70s Trek: Star Trek In The 1970s

During the 1970s, it was one of the most widely read magazines by kids. Dynamite Magazine  was published by Scholastic, Inc. from 1974 to 1992. During its run, it was the most successful magazine for the company...ever!   Dynamite was an educational magazine that was distributed through schools.  So it was widely read by kids.  If you were a public school kid in the 1970s and 80s, you probably remember it. The publication covered things that young people were into: Athletes, actors, musicians, and popular TV shows and films. It especially featured sci-fi adventure shows and movies.  That included Star Trek. So this week, Dynamite gets the 70s Trek-treatment as we tell you all about it.  

Gene Roddenberry and Paramount had been working on it for 4-½ years, and fans had been waiting for over ten. In December 1979, it was finally here. Star Trek The Motion Picture was in theaters. And this week we will be going to the movies as co-hosts Bob turner and Kelly Casto finally talk about this film. It was December 7, 1979. The decade of the 1970s only had three weeks left. Fans were finally getting a chance to see Star Trek The Motion Picture.  For them, this movie was the answer to their hopes and dreams. Star Trek was returning, and being a Trekkie was being validated with a major motion picture in the theaters. For Gene Roddenberry there had to be a feeling of relief and exhilaration, as well. He had been through so much frustration during the decade as he tried to bring Star Trek.   Finally, it was up there, on the big screen. During this week's show, Bob and Kelly will look at the movie based on their recollections and try to answer the following questions:    Is it a traditional Star Trek Story

He was one of the original producers of Star Trek and helped launch the show. John D. F. Black was hired in 1966 as an Executive Story Consultant. He passed away in November 2018 at the age of 85. With his passing so recent, we felt it appropriate to remember him on this episode of 70s Trek.  

It was the 10th episode to air in the first season, but was actually the first one to go in front of the cameras after Star Trek had been sold to NBC. The Corbomite Maneuver aired on November 10, 1966. And despite it being made over 50 years ago, it is still a really good episode. As 70s Trek approaches Star Trek’s first movie, we thought it would be fitting to look back to Star Trek’s first episode. We wanted to draw an imaginary line between the first Trek episode filmed, and the first movie. The episode was filmed in late May 1966 and it was the first time that the whole cast was together.  DeForest Kelley and Nichelle Nichols did not appear in the 2nd pilot, Where No Man Has Gone Before. Corbomite was also the first time we saw the characters in the positions they would be in for the rest of the series.  Sulu was the helmsman, Uhura the communications officer, and so on. This is the first time that the crew's "look" was finally established, as well. The men are wearing the colorful uniform shirts with the

It was the first major film adaptation of a TV show...A show that had been off the air for ten years!  December 7th, 1979: It’s the day Star Trek The Motion Picture premiered. And fans had been eagerly awaiting this day for ten years. In his book “Star Trek Creator,” David Alexander described that Gene Roddenberry and Robert Wise worked on the film until the last minute. He wrote, “...perhaps not finishing the film so much as simply doing as much as they could in the time permitted...and then stopping.” Robert Wise took a print of the film with him for the premiere that was fresh from the lab. When arrived in DC, there was a lot of excitement and anticipation for the film.  In her book “The Making of Star Trek The Motion Picture,” Susan Sackett writes, “The fans had been mentally standing in ticket lines before the lines ever existed.  As early as February 1979, The Star Trek production offices were swamped with requests for premiere tickets.”

The tagline of 70s Trek has been, “The decade that built a franchise.” This week, we take a deep dive into the 1970s. The show has been about how Gene Roddenberry, Paramount Pictures and others worked in the 70s to bring Star Trek back. But it’s also our contention that the decade itself was a major player in Trek’s return, too.  So this week, we’re talking the 70s. And that could include anything from the Vietnam War to...The James Gang! The Decade So when we think about the 1970s, it’s a mashing of images and sounds.  The 70s was this great blending of clothing styles, musical styles and colors. The 70s started, obviously, where the 60s ended. So there is a carry over of what was happening in 1969.  Things like The Vietnam War, protests about the war, the hippie culture, and student unrest were extended well into the 1970s. But in the 70s, it seems like a harsh dose of reality kicked in and the psychedelic 60s came to an end.  There is perhaps no event that symbolizes this idea more than the Kent State shoo

On this episode of 70s Trek, we’ll discuss the man who designed V’Ger. Syd Mead was brought in to do one job: That was designing something strange and unusual for the alien craft seen in Star Trek The Motion Picture. What he created was actually the second V’Ger model.  The first was made by Abel and Associates. It didn’t turn out so well...just like so much that was connected with this film.  The model was only four-feet long and looked like a submarine. After Abel and Associates were fired, the new visual effects supervisor, Douglass Trumbull, hired Syd Mead to do a new design.  The resulting model was 68-feet long!  Big enough to show on screen how large and imposing V'Ger was meant to be. His creation looks like it has organic origins, like it was grown, rather than built. Unfortunately, we never get to clearly see the whole model in the theatrical version of the film, only sections up close.    

This week we are wrapping up Gene Roddenberry’s novelization of Star Trek The Motion Picture. This was Gene’s only book and was based on an early script by Harold Livingston.  Of course, the script was based on a story by Alan Dean Foster, the author of the Log books during the 70s.   In this episode, Bob Turner and Kelly Casto will look at chapters 14 through 28 and give their thoughts on the book. Listen to 70s Trek Episode 115 for part 1 on this novel.

It’s the first Star Trek novel published by Pocket Books, and the only book Gene Roddenberry ever wrote. The novelization of Star Trek The Motion Picture was based on an earlier version of Harold Livingston’s script.   Because of that, there are some distinct differences between the movie and the book. Co-hosts Bob Turner and Kelly Casto tell you what they are on this episode of 70s Trek. When it was released in the fall of 1979, the novel for Star Trek The Motion Picture immediately landed on the Bestseller’s list, selling nearly one million copies. The novel is important because it establishes Kirk’s middle name as Tiberius.  It also states that Will Decker’s father was Commodore Matt Decker. That character appeared in The Original Series episode, The Doomsday Machine. Neither of these things was ever mentioned on TV or in films. The book also gave a name to the type of Klingon Battle Cruiser we see in the film. It is known as the K't'inga Class. Of course, of all the novels written over the decades, this i

When Star Trek The Motion Picture hit theaters, fans saw two new additions to the cast. During The Original Series, we got to meet guest characters that helped to tell that week’s story. But they were never members of the crew. But when we meet Decker and Ilia, they are the first, new, significant crew members to join the ship since Ensign Chekov in the 2nd season. While we only see these characters in this movie, they do have meaningful roles in the film. That could be due to the fact that the script for The Motion Picture was originally to be the pilot film for the aborted TV show, Star Trek Phase II.  That story was called In thy Image. Had Phase II gotten the green light and moved into production, Decker and Ilia played by Collins and Khambata would have been ongoing, major characters.   This week we’ll tell you about actors Stephen Collins and Persis Khambata.

As the promotion for Star Trek The Motion Picture geared up, Paramount made sure there was plenty of merchandise released to promote the film in December 1979. One of those items was a comic adaptation of the film.  Gold Key Comics had been publishing its Star Trek series since 1967.  With a new Star Trek movie about to be released, Paramount decided it was time to end Gold Keys involvement. The last Gold Key issue to be published was issue 61, marked March 1979, just months before the premiere of The Motion Picture. Paramount wanted a fresh new take in the comics, and one that reflected Star Trek’s new direction.  So they decided to go with Marvel, the home of Spider-Man, The Hulk and the Fantastic Four. This week we’ll tell you about Marvel's involvement with Star Trek, starting with the adaptation of The Motion Picture.

He is an unsung hero from The Original Series. Associate producer Bob Justman was a key figure in keeping the production side of Star Trek functioning on time ...and on budget. He came to Star Trek in 1965 and started at the beginning, working on the first pilot, The Cage. Justman stayed until 1968, working on 14 of the 24 shows in the third season. Like Gene Coon, Bob Justman had a real impact on the show while he was there. He was a major player in getting Star Trek off the ground and functioning as a production. On this episode of 70s Trek, co-hosts Bob Turner and Kelly Casto tell you about Associate Producer Bob Justman. Show Notes          Robert "Bob" Harris Justman was born July 13, 1926 in Brooklyn          ⁃        As a boy he really liked Science Fiction          ⁃        His father Joseph Justman was in the produce business. He and his partners did very well.          ⁃        In 1944, Bob signed up for the draft. He didn’t get drafted so he went to the draft board and asked why he wasn’t drafted.

When it comes to special effects professionals from the 1970s, two names came to mind: Douglas Trumbull and John Dykstra. When Doug Trumbull was brought in to do the effects on Star Trek The Motion Picture, he was given carte blanche to get them produced on time. To do this, he recruited a team of some of the best visual effects people in the world. That included his friend, John Dykstra. He served as the supervisor of visual effects on projects like the original Battlestar Galactica and Star Wars. In 1979 he jumped in to help create over 500 visual effects for The Motion Picture. But the workload ahead of them was considerable: They needed to create more special effects than those in Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind...combined!   Of course for Dykstra to work on The Motion Picture, he had to have a pretty significant background. Silent Running Back in 1971, Trumbull was recruiting recent college grads to work with him on the film Silent Running.  This was to save money due to the film’s low b

Principal photography wrapped on Star Trek The Motion Picture on January 26, 1979. Most of the cast and crew headed off to other work. But director Robert Wise and those working on the film’s post production stayed on the job.  They had less than 11 months to get the film ready. The Final Shot The last scene shot for the film was the one that saw Decker and the Ilia-probe merge. The lighting for this shot was so bright that actors Stephen Collins and Persis Khambatta both complained about vision problems the following day. Of course, their vision did eventually clear. When that shot was complete, everyone went home and director Robert Wise went on a short vacation. When he returned, it was time to start editing. They had a lot to do in a short period of time because of delays.   Visuals Were Behind the Eight Ball Production on the film had run over schedule. On top of that, the visual effects were essentially non-existent.  Abel and Associates, the company contracted to create the film's visual effects, had a

The premiere of Star Trek The Motion Picture was set for December 7, 1979. As that date grew closer in the fall of '79, there was a flood of products released into stores, all designed to help promote the film. On this episode of 70s Trek, co-hosts Bob Turner and Kelly Casto discuss some of the products that tied into the film. The merchandise that was released took many forms. There were books, comics, models, games, toys and more that all tied into the movie. Some were unique such as the gold, 14-inch Mr. Spock Grenadier decanter. Or first-time products such as the McDonald's Star Trek Meal, the first-ever tie-in promotion for a Happy Meal. Some were curious, too. Such as Paramount's decision to release The Motion Picture for the home viewing market on Super 8 film. This choice came as Betamx and VHS tapes were growing in use and the home film market was dying. Interestingly, the move by Paramount makes Star Trek The Motion Picture the only film or program in the franchise to be released on Super 8.      

With his work on Star Trek The Motion Picture, he created the musical template for the franchise for the next 26 years. Composer Jerry Goldsmith re-imagined what Star Trek music could be in 1979.  He created a score unlike anything that had come before. This week, co-hosts Bob Turner and Kelly Casto talk about this award-winning composer who made a lasting impact on the franchise. It’s safe to say that the legacy of Jerry Goldsmith is that he set the standard, and in deed the template, for what Star Trek music would be for the following 26 years. Even if he didn’t work on it, every movie and TV show that followed through 2005 all had his influence. They were all the same musically. And it’s all because of the work Jerry Goldsmith did for The Motion Picture.

When it was revealed at the end of Star Trek The Motion Picture that a Voyager probe was actually the mysterious V’Ger, moviegoers experienced instant recognition. Voyager 1 and 2 had launched just two years before and in 1979, both probes were in the news again as they approached Jupiter. So audiences easily recognized the name and the shape of the Voyager probe in the movie.  Talk about being timely! The star Trek production team hit a home run with this surprise reveal. NASA Inspires Livingston and Roddenberry It’s brilliant what Harold Livingston and Gene Roddenberry did. By placing a Voyager probe at the center of the story for The Motion Picture, they tied their futuristic movie to real events that were happening in 1979. Voyager 1 was in the news in the fall of 1978 as it approached Jupiter. Clearly Livingston and Roddenberry heard the news, and decided to make it part of the story. And Voyager 1 and 2 remained in the news from January to August in 1979 as both probes passed by Jupiter. So audiences he

In 1978, a movie hit theaters that showed just how far special effects had come. Superman The Movie Wowed audiences and set the bar really high when it came to special effects. The tagline in the marketing campaign for Superman The Movie was, “You’ll believe a man can fly.”  That tagline was something of a message to the creators of the new Star Trek movie. By December 1978, principle photography was wrapped and it had moved into post-production. But you could say that with Superman’s impressive special effects and story, Star Trek needed to ensure that audiences, “would believe space travel is real.” And pressure was already mounting internally on the production as it ran over schedule and budget. Visual effects were going poorly, as well, as the company in charge of producing them fired not long after. Then, there was Superman The Movie, a huge blockbuster hit in the same genre. That had to add the pressure to the production team.  But Superman did something else for The Motion Picture. It got audiences rea

In 1979, visual effects supervisor Doug Trumbull walked into an impossible situation on The Motion Picture and completely turned it around. Douglas Trumbull It’s fair to say that when you think about visual effects from the 1970s, two names come to mind: John Dykstra and Doug Trumbull.  During the 1960s and 70s, Trumbull developed an impressive resume. When he finally came to Star Trek in 1979, he had worked on four of the biggest sci-fi movies in the previous 11 years. And it was that experience that helped him do the impossible on The Motion Picture.  Trumbull came to Star Trek late, and as a result had very little time to execute on a huge amount of work. The company that had previously been hired to produce the effects, Abel & Associates, had produced practically nothing that could be used. Trumbull joined the production after Abel had been fired. He only had 6 months left until the premiere date and had 525 special effects shots to produce.  This was a near impossible task. Added to this situation wa

In the 1970s, there was a version of Star Trek produced that did not feature the original actors. The audio adventures of Star Trek produced by Power Records did have a different cast and featured all-new stories of the crew of the Enterprise. They stand out as something unique in the 1970s.  It is the first produced version of Star Trek that featured an entirely new cast.  Unfortunately, we don’t know who they are.  The voice actors were not listed on the albums and they don’t appear anywhere on the internet.  So their identities have been lost through the years. There is more about these stories that we don't know, as well. For instance, these stories were sold with comic books. And the identities of the illustrators and writers for some of them are not listed. But we do know that there were a few big names connected with the stories.  Several were written by some notable names like comic book writers Neal Adams, Dick Giordano, John Buscema and Cary Bates. Another writer of these stories was author Alan Dea