TOS Revisited - New Revelations

Discussion in 'Star Trek - The Original & Animated Series' started by Mutai Sho-Rin, Sep 29, 2012.

  1. R.Peeples

    R.Peeples Cadet Newbie

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    Hello, I am Sam Peeples grandson. I know a little/share a little about Sams writing his pilot. My grandmother tells me G. Roddenberry stayed at their home while Sam wrote 'Where No Man Has Gone Before'. She said G.R.'s pilot was fantasy and that Sam taught G.R. how to write Sci-Fi. She said GR "learned fast". I'm not into Star Trek outside of Sam's pilot and the lastest Trek feature films, so I can't contribute much. I inherited a book that belonged to Sam (GR, The Myth And The Man Behind Star Trek), the author gave it to Sam as a gift. In it the author said that Sam had the [worlds?] largest private collection of Sci Fi magazines and/or books - and that GR photographed many magazine covers to use as research/to a aid in the designing the Enterprise.

    Thanks for talking of Sam, that's how I found this forum.
     
    Last edited: Dec 23, 2013
  2. Maurice

    Maurice Snagglepussed Admiral

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    Welcome, R.

    HARVEY on here has done a lot of research into GR's papers, so you should Private Message with him to see if he has any info about your grandfather which you might find interesting.
     
  3. R.Peeples

    R.Peeples Cadet Newbie

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    Thank you Maurice, that's exactly what I was hoping--to learn more of Sam and/or how the show was picked up, rejected etc.

    Q: I'm curious as to where the Desilu Studio was located (at the time Star Trek was picked up by Desilu). I think this is the current location. http://www.redstudio.com/history

    Q: I'm curious as to how envolved Desi or Lucy were in the purchasing or shepherding of the show and pilot/s.

    Thank you.
     
  4. Noname Given

    Noname Given Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    IMO - there were bad episodes in EVERY Star Trek (TOS) Season (but like the majority here, I prefer the first season as well over the other two.)

    That said, I'm still happy we got a third Season as I loved a number of S3 episodes like:

    "The Tholian Web"

    "Day Of The Dove" (Michael Ansara as 'Kang' is still my favorite Klingon portrayal in the 47 years of the Star Trek franchise. I love when he just steps up to Kirk, and without a word, just slaps Kirk to the ground, literally.)

    "The Enterprise Incident"

    and while some will groan at this last one, it was the first Star Trek episode I saw first run on NBC (I was 6 years old at the time):

    "Elaan Of Troyius"

    So, wes, while I agree that a lot of the third Season is not that good, there are still quite a few gems from it that I am glad I got to see.
     
  5. Maurice

    Maurice Snagglepussed Admiral

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    Desilu was the former RKO lot and associated backlots. It's currently part of Paramount's Melrose Ave. home. The Gower St. side is what was RKO/Desilu. The Star Trek and Mission: Impossible stages were backed up against the cemetery there.

    Short answer: Desi was gone by the time Roddenberry met Herb Solow and pitched the show, so Lucy was involved in the decision, not Desi.
     
    Last edited: Dec 24, 2013
  6. Botany Bay

    Botany Bay Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Welcome to the forum, R.Peeples, I hope you enjoy your time here. It's fantastic to have the relative of someone so important to the development of Star Trek on board with us.

    Harvey and many others on here will, I am sure, be able to tell you plenty of stories about the early days of Star Trek.

    Can I highly recommend a book called Inside Star Trek: The Real Story by Herbert F. Solow and Robert H. Justman. This is the best resource I have seen for information on Desilu Studios involvement with Star Trek, and the history of the first two seasons of the show.

    Over the Christmas break I will try to locate my copy and post anything interesting about Sam on here for you.

    In 2005 or so, using the maps in the above book, I went to Paramount Studios in Los Angeles on a bit of a pilgrimage to hunt down Desilu studios. It's quite eerie - the street and buildings look perfectly preserved as they would have appeared in the early 60's (or even earlier). From memory, you need to head to the north-west corner of Paramount, near the cemetery. The street you need is called Gower Street.

    From memory, I pinpointed the Star Trek writers' offices to somewhere in this building :

    [​IMG]
     
  7. Maurice

    Maurice Snagglepussed Admiral

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    During the TNG era the offices were in the Hart Building. That's where I interviewed Ronald D. Moore.
     
  8. trevanian

    trevanian Rear Admiral

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    Everything trek writer related was in Hart. When I pitched at the end of 1990, Robert Wise and Nicholas Meyer both had offices there (that's actually how I got a letter to him, I copied down which office he had), and no, I have no idea why Wise would have had one, unless it was to record a very very long commentary, or if he just had it in perpetuity as a result of TMP.

    With respect to Mr. Peeples, has anyone ever seen his outline for STAR TREK II, the one with Saavik as a guy and a polar bear as a crewmember? It's the one where they don't have Khan, the villains are from another dimension, but Spock still dies in it.
     
  9. Maurice

    Maurice Snagglepussed Admiral

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    I remember that I also saw Mark Lenard in the Hart offices, just before season 4 production started. What he was doing there, I don't know.
     
  10. Botany Bay

    Botany Bay Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Well, let's go with you guys who were there on legitimate business, rather than me who was snooping around outside with a copy of Inside Star Trek, and peeking over fences. :lol:

    Map, showing Hart, bottom left :

    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Dec 24, 2013
  11. Push The Button

    Push The Button Commodore Commodore

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    I like that they named one of the buildings for Gene.
     
  12. Lance

    Lance Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Oh definitely. :techman: Although strangely enough it took watching the series after the 2009 movie for me to see it as that, despite it obviously being there all along. And it might be early instalment weirdness, but does Spock seem to react positively to her flirtations in Charlie X, implying that there's something there on his side of it as well?
     
  13. Botany Bay

    Botany Bay Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    When GR was shopping his Star Trek idea around way back in 1964, his famous elevator pitch was to describe the show as "Wagon Train to the stars".

    But where did this come from? Well, according to Harlan Ellison :

    Found that in Cushman's These are the Voyages (2013, pp. 24-5).
     
  14. Harvey

    Harvey Admiral Admiral

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    That is not a new claim from Ellison, either. I believe he first credited Peeples with the Wagon Train pitch in his book about The City on the Edge of Forever.
     
  15. mattman8907

    mattman8907 Commodore Commodore

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    some of my favorite episodes from TOS are A Piece of the Action, The Doomsday Machine, The Enterprise Incident, Space Seed, Mirror, Mirror, The Tholian Web, The Trouble with Tribbles and various others and I gotta admit I don't see the problem with Shatner's acting i think he was a very good actor.
     
  16. Warped9

    Warped9 Admiral Admiral

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    Shatner's acting has been broadly caricatured over the years to the point of ridiculousness. Rarely did I find him perform in that way on TOS, and the few times I noticed it tended to be in third season episodes. "The Lights Of Zetar" comes to mind.
     
  17. Plum

    Plum Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    @ R. Peeples - I recall that Lucille Ball was instrumental in having Star Trek made. Even that it wouldn't have gone anywhere if it wasn't for her. I don't have a reference (I think I'm remembering an interview with Herb Solow or someone) but I'm pretty sure there wouldn't be a Star Trek if it weren't for her power over the studios. Perhaps someone could point to a reference?
     
  18. Harvey

    Harvey Admiral Admiral

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    Ball didn't have power over the studios -- she ran the studio (Desilu). By the time Star Trek came about, Desi Arnaz had cashed out, and she was the sole owner of the studio, too.

    She didn't have much power over the network (NBC) -- her principal relationship was with CBS -- but that's why she brought people like Herb Solow (who had worked at NBC) onboard.
     
  19. Plum

    Plum Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    ^^^
    Oh, yes of course. I was thinking she had some pull over NBC. Thx for that. :)
     
  20. Harvey

    Harvey Admiral Admiral

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    Her pull with CBS helped get Mission: Impossible on the air, but it was effectively nullified in regards to Star Trek after Roddenberry and Oscar Katz had a bad meeting with CBS executives.

    Roddenberry later claimed that CBS had already decided to go with Lost in Space and were just pumping him for ideas; Solow maintains that Roddenberry was simply bad at presenting himself (although he wasn't at the meeting, since Katz went with Roddenberry without his knowledge, but Solow did have plenty of time in this period to witness Roddenberry's presentation style).