The Cage cast

[Christopher]

^Roddenberry wouldn't have been the one responsible for the decisions behind the creation of NBC's publicity material. The publicity people probably decided to play her up in promotion and photos because she was the only potentially recurring female character in the pilot cast and because she was really hot, and they wanted sex appeal to draw in male viewers. Grace Lee Whitney was played up the same way in later publicity photos, although in her case it was somewhat more accurate.

 

[Botany Bay]

Yep, fair point. And even this Yeoman Colt fan must concede Miss Dromm is absolutely gorgeous.

So why did Dromm get chopped after the second pilot? Anyone know?

 

[Therin of Andor]

So why did Dromm get chopped after the second pilot? Anyone know?

Not keeping score?

 

[Christopher]

So why did Dromm get chopped after the second pilot? Anyone know?

IMDb says:

Hollywood took notice of this easy, breezy, beautiful commercial model and enticed her to move West to forge an acting career. It was a reluctant move for her. Her first acting job would be in the second "Star Trek" pilot episode, which introduced William Shatner to the show. Although she was promised a continued run in the sci-fi series, she instead accepted her first film role.

The classic comedy/satire The Russians Are Coming the Russians Are Coming (1966) was a terrific introductory showcase for her in which she played a fetching-looking teenage babysitter who falls for a handsome young Russian sailor and protector (John Phillip Law). Both were surrounded by huge comedy talent in the film, including Alan Arkin, Carl Reiner, Paul Ford and Jonathan Winters. Following this she revealed even more of her curvy assets as a pretty, bikini-draped undercover agent trying to solve a murder alongside equally pretty Troy Donahue in Come Spy with Me (1967). This movie bombed on arrival.

The Hollywood scene was not for Andrea, however, and, after a mere three acting jobs, willingly returned to New York and modeling again.

It also offers these quotes in her own words, though does not attribute them:

Since "Star Trek" (1966) was only a pilot they could keep you under option for six months and change your character or even worse drop you from the series. You had no guarantees that they would sign you for the series. I thought that doing the movie (The Russians Are Coming the Russians Are Coming (1966)) would be more exciting and a great thing to do. That was a choice I had to make and you can't look back.

I was offered a role in The Russians Are Coming the Russians Are Coming (1966). They told me you either had to do the film or the ("Star Trek" (1966)) series. I chose the film, but had I known that "Star Trek" would become such a phenomena, I probably would have opted for the series.

 

[mb22]

Since "Star Trek" (1966) was only a pilot they could keep you under option for six months and change your character or even worse drop you from the series. You had no guarantees that they would sign you for the series. I thought that doing the movie (The Russians Are Coming the Russians Are Coming (1966)) would be more exciting and a great thing to do. That was a choice I had to make and you can't look back.

I was offered a role in The Russians Are Coming the Russians Are Coming (1966). They told me you either had to do the film or the ("Star Trek" (1966)) series. I chose the film, but had I known that "Star Trek" would become such a phenomena, I probably would have opted for the series.

The quotes are from the book Drive in Dream Girls (click link to read Google Books excerpts). It has interviews with both Dromm and Laurel Goodwin. Dromm also denies any hanky panky with Roddenberry.

 

[alexianyc]

Since "Star Trek" (1966) was only a pilot they could keep you under option for six months and change your character or even worse drop you from the series. You had no guarantees that they would sign you for the series. I thought that doing the movie (The Russians Are Coming the Russians Are Coming (1966)) would be more exciting and a great thing to do. That was a choice I had to make and you can't look back.

I was offered a role in The Russians Are Coming the Russians Are Coming (1966). They told me you either had to do the film or the ("Star Trek" (1966)) series. I chose the film, but had I known that "Star Trek" would become such a phenomena, I probably would have opted for the series.

The quotes are from the book Drive in Dream Girls (click link to read Google Books excerpts). It has interviews with both Dromm and Laurel Goodwin. Dromm also denies any hanky panky with Roddenberry.

Laurel Goodwin's quotes about the Cage cast are definitely interesting, particularly the ones about Majel Barrett.

Apparently she agrees with the network about Majel's talent, or lack thereof, and relationship with Roddenberry.

 

[mb22]

It is a very informative book. However, its too bad the editor didn't catch Yeoman Colt being referred to as "Ensign Holt".

 

[Harvey]

Interesting interviews, although I'd dispute the wording that says Goodwin was 'fired' after the first pilot. It is interesting to read her claim that Roddenberry kept her on the hook with the promise of a return until two weeks before shooting on the second pilot. I'm not sure if that washes with the characters in Sam Peeples' first draft of the script, but it would be characteristic of Roddenberry not wanting to give the bad news.

EDIT: Peeple's first draft, dated May 25, 1965, has Yeoman Smith in it. Nimoy's new contract (for the second pilot and series) is dated June 2, 1965. I haven't seen Dromm's contract (although UCLA has it), but a safe bet suggests she signed it around the same time Nimoy signed his. Filming on the second pilot, by the way, began on July 19, 1965. If Roddenberry told Goodwin she was going to be in the second pilot until just two weeks before it was filmed, he wasn't being honest.

 

[Sir Rhosis]

^^^Just so people won't be confused, I think the first draft was 5-25-1965, not 1967.

Sir Rhosis

 

[Harvey]

Shh.

Thanks for catching that!

 

[Botany Bay]

Thanks guys for the amazing info - great thread. Almost ten years of posting here and I'm still learning new stuff about TOS.

Okay, so let's assume Roddenberry was avoiding giving the bad news to Goodwin by lying to her about her ongoing involvement with Star Trek (plausible). So what was the documented reason she was fired? NBC? I'm sure there was a memo on this, but my books are in boxes at the moment.

 

[Harvey]

Inside Star Trek: The Real Story just says that NBC wasn't crazy about any of the actors in the first pilot except for Hunter and Nimoy. There's no mention of Goodwin and Nimoy being the actors the network okayed to advance to the second pilot. On the contrary, Solow recalls a meeting with Mort Werner where the NBC Programming VP said, "We also think you can do better with the ship's doctor, the yeoman, and other members of the crew" (P.60).

I'm also skeptical of the claim (from the Goodwin interview in Drive-In Dream Girls) that "after the pilot was complete, it was shown to all three networks, who passed on it. NBC, though, thought it had potential..." (P.41). There's no mention at all in the Solow/Justman book about showing the program to ABC or CBS; this wouldn't really make sense, since NBC financed much of it, and CBS had already passed on the series during a pitch meeting.

 

[Botany Bay]

Cheers Harvey.

Blog looks great - bookmarked for future reference. Have always been fascinated by the behind the scenes stuff from TOS - glad to see there are others

 

[Kamdan]

Thanks for the link to the book. I enjoyed reading Goodwin's remarks about Majel Barrett. Roddenberry has been trying to play off the fact that the network objected to a woman second in command, when in reality the network objected to the actress in the role.

 

[Christopher]

Okay, so let's assume Roddenberry was avoiding giving the bad news to Goodwin by lying to her about her ongoing involvement with Star Trek (plausible). So what was the documented reason she was fired?

"Fired" is too strong a word. After all, she was a pilot cast member. A pilot contract is for a one-time gig with an option to be hired for a series commitment if the pilot succeeds. They didn't fire her, they just chose not to pick up her option. And remember, they didn't keep any of the pilot cast except Nimoy, and they wanted to drop him too. (In fact, didn't they have to renegotiate for Nimoy since his contract didn't include an option for a second pilot?)

 

[alexianyc]

Thanks for the link to the book. I enjoyed reading Goodwin's remarks about Majel Barrett. Roddenberry has been trying to play off the fact that the network objected to a woman second in command, when in reality the network objected to the actress in the role.

I found it interesting that apparently everyone knew about the relationship with Roddenberry. He wasn't exactly discreet, was he, LOL.

I like MB as Number One, but Goodwin's interview does support the idea that going forward with her as one of the leads really would not have been a good idea.

 

[Harvey]

(In fact, didn't they have to renegotiate for Nimoy since his contract didn't include an option for a second pilot?)

They did. As I indicated up the thread, Nimoy signed his second Star Trek contract on June 2, 1965. His first contract had been signed some time late in 1964.

 

[Maurice]

When Gene Roddenberry was asked about this non-part, he allegedly said : "I only hired her because I wanted to score with her."

He must have wanted that score pretty bad to promise her third lead

That bit of apocrypha is from Inside Star Trek, and it's just one of the many anecdotes related, but which are hard to prove.

As to the contracts and actors who were not brought back, it's inaccurate to say that any of the actors were "fired". Second pilots are rare, and contracts (at least in the past) would not have included them (and there are practical reasons an actor would not wish to be tied to such a requirement). When the first pilot didn't sell, all the contracts were effectively terminated, which is why they could not compel Hunter to return and had to sign a new contract with Nimoy. The studio had no option on the actors and likely would have had to negotiate new contracts had they wanted any of them to continue. Since NBC didn't like most of the cast, this wasn't going to happen.

 

[Bad Atom]

Very rare to hear anyone speak ill of Majel Barrett. Despite any issues with her relationship with Roddenberry, by most accounts she was an extremely nice person.

 

[Sir Rhosis]

^^^I don't take it as being out and out "ill" -- it comes across more as "gossipy" to me. YMMV

Sir Rhosis