Trivia / Star Trek S1 E18 "Arena"

• On-Set Injury: William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy both suffered permanent hearing damage and tinnitus from a special effects explosion that they were too close to.
• Prop Recycling:
  • Cestus III was a globe of the Earth previously seen in "Miri", printed backwards and tinted a hazy orange.
  • Harold, the outpost's only survivor, wears the recycled uniform worn by Commander Hansen in "Balance of Terror".
• Recycled Set: Cestus III was a reused Alamo set from the 1930s; it was later demolished for being unsafe.
• Recycled Script: The plot bears some similarity to The Outer Limits (1963) episode "Fun and Games", in which advanced aliens known as Anderrans "electro-transport" humans and other intelligent beings to do battle with one another on the moon known as "Arena". The Anderrans see Humanity as violent, and the losers of the battles are supposed to forfeit the lives of all the inhabitants of their own planet, and they are only allowed to use primitive technology. The mask of the aliens in that episode appeared in "The Cage". Both series give credit to Fredric Brown, whose short story, "Arena" is very similar.
• What Could Have Been: In the original script, Kirk and the alien captain's battleground had translucent walls, making it seem as though they were in a giant terrarium.
• Writing by the Seat of Your Pants: This was new showrunner Gene L. Coon's first script for the series, and he wrote the first draft in one weekend when it was determined that none of the other stories in the pipeline were ready to be put into production.
• You Sound Familiar: Ted Cassidy has his final Star Trek role as the voice of the Gorn. Cassidy had also voiced the antagonist in "The Corbomite Maneuver" and appeared as Ruk in "What Are Little Girls Made Of?".

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