In 1975, as Star Trek was making money in syndication, Paramount decided it was time to develop a new Trek project. Gene Roddenberry was offered a development deal and the project was to a motion picture with a $5 million budget. Production was to start on July 15, 1976. Gene came up with The God Thing. His script had the crew of the Enterprise meeting and discovering the nature of God. It’s revealed that God is actually a computer/ship/entity that visits worlds repeatedly, creating prophets to match the level of development of that planet’s society. These prophets then guide that…
70s TREK - Star Trek in the 1970s
What do Terri Garr, James Gregory, Clint Howard and Michael Pataki all have in common? Each guest starred on Star Trek. Co-hosts Bob Turner and Kelly Casto take a look at some of the more notable actors who appeared on TOS. Some you may recognize and some you may not. In the 1960s, actors often moved from show to show, taking acting jobs where they could find them and hoping each would lead them to better jobs. Many of them drove through the gates of Desilu and later Paramount to work on Star Trek. Kids growing up in the 70s…
This is a replay of Episode 13. Richard Arnold has been around Star Trek most of his life. He was at the first Star Trek convention in 1972, and has, to date, attended over one thousand! In the 70s, Richard worked as a volunteer for Gene Roddenberry as the creator began plotting the return of Star Trek. He was there, in the Paramount offices, when Star Trek lurched from a movie, to a TV show, and back to a movie again. While The Next Generation was in production, Richard finally became employed by Paramount and held the position of…
In January 1969, NBC decided to not to renew Star Trek. The show was in the middle of its third season. Richard Nixon had just been sworn in as President, the nation had not heard the name “Watergate” yet, and over 500,000 troops were fighting a war in Vietnam. When Star Trek was cancelled it was nearly $30 million in debt in today’s dollars. It had no future, it was a dead hulk that no one thought anything of. Yet somehow, this quirky little show made it into syndication where it resonated with another generation viewers. In just nine years,…
Like Gene Roddenberry, Walter Matt Jefferies was in the Army Air Corps during World War II and flew as a co-pilot and engineer in B-17s. Also like Roddenberry, he was a legitimate war hero. He earned the Air Medal and the Bronze Star for his service. In civilian life, he became an aviation illustrator. His role as an illustrator eventually lead him to Hollywood…and then to Star Trek. Gene Roddenberry hired Jefferies to do one thing: design a space ship for his new show. He had very limited guidance from Gene: No flames, no fins and no rockets. With those…