{"id":2411,"date":"2022-01-08T23:32:54","date_gmt":"2022-01-08T23:32:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/?p=2411"},"modified":"2022-01-08T23:32:54","modified_gmt":"2022-01-08T23:32:54","slug":"ftv-star-trek-the-movies-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/?p=2411","title":{"rendered":"FTV: Star Trek – The Movie(s) – Part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0When we left Part 1, William Shatner had just had a close encounter with Gene Roddenberry who claimed to be working on a script for a new <\/span>Star Trek <\/span><\/i>vehicle.\u00a0 It would either become a low-budget TV movie or big screen feature, but Gene did not share the specifics with Bill.\u00a0 It was 1975 and <\/span>Star Trek, The Original Series (TOS<\/span><\/i>) had been off network television for six years.\u00a0 The spirit of the program was alive and well in syndication and rabid fans were flocking to <\/span>Star Trek<\/span><\/i> conventions in droves, but Shatner had no inside intel about any new Trek related projects.\u00a0 He figured The Great Bird of the Galaxy (as those inside the Trek franchise referred to him) had slipped a cog somewhere along the way and was living in the past.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Having left <\/span>TOS <\/span><\/i>behind, Shatner wasn\u2019t idle in the 1970s.\u00a0 He appeared in various guest star roles on TV, appeared in a couple so-so movies, and made the rounds as a game show panelist on programs ranging from <\/span>Hollywood Squares <\/span><\/i>to <\/span>Celebrity Bowling.<\/span><\/i>\u00a0 In his own book, Richard Dawson mentioned Shatner had been the first choice to host <\/span>Family Feud<\/span><\/i> before Dawson landed the gig.\u00a0 Shatner was done with <\/span>Star Trek<\/span><\/i> save the occasional convention appearance, but as we shall see, <\/span>Star Trek<\/span><\/i> was not through with him.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0That the first film, <\/span>Star Trek – The Motion Picture,<\/span><\/i> was made at all is a rather long tale.\u00a0 We will need to condense the account presented in Shatner\u2019s book (with Chris Kreski) <\/span>Star Trek Movie Memories <\/span><\/i>(HarperCollins 1994).\u00a0 Let us see if we can make a long story short enough for this space.\u00a0 The first attempt to get the low-budget <\/span>Star Trek<\/span><\/i> revival rolling hit a few snags.\u00a0 With a revolving door at the upper levels of Paramount management and the inherent political intrigues that go along with running a major studio, Roddenberry\u2019s first attempts to get <\/span>Star Trek<\/span><\/i> revived fell by the wayside.\u00a0 After three years of wrangling (and a huge hit scored by another Sci-Fi franchise called <\/span>Star Wars)<\/span><\/i>, those involved could not generate enough enthusiasm for a Trek project.\u00a0 In fact, the success of <\/span>Star Wars<\/span><\/i> prompted Paramount to pull the plug on <\/span>Star Trek<\/span><\/i> completely.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In June of 1977, a team of Paramount execs (Barry Diller, Michael Eisner, and Jeffrey Katzenberg) announced they would launch a fourth major TV network, The Paramount Network.\u00a0 They would use the previously rejected <\/span>Star Trek:\u00a0 Phase II <\/span><\/i>project as the cornerstone of the new network.\u00a0 They would start small and build the rest of the schedule around the revived <\/span>Trek <\/span><\/i>franchise.\u00a0 The PN died on the drawing board, but not before bringing the idea of a <\/span>Star Trek <\/span><\/i>movie back to life.\u00a0 There was now a script in the works and most of the major players from <\/span>TOS <\/span><\/i>were interested, except for one.\u00a0 Leonard Nimoy\u2019s reluctance to work with a man (Roddenberry) who was profiting by selling blooper reels of cast mistakes (and thus tarnishing Nimoy\u2019s professional reputation) left the project without a marquee player.\u00a0 When Nimoy learned a lot of merchandising money was also passing through Paramount\u2019s coffers (using his and other cast members’ likenesses without compensation), he decided to sue Paramount.\u00a0 Leonard felt doubly betrayed when Roddenberry would not offer to support his case against the studio.\u00a0 Thus, no part was written for Nimoy in the movie so they needed to work around this missing piece.\u00a0 The plan was to cover Mr. Spock\u2019s absence by introducing a new Vulcan character named Xon.\u00a0 An actor named David Gautreaux was screen tested, hired, and then put into limbo while the studio tried to get the project off the ground floor.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The original script Roddenberry had shown Shatner was entitled <\/span>In Thy Image.\u00a0 <\/span><\/i>The premise was pretty much the same as the one Gene had described to Bill a couple of years earlier.\u00a0 The studio hired Harold Livingstone to clean up the story line and ultimately his treatment became the one used in <\/span>Star Trek – The Motion Picture.\u00a0 <\/span><\/i>Roddenberry never forgave Paramount or Livingston for re-writing his script.\u00a0 The feud his hard feelings created began to unravel Roddenberry\u2019s influence in the Trek universe he had created.\u00a0 Any script passed on to Gene for his \u2018approval\u2019 came back with many criticisms and major changes.\u00a0 He kept reverting to his original <\/span>In Thy Image<\/span><\/i> title and plastered his name at the top of the writing credits.\u00a0 Over time, the producers placated Gene by thanking him politely for his input, and then ignoring it completely.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The months and months of infighting bogged down the whole project.\u00a0 When the original director and producer were replaced by Robert Wise, things began to take shape.\u00a0 Wise was widely acclaimed for his work on films like <\/span>Citizen Kane, West Side Story, The Sound of Music, <\/span><\/i>and <\/span>The Day the Earth Stood Still.\u00a0 <\/span><\/i>Wise was no Trekkie so he hunkered down in a studio to watch as many of the TV episodes as he could.\u00a0 When he showed the script to his wife and father-in-law (both huge fans), they said emphatically, \u201cHey, what\u2019s this?\u00a0 You can\u2019t POSSIBLY do <\/span>Star Trek<\/span><\/i> without Spock.\u00a0 It just won\u2019t work, because he and Captain Kirk have such a thing going.\u201d\u00a0 Wise told the studio, \u201cI am in, but only if Spock is involved.\u201d\u00a0 The studio agreed:\u00a0 \u201cWe have been thinking the same thing.\u201d\u00a0 But what about Leonard Nimoy?\u00a0 He would be a harder nut to crack.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0While Leonard was in New York doing a play, Nimoy said his agent, Sandy Bresler, called with the first feeler about him returning to <\/span>Star Trek.\u00a0 <\/span><\/i>His response was, \u201cIf you EVER call me again about <\/span>Star Trek<\/span><\/i>, you\u2019re fired!\u201d\u00a0 Bresler never brought it up again, but he did have Nimoy\u2019s business manager, Bernie, call instead.\u00a0 Bernie put him in touch with Jeff Katzenberg from the studio who offered to fly to New York to talk things over.\u00a0 After stroking Nimoy\u2019s ego a bit, Katzenberg\u00a0 asked what it would take to change his mind.\u00a0 Long story short, Katzenberg convinced Paramount to settle Nimoy\u2019s lawsuit and sent Leonard a check to resolve the issue.\u00a0 Then, and only then, did Nimoy agree to read the script.\u00a0 When he was finally assured by Robert Wise that his character would play a more vital role in the story than he had read in the script, he decided it was time to return to the fold.\u00a0 Sensing his character was now a fifth wheel, David Gautreaux (Xon) suggested he be released from the project before his character ended up \u2018toting Spock\u2019s luggage and opening doors for him.\u2019\u00a0 Xon disappeared from the Trek universe, although Gautreaux did get paid in full for his time in limbo.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Shatner spent a good part of 1978 avoiding \u2018real food\u2019 so he could get his waistline down to \u2018action hero\u2019 proportions.\u00a0 The script wasn\u2019t even finished when the cast assembled for the first read through.\u00a0 The event was as much a family reunion as it was a script session.\u00a0 Filming finally began on August 9, 1978 and the Starship <\/span>Enterprise<\/span><\/i> was hauled out of drydock for the first time in nine years . . . and the movie was already ten weeks behind schedule.\u00a0 The new uniforms were, \u201cUgly, form-fitting, pastel-colored, one-piece jumpsuits that itched even worse than our old TV series togs,\u201d according to Shatner.\u00a0 \u201cFar worse was the fact that due to the design of these outfits, it was virtually impossible for any male member of our cast to sit down without seriously endangering his ability to procreate.\u201d\u00a0 If one ever wondered why the cast were always leaning on things in the on set photo stills, one needs to wonder no longer.\u00a0 In spite of the discomfort, Shatner found the camaraderie the cast had during <\/span>TOS <\/span><\/i>was still there and everyone seemed to be genuinely happy to be working together again.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0As the filming progressed, Shatner and Nimoy discussed the movie\u2019s ending as written.\u00a0 The volume of dialog needed to wrap up the story would end the picture with a decided \u2018thud!\u2019\u00a0 They approached director Wise with their own version which they did as a short skit to give him an idea of how it would play.\u00a0 To their surprise, he agreed it was a much better idea than the one they were trying to film.\u00a0 Roddenberry was still attempting to add his two cents worth and, of course, he hated the Shatner – Nimoy version.\u00a0 When Gene drew a line in the sand over the script revision, the producers walked right over it, thus ending his creative input on the movie.\u00a0 They handed the new ending rewrite to Livingstone (who had quit and returned to the film three times due to friction with Roddenberry) and that was that.\u00a0 Studio politics had steamrolled The Great Bird of the Galaxy, but no one was celebrating – just breathing a sigh of relief;\u00a0 perhaps they would actually get the film finished and into theaters sooner than later.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>Star Wars<\/span><\/i> had taught the <\/span>Star Trek<\/span><\/i> team one valuable lesson:\u00a0 they would need to invest heavily in state-of-the-art special effects to make the movie successful.\u00a0 They invested close to five million dollars for the effects house of Abel and Associates to produce them.\u00a0 None of the footage had been received and the primary shooting was close to wrapping up.\u00a0 When it finally came in, Robert Wise realized they had a major problem:\u00a0 \u201cThe stuff was not good,\u00a0 They\u2019d had months to play with this stuff, and the results were of really poor quality.\u00a0 They were just not good enough for all the money we\u2019d poured in.\u201d\u00a0 They tried again with Doug Turnbull and John Dykstra, two of the best special effects guys in the business, but panic was setting in.\u00a0 They worked around the clock seven days a week to get the effects done.\u00a0 Principal photography wrapped the day after Thanksgiving and the film was scheduled to be released on December 7, 1979.\u00a0 \u201c[Wise] began locking himself away in a darkened editing suite and rough-cutting, desperately trying to piece together whatever scattered bits of the film he had that might not require special effects.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The film\u2019s gala premier was set for December 4 in Washington, D.C.\u00a0 Wise worked up to the last minute finalizing the master reels from which 2000 prints would be made for distribution to theaters around the country.\u00a0 He ended up transporting the print for the gala opening himself.\u00a0 The deadline prevented them from doing the \u2018audience screening\u2019 normally done before the final edits.\u00a0 Most of the people involved, including Shatner, never saw the finished project until it was screened at the gala.\u00a0 A week before the debut, Wise was still putting in marathon editing sessions and it was the only film of the 39 he had directed that did not get a sneak peek screening with a test audience.\u00a0 The version shown was basically a \u2018rough-cut\u2019 but the timeline demands left them no choice.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It was a good film, but the amount of detail in the special effects gave the whole movie a rather dull, tortoise-like pace, a point noted in almost all of the critical reviews.\u00a0 The biggest criticism was the crew taking a back seat to the effects, but as Wise noted, there was no other way to tell this particular story.\u00a0 Shatner wondered if their own ambition would end up tanking future films in the <\/span>Star Trek <\/span><\/i>universe if the movie did not bring in the big box office numbers everyone hoped for.\u00a0 Shatner said, \u201cI thought to myself, \u2018Well, that\u2019s it.\u00a0 We gave it our best shot, it wasn\u2019t good, and that\u2019ll never happen again.\u2019\u00a0 Shows you what I know.\u201d\u00a0 He should not have worried.\u00a0 After the major time gap between <\/span>TOS<\/span><\/i> and <\/span>Star Trek – the Motion Picture<\/span><\/i>, the rabid Trek-base ignored the weak parts of the film and rejoiced;\u00a0 they had a NEW Star Trek vehicle to embrace.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0How successful was <\/span>Star Trek:\u00a0 The Motion Picture?\u00a0 <\/span><\/i>It<\/span> grossed one-hundred-million-dollars at the box office.\u00a0 Of course, it cost a staggering $45 million to produce (and another $20 million in start-up costs for the failed <\/span>Phase II <\/span><\/i>project on the Paramount Network that never materialized).\u00a0 Still, a $50 million dollar profit was not chump change.\u00a0 Add the income a young marketing executive named Dawn Steel brought in with an extensive merchandising campaign, and <\/span>Star Trek:\u00a0 The Motion Picture<\/span><\/i> made it a very lucrative film.\u00a0 Shatner recalled, \u201cCombined, [the film and marketing] made this molasses-slow, yawn-inducing extravaganza a hit.\u00a0 <\/span>Star Trek<\/span><\/i>, it seemed, had once again yanked an upset victory from the gnarled jaws of defeat.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0As noted in the title, more <\/span>Star Trek <\/span><\/i>movies would follow, six more with the original crew before they passed the big screen franchise on to <\/span>Star Trek – The Next Generation<\/span><\/i>.\u00a0 Then there came the reboot of <\/span>TOS <\/span><\/i>in movie form with new actors assuming the characters made popular by Shatner, Nimoy, and the rest.\u00a0 I would prefer to not stretch Shatner\u2019s tale into a three parter, so in the near future, we will offer up some of his stories from <\/span>Star Trek:\u00a0 The Movie(s) II – VII.\u00a0 <\/span><\/i>Before we wrap this particular part of the story, we need a segue from the first <\/span>Star Trek <\/span><\/i>\u00a0movie to the first sequel.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0As the box office and merchandise profits mounted, a longtime Trekker named Charles Bluhdorn used his lofty perch as the chairman of the Gulf + Western company to push for a sequel.\u00a0 The executive board had reservations with the enormous expense they had put into <\/span>Star Trek:\u00a0 The Motion Picture<\/span><\/i>, but Bluhdorn wasn\u2019t taking \u2018no\u2019 for an answer.\u00a0 First they analyzed what had been done wrong with the first movie.\u00a0 Convinced the problems could be fixed to make a sequel even more profitable, Bluhdorn convinced the board to see it his way.\u00a0 Then he did a little arm twisting with Paramount president Eisner to make it happen.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Eisner, dutiful company man that he was, opted to move forward without Robert Wise in the director\u2019s seat.\u00a0 Gene Roddenberry had a long term contract forbidding his removal so they did the next most logical thing:\u00a0 they promoted him to \u2018executive consultant.\u2019\u00a0 Roddenberry collected a handsome salary and was given a chance to comment on every story idea and script, but he soon found out his title was largely ceremonial.\u00a0 Harve Bennett was now in the driver\u2019s seat, <\/span>Trek <\/span><\/i>wise, but it would not prevent Gene from at least trying to make trouble.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Bennett had the TV cred in science fiction (<\/span>Six Million Dollar Man <\/span><\/i>and <\/span>The Bionic Woman<\/span><\/i>) and was an extremely efficient producer with overtones of \u2018penny-pinching\u2019.\u00a0 He got the job taking charge of the first sequel in a meeting with the Gulf + Western and Paramount brass: \u201cBluhdorn asked if I had seen <\/span>Star Trek:\u00a0 The Motion Picture, <\/span><\/i>and when I said \u2018yes\u2019, he asked what I had thought about it.\u00a0 I said \u2018Well, I think it was really boring.\u2019\u00a0 Bluhdorn spins on me – \u2018Can you make a better picture?\u2019 and I said, \u2018Well, you know, yeah, I could make it less boring – yes I could.\u2019\u00a0 \u2018Could you make it for less than forty-five million dollars?\u2019\u00a0 I said, \u201cOh boy, where I come from, I could make five movies for that.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Harve Bennett was in but it wouldn\u2019t be easy.\u00a0 The original budget for <\/span>Star Trek II<\/span><\/i> was set at $11 million.\u00a0 Roddenberry wasn\u2019t happy about being kicked upstairs.\u00a0 Nimoy wanted nothing to do with <\/span>Star Trek<\/span><\/i> ever again.\u00a0 Director\u2019s were wary because the first film turned into such a disaster.\u00a0 Bennett knew almost nothing about the Star Trek universe so he spent three months holed up in a projection room watching every episode of <\/span>TOS, <\/span><\/i>some more than once.\u00a0 <\/span>Star Trek<\/span><\/i>:\u00a0 <\/span>The Motion Picture<\/span><\/i> was far from the \u2018one and done\u2019 Shatner envisioned.\u00a0 We will take a break from all things <\/span>Star Trek <\/span><\/i>for a bit.\u00a0 We will delay our insider look at sequels II – VII, but fear not, we will finish this tale in less time than it took to bring the first picture to the big screen.<\/span><\/p>\n

Top Piece Video:\u00a0 I am now on my third Shatner Book (Up Till Now<\/em>) and while searching for a video to go with this tale, I almost considered using one of Shatners ‘songs’ . . . but I absolutely could not!\u00a0 Instead, I will give you a better version of Mr.Tamborine Man<\/em>.\u00a0 Shatner admits he was no singer and his first album was supposed to be dramatic readings seguing into a spoken – semi sung version of a song to go along with it . . .\u00a0 when he debuted it on Johnny Carson’s show, the producer cut it to only the ‘song’ half without the dramatic reading part – sorry, I couldn’t do it!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0When we left Part 1, William Shatner had just had a close encounter with Gene Roddenberry who claimed to be working on a script for a new Star Trek vehicle.\u00a0 It would either become a low-budget TV movie or big screen feature, but Gene did not share the specifics with Bill.\u00a0 It was 1975 and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,8,12,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2411","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-education","category-from-the-vaults","category-humor","category-woas"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2411","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2411"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2411\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2412,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2411\/revisions\/2412"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2411"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2411"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2411"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}