Question About the James Blish Adaptions (novelizations)

[Knight Templar]

In the 1970s & early 80s, before VCRs that were reliable, and when my local station wasn't broadcasting TOS, I kept in touch with the series by reading Star Trek 1-12. These were the written versions of the TOS episodes by noted science fiction writer James Blish. IIRC his wife J.A. Lawrence finished #12.

In #12, IIRC there are some writers notes about why some of the episodes differ from the aired versions and Blish explains that he worked with the filming scripts that sometimes differed when filmed.

But.

He points out that ONE episode, he had to change the ending of because it just didn't seem to make sense in print. He said he got permission from Paramount to do this.

which episode did he change the ending of?

The only one I can think of that differs significantly in the James Blish version is "The Doomsday Machine".

In Blish's version, the Enterprise does not break free of the tractor beam and the Constellation never fires on the Planet Killer.

Instead, Kirk flies the Constellation into the Planet Killer and blows it up. Kirk doesn't have to make a last minute escape. He is beamed out fully 20 seconds before the explosion and watches the detonation on the transporter room viewscreen.

The Enterprise escapes destruction because Spock orders the ship to execute a warp jump a fraction of a second after detonation but before the plume of the explosion can reach the Enterprise.

Decker doesn't sacrifice himself but remains on the bridge of the Enterprise after being relieved by Spock.

At the end, he apologizes to Kirk in much way Commodore Stocker did at the end of "The Deadly Years".

[Christopher]

I don't remember which one specifically Blish might've been referring to, but I'm surprised you've forgotten how radically different Blish's version of "Operation: Annihilate" is from the aired episode. It must've been from a really early script draft, because it's a hugely different story in the back half.

[Knight Templar]

Christopher wrote:

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I don't remember which one specifically Blish might've been referring to, but I'm surprised you've forgotten how radically different Blish's version of "Operation: Annihilate" is from the aired episode. It must've been from a really early script draft, because it's a hugely different story in the back half.

That one I do not remember.

How did it differ?

By the way, I would love to have seen the original series episodes handled the way Alan Dean Foster handled the Animated Series in Star Trek Logs 1-10.

Foster made a point of not only being comprehensive in covering the episodes, but in explaining away some of the more ridiculous elements from TAS.

And he expanded three of the episodes into full length novels.

[MacLeod]

Remember James Blish is a Brit and he was writing these adaptaions based on scripts, TOS hadn't even aired in the UK yet.

[Kamdan]

I remember in the Charlie X adaptation (called Charlie's Law), Kirk had a plot to capture Charlie by making Rand pretend to seduce him.

[Nerys Myk]

MacLeod wrote:

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Remember James Blish is a Brit and he was writing these adaptaions based on scripts, TOS hadn't even aired in the UK yet.

He was an American who moved to Britain in the late 1960s.

[Christopher]

Knight Templar wrote:

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That one I do not remember.

How did it differ?

In many ways. Kirk's family isn't involved; they rescue an elderly man named Menen and his daughter Aurelan, who, by pure coincidence, is both the sister of the man who flew his ship into the sun and the fiancee of a man Spock brings aboard to be the guinea pig for his theory that the creatures can be killed by magnetism. Which works, so Spock is never blinded. But that won't work on a planetwide scale, so Spock chooses to stay infected so he can use his neural link to the creatures' hive mind to track down their original homeworld so the Enterprise can destroy the nucleus that controls all the other creatures.

Which actually does make a lot more sense than the final episode (aside from the fact that all these randomly encountered Denevans are directly related), so maybe this is the one Blish asked to change.

Foster made a point of not only being comprehensive in covering the episodes, but in explaining away some of the more ridiculous elements from TAS.

And he expanded three of the episodes into full length novels.

Four, actually, in Log Seven through Ten.

[Hartzilla2007]

What episodes do the James Blish Adaptions cover?

[Nerys Myk]

Pretty sure it was all of them. Though his wife completed the ones that came out after his death.

[MacLeod]

Nerys Myk wrote:

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He was an American who moved to Britain in the late 1960s.

I stand corrected.

[Knight Templar]

Christopher wrote:

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In many ways. Kirk's family isn't involved; they rescue an elderly man named Menen and his daughter Aurelan, who, by pure coincidence, is both the sister of the man who flew his ship into the sun and the fiancee of a man Spock brings aboard to be the guinea pig for his theory that the creatures can be killed by magnetism. Which works, so Spock is never blinded. But that won't work on a planetwide scale, so Spock chooses to stay infected so he can use his neural link to the creatures' hive mind to track down their original homeworld so the Enterprise can destroy the nucleus that controls all the other creatures.

Which actually does make a lot more sense than the final episode (aside from the fact that all these randomly encountered Denevans are directly related), so maybe this is the one Blish asked to change.

Actually, I'm fairly certain that was the original script. But it was changed to focus on Kirk's family and Spocks blinding fairly late in the development process.

[Christopher]

Hartzilla2007 wrote:

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What episodes do the James Blish Adaptions cover?

Star Trek 1 - 12 encompass everything except the Harry Mudd episodes and the present-day frame of "The Menagerie." Mudd's Angels by J. A. Lawrence (re-titled Mudd's Enterprise in a later re-release) adapts the two Mudd episodes and adds an original, rather dreadful sequel with the odd title "The Business, As Usual, During Altercations" (evidently an homage to a short story that's well-known in some circles).

So basically the only thing that was never adapted (aside from the majority of "Operation: Annihilate") was the "Menagerie" frame story.

[alchemist]

Knight Templar wrote:

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Actually, I'm fairly certain that was the original script. But it was changed to focus on Kirk's family and Spocks blinding fairly late in the development process.

Yep, you are right. This is what my script drafts show.

[Hartzilla2007]

Christopher wrote:

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Star Trek 1 - 12 encompass everything except the Harry Mudd episodes and the present-day frame of "The Menagerie." Mudd's Angels by J. A. Lawrence (re-titled Mudd's Enterprise in a later re-release) adapts the two Mudd episodes and adds an original, rather dreadful sequel with the odd title "The Business, As Usual, During Altercations" (evidently an homage to a short story that's well-known in some circles).

So basically the only thing that was never adapted (aside from the majority of "Operation: Annihilate") was the "Menagerie" frame story.

Okay. I found the whole series on Amazon and was wondering what I would be getting.

Also isn't "The Menagerie" without the framing story just "The Cage"?

[Christopher]

^Yes, exactly. Blish only adapted "The Cage" (though under its final title of "The Menagerie" -- it was only retroactively renamed "The Cage" in later years to distinguish it from the 2-parter). He said in a footnote that he attempted to adapt the full story but found the changes in timeframe and viewpoint "hopelessly confusing," so he just stuck with adapting the pilot, complete with its original ending.

Also be aware that the adaptations in the early volumes often take far more liberties with the episodes, both because he was often working from early drafts and because he wasn't yet under as much pressure from the fans to adapt the episodes accurately. But the early "inaccurate" adaptations are often more interesting because of the ideas Blish brings to the table.