> There is a reference to the episode in The Making of Star Trek that discusses the apprehension the network had and the positive fan letters that were received from Southern fans that allayed a lot of the concern.
How interesting! Like OP, I would have assumed there would be a furor over this. I may have to pick up The Making of Star Trek myself; sounds like there's still a fair amount I don't know about the production of TOS.
I agree with you on that, but there are some funny stories about the original Star Trek series in the book "The Making of Star Trek". They thought that the automatic sliding doors were really futuristic - until they were contacted by some guy who was building a condo in Florida wanting to know how they got their doors to work so well, as the ones he had installed were very slow. They wrote him back to let him know they actually had people standing behind the wall pulling them open on cue, and that they didn't realize automatic doors already existed!
It's a very entertaining book, if you get a chance to read it. It pretty much ignores any interpersonal drama and focuses on how the show was made on a tiny budget, and all of the funny stuff that happened.
I also highly recommend The Making of Star Trek: The Book on how to Write for TV! it was written while the show was actually in production. It's a very interesting book detailing why certain design choices were made such as why they use teleporters, designing costumes to be risque, reusing the pilot to stay in budget, to wacky shenanigans such as Shatner's distaste of fruit salad, Roddenberry trolling a tailor, and why Takei wasn't allowed to wield swords after the Naked Now. (SPOILERS: He would chase crew members around with it.)
I really recommend it, even if you're not into Star Trek it's a great look into how shows get pitched and then created.
That's the only one I've read. https://www.amazon.com/Making-Star-Trek-Stephen-Whitfield/dp/0345340191
Looks like this one is a good read, I'll have to check it out https://www.amazon.com/Inside-Star-Trek-Real-Story/dp/0671896288/ref=pd_cp_14_1?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=0671896288&pd_rd_r=TX4208A0J0DAW7NKAHNE&pd_rd_w=fCPVu&pd_rd_wg=qaLUt&psc=1&refRID=TX4208A0J0DAW7NKAHNE