Scenes inside a goldmine, Ch. 6

Star Date:  30 January 1966

To:  Gene Roddenberry

From:  Haystack Calhoun

Re:  Star Trek Pilot Formulas


1.  The Enterprise or a portion of its crew shall encounter an alien/entity (AE).  This shall occur on a new uncharted planet (NUP) or in space.

2.   Having encountered the (NUP), a discrete crew unit (DCU) from the Enterprise will be sent to investigate.  This DCU shall be comprised of a combination of main characters (MC):  Kirk, Spock, Scotty, McCoy, Sulu, Checkov, Uhuru and expendible characters (EC).    The EC shall be dressed in a red uniform (science team).   The EC shall make first contact with the AE.   This encounter shall be fatal to the EC.

3.  The MC will then interact with the AE.   The AE shall not be a homogeneous species.   As such, one of the MC shall ally with a faction of the AE that is sympathetic to the Prime Directorate (PD).   The PD shall govern all the interactions of the MC with the AE.   The PD establishes that the MC will honor the sovereignty and culture of the AE and will not interfere with it, except to liberally demonstrate the technological devices (TD) of the MC.  The TD shall include, but not be limited to phasers (laser pistols), communicators (hand held walkie talkie devices--capable of communicating from the planet surface to the ship in orbit, but no further), transporters (particle beam device to transfer MC and EC to the planet surface or ship to ship), and tricorders (sensors of indeterminate range and indeterminate properties).

4.  There shall also be a human interest theme (HIT).   The HIT shall involve one of the MC and one of the AE.   If the AE is female, they shall be attractive and there shall be a temporary romantic interlude (TRI) between the MC (usually Kirk, but all MC's shall have a TRI per season) and the attractive AE.   Common themes of the interaction shall derive from classic sources (e.g. Smith/Pocahontas etc.).   The TRI must end with the end of the episode.

5.  The HIT shall also include variations on the theme of Spock's emphasis on "logic" and McCoy's and Kirk's emphasis on the supremacy of human "emotion"  (HE) versus logic.    When possible, inject humor into this tension.  Apply liberally throughout episodes.

6.  The AE, no matter how technologically advanced, must always have a flaw making (notably hubris) that will make it inferior to the MC and especially HE.

7.  The current political situation between the US and the USSR shall have resonances with the Federation/Klingon or Federation/Romulan encounters.

8.  Please also remember that the author's father's favorite line is:  "Spock, Spock, help me Spock"
To which the author replies:  "Kirk, Kirk, you are a jerk"

In Denver, because some things never change:-)