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Connections Between Star Trek and Other Classic Sci-Fi TV Series
The Enterprise traveled the vast expanse of interstellar space, but Star Trek didn’t happen in a vacuum. It grew from a lineage of earlier science fiction programs and existed in competition with a new generation of sci-fi shows. In a variety of sometimes surprising ways, it remained connected to its television brethren.
Rocky Jones, Space Ranger (1954–56) and Other Early Space Operas
A dozen years before the starship Enterprise launched its five-year mission, the squeaky clean, granite-jawed Rocky Jones battled interplanetary villains in the TV serial Rocky Jones, Space Ranger, which is sometimes noted as an influence on Star Trek. Like Trek, the show chronicled the adventures of spacefaring military men who serve a freedom-loving civilian government (the Federation-like United Worlds of the Solar System). Matt Jefferies’s production designs for the Enterprise share some intriguing similarities to the Space Rangers’ rocket ships, most notably the prominent forward view screen on the bridge and automatic slide-open doors. (Both of these much-copied innovations originate with Rocky Jones.) Also, the Starfleet uniforms worn in the Trek feature films, from The Wrath of Khan through The Undiscovered Country, closely resemble the dress uniforms of the Space Rangers.
However, creator Gene Roddenberry never acknowledged the program as an inspiration (by the time Rocky Jones hit the air, Roddenberry was working as a Los Angeles police sergeant). Most of the similarities between Rocky Jones and Star Trek can be chalked up to common influences such as the Flash Gordon serials of the 1930s and author Robert A. Heinlein’s 1948 novel Space Cadet. The syndicated Rocky Jones ran for just two seasons due to lukewarm ratings and problems with its cast. The show was produced on film (rather than broadcast live, like most other early programs) to enable producer Roland Reed to utilize more elaborate visual effects than previous science fiction serials. Although crude-looking today, the show’s special effects represented an advance over primitive sci-fi TV serials such as Captain Video and His Video Rangers (1949–55) and Tom Corbett, Space Cadet (1950-55).
Visual effects aside, however, Rocky Jones remains of a piece with all the other juvenile space operas that were common during the early days of television, shows that offered one-dimensional characters, simplistic good-versus-evil plots, and poor science (writers, for example, often confused planets, moons and asteroids). There are several, sometimes tangential, links between these series and Star Trek. James Doohan costarred on the Canadian-made Space Command (1953–54). Ed Kemmer, who had starred as Commander Buzz Corry on Space Patrol (1950–54), was among those actors originally considered for the role of Captain Pike in “The Cage.” And author James Blish, who novelized eleven volumes worth of Star Trek teleplays and penned the first Trek novel aimed at adult readers, had written for Captain Video. More importantly, however, these programs and others like them—also including Captain Z-Ro (1951–54), Rod Brown of the Rocket Rangers (1953–54) and Flash Gordon (1954–55)—fixed in the minds of viewers and network executives the idea that science fiction adventure shows were kiddie fare, a stereotype Roddenberry would battle in order to get Star Trek produced, and which the show would struggle against in its fight for ratings survival. On the other hand, many of the six- and seven-year-olds who watched these programs later became Star Trek’s eighteen- and nineteen-year-old viewers.
The Twilight Zone (1959–64) and Other SF Anthologies
As the first science fiction program aimed at adults to succeed with audiences and critics, creator Rod Serling’s Twilight Zone was an important forerunner of Star Trek.
During the same era as the primitive space operas, the first science fiction TV anthologies debuted: ABC’s Tales of Tomorrow (1951–53) and CBS’ short-lived Out There (1951–52), cancelled after just twelve episodes. Although shrugged off by most adult viewers with the same indifference shown the likes of Rocky Jones, these pioneering programs represented the first serious attempt to translate literary science fiction to television. Tales of Tomorrow was cocreated by acclaimed author Theodore Sturgeon, who would later write for Star Trek, and featured adaptations of stories by Sturgeon, Arthur C. Clarke, Fredric Brown, and other notable authors, along with classics such as Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Doohan appeared on Tales of Tomorrow. A few years later, Ziv Television (the company that would later hire Roddenberry away from the LAPD) introduced the syndicated Science Fiction Theatre (1955–57). Although it lacked the literary pedigree of Tales of Tomorrow, Science Fiction Theatre represented another serious attempt at adult-oriented sci-fi TV. DeForest Kelley made three appearances on the show (twice playing doctors, coincidentally).
The genre’s true television breakthrough came with writer-producer Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone in 1959. Although its stories were more often dark fantasy than true science fiction, The Twilight Zone was generally categorized as sci-fi and proved that audiences would embrace speculative television if it was well crafted. The show earned respectable ratings throughout its five seasons and won three Emmys and three Hugo Awards. Like Star Trek, The Twilight Zone frequently commented on current events such as the Cold War and the civil rights movement through the lens of sci-fi and fantasy. For all these reasons, the Zone remains an important forerunner of Trek. But there are also more direct links between the two programs:
• William Shatner starred in two memorable Twilight Zone episodes—“Nick of Time” (1960) and the classic “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet” (1963). “Nightmare” is the one where airline passenger Shatner spies a gremlin on the wing of his plane.
• Leonard Nimoy, Doohan, and Takei also played minor supporting roles on The Twilight Zone, in “A Quality of Mercy” (1961), “Valley of the Shadow” (1963), and “The Encounter” (1964), respectively.
• Several notable Trek guest stars also ventured into The Twilight Zone on one or more occasions, including Stanley Adams (Cyrano Jones from “The Trouble with Tribbles”), John Fiedler (Mr. Hengist from “Wolf in the Fold”), Robert Lansing (Gary Seven from “Assignment: Earth”), and William Windom (Commodore Decker from “The Doomsday Machine”). John Hoyt, who played the Enterprise’s original chief medical officer in “The Cage,” appeared in two Twilight Zone installments.
• Richard Matheson, who wrote fourteen acclaimed teleplays for The Twilight Zone including “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet,” later penned the key Season One Trek episode “The Enemy Within.” George Clayton Johnson, another well-known science fiction author, contributed to seven Twilight Zone scripts and later wrote “The Man Trap,” the first Star Trek episode ever broadcast.
• Robert Butler, who directed two Zones , also helmed “The Cage.” And Robert Grist, who directed the Twilight Zone episode “I Dream of Genie,” later oversaw “The Galileo Seven.”
Additionally, a handful of Twilight Zone episodes feature storylines remarkably similar to later Trek scenarios.
• “People Are Alike All Over” (1960), like both “The Cage” and the animated Trek adventure “Eye of the Beholder,” features humans held captive in an alien zoo. Coincidentally, Susan Oliver (Vina in “The Cage”) was also among the captive earthlings in the Twilight Zone episode.
• “It’s a Good Life” (1961), one of the show’s most famous episodes (later reprised for the 1983 Twilight Zone feature film), and Trek’s “Charlie X” both involve boys with terrifying, superhuman psychokinetic abilities.
• “The Parallel” (1963) and “Mirror, Mirror” are both tales about space travelers who accidentally cross over into parallel universes.
• “The Mute” (1963) and “The Empath” both feature speechless women with extrasensory powers. “The Mute” was one of Matheson’s episodes.
• “The Man Trap,” written by George Clayton Johnson, shares many common elements with an earlier story by the same author titled “All of Us Are Dying,” about an extraterrestrial being capable of transforming its appearance at will. “All of Us Are Dying” was adapted for the Zone by Serling under the title “Four of Us Are Dying.”
It should be noted, however, that most of these scenarios—humans trapped in an outer space zoo, mirror universes, and stories involving ESP—were ideas commonly explored in science fiction literature prior to either The Twilight Zone or Star Trek.
The Outer Limits (1963–65)
The 1964 Outer Limits episode “Fun and Games,” featuring the fearsome Calco alien (pictured), and Star Trek’s “Arena” were both based on the same Fredric Brown short story.
There are a dizzying number of connections between Star Trek and The Outer Limits, another classic sci-fi anthology program from the 1960s. Although The Outer Limits was not a ratings success and was cancelled midway through its second season, many fans, critics, and historians now consider it the best program of its type ever broadcast. The Showtime network later revived the series, producing new episodes from 1995 to 2002. Many of the program’s Star Trek connections arose through Bob Justman, who worked as a production manager on The Outer Limits before joining Star Trek as an associate producer. Others can be attributed to the fact that both shows, in trying to produce high-quality, adult-oriented science fiction, shared similar influences and sought the same creative talent. And some are purely coincidental.
• William Shatner starred in the Outer Limits episode “Cold Hands, Warm Heart,” as the leader of a space exploration program known as Project Vulcan. Leonard Nimoy appeared on the show twice, including playing a prominent supporting role in the classic “I, Robot” episode. Trek regulars Doohan and Grace Lee Whitney also worked on The Outer Limits. More than a dozen Trek guest stars appeared on The Outer Limits as well, including Sally Kellerman (Dr. Elizabeth Dehner from “Where No Man Has Gone Before”), Lawrence Montaigne (Stonn, Spock’s rival from “Amok Time”), Arlene Martel (T’Pring, Spock’s fiancée from “Amok Time”), Barry Atwater (legendary Vulcan leader Sarek in “The Savage Curtain”), and Michael Ansara (the Klingon commander Kang in “Day of the Dove”). John Hoyt—yes, the same John Hoyt from “The Cage” and two Twilight Zones—landed a role in “I, Robot” and two other Outer Limits installments.
• Voice actor Vic Perrin, who worked on several Star Trek episodes (perhaps most memorably as the voice for NOMAD in “The Changeling”), also served as The Outer Limits’ trademark “control voice.” Every episode began with Perrin intoning, “There is nothing wrong with your television set …”
• Screenwriter Harlan Ellison, who wrote “The City on the Edge of Forever,” also penned two classic Outer Limits episodes—“Demon with a Glass Hand,” which earned a Writers Guild Award, and “Soldier,” which director James Cameron credits as an inspiration for The Terminator. “City,” “Demon,” and “Soldier” all won Hugo Awards. Meyer Dolinski, who wrote “Plato’s Stepchildren,” authored three Outer Limits teleplays. Jerry Sohl, who under the pseudonym Nathan Butler contributed to the script of “This Side of Paradise,” also earned credit on two Outer Limits teleplays.
• In addition to Justman, several other Outer Limits veterans went on to work for Star Trek, many of them hired by Justman. These include makeup artist Fred Phillips and directors Gerd Oswald, James Goldstone, and John Erman. In addition, Project Unlimited, the specialty prop shop operated by sculptor Wah Chang, and Van der Veer Photo Effects, were important contributors to both programs.
• Several props from The Outer Limits also found their way to Star Trek, mostly through Chang and Project Unlimited. In “The Cage,” two of the aliens seen in habitats neighboring Captain Pike’s wore monster suits Chang designed for The Outer Limits. The birdman creature was created for “Second Chance,” and the bearlike beast was seen in “Fun and Games.” (Both costumes were reused for The Outer Limits’ “The Duplicate Man.”) The spore-shooting flowers seen in “This Side of Paradise” were originally produced for the Outer Limits’ “Specimen: Unknown.” Phillips created the bubble-headed Vians from “The Empath” using prosthetic appliances left over from The Outer Limits’ pilot, “The Galaxy Being.” And the Horta from “The Devil in the Dark” was a simplified version of, or perhaps a prototype for, the “microbe creature” seen in The Outer Limits episode “The Probe.” Both the microbe creature and the Horta were portrayed by the suit’s designer, Janos Prohaska.
• The Outer Limits’ “Fun and Games” and Star Trek’s “Arena” were both adapted from the same Fredric Brown short story, also titled “Arena.”
Lost in Space (1965–68) and Other Irwin Allen Productions
This TV Guide ad trumpeted the debut of the much-reviled (by Gene Roddenberry, anyway) Lost in Space.
Lost in Space and Star Trek were linked primarily by the animosity Roddenberry harbored for producer Irwin Allen’s rival program, and by the disdain most of Roddenberry’s creative team felt toward it. In 1964, during what was supposed to be a simple pitch meeting for Star Trek, Roddenberry was grilled by CBS executives for nearly two hours. Later he learned the network had no interest in Trek because it had already purchased another sci-fi drama—Lost in Space. Roddenberry was apoplectic and feared that his ideas (including strategies for controlling costs and other details) would be used to benefit his competition. Roddenberry’s creative team also loathed Lost in Space because they saw it as just another juvenile space opera, exactly the type of TV science fiction they were trying to make viewers forget.
Nevertheless, Allen’s brand of lighthearted, kid-friendly, action-oriented sci-fi proved more popular than Star Trek’s more thoughtful, adult approach. In all, Allen launched four science fiction series during the decade: Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1964–68), Lost in Space (1965–68), The Time Tunnel (1966–67), and Land of the Giants (1968–70). Not surprisingly, given the enmity between Trek and Allen (or at least Allen’s brand of sci-fi), there were fewer links between Roddenberry’s show and Allen’s series. Yet connections did exist.
• A handful of Trek guest stars also appeared on Lost in Space, including Stanley Adams (Cyrano Jones from “The Trouble with Tribbles”) and Michael (Kang) Ansara. Carey Wilber, who wrote the original story for “Space Seed,” was a Lost in Space contributor. Directors Tony Leader (“For the World Is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky”) and Leon Penn (“The Enemy Within”) also worked on the rival show. So did Alexander Courage, composer of the famous Star Trek title theme. Billy Mumy—Will Robinson himself—was a Star Trek fan who went on to write stories for Trek comic books and appear in the Deep Space Nine episode “The Siege of AR-558.”
• George Takei made a pre-Trek appearance on Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. Trek guest stars, including Roger C. Carmel (Harry Mudd) and Larry Montaigne, also worked on Voyage. So did directors Gerd Oswald (“The Conscience of the King” and “The Alternative Factor”—not to mention fourteen Outer Limits episodes) and James Goldstone (“Where No Man Has Gone Before” and “What Are Little Girls Made Of?”).
• The ubiquitous John Hoyt made two appearances on The Time Tunnel, as did Montaigne. Director Herschel Daugherty helmed two Treks (“The Savage Curtain” and “Operation—Annihilate!”) and two Time Tunnels.
• Shimon Wincelberg, who contributed to the scripts for “Dagger of the Mind” and “The Galileo Seven” under the pen name S. Bar-David, also wrote seven Lost in Space teleplays, along with episodes of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea and Time Tunnel. Writer Oliver Crawford, who contributed to the teleplays for “The Cloud Minders,” “Let That Be Your Last Battlefield,” and “The Galileo Seven,” also wrote episodes of Voyage and Land of the Giants.
Allen’s programs dominated American science fiction television during the 1960s and retain nostalgic audiences. But Lost in Space and its kin have not aged as gracefully as Star Trek, nor have they had anything like the cultural impact of the Trek franchise. Allen’s shows offered entertainment, but Trek provided inspiration.
Other Series
There are also links between Star Trek and a few other classic sci-fi shows.
The only real precedent for an hour-long, adult-oriented science fiction TV show was Men into Space, a little-watched near-future series about the space program (it pessimistically predicted that the first moon landing would occur in 1975), which ran on CBS for one season, 1959–60.
Producer Quinn Martin’s The Invaders, about a secret alien invasion, ran on ABC in 1967–68, during Star Trek’s second season. The show welcomed guest stars Diana Muldaur (from “Is There in Truth No Beauty?” and “Return to Tomorrow,” and later Dr. Pulaski during the second season of The Next Generation), Ian Wolfe (Mr. Atoz from “All Our Yesterdays”), and Larry Montaigne. Screenwriters Ted Sturgeon and Art Wallace (“Obsession” and “Assignment: Earth”) penned episodes of the show.
Finally, there’s My Favorite Martian, which ran on CBS from 1963 to 1966, which deserves more credit than it generally receives as a Trek forerunner. Although it was a comedy, My Favorite Martian stands as the first science fiction-themed TV program featuring recurring characters to find success with adult audiences. Star Trek producer Gene L. Coon wrote a teleplay for My Favorite Martian, and director David Alexander (“Plato’s Stepchildren,” “The Way to Eden”) helmed ten episodes of the series. Ray Walston—who played the show’s titular grumpy extraterrestrial—later appeared as the character Boothby, the curmudgeonly groundskeeper at Starfleet headquarters, in episodes of both The Next Generation and Voyager. It was a nod to the seldom-acknowledged debt Trek owed to its comedic predecessor.