TOS Season 3

The third and final season of was produced and filmed from to by Paramount Television and premiered on NBC on Friday, September 20, 1968 and concluded on Tuesday, June 3, 1969. In the United Kingdom, the series was first shown on BBC1, which imposed its own episode order, mixing episodes from all three seasons. It consists of 24 episodes. Star Trek: The Original Series is an American science fiction television series produced by Fred Freiberger, and created by Gene Roddenberry, and the original series of the Star Trek franchise. It features William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk, Leonard Nimoy as Spock and DeForest Kelley as Leonard McCoy.
==Episodes==
==Summary==
With Star Trek having narrowly avoided cancellation, the basic format remained the same as Season 2. The season opened with , a story in which , the priestess-leader of the underground Eymorg city, steals Spock's brain and transfers it to a receptacle so that he can rule their society.
Other episodes continued to serve as political parables. carried a strong anti-war message, while dealt with racial hatred, ending with the Enterprise unable to prevent the destruction of a civilization or even dissuade the two survivors from continuing their feud. told a tightly constructed morality play with Kirk, Spock, and McCoy teach an alien woman the value of self-sacrifice. While may not have featured television's first interracial kiss, it was still groundbreaking enough to be banned in some states.
Kirk had one of his most significant romances in , as he spent three months stranded on a planet, fell in love, and married, only for his pregnant wife to be killed in a tragic misunderstanding. He also fell in love with an android in , inadvertently bringing about her death. Spock attracted female attention in episodes like , , and , and McCoy and Scott found love in and , respectively.
Of the junior crewmembers, Chekov had significant roles in and , the latter giving a rare insight into his past. Sulu was given a chance to command the ship in , for the first time since , and accompanied Kirk and McCoy on an away team in , while Uhura and Christine Chapel finally had an opportunity to get closer to the two leads in , albeit at the behest of telekinetic aliens.
The Klingons made two major appearances in and . The latter introduced the character of Kang, who was later seen in and . The Romulans appeared in person for the first time since when they returned in , and the Tholians were introduced in . saw Kirk and Spock forced to play out the battle against good and evil, with three of the other participants, , , and , reappearing in later series as their original selves. The episode also marked the last appearance of Uhura on the show.
The season closed with , in which Kirk found himself trapped in the body of bitter former lover Janice Lester, who proceeded to charge his comrades with mutiny.
== Credits ==
=== Cast ===
;Starring
* William Shatner as Capt. Kirk
;Also starring
* Leonard Nimoy as Mr. Spock
* DeForest Kelley as Dr. McCoy
;Featuring
* James Doohan as Scott
* Nichelle Nichols as Uhura
* George Takei as Sulu
* Walter Koenig as Chekov
* Majel Barrett as Nurse Chapel
;All cast
=== Crew ===
;Writers
* Lee Cronin/Gene L. Coon
** 
** 
** (Story)
** (Story)
* John Meredyth Lucas
** 
** (Teleplay)
* Margaret Armen
** 
** (Teleplay)
* D.C. Fontana/Michael Richards
** 
** (Story)
** (Story)
* Edward J. Lakso
** 
* Jean Lisette Aroeste
** 
** 
* Joyce Muskat
** 
* Judy Burns 
** (co-wrote)
* Chet Richards
** (co-wrote)
* Rik Vollaerts
** 
* Jerome Bixby
** 
** 
* Meyer Dolinsky
** 
* Arthur Heinemann
** (Teleplay)
** (Teleplay/Story)
** (Teleplay)
* Oliver Crawford
** (Teleplay)
** (Story)
* Lee Erwin
** (Teleplay/Story)
* Jerry Sohl
** (Story)
* George F. Slavin
** 
* Stanley Adams
** 
* Jeremy Tarcher
** 
* Shari Lewis
** 
* David Gerrold
** (Story)
* Gene Roddenberry
** (Teleplay/Story)
** (Story)
* Arthur H. Singer
** (Teleplay)
;Directors
* Vincent McEveety
** 
* John Meredyth Lucas
** 
** 
* Jud Taylor
** 
** 
** 
** 
** 
* Marvin Chomsky
** 
** 
** 
* Marc Daniels
** 
* Ralph Senensky
** 
** (uncredited)
* John Erman
** 
* Herb Wallerstein
** 
** 
** 
** 
* Tony Leader
** 
* 
** 
** 
* Herb Kenwith
** 
* Murray Golden
** 
* Herschel Daugherty
** 
;Creator / Executive Producer
* Gene Roddenberry
;Producer
* Fred Freiberger 
;Co-Producer
* Robert H. Justman ( – )
;Associate Producers
* Edward K. Milkis
* Gregg Peters
;Story Consultant
* Arthur H. Singer
;Theme Music / Music Composer and Conductor
* Alexander Courage
;Music Composer and Conductor
* Fred Steiner 
* Alexander Courage 
* Gerald Fried 
;Directors of Photography
* Jerry Finnerman ( – )
* Al Francis ( – )
;Art Director
* Walter M. Jefferies
;Film Editors
* Bill Brame 
* Fabien Tordjmann 
* Donald R. Rode
;Unit Production Manager
* Gregg Peters 
;Assistant Directors
* Gil Kissel 
* Claude Binyon, Jr. 
* Gene De Ruelle 
;Set Decorator
* John M. Dwyer 
;Costume Designer
* William Ware Theiss 
;Photographic Effects
* Cinema Research (, , , , )
* Westheimer Company (, , , , , , , )
* Howard Anderson Co. (, , , , , )
* Vanderveer Photo Effects (, , , , )
;Sound Effects Editor
* Douglas H. Grindstaff
;Music Editor
* Richard Lapham
;Re-recording Mixer
* Gordon L. Day, 
;Production Mixer
* Carl W. Daniels
;Script Supervisor
* George A. Rutter
;Sound
* Glen Glenn Sound Co.
;Casting Directors
* Joseph D'Agosta
* William J. Kenney (, , , , , , ) 
;Make-Up Artist
* Fred B. Phillips, 
;Hair Stylist
* Pat Westmore
;Gaffer
* George H. Merhoff
;Head Grip
* George Rader 
;Property Master
* Irving A. Feinberg
;Special Effects
* Jim Rugg 
;Production Companies
* Paramount Television
* Norway Corporation
;Executive Vice President in Charge of Production
* Douglas S. Cramer
==== Uncredited crew ====
* Larry Abbott – Makeup artist ("The Way to Eden")
* George Barr – Makeup artist ("The Way to Eden")
* Larry Bunker – Percussionist ("The Way to Eden")
* John Caleffie – Guitarist ("The Way to Eden")
* Julian Davidson – Orchestra Manager ("The Way to Eden") 
* Kellam de Forest – Research
* John Finger – Director of Photography ("Requiem for Methuselah")
* Al Francis – Camera Operator ("Spectre of the Gun" – "The Empath")
* Ernest Haller – Director of Photography ("Requiem for Methuselah")
* Arthur Heinemann – Composer ("The Way to Eden")
* Al Jacoby – Assistant Property Master
* Willard W. Jones – Orchestration ("The Way to Eden") 
* J. James Lidner – Copyist ("The Way to Eden") 
* – Props
* Bill McGovern – Clapper/Loader
* Mike Minor – Additional Designs/Effects Artist ("Spectre of the Gun" – "The Tholian Web" – "Day of the Dove")
* Charles Napier – Composer ("The Way to Eden")
* William K. Pitman – Guitarist ("The Way to Eden")
* Craig Robertson – Composer ("The Way to Eden")
* Denis Russell – VFX Artist ("The Tholian Web" – "The Cloud Minders")
* Tiger Shapiro – Second Assistant Director
* Clark E. Spangler – Organist ("The Way to Eden")
* Charles Washburn – Second Assistant Director
* Andrea Weaver – Women's Costumer
==Background information==
* Some production staff members were disappointed with season three. In a 2006 interview, Leonard Nimoy called it "very weak in general, but it was especially not good for Spock." 
* Ira Steven Behr once said that both he and his sister were disappointed with this third season. He also commented that his disappointment with the season was similar to the reaction of "most fans." 
* For the third season, the title and credits were in a light blue color, much like the credits of .
* Kirk no longer wore a green wrap-around shirt in any of the episodes, though officers were seen wearing the full dress uniform in and . Also in the third season, Scott's dress uniform was accompanied by a traditional Scottish kilt. The uniforms were no longer made of velour (which shrank every time it was cleaned), but of double-knit polyester.
* Each episode of the third season now cost about US$175,000, the budget having been reduced even further, while the salaries of the main cast increased. Consequently, only two episodes out of the twenty-four this season ( and ) featured location scenery.
* Gene Roddenberry was initially promised an early evening time slot (Mondays at 7:30 pm) by NBC. However, this would have required their top-rated series Laugh-In to be moved from its 8 pm time slot to 8:30. Laugh-In Producer George Schaltter threatened to take his show to another network unless it was guaranteed the 8 pm slot. NBC capitulated, forcing Star Trek to air its third season in the only remaining slot on the schedule – Fridays at 10 pm. Roddenberry threatened to leave Star Trek entirely if it wasn't put back to the promised time slot, but NBC rejected his threats due to the show's low ratings. He technically kept the post of executive producer for this season, but had actually left for MGM to work on other projects.
* Because of Roddenberry's withdrawal, scripts were no longer revised or re-written by him, nor by either Gene L. Coon or D.C. Fontana, who both left the series earlier. Script quality greatly suffered because of this. (Inside Star Trek: The Real Story)
* After Roddenberry and most of the writing staff left after the second season, Fred Freiberger took over as producer, with Arthur H. Singer replacing D.C. Fontana as script consultant. According to Fontana, Singer came to the set one day, and asked, "By the way, what does that transporter thing do again?" 
* Robert H. Justman was promoted to co-producer, but left the series after . Gregg Peters became the new associate producer.
* A most important change was the departure of cinematographer Jerry Finnerman after , and his replacement with his former camera operator, Al Francis, which affected the visual style of the series.
* Several new writers were brought in. Many of them were non-professionals, who sent in story outlines, which were read and recommended by Justman. These included Jean Lisette Aroeste, Joyce Muskat, and Judy Burns.
* While a few directors from prior seasons returned, none of them (save for John Meredyth Lucas and Ralph Senensky, the latter of whom was fired midway through his second episode) worked on more than one episode. The season was therefore mostly handled by a new set of directors, with Jud Taylor and Herb Wallerstein being the two most frequent.
* According to Star Trek Lives! writer Joan Winston, NBC passed on an option for two additional episodes (a twenty-fifth and twenty-sixth) for the third season. William Shatner would have directed the twenty-fifth episode, "The Joy Machine". Ultimately, it was another two decades before Shatner got the opportunity to direct a Star Trek production (the film , which was released almost twenty years to the day after TOS series finale ) and twenty-one years before a Star Trek episode would be directed by a member of the cast (, directed by Jonathan Frakes).
==See also==
* TOS Season 3 UK VHS
* TOS Season 3 DVD
* TOS-R Season 3 DVD
* TOS Season 3 Blu-ray
==External links==
* 
* 
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