Trivia about the original Star Trek Trek series

The Rocketry Forum

Help Support The Rocketry Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
I find it amazing that Shatner had to do the final scene of the Horta episode after just finding out that his mother had died. That was some great acting. People think of Shatner as a ham, but he can be really good given the chance.
 
Star Trek added a lot to the popular culture.

Beam me up, Scottie.
Phasers set to stun.
Illogicial.
Live long and prosper.
Ahead warp factor ...
I'm a doctor, not a ...

I was in my teens back then. Good times.
 
[video=youtube;ZQ_duzQzS1I]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQ_duzQzS1I[/video]
 
What I want to know is what possessed Shatner to do this. The answer may be in a trivia book somewhere:

[video=youtube;lul-Y8vSr0I]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lul-Y8vSr0I[/video]

Family guy version:

[video=youtube;UXuSWUXDnuo]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXuSWUXDnuo[/video]
 
More Original Star Trek trivia:

https://io9.com/5827581/10-things-you-probably-didnt-know-about-the-original-star-trek

How did I miss this?! Cut from the syndicated version? I have this outstanding episode in the original full version on DVD, so I'll have to check it out:

17yi21qszla74jpg.jpg


More amazing stuff with many images:

Mayberry in Star Trek

https://www.imayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/startrek/index.htm
 
Last edited:
Good stuff. BTW, City on the Edge of Forever is, I think, 60 of the best minutes of television of all time.
 
Lucille Ball thought it was a Traveling RSO show ..classic !

She was right .. it did turn out to be a moneymaker.

Kenny
 
What I want to know is what possessed Shatner to do this. The answer may be in a trivia book somewhere:

[video=youtube;lul-Y8vSr0I]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lul-Y8vSr0I[/video]

It was an effort by Shatner to try to get out in front of the viewing public once again. He was making the rounds on the afternoon talk shows, and needed a "hook" for them to book him. Since he can't sing, he "spoke" through the song, much in the way Rex Harrison "spoke on pitch" in "My Fair Lady". Since Shatner found a way capitalize on his stereotyping as Captain Kirk and a bizarre but fascinating way to interpret Elton John's "Rocket Man"... (it was a play on words..."rock it, man"...)

Worth viewing once or twice. But he would NEVER be considered a singer.
 
Last edited:
What I want to know is what possessed Shatner to do this. The answer may be in a trivia book somewhere:



Family guy version:

Few too many of those cigarettes I'd say...

What was in that thing anyway??
[YOUTUBE]n4pN9t8qcYE[/YOUTUBE]
LOL:)

Later! OL JR :)
 
'Star Trek: The Original Series' scenes look fantastic as cinematic panoramas

https://www.theverge.com/2014/9/18/...nal-series-scenes-look-fantastic-as-cinematic

Examples:

mirrormirrorhd0390_o_verge_super_wide.jpg


metamorphosishd0232-1_o_verge_super_wide.jpg


breadandcircuseshd0016_o_verge_super_wide.jpg


All of them on the creator's site:

https://cargocollective.com/nickacosta/Star-Trek-in-Cinerama

Star Trek in Cinerama Widescreen

Forty eight years ago this week Star Trek debuted its first episode on NBC. The show, like all other shows at the time, was broadcast in the old style 4x3 aspect ratio. Using HD screen caps from my friends at Trekcore.com, I created this project of what the show would have looked like in Cinerama widescreen. As a kid the show always felt bigger and more epic than it appears to me as an adult. I was able to create these shots by waiting for the camera to pan and then I stitched the separate shots together. The result is pretty epic. It reminds me of the classic science fiction movies of the 50’s and 60’s. Suddenly the show has a “Forbidden Planet” vibe. Other shots remind me of how director Robert Wise would use a camera technique to keep the foreground and background elements in focus.
 
Good stuff. BTW, City on the Edge of Forever is, I think, 60 of the best minutes of television of all time.
Definitely agree. Exceptional episode.

[video=youtube;EnViskuZrJk]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnViskuZrJk[/video]
 
In the trivia; do they happen to mention anything about the infamous Velour tunics that shrank so bad the first time they were washed they could have been worn by the puppets from “Thunderbirds”?

Is it mentioned about how the “Enterprise” model was hung upside-down in the meeting where Rodenberry was pitching the show to Desilu Studio executives?

And while we all agree that “City on the Edge of Forever” was one of the best episodes’ of “STTOS” Harlan Ellison, the writer of said episode, still had nothing good to say about it.
 
In the trivia; do they happen to mention anything about the infamous Velour tunics that shrank so bad the first time they were washed they could have been worn by the puppets from “Thunderbirds”?
They mention that their budget was so low that they had to have them made in "sweat shops" which may have just been someone's term for a non-union shop and snuck them into the set. Makes sense that they'd shrink like mad.
 
In one episode (elaan of troyius iirc) the were SO short of budget that the made the costumes out of cheap textured plastic table place mats.... They're red with a pebbled looking surface.... My grandmother had some just like them....lol

Later ! OL JR
 
In the trivia; do they happen to mention anything about the infamous Velour tunics that shrank so bad the first time they were washed they could have been worn by the puppets from “Thunderbirds”?

Is it mentioned about how the “Enterprise” model was hung upside-down in the meeting where Rodenberry was pitching the show to Desilu Studio executives?

And while we all agree that “City on the Edge of Forever” was one of the best episodes’ of “STTOS” Harlan Ellison, the writer of said episode, still had nothing good to say about it.
Harlan Ellison has published a book called "City on the Edge of Forever" that includes not only his original screenplay, but also the various changes that had been made, and that were proposed for the script.

In the book, Harlan pulls no punches in vilifying Gene Rodenberry for "mis-remembering" what the original script was. Specifically, he takes issue with Gene's much-repeated error in the first draft made"Chief Engineer Montgomery Scott" into a drug dealer... which is NOT true. There was another character specifically introduced for this episode who supposedly WAS going to be dealing in some illegal drug...and fled down to the planet where the Guardian was located to elude justice. There are variations on the story from this point, whether it was he or Bones that go back through the portal and change history.

It's an interesting little rant of Harlan (oh, Hell, it's not all that little, actually) that will appeal mainly to Star Trek fans and geeks, and to Ellison fans, but has little to offer others of the general public who may not even remember the episode nor the brew-haha over Harlan insisting that his name be removed from the credits, despite the win of a major award.

You can probably find it in your local library, as well as at most Comicon or Sci Fi conventions in the dealer room. I know I bought my copy off Amazon.com before even searching our local library, a blunder that I will forever kick myself!:surprised: It was listed and waiting on the shelf for me!
 
Definitely agree. Exceptional episode.

[video=youtube;EnViskuZrJk]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnViskuZrJk[/video]

I remember sitting with my family as we watched this air for the first time back in the 60s. And I recall vividly my mom gasping when Capt. Kirk, after a long pregnant pause utters the most understated line of the series..."Let's get the hell out of here!"
"Language", she commented with disapproval, but each time I watch that episode, and seeing the reaction shots in all the crew's faces, waiting for his decision, I'm convinced there was nothing wrong with use of the line, and it's arguably one of the most powerful moments in all television. Like fine wine, it grows better with each year...
 
It amazes me how, even today, when computers are household items, TV shows and movies still try to present "supercomputers" as having lots of multi-colored, blinking lights on them. I think the set designers of today spent too much time watching Star Trek back in the day. :wink: They did it on Person of Interest last year, which is normally a pretty intelligent show.
 
It amazes me how, even today, when computers are household items, TV shows and movies still try to present "supercomputers" as having lots of multi-colored, blinking lights on them. I think the set designers of today spent too much time watching Star Trek back in the day. :wink: They did it on Person of Interest last year, which is normally a pretty intelligent show.

“Stargate SG-1” actually takes a jab at that idea. If you look closely at their big computer cabinets filled with all those blinking lights there appears on them the designation “BLU-1” which stands for “Blinking Light Unit-1”
 
Harlan Ellison has published a book called "City on the Edge of Forever" that includes not only his original screenplay, but also the various changes that had been made, and that were proposed for the script.

A 5 issue comic book adaptation of the screenplay is currently underway from IDW.
 
A 5 issue comic book adaptation of the screenplay is currently underway from IDW.

Hmm, for me, Shatner's acting really made the episode. The ending was so sad, but so well done. Can't really see it having the same impact in a static medium.
 
Back
Top