"The Pirates of Orion" is the second season premiere episode 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 uni ...
television series ''
Star Trek: The Animated Series'', the 17th episode overall. It first aired on
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
on September 7, 1974. It was directed by Bill Reed and written by Howard Weinstein. The episode was Weinstein's first professional sale at the age of 19, making him, as of 2023, the youngest writer of any ''Star Trek'' TV episode.
Set in the 23rd century, the series follows the adventures of Captain
James T. 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 leads ...
(voiced by
William Shatner
William Shatner (born March 22, 1931) is a Canadian actor. In a career spanning seven decades, he is best known for his portrayal of James T. Kirk in the ''Star Trek'' franchise, from his 1965 debut as the captain of the starship ''Enterpris ...
) and the crew of the
Starfleet
Starfleet is a fictional organization in the ''Star Trek'' media franchise. Within this fictional universe, Starfleet is a uniformed space force maintained by the United Federation of Planets ("the Federation") as the principal means for conduc ...
starship
''Enterprise''. In this episode, Kirk and the ''
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
* Enterpris ...
'' must contend with a pirate captain and crew who have stolen a load of cargo that includes medicine crucial to save a dying
Spock (voiced by
Leonard Nimoy
Leonard Simon Nimoy (; March 26, 1931 – February 27, 2015) was an American actor, famed for playing Spock in the '' Star Trek'' franchise for almost 50 years. This includes originating Spock in the original ''Star Trek'' series in 1966, th ...
).
The story was developed from Weinstein out of a ''
Star Trek''-based short story he had previously published in a school science fiction publication. After it failed to be read on the first submission, it was resubmitted and purchased by the production team. The episode featured the first appearance of male members of the
Orion species in the ''Star Trek'' franchise; male Orions would not appear in a live action episode until 2004. Critical reception to the episode was mixed, and it has been released in several forms of home media, including
VHS,
LaserDisc and
DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...
.
Plot
On
stardate 6334.1, 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-govern ...
starship ''
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
* Enterpris ...
'' is enroute to perform ceremonial duties on Deneb V when the
Vulcan
Vulcan may refer to:
Mythology
* Vulcan (mythology), the god of fire, volcanoes, metalworking, and the forge in Roman mythology
Arts, entertainment and media Film and television
* Vulcan (''Star Trek''), name of a fictional race and their home p ...
First Officer,
Spock (voiced by
Leonard Nimoy
Leonard Simon Nimoy (; March 26, 1931 – February 27, 2015) was an American actor, famed for playing Spock in the '' Star Trek'' franchise for almost 50 years. This includes originating Spock in the original ''Star Trek'' series in 1966, th ...
), contracts a disease called "choriocytosis". Chief Medical Officer
Leonard 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 ...
(voiced by
DeForest Kelley) notes that he can slow the disease, but Spock will still only have days to live. The
Starfleet
Starfleet is a fictional organization in the ''Star Trek'' media franchise. Within this fictional universe, Starfleet is a uniformed space force maintained by the United Federation of Planets ("the Federation") as the principal means for conduc ...
freighter ''Huron'' is set to rendezvous with the ''Enterprise'' and deliver medicine when it is attacked by
Orion pirates who steal its cargo, which turns out to be primarily a sizable load of
dilithium crystals.
The ''Enterprise'' follows back on the rendezvous course and finds the battered ''Huron'' and its surviving crew. Analysis of the attack leads Captain
Kirk
Kirk is a Scottish and former Northern English word meaning "church". It is often used specifically of the Church of Scotland. Many place names and personal names are also derived from it.
Basic meaning and etymology
As a common noun, ''kirk' ...
(voiced by
William Shatner
William Shatner (born March 22, 1931) is a Canadian actor. In a career spanning seven decades, he is best known for his portrayal of James T. Kirk in the ''Star Trek'' franchise, from his 1965 debut as the captain of the starship ''Enterpris ...
) and his crew to chase the Orion ship in a desperate attempt to recover the cure. The Orions, knowing they cannot escape the ''Enterprise'' or best them in a fight, plot to destroy both themselves and the ''Enterprise'' in order to preserve the lie of "Orion neutrality". Kirk meets with the Orion Captain (voiced by
James Doohan
James Montgomery Doohan (; March 3, 1920 – July 20, 2005) was a Canadian actor, author and soldier, best known for his role as Montgomery "Scotty" Scott in the television and film series '' Star Trek''. Doohan's characterization of the Scottis ...
) on a highly unstable asteroid. Kirk and the ''Enterprise'' crew realize that the Captain has explosives on his person and neutralize them in time. They recover the medicine to save Spock, capture the Orion Captain (who orders his crew not to commit
suicide via self-destruction), and retrieve the dilithium crystals.
Spock's life is saved and the ''Enterprise'' continues on its original assignment, with Kirk reflecting on how the Orion Captain will stand trial for his actions and allow the Federation to solve the problem of "Orion neutrality".
Production
Writer
Howard Weinstein
Howard M. Weinstein (born 1953) is an American bridge player from Chicago, Illinois. He is a graduate of University of Minnesota. He is related to Josh (J. Elvis) Weinstein from '' Mystery Science Theater 3000''.
Bridge accomplishments
Wins
* ...
had been a fan of space exploration following the flight of
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil List of government space agencies, space program ...
astronaut
Alan Shepard
Alan Bartlett Shepard Jr. (November 18, 1923 – July 21, 1998) was an American astronaut, naval aviator, test pilot, and businessman. In 1961, he became the second person and the first American to travel into space and, in 1971, he beca ...
on
Mercury-Redstone 3
Mercury-Redstone 3, or ''Freedom 7'', was the first United States human spaceflight, on May 5, 1961, piloted by astronaut Alan Shepard. It was the first crewed flight of Project Mercury. The project had the ultimate objective of putting an as ...
.
[ Ayers (2006): p. 38] He recalled that his first experience of ''Star Trek'' was in
middle school
A middle school (also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school) is an educational stage which exists in some countries, providing education between primary school and secondary school. ...
, where he mixed elements of the show up with ''
Lost in Space
''Lost in Space'' is an American science fiction television series, created and produced by Irwin Allen, which originally aired between 1965 and 1968 on CBS. The series was inspired by the 1812 novel ''The Swiss Family Robinson.'' The series fo ...
''. He began watching the show and was inspired to write for television after reading ''The Making of Star Trek'' by
Gene Roddenberry and Stephen E. Whitfield.
[ While in the 11th grade, he had a ''Star Trek'' short story published in the fanzine ''Probe'', which was a yearly publication in ]East Meadow High School
East Meadow High School is a public high school in the East Meadow Union Free School District in East Meadow, New York. The school was founded in 1953 and serves students in grades 9−12.
School
As of the 2018–19 school year, the school ...
. Weinstein also wrote a script for '' Mission: Impossible'', but the script was turned down as it was not submitted via an agent. It was returned with a list of suggested agents, and his father recognised Bill Cooper's name on the list from their school years together.[ Ayers (2006): p. 39]
Cooper agreed to take on Weinstein, who decided to redevelop his ''Probe'' published short story into a script for the animated ''Star Trek''. Cooper addressed the script to D.C. Fontana
Dorothy Catherine Fontana (March 25, 1939 – December 2, 2019) was an American television script writer and story editor, best known for her work on the original ''Star Trek'' franchise and several Western television series.
After a short ...
, who had recently left the show. When it arrived at the production office, it was forwarded to Fontana unread, who sent it back to Cooper as she had left the show.[ The script was subsequently resubmitted by Weinstein under his agent's name for the second season of the show.] Producer Lou Scheimer
Louis Scheimer (October 19, 1928 – October 17, 2013) was an American producer and voice actor who was one of the original founders of Filmation. He was also credited as an executive producer of many of its cartoons.
Early life and education
...
contacted Weinstein and informed him that they wanted to purchase the script if the ending could be modified, which Weinstein agreed to.[ Ayers (2006): p. 40] Weinstein was 19 at the time and staying in the dormitory at the University of Connecticut
The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from H ...
,[ and Scheimer was surprised to find out that Weinstein was so young.]
The script sold in April 1974. It was Weinstein's first professional sale and credit as a writer. He found out later that year that it would be used as the opening episode of the second season. Weinstein organized a get together in his dormitory to watch the episode when it aired, which some thirty people and a dog attended. After the script was used, Weinstein found that it enabled him to write the ''Star Trek'' novel '' The Covenant of the Crown'' for Pocket Books
Pocket Books is a division of Simon & Schuster that primarily publishes paperback books.
History
Pocket Books produced the first mass-market, pocket-sized paperback books in the United States in early 1939 and revolutionized the publishing ...
; he said in a later interview that it gave him "instant credibility" with the company.[ He also began to appear at ]science fiction convention
Science fiction conventions are gatherings of fans of the speculative fiction genre, science fiction. Historically, science fiction conventions had focused primarily on literature, but the purview of many extends to such other avenues of expre ...
s and later wrote several further ''Star Trek'' books and comic books. Weinstein received a "Thank You" credit on '' Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home'' after introducing that film's director, Leonard Nimoy, to the idea of including whales in the film.[
This episode features the first appearance of male Orions. While a surgically altered agent who appeared as an ]Andorian
Andorians are a fictional race of humanoid extraterrestrials in the American science fiction franchise ''Star Trek''. They were created by writer D. C. Fontana. Within the ''Star Trek'' narrative, they are native to the blue icy Class M moon, ...
in ''The Original Series'' episode "Journey to Babel
"Journey to Babel" is the tenth episode of the second season of the American science fiction television series ''Star Trek''. Written by D. C. Fontana and directed by Joseph Pevney, it was first broadcast on November 17, 1967.
In the episode, '' ...
" was speculated to be of Orion origin by Spock, the only members of the race which had previously been represented in ''Star Trek'' were the Orion slave girls. Male Orions would not be seen in a live action ''Star Trek'' production until 2004 with the episode " Borderland" in the fourth season of ''Star Trek: Enterprise
''Star Trek: Enterprise'', titled simply ''Enterprise'' for its first two seasons, is an American science fiction television series created by Rick Berman and Brannon Braga. It originally aired from September 26, 2001, to May 13, 2005 on Uni ...
''.
Reception
"The Pirates of Orion" was first broadcast on September 7, 1974 on NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
. In ''Trek Navigator'', a book by Mark A. Altman and Edward Gross which reviewed every episode and film of ''Star Trek'' up until 1998, Altman gave "The Pirates of Orion" a score of two out of four, while Gross gave a score of three out of four. Michelle Erica Green watched the episode for the website TrekNation
TrekNation is a reference and community website for the ''Star Trek'' franchise. It also serves as a hub for its network websites: TrekToday, a news site updated nearly daily; The Trek BBS, which describes itself as the largest ''Star Trek'' ...
, saying that it included "precisely the sort of character interaction that made the original ''Star Trek'' such a success". She felt that given the ability of ''The Animated Series'' to show things that couldn't be seen in ''The Original Series'' due to budget restrictions, the Orions could have been featured more prominently and that if the attack on the ''Huron'' had been shown instead of implied through dialogue, then it would have given "a stronger opinion as viewers of the relative evils of the Orions, whether they are an honorable enemy or mere vicious thugs."[
A 2018 ''Star Trek'' ]binge-watching
Binge-watching (also called binge-viewing) is the practice of watching entertainment or informational content for a prolonged time span, usually a single television show.
Statistics
Binge-watching overlaps with marathon viewing which places mo ...
guide by ''Den of Geek
''Den of Geek'' is a US and UK-based website covering entertainment with a focus on pop culture. The website also issues a bi-annual magazine.
History
''Den of Geek'' was founded in 2007 by Simon Brew in London. In 2012, DoG Tech LLC licensed ...
'', recommended this episode for featuring the trio of characters Kirk, Spock, and Bones of ''The Original Series''.
Home media release
"The Pirates of Orion" was released on VHS cassette alongside "The Practical Joker
"The Practical Joker" is the third episode of the second season of the American animated science fiction television series '' Star Trek'', the 19th episode overall. It first aired in the NBC Saturday morning lineup on September 21, 1974, an ...
" during the initial release of tapes by Paramount Home Video
Paramount Home Entertainment (formerly Paramount Home Media Distribution, and originally Paramount Home Video) is the home video distribution arm of Paramount Pictures, a division of Paramount Global.
The division oversees PPC's home entertainme ...
in 1989. It has also been released on LaserDisc as part of the series set. The first release of ''Star Trek: The Animated Series'' on DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...
was through fan made productions. The official DVD release was on November 21, 2006 in the United States, which was a single release containing all episodes from both seasons of the television show.
Notes
References
*
*
*
*
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pirates of Orion, The
1974 American television episodes
Star Trek: The Animated Series episodes
Piracy in fiction