Ah, Billy Blackburn – a Star Trek background actor for almost every episode of TOS – including that time we saw Star Trek at Andy Griffith Lake. It’s true! As Memory Alpha says, ‘during his time on the set of Star Trek, Blackburn shot some Super 8 home movies of the various behind-the-scenes goings-on of various cast and crew members. He filmed over an hour of footage, which he has kept for the most part in a safe-deposit box since the series ended in 1969.’
Here’s some of that footage, from ‘The Paradise Syndrome’ of the third season, in which an alien device on a primitive planet erases Captain Kirk‘s memory, and he begins a new life with the planet’s indigenous people modeled on Native Americans. Take a look:
Most people will tell you (me, included) that The Paradise Syndrome wasn’t one of the greatest episodes. Nonetheless, Paramount Television daily production reports record that this episode was filmed on Paramount’s Gower stages on June 11, 17 and 18, 1968, and at the Upper Franklin Canyon Reservoir, California, for the planet scenes on June 12–14, 1968.The park has been used as a filming location for numerous television and film productions, including the hitchhiking scene in the 1934 film It Happened One Night and for the opening credits of The Andy Griffith Show.
Not a huge contribution to ‘scifi,’ but an interesting little chunk of Star Trek history. Please feel welcomed to dive down the rabbit hole of every other Sci-Friday I’ve published in the past couple years. Have a great weekend! 🙂
