Star Trek: Season 03  (1968)

Theatrical Release Information:
Star Trek: Season 03

The third and final season of Star Trek is frequently written off as the series' nadir, if only because creator Gene Roddenberryhad relinquished a great deal of his creative control to the NBC executives and to new producer Fred Freiberger). Another reason given for the series' decline was the decision to cut the budgets to the bone, and to depend more on "house" writers than established science- fiction specialists. Also, there was a heavier reliance upon gimmickry and gadgetry than in previous years, upsetting those purists who preferred strong characterizations and story values to the standard sci-fi/fantasy cliches. But while Season Three was overall the weakest, especially in terms of ratings, several of the individual episodes are among the finest that Star Trek has to offer. We get off to a good start with the opener, "Spock's Brain", in which the titular organ is "kidnapped" from its owner Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy). Attorney Melvin Belli makes his acting debut as a sinister, corruptive life force (not a lawyer, but close!) in "And the Children Shall Lead". The crew of the Starship Enterprise is forced to sacrifice themselves during the Gunfight at the OK Corral in "Spectre of the Gun". "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield" is an allegorical drama in which the fate of a civilization is determined by a duel to the death between its two last survivors (Frank Gorshin, Lou Antonio), whose faces are half-black and half-white. And in the series finale "Turnabout Intruder", the mind of Captain Kirk (William Shatner) is exchanged with that of his embittered ex-lover (Sandra Smith)--and vice versa. The season's most controversial episode was "Plato's Stepchildren", originally telecast November 22, 1968, in which Kirk and officer Uhura (Nichelle Nichols) share the first interracial kiss ever seen on network television. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide