July 28 to August 9, 1966
This week, “What Are Little Girls Made Of?” was filming. The playful behind-the-scenes picture you see was actually taken at the end of filming, and William Shatner and Sherri Jackson had much to dance and celebrate about. It had been a long and difficult one, taking eight full days spread over nine (It began mid day on July 28 and wrapped mid day on August 9, 1966), and it was finally over! “Little Girls” was also one of the most expensive first season episodes to make, costing $211,061, which would be like 1.6 million dollars today. And that was way over what Desilu and NBC wanted to pay for Star Trek episodes.
So why did it take so long to film and cost so much to complete? |
There were many reasons “Little Girls” was such an expensive and time consuming production.
First of all, they had to build many new sets on Desilu Stage 10 (Star Trek’s planet stage), with all the underground caverns and Dr. Korby’s living areas and control rooms, and that crazy giant spinning wheel that William Shatner had to lie on as one Kirk was duplicated. Gene Roddenberry’s assistant Dorothy Fontana said, “[Production Designer] Matt Jefferies used to say that every week he had to build a new planet on Stage 10. It was true. Most of the time you really had to do some building in there and drag in dirt and drag out dirt, put down floors, and it really was a major thing just to design it, to build it and to then decorate it.”
Second, the wild makeup needed for Ted Cassidy, who played Ruk. And don’t think that skimpy pants suit worn by Sherri Jackson didn’t slow down production and, therefore, cost money. Jackson said, “It was really an engineering feat. My body was the fulcrum and those straps and everything was based on the fulcrum, and everything worked off of that. So I had to let them know when it was too tight, when it hurt, when it was pulling too much, whatever. And then it was made out of stretch ski material -- the old fashion kind. Every day, at the end of the day, the straps would stretch out by about an inch, so Bill Theiss had to take them in. There were buttons on the back and he would shorten the straps to compensate for how they had stretched out.”
First of all, they had to build many new sets on Desilu Stage 10 (Star Trek’s planet stage), with all the underground caverns and Dr. Korby’s living areas and control rooms, and that crazy giant spinning wheel that William Shatner had to lie on as one Kirk was duplicated. Gene Roddenberry’s assistant Dorothy Fontana said, “[Production Designer] Matt Jefferies used to say that every week he had to build a new planet on Stage 10. It was true. Most of the time you really had to do some building in there and drag in dirt and drag out dirt, put down floors, and it really was a major thing just to design it, to build it and to then decorate it.”
Second, the wild makeup needed for Ted Cassidy, who played Ruk. And don’t think that skimpy pants suit worn by Sherri Jackson didn’t slow down production and, therefore, cost money. Jackson said, “It was really an engineering feat. My body was the fulcrum and those straps and everything was based on the fulcrum, and everything worked off of that. So I had to let them know when it was too tight, when it hurt, when it was pulling too much, whatever. And then it was made out of stretch ski material -- the old fashion kind. Every day, at the end of the day, the straps would stretch out by about an inch, so Bill Theiss had to take them in. There were buttons on the back and he would shorten the straps to compensate for how they had stretched out.”
Jackson added, “Bill Theiss is a fantastic costumer. He came up with this concept of doing this crisscross deal, which meant I could not wear a bra because it would show in the back.”
Jackson not wearing a bra was a problem for NBC. At this time on network television, a woman could display a certain amount of cleavage in the front but no part of the breast could be seen from the side or the underneath without fabric covering it. Jackson, with amused wonderment, said, “They had a censorship person on the set every day to make sure there was no side cleavage.”
Costume Designer Bill Theiss said, “I was anticipated the storm over Sherry Jackson’s costume.... There was a lot of noise and indignation about it at the time.”
To pacify the network Executive in Charge of Cleavage, Theiss used double-sided tape under the edges of the crisscrossing top to make certain that neither of Jackson’s breasts peeked through. Taped up tight and under the watchful eye of NBC, Jackson strove to deliver the performance to which she had given so much thought. Of her acting, she admitted, “To overcome my costume was the real challenge.”
The censorship person was also there because William Shatner had to lie on the spinning wheel, naked (with only his groin area concerned by a metal strap). And network censors on the set always slow down the filming.
And, finally, there was the split screen process needed to have two Kirks appear together in the same shot. Note the picture above, of Shatner sitting at the table looking toward his stunt double. After the scene was covered from this angle, and with the camera “tied down” so it wouldn’t jiggle, Shatner and his double trading places, and then the scene was shot again. And that took up valuable time. The two versions would then be combined together during post production. And that cost extra money.
But these things were only a small part of the problems encountered in the writing and filming of “What Are Little Girls Made Of?”
Jackson not wearing a bra was a problem for NBC. At this time on network television, a woman could display a certain amount of cleavage in the front but no part of the breast could be seen from the side or the underneath without fabric covering it. Jackson, with amused wonderment, said, “They had a censorship person on the set every day to make sure there was no side cleavage.”
Costume Designer Bill Theiss said, “I was anticipated the storm over Sherry Jackson’s costume.... There was a lot of noise and indignation about it at the time.”
To pacify the network Executive in Charge of Cleavage, Theiss used double-sided tape under the edges of the crisscrossing top to make certain that neither of Jackson’s breasts peeked through. Taped up tight and under the watchful eye of NBC, Jackson strove to deliver the performance to which she had given so much thought. Of her acting, she admitted, “To overcome my costume was the real challenge.”
The censorship person was also there because William Shatner had to lie on the spinning wheel, naked (with only his groin area concerned by a metal strap). And network censors on the set always slow down the filming.
And, finally, there was the split screen process needed to have two Kirks appear together in the same shot. Note the picture above, of Shatner sitting at the table looking toward his stunt double. After the scene was covered from this angle, and with the camera “tied down” so it wouldn’t jiggle, Shatner and his double trading places, and then the scene was shot again. And that took up valuable time. The two versions would then be combined together during post production. And that cost extra money.
But these things were only a small part of the problems encountered in the writing and filming of “What Are Little Girls Made Of?”
Read all about the writing (with memos exchanged between Gene Roddenberry, his staff and NBC), and the making (with broadcast schedules, production notes, and first hand recollections from those who were there), and the first broadcast (including the Nielson ratings) of this episode, and all the others from Star Trek’s first season, in the Saturn Award winning book, These Are the Voyage – Star Trek: TOS [The Original Series]: Season One, on sale now. Get it for less here than anywhere else, and autographed by author Marc Cushman!