Even the most obsessive Trekker will likely uncover fresh details in the thick chunk of photos and text titled Star Trek: The Original Series 365. The new book examines in microscopic detail each of the 79 episodes of Gene Roddenberry's enormously influential sci-fi series, which ran from 1966 to 1969. In this must-have Trekkie tome, concept art, matte paintings and freshly remastered production stills drawn from the CBS archives are bolstered with exceptionally detailed synopses. The book serves as an eye-popping artifact that captures the spirit of a show that regularly hit profound notes while sometimes veering into zany tangents ("Spock's Brain" anyone?). Star Trek: The Original Series 365, by Paula M. Block with Terry J. Erdmann, includes an introduction by Dorothy "D.C" Fontana and retails for $30 from Abrams Books. For a sampling of the book's startling visuals, captioned with excerpts by Block and Erdmann, check the gallery above. Above: Star Trek: The Original Series 365 The 366-page hardcover opus features pictures and stories about each of the original series' 79 episodes.

"The Cage" Gene Roddenberry originally wanted Spock’s skin to have a red tint, but early tests showed that red makeup didn’t translate well on black-and-white television (it appeared to be jet black!). Since the majority of the public watched TV in black and white in the mid-1960s, Fred Phillips suggested a change from red to Max Factor’s Chinese Yellow makeup. The color — a kind of yellowish green — appeared a nice, neutral gray in black and white, while on color TV sets it made Spock look distinctly alien. For the episode’s other aliens, the Talosians, Roddenberry initially had even more extravagant plans: He wanted them to resemble crabs. But as they were being developed, the production staff realized that crabs might come across as too "1950s horror movie," which was the antithesis of what Roddenberry wanted the series to project. Making the Talosians humanoid served two purposes: Humanoid Talosians were likely to have more empathy for an injured human female, and, perhaps more importantly, they would be far less expensive to create. To enhance their "alien-ness," diminutive actresses were cast and their dialogue dubbed by male actors. Legendary sculptor and prop designer Wah Chang took on the task of fabricating oversize foam latex heads for the Talosians. To give the highly advanced aliens a truly cerebral look, Chang placed rubber bladder "veins" just beneath the latex "skin." By connecting the bladders via tiny hidden tubes to squeeze bulbs held just off-camera, crew members could pump the bulbs on cue, creating a convincing portrait of pulsing neural activity as the Talosians telepathically communicated with each other.

Vina Actress Majel Barrett, already set to play Number One, offered to wear the green "Orion slave girl" makeup for one test, so the producers could see how the color looked on film. The day after the sample footage had been shot, the producers gathered to view the results. To their surprise, Barrett's skin didn't look at all green; it appeared to be her normal skin tone. Concerned that the Eastman film stock they were using couldn’t distinguish that particular shade of green, the filmmakers conducted the test again, this time smearing much darker green greasepaint onto the actress’ face. But the next day, once again the test came back with Barrett "in the pink" — with perhaps just a hint of a green tinge. A frantic call to the film-processing lab revealed the problem: Lab technicians had assumed that the cinematographer got the camera settings wrong ... and they had "stayed up all night trying to color-correct the film." Image courtesy Gerald Gurian

USS Enterprise [For the USS Enterprise, designer Matt Jefferies] modified the shape of the main section and moved the nacelles so that they rode high above the hull. Gene Roddenberry and the execs at Desilu quickly approved the new design, but the ship still had to receive a thumbs-up from NBC’s executives. Jefferies asked the studio's woodworking department to build a rough model from balsa wood that could be displayed at an upcoming meeting scheduled with the network. Unfortunately, when he went to pick up the model, he discovered that while most of the starship’s parts already had been lathed, the nacelles had not yet been cut. Rather than wait for the workers to form the missing pieces from balsa, Jefferies took two birch dowels and quickly glued them in place. At the NBC meeting, Roddenberry proudly displayed the new iteration of his ship, holding it by a string that Jefferies had tacked to the top. But just as Scotty would later state, you can’t change the laws of physics; birch is heavier than balsa, and the weight of the nacelles made the comparatively lightweight model flip over. Roddenberry, who was focusing most of his attention on the executives in the room, hadn’t noticed — leaving Jefferies in the awkward position of explaining to all that the ship was upside-down.

Phaser An excerpt from the Star Trek writers’ guide, third revision, dated April 17, 1967: "Both the hand phaser and the phaser pistol have a variety of settings. The ones most often used are 'stun effect,' which can knock a man down and render him unconscious without harming him, and 'full effect,' which can actually cause an object to dematerialize and disappear. The phaser is also capable of being set to cause an object to explode, or to burn a clean hole through an object.... Phasers can also be set to 'overload,' resulting in a power buildup and explosion, which destroys the phaser and anything in close proximity."

"The Corbomite Maneuver" At the uncharted edge of the galaxy, the Enterprise is blocked by a large, spinning cube, a warning buoy that won't let the ship pass. After Kirk is forced to destroy the buoy, a gigantic spherical spaceship appears, manned by a sinister-looking alien named Balok. Balok accuses the captain of trespassing and threatens that, as punishment, he will destroy the Enterprise in 10 minutes. The Enterprise, Kirk tells Balok, is equipped with a self-destruct system called "corbomite" that will destroy any attacker’s ship. The question is, will his bluff work?

"The Corbomite Maneuver" At the uncharted edge of the galaxy, the Enterprise is blocked by a large, spinning cube, a warning buoy that won't let the ship pass. After Kirk is forced to destroy the buoy, a gigantic spherical spaceship appears, manned by a sinister-looking alien named Balok. Balok accuses the captain of trespassing and threatens that, as punishment, he will destroy the Enterprise in 10 minutes. The Enterprise, Kirk tells Balok, is equipped with a self-destruct system called "corbomite" that will destroy any attacker’s ship. The question is, will his bluff work?

Balok The sinister face that threatens the crew throughout "The Corbomite Maneuver" turns out to be a harmless puppet, its visage projected to the Enterprise's viewscreen by a friendly, child-size life form. 8-year-old actor Clint Howard played the humanoid version of Balok; coincidentally, Clint’s brother Ron was working at a different soundstage on the same lot, playing Opie on The Andy Griffith Show. Although childlike in appearance, Balok was intended to be an adult alien. Thus, young Clint’s vocal track was excised after the episode had been filmed and replaced by that of well-known voice actor Vic Perrin, most familiar to viewers as the "Control Voice" from The Outer Limits. The vocalizations of Balok’s frightening alter ego also required a post-production fix. Conveniently, actor Ted Cassidy, whose basso intonations had been heard as Lurch on The Addams Family, was about to begin filming the Star Trek episode "What Are Little Girls Made Of?" His deep voice fit the bill, so the producers asked Cassidy to record the puppet's threatening lines.

Balok The sinister face that threatens the crew throughout "The Corbomite Maneuver" turns out to be a harmless puppet, its visage projected to the Enterprise's viewscreen by a friendly, child-size life form. 8-year-old actor Clint Howard played the humanoid version of Balok; coincidentally, Clint’s brother Ron was working at a different soundstage on the same lot, playing Opie on The Andy Griffith Show. Although childlike in appearance, Balok was intended to be an adult alien. Thus, young Clint’s vocal track was excised after the episode had been filmed and replaced by that of well-known voice actor Vic Perrin, most familiar to viewers as the "Control Voice" from The Outer Limits. The vocalizations of Balok’s frightening alter ego also required a post-production fix. Conveniently, actor Ted Cassidy, whose basso intonations had been heard as Lurch on The Addams Family, was about to begin filming the Star Trek episode "What Are Little Girls Made Of?" His deep voice fit the bill, so the producers asked Cassidy to record the puppet's threatening lines.

"Mudd’s Women" Harry Mudd is a con man who's guilty of a variety of criminal offenses. His precious cargo is a trio of the most beautiful women Kirk and his crew have ever seen — pulse-quickeningly, heart-poundingly gorgeous. Mudd claims that his current profession is "wiving settlers," that is, matching up lonely women with financially appealing single men on colony worlds.

"Mudd’s Women" Harry Mudd is a con man who's guilty of a variety of criminal offenses. His precious cargo is a trio of the most beautiful women Kirk and his crew have ever seen — pulse-quickeningly, heart-poundingly gorgeous. Mudd claims that his current profession is "wiving settlers," that is, matching up lonely women with financially appealing single men on colony worlds.

M-113 The M-113 creature — referred to by fans as "the salt vampire" for obvious reasons — is both horrific and strangely pitiable. With its snoutlike mouth, studded with spiky teeth, and long, suckered fingers, the beast is truly frightening. Yet its down-turned eyes and deeply lined face seem to suggest an inner sadness. While masquerading as Doctor McCoy, the salt vampire mockingly refers to itself as a "creature," but this highly intelligent life form ... was undoubtedly capable of comprehending the results of its actions. Unfortunately, it wasn't capable of controlling its hunger long enough to bargain for long-term survival. Perhaps, after years of near-starvation and lack of contact with others of its kind, it was too far gone to want to try.

M-113 The M-113 creature — referred to by fans as "the salt vampire" for obvious reasons — is both horrific and strangely pitiable. With its snoutlike mouth, studded with spiky teeth, and long, suckered fingers, the beast is truly frightening. Yet its down-turned eyes and deeply lined face seem to suggest an inner sadness. While masquerading as Doctor McCoy, the salt vampire mockingly refers to itself as a "creature," but this highly intelligent life form ... was undoubtedly capable of comprehending the results of its actions. Unfortunately, it wasn't capable of controlling its hunger long enough to bargain for long-term survival. Perhaps, after years of near-starvation and lack of contact with others of its kind, it was too far gone to want to try.

"The Naked Time" The Enterprise travels to Psi 2000 to pick up a group of Federation researchers before the planet disintegrates. But when Spock and crewman Joe Tormolen beam down, they find that the scientists are dead, the apparent victims of their own extremely peculiar behavior. Not long after, members of the Enterprise crew begin acting strangely — the result of a highly contagious virus that the landing party brought back to the ship. Tormolen, a latent depressive, commits suicide, while Lieutenant Sulu, under the delusion that he’s a French musketeer, attacks imagined enemies with a fencing sword. Navigator Kevin Riley, who fancies himself the descendant of Irish kings, seizes control of the ship by commandeering engineering; From there he informs the crew of their new responsibilities under his rule — and then he shuts down the ship's engines.

"The Naked Time" The Enterprise travels to Psi 2000 to pick up a group of Federation researchers before the planet disintegrates. But when Spock and crewman Joe Tormolen beam down, they find that the scientists are dead, the apparent victims of their own extremely peculiar behavior. Not long after, members of the Enterprise crew begin acting strangely — the result of a highly contagious virus that the landing party brought back to the ship. Tormolen, a latent depressive, commits suicide, while Lieutenant Sulu, under the delusion that he’s a French musketeer, attacks imagined enemies with a fencing sword. Navigator Kevin Riley, who fancies himself the descendant of Irish kings, seizes control of the ship by commandeering engineering; From there he informs the crew of their new responsibilities under his rule — and then he shuts down the ship's engines.

"What Are Little Girls Made Of?" Andrea (played by Sherry Jackson, left) is indeed a girl — a girl android, at any rate — and to look at her, one has to assume that all of the "everything nice" ingredients went into creating her. On the other hand, Ruk is definitely more of a "snips and snails" creation, a monster right out of the classic novel Frankenstein. Also in the mix is more than a snippet of H.P. Lovecraft — a mentor to horror writer Robert Bloch, who "What Are Little Girls Made Of?" among other Trek episodes. Many of Lovecraft’s tales made reference to "the Old Ones" — unearthly alien beings from long ago who left behind vestiges of their civilization. As in “What Are Little Girls Made Of?” Lovecraft's Old Ones ultimately were destroyed by their own monstrous creations.

Tantalus Penal Colony The establishing shot for the Tantalus Penal Colony facility in "Dagger of the Mind" is a modified version of the matte painting depicting Delta Vega's lithium-cracking station in "Where No Man Has Gone Before." The towering refinery tanks in the background of the Delta Vega operation were eliminated, and the entrance door to the "administration building" was changed. Matte paintings were often reused in Star Trek episodes, sometimes with modifications and sometimes without. In an era when television episodes were traditionally repeated in rerun form only once, and when the dawn of home video lay nearly a decade in the future, no one worried about reusing a set or a prop or a matte painting once, twice ... or more. Image courtesy Gerald Gurian

Starbase 11 As this matte of Starbase 11 from "Court Martial" shows, the creativity of early matte artists has rarely been surpassed. Albert Whitlock painted the work with oils on Masonite, revealing the timeless precision and skill of his brushwork, as well as his affinity for imaging futuristic landscapes. Image courtesy Devra Langsam

Matte Painting Effects The magic of visual effects allows a set designer to build a minimal amount of background, which later will give the impression of a maximal degree of scope. After actress Julie Parrish and two extras were photographed in front of a simple "block" facade, the effects department superimposed the image onto a matte painting depicting Starbase 11. Without the beautiful matte, the "outer space" beyond the facade would have been the empty space of the soundstage. Image courtesy Gerald Gurian

White Rabbit From "Shore Leave" In a world where idle thoughts instantly manifest into reality, McCoy finds himself face to face with the White Rabbit from Lewis Carroll’s fanciful tale Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Unaware that he himself is the "author" of this fantastical scenario, McCoy later that day conjures up two scantily clad young ladies from a Rigel II cabaret — "bunnies" of a very different kind — much to the jealous Yeoman Barrows' displeasure.

"The Devil in the Dark" The Enterprise travels to the planet Janus VI to determine what is killing workers in an underground mining facility. Doctor McCoy scoffs when Spock surmises that a silicon-based life form may be behind the deaths, but Spock is proven correct: The killer is found to be a rocklike beast that excretes acid at will, allowing it to tunnel swiftly through solid rock — or to disintegrate a man. The miners want the creature destroyed, yet Spock believes that it may be an intelligent being with a rational motive behind its actions.

Sci-Fi on a Shoestring In an inventive, frugal attempt to create an alien landscape on a tiny budget, Star Trek’s writers set the story for "The Devil in the Dark" underground, allowing production designers to create rocks and tunnels by simply covering handy items with fabric, fiberglass and papier-mâché. To assist in selling the concept, a matte painting depicting the facility was hung in the background for several shots. The result: effective sci-fi on a shoestring.

"A Private Little War" Writer Don Ingalls (using the pseudonym Jud Crucis), a former Los Angeles police officer and writer on Have Gun — Will Travel like Gene Roddenberry, wrote a Star Trek script permeated with Vietnam references. A subsequent rewrite eliminated many of the most blatant comparisons, but the analogy to the war remained, with Kirk and the Klingons standing in for the United States and its Communist foes, both arming two closely situated indigenous peoples against each other. The result leaves Star Trek with one of its most “political” episodes — although the "Sonny and Cher" look of Tyree and his witchy woman Nona may have partially obscured the point.

Galt [Galt] represents a link in a villainous chain that includes such memorable bad guys as Fu Manchu and Ming the Merciless. But beyond that sinister goatee and shiny pate, there may be a different reason that viewers sense a familiarity. The role of Galt was filled by character actor Joseph Ruskin, who portrayed a fascinating variety of aliens in later versions of Star Trek, including a Son’a (Star Trek: Insurrection), a Klingon (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine), a Vulcan (Star Trek: Voyager) and a Suliban (Star Trek: Enterprise).

"Spock's Brain" Beautiful but apparently moronic women in very short skirts steal Spock's brain so that the organ can run their planet’s "central control system," circulating air, purifying water and operating heating plants. Why? Because the old Controller is "finished," presumably on its last leg ... er ... hemisphere. But why choose Spock’s brain? That’s never made clear. Obviously, he’d be the best choice if all you had to choose from were members of the Enterprise crew. But of all the inhabitants in the entire galaxy? Really? Yet, for all the reasons there are to hate this episode, there are an equal number of reasons to love it. Call it a guilty pleasure. "Spock's Brain" is so clearly wrong in every single way, from the beauty-pageant smile on the face of Eymorg brain thief Kara when she first shows up on the bridge of the Enterprise to the fact that Spock’s brain is both removed and replaced over the course of the episode without mussing a hair on his head. Perhaps he has a screw-top cranium? Image courtesy Mike Carano