"Search For Spock" article from Twilight Zone magazine

From the August, 1984 edition of "Twilight Zone" magazine, comes this article on "The Search For Spock." The main article is an interview with Leonard Nimoy on directing the movie, and there is an inset writeup on Cathie Shirriff, who plays Valkris. She was first Klingon female we had seen in the movie series, beginning the welcome tradition of Klingon Kleavage.

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"I challenge you to a battle of the Bh'Rhests."

Bonus: Below, another of the 1967 Leaf bubblegum cards, this time sporting a caption that actually makes sense. If it had continued the trend the other cards followed, it would have sported something like ""What's on the menu?" or "Opening the mail."

And one last bonus image, a nice publicity shot of Kirk and Bones on the bridge, in a slightly different pose than the others taken at the same session. Kirk looks a little uptight over something in this one.

"Forget it, Bones! I'm not going on another diet."

1986 Official Fan Club Magazine article on Nichelle Nichols

From issue #51 of "Star Trek: The Official Fan Club Magazine," comes this cover article on my favorite mini-skirted African-American Communications Officer; clarifying "favorite" because their was another. (Did you know that? I'll be doing a post on that subject soon.) Anyway, this interview with Nichelle Nichols was conducted a couple of months before the release of "The Voyage Home," in which she had a larger role than the previous films.

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Bonus: below, a lovely publicity shot of Uhura from a set of photos in the official newspaper press kit. I got quite a few press kits back in the day since I was friends with the lady that worked at the newspaper who dealt with them.

1977 article: "I Am Still Not Spock"

From issue #5 of "All About Star Trek Fan Clubs" magazine, published in October of 1977, comes a number of articles. First, the cover; a nice painting of the Russion whiz kid, Chenko... Chirpoff... er, Chekov, Pavel Andreievich.

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"Dees is my head, da; but painted on Keptin Kirrk's body."

The first article featured this time is one about Nimoy's continuing promotion of his autobiography, "I Am Not Spock." As we all know, he would give in to inevitability about 20 years later and write a followup called "I Am Spock;" which might as well have been titled "Alright Already, 'I AM Spock!' Happy Now? Sheesh!"

Next, from the same issue, comes this writeup on one fan's close encounter with Bill Shatner who is wearing a really loud shirt. Fortunately, his charisma and force of personality dominate it into submission, but it was a real fight for supremacy. If this girl Janet Haan is on Facebook or something she is probably going to want to kill me for posting this! But, I hope not. If you're out there, Janet, comment and let us know!

Somewhere in New Jersey a family discovers that their couch cover has gone missing.

And lastly, a photo album of Walter Koenig that includes one of him naked, which I know many of you have been wishing to see. Walter is the Woody Allen of the TOS cast, and with that photo it's easy to see he's always been that way... worried and a bit insecure; am I right? When your main characteristics as an actor on the show are a bad accent and the tendency to scream often, it's no wonder one might develop a bit of a inferiority complex.

Stop that or you'll go blind, Walter.

"I'm worried that people will confuse me wth Davy Jones of the Monkees."

If you want to see more articles from other issues of this magazine, use the "ST Fan Clubs Mag" tag on the sidebar! If Starlog was steak and potatoes, this publication was a greasy cheeseburger and fries... but still good when you're hungry like we were back then!

Gene Roddenberry Article from Starlog #2

From the second issue of Starlog, published in November of 1976, comes this article on the Great Bird of the Galaxy, Gene Roddenberry. Not a Trek cover, sadly, but a nice Space:1999 painting anyway.

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"Oh, no, Fred Frieberger is in control, we're doomed!"

The whereabouts of the three-foot filming miniature on the desk has become a minor mystery in the years since that photo was taken. Maybe someday it will show up again. Update: Susan Sackett sheds a little more light on the subject in a comment on the Facebook ST Scrapbook fan page: "Last I heard, it was on someone's coffee table. It was ripped off during the late 1970s when the first movie was being made. It was last seen at a special effects house... btw, I took that photo!"

Below, the next article in the issue was about the planned movie, still in its early stages at that time. In one paragraph we see that Gene's script named "The God Thing," essentially a vehicle for expressing his low opinion of religion, was rejected by the studio honchos. To their credit, they at least realized that a script debunking God as a petty, deceiving alien computer would not make a well-received film (as we can see from the later ill-fated Star Trek V, which re-worked the idea). Happily, this did not end the chances for the first movie being made. (Read more about the rejected script here and here.)

Below is a two-page collection of quotes from the same issue from various well-known people about the show...

Personal note: Although I admired Gene as the mastermind behind Star Trek, (he was my hero for many years) I do not share his views on the Judeo-Christian understanding of the Creator, and am uncomfortable posting them without clarifying that point. Although this is a light-hearted blog sharing nostalgic material about the original series (where the subject was hardly an issue), when a subject this close to my heart is brought up in the material and presented in a negative light, I feel the need to comment. And since this is my blog, I feel it's not infringing on anyone's perceived right to not be confronted by issues such as this. My readers come here, I don't take it to them. Escape is only a click away.

Gene, a vocal secular humanist, was not bashful about sharing his views, and neither am I. Contrary to appearances online, not all Trekkers are atheists. Although Gene's earlier Star Trek IDIC philosophy obstensibly made room for all, later statements in his personal life particularly excluded those who believed in God. Apparently universal tolerance could only extend so far. Some fans, too, seem to resent believers coming to the party. But we're here, and we love Trek too... even though we don't necessarily share the worldview it sometimes promotes. "Eat the meat and toss the bone" is my way of looking at it. I shall now descend from the soapbox, thank you for your patience.

Bonus: In keeping with the theme that has surfaced this time, below is a photo of Jeffery Hunter in his biggest role, the title character in the 1961 film "King of Kings," years before he took command of the starship as Captain Christopher Pike.

"Come unto Me, all you who are weary, and I will give you rest."

I've just found this tribute page to our favorite pre-Kirk captain of the Enterprise... enjoy!

"ST VI: The Undiscovered Country" review

From the scrapbook comes this positive review of the last original-cast film, clipped from the Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel newspaper, published on or near December 5th, 1991.

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It's funny how two different reviewers can have such wildly conflicting opinions on the same film, based on their perception of the source material. Here is another review, from the Miami Herald, which I posted earlier.
Bonus: Below, from the scrapbook is a popular publicity shot that many fans are familiar with!

Bonus #2: another of the wackily-captioned 1967 Leaf cards, this one particularly head-scratchingly strange.

Below is a photograph of a poster-sized pen-and-ink drawing I did in my senior year, 1976. The photo reduction is all that remains of it, the original having been wrecked during various moves. The dark shading over the text was a photo developing error by the friend in school that took it, they were not shaded in the original.

"Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home" review

From the scrapbook pages this time we read a review of the well-received "The Voyage Home." The inset clipping is from TV Guide. Of course these came out in 1986.

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Bonus: below, a page from the scrapbook that focuses on some clippings of mini-cons in the Miami area, with two of them from different papers on the same con, presented by the Star Trek Federation Of Fans. That was held on Labor Day weekend of 1975, which was August 30-Sept 1.(You can find out more about this fan club that was very active in the 70's by visiting their Facebook group here.) The inset photo clipping is from "The Star" tabloid, which often ran Trek-oriented bits now and then.

Bonus #2: The cover of one of the souvenir convention booklets put out by the STFF, with a great cover sketch of the androids Ruk and Andrea by co-founder Joyce Huser.

1975 Convention Flyer

From the scrapbook comes another of the mini-con flyers that I enjoyed receiving in the mail when I lived in Ft. Lauderdale, FL during the mid-70's. That was as close as I ever got to the cons; of course I didn't get to go, even though I was the perfect age to enjoy them, 16 to 17. (Regular readers know why. For those new to the blog, here's a clue.) I saved every one of these and put them in the old scrapbook pages for perservation. The con organizer was none other than James Van Hise, editor and publisher of the awesome fanzine Enterprise Incidents.

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Star Trek's direct ancestor and one of my all-time favorite sci-fi movies! Read another of my blog entries on this influential film here.

To find more of these convention brochures now or in the future after more are posted, use the "con brochures" tag on the sidebar.

Bonus: Below, some publicity pics of Fred Phillips and Nimoy during one of the makeup sessions preparing him for a day's filming.