Fact-Checking Inside Star Trek: The Real Story

Discussion in 'Star Trek - The Original & Animated Series' started by Harvey, Jun 7, 2013.

  1. Melakon

    Melakon Admiral In Memoriam

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    Thanks for part 2. In anticipation of it, I watched "Private Little War" again last night. Not really, I actually watched it to drool over Nancy Kovack again. ;)
     
  2. Warped9

    Warped9 Admiral Admiral

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    Looking forward to Part 3. :techman:
     
  3. Harvey

    Harvey Admiral Admiral

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    So, in addition to my regular, weekly content I'm now helping Orion Press complete their Unseen Elements of the Original Series page. (Basically, I'm transcribing all the material they don't have access to). In exchange for that, I get to re-post any new content from that page, beginning with this short piece about 'The Planet Eater.'

    I'm doing my best to keep writing my own content, but I'm with a temp agency at the moment in LA, so taking any work I can get as it comes is obviously the priority. I've already written Part 3 of my Private Little War piece (which, at this pace, will probably end up being 5 parts!) but as for anything after that...it might be a while.
     
  4. Sir Rhosis

    Sir Rhosis Commodore Commodore

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    Honored to be partnered with ya, Harvey.

    Sir Rhosis
     
  5. Robert Comsol

    Robert Comsol Commodore Commodore

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  6. Danger Ace

    Danger Ace Commander Red Shirt

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    I don't know if one can rightfully claim these are "mistakes" per se as if there is one ultimate, absolute, almighty truth. People have different perspectives and recollections. For example, Sandy Courage's more recent recollection could have low key and matter-of-fact, but that does not rule out that at some point prior he may have expressed some degree of ire regarding Roddenberry's handling of the theme and those awful lyrics.

    Remember, the book mentions Roddenberry did also try to squeeze money from Nimoy's recording career during the Trek years (as confirmed by Nimoy) yet made no such demand from Nichelle Nichols (as confirmed by her).

    It is sort of like taking the book to task for its sarcastic statement of how Shatner hadn't won an Emmy for his acting yet a few years after publication he did (twice).
     
  7. Harvey

    Harvey Admiral Admiral

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    Courage downplaying the rift due to the passage of time is certainly a valid interpretation of his remarks from 2000.

    The more important point, I think, is that the book claims Courage didn't come back to the series after the first season because he was angered by the royalty issue. Whatever his feelings about losing out on half the royalties -- negative, even in Courage's most tempered version -- that's false. He recorded library music for the second season and scored two third season episodes.
     
  8. Ssosmcin

    Ssosmcin Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    He probably negotiated an "under the table" deal with Nichelle.
     
  9. Maurice

    Maurice Snagglepussed Admiral

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    When the books contradict primary sources, that's a "mistake" all right.

    As to Nimoy's record, wasn't his record "Leonard Nimoy Presents Mr. Spock's Music From Outer Space" trading on the Spock character? That's different from Nichols, whose 1967 album and 1968 promo don't appear to have featured Uhura or referenced Star Trek.
     
  10. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    Well, not directly. Her '67 album was called Down to Earth, which is pretty clearly a nod to (or distancing from) her Trek role.
     
  11. Harvey

    Harvey Admiral Admiral

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    Part three of my Private Little War series is up this morning.
     
  12. Sir Rhosis

    Sir Rhosis Commodore Commodore

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    Excellent research and commentary, Harvey.

    Sir Rhosis
     
  13. Nerys Myk

    Nerys Myk A Spock and a smile Premium Member

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    Good work Harvey, but I think there is a typo where "space" is spelled as "peace". (In the part covering Roddenberry's memo) Also, I thought "Viet Nam" was an acceptable alternate spelling for Vietnam.
     
  14. Warped9

    Warped9 Admiral Admiral

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    Good stuff, Harvey. :techman: I do find myself agreeing with GR's and DC Fontana's observations.
     
  15. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Names_of_Vietnam
    Still, it's nonstandard in modern English usage, so I can understand the reasons for adding "[sic]" to the transcript. Although I'm not sure it's really needed every single time.
     
  16. Harvey

    Harvey Admiral Admiral

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    Fixed the typo.

    On the subject of Vietnam versus Viet Nam, it appears there is some debate over that in academic circles, but that's certainly outside my field of study. I'll just leave [sic] there to indicate that was Roddenberry's original spelling and not my typo. (Or, you know, what Christopher said).
     
  17. Sir Rhosis

    Sir Rhosis Commodore Commodore

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    Harvey,

    Although I don't know the state of his health, Don Ingalls, aged 95, is still alive, and, I believe, lives in Washington (state). Any chance you might scour the internet to see if he could be reached to respond/clarify/comment on your articles?

    Sir Rhosis
     
  18. Harvey

    Harvey Admiral Admiral

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    He does have a presence on Facebook, although it looks like he hasn't posted there in a while. Coincidentally enough, he lives just a few miles away from where I went to high school. I'll give it a shot (although, if I don't hear from him, he did give an interview to Starlog in '91 that I'll be using in part five, since it fills in a few blanks).
     
  19. Sir Rhosis

    Sir Rhosis Commodore Commodore

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    ^^^FWIW, I sent him a friend request, though, as you say, he has not posted there since 2011. For those who might like to do the same, if you type in "Don Ingalls," his profile is on the second page of people with that name, his profile pic shows him in a maroon shirt (or vest, can't remember), he has a full head of thick gray hair.

    Sir Rhosis
     
  20. Harvey

    Harvey Admiral Admiral

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    The saga of 'A Private Little War' continues.

    As always, corrections are welcome.

    I've spent the past month temping, which is providing a little income, but I'm still hunting for (more permanent) jobs and applying to PhD programs. As a result, expect new content to continue at a trickle for the next few months.