Star Trek could be awfully romantic at times. And although most of the love stories featured Kirk, there was an occasional nod to lesser character’s love life. In honor of Valentine’s Day, I present to you 14 relationships that warmed or chilled our hearts. Be sure to relate your faves in the comment section. Happy Valentines Day <3
Eve Huron and Ben Childress: Not the best love match. Why Eve stays with grumpy Childress is beyond me. She’s tough and has independence in her blood. She deserves better than a man who admired her only on face value and bitched about her cooking. So let me get this straight–she knew and said outright that Ben was looking for a woman who was “selfish, vain, useless” yet since she ‘believed in herself’ she could look as beautiful on the outside without the Venus Drug? True love knows no ugliness. You’ll never convince me that in the whole universe there isn’t a better man for her than Childress! I’d like to think she ditched him after a year or so and started her own agricultural empire.Khan and Marla McGivers: Alas, Marla is so enamored of this ‘superman’ from the past, she cannot see that he’s a total megalomaniac. Their first meeting in sickbay should have been a huge red flag as he totally disregards her professionalism, grabs her by the arm and plays with her hair. Sure, he might be a passionate lover, but playing passive-aggressive mind games with her later and forcing her to kneel before him and demanding her loyalty would make for a hellish, toxic marriage. If she accepted her court martial instead of exile with him, she very likely would have lived longer. And happier.Spock, T’Pring, and Stonn: Marriage by decree and selective politics. Despite their great intelligence, Vulcans still would insist on antiquated arranged marriages for their progeny; giving no choice in their children’s lives as to who they might marry. It might be logical to help carry on the family line, but it is such an archaic and patrilineality system I doubt there would be any (secret) joy in it. I applaud T’Pring for listening to her heart, selfish as it was. I’m pretty sure Spock knew he didn’t want to marry T’Pring from the start, but came out of duty and the threat of death. As for T’Pring; Stonn wanted her, she wanted him. Logical. Flawlessly Logical. Kirok and Miramanee: Free of any Starfleet responsibilities, let alone his memories and actual name, Jim was free to have a truly loving and devoted marriage with Miramanee. Although she married him out of duty, you could see they were blissfully happy (despite Salish’s jealously). In the original script, Miramanee survived the stoning and gave birth. I wish the the original script had held; imagine Kirk being a Daddy/Captain and running the Enterprise as well.Zephram Cochran and The Companion: Zephram Cochran is initially appalled that the companion is a female and that he let her “…crawl around inside me, into my mind, my feelings? … It fed on me. It’s disgusting!” Yet once The Companion inhabits and revises the dying body of Nancy Hedford, suddenly he “knows that I love her”. As Spock states “The matter of gender could change the entire situation.” This brings to mind the idea of unconditional love. No doubt it is very romantic and satisfying that The Companion united with a lovely, yet lonely young woman who had ‘never had love’ and as both entities finds lasting love with Cochrane. I bet if Metamorphosis was written today, Hedford could have been a non-human or even a human male and I’d like to think the result would be the same. For as the Companion/Nancy said: To touch the hand of man; nothing is as important.“ <3 Nona and Tyree: What Nona wants, Nona gets. This Kanutu Woman had power and passion. Did Nona love Tyree? Certainly she was aroused by him, as she did put him under a spell to make him want her, and uses certain herbs from “The night of madness” to ‘keep him’. However she wasn’t loyal, toying with Kirk right under Tyree’s nose. Did Tyree really love Nona? His anguished cry and passion for vengeance at her murder answer that question. Spock and Leila Kalomi: Darn fun while it lasted wasn’t it? A blast of pollen was worth it just to see Spock cavorting in the woods and swinging from a branch! Although all this lusty playfulness was brought out by the spores, you cannot deny that under all the stoicism, Spock’s human half is not only as playful and joyous as any child, but to his astonishment, devotedly in love. You can see that he truly loved her and was happy. I wonder what happened during the transfer of Sandoval’s people to Starbase 27? Did Leila and Spock have more conversations? Did they settle on a (perfectly logical) friends-with-benefits package? Did Nurse Chapel climb the walls? Which brings us to…Christine Chapel and Dr. Roger Corby: Christine tends to fall for men who love their work more than her. Roger is a brilliant scientist, but one has to wonder if he really loved Christine so much, WHY didn’t he make an android that looked like HER instead of Andrea??? You could understand Chapel’s jealousy of the scantily-clad, submissive Andrea. Would the real Roger have expected Christine to be the same? Turns our Roger was an android replica too, so you dodged the bullet on that one, Christine! Christine Chapel and Spock: Pity the heart of unrequited love. Roger Who? Well, once she got over her late fiancé she couldn’t help but notice that tall glass of Plomeek Tea that was Spock. McCoy chided her “You never give up hoping do you?” (Shame!) but I have no doubt her love for him was real. When forced to kiss him by the Platonians, she protested, but you know darn well she was delighted. She slobbers all over his hands in The Naked Time declaring her love, to which Spock sincerely replies “I’m sorry, I am sorry!” for even if he consented to loving Christine his heart may be elsewhere. Carolyn Palamas and Apollo: Honestly, if you had the choice between and Engineer married to his work or a Gorgeous Greek God, well Carolyn initially is very cool toward Apollo, but he charms her into his arms. She is dazzled by his glory and falls for him, and they are one. hot. couple. But does he really love her? I’m on the fence, on one hand he truly seems devastated when his power is taken away, yet he is still another power-hungry dictator who actually rapes Carolyn (in the original script, Carolyn becomes pregnant). Carolyn, stick with Scotty. Spock and Zarabeth: Another case of Spock forgetting who he was, and Zarabeth was all the luckier for it! True, Zarabeth set her cap for the handsome Vulcan within moments of seeing him, and she was a tad manipulative (stressing ‘alone’). Again, Spock is astonished that he feels attraction to this woman, and together they indulge in bliss. Saddest part is he couldn’t take Zarabeth with him, but he couldn’t deny he had regressive passion for her. I wonder how it could have evolved if Spock and McCoy stayed stranded? Would Spock have killed McCoy? How many children would have been born between the three of them?Amanda and Sarek: Opposites attract! Well, you know darn well that Sarek’s beloved human wife Amanda was not chosen for him by his parents! Despite knowing that he’d most likely outlive her, Sarek followed his heart and married the loving, no-nonsense Amanda. She knew it wouldn’t be easy married into the Vulcan culture, but her heart ruled too for this most elegant and remarkable Vulcan. The were in for the long haul. And Sarek loved Amanda so, his next wife was also a human. (I deny that Star Trek V and Sybok ever existed—it was just a fever dream of Kirk’s!)Jim Kirk and Edith Keeler: I have no doubt that Edith and Miramanee were Jim Kirk’s dearest loves. Plenty of flirtations of course, but these two each took his heart. But his romance with Edith would be disastrous even if she lived. Since she died, time was restored to it’s proper place, but had she lived, Kirk, McCoy and likely Spock, would cease to exist in the first place. Could Kirk take her with him to the future? That would likely open a whole new can of Space/Time/Continuum worms. So Kirk was fated to only have Edith in his memories and dreams. But he’d never forget her.
Kirk and Spock: Okay, I know. Diehards would say that Kirk and Spock were the best of friends, like brothers. A true Bromance. (And I agree) But considering how the original fanzines of the 1970s pretty much invented “Slash” and “Spirk” this ‘relationship’ has been a fan-fic trope ever since. Check out any of the Star Trek fan art on DeviantArt.com and you’ll find half of it devoted to these ‘space husbands’. And you must admit there are times in TOS one can see Kirk gazingatSpock in pureawe, if not affection! A while back, Shatner was asked by a fan who was Kirk’s greatest romantic conquest? “SPOCK!” Shatner joked. Now, the theory goes that Kirk is Bisexual while Spock is Gay (i.e. Spock: “Jim, when I feel affection for you, I’m ashamed!”) I say that I have no doubt that Kirk and Spock are loving brothers. But I say that while since Jim with his rampant hormones could possibly be Bi, Spock is merely Logical. Happy Valentine’s Day Everyone! <3
UPDATE! (7-4-2021) I found another one! In The Omega Glory, the Kohm servant has a naked navel, but the moment is so quick, you may not have noticed! Sneaky!
In crazy times like these, perhaps we should contemplate our navels; or at least the ones on TOS.
As someone who loves costume design, I’ve always been curious as to the battles that costume designers face, be it making the costumes under budget and on time, to keeping within any restrictions given by the studio or network.
When the Original Series aired from 1966-69 on NBC, the network’s Standards and Practices (S&P) team were recruited to assure that rules were being followed to avoid censorship. For some reason, a woman’s navel was considered too sexy for family time, which is why Barbara Eden’s costume on NBC’s I Dream of Jeannie kept the waist of her harem pants high.
So how did William Ware (Bill) Theiss, master of the costume universe, keep to this rule? Well, he didn’t; just enough that the S&P didn’t notice! Bill figured no one would care about navels in the future, and slipped in the scary umbilicus whenever he could. But who won the battle of censorship? Let’s keep score – TOS vs. S&P:(and my scoring system is total nonsense!)
Exhibit A: The Cage.Theiss designed the iconic costumes from The Cage (1964) onward. And in The Cage, everyone knew Vina as the green Orion in a shiny reptile skin, with no navel exposure but lots of cut-outs. HOWEVER, there were also servers and other dancers in the background in harem-ish costumes with exposed navels:
SCORE: TOS – 1 S&P – 0
Exhibit B: The Corbomite Maneuver & Charlie X The network had no trouble with the good Captain exposing his navel, and practically welcomed it. Probably to present Kirk as the macho alpha male. Both sides win. Look at that nice flat tummy. Put a pin in these pictures for now.
SCORE: TOS – 2 S&P – 1
Exhibit C: Mudd’s Women.
Although Harry Mudd’s ‘escorts’ were quite stylish, none had exposed navels (although there were hip, thigh and cleavage slashes).
SCORE: TOS – 2 S&P – 2
Exhibit D: The Naked Time.
The S&P need not worry at the episode’s title, as Sulu (George Takei) was the only one who was half naked, but even his navel was covered with a high modest waistband!
SCORE: TOS – 2 S&P – 3
Exhibit D:What Are Little Girls Made Of.
Andrea the Android (Sherry Jackson) exposed plenty with her X-shaped jumpsuit bodice, but not her navel! Theiss gets a half point for it’s daring.
SCORE: TOS – 2.5 S&P – 4
Exhibit E: Shore Leave
McCoy’s Showgirls may have worn fluorescent Tribbles for brassieres, but their dangerously inappropriate navels are plugged up with teeny tiny Tribbles; making them safe for democracy. Half point for cleverness.
SCORE: TOS – 3 S&P – 4.5
Exhibit F: A Taste of Armageddon
Mea 3 (Barbara Babcock) and the women of Eminiar VII exposed their flanks in fancy togas, but not their navels!
SCORE: TOS – 3 S&P – 5.5
Exhibit G: Catspaw
In Sylvia’s (Antoinette Bower) little fashion show for Kirk, she exposes her rib cage, but no navel! 1/2 point for daring.
SCORE: TOS – 3.5 S&P – 6.5
Exhibit H: Who Mourns for Adonais?
Who could forget Carolyn Palamas’ iconic candy pink toga? It exposed Leslie Parrish’s entire back, right arm, some leg and a considerable amount of torso and hip, but no navel. There are two conflicting stories about this stunning creation. Theiss stated in The Making of Star Trek , the costume held in place without any need for anchoring tape, while later I read that Ms. Parish did have to be taped in to avoid censorship. I’m still giving this one a full point for just being beautifully designed and engineered! They each get a half point because I want to round up the score!
SCORE: TOS -5 S&P- 7
Exhibit I: Wolf in the Fold
There was a big trend in 1960s movies and TV for belly dancers and harems (maybe inspired by I Dream of Jeannie?). Trek was no exception. The first person we see in Wold in the Fold is Kara (Tanya Lemani) in her magnificent belly dancer garb, complete with plastic used-car-lot fringe! Beautiful! But she dare not show her navel so a little pink flower was plunked in there! Must be a good adhesive because despite Kara’s shimmy, it never falls out! Btw, Tanya is one of my Facebook pals, and Tanya, if you’re reading this, <3 Hi! <3 Tanya is still dancing these days and she rocks! Love ya, girl! TOS gets a half star for daring.
SCORE: TOS – 5.5 S&P – 8
Exhibit J: The AppleWell, the S&P must have had that week off, because all the natives of Gamma Trianguli VI had nekkid navels! Three points for Bill Theiss getting away with it! TOS inches into the lead!
SCORE: TOS – 8.5 S&P – 8
Exhibit K: Mirror, Mirror With this blatant display of the alternate universe female uniform, it is said that the crew lured the S&P member off the set with a big lunch to film Uhura’s bridge scene! But how did he not notice Marlena? By now it was 1967, maybe the Summer of Love got the censors less uptight! (Now if only Spock was allowed to wear his tunic open!). Two points for each actress getting away with it!
SCORE: TOS – 10.5 S&P – 8
Exhibit L: I, Mudd For heaven’s sake! Even Norman had a navel! (maybe a charger port…or three?) But the Alices and all the other female android series kept theirs hidden! 1 for S&P!
SCORE: TOS – 10.5 S&P – 9
Exhibit : Bread and Circuses The network never seemed to complain of exposed hip bones on minor characters like Drusilla here, but no navel. Clever (and a bit creepy) credit for use of chain as an accessory here, 1/2 point to TOS for originality, 1 Point for S&P.
SCORE: TOS – 11 S&P – 10
Exhibit M: A Private Little WarNona (Nancy Kovak) may have been a Kanutu Woman, but she was also a perfect precursor to 60’s hippie girls! Between her low slung leather bell bottoms (with the emphasis on bell) and her macrame necklace she was ahead of the Woodstock generation by 2 years! Of course, California is usually ahead of the curve fashion-wise from the rest of the country, so Theiss was probably surrounded by this in LA. Even so, she’s proud of her navel and you better not cross her S&P, she’s armed! 1 point for TOS!
SCORE: TOS – 12 S&P – 9
Exhibit N – The Gamesters of Triskellion
Everyone remembers Shahna (Angelique Pettyjohn) for her aluminum bikini, but despite it’s boldness and its possibility as a popcorn popper, it still modestly hides her navel. And that bikini is also a marvel of engineering. Whereas all the other drill thralls (and the Enterprise crew) wore their harnesses on the outside, Shannah’s harness is incorporated into her bikini; which means she can’t wear one without the other. Well, at least she could tuck her matching gloves into it when she wasn’t using them. Half point to TOS for its skimpiest costume yet, but a full point to S&P.
SCORE: TOS – 12.5 S&P – 10
Exhibit O – Patterns of Force
Well well, two navels appear here, although the Captain’s we’ve seen before, (see above), blessedly, this will be the last time we see Kirk’s navel for the rest of the series.* The good Captain is not quite as fit as he was in Season 1, but then, ANYONE would look a bit doughy next to Spock’s remarkably lean frame. TOS gets a 1/2 point for finally letting Spock lose his shirt. *and YES, I know that Kirk was stripped to the waist in The Empath, but we only see his front from the pectorals up!)
SCORE: TOS – 13 S&P – 10
Exhibit P – The Omega Glory and The Savage Curtain Did you ever notice that Sirah of Omega Glory and Zora of Savage Curtain both wore the same tattered two-piece? Zora added a fur piece, but there was no denying that Theiss had cleverly covered their navels (just barely) with a convenient flap? Of course in battle scenes, the flap would flip up, but censors didn’t catch it! One point for TOS recycling!
SCORE: TOS – 14 S&P – 10
Exhibit Q: Assignment: Earth We only see her for a second, but when Isis (April Tatro) is revealed as a woman, she’s breaking the rules, as any good cat would. 1 point for TOS sneaking it in!
SCORE: TOS – 15 S&P – 10
Exhibit R: Elaan of Troyus The warrior Elaan got to wear 4 different gorgeous costumes while on the Enterprise, all stunning and suggestive, but none with the dreaded navel. Her silver appliques here blot it out. S&P gets 4 points for still getting their way with 4 different costumes!
SCORE: TOS – 15 S&P – 14
Exhibit S: That Which Survives Losira (Lee Meriwether) might have been for Mr. D’Amato, but her pants were purely for modesty. High-waisted with a ridiculous anti-navel flap, the S&P had won again! And we’re tied.
TOS – 15 S&P 15
Exhibit T – For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky.
For the leader of a civilization, it’s a shame Natira had only oneglorious gown (maybe Elaan used up all the budget!) But despite her prestigious title, she was beholden to the network S&P, with her navel wrapped up like a very fancy mummy. Still quite gorgeous. Kudos and a point to Theiss for continuing to work with metallic fabrics (which he loathed!) and a point to S&P for winning again! Like Natira’s gown, we’re still tied up!
TOS – 16 S&P 16
Exhibit U: The Cloud Minders I think by this time in Season Three, Theiss was getting pretty sick of navel restrictions. By the time they filmed The Cloud Minders, the 74th episode of the last season, I don’t think S&P were too vigilant anymore. Hence, Theiss let ’em have it with two prominent displays here. 2 points for TOS! Someday I want a tummy like Vanna again – (Droxine, please eat something!) <3
TOS – 18 S&P 16
Exhibit V: The Way to Eden
Gotta let Hippes be Hippies. Yeah, the episode was dated, but Irina’s gown was impeccable! With a lonely little navel in the flower patch, it’s Hippie chic! One point for TOS.
TOS – 19 S&P 16
Exhibit W: All Our Yesterdays Zarabeth’s covering is little more than rags tied around her body, but she still keeps her navel modestly covered. Kudos for remaining remarkably clean in a damp cave! Theiss gets a full point for leading the way in TV costume, S&P get’s a point for still getting their way.
Here’s an idea I’ve had for a LONG time and I finally got it to come to fruition. As I’m sure many of you have seen, in the past I have made many silly collages which combine the two best pop culture phenomenons of the 1960’s; Star Trek and The Beatles! You can see my previous ‘Beatle Trek’s’ here.
Anyway, for ages I wanted to recreate the famous Sgt.Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band except make it with memorable Star Trek Characters. As the centerpiece, Kirk, Spock, McCoy and Scotty replace the Fab Four, and I poured over many pictures to find just the right character to fill in for all the originals (and a few more) for this cover.
You’ll note that the Klingons replace the waxworks figures of The Beatles, Mohammed Ali’s robed boxer is replaced with robed Lord Garth from Whom Gods Destroy, glamorous Droxine and Carolyn Palamas take over for Marlene Dietrich and Diana Dors. I’ve added many other characters in positions close to the originals: notice Miranda Jones’ hand behind Kirk, just as Issy Bonn’s hand was behind Paul McCartney’s head in the original! I also have many more women in this version than the Pepper album. But as The Beatles chose their favorite heroes for their album, I chose my favorite characters for this. And of course you will find our dear Celeste Yarnall (Martha Landon in The Apple) in the mix. Although she sadly passed before she could see it, her widower, Nazim assured me she would have enjoyed it. Indeed, I have always found creativity a balm for sorrow, and I recommend creating something yourself, anything with your heart and hands, to help you at your sad times.
You’ll notice that most of these characters are not crew members, as I did a massive collage of as many Enterprise members as I could in the past. I also intentionally posted some characters in black and white instead of color, like on the original. If you look closely, you’ll see Alexander from Plato’s Stepchildren in Shirley Temple’s place and Balok from The Corbomite Maneuver flopped out like the doll in Rolling Stones sweater too! I even used Star Trek plants to replace the flora of the original. And be sure to look out for 4 hidden Spocks (as well as the main one in the center)!
If you can’t identify all the characters, I created a numbered key for the poster below. Enjoy, and please let me know what you think! Thanks, Therese <3
Key to Characters in“Captain Jim Kirk’s Comely Starfleet Brand
Ruk (Ted Cassidy) in What are Little Girls Made Of?
Found another one! It’sDrums of Africa (1963), an exciting tale of love and slavery in the darkest continent! that is, A teen dream musical with Frankie Avalon! What I mean to say is, it’s marvelous really a marvelous piece of crap!
Let’s see…A guy goes to Africa in the 1910’s to survey a railroad site for his boss, brings along his boss’s lightweight teen son and goes on safari, employing ‘the best guide in Africa’ and falling for the lovely young missionary woman who works with the guide. Unfortunately, there are greedy slavers loose in the jungle, and his lady love is their main target! Sounds exciting right? Well…
Here’s our hero, David Moore (Lloyd Bochner, right) and teen-sidekick-that-he-didn’t-want-to-bring-along Brian Ferrers (Frankie Avalon) seeking out their guide.
With all this nice manliness on screen, the film inexplicably gives viewers a major beefcake valentine of…Marplon! (Torin Thatcher as Jack Cuortemayn )
(Okay, Sorry about that — I better cleanse your memory palate here…)
Much better.
Anyway, Marplon spends the rest of the movie proving his virility to the other two guys by insisting on keeping his shirt unbuttoned…
And on the way out of his office, who should come screaming out of the jungle and into the arms of our hero but Zarabeth.(Mariette Hartley as Ruth Knight)
She’s being chased by slavers who find her pure whiteness a perfect target for their evil trade. Zarabeth’s Ruth’s fresh faced beauty has the three men gaga for her and pitching woo. Of course for Frankie, that means–
Aaaaugggh! And what a sappy number it is (The River Love)
This was a step down for Hartley’s career. She had recently finished the brilliant Ride the High Country and compared this job to going from president to janitor in two days. Of course she’s virginal and sweet here, and has been too busy in her young life to know love. In one of queasiest moments of dialogue, Marlpon confides in Zarabeth that the only problem with their relationship is that they’re friends. Ugh!
But Zarabeth isn’t into a May-December with Marplon, or a December-May with Frankie, and despite the awesome gorgeousness of Marplon’s man-servant Kasongo (Hari Rhodes)…
See?
…she can’t help but find herself attracted to bland white bread David (no surprise there). But first she has to do an obligatory Dovesoap commercial…
He meets her after she’s squeaky clean, of course, compares trunks with a baby elephant, and she admits that his kiss ‘brought her world alive!” Please. Little does she realize that years later, her lover will change his name to Cecil Colby and die while copulating with Edith Keeler (In her Alexis Karrington years) on Dynasty! But that’s another post…
After much inter-cut animal action from King Soloman’s Mines, the pair live happily ever after in the jungle. Did the railroad come through? Did Marplon ever button his shirt? Did Frankie find Annette? Can’t remember, think I fell asleep… All in all 2 stars our of 5.
Continuing our romantic theme for February, here’s a beautiful, if sad moment in Star Trek history. Spock reluctantly bids Zarabeth goodbye in Spock and Zarabeth by artist Marcelo Baez. You can really feel the cold here. It’s nice to see that many modern artists still like to draw characters and images from this classic series, and Bael is a wonderful artist! I recall wishing that Spock could have taken her with him! Well, they’ll always have that cave!
This has to be one of my favorite Fan Arts of all time, by creative, whimsical artist DK Cissner on DeviantArt. Her caricatures always have such a fun vibe and slightly Disney feel (big eyes and expressions) I just love how she draws Spock too. If I could hone my sketch drawing to be as good as hers I’d be very happy!
One of the most romantic Spock moments ever, the pre-kiss kiss. He kisses her quickly as if he might get stung, then decides it’s a good idea! Beautifully acted by Nimoy and Hartley. Man when I was a teenager, this was my go-to rerun (it was on about 8 times a week, pre-VCR’s). I wanted Spock to live happily ever after in the Sarpeodon Ice age!
By the way, today I celebrate the most romantic day in my life–My sweet husband and I have been married 19 years! 🙂 <3 Viva L’amour!
