Trivia / Star Trek S1 E8 "Miri"

• Banned in China: The episode's first broadcast in the UK caused many letters of complaint to The BBC about violence and disturbing subject matter. As a result, it was not broadcast again on The BBC until 1992. Three other episodes: "Plato's Stepchildren", "The Empath", and "Whom Gods Destroy" were pre-emptively banned due to potentially disturbing content and never shown at all on British free-to-air TV until the 1990s. On the other hand, later in the 1970s and in the 1980s, the BBC was happy to include far more graphic violence in certain episodes of its own SF show Doctor Who.
• Creator Backlash: William Shatner reportedly wasn't too fond of this episode, finding the plot both dull and confusing. Inverted, however, by Leonard Nimoy and Grace Lee Whitney, who both named this among their favorite episodes of the show.
• Creator's Favorite Episode: Grace Lee Whitney named this episode as one of her three favorites.
  Then, there's "Miri" because my children were in the show. There's a big grate that's lifted up and my two little kids came out and they stole the communicators.
• Dawson Casting: Miri is supposed to be 12 (in appearance), and looks it even though she's played by a 19-year-old. Jahn is supposed to be the same age, but is played by a 27-year-old actor — granted, one who doesn't look 27, but he clearly doesn't look like a preteen, either.
• Edited for Syndication:
  • Extended scene of the landing party beaming down for the first time.
  • Comments from McCoy that the planet contains "the most horrible conglomeration of antique architecture" that he has ever seen.
  • An extended fight between Kirk and the first Grup creature.
  • The landing party hearing a noise in the street, running to investigate, and passing a building labeled as Bartlett Stables.
  • Additional scenes of Spock and the security guards looking around the streets and eventually coming to an alley.
  • Reactions from Miri after hearing about the Life prolongation project, implying that she knows what it is and what has happened on her planet; in the syndicated version, there is no indication that the children understand what has happened on their world.
  • Longer discussions between Kirk and Spock about scientific calculations in order to understand the adult disease.
  • A longer reaction from Yeoman Rand upon hearing that the children age one month in one hundred years.
  • In the children's den, the singing of a complete song before Jahn begins speaking.
  • A scene with Miri sharpening pencils.
  • Additional scenes between Kirk and Rand, including one where he grabs Rand by the shoulder after hearing a report from McCoy about the disease.
  • An extra clip where a single child attacks Kirk as a prelude to his being attacked by the entire mob.
• Real-Life Relative: Several of the children on Miri's world were portrayed by relatives of the cast and crew. Among them were William Shatner's daughter Lisabeth (not surprisingly, she's the little girl Kirk picks up and holds during the climax), Grace Lee Whitney's two sons John Decker and Scott Dweck, and Gene Roddenberry's daughters Darlene and Dawn. Even the children of the cast on other Desilu shows got in on the act: Little Phil Morris, the son of Mission: Impossible star Greg Morris, makes his first Trek appearance here.
• Recycled Set: The outdoor scenes of this episode were filmed on the same back lot streets that also were used to create Mayberry on The Andy Griffith Show, except that the streets were piled with debris and dirt to create the appearance that the town was in ruins. Commercials for Andy Griffith on MeTV played this up by editing the scene to make it look like Kirk and Spock landed in Mayberry itself, with clips of Andy Griffith being used to show reactions to their arrival.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Adrian Spies's original script draft featured a much closer relationship between Kirk and Janice Rand.
  • In the original script, the action is basically the same; however, around 80% of the dialogue is different from Steven W. Carabatsos's rewrite and the aired episode. Janice is revealed to be 24 years old (James Blish includes this bit in the novelization), and she is considering leaving the Enterprise. (Perhaps an in-story explanation as to why she left the show soon after.) Also, the character of the "Fat Little Boy" is extended, and more emphasis is put on the older kids taking care of the younger ones.
  • Uhura was written into the episode's final draft script, though her part was ultimately rewritten for Farrell instead.

---