Trivia: Actress Lee Meriwether says she was teased daily by a playful DeForest Kelley while shooting "That Which Survives." He continually pulled down the glued-on cloth rectangle that NBC insisted should conceal her navel, then squinted at her tummy and asked, "What time is it?" On the final day of filming, she got back at him. When Kelley peeled off the cloth, he broke up laughing before he could ask the question. Meriwether had glued a small, ticking clock over her navel - set to the correct time, of course.
Trivia: Scotty's line to Spock is, "Keep your Vulcan hands off me!" But the word "Vulcan" is indistinct and unfortunately, sounds rather like a certain obscenity starting with the letter F. This resulted in several TV stations across the US censoring that part of Scott's misunderstood line with a "Bleep." (00:25:00)
Trivia: TV's first interracial kiss occurs here. But close examination reveals that Kirk's and Uhura's lips never actually meet. For fear of censorship, the kiss was simulated, so that complaints could be answered with "They only pretended to kiss." Despite this "out," however, the episode was still banned by several stations across the US. (00:42:40)
Trivia: Usually, when you see James Doohan's right hand, he has it closed to hide his missing middle finger (a wartime injury). When he is checking over the panels in Engineering, you see him holding a micro tape. If viewed closely, his hand is open, and you see he is missing his middle finger.
Trivia: The title is taken from Macbeth Act 5, Scene 5.
Trivia: In the 1960s, showing the female navel was forbidden by NBC's censors. This was why Losira's costume had that weird square patch sticking up from the otherwise low-cut hip-hugger pants. (Oddly, no such restriction applied to male costumes.) By 1969, the network had abandoned the rule, and "The Cloud Minders" became the only Trek episode with costumes shamelessly exposing women's navels.
The Enterprise Incident - S3-E2
Trivia: The third season's tight budget forced the recycling of many props. Here, the Romulan cloaking device was rather obviously cobbled together from two items used in previous episodes: Nomad's head from "The Changeling," and Sargon's globe from "Return to Tomorrow."
Trivia: In any poll, "Spock's Brain" unfailingly wins the title of Absolute Worst Star Trek Episode - Ever. Gene L. Coon wrote it under his pen name, Lee Cronin, but never intended to actually produce it. His terrible script was a practical joke, a jab at Gene Roddenberry after they'd argued over where the series should go. But by season 3, both Coon and Roddenberry had left the show, and their clueless replacements filmed the thing, thinking this shark-jumping episode was great stuff.
The Empath - S3-E12
Trivia: Although the two Vians are identified as Thann and Lal in the closing credits, they are never referred to by name on screen.
Trivia: Although James Doohan's voice is heard over a communicator, he is never actually seen in the episode.
Suggested correction: Stating the obvious is hardly trivia. This is also not the only episode where members of the crew are seen but not heard.
I never knew that! While obvious if you watch the episode itself, bear in mind lots of this is just read by people browsing, reading for background info, not necessarily people watching the show, or who've seen the episode in question.
Trivia: This is the only episode that doesn't feature any scenes set aboard the Enterprise.
Trivia: Dr. Sevrin is based on Timothy Leary, a psychologist and writer.
For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky - S3-E8
Trivia: The voice of the Oracle was played by James Doohan.
Trivia: Colonel Green's uniform became Mork's in Mork and Mindy.
Trivia: When Kirk, Spock, Uhura and Chapel are gathered and costumed to "entertain" the Platonians, Parmen first causes Spock to serenade Uhura and Chapel with a medieval lament in which Spock warns the women to "Be watchful of young men in their velvet prime"; although most viewers and fans didn't understand it at the time (and even today), this line of the song is very much a sexual innuendo. "Velvet prime" refers to the blood-engorged velvet that covers a stag's antlers, allowing the horns to grow to great size. Essentially, Spock's song warned women to be wary of young, horny men.
The Enterprise Incident - S3-E2
Trivia: If the corridors of the Romulan ships look familiar, it's due to budgetary constraints. They are the same corridors and walls of the Enterprise, with a little redress.
And the Children Shall Lead - S3-E4
Trivia: Famous lawyer Melvin Belli plays Gorgan. His son plays one of the children.
