This is it! Star Trek: Relive the Majesty is back from hiatus, and today is the 50th anniversary of the airing of the first episode of original Star Trek, “The Man Trap,” on September 8, 1966. Here is a repost of our episode thread for Star Trek’s first episode. Click through to the original post to read the 41 comments in the discussion thread!
Of course, “The Man Trap” wasn’t the first episode filmed, that was “Where No Man Has Gone Before” (or “The Cage,” if you count that). It wasn’t the episode that Gene Roddenberry intended to use for the premiere, which was “The Corbomite Maneuver,” but the special effects weren’t finished for that one.
This community has only been reviewing ST episodes since June 6, 2013. I’m glad you’re with us.
Originally shared by Kevin Black
1.1 — “The Man Trap”
The first Star Trek episode to air, “The Man Trap” was not the second pilot, but was selected to be the series premiere from among the first batch of episodes produced. Boom–we’re in, who needs a big expository introduction? I appreciate the addition of the Captain’s Log framing narration, however. It emphasizes the exploratory theme of the series and sets a tone of thoughtfulness.
This episode is a pot-boiler, not as high concept as “The Cage,” but not devoid of interest, either. Instead of The Odyssey, it feels like detective noir, complete with Kirk’s gumshoe line “I don’t like mysteries. They give me a bellyache. And I’ve got a beauty right now.”
I had the most fun just watching the crew. It’s good to see them! Uhura flirts with Spock right at the top of the show–I guess that’s where J.J. Abrams got the idea. “Vulcan has no moon.” “I’m not surprised, Mr. Spock.”
I did not know that Sulu raises exotic plants. One of them looks strangely like a hand wearing a sparkly purple glove. The actor who plays Yeoman Rand (Grace Lee Whitney) reminds me of Mary Lynn Rajskub. Hopefully, the hairdryers of the future can fix up that beehive in a jiffy. A yeoman, it turns out, is a petty naval officer, having mostly clerical duties. Just trying to keep this educational.
So, the salt thing. Would that work?
The tally is four dead crewmen; none, however, wearing red shirts. Kirk keeps his fluids to himself. Best line comes from McCoy, standing over a corpse: “I can’t find anything wrong with him!”
The monster suit is creepy and effective when it is revealed. I’d seen pictures of it, so I assumed I had also seen the episode. Nope–not that I remember! I’m looking forward to more new discoveries. What did y’all think?
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