Star Trek at 50: The Corbomite Maneuver

Season 1

Episode 2: The Corbomite Maneuver

Filmed: May 1966

First Air Date: November 10, 1966 (10th episode aired)

Karen: Probably best remembered now for pint-sized Commander Balok (played by Ron Howard's little brother Clint) offering Kirk and company glasses of 'tranya,' 'The Corbomite Maneuver' is surprisingly well-crafted considering it was the first episode filmed following the second pilot. It was in this episode that the  Enterprise crew we know and love would come together. DeForest Kelley was now aboard as ship's doctor Leonard McCoy, and Nichelle Nichols had been hired to play Lieutentant Uhura, the ship's Communications Officer. In the role of the Captain's Yeoman, Janice Rand, was Grace Lee Whitney. Interestingly, according to These are The Voyages by author Marc Cushman, all three were signed to limited contracts. Kelley and Whitney were guaranteed at least seven episodes each, while Nichols, who was brought in later than everyone else, received no such guarantee, but did get a rather high pay rate per episode of $1000. In comparison, Shatner received $5,000 per show, while co-star Nimoy took home $1,250 per episode, and Kelley was making  $850. As budgets became more and more strained on the show, Desilu would renegotiate with Nichols.

Karen: With the exception of Whitney, all of the supporting cast appeared in more episodes than they were originally contracted for. It became apparent quickly that the chemistry between the characters -and particularly between Kirk, Spock, and McCoy - was a key element of the show. This initial episode has a lot of nice character interactions, particularly between Kirk and McCoy. The peaceful nature of the ship's mission is borne out here, as once Balok's ship is disabled, Kirk takes McCoy and young officer Bailey over to ensure the alien is all right. The decision to have Bailey stay for a time with Balok, as a way to exchange information about their two cultures, showed hope that we could find common cause with others, and overcome our fears. That hope was one sorely needed in the 60s -and today.

Karen: Although show producer and creator Gene Roddenberry had wanted to premiere the show with this episode, the demands of post-production special effects got in the way. The first company hired to handle them, the Howard Anderson Company, found the challenge of a weekly science fiction show greater than anticipated. "The Corbomite Maneuver," with its gigantic First Federation starship and other effects, took longer than planned, and was pushed back repeatedly in the schedule, until it was finally shown as episode ten, much later than anyone had hoped. By that time, the characters and their relationships were much better established. But this episode is still a standout.

Karen: One last thing: that Balok puppet scared the crap out of me as a kid! My brother used to torment me whenever it was on screen in the end credits, and try to force me to look at it!

Late breaking Trek fun: Our pal Mike W. sent us this great snippet from the book, Star Trek 30 Years Special Collectors Edition by Lee Anne Nicholson. It seems Clint Howard was only willing to go so far for his role as Balok...Thanks again Mike!

Karen: As a special addendum to today's post, we'd like to give a shout out to our Super-Blog Team-Up team-mate, Paul O'Connor, proprietor of the Longbox Graveyard. Paul's comic story, 4 Seconds, is premiering on Mark Waid's Thrillbent.com site today. Paul won an open microphone pitch contest at San Diego Comic Con a couple of years ago, and now his comic, with art by Karl Kesel, will appear free on the site. Paul's pitch went like this:

4 Seconds is a noir thriller about a petty thief who discovers she can see four seconds into the future. That’s just enough precognition to get into trouble, but not nearly enough time to pull off the heist that will save her sister’s life.

Karen: Congratulations to Paul! Please take a look!