Why Are The Previews Edited?

[QuasarVM]

Any oldtimers here remember the TOS previews when originally aired? Even in syndication, I recall a couple of times when the station accidentally showed the trailers and I remember them start off with "This is William Shatner...join us for next voyage of the Enteprise..." or "This is Leonard Nimoy...".

The trailers on the DVDs omit this dialogue...and I wish they had kept it since I consider any dialog from the actors a part of Trek history.

The ones on the old VHS, laserdiscs and DVDs start off with just music and the Season One and Season Two previews start off with music and some tacky typeface that says "Next Voyage" or somesuch...the third season ones only seem to omit the actor intros.

I guess the previews in their original form are long since gone...lost in some Paramount vault or gone forever.

 

[QuasarVM]

Buehler? Buehler? Buehler?

 

[Ssosmcin]

I never saw them as originally aired, but I have seen stills of one or two which had NEXT WEEK on the screen over whatever live action shot was supposed to be there. This is why you sometimes hear background noises over the "Next Voyage" clips.

The Next Voyage clips obviously use a second season Enterprise shot, so the first season previews all always wrong. The typeface was the "everywhere but the show itself" logo type used on every Trek product out there for a long time.

I suspect the original preview films, and not copies, were edited for syndication, which is why they removed the Next Week when the show was on every day in a lot of markets. The Leonard Nimoy narration for the preview of the second part of The Menagerie is edited to lose the "week" so it says "you will see nexk". The original versions my not exist any longer.

 

[cooleddie74]

The 1980s and '90s VHS copies of episodes kept the original NBC teasers intact if I remember correctly. Sometimes the tape would have the wrong teaser tacked onto the end of the episode, but it was still an unedited network teaser from the original airings.

 

[QuasarVM]

The Next Voyage clips obviously use a second season Enterprise shot, so the first season previews all always wrong. The typeface was the "everywhere but the show itself" logo type used on every Trek product out there for a long time.

Exactly! That shot of the Enterprise IS yet another inconsistency with the original previews. I agree -- I think Paramount Home Video took the originals and modified them for home video purposes.

The 1980s and '90s VHS copies of episodes kept the original NBC teasers intact if I remember correctly. Sometimes the tape would have the wrong teaser tacked onto the end of the episode, but it was still an unedited network teaser from the original airings.

I had some of the mid-80's VHS tapes (which I think came out the same time as the laserdiscs) and they were the same as those on later versions. I really don't think the original -- complete -- NBC previews have ever been released on home video in any format.

If someone knows for sure that they have, please let us know -- but I would think they would have made their way to YouTube if they were out there...

I like the previews because in some of them the soundtrack for shots is mixed differently and sometimes alternate versions (said with different inflections, etc) of dialogue appear in them.

The previews are an interesting study in and of themselves...and they are an aspect that is seldom looked at.

 

[paustin]

hmmmm yeah the ones on the dvd's now are the same ones on the laserdiscs...but you're right about the enterprise shot.

 

[Therin of Andor]

I guess the previews in their original form are long since gone...lost in some Paramount vault or gone forever.

Well, for a start, the moment ST repeats began to be played daily, rather than weekly, the "Next Week" narration would have been clipped out.

 

[QuasarVM]

I guess the previews in their original form are long since gone...lost in some Paramount vault or gone forever.

Well, for a start, the moment ST repeats began to be played daily, rather than weekly, the "Next Week" narration would have been clipped out.

I don't know for sure if that's the wording that was used...it might have been "Next time...or next Voyage"...

At any rate, the dialog could have been edited, keeping 99% of the original preview...

 

[Ssosmcin]

Ah, but they previews originally had NEXT WEEK superimposed on them for the first two seasons. They had to cover it over with something else, or cut the beninning altogether, which would have been confusing. And it was changed for syndication, I remember first seeing these in the 70's on a local channel.

 

[QuasarVM]

Ah, but they previews originally had NEXT WEEK superimposed on them for the first two seasons. They had to cover it over with something else, or cut the beninning altogether, which would have been confusing. And it was changed for syndication, I remember first seeing these in the 70's on a local channel.

Ahhh!!! Ok...

Thanks for the info SSOS! So the voiceover was just over the still image of the Enterprise?

I assume the Third Season previews were as they are on video with the "Next Voyage in the Trek typeface with the Enterprise warping by? Was there a voiceover intro for these as well?

 

[alchemist]

Actually, the original previews were superimposed with either "Next Week" or simply the word "Next." And they used a rather ugly (IMHO) yellow color for the text. I will dig out some of my film clips and post some images when I get the chance.

 

[QuasarVM]

Actually, the original previews were superimposed with either "Next Week" or simply the word "Next." And they used a rather ugly (IMHO) yellow color for the text. I will dig out some of my film clips and post some images when I get the chance.

That would be very cool, Al!

 

[Ssosmcin]

Ahhh!!! Ok...

Thanks for the info SSOS! So the voiceover was just over the still image of the Enterprise?

To be totally accurate, it wasn't a still. The Enterprise and the stars are moving. Yep, they kept the soundtrack intact, just put the substitute image over it.

I assume the Third Season previews were as they are on video with the "Next Voyage in the Trek typeface with the Enterprise warping by? Was there a voiceover intro for these as well?

As far as I know, the third season previews are exactly as you see them today. Generally, there was some dramatic music and the Enterprise whooshing by and "shoving" the words off the screen.

 

[QuasarVM]

Ahhh!!! Ok...

Thanks for the info SSOS! So the voiceover was just over the still image of the Enterprise?

To be totally accurate, it wasn't a still. The Enterprise and the stars are moving. Yep, they kept the soundtrack intact, just put the substitute image over it.

I assume the Third Season previews were as they are on video with the "Next Voyage in the Trek typeface with the Enterprise warping by? Was there a voiceover intro for these as well?

As far as I know, the third season previews are exactly as you see them today. Generally, there was some dramatic music and the Enterprise whooshing by and "shoving" the words off the screen.

I know about the second season shot of the Enterprise they tacked on for the year one and two trailers that Paramount home video used -- I was asking what was on the trailers when they originally aired. What did they show when Shatner was saying "This is William Shatner..." etc. Did the third season trailers have the celeb leadin voiceovers?

 

[alchemist]

Okay, because QuasarVM asked, here are some "preview" shots from my collection...restored to the best of my ability...

First up is a shot from the The Galileo Seven. In addition to the words "Next Week" at the bottom, note the overshoot of the stage wall in the upper right corner:

As mentioned previously, the previews also used the word "Next." Here's an example from Errand of Mercy:

BTW, note the dust, dirt, and hair on the above image (which may be a bit difficult to see in this small image) as a result of several trips of the print through the optical printer.

Finally, I found a nice clip from a "bumper" that I thought you'd enjoy:

Note the blue shadow lights on the bottom of the saucer and the right nacelle. These lights are actually remnants of the blue screen lights that weren't removed during the optical matting process. BTW, for more details on bumpers, see this link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commercial_bumper.

Enjoy!

Dave

 

[QuasarVM]

VERY cool, Dave!!!

Thanks for restoring and posting! That shot of the shuttlecraft is pretty interesting, given the fact you can see the soundstage wall in it!

Ok...so, set me straight here....

The ones that have the word "Next" on them were where the "This is William Shatner, etc..." voiceover went?

I recognized the bumper image...that one is from the third season. If I recall correctly, there was a shortened reprise of the Trek main title when they showed that. Love that shot of the Enterprise, BTW. I have yet to see a CGI image where it looks as big as it does in that shot.

Thanks again, Dave...and any further info you can provide would be welcome.

 

[Kirk1980]

That's some interesting history right there!

As a child of the 80's, I never saw any of those 'next week' previews. Very much into syndication by 1986 (when I first started watching as a six year old).

 

[QuasarVM]

During the 70's they would sometimes (VERY rarely) sneak in the old previews on my local UHF station at the time...that's the only reason I know they originally had celeb intros...

 

[Ssosmcin]

Unless they changed the audio, none of the previews had the actors introducing themselves. They would always be in character and after The Menagerie, the majority of the intro dialog was from the episode itself.

Now, I don't know if NBC did this, but many shows from that time (on ABC at least) had a billboard (still photo with the name of the series on it) come on right after the final fade out with one of the leads saying something like "This is William Shatner; stay tuned for some exciting scenes from next week's episode."

Could that be what you are referring to? Your local UHF station probably ran the 16mm syndication films uncut, and those would have the bumpers and billboards attached. I have a 16mm episode that has mid-episode bumpers and the sponsor cards, but the end credits and previews are missing, so I can't check. But this would make sense, since the previews seem to be unedited aside from that "Next Voyage" clip. The aduio was untouched (except for The Menagerie).

 

[judexavier]

I was unaware of the previews, until watching the TWOK "bonus DVD"recently*. I forget which chapter, but, yeah..."this is William Shatner....join us next week for another exciting adventure..." or something like that. I believe the E in space shot, followed by short clips of the next episode. I'm not quite old enough to have watched the original series, but was old enough to get hooked on the first syndicated runs.

*The extra feature disk of the directors cut DVD set. Checked it out from the library, so I don't have it at the moment.