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Scott Atwell Star Trek Discussion thread (Series and Films) (2 Viewers)

FanCollector

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You are certainly right about the publisher. They were literary agents or publicists or something and this is their first publishing venture. The project was actually funded via a $10,000 Kickstarter campaign. It's probably a publish-on-demand deal. (That also explains the minimal advertising.) The reason that doesn't worry me so much is that the specialized nature of the material means there is no way a major publisher would ever have done this book. Which brings me to your other logical question...I think Solow and Justman were writing a book that had a chance as a popular title, i.e. a 300-or-so-page book covering the history of a popular television series and peppered with a few primary document excerpts to illustrate their points. They surely had access to all the archival material Cushman is using, and if they wanted to do hundreds of interviews, no one was stopping them. But in my rare rational moments, I am forced to accept the fact that most readers, even most Star Trek fan readers, are not as interested as you and I in studying call sheets from each episode. A three-volume, 1500-page study that goes into daily shooting detail about each episode was not going to be a popular title, so I can see why Justman and Solow went another way.Cushman's book on I Spy was similar in nature, although about a third of the length of this set. The level of detail regarding the making of each episode was copious. I especially appreciated the ratings information about individual episodes (promised for Star Trek also) because it is so har to come by and provides important context.The two criticisms I have seen of the I Spy book are: a) an abundance of authorial opinions and b) the book being told too often from Robert Culp's perspective. The first didn't bother me at all because the author's opinions aren't hidden. They are easily identified, as when in the excerpt of this one he calls The Alternative Factor the worst episode of the season. Many of the greatest books about television shows (e.g. The Twilight Zone Companion and The Columbo Phile) include authorial opinions.The second criticism is more valid, although certainly not anything that ruined the book. I am hoping that in this case, there was no one person whose interview was extensive enough to dominate the work.I ordered mine, so I will let you know how it is when I receive it. (Although it might take a few extra hours to read all 600 pages...)
 

Nelson Au

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Thanks Lee for that extra bit of background and your insight. I hadn't realized it is funded with Kickstarter. So I did a little more reading this morning on Marc Cushman and the project itself. Interesting they sell the book with the statement that Roddenberry and Justman wanted us to read the book. This must have been as I read, back in the 80's when he befriended them, looks like for many reasons, it wasn't a book that was marketable or Cushman didn't have time to do it till now. And one page I read stated he has or had a fight with Cancer that propelled the need to get the book out ASAP. When I saw the book cover art also raised a flag as it looked so amateurish in design. But then after I read your post and did some digging, the book has no support or approvals from Paramount or CBS. So the cover cannot use any images or fonts from Star Trek. As it said on the site, it's using the Star Trek name under fair use laws. I guess the pictures in the book from Star Trek must fall under that law too then.When Justman and Solow wrote ther book, they obviously had full support and help from Paramount at the time. And I think you are right in that they had to write a totally marketable book. You are right that most fans, and I have to admit myself too, may not be too interested in some of the minutia contained in this book. But the sampler that is on that webpage certainly piqued my interest and sort of clears up a lot of what went on during the production of The Alternative Factor. There's also an interesting aspect here that came to mind that Scott would probably know about. There's an author about to release a similarly large multi volume book on the Beatles. But he had gained the respect and confidence of The Beatles years ago with a book on the daily recording sessions for each album, including dates, personal, number of takes, instruments used, etc. copiously researched and indisputed in his accuracy and completeness. I don't recall his name right now and he's gone on to write another book that goes into their day to day activities and concert dates. So now this new multi volume book coming should be interesting, i don't have those books and I'm curious to look into those but they are out of print. Because this new Cushman book is an independent work, with no official backing, it sounds like its also free to be open and show everything, warts and all. So that should be interesting. 1500 pages is a lot! I'll be interested in your impression of the book. I think I'll either order it through that link you provided, or get it through Amazon. Or break down and ordering it today through the site! I looked at the Kickstarter page too and they easily met their goal for the $10,000 need, but I hope they make enough in sales of volume one to get the other two volumes out on schedule.
 

Nelson Au

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Oh yeah, one more thing. I wonder, it sounds like this new book's research will go past what The Making of Star Trek did too. I haven't read it in years, but was full of memos and such. I guess it wasn't as open then given the series was still in production.And Gene Coon. The blurb talks about how he never gave an interview about his work on Star Trek, so it read like the memos will give use insights there on his perspective.
 

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Oh yeah, Scott, the book Lee mention was quite a surprise! So I didn't comment, I did see Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea last night and hope to see Soldier today.
 

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Yes! From reading the Kickstarter proposal and seeing the release schedule, it seems like all three volumes are finished and ready to go, but it will be terribly disappointing if something stops them from releasing the others.The Making of Star Trek did have lots of documentation that illustrated how the show worked. But in that case, it was used judiciously to give fans an idea of how the show was produced as opposed to details about each episode. The memos are probably the biggest selling point for me, as they will help clear up how the episodes developed and who did what. And SO interested in Coon's thoughts especially.Photo rights are weird because there's the rights holder for the photo and the rights holder for the characters. In stills from the episodes, it's the same rights holder (CBS/Paramount) but in a shot of William Shatner on the set but in uniform? The character rights might or might not apply there. But they would have to obtain rights from the photographer or subject or their designees anyway. Wouldn't surprise me if that's where some Kickstarter money went.
 

Ockeghem

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Nelson Au said:
Oh yeah, Scott, the book Lee mention was quite a surprise! So I didn't comment, I did see Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea last night and hope to see Soldier today.
Nelson,I watched Soldier last night. I really have always liked Lloyd Nolan since about my childhood, when I first saw him in a series (Julia). I loved Julia, and I watched it every week.I'll wait to comment further until you've seen Soldier again, except to say that I was struck (and a little bit baffled until we find out where Qarlo is from) by the cigarette smoking angle in the episode. More later. :)
 

Nelson Au

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Hey Scott, Just watched Soldier. Agreed about Nolan. I remember him from Julia too. Funny to read Ellison's comments about him in the Companion book that he was deaf.Ansara was great in the episode. I always thought the cigarette thing was just a way to illustrate how futuristic they are by self lighting. What were you thinking?
 

Ockeghem

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Nelson,Well, assuming one did not know that Qarlo was from 'future' earth (and therefore an alien), it would be very odd for him to be smoking cigarettes on another planet, as he and his adversary were shown doing at the very beginning of the episode.

I loved the effect of the disintegration of the automobile, and of course the adversary's entrance into Kagan's house near the end of the episode. And although I am probably in the minority, I prefer the second-season music (taken in its entirety) to the first-season music. (I'm not speaking of the sound effects used in either season, just the actual music with definite pitch.)
 

Nelson Au

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That's a very good point about the cigarettes used as a means to tie Qarlo to Earth. I liked the music a lot too in the second season, especially in Demon with a Glass Hand. And the question at the end was a good one, was Qarlo protecting Kagan's family, or his killing instincts taking over to kill the enemy.
 

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I watched Soldier today also. I realize that that final question from the Control Voice is a great barometer for how someone views the world or, at the very least, how he is viewing it that day.Ansara was riveting. I like Lloyd Nolan too. Later in life, he was known for being unable to remember lines at all, but the performances never showed it. (Scott, Angela Lansbury was apparently very eager to have him on Murder, She Wrote and when he did come on, and couldn't remember any lines, everyone said she was extremely patient and helpful with him, and that the extra time she spent made the final product really good, especially in their scenes together. Nelson, his performance as himself on Remington Steele is one of my favorites anywhere. His air of judgmental disappointment in Steele throughout the show is very funny.)
 

Ockeghem

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Nelson,Agreed with regard to the final point of the episode. You have to love it when you walk away from an episode that is very thought-provoking. The very best of TOL did this and at times did it brilliantly.

Lee,

I had no idea about Nolan's appearance in Murder, She Wrote. Once I pick up that complete series for my wife, I will most definitely have to look for that one. Thanks for the information.
 

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Coincidentally or not, I just wrapped up my Michael Ansara marathon with his Murder, She Wrote appearance. Another good one to watch for when you get the set.
 

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I just saw Michael's appearance on Hawaii Five-0. Not a very nice fellow in that one! Speaking of Nolan, I also liked his appearance in Airport as the customs inspector. I think I'll wrap up the evening with Kang.
 

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There was something else I wanted to reply to you about Lee, but it seems to have escaped me. I have had on my mind on the Marc Cushman book and I'm becoming more excited about it now. I see that the I, Spy book is still avaiable from the Jacobs Brown Media group website, and it also links to the new Star Trek book. Cushman's own website says the book is available August 5 but out on the 12th? It will be interesting if any of the big Star Trek websites start to promote and discuss it. I'm surprised that the major Star Trek websites have no mention of it as far as I can see. Perhaps because its not from a major publisher or is not sanctioned by CBS? Cushman has no one to help promote it? I'm curious what they will say about it. I'll bet real money StarTrek.com will not mention it. But I'll be delighted if I'm wrong. I'll look forward to discussing the books here on this thread.
 

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Somewhere in my memory of reading the info, I recall a plan to "release" the first book at the Las Vegas convention this week, so that probably accounts for the change of date. They were originally going to start shipping today, but now they will wait until next Monday, after the convention.I suspect you're right about the "official" websites. Do they ever talk about those new fan-made episodes? From their point of view, it's a similar phenomenon--Star Trek stuff that won't make us money, but we won't or can't stop; a neutral policy of non-promotion is the compromise.I guess I am so excited because just reading the two excerpts, I learned numerous things I didn't know about Shore Leave and The Alternative Factor, they seem credibly sourced, and they weren't trivial things that didn't matter; they affected the final episode. I am just multiplying that new knowledge times every episode and so I really do have high hopes for the book.I haven't seen that Hawaii Five O...is Montalban cruelly manipulating Muldaur or is she Lady Macbeth and much more evil than he is?
 

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"Somewhere in my memory of reading the info, I recall a plan to "release" the first book at the Las Vegas convention this week, so that probably accounts for the change of date. They were originally going to start shipping today, but now they will wait until next Monday, after the convention."Or...I am totally wrong. I just received a shipping confirmation email for the book.
 

Nelson Au

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The funny thing is that Trekmovie actively promoted the Jamrs Cawley fan productions by writing up articles on the latest productions. Plus the recent new one with the new actor playing Kirk. I think trekweb does too. Maybe this new book is just beyond their sphere of influence. If the book is premiering at the Las Vegas Convention, perhaps that's the wedge they need to break through. Excuse the Tribbles wording.Ricardo was in two H5-0's. In the first season he was portraying a Japanese mobster as I recall. Complete with horrible Asian make-up. The next appeareance was in 1973, and he was a world class race car driver who wanted to break the record to climb Mt Tantalus. He was his true ethnicity this time. His life was in jeopardy by someone who sabotaged his car resulting in his chief mechanic's death during a test run.Muldaur was his wife whom he seemed to neglect as he was so focused on driving. I think his wife had a secret McGarrett flushed out. She was being blackmailed because she had an affair IIRC which she wanted to keep from Ricardo. So he didn't manipulate her like McGivers. And she wasn't quite Miss perfect.
 

Nelson Au

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Back to trivia, I'm still working on the question! :)Where I believe we left off is that two planets remain. One from the first season and one from the third. Correct?
 

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