Charlie X (episode)/background information

Real-World

“Charlie X”
Star Trek: The Original Series  Episode
In-Universe Details
Stardate	1533.6
Date	21 Nov 2266  (Terran)
Location	USS Enterprise
Quadrant	Alpha
Background Information
Production
Story by	Gene Roddenberry
Teleplay by	D.C. Fontana
Directed by	Lawrence Dobkin
Produced by	Gene Roddenberry John D. F. Black (AP) Robert H. Justman (AP)
Episode	TOS: 1x07
Production No.	6149-08
Date aired	15 September 1966
Chronology
By date aired   Prev episode    “The Man Trap”    Next episode   “Where No Man Has Gone Before”
By date produced   Prev episode    “The Man Trap”    Next episode   “Balance of Terror”
In-universe events   Prev      “The Man Trap”    Next     “The Enemy Within”
Main Article In-Universe

"Charlie X" is the second episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek. Written by Dorothy Fontana (from a story by Gene Roddenberry) and directed by Lawrence Dobkin, it first aired on September 15, 1966.

The Enterprise picks up an unstable 17-year-old boy with dangerous mental powers who lacks the training and restraint to handle them wisely.

The eponymous character Charlie Evans is featured as an adult in the fan created, non-canon miniseries Star Trek: Of Gods and Men.

Story and production

• Gene Roddenberry had written a one-sentence synopsis of this episode on the first page of his original series outline for Star Trek under the title "The Day Charlie Became God." The page is reproduced in the Herbert F. Solow/Robert H. Justman volume Inside Star Trek: The Real Story. Writer Dorothy Fontana also confirmed that the episode was based on that story idea. Fontana developed the story and wrote the teleplay, but Roddenberry received story credit.

• This episode was originally scheduled to air further into the season, as all action took place aboard the Enterprise, and it was basically a teenage melodrama set in the space age, both of which elements NBC disliked. However, as it required no new outer space visual effects shots (actually all Enterprise shots are recycled from the two pilots), its post-production took less time than other episodes. It was chosen to be the second episode to air, out of necessity, as no other episodes were ready for the deadline. The Antares was originally to be shown on screen, however when the early airdate was commissioned, this was eliminated.

• Also, the reference to Thanksgiving was included in the script because originally the episode was supposed to air in late-November.

• "Charlie X" was adapted for a novelization by James Blish. It was published in the first Bantam Books Star Trek novelization collection in 1967 under the name "Charlie's Law". (This name is a pun on Charles' Law, a law of physics dealing with how changes in temperature affect the volume of a gas.)

• The opening credits of this episode are the same as those used in “The Man Trap”, which included a "Created by Gene Roddenberry" credit. The credits at the close of the episode only list Roddenberry as Producer. Also, the credits for William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy are missing the "starring" and "also starring" designations. This episode followed "The Man Trap" in airdate order. The main titles were standardized for syndication, however the DVD prints restore the titles to their original configuration.

• During the first-season episodes, cinematographer Jerry Finnerman was encouraged to maximize placement of colored background lighting to add exotic warmth to the gray walls of the Enterprise set. This was a major promotional point for NBC, as Star Trek was a selling point for color televisions. But as pressure to complete episodes grew, this touch gradually faded from the series. NBC was owned at the time by RCA, a major manufacturer of color television sets.

• This episode was directed by Lawrence Dobkin, who later guest-starred as Ambassador Kell in TNG: "The Mind's Eye".

• DS9 writer/producer Ira Steven Behr says that this is the episode that "won him over."

• This was one of only three episodes of the first season that didn't show Vina in the last closing still. The other two episodes were “What Are Little Girls Made Of?” and “Dagger of the Mind”.

Performers

• James Doohan (Scott) and George Takei (Sulu) do not appear in this episode, although two words of Takei's dialogue from “The Man Trap” are dubbed in when Kirk calls the bridge from the gymnasium.

• The galley chef was voiced by Gene Roddenberry, in his only acting role in Star Trek.

• In her autobiography, Grace Lee Whitney mentions that Robert Walker, (a method actor), completely avoided the cast on the set, trying to stay alone and "in character". "He explained to us when he arrived to the set that he wanted to remain alien and apart from us – and it worked. You can see it in his performance, a subtle yet persistent air of estrangement from the Enterprise crew, and indeed from the rest of humanity. His careful effort to stay in character added a convincing dimension to his performance." Furthermore, she added, "It's impossible to imagine anyone else in the role – he captured the perfect balance, projecting vulnerability, innocence and horrifying menace all the same time. A lesser actor could not have handled the range and depth of the character."

• Fontana also praised Walker's performance, "[He] was excellent as Charlie. And he was quite a young man, he was in his twenties, but playing a teenager, he looked young enough to pull it off."

• Allan Asherman, in The Star Trek Compendium, also mentions that Walker "turns in a powerful and fascinating performance". (p. 39)

• The role of Sam was to be initially played by Beau Vandenecker, but it was eventually recast to Robert Herron.

• Although it may not canonically represent the creative staff's intentions, the novelization by James Blish in Star Trek 1 identifies the unnamed crewman named Sam (whom Charlie "disposes" of) as Sam Ellis, an officer on McCoy's medical staff. The episode novelization made it clear that he, along with all of the officers who were disfigured of by Charlie, were "restored" along with Rand when the Thasians intervened. However, the USS Antares could not be saved because, as the Thasian explained, it was destroyed "in this frame" whereas the zapped Enterprise personnel were "kept intact in the next frame."

Sets

• This is the first of six original series episodes that takes place entirely aboard the Enterprise. The others are “The Changeling”, “Journey to Babel” (Babel itself is never seen), “Elaan of Troyius”, “Is There in Truth No Beauty?”, and “Let That Be Your Last Battlefield”. “The Doomsday Machine”, “The Ultimate Computer”, “The Immunity Syndrome”, and “The Tholian Web” were also filmed using only the Enterprise sets, including that of the shuttlecraft interior, but some of the action in these episodes took place on other Constitution-class starships. By any reasonable definition, each of these entries qualifies as a bottle show.

• The grates in the floors of the corridors disappeared in later episodes. In one scene, Charlie takes great delight in watching a technician lower some tubing into one of these floor grates.

• In the scene in Rand's quarters, when Charlie flings Kirk and Spock against the wall, the wall has a hole punched in it. On an earlier take, Leonard Nimoy had struck the wall too forcefully.

• When Kirk and Charlie have their final confrontation, the camera moves to a rare floor-level view of the bridge. This close-up shows that the set is carpeted. This was probably done as a noise-absorber, given the propensity of the set to pick up noises like plumbing and squeaking floors. The material itself is Ozite, a portion of which was sold at the Profiles in History Star Trek auction in June 2002.

• The ship's gymnasium makes its first and only appearance in the series. It was originally intended to be seen in more episodes, as some of the shots showing acrobatics and gymnastics there were filmed as intended stock footage for reuse later. The gymnasium was a redress of the engineering set. The room where the gymnasts are tumbling is the redecorated briefing room.

• The bench on which Sam was sitting when he was zapped turned up later in other episodes. In “Court Martial”, it held the wrench that Benjamin Finney snatched in his attempt to club Kirk. In “This Side of Paradise”, it was topped off by the metal tray that Spock grabs during his fight with Kirk in the transporter room.

Props and special effects

• This is the only episode shot after the pilots to have no exterior views of the Enterprise using the updated "series" model. All of the shots are footage from “The Cage” and “Where No Man Has Gone Before” (see: above).

• Publicity stills of Grace Lee Whitney were used on the playing cards Charlie modifies.

• After Charlie transforms Tina Lawton into an iguana, the noise the reptile makes was that of the sound made by Sylvia and Korob when they returned to their true forms at the end of “Catspaw”.

• Spock's scanners in this episode make the same sound the Metron transmission does in “Arena”.

• Like Trelane, Apollo, and the Gorgan, (other advanced beings whose powers threatened the crew) Charlie makes his exit with fading repetition of his final words.

• The music accompanying Charlie's disappearance at the end of this episode, highlighted by a mournful bassoon dirge, was re-used effectively in “Space Seed” as the landing party beams onto the Botany Bay; in “Patterns of Force” for the death of John Gill; in “The Tholian Web” as Chekov witnesses the dead engineering crew on the Defiant; as Kirk wanders the empty corridors of the faux-Enterprise early in “The Mark of Gideon”; and in “The Ultimate Computer” during Daystrom's final conversation with his M-5 computer.

Costumes

• Charlie and the crew of the Antares are wearing old turtleneck uniforms left over from the two pilots. Also, when Charlie is causing panic on the corridors, crewmen can be seen wearing the new series shirts with old, pilot version trousers and boots.

• For most of the episode, Charlie wears a gold wraparound jacket, which appears to be an unused, early version of Kirk's green tunic made for “The Enemy Within”. It is apparently too big for him.

• After this episode William Shatner only wore tights once more, in “Errand of Mercy”. He later poked fun at his costume in this episode when clips of it were shown as part of the History Channel show, How William Shatner Changed the World.

Continuity

• According to Kirk's line "On Earth today it's Thanksgiving", the beginning of this episode takes place on 22 November 2266 (assuming American Thanksgiving is meant).

• Still not firmly set in his characterization in this early episode, Spock shows both irritation and amusement as Uhura makes fun of him. It seems that he has learned how to express irritation ("Ah yes, one of your Earth emotions") fairly quickly since the events of “Where No Man Has Gone Before”.

• The United Earth Space Probe Agency is referenced for the first time in this episode, with the acronym "UESPA". It was mentioned again in episode “Tomorrow is Yesterday”. Years later, Star Trek: Enterprise referenced UESPA in several episodes, including “Demons”.

• The line "Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary" spoken by Spock while under Charlie's influence is the first line of the poem "The Raven", by Edgar Allan Poe. Spock is also forced to quote some lines from "The Tyger" by William Blake when he shouts that there is a "Tyger, Tyger burning bright, in the forests of the night".

• The song that Uhura sings to Spock and then Charlie may have been taken from an old Scottish folk song penned by Robert Burns called "Charlie, He's My Darling". The chorus in that song is almost identical to what Uhura sings.

• Yeoman Janice Rand's robe should have disappeared at the end of the show when all was returned to normal.

Script vs. screen

• The first-draft script featured Uhura as a trained mimic, who amused crewmembers by parodying her fellow officers in the recreation room. It was later turned into her performing a song, to fit Nichelle Nichols' musical talents.

• The second draft of this episode's script was completed on 27 June 1966, with the final draft coming in on 5 July. The episode itself was filmed in mid-July.

• The final draft script called for the Antares to be seen, dwarfed by the Enterprise.

• A strange bit of dialogue present in the teleplay was cut from the episode: when discussing the possible existence of Thasians, and Kirk's possible father-figure behavior to Charlie, Spock satirically asked McCoy, "Shall I schedule you to give him voodoo and superstition lessons, doctor?" McCoy replied, "You can if he provides his own chicken's teeth and penguin feathers," to which Spock told him, "I'll see to it, doctor."

• In the final draft script, a remnant of Uhura's mimicking of other crewmembers still remained; just before she sang, Rand suggested to her, "Do someone. Do the captain," but Uhura replied, "No, I've done him. Someone else… let's see…" It was then that Uhura started singing about Spock.

• In the final draft script, the card trick Charlie plays with Janice, which reveals her photograph on the cards, was not specified. The script simply stated that Charlie performed a variety of card tricks which amazed Janice and the onlookers.

• Writer Dorothy Fontana recalled that the filmed episode was basically the same as her screenplay, "There were a few line changes, not much. The images of how Charlie affected people, you know, no face so a woman couldn't talk, things like that, those were all there [....] I noticed there really wasn't that much that was changed, it was pretty much the way I wrote it."

Preview

• The preview contains an edited Captain's Log from the finished episode: "Captain's log, stardate 1533.7. We have taken aboard an unusual passenger . . . the sole survivor of a transport crash fourteen years ago."

• An alternate take of Charlie throwing Spock and Kirk against the wall in Yeoman Rand's quarters is included. The hole in the wall is still visible (Nimoy apparently hitting it too hard on a prior take or rehearsal), but while the final episode shows the start of the throw from the side, the preview shows it from the front.

Reception

• Actress Grace Lee Whitney listed this episode as one of her three favorites. "'Charlie X' brought out another side of me, the woman looking at a younger man. That was also wonderful because I felt an allegiance to Captain Kirk."

Syndication cuts

During the syndication run of Star Trek, the following scenes were typically cut from broadcast

• Extended scenes from Charlie's beam-in to the Enterprise
• Scenes of crewmen working in the corridor, including a scene where Charlie observes two men saying "You've got a deal friend". In the syndicated version, this was never explained where Charlie learned the expression or why he smacked Janice Rand on her rear when repeating.
• Spock smiling while Uhura talks to him just before the musical session in the crewmen's lounge.
• Women exercising in leotards when Charlie and Kirk enter the ship's gym. At the end of the gym scene, several additional tense moments were cut of Kirk demanding Charlie go to his quarters.
• Extended briefing room discussion about Charlie and his abilities.
• Additional scenes of Charlie angrily moving through the ship's corridor where he freezes a female crewman and shoves past three men.
• Extended scenes on the bridge with Charlie pleading not to be returned to Thasia.

Apocrypha

• A cat version of "Charlie X" was featured in Jenny Parks' 2017 book Star Trek Cats.

Production timeline

• Original story premise in Star Trek is...: 11 March 1964
• Story outline "Charlie Is God" by Gene Roddenberry: 23 April 1964
• Revised story outline: 28 August 1964
• Story outline "Charlie X" by Gene Roddenberry: 14 April 1966
• Story outline by Gene Roddenberry: 23 April 1966
• Story outline by D.C. Fontana: 27 April 1966
• Revised outline: 9 May 1966
• First draft teleplay by Fontana: 6 June 1966
• Second draft teleplay: 27 June 1966
• Staff rewrite: 30 June 1966
• Final draft teleplay by Gene Roddenberry: 5 July 1966
• Additional revisions: 11 July 1966, 13 July 1966
• Filmed: 11 July 1966 – 19 July 1966
  • Day 1 – 11 July 1966, Monday (Half Day) – Desilu Stage 9: Int. Sickbay, Kirk's quarters
  • Day 2 – 12 July 1966, Tuesday – Desilu Stage 9: Int. Corridors, Bridge
  • Day 3 – 13 July 1966, Wednesday – Desilu Stage 9: Int. Bridge
  • Day 4 – 14 July 1966, Thursday – Desilu Stage 9: Int. Recreation room (redress of Briefing room)
  • Day 5 – 15 July 1966, Friday – Desilu Stage 9: Int. Transporter room, Janice Rand's quarters
  • Day 6 – 18 July 1966, Monday – Desilu Stage 9: Int. Briefing room, Gymnasium (redress of Engineering)
  • Day 7 – 19 July 1966, Tuesday – Desilu Stage 9: Int. Corridors (including Brig), Tie-down vfx shot of Abraham Sofaer
• Score recording: 29 August 1966
• Original airdate: 15 September 1966
• Repeated: 1 June 1967
• First UK airdate: 13 September 1969

Remastered information

The remastered version of "Charlie X" aired in many North American markets during the weekend of 14 July 2007. The episode included new effects shots of the Thasian ship, replacing the blob-like object seen on screen with a torpedo-shaped vessel. Most notably, the remastered episode opens with a shot featuring the Antares, a new design based upon the robot grain ships seen in the Star Trek: The Animated Series episode “More Tribbles, More Troubles”.

The Enterprise and the Antares rendezvous

The original Thasian ship…

…and the remastered counterpart

Video and DVD releases

• Original US Betamax/VHS release: 28 February 1985
• Original UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 5, catalog number VHR 2250, release date unknown
• US VHS release: 15 April 1994
• UK re-release (three-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 1.3, 8 July 1996
• Original US DVD release (single-disc): Volume 4, 19 October 1999
• As part of the TOS Season 1 DVD collection
• As part of the TOS Season 1 HD DVD collection
• As part of the TOS Season 1 Blu-ray collection

Cast

Starring

• William Shatner as Kirk

Also starring

• Leonard Nimoy as Spock

Guest star

• Robert Walker as Charles Evans

Featuring

• DeForest Kelley as Dr. McCoy
• Grace Lee Whitney as Yeoman Rand
• Nichelle Nichols as Uhura
• Charles J. Stewart as Captain Ramart
• Dallas Mitchell as Nellis
• Don Eitner as the Navigator
• Patricia McNulty as Tina Lawton
• John Bellah as Crewman I
• Garland Thompson as Crewman II

And

• Abraham Sofaer as "The Thasian"

Uncredited co-stars

• William Blackburn as Hadley
• Frank da Vinci as
  • Brent
  • Vinci (aka "Guard II")
• Bobby Herron as Sam
• John Lindesmith as the helmsman
• Eddie Paskey as Leslie
• Gene Roddenberry as the of the galley chef
• George Takei as Sulu (voice only; recycled audio)
• Ron Veto as Harrison (aka "Engineer")
• Laura Wood as a Command crew woman 1 (old)
• Unknown actors as
  • Bobby
  • Command crewman 1
  • Command crewman 2
  • Command crewman 3
  • Command lieutenant 1
  • "Guard I"
  • Sciences crewman 1
  • Sciences crewman 2
  • Two crewmen in gymnasium
• Unknown actresses as
  • Command crew woman 1 (young)
  • Command crew woman 2
  • Command crew woman 3
  • Command crew woman 4
  • Command crew woman 5
  • Command lieutenant 2
  • Command lieutenant 3
  • Command officer (gymnast)
  • Sciences crew woman 1
  • Sciences crew woman 2
  • Sciences crew woman 3
  • Two gymnasts

Stunt double

• Loren Janes as the stunt double for William Shatner

Stand-ins

• William Blackburn as the stand-in for DeForest Kelley
• Frank da Vinci as the stand-in for Leonard Nimoy
• Jeannie Malone as the stand-in for Grace Lee Whitney
• Eddie Paskey as the stand-in for William Shatner

External links

• Charlie X (episode) at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.
• Charlie X at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed canon & non-canon Star Trek works.
• "Charlie X" at StarTrek.com, the official Star Trek website
• Charlie X at Wikipedia, the free Terran-based encyclopedia that anyone can edit.
• "Charlie X" at MissionLogPodcast.com, a Roddenberry Star Trek podcast

 

Previous episode produced: “The Naked Time”	Real World Information   Star Trek: The Original Series Season 1	Next episode produced: “Balance of Terror”
Previous episode aired: “The Man Trap”		Next episode aired: “Where No Man Has Gone Before”
Previous remastered episode aired: “Return to Tomorrow”	TOS Remastered	Next remastered episode aired: “The Squire of Gothos”
Previous event: “The Man Trap”	In-Universe Information	Next event: “The Enemy Within”