Star Trek Trivia (Series and Films) - Page 10

Re: Star Trek Trivia (Series and Films)

I guess there probably was no name for Commodore Jose Mendez's middle initial!

Okay, this weekend is The Fourth of July Holiday weekend and the Star Trek Remastered program is repeating The Omega Glory in honor of the holiday.

Here's a new stab at some trivia questions where they start really easy and I've tried to add a few more with increased difficulty. They all pertain to this weekends Omega Glory:

1. Morgan Woodward appears as Captain Ronald Tracy of the Exeter, name another episode Woodward appears in and who does he portray.

2. How long between each Year of the Red Bird?

3. What is the Exeter’s Chief Medical Officer’s name? (This one might be unfair because I don't recall ever hearing it spoken on screen)

4. Omega Glory was one of three episodes where the Enterprise encounters another Constitution class starship with a dead crew. Can you name the other 2?

5. Did you know this episode was one of three considered for the second pilot to be filmed? What was the other two? Obviously, the other one was filmed as the second pilot and the third was also filmed as a regular episode!

6. Which two regular Star Trek cast members do not appear in this episode?

Good luck!

Re: Star Trek Trivia (Series and Films)

Scott-

Good job so far. I've got to think of harder questions! 2 more answers to go.

Re: Star Trek Trivia (Series and Films)

Name this character and actor and what episode it came from.

Additionally, the actor was well known at the time for something else. Bonus points if you know and how it found it's way into the Star Trek blooper reel.

(On a side note, you can see the Starfleet symbol behind him. Not the Delta shield it became in the films and the new JJ film. Just a side note for that other discussion we were having on the Trek film thread. If you watch Enterprise, you can see that Mike Okuda acutally knew this and used a stylized version of the arrow head for that era's Starfleet symbol. Very cool.)

Re: Star Trek Trivia (Series and Films)

You got it! Except the actor's name. But you got the answer! Your turn.

Nelson

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Maybe someone else can answer who portrayed Admiral Fitzpatrick.

I know the two times that Eddie Pasky spoke, still trying to remember the episode where he spoke the second time, I can see it in my mind!

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I can't recall which was one of the episodes Eddie Paskey speaks. I know he spoke in This Side of Paradise. "This is mutany Mister!" "Yes sir, yes it is."

The other time was when he was at the helm. I'm guessing its The Alternative Factor because its an episode I rarely watch, which is why I can't remember!

You're right regarding Ed Reimers!

edit: I looked it up out of curiousity, Mr. Leslie spoke in 4 episodes!

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On a separate note of trivia, and perhaps Hollywood history, I was really curious about Desilu Studios and the Paramount Studios connection during the time Star Trek was filmed.

I am re-reading Inside Star Trek; The Real Story by Robert Justman and Herbert F. Solow. A lot of amazing facts that the authors relate, being that they were really there and actually doing the work of producing Star Trek.

One area that I was interested in, and perhaps some here have more insight, is the history of the studios where they filmed the pilots and the series.

The story as I understand it is that Desilu Studios at the time was a Lucille Ball company, with Desi Arnaz somewhat out of the picture. As Desi Arnaz and Lucy Ball gained fame and stature in Hollywood, they bought studios as their needs arised, culminating with purchasing RKO Studios located on Gower and Melrose. It's situated right next to Paramount Studios on one side, and there is a cemetery located on Gower right next to another end of the studio. The cemetery plot, if I read it right, was at one time the location where some of the huge shots were filmed for Gone with the Wind, before it was a cemetery.

RKO Studios, under the new Desilu banner was only known as doing The Lucy Show from 1962 to 1968. With Herb Solow as executive in charge of production, and a new kid amongst the old guard in 1964, his job was to make new TV shows for Desliu. His first productions sold to network was Star Trek and Mission: Impossible. This was huge as Desilu had never done an hour long drama, and now thay had 2 to do and mostly was not equiped to do it, from prop makers to other departments. And of course they had little to no budget to do Star Trek, however, Bruce Geller somehow got more cash and broke rules while doing Mission.

What is interesting is they filmed Star Trek on Stage 8 and 9, Mission on Stage 6 and 7 next door. Right behind the stages is the cemetery. In 1967, Lucille Ball got tired of running the studio and sold Desilu. Gulf and Western had purchased the failing Paramount Studios in 1967 and Desilu was part of the deal.

What I didn't know till I read it on Wikipedia, is that the Desilu wing became Paramount Televsion, later known as the powerhouse 1/2 hour situation comedies. So that whole block of studio that was RKO, then Desilu, became Paramount Television. And without going into too much detail, Desi Arnaz in the 1950's was smart enough to realize that he could own I Love Lucy and bought the rights from CBS, so he then was able to sell the series for syndiated runs, and thus, established that practice.

Back to the Desilu Stages though, what I am trying to figure out is that during the run of Star Trek, and Mission, they were filmed on Gower Street's Stage 8 and 9 and 6 and 7 for Mission. When Paramount started filming the Star Trek The Motion Picture and later films, I thought they were also filmed on stages 8 and 9. But according to Memory Alpha, the first film and later films and TV series were filmed on stage 31 and others of course. Perhaps the stages were renumbered. What is amazing is that the later series are all filmed in the same places and stages. And I thought the same stages that TOS were filmed on.

Further reading and study is needed!

edit: Opps, I just read another page where it says that after Paramount took over Desilu, Stage 9, as it was called during TOS was renamed Stage 31. Furture Star Trek productions from the 1970's onward were filmed on Stage 9 at Paramount. And those are not the same stages TOS was film at. Interresting how they used the same stage numbers for the later Trek productions that TOS used.

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Scott, I'll have to rewatch it, but after looking it up, the other time that I remember Mr. Leslie speaking was at the helm at the end of The Conscience of the King where Kirk says "Ahead full" and He says, 'Aye, aye, sir', or something like that.

I don't watch And the Children Shall lead very often, if at all! That's interesting and why I don't recall him there.

Re: Star Trek Trivia (Series and Films)

Scott-

According to Herb Solow, Lucille Ball was the boss of Desilu. She let Solow do what he thought was necesary to make TV shows. Other then that, she stayed out of it and focused on her TV show and the overall running of the studio. When the series was sold, the network would pay Desilu a fixed amount of monies for each episode. Star Trek, being so expensive, cost more then what the network would pay, so Desilu either covered the cost, or slashed budgets. (The Cage went over as it was so expensive, but it was a pilot.) From what I've read, Solow and Justman were forced to work with the budget they had, about $193K an episode( High for that time), which meant that costs were controlled and anything that could be cut or done cheaper, they found a way to do it. And Matt Jeffries, as Art Director was usually the person who felt it the most. He was a hero! Isn't it amazing they did what they did with Star Trek knowing this? And during the second year, the cast got raises, but the budget was slashed a bit. One cast member demanded more pay, but I haven't got to that page yet. No wonder Vaal looked like paper-maché!

Re: Star Trek Trivia (Series and Films)

Oh yeah, Kirk then get's angry and starts to shake him.

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My understanding is Star Trek episode budgets were around $180K and that Mission Impossible had a higher per episode budget.

I'll echo Scott's posts, most interesting background material. Thanks Nelson.

5. Did you know this episode was one of three considered for the second pilot to be filmed? What was the other two? Obviously, the other one was filmed as the second pilot and the third was also filmed as a regular episode!

One was Where No Man Has Gone Before. Was the other Mudd's Women?

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Thanks Scott, yeah Theiss and Wah Chang helped to save the day too.

Lou, yes, it was Mudd's Women. Amazing they thought that was a potential pilot episode. But NBC wanted a strange new worlds story as advertised for the first episode to air.

Since I'm on this interest in the production side of TOS, here's a multiple choice question.

In the early days of Star Trek production, they had a variety of directors come in to do the series. Some were very artistic, but would cost the show's schedule by going over 6 days per episode. Name the director who came in and saved them by doing such a good job ( and was invited back) according to Solow and Justman and Roddenberry:

A. Vincent McEveety
B. Leo Penn
C. Joseph Sargent
D. Marc Daniels
E. Joseph Pevney

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I believe Scott has called it but I'll go with Sargent just in case.

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It was Marc Daniels! I can't stump you guys.

Marc Daniels directed more episodes then any other director. His first season shows included The Man Trap, The Naked Time, Court Martial and The Menagerie. Plus many second season shows. He initiated the cast table rehearsals so the actors could hone their upcoming scenes between camera set-ups rather then wait in their dressing rooms.

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I thought I'd jump the gun since I have a new question burning and thought I'd toss it out there for the next trivia question.

In The Cage, the Enterprise is lured to Talos IV where there are survivors from a crashed Earth ship.

1. What was the name of the organization of the expedition that crashed on Talos?
2. How long have the scientists and Vina been on Talos before the Enterprise found them?
3. What was the name of the survey ship that the scientists were onboard?
4. What is Captain Pike's home town?
5. While written, but not filmed or cut out from The Cage, Spock, Jose Tyler and another crew member are seen with injuries; bandages on the neck and hand and Spock's limp. What caused them and on what planet? Hint, Captain Pike discusses this with Dr. Boyce.

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Scott, yes I always interpreted Nona's death as the means of releasing her hold on Kirk.

As to Kirk's analysis, it is probably based on guesswork by the writers though there probably was some other historical precedent.

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Interesting, A Private Little War for me was the Vietnam commentary episode. And I just watched the Remastered version a week or so ago. The death of Nona for me was the obvious catalyst for Tyree to go from pacifist to the kind of leader Nona wanted him to be. It didn't occur to me her death was a release of her hold on Kirk. I guess for me after all these years of watching Trek, it seems the Enterprise has had a stronger hold on Kirk then anything else, except his loyalty to his immediate crew.

It is cool that as we rewatch the series, we are still seeing things in it! And it's cool Scott the young generation can still appreciate the power and magic TOS has that captured our imaginations!

On a side note, I've been reading a lot recently about Star Trek. Inside Star Trek, The Real Story from Herb Solow and Robert Justman paints a more realistic picture of Gene Roddenberry. And I read the Memory Alpha wiki a lot too and it says similar things. One thing that came up a lot is that Gene Roddenberry often re-wrote other writer's teleplays.

Regarding A Private Little War, it was originally written by Don Ingalis and it was a much more direct commentary of the war. But Gene Roddenberry almost re-wrote all episdoes, especially during the early part of the first year. (Till Gene Coon came on board) He did this so the story would fit well into his view of the Trek universe he was trying to establish. But in this case, he watered down the Vietnam analogies for whatever reasons and this upset Ingalis, so he used his pseudonym Jud Crucis. The most famous re-write of course is The City on the Edge of Forever.

Another bit of trivia I just read about is that the TNG episode Too Short a Season was originally going to be about an old Kirk, not Jameson, who goes back to this planet Neural to make amends for the civil war to which he contributed to. It's not known why the idea was abandoned, either Shatner wasn't available, or passed on it. It could have been a very cool episode! But from what I've read of TNG, they very much wanted to establish their own identity without the help or influence of TOS, so I can see them wanting to distance themselves. If they had done it, then Generations might not have happened! But then they did ignore continuity in Nemesis, but that's a different thread.

Now that I think about it, I'm glad Shatner wasn't in Too Short a Season, it would have made Kirk look bad in retrospect. I can't see Picard chiding Kirk for giving them weapons.