The Man Trap

"The Man Trap"
Star Trek: The Original Series episode
Spock and Kirk about to take Crater captive
Episode no.	Season 1 Episode 1
Directed by	Marc Daniels
Written by	George Clayton Johnson
Featured music	Alexander Courage
Cinematography by	Jerry Finnerman
Production code	6
Original air dates	September 6, 1966 (1966-09-06) (Canada) September 8, 1966 (1966-09-08) (US)
Guest appearances
Jeanne Bal as Nancy Crater Alfred Ryder as Professor Robert Crater Michael Zaslow as Darnell
Episode chronology
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Star Trek: The Original Series season 1
List of episodes

"The Man Trap" is the first broadcast episode of season one of the American science fiction television series Star Trek. Written by George Clayton Johnson and directed by Marc Daniels, it featured design work by Wah Chang and first aired in the United States on September 8, 1966.

In the episode, the crew visit an outpost on planet M-113 to conduct routine medical exams on the residents using a Tricorder, only to be attacked by an alien that appears to change shape, and kills by extracting salt from the victim's body.

This was the first Star Trek episode to air on television, although the sixth to be filmed; it was chosen as the first of the series to be broadcast by the studio due to the horror plot. "The Man Trap" placed first in the timeslot with a Nielsen rating of 25.2 for the first half-hour and 24.2 for the remainder. It aired two days earlier on Canadian network CTV.