Because I've been feeling like total shit, I am almost done reading
Inside Trek book that I started rereading last year. This is the
third season with the space hippies.
Here are a few more thoughts.
-Gene Roddenberry checks out: At the beginning of season three, Gene
pretty much checked out of the series he fought and busted his ass
for. I think he grew tired of the battles with the Network and the
studio. He left his big office and moved to a smaller one on the
other side of the studio. While Justman felt he should have gotten
the Producer title because all of his work, he had to share it with a
new producer.
-Making
of Star Trek: The writer had to share the “written by” with
Gene as part of the arrangement. He also had to share 50/50 with
Gene despite Gene not writing and researching the book. Ouch.
Again, Gene didn't own ST, so he underhandedly got his money from the
show anyway he could. The book was a huge hit, and Gene got 50/50,
just like the musical rights to the ST theme song.
-They got the newer (fitting) uniforms late in season two, but were
connected to the season 3. Shatner and others hated the early
uniforms because they kept shrinking.
-Shatner started to gain weight early on in the third season and it
showed. Justman and Gene were worried about how the weight would
show on the camera. However, Shatner took a look at some dailies and
understood. He lost the weight for the most part, but he does still
look heavier in the last batch of episodes.
-Save Star Trek: The show was saved for a second time due to a
letter writing campaign. Fans fought so hard for the show, yet Gene
immediately pulled. This always bothered me, because he used his
fans as weapons and then would leave them behind. He used the fan
again a few times after he was demoted by Paramount against Bennett
in the Trek movies.
-The show was promised a new/bigger budget: However, they actually
cut the budget even more and the show really suffered. Without Gene
or a budget, the show's quality really went down. However, there
were new models made for the show. Not too many location shoots and
more tight shots and scenes on the Enterprise.
-Fred
Freiberger was brought in as the creative Producer with Justman
sharing the Co-Producer title. Many at the time and today blame him
for the problems of the third season. He pissed off many of the
cast. He even brought in a non-actor/friend to play a major part in
And
the Children Shall Lead . Lawyer Melvin
Belli played the part in one of the worst episodes of TOS. Fred
had tried to defend his position for years, but the scripts do speak
for themselves. Justman left midway through the season. Almost all
of Gene's creative were gone.
-Shatner/Nimoy
feud came to a head during the third season. Gene, Fred, Justman,
Nimoy, and Shatner had a major meeting. They wanted to know who
was the star of the series. Fred asked Gene, Gene not really into
Trek anymore had an answer, “Shatner is the star”.: I think
this was the final straw in the relationship between Gene and Nimoy.
I think Gene should have never answered the question.
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