Gene Roddenberry created the transporter as an easier (and cheaper) way of getting Enterprise crew members onto a planet's surface, rather than landing the ship on the planet.
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Star Trek (1966) - 24 trivia entries
starring DeForest Kelley, George Takei, James Doohan, Leonard Nimoy, Nichelle Nichols, Walter Koenig, William Shatner (add more)
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Gene Roddenberry created the transporter as an easier (and cheaper) way of getting Enterprise crew members onto a planet's surface, rather than landing the ship on the planet.
This was the first cancelled TV show to be brought back. The only other cancelled shows to be brought back to date are "America's Most Wanted", "Cagney and Lacey" and Family Guy. I am happy to say that you can now add Farscape to this list.
Though the Captain Kirk line of "Beam me up Scotty" is an often quoted Star Trek line Kirk never actually said that line at any point during any of the episodes.
The Vulcan Nerve Pinch was invented by Leonard Nimoy as a way for Spock to overpower opponents without having to resort to violence.
The slanting crawlway that leads up to the warp-drive nacelles is referred to as a "Jefferies tube." This is a tribute to art director Walter M. Jefferies.
Leonard Nimoy created the hand gesture that Vulcans give when they say, "Live Long and Prosper." He is Jewish, and the spreading of the fingers resembles the hand gesture taken from the ceremony performed by the descendants of the priestly family during holiday prayer services.
The Klingon species was named for Lt. Wilbur Clingan, who served on the LAPD with Gene Roddenberry.
Before the series went on the air, Gene Roddenberry expressed concerns about the sound effects in "Star Trek's" intro. He wondered if the "swish" effect of the passing ship should be removed, since there's no sound in space. Desilu Studios polled preview audiences about it; the majority said they liked the effect because it conveyed great speed, and that the scientific inaccuracy didn't bother them. So the "swish" was allowed to remain.
A perennial "Star Trek" extra, the tall blond Eddie Paskey played a red-shirted crewman standing in the background in virtually every Trek episode for all 3 seasons. He rarely had any lines, and was even killed off in "Obsession," but was back on duty anyhow in the following episodes and for the rest of the series.
A constant question during the run of all the Trek series is why Klingons look so much different, from "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" on, than they did in the original series. The real reason is the movies and later TV series had a better makeup budget. However, the "Star Trek: Enterprise" episodes "Affliction" and "Divergence" provide a canon answer. Klingons acquired genetically engineered human embryos left over from Earth's Eugenic Wars and used them to augment their soldiers. It worked but created a virus that threatened to annihilate the Klingon race. Dr. Phlox and a Klingon doctor found a cure, but it resulted in all Klingons becoming far more human in appearance. Sometime between these episodes and the first Trek movie, a cure was found, returning the Klingons to their present day "ridged-head" appearance.
A UK pop band from the late 1980s, T,Pau, got their name from a character in Star Trek. She was head of the planet Vulcan.
Operation -- Annihilate! (series 1)
Don't know if its intentional or not? This is the only episode of Star Trek, (the Original Series) that I know of, where a person makes a sound after being stunned by a phaser. As Kirk and crew stun the group of men with pipes, listen carefully as the last one falls to the ground. He makes a "oh-ah" or groaning sound. After reviewing all the episodes prior and after. This is the only person who makes any kind of noise after being stunned. Maybe it was the parasite infecting his body that allowed him to do this.
The dead body of Kirk's brother, Sam, is played by William Shatner.
The Squire of Gothos (series 1)
The costume of the Salt Vampire from "The Man Trap" appears in Trelane's castle. It is in an alcove near the front door.
William Campbell later appeared as Klingon captain Koloth in "The Trouble with Tribbles."
Miri (series 1)
Many of the "onlies" in the final scenes of this episode were the children of "Star Trek's" cast and crew. They included William Shatner's two young daughters, Leslie and Lisabeth Shatner.
The Man Trap (series 1)
When Janice Rand brings him his plate of food, Sulu says to her, "May the great bird of the galaxy bless your planet." This is a reference to series creator Gene Roddenberry, whose nickname was "The Great Bird of the Galaxy."
Assignment: Earth (series 2)
Robert Lansing was the only guest star to have his name listed after the teaser and intial opening credits, during the beginning of Act I.
This episode was originally intended to be a pilot episode for a spin-off show for the character Gary Seven. This is why Robert Lansing's name appears at the start of the show.
Patterns of Force (series 2)
The episode "Patterns Of Force" was aired only once on German TV after which it was prohibited to be broadcast by any German TV station again to this day, because its Nazi thematics.
Some parts of the film Kirk and Spock watch are historical footage, some of it is made specially for this episode. If you look very closely you can see the Fuhrer Adolf Hitler in a car at one of his ceremonies. Beware he is hard to spot, because most of the time his head is behind some flags.
The Trouble With Tribbles (series 2)
One week after shooting, William Campbell (the Klingon captain) returned to the set and collected some of the Tribbles for children in his neighbourhood. But when the episode was eventually aired, he was swamped by requests for Tribbles.
The intention of introducing the Klingon Capt. Koloth was to bring in a counterpart and recurring adversary for Kirk, but that intention was never carried out.
Plato's Stepchildren (series 3)
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.
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