Friday, November 14, 2008

Inside Star Trek: The Real Story by Herbert F. Solow and Robert H. Justman

Inside Star Trek: The Real Story by Herbert F. Solow and Robert H. Justman is an attempt to set the record straight. Solow[the co-producer] and Justman [the executive that oversaw production] make a convincing case that the "Gene Roddenberry myth" is exactly that a myth. It that throughout his life he refused to give others credit for important parts of the series. Their accounts are frequently backed up with excerpts from memos and other internal documents. On face value this comes off as an exposé but there's actually more here. There's material on the behind-the-scenes drama with NBC as well as the feuding actors. Literary science fiction fans will find the account of the City on the Edge of Forever controversy interesting. Harlan Ellison doesn't come off particularly well. Which let's face it isn't much of a surprise.

One minor criticism is that both writers are trying to be funny it is occasionally hard to tell if a situation is being played up for laughs or actually happen that way. For example when they were ready to start shooting the first pilot they were interrupted repeatedly.

Recommended!

1 comment:

Anysia of Booklorn.com said...

Hmm, I haven't heard of this one. I was just watching Star Trek: The Animated Series this morning.

I'll have to keep a look out for this one.