to be the ship's inner workings. Maybe it is false information."
Livia: "Find the Enterprise and bring me Captain Kirk's head."
Sub-Commander Tal: "Yes, Commander." (Does Original Series Romulan salute).

Back on the Enterprise, Kirk convenes the senior staff in a tense ready room.

Kirk: "What are our options. We only have an hour and 45 minutes before the cloak fails and we're exposed again."
Sulu: "The Rigel system is only 8 light years away. We could strategically retreat to the Rigel system and ask Starfleet Command to form another defensive perimeter."
Kirk: "We cannot retreat. Rigel is a core world of the Federation. We could be inviting more Romulan ships through the salient they just cut through Federation space."
Bones: "I agree with Sulu, Jim. Back up, and draw the Romulans deeper, where more Starfleet ships will be waiting for them."
Kirk: "I cannot agree. I remember in one of our old 20th century wars, the French attempted to set up defensive lines, but they were outdated due to improved maneuverability of..."
Spock: "Tanks, Captain. Earth, World War II, 1940. The Germans flooded French territory with tanks and forced a French surrender."
Chekov: "Captain, I agree with Doctor McCoy and Sulu. In that same 20th century var, ve Russians strategically retreated seweral times, because of how big Mother Russia is. The Federation is wery big as vell."
Kirk: "How many people did you lose in that war, Ensign Chekov."
Chekov: "Tventy-two million, Captain."
Kirk: "Those are unacceptable losses in a conflict like this, Ensign. The Romulans are attempting a quick incursion to demonstrate their superiority and force the Federation to back up from the Neutral Zone. We shall not allow it and we must draw the line here, in the Altair system."
Uhura: "But we are outnumbered three to one, Captain! We will be destroyed!"
Spock: "Uhura is likely correct, Captain. The chances we survive this confrontation with the present situation continuing, are one hundred two point seven to one."
Kirk: "So what options do we have? We can't just sit here and wait until the cloak runs out."

Scotty: "I think there is a different possibility, Captain."
Kirk: "What do you have in mind, Mr. Scott?"
Scotty: "Remember the USS Farragut experiment ten years ago? They tried to separate that ship into two parts."
Kirk: "So we could turn the Enterprise into two ships?"
Scotty: "It wasn't a success, Captain. The ship was critically damaged and had to be towed back to a starbase."
Kirk: "But if we are successful, we can fight with two ships, theoretically. Where were the photon torpedoes installed, Mr. Scott."
Scotty: "In the neck of the ship, Captain, underneath the saucer section."
Kirk: "So I would have phasers in the saucer section, and the torpedoes in the engineering section. I can fight with two ships instead of one and the Romulans would have no idea what hit them."
Spock: "They have the technical journals of our starship."
Scotty: "None of them said the ship could separate because of the Farragut experiment."
Kirk: "So we have the element of surprise."
Spock: "Captain, The cloak is located in the engineering section. If we attempt to separate the ship, the saucer would immediately decloak. Additionally, the saucer section only has impulse power, so that part of the ship would not be able to warp out of range."
Kirk: "Understood. OK, here is the plan. Spock, Sulu, Uhura and I will remain in the saucer section of the ship. Scott, you will take command of the engineering section and take Chekov with you to operate the torpedoes. Uhura, you have an especially important job in keeping ship to ship communication open, since we are fighting as a small fleet."
Uhura: "Yes, Captain. It really is not so different than communicating to the ship in one piece. I'll take care of it, sir."
Kirk: "Man your posts. Dismissed."
Bones: "And I'm going to sickbay, where I cannot treat half the ship."
Kirk: "Bones, Send Nurse Chapel to the engineering section with basic equipment to conduct battlefield triage."
Bones: "I strenuously object to this, Jim. Our chances of survival as two ships? You are crazier than that green blooded Vulcan."
Kirk: "Things done well and with a care, exempt themselves from fear, Bones."
Bones: "Yes, Jim."

The Enterprise gets ready to separate the saucer section from the engineering section. Kirk orders the ship separated and the saucer section immediately decloaks. The Romulan fleet identifies the saucer section but Kirk is one step ahead, and he fires phasers at full blast on the other D7-battlecruiser, destroying it. "Now we are fighting with two ships against two ships, says Kirk. The odds are even." On the Romulan flagship, Livia is wondering how the saucer section is visible, but the rest of the ship is invisible. "How are they fighting with half a ship, Tal?" Tal replies, "I do not know, Commander." Suddenly, the engineering section decloaks immediately astern of the Romulan flagship.

Kirk: "Scotty, fire the photon torpedoes."
Scotty: "Chekov, fire photon torpedoes."

The engineering section scores a direct hit on the Romulan flagship, which sustains moderate damage. Livia orders the Romulan ship to return fire, and the engineering section is hit, sustaining moderate damage. Scotty wires to Kirk, "I don't know how much more she'll take of this, Captain! I didn't rig the Enterprise to fight separately as two ships." Kirk orders Scotty to focus fire on the other Romulan vessel and move out of range while the saucer section takes on the flagship. After more exchanges of fire, the separated Enterprise ends up with a disabled engineering section and a relatively unscathed saucer section, while the second Romulan ship is disabled and the Romulan flagship is severely damaged.

Kirk: "Ship to ship, Lieutenant."
Uhura: "Hailing frequencies open, Captain."
Kirk: "Livia, this is Captain Kirk. You underestimated the capabilities of our ship. Your Vulcan spies gave you faulty information."
Livia: "Kirk, you are a wily devil. We will be back. You haven't seen the end of us. We will fight you, and fight you, and use every means at our disposal to defeat you."
Kirk: "If you keep on fighting us now, you will be destroyed. Either surrender your ships or return to Romulan space."
Livia: "You are giving me an escape, Captain? I believe you will regret that."
Kirk: "The Federation fights honorably, Livia. Something you Romulans should learn."
Livia: "So be it. Set a course back to Romulus. You are making a mistake letting me live, Kirk."

In his quarters, Kirk wonders in his log, "What other tricks do the Romulans have up their sleeve. This war has been a series of provocations, spy operations and subterfuge. I fear what the Romulans could devise next, because they are desperate."

Shatner, recalling this episode:

This was classic Captain Kirk saving the day. It was one of my favorite episodes because I got to run the show for the most part, and it demonstrated Captain Kirk's immense capabilities in battle. I loved to do battle shows like Balance of Terror and this show. Most of the focus was on me, and deservedly so.

James Doohan:

I really got to show in They Shall Not Pass Scotty's miracle worker capabilities. This was a great set of stories for me because I got to play a greater role than a normal secondary star. Usually, the show was Bill, Leonard and Dee Kelley, but they really gave me more input and I made part of this series of shows shine. Fans at conventions still remember Scotty's exploits from the Romulan story arc.

Justman:

We ran over budget again. Matt Jefferies and Jim Rugg (special effects supervisor) were miracle workers. Once again, They Shall Not Pass was a huge success, narrowly winning the ratings battle that week, but I was worried about Doug Cramer (Paramount Executive) calling me into his office and firing me from the showrunner position because I was spending too much of Paramount's money. I was already over budget by about three episodes, and we only produced five that season. We still had another twenty, twenty two at the minimum to produce and we only had enough money for eighteen. So some of the shows suffered later in the season. But we got our huge payoff and the improved ratings somewhat made up for it.

 

[dsp19]

Here's the end of the Romulan arc. This story can also act as a stand-alone because of its uniqueness.

October 21, 1968

Livia said that the Romulans weren't through just yet, and they had one more trick up their sleeve to unleash on our Enterprise heroes. In THE Y VIRUS, written by D.C. Fontana, the male members of the Enterprise crew, comprising 90% of the ship, are felled by a Romulan virus. Lieutenant Uhura takes command of the Enterprise, along with the remaining female crew unaffected by the virus, and takes on Livia in a final confrontation between the Federation and the Romulans.

Note: The female cast for the show must be written in before I proceed with the story.

Lieutenant Uhura: Nichelle Nichols
Nurse Christine Chapel: Majel Barrett
Lieutenant Marlena Moreau: Barbara Luna (science officer). Luna was working on Firecreek, a Western, in 1968, but she makes herself available for 10-14 days for this episode.
Lieutenant Palmer: Elizabeth Rogers (communications) She was a fill in for Uhura in The Doomsday Machine and The Way To Eden, so she is available IRL for casting.
Lieutenant Charlene Masters (operations): Janet MacLachlan. She was working on "The F.B.I." and had a role in a movie called "Uptight" IRL, so she only appears in two scenes for this episode, as her schedule is tight.
Barbara Baldavin: Lt. Angela Martine (tactical). She appeared in 3 Star Trek episodes IRL and was always on call for the show. In Balance of Terror, she mans the phaser banks.
Marianna Hill: Lt. Helen Noel (ship psychologist). She appeared in "Dagger of the Mind" IRL.

So onto the show...

On Gamma Hydra IV, a planet bordering the Romulan Neutral Zone, Sulu, Chekov and a group of male redshirts engage in a firefight with the Romulans. The Romulans kill three of the four redshirts, while Sulu and Chekov kill three Romulan soldiers. As the Romulans retreat, one of them throws what appears to be a smoke grenade at Sulu's landing party. Before they are able to escape, the grenade hits them on the ground close by and releases a mysterious gas. Sulu orders the landing party to retreat from the grenade, but they are caught by several whiffs of the smoke from the hissing grenade. Reporting that the Romulans are retreating, Sulu, Chekov and the surviving redshirt (Lt. Leslie, played by Eddie Paskey in his final Star Trek appearance), beam back aboard the Enterprise.

Kirk debriefs Sulu, Chekov and Leslie in the ready room as the Enterprise is in a standoff with a Romulan Bird of Prey above Gamma Hydra IV.

Kirk: "So we lost three men and were able to repel the Romulans on the planet."
Sulu: "Aye sir, we caused the Romulans to retreat."
Chekov: "They gave us a difficult fight with their disruptors and grenades, but we repelled their advance, Captain."
Leslie: "They threw grenades at us."
Sulu: "The grenades appeared to be smoke grenades. They were apparently trying to provide cover for their attacks."
Kirk: "No, the Romulans have some other motive for the grenades. That is not a normal part of their strategy in conducting ground attacks because they rely on overwhelming disruptor power."
Sulu: "I think they..."

Sulu collapses. Chekov immediately screams out but he collapses as he is attempting to help Sulu. Leslie also succumbs to the effects of the grenade.

Kirk: "Kirk to sickbay."
Bones: "McCoy here."
Kirk: "Emergency in the conference room, Bones. Sulu, Chekov and Leslie have collapsed."
Bones: "Bring them over to sickbay immediately. I'll examine them."
Kirk: "Kirk out."

Kirk, Spock, McCoy and Chapel are in sickbay, discussing what happened to Sulu, Chekov and Leslie.

Kirk: "The smoke from the grenades got to them. There must have been a poison in the grenade."
Bones: "Possibly, but it's unlike anything I've ever seen."
Spock: "It is unknown to Federation technology. I am curious as to what the Romulans used in their smoke grenade. I would like a sample of one of the patients' blood for analysis in the lab and spectroscopic samples of the grenade smoke."
Bones: "We're taking care of it, Spock. Chapel, draw blood from Sulu, Chekov and Leslie. I want to know what the Romulans did to them."
Chapel: "Taking care of it now, Doctor."

(Chapel draws blood from Sulu. As she finishes, Kirk collapses).

Chapel: "Captain!"
Spock: "He has collapsed, presumably for the same reason Sulu, Chekov and Leslie did."
Bones: "But why, Spock. Kirk wasn't part of the landing party. He wasn't exposed to the grenade smoke."
Spock: "Perhaps some of the grenade smoke contained a chemical that is finely transmissible by air, Doctor."
Bones: "You mean a virus, Spock?"
Spock: "Very likely, Doctor. The Romulans do not follow conventions of war in the same way the Federation does, Doctor McCoy. As we know, they are a ruthless enemy, predisposed to bloodthirstiness."
Bones: "They are monsters, conducting biological warfare against the Federation, Spock."
Spock: "Of that I am well aware, Doctor. We need those blood samples and cultures in order to create an antidote to a possible virus, Doctor."
Bones: "I'm on it, Spock. I'll have it ready within..."

(Bones collapses just like Kirk did).

Chapel: "Dr. McCoy! Spock, what is going on here?"
Spock: "You must acquire those blood samples immediately, before everyone on the ship is affected, Nurse Chapel."
Chapel: "I'll be on it, sir."

In the next scene, Chapel enlists the aid of Dr. M'Benga (Booker Bradshaw) for examining the blood samples. M'Benga collapses. Cut to the bridge, and all the male officers except for Spock immediately collapse. Uhura is in shock.

Uhura: "Sir, what in the world is happening to the crew?"
Spock: "Examining now, Lieutenant. Computer, bring up the disposition of every member of the crew on the Enterprise."
Computer: "Working, working. Out of 400 crew, 359 male officers and crew are unconscious or in sickbay. 40 female officers and crew remain conscious."
Spock: "Fascinating."
Uhura: "The virus only affects males? All the females are apparently unaffected, according to the computer."
Spock: "Apparently so. I am a Vulcan, so it is possible that I am either unaffected or less affected than the rest of the male crew. Spock to Chapel."
Chapel: "Chapel here."
Spock: "We need those blood samples and an antidote immediately. It appears as if the crew of the Enterprise is compromised and the Romulans will know before too long."
Chapel: "I have the virus culture, and it is bizarre indeed. The virus only affects the Y-chromosome, or the male of the species."
Spock: "Is there an antidote, Nurse Chapel."
Chapel: "It will take me some time to run one, sir. But I have bad news. The life signs of the crew members in sickbay are weakening, and at this pace, they will be dead in 24 hours."
Spock: "So you have that much time to devise an antidote, or the crew, or at least the male members of the crew of the Enterprise, will die. Spock out."

Spock: "Lieutenant Uhura, as the senior female officer aboard the Enterprise, you are my first officer. You will take the helmsman's role."
Uhura: "Sir, I haven't steered a ship since my Academy days. Sometimes I dabbled on the night shift, but I wasn't very good at it."
Spock: "That is understood, but there is nobody else on the ship to perform the role as well as you can. Organize the remaining members of the crew and meet me in the ready room. We must prepare..."

(Spock collapses)

Uhura screams in shock, but she comes to her senses quickly and says, "I'm in command."

Uhura convenes the senior female members of the crew in the ready room: Nurse Chapel, Lt. Marlena Moreau, Lt, Palmer, Lt. Charlene Masters, Lt. Angela Martine, and Lt. Helen Noel.

Uhura: Lt. Moreau, I will need you on the bridge at the science station that Mr. Spock normally occupies. Can you perform that role."
Moreau: "Yes, to the best of my ability. Nobody can replace Spock though."
Uhura: "You'll have to, at least until this crisis is over. Chapel, continue to find the antidote to the virus. Return to sickbay at once."
Chapel: "Yes, Uhura." (returns to sickbay).
Uhura: "Lt. Palmer, you will sit at my normal station at communications. I know you can do a great job there."
Palmer: "Aye, Lieutenant. Consider it done."
Uhura: "Lt. Martine, I need you at tactical. You are experienced with the phaser banks."
Martine: "We've fought the Romulans before, and we can do it again, even with just the women on board."
Uhura: "Lt. Masters, I need you at the helm. You've steered the ship during the night shift when Sulu is off."
Masters: "Will do, Lieutenant."
Uhura: "Understood. Lt. Noel, I need a disposition of Romulan tactics. What will they try if they know our condition."
Noel: "They will attempt to board us. If they board us with the Enterprise in this state, we are no match for them and they will capture the ship."
Uhura: "Understood. Therefore, our first orders are to move us out of Romulan transporter range. We will set a course for Gamma Hydra III and see if the Romulans pursue."
All women: "Aye, ma'am."
Uhura: "Don't call me ma'am. I work for a living." (The women laugh). "Let's defeat these Romulans once and for all."

The Enterprise sets a course for Gamma Hydra III. The Romulans debate whether to pursue the Enterprise. Sub-Commander Tal argues that the Enterprise is attempting a ruse, but Commander Livia orders a pursuit. "We will mount Captain Kirk's head on the Praetor's wall on Romulus. Did our landing party deploy the virus?" Tal replies that they did. Livia wonders whether the Enterprise is retreating and in a weakened state. "We shall attack," says Livia.

On the Enterprise, the makeshift female crew is monitoring the Romulans. Lt. Moreau reports to Uhura that the Romulan ship is entering pursuit. Uhura says, "Red alert, battlestations. The Romulans think we're weak, but they are underestimating us again. Those shields must stay up, Masters. Under no circumstances can they board the ship."

Uhura: "Ship to ship."
Palmer: "You're patched in, Lieutenant."
Uhura: "This is Lieutenant Uhura, in acting command of the Enterprise. Do not mistake our retreat for weakness. If you engage in battle with us, we shall defeat you and drive you back into Romulan space."
Livia: "So our virus worked. The weak human females are in command. Lieutenant Uhura, we will board your vessel, and we will take the Enterprise back to Romulus as a prize of war."
Uhura: "You'll never beam through with our shields up."
Livia: "No worry, Lieutenant. We'll just destroy you and take the hull of the Enterprise back to Romulus."

Livia fires on the Enterprise. "Evasive actions," orders Uhura. The Enterprise takes a moderate hit from the Romulan torpedo. "Return fire," says Uhura. A space battle ensues and the Enterprise fatally damages the Romulan vessel with its phasers on full.

Chapel: "We have the antidote."
Uhura: "Start administering it to the crew. Patch me in to Romulan commander."
Palmer: "Frequencies open, Lieutenant."
Uhura: "Romulan commander, this is Lieutenant Uhura, Surrender or prepare to be boarded. We have found an antidote to your virus and you are adrift in space. Surrender or prepare to be boarded."
Livia: "I might die here, but the Romulan Empire shall never perish!" (Livia cries, and her last words are, "When sorrows come, they come not single spies, but in battalions.") The Romulan ship self destructs.

At the end of the show, Kirk and the full Enterprise crew are cured. Uhura and Chapel are promoted to Lieutenant Commander. Uhura teases Sulu, "I get to boss you around now." Sulu says, "I guess that's fair, you earned it by ending the war."

Nichelle Nichols:

We always wanted to do an episode where the female crew had to take over, but it was always put on hold because nobody could plausibly believe women could perform the same jobs as men. D.C. stepped into creative control and said, "we want to show off what the women could do," so The Y Virus was born. I still get loads of fan mail for my role in saving the Enterprise and Federation. As I recall, that episode got more fan mail than any of the others to date, and we were so surprised at how positive it was, especially from our female fans. I didn't fully realize at the time how my role would be considered heroic, both to women and the African-American community. I was asked by Roy Wilkins (NAACP CEO) to speak at the 1969 annual NAACP convention for my part in this episode. To this day, I think the episode both cemented our female and African-American fanbase, which were both wavering to that point.

D.C. Fontana:

Gene always thought that a woman-controlled episode was an interesting concept, but would go too far and stretch the bounds of believability. I told Gene that I was pretty good at writing, so if I can do that, why can't females perform in other roles, such as leading a starship? We already had Nichelle as a co-star, so why not make her the lead for a show? Justman approved. The challenge was getting the female cast together, because they were working on other roles. Janet MacLachlan was especially busy so it was a tight squeeze getting her into the shoot, but when we brought all of the women on the show, we relished in creating a real piece of television history.

John Lewis, civil rights activist and Congressman:

Unlike Dr. King, I was not a Star Trek fan, and neither were most of my friends. Even with Uhura on the show, Star Trek was a tenuous sell to the African-American community because she was always in a secondary role. When Uhura took command and led the ship as well as Captain Kirk ever did, I think the popularity of the show increased significantly in the African-American community. It was truly historic to not only see an African-American, but an African-American woman commanding the Enterprise and leading her to safety. Nichelle is always a hero in the community for that.

Robert Justman:

We feared that this episode would have a tremendous negative backlash, because women were not supposed to lead in this way during the 1960s, or so we thought. Instead, we received fan mail from little old ladies who marched in the suffrage movement in the 1910s, and middle-aged women who served in World War II in various capacities. They were definitely not our target audience for Star Trek, but they loved this episode and for most of the third season, our ratings were in the stratosphere, either winning our timeslot or finishing second to Gunsmoke. Star Trek had truly arrived.

 

[NOMISYRRUC]

How about overseas sales helping the show to survive?

I don't know about the rest of the world, but the first episode to be transmitted on BBC1 (Where No Man Has Gone Before, 12th July 1969) was broadcast 5 weeks after the last episode to be transmitted in the US (The Turnabout Intruder on 3rd June 1969).

I don't know if it's true, but AIUI Dallas and Starsky & Hutch had higher ratings per capita in the UK than the US. IIRC Fame and Due South were saved from cancellation because they were more successful overseas than they were in the USA and in the case of Fame some foreign broadcasters (including the BBC) helped to finance it.

If Desilu/Paramount had tried to sell Star Trek overseas a year or two earlier and it was as successful overseas ITTL as it was IOTL that would help avoid the shows premature demise and some of the extra revenue generated could be used to increase the budget for Season 3.

 

[dsp19]

How about overseas sales helping the show to survive?

I don't know about the rest of the world, but the first episode to be transmitted on BBC1 (Where No Man Has Goner Before, 12th July 1969) was broadcast 5 weeks after the last episode to be transmitted in the US (The Turnabout Intruder on 3rd June 1969).

I don't know if it's true, but AIUI Dallas and Starsky & Hutch had higher ratings per capita in the UK than the US. IIRC Fame and Due South were saved from cancellation because they were more successful overseas than they were in the USA and in the case of Fame some foreign broadcasters (including the BBC) helped to finance it.

If Desilu/Paramount had tried to sell Star Trek overseas a year or two earlier and it was successful overseas ITTL as it was IOTL that would help avoid the shows premature demise and some of the extra revenue generated could be used to increase the budget for Season 3.

I don't think Star Trek would have found extremely wide appeal overseas, even though they have a smallish hardcore fanbase in places like the UK and Germany ITTL. IRL the movies always did well in the US and poorly overseas. I think the JJ Abrams 2009 reboot was the only Trek movie to make significant money overseas, and even that one made something like 2/3 of its money in the States.

Last update for the day, and it'll be a short one, which will encompass the consequences Justman faces for going over the budget:

ANGRY MEETING AT PARAMOUNT BETWEEN CRAMER AND JUSTMAN OVER TREK

VARIETY MAGAZINE, October 27, 1968

Douglas Cramer, Paramount executive vice president in charge of production of the rising hit, Star Trek, was reportedly furious with showrunner Robert Justman over the amount of times Justman has exceeded the budget for the first six episodes of Star Trek's third season, which were shot in the summer. Although Star Trek finished first in its new Monday timeslot three times against the juggernaut Western Gunsmoke, and a narrow second on the other three occasions (easily beating ABC's The Mod Squad), Cramer reportedly threatened to fire Justman because he spent the budget equivalent of ten episodes over only six currently on the air. The only factor that saved Justman's position on the show was the ratings, and Gene Roddenberry stepped into the meeting to defend Justman. Roddenberry reportedly said that the ratings could end up in the stratosphere with the types of shows that they were producing. Cramer will reportedly cut the budget for the remaining third season episodes, a planned twenty, currently in production. Justman will have to make do with a reduced budget, possibly up to 10% below normal per episode, in order to keep Trek standing as a major television hit.

 

[dsp19]

And one final update before I watch the Super Bowl, which will be a relatively easy one. We have finished Episode 6 of my reimagined third season. The next nine episodes IRL are among the better installments of the third season, so I shall simply keep them in place and write them in the order of their viewing, but in my Monday 8 PM time slot on NBC instead of the Friday night 10 PM death slot. ITTL Plato's Stepchildren is included and is considered one of the weaker shows, but it has the Kirk-Uhura kiss and I will keep it as is IRL.

Episode 7: DAY OF THE DOVE, written by Jerome Bixby, directed by Marvin Chomsky. Air date: October 27, 1968. Nielsen rating: 2nd to Gunsmoke
Episode 8: FOR THE WORLD IS HOLLOW AND I HAVE TOUCHED THE SKY, written by Rik Vollaerts, directed by Tony Leader. Air date: November 4, 1968. Nielsen rating: 2nd to Gunsmoke.
Episode 9: THE THOLIAN WEB, written by Judy Burns and Chet Richards, directed by Herb Wallerstein and Ralph Senensky. Air date: November 11, 1968. Nielsen rating: 1st in timeslot. (Note: the only difference in this show is the name of the other ship--the USS Hood instead of the USS Defiant).
Episode 10: PLATO'S STEPCHILDREN, written by Meyer Dolinsky, directed by David Alexander. Air date: November 18, 1968. Nielsen rating: 2nd to Gunsmoke.
Episode 11: WINK OF AN EYE, written by Gene Coon and Arthur Heinemann, directed by Jud Taylor. Air date: November 25, 1968. Nielsen rating: 2nd to Gunsmoke.
Episode 12: THE EMPATH, written by Joyce Muskat, directed John Erman. Air date: December 2, 1968. Nielsen rating: 1st in timeslot.

Even though it wins the timeslot that week, NBC throws a fit after The Empath is telecast at 8 PM due to the torture scenes depicted in the show and negative fan reaction. Justman is given one last warning by NBC and Paramount to ship up or shape out. As a punishment, Star Trek is taken off the air for one week.

Episode 13: ELAAN OF TROYIUS, written and directed by John Meredyth Lucas. Air date: December 16, 1968. Nielsen rating: 2nd to Gunsmoke.
Episode 14: WHOM GODS DESTROY, written by Lee Erwin and Jerry Sohl. Directed by Herb Wallerstein. Air date: December 30, 1968. Nielsen rating: 1st in timeslot.
Episode 15: LET THAT BE YOUR LAST BATTLEFIELD, written by Gene Coon, directed by Jud Taylor. Air date: January 6, 1969. Nielsen rating: 2nd to Gunsmoke.

From this point, I will diverge again, tomorrow.

 

[Garrison]

Honestly the cancellation may have been the best possible outcome for TOS. As others have pointed out script quality was declining in S3 and the rather unfinished end of the show helped to create the appetite for more Trek later, If you have a show that's completed the five year mission and come to a natural end that kills the momentum, especially if you've reached the point where fans are happy for it to end. I'm really not sure I want to trade TNG and DS9 for a couple of more seasons of TOS.

 

[dsp19]

Honestly the cancellation may have been the best possible outcome for TOS. As others have pointed out script quality was declining in S3 and the rather unfinished end of the show helped to create the appetite for more Trek later, If you have a show that's completed the five year mission and come to a natural end that kills the momentum, especially if you've reached the point where fans are happy for it to end. I'm really not sure I want to trade TNG and DS9 for a couple of more seasons of TOS.

TNG and DS9 will still be produced ITTL. I mix things up a little in season 3, before things start to go downhill a bit. As for the appetite for more Trek later, the hardcore fanbase will remain even after they complete the five year mission, as the ratings are higher ITTL's season 3 and the show reaches a little more of a mainstream audience. The conventions and such are unaffected here. The show falls apart ITTL because Gene Roddenberry takes back creative control from Bob Justman sometime in season 4 and Shatner's ego is too much for his co-stars.

 

[Wiw]

Didn't the Continues team write a sequel to The Enterprise Incident too? I'm pretty sure they did. I recall Gene Roddenberry's son saying that Continues was so good it should be considered canon

No, I think that was "Mirror, Mirror."

 

[dsp19]

No, I think that was "Mirror, Mirror."

Amy Rydell is Joanne Linville's daughter and she appears in the last two episodes of Continues as her mother's Romulan commander part

 

[dsp19]

Short update for today:

The 16th episode of Season 3 in this timeline, after Paramount forced Justman to cut his budget for nine episodes after the Romulan war arc, is MORE TRIBBLES, MORE TROUBLES, written by David Gerrold, the same writer of THE TROUBLE WITH TRIBBLES. ITTL it airs on January 13, 1969. IRL this was one of The Animated Series Season 1 episodes, but ITTL it becomes one of the more popular Season 3 episodes and acts as a live action sequel to the Season 2 hit. William Campbell comes back to play Koloth and Stanley Adams reprises his Cyrano Jones role.

I will follow the original script as written by Gerrold IRL, so for those who have watched the Animated Series, this should be familiar. However, since Star Trek is an hour show instead of the half hour treatment of TAS, he extends the script to fill the hour ITTL. In the tribbles sequel, Captain Kirk and the Enterprise is monitoring the transport of two ships carrying a new grain, quintotriticale, to Sherman's Planet in an effort to keep the planet under Federation jurisdiction. A Klingon ship captained by Koloth attacks the Enterprise with a stasis beam, which temporarily cripples both vessels due to its enormous power consumption. The Klingons also attack the grain ship. Scotty almost loses the passenger on the grain ship, but is able to transport both the grain and the passenger aboard the Enterprise. Unfortunately for both the Enterprise and the Klingons, Cyrano Jones is the passenger, carrying his tribbles with him.

Jones claims that these tribbles do not reproduce. Dr. McCoy confirms that Jones is correct, but notes that the tribbles eat and get fat. Cyrano also claims that the tribbles have a natural predator, known as a glommer. He produces the glommer out of his pocket, and it proceeds to consume two of the tribbles. Kirk tells Jones that he is in violation of Federation law when it comes to transporting the tribbles, which are considered dangerous.

The Enterprise and the Klingon ship enter into another confrontation. The Klingon ship fires on the remaining robot ship and the Enterprise, causing some of the grain barrels to rupture. Tribbles begin eating the grain and grow massively in size. They grow too large for the glommer to eat them, creating more problems because the tribbles cannot be effectively eaten by its predator. Eventually, Kirk and Scotty plan to beam the gigantic tribbles aboard the Klingon vessel, and the Enterprise's problem is largely solved. McCoy figures out that the gigantic tribbles are actually tribble colonies, and he devises a chemical that will break the gigantic tribble apart into its smaller tribble components. Unfortunately for Kirk, they missed a few tribbles, and when they open an overhead cabinet, he is once again buried in tribbles.

Justman:

We had so much fun making this episode. The 3rd season was starting to wear on us a bit, with the reduced budgets affecting the middle part of the season. We had to lighten things up a bit, and we called David Gerrold back to see if he could write a sequel to The Trouble with Tribbles. Gerrold didn't like this script as much as the original tribbles episode, but it was still a hit and our ratings remained high. The cast finally enjoyed making an episode after the drudgery of the previous two months with average scripts (aside from Day of the Dove and The Tholian Web, which I felt were excellent episodes).

Gerrold:

I didn't want to write another tribble episode because I felt there was no way to match the original. But Bob and DC convinced me to do it. I felt the script was a little clunky, but it was just as light-hearted as the original, and I'm glad that the fans enjoyed it.

Fontana:

Come on, who doesn't enjoy a good tribble story! I don't think the sequel in this case was as good as the original but the cast loved making it! The fans liked it too, because the furry creatures were off the wall funny. And the reactions the gigantic tribbles made to the Klingons were great!

Shatner:

I really enjoyed making this show but I really didn't like getting buried in tribbles at the end. Some of the casting crew were literally flinging the tribbles at me from above, like they were furry snowballs. It was deja vu getting pelted with tribbles.

Nimoy:

We needed a break from some of the scripts where we felt the quality of the shows was dropping a little after that outstanding Romulan war set of episodes. So Gerrold kind of saved the third season with the tribbles sequel. I was constantly throwing the tribbles at Bill as a prank. We almost didn't get the script shooting done on time because all we wanted to do was fling the tribbles at each other. I remember Nichelle and Walter literally flying in and barraging me with tribbles from behind. I was getting pelted by those things. Of course Bill got it the worst since everyone wanted a piece of him. His ego was starting to grate on us and it became a worse problem in future seasons, so our revenge was flinging tribbles at him all throughout shooting. Even Dee Kelley, who is the nicest soul on Earth, wanted in on the act of stoning Bill with the tribbles.

Kelley:

I can confirm that I was the worst offender when it came to throwing the tribbles at Bill. Jimmy, George and Walter were starting to develop feuds with Bill, so I took it out on him on their behalf. I can also confirm that I still have a very good throwing arm from my days when I played baseball as a kid.

 

[dsp19]

I don't know if I'll write an update tomorrow, but I got through half of the AH 3rd season and the show is still going relatively strong. I have a few tricks up my sleeve soon, related to Klingons (which Gene Coon, remaining on the show, expands upon in the third season ITTL), and maybe a Denebian slime devil or two...