"Star Trek" Charlie X (1966)

Director:

Lawrence Dobkin

Writers:

D.C. Fontana (teleplay)
Gene Roddenberry (story)

TV Series:

"Star Trek" (1966)

Original Air Date:

15 September 1966 (Season 1, Episode 2)

Genre:

Adventure | Sci-Fi

Plot:

Captain Kirk must learn the limits to the power of a 17-year-old boy with the psychic ability to create anything and destroy anyone.

Plot Keywords:

Alien | Raised By Aliens | Musical Instrument | Big Hair | Roman Numeral In Title

Cast

William Shatner	...	Captain James T. Kirk
Leonard Nimoy	...	Mr. Spock
Robert Walker Jr.	...	Charlie Evans (as Robert Walker)
DeForest Kelley	...	Dr. McCoy
Grace Lee Whitney	...	Yeoman Rand
Nichelle Nichols	...	Uhura
Charles Stewart	...	Captain Ramart (as Charles J. Stewart)
Dallas Mitchell	...	Nellis
Don Eitner	...	Navigator
Patricia McNulty	...	Tina Lawton
John Bellah	...	Crewman I
Garland Thompson	...	Crewman II
Abraham Sofaer	...	The Thasian

Runtime:

50 min | Argentina:60 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Argentina:Atp | Canada:PG (video rating)

Filming Locations:

Desilu Studios - 9336 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company:

Desilu Productions

Trivia:

This episode's original script title was "Charlie's Law."

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Charlie is being examined by Bones, but when we cut to a close-up on the display screen, we see a reflection of Charlie standing up staring at something off camera.

Quotes:

Charlie Evans: If I had the whole universe, I'd give it to you. When I see you, I... feel like I'm hungry. All over. Hungry. Do you know how that feels?

Movie Connections:

Edited into Galaktische Grüße (1996) (TV)

Why this is a great episode

Pacing. Yes Pacing. That is what makes this and other first year Trex episodes seem real. Yeah! Real! Like you are really there. Like, You are a person in our time privileged to see into the future. It may seem trivial, but that is what so many of the modern Treks lack. They don't give you the feeling you are in the future or in space or anything. Just a PC college campus at Halloween. The right pacing makes the people come alive as real - like me and you. Makes Charlie seem like any other teenager until his -well- quirks show up. And it makes it a real tragedy when they have to get rid of him. A real boy, one of me and you, has to get sent to hell. And we really don't want to do it. And it makes us ask were we like Charlie when we were teenagers? This is a great episode and it is why Star Trek lives forty years later.