The Fanzines of Trek -- in situ

[ZapBrannigan]

So this is interesting -- a sneak preview at the second season. Note the wildly inaccurate speculation. Any idea where Fred got these? Are they based on the original scripts?

(this is from the September 1967 issue of Vulcanalia -- someone may have the original Fred Clarke article)

This is a textbook case of the rule, "Early reports are often wrong."

 

[Neopeius]

Just a heads up:

Season Two of Star Trek starts today with "Amok Time" -- we'll be reading from Yandro before hand. Fun starts at 8pm EDT, and if you miss that, we do it again at 8pm PDT!

https://discord.com/invite/TyhrGTRYYr

 

[Neopeius]

If anyone wants a copy of the first edition of the Trek Writer's Guide, they might look up Ed Smith in Charlotte, North Caroline. He says in this month's Yandro:

"I'm fed up to here with those guys and gals saying "STAR TREK" is inconsistent. How has the character of McCoy changed, Boyd Raeburn?

By the way, Derek Nelson: I have a copy of that "stencilled mag" you read at Tricon -- it happens to be THE STAR TREK GUIDE, intended for writers and actors, according to Roddenberry, but it seemed to me, too, that it was aimed primarily at scriptwriters. Gene Roddenberry sent it to me when I told him I was planning a STAR TREK issue, along with an article for my zine. (Which is all a cute way for me to get in a free plug for my fmz--Remember, Alpha. A-L-P-H-A.) He gave me permission to reprint some of the things in it, in small paragraphs scattered throughout the ish. That and a Roddenberry article -- wow!"

 

[Kor]

The Doomsday Machine, taken from the story of the same name... what story were they thinking of? I can't find any novels or short stories with that title from an appropriate timeframe.

Kor

 

[Neopeius]

The Doomsday Machine, taken from the story of the same name... what story were they thinking of? I can't find any novels or short stories with that title from an appropriate timeframe.

Kor

That was my thought, too...

 

[Maurice]

Well the term "doomsday machine" appears in film at least as far back in 1963's Dr. Strangelove and physicist Leo Szilard warned against humankind-annihilating doomsday weapons as far back at 1950.

PRESIDENT MUFFLEY​

What's happened?​

AMBASSADOR ALEXI DE SADESKY​

The doomsday machine.​

PRESIDENT MUFFLEY​

The doomsday machine? What is that?​

AMBASSADOR ALEXI DE SADESKY​

A device which will destroy all human and animal life on earth.​

 

[Neopeius]

PRESIDENT MUFFLEY​

What's happened?​

AMBASSADOR ALEXI DE SADESKY​

The doomsday machine.​

PRESIDENT MUFFLEY​

The doomsday machine? What is that?​

AMBASSADOR ALEXI DE SADESKY​

It's a story by Norman Spinrad. I don't think it was ever published, but they may make a script for Star Trek out of it.

PRESIDENT MUFFLEY​

Star Trek? What is that?

AMBASSADOR ALEXI DE SADESKY​

Er...

FIFY

 

[publiusr]

The old Guinness Books had a 57,000 MT cobalt salted bomb could wipe out all life if detonated in Antarctica…

 

[Neopeius]

The old Guinness Books had a 57,000 MT cobalt salted bomb could wipe out all life if detonated in Antarctica…

Huh?

 

[ZapBrannigan]

The old Guinness Books had a 57,000 MT cobalt salted bomb could wipe out all life if detonated in Antarctica…

That's about 1000 times more megatons than the largest H-bomb in history.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsar_Bomba

 

[1001001]

The only choice we're given is how many megatons...

 

[Maurice]

The only choice we're given is how many megatons...

Cuz I hate you.

 

[ZapBrannigan]

And I berate you!

 

[Neopeius]

Or maybe they just made it up/extrapolated it from what they had seen of Mr. Spock to this point. That wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility for fans of that period

I have a definitive answer to this. I just read the first issue of The Crewman's Log, the 'zine of an Ohio-based fan club that joined the Leonard Nimoy National Association of Fans in July '67. With great pride, they included biographies of Mr. Spock and Leonard Nimoy, as well as Nimoy vital statistics. The articles are identical to those in Vulcanalia, released nine months before.

We must conclude that these were press kit items sent out to requesting clubs. So these details on Spock's life and on the nature of Vulcan were worked out well before "Amok Time" and were not the result of fan fancy.

(Note to @Maurice and @Harvey: this issue also contains Part One of a description of the Pres. and VP of the club's trip to the Desilu set on July 18. Might be useful lore when the story is done. )

 

[Maurice]

Or did The Crewman's Log just copy what was in Vulcanalia?

I have no doubt the Trek offices sent stuff to fan clubs. I think we have some memos of that ilk, but I can't speak to exactly what that might've been. @Harvey?

 

[Neopeius]

Or did The Crewman's Log just copy what was in Vulcanalia?

That is contraindicated by the opening editorial in the mag. The club Pres. specifically says the articles were provided to them when they joined the LNNAF (I think it unlikely that the folks of Capsule 7 even knew about Vulcanalia--it was only sent to members of Vulcanian Enterprises, most of whom lived in Brooklyn until after NyCon 3, after Capsule 7 joined LNNAF.)

 

[Maurice]

That is contraindicated by the opening editorial in the mag. The club Pres. specifically says the articles were provided to them when they joined the LNNAF (I think it unlikely that the folks of Capsule 7 even knew about Vulcanalia--it was only sent to members of Vulcanian Enterprises, most of whom lived in Brooklyn until after NyCon 3, after Capsule 7 joined LNNAF.)

Ah, then there you go. I've not seen the issue in question.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Well the term "doomsday machine" appears in film at least as far back in 1963's Dr. Strangelove and physicist Leo Szilard warned against humankind-annihilating doomsday weapons as far back at 1950.

PRESIDENT MUFFLEY​

What's happened?​

AMBASSADOR ALEXI DE SADESKY​

The doomsday machine.​

PRESIDENT MUFFLEY​

The doomsday machine? What is that?​

AMBASSADOR ALEXI DE SADESKY​

It's a story by Norman Spinrad. I don't think it was ever published, but they may make a script for Star Trek out of it. But that's not important right now.​

FIFY

Fixed that FTFY

 

[Neopeius]

Fixed it FIFY

FIFY

 

[Neopeius]

Some pretty savage reviews of "Amok Time" in the latest issue of Yandro:

In response to a savaging of "Miri", Buck Coulson says:


You managed to see the worst STAR TREK episode of the entire first season. (Though I must say the first two shows this season probably didn't do a lot to improve your opinion of the show if you saw them.) But they aren't all that bad.

Bob Briney says:

You can look forward to at least one dreadful STAR TREK episode this season; Sturgeon's "Amok Time". Lost of it was like a badly-assimilated Maria Montez movie. It did provide one shock for the audience; a battle to the death between Kirk and Spock (on the latter's home planet) with huge axes and whips. Spock wins.

to which Buck replies:

Thankfully, I can now look back on the ST episode, since it was the first one of the season. (Second show was better, and the third has just been preempted by LBJ.)


By the way, I know "Amok Time" is a vitally important episode to fandom and the show, and modern audiences love it, but I am inclined more toward Buck and Bob's point of view. I enjoyed "Mirror, Mirror", "Changeling" and maybe even "Adonais" better than "Amok Time". I didn't dislike it, and I appreciated the expansion of the Trekiverse, but it did not leave a deep impression.