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Where No Man Has Gone Before (TOS episode)
Encyclopedia
"Where No Man Has Gone Before" is the second pilot episode
of the television series Star Trek: The Original Series
. It was produced in 1965 after the first pilot, "The Cage
", had been rejected by NBC
. The episode was eventually broadcast third in sequence on September 22, 1966, and was re-aired on April 20, 1967. It was the first episode to be shown in the UK by the BBC
on July 12, 1969.
"Where No Man Has Gone Before" was written by Samuel A. Peeples
, directed by James Goldstone
, and filmed in July 1965. It was the first episode of Star Trek to feature William Shatner
as Captain James Kirk
, James Doohan
as Chief Engineer Scotty
, and George Takei
as Helmsman Sulu
, who in this episode played a physicist
. In the episode, the Starship Enterprise journeys to the edge of the galaxy, where two crew members develop dangerous psychic powers. The episode's title was adopted as the final phrase in the opening credits' voice-over that famously characterizes the Star Trek series, and has entered popular culture
.
USS Enterprise
, commanded by Captain James T. Kirk, is on an exploratory mission to leave the galaxy. While en route, it discovers the damaged ship's recorder
of the SS Valiant, an Earth spaceship lost 200 years earlier. Beamed aboard, Spock discovers its records are incomplete, but finds that the Valiant had been swept from its path by a "magnetic space storm". It holds data about the last moments aboard the ill-fated ship, and shows that the crew had been frantically searching for information about extra-sensory perception
(ESP) in the ship's library computer. The tape ends with the captain of the Valiant giving a self-destruct order.
Kirk decides that they need to know what happened to the Valiant, and the Enterprise crosses the edge of the galaxy. It encounters a strange barrier, which causes serious damage to the ship's systems and the loss of warp drive, forcing the vessel to retreat. At the same time, Helmsman Gary Mitchell and ship's psychiatrist Dr. Elizabeth Dehner are both knocked unconscious by the field's effect. After they awaken, Mitchell's eyes glow silver, and he soon begins to display remarkable psionic powers.
Over time, Mitchell becomes increasingly hostile toward the rest of the crew, declaring he has become god
like. He enforces his desires with fearsome telepathic
and telekinetic abilities. Mr. Spock believes that the Valiant may have experienced the same phenomenon and that its crew developed such powers, as well. The other crew members must have destroyed the ship to prevent the power from taking over the galaxy. Spock advises Kirk may have to destroy Mitchell before his powers develop further, but Kirk angrily disagrees.
Kirk, alarmed that Mitchell may eventually take over the Enterprise, decides to maroon him on an unmanned lithium-cracking facility on the remote planet of Delta Vega. Once there, the landing party tries to confine Mitchell, but his powers are too great. He eventually goes on a rampage, kills navigator Lt. Lee Kelso and escapes, taking Dr. Dehner, who has now developed similar powers, with him.
Kirk follows and appeals to Dr. Dehner's humanity for help. As Mitchell prepares to kill Kirk with his psionic powers, Dr. Dehner attacks Mitchell, weakening him. Mitchell fatally injures Dehner, but before he can recharge, Kirk uses a phaser rifle to create a rock slide, killing Mitchell.
Back on the bridge, Kirk places in the official log that both Dehner and Mitchell gave their lives "in performance of duty", rationalizing that they did not ask for what happened to them. Spock admits to feeling for Mitchell too, and Kirk comments that there is hope for him.
", was rejected in February 1965 by NBC executives. The show had been sold to them as a "Wagon Train
to the stars", and they thought the first pilot did not match the adventure
format they had been promised and was "too cerebral" for the general audience. However, NBC maintained sufficient interest in the format to order a second pilot episode in March 1965.
Gene Roddenberry said later in a 1988 TV special that as with the first pilot, this pilot still had a lot of science-fiction elements in it, but at least it ended with Kirk in a bare knuckle fist fight with the god-like Mitchell and according to Roddenberry that's what sold NBC on Star Trek.
Series creator Gene Roddenberry
wrote two story outlines, "The Omega Glory" and "Mudd's Women". He wrote a teleplay for the former, and gave the latter to Stephen Kandel to write. Roddenberry asked long-time associate and veteran scriptwriter Samuel Peeples to submit ideas for another. Peeples came up with the premise and episode title for "Where No Man Has Gone Before", and was assigned to write it.
Kandel had fallen ill and his script was not finished in time; the other two were submitted to NBC for consideration. NBC preferred "Where No Man Has Gone Before" as a pilot. "Mudd's Women" was later made as the second episode in regular production, and "The Omega Glory" was made towards the end of the second season.
While the first pilot, "The Cage", has a running time of approximately 63 minutes, the second pilot, "Where No Man Has Gone Before", ran just over 55 minutes with additional footage and formatting later cut to reduce it to the usual series running time of around 50 minutes (excluding commercials).
Casting took place in June 1965. Jeffrey Hunter
was unwilling to reprise his role as Captain Christopher Pike
. Lloyd Bridges
and Jack Lord
were considered, but William Shatner
was finally cast as his replacement, Captain James Kirk
. The character of Number One
, the female second-in-command, was dropped on the insistence of the NBC network. Science Officer Spock
, played by Leonard Nimoy
, who was given Number One's unemotional demeanor. Spock was retained despite pressure from NBC, who were worried about his "Satanic" appearance. Nimoy was the only actor to be retained from the first pilot.
Apart from Captain Kirk, the episode introduced two other regular characters to the show: James Doohan
, a friend of director James Goldstone
, was cast as the Chief Engineer — the name Montgomery Scott
was chosen after Doohan had tried various accents, and had decided that an engineer ought to be Scottish - and George Takei
was cast as Ship's Physicist Sulu
, who would become the ship's helmsman in the reglar series. Uhura
and Dr. Leonard McCoy
do not feature; the ship's doctor is instead Mark Piper (Paul Fix
). Piper was intended as a regular, and DeForest Kelley
- who played McCoy in the series proper— was considered for the role.
Gary Lockwood
, chosen to play Lt. Commander Gary Mitchell, had starred in the title role of Roddenberry's earlier series on ABC
, The Lieutenant
. The other guest star was Sally Kellerman
who played Dr Elizabeth Dehner. Both actors needed silver eyes, which were produced by an expert contact lens fabricator who sandwiched wrinkled tinfoil between two scleral contact lens
es which covered the white of the eye as well as the iris. These were outdated even in the 1960s and dangerous to the health of the actors' eyes. Although Kellerman could insert and remove the prosthetics easily with no discomfort, Lockwood found them almost impossible to use. He needed to raise his face and sight along his nose in order to see out of the tiny holes in the foil that aligned with his pupils. He used this to enhance his performance as the mutating Mitchell, as the unusual gaze gave him an arrogant and haughty demeanor.
Other cast members included Paul Carr
as Navigator Lee Kelso, Lloyd Haynes
as Communications Officer Alden and Andrea Dromm
as Yeoman Smith (Alden and Smith were intended to be regulars in the show, but were replaced by Uhura and Janice Rand
, respectively). The episode also is the first time long-running background actor Eddie Paskey
appeared; his character would later be identified as Lt. Leslie.
The costumes from the first pilot were used in "Where No Man Has Gone Before" but would be changed in the series proper, with the colors altered and black collars introduced. Most of the Enterprise sets were also reused from "The Cage", while Sickbay was the only major set constructed for the episode. Like "The Cage", the episode was shot at Desilu's Culver City studios.
The episode was directed by James Goldstone
. Ernest Haller
, who had won the 1939 Oscar for Best Color Cinematography
on the movie Gone with the Wind
, served as director of photography for the show. He had been brought in out of semi-retirement at Goldstone's recommendation at the last minute, after attempts to locate a cameraman had proved problematic. Robert H. Justman
was credited as assistant director.
Shooting started on July 19, 1965, several days later than originally scheduled. During the filming of this episode, a wasp's nest high in the rafters of the studio was somehow disturbed, and many cast and crew members suffered stings as a result. As this happened on a Friday, the weekend break allowed time for the swelling to go down; Shatner, however, required additional makeup to hide the stings during shooting the following Monday. Filming finished late on July 28, 1965; the final footage filmed was part of the fight between Kirk and Mitchell. While the schedule allowed seven days to shoot the episode, it required nine, which was Justman's original estimate. The episode cost around $300,000, around half the money spent on making "The Cage".
's television productions. It also featured a much longer opening narration by Shatner. In part, also alternate musical scores were used. In total almost 5 minutes of additional footage was removed to accommodate the original series 50 minute network broadcast format, allowing for commercials.
Afterwards, the studio did not retain a print of this original "alternate" version and it was officially thought to be lost, though many fans knew that it existed somewhere after purchasing a poor quality VHS tape at a convention. In 2009 a German film collector rediscovered a print of it and brought it to the attention of CBS/Paramount, who then released it under the title "Where No Fan Has Gone Before" - The Restored, Unaired Alternate Pilot Episode as part of the TOS season 3 box set on Blu-ray; it has not been released on DVD yet.
The original "alternate" version also remains unaired (in both normal or still undone remastered form), thus still awaiting canon
status (both in contrary to TOS
' earlier other concepted-as-pilot episode's version, "The Cage
" - later reworked into the two-parter "The Menagerie
" of the original running of TOS -, which was finally broadcasted in 1988 during the original run and within the regular timeslot of episodes of TOS' live-action TV successor "Star Trek: The Next Generation
").
The episode in its original "alternate" version was known earlier than the airing version to the public through its standing ovation receiving showing at the 24th
Worldcon
in Cleveland, Ohio
on September 3, 1966 - shortly before the premiere broadcast of Star Trek on NBC.
" in Star Trek. The phrase would be incorporated into the opening credits sequence in following episodes, as part of the famous "Space: The Final Frontier..." speech given by Captain Kirk. The phrase would also be used (with "man" changed to the gender-neutral "one"), in the credits voice-over of Star Trek: The Next Generation
. That series also referred to it with the title of one of its episodes, Where No One Has Gone Before. It was also referred to in the final episode of Star Trek: Enterprise
as part of a voice-over spoken by Kirk, Picard, Archer.
Kirk's middle initial is given as "R." in "Where No Man Has Gone Before" and is seen clearly on the gravestone fashioned by Mitchell for Kirk; subsequent episodes use "James T. Kirk", and Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
later made official the middle name "Tiberius
" (used previously in "Bem
", an episode from the animated series
). Various suggestions have been made to explain this discrepancy; Michael Jan Friedman
's My Brother's Keeper trilogy speculates this results from an in-joke between Mitchell and Kirk. Roddenberry cited human error on Mitchell's part. Peter David
's novel, Q-Squared
, placed the events of this episode in a parallel universe
in which, among other differences, Kirk's middle initial was indeed R.
The episode contains the first stardate
(1313.8) and makes the first reference to the Academy
, at which Kirk taught Mitchell. The "lithium crystals" mentioned in the episode would later be renamed to the fictional "dilithium
crystals". The episode opens with Kirk and Spock playing a game of Three-dimensional chess.
Michael and Denise Okuda's Star Trek Chronology sets the episode in 2265, 300 years after its production. The Galactic Barrier is referenced and revisited in a subsequent episode, "By Any Other Name".
Many changes to the USS Enterprise
bridge were made after this episode was produced. Among these were a new forward viewscreen and an updated helm/navigation console. Also, the positions of the helmsman and navigator were swapped (in this episode, the navigator sat on the port side of the console, and the helm officer was to starboard. In the regular series, the opposite was the case). When production of the series proper began, it was also decided to introduce a new uniform design for the Enterprise crew, although in the first regular episode produced, The Corbomite Maneuver, some characters are shown wearing the uniform style of Where No Man Has Gone Before. Adjustments to Spock's make-up were also made, specifically to the angle of his eyebrows, refinement of his haircut and tempering of the overall greenish-yellow cast of his skin.
Spock also makes reference to his ancestor marrying a human when in a later episode, his mother was introduced as a human. He pretends not to understand human emotions-- despite being half-human himself.
In this episode the helm and navigation station console was used for the transporter room console. In future episodes a dedicated station would be built with the iconic sliding controls and centrally located, hooded beam-down coordinate selection screen.
The sickbay in this episode uses conventional sheets on the beds; later episodes used the more "futuristic" metallic weave materials. The "bio-probe", located under the medical monitor panel, pointed to and monitored the physiological functions of the patient. It was a simple rod, later replaced with the more detailed, internally-lit acrylic set piece.
Hand weapons are referred to as "lasers" (although the same style would later be used in "The Man Trap", referred to as phasers) and the phaser rifle makes its only appearance in Star Trek: The Original Series.
for Star Trek 8
, published in 1972. It also became the second in Bantam's series of Fotonovels
, published in 1977.
The Galactic Barrier is later associated with the Q
, in two unrelated and non-canon novels: 1994's Q-Squared
by Peter David
, and Greg Cox's 1998 Q Continuum
novels. In the former book, Q takes refuge in the barrier, while the latter suggests that the Galactic Barrier had been created to exclude the malevolent being 0 from the galaxy.
Gary Mitchell does not appear again in the show. Several books, including Michael Jan Friedman
's My Brother's Keeper, Vonda N. McIntyre's Enterprise: The First Adventure, and Margaret Wander Bonanno
's Strangers From The Sky
feature the Mitchell character in adventures set before the events of the episode. The 2005 Star Trek: Vanguard
book Harbinger
is set immediately after the events of "Where No Man Has Gone Before", and features a troubled Kirk musing on his friend's death. Friedman's Stargazer
book The Valiant features two people who claim to be descended from the Valiants crew. The fanmade film Star Trek: Of Gods and Men
has actor Daamen Krall playing the role. The story is set in a timeline where Kirk had never been born and Mitchell rose to become ruler of the Galactic Order.
The Galactic Barrier depicted in Where No Man Has Gone Before was later explained in the novel The Wounded Sky
by Diane Duane
published in 1983. It was referenced as an energy barrier that was the result of a hard radiation wave front from a mega-star exploding in a globular cluster just beyond the Milky Way's leading edge.
After James T. Kirk's final onscreen appearance in Star Trek: Generations
, William Shatner collaborated with authors Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens
on a series of nine novels depicting the "rebirth" of Kirk following his demise in that film. He is brought back to life by a combination of Romulan
and Borg
technology and continues to have adventures, usually involving Captain Picard and the crew on the Enterprise-D and eventually -E. Over the course of his new adventures, Kirk meets and marries an alien woman, Teilani (a genetically engineered Klingon/Romulan hybrid), and has a child with her. This child, Joseph Samuel T'Kol T'Lan Kirk (called Joseph), proves instrumental in preserving the Galactic Barrier from destruction, protecting all life in our galaxy from invasion by hostile would-be conquerors from the neighboring Andromeda
galaxy, known as the Totality, in the ninth novel of the series, Captain's Glory
. The Barrier itself is described as an artificial construct, built over four billion years ago when (according to Trek lore) only one species inhabited this galaxy.
In the feature film Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
, directed by William Shatner
, references are made to a "Great Barrier", which lies at the center of the galaxy instead of surrounding it.
gave the episode a 'B+' rating, describing it as "an awkward episode" but that "it's not without its charms".
Television pilot
A "television pilot" is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell the show to a television network. At the time of its inception, the pilot is meant to be the "testing ground" to see if a series will be possibly desired and successful and therefore a test episode of an...
of the television series Star Trek: The Original Series
Star Trek: The Original Series
Star Trek is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry, produced by Desilu Productions . Star Trek was telecast on NBC from September 8, 1966, through June 3, 1969...
. It was produced in 1965 after the first pilot, "The Cage
The Cage (TOS episode)
"The Cage" is the first pilot episode of the Star Trek: The Original Series science fiction series. It was completed in early 1965 , but not broadcast on television in its complete form until the autumn of 1988. The episode was written by Gene Roddenberry and directed by Robert Butler...
", had been rejected by NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
. The episode was eventually broadcast third in sequence on September 22, 1966, and was re-aired on April 20, 1967. It was the first episode to be shown in the UK by the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
on July 12, 1969.
"Where No Man Has Gone Before" was written by Samuel A. Peeples
Samuel A. Peeples
Samuel Anthony Peeples was an American writer. He published several novels in the Western genre, often under the pen name Brad Ward, before moving into series television after being given a script assignment by Frank Gruber...
, directed by James Goldstone
James Goldstone
James Goldstone was an American director of both television and theatrical films during the 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s....
, and filmed in July 1965. It was the first episode of Star Trek to feature William Shatner
William Shatner
William Alan Shatner is a Canadian actor, musician, recording artist, and author. He gained worldwide fame and became a cultural icon for his portrayal of James T...
as Captain James Kirk
James T. Kirk
James Tiberius "Jim" Kirk is a character in the Star Trek media franchise. Kirk was first played by William Shatner as the principal lead character in the original Star Trek series. Shatner voiced Kirk in the animated Star Trek series and appeared in the first seven Star Trek movies...
, James Doohan
James Doohan
James Montgomery "Jimmy" Doohan was a Canadian character and voice actor best known for his role as Montgomery "Scotty" Scott in the television and film series Star Trek...
as Chief Engineer Scotty
Montgomery Scott
Montgomery "Scotty" Scott is a Scottish engineer in the Star Trek media franchise. First portrayed by James Doohan in the original Star Trek series, Scotty also appears in the animated Star Trek series, seven Star Trek movies, the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Relics", and in numerous...
, and George Takei
George Takei
George Hosato Takei Altman is an American actor, author, social activist and former civil politician. He is best known for his role in the television series Star Trek and its film spinoffs, in which he played Hikaru Sulu, helmsman of the...
as Helmsman Sulu
Hikaru Sulu
Hikaru Sulu is a character in the Star Trek media franchise. First portrayed by George Takei in the original Star Trek series, Sulu also appears in the animated Star Trek series, the first six Star Trek movies, one episode of Star Trek: Voyager, and in numerous books, comics, and video games...
, who in this episode played a physicist
Physicist
A physicist is a scientist who studies or practices physics. Physicists study a wide range of physical phenomena in many branches of physics spanning all length scales: from sub-atomic particles of which all ordinary matter is made to the behavior of the material Universe as a whole...
. In the episode, the Starship Enterprise journeys to the edge of the galaxy, where two crew members develop dangerous psychic powers. The episode's title was adopted as the final phrase in the opening credits' voice-over that famously characterizes the Star Trek series, and has entered popular culture
Where no man has gone before
"Where no man has gone before" is a phrase originally made popular through its use in the title sequence of most episodes of the original Star Trek science fiction television series. It refers to the mission of the original starship Enterprise...
.
Plot
The StarshipStarship
A starship or interstellar spacecraft is a theoretical spacecraft designed for traveling between the stars, as opposed to a vehicle designed for orbital spaceflight or interplanetary travel....
USS Enterprise
USS Enterprise (NCC-1701)
The USS Enterprise, NCC-1701, is a fictional starship in the Star Trek media franchise. The original Star Trek series depicts her crew's mission "to explore strange new worlds; to seek out new life and new civilizations; to boldly go where no man has gone before" under the command of Captain James...
, commanded by Captain James T. Kirk, is on an exploratory mission to leave the galaxy. While en route, it discovers the damaged ship's recorder
Black box
A black box is a device, object, or system whose inner workings are unknown; only the input, transfer, and output are known characteristics.The term black box can also refer to:-In science and technology:*Black box theory, a philosophical theory...
of the SS Valiant, an Earth spaceship lost 200 years earlier. Beamed aboard, Spock discovers its records are incomplete, but finds that the Valiant had been swept from its path by a "magnetic space storm". It holds data about the last moments aboard the ill-fated ship, and shows that the crew had been frantically searching for information about extra-sensory perception
Extra-sensory perception
Extrasensory perception involves reception of information not gained through the recognized physical senses but sensed with the mind. The term was coined by Frederic Myers, and adopted by Duke University psychologist J. B. Rhine to denote psychic abilities such as telepathy, clairaudience, and...
(ESP) in the ship's library computer. The tape ends with the captain of the Valiant giving a self-destruct order.
Kirk decides that they need to know what happened to the Valiant, and the Enterprise crosses the edge of the galaxy. It encounters a strange barrier, which causes serious damage to the ship's systems and the loss of warp drive, forcing the vessel to retreat. At the same time, Helmsman Gary Mitchell and ship's psychiatrist Dr. Elizabeth Dehner are both knocked unconscious by the field's effect. After they awaken, Mitchell's eyes glow silver, and he soon begins to display remarkable psionic powers.
Over time, Mitchell becomes increasingly hostile toward the rest of the crew, declaring he has become god
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
like. He enforces his desires with fearsome telepathic
Telepathy
Telepathy , is the induction of mental states from one mind to another. The term was coined in 1882 by the classical scholar Fredric W. H. Myers, a founder of the Society for Psychical Research, and has remained more popular than the more-correct expression thought-transference...
and telekinetic abilities. Mr. Spock believes that the Valiant may have experienced the same phenomenon and that its crew developed such powers, as well. The other crew members must have destroyed the ship to prevent the power from taking over the galaxy. Spock advises Kirk may have to destroy Mitchell before his powers develop further, but Kirk angrily disagrees.
Kirk, alarmed that Mitchell may eventually take over the Enterprise, decides to maroon him on an unmanned lithium-cracking facility on the remote planet of Delta Vega. Once there, the landing party tries to confine Mitchell, but his powers are too great. He eventually goes on a rampage, kills navigator Lt. Lee Kelso and escapes, taking Dr. Dehner, who has now developed similar powers, with him.
Kirk follows and appeals to Dr. Dehner's humanity for help. As Mitchell prepares to kill Kirk with his psionic powers, Dr. Dehner attacks Mitchell, weakening him. Mitchell fatally injures Dehner, but before he can recharge, Kirk uses a phaser rifle to create a rock slide, killing Mitchell.
Back on the bridge, Kirk places in the official log that both Dehner and Mitchell gave their lives "in performance of duty", rationalizing that they did not ask for what happened to them. Spock admits to feeling for Mitchell too, and Kirk comments that there is hope for him.
Production
The original pilot of Star Trek, "The CageThe Cage (TOS episode)
"The Cage" is the first pilot episode of the Star Trek: The Original Series science fiction series. It was completed in early 1965 , but not broadcast on television in its complete form until the autumn of 1988. The episode was written by Gene Roddenberry and directed by Robert Butler...
", was rejected in February 1965 by NBC executives. The show had been sold to them as a "Wagon Train
Wagon Train
Wagon Train is an American Western series that ran on NBC from 1957–62 and then on ABC from 1962–65...
to the stars", and they thought the first pilot did not match the adventure
Adventure (genre)
The adventure genre, in the context of a narrative, is typically applied to works in which the protagonist or other major characters are consistently placed in dangerous situations...
format they had been promised and was "too cerebral" for the general audience. However, NBC maintained sufficient interest in the format to order a second pilot episode in March 1965.
Gene Roddenberry said later in a 1988 TV special that as with the first pilot, this pilot still had a lot of science-fiction elements in it, but at least it ended with Kirk in a bare knuckle fist fight with the god-like Mitchell and according to Roddenberry that's what sold NBC on Star Trek.
Series creator Gene Roddenberry
Gene Roddenberry
Eugene Wesley "Gene" Roddenberry was an American television screenwriter, producer and futurist, best known for creating the American science fiction series Star Trek. Born in El Paso, Texas, Roddenberry grew up in Los Angeles, California where his father worked as a police officer...
wrote two story outlines, "The Omega Glory" and "Mudd's Women". He wrote a teleplay for the former, and gave the latter to Stephen Kandel to write. Roddenberry asked long-time associate and veteran scriptwriter Samuel Peeples to submit ideas for another. Peeples came up with the premise and episode title for "Where No Man Has Gone Before", and was assigned to write it.
Kandel had fallen ill and his script was not finished in time; the other two were submitted to NBC for consideration. NBC preferred "Where No Man Has Gone Before" as a pilot. "Mudd's Women" was later made as the second episode in regular production, and "The Omega Glory" was made towards the end of the second season.
While the first pilot, "The Cage", has a running time of approximately 63 minutes, the second pilot, "Where No Man Has Gone Before", ran just over 55 minutes with additional footage and formatting later cut to reduce it to the usual series running time of around 50 minutes (excluding commercials).
Casting took place in June 1965. Jeffrey Hunter
Jeffrey Hunter
Jeffrey Hunter was an American film and television actor. His most famous roles are as Jesus in the film King of Kings, as Martin Pawley in The Searchers, and as Capt...
was unwilling to reprise his role as Captain Christopher Pike
Christopher Pike (Star Trek)
Christopher Pike is a character in the Star Trek franchise. He was portrayed by Jeffrey Hunter in the original Star Trek pilot episode, "The Cage", as captain of the USS Enterprise. The pilot was rejected, and the character was dropped during development of the second pilot when Hunter decided that...
. Lloyd Bridges
Lloyd Bridges
Lloyd Vernet Bridges, Jr. was an American actor who starred in a number of television series and appeared in more than 150 feature films. Bridges is best known for his role of Mike Nelson in Sea Hunt, the most-popular syndicated American TV series in 1958...
and Jack Lord
Jack Lord
John Joseph Patrick Ryan , best known by his stage name Jack Lord, was an American television, film, and Broadway actor. He was known for his starring role as Steve McGarrett in the American television program Hawaii Five-O from 1968 to 1980. Lord appeared in feature films earlier in his career,...
were considered, but William Shatner
William Shatner
William Alan Shatner is a Canadian actor, musician, recording artist, and author. He gained worldwide fame and became a cultural icon for his portrayal of James T...
was finally cast as his replacement, Captain James Kirk
James T. Kirk
James Tiberius "Jim" Kirk is a character in the Star Trek media franchise. Kirk was first played by William Shatner as the principal lead character in the original Star Trek series. Shatner voiced Kirk in the animated Star Trek series and appeared in the first seven Star Trek movies...
. The character of Number One
Number One (Star Trek)
Number One, in "The Cage", the original pilot episode of the science fiction television series Star Trek, was the un-named intellectual, problem-solving second-in-command serving under Captain Christopher Pike. She performs the same role for Pike "as Spock later does for Kirk"...
, the female second-in-command, was dropped on the insistence of the NBC network. Science Officer Spock
Spock
Spock is a fictional character in the Star Trek media franchise. First portrayed by Leonard Nimoy in the original Star Trek series, Spock also appears in the animated Star Trek series, two episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation, seven of the Star Trek feature films, and numerous Star Trek...
, played by Leonard Nimoy
Leonard Nimoy
Leonard Simon Nimoy is an American actor, film director, poet, musician and photographer. Nimoy's most famous role is that of Spock in the original Star Trek series , multiple films, television and video game sequels....
, who was given Number One's unemotional demeanor. Spock was retained despite pressure from NBC, who were worried about his "Satanic" appearance. Nimoy was the only actor to be retained from the first pilot.
Apart from Captain Kirk, the episode introduced two other regular characters to the show: James Doohan
James Doohan
James Montgomery "Jimmy" Doohan was a Canadian character and voice actor best known for his role as Montgomery "Scotty" Scott in the television and film series Star Trek...
, a friend of director James Goldstone
James Goldstone
James Goldstone was an American director of both television and theatrical films during the 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s....
, was cast as the Chief Engineer — the name Montgomery Scott
Montgomery Scott
Montgomery "Scotty" Scott is a Scottish engineer in the Star Trek media franchise. First portrayed by James Doohan in the original Star Trek series, Scotty also appears in the animated Star Trek series, seven Star Trek movies, the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Relics", and in numerous...
was chosen after Doohan had tried various accents, and had decided that an engineer ought to be Scottish - and George Takei
George Takei
George Hosato Takei Altman is an American actor, author, social activist and former civil politician. He is best known for his role in the television series Star Trek and its film spinoffs, in which he played Hikaru Sulu, helmsman of the...
was cast as Ship's Physicist Sulu
Hikaru Sulu
Hikaru Sulu is a character in the Star Trek media franchise. First portrayed by George Takei in the original Star Trek series, Sulu also appears in the animated Star Trek series, the first six Star Trek movies, one episode of Star Trek: Voyager, and in numerous books, comics, and video games...
, who would become the ship's helmsman in the reglar series. Uhura
Uhura
Nyota Uhura is a character in Star Trek: The Original Series, Star Trek: The Animated Series, the first six Star Trek films, and the 2009 film Star Trek...
and Dr. Leonard McCoy
Leonard McCoy
Leonard "Bones" McCoy is a character in the Star Trek media franchise. First portrayed by DeForest Kelley in the original Star Trek series, McCoy also appears in the animated Star Trek series, seven Star Trek movies, the pilot episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, and in numerous books,...
do not feature; the ship's doctor is instead Mark Piper (Paul Fix
Paul Fix
Paul Fix was an American film and television character actor, best known for his work in westerns. Fix appeared in more than a hundred movies and dozens of television shows over a 56-year career spanning from 1925 to 1981...
). Piper was intended as a regular, and DeForest Kelley
DeForest Kelley
Jackson DeForest Kelley was an American actor known for his iconic roles in Westerns and as Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy of the USS Enterprise in the television and film series Star Trek.-Early life:...
- who played McCoy in the series proper— was considered for the role.
Gary Lockwood
Gary Lockwood
Gary Lockwood is an American actor probably best known for his iconic 1968 role as the astronaut Dr. Frank Poole in 2001: A Space Odyssey.-Early life:...
, chosen to play Lt. Commander Gary Mitchell, had starred in the title role of Roddenberry's earlier series on ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
, The Lieutenant
The Lieutenant
The Lieutenant is an American television series, the first created by Gene Roddenberry. It aired on NBC on Saturday evenings in the 1963-1964 television schedule. It was produced by Arena Productions, one of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's most successful in-house production companies of the 1960s. Situated...
. The other guest star was Sally Kellerman
Sally Kellerman
Sally Clare Kellerman is an American actress and singer known for her role as Major Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan in the film MASH , for which she was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.-Early life:...
who played Dr Elizabeth Dehner. Both actors needed silver eyes, which were produced by an expert contact lens fabricator who sandwiched wrinkled tinfoil between two scleral contact lens
Contact lens
A contact lens, or simply contact, is a lens placed on the eye. They are considered medical devices and can be worn to correct vision, for cosmetic or therapeutic reasons. In 2004, it was estimated that 125 million people use contact lenses worldwide, including 28 to 38 million in the United...
es which covered the white of the eye as well as the iris. These were outdated even in the 1960s and dangerous to the health of the actors' eyes. Although Kellerman could insert and remove the prosthetics easily with no discomfort, Lockwood found them almost impossible to use. He needed to raise his face and sight along his nose in order to see out of the tiny holes in the foil that aligned with his pupils. He used this to enhance his performance as the mutating Mitchell, as the unusual gaze gave him an arrogant and haughty demeanor.
Other cast members included Paul Carr
Paul Carr (actor)
Paul Carr was an character actor who was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. Carr acted for some fifty years in television, film, and on-stage.-Beginnings:...
as Navigator Lee Kelso, Lloyd Haynes
Lloyd Haynes
Samuel Lloyd Haynes was an African-American actor and television writer. Haynes was a member of the Bahá'í Faith.Haynes served in the Marines from 1952–1964 and during the Korean War...
as Communications Officer Alden and Andrea Dromm
Andrea Dromm
Andrea Dromm is an American actress. She is the daughter of an engineer, and attended school in Patchogue and later in Greensburg, Pennsylvania....
as Yeoman Smith (Alden and Smith were intended to be regulars in the show, but were replaced by Uhura and Janice Rand
Janice Rand
Yeoman Janice Rand, played by Grace Lee Whitney, is a character in Star Trek: The Original Series. She subsequently appears in several Star Trek films and in an episode of Star Trek: Voyager.-Depiction:...
, respectively). The episode also is the first time long-running background actor Eddie Paskey
Eddie Paskey
Edward J. Paskey, better known as Eddie, is a U.S. actor primarily known for his role as "Lieutenant Leslie", a redshirt, on Star Trek. He appeared in 57 episodes.- Early life :...
appeared; his character would later be identified as Lt. Leslie.
The costumes from the first pilot were used in "Where No Man Has Gone Before" but would be changed in the series proper, with the colors altered and black collars introduced. Most of the Enterprise sets were also reused from "The Cage", while Sickbay was the only major set constructed for the episode. Like "The Cage", the episode was shot at Desilu's Culver City studios.
The episode was directed by James Goldstone
James Goldstone
James Goldstone was an American director of both television and theatrical films during the 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s....
. Ernest Haller
Ernest Haller
Ernest Haller, A.S.C. also credited as Ernie B. Haller, , was an American cinematographer.Born in Los Angeles, California, Haller joined Biograph Studios as an actor in 1914, then began to freelance as a cinematographer...
, who had won the 1939 Oscar for Best Color Cinematography
Academy Award for Best Cinematography
The Academy Award for Best Cinematography is an Academy Award awarded each year to a cinematographer for work in one particular motion picture.-History:...
on the movie Gone with the Wind
Gone with the Wind (film)
Gone with the Wind is a 1939 American historical epic film adapted from Margaret Mitchell's Pulitzer-winning 1936 novel of the same name. It was produced by David O. Selznick and directed by Victor Fleming from a screenplay by Sidney Howard...
, served as director of photography for the show. He had been brought in out of semi-retirement at Goldstone's recommendation at the last minute, after attempts to locate a cameraman had proved problematic. Robert H. Justman
Robert H. Justman
Robert Harris "Bob" Justman was an American television producer, director and production manager. He worked on many television series including Lassie, The Life of Riley, Adventures of Superman, The Outer Limits, Then Came Bronson and Mission: Impossible.- Career :Bob Justman was one of the...
was credited as assistant director.
Shooting started on July 19, 1965, several days later than originally scheduled. During the filming of this episode, a wasp's nest high in the rafters of the studio was somehow disturbed, and many cast and crew members suffered stings as a result. As this happened on a Friday, the weekend break allowed time for the swelling to go down; Shatner, however, required additional makeup to hide the stings during shooting the following Monday. Filming finished late on July 28, 1965; the final footage filmed was part of the fight between Kirk and Mitchell. While the schedule allowed seven days to shoot the episode, it required nine, which was Justman's original estimate. The episode cost around $300,000, around half the money spent on making "The Cage".
Airing version differing from original "alternate" version
Post-production on the episode was delayed by Roddenberry's involvement in another pilot, Police Story. Post-production finished in January 1966 and the episode was presented to NBC for approval (which finally came in February 1966); this original version (production number 02a) differed from the later final broadcast cut (production number 02b, airing on September 22, 1966) in that each of the four acts had on-screen titles ("Act I," "Act II," etc.), as well as an epilogue, in the manner of Quinn MartinQuinn Martin
Quinn Martin was one of the most successful American television producers. He had at least one television series running in prime time for 21 straight years , an industry record.-Early life:...
's television productions. It also featured a much longer opening narration by Shatner. In part, also alternate musical scores were used. In total almost 5 minutes of additional footage was removed to accommodate the original series 50 minute network broadcast format, allowing for commercials.
Afterwards, the studio did not retain a print of this original "alternate" version and it was officially thought to be lost, though many fans knew that it existed somewhere after purchasing a poor quality VHS tape at a convention. In 2009 a German film collector rediscovered a print of it and brought it to the attention of CBS/Paramount, who then released it under the title "Where No Fan Has Gone Before" - The Restored, Unaired Alternate Pilot Episode as part of the TOS season 3 box set on Blu-ray; it has not been released on DVD yet.
The original "alternate" version also remains unaired (in both normal or still undone remastered form), thus still awaiting canon
Canon (fiction)
In the context of a work of fiction, the term canon denotes the material accepted as "official" in a fictional universe's fan base. It is often contrasted with, or used as the basis for, works of fan fiction, which are not considered canonical...
status (both in contrary to TOS
Star Trek: The Original Series
Star Trek is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry, produced by Desilu Productions . Star Trek was telecast on NBC from September 8, 1966, through June 3, 1969...
' earlier other concepted-as-pilot episode's version, "The Cage
The Cage (TOS episode)
"The Cage" is the first pilot episode of the Star Trek: The Original Series science fiction series. It was completed in early 1965 , but not broadcast on television in its complete form until the autumn of 1988. The episode was written by Gene Roddenberry and directed by Robert Butler...
" - later reworked into the two-parter "The Menagerie
The Menagerie (TOS episode)
"The Menagerie" is a two-part episode of Star Trek: The Original Series. It is episodes #11 and 12 of the show's first season, and is the only two-part story in the original series. Part one of the episode was broadcast on November 17, 1966 with the second part broadcast a week later on November...
" of the original running of TOS -, which was finally broadcasted in 1988 during the original run and within the regular timeslot of episodes of TOS' live-action TV successor "Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry as part of the Star Trek franchise. Roddenberry, Rick Berman, and Michael Piller served as executive producers at different times throughout the production...
").
The episode in its original "alternate" version was known earlier than the airing version to the public through its standing ovation receiving showing at the 24th
24th World Science Fiction Convention
The 24th World Science Fiction Convention, also known as Tricon, was held 1–5 September 1966 at the Sheraton-Cleveland in Cleveland, Ohio, USA...
Worldcon
Worldcon
Worldcon, or more formally The World Science Fiction Convention, is a science fiction convention held each year since 1939 . It is the annual convention of the World Science Fiction Society...
in Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
on September 3, 1966 - shortly before the premiere broadcast of Star Trek on NBC.
Continuity
The episode's name is the first usage of the phrase "Where No Man Has Gone BeforeWhere no man has gone before
"Where no man has gone before" is a phrase originally made popular through its use in the title sequence of most episodes of the original Star Trek science fiction television series. It refers to the mission of the original starship Enterprise...
" in Star Trek. The phrase would be incorporated into the opening credits sequence in following episodes, as part of the famous "Space: The Final Frontier..." speech given by Captain Kirk. The phrase would also be used (with "man" changed to the gender-neutral "one"), in the credits voice-over of Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry as part of the Star Trek franchise. Roddenberry, Rick Berman, and Michael Piller served as executive producers at different times throughout the production...
. That series also referred to it with the title of one of its episodes, Where No One Has Gone Before. It was also referred to in the final episode of Star Trek: Enterprise
Enterprise
Enterprise may refer to:-Economics and business:* A business* A company* Entrepreneurship, the practice of starting new organizations, particularly new businesses* Enterprise Architecture...
as part of a voice-over spoken by Kirk, Picard, Archer.
Kirk's middle initial is given as "R." in "Where No Man Has Gone Before" and is seen clearly on the gravestone fashioned by Mitchell for Kirk; subsequent episodes use "James T. Kirk", and Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country is the sixth feature film in the Star Trek science fiction franchise and is the last of the Star Trek films to include the entire main cast of the 1960s Star Trek television series. Released in 1991 by Paramount Pictures, it was directed by Nicholas Meyer and...
later made official the middle name "Tiberius
Tiberius
Tiberius , was Roman Emperor from 14 AD to 37 AD. Tiberius was by birth a Claudian, son of Tiberius Claudius Nero and Livia Drusilla. His mother divorced Nero and married Augustus in 39 BC, making him a step-son of Octavian...
" (used previously in "Bem
Bem (TAS episode)
"Bem" is an episode of Star Trek: The Animated Series. This episode marks the first time that it is revealed that Captain James T. Kirk's middle initial stood for Tiberius, after the Roman emperor.-Plot outline:...
", an episode from the animated series
Star Trek: The Animated Series
Star Trek: The Animated Series is an animated science fiction television series set in the Star Trek universe following the events of Star Trek: The Original Series of the 1960s...
). Various suggestions have been made to explain this discrepancy; Michael Jan Friedman
Michael Jan Friedman
Michael Jan Friedman is an author of nearly sixty books of fiction and nonfiction, more than half of which are in the Star Trek universe. Ten of his titles have appeared on the New York Times Best Seller list...
's My Brother's Keeper trilogy speculates this results from an in-joke between Mitchell and Kirk. Roddenberry cited human error on Mitchell's part. Peter David
Peter David
Peter Allen David , often abbreviated PAD, is an American writer of comic books, novels, television, movies and video games...
's novel, Q-Squared
Q-Squared
Q-Squared is a non-canon Star Trek novel by acclaimed author Peter David. It spent two weeks on the New York Times bestseller list in 1994....
, placed the events of this episode in a parallel universe
Parallel universe (fiction)
A parallel universe or alternative reality is a hypothetical self-contained separate reality coexisting with one's own. A specific group of parallel universes is called a "multiverse", although this term can also be used to describe the possible parallel universes that constitute reality...
in which, among other differences, Kirk's middle initial was indeed R.
The episode contains the first stardate
Stardate
A stardate is a date in the fictional system of time measurement developed for Star Trek, commonly heard at the beginning of a voiceover log entry such as "Captain's log, stardate 41153.7...
(1313.8) and makes the first reference to the Academy
Starfleet Academy
In the fictional universe of Star Trek, Starfleet Academy is where the future's recruits to Starfleet will be trained. It was created in the year 2161, when the United Federation of Planets was founded...
, at which Kirk taught Mitchell. The "lithium crystals" mentioned in the episode would later be renamed to the fictional "dilithium
Dilithium (Star Trek)
In the Star Trek universe, dilithium is a fictional chemical element, although dilithium is also the scientific name for a molecule composed of two lithium atoms....
crystals". The episode opens with Kirk and Spock playing a game of Three-dimensional chess.
Michael and Denise Okuda's Star Trek Chronology sets the episode in 2265, 300 years after its production. The Galactic Barrier is referenced and revisited in a subsequent episode, "By Any Other Name".
Many changes to the USS Enterprise
USS Enterprise (NCC-1701)
The USS Enterprise, NCC-1701, is a fictional starship in the Star Trek media franchise. The original Star Trek series depicts her crew's mission "to explore strange new worlds; to seek out new life and new civilizations; to boldly go where no man has gone before" under the command of Captain James...
bridge were made after this episode was produced. Among these were a new forward viewscreen and an updated helm/navigation console. Also, the positions of the helmsman and navigator were swapped (in this episode, the navigator sat on the port side of the console, and the helm officer was to starboard. In the regular series, the opposite was the case). When production of the series proper began, it was also decided to introduce a new uniform design for the Enterprise crew, although in the first regular episode produced, The Corbomite Maneuver, some characters are shown wearing the uniform style of Where No Man Has Gone Before. Adjustments to Spock's make-up were also made, specifically to the angle of his eyebrows, refinement of his haircut and tempering of the overall greenish-yellow cast of his skin.
Spock also makes reference to his ancestor marrying a human when in a later episode, his mother was introduced as a human. He pretends not to understand human emotions-- despite being half-human himself.
In this episode the helm and navigation station console was used for the transporter room console. In future episodes a dedicated station would be built with the iconic sliding controls and centrally located, hooded beam-down coordinate selection screen.
The sickbay in this episode uses conventional sheets on the beds; later episodes used the more "futuristic" metallic weave materials. The "bio-probe", located under the medical monitor panel, pointed to and monitored the physiological functions of the patient. It was a simple rod, later replaced with the more detailed, internally-lit acrylic set piece.
Hand weapons are referred to as "lasers" (although the same style would later be used in "The Man Trap", referred to as phasers) and the phaser rifle makes its only appearance in Star Trek: The Original Series.
Sequels and adaptations
The episode was adapted into a short story by James BlishJames Blish
James Benjamin Blish was an American author of fantasy and science fiction. Blish also wrote literary criticism of science fiction using the pen-name William Atheling, Jr.-Biography:...
for Star Trek 8
Star Trek (Blish)
James Blish wrote a series of short stories adaptations of Star Trek episodes from 1967 to 1975, called simply Star Trek. The adaptations were generally written based on scripts , and initially without reference to the finished episodes, as they had not yet aired in the United Kingdom, Blish's base...
, published in 1972. It also became the second in Bantam's series of Fotonovels
Photonovel
A photonovel is a type of comic book, adapting a film or television episode and using film stills instead of artwork along with the narrative text and word balloons containing dialogue. The photonovel concept was most popular in the late 1970s and early 1980s, before the widespread advent of home...
, published in 1977.
The Galactic Barrier is later associated with the Q
Q (Star Trek)
Q is a fictional character who appears in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager, as well as in related products. In all of these programs, he is played by John de Lancie....
, in two unrelated and non-canon novels: 1994's Q-Squared
Q-Squared
Q-Squared is a non-canon Star Trek novel by acclaimed author Peter David. It spent two weeks on the New York Times bestseller list in 1994....
by Peter David
Peter David
Peter Allen David , often abbreviated PAD, is an American writer of comic books, novels, television, movies and video games...
, and Greg Cox's 1998 Q Continuum
Q Continuum
In the fictional televised Star Trek universe, the Q Continuum is an extradimensional plane of existence inhabited by a race of extremely powerful, hyper-intelligent beings known as the Q...
novels. In the former book, Q takes refuge in the barrier, while the latter suggests that the Galactic Barrier had been created to exclude the malevolent being 0 from the galaxy.
Gary Mitchell does not appear again in the show. Several books, including Michael Jan Friedman
Michael Jan Friedman
Michael Jan Friedman is an author of nearly sixty books of fiction and nonfiction, more than half of which are in the Star Trek universe. Ten of his titles have appeared on the New York Times Best Seller list...
's My Brother's Keeper, Vonda N. McIntyre's Enterprise: The First Adventure, and Margaret Wander Bonanno
Margaret Wander Bonanno
Margaret Wander Bonanno is an American science fiction writer, ghost writer and small press publisher. She was born in New York City.She has written six Star Trek novels, including Strangers from the Sky...
's Strangers From The Sky
Strangers from the Sky
Strangers from the Sky , is a novel, released in 1987, by Margaret Wander Bonanno.-Overview:This novel is an adventure involving the original Star Trek series cast and journeys through many eras of the Trek timeline....
feature the Mitchell character in adventures set before the events of the episode. The 2005 Star Trek: Vanguard
Star Trek: Vanguard
Star Trek: Vanguard is a series of Star Trek books set during the time period of the original television series. At present six novels and one novella collection have been released.-Premise:...
book Harbinger
Harbinger (Star Trek novel)
Harbinger is the first novel in the Star Trek: Vanguard series concerning the Starbase 47, otherwise known as Vanguard.-Synopsis:...
is set immediately after the events of "Where No Man Has Gone Before", and features a troubled Kirk musing on his friend's death. Friedman's Stargazer
Star Trek: Stargazer
Star Trek: Stargazer is a series of Star Trek novels written by Michael Jan Friedman. The novels are about the adventures of the USS Stargazer , which was Jean-Luc Picard's first command....
book The Valiant features two people who claim to be descended from the Valiants crew. The fanmade film Star Trek: Of Gods and Men
Star Trek: Of Gods and Men
Star Trek: Of Gods and Men is a three-part unofficial Star Trek fan mini-series which contains many cast members from the Star Trek TV series and movies. It is described by its producers as a "40th Anniversary gift" from Star Trek actors to their fans. It was filmed in 2006, but its release was...
has actor Daamen Krall playing the role. The story is set in a timeline where Kirk had never been born and Mitchell rose to become ruler of the Galactic Order.
The Galactic Barrier depicted in Where No Man Has Gone Before was later explained in the novel The Wounded Sky
The Wounded Sky
The Wounded Sky is a 1983 Star Trek novel by Diane Duane, featuring James T. Kirk as captain of the USS Enterprise. The author would four years later adapt the novel's plot for the teleplay of the first season Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Where No One Has Gone Before".-Plot:The...
by Diane Duane
Diane Duane
Diane Duane is an American science fiction and fantasy author. Her works include the Young Wizards young adult fantasy series and the Rihannsu Star Trek novels.-Biography :...
published in 1983. It was referenced as an energy barrier that was the result of a hard radiation wave front from a mega-star exploding in a globular cluster just beyond the Milky Way's leading edge.
After James T. Kirk's final onscreen appearance in Star Trek: Generations
Star Trek: Generations
Star Trek Generations is a 1994 American science fiction film released by Paramount Pictures. Generations is the seventh feature film based on the Star Trek television series and the first film in the series to star the cast of the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation.Parts of the film...
, William Shatner collaborated with authors Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens
Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens
Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens are a prolific husband and wife writing team, known mainly for their involvement with the Star Trek franchise. They have written several books both within and outside of Star Trek, and acted as executive story editors and co-producers on the fourth season of the...
on a series of nine novels depicting the "rebirth" of Kirk following his demise in that film. He is brought back to life by a combination of Romulan
Romulan
The Romulans are a fictional alien race in the Star Trek universe. First appearing in the original Star Trek series in the 1966 episode "Balance of Terror", they have since made appearances in all the main later Star Trek series: The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager...
and Borg
Borg
Borg may refer to:* Borg * Borg means Castle in some Nordic languages.-Places:*Borg, Saarland, Germany*Borg á Mýrum, Iceland*Borg, Vestvågøy, Norway*Diocese of Borg, Norway*Borg Massif, Antarctica*Borg El Arab, Egypt...
technology and continues to have adventures, usually involving Captain Picard and the crew on the Enterprise-D and eventually -E. Over the course of his new adventures, Kirk meets and marries an alien woman, Teilani (a genetically engineered Klingon/Romulan hybrid), and has a child with her. This child, Joseph Samuel T'Kol T'Lan Kirk (called Joseph), proves instrumental in preserving the Galactic Barrier from destruction, protecting all life in our galaxy from invasion by hostile would-be conquerors from the neighboring Andromeda
Andromeda
Andromeda may refer to:* Andromeda , a damsel in distress of Greek mythology** Andromeda, also known as Andromeda chained to a rock, a c...
galaxy, known as the Totality, in the ninth novel of the series, Captain's Glory
Captain's Glory
Captain's Glory is a novel by William Shatner, co-written with Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens, based upon the television series Star Trek. The novel was released in 2006 in hardcover format. This is the final novel in the "Totality" trilogy...
. The Barrier itself is described as an artificial construct, built over four billion years ago when (according to Trek lore) only one species inhabited this galaxy.
In the feature film Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier is a 1989 American science fiction film released by Paramount Pictures. It is the fifth feature in the franchise and the penultimate to star the cast of the original Star Trek science fiction television series...
, directed by William Shatner
William Shatner
William Alan Shatner is a Canadian actor, musician, recording artist, and author. He gained worldwide fame and became a cultural icon for his portrayal of James T...
, references are made to a "Great Barrier", which lies at the center of the galaxy instead of surrounding it.
40th anniversary remastering
The airing version of this episode was remastered and first aired January 20, 2007, as part of the 40th anniversary remastering of the Original Series. It was preceded a week earlier by "Wink of an Eye" and followed a week later by "For the World Is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky".- Along with remastered video and audio, the all-CGI animation of the USS Enterprise that is standard among the revisions was used. This CGI Enterprise, however, matched the model used for the pilot episodes. Notable differences included "antennae" mounted on the front of the BussardBussard ramjetThe Bussard ramjet is a theoretical method of spacecraft propulsion proposed in 1960 by the physicist Robert W. Bussard, popularized by Larry Niven in his Known Space series of books, and referred to by Carl Sagan in the television series and book Cosmos....
collectors of the two warp nacelles, (whereas the post-pilot Enterprise had translucent hemispheres over rotating colored lights), a taller bridge dome, and larger deflector dish. - The establishing shot of the Enterprise featured a side-view of the Milky WayMilky WayThe Milky Way is the galaxy that contains the Solar System. This name derives from its appearance as a dim un-resolved "milky" glowing band arching across the night sky...
Galaxy in the background. - The pink band of the Galactic Barrier was revised and given an animated storm-cloud appearance.
- Scenes within the barrier also were revised.
- The planet Delta Vega was given a face-lift, and its exterior matte painting enhanced with slow-moving clouds in the sky.
- Color corrections also were done, and as a result the command tunics worn by Kirk and Spock were revealed to have a distinctive gold cast, different from the sand-colored tunics worn by many of the crew.
Reception
Zack Handlen of The A.V. ClubThe A.V. Club
The A.V. Club is an entertainment newspaper and website published by The Onion. Its features include reviews of new films, music, television, books, games and DVDs, as well as interviews and other regular offerings examining both new and classic media and other elements of pop culture. Unlike its...
gave the episode a 'B+' rating, describing it as "an awkward episode" but that "it's not without its charms".