1984 Interview With Mark Lenard

 As a regular reader of this blog you may have noticed that a number of recent posts have been from the Enterprise Incidents magazine (as opposed to the earlier versions when I refer to it as a fanzine); well, I had recently taken out a stack from one of my collection cabinets and realized how much Trek material there was left to feature. So, I will continue to post articles from various issues until I feel that it has been properly represented here and not overwhelmed in number by Starlog posts (which are now all available online in a collection anyway).

This time we open issue #18, published in June of 1984 (the year that "Splash" came out; seems like a long time ago now), and we are featuring a nice lengthy interview with "Sarek" himself, Mark Lenard. Thanks again to editor and writer James Van Hise for publishing this. Enjoy!

(Click on images to enlarge; once open, you may have to click on it once more to view full-size.)

Extra: As an aside, I wish to quote writer D. C. Fontana (from a letter to fanzine Spockanalia,) on the subject of other children belonging to Sarek: "Both his mother and father have been married only once... to each other... Spock is an only child... there are absolutely no other siblings..." So, that would put Star Trek 5: The Final Frontier" out the canoniacal window... where, I believe, it firmly belongs. 

Bonus #1: Since the article was released before the movie and there were no images of Sarek in his movie costume and makeup, below is a nice publicity photo.

 

Bonus #2: Below, another one of the1967 Leaf bubblegum cards that continues the trend of nonsensical captions.

Bonus #3: A rare autographed photo of DeForest Kelley that was found along with some others in a record jacket bought at a thrift store. Talk about stumbling onto hidden gold! Go here to view all the others, they are quite amazing!

New Rare Nichelle Nichols/Uhura Pics Surface!

STOP THE PRESSES!!!

I thought I'd seen most photos of Nichelle Nichols candid shots taken during the series that there were to see. How wrong I was. When I stumbled across these photos on a post here, I almost hyperventilated. My heart was pounding and I was breathing fast. How could these not have surfaced before? What is their source and why are they only now being seen? I would love to know the whole story behind these photos.

They show Nichelle in a breath-taking series of images taken on the set as she presents stunning dance moves and sexy poses as only she can do. And all as Uhura! Boggle! My mind is reeling. Feast your eyes on these, and pay your respects to the site that published them: The Star Trek Prop Authority.
Original Link: http://www.startrekpropauthority.com/2015/01/nichelle-nichols-rare-and-artistic.html

Update from my ST Scrapbook fanpage guest comment about it: "These were for sale on eBay recently by someone who has a whole cache of negatives. They were about 10.00 a piece for 8x10s. They had ridiculous poses of William Shatner as well which I bought. They were selling them last year for about 25.00-50.00 each and then started selling them again at a much reduced price." -W. P. Bell

Below, my reaction at seeing these newly-discovered photos!

Next time: more seldom-seen photos of the First Lady of Star Trek!

1984 ST:TMP Special Edition Article

In 2001, fans of Star Trek: The Motion Picture were treated to Director Robert Wise's "finished version" of the film (The Director's Edition), as he had considered the theatrical release so rushed as to not be what he wanted on screen. This is to me the definitive version, the one I take out and watch now whenever I get the desire to revisit the movie. The tighter edit, the more lush sound effects, the cleaned-up visual effects, and most of all the new visuals created for it (for those that could not be added originally due to the last-minute pressures)... all combine to make it a more pleasant viewing experience, in my opinion. (Finally, we know what V'Ger itself looked like in a long shot without the cloud! I never knew in all those years it even had a defined shape. It reminded me of the ship hidden in Halley's Comet in the film "Lifeforce.")

However, back in 1983 we were treated to a longer version of the film that added in cut scenes. Did it improve it? I feel it did in some respects; some of the cut scenes needed to be back in, others are today more rightly relegated to the "Deleted Scenes" extra on the menu on DVD or Blu-Ray. But back then we were so excited to see "more Trek" that even a longer and more drawn-out version of the movie was interesting to see.

In this article by James Van Hise from his Enterprise Incidents magazine, issue #13 (the first to go national after the promotion from fanzine), published in January of 1984, we have a scene-by-scene comparison of the theatrical cut and the extended TV cut, which turned up on home video later. The intense desire by Wise back then to have a "finished version" can be seen in the write-up, and it was something that took over 20 years for him to get to do. I'm thankful we got to see him accomplish that before his passing shortly afterward.

(Click on images to enlarge; once the picture is open,
you may have to click again to view full-size.)

Bonus: Below are two more pages from the 1976 Lincoln Enterprises "Star Trektennial" catalog that was the Trekker equivalent of Sear's Catalog. I have scanned the cover and first two pages before (page 1 here and page 2 here); and I intend on adding all of them in time. There are so many things on there that I wish I had ordered back then and had now.... 

Bonus #2: Below, the cover to my real introduction to Star Trek and the beginning of my love affair with it. I had never even seen a complete episode of the show up to that point, (only snippets here and there as the parents had me flip channels around) but was starting to become aware of it and absolutely loved what little I had seen. The animated episodes were next, and added fuel to the fire!

 

The cover blurb calls him Scotty, but tell me that doesn't look like Spock that McCoy is attacking with the SpaceVac!

Bonus link: Great poster from this Trekker Scrapbook blog! It looks like Pike and Vina are having fun and doing a great job at entertaining the inhabitants of Talos IV!

The Cage and The Menagerie: A Comparision

Last time, we looked at some content from nationally published fanzine-turned-pro Enterprise Incidents #16, one of the earlier issues (after making the leap from specialty shop to drugstore magazine rack) that still leaned heavily on Trek material, before branching out in later editions to cover other sci-fi films, similar to Starlog. I for one wished they had remained Trek-centric, but I know they wanted to broaden their readership and appeal. This time we mine more from this issue, an article by Hise that examined the differences between the complete first pilot "The Cage" and what was changed or cut out when it was incorporated into the two-part episode "The Menagerie." The color photo of Vina as the Green Orion Slave Girl is one that I have never seen anywhere else, and was a welcome sight to see!

(Click on images to view full-size. Once open, you may have to click on the picture again to magnify.)

Bonus: A publicity photo of Kirk with a couple of robotic companions from "I, Mudd." Apparently, these were the 'droids he was looking for.

"Double your pleasure, double your fun!"

Bonus link: Watch the latest New Voyages episode "Mindsifter" here!

"The Wrath Of Khan" Behind The Scenes Article

From issue #16 of Enterprise Incidents (published April of 1984), edited by superfan James Van Hise, comes this behind-the-scenes article on the first sequel. The photos are great, but the really interesting part is the text with the information from the director Nick Meyers!

 (Click on images to enlarge; once open, you may have to click again to magnify.)

The woman in the top photo of the page above seems to be thinking the herself "Wow, what awesome pecs!" Meyer confirms they are real in the article.

Below, two pages of technical drawings of the Enterprise from the same issue, focusing more on the detailing of the model than the parts of the ship.

 

Bonus #1: Below, the best color photo I've seen of Khan's child that was cut from the film. There is another photo of him in this article I posted earlier about TWOK and Nick Meyer.

Bonus #2: Shatner raiding the fridge while shooting the series!

"Welcome to my Dressing Trailer! Care for some sherry before I show you the 'Captain's Log?'"

Gerald Fried Plays His Own TOS Medley

The musical scores of Gerald Fried written for classic Trek episodes continue to echo in the hearts and minds of Trek fans with a deep resonance and bring to the face a smile. Here is footage made by Larry Nemecek of the composer playing a medley of his most memorable scores, recorded on December 3, 2012 during a special launch party for LaLa Land Records' incredible 15-disc original Star Trek complete soundtrack box set.

Bonus: Below, some screen captures from the episode "The Tholian Web" of Uhura in sickbay. No reason for posting these given; for Uhura/Nichelle fans like me, none is needed!

(Click on each image to view full size; once the window opens,
you may need to click the image again to enlarge.)