Spock - Development

Development

Spock, as originally described in Gene Roddenberry's 1964 pitch for Star Trek, is "probably half Martian, he has a slightly reddish complexion and semi-pointed ears". Early versions had the character ingest energy through a plate in his stomach. Writer Samuel A. Peeples told Roddenberry these attributes made Spock too alien, and suggested "he should at least be half-human and have the problems of both sides", believing the human traits made the character more interesting and able to comment on the human condition more believably. Spock's home planet was changed because Roddenberry thought if the show was a success, humans might actually walk on Mars during the series' run.

Roddenberry sought an alien-sounding name when he created "Spock", and did not know until later of Dr. Benjamin Spock, the famous pediatrician and author. In the initial, rejected pilot, "The Cage" (1964), Spock is greenish yellow and from the planet Vulcan. After DeForest Kelley in 1964 stated his non-interest in playing the role, Roddenberry's second choice to portray the character was Adam West, who at the time happened to be busy working on the film "Robinson Crusoe On Mars" (1964), and as a result, turned to Nimoy, already known to him from a guest appearance in his pilot The Lieutenant. After Roddenberry saw Nimoy's thin face and sharp features, no other actors were considered - Kelley, on the other hand, would later be cast as Dr. McCoy, the highly emotional human who became Spock's frequent foil. Had Nimoy turned down the role, Roddenberry would have approached Martin Landau.

The "pointy ears" worn by Nimoy while portraying Spock are a form of facial prosthesis, mainly composed from molded and painted syntactic foam. The foam was created by filling a ceramic matrix with hollow particles called microballoons, which result in a low density prosthesis that is easily worn. However, the process of ungluing the ears was painful for Nimoy, and meant that he had to come in an hour and a half early before filming, and stay behind for a half hour each day after filming, to apply and remove the glued pieces. The pain and inconvenience were so great that when producer Robert H. Justman jokingly proposed plastic surgery, Nimoy momentarily considered doing so. NBC was concerned about Spock's satanic appearance, however, and asked for the character to be dropped; according to Oscar Katz, the network was worried "the 'guy with the ears' would scare the shit out of every kid in America". Publicity shots of the character were airbrushed so Spock had normal eyebrows and round ears. With Katz's help, Roddenberry was able to keep the character. Throughout the character's television and movie appearances, the shape of Spock's ears has varied, due in part to the different makeup artists applying them.

Spock did not originally have the logical manner which would become associated with the character, this instead being a trait of the character Number One (Majel Barrett). However, Number One was dropped in developing the second pilot, "Where No Man Has Gone Before" (1966). This episode presents a more fully formed Spock, with his trademark logic. Nimoy liked the character's newly logical nature, observing the character is "struggling to maintain a Vulcan attitude, a Vulcan philosophical posture and a Vulcan logic, opposing what was fighting him internally, which was human emotion". Spock's behavior has been described as representing, in part, a type of normative judgment. Spock's Vulcan salute references a sacred hand position used by the ancient Jewish priestly class. Desilu vice president Herbert Solow believes Nimoy was the key contributor to the character's depiction. Nimoy recalled, "As a Jew from Catholic Boston, I understood what it was like to feel alienated, apart from the mainstream...There were a number of values in 'Star Trek' that I felt very comfortable with as a Jew".