“What are some of the most obscure pieces of trivia from Star Trek The Original Series that only a Trekkie would know?”
I have a few.
SPOCK WAS ORIGINALLY SUPPOSED TO HAVE RED SKIN. He was also going to be portrayed as being half-martian. Here is a photoshopped picture of what that might have looked like:
However, back in 1966, the overwhelming majority of American households still had black and white TV’s. The problem is that when the color red is photographed in black and white it appears black. So when they photo tested the makeup in black and white it looked as though Leonard Nimoy was in black-face. This was considered to be unacceptable and they transitioned to the makeup that gave Nimoy’s skin the familiar pale green hue we’ve come to know.
EDIT 2/8/19-To give some context to my story about Spock having red skin and black and white TV, I figured out how to convert the above picture to gray-scale (black & white):
I’m hoping that this image will add some clarity to my explanation.
SPOCK’S BLOOD TYPE IS T-NEGATIVE. We find this out in the episode “Journey to Babel.” In the episode, Spock’s father Sarek is attacked and requires surgery:
Dr. McCoy states that for Sarek to survive the surgery he will need transfusions of T-Negative blood (Sarek’s blood type). As luck would have it this type is said to be very rare and there is no supply of such blood on board the ship. To make a long story short, Sarek’s son Spock possess this blood type and serves as the donor for the surgery. I really did shorten the story by the way. The whole thing gets pretty complicated.
WILLIAM SHATNER’S DAUGHTERS WERE IN THE EPISODE “MIRI”:
Well at least two of them were, possibly all three, I’m not entirely sure. Also Gene Roddenberry’s two daughters made an appearance.
In the episode the Enterprise visits a planet inhabited by children. There are no adults because a plague that inflicts adults has wiped them out. This becomes an issue for the two main guest stars as they are hitting puberty.
I have enjoyed reading the other answers to this question. I hope everyone enjoys reading mine.
Live Long and Prosper, Robert
EDIT 3/14/19-I’ve been on Quora for about 7 months now and this is my first answer to reach the century mark in upvotes. Thank you everyone for your support. Shout out to Jay Koenig as he was number 100.
Thank you and All the Best, Robert