TOS with commercials

[Neopeius]

As many of you know, I live 55 years ago (currently Nov. 9, 1965) and am looking forward tremendously to watching Trek when it comes out, week by week.

I found this airing of Space Seed (1st rerun, during the summer of '67) and I actually stitched the commercials into my DVD rip so I could watch it authentically.

Are there any similar recordings out there?

 

[Harvey]

None that I've ever seen online, but these would certainly be very interesting to see if they turn up.

 

[Methuselah Flint]

Indeed! Would love to see!

 

[Qonundrum]

No full commercials sadly, but I did find a b/w telerecording that someone else uploaded:

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Sponsored in part by RCA, and well-worth it as the color palette is even more refreshing than the fizzy soft drink... TV was new and Trek took full advantage of it to sell another world. The graphics/lighting designers simply excelled in taking such an array of vibrant hues and not being florid or garish as a result.

 

[Redfern]

Geritol... Heh, heh... I always associate that vitamin tonic with "Lawrence Welk" as I think they had a permanent sponsorship. Goodness knows it was mentioned several times during every bloody episode I was forced to watch with my grandmother to appease her!

 

[Forbin]

OOh, Polaroid has a transistorized shutter!

 

[Redfern]

OOh, Polaroid has a transistorized shutter!

And in a mere 5 years, people will be laughing off their backsides seeing a "vintage" commercial promoting the phones of today. "What? They thought 5G was fast?!"

 

[F. King Daniel]

Didn't New Voyages do an episode with authentic 60's commercial breaks? I remember reading about it being for the most authentic "new TOS episode" feel possible. I thought it sounded cool.

 

[plynch]

That dude has THE announcer voice!

 

[Commishsleer]

Was this actually shown during Star Trek in the 60s?

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I'm just putting this ad in because I think its adorable not anything to do with the topic in question:

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Moderators I hope I'm putting these links in properly

 

[Maurice]

Was this actually shown during Star Trek in the 60s?

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The Amok Time music in the background seems to have been added after the fact. Here's a version which I think has the original sound:

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[ZapBrannigan]

^ I'll bet they made that commercial with a pseudo-Vulcan only after Nimoy turned down the job. And he would have turned them down flat.

 

[Tim Thomason]

^ I'll bet they made that commercial with a pseudo-Vulcan only after Nimoy turned down the job. And he would have turned them down flat.

I doubt they would've bothered to even contact Nimoy or his talent manager for a commercial spot when he was at the top of his game (going from primetime show to another primetime show, depending on when in 1969 it was filmed). Getting Robert Rodan of the daytime soap Dark Shadows was a pretty big get for them, and he would've been recognized, even as a different character.

 

[ZapBrannigan]

I doubt they would've bothered to even contact Nimoy or his talent manager for a commercial spot when he was at the top of his game (going from primetime show to another primetime show, depending on when in 1969 it was filmed). Getting Robert Rodan of the daytime soap Dark Shadows was a pretty big get for them, and he would've been recognized, even as a different character.

I still think the ad folks would have contacted Nimoy's agent and offered him the commercial. A lot of actors will take any job they can get, on the theory that you have to strike while the iron is hot, make all the money you can, because the ride could end tomorrow.

Add to that, in those days a lot of network stars did commercials. The main cast of The Beverly Hillbillies filmed a Kellogg's Corn Flakes commercial (I saw at least one) sitting at their kitchen table, made to look like part of an episode. And it played during an episode, almost seamlessly. And I'm pretty sure if a guy played a doctor on network television, you could get him for a cigarette commercial (it wouldn't surprise me).

Nimoy reported in I am Not Spock, or maybe it was an interview, that he received no end of offers for crass commercial promotions, if he would do them as Spock. I don't think they all necessarily waited for him to cool off.

 

[yosef]

Add to that, in those days a lot of network stars did commercials. The main cast of The Beverly Hillbillies filmed a Kellogg's Corn Flakes commercial (I saw at least one) sitting at their kitchen table, made to look like part of an episode. And it played during an episode, almost seamlessly. And I'm pretty sure if a guy played a doctor on network television, you could get him for a cigarette commercial (it wouldn't surprise me).

In the case of the The Beverly Hillbillies, there was a Kellogg's or Winston Cigarettes (the two main sponsors) cast commercial in almost every episode in the early seasons, appearing before the closing credits. Often they connected to the storyline of the episode. The Lucy Show had these cast commercials in its first season too, although Lucille Ball never appeared in them (just Vivian Vance and the kid actors). Later seasons just had regular sponsor commercials without the cast. CBS included them on the DVD sets for those two shows, but I've seen other cast commercials for other shows online over the years.

I would guess 16mm or 35mm network prints of TOS would come with all of their original night-of-broadcast commercials as part of the film print, but I'm not sure if some of the commercial breaks would be left blank for local/live commercial spots. I've seen syndication 16mm prints for other TV shows that have "Commercial Here" leader during the commercial break, where a station normally would have spliced in their own commercials or switched to another video feed for the break.

 

[Commishsleer]

I still think the ad folks would have contacted Nimoy's agent and offered him the commercial. A lot of actors will take any job they can get, on the theory that you have to strike while the iron is hot, make all the money you can, because the ride could end tomorrow.

Add to that, in those days a lot of network stars did commercials. The main cast of The Beverly Hillbillies filmed a Kellogg's Corn Flakes commercial (I saw at least one) sitting at their kitchen table, made to look like part of an episode. And it played during an episode, almost seamlessly. And I'm pretty sure if a guy played a doctor on network television, you could get him for a cigarette commercial (it wouldn't surprise me).

Nimoy reported in I am Not Spock, or maybe it was an interview, that he received no end of offers for crass commercial promotions, if he would do them as Spock. I don't think they all necessarily waited for him to cool off.

So I'm curious, do you think that ad would have been screened in actual episodes during Star Trek TOS original run?
Also would they have had to pay GR some bucks for using the Star Trek theme or could sponsors do anything they liked?
Without the Amok Time music could it have been regarded as a non-Star Trek ad?

If Nimoy had donned the ears or Shatner wore his gold shirt would they have been allowed to appear in ads as Spock/Kirk without permission or paying GR/studio?

 

[ZapBrannigan]

So I'm curious, do you think that ad would have been screened in actual episodes during Star Trek TOS original run?
Also would they have had to pay GR some bucks for using the Star Trek theme or could sponsors do anything they liked?
Without the Amok Time music could it have been regarded as a non-Star Trek ad?

If Nimoy had donned the ears or Shatner wore his gold shirt would they have been allowed to appear in ads as Spock/Kirk without permission or paying GR/studio?

I'm sure the Cheer commercial was regarded as a non-Star Trek ad, because they changed Spock enough to get away with stealing what they stole, and the actual ad didn't use any ST music.

But as I understand it, the actual ST actors would need permission from the studio and Roddenberry to do any extracurricular projects that used their Star Trek personas. Nimoy needed permission to record his Spock-related LPs for Dot Records. I don't know if Roddenberry demanded a personal payment for those albums, but he could have.

Actors generally don't own their characters. When Suzanne Somers left Three's Company, she got a night club gig in Las Vegas. The producers investigated to ensure she wasn't doing the Chrissy character on stage, and if she was they were going to put a stop to it.

 

[Maurice]

So I'm curious, do you think that ad would have been screened in actual episodes during Star Trek TOS original run?
Also would they have had to pay GR some bucks for using the Star Trek theme or could sponsors do anything they liked?
Without the Amok Time music could it have been regarded as a non-Star Trek ad?

If Nimoy had donned the ears or Shatner wore his gold shirt would they have been allowed to appear in ads as Spock/Kirk without permission or paying GR/studio?

As above, I think someone added that Amok Time music in there when it got digitized. The version I posted does not include it.

No, Shatner and Nimoy could not have appeared as their characters, because they don't own those characters.

 

[Redfern]

As above, I think someone added that Amok Time music in there when it got digitized. The version I posted does not include it.

Not only that, but the beaming sound effect was from "Next Generation". Some fan just wanted to 'spruce up" the clip for "shiggles".

 

[Maurice]

Not only that, but the beaming sound effect was from "Next Generation". Some fan just wanted to 'spruce up" the clip for "shiggles".

It's one thing I really hate about the internet: people modify things but don't flag that they have been altered. It makes historical research a bear.

I've taken to doing stuff like this for Fact Trek: