"Visit to a Weird Planet Revisited" is a short story by Ruth Berman, the fourth in the anthology The New Voyages. In this story, William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, and DeForest Kelley temporarily switch places with Captain James T. Kirk, Commander Spock, and Doctor Leonard McCoy while filming Vincent McEveety's "The Omega Glory."

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Summary Edit

Episode director Vincent McEveety was filming a scene in the transporter room set at Desilu Studios, on a day when shooting had been going poorly and when VIPs were visiting the "hot" set. William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, and DeForest Kelley stood at attention while James Doohan stood behind the console. As the scene started, Shatner’s foot slipped, ruining the shot. They took a break, then tried again. But this time, the actors felt dizzy and seemed to see spots. Recovering quickly, Shatner said his line, but the man behind the console seemed not to know the proper response. Looking around, they realized they were no longer in a set. Nimoy grinned and wondered aloud how producer Robert Justman managed to pull off a hoax like this. Kelley realized the man behind the console wasn’t Doohan, but Montgomery Scott, and fairly quickly all three deduced that they were aboard the USS Enterprise.

A turbolift-ride later and they were in sickbay, all wondering what was going on. Then Sulu called from the bridge, reporting to Kirk that the ship was under attack. Shatner said he was on his way, and the three went to the bridge. Sulu said the deflectors were protecting the ship. Chekov asked Kirk if the landing party had found anything that explained Klingon interest in the planet. Shatner knew he couldn’t say yes, so he said no. Nimoy replied the statement was illogical, and that there could still be something of value. But Nimoy started to crack up, and hurried off the bridge to laugh himself silly in the turbolift.

Shatner asked Uhura to hail the Klingons, and Kor appeared. Shatner was distracted by the Klingon behind Kor, who was of a different race, and he reminded Kelley of a time when makeup designer Fred Phillips realized he’d come up with two makeup designs for Klingons. Kor said they’d named the planet Kahless, and that Federation interest prompted him to claim the planet for the Klingon Empire. After ending the conversation, Shatner fished for information from the bridge crew, then asked Uhura to have Scott meet them in McCoy’s office.

Once there, Shatner tried to explain to Scotty that they were actors. Nimoy said it was similar to when they switched places in TOS episode: "Mirror, Mirror" when Spock had a beard. That was proof enough for Scott, as the official report didn’t mention Spock’s beard. Scott started to consider the scientific aspects of the transposition, but Shatner asked if Scott would explain what was going on with the planet. Scott said the Klingons were found in the system, there seemed to be no reason for their interest, yet they also wouldn’t leave. Kirk had beamed down with a landing party to investigate. Scott said the actors could continue their masquerade for now, in case Kor asked to speak to Kirk again.

Back on the bridge, Chekov lamented there was no reason for anyone to want the planet, and that it didn’t even have a moon. Instinctively, Nimoy commented that it had to have a moon, since it had tides. He’d grown up in the Boston area and knew what tides looked like. Uhura raised the possibility of solar tides, but Chekov’s scans were negative, concluding that a moon had to be in orbit, one which Shatner realized was invisible. He reported the discovery of the cloaked moon to Scotty, who agreed that the Klingons would have had no choice but to claim the planet, or else expose what they had really been doing there.

Scott subtly suggested that Shatner, Nimoy and Kelley come to the transporter room. When they arrived, they overheard Kirk talking to Scott through the console speaker, which made Shatner uneasy. Kirk said they’d get into position on the transporter platform. The actors did the same. When the room faded back into view, Shatner stepped off the platform to tell Gene Roddenberry excitedly where they’d just been, ruining the take yet again. McEveety, having had enough of such failures, gave up and called a halt for that day of shooting.

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Referenced only ISS Enterprise

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See also: Star Trek within Star Trek