Cigarette smoking and TOS

[JT Perfecthair]

Am I correct in remembering in that apart from the bit in Space Seed where you can see smoke from Deforest Kellys hidden cigarette behind the medical scanner, there is no smoking in TOS? Thats quite amazing, possibly unheard of, for a 60s tv show.

Clearly Kelly and Nimoy were very heavy smokers among the cast, I am not sure about the rest of them. Thats part of the culture of the era though, unless you were a very heavy smoker it really didn't stand out, almost everybody had a few of the things now and again. Doctors used to suggest them for weight loss; in the 50s one told my mother to use a menthol cig to treat a sore throat like it was candy.

I gather the networks pressured Roddenberry to include some tobacco references to appease the largest advertisers of the day, and that he steadily refused to do so. I really appreciate that, I know in my own mind that both Mike Hammer and Miami Vice influenced my early smoking choices when I was young and stupid teenager, I can't imagine the effect it would have had on me as a child seeing Kirk lean back in the command chair and spark one up after a mission.

What do we know about the tobacco lobby attempts to influence the show, and why was did it seem to be personally important for Roddenberry to hold out on the issue? It must have been quite a battle, tobacco revenue really helped build the networks and they were/are insanely powerful.

 

[Maurice]

I don't recall anyone smoking on Lost in Space, but I could be incorrect.

Smoking was already seen as unhealthy way before Star Trek (Hell, the Mad Men pilot addresses this).

I've never seen any actual evidence to suggest there was pressure to put cigarettes in the hands of the Enterprise crew, although I believe Roddenberry suggested as much, but given how much he liked to stick it to the network, etc., I'd take any such assertions with a healthy dose of skepticism.

 

[Hober Mallow]

Doctors used to suggest them for weight loss; in the 50s one told my mother to use a menthol cig to treat a sore throat like it was candy.

Sorry, I've nothing of substance to add, except that the above bit made me immediately think of this sketch.

 

[Dale Sams]

As a matter of fact, I just rewatched Patterns of Force and a woman can be seen smoking in the "Let's watch the Fuhrer speak party".

Is there no smoking in A Piece of the Action ?

 

[Robert Comsol]

What do we know about the tobacco lobby attempts to influence the show, and why was did it seem to be personally important for Roddenberry to hold out on the issue? It must have been quite a battle, tobacco revenue really helped build the networks and they were/are insanely powerful.

On the "Twilight Zone" there had been cigarette recommendations by Rod Serling (included in the remastered editions).

I can only guess that in order to make the future in TOS believable, cigarettes were deliberately banned. What I am trying to say (suceeding is a different thing ) is this: With all the cigarette smoking in the 1960's, showing TOS protagonists smoking cigarettes, too, would have somehow put the series too much in a contemporary context.

In other words, for smoking audiences in the 1960's the fact that nobody was smoking in TOS must have seemed like "this can't be happening here and now" (because no one is smoking).

IIRC Nick Meyer put non-smoking signs all over the TWOK sets (e.g. Bridge, transporter room) confident that 300 years from now people would still be smoking. In ST V one did.

Bob

 

[BillJ]

You can see smoke wafting onto the set in one of the bridge scenes during "The Day of the Dove".

 

[Robert Comsol]

As a matter of fact, I just rewatched Patterns of Force and a woman can be seen smoking in the "Let's watch the Fuhrer speak party".

Is there no smoking in A Piece of the Action ?

None that I remember, Bela Oxmyx was chewing on a toothpick, instead.
Maybe letting actors like him smoke cigarettes would have caused continuity problems (how much does the cigarette burn down during the scene?)

Bob

 

[Dale Sams]

What do we know about the tobacco lobby attempts to influence the show, and why was did it seem to be personally important for Roddenberry to hold out on the issue? It must have been quite a battle, tobacco revenue really helped build the networks and they were/are insanely powerful.

In other words, for smoking audiences in the 1960's the fact that nobody was smoking in TOS must have seemed like "this can't be happening here and now" (because no one is smoking).

Similar in context to this conversation, I find it interesting that the kid commanding The Valiant on DS9 plainly has an amphetamine problem, but the episode doesn't linger on it like TNG did in the now classic "Derp, me no understand why people do drugs" scene.

 

[Sir Rhosis]

From my reading, De Kelley was an almost life-long smoker. Doohan and Nimoy quit smoking in the 80s (Doohan after his 1980/81 heart attack. Nimoy collapsed on a staircase, unable to catch his breath, during the filming of TVH in '86 and quit cold-turkey--his weight gain by the time of TFF is noticeable, though he slimmed down for TUC). Shatner quit smoking during the first season of TOS. As related in anecdotes, he'd walk/yell around outside to calm down as he went through withdrawals.

Takei, I doubt, has ever smoked. Don't know about Koenig.

Sir Rhosis

 

[Greg Cox]

The general lack of smoking on TOS was, in hindsight, a remarkably prescient move. It would be very dated (and distracting) now if there was a lot of smoking on TOS.

I have no idea what the reasoning was back then, but I recall that when I was growing up in the Sixties, I was naively convinced that smoking was going to die out in my lifetime. Older folks--like my dad--could be forgiven for starting smoking when he was young, because the Surgeon General hadn't issued his report yet, but surely nobody would ever start smoking after 1964, right?

Like I said, I was young and naive, but the Surgeon General's report would have been fresh in people's minds when Star Trek debuted, so maybe Roddenberry and Co. had the same idea I had back than . . . that smoking was on its way out.

 

[BigJake]

With all the cigarette smoking in the 1960's, showing TOS protagonists smoking cigarettes, too, would have somehow put the series too much in a contemporary context.

Sort of like having them drink Jack Daniel's or listen to the Beasties.

I have no idea what the reasoning was back then, but I recall that when I was growing up in the Sixties, I was naively convinced that smoking was going to die out in my lifetime.

It may actually come closer to doing so than I ever expected -- albeit in favour of the "e-cigarette," but still.

 

[Christopher]

Am I correct in remembering in that apart from the bit in Space Seed where you can see smoke from Deforest Kellys hidden cigarette behind the medical scanner, there is no smoking in TOS?

Are you thinking of the bit from "Journey to Babel" where there's something that looks like smoke rising from the surgical frame? I always took that as being intended to represent condensation from the cryogenic procedure.

 

[JT Perfecthair]

Ah yes you are right, it is in Babel.

 

[Greg Cox]

With all the cigarette smoking in the 1960's, showing TOS protagonists smoking cigarettes, too, would have somehow put the series too much in a contemporary context.

Sort of like having them drink Jack Daniel's or listen to the Beasties.
l=.

As opposed to drinking Earl Grey tea and listening to Gilbert & Sullivan?

Martia smokes in the sixth movie, of course, but that surely indicates that she is not to be trusted . . . .

 

[Commishsleer]

I'm just using thread as an excuse to post this:

Does anyone know if it is against the rules to show someone smoking on TV in the US? On occasion I have seen it so I don't think its totally banned. Or is it some sort of voluntary thing?

 

[CorporalCaptain]

"Spectre of the Gun"

 

[Greg Cox]

I'm just using thread as an excuse to post this:

Does anyone know if it is against the rules to show someone smoking on TV in the US? On occasion I have seen it so I don't think its totally banned. Or is it some sort of voluntary thing?

I think it's voluntary. Myrtle was smoking on American Horror Story just last night. Although it may be another area where cable channels have a bit more latitude than network TV.

True story: When I watching some movie trailers the other day, I was amused to see that the Rating notice for one movie contained a warning for "Strong language, violence, sexual situations, nudity, and smoking." (Emphasis mine.)

 

[The Old Mixer]

With no pockets in the future, where would they keep their packs and lighters...?

 

[urbandefault]

With no pockets in the future, where would they keep their packs and lighters...?

Obviously, in a stylish and functional Naugahyde pouch velcro'd to the waistband of the trousers. A 23rd century fanny pack.

 

[SpHeRe31459]

True story: When I watching some movie trailers the other day, I was amused to see that the Rating notice for one movie contained a warning for "Strong language, violence, sexual situations, nudity, and smoking." (Emphasis mine.)

Smoking was added in 2007 as something to be categorized when judging a movie to decide the rating it will be given by the MPAA.
http://movies.about.com/od/miscellanous/a/mpaa051107.htm