NBC's renewal announcement....

[Ssosmcin]

I smell a good "Star Trek Fact Check" blog post coming out of this.

 

[Melakon]

I remember hearing an announcement during the end credits of a second season episode announcing a renewal for third season. If there was a first season announcement, I missed it.

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

And just to add to the confusion, page 14 of "The Star Trek Vault" by Scott Tipton says, "On March 31, 1968, following the week's episode of Star Trek, a special announcement from the network was broadcast, reassuring viewers that the series would indeed be returning for a third season." That really doesn't make sense, as no new episode aired that night. The season's final episode, "Assignment: Earth" aired on March 29.

Page 263 of "Star Trek 365" also repeats this date. Authors Paula M. Block and Terry J. Erdmann say, "The exact number of letters that NBC received is not recorded–estimates range from tens of thousands to a million–but whatever the count, NBC was so impressed by the response that on March 31, the network included a special announcement after one of the episodes."

"The Star Trek Compendium", first Pocket edition, by Alan Asherman doesn't seem to mention the on-air announcement, but he cites an NBC document, "In 1968 NBC published an updated version of their August 1967 network booklet 'Star Trek Mail Call,' which acknowledged the receipt of 115,893 letters, all the result of the Trimbles' campaign. Of those, 52,358 letters, NBC stated, were received during the month of February 1968."

According to the "Compendium" NBC announced season two on March 14, 1967 at their annual affiliates convention. There is no mention of an on-air announcement occuring in season one.

"Star Trek - The Complete Unauthorized History" by Robert Greenberger, has slightly different numbers than the "Compendium". He states "...114,667 letters between December 1967 and March 1968, including 52,151 in February." That "114,667" comes from the press release issued on March 4, if we're to believe Marc Cushman's book.

Greenberger's book states that the on-air announcement was made during the end credits of "The Omega Glory".

Neil

Yeah, i've noticed several of the modern era, what I describe as "hard sanctioned" books repeat and sell many myths as fact. Star Trek 365 is no stranger to such errors.

 

[Ssosmcin]

I dismiss "Star Trek 365" on the mere principle that they never ONCE refer to Fred Frieberger by name. Not once. They mention a "new producer" a few times, but Zod forbid they give the many enough respect to identify him. Even Mort Werner is mentioned. Mort Fricking Werner!

Bah.

 

[plynch]

"Star Trek 365 is no stranger to such errors."

Nor is academic history. Once somebody reputable buys it, he or she is gonna be cited; and what later readers "know" will wrong.

Nor is the Bible, where it is likely (to this thinker) that marginalia and commentary were occasionally copied into the text, and now are scripture. Accounted by many as the very WORDS thought/spoken/dictated by the deity.

So it goes. We know some people wax religious about Trek. And though it doesn't supply needed rituals, there are small communities (fan clubs / starships) and large convocations.

So somewhere ages and ages hence a leader might access a PADD (of course that will be implanted in the cortex) and intone,

"A reading from the Good News according to Saint Markman: 'And lo, it came to pass in the Year of Our Bird 1967 that a decree went out from the National Blasphemy Corpus that the Holy Voyage might be spared for but one year. . . .' "

May the Great Bird of the Galaxy fly up your nose and lodge in your limbic system. Live long and proselytize.

 

[Redfern]

So somewhere ages and ages hence a leader might access a PADD (of course that will be implanted in the cortex) and intone,

"A reading from the Good News according to Saint Markman: 'And lo, it came to pass in the Year of Our Bird 1967 that a decree went out from the National Blasphemy Corpus that the Holy Voyage might be spared for but one year. . . .' "

May the Great Bird of the Galaxy fly up your nose and lodge in your limbic system. Live long and proselytize.

*Snicker* Reads like an extended "director's cut" of Futurama's "Where No Fan Has Gone Before",

Sincerely,

Bill

 

[Marsden]

Oh no! They killed Welshie!

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

I dismiss "Star Trek 365" on the mere principle that they never ONCE refer to Fred Frieberger by name. Not once. They mention a "new producer" a few times, but Zod forbid they give the many enough respect to identify him. Even Mort Werner is mentioned. Mort Fricking Werner!

Bah.

Not only that, but accurate descriptions of episodes are not to be found on some pages. The entry for "Bread and Circuses" (pages 212 - 214) describes the first or so acts, but completely skips over the big reveal (and reasons for the escaped slaves' beliefs) as revealed by Uhura in the finale. Why would such an important, motivator of characters not make it into even a one line part of the entry?

Instead, we have an entire page talking about Bronson Canyon's film history.

 

[KTJ]

"A reading from the Good News according to Saint Markman: 'And lo, it came to pass in the Year of Our Bird 1967 that a decree went out from the National Blasphemy Corpus that the Holy Voyage might be spared for but one year. . . .' "

May the Great Bird of the Galaxy fly up your nose and lodge in your limbic system. Live long and proselytize.

*DIES LAUGHING*