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[Redfern]

I recognized the claws from "Yarnek" on the "rock monster" Johnny Olson was wearing, but were those "pieces" of the Horta repurposed as part of its hunched back? From your fannish nostalgia it's kinda' a shame props, set pieces, costumes, etc. often get carved up like that, but I also realize that for most of these professionals, those things are merely "resources" to be used as needed, not invaluable "artifacts".

 

[Mudd]

Yeah, I don't think there's anyone here who doesn't "realize" that.

 

[Maurice]

Sunday was the 52nd anniversary of the first airing of "Spectre of the Gun" and we started tweeting about it in this thread (link). (As ever, you don't need a Twitter login to read this).

We've already covered Gene Coon's sneaky pseudonym "Lee Cronin" and the reasons for it, and then dismantled another piece of Cash M. manufactured history (re a stunt that never happened).

Next we'll get into a "funny" Coon scene cut from the revised final draft, and finally talk about just how inventive (or not) its abstracted western setting is.

 

[Indysolo]

We've already covered Gene Coon's sneaky pseudonym "Lee Cronin" and the reasons for it, and then dismantled another piece of Cash M. manufactured history (re a stunt that never happened).

 

[Ryan Thomas Riddle]

This will never, ever grow old.

 

[Maurice]

Sunday was the 52nd anniversary of the first airing of "Spectre of the Gun" and we started tweeting about it in this thread (link). (As ever, you don't need a Twitter login to read this).

We've already covered Gene Coon's sneaky pseudonym "Lee Cronin" and the reasons for it, and then dismantled another piece of Cash M. manufactured history (re a stunt that never happened).

Next we'll get into a "funny" Coon scene cut from the revised final draft, and finally talk about just how inventive (or not) its abstracted western setting is.
View attachment 18452

Today we followed up by correcting a cast list error on Memory Alpha and sharing script pages of a deleted sequence featuring a character that was cast but then never filmed. (link)

"I knew he would."

 

[J.T.B.]

Today we followed up by correcting a cast list error on Memory Alpha and sharing script pages of a deleted sequence featuring a character that was cast but then never filmed. (link)

Yeesh, it's on IMDb too. Gregg Palmer was not exactly an obscure actor; he worked all the time and was hard to miss.

 

[Maurice]

Cash's account of the deleted horse bit really vexes me because it's plainly made up. I don't know where he got the idea they filmed those scenes on day 6 (unless he saw some shooting schedule we're unaware of), but the main issue is that the documentary evidence makes apparent the scenes were not filmed. As such everything Cash relates about the on-set events is invented from whole cloth. I have suspected that about his books for a long time, but this really nails it: he either accepts an oral history as factual without comparing it to the document trail, or, worse, imagines what he thinks happened and then writes fictional narrative to describe it. "Spent a few hours with McEveety filming the complex routine," my horse's patoot.



This isn't even bad history. It's fan fiction.

 

[Ssosmcin]

And a lot of fans eat it up. Seeing the posts on social media groups about Trek and some Irwin Allen shows, fans think he’s finding the secrets of the Egyptians when he’s really opening Al Capone’s vault and adding his own contents.

When corrected they all say “eh it’s better than nothing.” Or worse “well I don’t see YOU writing a book!”

Sigh.

 

[Maurice]

We've been using Twitter as our first launch platform but I'm trying to get the content up on Facebook where possible. I've summed up the first three batches of Tweets and with the same accompanying images.

1. On Coon's pseudonym (link)
2. On Cushman's Horse Manure (link)
3. On the Gregg Palmer scene (link)

 

[FormerLurker]

This Cash fellow sounds more like a bounced check.

 

[Ryan Thomas Riddle]

This Cash fellow sounds more like a bounced check.

Calling @Indysolo!

 

[Indysolo]

Cash's account of the deleted horse bit really vexes me because it's plainly made up.

This Cash fellow sounds more like a bounced check.

 

[Maurice]

The letters from the Bird on this are very interesting, especially one dated May 15th, 1968 essentially taking apart "Lee Cronin"'s May 8th draft of "The Last Gunfight" and explaining to Freiberger how the show works, how you maintain believability, keep the show accessible to new viewers (e.g. have Kirk occasionally call Spock "science officer" so you understand his job) and how to write the two leads so they are distinct characters who do not step into each others domains. It also has a nice concise summation of Kirk's underlying self-doubt:

It's very insightful and if you think Roddenberry wasn't the guy keeping the show on the rails this really makes clear that—even if he himself was not a great writer—he understood what made the show work and was able to articulate it. I think the first 6 pages of this thing are something anyone trying to write Star Trek should read because it's pretty concise.

 

[Sir Rhosis]

^^^Frederik Pohl, in his memoir "The Way the Future Was," called Roddenberry one of the two best rewriters he had encountered. Granted, Pohl only had a couple television credits, so not sure (I no longer have the memoir and don't recall the other best rewriter's name) how he arrived at this conclusion.

Sir Rhosis

 

[Maurice]

We're pausing our "Spectre of the Gun" fun for a few days for a very important message...

 

[Maurice]

For the episode's upcoming 54th anniversary on the 10th...

 

[Maurice]

In the meantime...we've still got a lot to say about "Spectre of the Gun" (link). For instance, its title at the point the script assignment went out...

 

[ZapBrannigan]

In the meantime...we've still got a lot to say about "Spectre of the Gun" (link). For instance, its title at the point the script assignment went out...

I believe the final title for this episode was a play on Hour of the Gun, for some reason:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hour_of_the_Gun

 

[Maurice]

I believe the final title for this episode was a play on Hour of the Gun, for some reason:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hour_of_the_Gun

Good point. We forgot that film. We're going to mention it tomorrow. Thanks.