CS Weekly Archive> DVD > 8/08/08

An Enterprise Worth the Refit

by jason davis

After a solid first season scripted by a mix of television veterans and literary science fiction legends, Star Trek returned for a second year where the same screenwriting formula produced some of the most memorable and imitated installments of the august franchise.

Star Trek: Season Two Remastered

Margaret Armen, Jerome Bixby, Robert Bloch, Gene L. Coon, Jud Crucis, John T. Dugan, Max Ehrlich, D.C. Fontana, David Gerrold, David P. Harmon, Steven Kandel, John Kneubuhl, John Meredyth Lucas, Gilbert A. Ralston, Gene Roddenberry, Robert Sabaroff, Norman Spinrad, Theodore Sturgeon, Art Wallace, and Laurence N. Wolfe
Created by Gene Roddenberry

Continuing its five-year mission of exploration, the U.S.S. Enterprise, under the command of Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner), faces off against a rogue doomsday weapon, a lonely god, and a serial-killing spirit in a season that also explores the politics, sociology, and even sexuality of creator Gene Roddenberry's diverse fictional universe.

Opening with Theodore Sturgeon's risqué "Amok Time," year two of Star Trek once again proved Rod Serling's notion that any taboo could be explored on TV given sufficient distance from reality. To wit, Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy), must mate every seven years or die, a concept complicated by the fact that his intended demands he kill Captain Kirk for the privilege. Thus, Sturgeon brings the narrative back around to the Kirk-Spock friendship that is the foundation of the best Trek. Added the regular cast at the outset of season two, Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy (DeForest Kelley) would complete the trio of protagonists by offering a contrast to Spock's emotionless logic and makes Kirk into a fulcrum between the two extremes. As with the previous season, the show explores a number of hot-button issues in the guise of fantasy, so as to elude the network censors. The Vietnam War is the basis for "A Private Little War," in which the Earth-centric Federation and the merciless Klingon Empire use a primitive culture as pawns in a war of ideology. The arms race and a winnable nuclear war is at the heart of "The Doomsday Machine," where a rogue weapon threatens to annihilate everything in its path. Even Nazism gets a look when the crew finds a planet where 1930s Germany has been mimicked "for economic purposes," according to the Führer. Despite the weighty issues on display, the season also steps up the comedy with episodes like "The Trouble With Tribbles" and "A Piece of the Action." The former finds the Enterprise infested by rapidly reproducing fur balls, while the latter offers a culture obsessed with early 20th century American gang culture.

While the cast additions of both McCoy and Russian-born navigator Pavel Chekov (Walter Koenig)—who was allegedly devised to resemble The Monkeys' Davy Jones and ended up replacing recurring actor George Takei while he was on leave filming The Green Berets—signaled changes in front of the camera, the departure of producer Gene L. Coon midway through the season marked the beginning of the end for Trek. Having created the Klingons, the Prime Directive, and the super-villain Khan Noonian Singh, Coon's invaluable contributions to the series would be missed. Producer John Meredyth Lucas would fill the gap left by Coon, writing and directing (an oddity for the era) a number of quality episodes throughout the latter half of the season. Unfortunately, his departure, along with the losses of script editor D.C. Fontana and creator Gene Roddenberry, would signal the end of Star Trek as it had been during the first two years on the air.

- Billy Blackburn's Treasure Chest: Rare Home Movies and Special Memories—Part 2
- Bonus episodes: "More Tribbles, More Troubles" & "Trials and Tribble-ations"
- "Trials and Tribble-ations: Uniting Two Legends"
- "Trials and Tribble-ations: An Historic Endeavor"
- Star Trek's Favorite Moments featurette
- "To Boldy Go…" The Making of Season Two
- Life Beyond Trek: Leonard Nimoy
- Kirk, Spock & McCoy: Star Trek's Great Trio
- Designing the Final Frontier
- Star Trek's Divine Diva: Nichelle Nichols
- Writer's Notebook: D.C. Fontana
- Preview Trailers

"To Boldly Go…" offers a general overview of the season, but the bulk of the supplements are devoted to first-time writer David Gerrold's debut episode, "The Trouble With Tribbles." Along with two sequels from Star Trek: The Animated Series and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, there is a commentary by Gerrold for the former, as well as two featurettes discussing the latter. A brief interview with Fontana highlights her role as script editor and recalls some of the work she did on freelance scripts as well as her own stories. Sadly, very little attention is paid to "Assignment: Earth," the season finale that also served as a pilot for a failed Roddenberry spin-off.


Better than the first season and better than the third, Star Trek had hit its stride without overstaying its welcome. The season is a packed wall-to-wall with memorable stories, iconic quotes, and some of the best characters in TV history.

Star Trek: Season Two Remastered
CBS/Paramount Home Entertainment
Not rated; 1,311 min.
$84.98

Buy it now

Jason Davis has been the DVD Manager for CS Weekly, a contributing editor for Creative Screenwriting Magazine, and has written for Cinescape.com, MSN.com, and created the TV series Studio 13, which ran on Lorne Michaels' Burly TV network. He lives in the small space left over by his ever-expanding library of books, movies, and music.

Star Trek: Season Two Remastered courtesy CBS/Paramount Home Entertainment

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