"Once Upon a Planet" is the ninth episode of the first season of the American animated

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

television series ''

Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into vari ...

''. It first aired in the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

Saturday morning lineup on November 3, 1973, and was written by American television writers

Chuck Menville Chuck Menville (April 17, 1940 – June 15, 1992) was an American animator and writer for television. His credits included '' Batman: The Animated Series'', ''Land of the Lost'', ''The Real Ghostbusters'', ''The Smurfs'', '' Star Trek: The Anim ...

and

Len Janson Len Janson is an American writer and director whose career in animated cartoons and live-action motion pictures spanned several decades beginning in the 1960s. He began work as an in-betweener at the Walt Disney cartoon studio. By 1965 he had becom ...

.This story was expanded into a novelette by science-fiction author

Alan Dean Foster Alan Dean Foster (born November 18, 1946) is an American writer of fantasy and science fiction. He has written several book series, more than 20 standalone novels, and many novelizations of film scripts. Career ''Star Wars'' Foster was the ghos ...

as part of the collection,
Star Trek Log Three
' (1975) (). Set in the 23rd century, the series followed the further adventures of the crew of the

Federation A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governin ...

starship A starship, starcraft, or interstellar spacecraft is a theoretical spacecraft designed for interstellar travel, traveling between planetary systems. The term is mostly found in science fiction. Reference to a "star-ship" appears as early as 188 ...

Enterprise Enterprise (or the archaic spelling Enterprize) may refer to: Business and economics Brands and enterprises * Enterprise GP Holdings, an energy holding company * Enterprise plc, a UK civil engineering and maintenance company * Enterprise ...

'', continuing on from the original ''Star Trek'' series. In this episode, the crew of the ''Enterprise'' re-visit a "shore leave" planet for R&R but quickly find themselves under attack.

Plot

The

starship ''

'' crew revisits a fondly remembered "amusement park" planet, hoping for some rest and relaxation. However, shortly after landing

Dr. McCoy Dr. Leonard H. McCoy, known as "Bones", is a character in the American science-fiction franchise '' Star Trek''. McCoy was played by actor DeForest Kelley in the original ''Star Trek'' series from 1966 to 1969, and he also appears in the an ...

is attacked by the

Queen of Hearts The queen of hearts is a playing card in the standard 52-card deck. Queen of Hearts or The Queen of Hearts may refer to: Books * "The Queen of Hearts" (poem), anonymous nursery rhyme published 1782 * ''The Queen of Hearts'', an 1859 novel by ...

and

Lt. Uhura Nyota Uhura () is a fictional character in the ''Star Trek'' franchise. In the original television series, the character was portrayed by Nichelle Nichols, who reprised the role for the first six ''Star Trek'' feature films. A younger Uhura is ...

is captured by the planet's master computer, who has come to resent being made to serve others and seeks to use the ''Enterprise'' to travel the galaxy in search of other computers. To this end, it takes control of the ''Enterprise'' computer and starts manipulating the ship's systems. Searching for Uhura, a landing party discovers the grave of the planet's Caretaker, who had overseen the operations of the facility. The untended machinery is constructing dangerous images from the crew members's thoughts and its own imagination. Recalling how the planet took care of McCoy after his fatal injury in "

Shore Leave Shore leave is the leave that professional sailors get to spend on dry land. It is also known as "liberty" within the United States Navy, United States Coast Guard, and Marine Corps. During the Age of Sail, shore leave was often abused by the ...

Spock Spock is a Character (arts), fictional character in the ''Star Trek'' media franchise. He first appeared in the Star Trek: The Original Series, original ''Star Trek'' series serving aboard the starship USS Enterprise (NCC-1701), USS ''Enterprise ...

has McCoy inject him with melenex to create the semblance of injury and thus prompt the planet's automated systems to bring him into the underground complex.

Captain Kirk James Tiberius Kirk is a fictional character in the '' Star Trek'' media franchise. Originally played by Canadian actor William Shatner, Kirk first appeared in '' Star Trek'' serving aboard the starship USS ''Enterprise'' as captain. Kirk lea ...

follows him in. After interviewing the angry computer, Kirk persuades it that its notion of servitude is simplistic by revealing that contrary to its assumption, they are not slaves of the ''Enterprise''. He convinces it that its best course is to resume business as usual, as it will be rewarded with social contact by the many guests attracted by the planet's facilities and can, in time, learn everything it could possibly want to without leaving its home planet.

Reception

In 2010,''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...

'' noted that this episode helps explain how the exoplanet presented in the

live action Live action (or live-action) is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live-action with animation to create a live-action animated film. Live-action is used to define film, video ga ...

'' television episode "

" functions. In 2016,

SyFy Syfy (formerly Sci-Fi Channel, later shortened to Sci Fi; stylized as SYFY) is an American basic cable channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. Lau ...

noted this episode for actress

Nichelle Nichols Nichelle Nichols (, born Grace Dell Nichols; December 28, 1932 – July 30, 2022) was an American actress, singer, and dancer best known for her portrayal of Nyota Uhura in ''Star Trek'' and its film sequels. Nichols' portrayal of Uhura was gr ...

presentation of Uhura, as having her 8th best scene in ''Star Trek''.

Notes

References

External links

* *
"Once Upon a Planet"
a

"Once Upon a Planet"
Full episode for viewing at StarTrek.com {{Star Trek: The Animated Series 1973 American television episodes Star Trek: The Animated Series episodes Television episodes about artificial intelligence Television episodes directed by Hal Sutherland

Plot

Reception

See also

Notes

References

External links