Dec 13, 2014

Roddenberry's Discarded Star Trek Pilot Part 2 (3?)

I was just going to forget the whole Star Trek script thing, when I realized I was out of ideas.

If you didn't get what I posted with Part 1, here it is.  Quick precis: I met with someone (who wants to be called Hells_Housemaid) that had sent me material in the past.  She showed me a script she claims she took from Majel Barrett's trash.  I took a few pictures to transcribe and put here, but lost some (thanks Google!).  She's just sent me a note asking me to post what I have.  HH is short on cash and really wants someone to buy it from her soon.

So, what happens in the script?  I was a little surprised at the plot; it's almost exactly like Where No Man Has Gone Before.  The Enterprise encounters an ion cloud.  Two members of the crew (a man and a woman) manifest psychic powers.  The man, a long-time friend of Kirk's and the ship's chief surgeon, goes bad.  Eventually the woman kills him with her powers and dies.

The only real difference in the story is the beginning.  The episode starts with Kirk walking aboard the Enterprise for the first time.  Commodore Barron officially gives him the ship.  He meets Spock and Scotty.  McCoy is transferred in at the end of the episode after Mitchell dies.

The biggest surprise for me was how funny the script was.  The Enterprise is a new vessel in this version.  Getting it started and out into space comes fraught with problems the crew has to sort out.  Much of the humor comes from Scotty and Spock trying to solve the problems as they keep cropping up.

After some negotiation, HH let me take four pictures of the document plus one for the cover page.  I eventually decided to take shots of the most interesting parts.  Namely, the problems with getting the Enterprise out into space and some of the places where Roddenberry was prescient about our technology.

iPads, teleconferencing, and even digital cameras are in this draft.  Much of it was cut for the final version "Where No Man Has Gone Before."  My guess is the studio execs thought Roddenberry's vision of the future a bit too strange and he cut it back.

From about four pages in after being briefed on his mission and taking official control of the Enterprise:




              INT. BRIDGE

SULU, UHURA, SPOCK are at their duty stations. KIRK enters
through the TURBOLIFT and sits on his seat.

KIRK
Secure all quarters.

UHURA
(into her earpiece)
All decks, secure stations. All
decks, secure stations.

KIRK
Release magnetic moorings.

SULU
(pressing buttons)
Moorings away.

Kirk presses a button on the arm of his chair (right side)
and holds it down.

KIRK
Mr. Scott, are you ready to try out
these new engines?

SCOTTY
(O.S.)
Aye, sir! Ready and willing.

Kirk releases the button.

KIRK
Mr. Sulu, ahead time warp factor 1.

SULU
Warp 1, sir.

Suddenly, the viewscreen goes dark. The words "ERROR 1132"
appear.


Turns out there's some kind of software malfunction.  They get it fixed and are underway.  Five pages later we get the first appearance of Yeoman Rand:



               INT. BRIDGE 

YEOMAN RAND (pretty, blonde, demure) hands him an ELECTRONIC
CLIPBOARD.

The elctronic [sic] clipboard is a small, flat computer capable of
holding dozens of pages of important information. In
addition, it can perform simple calculations like a
calculator, be written on with a pen, has a small light (for
when the Enterprise's main lighting is down), and can take
pictures like a camera.

YEOMAN
Fuel consumption reports for your
signature, sir.

Kirk signs and hands the clipboard back.

KIRK
(hands back)
Thank you, yeoman.

The Yeoman turns a dial on the side to flip to a new page.

YEOMAN
Departmental transfers.

Signs and hands it back, but she's turning the page again.

YEOMAN (CONT'D)
Just a moment. You need to sign
off on all the promotions.

Kirk takes the clipboard and flips through several pages
himself and stops. He finds several pictures of the Yeoman
posing seductively.

YEOMAN (CONT'D)
(snatching the clipboard
back)
Uh... Sorry. Just testing out the
camera.
.

Kirk calls them "self pictures."  He and Mitchell talk about how he's not allowed to be near her.  Then he gets a call from the Commodore:



INT. PICTUREPHONE ROOM

The CONFERENCE ROOM is built with three television sets in
the middle of the talbe [sic] positioned in a triangle so everyone
can see. These televisions are picturephones and everyone in
the room can see and talk to anyone on the other end of the
call. The sets are currently showing static.

KIRK, SCOTTY, MITCHELL, and SPOCK assemble. Scotty turns a
dial and the static slowly clears to reveal COMMODORE BARRON
sitting at a room in Starfleet HQ.

SCOTTY
Can you hear us, Commodore?

COMMODORE
Hello?

KIRK
We can hear you, sir.

COMMODORE
Hello? Can you hear me?

KIRK AND MITCHELL
We can hear you!

COMMODORE
I can see you, but I can't hear
you. Can you see me?

SCOTTY
Is your volume down too low, sir?
There's a knob at the bottom of the
screen!

COMMODORE
(to someone offscreen)
Why isn't this thing working? Did
you put this together wrong?

MITCHELL
This is why technology will never
replace humans.
.

Eventually, there Commodore gives them an assignment to scan a nearby ion cloud.  It changes course and envelops them.  Nothing seems to happen, but fights break out on the ship:


INT. HOLODECK ROOM

Three CREWMEN are sitting on chairs, wearing special goggles
with earphones, and gloves, staring off into space, seeing
things only they can see.

The HOLODECK is a fake environment used by the crew for
relaxation during the long, space voyages. By wearing
special glasses, gloves and earphones, the users can pretend
to be in any environment programmed into the Enterprise's
computer. The ship's chief surgeon often orders the rest of
the crew to periods of "holo time."

Two strong ENSIGNS are fighting in the corner. Kirk jumps
between them.

KIRK
Break it up right now, or I'm going
to throw you both in the brig!

Both ensigns stand up straight.

KIRK (CONT'D)
Now what's going on?

ENSIGN 1
He started it, sir!

ENSIGN 2
It was an accident!

KIRK
What did he do?

ENSIGN 1
He erased all my data tapes and
filled them with pictures of
kittens!
.

From there, the script is pretty much exactly as the second pilot.

I have to say, ignoring all the technological prescience, Roddenberry's biggest accomplishment here seems to have been in creating an origin story.  If given free rein, would he have invented the multi-episode story arc decades before Babylon 5 did it?

I guess we'll never know.

And if anyone wants the email address of Hells_Housemaid to make her an offer, let me know.

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