First color photos from ST:TMP

It was a good Thanksgiving that year... in part because I was so thankful and happy to see these first color photos released, in the November 28th, 1978 edition of The Star tabloid. But some fans couldn't wait for official releases, apparently... according to the article below, even back then those pesky Trekkers were a security problem!

Enterprise To Fly Again

The newspapers had been running articles about Star Trek's return since 1975, but not until the press conference held in summer of 1978 with Robert Wise, Roddenberry and the cast did it become real. They were filming it, finally! The excitement starts to build...

And then... it hit! On August 12, 1978, the very first photo was released to newspapers. Below is a scan of my clipped copy from the Ft. Lauderdale newspaper. The first new image of Kirk, Spock and McCoy in 10 years! My fingers were trembling with excitement as I cut it out and put it in my scrapbook.

Shortly afterward, on August 25th, a second exciting photo appeared, which is below...

But these two b&w pics were the only ones forthcoming for pretty much the rest of the summer. It would be later in the year, in November, before more photos were revealed in full color. See those memory-jogging articles here soon!

Shatner May Not Be In New Star Trek Movie

Gotcha! The article is about the first ST movie, not the new one for 2009.

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.

But eventually it would happen... and in the days, weeks and months leading up to the 2009 release of the new Star Trek movie by JJ Abrams, I'll be posting many articles and items having to do with the creation of Star Trek: The Motion Picture. It was an exciting time unlike any other for Trek fans, and I hope that the posts here help you recapture that period... or if you're too young to remember it, to see what it might have been like.

1976 Crawdaddy article

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.

1976 TV Movie Scene: ST Comes Back!

Love this rare behind-the-scenes shot of the crew having a laugh while rehearsing. (See bottom of this post for a color photo taken at the same time.)

Note the Don Post "Capt. Kirk" mask that Gene is posing with; that's one of the kind used for Michael Meyers in Halloween, just altered by being spray painted white with different hair added. I attribute Michael's ability to overcome knitting needles, coat hangers, butcher knives and six bullets to the Power of the Shat imparted by the mask.

The photo of Nichelle in her miniskirt and white go-go boots was exciting, because I have had a crush on her from the beginning. I loved that sassy pose!

Back in 1976, I was always on the hunt for ST-related items in any type of magazine. In Macon, GA where I lived (my hometown) there was a used bookstore downtown that I went to when I could. They had stacks of pre-read magazines of the tv/movie-fan sort, and they very often had ST articles and photos in them. A good part of my Star Trek scrapbook was from these sources, and one had a regular monthly ST photo as a feature, and that was always great to find. When it was a big article like this one, it was particularly exciting, especially when it talked about the possibility of Trek returning.

Not from the magazine, but found online, this awesome behind-the-scenes picture was taken during the same rehearsal as the one on the first page of the article. Nichelle is vamping it up here in a way I've never seen and I adore it. She seemed to be the life of the party that day! Here's a larger version, although darker.

Star Trek Gadgets article

The article on the right I clipped from the National Enquirer circa 1975. This was the first of many articles over the years that talked about the tech in Trek working it's way into the real world, often by inspiring young technology developers.

Shatner has even done a book and a TV special about the topic, as have other writers. I many ways what we have has surpassed the filmed Treknology of the 60s', which predicted a lot quite well. The big ones, like warp drive and transporters, we are still a long way off from having, if ever.

Next is a short bit about Shatner clipped from a movie/tv fan magazine, which went into the trash as soon as the article was cut out by me. Who cared about all the other things in it? I was on a hunt for Trek stuff only. Note that the Shat's propensity for shirt removal was not limited to the show only. If only there had been more equality for the women on the show in that regard.

And as an extra bonus, below is the cover of a magazine from May 1977. During it's short run it did a lot of Trek related items.

The Enterprise Becomes Reality

Clipped from the Ft. Lauderdale News and Sun-Sentinel on Sept. 18, 1976.