The copy that I have credits the July 25, 1967 first draft to Spinrad and Coon from a story by Spinrad. It is identical in every other way to the Amazon.com preview for the version that Spinrad is now selling and includes this bit that was quoted in another thread... I haven't paid the $9 to buy the full version for further comparison, but from what I have seen the only difference is the absence of Coon's name.
Now having the print version, Spinrad has noticed that there have been changes made to his original first draft. He remembers specific scenes exactly and they have been altered somewhat. Not a lot, but nonetheless altered. So... this is not the exact one that Spinrad submitted to Roddenberry, but neither is it the Gene Coon Comedy.
It's great that the P2 gang jumped on this fast. I was so surprised when James announced it after reading about it on TrekWeb the day before. Haven't read the ebook verison yet through.
fleetcaptain, I'm glad, too, but not surprised. Frankly, the only surprise here is that more of the old TOS writers haven't contacted James (as opposed to the other way around) hoping to see their visions put on film before they join the Great Bird of the Galaxy in the next adventure.
Actually, there are THREE guest stars in this script. Though "Bayne" is "the god", the two people from the planet leading the different factions of the government have as much, if not more, screen time. So there is no telling which part Berle was meant to play.
It's pretty clear that Bayne the flim-flam man would have been Berle in some twisted reality. Reading it, while not great, really feels like I, Mudd or a Mudd sequel now that i think of it. A flim flam man (albeit with a sociological ax to grind in this case) comes upon a planet, tries to bend it to his desires, and it backfires on him.
Well, I'm not sure that there is "no telling;" we can always ask Mr. Spinrad. In fact, on his website, in response to this very question, Mr. Spinrad confimred that it was indeed the Bayne role into which Milton Berle was to have been shoehorned. Berle was not contemplated for either of the other two key guest roles. I don't see Bayne as a flim-flam man; he seems to be genuine in his desire to make a difference on the planet on which he finds himself. I think the story would be made more powerful if he's portrayed as a well-meaning but tragic figure, rather than as a simply shyster. I'm remembering how David Gerrold contemplated that perhaps Cyrano Jones could have been played as a kindly old soul who travels from planet to planet, completely unaware of the havoc being caused by his tribbles; perhaps he could have been played by Boris Karloff. That kind of well-meaning innocence is what I would want to see in Bayne. But in the end, I'm here to make the writer/director's vision be realized, not mine.
Sounds interesting, though prior to looking up the summary the title made me think of a follow-up to the Redjac episode.
Since nobody else has mentioned it here yet, I may as well. This P II project got a mention in an article on 'blastr.com', which was mirrored on 'digg.com.' Like everyone else here, I'll be thrilled to see his work, done the way HE wanted. Check out who he wants, and actually thinks he can get to play 'Bayne.' Here's the URL: http://blastr.com/2012/03/spinrad-finally-gets-to-d.php I like the man's optimism, but IMHO, he'll need to settle on someone else. No insult intended to you good folks upstate, but if JJ Abrams ....... I have to admit, I'd rather see someone else doing it. That particular shoot would be a %^*&$@# circus, which would probably affect the quality of the production.
Re: "He Walked Among Us:" Disappointing News Disappointing News: "CBS has asked that Cawley Entertainment Company/Retro Film Studios, LLC not produce "He Walked Among Us" as a Star Trek: Phase II episode at this time. We have always worked closely with CBS and will abide by their wishes, as we have always done--as our goal is to support and promote the CBS/Paramount Star Trek franchise in any and all ways we can." - James Cawley, Senior Executive Producer, CEC/RFS. There are no plans for us to disclose more details about this development. People can speculate--but don't look for more information from us. To everyone: thanks for your curiosity and passion. We're still in business--with lots of other episodes in various phases of production!
Re: "He Walked Among Us:" Disappointing News Talk about having no class. Well CBS, guess I won't be shelling out my hard earned cash on those remastered Next Generation Blurays after all. Way to alienate the fanbase. After all this time, do they really intend to do something with it themselves? Lame.
Yes, it's terrible that the people who own Star Trek don't let the fans make their own episodes. Oh wait...... Look, none of us know the ins and outs of this, and there could be any number of *good* reasons for the request. Given that they continue to allow all the fanfilms to continue without comment, and have every legal right to shut them down, I don't think we have reason to complain. Yes, it's disappointing, but let's just enjoy the other new stuff Phase II have coming and leave it at that.
I'm not surprised. Technically, they probably own the story and script, depending on the writer's contract from back in the day. I was frankly surprised that this didn't happen to "The Child" as well.
The author of the episode wanted to film it both for himself and for the fans. He wrote it....and he should have been allowed to do so. There is really no 'good' reason to stop production on a 40+ year old abandoned script, other than CBS legal being silly. It's not even the finished script that they were going to film back in the 60's for goodness sake. It's great that they 'allow' fan films to continue, it really is, but this move just rubbed me the wrong way. It may be their 'legal' right to shut them down, but it's also my legal right to speak my mind. I don't like to vacuously complain about a company from one side of my mouth and then show myself to be a hypocrite and give that company my money. So, I will speak my wallet if that's ok with you? So instead of giving my cash to CBS, I'll give a healthy donation to Phase 2 instead.
Hey, by all means, if you want to withhold your dollars from CBS have at it. It's your money. Just keep in mind you don't have all the facts, and railing on CBS doesn't really help Phase II (who have a good relationship with CBS) in the slightest.
Let me echo and expand what Nick has said: 1) CBS didn't say, "never" they said "not now." 2) In case you didn't notice, JJA Trek is clueless about having a story say something. You could be looking at the basis of JJA Trek 3 (Aka Star Trek 13), trying to make JJA, a dedicated Warsie, work with a writer who ACTUALLY DOES UNDERSTAND TREK. I love James Cawley, (a lesson I learned from Nick, by the way...) but since he can't SELL his stuff, it's all low budget. And a GOOD not merely BLOCKBUSTER Trek movie could lead us all back to where Trek belongs... TV. 3) There could be stuff there none of us knows about, so speculation may be worse than fruitless. But ALL fan Trek is a gift, not only from the Fan community, but from CBS/Paramount which owns Trek. All fan Trek is pitching a tent on private property owned by them. 4) If you REALLY want to show your support for Phase II, don't withhold from CBS, DONATE to Phase II. So let's not jump the gun just yet.
Until I know the real reason why they asked Phase 2 to cease production of the episode, I'll be withholding my cash from CBS. You may have missed it in my previous post, but I did say that I would be donating some of that withheld cash to Phase 2.