Scott Atwell Star Trek Discussion thread (Series and Films) (7 Viewers)

[Nelson Au]

So that leaves, Jill IrelandMiss Jane WyattRobert LancingFrank OvertonStephen BrooksMichael AnsaraLee MeriwetherWhit BissellJulie NewmarReally shows the fickle nature of the entertainment biz. One day you're a big TV star, the next year, you are back to being a guest actor. But that's the nature of the biz as I've heard.

 

[Nelson Au]

On a totally off the tangent thought, I've been immersing myself in episodes of Stingray and Thunderbirds from Gerry Anderson. Wonderful stuff from my childhood. I do this from time to time. This time, I'm more focused on Stingray. What I learned this time is the old 6 degrees thing. One of the characters in Stingray is called "Phones" because his job is to listen to this headphones for sonar readings. He is voiced by actor Robert Easton, I didn't know that till now. He was known as the man of a thousand voices since he could do dialects so well. He was also in the film version of Voyage to the Bottom of Sea, called Sparks, the radio man. He played the Kaos killer The Maestro in Get Smart. Years later he played the Klingon Judge in Star Trek 6!

 

[Ockeghem]

Nelson,I own both Stingray and the Thunderbirds. These shows are much slower-moving of course, but both are still gems to appreciate on a variety of levels. I love the animation at that time. Do you enjoy Supercar as well? That was one of my favorites as a child.

 

[Nelson Au]

Scott,A large part of my childhood was so influenced by Supercar, Fireball XL-5, Stingray and Thunderbirds. I loved the series and the ships. I saw Captain Scarlett a little later. And UFO of course. I have all the DVD sets except Joe 90. I never saw that. I have not seen Supercar since my childhood and I have the DVD set. I just have not opened it yet. After watching Fireball XL-5 again after all these years, I wasn't sure I would be able to watch Supercar because of how those early shows were much more simplistic. But I should do that soon! Stand By For Action!

 

[Ockeghem]

Nelson,Your orders are to open up the DVD set of Supercar soon. Professor Popkiss and Dr. Beaker would not like hearing of this. And neither would ... Mitch.

 

[Nelson Au]

Yes Sir! As soon as Commander Shore lets me leave Marineville, I'll head over to see Mike Mercury and the gang.

 

[Nelson Au]

Guys,

I came across an independent Star Trek film project today on one of the model making blogs I follow and videos on youtube. I've spoken about this model maker before I think. His claim to fame was starting out as a make-up artist in Hollywood and doing the ears on Leonard Nimoy in The Motion Picture, Ghostbusters and many other films. His name is Steve Neill and big Star Trek fan.

Why I'm bringing this up is that he's been involved in indie projects before that had false starts. He's involved in another indie film now in the Star Trek Universe. The twist here that surprised me is that actor John Savage who portrayed Captain Ransom in the Star Trek Voyager episode Equinox is behind the project. He's found a way to have Ransom survive the episode. He also has found a way to get actor Gary Lockwood to come onboard the project as Fleet Captain Gary Mitchell after he somehow manages to escape Delta Vega. Steve Neill is doing make-up and Special Effects.

Here's a link to the official website. http://startrekequinox.com/

The project is pilot for a proposed 13 episode series, assuming the series gets a green light. There is more info on the Facebook page.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Star-Trek-Equinox/277567645629801

What do you think?

 

[Ockeghem]

Nelson,I'd love to see this. Seeing Lockwood's name in your post really caught my attention. How cool would it be to see Mitchell's character again?

 

[Nelson Au]

Scott, yes, this news was quite surprising. It's an interesting trend with Michael Forest, William Windom, Barbara Luna, Malachi Throne and others being asked to join the unofficial fan made films. But this one feels one step above the fan films. Gary Lockwood being invited to join is interesting news too. I can't help but have a sense that this feels again like the fan made projects. It's getting good press. And if they actually get funded and go, I'll look out for it.I still have to see the most current fan film with Michael Forest. It's getting good reviews, but I still feel like it might feel amateurish. Perhaps the actors playing Spock and McCoy is one issue. I know they have a "real" actor playing Kirk now. One thing is for sure, there's no shortage of interest out there for new Star Trek material that is from the TOS era. That might tell CBS something.

 

[FanCollector]

There really seems to be a longing for new Gary Mitchell material out there. He is the arch villain in another non-profit Star Trek internet film, he is the subject of the "original" fotonovel that came out a few weeks ago, and now he is a Fleet Captain in another internet non-profit. I don't know that there's much more to say about him, but I am clearly in the minority.The new internet episodes do feel amateurish, whichever series it is, but I still enjoy watching some of them. The sets and costumes are great, and they obviously love the source material; it's just that if you have writers and actors who don't get paid, then it will by definition be amateurish. We would all love to be able to go home again, but I don't think we will find any new episodes that fully satisfy us in the way the originals do. For me, the "sequel" stories are more problematic than the others because the episodes were really written to be self-contained and to have their stories end. In making sequels, the writers either have to create hugely improbable stories or alter the characterizations a lot. The Michael Forest one had to do the latter. It was nice to see him, but I think original stories work better.

 

[Nelson Au]

I finally watched Pilgrim of Eternity last night with Michael Forest.It was probably one of the better efforts I've seen! I think the quality of the computer generated Enterprise was what really helped for me that was done by Doug Drexler who worked on the spin off Star Trek series and the new Battlestar Galactica. He insisted the shots match the style of the original. I was surprised they used Larry Nemecek as McCoy, a guy who is a journalist and writer of Star Trek books, and editor of the fan club magazine and website and otherwise nearly a part of the spinoff series. He was okay. Spock didn't work for me. Sulu was a little over the top. It was fun they used Uhura to sing. Michael Forest was good. Lee, I can see your point about sequels. The way they set up the story, I can see how Apollo's character can change because of the circumstances. And yet they tried to retain the character's basic need for worship. At times with that new Counselor character, I thought she might end up doing a Marla McGivers thing. This Pilgrim of Eternity production seemed to have everything going for it, really good looking sets, costumes by that company that makes the really nice replicas that Ceaser has, top notch special effects artists, what looked like good camera work and lighting, and yet it wasn't quite there. And it seems to come down to the actors they have that let it down. The guy doing Kirk wasn't bad. Michael Forest was good. Chris Doohan was decent enough, if not on the edge, and the actress playing the counselor was very good. Perhaps too a director that can bring out the actors characters better. A veneer of polish just seems missing.It was fun to watch Lee.

 

[Nelson Au]

Lee, by the way, you said Gary Mitchell is in another fan made Star Trek film. I must have totally forgotten that as I have no memory of that. So are you guys still working on the remaining answers for the guest star question?

 

[FanCollector]

It's called "Of Gods and Men." It's a multi-part story.I am utterly stumped about Jill Ireland's series, but I am speaking only for myself, of course.

 

[Nelson Au]

Thanks Lee. I know that title. I think Tim Russ might be in that one. And Nichelle Nichols?Okay, so the series that Jill Ireland co-stars in has the same title of a western film. The title is the title character. And the series is based on the film.

 

[FanCollector]

Shane?And yes, that's the one with both of those Trek actors, among others.

 

[Nelson Au]

Shane is correct! Jill Ireland plays a widow with two young children and hires Shane to help her out on the ranch, according to IMDB as I recall the description. David Carradine plays the Alan Ladd character. Now the easy ones are left!And thanks, I've been meaning to check out Of Gods and Men.

 

[FanCollector]

Your clue was enough for me to guess, but I never even knew Shane had been adapted for television.

 

[Nelson Au]

I had no idea as well Lee. I bet they had high hopes for the show.

 

[FanCollector]

No one else going for those additional pre-Star Trek shows?

 

[Nelson Au]

Lee, you beat me to it!

Just a reminder, here's what we have so far and whose left:

1. Elinor Donahue 1954-1960---Lee- Father Knows Best2. Glenn Corbett 1963-64---Lee- Route 663. Gary Lockwood 1963 64---Lee- The Lieutenant4. William Schallert 1963-66---Scott- The Patty Duke Show5. Sherry Jackson 1953-58---Lee- Make Room For Daddy6. Jeffrey Hunter 1963-64---Lee- Temple Houston7. Ted Cassidy 1964-66---Lee- The Addams Family8. Morgan Woodward 1958-61-- Lee- The Life and Times of Wyatt Earp9. Vic Perrin, voice only and not The Outer Limits. 1964-65-- Scott- Jonny Quest10. Jill Ireland (maybe iffy) 1966-- Lee- Shane11. Roger Perry 1963-64-- Lee- Arrest and Trial12. Clint Howard, Before Gentle Ben 1964-65-- Lee- The Baileys of Balboa13. William Windom 1963-66---Lee The Farmers Daughter14. Yvonne Craig, this one is really iffy 1968---Lee- Batman15. Melvin Belli ?
16. Miss Jane Wyatt 1954-60
17. Robert Lancing 1964-65
18. Frank Overton 1964-67
19. Stephen Brooks 1965-6820. Roger C Carmel 1967-68 ---Lee- The Mothers in Law
21. Michael Ansara 1956-58
22. Lee Meriwether 1966-67
23. Whit Bissell 1966-67
24. Julie Newmar 1964-65