"Star Trek" Charlie X (1966)

Director:

Lawrence Dobkin

Writers:

D.C. Fontana (teleplay)
Gene Roddenberry (story)

TV Series:

"Star Trek" (1966)

Original Air Date:

15 September 1966 (Season 1, Episode 2)

Genre:

Adventure | Sci-Fi

Plot:

Captain Kirk must learn the limits to the power of a 17-year-old boy with the psychic ability to create anything and destroy anyone.

Plot Keywords:

Alien | Raised By Aliens | Musical Instrument | Big Hair | Roman Numeral In Title

Cast

William Shatner	...	Captain James T. Kirk
Leonard Nimoy	...	Mr. Spock
Robert Walker Jr.	...	Charlie Evans (as Robert Walker)
DeForest Kelley	...	Dr. McCoy
Grace Lee Whitney	...	Yeoman Rand
Nichelle Nichols	...	Uhura
Charles Stewart	...	Captain Ramart (as Charles J. Stewart)
Dallas Mitchell	...	Nellis
Don Eitner	...	Navigator
Patricia McNulty	...	Tina Lawton
John Bellah	...	Crewman I
Garland Thompson	...	Crewman II
Abraham Sofaer	...	The Thasian

Runtime:

50 min | Argentina:60 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Argentina:Atp | Canada:PG (video rating)

Filming Locations:

Desilu Studios - 9336 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company:

Desilu Productions

Trivia:

William Shatner had his chest shaved for this episode. In the next episode to be aired, "Where No Man Has Gone Before", he clearly has a hairy chest, although that episode was filmed a good year before this one.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Kirk and Spock enter Rand's quarters, Charlie hurls them back against the wall. When Spock slumps to the floor, we can see that the set wall behind Spock's head has been damaged. However, in later shots in the same scene, the damage is gone.

Quotes:

Captain James T. Kirk: Charlie, there are a million things in this universe you can have and there are a million things you can't have. It's no fun facing that but that's the way things are.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in Sex Trek: Charly XXX (2007) (V)

Bit of a naughty boy, that Charlie...

After the salt-eating "monster" of The Man Trap, the original Star Trek deals with the concept of psychic powers for the first time, an element that occurs on several occasions throughout the series. The first story to deal with that topic, Charlie X, lacks the philosophical relevance of later episodes (it's just a traditional monster-of-the-week tale), but succeeds in delivering thrills and suspense.

Continuing its travels through space, the Enterprise picks up a young boy, Charlie Evans, who's used to having everything his way, a fact that becomes a source of embarrassment when he gets too interested in Yeoman Rand (Grace Lee Whitney). Kirk tries to explain that such behavior is inappropriate, but has to face a greater danger than he imagined when he discovers the boy's powers enable him to create - and destroy - anything.

With hindsight, Charlie X can be seen as a tamer version of Stephen King's novel Carrie, which was memorably brought to the screen by Brian De Palma. Like King's story, this Trek episode uses the gimmick of mental abilities to deal with a teenager's inner struggles and confusion. Unlike Carrie, however, Charlie is underdeveloped and occasionally annoying, his actions bordering on stereotype. Luckily, the thriller pace of the episode keeps things from getting boring, and there's always the Shatner/Nimoy double act to rely on. In other words, it's vintage Star Trek.