Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
Captain's Log Stardate 3372.7
First officer Spock seems to be under stress
Spock: If I want anything from you I'll ask for it
McCoy:If you don't get him to Vulcan within a week - 8 days at the outside
he'll die!
T'Pring: I await you.
Uhura: Who is she?
Spock: My wife.
T'Pau: Thee chooses the challenge.
Thee choose thy campion.
This one!
This combat is to the death.
Ufff. (Choking sound)
He's dead...
Opening Commentary Leonard Nimoy
Toward the end of 'Star Trek's first season,
it became apparent
that Mr. Spock was a bit of a phenomenon.
The fan mail was coming in in sacks,
and fans clamored to learn more about the stoic Vulcan.
The second season produced several episodes
in which we delved more into Spock's background.
In "Journey to Babel," we get to meet Spock's parents;
and in "This Side of Paradise," his lost love.
Both of these episodes shed light
on the Enterprise's enigmatic first officer,
but the episode that stands out as a favorite
for both the fans and myself
in Theodore Sturgeon's riveting story
of Vulcan passion, Vulcan tradition, and Vulcan love-
"Amok Time. "
End of Opening Commentary
Don't just watch: beam aboard the dominion at www.scifi.com right now
enter the Trek chatroom and experience Star Trek the interactive way.
Oh Captain!
-Got a minute? -A minute.
Spock really is annoying the hell out of me today, Jim.
INSIGHTS Chekov and Davy Jones
Davy Jones, Meet Mr. Chekov...
Mr. Sulu, you don't think-
Koenig: The reason for the introduction
of the character was very pragmatic.
They were looking for the 8- to 14-year-olds to tune in to 'Star Trek',
and they wanted somebody who presented-
and I use the word "presented" advisedly - a young image...
you desire something, lord?
Oh, yes. Thank you.
Koenig: And who would have an appearance that would be reminiscent
of the pop image of the time,
most accurately represented by the Monkees.
Monkees: ## hey, hey, we're the Monkees ##
and particularly Davy Jones.
I think I'm going to get spacesick.
He was represented as kind of a spunky...
Chekov here. Mr. Chekov-
post-adolescent, a groovy kind of a character,
so it's a very almost capricious or superficial reason,
but on such things does life revolve.
End of INSIGHTS
"AMOK TIME"
Alright, Spock, let's have it.
It is undignified for a woman...
Now, what about this? The famous Vulcan hand salute.
How did that start?
We were doing an episode called "Amok Time."
Spock had to get back to his home planet of Vulcan because as a child
he had been betrothed in marriage
and now it was time to fulfill that comitment.
We arrived on the planet, the three key figures -
Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock, and Dr. McCoy
And we were greeted by a precession coming up from the city
When the precession arrived,
we discovered that Vulcan is a Matriarchy.
The head of the planet being brought out,
carried in a sedan chair by some bearers.
The character was named "T'Pau"
played by Celia Lovsky, wonderful actress.
And she was to be seated; I was to approach her
We were to say some nice things to each other
I thought it was a special opportunity
to create something special
in the way of Vulcan greeting
some kind of a signal that they have between each other.
And I said to the director, 'humans shake hands when they meet"
"miltary people salute each other"
And he asked me what I had in mind.
I was raised in an Orthodox Jewish family.
During the high holidays, I'd go to the temple with my parents
I would sit with my father and my brother.
At a particular point during the service,
the Kohanim, who were the priests of the Hebrew tribes
would bless the congregation
with a blessing that's familiar to all of us from the Old and New Testament
"May the Lord bless you and keep you and so forth"
When that time comes during this ritual
the congregation turns their back and does not look at these men
I am not sure of the reason for that
but in any case, children are taught not to look
at the Kohanim while they are performing this blessing.
My father would say, "Don't look. Turn away."
And, of course, being a curious 8 or 9 year old child
I peeked.
What I saw was this:
These gentlemen were holding their hands in this position.
while they were giving this benediction to the congregation.
I've never been able to find out for sure
exactly why they do that
but I think it probably has to do with the fact
that this is the shape of the letter Shin
in the Hebrew alphabet
Shin is the first letter in the word Shaddai which means
And these gentlemen are probably using a symbol of the Almighty's name
in blessing the congregation.
I was fascinated.
I thought, "I've got to learn how to do that."
And I worked long and hard to accomplish it.
So now I suggested to the director that perhaps
Vulcans do that when they greet.
He was intrigued. Liked the idea.
And he went to Celia Lovsky, the actress in the scene,
and explained to her what we would do.
She would be carried in, sat down, she would raise her hand
and salute. I would respond.
The problem was Celia couldn't do it.
Something like that is what we got.
So we worked at it pretty hard.
We figured out a way, through a simple camera trick
to get it done.
The camera moved in fairly close on her
and below the camera frame, just as I'm doing now
she got her right hand in the proper position.
And when the time came, she was ready.
She got that hand up there
and the Vulcan hand salute was born.
When you see this piece of footage now,
watch carefully and you'll notice
that her hands are below the frame line.
and then the hand pops up.
Watch this.
Bones, do you know who that is?
T'Pau. The only person to turn down a seat on the Federation Council.
T'Pau. Officiating at Spock's Wedding?
He never mentioned that his family was this important.
INSIGHTS Wig Trek
Koenig: My hair had been very short at the time
and again, they were looking for somebody
who would more closely approximate the current fashion,
best represented by the kids on The Monkees,
so they had a long wig. It was a woman's wig.
We went up to Max Factor. We came back with 4 or 5 wigs-
blond, red, brunette,
curly, straight, bangs,
and after I tried them on,
then all the executives tried it on,
which was rather curious and made me wonder just what I was getting into,
but ultimately, they decided to go
with the brunette wig, woman's wig,
and which I wore for- I think-6 episodes
until my own hair grew out.
[End Insights]
Why?