"Star Trek" The Way to Eden (1969)

Director:

David Alexander

Writers:

Arthur Heinemann (teleplay)
D.C. Fontana (story) ...

TV Series:

"Star Trek" (1966)

Original Air Date:

21 February 1969 (Season 3, Episode 20)

Genre:

Adventure | Sci-Fi

Plot:

The Enterprise is ordered to pursue a group of anti-establishment idealists who have stolen a space cruiser and made off for the mythical planet Eden...

Plot Keywords:

Hippie | Federation | Space | Starship | Computer

Cast

William Shatner	...	Captain James T. Kirk
Leonard Nimoy	...	Mr. Spock
DeForest Kelley	...	Dr. McCoy
Skip Homeier	...	Dr. Sevrin
Charles Napier	...	Adam
Mary Linda Rapelye	...	Irina (as Mary-Linda Rapelye)
James Doohan	...	Scott
Walter Koenig	...	Chekov
George Takei	...	Sulu
Majel Barrett	...	Nurse Chapel
Victor Brandt	...	Tongo Rad
Elizabeth Rogers	...	Lt. Palmer
Deborah Downey	...	Girl #1
Phyllis Douglas	...	Girl #2

Runtime:

60 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Argentina:Atp

Filming Locations:

Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Norway Corporation

Trivia:

The space hippie protest "Herbert, Herbert, Herbert!" is a gag, referring to Trek director Herb Wallerstein and executive producer Herbert F. Solow. (Spock tells Kirk that Herbert is an official in Federation history known for his "rigid patterns of thought")

Goofs:

Boom mic visible: As captain Kirk walks away from Tongo Rad after they are transported aboard the shadow of the boom mic can be see on the back wall.

Quotes:

Spock: [to Kirk] There is no insanity in what they seek. I made a promise which I should like to keep. With your permission, I must locate Eden.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)

Hippies take over the show and Spock drops acid (or so it seems)

The episode opens with a group of futuristic hippies being apprehended by the Enterprise after they stole a shuttle craft and went in search of Eden!! The group is lead by a guy who looks like he's gotten an ear transplant from an Indian elephant--he also happens to be nuts. Among his hippie followers is a girl who once loved Chekov as well as a guy who seems attracted to Spock and vice-versa (I'm not going there). Although Kirk is obviously too "square" to appreciate these "free spirits", Spock gets a sudden injection of "coolness" and is amazingly at-home with these vagabonds. Seeing Spock jamming with them using what looks a bit like an electric auto harp is unintentionally hilarious, as is most of the episode. And, when the hippies begin singing about Eden ("yeah, brother,..."), I find myself feeling kind of queasy! I am sure that dumb TV like this helped finally put a nail into the coffin of 60s idealism--as today's teens will only laugh until their sides hurt at the whole mess! This is my choice for the third worst Star Trek episode ever (right behind the one about Spock losing his brain and the one about the Yangs and the Coms).