Fact-Checking Inside Star Trek: The Real Story

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

  1. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    ^Heck, one of my DS9 pitches had a resemblance to "Empok Nor." I'm sure a lot of other people's did too. "The crew encounters a threat on an exact duplicate of their own ship/station" is probably the gist of thousands of pitches, since it's an obvious way to save money.
     
  2. Harvey

    Harvey Admiral Admiral

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  3. Warped9

    Warped9 Admiral Admiral

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    Aspects of that outline remind me of the Bantam Books novel Planet Of Judgement by Joe Haldeman. In that story humans and Klingons are tested by an alien race to see who would be best suited to fight off an alien invasion. That's what I remember of it anyway.
     
  4. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    Was it from before or after "By Any Other Name"? It looks like Bixby cannibalized parts of it for both episodes -- and a good thing, too, since those are both classics while this one feels cliched and awkward.


    There were no Klingons in Planet of Judgment. The Enterprise crew were tested to see if they could stand up to the invaders, but they weren't competing with anyone else for the job.
     
  5. Harvey

    Harvey Admiral Admiral

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    I tend to think it was probably written after 'By Any Other Name,' but it has no date on it, so it's hard to say. I'm hoping further research will uncover the answer, but for now, I don't have one.
     
  6. Warped9

    Warped9 Admiral Admiral

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    Well it has been forty years since I read the book.
     
  7. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    ^It's worth rereading. It's my second-favorite of Bantam's Trek novels, after Gerrold's The Galactic Whirlpool.
     
  8. AtoZ

    AtoZ Commander Red Shirt

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    Apologies, but how many of the proposed Star Trek II series from the 70's stories' ended-up being recycled for TNG?
     
  9. Warped9

    Warped9 Admiral Admiral

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    I know of at least one: "The Child." The part adapted for Deanna Troi was originally written for Ilia.
     
  10. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    "Devil's Due" was also a Phase II outline reworked for TNG.
     
  11. Warped9

    Warped9 Admiral Admiral

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    Oops! I forgot that one.

    Funny, but I keep thinking of that one being done as a TOS episode with Elizabeth Montgomery. That could have been fun. :lol:

    [​IMG]

    Of course, I'm sure Bill Theiss would have come up with a more eye catching outfit.
     
    Last edited: Dec 3, 2013
  12. trevanian

    trevanian Rear Admiral

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    Try finding pics of Samantha's sister or cousin Serena - those outfits were as I recall more Theiss like (or at least more groovy 60s like.)
     
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  13. Commishsleer

    Commishsleer Commodore Commodore

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    Its one of my favourites too.
    Its one of the (early) novels that gets the Kirk and Spock relationship right but also gives the other crewman and officers and even guest civilians something significant to do.
     
  14. Jonas Grumby

    Jonas Grumby Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Liz Montgomery wearing Theiss? Excuse me, I have to go daydream for a while. :D
     
  15. Harvey

    Harvey Admiral Admiral

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    Another Orion Press re-post today; this time, it's Robert Sheckley's first stab at an outline for Star Trek, which he never titled.

    http://startrekfactcheck.blogspot.com/2013/12/unseen-trek-untitled-by-robert-sheckley_7.html

    I'm working on some original content again (at last!). A short piece about Star Trek and NASA should be done at some point, along with the next part of the writing of 'A Private Little War,' and some thoughts on the "revised and expanded" edition of These Are The Voyages.
     
  16. Warped9

    Warped9 Admiral Admiral

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    Yep, definitely elements of "The Man Trap" as well as "The Survivor" in that. There's also something of that DS9 episode where some entity gets into the computer and basically acts like a puppy wanting attention.
     
  17. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    It's an interesting outline with some clever ideas. I like the twist at the end, that just because an organism has superior abilities, that doesn't make it a superior intelligence. This could've made a good story, with some refinements.

    It's also interesting to see that SF writers like Sheckley were being solicited so early in the creative process.

    I'm unclear on whether the paragraph beginning "First, get rid of the anthropologist" is part of Sheckley's note or part of Dave's commentary. The font suggests the latter, but it reads more like the former.
     
  18. Harvey

    Harvey Admiral Admiral

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    Those are Dave's comments; I've added a section break to make it clear.
     
  19. Warped9

    Warped9 Admiral Admiral

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    It's science fiction. So substitute anthropologist with xenobiologist or (more retro) astrobiologist. Mind you it won't be any easier on your typing fingers. :)
     
  20. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    Of course there would be an actual character name if it had gone to script.

    But I like the idea that since the ship's purpose is scientific, that means the chief scientist gets to override the captain. It certainly would've made for some interesting changes if that had been the case.