Star Trek

Work Title: Star Trek
Medium: TV Episode
Episode Title: The City on the Edge of Forever
Year: 1967
Writer(s): Gene Roddenberry
"Original" Writer: Yes Writer(s): Harlan Ellison
"Original" Writer: Own work?: No
Summary:

from imdb.com When a gas accident causes McCoy to go temporarily insane, he escapes to strange planet. There the search party discovers a device left be a superior, vanished civilization, a time portal which plays the history of earth for them- but then Bones jumps trough it into the past, causing a change in history important enough to make the Enterprise vanish. Kirk and Spock, who fortunately made a tricorder recording, must attempt to go trough to just before McCoys arrival and stop him changing history in the US during the Great Depression, where they have no advanced technology available. Written by KGF Vissers

  • Self-Written?:
  • Source Name: IMDB
  • Source URL:
Era/Year of Portrayal: distant_future
Distinctive characteristics of the world in portrayal:

It begins in the distant future of star trek, but then they go back in time to the USA of 1930s.

Technology

  • Name of portrayed presence-evoking technology: The Guardian of Forever
  • Description of the technology: A time portal. It is stationary, on a distant planet. It displays the hisroty of the Earth. Jumping through it can send the jumper anywhere in history. The history is real and the future can be changed by altering events in the past. The user interacts with The Guardian by jumping into it. It also speaks to people and has a male voice. It acts all knowing and superior. Not very helpful but not mean. It appears to want company, and tries to persuade the members of the Entreprise to stay with it. States he is machine and creature.
  • Nature of task or activity: Talking to it or time traveling.
  • Performance of the Technology: functions well.
  • Description of creator(s): unknown - he doesn't know, says always existed, before humanity.
  • Major goal(s) of creator(s): unknown.
  • Description of users of technology: They are members of the Enterprise, mostly white and male. Kirk, Spock and McCoy interact the most.
  • Type(s) of presence experience in the portrayal: both
  • Description of presence experience: When talking with the Guaridian, he speaks as if he is human, although he has no face and where the voice originates from is unknown. The experince of time travel is very real. And the presence expeirience is interesting, a learning experience and at times challenging.
  • User awareness of technology during experience: yes.
  • Valence of experience: generally, they enjoy it it although the end is bitter.
  • Specific responses: distorted memory and social judgments, enjoyment, learning, interest.
Long-term consequences:

tThey save mccoy and in the process, the world. However, the woman Kirk loves dies. Bittersweet.

Other:

Coder name: Amanda Scheiner
Coder email: amandags@temple.edu
Coder affiliation: Temple University