This episode is about several rejected movie pitches that were made to Paramount execs in 1976.
The Timeline
- Gene Roddenberry moved back onto Paramount’s lot in May 1975 to develop a treatment for a new Star Trek movie. The idea he came up with, The God Thin, was rejected.
- Then Gene asked his assistant, Jon Povil to work on a treatment. Roddenberry rejected that one.
- Next, Roddenberry asked Povil to wrk with him on a new concept. They turned that into {Paramount in January 1976. It was rejected.
Paramount’s Search
After rejecting The God Thing movie treatment in 1975 and two additional treatments, all from Gene Roddenberry, Paramount execs began looking elsewhere for Star Trek film ideas in January 1976.
They began to interview writers independently of Gene Roddenberry, hoping to find that one story idea that could become the first Star Trek movie and launch what they hoped would become a multi-million dollar franchise.
Paramount sought ideas from nearly a dozen different writers. But the number of rejected movie pitches grew. In this episode of 70s Trek, we focus on the three story ideas that have survived from that time and seemed to have the best chances of success. They include stories from John D. F. Black, Harlan Ellison, and Robert Silverberg. Listen to the episode to hear their ideas.
The Writers
John D. F. Black served as the story editor for the 1st season of Star Trek and wrote the episode The Naked Time.
Robert Silverberg is a multi-award winning author in the sci-fi genre and a “Grand Master of Science Fiction.”
Harlan Ellison is a science fiction author who has written over 1700 short stories, novellas, books and articles. He has also won numerous awards for his work and is known as “Sci-Fi’s Most Controversial Figure.” he also wrote the story for what many consider to be the best Star Trek episode, City on the Edge of Forever.
Listeners can read about each of these pitches from our source material, the 1995 book Lost Voyages of Trek and The Next Generation by Edward Gross and Mark Altman.
Listen to this episode by clicking the Play button.
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