TOS shooting dates

[JustKate]

Can someone direct me toward a source that lists the shooting order for TOS, particularly of the first season? The original airdates are readily available, as are the production numbers, but what I'm having difficulty finding (though perhaps this is merely because I haven't looked hard enough) is the order in which the episodes were originally shot.

My reason for asking about this is that I got my husband the remastered TOS for Christmas, and that has allowed us to see the episodes in order for the first time since 1966. Which is pretty cool. However, the inconsistencies in the uniforms (style and colors) in the early episodes is just, you know, bugging me. I know, thanks to Memory Alpha, that although "Where No Man Has Gone Before" was the third episode aired, it was actually filmed as the second pilot (after "The Cage"), so I understand why those uniforms differ from those used in most of season 1. My guess is that some of the inconsistencies in uniforms in other episodes (such as the gold colored and rather ill-fitting uniform worn by Uhura in "The Corbomite Manuver") can also be partly explained by when they were shot - but that's just a guess. Some actual data would be nice, though. Can anybody tell me where to find it?

 

[Tiberius]

if you go through the episodes on Memory Alpha in production order rather than air date order, would that do it?

 

[scotpens]

Allan Asherman’s Star Trek Compendium lists all the TOS episodes in production order. I don’t know if the book is currently in print.

“The Corbomite Maneuver” was, in fact, the first regular production episode filmed, but it was number 10 in broadcast order.

 

[Mytran]

Episodes in production order:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Star_Trek:_The_Original_Series_episodes#Production_Order

(it is also my preferred order of watching them, to see how the sets, costumes and characters developed)

 

[Captain Robert April]

I'm pretty sure that there wasn't any overlapping in production, so "shooting order" and "production order" are essentially the same thing.

I should start compiling those dates, though. Make a nifty addition to the Concordance...

 

[JustKate]

Ah, so Memory Alpha's list is in production/shooting order then? I wondered. It doesn't say, and I don't know enough about the details to guess.

 

[EnsignHarper]

What is important to remember about the filming order, is that Trek got off to a VERY rocky start production wise. Both Corbomite Maneuver and Mudds Women went WAY over schedule and budget - CM because it really was a third pilot - new cast members, new sets, and people still feeling their way, character wise; and MW because, apparently, the director was very slow and pedantic with his shooting style.

Both NBC and Desilu were getting VERY nervous about this, as Roddenberry and Herb Solow had promised they would actually stick close to their schedules/budgets. This is why Bob Justman in INSIDE STAR TREK calls Marc Daniels one of his few Heroes. Daniels was the director of MAN TRAP, and managed to get it in UNDER schedule and budget...and then when Justman had to ask him to direct NAKED TIME right after that, he got THAT in on time and within the money. (directors of dramas very rarely do shows back to back, as it usually takes a week of prep time for a director doing an hour long drama - comedies are a very different situation..). So Justman considers Marc Daniels as having saved Trek - otherwise NBC and/or Desilu might have pulled the money plug on it...

So when you watch those two shows, that is something to keep in mind....

 

[EnsignHarper]

What is important to remember about the filming order, is that Trek got off to a VERY rocky start production wise. Both Corbomite Maneuver and Mudds Women went WAY over schedule and budget - CM because it really was a third pilot - new cast members, new sets, and people still feeling their way, character wise; and MW because, apparently, the director was very slow and pedantic with his shooting style.

Both NBC and Desilu were getting VERY nervous about this, as Roddenberry and Herb Solow had promised they would actually stick close to their schedules/budgets. This is why Bob Justman in INSIDE STAR TREK calls Marc Daniels one of his few Heroes. Daniels was the director of MAN TRAP, and managed to get it in UNDER schedule and budget...and then when Justman had to ask him to direct NAKED TIME right after that, he got THAT in on time and within the money. (directors of dramas very rarely do shows back to back, as it usually takes a week of prep time for a director doing an hour long drama - comedies are a very different situation..). So Justman considers Marc Daniels as having saved Trek - otherwise NBC and/or Desilu might have pulled the money plug on it...

So when you watch those two shows, that is something to keep in mind....

My bad - Enemy Within followed Mudds Women...but that was difficult to do because of the split screen shots, etc...

 

[ToddPence]

The first edition of Asherman's Compendium included shooting dates. This useful feature, however, appears to have been dropped from later editions of that book.

Star Trek is a series where the production order is the exact same as the filming order. This is not always the case for series of that era. For example, The Twilight Zone has production numbers for its episode ordered completely different from the order those shows were filmed.

 

[Botany Bay]

Interesting to see the shooting order vs. the airdate order - thanks Mytran

Something I've always wondered about - why was Bread and Circuses delayed by almost half a season before airing it?

CRA? Anyone?

 

[Mytran]

I don't know, but it's real shame. The episode itself is not spectacular, but the scene with McCoy and Spock in prison is wonderful and brings their relationship to a turning point; in production order, their verbal disputes have been bordering on childish bickering at times. However, this all calms down after Bread And Circuses (not the disputes, just the childishness of them).

 

[Captain Robert April]

Well, B&C was the first episode shot after the merger between Desilu and Paramount, that might have some arcane connection...

 

[ToddPence]

Interesting to see the shooting order vs. the airdate order - thanks Mytran

Something I've always wondered about - why was Bread and Circuses delayed by almost half a season before airing it?

CRA? Anyone?

So it could air on the Ides of March? Just a guess.

 

[Mytran]

Even if not it's a fascinating coincidence!

 

[Captain Robert April]

I'm currently compiling production dates into the TOS episode list.

Unfortunately, Memory Alpha doesn't have all of the production dates, so this might take a while....