These Are the Voyages: TOS Season Three is finally in
release! This monumental book series by
Marc Cushman illuminates the background and creation of the world-bestriding
colossus that is Star Trek.
The reason
these books take so long to produce is the miles-deep research involved. Over a span of years (and in some instances,
decades), Cushman was able to interview the principal creators, and also
achieved access to tons of studio paperwork, story proposals, casting lists,
budget memos, and other original documents.
He puts
this together with contemporary press coverage and retrospective quotations
from cast and crew, and, hey presto!
the answer to every TREK or pop culture fan’s dream!
We have in-depth
descriptions of each episode’s genesis, development, and production; narratives
of crew and cast changes; and for me the most interesting of all, the part
telling the day-to-day stuff. We learn
how much time was spent on this stage or that; the changes in a character’s
name or which directors were sure-footed or floundering; and about a gazillion
other details that make you feel like a tribble on the wall.
As I noted
in my reviews of the first two books in this series, another mind-blower is the
inclusion (and explanation) of the TV ratings for Star Trek’s NBC run. Contrary to the popular narrative that Trek
flopped in the ratings, we are shown that nearly every week, the show either
won or took second place in one or both of its half-hour segments. My own conclusion is that show creator Gene
Roddenberry was too much of an irritant to NBC, Desilu, and Paramount
executives. (Read these books for plenty
of ammunition for this opinion.)
As I wrote
in 2013 to Marc about this topic: “GR’s
behavior once again proves that, while some idols have feet of clay, others
replace clay with something more nasty.
This kind of behavior – me-first; willing to cross ethical and legal
boundaries to benefit yourself; fire good, loyal, devoted employees to install
others you like better – makes me sad.”
Also, Star
Trek was (of course) an expensive show to produce, nearly bankrupting
Desilu before the production company was sold to Paramount. So, the factors of expense plus “that darn
Roddenberry” and his rebellious attitude were a couple of the major factors
that doomed the series.
As I
pronounced when I encountered the first book, “TOS One,” this is going to be
the primary research document for future researchers. The only thing to be wished for is an index of
names. But, so loaded is every page, any
index would be about as long as the book!
Now, I consider myself an original Trekker. I watched the show on NBC and in syndication;
I taped episode audio from TV speakers on my “cassette-corder”; I’ve had TREK nonfiction published in several
volumes of the “Best of TREK” book series;
I have about a hundred books and magazines concerning the whole TREK
thing.
Still, I
can about open any of these books at random, point a finger on any page, and
find something I didn’t know.
You cannot
be knowledgeable about TV production in the 1960s, and about the peculiarly
American phenomenon known as Star Trek, unless you have read
these books.
TRUTH IN
REVIEWING: I am an editor for this book
series.
