"To Set It Right" is the 21st episode of the American military drama television series ''

The Lieutenant ''The Lieutenant'' is an American television program, television series, the first created by Gene Roddenberry. An hour-long drama, it aired on NBC on Saturday evenings in the 1963–1964 television schedule. It was produced by Arena Product ...

''. Its story is known for a ground-breaking depiction of the lives of an African American couple, and of racism in the

U.S. Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionary ...

. The series was produced by

Gene Roddenberry Eugene Wesley Roddenberry Sr. (August 19, 1921 – October 24, 1991) was an American television screenwriter and producer who created the science fiction series and fictional universe ''Star Trek.'' Born in El Paso, Texas, Roddenberry grew up ...

for broadcast on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

, and followed the lives of Marines stationed at

Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton is the major West Coast base of the United States Marine Corps and is one of the largest Marine Corps bases in the United States. It is on the Southern California coast in San Diego County and is bordered by ...

. This episode was written by Lee Erwin, and its guest cast included

Dennis Hopper Dennis Lee Hopper (May 17, 1936 – May 29, 2010) was an American actor, filmmaker, photographer and visual artist. He was considered one of the key figures of New Hollywood. He earned prizes from the Cannes Film Festival and Venice Internatio ...

, Don Marshall,

Woody Strode Woodrow Wilson Woolwine Strode (July 25, 1914 – December 31, 1994) was an American athlete, actor, and author. He was a decathlon, decathlete and American football, football star who was one of the first Black American players in the National ...

, and the screen debut of

Nichelle Nichols Nichelle Nichols ( ; born Grace Dell Nichols; December 28, 1932 – July 30, 2022) was an American actress, singer and dancer whose portrayal of Uhura in ''Star Trek'' and its film sequels was groundbreaking for African American actresses on A ...

. In this episode, after a racist altercation between white Cpl. Peter Devlin (Hopper), and black Pvt. Ernest Cameron (Marshall), Lt. William Rice (series lead

Gary Lockwood Gary Lockwood (born John Gary Yurosek; February 21, 1937) is an American actor. Lockwood is best known for his roles as astronaut Frank Poole in the film '' 2001: A Space Odyssey'' (1968), and as Lieutenant Commander Gary Mitchell in the ''St ...

) attempts to settle their issues by first arranging a boxing match and then forcing them to work together on a march.

Production

''The Lieutenant'' was developed in conjunction with the

U.S. Defense Department The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government charged with coordinating and supervising the six U.S. armed services: the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Space Force, t ...

, but following a series of plot points concerning racism within the military, relations became strained. The Pentagon was concerned with the depiction of racist men in uniform in the plot of "To Set It Right", and warned the producers that the airing of the episode could result in the production no longer being able to use the free equipment and extras provided by the Marines. In response, Roddenberry informed the

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is an American civil rights organization formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. B. Du&nbs ...

, who pressured the network to air the episode. Although some sources say the episode was never broadcast, NBC scheduled it for February 22, 1964, and it was carried in at least some markets; ''Variety'' ran a review of the episode two days later. The assistance of the Pentagon was withdrawn, and the series was officially canceled a week later.

Reception

Donald Bogle Donald Bogle is an American film historian and author of six books concerning black history in film and on television. He is an instructor at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts and at the University of Pennsylvania. Early years Bogle g ...

wrote of the episode in his 2001 book ''Primetime Blues: African Americans on Network Television'', saying that the episode "lost its nerve and ultimately undermined the feelings – the very strong, modern Black perspective – of its character Cameron". This resulted in the character appearing to be "one more angry young negro with unjustified racial hostility". However, Bogle praised the interactions between Lt. Rice and Norma, saying this was a better articulation of the problems faced by Cameron than those explained by the actual character. Bogle felt that although "To Set It Right" sought to address racial issues, it wanted to avoid upsetting its mainstream viewers. A videotape of the episode is part of the

Paley Center for Media The Paley Center for Media, formerly the Museum of Television & Radio (MT&R) and the Museum of Broadcasting, founded in 1975 by William S. Paley, is an American cultural institution in New York City with a branch office in Los Angeles. It is de ...

collection in New York, contributed by Gene Roddenberry. It is also available on DVD in the collected episodes of "The Lieutenant".

Notes

References

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External links

* {{IMDb episode, 0631555 African-American-related controversies Race and ethnicity in television Race in the United States Stereotypes of African Americans Unaired television episodes