Why do they dismantle or destroy old Star Trek bridges?
- Thread starter Adam La Forge
- Start date
Doesn't make money either. Investing in the preservation of large set pieces of concluded / cancelled tv shows with a dedicated fan base is not a priority.
They might pocket enough for a couple week's rent on Taylor Sheridan's ranch, I guess. It's all relative. They deal in figures with 8-10 zeroes.
I get where you're coming from, though.
Or, instead of being dumped, they can be used as the bones to rebuild into new sets for different productions, not necessarily involving STAR TREK.
Discovered recently that the massive New York tenement set used for Hitchcock's REAR WINDOW was transformed into a candy-colored deluxe hotel set for a Jerry Lewis movie, where it was pretty much unrecognizable.
And I cite all these prior examples not just because I find all this old Hollywood history fascinating, but also to get across the general attitude towards sets that has existed for pretty much for as long as movies and TV have existed. They're not relics to be preserved, regardless of what show we're talking about.
STAR TREK, as much as we love it, does not exist in a bubble, operating under its own rules. Production-wise, the same basic principles apply.
Discovered recently that the massive New York tenement set used for Hitchcock's REAR WINDOW was transformed into a candy-colored deluxe hotel set for a Jerry Lewis movie, where it was pretty much unrecognizable.
And I cite all these prior examples not just because I find all this old Hollywood history fascinating, but also to get across the general attitude towards sets that has existed for pretty much for as long as movies and TV have existed. They're not relics to be preserved, regardless of what show we're talking about.
STAR TREK, as much as we love it, does not exist in a bubble, operating under its own rules. Production-wise, the same basic principles apply.
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Yeah, it's not about value, it's about convenience. Sets are huge, it's not like they can just tuck them into some corner perpetually. Visiting Cawley's set in Ticonderoga can give some perspective.
Even if they did leave them up for museums, they'd still need a lot of TLC (again, more money) to make them ready for the public.
Even if they did leave them up for museums, they'd still need a lot of TLC (again, more money) to make them ready for the public.
Not really. They may get pennies on the investment and moving on to the next production makes them more money that spending money hoping that someone is willing to pay to lease it, store it, and move it.
All of this is costing money, including time and labor and storage. From a financial point of view it makes zero sense to the companies. Fans might be interested but that doesn't pay them money.
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Break down in hard cold facts:
Trashing sets-cost of labor.
Leasing sets costs:
Storage
Transportation
Labor to move it
Contracts and legal for leasing
Storage if lease is up
Reclaiming property if people don't pay.
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Exactly. What they are supposed to do with these sets when they're not being rented for the weekend by some convention on the other side of the country? And what about maintenance? Fan groups are not going to be happy if they pay big bucks to lease and ship some deteriorating old set that hasn't been maintained or spruced up since the show ceased production. Do the studios now have to do regular maintenance on unwanted sets because some fan film or convention might want to rent them someday?
None of these "preservation" schemes make any sense, practically speaking. We're talking about the real world here; not some ivory tower divorced from the actual realities of the business.
At the very least put them out on the street and put out the word. Come get free Star Trek stuff. First come, first serve. Everything must go! When it comes to something like Trek I think you could even get some people to help out for free out of their love for Trek. I know everything is a business and all but sometimes when it comes to special things people will do something out of their sheer love of something.
So, again, take time and labor spending money with no return and inviting people on to their property unsupervised, inviting liability if someone gets hurt?
I get this from a fan's point of view, and I sympathize. But, from a business point of view it doesn't check out at all.
But where would they put it?? Again, these are not small things. You would be asking staff members to dump it somewhere when they could be doing something more productive. Not to mention that if left out on the street, the cops would likely ask the studio to take it away.
There was once a Star Trek theme park in Vegas which included, among other things, a recreation of the TNG bridge which people could tour, sit in, have their pictures taken and all that fun stuff. It has since been shut down due to lack of interest. There just isn't any money to be had in keeping the old sets around for someone to use/visit in a future time or even setting them up in a Trekkie museum or something.
Call around and see if any places want any of the stuff. If they do they got to come take it out. Do all the manual labor. Maybe you keep a few security guards around so they don't steal anything. It would be like putting old stuff out on your lawn for the city to come pickup or like in some of those car restoration videos. Someone finds some old car in a barn and then out comes the people to load it up and take off with it. If anything it is less work for the studio because I assume someone has to take all that old stuff out to the trash dumpsters . Doesn't it take work to throw it away as well?
Not nearly as much to preserve and load.
this is done over and over again. Up to a point, after a while the pieces just start to crumble.
I also find it weird that somehow only Star Trek sets are iconic enough to deserve the treatment of being preserved forever as part of media history. Why not the Millennium Falcon? Why not the Batcave? Why not the two apartments and Central Perk from Friends? Or the home of the Bundys?
Really, the only purpose-built movie sets I've ever heard of being preserved in situ are exteriors, because it's easier to just let nature reclaim them. Most famously Hobbiton in New Zealand (that was left to the elements until they decided to convert it into a theme park), but to also raise something from my own local movie history, there's the replica of Eger Castle built near Pilisborosjenő, Hungary, for the 1968 historical epic Stars of Eger, about the 1552 siege of the eponymous castle by the Ottoman Turks. It's completely in ruins because it's been set ablaze in the movie, and the only reason its curtain walls are still standing is because the peculiar nature of living in a literal communist dictatorship allowed the production to just ask the government to order the (conscripted, of course) military to mine a lot of stone in a nearby quarry, build the entire castle from scratch, then serve as extras in the movie. It mainly serves as a local hiking spot nowadays, although international productions (such as Netflix's The Witcher) use it occasionally if they need a ruined castle near Budapest.
Really, the only purpose-built movie sets I've ever heard of being preserved in situ are exteriors, because it's easier to just let nature reclaim them. Most famously Hobbiton in New Zealand (that was left to the elements until they decided to convert it into a theme park), but to also raise something from my own local movie history, there's the replica of Eger Castle built near Pilisborosjenő, Hungary, for the 1968 historical epic Stars of Eger, about the 1552 siege of the eponymous castle by the Ottoman Turks. It's completely in ruins because it's been set ablaze in the movie, and the only reason its curtain walls are still standing is because the peculiar nature of living in a literal communist dictatorship allowed the production to just ask the government to order the (conscripted, of course) military to mine a lot of stone in a nearby quarry, build the entire castle from scratch, then serve as extras in the movie. It mainly serves as a local hiking spot nowadays, although international productions (such as Netflix's The Witcher) use it occasionally if they need a ruined castle near Budapest.
No.
[/Shaw]
My thoughts weren't limited to Trek. Granted some shows don't know they are going to be iconic until may years later when they have become iconic. Using Trek a a example their was no way the people making TOS could know what the shows legacy would become. Speaking of which I heard some of those sets were reused on MIssion: Impossible. Did the TOS sets or props ever show up on anything else?
Also this is kind of funny but I have been watching lots of Halmark Christmas movies because my mom really likes them and I swear I think they are using some of the same Christmas Trees and decorations in several movies. I think I have seen the same Tree show up in at least 3 movies.
Probably because they know they will be used again. A niche or genre show has no guarantee.
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