# Star Trek (TOS) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted, star-trek-paramount\ **Created:** [September 21, 2020, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tos/921122 "2020-09-21T05:26:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 20
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2020, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tos/921122/381 "2020-10-26T14:35:35Z")
Here are the lyrics > **[The Star Trek Theme Song Has Lyrics](https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/28895/star-trek-theme-song-has-lyrics)** > > The sci-fi series' theme song is familiar to pretty much anyone who lived in the free world (and probably elsewhere, too) in the late 20th century. Do you know the words? Excerpt > Beyond > The rim of the star-light > My love > Is wand’ring in star-flight > I know > He’ll find in star-clustered reaches > Love, > Strange love a star woman teaches. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2020, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tos/921122/382 "2020-10-26T17:08:47Z")
It was written by Alexander Courage but arranged by Wilbur Hatch of _ **Lucy** _ fame. The soprano wailing like a bitch in heat was added for the third season, for reasons I am unable to comprehend. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2020, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tos/921122/383 "2020-10-26T22:11:44Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > > [@BigT](#): > > > > I don’t know whether that technically violated the Prime Directive. > > Memory Alpha claims that General Order One is " \*No starship may interfere with the normal development of any alien life or society." In this case, two separate planets were involved in the conflict, so they had passed the point of what one would call ‘normal development’ (i.e., they had some significant form of space travel). Additionally, the war represented a real, non-obvious hazard to explorers. By comparison, an giant amoeba floating through space is a living thing, that has a right to survive, so blowing it up might look like a violation of the prime directive. > > Where does one draw the line? By the time a society has reached the UFP level, I get the feeling that bright-line laws will have been found to be severely wanting. The division between right and wrong will be much blurrier and situationally defined. The usual stated line is when they have interstellar travel or warp drive. It wasn’t clear to me that they had that–just interplanetary, impulse drive. I know that interplanetary is not enough due to an episode of TNG where the Prime Directive was why they couldn’t interfere with one planet selling an addictive substance to another planet while convincing them it was a cure for a disease. (The disease was just the withdrawal.) They had to find a loophole–they removed their repairs to the ship that shuttled the drug from one planet to the other. (The fact that they repaired it in the first place suggests there’s still a duty to help out individuals in distress, just not whole civilizations) Then there’s the second part of the Prime Directive that is cited for why the Federation isn’t allowed to get involved in the Klingon Civil War. Worf had to officially resign his commission to be allowed to act in it (though this was a clear on-paper fiction, as he was able to rejoin at the same rank he left after it was over.) ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2020, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tos/921122/384 "2020-10-26T22:27:47Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > It was written by Alexander Courage but arranged by Wilbur Hatch of _ **Lucy** _ fame. The soprano wailing like a bitch in heat was added for the third season, for reasons I am unable to comprehend. I was under the impression she replaced the theremin. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2020, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tos/921122/385 "2020-10-26T22:30:00Z")
Oy, there was a _theremin_?!? 😮 ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2020, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tos/921122/386 "2020-10-26T22:33:19Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Oy, there was a _theremin_ ?!? You can never have too many. My band will have a theramin and a mellotron. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2020, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tos/921122/387 "2020-10-27T01:13:15Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I was under the impression she replaced the theremin. I can’t find the cite, but I was under the impression they used an actual human the first two seasons, but replaced her with a theremin in season 3. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2020, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tos/921122/388 "2020-10-27T02:22:49Z")
You may be referring to the book by Solow and Justman, in which Herb says the vocal was supplied by a singer named (if I remember correctly) Loulie Jean Norman in the first two seasons and then dropped in the third. I watched every episode of _ **TOS** _ over five years in its first round of syndication and do not recall EVER hearing a vocal until the third season. (I can actually identify when an episode was filmed just by listening to the original soundtracks, since the theme varied somewhat during each season). In this and in several other details he remembered thirty years after the fact, I’m sure Solow was mistaken. I rely much more on Stephen Whitfield’s book _ **The Making of Star Trek** _ for such trivia, since it was written as the series was being filmed. Of course, Paramount re-recorded the theme for the remastered episodes this century, so it now has a female vocalist in all seasons. I assure you, this was not the case 50+ years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2020, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tos/921122/389 "2020-10-27T02:40:46Z")
It’s been awhile since I read the Solow-Justman book, and a long, long while since I read Whitfield’s. [Norman’s Wiki article agrees with me](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loulie_Jean_Norman#cite_note-auto-1) but the source they cited was from 2007. I’ll concede the original source for that cite may indeed have been someone’s faulty memory 30 years after the fact. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2020, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tos/921122/390 "2020-10-27T02:53:23Z")
Right. Solow and Justman’s book came out in 1996 and has probably been cited many times, but that doesn’t mean it’s 100% correct. For years, it was claimed that Isis in “Assignment: Earth” had been played by Victoria Vetri (a _ **Playboy** _ Playmate), even though she bore little resemblance to the actress who did. We know now that was wrong. She was played by a professional contortionist named April Tatro. For years, I had said a forgotten Paramount call sheet would turn up someday with the name of the real actress on it, and it did. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2020, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tos/921122/391 "2020-10-27T03:01:12Z")
It should also be noted that while it has a section on the music used in the series, Whitfield’s book makes no mention of the vocalized version of the theme. Since it was published between the second and third seasons, this was probably because it hadn’t been recorded yet. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2020, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tos/921122/392 "2020-10-27T03:20:56Z")
Shouldn’t Bones, as ship’s doctor, have known about Spock’s extra eyelids? ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2020, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tos/921122/393 "2020-10-27T03:25:59Z")
I doubt Spock would have let McCoy get close enough to him to find out, and Vulcans themselves don’t even think about their eyelids ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2020, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tos/921122/394 "2020-10-27T03:29:43Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > It was written by Alexander Courage but arranged by Wilbur Hatch of _ **Lucy** _ fame. The soprano wailing like a bitch in heat was added for the third season, for reasons I am unable to comprehend. I just checked some episodes on Netflix. The first season has an instrumental theme. The vocal version was added for both the second and third seasons, not just the third season. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2020, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tos/921122/395 "2020-10-27T03:32:58Z")
I never heard any vocalization in the second season episodes, but noticed it immediately in those of the third season. It was jarring to my 15-year-old ears. You’re sure you’re not listening to some remastered themes? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2020, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tos/921122/396 "2020-10-27T03:41:18Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > I never heard any vocalization in the second season episodes, but noticed it immediately in those of the third season. However you remember it, [Memory Alpha](https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Theme_from_Star_Trek) agrees with me. And as I said, the season 2 episodes on Netflix has the vocal version. > [@](#): > > For the [second](https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/TOS_Season_2) and [third seasons](https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/TOS_Season_3), Loulie Jean Norman’s wordless accompaniment was re-added to the theme. However, Norman’s voice was made more prominent than it was for “The Cage”. The original pilot, The Cage, had a vocalized version but this was dropped in season 1. The first season used several versions of the theme, including an orchestral and a mixed orchestral/electronic version. > [@](#): > > The [first season](https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/TOS_Season_1) of _The Original Series_ used two versions of the theme. On the original NBC and syndicated runs, five episodes – “Where No Man has Gone Before”, the second pilot, along with “[The Man Trap](https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/The_Man_Trap_(episode))”, “[Charlie X](https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Charlie_X_(episode))”, “[The Naked Time](https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/The_Naked_Time_(episode))”, and “[Mudd’s Women](https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Mudd%27s_Women_(episode))” – used a mixed electronic/orchestral arrangement for the opening credits, with the main melody line created electronically and accompanied by more traditional instrumentation, including a flute and an organ for both the opening and closing themes. If the Netflix episodes are remastered, why did they remaster season 2 but not season 1? ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2020, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tos/921122/397 "2020-10-27T03:47:43Z")
And in season 3 original there was a “bloop” added in every bar. It stuck out to me and was distracting. I’m glad they took that out. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2020, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tos/921122/398 "2020-10-27T03:48:57Z")
That’s odd. I’ve seen both the color and the B&W versions of “The Cage” and they had an electronic (theremin?) theme. The first half of the first season had an orchestral theme that sounded like it was arranged by Wilbur Hatch. It changed slightly after “The Galileo Seven.” It then remained basically the same until the third season. Whatever Memory Alpha says, I never heard the vocalized version of the theme until the third season. What was MA’s original position on Isis? ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2020, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tos/921122/399 "2020-10-27T03:53:08Z")
Good question. I haven’t seen many of the remastered episodes, but since Paramount went to the trouble of re-recording the theme, I had assumed they’d use the new version for every one of them. If this isn’t the case, I’m surprised to hear it. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2020, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tos/921122/400 "2020-10-27T11:39:55Z")
It’s implied, in various ways, that Vulcans are rare in Starfleet, self-segregated (there is a ship entirely staffed by Vulcans), and very private as well. Thus things like pon farr and secondary eyelids are not common knowledge, even to medical personnel, unless circumstances make them undeniable. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tos/921122.md?page=19) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tos/921122.md?page=21)