Watching Star Trek for the first time (again)

[Neopeius]

Hello, all.

I've been a TrekBBSer since 2001, starting (and ending) in this lovely sub-forum. For the last five years, I have been running the Hugo-nominated "Galactic Journey," a Portal to 55 years ago in Science Fact and Fiction. Of course, I am greatly looking forward to the debut of Star Trek.

In the meantime, as I watch the TV of the time (it is currently November 25, 1963 -- we have a TV station that broadcasts the television of exactly 55 years ago), I am frequently spotting the actors and actresses who eventually showed up on Star Trek. For instance, not long ago, Shatner was on The Twilight Zone and also 77 Sunset Strip, Koenig was on a recent adventure of The Great Adventure (with Lee Marvin), Nimoy was on a recent episode of Combat!, and I just saw James Doohan as James Garner's defense attorney in the movie, The Wheeler Dealers, which premiered on November 14th.

I am currently watching this week's episode of Bonanza, and I see Kathie Brown is guest starring. She will eventually star in the episode, "A Wink of the Eye," and I saw her last year on Perry Mason.



I'll be posting images as I see folks from now on, sort of a countdown to Trek. You're welcome to join in the fun, if you happen to be watching something that came out 55 years ago or a little before (try not to post ahead of schedule!)

 

[johnnybear]

Wow! A channel that shows television from fifty five years ago!!! What a thought and an adventure!
JB

 

[1001001]

I'm a bit confused. What exactly is this for?

Sounds just like this thread, or maybe this one...?

We already have two ongoing threads for guest stars and other roles, do we really need this one too?

 

[Neopeius]

I do appreciate your concern, and thank you.

We've had dupe threads before -- how many watch-throughs have we done over the past decade? But this one is "live," at least from my perspective. And in three years, I'll be watching Trek "live," too (and probably calling out Trek actors as they come).

There is something special about seeing things in context, a perspective you don't get in a more magpie, random search of the past. An appreciation that Trek did not come out of nowhere, and its contributors all had jobs before the series.

Speaking of which, The Lieutenant is well into its first season staring a fellow named Gary Lockwood and created by a fellow named Gene Roddenberry.

It's pretty good, and I note that it uses real sound effects for its live fire (as opposed to COMBAT!, which uses taped library sounds that get monotonous after a while).

Anyway, I hope you'll let me continue. Thank you.

 

[Neopeius]

Wow! A channel that shows television from fifty five years ago!!! What a thought and an adventure!
JB

It's a trip, to be sure. I wish I could share it with you directly, but our range is only the block (FCC and all...)

 

[1001001]

I'm sorry but I'm still confused.

So...you're watching some kind of broadcast that's exactly 55 years behind? And you are saying that you're going to watch Star Trek in 3 years? And in the meantime you're going to post about Trek actors in other shows?

Again we already have that, so I'm still not seeing why this should stay open.

I'll have @T'Bonz take a look and see what she thinks.

 

[Neopeius]

I'm sorry but I'm still confused.

So...you're watching some kind of broadcast that's exactly 55 years behind? And you are saying that you're going to watch Star Trek in 3 years? And in the meantime you're going to post about Trek actors in other shows?

That's right! Exactly.

And others are invited to play along, comment, etc.

I'd be obliged if you kept this open. Thank you!

 

[T'Bonz]

I'm inclined to let it go on. It's a different twist on a familiar scene. This way, it's other shows and then eventually, Star Trek. It might be interesting as familiar names will come up as the shows "air."

This is assuming that others are interested. If they are, good. If not, it will die a natural death. In other words, Neopious, if there is no interest, don't bump it and other stuff. If it's of interest, people will participate. Usually people here seem to like threads and posts about guest spots.

 

[JonnyQuest037]

It's a trip, to be sure. I wish I could share it with you directly, but our range is only the block (FCC and all...)

...So it's a thing that only you have the ability to watch?

Yeah, I don't see the appeal. You constantly posting about TV that we can't watch for three years sounds like constantly hearing about a party to which no one else is invited.

 

[Neopeius]

...So it's a thing that only you have the ability to watch?

Yeah, I don't see the appeal. You constantly posting about TV that we can't watch for three years sounds like constantly hearing about a party to which no one else is invited.

Hi Johnny. On the contrary -- all of you can play. The playlist for this station mostly comes from shows I was able to find online.

Or seen another way, as I find shows with Trek actors, you might be interested in checking them out, both for their intrinsic value and also to see how the actora progress in their roles.

In any event, I won't take much space, and you can read or ignore as you like.

 

[Maurice]

Actually, I see what this is: you're plugging a website that is about what was going on 55 years ago on a given date.

 

[Neopeius]

More like extending it to TrekBBS (I live much of my life 55 years ago, so where I see things relevant to Trek, I can post them here).

 

[Kor]

...I live much of my life 55 years ago...

"You and I are of a kind. In a different reality, I could have called you friend."

When it comes to TOS actors' extra-Trekular careers, I find their pre-Trek work to be the most interesting. I hope this generates some interest. Cool site, too.

Kor

 

[Neopeius]

Thank you, Commander (er... Admiral) Kor!

Here's the latest sighting: Michael Forest (Apollo in "Who Mourns for Adonais") in The Outer Limits episode, "It Came out of the Woodwork." (Dec. 9, 1963... today!)

He really has quite a range. He played a badboy cowboy in an episode of Gunsmoke earlier this year, too.

(I won't know if he does so again since I stopped watching Gunsmoke as of the end of last season. Too many westerns on TV! Bonanza's the only one left on my station.)

 

[Sir Rhosis]

"Michael" Forest

 

[Neopeius]

"Michael" Forest

Thanks! I don't know where that came from. His real name is, of course, Gerald Michael Charlebois. Which is not George either!

 

[johnnybear]

Charlebois sounds French but I thought he was Italian?
JB

 

[Neopeius]

"Charlebois" means "Charles' Wood" in French. That said, nothing in his biographical material that I've found on the web details his ancestry. He was born in North Dakota. He did live a decade in Italy, doing films, but the implication was that he learned Italian there.

Who knows? We could always ask him. He's still alive, kicking, and acting (both in 1963 and 2018!)

(I dropped him a line at his guestbook. We'll see!)

 

[johnnybear]

Well done, Neopeius!
JB

 

[Kor]

A number of American and British actors had leading roles in Italian B-movies in those years. It was most amusing when the dialog would be dubbed into Italian for the target audience, and then re-dubbed into English by totally different people than the original actors for the international market.

Kor