Nimoy's screen test for the first pilot

Not yet even sporting the ears which would give him so much trouble, Leonard is tested for the role of Spock, These series of photos were reproduced in an issue of the excellent fan magazine "Enterprise Incidents," of which you will be seeing more of here very soon.

The woman in the shot is an unidentified actress, in the shot to show the contrast between fair skin and Nimoy's darker makeup, to see how it looked in black-and-white, since most TVs were still black-and-white in those days.

From the Blooper Vaults: Adam Nimoy visits the set and pulls a joke on pop!

"Daddy, can I have a Sehlat for my birthday? Ple-e-e-e-ease?
I promise I'll feed him and clean up after him!"

The Star Trek Pinball Machine

(Click on all images to view large-sized.)

Back in the laste 70's, Bally created a Star Trek pinball machine, which boasted terrific artwork. I remember just standing and gazing at it as I waited in the corner convenience store for the bus to arrive... I never played it, I didn't care for pinball, but the back panel painting made me salivate.

Below are some close-up images of the various parts of the machine. Put in a quarter and score!

In 1979 the machine was updated by the same artist with new ships, uniforms and characters, based on the original art. The back panel art is what was mainly affected... almost everything on the rest of the machine stayed the same, except for changing the generic crew-woman to Illia. This is the one seen the most and remembered fondly by fans of the time. First is the original flyer advertising it to store owners...

And the new, updated artwork, still on of the coolest images of the original crew ever painted. Dynamic and exciting! How I wish they would have sold posters of just that artwork...

And below ia a picture of the playing field...

Below is an ad from Starlog Issue #24 for their contest to win the ST pinball machine, plus other prizes.

Unrelated: Below is a drawing I did that got published in the New Eye Studios catalog during a fan art contest. It was actually the first one they ran.

The new midshipmen find out that James Tiberius Kirk lives up to his name.

"All About Star Trek Fan Clubs" magazine

(Click on images to view full-size.)

Issue #1

In 1977 a magazine appeared that only ran six issues. Made by fans for fans, "All About Star Trek Fanclubs" was mainly filled with photos of the stars as taken at conventions, fan creations and artwork, Trek news events, etc. The publication, while an admirable effort, seemed a little more amatuerish than most widely-published efforts, as if a local fan club suddenly found a national distribution for their fan magazine. It also seemed slanted toward the teeny-bopper fangirls; for example, who but them would hang a poster of Leonard as a young boy, featured in one issue, on their wall? But there was enough of interest to me that I bought every issue, and still have them.

Issue #2

Issue #3


Issue #4

Issue #5


Issue #6




The Shat, from one of the photo spreads in an issue of the mag, in an expressive mood a couple of years before the first movie.

Another Funky Winkerbean strip, the last one in the buildup to ST:TMP, published on Dec. 10, 1979.

The computer in the strip got to see it before I did. My stepdad was watching like a hawk for any opportunity I might take to go see the movie, but I fooled him, acting cool about it and waiting until January to see it, after the heat was off. I finally saw it with a minimal crowd in a small theater in the first week of January 1980. As usual for me, I smuggled in my boxy Radio Shack tape deck under my coat, and taped the whole thing for playback later.

After reading a book on Pon-Farr, the crew assures Spock they will all help in any way possible.

Photo Caption Fun! Got a funny caption for this photo? Leave it in the Comments area for all of us to enjoy... but do try to keep it from being too raunchy.

1979 Movie Stars ST:TMP article

I clipped these pages from the January 1980 edition of "Movie Stars" magazine. It actually came out in December of 1979, just before the movie. My Trek-sensors were on maximum power and I found articles and news items everywhere!

I think McCoy's being affected by the Deltan pheremones... his palms are starting to sweat.

Another Funky Winkerbean strip , from 12-8-79.

As a humorous aside, my stepdad was particularly on edge during that Christmas season. Star Trek was everywhere, and it raised his blood pressure to see it so successful in the public eye and so prominent. Star Trek was two four-letter words in our house because of my love for it, and suddenly, it was on TV commercials, in the newspaper, on the radio, etc. His knowing that I was enjoying it all made his life a little more miserable, and when we were both in the room when a TV spot played, the tension level rose dramatically, as if I had something to do with it. His fingers would involuntarily tighten around the edges of the newspaper page, and I would act as if nothing special was on, all the time trying not to watch the TV too closely. He couldn't even escape it in the funny page, as you can see from the comic strip above!

In space, no-one can hear you scream like a little girl...

Too late, Spock realized that you should never unzip your fly in the vacuum of outer space.

Photo Caption Fun! Have a funny idea? Leave your own caption for this photo in the comments area. (Btw, this unusual and somewhat alarming photo came from here.)

1976 TV Sci-Fi Monthly Issue #1

(Click on any image to view full-size)

What a great, little-seen photo for the cover!

In 1976 I lived in Ft. Lauderdale, and was 17. I had just bought my first car, a 1968 Mercury Cougar, and it has been my favorite car out of all I had; a first-love kind of thing. I finally had some freedom to go places I wanted (that were further than what I could walk), so every payday I would head over to my favorite place; a comic and SF collectables store called Starship Enterprises. I will add a post (with photos) on this wonderful place very soon; but suffice it to say for now that during that period I added many great items to my collection of books, magazines, etc.

One of the items I picked up each month was a British magazine called TV Sci-Fi Monthly, a newspaper-style publication with all color pictures printed on glossy paper. Sort of like a higher-class "Monster Times," which I loved also. I managed to get about 5 issues of the magazine, and in future posts I'll share more articles and images from it. I know you'll enjoy it; the magazine was excellent in both writing and original artwork! Below is the first in the series of articles on Trek from this awesome publication.

The second article inside was on Spock's boyhood, which I'll scan and post soon. Below is an image on the back cover that was worth the entire price; that photo of Vina as the Green Orion Slave Girl is one of the best publicity shots of her I've ever seen. Wowza!!!

Vina puts her best foot forward and into my heart.

Above is another installment of the Funky Winkerbean comic strip, from December 7, 1979. The week of the premiere of ST:TMP was an exciting one for the fans.

Fan Film: Paragon's Paragon

(Click on images to enlarge.)

Although fan-made Star Trek films have come into more of the public view lately, primarily because of the media exposure of "Star Trek: The New Voyages" by James Cawley and crew, they are not a new thing. Enterprising fans have been making their own Trek on Super 8 and videotape since the 70's. With the advent of digital video and PC editing available to the personal user, making Trek movies is more within the reach of the fan with time and a little money. They didn't have such technical tools back then... but that didn't stop them! They had imagination and the burning desire to make Star Trek themselves.

One of the earliest high-profile fan films (at least among other fans) was "Paragon's Paragon," by John Cosentino. The awareness was boosted by the article in the then-new magazine "Cinemagic" (issue 6, published in spring of 1976) and it has since become something of an urban legend; spoken of in hushed tones but seldom actually seen. It will be interesting to see if it turns up online anywhere soon as a result of the present inquiries about it.

The lack of computers to do effects (like the amateur film-makers of today have access to) meant they had to do the best they could with little-to-no budget. The hard work and long hours spent making sets and costumes, and filming under such limited conditions, are a testament to the love and devotion that the show has inspired among it's fans.

The story was a direct adaptation of the James Blish novel "Spock Must Die" which came out about 6 or 7 years earlier; although the article doesn't mention that. Here's the article in it's entirety... enjoy!

John, if you are still out there and get wind of this, please comment and catch us up on what you are doing, and if there is a way we could see what the film turned out like! We want to see it!

UPDATE: The film turns up!

Although the film is not available to view, I do have color screen captures from the video version to share with you! Go to this post to view them!

UPDATE #2 from 11-2010: John Cosentino contacts me! Yes, it's true, the film-maker himself found the posts I had made on the film, and emailed me. He plans on having the Super8 film digitized and then he will make available clips from it for us to see. Check back in soon for more developments!

Update for 4-24-12: John Cosentino, due to the input from fans wanting to know more, has begun a blog about the movie! Go here to read more, and get all the inside info! http://www.paragonsparagon.com/

A Labor Of Love

In retrospect, this mother (wherever she is) probably now realises this was a bit silly. But for fans at the time, ST:TMP was like the Second Coming and they weren't going to miss it.

If they'd stayed and she had the baby, everyone would have laughed and clapped at the end when Spock they had witnessed the birth of a new life form!

The excitement was at a fever pitch when the movie was coming out. In the next few posts I'll be adding some strips of a newspaper comic called "Funky" which reflected the anticipation.

Clipped from the Atlanta Constitution on December 6, 1979, the day before the movie opened.