Well, hello from my new computer.
I finally upgraded my computer (a new hard drive, at least) and now I'm ready to do a review that I have put on the back burner. Like I mentioned before in my review of "The Menagerie," I don't really like reviewing classic Star Trek episodes. Why? Well, taking into fact that as a semi-rabid fanboy such as myself, I don't feel it's right to step on the elaborate and VERY, VERY BIG fanbase that Trek has. But this is such a special episode that I couldn't help falling in love with it. Because, you see, it's not because of the show itself, but rather, what it is.
It's a spinoff show.
A spinoff show is an episode of an established series which introduces another character(s) that interact with the regular characters before 'going off' into their own show. A "Laverne and Shirley" to "Happy Days," so to speak. In this case, Gene Roddenberry was trying to get another show into the works during the end of Star Trek's second season. Unfortunately, this would be remembered as one of the last shows Roddenberry ever had any say in. Right before the third season, Trek was moved from a prime timeslot on Sunday (or Monday, I forget) to the dead zone of Saturday night. Roddenberry left and another producer took his place and settled the Enterprise into spacedock that following January.
Anyway, the plot:
The Enterprise is intercepted by a long-range teleporter beam from an unknown source when it travels back in time to 'present day' (reality: 1960s). At first this annoyed me, because Star Trek isn't known for casual time travel. Luckily, I learned that this is a device set up in the previous episode, so it's not a big deal. Anyway, a strange man materializes in the teleporter chamber, wearing a normal suit and holding a black cat. His name is Gary Seven, and we are to learn he has a mission in mind to change an event in human history which involves a nuclear war....
The rest of the plot concerns Seven (played by Robert Lansing, of '4-D Man' and "Equalizer" fame) meeting up with a 'modern' girl (Teri Garr, I kid you not!) and trying to save the human race by screwing with the launch of a missile/space rocket/who knows (once again, I forget). Of course, Kirk and Spock try to stop him and end up getting captured in the typical Spinoff curse:
Whenever a show regular interferes with the plot (which is the spinoff character's alone), he/she/it will be regulated to a supporting character status/captured and will not appear again until the end of the show (where he/she/it may appear as a deux ex machina).
At the very end, Kirk delivers the immortal spinoff line "And I'm sure you and (supporting character) will have many adventures/a long time together" and vanishes from the plot. As Gary Seven and Teri Garr get acquainted for adventures that will never happen, we finally discover why Seven carries the cat: it's actually a very attractive raven-haired beauty (!), presumably of the alien race that created/saved Seven. Oh, yeah, Seven's mission is to help humanity because some aliens saved his life/created him for that purpose. The End.
Sadly, I regret that this was never made into a regular series. Truly the humanoid form of the catwoman (and those revealing costumes that scream 'classic Trek') makes this doubly potent, but also the premise is quite cool. I wonder if Roddenberry has anymore of those 'Assignment: Earth' scripts laying about in his files? Considering how much of his stuff was 'formatted for TV,' I should say it's probably on the docket for about...oh, I don't know...2004?
RATING: A little glimpse into Roddenberry's mind? A chance for Will Shatner and Leonard Nimoy to get out of work early for some golfing action? No, but a chance for Robert Lansing and Ms. Garr to show some real chemistry, as well as the infamous catwoman. Such a shame this wasn't made into a series....three stars out of four. Now back to finding more failed pilots, like "The Stranger" (aka "Stranded in Space").