The City on the Edge of Forever 

When a temporarily insane Dr. McCoy accidentally changes history and destroys his time, Kirk and Spock follow him to prevent the disaster, but the price to do so is high.

Director:

Joseph Pevney

Writers:

Harlan Ellison, Gene Roddenberry (created by)

Stars:

William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Joan Collins

Cast

Episode complete credited cast:
William Shatner	...	Capt. Kirk
Leonard Nimoy	...	Mr. Spock
Joan Collins	...	Edith Keeler
DeForest Kelley	...	Dr. McCoy
James Doohan	...	Scott
George Takei	...	Sulu
Nichelle Nichols	...	Uhura
John Harmon	...	Rodent
Hal Baylor	...	Policeman
David L. Ross	...	Galloway
John Winston	...	Transporter Chief
Bart La Rue	...	Guardian (voice) (as Bartell La Rue)

Storyline

When an accident causes Dr. McCoy to go temporarily insane, he escapes to a strange planet. There, the search party discovers a device left by a superior, vanished civilization, a time portal that plays the history of Earth for them - but then Bones jumps through it into the past, causing a change in history important enough to make the Enterprise vanish. Kirk and Spock, who fortunately made a tricorder recording, must attempt to go through to just before McCoy's arrival and stop him from changing history in the United States during the Great Depression, where they have no advanced technology available.

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Plot Keywords:

alternate history | time portal | tricorder | great depression | helmsman | 

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 April 1967 (USA)

Filming Locations:

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

Company Credits

Production Co:

Desilu Productions, Norway Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

50 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color Black and White (flashbacks)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The network heavily objected to Kirk's last line, "Let's get the hell out of here" and wanted it to be removed from the episode. The word "Hell" was used five times in The Original Series, the other four being Star Trek: Space Seed (1967), when Kirk quotes Milton, "It is better to rule in Hell than serve in Heaven", Star Trek: The Alternative Factor (1967), when Lazarus tells his counterpart, "I'll chase you into the very fires of hell!", and Star Trek: The Doomsday Machine (1967), when Decker describes the berserker as "right out of hell." Kirk also says "What the hell is going on?" when he activates the Constellation viewscreen and sees the Enterprise being pulled into the maw of the Planet Killer. These are the only two times that the word was used as an expletive, rather than a reference to the domicile of the damned.

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Goofs

When McCoy arrives in 1930 NY, he believes he is in a fabricated environment and marvels at the detail of reconstruction. As he leans on a column less than 6 inches in diameter he remarks on the detail, "...even down to the cement columns." implying the free-standing column he is leaning on is made of cement. Clearly, the size and texture of the column would make it metal. A free-standing street column also would suggest a utility pole, none of which would be made of cement.

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Quotes

Spock: [to Kirk] Save her, do as your heart tells you to do, and millions will die who did not die before.

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Crazy Credits

Script Supervisor is written as "SCPIPT SUPERVISOR...GEORGE A. RUTTER" in the credits. This happened on at least two other episodes in season one.

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Connections

Referenced in Mission: Impossible: The Freeze (1968)

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Soundtracks

Goodnight, Sweetheart
Written by Ray Noble, Jimmy Campbell and Reginald Connelly (as Reg Connelly)
Heard playing from the radio repair shop (with an uncredited vocal performer) and later as part of Fred Steiner's instrumental score (also uncredited)
Due to copyright issues, this music was replaced on some releases in the 1980s and 1990s

User Reviews

Shatner's finest performance of the series

After Bones accidentally injects himself with a shot that causes him to have dementia, he jumps into a time-travel gateway and lands in New York in the 1930's. Kirk and Spock must go in after him and prevent him from doing something in the past that could alter the future. Kirk finds a love interest, played by Joan Collins, but comes to find out that she will play a key role in determining the outcome of Earth's future. Without spoiling it, lets just say it appears Kirk will never have a steady love relationship as long as he is captain. Great job by Shatner and leaves you numb at the end. He even uses the word "hell', which was probably a big deal on television in the late 60's.