Before They Were Stars: Walter Koenig on “Gidget”

Virtually every cast member from any incarnation of Star Trek will always be associated with playing one character, so it’s always fun to look back at the work they did before they entered the Trekkie universe. Since it’s Walter Koenig’s birthday today, here’s a guest spot he did on a 1965 episode of Gidget, the cheesy sitcom that made Sally Field a star and, like Star Trek, gained more popularity in syndication that during its original run on TV. Even though Koenig is an American, he is playing a Swedish exchange student here, so it’s interesting to hear an early incarnation of the accent he would soon use to play Pavel Chekhov. And it’s even more interesting to see his character resolve an argument with his fiancee by draping her over his knee and spanking her! Ah, the sixties… when spousal abuse came with a laugh track!