Season 1
Episode 11: Miri
Filmed: August 1966
First Air Date:October 27, 1966 (8th episode aired)
Karen: I don't like 'Miri.' There. I've gotten that out of the way. It's not that it's bad, like 'And The Children Shall Lead' or anything like that. I can see it has redeeming qualities. But for me, personally, it grates. Like nails on a chalkboard, oh, it grates.
Karen: I think what gets to me is mainly the two chief guest actors, Kim Darby and Michael J. Pollard. Darby's Miri is a simpering woman-child who does little to make me feel like her planet is worth all the effort the Enterprise crew makes towards saving it. Pollard is quite simply obnoxious. I get that he's doing his shtick, but it's not something I find amusing. So - this coupled with what I find to be a weak premise -a planet ridiculously similar to 20th century Earth that has fallen victim to a biological experiment that wiped out all but the children -makes for a poor Trek for me. Plus, a lot of Yeoman Rand. Of course, your mileage may vary.Sorry about the poor video quality in the trailer.
Karen: Even though I personally don't care for this episode, it's worth noting that it was at this point that Gene Coon jumped aboard as a producer on Star Trek. Coon's influence cannot be underestimated. He provided a great deal of re-writing help with scripts, as well as story outlines and scripts himself. Although he would leave during the second season, he would continue to submit scripts under a pseudonym, Lee Cronin, during the third season. Coon was responsible for much of the geniality among the crew and outright humor that made its way into the series. Prior to Trek, Coon had worked on a number of shows, including The Wild, Wild West and had even come up with the initial concept for The Munsters, although he did not receive credit for it.
Karen: Despite my dislike of it, this IS a memorable episode, simply for all the weirdness with the kids in their 'Lord of the Flies' setting, and the unforgettable lines -"Tell 'em Jim, tell 'em Jim" and "Bonk bonk on the head" and such. Many people remember the show because of Miri's crush on Captain Kirk. Cushman quotes director Vince McEveety as describing Darby, who was just 18 at the time, as being "extremely strange. She had a neurotic and very, very bipolar kind of personality. She'd do a scene and I was happy with her performance - very happy, I thought she was wonderful in that respect -and then she'd go off and cry like a baby afterwards. I'd never know why and, after a while, I didn't care." Darby admitted in another interview that she had completely fallen for Shatner, so apparently Miri's crush was shared by the actress portraying her.Well, who could blame her for falling in love with the dashing Captain of the Enterprise?
Karen: I don't like 'Miri.' There. I've gotten that out of the way. It's not that it's bad, like 'And The Children Shall Lead' or anything like that. I can see it has redeeming qualities. But for me, personally, it grates. Like nails on a chalkboard, oh, it grates.
Karen: I think what gets to me is mainly the two chief guest actors, Kim Darby and Michael J. Pollard. Darby's Miri is a simpering woman-child who does little to make me feel like her planet is worth all the effort the Enterprise crew makes towards saving it. Pollard is quite simply obnoxious. I get that he's doing his shtick, but it's not something I find amusing. So - this coupled with what I find to be a weak premise -a planet ridiculously similar to 20th century Earth that has fallen victim to a biological experiment that wiped out all but the children -makes for a poor Trek for me. Plus, a lot of Yeoman Rand. Of course, your mileage may vary.Sorry about the poor video quality in the trailer.
Karen: Even though I personally don't care for this episode, it's worth noting that it was at this point that Gene Coon jumped aboard as a producer on Star Trek. Coon's influence cannot be underestimated. He provided a great deal of re-writing help with scripts, as well as story outlines and scripts himself. Although he would leave during the second season, he would continue to submit scripts under a pseudonym, Lee Cronin, during the third season. Coon was responsible for much of the geniality among the crew and outright humor that made its way into the series. Prior to Trek, Coon had worked on a number of shows, including The Wild, Wild West and had even come up with the initial concept for The Munsters, although he did not receive credit for it.
 |
| Gene Coon |
Karen: Writer Marc Cushman details Coon's arrival and how he contributed to the script for 'Miri' in his book, These are the Voyages, Vol.1. The story, originally written by Adrian Spies, went through several rewrites, first by Spies, then by Gene Roddenberry and then-associate producer John D.F. Black. But Roddenberry still felt the script wasn't quite there. Coon came aboard on August 8th, 1966. After a quick course in Star Trekology, he went to work on the script over a weekend. While Coon left in most of the established story structure, he tightened up the dialog and made the situation more mysterious. In earlier drafts of the script, everything is explained to the Enterprise crew - the meaning of the terms 'grups' and 'onlies', even what happened on the planet and the nature of the disease. Coon reworked the script so that things were revealed slowly, with our intrepid cast figuring it out for themselves. It makes for a much better story, with less exposition, and the crew doesn't look like a bunch of dimwits.
