The Kennel Murder Case is a 1933 movie starring William Powell as Detective Philo Vance. About 27 minutes into the movie, a doctor arrives to examine the body of the murder victim. (At this point, most of the officials think it’s suicide, but Vance is sure it’s murder.)

Anyway, as the doctor is walking to the building where the body is, the reporters hanging around outside pester him for a statement (which obviously he can’t give because he doesn’t know anything yet). He shrugs them off and says, “I’m a doctor, not a magician.” (I think it’s “magician”, the sound wasn’t really clear.)

A bit later, just before he examines the body, he says “I’m a doctor, not a detective.”

Could this be the origin of this famous line (in all it’s variations) for Bones McCoy?

Oh, and it was a fun mystery, too.

In this first-season episode, Kirk and a few advance scouts are looking over a beautiful planet prior to releasing the crew on shore leave. But soon strange things begin to appear: The White Rabbit, Alice in Wonderland, Don Juan, a Samurai warrior and others. At first it seems fun, but then McCoy is apparently killed by a black knight!

(Read a full plot summary of Shore Leave here, part of Eric’s Excruciatingly Detailed Star Trek (TOS) Plot Summaries)

Brief comments (links lead to plot summaries):

*Kirk’s shirt is partially torn off during the fight with the planet-generated image of his Star Fleet Academy nemesis, Finnegan. According to my personal Star Trek database, Kirk manages to loose, damage or do without his shirt in at least 18 episodes. In addition to Shore Leave, here are three other episodes where Kirk has bared his chest:
1. In Amok Time, Spock slices the middle front of Kirk’s shirt during their fight, (Incidently, both Shore Leave and Amok Time were written by Theodore Sturgeon.)
2. At the beginning of The Corbomite Maneuver, Kirk has taken his shirt off for a medical exam.
3. He removes his shirt again to spar with Charlie in Charlie X

*McCoy gets the girl!! Well, Kirk does, too, but she’s only a construct of a former lover, McCoy’s girl is a flesh and blood Enterprise crew member.

*This isn’t the only episode where a major crew member apparently dies. Scotty is killed by Nomad in The Changeling

Star Trek’s 40th Anniversary will be celebrated at the 64th World Science Fiction Convention (”Worldcon”),which takes place August 23-27, 2006, in Anaheim, California.

Forty years ago, just days before Star Trek first aired, the show’s creator, Gene Roddenberry, attended the 24th World Science Fiction Convention in Cleveland, Ohio to let the fans know about his new show. He brought Sam Peeples, one of the writers, and screened two episodes: the original pilot, “The Cage,” and “What Are Little Girls Made Of?”

The organizers of the 64th Convention say “With that association, how could L.A.con IV, the 64th World Science Fiction Convention, not commemorate and celebrate the 40th anniversary of Star Trek?”

This year the convention will have hundreds of speakers and program items over its five-day run at the Anaheim Convention Center. And a portion of that program, as well as the convention’s extensive exhibits, will be dedicated to Star Trek, the people who created it, and the fans who love it.
For more information, visit the World SF Convention site

“Devil in the Dark” is my absolute favorite Star Trek original series episode.

The Horta is a delightfully alien alien, at least in appearance (Strictly speaking, of course, the humans are the aliens since Janus 6 is the Horta’s home.) Yet, despite the different in looks and even in chemical structure, the Horta and the humans have something in common: care for their children. And that leads to the possibility of understanding.

I also like the ambiguity of the title. The first time you watch it, you think the “Devil” is the mysterious creature that’s been killing the human miners. But when you discover what’s really going on - that the humans have been inadvertely killing the Horta’s children - you realize that the humans could also be considered devils.

And then there’s McCoy’s line, “I’m a doctor, not a bricklayer”.

I’ve read a couple Star Trek novels where one of the Horta children joins goes to the Academy and is eventually assigned to the Enterprise. Unfortunately, I can’t remember the names of the books - but the Horta character was very appealing.

The next time you watch the Star Trek Original Series episode, Charlie X, keep an eye open for Kirk’s Magical Changing Shirt.

Right at the end of scene 3 on the DVD, Kirk is trying to explain to Charlie why he shouldn’t hit women on the butt. Kirk is wearing his plain gold uniform top.

Then he gets a call from the bridge and says he’s on his way now. He and Charlie get into the turbolift.

Scene 4 starts, we see Kirk and Charlie step off the turbolift into the bridge. Now Kirk has on his fancy green shirt with the gold braid on the shoulder that he wore at the beginning of the episode! I guess he must keep spare shirts in the lift, or else Charlie used his powers to change the shirt for him.

The only reason I noticed this is that I like the fancy shirt, and was keeping an eye on it.