On this slightly shorter, evaluating-STAR TREK-in-all-its-forms focused topic, I wanted to offer a link to nicely detailed (or fanboy-retentively-detailed, depending on your POV) index of all things TREK:
I linked it to a listing for James T. Kirk because, aside from Shatner's role being a major center of my love for Star Trek, it gives an example of how the site works, chronologically ordering episodes of all the series relevant, in a detailed overview of how they all fit together in a combined continuity. Sometimes I find it interesting, other times overly geeky.
It would gain more points for me if they described the stories and characters as fictional constructions, rather than as if they were real people and events.
But the graphics and photos, and behind-the-scenes information (as much as you choose to read) are unbeatable.
Another great example entry is for the "City on the Edge of Forever" episode.
Quote: rex said: You didn't watch wednesdays episode?
You didn't miss much.
Either you are so utterly stupid, as to have posted South Park shit in the wrong thread. OR, you are so utterly stupid as to believe posting South Park shit in a Trek thread is supposed to imply that you wish to change the natural content of the thread. OR, you are so utterly stupid as to believe any of the above is considered "funny".
In the end, no matter what, it turns out that you are just stupid...
Quote: rex said: You didn't watch wednesdays episode?
You didn't miss much.
Either you are so utterly stupid, as to have posted South Park shit in the wrong thread. OR, you are so utterly stupid as to believe posting South Park shit in a Trek thread is supposed to imply that you wish to change the natural content of the thread. OR, you are so utterly stupid as to believe any of the above is considered "funny".
In the end, no matter what, it turns out that you are just stupid...
wow....
big_pimp_tim-made it cool to roll in the first damn place! Mon Jun 11 2007 09:27 PM-harley finally rolled with me "I'm working with him...he's young but, there is much potential. He can apprentice with me and then he's yours for final training. He will remember the face of his father...
Some day, Knutreturns just may be the greatest of us all...."-THE bastard
... I never knew how close James Doohan came to not being part of the show! Even more odd is that there seems to be no clear or logical reason why he was cut in the first place.
I'm also not clear on how his agent managed to get Doohan so easily back on the show.
Also interesting how pathetically low the wages were, even by 1966 standards. $850 per show for up to 6 days of filming? And pro-rated for less days than that for shows beyond his contracted amount? But then, they did get royalties beyond that, on a show that has been phenomenally successful. I once read that the cast of Gilligan's Island made no royalties, just the wages for their original acting in the produced episodes. Likewise, I spoke to Erin Grey of Buck Rogers In The 25th Century and she was really bitter about the lack of royalties on that show. She hit it big with the comedy series Silver Spoon after that, which ran for many seasons.
I read somewhere that William Shatner had some really lean years throughout the 1970's, where he actually lived in the closed cab of his pickup truck at a campground for several years. Rough!
I was also sad to hear about Andrea Dromm, who was in the "Where No Man Has Gone Before" pilot, but like Doohan was not kept on when the series was picked up. It's confusing though, I'd previously read that she declined to stay with the show because Roddenberry was trying to get in her pants (even though he was married and already shacking Majel Barret in his office!) But this article with a lack of clarity seems to say she left to do a movie, and that Justman and Roddenberry had told her she could do the "Russians Are Coming" movie, or do the series, not both, but then after apparently sent her a letter saying they had chosen not to use her character in the regular series. Regardless, she's one of the best looking women on the show, if only for one episode.
Among the other reasons to watch that episode: super sexy android robo-babe Sherry Jackson, in a very sexy futuristic costume.
I also loved Sherry Jackson in the Twilight Zone episode "The Last Rites of Jeff Myrtylbank", where her fiance dies, but to the horror of the people in his small town, doesn't have the decency to stay dead.
Sherry Jackson also starred in a number of western series and other TV shows, such as Gunsmoke, The Rifleman, Maverick, The Wild Wild West, Perry Mason, Rawhide, The Virginian, Branded, Lost In Space, My Three Sons, Batman, The Rockford Files, Alice, and Charlie's Angels, to name a few.
I actually learned some things watching this. Such as that there was a planned 1977 tv series with a dozen or so scripted episodes, before it was scrapped in favor of making the first 1979 movie.
And that two 1977 characters in the scrapped tv series were recreated in the characters of Decker and Ilia (the bald chick) in Star Trek: The Motion Picture. And then again as Ryker and Deanna Troi in the 1987 Next Generation series! Where the previously rejected Vulcan character from the 1977 series who wanted to feel human emotions was recreated as Data.
Plus other stuff. Someone spent WAY too much time counting how many red and gold-shirted crewmembers died across 79 hours of episodes, and the precise ratios of red and gold-shirted crewmembers who were killed vs. their ratio of the Enterprise crew. Woah.
All previous episodes of Star Trek had overrun their filming schedules, and the producers were concerned that not enough time had been allotted to each production. Marc Daniels was recruited as director of "The Man Trap"; among his varied directing credits were episodes of I Love Lucy for Desilu Productions.[14][15] Pre-production began during the six scheduled filming days for "The Enemy Within",[13] but that episode ran long. Filming for "The Man Trap" commenced around 3:20 p.m. on June 22 and continued until 7:10 p.m.[16] Several futuristic-looking salt shakers were sourced for scenes in "The Man Trap", but due to concerns that they would not be recognized, they were instead used from "The Man Trap" onward as McCoy's tools in sickbay.[17]
The first full day of filming on June 23 was predominantly shot on the set representing the bridge of the Enterprise. Two small establishing shots were postponed until the filming of the next episode. The following day, corridor scenes were filmed, as was the climactic scene featuring the creature's death. At that point, Daniels estimated that he was only a third of a day behind schedule. After a break for the weekend, production resumed on June 27 for scenes in the botany lab, the briefing room and sickbay.[18] One of Grace Lee Whitney's favorite sets to work on throughout the series was the lab, which was the sickbay redecorated, as she enjoyed working with George Takei. The animated plant in that scene was a hand puppet controlled from under the table, and Whitney later recalled that the operator could see right up her skirt throughout the shoot and would occasionally try to grope her using the puppet.[19]
For the sickbay scenes when Spock bleeds, Daniels decided that Vulcans should have green blood.[18] Roddenberry disliked the idea and unsuccessfully attempted to have it corrected in post-production. By the end of the fifth day of shooting, Daniels estimated that he was now only half an hour behind schedule.[20] Days six and seven were spent on the sets used to show the surface of M-113; while the design of the planet did not match Johnson's vision, he was pleased with it nonetheless. The ruins were constructed out of cardboard boxes covered in gunite (a spray-on, cement-like product) to give them a rocky appearance. Production wrapped on June 30, at 2:55 p.m.[20] Bob Justman later referred to Daniels as the "savior" of the series for delivering "The Man Trap" on schedule,[14] and when the director for "The Naked Time" dropped out, Daniels took over and shot the episode back to back with "The Man Trap" a quarter of a day faster than the schedule.[14] By the end of the original series, Daniels had filmed more episodes than any other director.[19]
During the production of "The Man Trap", Daniels introduced a system in which actors unneeded on a shoot went to a "cast table" area to practice upcoming scenes rather than return to their dressing rooms. Producers felt that this both sped up the filming process and improved the quality of performances. The cast table system continued to be used throughout the production of the original series, even when Daniels was not directing.[14]
In post-production, Justman recommended adding an opening narration. Roddenberry agreed and wrote new lines for a Captain's log. Alexander Courage recorded the music for this episode on August 19,[21] the same day as the "Theme from Star Trek",[22] using a 25-piece orchestra.[21] While Roddenberry liked the theme, he hated the music created specifically for "The Man Trap". The optical effects were created more quickly than usual; Howard A. Anderson, Jr. took two months, three times faster than for some episodes. The overall production costs for "The Man Trap" came in under-budget at $185,401.[22]
It's amazing how many things that we envision as set in stone from the outset, actually gradually evolved randomly. Even Spock's having green blood was a random idea, and one that Gene Rodenberry strongly resisted.
Even the production selection of episodes, and even after shot and produced, they were not aired in the order of production. That selection as well seems to be random, and could have on a whim gone a lot of different ways.
One of the things about movies and television that surprised me when I first studied it is that movie scenes are not shot in the order that we see them. For time-efficiency, they break up the script and shoot all the bridge scenes at one time, all the hallway scenes at one time, all the sickbay scenes at one time, and all the down-on-the-planet scenes at one time, then edit them into the correct order in the final production.
By an odd coincidence, "The Man Trap" was the first episode of Star Trek I saw, and in its primetime re-run airing in 1969. I was 6 years old, and the creature scared me so I had difficulty sleeping that night. I read (I think in Allan Asherman's THE STAR TREK COMPENDIUM book) that "The Man Trap" was the last re-run episode aired in 1969 before the series was taken off the air, so it's possible I discovered Star Trek on its very last night of prime-time airing.
I watched the series in its entirety when it began in syndication in 1973-1974, I recall it came on about an hour or two after we got home from school. There was a then-new game show called Match Game, then an episode of Get Smart, then Star Trek, 5 days a week. And we were all glued to our sets when this stuff came on.
So I have a special attachment to "The Man Trap" episode. It was my introduction to the series. Interesting that it was the episode, of all initially produced, that its producers chose as the first to air, the one to introduce the series to the country in 1966. And then the very last to air before the series ended its initial run in primetime in 1969.
For yet another original Star Trek tribute series, but looks to have some clever twists. A British series that might be worth checking out. Over 5 "series" (or seasons?) of 3 to 6 episodes each, and two specials, it's a small commitment, only 23 episodes total so far.
I've always wondered what precisely about Shatner caused such a deep grudge in cast members like George Takei, James Doohan and Nichelle Nichols. That at least gives a glimpse of what's at the core of it.
I recall when Star Trek V was announced, and a Trek-enthusiast friend told me it would be directed by Shatner instead of Nimoy as the previous 2 were, and added contemptuously: "It'll probably be a two-hour close-up of him."
I always loved Shatner as Kirk and in other roles. But I can see as a supporting actor who was struggling for just a few lines of visibility, how Shatner squeezing you out to just more emphasize his already starring role, could be both offputting and threatening.
William Shatner, answering a question about Takei's feud with Shatner, saying he doesn't know why Takei has railed on him for decades. And then, astonishingly, Takei invited Shatner to his 2008 gay wedding!
This Youtube comment really nailed it:
Originally Posted By: Lucas McCain
Takei owes his entire career to Shatner. Yes, that's right. Shatner made the show. Bottom Line, no one would ever know the name George Takei if it weren't for William Shatner, period.
and
Originally Posted By: fyreflye100
I saw George Takei at a Star Trek convention in 1992. I was very excited to see him speak in person – and he proceded to give the most mind-numbingly boring speech I have ever seen. This was not long after the sixth Star Trek movie movie where Sulu had been made a captain, and I swear almost every freaking sentence George uttered contained the phrase, "Captain Sulu." For well over an hour, it was Captain Sulu this and Captain Sulu that. He was promoting a new series of Captain Sulu books, and he kept telling us we should write letters to Paramount asking them to make a series starring the adventures of Captain Sulu. He never mentioned Shatner or Kirk in this talk, except a passing reference to the old, balding captain who needed to retire already.
Not long after that, I saw George Takei on QVC, along with Walter Koenig and Nichelle Nichols. The QVC host made a comment about how she wished she could have been in the limousine with the three of them as they were coming to QVC. Walter Koenig said something like, "I can tell you what we talked about in the limousine. It was Captain Sulu and the weather and Captain Sulu and our families and Captain Sulu, and then we talked some more about Captain Sulu." I wanted to reach through the TV and give Walter a big kiss!
People always talk about Shatner's ego, but I'm telling you George Takei has a massive ego as well, and I think a lot of his intense hatred towards Shatner comes from pure resentment that he was the main star instead of George.
I like this interview because Koenig gives a general impression of all his co-stars, and some behind-the-scenes about segments omitted with Takei.
Of the surviving actors from the original series, all are now in their 80's. I find it difficult to understand how any of the actors can be bitter. They ALL starred in one of the most successful syndicated series in television history, for which all of them receive royalties every time an episode is aired. (Many actors do not, such as Gilligan's Island, or Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, whose cast never received any royalties.) They all starred in 6 very successful films. They all have been regular (and paid) guests for decades at Star Trek conventions worldwide, where however minor their role or regardless of any omitted scenes, have each received endless adoration. All have books. All have interviews, like this one. All achieved fame and wealth.
An interesting brief overview by Doohan of his career during and after Star Trek, with a lot of funny moments. Doohan, like all the cast, had some very lean years between the end of the series in 1969, and the first movie in 1979.
Even the envied star of the series, William Shatner, lived for a time on a campground in the cab of his truck.
I love the roles in westerns in the years pre-dating and during Trek by the series castmembers, and in shows like The Twilight Zone, and Outer Limits. And as I said in another topic, when Shatner was on T.J.Hooker, that he gave a lot of work to former Star Trek actors, to the point that it almost became a Star Trek reunion, with stars like Gary Lockwood, Leonard Nimoy, Vic Taybeck, and Barbara Luna all appearing in one or more episodes.
I've always wondered what precisely about Shatner caused such a deep grudge in cast members like George Takei, James Doohan and Nichelle Nichols. That at least gives a glimpse of what's at the core of it.
I recall when Star Trek V was announced, and a Trek-enthusiast friend told me it would be directed by Shatner instead of Nimoy as the previous 2 were, and added contemptuously: "It'll probably be a two-hour close-up of him."
I always loved Shatner as Kirk and in other roles. But I can see as a supporting actor who was struggling for just a few lines of visibility, how Shatner squeezing you out to just more emphasize his already starring role, could be both offputting and threatening.
Takei is just ponderous and has been for years. The last time he did anything enjoyable was as the token gay guy on "Howard Stern" and even that became unlistenable as demanded to be taken ever more seriously with each appearance.
