TOS: Deviations

[somebuddyX]

Another thing is stuff in "The Cage" or even "Star Trek Is..." that make it a little bit different. Captain April of the Earth Spaceship Yorktown, his first officer Number One and the half-martian Mister Spock. Ditch
Majel and do they stay with a female first officer and an emotional alien for however long the series goes for. Imagine Number One in the captain's chair twenty years before the Saratoga captain or 29 years before Janeway. A different design for the ship. Different alien antagonists, strange but familiar.

 

[Airin]

And yet Rand returns for III, IV, (not V), and has a larger role in VI. All three of the Nimoy films. Chapel only returns for IV, correct?

I wonder if Rand was supposed to be a big character at the start of the series too. Unlike Sulu, Uhura or Scotty, she appears in a lot of publicity photos with Kirk, just the two of them or with Spock (they look like photos from the WNMHGB era).

The first version of the Writers Guide (season one) also describes the character of Rand right after Spock, and before McCoy.

 

[Tallguy]

Oh, she absolutely was. Whatever went on behind the scenes with the actress (the stories are varied) they were also having a hard time balancing her relationship with Kirk. Rather than taking on a "will they or won't they" it quickly became "Well of course they will" and the show runners felt this tied Kirk down too much.

 

[Shawnster]

And yet Rand returns for III, IV, (not V), and has a larger role in VI. All three of the Nimoy films. Chapel only returns for IV, correct?

Chapel was in I, maybe II, and IV.

 

[Tallguy]

Chapel was in I, maybe II, and IV.

Not in II.

 

[Airin]

Oh, she absolutely was. Whatever went on behind the scenes with the actress (the stories are varied) they were also having a hard time balancing her relationship with Kirk. Rather than taking on a "will they or won't they" it quickly became "Well of course they will" and the show runners felt this tied Kirk down too much.

From the production notes I've seen (from Bob Justman or others) it seems they run out of ideas for the character. And she had so little to do, that could be replaced by less expensive actresses playing a non-descript yeoman.

I think it was the other way around with the "will they, won't they" thing. The idea was that they had a mutual attraction, but could never express it out of professionalism. This creates two problems: 1) There could never be any interesting development between them. 2) Even if they're not technically together, Kirk's affairs with other women could still be perceived as "cheating", and this would make the hero unlikable for the audience.
It was a lose/lose situation.

 

[David cgc]

There's also the way the later edition of the TOS Writer's Bible called out Kirk and Rand embracing in fear of the Romulan torpedo in "Balance of Terror" as a melodramatic and unprofessional example of what not to do in an episode.

 

[Airin]

It's also interesting how some of Rand's qualities were transferred to McCoy in the end. According to her autobiography ("The Longest Trek"), this is how Roddenberry explained her character:

“Grace Lee,” he said, “you're going to be like Miss Kitty on "Gunsmoke". Matt Dillon always comes back to the saloon and talks over his problems with Miss Kitty. She knows him better than anyone else. That’s the kind of relationship I want Yeoman Rand to have with Captain Kirk. He will seek out your company, confess to you, draw strength and inspiration from you.​

​

 

[mb22]

I wonder if Rand was supposed to be a big character at the start of the series too. Unlike Sulu, Uhura or Scotty, she appears in a lot of publicity photos with Kirk, just the two of them or with Spock (they look like photos from the WNMHGB era).

The first version of the Writers Guide (season one) also describes the character of Rand right after Spock, and before McCoy.

Early scripts place Rand before McCoy in the beginning list of characters.