1976 Tomorrow show with 3 TOS stars and Harlan Ellison

[mego73]

Actually, 75/76 was before the tv series Phase II came up. At this time they had two different movies that had been, or were in the works. The first started up in 74 and was called "Planet of the Titans"....its the story Ellison is talking about. By 76 the Titans idea was scrapped, and Roddenberry was pushing for a script he wrote called "The God Thing", the plot of which Deforest Kelley brought up....it got a laugh instead of a "hey thats a great idea" from Tom.Its funny as the story was very similar to Star Trek 5...a plot line Roddenberry wouldnt support when Shatner and Benett pitched it to him.
There were several other ideas thrown around (one included the universe being swallowed by a black hole) but these two story treatments were the only two that had any kind of preproduction work behind them....at least according to Roddenberry's biographies and books like PHASE II the lost series.

Paramount was commited to a cheapie film, shot in England, during the 74-76 period but a story could never be decided upon. In late 76 it was decided Trek couldnt be translated to film, and things were shelved for a couple of months until Paramount decided to put its own network together.... The Phase II concept came out of that, which worked itself into the Motion Picture.

I think it's safe to say that Star Trek would've probably only come back as a TV show if it weren't for Star Wars.

[huedell]

Thanks for posting this interview.

This Ellison guy is a trip He comes across as a real sharp guy.
If he likes hearing himself talk---well that's cool---I like hearing what he has to say---

Kelley/McCoy---always the most charismatic Original Trek character/actor to me--
-I enjoyed watching "the guy behind McCoy" talk---

Koenig---really frank---I appreciated his sincerity

Doohan---handsome guy back in those days. He's not Scottish---but looks
dang like Connery doesn't he?

And, yes STAR WARS helped STAR TREK---but this really sheds some light
on how STAR TREK kept "the sci-fi torch" burning in pop culture before
STAR WARS took it to the next level

[Captain]

I think it's safe to say that Star Trek would've probably only come back as a TV show if it weren't for Star Wars.

Yep, I agree....in fact, I wish it had. The movies were cool and all, but I really would have preferred seeing another 4 or 5 years with Kirk and the gang. I think the Xon/Spock issue would have quickly resolved itself, and Spock would have been back on board sooner than later. Even if he didnt, the Xon character had potential to be almost as interesting, as did Ilea....Decker doesnt seem to fleshed out to me, and I think the character would have been a lame duck...especially if Shatner hung around for the full run of Phase II.

[huedell]

Yep, I agree....in fact, I wish it had. The movies were cool and all...

Trek kicked into high gear once it was dominating on TV and in the theatres
at the same time

The quality may not have been up to everyone's standards all the time...but
the high visibility in the theatres was great for the franchise and it,
hopefully, will continue to be