"The Man Trap" appeared in Gene Roddenberry's original pitch for "Star Trek" as the title of a show with a different plot: the crew face several apparitions that are "wish-fulfilment traps which become as real as flesh and blood"; the traps increase in subtlety until the crew struggle to differentiate between apparition and reality. Lee Erwin, who had previously worked on "The Lieutenant" with Roddenberry, was commissioned to produce a treatment; an outline featuring a salt-devouring vampire was handed in on April 8, 1966. Meanwhile, George Clayton Johnson had been assigned a storyline, tentatively titled "Chicago II", in which the crew of the "Enterprise" visit a planet where the culture was that of 1920s mob-era Chicago, which later evolved into """".
Writing
The Man Trap
The Man Trap | Writing
Gene Roddenberry Lee Erwin, George Clayton Johnson, and Gene Roddenberry. George Clayton Johnson George Clayton Johnson.
what is the man trap?
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The first episode of of the American science fiction television series
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who are the characters?
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Professor Robert Crater, his wife Nancy, Captain Kirk, Chief Medical Officer Dr. Leonard McCoy, and Crewman Darnell
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what is the name of the series?
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Star Trek
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who wrote the script of this episode?
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While the former felt that the script still needed work, Black felt it was nearly ready. Following Black's review, Roddenberry re-wrote the script between June 16 and 21. Johnson felt this re-write had "downgrad[ed] the story." Black later said that Roddenberry removed a large part of Johnson's work, and that Johnson's original work was better than Roddenberry's edited version. Johnson was pleased with the final episode, although he was concerned that viewers might not understand "Star Trek" after watching "The Man Trap" owing to differences in characterization between this episode and the rest of the series. He admitted that he did not like Spock and was concerned that the character would not be understood after this episode.
The Man Trap | Writing
This draft was delivered on May 23, but NBC felt that hallucinations were being overused; the same plot device had appeared in the pilot episode "". Johnson wrote a further draft on May 31, which reduced the number of apparitions, and was well received by Robert H. Justman. Roddenberry and Justman made further tweaks; one was to restore the name "The Man Trap" from Erwin's original treatment, another removed a scene which introduced McCoy's apprehension when using the transporter. Johnson further edited the script, but complained about the change in name. After a second edit by Johnson, it was passed from Justman to story editor Black.
The Man Trap | Writing
"The Man Trap" is the first episode of of the American science fiction television series "". Written by George Clayton Johnson and directed by Marc Daniels, it first aired on September 8, 1966. In the episode, the crew visit an outpost on planet M-113 to conduct routine medical exams on the residents, only to be attacked by a shapeshifting alien who kills by extracting salt from the victim's body. This was the first "Star Trek" episode to air on television, although the sixth to be filmed; it was chosen as the first of the series to be broadcast by the studio due to the horror plot.
The Man Trap | Introduction
Johnson was hired after story editor John D. F. Black recommended him to the producers. Johnson decided to use the 1953 science fiction novel "The Syndic" by Cyril M. Kornbluth as the basis for the story. Roddenberry felt that Johnson's treatment did not match his vision for "Star Trek", but did not want to lose him entirely, and asked him to write "The Man Trap". Erwin was paid in full for his version, and given a separate "kill fee" because it would not be used. Roddenberry wanted to see more action, so the creature's ability to create apparitions was added to the script from the original pitch.
The Man Trap | Writing
Roddenberry was pleased with Johnson's work, and offered him further writing work on "What Are Little Girls Made Of?", which had been written by Robert Bloch. Roddenberry only wanted Johnson to "polish" the script; Johnson, feeling he was unable to improve it without starting from scratch, turned down the offer, but expressed the desire to work on the show again. He later wrote a story outline titled "Rock-A-Bye Baby, or Die!" in which the "Enterprise" would have become a childlike sentient being who idolizes Kirk as its father. This was not commissioned, so "The Man Trap" was Johnson's only work on the franchise.
The Man Trap | Writing
In the book "Inside Star Trek: The Real Story", he suggests that it was "scarier and more exploitable than the others". "The Man Trap" was the sixth episode produced. Although Roddenberry initially disagreed with NBC's decision, he and production executive Herbert Franklin Solow came to believe it was the correct choice. Shatner also disagreed with the network, feeling that "The Man Trap" was the worst episode out of those available. The episode was the first episode of "Star Trek" broadcast in the United States, on NBC on September 8, 1966. "The Man Trap" formed part of NBC's "Sneak a Peek Week", in which the network showed the premiere episodes of several new shows in prime time slots, ahead of the rival channels ABC and CBS, who were still showing repeats from the previous season.
The Man Trap | Broadcast
"The Man Trap" appeared in Gene Roddenberry's original pitch for "Star Trek" as the title of a show with a different plot: the crew face several apparitions that are "wish-fulfilment traps which become as real as flesh and blood"; the traps increase in subtlety until the crew struggle to differentiate between apparition and reality. Lee Erwin, who had previously worked on "The Lieutenant" with Roddenberry, was commissioned to produce a treatment; an outline featuring a salt-devouring vampire was handed in on April 8, 1966. Meanwhile, George Clayton Johnson had been assigned a storyline, tentatively titled "Chicago II", in which the crew of the "Enterprise" visit a planet where the culture was that of 1920s mob-era Chicago, which later evolved into """".
The Man Trap | Writing
However, Geraghty felt that the writers tried to prevent viewers from feeling sympathy for the creature by revealing its true appearance as it died. Paula M. Block and Terry J. Erdmann also discussed the killing of the creature in their book "Star Trek: The Original Series 365", saying that it was "the right thing to do", but suggested that the nature of the death would have troubled McCoy for some time after the event although this was not shown in the series. A vampiric alien is a recurring idea in science fiction television series, such as the "Blake's 7" episode "Sand", the "Babylon 5" episode "Soul Hunter" and the television film "".
The Man Trap | Themes
The episode was made available to over 200 local stations across the United States with the rights to broadcast "Star Trek".
The Man Trap | Overseas broadcasts and re-releases
The duo added that the episode demonstrated that the series was "something special", and that it remained more culturally diverse than modern television. They gave it a rating of four out of six. Ryan Britt, also writing for Tor.com, said that "The Man Trap" was not a good introduction to the series, but praised the screen time given to Rand, Uhura and Sulu. He added that the latter two were more interesting in this episode than they would be at any point until the start of the movie franchise. Britt said that "The Man Trap" was different than the rest of the series, and more akin to "The Twilight Zone" owing to the background of the writer.
The Man Trap | Critical reception
Stan Robertson at NBC suggested to Roddenberry that they might wish to get medical advice over whether the draining of a chemical from a person would kill them instantly. To find out, Roddenberry asked Kellam de Forest Research, who said that, while it had never happened in reality, a quick death would be likely. Johnson suggested that the creature in "The Man Trap" could be the last of its species. He compared its situation to the reduction in numbers of American bison. Roddenberry found the idea intriguing. Erwin was paid a further fee to terminate his contract, and Johnson wrote a first draft teleplay titled "Damsel With a Dulcimer." While writing, Johnson consulted Black, who advised him to place the creature on the "Enterprise" quickly to increase the pace of the episode.
The Man Trap | Writing
In his book "The Influence of Star Trek on Television, Film and Culture", Lincoln Geraghty wrote that episodes such as "The Man Trap" demonstrated a recurring theme within the series: the more barren the planet, the more likely that characters will be in danger. Other episodes which he said supported this view included "The Cage" and "What Are Little Girls Made Of?". Geraghty also pointed out that elsewhere in the original series, the predominant view was that alien predators such as the salt vampire were a lower life form which should be destroyed. He said that in "The Man Trap", the alternative argument is presented: that such creatures should not be killed.
The Man Trap | Themes
All previous episodes of "Star Trek" had overrun their filming schedules, and the producers were concerned that not enough time had been allotted to each production. Marc Daniels was recruited as director of "The Man Trap"; among his varied directing credits were episodes of "I Love Lucy" for Desilu Productions. Pre-production began during the six scheduled filming days for "", but that episode ran long. Filming for "The Man Trap" commenced around 3:20 p.m. on June 22 and continued until 7:10 p.m. Several futuristic-looking salt shakers were sourced for scenes in "The Man Trap", but due to concerns that they would not be recognized, they were instead used from "The Man Trap" onward as McCoy's tools in sickbay.
The Man Trap | Direction and filming
Within days of seeing the "Star Trek" series premiere "The Man Trap" on September 8, 1966, 22-year-old Gerrold wrote a sixty-page outline for a two-part episode called "Tomorrow Was Yesterday", about the "Enterprise" discovering a ship launched from Earth centuries earlier. Although "Star Trek" producer Gene L. Coon rejected the outline, he realized Gerrold was talented and expressed interest in his submitting some story premises. Bearing preliminary titles and, in some cases, preliminary character names, Gerrold submitted five premises. Two of the submissions of which he later had little recollection involved a spaceship-destroying machine, similar to Norman Spinrad's "", and a situation in which Kirk had to play a chess game with an advanced intelligence using his crew as chess pieces.
David Gerrold | "Star Trek: The Original Series"
In an interview published in the 1988 book "The Star Trek Interview Book", Johnson claimed that the response of critics to "The Man Trap", and the initial episodes of "Star Trek" in general, was "complete bewilderment". In previewing the broadcast of "The Man Trap", "The Daily Reporter" said that "Star Trek" had the "usual far-fetched suppositions" present in other science fiction works, but praise was given to the acting skills of Shatner and the plots of the initial episodes. The "Edwardsville Intelligencer" called the reveal of the creature in the episode "the kicker of a great sci-fi plot". "Daily Variety" columnist Jack Hellman gave the episode an unfavorable review over its "lack of meaningful cast leads", who "move around with directorial precision with only violence to provide the excitement." The weekly edition of the magazine offered a similar opinion, stating that the "Enterprise" "trudged along for a long hour with hardly any relief from violence, killing, ugly stuff and a distasteful monster".
The Man Trap | Critical reception
After Roddenberry's second pilot episode, "Where No Man Has Gone Before", received a more favorable response from NBC, "Star Trek" finally aired its first episode—"The Man Trap"—at 8:30PM on September 8, 1966. "Where No Man...", which eventually aired in a re-edited format as the series' third episode, retained only Spock as a character from "The Cage" but introduced William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk, James Doohan as chief engineer Scotty, and George Takei as physicist (later helmsman) Sulu. Also joining the cast were DeForest Kelley as ship's surgeon Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy and Nichelle Nichols as the communications officer Uhura in "The Man Trap"; the first aired episode of the series.
List of Star Trek: The Original Series episodes | Season 1 (1966–1967)
A month prior to the premiere of "Star Trek", Desilu held a screening for NBC executives to help decide which episode to broadcast first, and several stories were considered. Executives were concerned that "Mudd's Women", one potential choice, would have reviewers discussing "space hookers"; they felt another possibility, "Where No Man Has Gone Before", contained too much exposition, even though it was filmed as a second pilot. The final choice was between "The Man Trap" and "The Naked Time". Justman felt that "The Naked Time" would make it easier for viewers to understand the characters, but later agreed with NBC's decision to show "The Man Trap" first.
The Man Trap | Broadcast
The episode was written by Cherry Chevapravatdumrong and David A. Goodman and directed by Peter Shin, in his first episode since the fourth season. A preview of the reading of the episode can be seen on the "Something, Something, Something, Dark Side" DVD extras.
It's a Trap! | Production
The theme had already been used in written form, in Gustave Le Rouge's 1908 French science fiction work "Le Prisonnier de la Planète Mars". Block and Erdmann also discussed another part of the episode where Spock is in charge on the bridge and Uhura begins to flirt with him, calling it a "quintessential scene of the series" due to the characters' sexual interest in each other. They suggested this may have been the inspiration for the Spock/Uhura relationship introduced in the 2009 reboot film "Star Trek". Nichelle Nichols, who played Uhura, later said that she felt there were hints of an Uhura/Spock relationship in other episodes of the original series.
The Man Trap | Themes
Among more recent reviews, Zack Handlen of "The A.V. Club" gave the episode an "A-" rating, describing it as "done very well" with a plot that is dark and ambiguous. Torrie Atkinson and Eugene Myers reviewed the episode in 2009 for Tor.com, saying that it suitably introduced the characters, although certain elements of the show were not yet in place. These included the lack of the death of a redshirted character, as the crewmen who died in "The Man Trap" did not wear red shirts, along with the lack of red and yellow alerts, instead referred to as general quarters three and four in this episode.
The Man Trap | Critical reception
Leading into "Star Trek" was the first episode of "Tarzan" showing Ron Ely, and leading out was Richard Mulligan's "The Hero". "The Man Trap" placed first in its timeslot, with Nielsen ratings of 25.2 during the first half-hour; some 46.7 percent of all televisions in use at the time were tuned in to the episode. In the same timeslot, "The Tammy Grimes Show" on ABC and "My Three Sons" on CBS received ratings of 14.1 and 9.4 respectively. During the second half of the episode, the rating for "The Man Trap" dropped to 24.2, with 42.2 percent of televisions tuned in.
The Man Trap | Broadcast
John Arndt appeared in four further episodes of the original series.
The Man Trap | Guest appearances
The episode was not the first to be broadcast in the United Kingdom, which instead premiered "Star Trek" on BBC One with "Where No Man Has Gone Before" on July 12, 1969. The episodes continued to be broadcast in a different order than they had appeared in the United States. "The Man Trap" was shown nearly three months later on October 4 as the 13th episode. This was during the period when the channel was still broadcasting only in black and white; it was not until "" on November 15 that the series was shown in color. During subsequent repeats of "Star Trek", the channel reverted to NBC's schedule and showed "The Man Trap" as the first episode.
The Man Trap | Overseas broadcasts and re-releases
The USS "Enterprise" arrives at planet M-113 to provide supplies and medical exams for the only known inhabitants of the planet, Professor Robert Crater (Alfred Ryder) and his wife Nancy (Jeanne Bal), who operate an archaeological research station there. Captain Kirk, Chief Medical Officer Dr. Leonard McCoy, and Crewman Darnell (Michael Zaslow) transport to the surface as Kirk teases McCoy about his affection for Nancy ten years earlier. They arrive in the research station, and each of the three men sees Nancy differently: McCoy as she was when he first met her, Kirk as she should look accounting for her age, and Darnell as an attractive blonde woman whom he met on a pleasure planet.
The Man Trap | Plot
In response, Kirk transports back down to the planet with McCoy and two crewmen, Green (Bruce Watson) and Sturgeon (John Arndt). Kirk tells Professor Crater that he and his wife should stay aboard the Enterprise until they find out what killed Darnell. Crater then runs off trying to find Nancy. Nancy kills both Sturgeon and Green; their faces show the same mottling as Darnell. Nancy assumes the form of Green, and meets Kirk and McCoy. They beam back up to the ship with Sturgeon's body. "Green" roams the corridors, stalking several crew members, killing one. It shape-shifts into the form of McCoy after confirming that the real McCoy has taken a sedative to sleep.
The Man Trap | Plot
Jeanne Bal was cast as Nancy Crater, McCoy's former love interest; the actress had previously guest-starred in "Perry Mason" and was one of the main performers in the sitcom "Love and Marriage". Alfred Ryder was well known for his numerous appearances in similar genre series such as "The Wild Wild West" and "The Outer Limits". After his appearance as Robert Crater in "The Man Trap", he appeared in the science fiction series "The Invaders". Actors playing two of the crewmen who died on screen later appeared in other episodes of "Star Trek". Michael Zaslow, seen in "The Man Trap" as Darnell, appeared in "I, Mudd", and later had a long-running role in the soap opera "Guiding Light" as Roger Thorpe.
The Man Trap | Guest appearances
The first adaptation of "The Man Trap" was as a re-working into a short story by author James Blish as part of the novelization "Star Trek". This book contained seven short stories, each based on an episode of "The Original Series", and was published in January 1967. The adaptation of "The Man Trap" appeared as the third story in the book, although it was named "The Unreal McCoy". The first home media release of "The Man Trap" was on Compact Cassette from Startone productions in 1982. A further release on LaserDisc took place in 1985, alongside "Charlie X". Further releases of all episodes of the series were made on VHS and Betamax.
The Man Trap | Home media release and other adaptations
It was announced in March 2009 that the cast of the show had read through an early draft of the script under the working title, "Episode VI: The Great Muppet Caper". The second working title, "We Have a Bad Feeling About This," was a reference to the recurring catchphrase used in the "Star Wars" films. The settled-upon title is a reference to the line by Admiral Ackbar in the film.
Laugh It Up, Fuzzball: The Family Guy Trilogy | "It's a Trap!"
In Hollywood.com's ranking of all 79 episodes of "The Original Series", Christian Blauvelt placed "The Man Trap" as 73rd, calling the creature "incredibly pointless". It was also listed as one of the show's "cheesiest classic creatures" by "Wired" magazine in 2007; however, "Rolling Stone" magazine listed it as the tenth best villain in the franchise.
The Man Trap | Critical reception
"The Time Trap" is the twelfth episode of the first season of the American animated science fiction television series "". It first aired in the NBC Saturday morning lineup on November 24, 1973, and was written by American actress and screenwriter Joyce Perry. In this episode, Captain Kirk must cooperate with distrusted Klingons to escape a "Sargasso Sea" of dead starships. The episode introduces the first example of a Starfleet starship other than a "Constitution"-class ship: the USS "Bonaventure", which is said to be the "first ship to have warp drive installed" in the episode. The ship is never referenced in live-action Star Trek, although it is the name of Zephram Cochrane's ship in the non-canonical novel "Federation" by Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens.
The Time Trap | Introduction
Both episodes were written by Rod Serling.
Cavender Is Coming | Episode notes
The first full day of filming on June 23 was predominantly shot on the set representing the bridge of the "Enterprise". Two small establishing shots were postponed until the filming of the next episode. The following day, corridor scenes were filmed, as was the climactic scene featuring the creature's death. At that point, Daniels estimated that he was only a third of a day behind schedule. After a break for the weekend, production resumed on June 27 for scenes in the botany lab, the briefing room and sickbay. One of Grace Lee Whitney's favorite sets to work on throughout the series was the lab, which was the sickbay redecorated, as she enjoyed working with George Takei.
The Man Trap | Direction and filming
The episode marked the directorial debut of Joseph Pevney, who was hired by Gene L. Coon. Likewise this was Coon's first episode as script writer.
Arena (Star Trek: The Original Series) | Writing
The episode's writer, Richard Matheson, was inspired by Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson's famous character who is struggling with his evil alter ego. The subplot of four crewmembers stranded on the planet in freezing temperatures was added later as a re-write. Matheson opposed the idea as he thought B-stories slowed stories down. He said, "They added a whole subplot about people down on the planet, ready to freeze to death, because they have a transporter functioning problem...I stuck entirely with Bill." Leonard Nimoy, unhappy with part of the script that called for Spock to hit "evil" Kirk on the head with a phaser to render him unconscious, suggested the idea of the Vulcan nerve pinch.
The Enemy Within (Star Trek: The Original Series) | Production
"It's a Trap!", the 2011 episode of the animated comedy series "Family Guy" spoofing "Return of the Jedi", took its name from Ackbar's famous line; Ackbar himself makes an appearance in the episode, portrayed by the character Klaus Heissler – a talking goldfish – from the animated series "American Dad!". Additionally, a smartphone app was developed with the sole purpose of playing Ackbar's "It's a trap!" line whenever the user pushes a button.
Admiral Ackbar | "It's a trap!"
When Nancy goes out to fetch her husband, she beckons Darnell to follow her. Professor Crater is reluctant to be examined, telling Kirk that they only require salt tablets. Before McCoy can complete the examination, they hear a scream from outside. They find Darnell dead, with red ring-like mottling on his face, a plant root in his mouth, and Nancy standing over him saying she was unable to stop Darnell from tasting the plant. On board "Enterprise", Spock analyzes the plant. He confirms that it is poisonous, but that mottling is not a symptom. McCoy conducts a medical exam and, together with Spock, determines that all the salt was drained from Darnell's body.
The Man Trap | Plot
NBC ordered 16 episodes of "Star Trek", besides "Where No Man Has Gone Before". The first regular episode of "Star Trek", "The Man Trap", aired on Thursday, September 8, 1966 from 8:30 to 9:30 as part of an NBC "sneak preview" block. Reviews were mixed; while "The Philadelphia Inquirer" and "San Francisco Chronicle" liked the new show, "The New York Times" and "The Boston Globe" were less favorable, and "Variety" predicted that it "won't work", calling it "an incredible and dreary mess of confusion and complexities". Debuting against mostly reruns, "Star Trek" easily won its time slot with a 40.6 share.
Star Trek: The Original Series | Season 1 (1966–1967)
Canadian network CTV aired episodes of the first season of "Star Trek" on Tuesday nights instead of Thursdays and so ran "The Man Trap" on September 6, 1966, two days before NBC. Airing American programs early was a common practice among Canadian broadcasters in order to avoid direct competition for viewers and advertisers with American border stations airing the same program at the same time. The practice became obsolete once simultaneous substitution of commercials was permitted. A high-definition remastering of "The Man Trap", which introduced new special effects and starship exteriors as well as enhanced music and audio, was shown for the first time in the United States on September 29, 2007, in broadcast syndication.
The Man Trap | Overseas broadcasts and re-releases
She also thought that the alien looked silly, and felt that the plot had been reused from "The Man Trap". In 2012, Chris Cummins listed the eight best episodes of "The Animated Series" for website Topless Robot. He praised the writing of Schmerer, saying that the episode felt like an episode of "The Original Series", and placed it as the third best episode of the series. The episode was given four out of five stars in "Star Trek: The Complete Manual" by "SciFiNow" magazine. Alan Dean Foster expanded the episode into a novelization, adding such scenes as a Christmas party.
The Survivor (Star Trek: The Animated Series) | Reception and home media release
"The Schizoid Man" is the sixth episode of the of the American science fiction television series "", the 32nd episode overall first airing on January 23, 1989. The teleplay is written by Tracy Torme based on a story by Richard Manning and Hans Beimler, and directed by Les Landau. Set in the 24th century, the series follows the adventures of the Starfleet crew of the Federation starship Enterprise-D. In this episode, a dying scientist, Dr. Ira Graves, attempts to cheat death by transferring his memories and personality into a machine, specifically the "Enterprise" android officer Commander Data.
The Schizoid Man (Star Trek: The Next Generation) | Introduction
Gary, who is gullible and unable to lie, has been asking the production staff to give him a spy mission. However, when the production staff decided to give him the mission, they decided to trick him and created hidden camera episodes instead.
List of Running Man special series | Tru-Gary Show
On Twitter in April 2013, Marina Sirtis (Troi) named this as her favorite episode.
The Measure of a Man (Star Trek: The Next Generation) | Cast and crew reception
This episode was written by David Mack and John J. Ordover. Writer David Mack stated that the inspiration for this episode came from the 1981 Wolfgang Petersen film "Das Boot". These two writers also wrote the "Star Trek" comic book series "Divided We Fall."
Starship Down | Writing
Sussman was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, but as a child he moved with his family first to New Jersey and finally to Sarasota, Florida. He was a fan of "Star Trek" from an early age, and was involved in letter writing campaigns to local television stations when they dropped "" from broadcast syndication. He credits David Gerrold's book about the making of the episode "The Trouble with Tribbles" as being an influence on his future career. He wrote his first "Star Trek" story at the age of eight. Whilst attending Florida State University he took a class in script writing, penning a spec script for ";" the script that later helped Sussman obtain an internship with the writing staff of "".
Mike Sussman (TV series writer/producer) | Early life
It reappeared on-screen in "The Squire of Gothos". Although referred to officially as the "M-113 creature", during production it was called the "salt sucker" and fans of the show have taken to referring to the alien as the "salt vampire".
The Man Trap | The creature
And a librarian in another Star Trek episode was named 'Mr. Atoz' (A to Z).
Pun | Design
The episode was the television debut for writer Melinda M. Snodgrass. She had previously been an attorney at a law practice, but she quit the position, and a friend suggested that she become a writer. She wrote an outline of a "" novel for Pocket Books, which was purchased and became "The Tears of the Singers". She also acted as a co-writer for the "Wild Cards" anthology and subsequent books, alongside George R.R. Martin. Snodgrass submitted a spec script to Paramount Television for "The Measure of a Man" for "". As a result of the 1988 Writers Guild of America strike, the studio was looking for more scripts of this type and so it was accepted.
The Measure of a Man (Star Trek: The Next Generation) | Writing
The ruins were constructed out of cardboard boxes covered in gunite (a spray-on, cement-like product) to give them a rocky appearance. Production wrapped on June 30, at 2:55 p.m. Bob Justman later referred to Daniels as the "savior" of the series for delivering "The Man Trap" on schedule, and when the director for "The Naked Time" dropped out, Daniels took over and shot the episode back to back with "The Man Trap" a quarter of a day faster than the schedule. By the end of the original series, Daniels had filmed more episodes than any other director.
The Man Trap | Direction and filming
"Booby Trap" is the sixth episode of the of the American science fiction television series "", the 54th episode overall, first broadcast on October 30, 1989. Set in the 24th century, the series follows the adventures of the Starfleet crew of the Federation starship Enterprise-D. In this episode, the "Enterprise" discovers a derelict centuries-old alien battlecruiser and becomes trapped along with it.
Booby Trap (Star Trek: The Next Generation) | Introduction
"The Trap" is the 13th episode of "Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons", a British Supermarionation television series created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and produced by their company Century 21 Productions. Written by Alan Pattillo and directed by Alan Perry, it was first broadcast on 10 November 1967 on ATV Midlands. In this episode, the Mysterons plan to assassinate Earth's air force leaders. The script for "The Trap" was the only contribution to "Captain Scarlet" by Pattillo, a veteran writer/director of the Andersons' previous shows. The episode includes a number of scale model and special effects sequences, the filming of which posed several challenges for Century 21.
The Trap (Captain Scarlet) | Introduction
It was announced in March 2009 the show had read through an early draft of the script under the working title, "Episode VI: The Great Muppet Caper". The second working title, "We Have a Bad Feeling About This", was a reference to the recurring catchphrase that is used in the "Star Wars" films. The settled-upon title is a reference to the line by Admiral Ackbar in the film, which became an Internet meme through YTMND. Due to the declining number of unused "Family Guy" characters, the episode also features characters from "American Dad!" and "The Cleveland Show": Roger appears as Moff Jerjerrod, (with Vader/Stewie commenting "What, have we run out of our characters already?") Klaus appears as Admiral Ackbar, Tim appears as Wicket the Ewok and Rallo appears as Nien Nunb.
It's a Trap! | Background
After he left MGM, Solow was the executive producer of the short-lived NBC TV series "Man from Atlantis" (packaged by his own production company, which was owned by Taft Broadcasting) and produced the award-winning feature-length documentary "", starring Elvis Presley. Along with Robert H. Justman, he wrote "Inside Star Trek: The Real Story", published by Pocket Books in 1996. According to "Publishers Weekly", "As told by Solow, "Star Trek"s executive in charge of production, and Justman, "Star Trek"s co-producer, this is arguably the definitive history of the TV show...With plenty of behind-the-scenes material that will be of interest to Trek fans, this book puts a good deal of emphasis on the show's business side, elucidating production difficulties, cost overruns and the seemingly constant debate with NBC over the show's future." Although Solow is often credited with being the first to call Gene Roddenberry "The Great Bird of the Galaxy", drawn from one of George Takei's throwaway lines, as Mr Sulu, from the episode "The Man Trap", it was actually Robert Justman who coined the phrase.
Herbert Franklin Solow | Later work
"These Are the Voyages..." was written by Braga and Berman, the pair's only script of the fourth season. "Enterprise" writer Mike Sussman told TrekNation in May 2005 that Braga had considered the idea of an episode crossover featuring characters from other "Star Trek" series prior to the finale. Sussman's original idea for the episode was to have of "" treating an ill patient who may or may not have been Archer trapped in the future. Due to the subject matter, Sussman said his version would not have been suitable for the final episode. In interviews, Berman said the episode had always been intended as the season finale regardless of cancellation, and gave conflicting answers regarding whether Trip would still have been killed if the show was to continue.
These Are the Voyages... | Production
Episode writer Norman Spinrad based the script on a novelette "The Planet Eater" that had been rejected by a number of publishers. He revived the idea when he had a chance to pitch it to Executive Producer Gene Roddenberry. "I did 'The Doomsday Machine' fast," he recalled. Spinrad had written the script with actor Robert Ryan in mind to play Commodore Decker, but Ryan was unavailable, owing to prior commitments. Some sources hold that the episode was influenced by Fred Saberhagen's Berserker series, which features robotic killing machines built as a doomsday device by a now-vanished race to wipe out their rivals.
The Doomsday Machine (Star Trek: The Original Series) | Production
Meanwhile, Spock confirms that scans show only one person, Crater, on the planet; Kirk and Spock beam down to capture him. They find Green's body before Crater tries to frighten them away with phaser fire. After they stun him with a phaser beam, the dazed Crater reveals that the real Nancy was killed by the creature – the last member of a long-dead civilization of shape-shifters who feed on salt – a year earlier. The creature continued to take on the appearance of Nancy out of affection for Crater, and he has been feeding it. Kirk informs "Enterprise" of the creature's intrusion, as the landing party and Crater transport back to the ship.
The Man Trap | Plot
Vince is shot. Matt takes him and their stolen money home, where Vince recovers while a drunken Nina makes a pass at him.
Man-Trap | Plot
Abrams noted the continuity of the original series itself was inconsistent at times.
Star Trek (film) | Writing
Script editor Tony Barwick asked Alan Pattillo to write for "Captain Scarlet" because Pattillo had been a regular writer on "Thunderbirds". However, commitments to other projects meant that Pattillo was able to submit only one script for the new series. The castle setting was influenced by Gerry Anderson, who according to Pattillo "always liked to have a Scottish subject in his series." Pattillo's script called for technically-complex puppet scenes in which all ten marionettes playing conference delegates appear in the same shot. Due to the large number of guest characters the wardrobe department was required to make several new military uniforms.
The Trap (Captain Scarlet) | Production
With the success of "Blue Harvest" and "Something, Something, Something, Dark Side", a sequel episode, entitled "It's a Trap!" and parodying the film "Return of the Jedi", aired during the ninth season of "Family Guy". The episode was written by David A. Goodman and Cherry Chevapravatdumrong, and directed by Peter Shin, in his first episode since the fourth season.
Something, Something, Something, Dark Side | Sequel
The animated plant in that scene was a hand puppet controlled from under the table, and Whitney later recalled that the operator could see right up her skirt throughout the shoot and would occasionally try to grope her using the puppet. For the sickbay scenes when Spock bleeds, Daniels decided that Vulcans should have green blood. Roddenberry disliked the idea and unsuccessfully attempted to have it corrected in post-production. By the end of the fifth day of shooting, Daniels estimated that he was now only half an hour behind schedule. Days six and seven were spent on the sets used to show the surface of M-113; while the design of the planet did not match Johnson's vision, he was pleased with it nonetheless.
The Man Trap | Direction and filming
Joyce Muskat was one of only four writers with no prior television credits able to sell a script to "" (David Gerrold, Judy Burns, and Jean Lisette Aroeste were the other three). "Star Trek" co-producer Robert H. Justman read her unsolicited script, "The Answerer", and recommended it be bought. It was produced as Episode 63, "The Empath" during the third and final season, and was her only sale to television. Joyce Muskat is an active member of California's Society for Creative Anachronism.
Joyce Muskat | Introduction
The episode was released on DVD paired with "The Naked Time" as part of the general release of the series in 1999. There were no other extras added to that series of releases, except the DVD containing "Turnabout Intruder". "The Man Trap" was later released within a DVD box set of the first season in 2004; all three seasons of "The Original Series" were released as full-season box sets that year. The episode was included in the remastered season one release on DVD and Blu-ray in 2009.
The Man Trap | Home media release and other adaptations
Don Lanning was part of the team working on the creature effects for the 2009 film "Star Trek". He was the key sculptor for the production, and personally revamped some of the aliens from the original series, including the salt vampire seen in "The Man Trap". He described the original design as "hokey", and said that he tried to change it to "something organic". The new version of the creature was unused in the film, which pleased Lanning. The creature did return in "Star Trek Online", a massively multiplayer online role-playing game. Rather than a single salt vampire, the 20-player PvE mission "Mine Trap" saw a Romulan colony overrun with them.
The Man Trap | Later appearances
The script was written by Brannon Braga, who sought to write a time-travel related episode without using a "screwed up time-lines" type plot. Braga called it the most enjoyable episode he wrote all season, as he had never seen a time loop episode before but he did not know how to get the crew out of the loop, nor what the message was which would be passed to a future loop. He attributed the poker game, which was not in the original plan, to a sugar rush after eating pancakes. He felt that the destruction of the "Enterprise" was the best possible teaser for the episode, and he was pleased how he managed to tie the poker game into the overall plot.
Cause and Effect (Star Trek: The Next Generation) | Production
She later came up with the story idea for "" which was developed into a script by Melinda M. Snodgrass. Her final script for "TNG" was "". Her final "Star Trek" writing credit was on the "" episode "Q-Less", which was the only episode of that series to feature the character of Q.
Hannah Louise Shearer | "Star Trek"
"The Measure of a Man" is the ninth episode of the of the American science fiction television series "", the 35th episode overall. It was originally released on February 13, 1989, in broadcast syndication. It was written as a spec script by former attorney and "" novelist Melinda M. Snodgrass. It was directed by Robert Scheerer. Set in the 24th century, the series follows the adventures of the Starfleet crew of the Federation starship Enterprise-D. In this episode, the rights of the android officer Lt. Commander Data (Brent Spiner) are threatened by a scientist who wishes to dismantle him in order to produce replicas of him.
The Measure of a Man (Star Trek: The Next Generation) | Introduction
The episode was written by producers David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, their fourth of six scripts for the second season. This episode adapts content from the second novel, "A Clash of Kings", chapters Theon IV, Sansa IV and parts of Catelyn V and Catelyn VII.
A Man Without Honor | Writing
"It's a Trap!" is a direct-to-video special of the animated series "Family Guy" which later served as the double-episode season finale of the ninth season and is the final part of the series' "Star Wars" parody trilogy "". It is named after the phrase uttered by Admiral Ackbar in the Star Wars film "Return of the Jedi". The home video was first released on December 21, 2010 and later aired on Fox in the United States on May 22, 2011. The episode was written by Cherry Chevapravatdumrong and David A. Goodman and directed by Peter Shin. It retells the story of "Return of the Jedi" as "Blue Harvest" did with "Star Wars" and "Something, Something, Something, Dark Side" did with "The Empire Strikes Back" by recasting characters from "Family Guy" into roles from the film.
It's a Trap! | Introduction
The producers spent some time considering the creature's appearance. Justman suggested to Gene Roddenberry that it could be some sort of "terrifying, young lady" with a similar appearance to the green skinned Orion slave girl seen in "The Cage", but blue skinned and with orange hair. While Roddenberry thought that the idea was good, he already had an agreement with NBC that it would be an animal. Johnson envisaged the creature as a refugee with "ashen skin" wearing "gunnysack clothing". Daniels had some apprehension about using a monster-of-the-week format, asking "Do you go for cheap thrills or a more intelligent approach?" He said that the crew decided to "treat everything as if it were real" in order to help the audience buy into it.
The Man Trap | The creature
Berman relented on his request after several weeks, although the latter idea was later used in "". Ronald D. Moore wrote the script, and pitched it directly to Roddenberry in a meeting along with Piller and Berman. Roddenberry said that he hated the episode idea, as he felt that the animosity shown by the Picard brothers would not exist at that point in the future. He said it was not "Star Trek" as it had no action or jeopardy. After the meeting was over, Moore asked Piller and Berman what he should do and was advised to ignore Roddenberry's comments and write the script.
Family (Star Trek: The Next Generation) | Writing
In 2011, Tor.com rated this episode 8/10 and praised the acting performance of Morgan Sheppard and Brent Spiner, as they depict the scientist's personality. In 2012, Wired noted this episode as one of the worst of the "Star Trek: The Next Generation" television series. They suggest that the episode was inspired by an episode of the television show called "The Prisoner", and they tried to have the star of that show be the guest star in this episode.
The Schizoid Man (Star Trek: The Next Generation) | Reception
The episode was written by former "Star Trek" producer Gene L. Coon under the pen name "Lee Cronin".
Spock's Brain | Production
It was important for Fuller and Kurtzman, when they were developing the story of the episode, to "present both sides of the argument" by exploring both the Starfleet and Klingon perspectives, with the conflict taking inspiration from a global trend of isolationism. This episode ends with a cliffhanger, which CBS hoped would make viewers want to immediately start streaming the second episode.
The Vulcan Hello | Writing
Piller said that "it brings home the idea that even the greatest of men is subject to illness". He also said that the plot was a direct reference to the declining health of Roddenberry. The script was written by Peter S. Beagle, better known for the 1968 novel "The Last Unicorn".
Sarek (Star Trek: The Next Generation) | Production
Goldsman had written the first episode by the time of the series' official announcement in May 2020, and said the series would be more optimistic and episodic than "Discovery" and "Picard", a style closer to the original series. He did note that the series would continue to take advantage of serialized storytelling to develop character arcs. A writers room for the series was underway by July, with stories for 10 episodes already broken by the end of that month. In August, Kurtzman said "we have actually been able to get quite ahead in scripts" for the series due to the COVID-19 pandemic preventing the start of production.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds | Writing
Eventually, after selling other stories and having them scripted by other writers for the show, Johnson asked Serling to let him attempt a teleplay for the series, which was "A Penny for Your Thoughts". Later, after completing more scripts for "The Twilight Zone", he worked as a writer for other television series, including "Honey West", "", "Route 66" and "Kung Fu". Johnson also wrote the "" episode "The Man Trap", which was the first episode telecast. Johnson briefly had a L.A.-based radio program called "The Writer and the Story" which featured interviews with authors, including Charles Beaumont and William F.
George Clayton Johnson | Writing career
The story of a man who goes to a trip with his family and encounters life-changing event and falls into a mysterious trap.
Trap (TV series) | Synopsis
"The Measure of a Man" features several references to events in previous episodes, such as the discussion of Data's relationship with Tasha Yar, previously alluded to in "The Naked Now" and the revelation of Data's off switch in "Datalore". This is also the first episode to have a scene of the crew's poker game, which continued to feature throughout the series and was the final scene of the series finale, "".
The Measure of a Man (Star Trek: The Next Generation) | Writing
"Man of the People" is the 129th episode of the American science fiction television series "" and the third episode of the . Set in the 24th century, the series follows the adventures of the Starfleet crew of the Federation starship Enterprise-D. In this episode, which is a riff on the Oscar Wilde novel "The Picture of Dorian Gray", a visiting diplomat uses Deanna Troi as a recipient for unpleasant emotions.
Man of the People (Star Trek: The Next Generation) | Introduction
The Menagerie, Parts I and II, are the eleventh and twelfth episodes of the of the American science fiction television series, "". Written by series creator Gene Roddenberry and directed by Marc Daniels (part one) and Robert Butler (part two), it is the only two-part story in the original series. Part I was broadcast by NBC on November 17, 1966, and Part II was broadcast on November 24, 1966. In the episode, Spock abducts his former commander Christopher Pike, locks the "Enterprise" on a course to the forbidden planet and turns himself in for court-martial where he presents an elaborate story explaining his actions.
The Menagerie (Star Trek: The Original Series) | Introduction
The first episode that Shearer wrote for "The Next Generation" was "", which she later said was her favourite episode on the series. She pitched the idea to associate producer D.C. Fontana on the basis of using the families aboard the ship that had not been mentioned since the pilot episode of the series. She subsequently conducted an uncredited re-write on the teleplay for the episode "". She also re-wrote the teleplay for "Skin of Evil", which features the death of main cast character Tasha Yar and was originally written by Joseph Stefano. However, she was given a writing credit for this.
Hannah Louise Shearer | "Star Trek"
Born to a Jewish family in New York City, Justman was one of the pioneers behind "Star Trek", working both as an associate and supervising producer on "" and "". He was also the assistant director of the first two "Star Trek" episodes: "The Cage" and "Where No Man Has Gone Before." During "Star Trek: The Original Series", he served as Gene Roddenberry's right-hand man, who managed the show along with John D. F. Black, Herbert F. Solow, D.C. Fontana, and Gene L. Coon. Justman was reportedly the first to call Gene Roddenberry "The Great Bird of the Galaxy," drawn from a throwaway line from the episode "The Man Trap".
Robert H. Justman | Career
The original name was "Ian Fleming's Solo." Robert Towne, Sherman Yellen, and Harlan Ellison later wrote scripts for the series. Author Michael Avallone, who wrote the first original novelisation based upon the series (see below), is sometimes incorrectly cited as the show's creator.
The Man from U.N.C.L.E. | Background
Series writer and supervising producer Brent Fletcher came up with an idea to split the 4,722 hours into five acts, with each written like the chapter of the book. The acts were given labels such as "The Stranger" and "The Plan", and this structure served as the basis for Titley's script. Though many similarities were noted between the episode and the film "The Martian", Titley had not seen the film when he was writing the script, and instead was inspired by the general science fiction trope of "a person alone on a planet" and such films as "Enemy Mine". Elizabeth Henstridge described the episode as "a coming-of-age story.
4,722 Hours | Writing
Stover describes the Clone Wars as "the perfect Jedi trap". This is the first account of the full extent of Palpatine's intricate plotting.
Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (novel) | Order 66
"My father always felt that 'Questor' was the one that got away," said Rod Roddenberry. "He believed that the show had the potential to be bigger than 'Star Trek.'"
The Questor Tapes (TV series) | New series
Keith DeCandido gave the episode a warp factor rating of 4/10 for Tor.com, writing, "There’s a lot of good in this episode—Picard’s archaeological geekiness, the simplicity of both the trap and the ultimate solution, the nobility of the Promellian captain, the whole ships-in-bottles bit—but ultimately it’s impossible to rate it as a good one because it’s "so gosh-darned creepy!" The A.V. Club's Zack Handlen gave the episode a "B" grade, writing, "The big climax shifts entirely to Picard's shoulders, as he takes over the helm to pilot the Enterprise out of the debris field. It's the best part of the episode, and a comforting ...
Booby Trap (Star Trek: The Next Generation) | Reception
Writer Maurice Hurley requested that his contributions to this episode appear under the name of C.J. Holland because of the number of extensive re-writes by the show's creator Gene Roddenberry. Hurley later described the situation as a "misunderstanding" as the situation was subsequently resolved and proved to be a turning point for the series in how scripts were produced. Subsequently Roddenberry spent less time conducting detailed re-writes. Some of the elements of Hurley's original story expanded on the back story of Q's species, explaining that there were only three Qs but another hundred thousand residents on their planet who required relocation as the planet was dying.
Hide and Q | Production
Story-writers Brannon Braga and Joe Menosky developed the idea for the episode from a pitch from John de Lancie, who played Q in the series, which would've included Q and Guinan. Braga and Menosky wanted to create a more grounded story, and so a different direction was taken. Menosky stated about the writing, "Our original inspiration for this was to do an episode where we didn't see Voyager at all. All we saw was Kate Mulgrew playing a distant ancestor. The idea was to tell a quintessentially Star Trek story without any science fiction."
11:59 (Star Trek: Voyager) | Production
This episode's teleplay was written by Brannon Braga. Brannon Braga was one of the major writers for Star Trek in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Some of his writing was not without controversy, and he later noted in an interview in the 2010s, "I will take full responsibility for any flawed or downright bad storytelling or creative decisions that hurt the franchise."
Parallax (Star Trek: Voyager) | Writing
The episode was directed by Keith Gordon and written by executive producer Chip Johannessen.
The Man in the Basement | Production
The Starship Trap is a "" novel written by Mel Gilden.
The Starship Trap | Introduction
Chabon unintentionally incorporated his personal experiences into this storyline after his father died during the making of the season.
Star Trek: Picard (season 1) | Writing
The pair had previously worked together on the original "" television series. Lewin's work on that series included co-writing the episode "Datalore", which was the final episode of "Star Trek" written by Roddenberry. The other episodes that he was credited for writing were "", "11001001" and "The Arsenal of Freedom". Lewin retired after working on the show during the , with Maurice Hurley hired to replace him as head writer.
Robert Lewin (screenwriter) | Screenwriting
"To Trap a Spy" is the third and longest version of the same story, in this case, the pilot known as "The Vulcan Affair". The original pilot "Solo" was filmed in color and, as was standard at the time for U.S. network television shows, shown primarily to network executives to gain their approval for a series, and if not picked up for filming, released as a second feature. After the series was ordered the pilot episode was edited down to fit a one-hour timeslot, modified somewhat to – among other minor changes – substitute Leo G. Carroll's character Alexander Waverley for that of Mr.
To Trap a Spy | Production
The series' writers room is based at Kurtzman's Secret Hideout offices in Santa Monica, and includes "fans who all have very different relationships to "Trek"," which Kurtzman said is "a healthy thing". Fuller wanted to differentiate the series from the previous 700+ episodes of "Star Trek" by taking advantage of the streaming format of All Access and telling a single story arc across the entire first season. He and Kurtzman developed this story from the "DNA" of certain "The Original Series" episodes to find "the spirit of what "Star Trek" offers, both in terms of high-concept science fiction storytelling and really wonderful metaphors for the human condition".
Star Trek: Discovery | Writing
Once Gimpel was wearing the mask, cuts were made into its wrinkles to offer the actress some limited vision while wearing it. Gloves were modified by Chang to give the fingers the appearance of tentacles with suction cups. William Ware Theiss created the rest of the costume out of a fur bodysuit. Johnson praised both Chang and Gimpel, saying that while the latter embodied the character, the design work meant that, in the final scene, it was as if the crew had to kill a "helpless dog". After filming, the costume was kept in Justman's office, becoming the first in an ever-growing number of alien costumes accumulated there.
The Man Trap | The creature
It was Johnson who suggested the creature should be a shapeshifter, having used the idea in an episode of "The Twilight Zone" he wrote called "The Four of Us Are Dying". The creature was designed by Wah Chang, and dancer Sandra Gimpel wore the costume on-screen. She had previously appeared as a Talosian in "The Cage". The head of the creature costume was sculpted in clay then covered in a plaster cast. Once the cast was removed, liquid latex was applied to create a flexible single-piece mask, which was then painted. Chang added a white wig and attached glass lenses to the mask for eyes.
The Man Trap | The creature
The series' first episode was written by Akiva Goldsman from a story he wrote with Alex Kurtzman and Jenny Lumet. Jonathan Frakes will direct for the series.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds | Episodes
The others discover that the "creator" has deceived them and that the barrier is, in fact, intended to keep it from escaping Sha Ka Ree.
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier | Plot