Episode Image | |
| Series: | TOS |
| Episode: | 1x06 (#7) |
| Original Airdate: | 1966-09-29 |
| Production Number: | 7 |
| Year: | 2266 |
| Stardate: | 1704.2 |
| Written by: | John D.F. Black |
| Directed by: | Marc Daniels |
The Enterprise crew is infected by an inhibition-stripping virus.
Summary
SUMMARY
Background Information
- The environmental suits Spock and Tormolen wore down on the planet's surface were, in real life, made of shower curtains.
- The sensor device Spock carries was seen previously in "The Enemy Within" as Scotty checked out the ore on Fisher's uniform.
- In a few sequences, the planet disappears from the view screen and the screen is blank.
- A potential sequel for this episode written in May of 1967 by John D.F. Black would be rewritten some twenty-years later to become TNG: "The Naked Now".
- Black's script is another important one for the series, again giving us more key background on Spock, but also establishing Kirk's conflict between his wish for a normal life and his passionate love for his ship.
- When Eddie Paskey takes over the helm from the absent Sulu, Leonard Nimoy says, "Take over here, Rand." The name of the character was supposed to be "Ryan" according to the studio cast list. This seems to have been a gaffe on Nimoy's part, referring to Grace Lee Whitney's character's name by mistake. Paskey's character had no set identity until "The Conscience of the King".
- Nurse Chapel appears to be watching a slide show of some sort when Riley surprises her. This was Majel Barrett's debut in the regular series, and establishes her love for Spock.
- The dead woman's body on Psi 2000 was a mannequin.
- The studio cast list contains "Crewman #1 and Crewman #2." This must refer to the two hapless men that Sulu chases with his sword. This means the extra who appears as "Bobby" in nearly every first-season episode is either Woody Talbert or Christian Ducheau.
- George Takei had great fun acting in this episode, and took his fencing very seriously, avidly practicing his technique on the set and working out to define his chest muscles for his memorable scene in the corridor.
- In his autobiography To the Stars, George Takei says this was his favorite episode.
- In this episode and "Charlie X", the Jeffries Tube is located in a spur hallway. In the second season, the set piece had been moved to a main corridor.
- This episode features the first reference to bulkheads in Star Trek.
- This otherwise excellent episode has one of the silliest logic errors in the entire series: as Scott cuts through the bulkhead with a phaser to get to the engineering room door controls, with time running out, Spock comes along on the captain's orders to induce him to speed up. Scott then stops using the phaser to tell him that even if they were under attack, he couldn't move any faster!
- The phaser does not produce a beam as Scott uses it, undoubtedly to save money on opticals, but blue sparks fly out of the cut in the wall to show the cutting action. A similar effect will be used in the third season in "The Way to Eden".
- The lighted panels in sickbay and engineering did not contain lights that moved in patterns, rather, stage hands manipulated objects behind the panels to make it look as if the lights were shifting about. In The Naked Time and other episodes, you can see this money-saving trick in action, expecially in close-ups or in rooms on the sets that are well-lit.
- From an aside to his assistant, we learn that Scott has his own office somewhere on the ship.
- Only in this episode is the appearance of a meal from a food synthesizer accompanied by a puff of steam (or cold air).
- Although the recreation room scene ends tragically, it is quite amusing as Sulu and Riley first walk in. Sulu the hobbyist has been trying to interest the navigator in his personal hobbies, botany and fencing, without much success!
Links and References
Main Cast
- William Shatner as Kirk
- Leonard Nimoy as Spock
- DeForest Kelley as McCoy
- James Doohan as Scott
- George Takei as Sulu
- Nichelle Nichols as Uhura
- Majel Barrett as Chapel
- Grace Lee Whitney as Rand
Guest Stars
- Stewart Moss as Joe Tormolen
- Bruce Hyde as Kevin Thomas Riley
- John Bellah as Laughing Crewman/Harrison
- William Knight as Crewman Moody (Amourous crewman)
- Christian Ducheau as Crewman # 1 (uncredited)
- Woody Talbert as Crewman # 2 (uncredited)
- Frank da Vinci as Brent (uncredited)
- Eddie Paskey as Leslie (uncredited)
- Ron Veto as Harrison (uncredited)
- William Blackburn as Hadley (uncredited)
- Unknown actor as Bobby
Memorable Quotes
- "Uh, Lieutenant Uhura: you've interrupted my song.....I'm sorry, but there'll be no ice cream for you tonight." - "Captain" Kevin Thomas Riley
- "I'll protect you, fair maiden!" - Sulu "Sorry-- neither!" - Uhura
- "Get off me! You don't rank me and you don't have pointed ears, so just get off my neck!" - Joe Tormolen
- "I'll never lose you. Never." - Kirk to the Enterprise
References
Alert B-2; Antimatter; Bowling alley; bulkhead; Environmental suit; Amanda Grayson; Intermix chamber; polywater; Psi 2000; Psi 2000 intoxication; Cardinal Richelieu;
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Episodes of Star Trek: The Original Series TOS Season 1 |
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