star trek season 2 episode 26 assignment earth cast

Assignment: Earth (episode)

1.2 Act One
1.3 Act Two
1.4 Act Three
1.5 Act Four
2 Log entries
3 Memorable quotes
4.1.1 Original pilot (no Star Trek connection)
4.1.2 Star Trek version
4.2 Spinoff
4.3 Production
4.5 Continuity
4.6 Apocrypha
4.7 Video and DVD releases
5.1 Starring
5.2 Also starring
5.3 Guest star
5.4 Co-starring
5.5 Uncredited co-stars
5.6 Stand-ins
5.7 References
5.8 External links

Summary [ ]

After Captain Kirk finishes his log entry, suddenly the Enterprise is rocked, and Spock reports that they appear to have intercepted someone's transporter beam. Kirk remarks that there were no such devices in the 20th century . Spock maintains that someone is beaming aboard. Spock discovers that the transporter beam originates more than a thousand light years away. Scott finds that difficult to believe, stating that no transporter beam could reach that far, not even in their time . Suddenly a man in a dark suit, holding a black cat , appears on the transporter pad .

Act One [ ]

The strange man asks Kirk why he was intercepted and who his interceptors are. Kirk identifies himself and tells the man that he is aboard the United Space Ship Enterprise . The man asks what planet they are from, and Kirk says they are from Earth . This the man refuses to believe, because 20th century technology would not allow for a ship like the Enterprise . But when he notices that Spock is a Vulcan , he realizes the ship is indeed from the future and asks to be beamed down to Earth. As security arrives, the man identifies himself as Gary Seven , calling himself a man from the 20th century, and gives his cat's name as Isis . Kirk states, however, that Humans of the 20th century do not go beaming around the universe. Seven explains that he has been on another planet , one much more advanced, and that he was beaming to Earth from that planet when the Enterprise intercepted him. When Kirk asks which planet it is, Seven says that the inhabitants wish their planet to be kept secret and that even in Kirk's time, it will remain unknown. Seven reiterates that he is of this time period and adds that, if Kirk does not allow him to do what he needs to do down on Earth, then Kirk will have changed history. But Kirk, unsure that Seven is telling the truth, decides to keep him aboard the ship until that can be determined. However, Seven tries to escape, overpowering the security guards, and he even shrugs off Spock's attempt at a Vulcan neck pinch . Seven is only subdued by a phaser stun from Kirk. Kirk calls Dr. McCoy and asks him to examine the mysterious man in the brig to determine if he really is Human.

In the briefing room , Spock, who is stroking Isis, mentions that he finds himself strangely drawn to the cat. Ensign Chekov reports that analyzing the direction Seven's transporter beam came from show no habitable planets in that area of the galaxy and Scott says that they will not be able to analyze the transporter beam, as it had fused their recording circuits. The beam could have brought him across tremendous distances across space, and perhaps even through time; there is, quite simply, no way to know. Spock also mentions that current crises on Earth could fill a tape bank, noting that, on this one day alone: "There will be an important assassination today, an equally dangerous government coup in Asia , and, this could be highly critical, the launching of an orbital nuclear warhead platform by the United States , countering a similar launch by other powers." Kirk and Spock briefly discuss the nuclear arms race and how that once the sky was filled with orbiting H-bombs , the slightest mistake could have brought one down, setting off a nuclear holocaust.

Seven soon escapes from the brig using a device called a " servo ," disguised as a pen, to deactivate the force field and put the guard to sleep .

Back in the briefing room, McCoy tells Kirk that Seven is indeed Human, but also that his is a totally perfect body, without a physical flaw at all within him. This raises the possibility that he could be an alien taking Human form, and Spock points out again that Seven could be telling the truth. Kirk laments that neither of them is telling him anything definite. At that point, Isis jumps out of Spock's lap and leaves the briefing room. Security then alerts them that Seven has escaped. In the transporter room, where Isis rejoins him, Seven renders Lemli and Leslie unconscious with his servo and beams down before Kirk can stop him.

Act Two [ ]

Seven materializes inside a transporter chamber , disguised as a vault concealed behind a sliding rack of drinking glasses, in what appears to be an otherwise normal office.

Seven accesses a computer behind the bookcase. Seven asks for the locations of agents 201 and 347. The computer asks Seven to identify himself and Seven tells the computer to check his voice pattern, and it will identify him as Supervisor 194 , code name Gary Seven. The computer recognizes his voice pattern but is unaware of a Gary Seven being assigned to this planet. Seven then tells the computer that he is a Class One supervisor and that the computer is to override all previous instructions and answer his questions. The computer identifies itself as a Beta 5 computer capable of analytical decision and forces Seven to prove himself by describing the mission of the two agents that were sent here. Finally Seven, after griping that he has "little love for Beta 5 snobbery," relents and tells the computer that missing agents 201 and 347 are a male and a female descendant, respectively, of Humans taken from the Earth approximately six thousand years ago ( circa 4000 BC ) and that they were specially engineered and trained for this mission. The problem is that on Earth, its science and technology have progressed faster than its political and social knowledge have. Their mission is to prevent Earth from destroying itself before it can become a peaceful society. The computer states that Seven's information, while incomplete, will suffice and tells Seven that the agents have not reported for three days. Seven tells the computer to immediately begin a search and begins describing how to do so when the computer tells him it is aware of proper search procedures.

Meanwhile, back aboard the Enterprise , Kirk, Spock, and Scott are trying to determine where Seven had beamed down. Scott says that they can get to within approximately one thousand meters of where he had gone. Spock reminds Kirk that following him down is very risky because they may end up accidentally doing something to alter history. Kirk says he knows but he must also know if Seven is being truthful with them. Kirk tells Scott to have ship's stores prepare the proper costumes and then prepare to beam them down.

In his apartment, Seven learns that the agents' mission was to disable a rocket that will launch an American orbiting nuclear platform which is a counter-move to an opposing country that has already done the same. This appalls Seven, who says that this arms race is the same kind of nonsense which almost resulted in the destruction of planet Omicron IV , which the Beta 5 computer confirms. Seven asks if the warhead has been disabled, but the computer says both that it has not been and that there are just under ninety minutes before launch. Seven says that unless the agents are immediately located, he will have to undertake their mission in their absence.

Having beamed down, Kirk surreptitiously calls Scott with his communicator and tells him to lead them to Seven. Scott gives Kirk the coordinates and Kirk and Spock proceed.

Roberta at her typewriter

The computer provides Seven with various pieces of false identification, including identification listing Seven as a colonel with the CIA , a lieutenant in the NYPD , and a colonel with the NSA . It also produces a map of McKinley Rocket Base . At that moment, a young woman walks in and asks if anyone is in. Seven steps out and demands to know where she has been. The woman sees no reason to tell him and asks who he is. Seven asks where 347 is but she neither knows nor understands, jokingly replying that perhaps he is with 348. She then threatens to call the police. After insisting that she sit down, Seven, wrongly believing her to be agent 201, tells her that he is "Supervisor 194, code name Gary Seven" and that he needs a complete report of all that she has done in the last three days. As the woman prepares to start typing, Seven flips a switch and tells her not to bother with her hands. When she wonders how she will type, the typewriter begins typing everything she says. This gets the young woman very frustrated, and after she yells at the typewriter to stop typing what she says, Seven finally switches it off and she says that she will quit. Seven then realizes that she is not acting. Using his servo, he locks the door; he then accesses the computer and has it identify the woman in the room. The Beta 5 identifies her as Roberta Lincoln and says that she is a secretary hired by Agents 347 and 201. Realizing the terrible mistake he has made, Seven asks Roberta what work her employers said they were doing and she says they were doing research for a new encyclopedia. Seven tells her she can go, though she will not be helping her country, unless of course, she does not care for her country. When Roberta protests that she does, Seven tells her that thanks to his incompetence, he has made her aware of some top secret devices vital to the security of the nation. He shows her his false CIA ID and she accepts that it is legitimate. Isis opens the door and meows at Seven. Seven explains to Roberta that Isis is a trained cat and asks Roberta not to let anyone in and she agrees to do so.

Out on the street, Kirk calls Scott again, and Scott tells Kirk that the source was about thirty meters higher than his present location. Thus, Kirk and Spock enter Seven's apartment building.

The Beta 5 tells Seven that agents 201 and 347 were killed in an automobile accident ten miles north of McKinley Rocket Base on Highway 949 . Seven laments the uselessness of dying in such a manner and asks if the facts are verified. The computer does confirm this, noting that the description of the agent's bodies is accurate.

On the floor outside Seven's apartment, Scott tells Kirk which way to go and they find the right apartment. Kirk rings the doorbell and Seven has the computer deactivated. Roberta opens the door, but when Kirk asks about Seven, she says that she has no idea who he is talking about, that this is a government office, and that they should leave immediately. But Kirk will have none of it, demanding to know where Seven is. Roberta demands that Kirk leave, but he refuses, and she finally grabs the phone and calls for the police. Kirk and Roberta briefly struggle over the phone and she asks Seven to come help her. Seven, meanwhile, has entered the transporter in his safe and disappeared. Spock discovers where Seven was, and Kirk goes in and has Spock restrain Roberta. She manages to pull Spock's cap off and is dumbstruck at the sight of Spock's pointed Vulcan ears.

Seven rematerializes inside the rocket base and observes the rocket which is armed with the warhead.

Act Three [ ]

Kirk finds Seven's map of McKinley Rocket Base. Roberta tells them she has already called the police to the office. When the police arrive, Spock tries to keep Roberta quiet, but she screams before he can. Kirk calls Scott, whom he orders to perform a wide scan, as they will be moving, and be ready to beam them up. They run into the office, but Roberta runs to the door, admits the police, and points them into the office. They run in just as Kirk orders them beamed up – and the two police officers are beamed up with Kirk and Spock, all four disappearing before Roberta's eyes. Kirk and Spock jump off the transporter platform, and Kirk immediately orders Scott to beam the policemen back down, which he does. The two policemen are returned to the office, leaving them dumbstruck at what they have seen and experienced and Roberta not knowing what to believe.

At the rocket base, there are only fifty minutes until launch. Seven is approached by a security guard as he approaches launch control. The guard, Sergeant Lipton , has Seven lower Isis to the ground and requests identification, and Seven produces his CIA ID. While the guard calls to verify, Isis distracts Lipton, allowing Seven to stun him with his servo and he then takes the phone and tells the security identification office at the other end that everything is now OK. He then sits the stunned guard down and tells him to take a nap. Seven then makes his way to the gantry elevator by hiding in the trunk of the launch director's, Cromwell 's, car. When the car arrives at the launch pad, he exits the trunk, hides in the elevator, reaches a gantry, removes an access panel with his servo and begins to rewire the rocket.

Meanwhile, Kirk, Spock, and Scott, in the transporter room, search for Seven at the launch site by reflecting their sensors off a low-orbiting weather satellite. Unable to find him, Kirk and Spock decide to beam down to the base to search for Seven the old-fashioned way. They materialize in front of the previously stunned guard as he awakens. Lipton takes them into custody and escorts them to the control room in the launch complex. They are briefly interrogated, but all attention is focused on the launch preparations. Kirk and Spock stand there unable to act.

Meanwhile, planning to quit again and telling the computer interface that she promises not to tell anyone about Seven or anything she has seen, Roberta accidentally discovers that depressing a pen holder on the desk opens the sliding glass rack. She then fiddles with the combination lock to the safe and succeeds in opening the safe/alien transporter room. At the same time, using the ship's sensors, Scott locates Seven on the rocket gantry while he is manipulating wires on the rocket. Scott calls for security and then attempts to beam Seven back aboard. Sensing the transporter beam, Seven gathers Isis into his arms. But at the same time, Lincoln's fiddling with the safe/alien transporter controls pulls him back to the NYC office.

In the launch facility, Kirk and Spock watch helplessly as the countdown progresses. The security officers inspect Kirk's and Spock's phasers and communicators. The security supervisor tells Kirk that only the slightest possible charges will be brought against them if they explain why they are here and what they are doing. Kirk can only stand silently and watch as the rocket launches up toward space.

Act Four [ ]

Spock and Kirk in custody at McKinley Rocket Base

In the office, Seven is initially angry at Roberta for interfering, but he then calms down when he realizes that what she had done likely kept him from being transported back aboard the Enterprise and again taken prisoner. He then goes over and begins to work at the Beta 5 computer. He inquires whether he had done enough to take control of the rocket, and the Beta 5 confirms that he had.

Seven uses the Beta 5 exceiver circuits to cause the third stage of the American rocket to malfunction and veer off course. He also arms the warhead and Roberta, who had become very suspicious of Seven, hits him on the head with a small jewelry box, for she now realizes that what he has been doing is beyond the CIA's abilities. She grabs Seven's servo and tells him to stay where he is. Seven begs Roberta to let him finish what he had started, otherwise when the rocket warhead detonates somewhere in six minutes, it will start World War III.

From the science station on the bridge, Chekov and Sulu see the warhead arm and call Scott in the transporter room to inform him of what has happened. Sulu tells Scott that the computers indicate an impact somewhere in the heart of the Eurasian landmass. Uhura, listening in to broadcasts from her station in multiple Earth languages, reports that she is receiving military alerts from the major powers. Scott decides that he will have to risk calling Kirk, and tells Uhura to open a channel to his communicator.

At launch control, the mission planners note the malfunction in the rocket and try to override it and get it back on course. When the warhead arms itself, the scientists are confused as to how it could have done so on its own. They prepare to send a self-destruct signal to prevent the H-bomb from otherwise detonating on an unsuspecting population somewhere.

Kirk, taking advantage of this distraction, steps over and tries to activate his communicator, but Lipton catches him and sends him back to his corner. Just then, Scott attempts to contact Kirk for instructions. When the communicator beeps and the rocket base guard picks it up and tries to talk to Scott, Spock steps over, under the guise of showing Lipton how to use it, and uses his nerve pinch to render him unconscious again. Kirk has Scott beam them directly to Seven's office. Unfortunately for the scientists, the self-destruct signal does not work. The lead flight controller picks up a red phone to make a call to the President .

Back in Seven's apartment, Seven tries to tell Roberta the truth about what has been happening and that truly advanced civilizations would neither take strange forms nor visit Earth in force, explaining that the best option is to bring Humans to their planet and train them for generations, until they are needed on Earth. Roberta tells him that she wants to believe him, for she knows that her world needs help; this explains the seemingly insane conduct of some of the people of her generation, of whom she points out, "We wonder if we're gonna be alive when we're thirty."

Just as Seven tries to run back to the computer, Kirk and Spock enter the apartment again. Kirk asks Spock if he can detonate the warhead using the computer, to which Spock replies that he can attempt it. Seven says that he wants the warhead detonated too, but that he will have to do it, and at least a hundred miles above the ground, so that it will frighten the people of Earth out of the arms race. At that moment, Scott calls Kirk, telling him that the Enterprise 's monitors show all major powers on full missile alert and a retaliatory strike is ordered upon warhead impact. Spock says that without more time, he can only estimate, and Seven angrily asks Kirk to allow him to do his job. Kirk insists that he still does not know what Seven's job is , and that for all he and Spock know, Seven may set the controls so that the warhead may not even be detonated. Then Roberta points the servo at Kirk and demands that he leave Seven alone. Seven quickly grabs it from her hand and tells her that the servo was set to kill. He deactivates it and then hands it over to Kirk. Kirk tells Spock if he cannot detonate the warhead, then they will both have to trust Seven. Spock tells Kirk that in the absence of facts, there is no logical decision and that he will have to rely on his Human intuition to guide him.

After a brief moment, Kirk tells Seven, " Go! " Seven runs over to the Beta 5 and begins working the controls, activating a visual of low Earth orbit and having the computer count down the miles by tens. Finally, at 104 miles, Seven manages to detonate the warhead.

Later in the day, Seven is dictating the last bit of his report into the typewriter. " …and in spite of the accidental interference with history by the Earth ship from the future, the mission was completed. " Spock then corrects Seven and tells him that by all appearances they did not interfere but that, rather, that the Enterprise was simply part of what was supposed to happen on this day in 1968. Kirk says that their record tapes show that while it was never generally revealed, a malfunctioning sub-orbital warhead was exploded exactly 104 miles above the Earth. Spock adds that, furthermore, it caused the nuclear powers to re-assess the risks of a nuclear orbiting platform. That everything turned out just how it was supposed to leaves Seven feeling relieved.

For a moment, Roberta looks over at Isis and sees a rather gorgeous woman. She steps over to Seven and asks if he will explain who that is. Seven says that it is simply his cat. When Roberta looks back, Isis is a cat again. Seven then asks Kirk what else their record tapes show, but Kirk says they cannot, in turn, reveal all they know. Spock does say that it would be safe to say that Seven and Roberta have some interesting experiences ahead of them and Kirk agrees with that assessment. Kirk calls to be beamed up by Scotty, Spock tells Seven to "live long and prosper," and Kirk says that the same goes for Roberta. They shimmer and vanish with Roberta looking on in awe once more, and the Enterprise leaves orbit to go back to its proper time.

Log entries [ ]

Captain's log, USS Enterprise (NCC-1701), 2268

Memorable quotes [ ]

" Humans of the twentieth century do not go beaming around the galaxy, Mister Seven. "

" It's impossible to hide a whole planet. " " Impossible for you, not for them. "

" Mr. Spock, historical report. " " Current Earth crises would fill a tape bank, Captain. "

" Where's Three-Four-Seven? " " With Three-Four-Eight? "

" Well, how do you expect me to type? With my nose? "

" I'm telling you, you're through monkeying around with my country's rocket. "

" I know this world needs help. That's why some of my generation are kind of crazy and rebels, you know? We wonder if we're gonna be alive when we're thirty. "

" Without facts, the decision cannot be made logically. You must rely on your Human intuition. "

" That, Miss Lincoln, is simply my cat. "

Background information [ ]

Production timeline [ ], original pilot (no star trek connection) [ ].

Story outline "Seven" by Gene Roddenberry : 20 April 1965
Revised story outlines: 23 April 1965 , 25 April 1965
First draft teleplay: 14 November 1966
Revised first draft: 16 November 1966

Star Trek version [ ]

Story outline by Roddenberry and Art Wallace : 21 October 1967
Revised story outline by Wallace: 13 November 1967
First draft teleplay: 21 November 1967
Revised first draft: 11 December 1967
Second draft teleplay: 14 December 1967
Revised second draft: 18 December 1967
Revised draft by Roddenberry: 20 December 1967
Final draft teleplay by Roddenberry: 1 January 1968
Additional page revisions: 3 January 1968 , 5 January 1968 , 9 January 1968
Day 1 – 2 January 1968 , Tuesday – Desilu Stage 9 : Int. Engineering , Sickbay , Bridge , Transporter room
Day 2 – 3 January 1968 , Wednesday – Paramount Stage 5 : Int. Gary Seven's apartment , Hallway corridor
Day 3 – 4 January 1968 , Thursday – Paramount Stage 5 : Int. Gary Seven's apartment
Day 4 – 5 January 1968 , Friday – Paramount Stage 5 : Int. Gary Seven's apartment
Day 5 – 8 January 1968 , Monday – Paramount Windsor Street backlot : Ext. New York City street , Paramount officer buldings : Ext. McKinley Rocket Base
Day 6 – 9 January 1968 , Tuesday – Desilu Stage 10 : Int. Mission control room ; Desilu Stage 9 : Int. Briefing room , Transporter room
Day 7 – 10 January 1968 , Wednesday – Desilu Stage 9 : Int. Bridge , Briefing room , Transporter room ; Desilu Stage 10 : Int. Rocket Platform
Original airdate: 29 March 1968
Rerun airdate: 9 August 1968
First UK airdate (on BBC1 ): 4 November 1970
First UK airdate (on ITV ): 27 February 1983
Remastered airdate: 3 May 2008

Spinoff [ ]

This episode was designed partly as a pilot for a new series featuring Gary Seven and his mission. Star Trek was teetering on the brink of cancellation late in its second year, and Roddenberry hoped to get a new show going for the fall season. The first draft pilot script ( 14 November 1966 ) had no mention of Star Trek or its characters. [1]
Assignment: Earth did not enter production as a television series, but Seven and Roberta were featured in several stories and they spun-off a comic book series from IDW Publishing , Star Trek: Assignment: Earth by John Byrne .
The plot concept of benevolent aliens secretively helping Earthlings, as opposed to the much more common "villain aliens" scenarios, was later resurrected by Roddenberry for his movie The Questor Tapes.

projects
Films: • • • • • •
Series: • • • •
: • • • • • • •

Production [ ]

Stock footage of the Enterprise orbiting Earth (without clouds) is reused from " Miri ".
A closeup of Montgomery Scott behind the transporter station is recycled from " The Enemy Within ".
According to The Star Trek Compendium (1st ed., p. 140), the first draft script (dated 20 December 1967 ) had the Enterprise bridge crew watching an episode of Bonanza on the viewscreen.
East 68th Street is also the street that was home to the main characters from the Desilu TV show I Love Lucy .
The typewriter is a Royal Emperor, which could type from a cassette tape recording of the text. [2] (X)
The Beta 5 computer contains many components from the M-5 multitronic unit in " The Ultimate Computer ". These components were recycled yet again for " All Our Yesterdays " and " Spock's Brain ".
A new effect is used for the transporter as Seven is beamed aboard for the first time – slow motion flames can be seen behind the opaque back wall of the chamber. This may be due to the Enterprise 's unintentional interception of Seven's unusually powerful transporter beam.
NASA shot all their footage using the anamorphic format, hence all the rocket launch stock footage in this episode is cropped from the 2.35:1 aspect ratio to television's conventional 1.33:1. [3]
The rocket stock footage in this episode is actually of three Saturn Vs: footage of the rocket on the ground is a combination of the SA-500F Test Vehicle (the only Saturn V to feature "USA" markings on the third stage) and Apollo 6 (the only Saturn V launched with a white service module). Footage of the rocket launching is of Apollo 4 .
This is the only episode of the second season to have Gene Roddenberry credited as "Producer" instead of "Executive Producer," the first time he had received such a credit since the first season. Roddenberry wanted to be very "hands-on" for this episode, as he hoped to turn it into a spin-off series. He rewrote Art Wallace 's script and was heavily involved in production, including sets, props, casting of actors, and even the costume of Terri Garr – he insisted on shortening her mini-skirt to be "more revealing," much to the anger of costume designer William Ware Theiss . ( Inside Star Trek: The Real Story ) Garr had a very unpleasant time filming this episode, perhaps stemming from Gene Roddenberry's involvement in decisions regarding her costume, specifically the length of her skirt. The hem was taken up so much it became very distorted. In interviews since, she has refused to talk about Star Trek in any way. [4]
This is also the only episode of the second season that has no credited studio executive in charge of its production, as Herbert F. Solow had left Paramount Television by this time, and would be replaced by Douglas S. Cramer beginning with the third season.
Robert Lansing ( Gary Seven ) is the only Star Trek: The Original Series guest star whose credit appears after the opening credits instead of during the end credits – complete with character name. The fact that the episode was to serve as the pilot for a proposed spin-off series explains the unique credits.
William Blackburn appears as a rocket control room technician in this episode. He can also be seen walking in front of Gary Seven just after he materializes at McKinley Rocket Base.
This episode marks the final appearance of the unknown actor who portrayed Bobby . His appearance in the corridor was "new" recycled footage that was originally shot during the filming of " The Corbomite Maneuver ".

Continuity [ ]

This is the only episode of Star Trek in which time travel is treated as "routine." The Temporal Prime Directive does not yet appear to have been proposed, let alone taken effect.
This is the only episode where a Federation transporter system is used to intercept and re-direct another transporter beam.
Along with the Vians and Khan , Colonel Gary Seven is one of the few humanoids to have ever manifested insensitivity to a Vulcan nerve pinch .
This episode was first aired on 29 March 1968 . Six days later, on 4 April 1968, there was indeed an important assassination – that of Martin Luther King, Jr. .
However, the coincidence goes beyond this: Spock says that the same day as the assassination that the US was launching an orbital nuclear warhead platform. The King assassination was the same day as the launch of the unmanned Apollo 6 Saturn V rocket. This same Saturn V amazingly enough also suffered a serious mishap and went off course. The details of the mishap with the Saturn V on April 4th differ greatly in detail from the events of Assignment: Earth. However, Kirk comments at the end of the episode that the real events were never "generally revealed" at the time. It makes sense therefore to assume, within the context of Star Trek 's fictional history that there was a massive cover-up about the Apollo 6 mishap and that a false cover story was put out to hide the truth that they were launching a nuclear weapon into orbit. This episode uses footage of the Apollo 4 Saturn V, the only previous test of that rocket. Chronologically, the closest candidate to Spock's other "prediction" of a government coup in Asia would be the July 17th military coup in Iraq that brought Saddam Hussein to power ( 17 July Revolution ).
This episode takes place entirely in 1968 , with no scenes in the 23rd century . Along with ENT : " Storm Front " (which takes place in 1944 ), this is one of only two Star Trek episodes based entirely in the 20th century . Furthermore, both episodes take place mostly in and around New York City.
The events of this episode, which take place in 1968, occurred (from the point of view of the Enterprise crew) over a year after those of " Tomorrow is Yesterday ", which take place in 1969 .

Apocrypha [ ]

In various novels and comics, the alien race that trained Gary Seven was revealed as an ancient race called the Aegis .
Seven and Lincoln have appeared in several Star Trek novels ( Assignment: Eternity and the two-volume series, The Eugenics Wars: The Rise and Fall of Khan Noonien Singh by Greg Cox ) and short stories ("The Aliens Are Coming!" by Dayton Ward in Strange New Worlds III , "Seven and Seven" by Kevin Hosey in Strange New Worlds VI and "Assignment: One" by Kevin Lauderdale in Strange New Worlds VIII ).
Gary Seven has also appeared in several comic books , including " The Peacekeeper Part One ", " The Peacekeeper Part Two: The Conclusion ", " Split Infinities ", " Future Imperiled ", and the Star Trek: Assignment: Earth mini-series.
The Department of Temporal Investigations novel Forgotten History explicitly places the episode on April 4, 1968.

Video and DVD releases [ ]

Original US Betamax release: 1986
UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video ): Volume 29 , catalog number VHR 2381, 3 September 1990
US VHS release: 15 April 1994
UK re-release (three-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 2.9, 22 August 1997
Original US DVD release (single-disc): Volume 28, 10 July 2001
As part of the TOS Season 2 DVD collection

Links and references [ ]

Starring [ ].

William Shatner as Capt. Kirk

Also starring [ ]

Leonard Nimoy as Mr. Spock
DeForest Kelley as Dr. McCoy

Guest star [ ]

Robert Lansing as Mister Seven

Co-starring [ ]

Terri Garr as Roberta Lincoln
James Doohan as Scott
George Takei as Sulu
Nichelle Nichols as Uhura
Walter Koenig as Chekov
Don Keefer as Cromwell
Lincoln Demyan as Sergeant
Morgan Jones as Col. Nesvig
Bruce Mars as First Policeman
Ted Gehring as Second Policeman
Paul Baxley as Security Chief

Stand-ins [ ]

William Blackburn as the stand-in for DeForest Kelley
Frank da Vinci as the stand-in for Leonard Nimoy
Jeannie Malone as the stand-in for Teri Garr
Eddie Paskey as the stand-in for William Shatner
Edwin Rochelle as the stand-in for Robert Lansing

References [ ]

6,000 years before ; 20th century ; 1948 ; 1968 ; 1978 ; acceleration ; accident ; agent ( government agent ); Agent 201 ; Agent 347 ; alien ; all decks alert ; altitude ; analysis ; ancestor ; animal ; apartment ; arc ; area ; arms race ; Asia ; assassination ; automobile accident ; auxiliary transmitter ; baby carriage ; badge number ; balance of power ; behavior ; Bermuda ; Beta 5 computer ; bird ; birthmark ; body ; " Bones "; briefing room ; business suit ; button ; Canary Islands ; cat ; Central Intelligence Agency (aka CIA ); century ; chance ; channel ; charge ; chronological age ; circuit ; civilization ; class 1 supervisor ; close orbit ; coat rack ; code name ; colonel ; control center ; control setting ; costume ; countdown ; country (aka nation ); coup ; course ; crisis ; custody ; date ; day ; deflector shields ; degree ; Department of Investigation ; descendant ; destruct signal ; detonation ; device ; dial ; Dodge Coronet ; doll ; door ; Earth ; Earth Cold War ; East 68th Street ; elevator ; employer ; encyclopedia ; engineering personnel ; era ; estimate ; Euro-Asian continent ; exceiver (aka exceiver circuit ); existence ; experience ; expert ; extended orbit ; fact ; Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); feet ; finger ; flight control ; flight path (aka trajectory ); flight telemetry ; force shield ; Ford Falcon ; Franklin ; French language ; friend ; fur coat ; Gary Seven's homeworld ; gantry (aka rocket gantry ); gantry area ; generation ; government ; government office ; green ; groovy ; ground station ; Ground Station 3 ; Ground Station 4 ; Ground Station 11 ; guard dog ; H-bomb ; hair ; hand ; heart ; hello ; Highway 949 ; historical report ; historical research ; history ; Hobson, Albert ; Homicide Squad ; honey blonde ; hour ; Human ; Human history ; hundred ; hydrogen ; idea ; identification ; identification card ; impact ; inch ; incompetence ; information ; inspection ; instruction ; intelligence quotient ; international agreement ; intruder ; Intruder alert ; intuition ; IQ ; jealousy ; jerk ; job ; knowledge ; Johnson, Lyndon B. ; launch ; launch area (aka launch pad or launch site ); launch director ; launch site scan ; light-speed breakaway factor ; light year ; Liquid hydrogen ; location ; logic ; machine ; major power ; malfunction ; McKinley Rocket Base ; medical analysis ; meow ; meter ; mile ; military alert ; Milky Way Galaxy ; minute ; missile ; missile alert ; mission ; mistake ; mole ; name ; nap ; National Security Agency ; navigation report ; news broadcast ; New York City ; New York City Police Department ; nonsense ; no parking sign ; north ; nose ; nuclear holocaust ; nuclear warhead ; Omicron IV ; " on the double "; " on the one hand...on the other hand "; orbit ; orbital nuclear warhead platform ; oxygen ; phaser ; plan ; Plymouth Belvedere ; Plymouth Satellite ; Plymouth Savoy ; phone ; planet ; police ; pound ; Precinct 19 ; Precinct 81 ; President of the United States ; prisoner ; problem ; product ; profession ; programming ; progress ; proof ; pound ; question ; range safety ; rebel ; recording circuit ; record tape ; research ; retaliatory strike ; report ; risk ; rocket ; rocket stage ; rule ; Ryan, John ; safety group ; Saturn V ; science ; science personnel ; search ; search procedure ; second ; secretary ; security alert ; security confinement ; sensor ; sensor scan ; sergeant ; servo ; ship's store ; shoulder ; sleep ; smoking ; society ; South Africa ; " stand by "; star ; star map ; status board ; sub-orbit ; suborbital platform (aka orbital platform ); subway ; Supervisor 194 ; supervisory personnel ; tape bank ; Tau Alpha C ; technology ; telemetry control transmitter system ; telephone ; thing ; time ; time period ; time travel ; tracking station ; transporter ; transporter beam ; transporter circuit ; transporter room ; training ; truth ; typewriter ; typing ; United States of America ; USS ; verification ; visual scan ; voice pattern ; Volkswagen Beetle ; Vulcan ; Vulcan nerve pinch ; Vulcan salute ; warhead ; weapon ; weather satellite ; World War III ; worry ; year ; " your lucky day "

External links [ ]

" Assignment: Earth " at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
" Assignment: Earth " at Wikipedia
" Assignment: Earth " at MissionLogPodcast.com
"Assignment: Earth" • Gary Seven, Isis, & Roberta Lincoln at AssignmentEarth.ca – includes the series' proposal, and first script along with its first and final Star Trek scripts
" Assignment: Earth " at the Internet Movie Database

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1 Bell Riots
3 Daniels (Crewman)

Memory Beta, non-canon Star Trek Wiki

A friendly reminder regarding spoilers ! At present the expanded Trek universe is in a period of major upheaval with the continuations of Discovery and Prodigy , the advent of new eras in gaming with the Star Trek Adventures RPG , Star Trek: Infinite and Star Trek Online , as well as other post-57th Anniversary publications such as the ongoing IDW Star Trek comic and spin-off Star Trek: Defiant . Therefore, please be courteous to other users who may not be aware of current developments by using the {{ spoiler }}, {{ spoilers }} OR {{ majorspoiler }} tags when adding new information from sources less than six months old (even if it is minor info). Also, please do not include details in the summary bar when editing pages and do not anticipate making additions relating to sources not yet in release. THANK YOU

Assignment: Earth (episode)

"Assignment: Earth" was the 55th episode of Star Trek: The Original Series , the 26th and final episode of the show's second season, first aired on 29 March 1968 . The episode was written by Gene Roddenberry and Art Wallace MA , directed by Marc Daniels MA and novelized in Star Trek 3 by James Blish .

1.1.1 Episode characters
1.1.2 Novelization characters
1.2 Starships and vehicles
1.3 Locations
1.4 Races and cultures
1.5 States and organizations
1.6 Other references
2.1.1 Adaptations
3.1.1 Translations
3.2 External links

References [ ]

Characters [ ], episode characters [ ], novelization characters [ ], starships and vehicles [ ], locations [ ], races and cultures [ ], states and organizations [ ], other references [ ], appendices [ ], related media [ ].

"Assignment: Earth" was originally intended to be a back door pilot episode for a spin-off TV series from Star Trek: The Original Series . The series never made it into production but Gary Seven has subsequently been featured in numerous stories in other spin-off media. Assignment: Earth finally became a series of sorts in 2008 when IDW Publishing produced a comics miniseries inspired by the original idea of a TV series: Star Trek: Assignment: Earth , detailing the adventures of Gary Seven in the late 1960s and early 1970s .

Media featuring

	• • •
	• • • •
	" " • " " • " " • " " • " "
	" " • " " • " " • " " • " " • " " • " " • " " • " " • " " • " " • " " • " " • " " • " " • " " • " " • " " • " " • " " • " " • " " • " "

Adaptations [ ]

Connections [ ]

Timeline [ ].

published order
	produced
	aired

chronological order

		:

Translations [ ]

External links [ ].

Assignment: Earth (episode) article at Memory Alpha , the wiki for canon Star Trek .
Assignment: Earth article at Wikipedia , the free encyclopedia.
↑ The character of Clifford Brent was not named in the episode but the same actor, wearing an officer 's Starfleet uniform , was addressed as Brent in TOS episode : " The Naked Time ". The same actor also played the character of Vinci .
1 Odyssey class
2 Ferengi Rules of Acquisition
3 Typhon class

Web Channels
Assignment: Earth

Assignment: Earth - Guest Cast

Guest stars.

James Doohan

Nichelle Nichols

George Takei

Walter Koenig

Robert Lansing

Ted Gehring

Morgan Jones

Paul Baxley

Lincoln demyan, co starring.

Barbara Babcock

Bob Johnson

Eddie Paskey

Rudy Doucette

April Tatro

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Star Trek – Season 2, Episode 26

Assignment: earth, where to watch, star trek — season 2, episode 26.

Watch Star Trek — Season 2, Episode 26 with a subscription on Paramount+, or buy it on Prime Video, Apple TV.

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Cast & crew.

William Shatner

Capt. James T. Kirk

Leonard Nimoy

DeForest Kelley

Dr. Leonard McCoy

James Doohan

Engineer Montgomery Scott

Nichelle Nichols

George Takei

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Assignment: Earth

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Robert Lansing

Roberta Lincoln

Lincoln Demyan

Morgan Jones

Col. Nesvig

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http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Recap/StarTrekS2E26AssignmentEarth

Star Trek S2 E26 "Assignment: Earth" » Recap

Original air date: March 29, 1968

The Enterprise goes back in time to visit the year 1968 to observe and report. Amazingly, they discover a transporter beam signal, something that didn't exist in 20th Century Earth. They intercept and beam aboard a humanoid called Gary Seven and his black cat, Isis. Mr. Seven soon escapes, sending a few Redshirts to la-la land. (No one dies in this episode. In fact, they all have blissful smiles on their faces as they're incapacitated.) As he beams down to Earth, Kirk and Spock follow to make sure he doesn't pollute the time stream since his excuse of being from a planet they never heard of and being there as an agent of protection seems far fetched.

Who is Gary Seven, and why is he so insistent on getting to McKinley Rocket Base?

Assignment: Tropes:

And the Adventure Continues : Kirk and Spock refer to interesting experiences Roberta and Gary will have once NBC green lights their (never realized) series.
As You Know : Gary Seven explains to his computer (and thereby the audience) what his mission is; the computer already knows, but insists on a demonstration that he knows, as proof that he's who he says he is.
Cat Girl : In human form, Isis wears her hair to vaguely look like cat ears.
Crapsack Only by Comparison : Gary Seven disgustedly describes the 20th century world of the episode's original audience as "primitive" and comments "It's incredible that people can exist like this."
Curse Cut Short : Roberta stops a computer before it can say where her star shaped mark is located . (Granted, the computer probably would've used medically acceptable terminology for whatever part of the anatomy her mark was on.)
Distant Sequel : The events of this episode go completely unremarked in canon for the next fifty-four real-life years (and fifty-six years in universe) before the presence of Supervisors on late-20th/early-21st century Earth becomes a major plot point in season two of Star Trek: Picard . Furthermore, the Supervisors are revealed to have been recruited by the Traveler's species.
Early-Installment Weirdness : While time travel is possible in subsequent Star Trek works, it's never again done so easily by a Starfleet crew, and the Temporal Prime Directive would have made a mission like this unlikely.
Exact Time to Failure : Gary says that it's necessary to detonate the platform while it's at least a hundred miles up (it ends up being detonated at 104 miles). Possibly justified in that the nation it was about to fall on could more easily go along with sweeping the incident under the rug if it happened "in space" rather than "in our airspace".
Field Trip to the Past : It's a time travel story. Gary must convince the people of Earth to be excellent to each other by not blowing each other up.
Forcefield Door : Gary is kept locked in by one, until he opens it with a pen that's remarkably like a sonic screwdriver .
Good Versus Good : Kirk and Gary Seven spend the episode butting heads because, what with the risk of totally derailing the course of history, Kirk simply can't take Gary's alibi at face value.
Hammer and Sickle Removed for Your Protection : The U.S. is putting a nuclear warhead into orbit in response to a similar act of aggression by another power. Which power is never specified, but we all know who they're talking about, don't we? Later on, the malfunctioning warhead is headed for "the heart of the Euro-Asian continent." Look at a map from 1968, and you'll see there's pretty much only one country in that vicinity.
Impersonating an Officer : Gary creates a batch of fake ID cards with various police and intelligence credentials. When he realizes that he's let Roberta Lincoln see more than she should, he covers himself by claiming to be a CIA agent.
Informed Ability : The computer reports that despite her erratic behavior, Roberta possesses high IQ but we never actually get to see that.
Intelligible Unintelligible : Gary Seven responds to Isis's mewing as if it were intelligible speech.
Gary Seven regularly holds and pets his cat Isis. He is on Earth to save it from nuclear arms race in space and saves Captain Kirk from being killed by Roberta.
Spock is shown petting Isis, who seems to adore the attention. Spock has an even harder time hiding his affection for her than he did with the Tribbles! Spock is presented a positive character in the series.
Mundanization : Again with the modern day Earth!
No Communities Were Harmed : The fictional McKinley Rocket Base stands in for the real-life Kennedy Space Center.
No Endor Holocaust : In two ways. Not only does the nuclear explosion have no consequences (compared to the crippling electromagnetic pulse and cloud of fallout that would happen in Real Life ) but somehow it defuses tensions in the Cold War instead of ramping them up.
No-Sell : One of the first indications that Gary Seven is not a normal human is when Spock's nerve pinch has no effect on him.
Orbital Bombardment : The U.S. puts a nuclear warhead platform in orbit. During the episode it falls out of orbit and drops toward an enemy country: it will go off on impact.
Poorly Disguised Pilot : This was meant to be a half hour show conceptualized by Roddenberry. It was written way back when Star Trek 's first season was still in production. It never got off the ground, but why waste a good story? It's actually pretty obvious they barely rewrote an existing script to feature the Enterprise crew, since they only play a very limited role and have no effect on events whatsoever.
Punk in the Trunk : Gary hides from security in the trunk of a car.
Recurring Extra : Lieutenant Leslie (Eddie Paskey) wears simultaneously his usual red shirt, a yellow shirt and an engineering suit. Lieutenant Hadley (William Blackburn) is also a NASA technician.
Right-Hand Cat : Isis seems a bit nicer than Sylvia from "Catspaw". She's a sweetheart as cats go, as long as you don't harm Gary.
Scare 'Em Straight : Gary Seven's plan is to sabotage an orbital nuclear weapon platform so that it malfunctions and almost starts World War III in order to scare governments out of deploying such weapons.
Secret History : Suggested by the closing scene, in which Kirk notes that the Enterprise's history records for the current date describe a "never generally revealed" detonation of a nuclear-armed warhead platform exactly 104 miles above the Earth.
Self-Destruct Mechanism : The missile carrying the orbital nuclear warhead platform has a self destruct device to destroy it in case it goes off course. Gary Seven deactivates it as part of his plan to scare the Earth governments into not using such weapons.
Shout-Out : East 68th Street is also the street that was home to the main characters from I Love Lucy . (Recall that Star Trek was produced by Desilu Studios .)
The '60s : Like, man, can you dig Roberta's groovy threads? (Dig 'em? I wanna bury 'em!)
Special Guest : Robert Lansing is the only actor in the entire run of the series to warrant a "Special Guest Star" credit in the first act.
The establishing shot of downtown Manhattan used to open the second act is also seen in numerous episodes of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. throughout that series.
A closeup of Scotty behind the transporter station is recycled from " The Enemy Within ". James Doohan looks noticeably thinner, and has a different hairstyle in this shot.
Recycled footage of the Enterprise orbiting Earth (without clouds) is taken from " Miri ".
A shot of crewmembers on a corridor, listening to Kirk's speech on the intercom is recycled footage from " The Corbomite Maneuver ". The same shot appears in " Balance of Terror " and " The Menagerie, Part I " as well.
A large amount of NASA stock footage is used in the episode. The Saturn V stock footage is of the SA 500f dummy and of Apollos 4 and 6.
The Stoic : Gary Seven is never anything less than brusque and completely focused.
Swiss-Army Weapon : In addition to being able to stun or kill others, Gary's servo can also disable force fields.
Sword of Damocles : The U.S. is about to launch an orbital nuclear warhead platform. Gary Seven's mission is to make it malfunction to scare other nations into not using them.
Time Police : Gary Seven implies he works for them. He's explicitly trying to preserve history by saving the rocket launch and knows humans and Vulcans will meet at some point.
Transplanted Humans : Gary Seven claims to come from Earth in the 20th century, but he's been on an advanced alien world for an unspecified amount of time and they've apparently done some work on him since he's physically completely flawless.
Voluntary Shapeshifting : Is Isis a cat who can turn into a woman or a woman who can turn into a cat? Or something else ?!
The Worf Effect : Gary Seven is shown to be resistant to the Vulcan neck pinch, something very few Trek characters can lay claim to.
You Already Changed the Past : At the end of the episode, Kirk checks the Enterprise 's historical records and finds a mention of the orbital platform being destroyed exactly as it was, suggesting that not only Gary Seven's mission but also the delays caused by Kirk's interference were already part of history.
Star Trek S2 E25 "Bread and Circuses"
Recap/Star Trek: The Original Series
Star Trek S3 E1 "Spock's Brain"

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Assignment: Earth Summary

Stardate not given: The Enterprise is sent on a mission back to Earth in the year 1968 to discover details about how the planet survived the arms race. While in orbit, the ship intercepts a transporter beam from an unknown part of the galaxy and beams the space traveler aboard. Surprised by what has taken place, the man identifies himself as Gary Seven and claims to be a 20th Century Earthman raised on an unknown world and trained to prevent Earth from destroying itself. Kirk decides to verify Seven's story before releasing him, but Seven escapes and beams down to the planet below. Kirk and Spock follow him to New York City, and Seven meanwhile discovers that two of his fellow agents have beenhuged in a auto accident. Seven is forced to complete their mission himself which is to sabotage an orbital nuclear platform, just low enough in the atmosphere to scare Earth leaders into prohibiting additional nuclear space weapons. Just as Kirk and Spock arrive, Seven beams out of his office a

Star Trek Season 2 Episodes...

Star Trek Season 02 Episode 01 Information

Star Trek Show Summary

Star Trek chronicles the 23rd century adventures of the U.S.S. Enterprise, one of twelve state-of-the-art starships representing Starfleet, the exploration branch of the United Federation of Planets, an alliance of alien races including Earth, Vulcan, Tellar, and Andor. Captain James T. Kirk, the youngest starship captain in the Fleet, commands the Enterprise with a combination of brashness, authority, and imagination. The half-Vulcan/half-human Mr. Spock serves as his extremely logical and efficient First Officer and Science Officer. The ship's chief medical officer is Dr. Leonard McCoy, who has supreme medical authority on the ship and tends to the physical and mental needs of the Enterprise's crew of approximately 430. Other ranking crew members include: Montgomery Scott, a man dedicated to his ship engines but not adverse to a bit of shore leave; Hikaru Sulu, helmsman and a man of many hobbies ranging from botany to fencing, Nyota Uhura, the extremely competent head of Communications, and Pavel Chekov, brash young navigator with a fierce pride in his native Russia.

Star Trek Re-Watch: “Assignment: Earth”

“Assignment: Earth” Written by Art Wallace (story by Gene Roddenberry and Art Wallace) Directed by Marc Daniels

Season 2, Episode 26 Production episode: 2×26 Original air date: March 29, 1968 Star date: 1968

Mission summary

While on a frivolous time travel mission to research Earth’s history, circa 1968, Enterprise accidentally intercepts a transporter signal from an unknown source over a thousand light years away. A well-dressed man holding a black cat beams onto their transporter pad and looks at them dramatically.

The mysterious man in the sharp suit asks why they’ve intercepted him and demands they identify themselves. Kirk calls security to the transporter room before complying. The man is astonished to find a starship in the 20th century and when he notices Spock’s pointy ears he realizes Enterprise is from the future. He calls himself Mister Seven, claiming to be a contemporary Earth man sent by a secretive alien race to protect the planet. That’s a flimsy premise, especially from a guy who has conversations with his pet cat. Seven tries to convince them to beam him down immediately.

SEVEN: Captain Kirk, I am of this time period. You are not. You interfere with me, with what I have to do there, and you’ll change history. You’ll destroy the Earth and probably yourselves, too. SPOCK: If what he says is true, Captain, every second we delay him could be dangerous. KIRK: And if he’s lying? SEVEN: This is the most critical period in Earth’s history. The planet I’m from wants to help Earth survive. KIRK: What if it turns out you’re an invading alien from the future? SPOCK: A most difficult decision, Captain.

Kirk has a tough call to make, so he puts it off until he can gather more information about their fashionable passenger and his ominous feline companion, Isis. He orders confinement for Seven, but the man and his cat overpower the incompetent security officers. He shrugs off Spock’s patented neck pinch and works the transporter controls until Kirk stuns him with a phaser.

As Dr. McCoy examines the stylish stranger, Kirk calls a ship-wide briefing with all science, engineering, and supervisory personnel through the comm system. They don’t know much more than they did before, but Spock takes a break from cuddling Seven’s cat to highlight the historical significance of the 1960s:

SPOCK: There will be an important assassination today, an equally dangerous government coup in Asia, and, this could be highly critical, the launching of an orbital nuclear warhead platform by the United States countering a similar launch by other powers. KIRK: Weren’t orbital nuclear devices one of this era’s greatest problems? SPOCK: Most definitely. Once the sky was full of orbiting H-bombs, the slightest mistake could have brought one down by accident, setting off a nuclear holocaust.

In the brig, Seven tests the forcefield of his cell before shorting it out with his sonic screwdriver pen then using the device to hypnotize a red shirt into a dead sleep. He escapes to the transporter room while McCoy tells Kirk and Spock what a great body he has: “Human readings, yes, but not a single physical flaw. Totally perfect body.” Clean living or proof of alien origin?

Isis darts out of the room just before security reports Seven’s escape. She joins her master in the transporter room and they beam down before Kirk can stop him…

In a New York City office, a secret wall slides open to expose a hidden safe. The dials on the steel vault spin by themselves until the massive door swings aside to reveal a swirling blue energy field. Seven and his cat emerge from the transporter effect and calmly walk into the room as the vault and wall close behind them. He strides to the window and looks at the people below, marveling at how primitive it all is.

He calls out “Computer on.” A bookcase rotates and a large computer appears, a cross between Batman’s Batcomputer and Daystrom’s ill-fated M15. The Beta 5 analytical computer requests he identify himself by exposition:

SEVEN: All right. Agents are male and female, descendants of human ancestors taken from Earth approximately six thousand years ago. They’re the product of generations of training for this mission. Problem: Earth technology and science have progressed faster than political and social knowledge. Purpose of mission: to prevent Earth’s civilization from destroying itself before it can mature into a peaceful society.

It may sound like a bad pitch for a television show, but it satisfies Beta 5 and she accepts him as Supervisor 194, Gary Seven. She reports that agents 201 and 347 have been missing for three days and begins searching news feeds and government communications to locate them in time to complete their operation: to sabotage a rocket carrying a U.S. suborbital nuclear warhead, which launches in less than ninety minutes. Seven might have to get his own hands dirty on this one.

Meanwhile, back on Star Trek : Kirk and Spock beam down in period-appropriate business suits, with a cap covering Spock’s ears. They begin tracking Seven’s position with Scotty’s guidance from Enterprise .

A blonde woman enters Seven’s outer office while Beta 5 produces false IDs and a map of McKinley Rocket Base for him. Seven, still dressed to the nines in a new suit, mistakes her for agent 201, but after the psychic typewriter freaks her out by auto-magically typing everything she says, it becomes evident that she’s hired help who knew nothing of their identities—until Seven inadvertently made her aware of their advanced technology. She quits but he uses his sonic pen to lock her in and consults Beta 5 via a green cube on the desk.

SEVEN: Scan unidentified female present. COMPUTER: Roberta Lincoln. Human. Profession: secretary. Employed by 347 and 201. Description: age twenty, five feet seven inches, 120 pounds, hair presently tinted honey blonde. Although behavior appears erratic, possesses high IQ. Birthmarks— ROBERTA: Hey. COMPUTER: Small mole on left shoulder. Somewhat larger star-shaped mark on her— ROBERTA: Hey, watch it! Okay, I’ll bite. What is it? SEVEN: Miss Lincoln. Miss Lincoln, What kind of work did your employers say they were doing here? ROBERTA: Research for a new encyclopedia? No? No.

He shows her his fabricated CIA papers to convince her he’s a government agent. “Very groovy,” she says, suddenly trusting him. Seven decides to keep her around, because why not, and asks not to be disturbed while he consults his cat. But Kirk and Spock are closing in on his coordinates.

They arrive at his front door just as Beta 5 reports that agents 201 and 347 were killed in an automobile accident on their way to McKinley. He sneaks out through his secret transportal as Roberta runs interference on the Starfleet officers. They struggle and she uses her defensive training to pull Spock’s cap off, which admittedly does force him to let her go so she can get a better look at his Vulcan features, with the requisite shocked reaction. Kirk shoots the locked office door with his phaser and bursts in—too late, again. Seven walks safely out of a hangar at McKinley.

Cops arrive at the apartment in response to Roberta’s panicked call for help. The captain and science officer beam out with the startled policemen then return them as soon as they’ve had an eyeful of Enterprise ’s transporter room—giving Roberta another demonstration of advanced technology. So much for keeping a low profile. Seven isn’t much better at evading security personnel at the base. He’s stopped by a sergeant, who he allows to make a phone call before he zaps him asleep with his pen.

Meanwhile, on Star Trek , Scotty uses a weather satellite to get Google-like close-up images of the launch pad, performing a tedious visual scan for the stylish business man and his black cat. He misses Seven emerging from the trunk of the launch director’s car and his trip in the elevator to the top of the rocket, only thirty-five minutes before blastoff. Kirk and Spock beam down to the pad just as Seven’s sleepy sergeant wakes up to capture them. They really have the worst luck sneaking around 20th century military bases.

Kirk and Spock remain tight-lipped about their identities and the communicators and phasers the military confiscate from them. But Scotty’s finally found the needle in his haystack: he zooms in on Seven and Isis perched on the gantry crane, messing around in an open panel on the rocket. He attempts to beam them up, but Roberta inadvertently presses all the right buttons while playing with Seven’s toys and intercepts the transporter beam, bringing him back to his office before he can finish whatever he was trying to do.

Kirk’s “never felt so helpless” standing around watching the rocket take off. In Seven’s apartment, Roberta begins to get suspicious when her employer uses Beta 5 to sabotage the rocket. She tries to call for help but he cuts the phone cord with his pen. He takes the rocket off its flight path and arms the warhead, which alarms the military brass at the base, and most international governments. Seven has control of the rocket’s horizontal and vertical, and he sets it on a trajectory for Eurasia where it’s certain to ruin everyone’s day.

While the officers are distracted by their failed attempts to re-establish contact and activate the rocket’s destruct signal, Kirk and Spock nab a communicator and have Scotty transport them to Seven’s apartment. They find that Roberta has beaned Seven with a cigar box and taken his pen. He tries to convince Roberta that he’s trying to prevent World War III:

SEVEN: Roberta, you’ve got to believe me. Look, a truly advanced planet wouldn’t use force. They wouldn’t come here in strange alien forms. The best of all possible methods would be to take human beings to their world, train them for generations until they’re needed here. ROBERTA: Mr. Seven, I want to believe you. I do. I know this world needs help. That’s why some of my generation are kind of crazy and rebels, you know. We wonder if we’re going to be alive when we’re thirty.

Okay… Kirk and Spock bust into the office and the Vulcan immediately tries to figure out Beta 5’s controls so he can detonate the warhead. Seven insists he has the same goal: to destroy the rocket before it drops below 100 miles over the Earth, “just barely in time to frighten them out of this arms race.” Roberta points the pen at Kirk threateningly, but Seven takes it from her—it was set to kill. He hands the weapon to the captain and offers his help.

Kirk is indecisive, but Spock may not be able to master the controls in time. “Without facts, the decision cannot be made logically. You must rely on your human intuition,” he advises. With the rocket thirty seconds from impact, he makes up his mind. “Go,” he tells Seven.

Seven takes over the controls and after a tense countdown, he succeeds in destroying the rocket at an altitude of 104 miles. Later, he dictates his report to his typewriter, calling the mission a success despite Enterprise ’s accidental interference. The captain and Spock maintain that of course everything happened the way it was supposed to—they’ve just noticed that their historical tapes had a record that “a malfunctioning suborbital warhead was exploded exactly one hundred and four miles above the Earth” (how did Spock miss that?) and resulted in better international control of nuclear weapons. Oh, time travel.

Roberta is distressed when she sees Isis briefly turn into a Playboy Playmate, but Seven is coy about his cat’s true nature. He asks Kirk and Spock for some hints about the future, but they hold out on him.

KIRK: I’m afraid we can’t reveal everything we know, Mr. Seven. SPOCK: Captain, we could say that Mr. Seven and Miss Lincoln have some interesting experiences in store for them. KIRK: Yes, I think we could say that. Two to beam up, Scotty. SPOCK: Live long and prosper, Mr. Seven. KIRK: And the same to you, Miss Lincoln. Energize.

Analysis Seven, 104, 347, 1968… the numbers just don’t add up on this one. Most fans are aware that “Assignment: Earth” was intended as a backdoor pilot for a show starring Gary Seven, his quirky receptionist, a sexy shapeshifting cat, and a contrary computer. As such, it makes for a peculiar episode of Star Trek , and a dissatisfying season finale, relegating the crew to following Seven around trying to figure out what he’s up to. The conceit that time travel is so simple Starfleet can lead observational missions into Earth’s past was rightfully dropped after this anomalous plot, as was the planned TV series.

I don’t know if I ever watched this episode without the knowledge that it was an odd blend of two shows, but I think it left a better impression on me when I was younger. This time around the setup comes off as too farfetched, and the story structure is a mess. Too much focus is placed on Seven to the detriment of our regular cast, and aside from the scene where he meets Roberta, the script is uninspired. Add in the fact that we’ve seen a lot of this before, including a black cat who’s really a woman, and it doesn’t deliver much excitement.

But the show isn’t without its good points. I was curious about Seven’s true identity and mission right up to the end, having forgotten his purpose (or simply confused by his motives and unreliable explanations). The NASA stock footage is breathtaking even now, seamlessly integrated into the episode and making this episode look like it had an effects budget to rival a Hollywood film. I suppose in 1968 much of the public would have been familiar with those striking images, but I hadn’t seen them often enough to be a distraction. The shots of 1968’s streets, sets, and fashions are as much a window into the past as Star Trek itself often represents that tdecade’s culture and politics.

Seven calls that decade the “most critical period in Earth’s history,” and I’m not sure I would necessarily dispute the claim, even now. The episode tackles contemporary issues of the sixties more directly than usual, commenting and warning against the raging nuclear arms race with all the subtlety of Superman IV: The Quest for Peace and about the same level of success. (Hint: none at all.) It’s interesting to see a 1960s interpretation of the 1960s, including Roberta’s explanation of her generation’s hippy culture. Most of all, I was intrigued that both Seven and Kirk are the good guys—they want the same thing, but they find it difficult to trust each other and the stakes are too high to risk making the wrong call, as good an analogy for the Cold War as any.

The biggest surprise in this episode: Kirk’s ship-wide briefing, which is unusual in any Star Trek series. I also noticed Scotty’s comment, “It’s impossible to hide a whole planet,” because in the TNG episode “When the Bough Breaks,” the planet Aldea manages it just fine with a cloaking device. Maybe the engineer hasn’t heard the legends about it.

Hey, do you think anyone went back for the communicator and phasers they left at McKinley Base?

Eugene’s Rating: Warp 3 (on a scale of 1-6)

Torie Atkinson: Did we get our wires crossed with some other re-watch?

The best that can be said about “Assignment: Earth” is that it was barely a Star Trek episode. The worst that can be said is that I probably should have painted my apartment before popping the disc in so I could’ve had something more interesting to watch. Its greatest sin wasn’t the hopeless plot, the uninspired dialogue, the heavy-handed moral messages, or even the lack of screentime for our heroes: it’s that it was about as exciting as watching someone’s vacation photo slideshow. If they had gone on vacation to the Get Smart studio set. That they made in their living room. To act out their spy thriller fan fiction. (Hints of Bashir’s holodeck program, anyone?)

First of all, the “we were just on the usual Tuesday time travel route” set-up was pathetic and lame, even compared to some of the handwaving we’ve put up with before. I never though I’d look back at “ A Piece of the Action ” and think it was clever, but there you have it. Can they not even try to come up with something plausible? It can be half-hearted! I’ll take it! Worse was the excruciating overuse of stock footage. Now I’m a space geek through and through and I yawned audibly at least three times during each of the ponderously long rocket check-me-out sequences. Rockets are cool! I get it! You know what’s not cool after watching this episode? Rockets! They made rockets boring. True fact.

Okay, so the computer was kind of cool when she gave Seven lip, and Spock with a kitty is SO CUTE (and random…) and I am surprised I haven’t seen that in the various clipshow YouTube videos that people always send me. But oh Teri Garr, what are you wearing and why would you agree to be so annoying? There’s one line I really liked, though, that I felt was quintessentially Star Trek . Kirk says that it’s impossible to hide a whole planet, and Seven responds: “Impossible for you. Not for them.” It seemed to imply both that technology can do more than we think it can, and that limitations (perceived or real) are ours alone, not necessarily universal. A nice touch.

I guess I should talk about the science-fictional “idea” behind this episode, such as it is. Aliens interfering with Earth history: could be interesting, is not here. Spy thrillers involved with this: also could be interesting I guess but probably not combined with camp. The idea of technology moving more quickly than social progress: plausible! Ding! But those ideas aren’t really worthy of this episode. The real question I was left with at the end wasn’t “Oh what will become of humanity?” but “Why do 1960s aliens have an orgasm raygun?”

But maybe I am just not evolved enough to understand.

Torie’s Rating: Warp 2

Best Line: ROBERTA: “Research for a new encyclopedia? No? No.”

Syndication Edits: Kirk tells McCoy to hurry with his report and bring it to the briefing room; Kirk and Spock approach Seven’s building; Seven’s reaction to the news that his agents are dead; after Roberta calls the cops, Seven opens his vault, Spock holds Roberta, and Kirk blasts open the door; Kirk sees the plans for McKinley Rocket Base; Seven prepares to hide in the director’s car; three segments of Scotty scanning the viewscreen; Seven’s line, “Meow? You are nervous, aren’t you, doll?”

Trivia: The first draft of a half-hour pilot script for a series titled “Assignment: Earth” was dated November 14, 1966, which pitted Gary Seven against a race of alien time travelers trying to sabotage Earth’s development. He was assisted by Roberta Hornblower against two Omegan operatives named Harth and Isis and a time-altering computer. The pilot didn’t sell and it was reworked as a Star Trek episode, with that first draft dated December 20, 1967, in which the Enterprise crew watches Bonanza on the Bridge viewscreen. Seven appeals to McCoy to “think like a doctor, not a mechanic” while imprisoned, and his female aide was now called Roberta London. Roddenberry revisited the concept in another failed television movie/series, The Questor Tapes in 1974.

The episode uses NASA stock footage of launched from Cape Kennedy (now Cape Canaveral) , cropped from the anamorphic 2.35 : 1 aspect ratio.

Roddenberry was credited as “Producer” instead of “Executive Producer” for this episode, the first he was listed as such since the first season.

The character Gary Seven returned only in a number of novels and comics, including John Byrne’s comic mini-series sequel to the episode, Star Trek: Assignment: Earth, which featured a story that also ties back to the episode “Tomorrow is Yesterday.”

Other notes: Coincidentally, there were two important assassinations in 1968: Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. on April 4 (six days after the episode was broadcast) and Robert F. Kennedy on June 6. The Apollo 6 rocket was also launched on April 4.

Robert Lansing (Gary Seven) received a unique guest star credit for this episode, which included his character’s name. Fans might recognize him from films The 4-D Man and Empire of the Ants , as well as starring and guest roles on television, including Twilight Zone (“The Long Morrow”).

Teri Garr (Roberta Lincoln) was reportedly upset over Roddenberry’s shortening of her skirt and has refused to talk about Star Trek . Genre fans would remember her from Young Frankenstein and Close Encounters of the Third Kind .

James Doohan voices a radio voice at the rocket base.

Previous Episode: Season 2, Episode 25 – “ Bread and Circuses .”

Next Episode: Season 3, Episode 1 – “ Spock’s Brain .” (Oh, boy.) US residents can watch it for free at the CBS website .

This post originally appeared on Tor.com .

About Eugene Myers & Torie Atkinson

Another problems with this episodes, besides the ones you’ve outlined, is that it’s completely – er – illogical for Kirk to take Spock with him when he beams down. Surely Scotty would be a better choice – he could handle the technological side of things just as well as Spock, and he doesn’t have any pointed ears to hide. But hey, where would be the fun in that?

Mr. Seven’s Computer is the M-5 all dressed up with a female voice substituted for the male voice in the Ultimate Computer.

It’s also Mr. Atoz’s Atovachron.

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Assignment: Earth

While back in time observing Earth in 1968, the Enterprise crew encounters the mysterious Gary Seven who has his own agenda on the planet.
When the Enterprise is assigned to observe Earth's history in 1968, suddenly it intercepts a transporter beam which originates at least a thousand light-years from Earth, bringing aboard a humanoid alien 'agent Gary Seven' holding a black cat called Isis, who warns them to step back and let him go to accomplish his mission to save Earth; initially phaser-struck down, he manages to beam himself away, actually on a mission to prevent a nuclear rocket being launched at McKinley base because earth is socio-politically not ready for its technological progress. He assumes a classified identity to override a powerful computer, and mistakes the wrong girl, Miss Lincoln, for another agent; the computer reports both other agents he seeks are deceased in an accident. Meanwhile Kirk and Spock beam down to investigate if the alien isn't hostile, realizing the risk of changing their own past. When they get on his trail, the girl sees Spock's ears, calls the police and Seven gets away; they must first beam back aboard, then down to the base looking for Seven who overpowers security and sabotages the missile; however they get caught before Scotty locates Seven and beams him up, but he beams himself back grumbling he wasn't finished... — KGF Vissers
While assigned to observe Earth's history in 1968, the Enterprise intercepts a transporter beam originating over a thousand light-years away, bringing aboard a seemingly trustworthy humanoid named Gary Seven and his black house cat, Isis. When it's apparent he's no ordinary human, Kirk holds him for questioning - but would doing so alter the past, or would releasing him be the wrong move? While Kirk debates, Gary escapes, beaming to Earth to accomplish his mission, the sabotage of a nuclear rocket about to be launched at McKinley Rocket Base. With Kirk and Spock on his heels, Gary must also deal with ditzy secretary Roberta Lincoln, whom he mistakes for one of two missing colleagues already on Earth, and an alien computer with a slight attitude. — statmanjeff
The Enterprise is assigned to visit the 20th century to study critical political tensions. After arriving, they intercept a transporter beam that originates at least a thousand light-years from Earth. Who is the 20th century human who seems to command technology superior to that of the 23rd century Federation? Is he here to preserve humankind as he claims or has he arrived on this critical day to start World War III? — CommanderBalok
Having traveled back in time to visit Earth on a historical information-gathering exercise, the Enterpise intercepts a space traveler being beamed to Earth. Gary Seven is human but clearly comes from an advanced civilization who claims to have been specially trained for a mission to save mankind from itself. Captain Kirk isn't at all sure that Seven isn't there for malicious purposes and puts him in the brig. Seven does manage to escape however and with Kirk and Spock in pursuit, tries to complete the mission that two missing agents were unable to finalize. For Kirk, the decision he has to make is very real: does he stop Seven or let him finish - a wrong decision may mean altering Earth history altogether. — garykmcd
The ENTERPRISE, on a historical research mission to observe earth in 1968 (they traveled back in time using the light-speed breakaway factor). It intercepts a powerful transporter beam from a distant part of the galaxy (from at least a 1000 light yrs away). A human male dressed in 20th century business suit and carrying a black cat materializes on the pad. Calling himself Gary Seven (Robert Lansing) informs Capt Kirk that he is on a vital mission to help Earth survive (he claims he is from the 20th century and has been living on a hidden planet with far advanced tech, which wants to remain hidden). Kirk unsure of his identity and motives orders him to be taken to brig. Seven and his cat, Isis, attack the ENTERPRISE crew in attempt to escape and overpower Kirk and his men. Even Spocks "Vulcan Neck Pinch" is ineffective against him. Kirk finally stuns him with phaser and orders "Bones" Mccoy to examine him and determine if human. In the briefing room Kirk and Spock receive McCoy's report. Seven is human, in fact is a perfect human specimen with no scars or imperfections. Spock reports that on this day in 1968 US was to launch an orbital nuclear platform to match similar deployment by other powers. In the brig Seven removes what appears to be pen from his pocket which uses to disable the force field and stun the security officer. Heading to the transporter room is joined by Isis and beams down to an office suite in New York City. Seven attempts to access the Beta-5 computer, hidden behind a sliding bookcase, but the computer refuses to recognize him. Declarng himself to the computer as Supervisor 194 attempts to access it. He describes his mission, humans taken from earth 6,000 years in the past have been selectively bred and trained by a superior alien civilization to ensure that the fast progress is science on the planet doesn't lead to its destruction before it can mature into a peaceful society. Seven asks the computer for status of Agents 201 and 347. The computer informs that the US plans to launch orbital nuclear devices from McKinley Rocket base, in 1.5 hrs. At this time a young woman enters the office. Seven mistakes her for Agent 201 and ask where she had been for past 3 days and to write a report using voice activated typewriter When the woman reacts with confusion to Seven's request, Seven has computer to scan her. The computer reveals she is Roberta Lincoln (Teri Garr), a 20 yr secretary hired by 201 & 347 to supposedly do research for an encyclopedia. Realizing his mistake has the computer scan all communications to locate the missing agents. The Beta-5 reveals that 201 and 347 were killed in a car crash near McKinley Rocket base. Their mission was to arrange for a failure in an upcoming launch of an orbital nuclear platform by the United States. Meanwhile Spock and Kirk disguised in 20th century clothing track Seven to the suite (through the location of his beam down). Rushing in they demand that Roberta tell them where Seven is. Roberta calls the police while Spock and Kirk try to break into the inner office. Seven uses a transporter device hidden in large walk-in safe to transport to McKinley Rocket base. Kirk and Spock beam back to the Enterprise after seeing plans of the McKinley Rocket base on Seven's desk. Seven in meantime has materialized at McKinley Rocket Base where he is captured by a security officer. Seven warns Isis to be careful and not get stepped on. Isis emits an cry and Seven uses the distraction to stun the security officer. He then conceals himself in the trunk of the launch director's car when he inspects the launch pad. Seven then rides up the gantry to the top of the rocket where he opens an access panel and begins to rewire the rocket's guidance system. Kirk and Spock having discovered Seven's target have the ENTERPRISE transport them to McKinley Rocket Base. Materializing outside a hanger they are captured by the security officer who has regained consciousness. Mr Scott, who has been keeping McKinley Rocket Base under observation spots Seven and attempts to beam him aboard the ENTERPRISE. But before Seven was beamed off, he managed to get into the rocket and fiddle with the control wires of its payload. Roberta has discovered Seven's secret transporter portal by moving a pen on a desk set. She then accidentally activates the transporter which beams him from the ENTERPRISE back to the office suite. The rocket blasts off, Seven asks the Beta- 5 computer if his tampering with the rocket's guidance system was sufficient to take over. The Beta-5 answers affirmative if done on manual. Roberta watches as Seven takes over control sending the rocket off course and arming the warhead, becomes concerned. She takes a metal cigarette case and strikes him on the head. She then takes his Servo device and holds him prisoner. Seven attempts to get Roberta to let him finish what he started, otherwise the warhead will detonate on impact triggering a thermo-nuclear war. Spock and Kirk have been taken to the launch control center and held at gunpoint by security. Mr Scott attempts to contact Kirk to inform him of the rocket launch and malfunction. Spock uses the Vulcan Neck Pinch to disable the security officer when he picks up Kirk's communicator in response to Mr Scott's call. Kirk and Spock are beamed to Seven's suite. Seven disarms Roberta, handing his servo to Kirk and informing her that it was set to kill. Kirk asks Spock if he can take over the rocket and detonate the warhead. Spock said he does not have sufficient time to study the Beta-5 to safely detonate the warhead. Kirk is forced to trust Seven and tells him to complete the job and detonate the warhead. Seven has the Beta-5 detonate the warhead at 104 miles above earth, sufficient to convince governments of need to ban such devices. Roberta looking at Isis on the couch sees a beautiful exotic woman instead. Questioning Seven as to who the woman is she is told by Seven that is merely his cat. Isis having transformed back to a cat. As Kirk and Spock bid Seven and Roberta farewell inform them that will have some interesting experiences in store.

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Ep 26. Assignment: Earth

March 29, 1968
7.5 (3,560)

In the season 2 finale of the classic science fiction series Star Trek, entitled "Assignment: Earth," the crew of the starship Enterprise is sent back in time to Earth during the tumultuous year of 1968. Instead of investigating a strange new world, they are tasked with observing and assisting a human named Gary Seven and his alluring companion, Roberta Lincoln, as they attempt to stop a group of renegade beings from altering the course of history and thereby changing the future of the Federation.

Initially skeptical of the pair's mysterious origins and futuristic technology, Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock must navigate the uncharted territory of Cold War espionage, political assassination plots, and even a feline sidekick named Isis. Along the way, they encounter a cast of characters both familiar and new, including a harried secretary, a suspicious agent, and an enigmatic entity known only as The Guardians.

As the clock ticks down towards a critical moment in humanity's destiny, Gary and Roberta must undertake a daring mission to sabotage a rocket launch while Kirk and Spock face off against a powerful foe intent on unleashing chaos and destruction. With the fate of not only Earth but the entire galaxy at stake, our heroes must rely on their wits, their training, and above all, their faith in the power of reason and compassion to triumph over evil and protect the future of civilization.

Featuring all the hallmarks of the classic Star Trek franchise - including highly advanced technology, nail-biting action sequences, and thought-provoking allegories - "Assignment: Earth" is a thrilling and satisfying conclusion to the show's second season. With its blend of science fiction, espionage, and time travel, this episode remains a beloved classic among fans and a testament to the enduring legacy of a show that explored the final frontier of both space and human potential.

Genres Science Fiction Action & Adventure
Cast William Shatner Leonard Nimoy DeForest Kelley Barbara Babcock Majel Barrett
Channel NBC
First Aired March 29, 1968
Content Rating TV-PG
Runtime 50 min
Language English
IMDB Rating 7.5 (3,560)

Den of Geek

The First Star Trek Spinoff Would Have Explored a Very Different Kind of Frontier

As Star Trek was meeting its potential end, Gene Roddenberry tried to make a very different sci-fi spinoff with Assignment: Earth.

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Enterprise in Star Trek: The Original Series

By the end of Star Trek ‘s second season, Kirk and the Enterprise had encountered many godlike beings and advanced technologies. Yet, they still reacted with shock when, during a trip back to 1968, a mysterious person interferes with the ship’s transporters, and even more so when the person reveals himself as a serious-looking human holding a black cat named Isis.

That man, they discover, is Gary Seven a 20th-century human and member of an alien peacekeeping force. Seven has been sent back to his home planet to prevent a rocket launch that would further enflame the Cold War, a mission that Kirk and Spock take too long to understand.

Such is the plot to “Assignment: Earth,” the 1968 finale to the Original Series ‘ second season, which was also almost the last episode of the entire series. But even if that had been the end of Kirk and crew on television, it may not have been the end for Gary and his feline companion. After all, Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry had originally hoped to turn “Assignment: Earth” into an ongoing spinoff series, one that would have taken a slightly more grounded approach than exploring the final frontier.

A Missed Assignment

“Captain, we could say that Mister Seven and Miss Lincoln have some… interesting experiences in store for them,” says Spock at the end of “Assignment: Earth.” The line was intended as a tease for the audience, capping a backdoor pilot that Roddenberry hoped would lead to his next hit sci-fi series. But even before it was folded into Star Trek, the idea for “Assignment: Earth” began life as its own standalone show. Unfortunately, when none of the networks showed interest in ordering a pilot, Roddenberry and co-creator Art Wallace reworked the idea, instead launching “Assignment: Earth” via the also imperiled Star Trek .

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For that reason, “Assignment: Earth” spends more time with Seven than it does Kirk and Spock. Played with stoic reserve by Robert Lansing, Seven goes about his mission to disrupt the launch at the (fictional) McKinley Rocket Base with utter seriousness. Along the way, we learn a bit about his backstory. The descendent of humans abducted by aliens in 4000 BC and brought to peak mental and physical ability, Seven has returned to his people’s planet to prevent Earth from destroying itself before they can achieve harmony.

Along the way, Seven dazzles audiences with his high-tech equipment, including a massive computer hidden behind a bookcase in his apartment, his voice-activated typewriter, and his “servo,” a pen-shaped device that operates as a multipurpose tool.

The episode also gave Seven two partners, the first was Isis, who may or may not also sometimes be a sexy lady (this is a Roddenberry show, after all). The second is a hip ’60s woman called Roberta, played by Teri Garr . In her first major role, Garr shows off the comic timing that will make her a star, playing Roberta as sometimes overwhelmed by the advanced technology, but with a strong moral core and moments of bravery.

But despite all of the pieces in place for a cool sci-fi series, in which Gary and his crew continue to protect Earth’s timeline from being altered, neither audiences nor networks wanted more of Gary Seven. And when we next saw the Enterprise crew, they had much more important issues to deal with, namely finding Spock’s Brain in the season 3 opener.

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The assignment continues.

Even if Lansing and Garr never returned as Seven and Roberta, Trekkies didn’t forget about them. The characters play key roles in the Eugenics Wars novels by Greg Cox from the early 2000s. In those stories, Seven finds the boy Khan Noonien Singh in a secret lab in 1974 India. Seven rescues the boy and plans to raise Khan in the ways of the aliens who taught him, hoping that Khan will use his augments for the good of humanity.

But when Khan takes steps that lead to the Eugenics Wars, Seven and Roberta try to stop him, essentially becoming his first nemeses. Seven’s failure to prevent Khan’s rise leads to his retirement from his post, with the mature Roberta taking over in his place.

Seven and Roberta have also appeared in several Star Trek comics, including a 2008 five-issue miniseries Star Trek: Assignment Earth by IDW Comics , written and penciled by none other than comics legend John Byrne. The comic picks up three months after “Assignment: Earth,” and follows the duo on a series of adventures, which involve more nuclear facilities, secret cloning labs, and even a return trip to the Enterprise .

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All of these stories present Seven and Roberta as secret agents, which makes sense, given that Roddenberry modeled the characters on popular British agents James Bond and The Avengers . However, sci-fi fans will notice quite a few similarities between the “Assignment: Earth” heroes and another popular franchise timey-wimey franchise following an alien protagonist: Doctor Who .

Like the Doctor, especially William Hartnell ‘s first incarnation, Seven has a stoic demeanor, which sometimes clashes with his cool young female companion. He uses alien equipment to go where he needs to anywhere on the planet (not through time, but given how easily the Enterprise time travels, it’s hard to believe that Seven didn’t have a few tricks to pull it off).

Seven solves problems by pointing his pen-shaped servo at things, which allows him to open and unlock doors, turn on computers, and that can even be set to stun, just like the sonic screwdriver. He even gets past security with a wallet full of fake ID cards, which feels a lot like psychic paper. Of course, psychic paper wasn’t added to Who lore until the Russel T Davies reboot. And even the sonic screwdriver didn’t appear until the Second Doctor serial Fury from the Deep , which aired at the same time as “Assignment: Earth.” Clearly, Gary Seven and Roberta Lincoln were onto something in 1968.

“I have never felt so helpless,” Kirk confesses in a supplemental log late in the episode. It’s a telling statement. Not only does Seven get most of the attention in “Assignment: Earth,” but Kirk and Spock spend the entire episode following his trail, confused and inert.

Had a letter-writing campaign not convinced CBS to produce one more season of Star Trek , “Assignment: Earth” would have been an ignoble end to the series but perhaps also the jumping off point for new adventures starring Mr. Seven and his companions. But even if Trek ‘s legacy is more than secure in 2024, it would still be nice to see the characters of Seven and Roberta make some sort of return. After all, humanity still needs a lot of help.

Joe George | @jageorgeii

Joe George’s writing has appeared at Slate, Polygon, Tor.com, and elsewhere!

IMAGES

Watch Star Trek: The Original Series (Remastered) Season 2 Episode 26
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"Assignment: Earth" (S2:E26) Star Trek: The Original Series Screencaps
"Assignment: Earth" (S2:E26) Star Trek: The Original Series Screencaps
Assignment: Earth
"Assignment: Earth" (S2:E26) Star Trek: The Original Series Screencaps

COMMENTS

"Star Trek" Assignment: Earth (TV Episode 1968)
"Star Trek" Assignment: Earth (TV Episode 1968) cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more. Menu. ... a list of 26 titles ... Star Trek (Season 2/ 2ª Temporada) a list of 26 titles created 20 Jan 2023 Star Trek TOS: About 30 Good Episodes a list of 32 titles created 18 Feb 2020 ...
"Star Trek" Assignment: Earth (TV Episode 1968)
Assignment: Earth: Directed by Marc Daniels. With William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, Robert Lansing. While back in time observing Earth in 1968, the Enterprise crew encounters the mysterious Gary Seven who has his own agenda on the planet.
Star Trek: Season 2
While back in time observing Earth in 1968, the Enterprise crew encounters the mysterious Gary Seven who has his own agenda on the planet. ... Assignment: Earth (1968) ← Back to episode. Bread and Circuses (2x25) Spock's Brain (3x1) Season Regulars 7. William Shatner. James T. Kirk Leonard Nimoy. Spock ... (right arrow) go to next season.
Assignment: Earth
Star Trek: The Original Series season 2. List of episodes. " Assignment: Earth " is the twenty-sixth and final episode of the second season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek. Written by Art Wallace (based on a story by Wallace and Gene Roddenberry) and directed by Marc Daniels, it was first broadcast on 29 March 1968.
Assignment: Earth (episode)
The Enterprise travels back in time to 1968, where the crew encounters the mysterious Gary Seven who claims to be sent by advanced beings trying to help Earth. (Season finale) "Captain's log. Using the light-speed breakaway factor, the Enterprise has moved back through time to the 20th century. We are now in extended orbit around Earth, using our ship's deflector shields to remain unobserved ...
Assignment: Earth
This episode was a "backdoor pilot" for a Roddenberry concept about interventionist aliens whose goal is to ensure the survival of less advanced races, including humans. The network passed. Episode Guide for Star Trek 2x26: Assignment: Earth. Episode summary, trailer and screencaps; guest stars and main cast list; and more.
Assignment: Earth (episode)
"Assignment: Earth" was the 55th episode of Star Trek: The Original Series, the 26th and final episode of the show's second season, first aired on 29 March 1968. The episode was written by Gene Roddenberry and Art WallaceMA, directed by Marc DanielsMA and novelized in Star Trek 3 by James Blish. Beta 5 computer • Clifford Brent[1] • Charley • Pavel Chekov • Cromwell (launch director ...
Star Trek 2x26 "Assignment: Earth"
While back in time observing Earth in 1968, the Enterprise crew encounters the mysterious Gary Seven who has his own agenda on the planet.
Assignment: Earth
Guest Stars. James Doohan as Lt. Cmdr. Montgomery "Scotty" Scott. Nichelle Nichols as Lt. Nyota Uhura
Star Trek: Season 2, Episode 26
Star Trek - Season 2, Episode 26. On a mission to 1960s Earth, the Enterprise finds a human agent (Robert Lansing) working for aliens; guest Teri Garr. Prime Video Paramount+ Apple TV. Watch ...
Assignment: Earth
Assignment: Earth. Available on Paramount+, Prime Video. S2 E26: The Enterprise goes back in time and discovers a mysterious stranger trying to interfere with 20th-century events. Sci-Fi Mar 29, 1968 48 min. TV-PG. Starring Robert Lansing, Teri Garr, Don Keefer.
Assignment: Earth
Available on Prime Video, Paramount+. S2 E26: On a mission to 1960s Earth, the Enterprise finds a human agent (Robert Lansing) working for aliens; guest Teri Garr. Sci-Fi Mar 29, 1968 48 min iTunes. PG. Starring Robert Lansing, Teri Garr, Don Keefer.
Star Trek S2 E26 "Assignment: Earth" Recap
The Enterprise goes back in time to visit the year 1968 to observe and report. Amazingly, they discover a transporter beam signal, something that didn't exist in 20th Century Earth. They intercept and beam aboard a humanoid called Gary Seven and his black cat, Isis. Mr. Seven soon escapes, sending a few Redshirts to la-la land.
"Star Trek" Assignment: Earth (TV Episode 1968)
Assignment: Earth (TV Episode) Details. Full Cast and Crew; Release Dates; Official Sites; ... Star Trek (Season 2/ 2ª Temporada) a list of 26 titles created 20 Jan 2023 favourites a list of 38 titles created 31 Mar 2022 ...
Star Trek (S02E26): Assignment: Earth Summary
Star Trek Season 2 Episode 26: Assignment: Earth Summary: Stardate not given: The Enterprise is sent on a mission back to Earth in the year 1968 to discover details about how the planet survived the arms race. While in orbit, the ship intercepts a transporter beam from an unknown part of the galaxy and beams the space traveler aboard.
Star Trek: "Assignment: Earth"
The final episode of season two is "Assignment: Earth," which introduces Gary Seven and Roberta Lincoln, whom you'll no doubt recognize from their hit show.....
Star Trek season 2 Assignment: Earth
Return to Tomorrow. The Enterprise is guided to a distant, long-dead world where survivors of an extremely ancient race - existing only as disembodied energy - desiring the bodies of Kirk, Spock and astro-biologist Ann Mulhall so that they may live again. Episode 21 • Feb 16, 1968 • 50 m.
"Star Trek" Assignment: Earth (TV Episode 1968)
"Star Trek" Assignment: Earth (TV Episode 1968) cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more. Menu. ... BEST STAR TREK EPISODES (The Original Series) a list of 34 titles created 19 Mar 2013 Star Trek Chronologically a list of 45 titles ...
Star Trek Re-Watch: "Assignment: Earth"
Season 2, Episode 26. Production episode: 2×26. Original air date: March 29, 1968. Star date: 1968. Mission summary. While on a frivolous time travel mission to research Earth's history, circa 1968, Enterprise accidentally intercepts a transporter signal from an unknown source over a thousand light years away. A well-dressed man holding a ...
Watch Star Trek · Season 2 Episode 26 · Assignment: Earth Full Episode
Where to watch Star Trek · Season 2 Episode 26 · Assignment: Earth starring William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley and directed by Marc Daniels. While back in time observing Earth in 1968, the Enterprise crew encounters the mysterious Gary Seven who has his own agenda on the planet.
"Star Trek" Assignment: Earth (TV Episode 1968)
Synopsis. The ENTERPRISE, on a historical research mission to observe earth in 1968 (they traveled back in time using the light-speed breakaway factor). It intercepts a powerful transporter beam from a distant part of the galaxy (from at least a 1000 light yrs away). A human male dressed in 20th century business suit and carrying a black cat ...
TOS
This is "TOS - S02E26 - Assignment Earth" by matt decker on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the people who love them.
Watch Star Trek Season 2 Episode 26
Season 2. Ep 26. Assignment: Earth. TV-PG. March 29, 1968. 50 min. 7.5 (3,560) In the season 2 finale of the classic science fiction series Star Trek, entitled "Assignment: Earth," the crew of the starship Enterprise is sent back in time to Earth during the tumultuous year of 1968. Instead of investigating a strange new world, they are tasked ...
The First Star Trek Spinoff Would Have Explored a Very Different Kind
Such is the plot to "Assignment: Earth," the 1968 finale to the Original Series' second season, which was also almost the last episode of the entire series. But even if that had been the end ...

Assignment: Earth (episode)

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Memory Beta, non-canon Star Trek Wiki

Assignment: Earth (episode)

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Assignment: Earth - Guest Cast

James Doohan

Nichelle Nichols

George Takei

Walter Koenig

Robert Lansing

Ted Gehring

Morgan Jones

Paul Baxley

Barbara Babcock

Bob Johnson

Eddie Paskey

Rudy Doucette

April Tatro

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