Leslie didn't try very hard to restrain McCoy when he runs off the bridge. McCoy ran right by him and he just kinda pushed him on a bit.

When McCoy jumps up and runs through the Guardian, Scotty is seen rubbing his head as if McCoy hit him. But McCoy simply ran past Uhura, Scotty and the guards before they could make any move to catch him.

After McCoy runs through the Guardian, Uhura tells Kirk that she was talking to the ship and the communicator went dead. But she just opened the communicator right before delivering this line.

Kirk asked Spock when Edith was going to die, and Spock said he could only estimate general happenings. Uh...how about looking at the date on that newspaper article about her death?

The Guardian wakes up when Kirk asks what it is. It says it has awaited a question. But Kirk asked what it was a minute earlier and the Guardian said nothing.

When Edith almost trips on the stairs, Spock indicates that maybe that could be the time that she was supposed to die. Did he forget that he already said it was a traffic accident?

I wonder what would have happened if McCoy had saved Edith when Kirk and Spock weren't around. How would they have set things right then? Kill her? Talk about moral dilemmas.

Here's one theory about the temporal contradictions: Kirk, Spock and McCoy had already done all this hundreds of years ago. They were all part of what was supposed to happen. So McCoy really didn't change history, since he was/is destined to be a part of it. The Guardian lied to Kirk and Spock and said that he did change history in order to get them to fulfill their roles in what must be.

However, if McCoy did change history, it would be interesting to find out his reaction when the Nazis conquered the world, knowing that it was his fault. That realization could make him really insane. If he lived another 38 years or so, he could meet Kirk and Spock when they visited the 1960s twice. Or maybe that wouldn't happen with the changed timeline. But then, neither would McCoy's journey through the Guardian. So then the Nazis didn't win. So then McCoy did go back. Headache time...

Edith Keeler said she's seeing a new Clark Gable movie. I went to the Internet movie database, and it gives these two movies in sequence:
Easiest Way, The (1931)
North Star (1926)

There are some possible solutions to this. McCoy wakes up in a daze and tries to guess where he is. "This looks like 1920, 25..." Edith says, "Would you care to try for 30?" She says that because it's an increment of 5 years. His guesses were in increments of five years, so she gives one more increment of 5 years instead of 6.

After they look at the tricorder playback, Spock says he saw an article about her death from 1930 (I don't know why he didn't look at the month and day) and also says she will die "this year." So it's definitely 1930.

Why was the transporter set for the center of the time disturbance? One possible answer is Kirk (offscreen) was planning to beam down there to investigate and ordered the coordinates set. That would also help explain how McCoy knew where he was beaming to and he wasn't going to materialize in space somewhere.

It's possible that when the trio came back to the present, they had to go to where they first materialized in 1930 and step through (as in "All Our Yesterdays"). That could be why McCoy came through a few seconds after Kirk and Spock.

One thing in particular I disliked about this episode: McCoy's insanity. Yelling "Murderers! Assassins!" over and over doesn't strike me as something an insane person would really do. It sounded like "acting."

One thing in particular I liked: When they come back through the Guardian, Scotty asks what happened. Kirk doesn't answer. And after all they've gone through, Spock sums it up by simply saying, "We were successful."

The Guardian wakes up when Kirk asks what it is. It says it has awaited a question. But Kirk asked what it was a minute earlier and the Guardian
said nothing.

After billions of years not being asked any questions maybe it took the Guardian some time to realize that it had just heard a question?

"One thing in particular I disliked about this episode: McCoy's insanity. Yelling "Murderers! Assassins!" over and over doesn't strike me as something an insane person would really do. It sounded like "acting." "

Especially when he speaks directly to the camera after first being injected.

Another thing: why didn't McCoy think the bum was out to kill him? It couldn't have been the cordrazine wearing off because he was still paranoid about murderers and assassins, but he somehow saw the bum as an ally.

McCoy took the trouble to take Kyle's phaser, yet with a bunch of murderers after him, he never used it. (Maybe he was concerned more with escaping them than fighting them)

Why wasn't there a ship-wide order for people to brace themselves during the ripples? McCoy seemed to be totally unaware that a ripple was approaching.

"...why didn't McCoy think the bum was out to kill him? It couldn't have been the cordrazine wearing off because he was still paranoid about murderers and assassins, but he somehow saw the bum as an ally."

Perhaps the drug had the effect of making him believe his friends and associates were his enemy but strangers were not.

Amusingly, Ellison wrote an episode for "The Flying Nun", "You Can't Get There From Here" (they get stranded on a desert island). I wonder if Ellison has an unrewritten, gritty version of that one too. :-)

And fie on SciFi: They cut the "stone knives and bearskins" line!! One of the best lines in the series!

Anyway... the playback from the Guardian doesn't make any sense (other than "it looks good on TV", which is all the Trek creators were interested). It's not showing history "fast", it's showing snatches of history at normal speed. Spock's tricorder should have only recorded the clip that was playing at time McCoy jumped in, not panning shots on newspapers, shots of Nazi soldiers, etc.

As someone mentioned upstream, TOS went overboard at times on its soft-focus shots for the female guest stars. During "Mud's Women" I keep checking my glasses.

The smoke in the Guardian freezes and jumps around as they beam up and the credits appear.

TOS went overboard at times on its soft-focus shots for the female guest stars.

Twenty years after Trek, Jerry Finnerman used the same trick ad nauseum in his photography of Cybill Shepherd on Moonlighting. On the other hand, perhaps it was Ms. Shepherd's request to be filmed that way.

NANJABitofTrivia: Re, Ellison writing for "The Flyng Nun"--he avows it was solely to meet and ask Sally Field for a date.

Sir Rhosis

How come nobody used their phaser on heavy stun on McCoy when they found him on the planet?

A couple of observations that maybe some of you could answer for me:

Spock describes for Kirk "A growing pacifist movement" in the early 1930s that delays the beginning of WWII, and allows the Germans to develop nuclear weapons first. I'm aware of the isolationist, "America First" movement of the 30s, but was there really a pacifist movement then as well? After Hitler came to power, people thought that war with Germany was inevitable, and did what they could to forestall it through appeasement (allowing the Austrian Anschluss and the annexation of the Sudetenland), but I'm not aware of any large pacifist movement. I could be wrong though.

Spock says the Germans conquered the world by putting atomic warheads onto V-2 rockets. If I'm not mistaken, "Fat Man" and "Little Boy" each weighed several tons, which was why they had to be loaded onto B-29s. Was a V-2 actually powerful enough to carry a nuclear payload?

It's been quite a while since I've seen this one. Did Spock actually say V-2, or did he say "primitive rockets"?

According to Eddie Paskey himself, he's the one driving the truck that kills Edith Keeler! Lt. Leslie killed Edith!!

He probably didn't want Edith to outlive him!

I believe Spock says that the Germans had '2 rockets to carry them' (meaning the bomb), Germany captured the world. It took the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki to make Japan surrender, but I think it would take more than just Washington DC getting wiped out for the Americans to surrender, unless all of the politicians were killed, leaving few politicians in charge to keep fighting.

Spock did say "V-2 rockets." But was Hitler actually planning to use them to carry nuclear bombs, or did Trek make that up?

I've seen a stunt driver listed for this episode (Carey Loftin). I always assumed he was the one that ran down Edith.

The V-2 was to carry some sort of destructive package. An atomic bomb on them would be extremely effective. Fortunately, Hitler was losing the war and didn't make the breakthrough.


CG enhancing: Following up on an idea in the Space: 1999 threads, if Star Trek the Classic Series could be enhanced with CG, these are ideas I have for this episode.


How does Spock get images past 1930 if the imaging stops when McCoy jumps through? Perhaps the Guardian's imaging disappears as McCoy jumps through, runs for a half second more, then cuts out abruptly. The intervening shot of Kirk at Spock's feet, showing Spock's tricorder no longer in hand, could be replaced with a close-up on Kirk's face, "giving" Spock a chance to lower his tricorder, now that the image is gone.

We can explain this as two time streams conflicting, and the Guardian has to shut down the image and re-initialize in order to reconcile the changes. (A newspaper in one time line reports Keeler's death. The revised time line reports her meeting with President Roosevelt.) That would explain how Spock has images from the time after McCoy jumped.

When the rodent (John Harmon) examines McCoy's phaser, he seems to be able to trigger self-destruct with the push of a simple button; I suggest that a small trio of red lights be added shining through the surface before he presses that button, blinking "urgently" to indicate the phaser is set on self-destruct and is extremely hazardous to handle. He presses the button and away it goes. McCoy somehow engaged the destruct mode to be "at the ready".

A V2 couldn't have carried a WW2-era A-bomb, which weighed around ten tons. From what I've read they were planning to built a 2-stage scaled-up version to possibly land an A-bomb on New York - fortunately it would not have been completed until 1946, at which point Germany would have been overrun by the Soviets even without D-Day.

After comparing the old VHS version of this episode with the original 2000 DVD release, I have noticed a couple of things:

1) Sound effects for the Enterprise's engines have been dubbed onto the soundtrack for the Enterprise flybys for the DVD. These sound effects were not on the VHS version of this episode.

2) The VHS version of this episode had "Goodnight Sweetheart" replaced by another song. However, the 2000 DVD version is the original broadcast version with "Goodnight Sweetheart". For some reason, the back of the DVD box has the text Some music has been changed for this DVD. Why? It's the original broadcast version. No music has been changed. Or did Paramount goof? Did they release the original broadcast version by mistake? Which version of the episode is included on the season one box set?

They played "Goodnight, Sweetheart" in the single disc set too.

What exactly is supposed to be wrong with Sulu at the start of the ep? I know the console exploded, but he clearly isn't burned at all. Did he just bang his head as he hit the floor, or something?

Love Hadley's casual glance to the left when Sulu's console explodes. Everyone else is treating it as a big emergency, but he just looks bored, as if it happens every day...

Why is Kyle armed? It doesn't really make sense, unless he's just paranoid after Space Seed...

Just after McCoy jumps into the Guardian, Scotty wanders up, rubbing the back of his neck as if he'd been hit, when all McCoy did was shove him a little...

Why didn't they cut off the power to the turbolift once McCoy left the bridge? I'm sure I remember them doing it in previous episodes...

Sulu could have received a massive electrical shock, which would not necessarily leave any visible burn marks on his body.

1. If something or someone dangerous arrives on a starship it should be possible to lock all doors and elevators (like they do in a submarine with a leak J). On this ep McCoy would then be trapped, either in an elevator or in a corridor.
2. Use the heart-beating-tracking-device (aka the Court-Martial-Trick) to locate the Doctor.
3. Spray some sleepy-gaz thru the airco and we have...
...just destroyed one classic episode.

I've seen a stunt driver listed for this episode (Carey Loftin).

Carey Loftin was the stunt coordinator for Steven Spielberg's Duel. I believe he was the unseen driver of the huge 18-wheeler that chased Dennis Weaver throughout the picture. His only IMDB listing for Star Trek is as "Stunt Driver - Uncredited." No specific episode was named.

The unseen driver in Duel was named Keller. I had to read that stupid story twice in 9th grade. Lousy substitute didn't believe us when we told her we'd already read that idiotic story.

I have heard that the recording of "Goodnight, Sweetheart" on the DVDs is a different version of the song than what appeared in the original broadcast.

So, the events would go:

Broadcast: X's version of "Goodnight, Sweetheart" was played on the episode's soundtrack.

Video: X's version was replaced by a different song entirely as they could not get the rights.

DVD: Since they wanted "Goodnight, Sweetheart" back in the episode, but could not get the rights to use X's version, they replaced it with another version of the song.

"X" is of course because I don't know who did the original version used in the broadcast episode.

Sir Rhosis

When Kirk walks Edith home, they pass Floyd's Barber Shop. You think Andy, Barney, and Goober were in getting a trim?

"X" is of course because I don't know who did the original version used in the broadcast episode.

My guess would be Rudy Vallee. Check this out.

COTEOF is THE quisessential Star Trek that had so much influence over Science Fiction. Harlan Ellison's concept was magnificent.
However, like Bela Okmyx, there is a historical nit I have to point out.
Spock points out a pacifist movement in the 1930's headed by Edith Keeler.
Historically, there was no movement--but this is what makes it Science Fiction.
What I find difficult to believe is that such a Pacifist Movement would have such a hold on the political climate following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
Moreover, while Keeler supposedly delayed our development of the A-Bomb, that does not negate the Soviet Factor. Hitler's huge mistake was attacking the USSR, which is what really cost him the war. The Soviets were able to chase his forces back to Berlin--which is what really delayed his development of the A-Bomb.
If the U.S. did not enter WWII, what probably would have happened is that all of Europe probably would have fell to the Communists instead of being involved in the Cold War! China would have fell to the Japanese Industrialists, then be taken by the Communists under Mao Zedong, which would have eliminated the Korean and Viet Nam Conflicts.

SaintSteven: The Soviets were able to chase his forces back to Berlin--which is what really delayed his development of the A-Bomb.
Luigi Novi: That and the fact that many of the researchers who were responsible for it, directly or indirectly, were German Jews who fled to the U.S. and whose "erroneous, Jewish science" was dismissed by the Nazis.

>What I find difficult to believe is that such a Pacifist Movement would have such a hold on the political climate following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. >

Perhaps they somehow prevented Pearl Harbor?

To do that, they would've somehow have had to prevent the U.S.'s (and the U.K.'s) economic sanctions and embargoes on Japan (the last of which was a full one on oil), and the freezing of Japanese assets, which were responses to Japan's military expansion, including its invasion of Indochina. I'm skeptical as to whether even a policy of pacifism would cause this to happen, since non-violent tactics like such sanctions and embargoes are typically the prescribed ones for pacifists.

Edith says she operates the 31st St. Mission...OKAY...so why does the sign on the building say "21st Street Mission"?

=================================================

Spock notes that Germany (Hitler) develop the a-bomb first after McCoy's interference. Not likely...Hitler scoffed at the whole idea.
Why would McCoy's interference in history change that?

Sorry...Edith operates the 34th St. Mission

The threat of a Nazi atomic bomb was one of the primary driving forces behind the creation of the British TUBE ALLOYS project which would eventually lead to the Allied nuclear weapons effort: the Manhattan Project under General Leslie Groves. Several European exiles from Germany, Italy, Hungary etc. eventually would make significant contributions to the Allied nuclear effort. The German government never did finance a full crash program to develop weapons, as they estimated it could not be completed in time for use in the war, thus the German program was much more limited in capacity and ability when compared to the eventual size and priority of the Manhattan Project.

In 1945, a U.S. investigation called Project Alsos determined that German scientists under Heisenberg were close, but still short, of the point that Allied scientists had reached in 1942, the creation of a sustained nuclear chain reaction, a crucial step for creating a nuclear reactor (which in turn could be used for either peaceful purposes, or for creating plutonium, needed for nuclear weapons). The U-234 submarine tried to deliver to Japan uranium and advanced weapons technology, but after the German capitulation, it surrendered to the US before reaching Japan.

No..Edith said, "You're at the 34th St. Mission".
(I remember because there's a "4" in it.)

The Star Trek Encyclopedia says Edith operates the 34th St. Mission

My nit is: the sign on the building says: "21st St. Mission"

Additionally, I watched the episode on DVD today

I must point out that the stairs Kirk climbs to get the clothes is the same metal staircase seen in "Miri" and "Return of the Archons"

I believe the metal staircase is a fire escape, but it's been a while since I've seen this ep.

"Miri", "Archons", and "City" were all filmed on the set of the Andy Griffith show! (redressed) - so all the planets the Enterprise visits in these episodes are alternate versions of Mayberry!!

Kirk & Spock needed a haircut!

Nove Rockhoomer on Saturday, August 16, 2003 - 11:58 pm., wrote:

-It's possible that when the trio came back to the present, they had to go to where they first materialized in 1930 and step through (as in "All Our Yesterdays"). That could be why McCoy came through a few seconds after Kirk and Spock.-

That's what I always figured, too. But with McCoy coming through last, that would imply that time was running in 'reverse' mode when the trio returned. But now that I think about it, maybe either Kirk and Spock or McCoy solo didn't jump through "at the right moment", thus the discrepancy. Does this make that either Kirk and Spock or McCoy is, from this moment on, out of synch with the correct time?

Hmm...who told whom to jump when upon returning...?

The City on the edge of Forever

I’ve been mulling over these nits for a long time before I decided to write them down. As always I realize others may have already stated these nits.

Quick Over View: Spock informs Captain Kirk that Edith Keeler is the focal point in time they and the doctor have been drawn. Edith Keeler begins a peace movement during the 1930, which delays the entry of the United States into World War II. This delay allows the German heavy water experiments to produce an atomic weapon capable of being carried by their (Germany’s) V-2 rockets.

Nit 1: Do the creators want us to believe that Edith Keeler founds the America First Movement? That group was fully formed by 1935, and had many, celebrity, rich, and politically powerful members including Charles Lindberg.

Nit 2: Why would anything Edith Keeler does have any affect on the U.S. entry into World War II? The United States became involved in the conflict by sneak attack, performed by the First Airfleet (Imperial Navy) of the Empire of Japan. This attack took place on December 7, 1941 the initial target was the Naval and Army bases around Pearl Harbor Hawaii. No pacifist group in the United States could have influenced Japanese foreign policy.

Further many Japanese believed the Americans were weak, and would not fight. The activities of the America First Movement only reinforced this belief and the Japanese desire to fight the U.S. Many Germans felt the same.

Nit 2: During his famous ‘Day of Infamy” speech President Roosevelt makes no mention of Nazi Germany. He says that a state of War exists between the United States of America and the Empire of Japan. It was Adolf Hitler’s decision to declare war on the United States that brought the U.S. into the European war. He made this declaration on December 11, 1941 in a rambling speech to the Reichstag. Italy soon followed suit after Germany.

Nit 3: Nazi Germany’s Heavy Water experiments never produced enough of this moderator (Heavy Water) to create an atomic weapon. The enriching processes were slow and difficult. Further, the allies were well aware of German activities at Rjukan-Vemork Norway and attacked the plant several times. One 460 bomber raid shut the plant down for several weeks. When the Germans decided to transfer the processes to Germany the Norwegian resistance destroyed the ferry carrying the irreplaceable equipment and heavy water stocks. Japan never attempted an atomic program do to their inability to make Heavy Water. Here again the pacifist movement in the United States before our entry into the war would have had no affect on these events.

In fact this episode shows a typical American bias, we just can’t accept that the United States doesn’t control all major events. It’s easier to believe we determined our own entry into World War II.

Perhaps Keeler kept the US from being involved in Europe or prevented Pearl Harbor entirely.

At the mission, Edith tells McCoy that Kirk is taking her to the Clark Gable movie as if going to the movie is a part of the date that has been planned and prearranged (and that presumably Kirk would know about). Yet, when she crosses the street with Kirk, she says "Maybe if we hurry we can catch the Clark Gable movie" as if it is just something she has thought up on the spur of the moment.

Maybe she decided on it, and then sprung it on Kirk as a fait accompli. I've known Mrs. ScottN to do that sort of thing on occasion.

That is a distinct possibility.

Were horse-drawn milk wagons still used in 1930? I would think that by then, most dairies would have bought trucks. Like the one that struck Edith Keeler.
And, the milkman just leaves the milk by the doorstep, exposed to the elements. By the time the customer picks it up (if some "bum" hasn't yet ripped it off) it would be sour. Most delivered milk was left in metal milkboxes, to keep it fresh; my parents had one when I was a kid.
As I said in an earlier post, Bernard Widin (the name on the milk wagon, "Widin Dairy" was an in-joke) was the production manager, but for the first season only. The job was apparently eliminated for the second and third seasons.

In UK ayt least horse-drawn carts were used as late as the 1960s, the video for Benny Hill's Ernie has him using one, though it's part of the song it might be a prop.

I think Benny Hill was a milkman earlier real life before turning to comedy full time.

Even with mechanised deliveries we still have milk in the doorstep, the trick is to get up early & bring it inside.

Most delivered milk was left in metal milkboxes, to keep it fresh; my parents had one when I was a kid. - Adam Bomb

I remember that as recently as the late '60s, my grandmother had her milk delivered. IIRC, it was simply left on the doorstep, unprotected. I guess it was a matter of what Richard just said, getting up early to bring the milk inside the house.

Live long and prosper.

Harlan Ellison lawsuit. Scroll down to the Monday, August 28 2006 13:40:25 post titled, "THE NEXT BIG BATTLE".

You can also joine the thread on Peter David's blog here.

That lawsuit is news to me. Then again, I don't keep a tab on a lot that happens in the entertainment industry any more. I do know that Ellison does stand up for himself via lawsuit, whether it's over The Terminator, Future Cop or anything else.

I posted above: Bernard Widin was the production manager... yada, yada...
Widin's title was production supervisor. Gregg Peters was unit production manager (aka unit manager) for the second and third seasons. I don't know if those duties overlapped with those of the production supervisor. Peters was also an assistant director for the first season.

Happy 40th Anniversary, Star Trek!!

RE: Harlan's new lawsuit

Well, the guardian of forever has already appeared in many, MANY of the published Star Trek novels. And what about the animated series epsiode "Yesteryear"? Did Dorothy Fontana have permission from Ellison to use the guardian?

Not to mention several comic stories. Heck, Edith's line about Spock always being next to the captain was used at the end of DC Comics adaptation of Star Trek III.

On the Harlan Ellison forum, check out the comment made by SimperingHouseApe on 9/19. The scary thing is, I don't think he intended it to be ironic.

Yeahhhhhhhhhh... reading some of the other comments on that page, "pot meet kettle, kettle meet pot".

Upon their return to the 23rd century, the Guardian tells the landing party that "time has resumed its shape. All is as it was before."

Really? What about the dead homeless guy?

Funny thing about that, Ziggy- see it turns out that Edith didn't really have to die- it was the homeless guy that was responsible for Hitler's rise and the fall of the Federation. After being saved in the nick of time from being run over, Edith gave out stern lectures to her homeless audience about street safety. Homeless man took these quite seriously, and started being more carefull around roads and one day narrowly avoided a careening truck that would have killed him. The near brush with death shook him out of his malaise and he cleaned up his act, eventually becoming a scientist/politican who crossed circles with Hitler who was intruiged with the former homeless scientist's theories on 'How To Preserve A Brain.' He wielded great influence, even getting his 'old friend Edith' in for a photo-op with Hitler and even generously crediting her with several of his ideas in gratitude for all the ways she had helped him, way back when. Eventually, he and Hitler ended up ended up hatching their nefarious takeover scheme, with the unwitting Keeler as their pawn and figurehead for the pacifist movement that Mr. Homeless began as the Charistmatic Leader Bob Ghandi-Love Butterfly the third. As no records of this pseudonym and it's connection to the homeless man existed, Kirk and Spock had no way of knowing their error.
As it turns out, in killing him, the timeline was restored.

The Guardian, on the other hand, was simply related to those other glowing, pulsating, disembodied echoey voices, the multi-colored brains of Triskelion, and left Kirk, Spcok, and McCoy in the past just to see what would happen, wagering with itself as to whether Keeler would die.

But even as cruel and sadistic as he was, the Guardian couldn't lie to them. Time had, indeed, been restored- with one minor addition: the death of Edith.

I once read an article that suggested that the dead homeless guy was actually Gene Roddenberry's father, and his death explains why Star Trek never became a TV show in the Star Trek timeline.

Interestingly enough, the HE forum seems to have a rule that its members can only make one post per day. I wonder how such a rule would make Nitcentral a different place? (not that I'm advocating it, mind you)

Much less fun.

Can you imagine coming here, posting a comment on one thread & having to wait a day before posting a comment on another thread?

LICC would have died before it began.

Funny comment Zarm.

It's possible that the homeless guy could have died another way in the normal timeline, maybe by drinking tainted milk?

I had thought for years that the version of "Goodnight Sweetheart" used here was an old Rudy Vallee recording. Turns out that it's not, and the real singer may remain some nameless, disembodied voice. More here.

That one was great, Zarm!

Gene was born in 1921, so Rodent's death (if he was Gene's father) wouldn't have affected his birth.

Now, for the redo. This wasn't an effects-heavy episode, so the main change was the establishing shots of the planet. One goof in the second act (when we see the E is no longer in orbit) -- the planet is rotating impossibly fast. It would complete a rotation in only a minute or two. It's not the camera moving around the planet because the line between night and day is visible and stays in the same spot relative to the camera.

As mentioned above, the smoke freezing and jumping during the closing titles was fixed.

One other fix -- the matte insert on the tricorder screen was cleaned up. The matte line was removed and a drop shadow added around the frame of the screen.

Whew- I was wondering if they might alter the Gaurdian's playback. On the one hand, some color scenes might have been nice so it looked like 'A history of Earth' not 'A history of Earth's newsreels,' but then I began having these terrible nightmares about it being altered to use Enterprise's credits, sans titles...

Thankfully, a groundless fear. :-)

>Gene was born in 1921, so Rodent's death (if he was Gene's >father) wouldn't have affected his birth.

No, the idea was that without a father for a role model in his life, Gene became a delinquit or something and never went on to create ST.

An outstanding episode that makes just about anyone's Top Ten List of Classic Star Trek,generally as No.# 1! Mine too! However,why did Kirk take a landing party down to the planet's surface to retrieve the crazed McCoy? The ship's sensors should have easily located him,after that all they needed to do is beam him back on board with security & medical staff standing by in the Transporter Room.Obviously Ellison needed them to get on the planet so that the adventure could unfold.He,or the script editors,should have written in a line stating that the temporal waves emanating from the Guardian caused damage/interference to the ships scanners.Necessitating a party to beam down after the doctor.The use of the tricorders on the planet could have been due to the hopes that when there were intervals between the time ripples flowing from the Guardian,it would give a window of clarity in which the tricorder might possibly get a reading on McCoy.Plus,they were desperate at this point.Spock's being able to examine the Guardian with his tricorder could have been the fact that the G ceased its energy output in order to allow this first contact.The residue waves from the G could still hover all over the planet,still making it difficult to find Bones,but the G being the focal point,like the eye in a hurricane,had no such static & Spock's readings were clear & precise.

Re: the milk truck question a ways back, yes there would have been horse-drawn wagons persisting into the 1930s. I found a picture here from 1936. It's about 1/3 of the way down, search for "milk".

I'm in Phoenix and older houses have milk doors, little hatches by the back door where the milkman could put the milk inside. However, even in the early morning it's too hot here during the summer. In cooler climates, it could be left outdoors with the expectation that it would be brought in first thing in the morning.

Some comments on previous posters;

Mike Konczewski, Oct.13/98;
'I've never understood what killed the guy who stole McCoy's phaser. It makes an overload sound, but the man vaporizes as though hit with a phaser blast. Phasers on overload explode. This is another Roddenberry scene; he should have known better'
Not at all; you're speaking with the benefit of (in 1998) 31 years of Trek, and a third season episode when one did explode like a grenade (That Which Survives). As this was the first overload, T.W.S. is a changed premise. This was the first overload, so there was no mistake.

MattS, May 13/98;
'Scott and Uhura are in the landing party for no good reason.'
Seemingly, but I'd guess that Kirk brought them along to hopefully calm McCoy down with faces he recognizes. As a woman Uhura might have had a soothing advantage, too. Judging by McCoy's freakouts, Kirk was wrong to bring them.

TWS Garrison, May 28/02:
'...looked to me like it could pass for a city street on Earth at some time between 1910 and 1960, but Spock somehow quickly ascertained that they had arrived during the Depression'.
A fair point, but we can see only so much via the tv camera; I'd speculate that Spock saw those old jalopies and the dreary clothing of passersby before we, the audience, did, and made a guess. His knowledge of a 'flivver' in A Piece Of The Action' also seems to uphold my theory that Spock is familiar, at least visually, with ancient, Depression-era cars.

KAM, Dec.30/05;
(Regarding the novel 'Duel')
'The unseen driver in Duel was named Keller. I had to read that stupid story twice in 9th grade. Lousy substitute didn't believe us when we told her we'd already read that idiotic story.'
Aahhh! Compadre! I was subjected to it in Grade 11! Almost got away from it!

Numerous posters questioned the validity of the U.S. staying out of the war despite Pearl Harbour, or if no Pearl Harbour happened, there were still other political events occuring regarding the Japanese that wouldn't have kept the Americans out of World War II, despite Edith Keeler's efforts.
Probably true in our real-life factual history. But this is Trek universe history, and as much as we'd all like our history to be mimicked by Trek, it's not always possible (ie, Eugenics Wars and a Botany Bay spaceship in 1996).
We just have to take Spock's word for it that Edith somehow managed to keep America from developing the A-bomb first, and the Germans kept all of the scientists that in our universe helped the U.S. with the bomb.

The so-called Rodent, or Hobo, if you looked at his ring finger (the one beside his pinkie finger) on his right hand, seems to be missing most of it when he holds the bottle of milk. And when he runs away from the unconscious McCoy you get a glimpse of it missing again. If the actor is missing a finger it was covered up by a different actor with all 10 fingers during the close-up of the Rodent's hands as he sets the phaser overload.

Spock mentions that the Guardian is on the order of 10,000 centuries old; that's only a million years, and yet the Guardian boasts of existing before Earth's Sun was even formed, which humans have estimated to have been about 4 billion years ago. A gigantic numerical difference, I'd say!

Regarding the phaser, I think that the bum started the overload cycle, but as he was fiddling around with it he touched the firing stud while the phaser was pointed at himself. Thus the phaser disintegrated itself, since the bum was holding it, before it got to the explosion stage.

It had already been established that phasers on overload explode like bombs by the time of CEF. In "Conscience of the King", Kirk announces that the hidden phaser that he and Spock hear will take out the entire deck if it isn't found.

It had already been established that phasers on overload explode like bombs by the time of CEF. In "Conscience of the King", Kirk announces that the hidden phaser that he and Spock hear will take out the entire deck if it isn't found.

OOPS! My bad! You're correct, Todd.
I agree with the pointing-the-phaser-at-himself-and-firing theory, though, since we've seen disintegrations like that many times.

Oh, brother! How could I forget this one; right from Day One in 'The Cage' Number One sets her laser to overload with a 'force-chamber explosion'--written by Roddenberry, so he should have known better.
My mistake, Mike K.-- you were right all along.

Not many enhancements here except (of course) for the new Enterprise footage.

New vaporization of the homeless man who overloads McCoy's Phaser

Minor improvements to Spock's tricorder playback

The smoke inside the Guarding is still moving as the first half of the end credits start.

No, the article that appeared in the old magazine did not say that the Rodent was GR's father. The article postulated that Rodent's son, left without a father to guide him, grew up to be a pretty mean dude. He moved to L. A. and killed Officer Gene Roddenberry, thus Star Trek was never created in that timeline. It was in one of those paperback collections from the late-70s/early-80s -- "The Best of Trek."

Sir Rhosis

How DID they get away with Kirk saying "Lets get the H E L L out of here" in 1967???

Well, consider the following TITLES of various television episodes, all of which aired previous to 1967:

BOURBON STREET BEAT - "Green Hell" (1960)
THRILLER - "Pigeons From Hell" (1961)
HAVE GUN WILL TRAVEL - "Justice in Hell" (1962)
ROUTE 66 - "Hell is Empty, All the Devils are Here" (1962)
DUPONT SHOW OF THE WEEK - "The Hell Walkers" (1964)
THE FUGITIVE - "Corner of Hell" (1965)
COMBAT - "Hell Machine" (1965)
BOB HOPE PRESENTS THE CHRYSLER THEATER - "When Hell Froze" (1966)
WILD WILD WEST - "Night of the Bars of Hell" (1966)
MISSION IMPOSSIBLE - "Snowball in Hell" (1967)

Looks like the ground had already been broken.

How? Those were all TITLES of episodes, not words spoken in an episode. I see no "broken ground".

Well, the offending word was undoubtedly spoken many times on television previous to CEF. I can think of a number of times off the top of my head, such as a couple of the episodes listed above having their title quoted during the show. I'm also not sure how speaking a word during an episode is substantially different from putting that word up on titles onscreen, except maybe to a blind person.

Was it the usage of hell as an expletive rather than as the Biblical "hell"? I recall Roddenberry or someone like that mention that it was considered rather rare at the time to use "hell" so casually, but then again, Gene doesn't always have the greatest recall for accurate facts.

Then again, in Spectre of the Gun, McCoy said "Hell for leather, right out of history", which I believe was Star Trek's second use of the word.

It was also used by Decker in The Doomsday Machine ("right out of hell") and Space Seed ("better to rule in hell than to serve in heaven").

Also in the Twilight Zone episode Five Characters in Search of an Exit, the Major (William Windom again) says "We are in hell."

None of these uses were expletives, though.

However, in Space Seed, Khan was quoting Milton.

You are correct Biggs,Kirk & Edith do pass by a sign in a window that says Floyd's Babershop on their stroll. This episode,as well as "Miri," & "The Return of the Archons" were all shot on the famous Desilu Studios backlot also known as 40 Acres.It has quite a film & TV history to it.The original King Kong was shot there,as was Gone With the Wind,& it had an African Jungle set for the RKO Tarzan movies.Later The Adventures of Superman utilized this for Metropolis.George Reeves changed from Clark Kent to Superman in the very same alleyway where Kirk decides to "borrow clothes" for he & Mr.Spock.Mayberry,N.C. for The Andy Griffith Show took place here,Stalag 13 for Hogan's Heroes & Camp Henderson for Gomer Pyle,USMC filmed on 40 Acres too.The Green Hornet & Batman TV series used it also from time to time.Sadly,40 Acres was razed back in 1976 & no longer exists,but thanks to these wonderful films & TV series we will always be able to see it again & again.

Back to the "H-word" conversation - I noticed the other night while re-watching teh first season Route 66 episode "Legacy For Lucia" that Jay C. Flippen says the line "Just get her the hell out of my sight." That episode originally aired in 1960.

I even found a clip of it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAUFmnHo-Bo&feature=related

Harlan Ellison discovered in 1995 that D.C. Fontana did the re-write of this episode that wound up being aired. More here. For years, I was under the impression that Gene Roddenberry did the re-write. David Gerrold said as much in his 1973 book The Trouble With Tribbles, and much of Ellison's venom directed at Gene Roddenberry over the years was (IMHO) sour grapes over the belief that Roddenberry did the re-write that Ellison deemed sub-par.

"The City on the Edge of Forever" is this weekend's remastered episode, with "Amok Time" the following weekend.

I don't know if this question has been asked (or answered) before, so I'll go ahead and ask it. If the Enterprise and crew ceases to exist after McCoy jumps through the portal, why is the landing party still there? Would not Kirk, Spock and the others also cease to exist?

The Guardian produces a "Temporal Shield" around the Landing Party

Sure it does. And fairies scatter fairy dust around me to protect me from harm throughout my daily routine. LOL.

Something keeps the landing party from being affected by the altered timeline. A "Temporal Shield" makes as much sense as anything else.

Spock threw in a line about something the Guardian was generating protecting the landing party. Star Trek has done that other times too when they do time travel. In "First Contact" it was the temporal wake from the Borg's time sphere that kept the Enterprise from disappearing after the Borg when back in time and assimilated Earth. In DS9's Past Tense something similar protected The Defiant when Sisco was thrown back in time and changed history.

Presumably the Guardian takes steps to keep itself from being erased from history, and this spills over to the surrounding area.

as a kid watching this in thes in the 70s, I wondered why
didnt the crew dissappear when they watch the Gaurdian changed history,so that's why they didnt dissappear! or changed into something else.

Reposting this for Paul DeB. who is having trouble with logging in.

On first inspection of the Guardian, Spock mutters, "unbelievable", to which Kirk replies,
"...that's funny...", for seemingly no reason.
The audio seems edited at that point as if script continuity was missed, or a line was left out of the dialogue...

fave line,"...let's get the HELL out of here.."
awfully risque for the time...surprising it got past the censors.

McCoy would say 'damnable logic' in 'Operation:Annihilate', regarding Kirk allowing Spock back down to Deneva, and when a miner touches a hot frying pan he says, 'Uh! D**n!", and about Spock taking command, Kirk says he 'can't d**n him for his loyalty' in 'Journey To Babel.
I think those are the only swear words in the series.

I wonder how Harlan Ellison feels about the popularity of this episode, it being considered the best of the Original Trek. I believe he is still alive, however I do not know how old he is or what he is doing.

Some may remember that he wrote the original script to this episode which included a drug-dealing Starfleet officer, which would lead to McCoy or some other character getting "high" and beaming to the Gateway planet, going through the Guardian Of Forever, and messing up the timeline so that the Federation never existed.

I once read that Gene was horrified that Ellison would have the gall to suggest that humans were still doing drugs in the 23rd century, and in his vision of the future to boot. So Gene flat-out refused to use Ellison's script for this episode, at least until Gene heavily re-wrote it into the one we all know and love. It being that in order to maintain the normal timeline so the Federation exists, Kirk has to let the woman he loves die.

I have an unauthorized Trek book from 1993 that uses an A to Z listing of the Trek series, episodes, actors, and characters up to that point. In the listing in that book for this episode, it said "Harlan Ellison never approved of Gene Roddenberry's changes to his script, and never hid that his experience with Trek was an unhappy one."

Of course, that book, being unauthorized, was filled with opinion and hearsay, and was not as impartial as an offical reference Trek book would have been. I still like the book, however, as many of the entries are well-written. However, it is still an outdated relic of the early '90's.

I just thought I would contribute this.

You really wanna know what Ellison thought? Get yourself a copy of this book.


Live long and prosper.

I've read Ellison's book; it was a very good read IMHO. It even includes the origional version of the script as it appeared before it had been rewritten for the episode itself.

The main changes are that:

It's some redshirt who had been dealing/smuggling drugs on the Enterprise that leads to the crew finding the Guardian and having to go back in time. Roddenberry didn't like the idea that his "more evolved" humans of the future would still be into taking drugs; ironic since apparently Roddenberry later became a cocaine addict during the 1970s.

It's been almost 15 years since I read the book but I remember that the big change was that in the origional Kirk was so in love with Edith that he tries to save her, knowing what that will cause & Spock stops him, rather than Kirk stopping McCoy.

Re: the swearing, in general you could use the Biblically-inspired words if you were using them in Biblical terms. So "straight out of the fires of Hell!" was okay because it meant the Biblical Hell. Likewise, you could refer to someone as being "damned" if you mean he's heading for Hell.

Using them as expletives, as in "get the hell out of here" was generally frowned on or outright prohibited. You could say "God" and "d--n", but not next to each other.

So Gene flat-out refused to use Ellison's script for this episode, at least until Gene heavily re-wrote it into the one we all know and love.
According to Memory Alpha, it was Dorothy Fontana who did the major re-write that was filmed. Five writers worked on the script, with Roddenberry putting the finishing touches on it.

Harlan Ellison never approved of Gene Roddenberry's changes to his script...
He, or any writer, can grouse all they want about the way their story was mucked up by some TV producer. David Gerrold did it in Starlog back in '77 over the way his "Man Out Of Time" script was "mishandled" by the Logan's Run producers (it was the series' best episode, regardless.) Heck, Ellison's practically made a second career of it. But, to play devil's advocate here, once the writer sells his/her script, producers can do anything they want with it. Including throwing it in the trash.

Thanks for that link, Benn, I have heard of that book, but...I don't think that I want to read it.

It turns out I was right about Roddenberry being appalled that Ellison would dare suggest that humanity of the future would still have the vices and shortcomings of today. But what I did not know was that Gene would claim numerous times in various speeches that Ellison "had my Scotty dealing drugs", was of course, not entirely accurate. Scotty was not in the original Ellison script, but Roddenberry seemed to have overlooked that fact.

Apparently Ellison also thought that Gene could not write a decent television script to save his life, of course, that was a matter of opinion, which, I believe many other people who worked with Gene seemed to agree with.

It all seems to be rather irrelevant now, I think. The bottom line is, I respect Ellison for sticking to his principles and standing up to an injustice he endured, but I also still like this episode the way it was presented after Gene's re-write. Without any drug-dealing redshirts!

For almost half-a-century now, Harlan Ellison has moaned, whined, and bleated about how they changed his script. It I could, I would say one or all of the following to him:

"Mr. Ellison, surely you must know how Hollywood works. Once you sell a script to a movie or tv show, that's the moment you lose sole ownership of it. The producers can change it as they see fit."

"Mr. Ellison, in my honest opinion, I don't think your original idea would have been so well embraced by the fans as the televised story was. Can't you take some comfort in that this episode is always regard as one of the best, if not THE best episode of Classic Trek."

Or finally:

"Mr. Ellison, it's been almost fifty years: GET OVER IT!!"

When I was younger the joke about Spock needing platinum went over my head, but eventually I learned how valuable it is.
I don't know how valuable it was in 1930, but my research tells me that it's been worth an average of $1466 an OUNCE, this past month!
Kinda explains Kirk's exasperated expression when Spock matter-of-factly states that he needs a lot more than one ounce!

Harlan Ellison's original script for this episode is being published in comic form. More here. Since his dialog doubtless is being used verbatim, he'll have nothing to complain about.

Platinum (and palladium) were used in automotive catalytic converters, which were installed beginning in 1975. I'm not sure if those minerals are still being used, due to the expense. (Maybe if the episode was set in the late 1970's, Kirk could get Spock's platinum by crawling under parked cars with a Sawzall, and hacking off the converters...)

Those metals are still used today. And Kirk would have had to hack off thousands of converters to get the ammount of platinum Spock requested. The platinum in those converters is in the form of a very thin coating on metallic beads.

Harlan Ellison's original script for this episode is being published in comic form. Since his dialog doubtless is being used verbatim, he'll have nothing to complain about.

I'm sure the crybaby will find something to whine about.

John A. Lang on Wednesday, June 09, 2004 - 7:37 pm: How come nobody used their phaser on heavy stun on McCoy when they found him on the planet?

The effects of the phaser beam could have caused a serious reaction to the excess cordrazine in McCoy's body.

I guess Jim and Edith decided to splurge on two movie tockets to see that Clark Gable movie. My quick Google search tells me each ticket would have cost 35 cents in 1930.

About Clark Gable.... Doctor Who made the same boo-boo with Jane Russell... treating her as famous and well known by the locals in a story set some years before she became famous and well known!

And to make matters worse, she shouldn't even know who he is! imdb.com shows Gable appeared in 13 movies from 1923 to 1926. So far so good, right? Nope. He appeared in that many movies, but he was listed as 'uncredited' in 11 of them! Only 'White Man' from 1924 and 'North Star' in 1925 have him listed in the credits!
Edith must have seen 1939's 'Gone With The Wind' in her vivid imagination 6 years before it happened, along with all those visions of nuclear energy and spaceship!
And it gets worse!
The only movie that Gable was in, in 1930 was 'Du Barry, Woman Of Passion', which was released on October 11, 1930.
And Gable was, AGAIN, uncredited, AND just a voice-over!
McCoy; "A who movie?!"
Edith; "A Clark Gab...Don't you know?!"
McCoy; "Well, I know what a movie is!"
Edith; "That's very strange!"
McCoy; "Hey, I'm not the one who's enamored with an actor she shouldn't even know exists!"

Re: the version of "Goodnight Sweetheart" used in the episode - My son, the old movie expert, insists it was performed by Rudy Vallee. The performance was first heard in the 1942 Paramount comedy The Palm Beach Story. (Must check that out soon, either on his DVD, or the movie's next play on TCM.)

Scotty and the redshirts certainly don't acquit themselves well on the planet.

They have phasers, but don't stun McCoy. They then leave him unguarded to look at the Guardian, allowing McCoy to leap through.

When Kirk asks him when Edith Keeler dies, Spock says that he can't figure exact dates. This is true in general, but... Spock has read Edith Keeler's obituary. Date of death is included. Therefore he should know the date she is supposed to die.

This episode's writer, Harlan Ellison, passed away June 28, 2018, at the age of 84. (This is already in the Sink, but I wanted it posted here, too.) Here's StarTrek.com's report on Ellison's death. We all know, and it goes without saying (but I will anyway) that Ellison practically made a second career over his disappointment with the finished episode.

And yet, whenever this episode was highly praised, Ellison was always eager to step forward and take credit for it.

Looks like the hypocrite wanted to have his cake and eat it too.

Adam re. 'Goodnight Sweetheart' I've found an earlier version, but it doesn't line up with 1930.
Apparently, the Ray Noble Orchestra (Who?) did it in 1931, so again, another temporal anomaly exists in this episode.
The Rudy Vallee version might still be the one played in this episode, however, since they sound so much alike.

https://youtu.be/uAkGMBVOJyU

I couldn't figure out why the landing party wandered around looking for McCoy, instead of scanning for him with tricorders, and then I thought of an even bigger nit that would lead to Short Show Syndrome;
The ship's sensors!
Why even beam down to the planet at all? It's a deserted, dead planet with ONE lifeform on it-- McCoy! Just beam him back up, and stun him, then help him in sickbay. Easy!
The very first episode shown, 'The Man Trap', had Spock doing that very thing when they tried to find Nancy, but could only monitor Professor Crater's movements from orbit.

Sorry for the multiple posts, but I keep thinking of other comments.

I wonder if the owners of Kirk and Spock's clothing ever saw them wandering about in their jackets and shirts?
And I suppose they never bumped into that cop again, or else they would have had some 'splainin' to do!
After all, they stole the clothes just around the block from the Mission.

And I'm not sure if there's an editing problem or not, but when the Hobo steals the milk and McCoy appears, you can hear a nearby clock chime six times. Is that 6 PM or 6 AM? If it's PM, did people used to get milk deliveries at night?
I'm wondering this because the scene then cuts to Kirk and Edith, seemingly coming home from a date or work, and then we see McCoy catching up with the Hobo.
If it's 6 AM, then where were Kirk and Edith that early in the morning? Surely not on a date. Unless...SOMEbody spent the night at SOMEone else's apartment?
And that certain SOMEone has a nosey roommate that would just be in the way, so maybe that certain SOMEone spent the night in Edith's apartment?
Hmmm...

Although never seen on the show again, the Guardian Of Forever has appeared in countless novels.

And it did appears on the animated episode, Yesteryear,

I hope Tim will allow this as this episode is about the concept of "the road not taken".

What i don't like about a lot of the alternate history genre is how they resort to things for shock value like have a monster criminal or infamous cult leader from our original timeline become a political leader in the alternate one.

Yes, the real life serial killer Ted Bundy was a local political activist for the Republican Party at one point, but far too many writers take that brief moment in his life, and write AH stories where he becomes state Governor Ted Bundy or President Ted Bundy. Usually while secretly continuing to murder women so it's all big and dramatic for the reader when Governor/President Bundy is exposed.

Judi, there is a topic for Alternate Histories over at The Kitchen Sink in the Science Related folder under Speculative Fiction Science Ideas.

The scariest Alternate History I ever saw was the story of an orange-skinned loudmouth game show host that somehow became president of the U.S., and people blindly followed him as he did one racist, ignorant thing after another, gave his own family important jobs that they weren't qualified for, spent most of his time criticizing people on Twitter instead of being president, and was under multiple government investigations for abusing his power for his own gains.
Oh, wait.
That's OUR reality.
I guess this proves my theory that WE'RE living in an Alternate Reality!

One can understand why the Federation would crack down on time travel after the events of this episode (and Tomorrow Is Yesterday).

I mean the damage caused her was because of an accidental incident of someone going into the past and changing things. Imagine if someone decided to do it deliberately.

No doubt this led to the Temporal Accords that were referred to a few times on Enterprise, a few centuries down the line.

No doubt, by the 24th Century, the Federation Time Police probably guard the Guardian.

Perhaps the planet was conveniently deleted from star maps?

I remember Phil taking issue, in his book, as to why the Federation disappeared when Earth's history was changed. Phil seemed to think that the Federation was already in existence, when humans took to the galaxy, and Earth merely joined it. That Earth had no role in the creation of the Federation.

Of course, at the time, Phil could have been right. However, Enterprise confirmed that yes, Earth did play a key role in the formation of the Federation, it was humans (Archer and his crew) that helped get the ball rolling.

Safe to say that, without humans in galactic history, there would be no Federation. The Vulcans and Andorians would still be fighting each other and the Expanse would continue to engulf the galaxy.

Sorry, Phil, but the changes we saw in this episode, when McCoy went back were valid. No humans, no Federation.

They don't really know if the Federation does not exist in the altered timeline. All they know for sure is that there is no ship orbiting the Guardian's planet and they are stranded there. They have no idea of how history unfolded after Germany's victory in World War II

The Guardian said "Your vessel, your beginning. All that you knew is gone."

That pretty much suggests that the Federation doesn't exist in this new time line.

Seems that, in the new time line, Hitler used atom bombs to devastate the world. We don't know how much damage was done, but it might have been enough to set humanity back centuries.

Safe to assume that, in this world, there was no Zefram Cochrane to build Earth's first warp engine. So first contact with the Vulcans doesn't happen. Humans never become part of galactic history.

There is no Jonathan Archer, so everything he and his crew accomplished would not happen.

There is no one to kick start the Syrrantite reforms on Vulcan, and end their conflict with the Andorians.

V'las, who was secretly working with the Romulans, remains leader of Vulcan and no doubt succeeds in his goal or "reuniting" Vulcan and Romulus. This would probably force the Andorians to forge an alliance of their own with the Klingon Empire. The conflict between these two superpowers would no doubt continue, probably settling into a Cold War style status, with occasional flare up along the border.

The amount of cooperation needed to form the U.F.P. would simply not be possible in this political climate.

At the same time, the Sphere Builders would continue to change space, making the Expanse bigger and bigger (since Archer and his crew don't exist to stop them). In time, the Expanse would engulf the Alpha Quadrant.

Perhaps the Vulcans/Romulans and the Andorians/Klingons might realize what is happening, but all bets are off.

And all this because McCoy mistakenly saved someone who was supposed to die in the 1930's.

So I can understand why Kirk did what he did, sacrificing a woman he truly loved. He knew what was at stake, it wasn't just the fate of Earth, it was the fate of many, many other worlds.

"it wasn't just the fate of Earth, it was the fate of many, many other worlds.

Not to mention things like the Doomsday Machine, the Space Amoeba, and a century later the Borg running rampant across the galaxy, thanks to no humans to stop these menaces. I can't see the Tholians and Gorns becoming 'heroes' in stopping any of them.
On the plus side, the Whale Probe probably found thousands of whales to speak to and they had a nice time!

Of course, due to the format of series, Kirk's mourning for Edith could not last beyond this episode.

However, some of the novels did address it.

That wasn't a very good escape route that Kirk and Spock took to avoid the policeman. They run down an alley, and turn left. Then they turn left onto a main street, and left AGAIN to the street where the Mission is, and left AGAIN to enter an alley into the Mission! They essentially ran in a circle and were almost right back to where they came from!

I suppose Kirk and Spock got their coats from Edith-- they weren't part of the laundry that Kirk stole, and once Edith offers them a 'flop' for their first night at the Mission, both are wearing jackets.

Kirk has Uhura send a message to Starfleet, from the past week's worth of unusual readings. "Something or some one down on this planet can affect changes in time." is what he says.
That tells me that they've been encountering time warps or repetition in time for the past week. Too bad we didn't get to see this.

That wasn't a very good escape route that Kirk and Spock took to avoid the policeman. They run down an alley, and turn left. Then they turn left onto a main street, and left AGAIN to the street where the Mission is, and left AGAIN to enter an alley into the Mission! They essentially ran in a circle and were almost right back to where they came from!

Kirk and Spock were more or less winging it at that point. They were stuck in a strange time with no support or infrastructure behind them.

They really didn't have time to slow down and think things over yet.

They are trapped in the past without a ship, unlike STIV.

Maybe the Guardian would have let them kidnap Edith and take her to the 23rd century, or maybe they would have smacked into the brick wall since time had not yet been changed.

Time was not locked onto its path until she died, so attempting to remove her via time travel would leave time in flux since there is always the possibility that she could return to her proper time.

It was only after she died that the 23rd century Kirk & co. came from "popped" back into existance.

Also events were happening pretty quickly. Kirk had just learned McCoy was around, he ran off to tell Spock, they just got reunited with McCoy, and then Edith was seconds away from being run over. Kirk only had a split-second to make a decision. Even if he wanted to bring Edith to the future, events conspired against him trying.

Keith you pretty much nailed it. Kirk and Spock really had no control over the natter. The Guardian sent them back, the Guardian would return them.

If they wanted to bring Edith back with them, the Guardian would probably have not allowed it.

I was just watching the MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE episode "The Freeze". In this episode Martin Landau's character Rollin Hand is impersonating a doctor treating the villain. He orders Barbara Bain, impersonating a Nurse, to give the patient "5ccs of Cordrazine". Great in-joke!

Five ccs of cordrazine sounds like a lot

And considering that Barbara Bain would later play a doctor herself (Helena Russell), on a science fiction show (Space: 1999) the joke is even better

New theory; Clark Gable saved the world.
Edith specifically mentions Gable's name, which confuses McCoy. Later, she mentions Gable's name again, this time to Kirk, who doesn't hear her clearly outside, but she interprets it as the same confusion as McCoy.
Had she just said, "My young man is taking me to a movie." to McCoy, and then told Kirk that they could make it in time to see a movie, she never would have accidentally revealed to Kirk that McCoy was present in the Mission, which led a minute later to her death in the street, as history intended.
Kirk, Spock, and McCoy all contributed in saving history, but ol' Clark Gable was another major focal point tying everything together.

I wonder why Edith was crossing the street in the original history. The history where Kirk, Spock, and McCoy would not have been present.

Could have been going to a store, visiting a friend, or going to the same movie, but with a girl friend.
Unless history was always meant to include them, considering the Guardian said something like 'everything is as it should be'. Just like in 'Assignment: Earth' Kirk says that the Enterprise was always supposed to come back in time and help out.

I guess.

We'll never know, of course.

If that is what happened then the Guardian is one nasty S.O.B(that stands for Sirius Orion Black(Harry Potter's godfather to the few that don't know).

Side note: I hate my spellchecker--it won't even give me the spelling of the brightest star in the night sky( the only thing brighter is the sun,if that's up,it's not night).

Steve is probably right.

Originally Edith was hit and killed, no one from the Enterprise was there.

Probably.

Another odder possibility is that the Guardian faked everything.

If this were true then the Enterprise might have been there entire time.

To do this all the Guardian would need to do is block the scan of the party's tricorders.

Since the ship was not visible,and could not be contacted the landing party would forced to believe the Guardian's story to "fix" the timeline.

There might be more to the Guardian than we suspect.

Well, while the Guardian never appeared on the series again, novel authors used it a lot.

The only place that I seen it is STTAS.
There it being used as an architectural tool to study the past.
Is the Animated series canon I don't think anyone is sure-the last I heard was that Yesteryear was,but most were not .
If true-then my theory might explain one of the odd points in it.

When Kirk a Spock return from a mission Spock no longer exists, seemingly records show that Spock died young while still on Vulcan.

When he goes back ,he saves himself although his pet dies, changing the timeline.

When he returns he finds that everything is normal.

If the Guardian is faking everything-- he should find that nothing has changed.

Note: although I've watched season 3 of Star Trek Discovery I don't consider it canon, watch it at your own risk.


.

Because the Guardian was not faking anything. McCoy changed the past, and Kirk and Spock changed it back.

End of story.

That is a possibility Tim.

It is possible to nitpick to much, sorry about that.

No problem.

The homeless man, who disintegrates himself with McCoy's phaser, appears far too cleaned up than most homeless men, either in 1930 or 2023. I have passed by enough homeless men, either in my daily commute, or on the way to a medical appointment a few weeks ago, and most were quite dirty appearing.

Hope said homeless guy didn't have any important descendants.

From what I've read about the episode over the years, that was pretty much the point. That the homeless man, referred to as the "Rodent", made no mark on history. And had no descendants who would. So, he could pretty much disappear without anyone noticing.

Got it.

A discussion of this episode's original script.

I've seen the original version and I honestly thank God for the two Genes and Dorothy for changing it into the episode we know and love. I honestly don't think the original version would have fit into Star Trek.

Short Show Syndrome; a short video of the episode from Scotty's perspective;

https://youtu.be/fLIx4d9umGc

True.

For Scotty and the others, only seconds passed.