The Man Trap
"The Man Trap" is the first episode of season one of the American science fiction television series Star Trek. Written by George Clayton Johnson and directed by Marc Daniels, it featured design work by Wah Chang and first aired in the United States on September 8, 1966.
For the silent film, see The Man Trap (film)."The Man Trap"
Season 1
Episode 1
6
September 6, 1966 (Canada)
September 8, 1966 (US)
In the episode, the crew visit an outpost on planet M-113 to conduct routine medical exams on the residents using a Tricorder, only to be attacked by an alien that appears to change shape, and kills by extracting salt from the victim's body.
This was the first Star Trek episode to air on television, although the sixth to be filmed; it was chosen as the first of the series to be broadcast by the studio due to the horror plot. "The Man Trap" placed first in the timeslot with a Nielsen rating of 25.2 for the first half-hour and 24.2 for the remainder. It aired two days earlier on Canadian network CTV.
Plot[edit]
The USS Enterprise arrives at planet M-113 to provide supplies and medical exams for the only known inhabitants of the planet, Professor Robert Crater (Alfred Ryder) and his wife Nancy (Jeanne Bal), who operate an archaeological research station there. Captain Kirk, Chief Medical Officer Dr. Leonard McCoy, and Crewman Darnell (Michael Zaslow) transport to the surface as Kirk teases McCoy about his affection for Nancy ten years earlier. They arrive in the research station, and each of the three men sees Nancy differently: McCoy as she was when he first met her, Kirk as she should look accounting for her age, and Darnell as an attractive blonde woman whom he met on a pleasure planet. When Nancy goes out to fetch her husband, she beckons Darnell to follow her.
Professor Crater is reluctant to be examined, telling Kirk that they only require salt tablets. Before McCoy can complete the examination, they hear a scream from outside. They find Darnell dead, with red ring-like mottling on his face, a plant root in his mouth, and Nancy standing over him saying she was unable to stop Darnell from tasting the plant. On board Enterprise, Spock analyzes the plant. He confirms that it is poisonous, but that mottling is not a symptom. McCoy conducts a medical exam and, together with Spock, determines that all the salt was drained from Darnell's body. In response, Kirk transports back down to the planet with McCoy and two crewmen, Green (Bruce Watson) and Sturgeon (John Arndt). Kirk tells Professor Crater that he and his wife should stay aboard the Enterprise until they find out what killed Darnell. Crater then runs off trying to find Nancy. Nancy kills both Sturgeon and Green; their faces show the same mottling as Darnell. Nancy assumes the form of Green, and meets Kirk and McCoy. They beam back up to the ship with Sturgeon's body.
"Green" roams the corridors, stalking several crew members, killing one. It takes the form of McCoy after confirming that the real McCoy has taken a sedative to sleep. Meanwhile, Spock confirms that scans show only one person, Crater, on the planet; Kirk and Spock beam down to capture him. They find Green's body before Crater tries to frighten them away with phaser fire. After they stun him with a phaser beam, the dazed Crater reveals that the real Nancy was killed by the creature – the last member of a long-dead civilization of shape-shifters who feed on salt – a year earlier. The creature continued to take on the appearance of Nancy out of affection for Crater, and he has been feeding it, comparing it to the "now-extinct buffalo". Kirk informs Enterprise of the creature's intrusion, as the landing party and Crater transport back to the ship.
Crater refuses to help them identify the creature, so Kirk orders the fake "McCoy" to administer truth serum. Kirk arrives in sickbay to find Crater dead and Spock injured; Spock's Vulcan blood made him incompatible with the creature's needs. Back in its "Nancy" form, the creature goes to McCoy's quarters. Kirk arrives with salt tablets to lure the creature and a phaser if he provokes the creature into attacking. McCoy hesitates giving the creature the opportunity to feed on the salt tablets, boosting its energy then it attacks Kirk. Spock arrives and goes hand to hand against the creature, who retaliates, slapping him against the wall. The creature reverts to its natural appearance and starts to feed on Kirk as McCoy, stunned, stares in disbelief. Once Kirk screams, McCoy opens fire with his phaser. The creature changes back into the shape of "Nancy" to plead for its life. McCoy asks forgiveness, then fires again, killing it. As Enterprise leaves orbit, Kirk comments to Spock that he was thinking about the buffalo.
Reception[edit]
Broadcast[edit]
A month prior to the premiere of Star Trek, Desilu held a screening for NBC executives to help decide which episode to broadcast first, and several stories were considered.[39] Executives were concerned that "Mudd's Women", one potential choice, would have reviewers discussing "space hookers"; they felt another possibility, "Where No Man Has Gone Before", contained too much exposition, even though it was filmed as a second pilot. The final choice was between "The Man Trap" and "The Naked Time".[39] Justman felt that "The Naked Time" would make it easier for viewers to understand the characters, but later agreed with NBC's decision to show "The Man Trap" first. In the book Inside Star Trek: The Real Story, he suggests that it was "scarier and more exploitable than the others".[39]
"The Man Trap" was the sixth episode produced. Although Roddenberry initially disagreed with NBC's decision, he and production executive Herbert Franklin Solow came to believe it was the correct choice.[39][40] Shatner also disagreed with the network, feeling that "The Man Trap" was the worst episode out of those available.[40] The episode was the first episode of Star Trek broadcast in the United States, on NBC on September 8, 1966.[41] "The Man Trap" formed part of NBC's "Sneak a Peek Week", in which the network showed the premiere episodes of several new shows in prime time slots, ahead of the rival channels ABC and CBS, who were still showing repeats from the previous season. Leading into Star Trek was the first episode of Tarzan showing Ron Ely, and leading out was Richard Mulligan's The Hero.[42]
"The Man Trap" placed first in its timeslot, with Nielsen ratings of 25.2 during the first half-hour; some 46.7 percent of all American televisions in use at the time were tuned in to the episode.[41] In the same timeslot, The Tammy Grimes Show on ABC and My Three Sons on CBS received ratings of 14.1 and 9.4 respectively. During the second half of the episode, the rating for "The Man Trap" dropped to 24.2, with 42.2 percent of televisions tuned in. Bewitched on ABC increased that network's rating to 15.8, and CBS's Thursday night movie increased their rating to 10.7.[41]
The following episodes saw a drop in ratings after "The Man Trap". "Charlie X" was broadcast the following week; the studio did not want that episode to run second, but "Where No Man Has Gone Before" was the only other completed story. It placed second in the timeslot during the first half hour, with a rating of 19.1 and an overall share of 35.9 percent of viewers. It was beaten by My Three Sons on CBS with a rating of 19.2. During the second half hour, Star Trek was pushed into third with a rating of 12.3 by the Thursday night movie on CBS and the season premiere of Bewitched, which was also the first episode of that series broadcast in color.[43] The following week, with "Where No Man Has Gone Before", the series returned to the top place with a 19.9 rating during the first half hour, and second in the second half hour to Bewitched. The Trendex rating report for the first few weeks of Star Trek saw it ranked in 33rd spot for the period with an average rating of 18.7.[44]
Home media release and other adaptations[edit]
The first adaptation of "The Man Trap" was as a re-working into a short story by author James Blish as part of the novelization Star Trek. This book contained seven short stories, each based on an episode of The Original Series, and was published in January 1967. The adaptation of "The Man Trap" appeared as the third story in the book, although it was named "The Unreal McCoy".[62] The first home media release of "The Man Trap" was on Compact Cassette from Startone Productions in 1982.[63] A further release on LaserDisc took place in 1985, alongside "Charlie X".[64] Further releases of all episodes of the series were made on VHS and Betamax.[65][66]
The episode was released on DVD paired with "The Naked Time" as part of the general release of the series in 1999.[67] There were no other extras added to that series of releases, except the DVD containing "Turnabout Intruder".[68][n 3] "The Man Trap" was later released within a DVD box set of the first season in 2004;[69] all three seasons of The Original Series were released as full-season box sets that year.[68] The episode was included in the remastered season one release on DVD and Blu-ray in 2009.[70]