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 footage seen through the time portal is, for the most part, lifted from old Paramount films.

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Goofs

When Kirk and Spock are running from the police, you can tell that they simply run around the block back to the exact same alley. The two barrels, one rusty and one yellow, are still in the exact same spot.

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Quotes

Spock: Captain, I must have some platinum. A small block would be sufficient, five or six pounds. By passing certain circuits through there to be used as a duo-dynetic field core...
Capt. Kirk: [interrupting] Uh, Mr. Spock, I've brought you some assorted vegetables, baloney and a hard roll for myself, and I've spent the other nine tenths of our combined salaries for the last three days on filling this order for you. Mr. Spock, this bag does not contain platinum, silver or gold, nor is it likely to in the near ...
[...]

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Crazy Credits

The closing credits are set against a combination background of stills from that episode and previous episodes.

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Connections

Referenced in Sleepy Hollow: Ragnarok (2016)

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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.