TRUE STAR TREK® TRIVIA.
So, you think you know the History of Star Trek®: TOS? We'll see. We bet there are some things you won't know until you've read, "These are the Voyages - TOS, Season One" cover to cover.
How did Star Trek really do in the ratings on NBC?
Which of these shows came in first, second, and third from 8:30 to 9 p.m. on Thursday night, May 8, 1967: Star Trek on NBC, Bewitched on ABC, and My Three Sons on CBS? What about from 9 to 9:30 p.m.? What show won and which lost: the last half-hour of Star Trek on NBC, or That Girl on ABC, or the Thursday Night Movie on CBS? Reply here and then see the Nielsen ratings for this night and read the book excerpt about the making of "Shore Leave" at thesearethevoyagesbooks.com, where you will find out the true story of Star Trek: The Original Series.
Check your answer!
Check your answer!
Break the Bank
What were the most expensive episodes produced for Star Trek:TOS?
What were the most expensive episodes produced for Star Trek:TOS?
The most costly episode made for the original Star Trek series, excluding the two pilot films (”The Cage” and “Where No Man Has Gone Before,” which rank No. 1 and 2, respectively) was “The City on the Edge of Forever.” Ranking at No. 3, this episode required extensive location production, set construction (that Guardian of Forever, for one thing), scores of extras, antique cars and other period pieces and costuming, and a big name guest star (Joan Collins, no less). The price tag was extraordinarily high for the 1960s. In fact, the cost of making Star Trek and its sister series, Mission: Impossible, were so high that these two shows broke the bank at Desilu and forced Lucille Ball to sell the studio to Paramount Pictures.
What do you think was the next most expensive episode of the classic 79 … and which other made up the Top 15 TOS Piggy Bank Breakers?
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What do you think was the next most expensive episode of the classic 79 … and which other made up the Top 15 TOS Piggy Bank Breakers?
Check your answer!
Charlie X
Robert Walker Jr., 26 at the time, turned in an outstanding performance as space orphan Charlie Evans, age 17, in the classic Star Trek: TOS episode, “Charlie X.” But who did Gene Roddenberry originally want to play that role?
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Robert Walker Jr., 26 at the time, turned in an outstanding performance as space orphan Charlie Evans, age 17, in the classic Star Trek: TOS episode, “Charlie X.” But who did Gene Roddenberry originally want to play that role?
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Sometimes, Production is a Monster
In the classic Star Trek® episode, The Devil in the Dark,” a creature known as the Horta bores tunnels through solid rock and reins havoc on a mining colony deep under the surface of planet Janus VI. Matt Jefferies, Star Trek®’s talented set designer, worked hard to create the catacombs that take us deeper and deeper into the depths of the inhospitable world. The rough-blasted walls and ceilings of the caves and tunnels are beautifully realized. But what of the ground beneath? It seems a glaring flaw that the lower surface is clearly smooth and shiny stage flooring.
Gene Roddenberry took notice when he watched the episode for the first time on NBC and, days later, on March 9, 1967, wrote a memo to his producer, Gene Coon, saying, “This could have used some painting mottled effect, as it seemed awfully shiny and new and stage-surface-like for an underground mining installation. It took away from the reality, which the rough-blasted walls gave us.”
So why would talented men such as Coon and Jefferies, and Star Trek® associate producer in charge of production, Robert H. Justman, allow for the reality of the episode to be suspended with flooring that was so clearly “stage-surface-like”?
Check your answer!
In the classic Star Trek® episode, The Devil in the Dark,” a creature known as the Horta bores tunnels through solid rock and reins havoc on a mining colony deep under the surface of planet Janus VI. Matt Jefferies, Star Trek®’s talented set designer, worked hard to create the catacombs that take us deeper and deeper into the depths of the inhospitable world. The rough-blasted walls and ceilings of the caves and tunnels are beautifully realized. But what of the ground beneath? It seems a glaring flaw that the lower surface is clearly smooth and shiny stage flooring.
Gene Roddenberry took notice when he watched the episode for the first time on NBC and, days later, on March 9, 1967, wrote a memo to his producer, Gene Coon, saying, “This could have used some painting mottled effect, as it seemed awfully shiny and new and stage-surface-like for an underground mining installation. It took away from the reality, which the rough-blasted walls gave us.”
So why would talented men such as Coon and Jefferies, and Star Trek® associate producer in charge of production, Robert H. Justman, allow for the reality of the episode to be suspended with flooring that was so clearly “stage-surface-like”?
Check your answer!
Ratings War I
For 45 years they you have heard how the original Star Trek® was a ratings disaster when it first aired on NBC. Do you believe it? Let’s take one episode as an example (and we will give you more in the weeks to come). Mudd’s Women was first broadcast on NBC on October 13, 1966 and repeated on the network on May 4, 1967. For its premiere airing, at 8:30 p.m., it was up again My Three Sons, which CBS considered to be a hit series, and, on ABC, the nighttime version of that network's popular Dating Game. At 9 p.m., the competition was ABC’s top-rated show, Bewitched, and the powerhouse CBS Thursday Night Movie. Who won? And who won when the episode was repeated in 1967 against the CBS movie and a new series beginning a five-year run on ABC called That Girl?
Check your answer!
For 45 years they you have heard how the original Star Trek® was a ratings disaster when it first aired on NBC. Do you believe it? Let’s take one episode as an example (and we will give you more in the weeks to come). Mudd’s Women was first broadcast on NBC on October 13, 1966 and repeated on the network on May 4, 1967. For its premiere airing, at 8:30 p.m., it was up again My Three Sons, which CBS considered to be a hit series, and, on ABC, the nighttime version of that network's popular Dating Game. At 9 p.m., the competition was ABC’s top-rated show, Bewitched, and the powerhouse CBS Thursday Night Movie. Who won? And who won when the episode was repeated in 1967 against the CBS movie and a new series beginning a five-year run on ABC called That Girl?
Check your answer!
Ratings War II
During the original Star Trek®’s network run from 1966 through 1969, NBC maintained that the series was an underachiever in the ratings. Forty-five years of folklore has reinforced this belief. Starting with The Man Trap, the first episode to air on NBC, can you correctly pick which network came in first, second and third in the ratings race?
From 8:30 to 9 p.m., Star Trek®was up against the hits series My Three Sons on CBS (which had placed #12 in a ranking of all prime time network TV programs for the previous season). On ABC, there was a new half-hour comedy, The Tammy Grimes Show. From 9 to 9:30, the competition was the formidable Thursday Night Movie on CBS and ABC’s No. 1 series, Bewitched. So who won and who lost … and who fell in the middle?
Check your answer!
During the original Star Trek®’s network run from 1966 through 1969, NBC maintained that the series was an underachiever in the ratings. Forty-five years of folklore has reinforced this belief. Starting with The Man Trap, the first episode to air on NBC, can you correctly pick which network came in first, second and third in the ratings race?
From 8:30 to 9 p.m., Star Trek®was up against the hits series My Three Sons on CBS (which had placed #12 in a ranking of all prime time network TV programs for the previous season). On ABC, there was a new half-hour comedy, The Tammy Grimes Show. From 9 to 9:30, the competition was the formidable Thursday Night Movie on CBS and ABC’s No. 1 series, Bewitched. So who won and who lost … and who fell in the middle?
Check your answer!
There are No Little Roles
Clint Howard was a surprise and highly effective casting choice for the role of Commander Balok in the Star Trek® episode, The Corbomite Maneuver. Before the six-year-old got the job to play the adult alien, NBC was pushing for a name player. What TV star did the network have in mind for this very alien role?
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Clint Howard was a surprise and highly effective casting choice for the role of Commander Balok in the Star Trek® episode, The Corbomite Maneuver. Before the six-year-old got the job to play the adult alien, NBC was pushing for a name player. What TV star did the network have in mind for this very alien role?
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Abandon Starship!
What was the worst episode of Star Trek®: TOS? Many will say it was first season entry The Alternative Factor, a prime example of storytelling gone wrong. Yet it was written by talented Star Trek® veterans and was expected to be one of the series' best. So what went wrong? A better question is: What didn’t go wrong? Two of the many disastrous things that occurred was a series of twelfth-hour script changes demanded by NBC, them , as a result, a last minute (literally) change in guest stars. What was the network so worried about over this episode, and who was the big name guest star who jumped ship on the first day of production?
Check your answer!
What was the worst episode of Star Trek®: TOS? Many will say it was first season entry The Alternative Factor, a prime example of storytelling gone wrong. Yet it was written by talented Star Trek® veterans and was expected to be one of the series' best. So what went wrong? A better question is: What didn’t go wrong? Two of the many disastrous things that occurred was a series of twelfth-hour script changes demanded by NBC, them , as a result, a last minute (literally) change in guest stars. What was the network so worried about over this episode, and who was the big name guest star who jumped ship on the first day of production?
Check your answer!
Pick a Spock, Any Spock
Leonard Nimoy was always Gene Roddenberry’s first choice to play the role of Mr. Spock on Star Trek®. But the network wanted someone else. This actor was offered the role but turned it down. Do you think you know who it is?
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Leonard Nimoy was always Gene Roddenberry’s first choice to play the role of Mr. Spock on Star Trek®. But the network wanted someone else. This actor was offered the role but turned it down. Do you think you know who it is?
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Whose Pitch is it, Anyway?
Any Star Trek® fan worth a hill of tribbles knows that Gene Roddenberry presented his brainchild to Desilu studios and, later, to NBC, as "Wagon Train to the stars." Wagon Train, of course, was a hit western series at the time which had been No. 1 in the ratings. Both it and Star Trek®were, in a sense, period pieces, and both involved a trek through uncharted and potentially hostile territory. And both, while providing strong regular characters, would have the potential for prominent guest starring roles. But was Roddenberry the author of that famous pitch line ... or did it come from another writer?
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Any Star Trek® fan worth a hill of tribbles knows that Gene Roddenberry presented his brainchild to Desilu studios and, later, to NBC, as "Wagon Train to the stars." Wagon Train, of course, was a hit western series at the time which had been No. 1 in the ratings. Both it and Star Trek®were, in a sense, period pieces, and both involved a trek through uncharted and potentially hostile territory. And both, while providing strong regular characters, would have the potential for prominent guest starring roles. But was Roddenberry the author of that famous pitch line ... or did it come from another writer?
Check your answer!
We Need a Kirk that Will Work
Any Star Trek® fan worth his weight in tribbles knows that the first captain of the Enterprise was played by Jeffrey Hunter. After NBC rejected the pilot #1 (The Cage), then made TV history by ordering a second pilot (Where No Man Has Gone Before), Hunter jumped ship and had to be replaced. Of course, William Shatner would win the role as Captain James Kirk, but what two well-known actors were offered the job before Shatner? Here’s a hint: the first preferred boats over starships, and the second picked a .38 special over a phaser.
Check your answer!
Any Star Trek® fan worth his weight in tribbles knows that the first captain of the Enterprise was played by Jeffrey Hunter. After NBC rejected the pilot #1 (The Cage), then made TV history by ordering a second pilot (Where No Man Has Gone Before), Hunter jumped ship and had to be replaced. Of course, William Shatner would win the role as Captain James Kirk, but what two well-known actors were offered the job before Shatner? Here’s a hint: the first preferred boats over starships, and the second picked a .38 special over a phaser.
Check your answer!
Let's Face It
So you think you know Star Trek®: TOS. Let’s test your knowledge with just one episode. You remember The Galileo Seven, where the shuttlecraft loses navigational ability and must land on an uncharted planet inhabited by giant alien creatures. And you remember how Spock, who is in command, attempts to use his Vulcan logic to deal with the danger and save his crew of six from the savages. And need we remind you that, after a couple deaths occur and Spock displays his insensitivity for the human ritual of “a proper burial,” Dr. McCoy and Lt. Bomo (played by Don Marshall) begin challenging Spock’s ability to command?
Question #1: Oliver Crawford was the primary writer involved. Shimon Wincelberg, who had previous turned in the script for the episode Dagger of the Mind, rewrote him, and Gene L. Coon rewrote Wincelberg. What is the greatest difference between the original story and first few drafts of the script and what was finally filmed? And why did Wincelberg replace Crawford at the typewriter, and Coon replace Wincelberg?
Question #2: How did Don Marshall, soon to get space-shipwrecked on another planet with hostile giants (the ABC series Land of the Giants) get cast in the prominent role of Lt. Bomo?
Question #3: What did NBC think of this episode? For that matter, what did Nimoy – who was given one of only three opportunities to get more screen time than Shatner - think of it? And, while you’re at it, what were the other two opportunities?
Question #4: Why do we never get a good look at the faces of the giant alien savages?
Check your answer!
So you think you know Star Trek®: TOS. Let’s test your knowledge with just one episode. You remember The Galileo Seven, where the shuttlecraft loses navigational ability and must land on an uncharted planet inhabited by giant alien creatures. And you remember how Spock, who is in command, attempts to use his Vulcan logic to deal with the danger and save his crew of six from the savages. And need we remind you that, after a couple deaths occur and Spock displays his insensitivity for the human ritual of “a proper burial,” Dr. McCoy and Lt. Bomo (played by Don Marshall) begin challenging Spock’s ability to command?
Question #1: Oliver Crawford was the primary writer involved. Shimon Wincelberg, who had previous turned in the script for the episode Dagger of the Mind, rewrote him, and Gene L. Coon rewrote Wincelberg. What is the greatest difference between the original story and first few drafts of the script and what was finally filmed? And why did Wincelberg replace Crawford at the typewriter, and Coon replace Wincelberg?
Question #2: How did Don Marshall, soon to get space-shipwrecked on another planet with hostile giants (the ABC series Land of the Giants) get cast in the prominent role of Lt. Bomo?
Question #3: What did NBC think of this episode? For that matter, what did Nimoy – who was given one of only three opportunities to get more screen time than Shatner - think of it? And, while you’re at it, what were the other two opportunities?
Question #4: Why do we never get a good look at the faces of the giant alien savages?
Check your answer!
Stories That Never Were
The original Star Trek® hired many famous science fiction authors to write scripts for the series, including Theodore Sturgeon, Richard Matheson, Robert Bloch, Jerry Sohl, Jerome Bixby, Norman Spinrad and Harlan Ellison. Name another famous sci-fi author who was paid to write stories for Star Trek®, although none were produced, some due to budget concerns, others as a result of opposition from NBC over subject matter. Here’s a clue: He used his first and middle initials in his pen name.
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The original Star Trek® hired many famous science fiction authors to write scripts for the series, including Theodore Sturgeon, Richard Matheson, Robert Bloch, Jerry Sohl, Jerome Bixby, Norman Spinrad and Harlan Ellison. Name another famous sci-fi author who was paid to write stories for Star Trek®, although none were produced, some due to budget concerns, others as a result of opposition from NBC over subject matter. Here’s a clue: He used his first and middle initials in his pen name.
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Get Me a New Vulcan!
In 1967, after the original Star Trek® was renewed for its second season on NBC, Leonard Nimoy and his agent got into a contract dispute with the producers and the studio. His character of Mr. Spock had become so popular that Nimoy and his representatives were demanding in increase in salary. The situation became much more serious than the public ever knew and, with the actor’s agent and the studio at an impasse, Gene Roddenberry and Gene L. Coon were told to hire someone else to play the ship’s science officer; and, while he wouldn’t be called Spock, he would be a Vulcan. An actor was selected and put under contract, guarantying him that,should Nimoy return to the series, he would at least appear in one episode. Who was that actor and what episode did he appear in after the contract dispute with Nimoy was resolved?
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In 1967, after the original Star Trek® was renewed for its second season on NBC, Leonard Nimoy and his agent got into a contract dispute with the producers and the studio. His character of Mr. Spock had become so popular that Nimoy and his representatives were demanding in increase in salary. The situation became much more serious than the public ever knew and, with the actor’s agent and the studio at an impasse, Gene Roddenberry and Gene L. Coon were told to hire someone else to play the ship’s science officer; and, while he wouldn’t be called Spock, he would be a Vulcan. An actor was selected and put under contract, guarantying him that,should Nimoy return to the series, he would at least appear in one episode. Who was that actor and what episode did he appear in after the contract dispute with Nimoy was resolved?
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Who Knew?
So you think you know Star Trek®? Then this next question should be easy for you ... but it won't be, because you've never heard the true story of Star Trek® before.
Who came up with the idea to cast Leonard Nimoy as Mister Spock?
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So you think you know Star Trek®? Then this next question should be easy for you ... but it won't be, because you've never heard the true story of Star Trek® before.
Who came up with the idea to cast Leonard Nimoy as Mister Spock?
Check your answer!
In Pike Position
Due to his physical resemblance to Jeffrey Hunter, who played the Captain of the Enterprise in the first Star Trek® pilot film, actor Sean Kenney was cast as the disabled Captain Pike in the Hugo award-winning two-part episode, The Menagerie. But Kenney was not the producer’s first choice. Who was offered the job of the wheelchair bound Captain Pike before Kenney?
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Due to his physical resemblance to Jeffrey Hunter, who played the Captain of the Enterprise in the first Star Trek® pilot film, actor Sean Kenney was cast as the disabled Captain Pike in the Hugo award-winning two-part episode, The Menagerie. But Kenney was not the producer’s first choice. Who was offered the job of the wheelchair bound Captain Pike before Kenney?
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Correct Me, if I'm Wrong.
There is a great deal of Star Trek® folklore out there - some true, much false. Case in point: Gene Roddenberry often told the story -- and therefore folklore now tells us -- how Susan Oliver, while doing makeup tests for the role of the green-skinned Orion dancing girl in The Cage, had to be painted darker shades of green, day after day, because the film kept coming back from the photo lab where she appeared flesh-colored again. Finally, it was discovered that the lab technician (way back in the year 1964 where the only strange looking aliens on Earth were the Beatles) did not understand that this well-known actress was supposed to look green and he kept color-correcting the film to make her look normal again. It sounds too crazy to be true. Is it true?
Check your answer!
There is a great deal of Star Trek® folklore out there - some true, much false. Case in point: Gene Roddenberry often told the story -- and therefore folklore now tells us -- how Susan Oliver, while doing makeup tests for the role of the green-skinned Orion dancing girl in The Cage, had to be painted darker shades of green, day after day, because the film kept coming back from the photo lab where she appeared flesh-colored again. Finally, it was discovered that the lab technician (way back in the year 1964 where the only strange looking aliens on Earth were the Beatles) did not understand that this well-known actress was supposed to look green and he kept color-correcting the film to make her look normal again. It sounds too crazy to be true. Is it true?
Check your answer!
Cut!
As with most television shows which have to be edited to fit into a specified time slot, some scenes must be trimmed while others are left on the cutting room floor. The original Star Trek® had its share of "lost scenes." Notable ones - lasting more than a couple minutes each and having contained material that fans of the series would find of great interest - are from episodes such as Space Seed, Operation: Annihilate, Who Mourns for Adonais? I, Mudd, Spectre of the Gun and Elaan of Troyius. Do you think you know Star Trek® enough to know about these lost scenes? How about the scene deleted from the first season entry Operation: Annihilate!?
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As with most television shows which have to be edited to fit into a specified time slot, some scenes must be trimmed while others are left on the cutting room floor. The original Star Trek® had its share of "lost scenes." Notable ones - lasting more than a couple minutes each and having contained material that fans of the series would find of great interest - are from episodes such as Space Seed, Operation: Annihilate, Who Mourns for Adonais? I, Mudd, Spectre of the Gun and Elaan of Troyius. Do you think you know Star Trek® enough to know about these lost scenes? How about the scene deleted from the first season entry Operation: Annihilate!?
Check your answer!
TV Guide
How many times did the original Star Trek® make the cover of TV Guide during it's original NBC run (1966-69)?
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How many times did the original Star Trek® make the cover of TV Guide during it's original NBC run (1966-69)?
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DP
The level of talent behind the camera of the original Star Trek® series was immense. The series had four talented cinematographers in the position of Director of Photography. One of them had been nominated for seven Academy Awards, winning one. Another was nominated for seven Emmy's, winning one. Can you name these two renowned cinematographers and what the winning Oscar and winning Emmy awards were for?
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The Keeper's Voice
In tribute to the wonderful actor Malachi Throne, who died recently, today's trivia question will be about his experience with Star Trek®.
Most Star Trek® information sources - websites, magazine articles, books, the guy standing in line next to you at a convention, even imdb.com (Internet Movie Data Base) - will tell you that Mr. Throne provided the voice for the Keeper in the pilot episode, The Cage. This pilot, of course, was edited into the award-winning two-part episode The Menagerie, where Mr. Throne also played the role of Commodore Mendez.
Now here's today's question: If you watch The Menagerie, will you hear Malachi Throne as the voice of The Keeper, as well as see and hear him as Commodore Mendez?
Check your answer!
In tribute to the wonderful actor Malachi Throne, who died recently, today's trivia question will be about his experience with Star Trek®.
Most Star Trek® information sources - websites, magazine articles, books, the guy standing in line next to you at a convention, even imdb.com (Internet Movie Data Base) - will tell you that Mr. Throne provided the voice for the Keeper in the pilot episode, The Cage. This pilot, of course, was edited into the award-winning two-part episode The Menagerie, where Mr. Throne also played the role of Commodore Mendez.
Now here's today's question: If you watch The Menagerie, will you hear Malachi Throne as the voice of The Keeper, as well as see and hear him as Commodore Mendez?
Check your answer!
Who Likes Spock's Brain?
When asked if there were any episodes of the original Star Trek® that he didn’t like, Robert Justman, one of the producers of the series, said, “I love them all … even the much- maligned Spock’s Brain.” But there was one episode he and fellow producers Gene Roddenberry and Gene Coon wanted not to deliver to NBC, and, since they had no choice but to make the delivery, they tried to bury at the end of the first season. They were all in agreement that The Alternative Factor had failed. But why? What went so terribly wrong?
Check your answer!
When asked if there were any episodes of the original Star Trek® that he didn’t like, Robert Justman, one of the producers of the series, said, “I love them all … even the much- maligned Spock’s Brain.” But there was one episode he and fellow producers Gene Roddenberry and Gene Coon wanted not to deliver to NBC, and, since they had no choice but to make the delivery, they tried to bury at the end of the first season. They were all in agreement that The Alternative Factor had failed. But why? What went so terribly wrong?
Check your answer!