Trivia / Star Trek S2 E16 "The Gamesters of Triskelion"

• Actor-Inspired Element: When Joseph Ruskin saw that his costume consisted of a long black floor-length robe, he came up with the idea of walking in an extremely fluid way (known as "glide stepping" by marching bands). He thought that combined with the robe, it might make the viewer wonder if he was even a bi-ped humanoid, or perhaps had some other means of movement.
• Creator Breakdown: Everyone sounds depressed because they actually were, having been told they'd been cancelled.
• Prop Recycling:
  • The Janus VI mining station backdrop painting from "The Devil in the Dark" is reused in the scene under the surface of Triskelion.
  • The knives are reused from "Mirror, Mirror".
  • The Lirpa handweapons are reused (slightly modified) from "Amok Time".
  • The top of Lazarus' ship from "The Alternative Factor" was recycled as the glass bubble that encases the Providers.
• Recycled Set: The ruins that Kirk and Shahna encounter while jogging were recycled from the planet surface in "The Man Trap". Some rock formations and branches are reused from the previous episode filmed, "Obsession".
• What Could Have Been:
  • The original version of the script featured Kirk, Sulu, and Uhura being taken captive while traveling in a shuttlecraft. The production staff thought it was too similar to the Teaser of " Metamorphosis", and changed it to feature them being detained while transporting down instead.
  • Chekov's role was originally meant for Sulu, but George Takei was busy filming The Green Berets.
  • Uhura's drill thrall was originally written as a large muscular black man, but Robert Justman complained that it would reinforce the "different but equal" policies presented in some network programs, and opted to cast a white actor in the role instead.
  • Margaret Armen's original script featured a "slithering vine", named a "Delka Vine" grabbing Shahna and tossing her into a pond, and Kirk having to rescue her by wrestling the tentacle vine. Robert Justman found this idea much beyond the scope of the series budget, and the scene was scrapped.
• Working Title: The Gamesters of Pentathalon.