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These Are the Voyages: TOS: Season 1 av Marc…
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These Are the Voyages: TOS: Season 1 (utgåvan 2013)

av Marc Cushman (Författare), John D. F. Black (Förord), Mary Black (Förord), Susan Osborn (Bidragsgivare)

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814328,939 (4.2)Ingen/inga
Author Marc Cushman had the honor of befriending both Gene Roddenberry and Robert H. Justman, who cooperated in the development of this three-book series and backed their endorsement with hundreds of never-before-released documents concerning the writing and production of Star Trek, the original series (TOS). After decades of research, hundreds of exclusive interviews, and the inclusion of thousands of documents, from story outlines to scripts to interoffice memos between Roddenberry and his creative staff, correspondences with NBC and Desilu Studios, production schedules, budgets, and even the Nielsen ratings for every episode of the first Star Trek series, These are the Voyages serves as a time machine, taking the reader back to witness the creation, writing and making of Star Trek.--From publisher description.… (mer)
Medlem:kferrand
Titel:These Are the Voyages: TOS: Season 1
Författare:Marc Cushman (Författare)
Andra författare:John D. F. Black (Förord), Mary Black (Förord), Susan Osborn (Bidragsgivare)
Info:Jacobs Brown Press (2013), Edition: Revised, 658 pages
Samlingar:Ditt bibliotek
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These Are the Voyages: TOS Season One av Marc Cushman

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This book straddles the area between a true work of academic research and an exhaustive dump of fan fuel. I loved the behind-the-scenes stories and extensive detail. But damn this thing is long. I don't know what I would have chosen to leave out or cut back on. But I'll have to recharge my batteries before undertaking the Season 2 volume. ( )
  Treebeard_404 | Jan 23, 2024 |
The opening volume in a three book series, These Are the Voyages: TOS, Season One is a must read for committed Star Trek fans. Actually, this book is probably a must read even for slightly less dedicated fans of Star Trek, or even for those who are merely interested in the history of televised science fiction (or, more broadly, the history of television). This installment of These Are the Voyages contains a detailed history of the people behind the series, the development and sale of the series, and finally, the production of both pilot episodes and the twenty-eight remaining episodes of season one. While at least some of the information contained in this book has been published before, there has never been a comprehensive resource that compiles all of it into one place as this volume does.

These Are the Voyages is an incredibly detailed work, starting with a fairly extensive biography of Star Trek's creator and executive producer Gene Roddenberry. Cushman's treatment is methodical, working through the chronology of Roddenberry's life one step at a time, following him from combat airman on World War II, to Pan Am pilot to Los Angeles police officer, to television writer, to television producer. The book provides a similar biographical background for virtually every person who worked on Star Trek in any substantial capacity, although most are not nearly as extensive as that supplied for Roddenberry. As a general rule of thumb, the more important the person was to the show, the more extensive their background sketch is. In short, if you ever wanted to know a fair bit about the personal and professional history of, for example, the actress who played Yeoman Barrows in Shore Leave, then this is the book for you.

The book devotes a fair number of pages to Roddenberry's efforts to get a television series on the air, including background on his failed proposals, as well as material concerning his short-lived series The Lieutenant. The book then moves on to Roddenberry's pitch for Star Trek and his attempts to convince first Desilu executives and then network executives to put his brain-child on the air, both of whom were fairly skeptical. The book details the work that went into creating the first pilot The Cage, and then when that was rejected and the studio approved the unprecedented step of filming a second pilot, the book explains the process that led the show from how it looked in The Cage to how it looked in Where No Man Has Gone Before. The most important evolution that is covered in this section regards the changes to the crew and how they came about, as Leonard Nimoy playing Spock was the only cast member carried forward from The Cage to Where No Man Has Gone Before.

Though the sections detailing the production of the two pilot episodes, Cushman sets up the format that will be carried through the rest of the book. Each chapter covers one episode and starts with a brief synopsis of the episode, and frequently, a quote from TV Guide about it. Then there is a section titled "Sound Bites" consisting of a selection of quotes from the episode, followed by a brief "Assessment", giving Cushman's own evaluation of the episode as a whole. Each chapter then proceeds to the details of the development and production of each episode starting with "The Story Behind the Story", which identifies the scriptwriter for each script and the process that took their script from idea to being approved for production, then moving to "Pre-Production, which outlines the selection of the director for each episode, the casting decisions related to it, as well as set design, and then "Production", describing the day-by-day work on the episode. Finally, the chapter details "Post-Production", including the editing and scoring, but also (and in many cases, critically), the special effects work done for the series. After covering the production aspects of the featured episode, each chapter then goes on to "Release/Reaction", discussing the Nielsen ratings for each show, as well as the comments given by reviewers of the day, then to "From the Mailbag" which presents a few letters written to the series or one of the featured actors, and then sometimes a section titled "Memories" in which those associated with the production reminisce about making it.

Once this pattern is established, the book develops an easy rhythm as Cushman works his way through the two pilots and twenty-eight other episodes of the first season of the series. There is a break in this format to discuss the mid-season hiatus, and then a chapter at the end capping off the book, but otherwise, most of the book is presented in a fairly predictable manner. Rather than making this book dull, as one might expect, this regularity highlights the unique features about each episode. By comparing an episode with its peers, it becomes apparent where in the script development process The Alternative Factor went off the rails, or why The Corbomite Maneuver suffered the post-production delays that caused it to be repeatedly pushed back in the broadcast schedule. The descriptions provided are incredibly detailed, and include excerpts from internal production memos as various involved parties debate the cost and practicality of various script elements, and argue over whether an episode has enough action or not (with "action" mostly seeming to mean "some member of the crew gets into a fist fight") or whether an episode was too cerebral (with "cerebral" ending up meaning "an episode people who love Star Trek will love). These memo excerpts are supported by quotes from various individuals, either from interviews done for this book, or from other sources such as magazine and newspaper interviews.

Putting all of this material together makes some things quite clear about the series, or at least, the first season of the series. One important note is that there seems to have been very little connection between the cost of an episode and its quality. Some fairly poorly regarded episodes, such as The Galileo Seven were incredibly expensive, while others, like Tomorrow Is Yesterday, that are fondly remembered were brought in for a much more modest budget. One other thing that becomes readily apparent is that Star Trek's biggest proponent, Gene Roddenberry, was also one of its greatest weaknesses: His rather abrasive personality resulted in the show burning through large numbers of writers, directors, and staff members. While some friction with the network was almost inevitable with a show as experimental and expensive as Star Trek was, Roddenberry seems to have made things worse by at times intentionally thumbing his nose at the executives. On the other hand, there is no doubt but that some of the hurt feelings and bruised egos were the result of Roddenberry taking steps that improved the final product, in other cases he seems to have gotten involved just to have a hand in, and his involvement actually was detrimental and annoyed those he was working with for no good reason.

These details also show why the series developed as it did. They show how D.C. Fontana went from being a secretary to being a script writer to the show's story editor all in less than a single season. They show why John D.F. Black (who wrote the introduction to this volume) quit his staff position in disgust after Roddenberry rewrote several prominent writers, as well as one of Black's scripts, making them worse in Black's estimation. They show the importance of Shatner to the show, and how his abilities provided much of the drama infused into the show. They show how important the addition of Gene Coons was to the show, and how many of the elements that we now associate with Star Trek - the Federation, the Prime Directive, the humorous banter between Kirk, Spock, and McCoy - simply would not have been introduced to the show without his influence. They show just how petty and trivial many of the network concerns were - focusing on whether one could use a hypodermic needle to inject someone or not, or criticizing how brutal a fight was while clamoring for "action" at the same time. And they show just how expansive the vision some of the writers for the show had, and exactly how much had to be excised from their scripts to come close to fitting into the budget allocated for each episode. One thing the details also show is just how pervasive Westerns were in television programming of the mid-1960s. Virtually every actor with any experience who took a job on Star Trek had appeared in numerous televised Westerns, which probably accounts for the constant urging from then network to ramp up the fisticuffs.

The details also highlight just how shameful the network's treatment of Grace Lee Whitney, who appeared on several early episodes of the series as Yeoman Rand, truly was. By the middle of the first season, the network insisted that she be dropped from the show as a cost-cutting measure, insisting that her role could be filled by one-shot deals with individual actresses, possibly including Grace among their number from time to time, albeit at a reduced salary. Grace, however, told a much darker story, alleging that a network executive sexually assaulted her after a holiday party, and to cover it up, had her fired from the show. Buttressing the notion that someone associated with the production of the show had an ax to grind with the actress, her role in The Conscience of the King, her final contractually required episode, was reduced to little more than a walk-on. At several points after her contract ended, it was suggested that she be brought back for a particular episode, but each time this idea was quickly shot down. Adding insult to injury, immediately firing her for "cost-cutting" reasons, the network approved several scripts that turned out to be among the most expensive to produce in the season. In short, the material provided in the book shows just how shamefully Whitney was treated by the production, and just how little Roddenberry, famous for butting heads with the network, did to prevent it.

Another thing that is readily apparent from the material is just how prevalent Westerns were on television in the mid-1960s. Virtually every actor cast on Star Trek who had any amount of experience had appeared in numerous Westerns over the course of their career. DeForest Kelly, for example, had carved out something of a niche as a "heavy", with a career playing villainous characters in multiple Westerns. The dominance of the straightforward action adventure Western genre explains why there was so much pressure placed upon Star Trek's producers to add action to the show, and is also the probable explanation why virtually everyone was blind-sided by the popularity of Nimoy as Spock. Reading through the book it is obvious that no one expected Spock to be a popular character - network executives feared that his "Satanic" appearance would play badly in Southern markets, and even Nimoy was hesitant to take the part as he thought it would be cartoonish. But, like the show, this "cerebral" character proved to be wildly popular proving that a steady diet of fast paced adventure had been ignoring a possibly more intellectually inclined segment of the television viewing audience.

These Are the Voyages is not entirely without flaws. Cushman is almost obsessed with demonstrating that Star Trek did well in the ratings in its first season. He spends a fair amount of time first complaining about, and then attacking the myth that the show did poorly when it came to Nielsen ratings, and he backs up his argument with convincing evidence. The problem is that he belabors this point, returning to it time and again, even well after any reasonable person would have been convinced. Eventually, the constant harping on the fact that Star Trek had a strong viewership despite the belief that it did not becomes a little tiresome. Cushman is also quite clearly a fan of the series, which seems natural, as almost no one would write a book of this sort if they were not. Unfortunately, this means that his assessments of the various episodes, and his evaluations of the events surrounding the development and production of the show, are sometimes less than objective. It is clear that he tries to be as even-handed as possible, but even still there are times when he cannot prevent his inner fan from poking through, at which point the book veers from a biography of the show to a hagiography.

But these are minor quibbles. Taken as a whole, These Are the Voyages: TOS, Season One is a brilliant work of historical scholarship. Although much of this information has previously been available in some form or another, it has never been compiled together and organized into a cohesive whole as has been done here. Some of the information, such as the Nielsen data for the series, has never been made public before. Gluing all of these bits of historical trivia together is Cushman's text, weaving together what could have been a collection of dry details into a fast-flowing and engaging narrative. Anyone who is a Star Trek fan, or just a science fiction fan, should have this book on their shelf.

This review has also been posted to my blog Dreaming About Other Worlds. ( )
1 rösta StormRaven | Feb 4, 2016 |
I consider myself a geek, if not a fully-fledged Trekkie - Trekker? - but even part one of the three volume compendium on the original series of Star Trek was a bit too geeky for me. I love going 'behind the scenes' and reading interviews with the cast and crew involved, but internal memos and Nielsen ratings are a little too laborious. (Although snarky Robert Justman is my hero! Someone needed to keep Roddenberry in check.)

For each of the twenty-nine episodes in the first series, plus the two pilots with and without Captain Kirk, we get a synopsis, assessment, thorough production notes, brief bios of main cast and crew, ratings and viewers' letters. Roddenberry and his revolving door of writers and producers filmed nearly the whole series without knowing if the show was even going to be picked up, so the budget was restricted - too restricted, for some writers' imaginations! (A few of the weaker episodes might have been a whole lot stronger, had they been filmed as intended.)

I did learn some interesting trivia. Jeffrey Hunter, who played Captain Pike in the first, failed pilot 'The Cage', died aged only 42 after a series of strokes. Casting director Joseph D'Agosta is married to the lovely Barbara Baldavin, who played Angela Martine. Oh, and Leonard Nimoy decided that Spock sleeps with his eyes open (see 'The Return of the Archons'). Ultimately, though, despite being a labour of love for the author/compiler, there is rather too much information here - hardcore Trekkies only need buy the full set! (The Knight Rider fan compendium squeezes four series into one book, while covering much the same sort of material.)

What kept me reading was - and I'm almost ashamed to admit my rather conventional taste - William Shatner as Captain Kirk. Yes, the actor gets a bad rap, but mostly, I have noticed, from actors and directors with similar sized egos. Here, supporting cast and crew, like Leonard Nimoy and Joe D'Agosta, admit that Bill was 'the secret weapon of that show'; 'the energy, the wit and the swagger' that allowed Nimoy to 'find a niche for my role'. Shatner is repeatedly described as hardworking and dedicated, even while suffering private grief, and the one negative review - well, apart from Harlan Ellison, which is a case of pot and kettle - is followed up with an honest apology from Shatner to the same actor . Yes, Star Trek is viewed as an ensemble production today - or rather, fans of Uhura, Sulu, Scotty and the rest would like to think so - but what Marc Cushman does get across, in Roddenberry's own words, is how William Shatner was supposed to be the star, supported by Leonard Nimoy and, later, DeForest Kelley. Personally, I think the three characters work best together - and even Nimoy missed having Kirk for Spock to play against in 'The Galileo Seven' - but Shatner shouldn't be blamed for believing the hype about his place in the show.

Where was I? Very interesting, with behind the scenes photographs and cast interviews, but padded out with too many unnecessary facts and figures - who cares what songs were in the charts? - and probably better in printed format rather than ebook (easier to skip to favourite episodes.) ( )
  AdonisGuilfoyle | Jun 27, 2014 |
4.5 Stars. Disclaimer: I am a personal friend of the authors of this book, and have met several of Star Trek principals, like D.C. Fontana and David Gerrold. So of course, I'd like to see the book do well, because they are all nice people and deserve it. HOWEVER, despite being imperfect (like Gene Roddenbery and the show itself), this book stands on its own merits. It's a must-have for Trekkies, and an excellent add to a non-fiction library for those who are NOT rabid Trekkies *raising own hand* but can appreciate the tremendous cultural and scientific impact Star Trek has had on American culture, and on technological development of everything from computers to cellphones.



Where it excels

The exhaustive level of research and detail is tremendous. From the music to the costuming to the lighting to the casting to the special effects, and especially, the role of the studios and network, I came from this book with a much clearer idea of all the countless steps that had to be taken to produce this program. Few, if any, details of the cast, crew, writers, or production staff are left unexamined.

Many secrets of the show are revealed, for example, that the Enterprise bridge was built in twelve sections that could be pulled apart to facilitate filming from different angles.

There's detailed tracking of the scripts, and script analysis on whether the various rewrites improved or damaged the script. No writer enjoys being rewritten, especially the science fiction masters who contributed many of the first scripts. In a novel or short story, it doesn't cost any extra money to blow up a planet or fire twenty phaser bursts, or have crowds of people milling about. In a movie or TV show, those special effects and extras cost actual money. Reality is, if you continually make a product that costs more to make than you can sell it for, whether that's a p0rn flick, an automobile, or a television episode, you can only make so many before there ain't funds to make any more. So yes, wonderful stories were modified: to make them economically feasible to film, to bring the dialogue and actions in line with established characterizations, to create cliffhangers before each commercial break, and so on. And sometimes (in the author's opinion, you'll probably have your own) scripts were disimproved, rather than improved.

There's also an interesting look into the directors of these episodes, who was asked to return, and why (or why not). There's insight into what the actors brought to their roles. The focus is on William Shatner (Kirk) and Leonard Nimoy (Spock), of course, but also looks at Grace Lee Whitney (Yeoman Rand), DeForest Kelley (McCoy), Nichelle Nichols (Uhura), James Doohan (Scottie), George Takei (Sulu), and even the "bit" players who had recurring roles. There's quite a bit of background on each of the guest stars, even those in secondary roles.



Pluses and Minuses:

Photos: While the text would stand alone without any photos at all, there are many, some quite rare, all presented in black and white. Some of them are marvelous, and add a wonderful dimension to the reading experience. Others appear so small or are so busy they become more an annoyance than a bonus, at least when viewed via my old-school (third gen) Kindle, especially the Nielsen ratings charts. Possibly the photos appear better defined in the hardcover and paperback versions. However, using my Kindle Fire HDX, and setting my Accessibility options to allow Screen Magnification, I was able to blow them up beautifully (just double-tap on the picture). You could probably do something similar using the Kindle Reader on a laptop or iPad. So, consider how you will be reading this book before deciding which version to buy if seeing detail on the photos is important to you.

The cultural callbacks. There's a section for each episode on what was going on in American culture: what songs were on the charts, what was going on in Vietnam, with the drug culture, with politics, etc. These are fascinating and add depth and color to the narrative, BUT, they are misplaced, IMO. They are targeted to what was happening at the time each episode was filmed. To use a birth/baby analogy, what would be more interesting would be either: 1) what was happening pop culture at the time the episode was written & edited (the effect of the culture on the baby), or, 2) what was going on in pop culture at the time the episode aired (the baby was born), which would reflect the mutual effect of the episode (baby) and the broader pop culture on each other. What was going on in the world during filming on those 12-hour days probably had LESS effect on the actors, directors, and crew than at any other time, so those nuggets, interesting as they are, felt like they were hanging out there in space.



Where it falls short:

There are "unnecessary quotation marks" here and there, and sometimes typos. The end note markers are BIZARRE, both in size and in numbering system (17; 101a; 160-1, RJ5-7) compared to other non-fiction books I have read, and I've read quite a few. And they aren't actually tied to specific sources in the extensive bibliography.

The beginning and other sections on Nielsen ratings rambled on and on. I get it - Nielsen ratings = advertising dollars = dollars necessary to continue making a show. So bad or mediocre ratings can (and have) cancel some excellent shows that simply hadn't caught on yet. The point - that contrary to popular legend, Star Trek did well in the ratings - is made, belabored, and beaten like a dead horse.

There's too much detail included even on people who didn't actually end up working on Star Trek, like the acting careers of women who auditioned (and didn't get) a part in Mudd's Women.



What I did that was especially fun

At the risk of sounding like a Kindle HDX commercial, I would read a chapter about an episode, then use it to stream the episode. This gave much more depth to watching the show, which in turn gave more richness in reading the next chapter. I would notice the lighting effects that had been written about, or look for the occasional continuity oopsies. It made my personal Trek slower but much more satisfying.



There are thousands of mini-stories within the stories of each episode; which writer's nose got bent out of shape and why, the effect of the casting couch, internal staff memos, fan letters, TV Guide features, guest stars interviews, and much more. So for any serious Trekkie, or even someone interested in what is television and fandom history, this book and the two scheduled to follow it, are a treasure trove of Trek trivia. ( )
  writerbeverly | May 1, 2014 |
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Författarens namnRollTyp av författareVerk?Status
Marc Cushmanprimär författarealla utgåvorberäknat
Black, John D.F.Förordmedförfattarealla utgåvorbekräftat
Black, MaryFörordmedförfattarealla utgåvorbekräftat
Osborn, Susanmedförfattarealla utgåvorbekräftat

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Author Marc Cushman had the honor of befriending both Gene Roddenberry and Robert H. Justman, who cooperated in the development of this three-book series and backed their endorsement with hundreds of never-before-released documents concerning the writing and production of Star Trek, the original series (TOS). After decades of research, hundreds of exclusive interviews, and the inclusion of thousands of documents, from story outlines to scripts to interoffice memos between Roddenberry and his creative staff, correspondences with NBC and Desilu Studios, production schedules, budgets, and even the Nielsen ratings for every episode of the first Star Trek series, These are the Voyages serves as a time machine, taking the reader back to witness the creation, writing and making of Star Trek.--From publisher description.

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