Well, rumor aside, we can still add Landau to this speculative list.
Speculative: TOS Era Actors who would have worked well on Star Trek
- Thread starter Scott Kellogg
- Start date
Well, rumor aside, we can still add Landau to this speculative list.
Probably not as a Vulcan, though. The usual explanation for why Landau wasn't interested in playing Spock -- which may just be part of the rumor, but I think I've seen an interview where Landau himself expressed the sentiment -- was that he considered himself a very emotive actor and didn't like the idea of playing an unemotional character. And I think that's plausible given Landau's acting style. (Although I think Rollin Hand did adopt some rather stoic personas on Mission: Impossible from time to time.)
Speaking of Aesthetics....
I'd love to see what sort of costume Bill Theiss would come up with for Carolyn Jones...!
I'd love to see what sort of costume Bill Theiss would come up with for Carolyn Jones...!
Another question one could raise is—are there any primary sources supporting the claim that Martin Landau was considered for the role of Spock? And to my knowledge, there aren’t. There’s probably a Fact Trek in this.
If he Lived long enough,Yul Brenner as Chang?
Chang: "The record shows that Captain Kirk once held the rank of Admiral. And that Admiral Kirk was broken for taking matters into his own hands in defiance of regulations of the law, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera."
How about putting in Carol Burnett for Janice Lester?
I bet she could do a fantastic Shatner impression.
It's not like "Turnabout Intruder" wasn't already a joke!
I bet she could do a fantastic Shatner impression.
It's not like "Turnabout Intruder" wasn't already a joke!
I mentioned Landau at the top of page 2. I even suggested that he play a Vulcan.
Roddy McDowell would be amazing!
Karloff was well enough to played Mother Muffin in "The Mother Muffin Affair" on The Girl From U.N.C.L.E. in the 1966 season.
Thanks!
I love Stephenson's voice, but I'm not familiar with his appearance.
But thinking of deep-voiced actors... How about Animal House's John Vernon? He could've been cool as a Klingon or even Nilz Barris.
She actually played Kirk on her 90s sketch show. Not a very good sketch, but there you go.How about putting in Carol Burnett for Janice Lester?
I bet she could do a fantastic Shatner impression.
It's not like "Turnabout Intruder" wasn't already a joke!
That's SCTV's Andrea Martin as Spock, BTW.
John Stephenson:
Here he is at the center of attention. He appeared several times on Hogan's Heroes.
It was funny: I was looking away from the screen and heard that distinctive voice and knew who it was!
I'm not talking about expense, but the look of Robby--that design in the TOS world. I believe it would have looked out of place.
This is television. Money outweighs aesthetics. If they could've gotten Robbie cheap, they'd have used him.
Star Trek did reuse assets from previous productions. A couple of the captive aliens in "The Cage" (deleted from "The Menagerie") were recycled from The Outer Limits, and the Horta was modified from another Outer Limits creature suit built and operated by Janos Prohaska. The Mugato costume is also believed to be a modification of an ape suit Prohaska had previously used in a Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea episode. Spock's briefing room console in "The Cage" was modified from an office intercom/telephone. Space station K-7 was a modification of a Douglas Aircraft space station concept model donated to the production. Korob's robe in "Catspaw" was a reuse of a costume previously seen in a Gilligan's Island dream sequence, probably a stock costume from somewhere even earlier.
And of course, the express purpose of all the Earth-duplicate planets was to reuse props, costumes, and set pieces from historical productions. The look of the "TOS world" was always the result of scrounging what they could afford or get for free. It's naive to think aesthetic purity was their sole consideration.
Besides, Robby was a master of disguise. He donned numerous different appearances in his various guest roles, changing his arms or the mechanisms inside his head or even plugging his torso into a stationary computer. If TOS had cast him, I'm sure he would've been happy to change his look to suit their aesthetic preferences.
Based on what evidence? As it stands, TOS' production went out of their way to develop a unique look as much as possible, so it did not look like--for one example--the work of Irwin Allen. Further, by 1966, Robby had already become a known pop culture character/image used in other productions and merchandising, which is a far different case than re-used ape and monster costumes. According to Allen's assistant / costume designer, Paul Zastupnevich, one of the reasons Allen wanted the Robby costume to serve as the evil robot facing off against the B-9 was due to Robby being so popular at the time.
I seriously doubt the TOS production would have used the Robby suit for that reason, in addition the other already listed.
TOS has a very definite Aesthetic sense, and Robby might not fit as smoothly as Nomad does, but the suit wouldn't be as artistically jarring, as if, say, there were a 1970-1980s style weather beaten Y-wing fighter with faded paint sitting in the shuttlecraft bay, dripping grease and oil on the nice clean Starfleet deck.
But, as others have pointed out, budgetary costs were a far more major factor in the show than we the audience would have liked. ("The Mark of Gideon" set almost entirely on the Enterprise set with virtually no extras just Screams like a cheap cost saving measure.) Third season just got cheaper and cheaper and cheaper.
But, Robby could have been an alien robot from a different civilization and technology. After all, it's not like the 1930s Fliver Kirk drives in "A piece of the action" fits the usual TOS aesthetic, any more than the windsock dipped in concrete we all know and love as the Doomsday Machine.
I've seen multiple variations of Robby, but if you're describing the one I think you are where he appeared in "Columbo" the computer they propped his torso on wasn't stationary. They just replaced his legs with a rolling cabinet. (Kind of like a Dalek)
Oh: The Horta came from "The Outer Limits?"
I thought it was an original costume.
What episode did it come from?
But, as others have pointed out, budgetary costs were a far more major factor in the show than we the audience would have liked. ("The Mark of Gideon" set almost entirely on the Enterprise set with virtually no extras just Screams like a cheap cost saving measure.) Third season just got cheaper and cheaper and cheaper.
But, Robby could have been an alien robot from a different civilization and technology. After all, it's not like the 1930s Fliver Kirk drives in "A piece of the action" fits the usual TOS aesthetic, any more than the windsock dipped in concrete we all know and love as the Doomsday Machine.
I've seen multiple variations of Robby, but if you're describing the one I think you are where he appeared in "Columbo" the computer they propped his torso on wasn't stationary. They just replaced his legs with a rolling cabinet. (Kind of like a Dalek)
Oh: The Horta came from "The Outer Limits?"
I thought it was an original costume.
What episode did it come from?
Last edited:
I already answered that in the rest of my previous post. Besides, you're the one making the assertion, so the burden of proof is on you. And you can't prove a negative.
Key word, "possible." As in, what they could afford. You keep ignoring that part.
Current thinking it that it was probably a wire frame wrapped in metal foil and lighting gels.
https://www.trekbbs.com/threads/fac...k-the-real-story.215992/page-60#post-12587432
That was what I had in mind -- thanks for the clarification. I think there may have been some other production I was conflating it with, but I can't remember. I went looking for a page that had photos of all of Robby's onscreen variations, but surprisingly, nobody seems to have created such a thing as far as I can discover.
There was a Man from UNCLE episode where just Robby's clear dome was used as part of a de-aging machine.
Reportedly, it was the "Mikey" (giant microbe creature) in "The Probe," though it was heavily modified for Trek.
Huh! Interesting! It would have to be heavily modified indeed!
But, I guess maybe whatever structure was underneath the outer covering would be similar.
An actor crawling around on hands and knees will be pretty much the same.
You posted:
You're making a statement in the affirmative, yet it has no basis in historical fact about the production decisions or considerations of those who developed and worked on TOS. So, if you are so sure "they'd have used him," that requires some proof of said considerations, otherwise, its just your opinion.
Last edited:
Similar threads
