teri garr star trek assignment earth

Why Teri Garr walked off the Star Trek set

By rachel carrington | may 29, 2021.

Teri Garr wasn’t fond of her time on Star Trek

Teri Garr appeared in one episode of Star Trek: The Original Series , playing secretary Roberta Lincoln in Assignment: Earth which was meant to be a spin-off series for Robert Lansing. It didn’t get picked up, and in an interview she did with Starlog Magazine , she said she was glad the backdoor pilot didn’t go to series. The interview includes some unkind words Garr has about Star Trek fans as well, but she had an unpleasant experience on the set of Star Trek which probably shaped her opinion of the franchise.

According to a story Lance Parkin, the author of The Impossible Has Happened: The Life and Work of Gene Roddenberry, wrote, Teri Garr ended up walking off the set off Star Trek when Gene Roddenberry wanted her skirt to be even shorter than it already was. If you’ve seen the episode, you know there wasn’t a whole lot more material that could have been removed to shorten it even more.

Gene Roddenberry’s request had Teri Garr walking off the set

Roddenberry’s desire to have the skirt lose another inch or two led to the then 20-year-old Garr putting some distance between her and Roddenberry. Though she finished her role on that episode, she refused to have anything to do with Star Trek after her one-time appearance. In fact, Garr has said that she mostly denies she ever did it [the episode].

In the book about Gene Roddenberry, Parkin added that Garr “hated the experience so much that she continues to refuse to be involved with Star Trek in any capacity, including discussing it in interviews.” In fact, Bill Warren, who interviewed her in 1990 for Starlog, warned his editor that the interview with Garr was “akin to a bad date.”

Whether or not Garr’s opinion of Star Trek has changed in the 31 years since that interview, we don’t know, but she made it very clear that she did not want to be associated with Star Trek in the future.  Perhaps Roddenberry’s request was the straw that broke the camel’s back for her. Whatever the case, Garr got her wish and hasn’t been in a Star Trek production since.

Janice Rand was supposed to be a CEO on Enterprise. dark. Next

The ‘Star Trek’ Spin-Off That Never Was – ‘Assignment: Earth’

By the end of Star Trek ‘s second season, it looked as though the show would be canceled. Word spread among cast and crew in the summer of 1967, as episodes continued to be filmed. Low ratings and network disputes with show creator Gene Roddenberry over how the program should be run had given NBC reason to pull the plug.

In all likelihood, the cancellation would have happened had it not been for the work of Bjo and John Trimble, two dedicated Star Trek fans who organized a letter-writing campaign of fans around the country. The enormous volume of mail convinced NBC to give Star Trek one more season.

Before the campaign took off in earnest, however, Roddenberry was already looking for other opportunities. He cared for Star Trek , but the reality of the time did not seem to show any real future for the series. Near the end of 1967, Roddenberry began work on “Assignment: Earth,” a brand new television series. It had many sci-fi elements, but was totally unconnected to Star Trek .

“Assignment: Earth” focused on Gary Seven, a super-skilled Doctor Who-esque traveler of sorts, who went into Earth’s present day to ensure history followed its proper course. He is joined by Roberta, a secretary, who learns about his mission and follows him along on his adventures. Seven is also accompanied by a shape-shifting cat (a humorous foil to his serious-toned character), along with Beta 5, a super-advanced computer who acts as a kind of advisor. They fight against the Omegans, an evil alien race attempting to undermine Earth via time travel, just as Gary Seven would attempt to set things right. Roddenberry pitched the series as a combination of spy-adventure and science fiction.

Gary Seven actor Robert Lansing describes the character background in a 1989 interview with Starlog Magazine , quoted on an Assignment: Earth fan website , The Complete “Assignment: Earth.”

“Gene was a good friend, but I was a New York snob actor, out to Hollywood. Many folks in my self-perceived position didn’t do Star Trek because it was considered a kid’s show, or a young show at any rate. Gene said, ‘I’m writing this for you and we can play with it. It might be a series.’ He said, ‘Well, you don’t have to, but just do this one thing for me.’ So, I did. It was a damn good script and a lot of fun. “What Gene had done, was to go to futurists and scientists and ask them what advanced societies out in space might do towards more primitive societies like ours. One of the futurists said that they would probably kidnap children from various planets, take them to their superior civilization, raise them, teach and enlighten them, and then put them back as adults to lead their worlds in more peaceful ways. That was the idea behind Gary Seven.”

On its own as a script pitch, “Assignment: Earth” failed to gain any traction. Instead, Roddenberry adapted it into a Star Trek episode, aired as the Season 2 finale. It had become a backdoor pilot, an attempt by a currently running show to launch a new series. The idea of the Omegans was dropped. Gary Seven was no longer stopping aliens, and he had to save mankind from itself: war, greed, corruption, and so on.

The “Assignment: Earth” fan website has a copy of the original pitch, dated from December 1967, used to sell NBC on the idea, now revised as an episode of Star Trek . Roddenberry gives a description that emphasized the modernity of the concept.

“‘Assignment: Earth’ is the Star Trek spin-off pilot of a new show, ‘Assignment: Earth,’ a totally new today concept which can be described as ‘Science Fiction 1968!’ Laid against 1968 backgrounds and stories, but without losing the excitement and imagineering which identified futuristic Star Trek .”

The Star Trek episode “Assignment: Earth” tries to balance screentime for the regular crew against the needs of promoting the new show idea. Kirk and crew inadvertently intercept Gary Seven beaming to Earth. Seven and Kirk tussle throughout the episode, as Kirk attempts to learn of Seven’s true nature, and Seven attempts to accomplish his mission of destroying a space-orbit-bound nuclear warhead.

In a review of the episode, The A.V. Club ‘s Zach Handlen criticizes the disconnected nature of the story from a traditional Star Trek episode.

“Kirk and Spock and the rest are reduced to cameos on their own show… Maybe ‘Assignment: Earth’ could’ve been a decent series; but it’s terrible Star Trek . ” “At least we get some quality time with Teri Garr [who portrayed Roberta]… a pleasure to watch as always. She’s just kind of sweet and friendly, and while I can’t imagine wanting to tune in to her and Seven’s adventures every week, I do feel kind of bad that the show wasn’t picked up, for her sake. But hey, things turned out okay for her in the end, at least.”

If “Assignment: Earth” had been picked up as a series, it might have opened using the following narration, according to documents on the fan site.

“In the hands of this one man… could rest the future of all mankind. His name…Gary Seven… born in the year 2319 A.D. The only survivor of Earth’s attempt to send a man back through time to today. Assignment…fight an enemy who is already here, trying to destroy us. If he fails…there’ll be no tomorrow!”

In this case, there was no tomorrow. The characters of Gary Seven and Roberta have survived in Star Trek books and comics, but no TV series was ever made.

Star Trek would continue for one more season before being cancelled. Reruns, movies, and new TV shows would ensure a future for the franchise. “Assignment: Earth” is a unique footnote to that storied history.

[Featured Image by CBS]

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Teri Garr ( born 11 December 1944 ; age 79) [1] , credited as Terri Garr , is the actress who played Roberta Lincoln in the Star Trek: The Original Series second season episode " Assignment: Earth ".

She filmed her scenes between Wednesday 3 January 1968 and Monday 8 January 1968 at Paramount Stage 5 and on location at Paramount Pictures ' "Windsor Street" backlot.

Garr earned an Academy Award nomination in 1983 for her supporting role in the Sydney Pollack comedy Tootsie (which also featured James W. Jansen ). She is also well-known for her roles in Young Frankenstein (1974, co-starring Kenneth Mars and featuring Ian Abercrombie , Benjie Bancroft , Lars Hensen , John Hugh McKnight , Monty O'Grady , Arthur Tovey , and Max Wagner ), and Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977, with Gene Dynarski and Monty O'Grady).

She was born in Lakewood, Ohio, but was raised in North Hollywood. Her father, Eddie Garr was a comedic actor, her mother, Phyllis Lind Garr worked as a costumer in films.

In her youth, Garr was trained in ballet and other forms of dance, and made her initial film appearances as a background dancer in "beach party" films and Elvis Presley movies, often accompanied by her best friend and roommate at the time, Carey Foster . She appeared uncredited in no less than six Elvis movies from 1963 to 1967, including Kissin' Cousins (1964, with Yvonne Craig , Lance LeGault , Carey Foster, and directed by Gene Nelson ), Roustabout (1964, with Lance LeGault, K.L. Smith , Marianna Hill , and Carey Foster), Viva Las Vegas (1964, with Pete Kellett , Lance LeGault, Edwin Rochelle , and William Meader ), and Clambake (1967, with James Gregory , Marj Dusay , Angelique Pettyjohn , and Corbin Bernsen ).

Her later films include Maryjane (1968, with Byron Morrow and her Original Series co-star Bruce Mars ), Head (1968, with Logan Ramsey , Abraham Sofaer , Charles Macaulay and an uncredited Tania Lemani ), The Conversation (1974), Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood (1976, with Keye Luke , Dean Stockwell , and Ricardo Montalban ), Oh, God! (1977, with Jeff Corey , David Ogden Stiers , Paul Sorvino , William Daniels , and Clyde Kusatsu ), The Black Stallion (1979), Honky Tonk Freeway (1981, with Jeffrey Combs ), The Black Stallion Returns (1983), Mr. Mom (1983, with Christopher Lloyd , Graham Jarvis , Carolyn Seymour , Derek McGrath , Michael Ensign , and Bruce French ), Firstborn (1984, with Peter Weller ), After Hours (1985, with Dick Miller ), Mom and Dad Save the World (1992, with Wallace Shawn , Thalmus Rasulala , and Dennis Madalone ), Dumb & Dumber (1994, with Mike Starr and Charles Rocket ), Michael (1996, with Tom Hodges and Wallace Langham ), and Dick (1999, with Kirsten Dunst and Saul Rubinek ). In addition, she was seen in The Player (1992) and Prêt-à-Porter (1994), both of which also featured Sally Kellerman . The former film also featured appearances by René Auberjonois , Paul Dooley , Louise Fletcher , Whoopi Goldberg , Joel Grey , Malcolm McDowell , Bert Remsen , Dean Stockwell, Brian Tochi , and Ray Walston .

Besides her appearance on Star Trek , Garr has also appeared on such classic television shows as Batman (1966, with William O'Connell ), The Andy Griffith Show , M*A*S*H , The Bob Newhart Show , and Barnaby Jones (1974, with William Sargent and Mariette Hartley ), and hosted Saturday Night Live (1983, while Joe Piscopo was in the cast). She also had a recurring role as Sgt. Phyllis Norton on McCloud , starring Diana Muldaur and Ken Lynch . Others she worked with on this show include Lawrence Montaigne , Michael Pataki , Nehemiah Persoff , Brock Peters , Eugene Roche , Joseph Ruskin , and Gregory Sierra . She later had a recurring role as Phoebe Buffay's biological (and namesake) mother on Friends , voiced the role of Mary McGinnis on Batman Beyond and Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker (2000, with Dean Stockwell and Frank Welker ), and has guest-starred on such shows as Frasier (starring Kelsey Grammer ), ER , and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit .

Garr publicly revealed in 2002 that she had been diagnosed some years earlier with multiple sclerosis . Garr joins David L. Lander as a Trek actor afflicted with the disease. Despite this, she has continued to work occasionally in film and television. In December 2006, she underwent surgery to treat a brain aneurysm and was said to be "recovering nicely." [2]

External links [ ]

• Teri Garr at the Internet Movie Database
• Teri Garr at Wikipedia
• Teri Garr at TriviaTribute.com – pictures, links, and trivia
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“Assignment: Earth” Remastered Review with Video & Screenshots

| May 6, 2008 | By: TrekMovie.com Staff 169 comments so far

REVIEW by Jeff Bond

Long before The Jeffersons, Rhoda and Private Practice, Star Trek got an early start on the idea of spin-off series with this peculiar but very entertaining stealth pilot for a series that would have starred Robert Lansing as Gary Seven, a human being trained by aliens to keep a secret watch over Earth during one of the most dangerous periods in its history.

The last broadcast episode of Trek ’s season two, “Assignment: Earth” takes the once shocking concept of time travel as depicted in “Tomorrow Is Yesterday” and “The City on the Edge of Forever” and makes it so commonplace that it’s merely another routine task for the Enterprise to slingshot around the sun and travel back to 1967. What’s not commonplace is Seven himself, a seemingly superpowered humanoid who appears on the Enterprise transporter pad with his cat, almost overpowers Spock and some security guards before succumbing to a phaser stun.

The opening scenes with Seven are well done, effectively establishing an urgent aura of mystery around the man and emphasizing Kirk’s anxiety at the potential disaster inherent in messing with history. Once Seven escapes the Enterprise and Kirk and Spock don civilian Earth clothing to pursue him, the episode shifts easily into comedy with Teri Garr’s scatterbrained and amusing secretary Roberta Lincoln trying to make sense of her strange new boss and the two oddball strangers who invade his office. Yet there’s still room for some interesting dramatic moments, as when Seven broods over the death of two fellow agents “in something as meaningless as an automobile accident.”

It’s interesting to wonder how this might have played out as a television series, a kind of earthbound companion piece to Star Trek (one fan went so far as to design a title sequence and record a piece of theme music for the show that “Assignment: Earth” might have been… see below for more ). Robert Lansing was always a popular and intriguing television performer in everything from Twelve O’Clock High to his role as Control on The Equalizer . At the time of “Assignment: Earth” Terri Garr had primarily found work as a dancer in Elvis Presley pictures—her Star Trek guest shot was a breakthrough role for her and demonstrated a quirky comic presence that would later be used to great effect in films like Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Tootsie . And Trek staple Barbara Babcock conspires with art director Matt Jefferies, Trek special effects guru Jim Rugg and the Trek sound effects editors to create a memorably bitchy computer in the Beta 5, an obvious first cousin to Richard Daystrom’s M-5 unit.

Oddly Kirk and Spock get very little comedy to play in this episode as they spend the bulk of the story in hot pursuit of Seven, But Kirk’s anguish and tension over the mystery of Seven and what kind of havoc he might wreak in Earth’s past is well played and the missile detonation countdown finale, simply staged though it is, is a nice suspense sequence.

As for CBS-D’s contribution to this episode I have only one thing to say: AGAIN with the Earth-like planets! I’ve had it up to HERE with you people—I mean show some imagination for once! Would it kill you to show a planet that wasn’t—what? Oh, this IS Earth?

Never mind.

Some nice shots here, and placing the moon into several of them really helps differentiate these not only from the original shots but also from other Remastered episodes that feature Earth. There was a lot of talk on the boards about replacing the gantry shots or other stock footage of Saturn boosters intended to stand in for nuclear missile launch platforms or whatever—I suppose some of that could have been done but I don’t remember really being bothered by the stock footage use in the original episode. The quality of the original rocket footage was good enough and the episode does a rather clever job of putting Mr. Seven into the gantry environment, so the few orbital shots done here are more than sufficient for the episode.

( higher quality version at YouTube )

SCREENSHOTS REMASTERED v ORIGINAL by Matt Wright

Bonus Video: Assignment: Earth…the series Here is a glimpse at a possible opening theme for the Trek spin-off that never was…

This was created by musician and school teacher Andy Patterson (with help from his brothers Michael and Phillip). Andy wrote the music for the theme and recorded the original music using real live musicians . There is also an alternative ‘jazzier’ version at YouTube . Visit Andy’s Gary Seven Website for more.

Seasons One and Two discounted at Amazon The Season Two box set is now available at Amazon for pre-order, discounted to $63.99 (Amazon has a low price guarantee that if they drop the price before ship date of August 5th you will get that lower price). Amazon has also discounted the Season One DVD / HD DVD combo disk is to $96.95 (retail is $194.99).

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first? hmm- always wondered what the show would be like if they had done it?

A lot of the screen stills make great desktop pics you know

i have one spanned across both my monitors at work! they are all lovely. :)

that policeman should have gotten his own show!

Justman tells a great story about Roddenberry making Teri Garr’s skirt shorter and shorter. It’s why it looks so peculiar in the episode

Star Trek started it’s run in germany with “Tomorrow is yesterday”, all three seasons were shown totally mixed up over the years. So I was quite surprised that it was no problem no more to go back in time, should star fleet command ask for it. But the funniest part about this ep was that the dubmeisters of german TV called Gary “Seven Rock”…

One of my favorite episodes.

“That, Ms. Lincoln, is only my cat.”

I could’ve use that line once or twice.

oh and re: earth type planets & cbs-d ……LMFAO.

I would have enjoyed CBS-D’s work on “Assignment: Earth” much more if they just didn’t have the Earth rotating in the WRONG DIRECTION throughout the whole episode.

The original had it right… why make that dumb change?

If the had to change something, I would have liked the Big E heading toward the sun at the fade-out.

Yip,,Good old 20th century Earth,,,

It must of been a good place,, their always going there

( I love that poster )

ReallyMan (#8),

Holy Cow! You’re right! The Earth is spinning in the wrong direction in those clips. I can’t believe it.

Actually, yes I can. In the original FX (as well as many of the remastered ones) the Enterprise always seemed to be orbiting against the rotation of the planet below it. This despite the fact that the ship was supposedly in geosynchronous orbit over some significant point on the planet’s surface.

The folks at CBS-D probably disn’t even consider the planet’s rotation when they rendered the new FX. Whoopsie!

It’s spinning in the wrong direction… because.. they, uh, went BACKWARD in time! Yeah! That’s it!

I always liked ‘Assignment Earth’, it’s groovy. Shame they didn’t find a way to fix that dreadful shot of Gary lying across a gantry near the rocket by compositing in a new background or whatever.

‘Assignment: Earth’ would make a good series today.

This was a nice episode. It gave us a break of the “starship Enterprise discovers strange new worlds in the future” routine. Also we got a powerful guest star in Gary Seven. Some of Kirk and Spock’s troubles on 20th century Earth prefaces Star Trek IV.

Actually, it was a really bad day that day.

That just happened to also the day when arch villain Lex Luthor attempted to devastate the United States, and dramatically improve the value of his otherwise worthless real estate purchases, by launching two re-programmed missiles to induce a major earthquake.

What you couldn’t see in those orbital shots was Superman speeding around in orbit, reversing the flow of time.

It was a two-fer cross-over episode. Two aliens: one Kryptonian, one of ancient human ancestry reliant on technology, working to save Earth.

1. …BE the day…

2. LL didn’t launch the missiles, but, just re-programmed them

(shakes head) time to get some coffee for myself…

13. RTC – May 6, 2008

‘Assignment: Earth’ would make a good series today.

Yes it would.

You know,…knowing this episode as well as I do,….being very aware of the rhythms and pace of this show, makes me very aware of the seconds they shave off to make it fit in today’s commercial. Kind of jarring.

Did anybody notice the sound effects still left in from I Mudd and transplaned at the beginning of this episode?

Thanks for the mention Jeff. If Darren is out there,…any chance my theme two will ever be shown at the conventions you speak at? I’d really like to get the fan reaction to it. I’m starting to like it more and more after all this time.

#13 RTC –

I always thought that the 1997 show “The Visitor” with John Corbett must have been an attempt to realize “Assignment: Earth” as a series.

The main problem I had with “Assignment: Earth” was the contrived uselessness of Spock, to make Kirk’s choice more dramatic. Spock could not destroy the platform in time, so the only logical choice was to let Gary Seven try. Spock’s lack of logical thinking was very out of character. Otherwise, I wish they would have made a series out of this. Very similar to Doctor Who in many ways. Had Roddenberry recently travelled to England and happened to watch some of their science fiction tv? Hmmm, I wonder…

Re Terri Garr and comedy, YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN is a better example than CLOSE ENCOUNTERS.

Also, notice that Roddenberry gets the ‘producer’ credit at the end. Did John Meredyth Lucas quit by then?

Gary Seven… always made me wonder about Gary One, Two, Three… etc.

Perhaps it’s not too late to have a series about Gary Eight, Nine or Ten…. I mean, c’mon if Andromeda and Earth: Final Conflict can be scraped off the bottom of the frying pan, certainly a series “Assignment: Earth” starring Jamie Bamber as Gary Nine, Nicki Clyne as his flighty secretary Jane Henderson, and Kim Kardashian in a non-speaking role as Isis the… “cat”… could be filmed in Vancouver starting next week for the Sci Fi channel…. It could even play in the Star Trek universe as we sort of know it, and reference all sorts of things. They could be busy revising history to eliminate all incidences of Khan, the Bell Riots, WW III, you name it. The Ultimate Trek Retcon, yep.

Good call by everyone on Earth rotating the wrong way. It’s simply stupid, inexcusable, and impossible. Yes, you could make a perspective argument, but only IF the darkened limb was moving westward. It’s not… you can see the shadow creeping eastward.

Furthermore, the ending flyby should have been on a heading for the Sun. After all, the return to the 23rd century should have been hinted at, following Tomorrow is Yesterday’s effects.

This is one of my favourite TOS eps. Great acting, story, suspense, and humour.

The only problem is that it was a huge mistake to make time travel so easy (further compounded in ST:IV). It’s a hard enough leap of faith to accept warp drive, transporters, cloaking devices, etc. But at least once you accept their existence, ST does a pretty good job of using these gimmcks in logical and consistent manners.

Time travel is another story – ST is all over the map (and usually completely ILLOGICAL) in explaining the paradoxes inherent in the concept. They covered the whole spectrum from saying that there was only one “real” timeline (City on the Edge of Forever, Yesterday’s Enterprise, etc) all the way to saying that there were an infinite number of coexisting timelines (Parallels) so in fact it doesnt matter whether someone messes with the past, because all possible realities exist anyway!

They should never have opened the time travel can of worms in the first place.

Roddenberry revisited the Gary Seven idea when he did “The Questor Tapes.” Which he revisited again when he created Data.

He sure did a lot of “revisiting” of earlier ideas…

I loved this show as a kid…Gary Seven and all his gadgets, going back in time, etc. I still like it today.

I liked that they didn’t change much in this episode (the new shots of Earth were a nice touch, though).

Further to this idea – the only time travel explanation that really makes some sense is the coexisting timelines idea. This one does the best job of avoiding the embarassing paradoxes. It means that when someone goes back in time and “changes” the past, all they are really doing is jumping to a different alternate timeline. The “original” unchanged timeline still exists somewhere in the multiverse – it’s just that our heroes are now existing in a different reality.

Well, how do you expect me to type, with my nose?

Hey, wait a minute – the typewriter is typing everything I….

Again, very disappointing. CBS-D didn’t even both removing the very noticeable dirt from the (twice-shown) still close-up of the rocket. No exploding rocket shot. The earth rotating in the wrong direction?! A stock footage snore-fest.

This was supposed to be spin off , I wish this one had happened.

it’s a hopeful spin-off, that’s why ole Gene was credited as the producer… so as to beam away from unemployement if ST were to walk tha’ plank after season two…

arrrr… isn’t Terri Garrrrr so darn adorable here that ye just wanna hug tha’ stuffin’ outta her? I do… awwwww…

Gary Sieben be interesting character, James Bond meets Spock meets Doctor Doolittle meets Mr. Bic… arrrrr

CBS-D could have made Spock more able ta’ control a secretary rather than push her down inna huff and run away… playground flashback?

Kirk: There’s a man on the rocket girder… and there’s a monkey on the plane’s wing… Spock, if you didn’t like the tribbles, why are you petting the kitty cat? Get those coppers outta here!

ahhhhh, but I kid… actually better than I remembered it ta’ be… arrrrrr…

As 20 cd points out, The Gary Seven / Doctor Who parallels are utterly uncanny, right down to his attractive young female companion and sonic screwdriver. Very intriguing, and more than a little suspicious! (Come to think of it, I wonder if that had anything to do with it not becoming a series.)

I’ve always been very fond of this episode, though, just because Lansing’s so cool and Garr is so fun (and young and cute!), and it’s a delightful, unexpected departure from the Trek norm — though, yes, the overly casual use of time travel is cringe-inducing, as it begs the question… if time travel is that easy, why aren’t all warp-capable starships in Trek (Federation, Klingon, Romulan, you name it) time-traveling all the, er, time, and frakking things up? A huge can of worms.

Anyway, I hadn’t seen this episode in years — not since discovering the joy of Doctor Who, in fact — so it was a treat, as well as a completely new experience given the Who-ian lens I now view it through.

Damn shame about the Earth rotating in the wrong direction, though. They’re never gonna live that one down. ;-)

It always weirded me out that in the original version Earth was having a completely cloudless day. Now THAT’S a problem for an advanced space ship to work on.

Those of you interested in what this would’ve been like as a series, might I recommend the Eugenics Wars books? Gary Seven and company are pretty key players, and it’s weird hearing them refer to the supposed adventures they’ve had on Earth in the last few decades… like they’re some sort of Star Trek Torchwood.

Backwards rotating Earth? They must have rushed out the last episodes to save money after Toshiba backed out.

I own Gene Roddenberry’s original treatment for “Assignment Earth” courtesy of the Profiles in History Auctions a few years back. It’s quite a thing to have from the production of the original show.

It’s interesting that Bob Justman really doesn’t consider this episode as a good pilot or even just an entertaining episode. I’ve always liked this one and I wish that the Saturn V could have been replaced with something else, but that’s really wishful thinking considering the limits of this project.

Gary’s office and the Cape… Why- those are the most detailed sets that TOS ever had! Wonder why?

And Terri Garr was so darn cute with her gestures and expressions that she made Mary Tyler Moore look like a pile of puke….

Oops… mixing sentiment…

And Robert Lansing- hey, they hired actors for guest stars! Wow.

Overall- highly enjoyable and fun… starnge it’s an attempt at a pilot rather than a TOS-like ep… I mean who the hell was that Kirk guy who sort of just stood around? the villain?

arrrrr… Terri Garrrrrr be so cute…

oops I did say that alreday… I mean better than an Orion whose juzt lookin’ fur condoms and a switchblade…

I’m sorry but the Earth spinning backwards is a major problem that undermines this entire remaster project.

Very disappointed.

I’ve always dug the idea of cat being. Cool concept. Dig the gantry scene. Lansing is add-libbing dialogue with the cat that makes the whole scene.

Also….I think they cut out, to make time, the reaction shot of McCoy in the sickbay when Kirk asks for his analysis of Seven. It seems DeForest Kelly wasn’t even told what line he was reacting to. “It’s like they said “just look perturbed De”. Which he does. It’s also interesting to see so many shots of actors reacting to things that are’nt there. It’s clear that Shatner and Nimoy are’nt even in the room with Lansing and Garr in the final scene. Both sides are reacting a little off.

And do people notice Barton Larue (Guardian of Forever) and Doohan’s voices on the Mission Control floor?

The earth was spinning in the wrong direction because this episode was supposed to be a “spinn-off”.

33. Thomas Jensen — Dare I ask if you’d consider scanning and posting that “Assignment: Earth” treatment to share with the rest of the class? ;-) I’d dearly love to see/read it.

Nice write-up, Anthony. Thanks!

I also enjoyed reading everyone’s commentary, as always.

38 – LOL

AAARGH! Yet another ‘Earth-like’ planet… ;) And spinning the wrong way at that. Doesn’t surprise me at this point, as it’s been a bit of a backwards project from the start where certain factors have been concerned.

#28 Izbot – And yeah, they could at least enhanced any obvious artifacts on the stills you mentioned…

Another sub-standard effort guys, but those that are not bothered, enjoy!

I liked this episode. However, was it just my broadcast or did some of the scenes look washed out and overexposed. I noticed several scenes where the quality was pretty poor. Not the FX fault as it was likely the original film. Just wondering if anyone else noticed anything like that?

One of my favorite scene was the launch of the Saturn V. Such a beautiful rocket!

Would also love to learn more about the Aliens that took the humans 5000 years ago. That would be some cool stuff to see in a movie…

Great Effects!!!!!!!!!!!

Were any scripts written for the spin-off series? If so, are any in existence today?

There is a Star Trek novel, Assignment: Eternity, that brings Gary Seven and Roberta into the TOS time for an important mission. I read it a while back, and as I recall, there are mentions of Gary & Roberta getting involved with The Prisoner/The Village and The Avengers. And one of the Strange New Worlds books has a story about them rescuing Capt. Christopher from an obsessed Men-In-Black agent who has photos of the Enterprise from its visit to 1968 and who was present when Quark & company visited Roswell back in 1947.

I would like to ask what people have against “Earth-like” planets. DOn’t they make sense to be there with what they look like on the surface. If It has life on it, doesn’t it stand to reason that it would be earth-like?

I agree with #43 – the transfer on this ep was all over the place, with contrast and saturation changing from cut to cut in alot of the scenes. Kind of disappointing given how great many of the remastered transfers have looked.

Oh, and if I could go back in time, I’d go back twenty years and make sure TNG did a Gary Seven episode with Robert Lansing…

I t’ond kniht eht htraE gninnips sdrawkcab sah dah yna tceffe no su……

Loved this episode and loved Teri Garr as Roberta though she does not love us Trek fans!

But I won’t be harsh on her nowadays, dear lady is living with MS and I wish her the best.

Assignment: Earth series you will not find a bigger proponent than I!

Forget Earth: Final Conflict and Andromeda, they should have dusted off A:E and revived it as a series instead!

I always hated this episode, it is so cheesy and probably has the worse staying power of any TOS episode.

Origins & Analysis

Welcome to the web's only complete reference to Assignment: Earth (Æ) .

This episode of the original Star Trek was intended to spin off into a series of its own.

Thanks to everyone who has written in. Your comments are always appreciated. This site first appeared on the net in 1998 – this is the seventh major revision – and its growth is due, in part, to those people who wrote in and said, "Hey, did you know…?" Well, no, no I didn't, but now I do, and thanks for your help. If you have info, please feel free to @ me.

– Scott Dutton

The Original Pilot Script : November 14, 1966

Gene Roddenberry developed the first version of Æ as he worked on Star Trek 's first season, and pitched it to Desilu in a 47-page script.

Gary Seven is a man sent back in time from the 24th century, the only Earth man to ever survive the transit. His goal is to defeat the Omegans, a race of shape-changing aliens who have sent agents back in time to change Earth's history so they can defeat Earth in the future. Harth and Isis would be the primary Omegan antagonists. Roberta Hornblower is described as she appeared in the final episode, but as a 20 year old.

Seven's cover in the 1960s is The -7- Agency, a private investigations firm. We meet Roberta as she enters the office looking for Mister Seven. The gadgets from the final episode are here, including the servo, and a pair of working x-ray glasses. She sits down at the typewriter to leave him a note. Roberta had nearly been killed by a falling chunk of a building, and had been pushed out of the way by a woman who instead died. The woman looked very much like her, and Roberta found Seven's address on her body.

Seven and Roberta meet and come into conflict with Isis and Harth, setting up the series' premise. After their initial adventure together involving going back in time to reset a mishap and Roberta transporting instantly around to different locations, Seven tells Roberta he needs an assistant.

The Series Proposal : December 5, 1967

While developing the script, they also generated a 13-page series proposal.

Now conceived of as a Star Trek spin-off pilot, the new Æ had Roddenberry and Wallace selling themselves as individuals respected in the business who were teaming up for the series. They made the clear distinction that while futuristic like Trek , Æ would be set against modern-day 1968.

One of Roddenberry's strengths and benefits was to go to specialised individuals and organisations (like NASA) and ask them, "What if?" By going outside entertainment circles, he gave his work a depth and credibility that became a model for a better-informed process.

Some of the connecting-the-dots promotion of the series' ideas to already known commercial quantities is a bit funny to read now. Having done enough creative briefs and seeing the tell-tale signs in this proposal, I get the feeling studio execs have the same thought processes as other businessmen.

The First-Draft Trek Script : December 4–20, 1967

In the middle of Star Trek 's second season, Roddenberry and writer Art Wallace reworked the Æ premise:

"Assignment: Earth is interesting in a sense," Wallace points out, "because I had gone to Paramount and pitched a series idea to them. They had said that Gene Roddenberry had come up with a very similar idea. So I saw Gene and we decided to pool the idea, which was about a man from tomorrow who takes care of the present on Earth. That was intended to be the pilot, although it was never made into a series. It was a good pilot and it's a shame, because I think if they had done it as a series with just Gary Seven, it would have been a very successful show." Source: Captain's Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages.

There were some differences from the final episode in this version:

No black cat! Isis – either human or feline – is nowhere to be seen.

Gary Seven's transporter beam came from even farther across the galaxy than it did in the episode.

After Seven was confined in the Enterprise brig, he revealed his mission to Dr. McCoy, turning the tables on Bones by asking him to think like a doctor, not a mechanic.

Roberta London, recruited by Mr. Seven, was beamed up to the Enterprise for interrogation. The frightened Roberta was soothed by Uhura, who reassured her that she was still among Earth people.

About 30–50 per cent of the Seven-Lincoln-Isis story is not developed yet. It feels much more like a Trek episode with Seven and Lincoln as guest stars, instead of the back-door pilot it became. A lot of re-writing was done over the holidays by Art Wallace to deliver the episode we know.

The Final-Draft Trek Script : January 1, 1968

Notable changes from the final-draft script to the produced episode include:

The supplemental Captain's log which immediately follows Seven's capture where Kirk describes "A man in a 20th-century business suit. What is he? Not even Spock's…etc." was not in this script.

In the briefing room, a line by Spock is cut:

Spock: Medi-scanners indicate it is a cat, Captain. Female… as we've seen, remarkably intelligent…

McCoy was to enter the briefing room scene earlier, with Kirk showing impatience with him to report.

Just before the Beta 5 says, "In response to nuclear warhead…" an exchange between Seven and the Beta 5 is cut:

Seven: Computer, how much longer? Beta 5: Useless questions will only prolong search. Seven: Are you a one-relay machine? Clear a circuit; describe present mission of agents 201 and 347.

Immediately following Seven saying, "That's the same kind of nonsense that almost destroyed planet Omicron IV," a line has been cut:

Seven: Balance of power won't work. The other side will launch still more, they'll end up with the sky full of H-bombs waiting for just one mistake.

The scene where we first see Roberta Lincoln was scripted to include Kirk and Spock in the background, following her. In the episode we see Roberta make a comedic entrance, and Kirk and Spock travel the same sidewalk a few minutes later.

When Seven poses as a CIA agent to Roberta, some of the dialogue was softened to make it a more friendly exchange. Originally, it was to be more combative, as it was in the first part of this scene.

After Seven transports out from his vault, the scene with Kirk, Spock and Roberta has been restructured. The three were scripted to come into Seven's private office together, they weren't aware of the vault transporter, and it was Spock who found the map of McKinley Base. In the episode, Kirk rushes into the office alone, sees the vault close before he can reach it, and brings the map back out to Spock and Roberta in the outer office.

During the scene with Sergeant Lipton phoning in the security check on Seven, Isis was scripted to be following Seven. Knowing cats, this was most likely impossible to accomplish on set, and so Seven carried Isis and the unscripted line for Seven to put down the cat was necessary to have her under foot to finish the scene as written.

Seven and Isis on the gantry arm is unscripted, though what they're doing is detailed. As written, Seven and Isis walk out of the elevator in one scene, and in the next Seven is removing the panel. Perhaps Wallace did not describe the exact environment because he knew that it would depend on matching the stock footage supplied by NASA with the sets that Desilu would build in response, and that happened after the scripting process was completed.

The cigar box Roberta uses to konk Seven in the back of the head was originally scripted to be a heavy art object. Given Teri Garr whacked Robert Lansing with the small padded box hard enough for the actor to see stars, it's probably just as well.

The call from Scotty to Kirk about all powers being on alert was scripted for Spock earlier in the scene.

Roberta was to lower the servo on her own, rather than having Seven intervene. As shot, the scene works better, building trust between Seven and Kirk.

Roberta's plea to Kirk, "He's telling the truth." was to have another piece:

Roberta: A woman feels things about a man. Spock: A point against him, Captain. They are usually 100 per cent wrong.

Probably a good idea to have excised all that.

Kirk says, "Spock, if you can't handle it I'm going to have to trust him." As scripted:

Kirk (agony): Spock, it's all mankind at stake. No man should have to make this decision.

During the wrap-up, a whole piece of the scene was removed:

Kirk (glancing at Roberta): One other thing is needed to maintain history as it is supposed to go, Mr. Seven. A permanent secretary. (indicates) Our historical records indicate that one Roberta Lincoln resided at this address many years. Roberta: 'Resided'? Now wait just one minute, friend… Seven: Living here will be no threat to your 20th century moral code, Miss Lincoln… Seven: It's a separate adjoining apartment which was leased for Agent 201… You'd find it quite luxurious…

Much of this happens while Roberta is looking at the human Isis, and as such, it probably didn't work because everyone else's attention was on Roberta and they would have seen Isis too.

After the "Simply my cat, Miss Lincoln" gag, Roberta's living arrangement dialogue continues:

Seven: Can you use the apartment? It would be convenient for the new agents to have a secretary nearby. Seven (to Kirk): I expect to be replaced shortly. Your record tapes showed other names listed at this address. (waits, then frowning) They did, didn't they, Captain? Kirk: I'm afraid we can't tell you everything we've learned, Mr. Seven. (glancing at Roberta, back at Seven) It might change history if you knew too much.

The line Spock says about "interesting experiences in store for Seven and Lincoln" is absent from the script, and was most likely used to replace the longer explanation for a quicker and cleaner wrap up, and perhaps to leave things more open ended for how Æ might eventually be produced.

"Assignment: Earth" aired as the last episode of Star Trek 's second season. It failed to generate interest, and the series never materialised.

Roads Untaken : 2013

Adam Riggio Ï is a writer/philosopher, and he created a series of posts for his blog on his version of an Æ series. Fascinating stuff.

Available as a PDF above.

The episode has been released as part of the numerous video series by Paramount/CBS. The remastered version can also be purchased as a download through iTunes Ï and Amazon Ï . The trailer is below.

The first servo appears to be the original prop. The antennae are curved and the knurled rings are flush with the barrel. It has a chromed finish.

The second is a typical replica made for the collectors' market. The antennae are straight and the knurled rings are raised.

The last is from the Star Trek Experience in Las Vegas, and is a third version of the servo.

Map and IDs

Courtesy of Michael Davis, fantastic re-creations of the map to McKinley Rocket Base and Gary Seven's IDs. (For personal use only.)

Roberta's Dress

Roberta Lincoln's distinctive dress was a sore spot for actress Teri Garr. The dress' hemline started out being more modest, but the powers-that-be kept that hem rising until it was almost a micro skirt instead of a mini.

"This dress was important since it was worn by the Roberta Lincoln character, who was intended to be the co-star of a new television series. The mid Sixties are reflected visually whenever Roberta appears. The colours and material [William Ware] Theiss used for this dress, although mildly psychedelic, are really quite mainstream for the time." Source: The Star Trek Sketchbook: The Original Series .

Set Blueprints

This started out as me wanting to re-create the set plans for the episode and it quickly got out of hand. The script called for an attached apartment Roberta would live in, so that was next. And with Seven and Isis remaining on Earth, they'd need more space.

Available as a PDF above, with layer control to focus on different details.

Behind-the-Scenes Info

Adaptations.

James Blish adapted the episode as one of the stories included in the Star Trek 3 anthology. In his version, the Trek characters dominate. When I came to do mine, I went in the opposite direction, writing the story from Seven, Isis, and Lincoln's point of view, leaving out the Trek crew's scenes which didn't include the Æ characters.

Both are available as ebooks above in ePUB (iBooks, etc.) and KF8/MOBI (Kindle) formats.

The original series episodes were adapted into short story form by noted science fiction author James Blish ( Cities in Flight , etc.), with Æ appearing in the third volume.

The three novels have been authored by Greg Cox. While one might hope for an Æ project that isn't tied to Trek , we'll take what we can get. Assignment: Eternity is fun and involved, and we get to see a possible outcome for the team of Seven and Lincoln.

The Eugenics Wars pair open in 1974. Gary Seven watches with growing concern as the children of a top secret human genetic engineering project called Chrysalis grow to adulthood. In particular, he focuses on a brilliant youth named Khan Noonien Singh. Can Khan's dark destiny be averted, or is Earth doomed to fight a global battle for supremacy?

The Strange New Worlds series is an annual collection of fan fiction. Each of these volumes contains a story with Gary Seven as a major or supporting character.

Beginning in the 1980s, DC Comics held the licence to publish Star Trek comic books. Previous publishers included Gold Key and Marvel Comics. However, DC produced a consistent, high-quality product, and the books remain fan favourites.

To celebrate the 50th issue of Star Trek , they decided to bring back Gary Seven. An interesting story, it adds some new elements to his tale.

The trade paperback collects Star Trek 22–24 with Harry Mudd, and 49–50 with Gary Seven and Isis.

Veteran comic book artist and writer John Byrne Ï produced a five-issue mini series (also collected in trade paperback) which showed his version of what an independent Æ series might have been like.

Alternate Credits

These credits sequences were made by Andy Patterson Ï and friends, and are ideas for a non- Trek opening for Æ . They combine episode footage with new pieces.

Video Vignette

This video – with Roberta Lincoln and the Beta Five desk cube – was made by The Outer Rim Ï (formerly Star Trek Anthology).

It has been a number of months since Miss Roberta Lincoln has been working for Agent Gary Seven. Her duties have tended to consist of 90 per cent boredom, 10 per cent chaos. In this vignette, we get a glimpse of that 90 per cent, but all of that is about to change…

Mego Action Figures

These fantastic custom figures were made by James "Captain Dunsel" Brady and are featured on his Mego Madhouse Ï website.

Playmates Action Figures

Here's another set of nicely-done custom figures. Seven, Lincoln, Isis and the Beta 5 done in the style of the Playmates line by customiser Matthew Hackley Ï . And check out the Sixties orange shag carpet.

These photos and info come courtesy of James Sawyer's A Piece of the Action Ï blog.

CBS commissioned Juan Ortiz Ï to create an original print for each Star Trek episode.

Trading Cards

Robert lansing.

Robert Lansing had already established himself as a stage, movie and television actor in leading roles when Gene Roddenberry asked him to appear in this back-door pilot. In the interview below, he speaks about his Assignment: Earth experience, and the bio goes into detail on his entire career.

Join the Robert Lansing group on facebook Ï . Ï , created and maintained by Paige Schoolcraft. -->Lansing also has IMDB Ï and Wikipedia Ï entries.

1989 Interview

Approached by Gene Roddenberry to guest star as Gary Seven in "Assignment: Earth," Robert Lansing at first refused. "At the time," he confides, "Gene was a good friend, but I was a New York snob actor, come out to Hollywood. Many folks in my self-perceived position didn't do Star Trek because it was considered a kid's show, or a young show at any rate. Gene said, 'I'm writing this for you and we can play with it. It might be a series.' He said, 'Well, you don't have to, but just do this one thing for me.' So, I did. It was a damn good script and a lot of fun. "What Gene had done," Lansing continues, "was to go to futurists and scientists and ask them what advanced societies out in space might do towards more primitive societies like ours. "One of the futurists said that they would probably kidnap children from various planets, take them to their superior civilisation, raise them, teach and enlighten them, and then put them back as adults to lead their worlds in more peaceful ways. That was the idea behind Gary Seven. "The fun with that show," he discloses, "was working with the cats." With obvious pleasure, Lansing confesses that whenever he meets fans, he always asks them, "What was the name of my cat?" "We had three black cats. That was because in those days, the theory was that you couldn't train cats. Cats would have a certain propensity: One would like somebody, would want to follow them around, so that day, you would release the cat that would probably do what you wanted it to do. One of the cats took a great liking to me. It was always loose on the set when I was working, so it happened that the stuff on the rocket gantry was all ad lib. I would say something like, 'Isis, come on, you're getting in the way. You know, there is a bit of a hurry. This is not the time to be jealous.' We added meows in later." Not a practical joker himself, Lansing confirms that the Star Trek set was still full of fun and pranks. "William Shatner and I would get mixed up and start 'camping' a scene," he remembers. "We did plenty of outtakes." Of his fellow guest, Teri Garr, Lansing recalls, "She hadn't had much experience then, but she had this kooky personality that certainly worked. Gene saw that very early on and dressed her for it and worked her with it. "She had a terrible time with this bit where she had to hit me with a box and knock me out. It was a small box and it was padded, just a box. She was so nervous that finally I said, 'Teri, hit me.' And she gave me such a clobber that she nearly did knock me out. Gene said it didn't look right and we had to do it again. "I was never asked to do another episode. That was my Star Trek swan song. "It turned out, though, that I'm better remembered for Star Trek than any of the Broadway plays I've done," he says with a bemused smile. Source: Starlog 149. The full interview can be read by clicking on the thumbnail above.

The following biography was written by Jeanne DeVore Ï , who was kind enough to grant me permission to reprint it here. It was written as a tribute and to help raise money for cancer research Ï .

Robert Lansing was born Robert Howell Brown on June 5, 1928, in San Diego, California, and died October 23rd, 1994 in New York of the cancer he had been suffering from for some time. His career spanned more than a generation, in film, on stage, and on television.

Born at the dawn of the Great Depression, Robert Lansing's early years were spent traveling around the country with his salesman father. When he was nine, he snuck under a loose flap into a visiting tent show in Texas and fell in love with the make-believe world of the theatre. Determined to become an actor, he volunteered for his grammar-school play, and immediately began driving himself with total commitment.

Back in California a few years later, he kept polishing the dream, appearing in every amateur theatrical he could. He dropped out of high school to enlist in the army, served his two years, and started hitchhiking from Los Angeles to Broadway.

Stopping in Fort Wayne, Indiana to visit an aunt, he became an actor with a local civic theatre group, a radio announcer, and a teen-age husband. Two years later, the Lansings took off for New York. Using his GI Bill benefits, Robert enrolled at the American Theatre Wing's dramatic school.

These were lean years, as he struggled to make a living. He and his first wife divorced, and he married actress Emily McLaughlin (best known as nurse Jessie Brewer in General Hospital ).

Soon after, their fortunes changed. Cast as the psychiatrist in Tennessee Williams' Suddenly Last Summer , Robert Lansing was named one of that season's two best off-Broadway actors (the other was George C. Scott). That success led to his first Hollywood TV part in Alcoa Presents .

His first Broadway role was in 1948 in Stalag 17 , and his first feature film was 1959's The 4-D Man . His career encompassed all genres, though he was well-known to science fiction fans through his appearances in cult films like Empire of the Ants , and his appearance as Gary Seven in the Star Trek episode "Assignment: Earth."

Lansing's television work won him critical acclaim, if not financial success. Of his role as Detective Steve Carella in the series 87th Precinct (based on the books), author Ed McBain was reported as saying, "He is Carella." And his replacement as the lead in the series 12 O'Clock High caused a great deal of furor. TV Guide critic Cleveland Amory, who liked to refer to himself as a curmudgeon, wrote, "Make no mistake about it. Robert Lansing is magnificent."

Robert Lansing's final television role was that of Police Captain Paul Blaisdell, on the series Kung Fu: The Legend Continues . Executive Producer Michael Sloan, who had been friends with Lansing since both men worked together on Sloan's series The Equalizer in the 80s, wrote the part expressly for Lansing, who had already been diagnosed with the cancer which would eventually kill him. Despite failing health, Lansing appeared in almost two dozen episodes during the series' first two seasons. But eventually, the strain became too much. The final episode of the second season "wrote out" the character of Blaisdell, though left the door open for his return, should Lansing's health rally. As it was, the episode "Retribution," filmed in February of 1994, was Lansing's final appearance. It aired a month after Lansing's death and was dedicated to his memory.

Robert Lansing was survived by his wife, Anne, and two children from previous marriages: Robert Frederick Orin Lansing and Alyiki Lansing West.

Biographical information source: "The General Died at Dusk," Jerry D Lewis, TV Guide , May 15, 1965. The full interview can be read by clicking on the thumbnail above.

Teri Garr started off as a dancer, but it was this early acting appearance as Roberta Lincoln that set her on her future path.

After Assignment: Earth , Teri Garr went on to become a star. Her films include Young Frankenstein , Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Tootsie . She also played Phoebe's mom on Friends . In 2002, she went public with her battle with multiple sclerosis.

Garr's IMDB Ï and Wikipedia Ï entries.

1991 Interview

In a 1991 interview, Teri Garr expressed a negative opinion of her Star Trek experience:

Teri Garr appeared in "Assignment: Earth". However, Garr responds, "I have nothing to say about it. I did that years ago and I mostly denied I ever did it." She does admit that she would have been in the TV series that the episode was a pilot for, but it didn't sell. "Thank god," she says with genuine relief. "Otherwise, all I would get would be Star Trek questions for the rest of my natural life – and probably my unnatural life. You ever see those people who are Star Trek fans? The same people who go to swap meets." How about Marc Daniels, who directed that episode? "He's dead. I liked Gene Roddenberry, but I don't remember those people. I really don't want to talk about Star Trek . That's what I told them about this interview. If it's a science fiction magazine, they're going to ask me about this stuff I don't—" She breaks off abruptly. So much for that line of inquiry. Source: Starlog 173.

2005 Autobiography

In her 2005 autobiography, Garr took a more neutral position:

And then I got my first big break as an actress. A friend in my acting class told me that they were casting a guest role on Star Trek .… This role was supposed to spin off into its own series – Assignment: Earth . It was going to be tough to get an audition – all the big agents were clamouring to get their clients seen, and my agent wasn't in that league.… Luckily my friend from acting class had an in and helped me get through the door. I never thought I would get the part because I was still really just a dancer.… I had no real credibility as an actress.… Then I read the script and saw that in the first scene my character was flustered because she was late. I thought: Well, I'm always late. I can do late. After I did the reading they asked me to come in for a screen test. I'd never had a screen test before! They cut my hair short and put me in front of a camera. They had me turn in a circle very slowly. Then they asked me easy questions.… I was overjoyed to be having a screen test. I didn't dare hope I'd get any further, but the next thing I knew, they were calling me to appear on set. I was dizzy with joy – and that dizziness helped me get into character. …Had the spin-off succeeded, I would have continued on as an earthling agent, working to preserve humanity.… But it was not to be. Source: Speedbumps: Flooring It Through Hollywood .

April Tatro

A number of Trek -related sites – including this one – previously identified Victoria Vetri as the human version of Isis. Turns out we were mistaken. Thanks to the folks at The Trek Files podcast Ï , we now know that contortionist/actress April Tatro played Isis.

Of her cameo in “Assignment: Earth,” she said, “I’d never had so much attention in all my life.”

In addition to her role on Trek , Tatro appeared in Laugh-In , Wonder Woman , Big Top Pee Wee , as well as other films and TV shows.

Tatro's IMDB Ï entry.

Courtesy of collector William McCullars Ï , an NBC press release dating from the original broadcast names Sambo as the cat who played Isis.

According to Robert Lansing:

"We had three black cats. That was because in those days, the theory was that you couldn't train cats. Cats would have a certain propensity: One would like somebody, would want to follow them around, so that day, you would release the cat that would probably do what you wanted it to do. One of the cats took a great liking to me. It was always loose on the set when I was working, so it happened that the stuff on the rocket gantry was all ad lib. I would say something like, 'Isis, come on, you're getting in the way. You know, there is a bit of a hurry. This is not the time to be jealous.' We added meows in later." Source: Starlog 149. The full interview can be read by clicking on the thumbnail in the Robert Lansing section.

I think it's safe to say that it was Sambo he developed the working relationship with.

Roddenberry's 1970s Pilots

In between the original Star Trek series and Star Trek Phase II (which would become Star Trek - The Motion Picture in 1979), Roddenberry tried to sell three concepts as ongoing series: Genesis II/Planet Earth , The Questor Tapes and Spectre . All three had their merits.

Sources: Some materials courtesy of John Fraraccio and Frank Stone.

Assignment: Earth , Star Trek and all prominent characters are © & ® CBS Studios Inc. Ï All Rights Reserved. Beta Five source render © Geoffrey Edwards Ï . Design and original material © Scott Dutton Ï , who is in no way affiliated with CBS Studios Inc., but would consider any offers.

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Star Trek: The Wardrobe Demand That Allegedly Made Teri Garr Walk Off The Set

As groovy as "Star Trek: The Original Series" is, the 1960s sci-fi television series hasn't completely aged well in the intervening years since its original run. Blatant sexism — both on and off the screen — was unfortunately par for the course at the time, something that one "Star Trek" alum notably called out. Appearing in just one episode, "Assignment: Earth," actor Teri Garr had an experience so uncomfortable that she walked off the set during a pivotal scene. 

Garr plays Roberta Lincoln in the episode, an Earth secretary to Gary Seven (Robert Lansing) whose mission is to stop humanity from destroying itself. The narrative stakes are undoubtedly high, but you wouldn't know it considering the wardrobe note that showrunner Gene Roddenberry gave Garr. In the scene where the characters are trying to stop a nuclear launch, Garr was already wearing a criminally short skirt, but Roddenberry insisted that it be shortened by another two inches. According to "The Impossible Has Happened: The Life and Work of Gene Roddenberry," author Lance Parkin recounted that the actor was so insulted that she walked off set. 

Garr's negative experience with "Star Trek" was a turning point. Although she returned to finish her work on the episode, she washed her hands of anything to do with the franchise in the future. Even years later, in an interview with Starlog , Garr slammed the "Star Trek" universe and even maligned sci-fi as a genre. Garr's experience was not favorable, to be sure, and it squashed any potential for her return in the future.

The original Star Trek and Gene Roddenberry have an unfortunate history with sexism

Teri Garr's sexist experience at the hands of Gene Roddenberry while working on "Star Trek: The Original Series" speaks to the troubled legacy of the show and its creator. While elements of the original entry in the "Star Trek" canon have been praised for being progressive, the series and its writers have also been criticized for portraying female characters through a misogynistic lens. 

There are plenty of examples to parse through. In Season 2, Episode 3, titled "The Changeling,"  a robot analyzes the brain of Uhura (Nichelle Nichols), only to label her as defective and nonsensical — clearly playing on harmful stereotypes about women. In Season 3, Episode 24, titled "Turnabout Intruder," Captain Kirk (William Shatner) is possessed by his ex-girlfriend, only for the team to realize this fact due to how emotionally volatile he acts. The list goes on.

Beyond Garr, other people involved with various chapters of the "Star Trek" franchise over the years have commented on the controversial history of "Star Trek: The Original Series" and Roddenberry himself. Actor Kate Mulgrew, who starred as Captain Kathryn Janeway in "Star Trek: Voyager," opined in an interview with the Radio Times  that despite Roddenberry's visionary status, he and his original creation were still beholden to outdated values. "It was extremely misogynist," she said of the original series. "That's what it was for years and Picard followed that to a certain extent. Roddenberry himself was that way. We are simply going to have to change this sensibility, this ideology, and we are, but it's like moving granite. It takes a long time."

Wardrobe issues have plagued the Star Trek set for many years

In a science fiction universe, costumes and prosthetics are often required, resulting in quite a laborious process. But the women on the "Star Trek" set seemed to have it worst than most. Teri Garr wouldn't be the last actor on set to endure wardrobe uncomfortably. When Jeri Ryan landed the role as the assimilated Borg, Seven of Nine in "Star Trek: Voyager," she had more to handle than just onset tension with Kate Mulgrew. Her famous corset on the show was a source of discomfort, especially when she needed time to herself. The costume was so elaborate that she needed help anytime she needed the bathroom.

"If I had to go, it was on the radio, 'Jeri's going. 10-1. That's 20.' Because, you know, I had to have somebody dress me and undress me," Ryan recalled during the "Voyager" reunion . "It was a 20-minute thing to get me undressed, go to the bathroom, get dressed, go back to set. It was a thing." Ryan became so self-conscious, that she even tried limiting food and liquids just so she wouldn't hold up production. The actor suffered all so she could represent a sense of sexuality for the show, which was consequently why the show's star also made Ryan's time on "Voyager" so unpleasant . Thankfully in her appearance in "Star Trek: Picard," she seemed to have a much more comfortable outfit and less of a double standard lodged against her.

Series: TOS

Character(s): Roberta Lincoln

Terri Ann Garr is the actress who played Roberta Lincoln in the Star Trek: The Original Series second season episode “Assignment: Earth”.

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Teri Garr – Roberta Lincoln in Star Trek : Assignment Earth

One of the most successful actresses to get her start on the original Star Trek series is Teri Garr, who played Roberta Lincoln in the second season finale “Assignment : Earth”. 

This is also one of the strangest episodes of Star Trek because in many ways its not really an episode of Star Trek.  Due to poor performance NBC cancelled Star Trek during its second season.  A legendary letter writing campaign convinced NBC to commission another year, with a worse time-slot, and a much lower budget. However, before that happened Gene Roddenberry started looking for another job. 

His plan was what is known as a “back-door pilot” – that is use an episode of his existing show to preview his proposed replacement show.  In other words, make a Star Trek spinoff.

In this episode (and proposed series) a human agent named Gary Seven (played by the late Robert Lansing) has been trained by altruistic aliens to be their agent on planet Earth to prevent its destruction by nuclear apocalypse.  He meets a woman named Roberta Lincoln (played by Garr) who he assumes is another agent, but is really just a young woman looking for a job as a secretary in the office that serves as a front for the room containing his alien technology, such as a typewriter that takes voice dictation. 

The Enterprise, having travelled back in time intercepts Seven and after hijinks ensue with a couple of police officers, they assist Mr. Seven in stopping the launch of a nuclear weapons satellite.  At the end of the episode Roberta takes the job of Seven’s secretary while Kirk and Spock wish them well in their future adventures, thus setting up the Assignment Earth television series.

Ultimately NBC passed on the concept and Star Trek chugged along for another year until it ran out of steam.  The characters occasionally show up in star trek licensed media such as the Assignment Earth comic book series and the Peter David novels detailing the rise of Khan Noonian Singh (which brilliantly weave together most of the 20 th century characters from the varies series) 

Teri Garr’s relationship with Star Trek seems to have been like many connected to the show: at times it has been dismissive and resentful, and at other times warm and appreciative. 

During an infamous interview in 1990 with Starlog Magazine she said things like “I did that years ago and I mostly deny I did it” and expressed relief that Assignment Earth didn’t go to series so she could avoid a life-time of Star Trek conventions. In her 2006 autobiography “Speedbumps: Flooring It Through Hollywood” she describes Roberta Lincoln as an important break thru in her career and a steppingstone to some of the comedy parts she was later cast in.

During the early 1970s she was often typecast as what she describes as “ditsy blonds” in sitcoms, but these jobs led her to Mel Brooks who cast her as Inga, a blond bombshell with an absurd eastern European accent in the comedy “Young Frankenstein”. 

In the late 1970s her career progressed to more serious work, and she returned to science fiction in the landmark film “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” directed by Steven Spielberg, although in that infamous Starlog interview she claimed she didn’t think of that film as being science fiction. 

By the early 1980s her career had progressed to the point where she was cast in the Dustin Hoffman film “Tootsie”.  It was for this film she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress (she lost to Jessica Lange who also appeared in the film). 

It was during the making of Tootsie that her life started an enormous change.  While making the film in New York she went jogging in central park and started feeling tingling in her leg.  Over the next two decades she would have progressively worse symptoms until a doctor finally diagnosed her with Multiple Sclerosis in 1999.   In 2007 she suffered a brain aneurysm unrelated to MS and was in a coma.  For decades her witty banter made her a favourite guest of David Letterman who asked her on the show many times, and she triumphantly made a return appearance in 2008 making fun of her medical ailments, although noticeably walking with a limp.  Reportedly her symptoms have worsened in recent years to the point where she often uses a wheelchair and a personal support worker.

Evidently, she was feeling well enough to deal with fan mail as this week I received three autographed photos of her as Roberta Lincoln.  If there is any remaining resentment of Star Trek, she does not take it out on the fans who ask her to sign things.

As you can see from these images her signature has become a bit rough as her symptoms have worsened.  Under the circumstances I would not have blamed her for throwing my envelope in the garbage.  If I was in my mid 70s with major health setbacks, I do not imagine I would want to sign 50-year-old photographs.  Never-the-less I will put these on the wall and treasure them, just like I treasure this show.

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