should be a Star Trek 'Begins' Making Of docudrama for the 50th

[Khan 2.0]

the BBC has done a Dr Who one for the 50th anniversary 'Adventures in Time and Space' starring Brian Cox as a TV producer and showed how it all began with Hartnell etc...throughout there were numerous fun nods and foreshadowing to what we all know comes later

i think it will win a bunch of awards etc as it was quite powerful stuff at times, and should inspire Paramount to do something similar with Star Trek showing Roddenberry trying to sell the concept and then making the pilot with Hunter/Nimoy before the series gets going with Shatner (and throughout we'd get all the fun nods to stuff we know will happen etc)

the UK Channel 5 has already done somthing similar with a special showing how Trek began with a lookalike Roddenberry actor interspersed with interviews of writers etc but it wasnt a proper drama like the DW one

 

[Harvey]

I would love to see it. Hell, there's enough material there for a series.

I recently learned that A&E optioned the Solow/Justman Inside Star Trek: The Real Story for a TV movie some time in the late 1990s/early 2000s, but it never made it beyond early development. That would have been great to see.

 

[Maurice]

Maybe would have resulted in a Back to the Batcave kind of thing.

 

[trevanian]

That's interesting about the Solo/Justman being optioned.

I had never thought of A&E for a creative piece, but I suppose it is possible. I've got a huge article on the formation of ILM for STAR WARS, only about half of which has seen print, that I've been messing with in script form for friggin' ever, and I was thinking HBO (BARBARIANS AT THE GATE meets RKO 281 would be the sell-line) or maybe Kevin Smith, if he'd direct (and rewrite) stuff from an outside source. There is a ton of funny material, plus some interesting resonance with respect to how the 60s gave way to the 70s over a period of time, so many ILMers were in some way carryovers from that earlier era, which in itself was enough to scare the shit out of Fox execs. Maybe I oughta take another pass and then widen my horizons, given that SW interest is probably escalating now (at least until the new ones start appearing.)

 

[LMFAOschwarz]

I sort of had a similar thought. I'm not a fan of the new Star Trek (not a hater, just not a fan), but it did cross my mind that I would have been more interested if, say, Pine, Quinto, etc. were hired to play Shatner, Nimoy, Doohan, Justman, Fontana, Roddenberry and so on. I'd love to see a story like that, about the early days and the creation of the series!

 

[Harvey]

Well, remember this was optioned ten years ago at A&E -- which is a far different network now. They used to produce (or at least co-finance) TV movies and miniseries; that is no longer so.

And, even when they were making limited series, the Solow/Justman book didn't go anywhere.

And that sounds like a terrific book idea to me, trevanian. I wish I could read the thing now.

 

[Commishsleer]

Its a fantastic idea.
Who would do it though - collect the right material I mean?
Who could we trust with such a task? I'm serious here. Could anyone from CBS (who owns the rights) do it justice?

 

[trevanian]

I dunno about TOS, but when somebody wants to do one of these about TMP, I will be ALL OVER THAT. Have been interviewing FX folks about that off and on for 20 years now.

 

[Botany Bay]

I would love to see it. Hell, there's enough material there for a series.

I recently learned that A&E optioned the Solow/Justman Inside Star Trek: The Real Story for a TV movie some time in the late 1990s/early 2000s, but it never made it beyond early development. That would have been great to see.

Never knew that...what a shame it didn't happen.

Yes, the early years of Star Trek would make for a helluva story - the behind the scenes stuff is (for me, anyway) almost as interesting as the show itself.

Even if only half the stories are true, Roddenberry's life and times would make quite a movie as well

 

[Khan 2.0]

i dont think a Making Of Star Trek series would work. itd just need to be a 90" long (at most) drama about the origins in the early-late 60s - its beginning to untimely cancellation (with focus on all the key points/decisions), with an end scene showing hope for the future...we'd know what was coming...). and no Pine, Qunito etc (unless just a cameo in a flash forward scene). theyd need pretty close lookalike actors for Rodenberry, Shatner, Nimoy etc (made over with that 60s look)

 

[Commishsleer]

Will the 50th Anniversary just involve TOS or isn't it about all Treks?

 

[Khan 2.0]

-the Dr Who celebrations are about the whole of Who. so i imagine for Treks 50th we could be getting a Days of Futures Past type movie involving the JJ Crew battling a classic enemy (klingons? borg? Both?) with original Kirk/Spock & maybe Picard/TNG, a docudrama on the origins, mass celebrations/conventions/documentaries etc, and maybe the announcment (or premiere) of a new tv series..

 

[scotpens]

This isn't exactly a new topic.

Linky

 

[Push The Button]

This would be awesome. Any ideas about casting? Who would make a good Gene Roddenberry?

 

[T'Girl]

Could anyone from CBS (who owns the rights) do it justice?

A question (for anyone who knows).

If A&E owns the rights to the Inside Star Trek book, would CBS have any say in A&E producing a show (one time TV movie or series) based upon the book?

If the new movie/show stayed with the book, then CBS couldn't claim copy-write infringement.

Or could they?

 

[Harvey]

I'm sure A&E's option on the book ran out long ago.

 

[T'Girl]

I'm sure they have too ... but that doesn't answer my question.

 

[Botany Bay]

This would be awesome. Any ideas about casting? Who could make a good Gene Roddenberry?

I have no idea if he can act, but in the one film I have seen him in, he showed he could survive a Roddenberryesque after lunch drinking session

 

[Esteban]

Wasn't this [sort of] done?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fsd6pqMmFY

 

[Harvey]

^^
That's a documentary version of the Solow/Justman book (and, alas, only an hour long one). It's not a docudrama.