“Arena” Production Diary
Filmed November 8, 9, 10, 11, 14 & 15, 1966
(6 day production; total cost: $197,586).
Filmed November 8, 9, 10, 11, 14 & 15, 1966
(6 day production; total cost: $197,586).
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Production began on November 8, 1966, a Tuesday. This was election day across America. Edward W. Brooke, a Republican from Massachusetts, became the first Black elected to the United States Senate. And movie actor Ronald Reagan was elected as Governor of California. The two top selling albums in record stores were the soundtrack to Dr. Zhivago and the début of The Monkees. Songs getting the most radio play across the nation were “Last Train to Clarksville,” by the Monkees, “96 Tears,” by Question Mark & the Mysterians, and “Poor Side of Town,” by Johnny Rivers. The Monkees TV series was a winner, too, according to A.C. Nielsen. It held the top-spot for its time period on NBC the night before, grabbing 31.4% of the TVs in use across the country. The big winners for that Monday night, however, were Desilu’s own Lucille Ball, who’s Lucy Show attracted a 43.1 audience share at 9 p.m., and Barbara Stanwyck, over at ABC, whose one-hour western, The Big Valley, had the 10 to 11 p.m. slot locked up, with a 43.4 audience share. Odds were most of the Star Trek cast and crew were “hitting the hay” before The Big Valley cleared the air. They all had an early morning call. |
Makeup went to work at 6:15 a.m. The lighting and camera crew were on set a little past 7. Filming started at 8. Joseph Pevney chose to do the easy stuff first, starting with the bridge set on Stage 9. There were many sequences to film, including that sudden stop in space that Broadcast Standards was worried might alarm the audience.
Pevney, having been offered a $500 bonus if he could stay on schedule and finish the demanding episode in just six days, was determined to hit the field running. And this resulted in him bruising Jerry Finnerman’s ego when he told the young cinematographer in front of his entire crew that this episode would stay on schedule and the camera/lighting department was not going to slow things down.
Bobby Clark said, “I worked with Joe Pevney on westerns before then, and Joe and I got along very well. But he could get a little nasty with the cameramen if he wasn’t getting what he wanted.” (31e)
Jerry Finnerman said, “So, we go into the first shot, and we started to get the people in. They’re not even in makeup [and only] half-dressed.... And I said, ‘Joe, you want a little light to work with?’ And he said, ‘That would be nice.’ So, I had a 10k over there [a large stage lamp used to flood a set with light]. It wasn’t my style, but I said, ‘Let me hit this light.’ So, we hit the light.... And Joe rehearsed them, and he said [to me], ‘Well, that’s your shot.’ And these guys aren’t even in wardrobe, and I said, ‘Ready.’ And he said, ‘What?’ And I said, ‘Ready.’ So, I did this for about half a day, and he took me aside and said, ‘Hey, you know, I like you. Let’s be friends. Let’s not go through this.’ And I said, ‘Okay. But I’m fast.’ And he said, ‘I know you are. Just calm yourself down.’... Joe and I were good friends after that.... Joe Pevney was a good director.” (63-3)
Pevney, having been offered a $500 bonus if he could stay on schedule and finish the demanding episode in just six days, was determined to hit the field running. And this resulted in him bruising Jerry Finnerman’s ego when he told the young cinematographer in front of his entire crew that this episode would stay on schedule and the camera/lighting department was not going to slow things down.
Bobby Clark said, “I worked with Joe Pevney on westerns before then, and Joe and I got along very well. But he could get a little nasty with the cameramen if he wasn’t getting what he wanted.” (31e)
Jerry Finnerman said, “So, we go into the first shot, and we started to get the people in. They’re not even in makeup [and only] half-dressed.... And I said, ‘Joe, you want a little light to work with?’ And he said, ‘That would be nice.’ So, I had a 10k over there [a large stage lamp used to flood a set with light]. It wasn’t my style, but I said, ‘Let me hit this light.’ So, we hit the light.... And Joe rehearsed them, and he said [to me], ‘Well, that’s your shot.’ And these guys aren’t even in wardrobe, and I said, ‘Ready.’ And he said, ‘What?’ And I said, ‘Ready.’ So, I did this for about half a day, and he took me aside and said, ‘Hey, you know, I like you. Let’s be friends. Let’s not go through this.’ And I said, ‘Okay. But I’m fast.’ And he said, ‘I know you are. Just calm yourself down.’... Joe and I were good friends after that.... Joe Pevney was a good director.” (63-3)
As Finnerman and Pevney were figuring out how not to push each others’ buttons, Sean Kenney was cautiously pushing some buttons of his own. Stationed at the helm as Lt. DePaul, Kenney recalled, “When I sat at the console and pressed the buttons, sometimes they would get so hot my fingers would stick to the melting plastic. This was before the days of low-voltage bulbs. I couldn’t yell out; I would just have to pull my fingers off as quickly as I could and hope the camera didn’t pick it up.” (100)
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Even though Pevney was new to the series, he got everything he needed, and then some, and wrapped early, at 5:25 p.m.
Day 2 took the Star Trek company back to Vasquez Rocks. William Shatner, along with Bill Blackburn (standing in for Shatner’s regular lighting stand-in, Eddie Paskey), and stuntmen Gary Combs and Dick Dial, along with Pevney and the production crew, left Desilu at 6 a.m. for the hour-plus drive to the location. Bobby Clark said, “I lived in Saugus then – and that was only seven miles from Vasquez Rocks, so I just went out there and met up with them.” (31e)
Clark had been given instructions about how to approach his role, and they had nothing to do with acting. He remembered, “After I had my fitting, a couple days before the shoot, I get a call from the wardrobe guy and he says, ‘Bobby, do you drink a lot of coffee in the morning?’ I said, ‘Not a lot, but I do drink coffee.’ He says, ‘Good. Drink a little coffee; don’t drink a whole lot of coffee. And, if you can, we’d appreciate it if you could go to the bathroom before you get into that suit. We’d rather not take you out any sooner than we have to.’ They told me this because the bottom part of the wetsuit came up to here [the rib bone], and there were no zippers and I had to cornstarch my ass off to get into the costume. You can imagine what it was like to have to pee.” (31e)
Clark relieved himself and Pevney began filming promptly at 8, shooting Kirk’s first encounter with the Gorn, and many of the scripted action sequences to follow.
Day 2 took the Star Trek company back to Vasquez Rocks. William Shatner, along with Bill Blackburn (standing in for Shatner’s regular lighting stand-in, Eddie Paskey), and stuntmen Gary Combs and Dick Dial, along with Pevney and the production crew, left Desilu at 6 a.m. for the hour-plus drive to the location. Bobby Clark said, “I lived in Saugus then – and that was only seven miles from Vasquez Rocks, so I just went out there and met up with them.” (31e)
Clark had been given instructions about how to approach his role, and they had nothing to do with acting. He remembered, “After I had my fitting, a couple days before the shoot, I get a call from the wardrobe guy and he says, ‘Bobby, do you drink a lot of coffee in the morning?’ I said, ‘Not a lot, but I do drink coffee.’ He says, ‘Good. Drink a little coffee; don’t drink a whole lot of coffee. And, if you can, we’d appreciate it if you could go to the bathroom before you get into that suit. We’d rather not take you out any sooner than we have to.’ They told me this because the bottom part of the wetsuit came up to here [the rib bone], and there were no zippers and I had to cornstarch my ass off to get into the costume. You can imagine what it was like to have to pee.” (31e)
Clark relieved himself and Pevney began filming promptly at 8, shooting Kirk’s first encounter with the Gorn, and many of the scripted action sequences to follow.
Being November, it was nippy at Vasquez Rocks and Shatner wore thermal underwear under his costume. If you look close, you can see the sleeves of the long-johns peeking through the sleeves of his Star Fleet uniform. The men who took turns inside the thick rubber hide of the Gorn did not find the climate to be as cool.
Bobby Clark said, “We started very early in the morning and we worked until the sun went down.… And you figure you have about three and a half to four inches of rubber on top of the wetsuit, so, hot, yes, it was very, very hot. Not excruciating because… the director would call us in when he’s ready to shoot, then we’d put the head back on, zip up the tunic, then I’d go down and do whatever I had to do for the shot. And, as soon as he gets the shot, he says, ‘cut’… and I can walk away, go to |
what I called my ‘perch,’ where I had to stand on a ladder because I couldn’t sit down. But then the wardrobe man would take the head off and unzip the tunic and he could unzip the top of the wet suit, and I’m cool to go.… As for makeup… I did have makeup. I had makeup all around my mouth and my nose and that whole area because when the Gorn made his ‘Aarrgghh’ noise, the mouth opened up and you could see in there, and they had to paint me black.” (31d)
Clark had an alternate. Gary Combs, a young stuntman who was temporarily out of work due to an injury, was given the less demanding shots in the rubber suit as a favor from Pevney.
Bill Blackburn, one of Star Trek’s most visible extras, went invisible this time. Said Blackburn, “What I loved about Star Trek was that every time I went in to work, I never knew what I was going to do. If I wasn’t going to be on the bridge, then I’d be doing something else -- like playing the Gorn. I didn’t do the stunts; I did the close ups.” (17b)
Clark had an alternate. Gary Combs, a young stuntman who was temporarily out of work due to an injury, was given the less demanding shots in the rubber suit as a favor from Pevney.
Bill Blackburn, one of Star Trek’s most visible extras, went invisible this time. Said Blackburn, “What I loved about Star Trek was that every time I went in to work, I never knew what I was going to do. If I wasn’t going to be on the bridge, then I’d be doing something else -- like playing the Gorn. I didn’t do the stunts; I did the close ups.” (17b)
Shatner’s stunt double for the flips and falls was Dick Dial.
Bobby Clark said, “I’d stay in that rubber costume from morning until lunch. I could take the top off at lunch, but I couldn’t take the bottom off. It’d be too rough to get back into it. When I had to relieve myself, the hardest part was getting up to the ‘honey wagon’ and going up them friggin’ five steps with those feet on. And then you get in and try to close the door! The feet were too big. And there was no fly in that damn suit. I’d have to go in there and pull the bottom part -- all fitted on that wet suit -- from the rib cage down to here, just enough so I could pee. Then I’d go back to the set. Fortunately, I had a stand-in [Blackburn] there for me while they planned the shots and lit the shots. I could rest during those times, in the shade, with the head off, up against my ladder. And when they were ready to shoot, I’d come down and go to my spot and the director would tell me, ‘Alright, in this shot, Bobby, it’s going to consist of you coming after Kirk, but remember that you’re moving very slowly because you’re reptilian.’” (31e) Of his sparring partner, Clark said, “Shatner’s always good to work with. He had done a lot of other things before Star Trek, so he knew what he was doing. But I’m not a bonafide actor; I’m a stuntman, so I’m doing physical stuff with him; not lines of dialogue. And we got those scenes shot pretty fast. We’d talk. We weren’t pals, but we would talk. I give him credit -- the man worked hard.” (31e) Despite the short November day, Pevney covered 34 scenes -- 9 pages of script. He stayed on schedule and wrapped at 4:45 p.m., just as the sun dipped below the horizon. The company packed up and arrived back at Desilu at 6 p.m. Shatner and the crew were thrilled. The producers were flabbergasted. On Day 3, Thursday, November 10, Shatner and guest performer Carole Shelyne reported to makeup at 5:15 a.m. Along with the three stunt performers, Shatner’s stand-in, and the production crew, they departed Desilu at 6:30 a.m. Filming at Vasquez Rocks again began promptly at 8. Pevney captured 53 scenes this time, and covered 10 pages of script. Remarkably, he was still on schedule when he called for a wrap at 4:30 p.m., beating darkness by half an hour. Again, cast and crew were returned to the studio by 6 p.m., allowing Shatner to make it home in time to catch the long-delayed premiere of “The Corbomite Maneuver” on NBC at 8:30 p.m. |
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Day 4. Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, Tom Troupe, James Farley, Jerry Agers, and Grant Woods joined Shatner, Dick Dial, and Eddie Paskey at Vasquez Rocks for the filming in the old fort, both modernized and battled-scarred by the art department.
The fort at Cestus III, located at the foot of the jagged rocks, was originally constructed by Screen Gems in the mid-1950s for Tales of the 77th Bengal Lancers, a television series which followed the exploits of a British Calvary unit stationed in 19th century India. The staggering cost, back then, in 1956 dollars: $117,843.
The fort at Cestus III, located at the foot of the jagged rocks, was originally constructed by Screen Gems in the mid-1950s for Tales of the 77th Bengal Lancers, a television series which followed the exploits of a British Calvary unit stationed in 19th century India. The staggering cost, back then, in 1956 dollars: $117,843.
Eddie Paskey said, “Anytime you go on location, it is hard, but, for me, Vasquez Rocks was a treat. I mean, here I am in the middle of a set that’s history -- that fort that looked like it was out of Beau Geste. And Vasquez Rocks, where I saw Roy Rogers and Gene Autry riding on TV, and remember from Death Valley Days when I was watching as a boy back in Harrington, Delaware. You get kinda taken up with all the history. And I’m thinking, ‘I’m part of this now; I’ve been here with these people.’ No, I didn’t mind going on location at all.” (135-2)
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Portions of the episode’s teaser were filmed, along with the attack on Cestus III for Act I. Pevney covered 15 scenes and 10 pages of script, shooting past sundown, using the large arc lights to simulate daylight for selected close up shots at the tail end of the day, wrapping at 6:15 p.m. Cast and crew made it back to Desilu at 7:20 p.m., but not all were in good working condition. Both Shatner and Nimoy had fallen victim to the explosive charges set by Jim Rugg. The booms, bigger than expected, resulted in permanent ear damage. The condition, known as tinnitus, causes a constant ringing in the ear.
Day 5, Monday, saw a second day’s work on the bridge set on Stage 9. The remarkable Joseph Pevney covered 22 camera set-ups and nearly 12 pages of script.
Day 6, Tuesday, November 15. Pevney spent the morning hours on the bridge, and the afternoon in the transporter room and, lastly, Kirk’s quarters. He wrapped the ambitious and difficult production on schedule and budget. |
William Shatner, sense of humor intact, commented, “There was one show, I’ve forgotten the name of it, which somebody said to the director, if you bring the show in in five days [sic], you’ll get $500 extra. And it was a show I was mostly alone in. I did fourteen pages of dialogue in one day. The average was nine or ten pages a day, but I did fourteen. The show came in on time, the director got the 500 bucks and I didn’t even get a thank-you.” (156-9)
Release / Reaction
Premiere air date: 1/19/67. NBC repeat broadcast: 7/6/67.
Joan Crosby previewed “Arena” for her syndicated “TV Scout” column. Among the newspapers to carry the review on January 19, 1967 was the Edwardsville Intelligencer, serving Edwardsville, Illinois. Crosby wrote:
Star Trek has a visual outing in which William Shatner finds himself all alone on a planet, being tracked down by a Gorn, a monstrous being, with the outcome of their eventual battle being the safety of the Enterprise. There are some preliminaries before we come to all of this but be patient, because the end of the show, and the message of mercy that it contains, is good science fiction stuff.
And then came the ratings. RATINGS / Nielsen 30-Market report for Thursday, January 19, 1967:
8:30 - 9 p.m., 65.3% of U.S. TVs in use. Rating: Share: NBC: Star Trek (first half) 17.4 26.6% ABC: Bewitched 25.4 38.9% CBS: My Three Sons 15.8 24.2% Independent stations: 8.9 10.3% 9 - 9:30 p.m., 66.2% of U.S. TVs in use. NBC: Star Trek (second half) 20.9 31.6% ABC: Love On A Rooftop 18.5 27.9% CBS: Thursday Night Movie (start) 21.6 32.6% Independent stations: 8.7 7.9% |
According to A.C. Nielsen, over 30% of the TV sets playing in America were tuned in to see the outcome of Kirk’s battle with a lizard creature. But many in the audience had missed the first half hour. Bewitched, a perfect show to attract and entertain younger viewers, dominated the 8:30 to 9 p.m. period this night. At 9 p.m., Star Trek’s numbers improved, just a single ratings point behind The CBS Thursday Night Movie, a first run showing of My Geisha, a 1961 comedy starring Shirley MacLaine, Edward G. Robinson, and Bob Cummings.
Read about the writing and filming of all the episodes of Star Trek: The Original Series, and see the ratings reports for every episode, in the new Saturn Award winning book series These Are the Voyages, TOS.