We just got the Animated series........

[Therin of Andor]

TAS is in my personal canon. All Trek is equally fictional, after all. It's a silly argument.

But that's not the purpose of a proclamation about canon.

It was, in 1989-1991, to keep the franchise from getting too far away from the parent series' ideals. If you were a creator of a show, you'd want some measure of control over what licensees, their editors, writers and illustrators were doing, because if all the material was treated as "canon", then the licensed material would be causing the parent shows to change course - beyond recognition.

 

[Lieut. Arex]

Which is ironic as GR was rebooting Trek, albeit softly, with TNG and moving away from the original series both in terms of continuity and tone.

 

[Cary L. Brown]

Which is ironic as GR was rebooting Trek, albeit softly, with TNG and moving away from the original series both in terms of continuity and tone.

For Roddenberry, it was always about control.

I'm not one of those people who think of Roddenberry as a total blow-hard... he brought a LOT of what we know as Star Trek to the table. He's sort of "Star Trek's Mother"... he gave birth to it, and raised it, and busted his hump for it.

But we've all seen the overbearing mother type... and like one of those types, he also couldn't bear the concept that anyone else could influence "his baby." So he systematically stole credit from anyone else who helped... and alienated a lot of people who were instrumental in creating the whole tapestry. Until eventually, the courts took custody of his baby away from him and put it into "foster care"... twice, no less!

Now, of course, Star Trek is going through it's midlife crisis... driving a sports car, pretending to be "hip and cool" (in a slightly creepy way) and trying to forget about its past... while running around with someone who wants to reinvent it. Sort of like if I were trying to date an 18-year-old girl who promised that if I'd just hang with her, nobody would notice I'm in mid-life myself!

When, exactly, will Star Trek reach senility, I wonder?

 

[Captain Robert April]

I think it's safe to say that Star Trek is off its meds, at least...

 

[Therin of Andor]

Which is ironic as GR was rebooting Trek, albeit softly, with TNG and moving away from the original series both in terms of continuity and tone.

What's so ironic about a creator reasserting control?

He did not like Diane Duane being promoted by conventions as "the creator of the Rihannsu". He "came to regret" (his quote, IIRC) allowing Franz Joseph the right to license out his tech manual material to the "Star Fleet Battles" people. He disliked the war-like aspect of Joseph's dreadnoughts, although it didn't bother him as much when TOS was seemingly a dead series with no future. Then syndication in prime time took off!

 

[david g]

TAS won an Emmy and everyone seemed happy with it. So why did it go off the air after only 2 seasons? Ratings?

 

[Therin of Andor]

TAS won an Emmy and everyone seemed happy with it. So why did it go off the air after only 2 seasons? Ratings?

Economics.

The way most cartoon series were contracted in the 70s and 80s, esp. those TV spin-offs (paying big royalties to the creators of a parent live-action series) very, very rarely went beyond one or two seasons. The first year was a typical-length season, the second year was a half season padded out with repeats.

It had been discovered that kids watched episodes of cartoons whether they'd seen them or not. So even episodes that had been played tens of times got the same ratings as brand new ones. Think about a typical Saturday morning in the 60s and 70s: you got out of bed at about 6am and turned on the TV. If a repeat cartoon came on, you didn't go back to bed, you just watched it again till the next one came on.

Had the series gone to a third year, all the contract renewals would have exhausted the budget, which was already so minimum they couldn't afford Walter Koenig, and until Nimoy held out, they almost weren't going to have Nichelle Nichols or George Takei either!

Also, I seem to recall the Emmy nomination was announced after the show had been canceled?

 

[Jeri]

We watched anything that was on at 6 a.m. until noon, if possible. I saw Cisco Kid movies, Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, every cartoon ever made -- over and over. But I never realized the suits were onto us until just now.

 

[Therin of Andor]

But I never realized the suits were onto us until just now.

Saturday morning TV has always been under much scrutiny, in an effort to deconstruct its secrets and tap into what can sell in such a market. Many theses have been written.

 

[Jeri]

^ ^ Well, best to get us early and loyally. I know they got me.

 

[plynch]

Gotta advertise to children to manipulate them to manipulate their parents so the investors can make more money!

McDonaldland and all its characters came about after Ray Kroc learned from psych research that children dream of animals and imaginary creatures far more than adults do.

At least some quality animated stories somehow came about through that system.

 

[Redfern]

Not much I can bring to the discussion other than this...

With all due respect to the late Majel, imagine if M'Ress had been performed by someone with a more feline "trill" to her natural speaking voice.

Say, the late Eartha Kitt.

Just a random thought. Uh, I'll get m' coat.

Sincerely,

Bill

 

[Therin of Andor]

McDonaldland and all its characters came about after Ray Kroc learned from psych research that children dream of animals and imaginary creatures far more than adults do.

I read the other day that the McDonaldland characters were a project originally commissioned out to Sid & Marty Kroft ("H. R. Pufnstuf") - which, I guess, is why Mayor McCheese always looked so familiar - but the Krofts' price tag was too high so McDonalds' found someone else who could create characters seemingly inspired by Mayor H. R. Pufnstuf and his bizarre Living Island friends. The Krofts sued and won.

 

[mb22]

McDonaldland and all its characters came about after Ray Kroc learned from psych research that children dream of animals and imaginary creatures far more than adults do.

I read the other day that the McDonaldland characters were a project originally commissioned out to Sid & Marty Kroft ("H. R. Pufnstuf") - which, I guess, is why Mayor McCheese always looked so familiar - but the Krofts' price tag was too high so McDonalds' found someone else who could create characters seemingly inspired by Mayor H. R. Pufnstuf and his bizarre Living Island friends. The Krofts sued and won.

http://www.studentweb.law.ttu.edu/Cochran/Cases & Readings/Copyright-UNT/krofft.htm