Shatner and Nimoy have a laugh at their expense during filming.
Besides being together again, they're just happy to be working!
When it came to articles in various kinds of magazines concerning Star Trek, I had an eagle eye and could spot them a mile away. This was probably the first time I had ever picked up a copy or even looked at the Saturday Evening Post, but I didn't miss when they ran this pre-release article on Trek's rebirth.
Of course, much of the optimism over the new movie faded after it's release... but we won't talk about that now... these posts are to recapture the building excitement that fans felt during that heady time!
Although "The Star" got the scoop on the first color pics in the article posted last time, this was the first major mainstream publication to do a cover feature with color photos on the new movie. I had seen a preview in Friday's edition of the Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, that tipped me off to what was coming in the Sunday edition. So, prepared with that foreknowledge, I made a trip down to the drugstore on Sunday morning, December 10, 1978 to get several copies.
This was the most exciting thing that had come out about the movie so far, and I was thrilled beyond words. The fact that this was an event is demonstrated by the press coverage on the filming a full year away from the release. Below is the article that was inside. If you saw this years ago, I hope it brings back some memories. Some of that excitement is coming back now as the characters from the show are finding new life in the JJ Abrams movie, the trailer for which is now out and making waves, the like of which hasn't been seen since the days leading up to the unveiling of Star Trek: The Motion Picture.
If you are a regular reader of this blog you know that I had a constant conflict with my stepfather over my Star Trek obsession. As a grade-school dropout who worked in road construction, he resented my more cerebral interests and love of books, and science fiction. But Star Trek was the focus of his scorn since it was my one true overarching hobby. I had to keep my collection items out of sight lest they become targets for destruction, as he knew that was the one area I was most vulnerable to harm in. A belting I could take, but threaten my books or magazines and you had me by the short hairs.
Once I made the trip to the drugstore that morning, I tossed the rest of the papers and smuggled the two copies of Parade magazine in under cover. He was reading the same paper that had been delivered to the house, and I could see the Parade cover plainly sitting in the "read" pile. I knew he was expecting me to salivate over it, and eagerly hope to secretly claim it when he was through with it. But having my copies already, that particular bit of tension was non-existent and I coolly walked on by. A little later I found that Parade magazine in the trash (although the rest of the paper was still on the living room sofa) with a pile of wet coffee grounds on top of it for good measure; an act that no doubt brought him satisfaction at my imagined disappointment.
Although saddened by the fact that someone who should have been on my side as a father acted like an enemy even in such small matters, I was inwardly chuckling because I had outfoxed him again. Instead of taking the opportunity to make me happy by bringing the article to my attention, he took the opportunity to try to make me unhappy. But I got it in spite of him, and he added yet another brick to the wall between us that would remain till he passed away years later.
Star Trek truly was the bright spot in an otherwise dark home life as I went through my teen years, and many of my good memories revolve around it.
Shortly afterward, on August 25th, a second exciting photo appeared, which is below...
When the efforts began to get Star Trek restarted, it had more sudden jerks than Kirk's flivver driving in "A Piece of the Action." From reluctant stars to script problems, it seemed as if the Enterprise would never leave drydock. These two articles from 1977, one from The Star tabloid and the other from a Macon, GA. newspaper, illustrate the kind of coverage that the starts and stops got in the press.
The road to new Star Trek was long and full of potholes. It's a miracle it ever happened! This article in the rock music magazine "Crawdaddy" reveals some of the problems and pitfalls that were hindering Trek from being revived on film.
As one who lived through as a fan those lean years between the end of the series and the beginning of the movies, finds like this were the only thing we had to look forward to from week to week. Looking back at them now, it's interesting to see it again as past history.
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