Watching The Animated Series For The First Time

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I've often said, I wish Filmation had done a TAS revival in 1980 or so, like the way they revived other shows of theirs like Batman, Fat Albert, and Gilligan. At that point, Filmation's animation and music were at their peak of quality, and they had a lot of notable writers working for them around that time or a little later, like Michael Reaves, Diane Duane, Paul Dini, Marc Scott Zicree, and J. Michael Straczynski. If they'd done a post-TMP animated series around that time, they could've made use of the multispecies crewmembers established in the Rec Deck scene. It could've been a terrific show, and it could've given more legitimacy and acceptance to both animated Trek and the TMP era.

 

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On the contrary, the movies would've given Filmation and Paramount an additional incentive to make an animated series to tie into them, just like how countless other movies have had animated spinoffs, e.g. The Real Ghostbusters, Men in Black: The Series, etc. It was just a missed opportunity.

But would they have been able to afford Shatner and Nimoy? They might have become pricier over the decade since TAS.

 

[TRON JA307020]

But would they have been able to afford Shatner and Nimoy? They might have become pricier over the decade since TAS.

Good point.

 

[Christopher]

But would they have been able to afford Shatner and Nimoy? They might have become pricier over the decade since TAS.

In terms of their overall careers, I'm not sure they were any bigger in 1979-80 than they'd been in 1973, aside from TMP itself raising their profile. I suppose, at worst, Filmation could've recast them, as they'd done before with some of their adaptations (for instance, Jane Webb played both Ginger and Mary Anne in The New Adventures of Gilligan). Though it wouldn't have been as appealing that way, admittedly.

 

[TRON JA307020]

In terms of their overall careers, I'm not sure they were any bigger in 1979-80 than they'd been in 1973, aside from TMP itself raising their profile. I suppose, at worst, Filmation could've recast them, as they'd done before with some of their adaptations (for instance, Jane Webb played both Ginger and Mary Anne in The New Adventures of Gilligan). Though it wouldn't have been as appealing that way, admittedly.

Yeah. The fun of watching TAS is knowing that we got TOS actors. Not Koenig unfortunately.

 

[BillJ]

Gerrold is a good writer. I wish they would use him today.

He's like 80 years old now, I think his TV writing days are behind him. Besides, "Blood and Fire" told me all I needed to know about his current writing chops.

 

[mb22]

In terms of their overall careers, I'm not sure they were any bigger in 1979-80 than they'd been in 1973, aside from TMP itself raising their profile. I suppose, at worst, Filmation could've recast them, as they'd done before with some of their adaptations (for instance, Jane Webb played both Ginger and Mary Anne in The New Adventures of Gilligan). Though it wouldn't have been as appealing that way, admittedly.

Not having Shatner and Nimoy would have been a major strike against the series. A Nimoy-less Phase II would have had a similar problem, although at least no one would be actually replacing him as Spock there.

 

[Christopher]

I can imagine a version where James Doohan did Kirk's voice and George Takei did Spock...

Alternately: Howard Morris as Kirk. Filmation's The Secret Lives of Waldo Kitty did two episodes where Waldo (Morris) imagined himself as "Captain Herc of the starship Secondprize," and Morris actually did a halfway decent Shatner impression, understated and not as caricatured as many.

 

[TRON JA307020]

He's like 80 years old now, I think his TV writing days are behind him. Besides, "Blood and Fire" told me all I needed to know about his current writing chops.

Shatner is 93 and went up in space at 91.5 and does a host of other things. Clint eastwood is well into his 90s he still directs. Gerrold can still write if he really wants to. Age has nothing to do with it. If he feels he wants to keep working he will if he doesnt he won't.

 

[Christopher]

Shatner is 93 and went up in space at 91.5 and does a host of other things.

I love it that he played the youngest person ever to command a starship (up to that point) and then became the oldest person ever to go up in a real spaceship.

I also love the irony that he's more robust in his 90s than "Deadly Years" Kirk was in the supposed equivalent of "between 60 and 72."

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

I know it's a comedy and i dont care for it.

And that's all right. Star Trek is big enough that you can love it without necessarily loving everything in it. I love both LD and TAS, even though they are entirely different in both tone and animation style, and I love what ADF did with the TAS scripts, and I love TOS, TNG, and SNW (and to a lesser extent, VOY, PIC, ENT, DS9, and DSC), but I could die happy if I never encountered another episode involving Section 31 (and even though PIC was full of Borg and Changelings, both done rather well, I'd still be happy to say good-by to Borg and Changeling stories forever as well).

 

[Phoenix219]

I loved Alan Dean Foster did with the novelisations. I've never watched all of the show.

I would have loved ADF/Blish style adaptations for TNG, just to see what differences came out of it. Good times.

 

[fireproof78]

Hmmm, so a comedy is full of comedy? SHOCKING!!

 

[Christopher]

I would have loved ADF/Blish style adaptations for TNG, just to see what differences came out of it. Good times.

There were novelizations of a number of TNG, DS9, VGR, and ENT episodes, usually premieres, finales, and other 2-parters, and occasionally adaptations of 1-part episodes expanded to novel length by adding original subplots, not unlike what Foster did.

Here's the list:

TNG
Encounter at Farpoint: David Gerrold
Unification: Jeri Taylor
Relics: Michael Jan Friedman (adds subplot of exploring Dyson Sphere surface)
Descent: Diane Carey
All Good Things...: Friedman

DS9
Emissary: J.M. Dillard
The Search: Carey
The Way of the Warrior: Carey
Trials and Tribble-ations: Carey (short novelization incorporating portions of "The Trouble With Tribbles")
Far Beyond the Stars: Steve Barnes (adds flashbacks to Benny Russell's childhood)
Call to Arms.../..Sacrifice of Angels: Carey (adapts part of season 5 finale and opening 6-part arc of season 6)
What You Leave Behind: Carey

VGR
Caretaker: L.A. Graf
Flashback: Carey (adds Kes and Paris subplots and gives Janeway a stronger role in climax)
Day of Honor: Friedman (adds Doctor subplot)
Equinox: Carey
Endgame: Carey

ENT
Broken Bow: Carey
Shockwave: Paul Ruditis
The Expanse: Dillard (adapts "The Expanse" & "The Xindi")

 

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I can imagine a version where James Doohan did Kirk's voice and George Takei did Spock...

Alternately: Howard Morris as Kirk. Filmation's The Secret Lives of Waldo Kitty did two episodes where Waldo (Morris) imagined himself as "Captain Herc of the starship Secondprize," and Morris actually did a halfway decent Shatner impression, understated and not as caricatured as many.

The show might also have to change the likenesses of Kirk and Spock -- I assume that is why The Real Ghostbusters made sure that the characters didn't overly resemble Murray, Ackroyd et al and why the animated Ginger is a platinum blond and not a redhead like Tina Louise on Gilligan's Island.

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

There were novelizations of a number of TNG, DS9, VGR, and ENT episodes, usually premieres, finales, and other 2-parters

And a good many of them were quite good. And others infamously bad, but not, as I recall, nearly as bad as their reputations would have us believe.

 

[Christopher]

The show might also have to change the likenesses of Kirk and Spock -- I assume that is why The Real Ghostbusters made sure that the characters didn't overly resemble Murray, Ackroyd et al and why the animated Ginger is a platinum blond and not a redhead like Tina Louise on Gilligan's Island.

Hmm, perhaps. Although the character designs in Ghostbusters were partly about likeness rights, partly about making the characters more distinctive so they'd be recognizable from a distance, which is why they gave them different uniform colors and different hairstyles/colors.

 

[I am not Herbert]

All of this talk about Filmation and Ghostbusters, yet no one has mentioned Filmation's bizarre competing Ghostbusters cartoon from the 1980s, which seriously confused me as a child

 

[I am not Herbert]

more to the topic, I don't think there has ever enough popular interest in the post-TMP era to support even a hypothetical smaller-budget cartoon set in that era. it's a weird wrinkle of ST lore, that apart from some TOS lit and some lackluster comics, the post-TMP era is largely unexplored, despite there ('canonically') being a second 5-year mission wedged in there. my own personal wish is for someone to make a live-action series from that era, filmed as though made in 1979-1980 (e.g., crotchjama uni's, feathered hair, disco music, voguish 1970s California New Human motifs) that nevertheless tries to tell TOS-style four act morality plays.

I recognize that there is literally no chance of the above ever happening.

 

[Christopher]

All of this talk about Filmation and Ghostbusters, yet no one has mentioned Filmation's bizarre competing Ghostbusters cartoon from the 1980s, which seriously confused me as a child

Filmation's version actually came first, in a sense. In 1975, they'd made a live-action comedy series called The Ghost Busters, starring Larry Storch, Forrest Tucker, and Bob Burns in a gorilla suit. Filmation took Columbia to court over their use of the title in the movie, and Columbia had to pay them for it. Filmation neglected to ask for animation rights to the movie as part of the deal, so Columbia went with DIC instead for their animated series. However, Filmation still had the rights to The Ghost Busters, so they made an animated sequel to it to capitalize on the film's success, centering on the adult sons of Storch and Tucker's characters from the original show. The reason the DIC/Columbia series was called The Real Ghostbusters was to distinguish it from Filmation's show, which was going to be called The Original Ghostbusters but ended up being just Ghostbusters, and was released on home video as Filmation's Ghostbusters.

more to the topic, I don't think there has ever enough popular interest in the post-TMP era to support even a hypothetical smaller-budget cartoon set in that era.

In retrospect, maybe, but I think that in 1979-80, it would've been seen as worth pursuing. After all, people forget that TMP was actually the most successful Trek film at the box office until 2009, correcting for inflation. It spawned a Marvel comic book tie-in that ran from 1980-82 and a syndicated newspaper comic strip that ran from 1979-83, both set in the TMP timeframe (though the newspaper strip updated to TWOK uniforms in 1982), in addition to the Pocket Books novel line that's continued to this day (now under the Gallery Books label). It also had more of a toy tie-in line than any of the subsequent movies until 2009, I believe. Given all that, it's a bit surprising that there wasn't an attempt at an animated tie-in as well.

it's a weird wrinkle of ST lore, that apart from some TOS lit and some lackluster comics, the post-TMP era is largely unexplored, despite there ('canonically') being a second 5-year mission wedged in there.

Canon actually says nothing about what the ship did between TMP and TWOK, and certainly doesn't specify a "second 5-year mission." Many non-canonical stories have presumed a mission after TMP, and a few have set its duration at 5 years, but some fans and writers have assumed that Kirk returned to the admiralty shortly after TMP.

I never understood fandom's assumption that just because the one mission we saw on TV was 5 years long, that somehow required it to be the only possible mission profile a starship could have. One example never proves a pattern. Maybe the reason Kirk specified "Its 5-year mission" is because that's the exception, not the rule. Although 2010s-20s productions have canonized the existence of other 5-year missions before the one in TOS.