Overview
Release Date:
8 September 1966 (USA)
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Tagline:
Boldly Go. Again. (2006 remasters tagline)
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Plot:
Capt. Kirk and the crew of the Starship Enterprise explore space and defend the United Federation of Planets.
full summary
Awards:
Nominated for 5 Primetime Emmys.
Another 5 wins
&
10 nominations
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User Comments:
"City on the Edge of Forever" represents terrific time-travel drama in the grand old Star Trek tradition. 10/10.
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| Leonard Nimoy | ... | Mr. Spock / ... (80 episodes, 1966-1969) |
| William Shatner | ... | Captain James T. Kirk / ... (79 episodes, 1966-1969) |
| DeForest Kelley | ... | Dr. McCoy (76 episodes, 1966-1969) |
| Nichelle Nichols | ... | Uhura (68 episodes, 1966-1969) |
| James Doohan | ... | Scott / ... (65 episodes, 1966-1969) |
 | Eddie Paskey | ... | Lt. Leslie / ... (59 episodes, 1966-1968) |
| Bill Blackburn | ... | Lt. Hadley / ... (59 episodes, 1966-1969) |
| George Takei | ... | Sulu (51 episodes, 1966-1969) |
| Frank da Vinci | ... | Lt. Brent / ... (44 episodes, 1966-1969) |
| Walter Koenig | ... | Chekov (36 episodes, 1967-1969) |
| Majel Barrett | ... | Nurse Chapel / ... (33 episodes, 1966-1969) |
| Roger Holloway | ... | Lt. Lemli (32 episodes, 1967-1969) |
(more) |
| Marc Daniels | | (15 episodes, 1966-1968) |
| Joseph Pevney | | (14 episodes, 1967-1968) |
| Vincent McEveety | | (6 episodes, 1966-1968) |
| Ralph Senensky | | (6 episodes, 1967-1968) |
| Jud Taylor | | (5 episodes, 1968-1969) |
| Herb Wallerstein | | (4 episodes, 1968-1969) |
| Robert Butler | | (3 episodes, 1966) |
| Marvin J. Chomsky | | (3 episodes, 1968-1969) |
| John Meredyth Lucas | | (3 episodes, 1968) |
| Gerd Oswald | | (2 episodes, 1966-1967) |
| James Goldstone | | (2 episodes, 1966) |
| Herschel Daugherty | | (2 episodes, 1967-1969) |
| David Alexander | | (2 episodes, 1968-1969) |
| |
|
| Gene Roddenberry | | (80 episodes, 1966-1969) |
| Gene L. Coon | | (12 episodes, 1967-1969) |
| D.C. Fontana | | (10 episodes, 1966-1969) |
| Jerome Bixby | | (4 episodes, 1967-1969) |
| John Meredyth Lucas | | (4 episodes, 1967-1969) |
| Jerry Sohl | | (3 episodes, 1966-1969) |
| Robert Bloch | | (3 episodes, 1966-1967) |
| Oliver Crawford | | (3 episodes, 1967-1969) |
| Margaret Armen | | (3 episodes, 1968-1969) |
| Arthur Heinemann | | (3 episodes, 1968-1969) |
| Stephen Kandel | | (2 episodes, 1966-1967) |
| Paul Schneider | | (2 episodes, 1966-1967) |
| Theodore Sturgeon | | (2 episodes, 1966-1967) |
| Shimon Wincelberg | | (2 episodes, 1966-1967) |
| David Gerrold | | (2 episodes, 1967-1969) |
| David P. Harmon | | (2 episodes, 1967-1968) |
| Don Ingalls | | (2 episodes, 1967-1968) |
| Art Wallace | | (2 episodes, 1967-1968) |
| Steven W. Carabatsos | | (2 episodes, 1967) |
| Jean Lisette Aroeste | | (2 episodes, 1968-1969) |
|
| Gene Roddenberry | .... | executive producer / producer (80 episodes, 1966-1969) |
| Robert H. Justman | .... | associate producer / co-producer (71 episodes, 1966-1969) |
| Herbert F. Solow | .... | executive in charge of production (54 episodes, 1966-1968) |
| Gene L. Coon | .... | producer (33 episodes, 1966-1968) |
| Edward K. Milkis | .... | associate producer / assistant producer (25 episodes, 1968-1969) |
| Fred Freiberger | .... | producer (24 episodes, 1968-1969) |
| Gregg Peters | .... | associate producer (24 episodes, 1968-1969) |
| John D.F. Black | .... | associate producer (10 episodes, 1966) |
| John Meredyth Lucas | .... | producer (10 episodes, 1967-1968) |
| Byron Haskin | .... | associate producer / co-producer (2 episodes, 1966) |
| |
|
| Gregg Peters | .... | unit production manager / unit manager (49 episodes, 1967-1969) |
| Bernard A. Widin | .... | production supervisor (27 episodes, 1966-1967) |
| James Paisley | .... | production supervisor (2 episodes, 1966) |
| |
|
| Michael S. Glick | .... | assistant director (15 episodes, 1966-1967) |
| Gregg Peters | .... | assistant director (13 episodes, 1966-1967) |
| Rusty Meek | .... | assistant director (13 episodes, 1967-1968) |
| Claude Binyon Jr. | .... | assistant director (12 episodes, 1968-1969) |
| Phil Rawlins | .... | assistant director (8 episodes, 1967-1968) |
| Gil Kissel | .... | assistant director (7 episodes, 1968-1969) |
| Elliot Schick | .... | assistant director (5 episodes, 1967) |
| Gene De Ruelle | .... | assistant director (5 episodes, 1969) |
| John M. Poer | .... | dga trainee (5 episodes, 1969) |
| Robert H. Justman | .... | assistant director (2 episodes, 1966) |
| |
|
| Doug Grindstaff | .... | sound effects editor / sound editor (66 episodes, 1966-1969) |
| Carl Daniels | .... | production sound mixer / sound mixer / ... (55 episodes, 1967-1969) |
| Gordon L. Day | .... | sound re-recording mixer / re-recording mixer (26 episodes, 1968-1969) |
| Elden Ruberg | .... | sound re-recording mixer / re-recording mixer (24 episodes, 1967-1968) |
| Jack F. Lilly | .... | sound mixer (21 episodes, 1966-1967) |
| Joseph G. Sorokin | .... | sound editor (13 episodes, 1966) |
| Cam McCulloch | .... | sound mixer (2 episodes, 1966-1967) |
| |
|
| Darrell Anderson | .... | visual effects (80 episodes, 1966-1969) |
| Howard A. Anderson | .... | visual effects (80 episodes, 1966-1969) |
| Melissa Berryann | .... | assistant to executive producer (80 episodes, 1966-1969) |
| Petri Blomqvist | .... | technical consultant (80 episodes, 1966-1969) |
| Chris DeCristo | .... | 2D supervisor (80 episodes, 1966-1969) |
| Doug Drexler | .... | technical consultant (80 episodes, 1966-1969) |
| James Holt | .... | digital compositor (80 episodes, 1966-1969) |
| Gary Kerr | .... | technical consultant (80 episodes, 1966-1969) |
| David LaFountaine | .... | visual effects executive producer (80 episodes, 1966-1969) |
| Denise Okuda | .... | producer (80 episodes, 1966-1969) |
| Michael Okuda | .... | producer (80 episodes, 1966-1969) |
| David Rossi | .... | producer (80 episodes, 1966-1969) |
| Wendy Ruiz | .... | visual effects coordinator (80 episodes, 1966-1969) |
| John Small | .... | systems support engineer (80 episodes, 1966-1969) |
| Chris Tezber | .... | visual effects coordinator (80 episodes, 1966-1969) |
| Brian Vogt | .... | lead lighting technical director (80 episodes, 1966-1969) |
| Craig Weiss | .... | director of visual effects: CBS Digital (80 episodes, 1966-1969) |
| Niel Wray | .... | visual effects supervisor (80 episodes, 1966-1969) |
| Max Gabl | .... | lead matte artist / lead matte painter / ... (54 episodes, 1966-1969) |
| Robert H. Justman | .... | technical consultant (54 episodes, 1966-1969) |
| Toni Pace Carstensen | .... | visual effects producer (43 episodes, 1966-1968) |
| Jena Huynh | .... | visual effects coordinator (30 episodes, 1966-1967) |
| Luis F. Pazos | .... | production assistant: visual effects (30 episodes, 1966-1967) |
| Albert Whitlock | .... | matte painter (8 episodes, 1966-1969) |
| Eric Ehemann | .... | lead animator/CG lead (8 episodes, 1966-1967) |
| Ryan Reeb | .... | digital artist (6 episodes, 1967-1968) |
| Richard Datin | .... | model maker (5 episodes, 1966-1967) |
| Heekyung Shin | .... | digital artist (4 episodes, 1966-1967) |
| |
|
| Paul Baxley | .... | stunt double: William Shatner / stunt double / ... (10 episodes, 1966-1969) |
| Jay D. Jones | .... | stunt double: James Doohan / stunt double: Ned Romero / ... (7 episodes, 1967-1968) |
| Gary Combs | .... | stunt double: William Shatner / stunts (4 episodes, 1967) |
| Frank da Vinci | .... | stunt double: DeForest Kelley / stunt double: Leonard Nimoy / ... (3 episodes, 1966-1968) |
| Vince Deadrick Sr. | .... | stunt double: Bruce Mars / stunt double: DeForest Kelley / ... (3 episodes, 1966-1967) |
| Dick Dial | .... | stunt double / stunt double: William Shatner / ... (3 episodes, 1967-1968) |
| Bill Catching | .... | stunt double: Leonard Nimoy / stunt double: Robert Brown (3 episodes, 1967) |
| David Perna | .... | stunt double: Leonard Nimoy / stunt double / ... (3 episodes, 1967) |
| Loren Janes | .... | stunt double: Richard Tatro / stunt double: William Shatner (2 episodes, 1966-1967) |
| Irene Sale | .... | stunt double: Barbara Baldavin / stunt double: Marianna Hill (2 episodes, 1966) |
| Phil Adams | .... | stunt double: Michael Pataki / stunt double: William Shatner (2 episodes, 1967) |
| Bobby Bass | .... | stunt double: James Doohan (2 episodes, 1967) |
| Chuck Clow | .... | stunt double: William Shatner (2 episodes, 1967) |
| Jim Jones | .... | stunt double: DeForest Kelley / stunt double: Tige Andrews (2 episodes, 1967) |
|
| Bill Blackburn | .... | stunts (unknown episodes) |
| Bennie E. Dobbins | .... | stunts (unknown episodes) |
| Gary Downey | .... | stunts (unknown episodes) |
| Louie Elias | .... | stunts (unknown episodes) |
| Alan Gibbs | .... | stunts (unknown episodes) |
| Max Kleven | .... | stunts (unknown episodes) |
| Allen Pinson | .... | stunts (unknown episodes) |
| Roy N. Sickner | .... | stunts (unknown episodes) |
| Paul Stader | .... | stunts (unknown episodes) |
| Tom Steele | .... | stunts (unknown episodes) |
| Al Wyatt | .... | stunts (unknown episodes) |
| |
|
| Bill Heath | .... | post-production executive (28 episodes, 1966-1967) |
| |
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| Alexander Courage | .... | composer: theme music / conductor (75 episodes, 1966-1969) |
| Tommy Johnson | .... | musician: tuba soloist (51 episodes, 1966-1969) |
| Jim Henrikson | .... | music editor (39 episodes, 1967-1968) |
| Julian Davidson | .... | music coordinator (29 episodes, 1966-1967) |
| Wilbur Hatch | .... | music consultant (29 episodes, 1966-1967) |
| Richard Lapham | .... | music editor (24 episodes, 1968-1969) |
| Robert H. Raff | .... | music editor (15 episodes, 1966-1967) |
| Fred Steiner | .... | conductor / additional music composed and conducted by (6 episodes, 1966-1968) |
| Gerald Fried | .... | conductor / music conducted by (2 episodes, 1966-1967) |
| George Duning | .... | composer: stock music (2 episodes, 1968-1969) |
| |
Additional Details
Also Known As:
"Star Trek: TOS" (USA) (promotional abbreviation)
"Star Trek: The Original Series" (USA) (informal title)
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Runtime:
47 min (79 episodes)
Color:
Color (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:
1.33 : 1
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Fun Stuff
Trivia:
Stardates were established in order to keep the audience guessing as to when the series takes place. A calendar year for the adventures of the Enterprise crew is never given in any episode, and
Gene Roddenberry said the series could have taken place anywhere from the 21st to the 31st Centuries. By the time of
"Star Trek: The Next Generation" (1987), however, calendar years for Trek adventures had been established and the official Star Trek Chronology now indicates that the original "Star Trek" TV series takes place between the years 2266 and 2269. (Later in
"Star Trek: Voyager: Q2 (#7.19)" (2001) it was said that Kirk's five-year mission ended in 2270.) It wasn't until
Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan (1982), where the 23rd century time line is established, and the movie begins with the caption "In the 23rd Century...".
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Goofs:
Revealing mistakes: There are numerous instances where the flimsy nature of the set can be seen when an actor/actress bumps into a wall and the wall bends with him/her.
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Quotes:
Capt. Kirk:
You'd make a splendid computer, Mr Spock. Spock
Spock:
[
taken aback] That is very kind of you, Captain!
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FAQ
When did NBC air "Star Trek"?
Who started the letter-writing campaign?
When was "The Cage" first aired?
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Message Boards
Discuss this movie with other users on
IMDb message board for "Star Trek" (1966)
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Recommendations
Related Links
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Guess who the single-most recognized personality the world-over REALLY is? Not Usama BinLaden, but Capt. Kirk.
By consensus, City on the Edge of Forever is The Original Series(TOS)'s most-loved episode. It's high drama; a rather Shakespearian exploration of time travel, penned by serious s/f writer Harlan Ellison. It plays like a feature film. If anyone gets the courage (Hollywood is still terrified of the wrath of Star Trek fans), it SHOULD be remade as one.
In "City", Capt. Kirk and Mr Spock (it's `Mr', OK? -`Mr' Spock; get it right) are credibly compelled to travel back in time; they must put right the change in history that Leonard `Bones' McCoy, the ship's doctor, caused in his cordrazine-demented state. The good doctor obliterated their timeline so nothing of the UFP or Enterprise exists anymore!
Curious instrument-readings had lead them to an unknown planet. `Somethin--or someone--on this planet can effect changes in time, causing turbulent waves of space-displacement', observes Spock, as they rock the ship. While trying to plot the turbulence from orbit, passing through ripples in time, one of those ship-quakes causes the ship's experienced surgeon to accidentally inject himself(!) with a full hypospray of cordrazine. Characteristically for the overdose, he no longer recognizes his shipmates as friends but as `murderers and assassins'.
His psychosis is only temporary, but lasts long enough for McCoy to transport down to the very object of their search: the Guardian of Forever, an apparent rock archway on the planet. Unfortunately the thing is ripping through time (centuries in seconds), inconveniently fast for a human lifespan. In protective hot pursuit, the landing party follows McCoy to The Guardian.
Ever the scientist, upon discovering and marveling at the source of the time-displacements, Spock berates himself: `I....am a fool! My tricorder is capable of recording even at this speed! I've missed taping centuries of living history which no man before has ever...' and then the cornered McCoy leaps past him, back through time. This is the only time in the series that Spock actively berates himself. It opens the door for Kirk's chiding Spock's scientific prowess in building a video player(!) `with nothing but stone knives and bearskins' in that `zinc-plated, vacuum-tubed culture' they've followed the frenzied McCoy to: Depression-Era America.
As they desperately try to predict McCoy's arrival, Kirk and Spock meet Edith Keeler(Joan Collins) still at a very anonymous stage of her future political-activist career. What happens to history, and Enterprise, as they acclimate to Edith Keeler's homeless mission still packs a punch 37yrs later.
Look for Kirk's double-entendre (but you must watch the WHOLE SCENE with Edith Keeler, as it plays off the sexual tension): `We have a flop, Mr Spock'. `-We have a what, Capt'n?' `A place to sleep.' `-....One might've said so in the first place'.
The undeniable chemistry between Collins and Shatner, much to the chagrin of Bill's LEGIONS of detractors, I'm certain is responsible for the indubitable success of the drama. ST was always treated by cast and crew as serious science-fiction. To her credit, Collins joined their Trek seriously, but sadly only for this outing. Her career might've been far more acclaimed had she become a regular.
Small wonder that `City' is the single-most popular episode of the original series, and it comes very close to taking the cake from ALL the many incarnations since! ST was at its best combining intellectual curiosity+sense of wonder with challenges to the heart. The humour was always just icing.
The other two main contender episodes for that level of praise-from ST(TOS)-are Bill Shatner's personal fave, `The Devil in the Dark' (and were it not for the awful display of male arrogance-and-ignorance by all the miners, I would agree with Shatner); plus David Gerrold's classic gag entry from ST's 2nd season, `The Trouble with Tribbles'(1967).
`Tribbles' has an important ecological message that was very sophisticated for its time (ie that animals coexist in ecological balance, and Heaven help you if you mess with that), couched in impish, trilling, and fuzzy, tribble-like humour; but because it doesn't challenge our ethics and hearts all that much, `Tribbles' can't win `Best ST Episode' even though it's A LOT OF FUN.
`Devil', written by legendary ST honcho-producer Gene Coon, was about human/alien humility. Human judgements, eg of beauty, should never be applied to aliens. `Ugly' is no reason to judge foreigners-or actual aliens-as stupid/less worthy. Information is a far better arbiter. Replete with positivism and 1960s churlish greed, `Devil' was also a precursor to Alien(1979), albeit about a `nice' alien: the Horta was a (midget-scuttling-under-a-)very-unattractive(-carpet)/highly intelligent mother of a dying race. Mr Spock's ecological sensitivity shines well to this day, compared to the miners' brutality.
`Devil' was also lore-establishing for its depiction of Dr McCoy's distrust of transporters, and his appellations that he was `a DOCTOR, not a....'-in this case `not a bricklayer'; the best punchline to the joke he EVER produced.
The only thing that irked me about `Devil' (apart from the laughably cheap set design) was the script's obtuseness about the economical value, even then(!!), of silicon. (The plot is predicated upon a bandwagon theory, that life could be based on non-Carbon elements; but to pick SILICON was unfortunate, since it was already the chief source material for semiconducting transistors in 1965!) Double-D'Oh!!!
`City' has no such hindsight embarrassments. Instead, it reveals the rich and trusting relationship between Kirk and Spock as they take turns at solving puzzles and support each other's dignity. They still tease each other, esp. poor Spock about his alleged vulnerability to (human) sentimentality (which he takes as mild insults), and about his ears, which during the first season was still a novelty to audiences. How quickly things change.
In my estimation, only ST-Voyager produced similar integration of science, wonder, philosophy, humour AND devastating drama. With `Eye of a Needle', `Distant Origin', `Drone', `Ashes to Ashes', and possibly `Timeless', ST-Voyager came close to replicating the emotional impact of ST-TOS' `discovery science' fiction.(10/10)