Read Online A Brief Guide to Star Trek by Brian J Robb - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Brian J Robb
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appeal to successful science fiction novelists and short story writers. His thinking was that such people, even if they had no experience of writing for television, would be familiar with the ideas behind the futuristic drama of
Star Trek
and so would be able to contribute in a unique way to the development of this most singular of television series. While his instinct was right in reaching out to other accomplished science fiction storytellers, it was to be an approach that produced very mixed results.
Of those consulted, the one who most readily grasped the concepts and characters of
Star Trek
was Richard Matheson. He had contributed episodes to Rod Serling’s groundbreaking SF, horror and fantasy anthology
The Twilight Zone
(which, like
Star Trek
, had initially begun life as a pilot at Desilu), and had written a series of fantasy novels, several of which would later become films (among them
What Dreams May Come
,
Somewhere in Time
and
I Am Legend
). He would contribute ‘The Enemy Within’, the fifth episode of the first season, that saw a transporter accident split Captain Kirk into his ‘good’ and ‘evil’ personalities.
Others, such as novelist A. E. van Vogt, could not come to terms with the economic limitations of weekly television compared to the limitless canvas of the blank page. The ideasand characters he submitted to Roddenberry were either not well developed enough for television or unsuitable for the medium, being better suited to a 200-page novel than a one-hour TV episode.
Throughout the original three-year run of
Star Trek
, several well-known science fiction writers did get episodes on air, not all of them without incident. Among those who succeeded were Ted Sturgeon (who did much to develop Spock and Vulcan culture in the second season opener ‘Amok Time’), Jerry Sohl, Robert Bloch, Harlan Ellison (the most problematic), Jerome Bixby, George Clayton Johnson (another
Twilight Zone
veteran) and Norman Spinrad.
Roddenberry welcomed their inventiveness and ideas, but he had to put huge amounts of work into translating their concepts into shootable scripts for Justman to get on the stages at Desilu. Not all the authors understood or were comfortable with the process of weekly television, but most were content to bow to Roddenberry’s reworking of their originals (Harlan Ellison being the notable exception). After all, most reckoned, who knew
Star Trek
better than Gene Roddenberry?
Many of the initial basics of the show were driven by the realities of television production. As well as the time-saving transporter that ‘beamed’ the crew up and down from planets, it was deemed that the crew should predominantly visit Earth-like worlds (labelled Class-M planets) as then the production could avoid the need to put the show’s stars into bulky space suits every week. Additionally, although the opening mantra of the show promised voyages ‘where no man has gone before’, in the old
Star Trek
joke there always had to be someone there when they arrived (alien or human) otherwise there was no drama . . . The civilisations discovered far out in space would also often reflect those on Earth (whether it be Romans, Greeks, Chicago gangsters or Nazis) in order that viewers could relate. In his original 1964 pitch document, Roddenberry had called this the ‘parallel worlds concept. It means simply that our stories deal with planets and animal life, plus people, quite similar tothat on Earth. Social evolution will also have interesting points of similarity with ours. There will be differences, of course, ranging from the subtle to the boldly dramatic, out of which comes much of our colour and excitement. The “parallel worlds” concept makes production practical by permitting action-adventure science fiction at a practical budget figure via the use of available “Earth” casting, sets, locations, costuming, and so on . . . The “parallel worlds” concept tends to keep even the most imaginative
Star Trek
and so would be able to contribute in a unique way to the development of this most singular of television series. While his instinct was right in reaching out to other accomplished science fiction storytellers, it was to be an approach that produced very mixed results.
Of those consulted, the one who most readily grasped the concepts and characters of
Star Trek
was Richard Matheson. He had contributed episodes to Rod Serling’s groundbreaking SF, horror and fantasy anthology
The Twilight Zone
(which, like
Star Trek
, had initially begun life as a pilot at Desilu), and had written a series of fantasy novels, several of which would later become films (among them
What Dreams May Come
,
Somewhere in Time
and
I Am Legend
). He would contribute ‘The Enemy Within’, the fifth episode of the first season, that saw a transporter accident split Captain Kirk into his ‘good’ and ‘evil’ personalities.
Others, such as novelist A. E. van Vogt, could not come to terms with the economic limitations of weekly television compared to the limitless canvas of the blank page. The ideasand characters he submitted to Roddenberry were either not well developed enough for television or unsuitable for the medium, being better suited to a 200-page novel than a one-hour TV episode.
Throughout the original three-year run of
Star Trek
, several well-known science fiction writers did get episodes on air, not all of them without incident. Among those who succeeded were Ted Sturgeon (who did much to develop Spock and Vulcan culture in the second season opener ‘Amok Time’), Jerry Sohl, Robert Bloch, Harlan Ellison (the most problematic), Jerome Bixby, George Clayton Johnson (another
Twilight Zone
veteran) and Norman Spinrad.
Roddenberry welcomed their inventiveness and ideas, but he had to put huge amounts of work into translating their concepts into shootable scripts for Justman to get on the stages at Desilu. Not all the authors understood or were comfortable with the process of weekly television, but most were content to bow to Roddenberry’s reworking of their originals (Harlan Ellison being the notable exception). After all, most reckoned, who knew
Star Trek
better than Gene Roddenberry?
Many of the initial basics of the show were driven by the realities of television production. As well as the time-saving transporter that ‘beamed’ the crew up and down from planets, it was deemed that the crew should predominantly visit Earth-like worlds (labelled Class-M planets) as then the production could avoid the need to put the show’s stars into bulky space suits every week. Additionally, although the opening mantra of the show promised voyages ‘where no man has gone before’, in the old
Star Trek
joke there always had to be someone there when they arrived (alien or human) otherwise there was no drama . . . The civilisations discovered far out in space would also often reflect those on Earth (whether it be Romans, Greeks, Chicago gangsters or Nazis) in order that viewers could relate. In his original 1964 pitch document, Roddenberry had called this the ‘parallel worlds concept. It means simply that our stories deal with planets and animal life, plus people, quite similar tothat on Earth. Social evolution will also have interesting points of similarity with ours. There will be differences, of course, ranging from the subtle to the boldly dramatic, out of which comes much of our colour and excitement. The “parallel worlds” concept makes production practical by permitting action-adventure science fiction at a practical budget figure via the use of available “Earth” casting, sets, locations, costuming, and so on . . . The “parallel worlds” concept tends to keep even the most imaginative
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