Trivia
Dr. McCoy's handheld "medical scanners" were actually modified salt and pepper shakers, purchased originally for use in "The Man Trap", in which a character was seen using a salt shaker. They were of Scandinavian design, and on screen were not recognizable as salt shakers; so a few generic salt shakers were borrowed from the studio commissary, and the "futuristic" looking shakers became McCoy's medical instruments.
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This episode is sometimes known by David Gerrold's satiric nickname for it, "The Incredible Salt Vampire".
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When Sulu (George Takei) thanks Rand (Grace Lee Whitney) for lunch with, "May the Great Bird of the Galaxy bless your planet." Gene Roddenberry's nickname was the Great Bird of the Galaxy.
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Uhura's line, "Sometimes I think if I hear the word 'frequency' again I'll cry", is drawn from an incident during filming. As early as it was in the series, Nichelle Nichols was already tiring of the repeated line, "Hailing frequency open, sir"; at one point she turned to Leonard Nimoy and told him, "If I have to say the word 'frequency' one more time, I'll blow up this goddamn panel."
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This episode's original script title was "The Unreal McCoy." It was used in James Blish's novelization of the episode.
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The phaser sound effect of the beam stunning Prof. Crater was a sped up recording of a bullet ricochet.
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When Prof. Crater speaks in a low "fazed" tone, it's actually Alfred Ryder's voice slowed down and played back.
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First time that Nichelle Nichols appears as Lt. Uhura, air-date wise. If you go by production it is Star Trek: The Corbomite Maneuver.
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The model used here of the USS Enterprise now resides in the Air and Space Museum in Washington DC.
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Although this was the sixth episode to be filmed, NBC chose to show it as the first of the season.
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Dr. Crater states that the buffalo (Bison Bison) of North America had been hunted to extinction. Though they had been nearly hunted to extinction by 1966, it is now unlikely that they will go extinct as they now number around 350,000.
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It is reported that Gene Roddenberry's father was so embarrassed after the airing of this episode that he went throughout the neighborhood to apologize to his neighbors.
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This is a very rare episode that reveals something from Dr. McCoy's past, namely his former love Nancy. Most other episodes keep his past a secret.
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This was the first episode to air on NBC but it was actually the sixth episode produced. NBC chose to air this episode first because they felt that it had more action that the pilot episode and it also featured a monster.
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