[FlakBait]

A pop culture blog called Between the Pages has a link up to an online copy of Roddenberry’s initial outline for the series, dated March 11, 1964. The show itself premiered on Sept. 8, 1966, and in the intervening two years, a whole lot changed. For instance:

♦ Roddenberry’s original captain was not James Kirk or Christopher Pike, but Robert April;
♦ The ship was first called the U.S.S. Yorktown;
♦ The navigator was not a young Russian hotshot named Pavel Chekov, but a young South American hotshot named Jose Ortegas;
♦ Spock was the “first lieutenant” and described as having a reddish complexion and, of course, pointed ears, and was probably “half Martian.”

Roddenberry’s 16-page outline also contains his now-famous description of the show as a sort of sci-fi Wagon Train, and does not mention anything like a transporter beam; the crew would land on planets via small recon vehicles. Early ideas for communicators, universal translators and phaser weapons can also be found within.

Most fascinating, however, are the story ideas that Roddenberry includes—many of which formed the basis for or at least planted the seed for classic episodes like “Charlie X,” “Shore Leave,” “A Piece of the Action,” “The Return of the Archons,” “The Savage Curtain,” “Mirror, Mirror” and what eventually became the show’s first pilot, “The Cage.” Some of his dicier ideas—like a planet where slavery is the norm, except that whites are the slaves—never made it to the show at all (probably just as well).

So if you thought you knew everything about Star Trek, this document might hold some surprises for you. Either way, it’s an essential read—after all, these 16 pages are where a legendary science fiction franchise began.

http://blastr.com/2011/01/found-gene-roddenberrys-original-1964-pitch-for-star-trek.php

[AlexG]

Roddenberry was never one to give up easily.

In the early ’70s he pitched a repackaged version of ST albeit on Earth a few centuries into the future after a devastating nuclear war had wiped out civilization.

“Genesis II” (1973) w/ Alex Cord in the lead role as Dylan Hunt.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0064366/

The two things that I recall that stood out the most with this pilot movie was his concept of the subterranean subshuttle transit system (it served the role of getting the characters around the world) and Mariette Hartley (quite the babe in her day) who played the role of the Amazonian character
Lyra-a and was far and way stronger then any Human man. She also, like all of her people, had not one, but two bellybuttons.

Later, he repackaged this again as the pilot movie “Planet Earth” (1974), but replaced Alex Cord w/ John Saxon as Dylan Hunt.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072000/

BTW – “Dylan Hunt” as a character name was also recycled for “Andromeda”.

Finally, there was one more attempt w/ this concept w/ a pilot movie called “Strange New World (1975)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073754/

However, by this time Roddenberry had moved onto another project – “The Questor Tapes” (1974) about an android (played by Robert Foxworth) that lacked emotions due to a programming error when he was activated. Sounds familiar, it should, Roddenberry reused this concept for “Data” in ST: TNG.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070585/

Interest sidebar, Mike Farrell was a part of the proposed series as Questor’s companion/side kick and if it had been picked up by the networks he’d never made his way to M*A*S*H*

Lastly, towards the late 70’s Paramount started to give serious consideration to bringing back the original ST series under the title ST: Phase II. Later, they shelved the idea in favor of the Motion Picture movie. However, much of what was not used found its way later into the Next Generation series.

“I like a good story well told. That is the reason I am sometimes forced to tell them myself.”
~ Mark Twain / Samuel Clemens (1907)

[Robert McNay]

“Genesis II”, “Planet Earth” and “Strange New World” are current available from the Warner Brothers Archives Collection, a DVD on Demand service.

http://www.wbshop.com/Warner-Archive/ARCHIVE,default,sc.html

There’s a rumor that “The Questor Tapes” may be released by Shout! Factory. They have made a biz of releasing TV shows that the studios have been unwilling to do themselves, like “Max Headroom”.

Also, Roddenberry Productions, now run by his son, is planning a remake of “The Questor Tapes”. It was announced last January.

http://trekmovie.com/2010/01/21/gene-roddenberrys-the-questor-tapes-being-developed-as-new-tv-series/

One last thing, “Strange New World”, Roddeberry wasn’t really involved in it. It was backed by his production company and used his ideas, but it was written and directed by other people.

[Author]

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