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Authors: Brian J Robb
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the show. ‘“Where No Man Has Gone Before” [went through] a great deal of polishing and rewriting on a conceptual and physical level, so that we could make it in eight days’, he later said. ‘[It] seemed to have the potential to establish those characters on a human level. The only gimmick is the mutation, the silvering of Gary Mitchell’s eyes, and it works because it’s simple, as opposed to growing horns or something. Ours was a human science fiction concept, perhaps cerebral [but] certainly emotional.’
Production on ‘Where No Man Has Gone Before’ began on 15 July 1965, with shooting commencing on 19 July on Stage 15 at the Desilu Studio in Culver City. As the production was able to use many of the sets already constructed for ‘The Cage’, the budget for the new episode came in at just $300,000, around half of the first attempt. The second pilot featured all the elements that NBC had liked about the
Star Trek
concept, but thanks to Peeples’ script, the action-adventure element that had been missing from ‘The Cage’ had been beefed up considerably. It didn’t take NBC long, upon viewing the completed cut of ‘Where No Man Has Gone Before’, to greenlight
Star Trek
as an ongoing TV series for the fall 1966 schedule.
Chapter 3
Where No One Has Gone Before:
Star Trek
’s First Year
‘
Although we were in the seemingly simplistic medium of television, this simplistic medium allowed us to really ask very deep questions. And we didn’t always give deep answers, because it wasn’t possible. That’s why the audience, over the last twenty-five years has stayed with
Star Trek.’ Gene Roddenberry
Star Trek
was all about its characters. That was as much a sensible storytelling decision as anything else. Gene Roddenberry’s ‘
Wagon Train
to the stars’ concept was sound enough, but someone – in this case the practical production team of Robert Justman and Herb Solow – had to realise the planets, creatures, aliens and future technology that was required every week. Hence, rather than focus on the set dressing or the ‘wow’ factor of alien environments,
Star Trek
’s core – and the main reason it has endured for over forty-five years – was to be in its unique characters.
It is the distinctive triumvirate of Kirk, Spock and McCoy that has resulted in the
Star Trek
phenomenon living long and prospering. Each of the characters in the original series of
Star Trek
has become iconic, and that is because they are simply defined (which is not the same as being simple). The central trio are positioned at distinct points of an emotional continuum, at least to begin with. Spock is the cold, logical alien who looks quizzically upon humanity. Dr McCoy is essentially Spock’s opposite, driven by his emotions and his natural engagementwith humanity (that’s why he’s a doctor, dammit!). In between is Kirk, the leader who must strike a balance between the opposing viewpoints of Spock and McCoy, and take into account the wider welfare of his crew and the new life forms and new civilisations the
Enterprise
encounters through its explorations of the galaxy. Each is prone to extremes, and their actions are often modulated by one (or both) of the other two.
That each of
Star Trek
’s core characters is easily summed up in an instantly recognisable iconic catchphrase is a testament to the impact of these characters on viewers worldwide. They may not have actually used any of these specific phrases that often, but they became embedded in popular culture (along with the never-uttered ‘Beam me up, Scotty’) as central to viewers’ ex -periences of
Star Trek
. When novelty group The Firm bizarrely reached number one in the UK music charts in 1987 (and became the ninth best-selling single that year) with ‘Star Trekkin’’, it was because the song was made up of nothing but phrases associated with each iconic
Star Trek
character. They were instantly recognised by British viewers who’d grown up
Production on ‘Where No Man Has Gone Before’ began on 15 July 1965, with shooting commencing on 19 July on Stage 15 at the Desilu Studio in Culver City. As the production was able to use many of the sets already constructed for ‘The Cage’, the budget for the new episode came in at just $300,000, around half of the first attempt. The second pilot featured all the elements that NBC had liked about the
Star Trek
concept, but thanks to Peeples’ script, the action-adventure element that had been missing from ‘The Cage’ had been beefed up considerably. It didn’t take NBC long, upon viewing the completed cut of ‘Where No Man Has Gone Before’, to greenlight
Star Trek
as an ongoing TV series for the fall 1966 schedule.
Chapter 3
Where No One Has Gone Before:
Star Trek
’s First Year
‘
Although we were in the seemingly simplistic medium of television, this simplistic medium allowed us to really ask very deep questions. And we didn’t always give deep answers, because it wasn’t possible. That’s why the audience, over the last twenty-five years has stayed with
Star Trek.’ Gene Roddenberry
Star Trek
was all about its characters. That was as much a sensible storytelling decision as anything else. Gene Roddenberry’s ‘
Wagon Train
to the stars’ concept was sound enough, but someone – in this case the practical production team of Robert Justman and Herb Solow – had to realise the planets, creatures, aliens and future technology that was required every week. Hence, rather than focus on the set dressing or the ‘wow’ factor of alien environments,
Star Trek
’s core – and the main reason it has endured for over forty-five years – was to be in its unique characters.
It is the distinctive triumvirate of Kirk, Spock and McCoy that has resulted in the
Star Trek
phenomenon living long and prospering. Each of the characters in the original series of
Star Trek
has become iconic, and that is because they are simply defined (which is not the same as being simple). The central trio are positioned at distinct points of an emotional continuum, at least to begin with. Spock is the cold, logical alien who looks quizzically upon humanity. Dr McCoy is essentially Spock’s opposite, driven by his emotions and his natural engagementwith humanity (that’s why he’s a doctor, dammit!). In between is Kirk, the leader who must strike a balance between the opposing viewpoints of Spock and McCoy, and take into account the wider welfare of his crew and the new life forms and new civilisations the
Enterprise
encounters through its explorations of the galaxy. Each is prone to extremes, and their actions are often modulated by one (or both) of the other two.
That each of
Star Trek
’s core characters is easily summed up in an instantly recognisable iconic catchphrase is a testament to the impact of these characters on viewers worldwide. They may not have actually used any of these specific phrases that often, but they became embedded in popular culture (along with the never-uttered ‘Beam me up, Scotty’) as central to viewers’ ex -periences of
Star Trek
. When novelty group The Firm bizarrely reached number one in the UK music charts in 1987 (and became the ninth best-selling single that year) with ‘Star Trekkin’’, it was because the song was made up of nothing but phrases associated with each iconic
Star Trek
character. They were instantly recognised by British viewers who’d grown up
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