The Unauthorized History of Trek

The Unauthorized History of Trek
James van Hise

Originally published in 1997 and now available as an ebook. The inspiring story of the men and women who dared to go where no TV series had gone before!BEAM UP FOR:• The operation that almost cost Spock his ears• The woman who wouldn’t stay green• The fortune-teller who predicted McCoy’s success• The Leonard “Nimsy” Christmas parade• Harlan Ellison’s letter writing campaign• Attack of the Nielsens!• The spacecraft design the US Navy stole… and much, much more!Here are the stories behind the stories, the little-known facts and legendary incidents that made Star Trek the most successful, most innovative, most enduring, most influential and most fiercely beloved SF show to ever appear on television. From Roddenberry’s first pilot to the megahit movies and first generation of spin-offs, The Unauthorized History of Trek is one of the most inspiring and fascinating stories in entertainment history.

Voyager

THE UNAUTHORIZED

HISTORY OF

TREK

JAMES VAN HISE

COPYRIGHT (#ulink_389bfa88-5a31-5b65-833e-94fbeec4a85c)

Star Trek, Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek Deep Space Nine are registered trademarks of Paramount Pictures Corporation. This book was not prepared, approved, licensed or endorsed by any entity involved in creating or producing the Star Trek television series or films.

HarperVoyager

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Copyright © 1991, 1995 Pioneer Books, Inc.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this ebook on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins ebooks

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Source ISBN: 9780006482925

Ebook Edition © December 2016 ISBN: 9780008240257

Version: 2017-01-05

A TREK THROUGH HISTORY

This unauthorized history of Star Trek is the complete and inspirational chronicle of a legend from its original conception to its phenomenal effect on millions of viewers across the world. America’s leading science fiction television historian JAMES VAN HISE takes you where no Trek fan has ever gone before—from the meeting in which Gene Roddenberry first pitched his idea for the Star Trek series to the lean years when die-hard fans kept the show alive to the continuing sequence of successful feature films and new television series which have secured Star Trek’s enduring importance in popular culture, and in our lives. The origins of the series are revealed through in-depth interviews with the original cast and creative staff, offering not only a wealth of Trek trivia but speculations as to what the future may hold.

Here are the facts behind the science fiction, the historical journey that goes beyond what you can see on the screen and covers three decades of voyage and on-going discover.

CONTENTS

COVER (#u8c6fa1bf-cf14-5309-a620-537a66c413df)

TITLE PAGE (#u8dea954f-8163-55f2-a106-b8782f271976)

COPYRIGHT (#ulink_11425e92-ebbd-5981-a48b-1958ee247ef6)

FOREWORD (#ulink_7849767f-721d-555f-a398-ab5be1cd3ab3)

GENE RODDENBERRY (1921–1991) (#ulink_7849767f-721d-555f-a398-ab5be1cd3ab3)

INTRODUCTION (#ulink_7058d948-9ce7-5374-82f6-a9255531df3a)

A PHENOMENON UNEXCELLED (#ulink_7058d948-9ce7-5374-82f6-a9255531df3a)

CHAPTER ONE (#ulink_6ce58c08-64df-5447-8e31-93b84530f08c)

A DREAM IN THE MAKING: (#ulink_6ce58c08-64df-5447-8e31-93b84530f08c)

A brush with death alters Gene Roddenberry’s career choices and leads him to Hollywood, where he creates Star Trek.

CHAPTER TWO (#ulink_cebce73b-0855-5ed8-899e-04c51915fd3c)

A NEAR MISS AND A SOLID HIT: (#ulink_cebce73b-0855-5ed8-899e-04c51915fd3c)

NBC loves “The Cage” but wants Roddenberry to produce a second pilot.

CHAPTER THREE (#ulink_61ab83b8-7047-5a45-b502-ad6bf96bbbcb)

ONWARD TO THE STARS, WITH HOPE (THE FIRST SEASON): (#ulink_61ab83b8-7047-5a45-b502-ad6bf96bbbcb)

Star Trek makes stars of William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy as the series is launched successfully, albeit with some trepidation.

CHAPTER FOUR (#ulink_c34bcc87-9e94-5aeb-8097-ae17f41589dd)

STEADY AS SHE GOES (THE SECOND SEASON): (#ulink_c34bcc87-9e94-5aeb-8097-ae17f41589dd)

The strong scripts in the second season aren’t enough to satisfy the mysterious Nielsen ratings, but Star Trek is brought back from the brink of cancellation, only to suffer a bitter loss.

CHAPTER FIVE (#litres_trial_promo)

AN AREA OF TURBULENCE (THE THIRD AND FINAL SEASON): (#litres_trial_promo)

A lackluster third season, marked by numerous indifferent scripts and few bright lights, marks the inevitable end to the first voyage of the starship Enterprise.

CHAPTER SIX (#litres_trial_promo)

MOVING THROUGH LIMBO AND BEYOND (THE LOST YEARS … TO STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE): (#litres_trial_promo)

The seventies prove that Star Trek is anything but dead, as rumors of a revival become a reality by decade’s end.