Season 1 • Episode 29
LatestSituated at Camp Pendleton, the West Coast base of the U.S. Marine Corps, The Lieutenant focuses on the men of the Corps in peace time with a Cold War backdrop. The title character is Second Lieutenant William Tiberius Rice, a rifle platoon leader and one of the training instructors at Camp Pendleton. An hour-long drama, The Lieutenant explores the lives of enlisted Marines and general officers alike.
Writing
Roddenberry's early moral dilemmas, clumsy but sincere.
Acting
Gary Lockwood's earnest intensity before 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Creator
Gene Roddenberry
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Roddenberry recycled Rice's ethical conflicts almost verbatim for Captain Kirk; NBC cancelled this after one season for being 'too thoughtful' about military authority.
Aired months before Kennedy's assassination and Vietnam escalation—its earnest peacetime optimism already felt like nostalgia on arrival.
US
