The Daily Scrapbook (8/29/13)– Trek Merchadise Ads!

Here’s today’s flashback:  In it’s 70’s rebirth through syndication, Star Trek was a marketer’s dream! Everything you could imagine was found in ads from Starlog and Media Spotlight, among other Sci-Fi magazines.  A lot of the stuff you see here could be bought at conventions too, and there was also Lincoln Enterprises, the company started by Gene Roddenberry to sell everything a Trekkie could want.  The man knew how to make money!  I wonder if anyone still has any of these fan-tastic items? A Trekkie’s Paradise to be sure!

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My Weekly Spock (8/26/13) — Leonard Nimoy on The Flip Wilson Show

I recall way, way back when this first aired, (1974) I was not aware that Nimoy was a guest on The Flip Wilson Show that week, and I remember passing through the channels that night just in time to hear Flip Wilson say “…and thanks to my special guest, Mr. Leonard Nimoy!”  My pubescent heart screamed “Nooooooooo!”  (We had been watching  A Tree Grows in Brooklyn on the other channel)  and it didn’t occur to me that there might be a rerun of this Flip the following summer (this was in the before-times of no DVRs, On Demand,  Hulu, Netflix, or even VHS).

I was happy to see this skit some many years later on TVLand, but even this was an edited version of the original 60 minute broadcast  (Mr. Wilson had personally edited down his original show to 30 minute segments for syndication)  I know there were other skits on the show involving Nimoy, (for I had read about them in my LNAF Yearbook).  But these other skits may have been lost to posterity — I hope somewhere they still exist!  For now, enjoy these stills from the opening act of Flip!, where Flip wonders where the ear points are, and Nimoy goes into total Spock mode! The skit ends with Flip’s famous version of the High Five,(including the bump) – and of course, a Vulcan nerve pinch!

You can see the whole skit here.

The Daily Scrapbook: 8/23/13 (1977) — Roddenberry Projects

Here’s today’s flashback:  New Roddenberry Projects from Media Spotlight Magazine.  Gene discusses his latest projects and (at this point in 1977) the speculation and early pre-production regarding a possible Star Trek film.  It notes that the first outlines  which were written by such sci-fi notables  as Robert Silverberg, Harlan Ellison, Theodore Sturgeon, Dick Simmons and Chris Knopf were rejected by Paramount, just as they had rejected Gene’s original outline.  I think this initial action is what caused the first movie to be less Star Trek and more Hollywood.  Paramount dropped the ball here, rejecting the Trek creator and others who knew Trek well.  I can only imagine that a script from one of these authors, and direction by Philip Kaufman (Invasion of the Body Snatchers) might have been more true to the spirit of the original.                                                                                                                                And being  Media Spotlight,  the article  naturally features artwork and photos of the original series that have nothing to do with the article’s content!  (Ah, they were such a fanzine!)

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The Daily Scrapbook 8/21/13 “Inside Science Fiction”

Hey, this is my 500th post!

Here’s today’s flashback;  Another installment of Media Spotlight.  This time it’s “Inside Science Fiction” by  Jackie Lichtenberg, where she reviews the latest sci-fi related projects by our favorite Trek stars.  Especially noteworthy is the LP album Inside Star Trek, which I remember buying at the time for  @ $8.00, a big chunk out of my budget for the time.  It featured Gene Roddenberry chatting with De Kelley, Bill Shatner and most notably Mark Lenard as Sarek, discussing the fascinating ordeal of  Spock’s birth.  I still have that LP somewhere, although nowhere to play it!  The article also mentions that fans should get a hold of Leonard Nimoy’s recordings of The Martian Chronicles, although they might be a bit too expensive for your average geek’s wallet.  The author extols Nimoy on his “rich, velvet voice”.  There’s also interesting insights on how “The City on the Edge of Forever might have been if writer Harlan Ellison had his way (a footnote of Star Trek production legend is about how much Ellison hated the way his original script was edited into the legendary episode that aired.  (To his credit, Ellison won a Writer’s Guild of America’s Award for his original teleplay).

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My Weekly Spock 8/19/13 Night Gallery “She’ll be Company For You”

In a 1972 episode of Rod Serling’s Night Gallery, Nimoy played Henry Auden, a recent widower who isn’t too upset that his invalid wife Margaret has passed away.  Although he loved her, he can’t help feeling mildly relieved at his  freedom from his constant care of his late wife.  A creepy friend of Margaret’s gets him a cat who’ll ‘be company for him’, but Henry is slowly driven crazy between still hearing the bell his wife used to ring, and a sneaking suspicion that this little kitty is actually a wild cat out to kill him…  The episode also co-starred Kathryn Hayes, whom Trek fans will recognize as “Gem” from The Empath (I always like it when actors get to work more than once together in different venues).  Here, they argue and almost kiss. (It always seemed to be ‘almost’ or no kissing for Nimoy whenever he appeared in these ’70’s shows;  maybe the TV execs were afraid his fans would simultaneously combust a the sight…)  Even though Nimoy’s character here wasn’t the nicest, I couldn’t help but feel sorry for his fate.  Ironically, Nimoy’s always been an animal lover in reality, but not here!

#32 “Friday’s Child”

In the spirit of completely misleading 1960’s movie posters, it seemed logical to present Friday’s Child as a comedy! (This was totally inspired by the ridiculous REAL publicity picture of Kirk and Eleen!)   Two posters in two days, I guess I’m on a roll!  It also mildly references Three Men and a Baby, which as you know was directed by Mr. Nimoy in the 1980’s.

32-Fridays Child