Notes re. The City On The Edge Of Forever....

[Forbin]

Maurice wrote:

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It actually doesn't take long for this sort of goofing around to start. If you sense other people get your sense of humor, it can happen almost right away.

Heck we do it at work, even in emails between lowly me and the VP of human resources - we've been friends for 20 years.

[ZapBrannigan]

The worst thing is when you try to kid with someone at work, and he flat-ass doesn't get that you're joking. You can use a funny voice, say something completely absurd, and some guys will stop dead and think there's a problem. These guys are drones.

[MikeH92467]

ZapBrannigan wrote:

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The worst thing is when you try to kid with someone at work, and he flat-ass doesn't get that you're joking. You can use a funny voice, say something completely absurd, and some guys will stop dead and think there's a problem. These guys are drones.

I worked for a guy who reminded of Dilbert's pointy haired boss.

[Forbin]

^Dilbert is a documentary of my office. It's depressing. I have actually read thru a Dilbert collection book and ended up anxious and depressed.

[EnsignHarper]

Forbin wrote:

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^Dilbert is a documentary of my office. It's depressing. I have actually read thru a Dilbert collection book and ended up anxious and depressed.

Well Retail is a documentary of my days working retail...
www.retailcomic.com

[EnsignHarper]

Back to the topic!

It was established way back in The Making of Star Trek that GR tried to keep things light as possible within the constraints of the pressure making the show. The small practical jokes like putting a fully made up Ted Cassidy -as - Ruk in Gene's office to meet an unsuspecting salesman, the small after work parties (which was a Desilu tradition anyways), the memos with the sarcastic edge to them. It's all part of relieving the pressure a little.

Favorite Justman memo of all:

TO: All Concerned
FROM: R Justman
SUBJECT: TUESDAY

I plan on being extremely mean today.




There's a reason the Trek bloopers are some of the best of all time....

[mos6507]

MikeH92467 wrote:

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No one could have known that COTEOF would become a classic episode

I don't think that's true. We now know from the TOS soundtarck boxed set that it was the only episode in which the score was recorded in full stereo. This suggests that it was identified right from the get-go as a classic, and deserved special care. I don't know why they would do this unless they thought maybe there'd be a soundtrack album, since TV was mono until the 80s.

It's also true that when people are passionate about something, they fight over it, not so much because they have to hate each other (although it can bleed over into that) but because they know their finger is on something awesome. The strength of this episode, despite every beef Justman highlights in his memo, was classic Greek drama in which the lead actor has to stand by and allow the love of his life to die. Heavy sh*t for 1960s TV. Edith Keeler getting hit by the car is that classic TV moment that will live forever, seconded with Kirk's tagline "let's get the hell out of here" which was the antithesis of the happy-ending bottle episode. They knew it would be one of the best episodes, regardless of the script revisions.

[JoeD80]

Christopher wrote:

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The parameters are just so different. Screenwriting is more external, more visual, more minimalist, more concise. I like to say that Ellison's imagination was just too big to be constrained by the limits of TV. Which was why it took experienced TV writers like Roddenberry and Fontana to take the core of his story and adapt it into a filmable form

City was something like his ninth or tenth script for TV, and he had done lots of script re-writes as well. He wasn't inexperienced in the field.

Christopher wrote:

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So it's odd that he left his real name on City when he's been protesting about it ever since.

Well he did want to put his Cordwainer name on it, which is mentioned in the Inside Star Trek book.