First Source for Production Order

[Ceridwen]

I did my best to search for the answer to this on my own, but I've had no success so far (Google's AI answer is most definitely wrong, and it's search function is proving more and more useless the more resources they devote to the former).

I know that a lot of the fandom swears by the production order for classic Star Trek but this has me curious: when and where was this first published? Google tells me it was in the original two-episode DVD releases; I know this is wrong because it was already used in the Okudas' Star Trek Chronology from 1995, but I imagine this wasn't the first place the fandom learned about it either. I don't think it was in The Making of Star Trek, but I can't find my copy to confirm.

Any information would be appreciated. Thank you!

 

[UssGlenn]

oh good question, my guess would be the Concordance, but I don't have one handy to check.

 

[Lord Garth]

In 1991, I bought a Star Trek 25th Anniversary Magazine put out by Starlog, and it listed episodes in Production Order. Guaranteed that wasn't the first place to do it, but it's the first one I saw.

EDITED TO ADD: The World of Star Trek, by David Gerrold from 1973, has all the episodes listed in Airdate Order. I just checked my copy. I never bought The Making of Star Trek, so I can't check that.

 

[Ceridwen]

oh good question, my guess would be the Concordance, but I don't have one handy to check.

The Bjo Trimble book? I have that one (the version with the dial on the cover). The entries there are all in airdate order (with the timeline in stardate order), specifically the Los Angeles airdates, where "Yesteryear" was the first animated episode to air.

 

[DarrenTR1970]

Maybe Allen Asherman's 'Star Trek Compendium'? I have the first edition published in 1981 and the episodes are first listed in Production Order with Airdate second.

 

[Donald G]

The first edition of Allen Asherman's "Star Trek Compendium," released sometime after Star Trek - The Motion Picture was the first time I encountered production order in print. On TV from the autumn of 1979 onward, my local station rerunning the series in syndication was already showing them in production order.

The listings in "The Making of Star Trek," "The World of Star Trek," and "The Star Trek Confordance" were in airdate order.

 

[mb22]

Local stations showing the show in syndication were actually given a list of episodes in production order:

Link:

EKIjYZv

From TREK WORK YouTube video:

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

And as Donald G states, the first publication of the episodes in production order was the first episode of Asherman's Star Trek Compendium published in 1981.

 

[Phaser Two]

I love that the list says "Annihilate" and not "Operation: Annihilate!"

 

[Ceridwen]

So some fans might have had access to the production order list early, since it was available to channels who aired the show in syndication, but the Asherman book would be the first time it was available to "everyone".

Thank you all so much!

 

[ZapBrannigan]

And as Donald G states, the first publication of the episodes in production order was the first episode of Asherman's Star Trek Compendium published in 1981.

Hey, I love that pic of the list for TV stations. But you guys missed something. The first listing in production order available to the public, that I know of, was in the Star Trek Giant Poster Book.

It was distributed nationally and available on news stands everywhere:

Star Trek Giant Poster Book

The Star Trek Giant Poster Book was a poster magazine published by Paradise Press in the 1970s. Each issue - or "Voyage" as they were termed - comprised eight pages, featuring articles on various subjects related to Star Trek, as well as images from Star Trek: The Original Series. The issues...

memory-alpha.fandom.com

Issue 6 - Feb 1977: First season episodes listed in production order, with two errors. It listed The Menagerie as 16 and 17, and then omitted The Alternative Factor, resulting in the "correct" overall number of season 1 episodes.

Issue 7 - Mar 1977: Second season listed in production order, error-free.

Issue 8 - Apr 1977 - Third season listed, error-free, plus a correction and explanation of the first season production order. The Menagerie Parts 1 and 2 are both #16, and The Alternative Factor is #20.

I can't find an earlier source than that for production order.

 

[mb22]

So some fans might have had access to the production order list early, since it was available to channels who aired the show in syndication, but the Asherman book would be the first time it was available to "everyone".

Thank you all so much!

Well, since many (most?) stations ran the episodes in the order provided by Paramount Television Syndication, viewers could determine the order from that, especially the earliest episodes.

 

[Rowdy Roddy McDowall]

I love that the list says "Annihilate" and not "Operation: Annihilate!"

Your version's more canon.

 

[drt]

Well, since many (most?) stations ran the episodes in the order provided by Paramount Television Syndication, viewers could determine the order from that, especially the earliest episodes.

Yeah, I'm sure lots of fans wrote down the order as they aired locally and discovered it repeated. Once I had Asherman's book I can confirm my local stations held to it about 99% of the time, that 1% being an occasional episode swap, which was probably accidental. I can't confirm that was always the case in the 70s, but I definitely know they were at least shown by season, since I recall the main titles would change to blue for a while before going back to yellow (which always baffled me as a kid), but i'd bet they were probably always in production order even then.

 

[Phaser Two]

Yeah, I'm sure lots of fans wrote down the order as they aired locally and discovered it repeated. Once I had Asherman's book I can confirm my local stations held to it about 99% of the time, that 1% being an occasional episode swap, which was probably accidental. I can't confirm that was always the case in the 70s, but I definitely know they were at least shown by season, since I recall the main titles would change to blue for a while before going back to yellow (which always baffled me as a kid), but i'd bet they were probably always in production order even then.

Ah, how great - Kid Me was similarly bamfoozled by the changing colors on the titles. On my local stations (New Jersey, then Missouri), they seemed to use airdate order, because after "Turnabout Intruder," I immediately had to decide (without a welcome five-episode pause) whether or not to face down the Salt Vampire, whom I was convinced was lurking around every corner of my house or worse, impersonating my parents. I was also a Concordance adherent, so watching in production order has never seemed quite right. Interesting and insightful for sure, but as Scotty told Spock in "That Which Survives," "the feel is wrong."

 

[mb22]

Yeah, I'm sure lots of fans wrote down the order as they aired locally and discovered it repeated.

TV Guide used to have capsule episode descriptions (no episode titles, though) which was also helpful in piercing together the production order.

 

[Noname Given]

I did my best to search for the answer to this on my own, but I've had no success so far (Google's AI answer is most definitely wrong, and it's search function is proving more and more useless the more resources they devote to the former).

I know that a lot of the fandom swears by the production order for classic Star Trek but this has me curious: when and where was this first published? Google tells me it was in the original two-episode DVD releases; I know this is wrong because it was already used in the Okudas' Star Trek Chronology from 1995, but I imagine this wasn't the first place the fandom learned about it either. I don't think it was in The Making of Star Trek, but I can't find my copy to confirm.

Any information would be appreciated. Thank you!

As an old fan, I can tell you that this list is correct:

Star Trek The Original Series in production order

It is better to watch in production order than in air date order. (Also, includes animated series)

www.imdb.com

 

[ZapBrannigan]

As an old fan, I can tell you that this list is correct:

Star Trek The Original Series in production order

It is better to watch in production order than in air date order. (Also, includes animated series)

www.imdb.com

That list is not technically correct. It lists "The Menagerie, Part II" as Episode 17, and thus every episode after that is mis-numbered.

In production order, the whole framing story for "The Menagerie" was filmed as one thing: Episode 16. The scenes for Part I and Part II were not separated on that basis, they were mingled together in the shooting schedule based on which sets were to be used.

So counting "The Cage" as #1, that makes "Turnabout Intruder" the 79th time the studio filmed a Star Trek episode, not the 80th.

A convenient (and fully accurate) listing of the show in production order is on Wikipedia:

List of Star Trek: The Original Series episodes - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[UssGlenn]

It lists "The Menagerie, Part II" as Episode 17, and thus every episode after that is misnumbered

Ah, so if you list by airdate you list them as two separate numbers (11 and 12), but if you use production order they become one, with only 78 episodes total. That would make the Cage episode 80 by airdate since it aired during TNG's run.

 

[ZapBrannigan]

Ah, so if you list by airdate you list them as two separate numbers (11 and 12), but if you use production order they become one, with only 78 episodes total. That would make the Cage episode 80 by airdate since it aired during TNG's run.

There are 79 episodes in production order, but I see what you're saying. A numbered list in airdate order would have 80, because it calls "The Menagerie" two episodes, and later the restored version of "The Cage" gets double-counted.

 

[UssGlenn]

Oh right, the Cage gets #1 in production order. The footage always gets counted twice, regardless of which way you count, neat.