Assignment Earth Series

A brief comment on another thread about this episode got me to thinking...I know, dangerous.

Anyway, I know that it's an accepted part of Trek lore that AE was intended to be the pilot episode for a spin-off series that never happened.

And while I know that Gary Seven and Roberta Lincoln did appear in at least three novels I know of (Assignment:Enternity and two of the Rise of Khan novels), I've never read anything about the aborted series itself.

Maybe there is nothing to read, but I always wondered if somewhere there existed a copy of an actual series pitch, with a detailed premise, list of characters(presumebly more than just G7 and RL), and maybe a brief synopsis of a half-dozen suggested episodes, etc, like the famous ST pitch from GR in The Making of Star Trek.

Maybe the studio or network didn't think there would be much of an audience for this, especially since by then ST itself was hanging by a thread in the ratings.

But I always thought this would be a very cool, "Mission Impossible-Star Trek style" show, especially since there would sometimes be crossover episodes with the ST cast.

It also makes me wonder(though this is more of a shudder of the soul) if maybe Rick Berman had this in mind with his Temporal Cold War in Enterprise, like maybe the aliens behind G7's mission were the ones involved with "Future Guy". I hope not, but you never know.

 

Don't know about most of your post, but I am attempting to get my hands on a copy of the original (non-Trek connected) script. My source is working on his source.

From what I dimly recall Seven and Roberta would have had regular adversaries -- maybe they were called the "Omegans," can't remember. Hopefully one of the TrekLit guys will stumble in and be able to answer your query fully.

Sir Rhosis

 

Another interesting knock-on consequence there would have been to an Assignment: Earth series, even if it lasted a mere 13 weeks, is that it would have (first) established the Trek Universe as a franchise, from which there could be spinoffs and add-ons right away. This might have made projects like Phase II more likely to go forward even without a Paramount Network to back it up, and it would have made things like fitting in new character -- or whole new starships -- much easier, since the conceptual ground would have been broken already.

Second, it would have established the existence of different types of shows within the Trek Universe. Questions about whether you could have a Trek Show that was not on in Star Fleet would have been preemptively answered. You could look at the Trek Universe from many angles, and that might have opened up the audience and opened up creative possibilities throughout the last four decades. The longer an Assignment: Earth series lasts, the better, of course.

 

I've always been sad it never happened, I like AE. OMG Gary Seven IS future man...lol

 

Here's a website with some info on the first, Trekless, draft of A;E:

http://www.taths.com/ae/

Sir Rhosis

 

Poor Terri Garr. She has MS, you know.

 

Great link Sir R

The original trekless script is pretty interesting. The Omegans are really bad folks-kind of like Sylvia and Korob... They actually murdered the original agents, it wasn't a car wreck. Roberta actually ends up going through the transporter in the wall safe and ends up in Russia and other places. The idea was kind of like the Time Tunnel but instead of going through time they'd visit the hot spots of the day and solve some world crisis week after week.

Honestly the original script was kind of weak without our trek heros. The Omegans seemed rather 2 dimensional and Gary didn't seem all that dynamic, it was more a showcase of "oh lookie, we can go all over the world like the man from uncle or mission impossible"

Bruce Mars' character was supposed to be a semi-regular-he was like the reporter guy in the Incredible Hulk-always "just missing" Seven in the act... At one point the office gets burned down and then they figure out how to repair it just as "Charlie" is coming back with the fire dept.

I love the Trek'd version but wasn't crazy about the Gary Seven show...

 

Well, if you're gonna compare it to another TV show, go to the source: he's like Lt. Gerard from The Fugitive. Of course, he was based on Javert from Les Miserables.

Not that this contributes to this thread in the slightest...

 

"Poor Teri Garr. She has MS, you know."

She's also smart, funny, and one of the best talk show guests there ever was. In the 80s they should have just handed over screen time on TV to her, no questions asked, letting her do what she wanted with it.

 

All of the above is quite true, but you left out those beautiful legs!

 

I don't agree. Assignment:Earth as a spinoff would have had nothing to do with the actual STar Trek universe (i.e. no Klingons and Romulans and phasers, etc.) so I don't think it could have been used as justification for spin-off series.

 

Some people are just that way, with no explanation.

 

I was surprised by the intensity of that quote as well. Perhaps I could understand it if she had gone on to a serious dramatic career, and won Best Actress oscars, and wanted to dissociate herself from her lighter earlier roles(though as far as I know, Tom Hanks never did, I've never heard him shun association with Bosom Buddies, for example).

But Ms. Garr went on to play basically the same ditzy role in Oh God!, Close Encounters, Mr. Mom, and other roles no more serious than ST. It's not like ST detracted from an otherwise heavy-weight acting career, you know?

Most other acters I've heard talk about ST experiences, were always very happy they had a chance to be in ST, no matter the role. For some actors, it's probably the most recognizable role they ever played (not all, but many).

So her vehemence mystefies me also. I don't know, maybe she had a bad experience on set with the director, or other actors. Who knows?

Thanks for all the great responses, especially the link to the other info about AE the series. That was very interesting.

 

God knows we're all angels.

I'm sorry to hear Teri Garr has MS. It's such a cruel, crippling disease.

 

I have to echo that. Apparently - if the stories are true - the original script/pilot would have had no Trek references or connection, so it wouldn't have been a true spin-off. It wasn't till later that Roddenberry transformed the A:E pilot into a Trek story.

That said, it's possible Roddenberry could have unofficially linked it to the Trek series, much as Gerry Anderson created an extensive backstory for his characters in Thunderbirds, Stingray, Fireball XL-5 and Captain Scarlet that linked them all together, but none of this was established on screen so the shows can't be considered spin-offs or same-universe programs.

That said, in a perfect world where A:E went to series (and survived) and TOS continued into the 1970s, maybe there might have been a crossover later...

Cheers

Alex

 

Whether a spin-off or not, this would've made an interesting series. I sort of imagine it as being similar to the Jon Pertwee era of Classic Doctor Who. A person from another time and another world sent to modern day Earth with special gadgets beyond most human comprehension to 'unofficially' aid the planet to become a better world. Of course in the case of the Doctor, this was a punishment for him. I'm guessing Gary Seven actually had a choice in the matter.

 

Which came first--The Doctor's Sonic Screwdriver or Seven's pen?

 

Uh ...

Doesn't this sound an awful lot like the premise behind "Enterprise"?

 

Yeah, the original script had nothing to do with Our Heroes; even in the final version you could pretty well excise the Kirk and Spock stuff and have a nearly coherent Seven-and-Lincoln adventure. But if the Assignment Earth episode had lead to a series, then they would, by definition, be connected.

Consequently, first, if the shows were both on NBC there'd be room for at least one crossover during the third season of Trek. (Using the shooting budget for Assignment Earth: The Series to give Star Trek a second or third episode shot on location would be almost irresistible, for example.) And whichever show was more popular, some aliens from that show would show up on the other.

But, more, Trek fandom would grow up through the 70s with the multiple settings. I'll make the reasonable-it-seems to me assumption that Assignment Earth: The Series would run only one or two years and be less popular than Star Trek Proper (and not be mind-blowingly incompetent production along the lines of Galactica 1980). Nevertheless, fans would try connecting the twentieth century adventures of Gary Seven and the twenty-somethingth century adventures of Kirk as much as possible, in fan folklore, merchandise, and fiction. Fandom would have the idea all the way through that stuff doesn't have to be on a starship (or even more narrowly the starship Enterprise) and doesn't have to include Kirk and Spock in order to fit in the fandom universe.

I expect that would be broadening and healthy for Trek-the-franchise all along.