We really don't need that sort of thing here, thanks.
Sci-Fi Cinematic & TV Inspirations for Star Trek?
- Thread starter Ensign Ricky
- Start date
There are even more connections there. Shatner actually appeared in two episodes of TZ, "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" and "Nick of Time," both of which were written by Richard Matheson, who also wrote "The Enemy Within" for TOS.
This is a good overview of Forbidden Planet's influence on Star Trek:
https://startrekfactcheck.blogspot.com/2013/07/gene-roddenberrys-cinematic-influences.html
Robinson Crusoe on Mars is another interesting connection discussed in this link.
Kor
https://startrekfactcheck.blogspot.com/2013/07/gene-roddenberrys-cinematic-influences.html
Robinson Crusoe on Mars is another interesting connection discussed in this link.
Kor
American Media Specials recently did a special magazine titled Star Trek: The Ultimate Guide
In the article "Where Sci-Fi Has Gone Before," they list several possible influences for Star Trek.
1. Flash Gordon Serials: Space Soldiers, Trip To Mars, Conquers The Universe
2. Rocketship X-M
3. Destination Moon
4. Conquest Of Space
5. Fire Maidens Of Outer Space (I talked about this)
6. Forbidden Planet (Ditto)
7. Queen Of Outer Space
8.The Angry Red Planet
9. Journey To The Seventh Planet
10. Lost In Space
In the article "Where Sci-Fi Has Gone Before," they list several possible influences for Star Trek.
1. Flash Gordon Serials: Space Soldiers, Trip To Mars, Conquers The Universe
2. Rocketship X-M
3. Destination Moon
4. Conquest Of Space
5. Fire Maidens Of Outer Space (I talked about this)
6. Forbidden Planet (Ditto)
7. Queen Of Outer Space
8.The Angry Red Planet
9. Journey To The Seventh Planet
10. Lost In Space
Why do they assume that the only possible influences for Star Trek are movies and TV shows? Does nobody remember anymore that prose fiction exists? The great science fiction shows of the '60s were heavily influenced by prose SF. The Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits employed prose authors and adapted prose SF stories. Star Trek also employed quite a few noted prose SF authors and introduced a lot of well-established prose-SF concepts into the mass media. What made the show special was how literate it was. So you can't meaningfully discuss Star Trek's influences if you ignore the printed word.
And how can they be unaware that Roddenberry saw Lost in Space purely as a negative example, the kind of lowbrow kid stuff that he was trying to create a smarter alternative to? (Not to mention that it was his direct competition, since CBS rejected his pitch because they'd already bought LiS. So there was no love lost there.)
Well, the title of this thread is "Sci-Fi Cinematic & TV Inspirations for Star Trek". *Also, the subtitle for the magazine article was "Movies That Blazed The Trail For Star Trek."
Which just makes it even more bizarre that they included Lost in Space, a television series.
Anyway, that's my point. That's two separate things choosing to look for screen inspirations to the exclusion of prose inspirations. As I said, that's overlooking a huge part of the equation, probably the more important part.
I know that literature influenced Trek in a big way. Gene Roddenberry has gone on record several times stating that some of his biggest inspirations were Horatio Hornblower books and sci-fi pulp magazines and stories he read as a young man. His initial ideas for what would become Trek sounded like a cross between Jules Verne's Robur the Conqueror/Master of the World with Five Weeks In A Balloon.
What I am looking for, what this thread is about, are the inspirations for Trek in the medium of moving pictures.
I just don't see the point in segregating the influences based on medium. There's a lot of interplay between screen and prose. The movies and shows that may have influenced Trek have literary influences on them in turn -- e.g. Forbidden Planet was inspired by The Tempest, and the literary antecedent of Robinson Crusoe on Mars is self-evident. So it seems to me that they're the same conversation, not two competing or mutually exclusive ones.
Besides, I often see people talk about the filmic influences on Trek, but not as much discussion about those pulp influences on Roddenberry that you mention. So I'm curious to know more about that less explored side of the question, and thus I want it to be included as well. A thread can grow beyond where it started.
How about a separate thread instead? Perhaps Literary & Pulp Inspirations For Star Trek?
Again, why separate them? It's a continuum.
Again, because that's what he chose to focus on, as he already said, multiple times now. Instead of exasperatingly repeating the same thing over and over again like everyone should follow your instructions by default, why don't you listen to him and let him do his own thing? He doesn't owe you any further explanation or compliance.
Thank you!
Huh? Why treat this as a competition? Like I said, they're parts of the same discussion, and it's natural for threads to grow beyond where they begin. I just don't understand the exclusionism. Where is there a conflict? I'm trying to add to the discussion, not fight against it. What is wrong with offering more?
You come off very pushy sometimes, to put it mildly. You frequently start off your posts by saying "Again..." like you're annoyed that people aren't automatically buying what you're selling. It's not a competition, but the guy already answered you three times that he wanted to do a separate topic for cinematic and TV influences, so at some point you have to just let it go and let him do his own thing and accept that people aren't always going to do things the way you want.
I always had a soft spot for "This Island Earth"
I can see a bit of Trek in that.
Is "Destination Moon" the one that ends with everyone trapped in a recurring time loop ?
I can see a bit of Trek in that.
Is "Destination Moon" the one that ends with everyone trapped in a recurring time loop ?
Destination Moon is basically the 1950s version of Apollo 11.
So it's not the film I'm thinking of then ?
I remember "Nick of Time," when Shatner was compulsively asking questions from that creepy novelty fortune-machine on the diner's table (I still don't know exactly what it's called). Anyway, the machine's paper read-outs got creepier and creepier as Shatner questioned it more and put more coins into it. I remember that being the unnerving, uneasy part of that TZ.
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