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Where TOS stumbled....

There's little evidence outside of Roddenberry's tall tales that the studio (Desilu) or the Network (NBC) was as conservative as you suggest.

Is it not true that the suits requested the first officer not be a female after seeing "the cage"?
Nope. They requested the first officer not be female because Roddenberry (already married) was banging her on the side.

Is it not true that they tried to get Spock off the show because he was too demonic?
Nope.

Is it not true that the they felt "the cage" was too cerebral for television audience?
Nope. See Herb Solow and Bob Justman's "Inside Star Trek"


All of these decisions were based out of FEAR, not malice. They were AFRAID that 1960s White Christian America couldn't handle these ideas. AKA Playing it safe.


This is the 60s television suits we're talking about, of COURSE they were overly conservative.
Actually, they weren't. If you watch enough '60s TV (and I was born in '61, so I watched a LOT of '60s TV, both new and in syndication), you'll see lots of "controversial" subjects in all kinds of shows.
 
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This is the first time I've heard someone deny the "Spock was too demonic for the studio" story. Just saying "Nope" doesn't really convince me of anything. Try putting some effort into your response. Harvey even agreed that this story was true, although they changed their mind. So it kind of hurts your credibility when you just dismiss this with a "Nope" when it's obviously not such an open and shut case.



I don't know how you can quickly dismiss some things as lies and some things as truths based off of the differing accounts of people who were involved. The truth is usually somewhere in the middle...
 
I don't know how you can quickly dismiss some things as lies and some things as truths based off of the differing accounts of people who were involved.

Nothing quick about it; I've read varying accounts of the what happened with the Number One character, done some primary research, and Roddenberry's version is the one that doesn't hold up to scrutiny.

This is not to suggest that the Solow/Justman book doesn't have its own agenda, or that the authors are infallible.

Nope. They requested the first officer not be female because Roddenberry (already married) was banging her on the side.

More precisely, they requested that Roddenberry recast because they didn't like her performance (that she was also his mistress -- later his second wife -- was probably a factor, although it didn't stop her from being cast in the first place). Roddenberry chose to drop the role, rather than recast. In the press, he would claim that NBC forced him to drop the character because they didn't want a female in a position of power, which was false.
 
I don't know how you can quickly dismiss some things as lies and some things as truths based off of the differing accounts of people who were involved.

Nothing quick about it; I've read varying accounts of the what happened with the Number One character, done some primary research, and Roddenberry's version is the one that doesn't hold up to scrutiny.

This is not to suggest that the Solow/Justman book doesn't have its own agenda, or that the authors are infallible.

Nope. They requested the first officer not be female because Roddenberry (already married) was banging her on the side.

More precisely, they requested that Roddenberry recast because they didn't like her performance (that she was also his mistress -- later his second wife -- was probably a factor, although it didn't stop her from being cast in the first place). Roddenberry chose to drop the role, rather than recast. In the press, he would claim that NBC forced him to drop the character because they didn't want a female in a position of power, which was false.

I didn't mean to make this a topic about Number One, and what you say makes perfect sense. Thank you very much.



Something I've noticed for a while: It has gotten to the point that some fans are so bitter about some of Roddenberry's lies, that they cynically dismiss anything he said that someone else might not have agreed with. The way you wrote your reply clearly shows that you are not one of those people, but I've noticed this for a while now and it's a little grating because it doesn't seem impartial at all.

For example, the old "Spock being too demonic" story is now dismissed outright as a lie, just because he lied about other totally unrelated things. That's not fair or impartial.
 
It has gotten to the point that some fans are so bitter about some of Roddenberry's lies, that they cynically dismiss anything he said that someone else might not have agreed with.

No.

As more information has been made available by producers, writers and executives who contributed centrally to TOS and TNG, people have grown sensibly skeptical of any Roddenberry story which lionizes him, minimizes the contribution of others and/or casts those who disagreed with him or refused him as short-sighted and conservative and dim. Many of his stories never did make a lot of sense when one placed Star Trek in the context of other things that were being done by the studio and networks, and since we now have the testimony of other eyewitnesses and sometimes documentary evidence that contradicts GR it's entirely reasonable to take any anecdote he recounted with a grain of salt.
 
When evaluating Roddenberry stories, it's best to take Reagan's advice regarding the Soviet Union: Trust, but verify. Sometimes GR was being deceptive, sometimes he had a brain fart and went with what made sense at the time, and sometimes he just plain remembered it differently.

His relationship to the truth had to do with a childhood incident where he got blamed for something that wasn't his fault and he copped to the charge only go get out of the argument. From that point, he lived by the maxim, "Truth is relative. Pick one that works."
 
For example, the old "Spock being too demonic" story is now dismissed outright as a lie, just because he lied about other totally unrelated things. That's not fair or impartial.

Roddenberry did so many underhanded things that I simply see him as a very competent TV producer and nothing more.

A few things that Roddenberry is known to have done...

* Cheated on his first wife with Majel Barrett and Nichelle Nichols. Then cheated on Barrett after marrying her.

* Wrote non-sensical lyrics to Alexander Courage's music so he could claim half of any money Courage made off of it.

* Stole the story for Tomorrow is Yesterday from producer Bob Justman.

Those really just scratch the surface.

I quit subscribing to the "Roddenberry is a God" club many, many years ago. The man was simply out to make a buck.
 
For example, the old "Spock being too demonic" story is now dismissed outright as a lie, just because he lied about other totally unrelated things. That's not fair or impartial.

Roddenberry did so many underhanded things that I simply see him as a very competent TV producer and nothing more.

A few things that Roddenberry is known to have done...

* Cheated on his first wife with Majel Barrett and Nichelle Nichols. Then cheated on Barrett after marrying her.

* Wrote non-sensical lyrics to Alexander Courage's music so he could claim half of any money Courage made off of it.

* Stole the story for Tomorrow is Yesterday from producer Bob Justman.

Those really just scratch the surface.

I quit subscribing to the "Roddenberry is a God" club many, many years ago. The man was simply out to make a buck.

Why would anyone ever belong to the "Roddenberry is a God" club in the first place? I can understand why someone who once had that mindset would eventually view roddenberry in an overly cynical light. It would feel like a betrayal (even though we know that it obviously wasn't a betrayal)

You decide to buy into the crap to begin with, and now that you know better, you dismiss him as completely untrustworthy? Why is it one extreme or another?


What does your post have to do with that quote? Are you saying that since Roddenberry did underhanded things (nobody denies this) that the story about spock being demonic isn't true? That's how it comes off.

Just because someone has lied before and been caught for it doesn't mean you automatically dismiss everything else they say whenever there is a conflict of information.

That's exactly what I'm talking about. It's not impartial or unbiased at all and it goes on all the time here.

It seems as if one isn't totally down and cynical on Roddenberry, one gets thrown into the "Roddenberry is god" club.

It has gotten to the point that some fans are so bitter about some of Roddenberry's lies, that they cynically dismiss anything he said that someone else might not have agreed with.

No.

As more information has been made available by producers, writers and executives who contributed centrally to TOS and TNG, people have grown sensibly skeptical of any Roddenberry story which lionizes him, minimizes the contribution of others and/or casts those who disagreed with him or refused him as short-sighted and conservative and dim. Many of his stories never did make a lot of sense when one placed Star Trek in the context of other things that were being done by the studio and networks, and since we now have the testimony of other eyewitnesses and sometimes documentary evidence that contradicts GR it's entirely reasonable to take any anecdote he recounted with a grain of salt.

You start your post off with "No", but nothing you said following that contradicts what I said.

Are you seriously denying that there are some fans who bought into the "roddenberry is god"(for lack of a better word), and then as a result of having their preconception shattered, have become bitter and cynical toward him?

There are definitely fans that have become overly cynical toward roddenberry due to lionizing him in the past. That doesn't mean YOU are like that. That doesn't mean EVERY fan is like that or MOST fans. Obviously. But these types of fans clearly exist and post here.

The spock was too demonic story is a perfect example. There is nothing to demonstrate this story was a lie. There is even evidence that it was a true story(Airbrushed photo) and yet people in this very thread quickly lumped it in with the rest of the lies. completely impartial, and that kind of discussion only muddies the issue. it doesn't help anyone.
 
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Are you seriously denying that there are some fans who bought into the "roddenberry is god"(for lack of a better word), and then as a result of having their preconception shattered, have become bitter and cynical toward him?

To the extent of "cynically dismissing" everything he said? There may be. I've never met one.

Produce one as evidence for your generalization. No, BillJ doesn't fit the bill.
 
Are you seriously denying that there are some fans who bought into the "roddenberry is god"(for lack of a better word), and then as a result of having their preconception shattered, have become bitter and cynical toward him?

To the extent of "cynically dismissing" everything he said? There may be. I've never met one.

Produce one as evidence for your generalization. No, BillJ doesn't fit the bill.

Sorry, you're charming and all, but you're going to have to wine and dine me a bit to get me to produce a human being for you.

I kid, I kid.

You know it's not nearly impossible for me to provide you with concrete evidence of what I am asserting, and not because it's not true. How would one even go about doing that? You want me to go scour the posting history of this entire site until I provide you with ample evidence to convince you of a pretty common human nature reaction? No thanks. Not interested in playing that game. I have a life to live.

However, the "Spock too demonic" story was dismissed as a lie in this very thread, even though it was likely true. Why was it dismissed as a lie? Soley because Roddenberry was the source of the story, no other reason whatsoever. That's one small example of stuff I'm talking about and it's not impartial thinking.

The fact that many people on this board are more informed about the "real" gene roddenberry is fine, and it's a testament to the intelligence of the TrekBBS community. But when you combine that with the fact that most casual fans on the internet and every day life buy into the roddenberry idolizing propaganda, makes the former group (some of them) VERY eager to tear him down any time they can. That's called an agenda and it results in misinformation.

(I feel as though that because I'm taking this stance, some will try to paint me as a roddenberry apologist, but that's not true. I am aware that there is more than enough evidence to accept that the man was a womanizing, ethically questionable, scheming, business man out for a buck. So, in other words, he acted like a run of the mill television producer. :D I assumed that much from the beginning...)
 
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Hanging on to Gene Coon wasn't an option at the time; too much personal crap coming to a head at the wrong time.

Bringing in Fred Freiberger, however, was a definite mistake. Regardless of his resume, he just did not understand a show like Star Trek. Why Roddenberry didn't just promote Bob Justman to be the line producer will be one of the great mysteries of the universe, because that one act, while it might not have saved the show for a fourth season, at least would've provided some respectability for the third (for instance, "The Way To Eden" most likely would've kept the Joanna McCoy character, and "Spock's Brain" might've never even been written, never mind filmed).

Absolutely. Writer David Gerrold remembers being called into Freiberger's office at the beginning of the third season and being told "I just seen The Trouble With Tribbles. I didn't like it. Star Trek is not a comedy." But the truth is that Star Trek is many things... it's comedic, it's dramatic, it's an adventure series. Freiberger had no context for Star Trek. By his own admission he'd never even watched it before becoming the producer. And one stumbling block to TOS, by all accounts, was that it was like nothing else on television. It needed a stable hand at the controls, and Freiberger wasn't that.
 
Oh, Freiberger was a steady hand. He just had a very narrow course heading.

He did fine.

He didn't produce "I, Mudd" or "Piece of the Action," or "Gamesters of Triskelion" (or "Alternative Factor," for that matter). This speaks well of him. He produced many fine episodes from what is reported to be a weaker batch of stories than S1 and S2 had to work with.

I'll grant you Spock's Brain as worst ever.

After that, though: I like "Way to Eden," but if you don't, you have to admit we could find one from a different season (like I nominated above) just as bad, but in a different way. I'd nominate a couple boring ones, myself.

Up with Fred.
 
Oh, Freiberger was a steady hand. He just had a very narrow course heading.

He did fine.

He didn't produce "I, Mudd" or "Piece of the Action," or "Gamesters of Triskelion" (or "Alternative Factor," for that matter). This speaks well of him. He produced many fine episodes from what is reported to be a weaker batch of stories than S1 and S2 had to work with.

I'll grant you Spock's Brain as worst ever.

After that, though: I like "Way to Eden," but if you don't, you have to admit we could find one from a different season (like I nominated above) just as bad, but in a different way. I'd nominate a couple boring ones, myself.

Up with Fred.
No, down with Fred. Because he F'd up "Space:1999" also, in its second season. So third season Trek was not an anomaly.
 
Per Wikipedia

Freiberger was a person who was repeatedly called in to "save" already-failing TV series like "Star Trek" and "Space: 1999"—and tended to give them make-overs in an attempt to do so.

He was the "Last Chance" producer. Many forget that the "Wild Wild West" was his baby, so was "Superboy" and he was legendary in the industry for his success on "Ben Casey".

The suits killed "Star Trek"..not Freddie..

Now "Space 1999's" lackluster 2nd season..THAT was his fault..

And for that, I can't forgive him..

Sorry Fred..
 
...
A few things that Roddenberry is known to have done...

* Cheated on his first wife with Majel Barrett and Nichelle Nichols. Then cheated on Barrett after marrying her.
I'm not going to defend the man's apparent/supposed moral lapses, but I'd like to point out that we don't (and have no reason to) know the details of his interpersonal relationships, and certainly not with regards to his marriage with Majel. I know a number of couples who have "open" relationships—some with a sort of "don't ask, don't tell" policy—and to them it's not "cheating" if one of them plays around. Majel certainly knew what kind of skirt chaser Gene was long before she married him, and we aren't privy to whatever agreements or disagreements they had regarding that.
 
Uhura, on the other hand, is pretty well documented. She had to wait way too long, but at least she got a better one than the one some fans had pegged her with, “Upenda”. Sounds too much like “panda”, and that really doesn't suit her at all.
“Upenda”? Sounds like “Bendova.” :lol:

Sounds like Rodenberry's nickname for her, but a TOS bashing thread is the wrong place for me other than to say Arne Darvin went undetected as a Klingon all that time until McCoy passed over him with a scanner?
There's alot of misplaced passive/aggressive frustration and bitterness here that could only come from it's current direction. Yea Trek had a few bad apple personalities behind the scenes and klunkers. So did Beethoven and the rest. JJ Adams, I mean Abrams is like giving Trek to a sadistic thirteen year old nephew to play around with. He broke the damn thing. It's gonna take the like's of Hitler with the writing skills or Moliere and two Bragas to wrench it away from his grubby hands too. Just my two cents. Netflix and the internet are gonna step on him hopefully with ten new space opera series.
 
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