A Brief Guide to Star Trek

under the effect of Harry Mudd’s love potion (in the episode ‘Mudd’s Passion’, from the mid-1970s animated
Star Trek
series).
    In the first J. J. Abrams’
Star Trek
movie, Uhura controversially filled the Chapel position in connection with the new Spock. In ‘The Man Trap’, the original Uhura had shown similar interest in romancing Spock, even though he seemed unable to comprehend the nature of her advances or her desire to take a stroll in the moonlight. ‘This Side of Paradise’ sees Spock infected by Omnicron spores, allowing him once again to drop his Vulcan inhibitions and express his human emotions, in this case falling in love with botanist Leila Kalomi on Omnicron Ceti III and ignoring Kirk’s orders. Kirk’s destruction of the spores causes Spock’s submerged anger to surface, while later – once recovered – he confesses that his time with Kalomi, although his brain chemistry was ‘altered’, had been the first time he’d truly felt happy . . .
    Spock provided the outsider’s view of humanity. While his human side gave him some kinship with Captain Kirk, Doctor McCoy and the crew of the
Enterprise
, his Vulcan heritage meant that he could look upon humanity in a colder, more detached way. Certainly, in early episodes of the series it is Spock who is quick to jump to the logical, sometimes violently destructive solution to a problem. Spock calculates the odds and weighs up the options coldly. He is the first to suggest killing Gary Mitchell in ‘Where No Man Has Gone Before’ as Mitchell poses a clear danger to the
Enterprise
and her crew (and beyond). In ‘Balance of Terror’ Spock wants to destroy the Romulan ship, believing that its return, unharmed, to its own space would signal Federation weakness and lead to eventual invasion. In ‘The City on the Edge of Forever’ it is Spockwho convinces Kirk that ‘Edith Keeler must die’ in order to protect the timeline, regardless of the captain’s feelings for her (a viewpoint Kirk comes to reluctantly recognise). Although Spock, along with many of the characters in
Star Trek
, mellows as the series progresses, he never loses this outsider perspective. It was the ideal viewpoint to make the character a counter-culture icon in the late 1960s. His character was, as Spock himself might say, ‘fascinating’.
    Nimoy had come to
Star Trek
a hungry, young, but serious-minded actor. He welcomed a regular role on a prime-time TV series, but for most of the rest of his life he would have very mixed feelings about playing Spock. More specifically, he (like NBC initially) was worried about the physical appearance of the character and the need to wear false ear appliances for that all-important alien look. Roddenberry had promised the actor that if they remained a problem he could come up with a story reason for their removal later in the series, but it never came to that. The character quickly became the most popular on the show – further adding to Nimoy’s mixed feelings.
    Nimoy had been engaged to play a supporting role to the leading character of the captain – ironic considering how popular his character was to become – and so was being paid $1,250 per episode compared to Shatner’s leading man remuneration of $5,000. After just a handful of episodes had been filmed, and even before the show had aired, it had become clear to Nimoy’s agent that the character of Spock was taking on a role that went way beyond that of a mere supporting character. Meetings were held, but a request for increased pay was refused, with an offer to revisit the issue if the show was renewed for a second season. Nimoy, not happy with this outcome, was to hold a minor grudge against both the production’s executives and the show’s leading man for the run of the series as he felt he was being undervalued and underpaid.

    Despite the success of Spock, by November 1966 Gene Roddenberry was a nervous man.
Star Trek
was doing all right,ratings-wise, but it was by no means a hit show and so was not guaranteed a continued life beyond the initial sixteen episodes NBC had committed to. Almost as soon as the show was born, the ‘Save
Star Trek
’ campaigns began.
    Star Trek
had started well with the debut episode (‘The Man Trap’) airing during an NBC ‘sneak preview’ special presentation opposite repeat programming. It won the time slot with a 40.6 per cent share (meaning the percentage of all television sets in actual use during the broadcast that were