Star Trek: TOS episode
"The Man Trap"
The M-113 Creature, disguised as Nancy, attacks Kirk
Episode no.	1
Prod. code	006
Remastered no.	43
Airdate	September 08, 1966
Writer(s)	George Clayton Johnson
Director	Marc Daniels
Guest star(s)	Jeanne Bal Sharon Gimpel Alfred Ryder Michael Zaslow Bruce Watson (actor) John Arndt (actor) Larry Anthony (actor) Vince Howard Francine Pyne Sharon Gimpel Eddie Paskey William Blackburn Frank da Vinci Garrison True Bob Baker (actor) Budd Albright Jeannie Shepard
Year	2266
Stardate	1513.1
Episode chronology
Previous	"The Cage"
Next	"Charlie X"

"The Man Trap" is a first season episode of Star Trek: The Original Series. It originally aired on Thursday, September 8, 1966, and was the first episode to be shown on NBC. It is episode #1, production #6, and was written by George Clayton Johnson, and directed by Marc Daniels. September 8 is the 251st day of the year (252nd in leap years). ... Year 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the 1966 Gregorian calendar. ... Screenwriters, scenarists, or script writers, are authors who write the screenplays from which movies and television programs are made. ... George Clayton Johnson is a science fiction writer most famous for his novel and screenplay Logans Run but also known for his work in television, writing screenplays for such noted series as The Twilight Zone and Star Trek. ... A television director is usually responsible for directing the actors and other taped aspects of a television production. ... Marc Daniels (January 27, 1912–April 23, 1989) was a television director from Pennsylvania. ... Alfred Ryder (January 5, 1916 - April 16, 1995) was a radio, television and film actor. ... Michael Joel Zaslow (November 1, 1944 – December 6, 1998) was an American actor. ... Vince Howard is an American actor who has made many guest appearances on television. ... Eddie Paskey-is an actor who is primarily known for playing the uncredited Lieutenant Leslie in the original Star Trek. ... This article or section is not written in the formal tone expected of an encyclopedia article. ... The Cage is the original pilot episode of the original Star Trek science fiction series and resulting franchise. ... Charlie X is a first season episode of the original series of Star Trek, first broadcast on September 15, 1966. ... The starship Enterprise as it appeared on Star Trek Star Trek is a culturally significant science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry in the 1960s. ... Year 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the 1966 Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the television network. ... George Clayton Johnson is a science fiction writer most famous for his novel and screenplay Logans Run but also known for his work in television, writing screenplays for such noted series as The Twilight Zone and Star Trek. ... Marc Daniels (January 27, 1912–April 23, 1989) was a television director from Pennsylvania. ...

Although it was first aired, it was not the first produced (the pilot "Where No Man Has Gone Before" and several regular episodes had been produced before it). The current official timeline considers "Where No Man Has Gone Before" to be set first. Where no man has gone before is a saying used in the introductory sequence of all but one of the episodes of the original Star Trek science fiction television series. ... The below is an abridged timeline of events established in the group of television shows and feature films set in the fictional Star Trek universe. ...

Overview: An illusory, shapeshifting, salt-hungry creature terrorizes the crew of the Enterprise. For other uses, see illusion (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Shapeshifting (disambiguation). ... Enterprise or USS Enterprise are the names of several fictional starships, some of which are the focal point for various television series and films in the Star Trek franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. ...

Plot

On stardate 1513.1, the Federation Starship USS Enterprise, commanded by Captain James T. Kirk, arrives at the planet M113 and sends down a landing party to check up on scientist Dr. Bob Crater and his wife Nancy (Dr. McCoy's old flame), who have been living alone on the planet for five years. James Kirk redirects here. ... Dr. Leonard H. McCoy Leonard Horatio McCoy, M.D., nicknamed Bones, is a fictional character in the fictional Star Trek universe, played by the late DeForest Kelley (January 20, 1920 - June 11, 1999). ...

Without realizing it, each member of the landing party sees Nancy according to the power she exercises over their imaginations. For Crewman Darnell, Nancy resembles a voluptuous blonde he had met on Wrigley's Pleasure Planet. For McCoy, she presents herself as she was 10 years earlier, and to Captain Kirk she appears to be the same woman McCoy sees, albeit with more mature qualities.

The couple appears to be in good health, however, Dr. Crater wants to cut the visit short and appears to rush things along to get rid of the landing party as soon as possible. Before their departure, he also requests that they provide to him additional supplies of salt. This article is about common table salt. ...

Soon thereafter, Nancy, in the guise of the voluptuous blonde, lures Crewman Darnell away from the others to a secluded place amid the rocks. When Darnell fails to respond to Kirk's call, Kirk leads the landing party in search of him. They soon come upon Darnell's lifeless body, his face mottled with strange annular blotches. In the dead man's mouth Dr. McCoy discovers a plant-like substance which Nancy calls a "Borgia" plant containing a substance similar to deadly nightshade, an alkaloid poison. Under questioning, Nancy claims to have warned Darnell when she saw him tasting the plant, but was too late. McCoy remarks upon the oddity of there being no trace of poisoning in Darnell's body, which, astonishingly, lacks all trace of salt. Binomial name L. Deadly nightshade (Atropa belladonna), also known as belladonna or dwale, is a well-known perennial herbaceous plant, with leaves and berries that are highly toxic and hallucinogenic. ... Chemical structure of ephedrine, a phenethylamine alkaloid An alkaloid is, strictly speaking, a naturally occurring amine produced by a plant,[1] but amines produced by animals and fungi are also called alkaloids. ...

Kirk orders an additional security team to come down to the planet and begin an investigation. Shortly after their arrival, the creature kills off Crewmen Sturgeon and Green. Assuming Green's appearance, it joins Kirk and McCoy who soon discover Sturgeon's lifeless, salt-depleted corpse. Kirk, McCoy, and "Green" return to the Enterprise.

Once aboard, "Green" makes his rounds first entering Lt. Sulu's botanical laboratory after observing a salt shaker on the lunch tray brought to him by Yeoman Rand. "Green" hovers silently near the tray until startled by the shrieking of Sulu's pet plant. Catching sight of Lt. Uhura, the creature then transforms itself into a handsome black man and attempts to lure the lieutenant into its grasp, addressing her in Swahili, but a call from the bridge dispels the enchantment in which Uhura finds herself held. Hikaru Sulu, played by George Takei, is a character in the original Star Trek series, the first six Star Trek films and one episode of Star Trek: Voyager. ... Yeoman Janice Rand, played by Grace Lee Whitney, is a character in the original Star Trek series. ... Uhura, played by Nichelle Nichols, is a character in Star Trek: The Original Series and the first six Star Trek films. ... Swahili (also called Kiswahili; see Kiswahili for a discussion of the nomenclature) is an agglutinative Bantu language widely spoken in East Africa. ...

Later, while scanning planet M113, Mr. Spock discovers no other life-forms save for Dr. Crater's. Surmising that Nancy must have somehow beamed aboard the Enterprise, Kirk orders a search for her. With the search underway, the creature manages to kill another crew member, then pays a visit to Dr. McCoy, appearing once again as Nancy. After the doctor falls asleep, the creature assumes McCoy's appearance. Spock, commonly called Mr. ...

Once again on the planet, Kirk and Spock discover Crewman Green's body and question Dr. Crater. Under pressure of their interrogation, Crater confesses that years before, the last member of a race of beings indigenous to the planet killed his wife. The being not only has illusion powers that allow it to appear in the minds of the viewer as something other than it really is, but it also an insatiable appetite for salt which it will kill to appease.

Kirk returns to the Enterprise along with Dr. Crater. Crater immediately recognizes the creature under McCoy's appearance, but does not alert Kirk. The two leave the room together, supposedly for McCoy to apply truth serum, but Mr. Spock accompanies them. The creature attacks them both, killing Dr. Crater, but Spock survives unharmed due to his unpalatable Vulcan physiology. Truth Serum is an independent comic book series created, written and drawn by author Jonathan Adams. ... For the Vulcan homeworld, see Vulcan (Star Trek planet). ...

Awake, McCoy finds Nancy before him begging for his help, though to others she appears in her true form — a monstrous, misshapen and bulky creature with green flaky skin and a large, elliptical mouth. Still seeing her as Nancy, McCoy prevents Captain Kirk from trying to kill the creature. He then watches as it begins to suck the salt from Kirk's body. Spock returns and manages to free Kirk from the creature's clutches and tries to convince McCoy that he is not seeing Nancy. Spock punches the creature solidly, but it knocks him across the room turning once again to the helpless Kirk. The creature reverts to its true form as it begins to feast on Kirk, but freed from the illusion, McCoy kills it with a shot from a phaser. // The Star Trek fictional universe contains a very large number of weapons. ...

40th Anniversary remastering

This episode was remastered in 2006 and aired September 29, 2007 as part of the remastered Original Series. It was preceded a week earlier by the remastered version of "The Conscience of the King" and followed a week later by the remastered version of "What Are Little Girls Made Of?". Aside from remastered video and audio, and the all-CGI animation of the USS Enterprise that is standard among the revisions, specific changes to this episode also include: Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 272nd day of the year (273rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... What Are Little Girls Made Of? is a first season episode of Star Trek: The Original Series. ...

• The planet M-113 has been given a more realistic appearance.
• The opening scene showing a slow pan of the live action M-113 surface set has been replaced by a panning CGI matte painting with more detail given to the ruined structures and landscape.

Notes

Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

• In the original series, the Salt Creature is one of two intelligent aliens, the last of their kinds, that kill humans for self defense and species survival. The other is the Horta from the episode The Devil in the Dark. The two episodes have very different endings; the Horta is spared while it is still highly dangerous, while the Salt Creature is killed even after it has been rendered harmless. The Man Trap has thus been criticized for violating Star Trek's moral principles.
• Mr. Spock says his home planet of Vulcan has no moon.
• Many fans have adopted David Gerrold's satiric nickname for this episode, "The Incredible Salt Vampire".
• NBC originally planned to begin Star Trek, which it scheduled to air on Thursdays at 8pm EST, on September 15, 1966 with the pilot episode "Where No Man Has Gone Before". Sometime before the beginning of the 1966 Fall season, the network decided to air a special preview of the series a week early. It is believed that "The Man Trap" was chosen to air first because it offered the best glimpse into several of the main characters (e.g., McCoy's past, Spock's home planet, Sulu's interest in botany) of any of the episodes filmed at that time (or, more skeptically, that it was chosen as the least "cerebral" episode, with a "conventional" plot about hunting down a hideous murdering monster).
• The episode received an unauthorised Turkish remake called Turist Ömer in Star Trek. [1]
• The Salt Monster costume later appeared in Trelane's castle in "The Squire of Gothos." It is in an alcove near the front door.
• This episode is spoofed in the Star Trek/Flintstones internet spoof Stone trek" as the Caveman trap. [2]— Stonetrek.com

Image File history File links Broom_icon. ... Kirk faces off the Horta in The Devil in the Dark. In the fictional universe of Star Trek, the Horta are a silicon-based species, introduced in the original series episode The Devil in the Dark. An intelligent species indigenous to the planet Janus IV, the Horta can comfortably live... The Devil in the Dark is a first-season episode Star Trek: The Original Series which first aired on March 9, 1967. ... David Gerrold, born Jerrold David Friedman (January 24, 1944), in Chicago, Illinois, is an award-winning science fiction author who started his career in 1966 as a college student by submitting an unsolicited story outline for the television series Star Trek. ... This article is about the television network. ... is the 258th day of the year (259th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the 1966 Gregorian calendar. ... Where no man has gone before is a saying used in the introductory sequence of all but one of the episodes of the original Star Trek science fiction television series. ... Year 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the 1966 Gregorian calendar. ... Autumn colours at Westonbirt Arboretum, Gloucestershire, England. ... The Squire of Gothos is an episode of Star Trek: The Original Series. ...

External links

• The Man Trap article at Memory Alpha, a Star Trek wiki
• M-113 creature article at Memory Alpha, a Star Trek wiki
• Review of the "The Man Trap" remastered episode at Trekmovie.com