70s Trek: Star Trek in the 1970s

Welcome to the first new 70s Trek episode in 3 years! The release of the 4K, Ultra HD version of Star Trek The Motion Picture, The Director’s Edition, is such big news that co-hosts Bob Turner and Kelly Casto felt it deserved a new episode of 70s Trek. Star Trek The Motion Picture was originally released in theaters in 1979. It culminated ten years of hard work, false starts and frustrations. The movie ran 132 minutes and it brought live action Star Trek back. But because of problems during production, the film was little more that a rough-cut. The version we saw in theaters was never intended to be the final edit. But because of marketing commitments, director Robert Wise ran out of time. Flash forward to 2001. Paramount agreed to let Wise and his team re-edit the folm so it would be closer to his original vision. The result was Star Trek The Motion Picture, The Director's Edition. The team tightened the editing and inserted new, updated CGI special effects. However, this version of the film was only released in standard definition on DVD. Blu Ray had not yet been invented. So fans never got to see this verison of the film in high definition. Until now. Members of Wise's 2001 team have gotten access to the Paramount vaults and have gone back to the orignal camera negatives to restore The Director's Edition in 4K Ultra HD. Theyhave also updated the special effects, bringing them up to 4K, as well. The result is a stunning film with more color, detail and dynamic sound.

The Original Series episode Journey to Babel is considered by many to be one of the best. It featured several "firsts" for the show. Among them was seeing Spock's parents and several alien species that would play a major role in the franchise in the decades to come. Co-hosts Kelly Casto and Bob Turner explore Journey to Babel and ask the question, was it the most important Star Trek episode of the 1960s? ***

It’s a place here on Earth that feels like it's an alien landscape. That’s probably why we’ve seen it used as another world so many times in TV and film. Including Star Trek. Vasquez Rocks, located just north of Los Angeles, has been used many, many times for “on location” shooting for the franchise. The craggy, rocky landscape has been seen in 10 Star Trek episodes from various series and 3 films. But how did this stunning landscape become what it is today? Co-hosts Bob Turner and Kelly Casto explore Vasquez Rocks and share what they discovered with you in this episode of The Unofficial Trek Podcast. *** In The Unofficial Trek Podcast, hosts Bob Turner and Kelly Casto give their "Unofficial" take on the Star Trek universe. From 2019 through 2019, Bob and Kelly hosted the show 70s Trek. It was a look at the events that brought a cancelled, 1960s TV show back from the dead to become a blockbuster movie in 1979. It was a decade that created a multi-million dollar franchise. Now Bob and Kelly will look at the minutia, the concepts, the people and the news pertaining to the Star Trek Universe. It's a fascinating time for Star Trek, with a flood of content about it on the internet. Bob and Kelly will give their "Unofficial" take. Why unofficial? Because their views are just that, they are theirs and are, therefore, "unofficial." It's a fresh look at Star Trek from two lifelong fans who have been talking Trek for over 35 years! We hope you'll join Bob and Kelly for their next venture, The Unofficial Trek Podcast. Visit us at these sites: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/UnofficialTrek TuneIn: https://tunein.com/podcasts/Fantasy--Science-Fiction-Podcasts/The-Unofficial-Trek-Podcast-p1546279/ Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/show/the-unofficial-trek-podcast Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6IrNzaWSzKyf1T7b4ngZX2 Website: https://theunofficialstartrekpodcast.libsyn.com/

One of the Star Trek productions coming in 2022 is Strange New Worlds. It will be the story of Captain Pike and the Enterprise crew before Captain Kirk commanded the ship. Since the show hasn’t premiered yet, we don’t know much about it. But co-hosts Kelly Casto and Bob Turner take a look at what we do know so far, and run through the cast. It’s the perfect topic for some "Unofficial" takes and a Trek Chat. *** In The Unofficial Trek Podcast, hosts Bob Turner and Kelly Casto give their "Unofficial" take on the Star Trek universe. From 2019 through 2019, Bob and Kelly hosted the show 70s Trek. It was a look at the events that brought a cancelled, 1960s TV show back from the dead to become a blockbuster movie in 1979. It was a decade that created a multi-million dollar franchise. Now Bob and Kelly will look at the minutia, the concepts, the people and the news pertaining to the Star Trek Universe. It's a fascinating time for Star Trek, with a flood of content about it on the internet. Bob and Kelly will give their "Unofficial" take. Why unofficial? Because their views are just that, they are theirs and are, therefore, "unofficial." It's a fresh look at Star Trek from two lifelong fans who have been talking Trek for over 35 years! We hope you'll join Bob and Kelly for their next venture, The Unofficial Trek Podcast. Visit us at these sites: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/UnofficialTrek TuneIn: https://tunein.com/podcasts/Fantasy--Science-Fiction-Podcasts/The-Unofficial-Trek-Podcast-p1546279/ Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/show/the-unofficial-trek-podcast Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6IrNzaWSzKyf1T7b4ngZX2 Website: https://theunofficialstartrekpodcast.libsyn.com/

In July of 2021, the YouTube channel "The Popcast” posted a video entitled "This is how STRANGE NEW WORLDS will bring OLD TREK and NEW TREK Together!" The video discussed the divide between fans of Old Trek, Star Trek episodes and movies produced between 1966 and 2005, and fans of New Trek that began with J.J. Abrams 2009 Star Trek film. The video told us of a recent survey that took place across YouTube, Reddit and Twitter. 2000 Trek fans were asked how they identified with 3 statements. Here they are: Here are the results: -28% said New Trek is good, and people should accept the changes. -32% said they were watching because it’s Trek, but they hoped it would get better. -40% said it’s a dumpster fire and they won’t watch. That 40% number by itself is alarming. But it’s really staggering to see that 72% don’t think it’s good or won’t watch it at all! Co-hosts Bob Turner and Kelly Casto have some opinions about why this might be happening...And of course, it’s all unofficial.

With the release of the film No Time to Die in the fall of 2021, James Bond is back in the popular culture again. It’s the 25th Bond film, and co-hosts Bob Turner and Kelly Casto of The Unofficial Trek Podcast thought it might be fun to have a chat about their favorite British spy. What does Bond have to do with Trek, you might ask? Well, the two franchises, Star Trek and James Bond, have a lot of crossover when it comes to their audiences. So for that reason, a Trek chat seems appropriate.

Imagine flying through the galaxy, minding your own business and suddenly you see a structure that is very large. It's so big, in fact, that it surrounds a star! It's a Dyson Sphere! This week we explore the concept of a Dyson Sphere, first seen in the Star Trek universe in the Season 6 episode "Relics" from The Next Generation. First proposed in 1937, the concept was first scientifically theorized by futurists Freeman Dyson in 1960. This week hosts Kelly Casto and Bob Turner talk about this concept and what it might actually look like, scientifically speaking. ***

Imagine driving through downtown Las Vegas and looking up to see a giant, life-sized USS Enterprise. That almost happened in the early 1990s. But the project morphed into something very different and became The Star Trek Experience. Hosts Bob Turner and Kelly Casto give their "unofficial" take on both projects and talk about their experiences visiting The Star Trek Experience. For those curious about the USS Enterprise project, known as the Las Vegas Enterprise, you can read about it here. ***

Here's episode 3 from The Unofficial Trek Podcast: A recent article from the website RedShirtsAlwaysDie.com reports that UPN Executives blamed beloved Star Trek Actor Scott Bakula for the bad ratings that the show experienced in its second, third and fourth seasons. Hosts Bob Turner and Kelly Casto give their "unofficial" take on what led to the cancellation of Star Trek Enterprise. Here's a sneak peak: It was not Scott Bakula. Read the article here and join Kelly and Bob for a lively discussion. *** In The Unofficial Trek Podcast, hosts Bob Turner and Kelly Casto give their "Unofficial" take on the Star Trek universe. From 2019 through 2019, Bob and Kelly hosted the show 70s Trek. It was a look at the events that brought a cancelled, 1960s TV show back from the dead to become a blockbuster movie in 1979. It was a decade that created a multi-million dollar franchise. Now Bob and Kelly will look at the minutia, the concepts, the people and the news pertaining to the Star Trek Universe. It's a fascinating time for Star Trek, with a flood of content about it on the internet. Bob and Kelly will give their "Unofficial" take. Why unofficial? Because their views are just that, they are theirs and are, therefore, "unofficial." It's a fresh look at Star Trek from two lifelong fans who have been talking Trek for over 35 years! We hope you'll join Bob and Kelly for their next venture, The Unofficial Trek Podcast. Visit us at these sites: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/UnofficialTrek TuneIn: https://tunein.com/podcasts/Fantasy--Science-Fiction-Podcasts/The-Unofficial-Trek-Podcast-p1546279/ Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/show/the-unofficial-trek-podcast Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6IrNzaWSzKyf1T7b4ngZX2 Website: https://theunofficialstartrekpodcast.libsyn.com/

The co-hosts of 70s Trek, Bob Turner and Kelly Casto, have launched a new show called The Unofficial Trek Podcast. In this show, hosts Bob Turner and Kelly Casto give their "unofficial" take on the concepts, the people and the news pertaining to the Star Trek Universe. It's a fascinating time for Star Trek, with a flood of content about it on the internet. Bob and Kelly will give their "Unofficial" take. Why unofficial? Because their views are just that, theirs and are, therefore, "unofficial." It's a fresh look at Star Trek from two lifelong fans who have been talking Trek for over 35 years! We hope you'll join Bob and Kelly for their next venture, The Unofficial Trek Podcast. Visit us at these sites: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/UnofficialTrek TuneIn: https://tunein.com/podcasts/Fantasy--Science-Fiction-Podcasts/The-Unofficial-Trek-Podcast-p1546279/ Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/show/the-unofficial-trek-podcast Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6IrNzaWSzKyf1T7b4ngZX2 Website: https://theunofficialstartrekpodcast.libsyn.com/

Welcome to this Bonus Trek episode of 70s Trek. We wanted to get back together and talk about the recent news of the re-merger between CBS and Paramount. And it officially happened on August 13. Now the larger company, CBS, will absorb the newer version of Viacom which owns BET, Comedy Central...and Paramount.

We've told the story of Star Trek in the 1970s. So this is the end.

It started as a 1955 spy novel by Ian Fleming. But it took over 24 years for the book to be made into a movie. And other than the name, the film barely resembled the book. But the producers of the James Bond movies deliberately chose this story because of what was happening in the 1970s. We chose to do this movie as a 70s Trek episode because one of our loyal listeners has been asking us to do an episode about Moonraker for some time. To be honest, we weren't sure there was a connection with Star Trek in the 1970s. Then Calvin Bowles made a point that we couldn’t ignore. The next movie scheduled after “The Spy Who Loved Me” that Bond producer, Cubby Broccoli, intended to make was “For Your Eyes Only”. In fact, at the end of the credits for "The Spy Who Loved Me," audiences read that James Bond would return in his next adventure, "For Your Eyes Only." But then a funny thing happened on the way to the production office. A little movie called Star Wars changed Hollywood forever in 1977! So producers chose to make Moonraker instead and put James Bond in space. So Moonraker is very much a product of the Star Wars phenomenon and it helped to get audiences ready for another space adventure, "Star Trek The Motion Picture." So thanks Calvin for your messages and you great information.

It started as an ambitious theatrical film. After performing well in theaters, Battlestar Galactica became a weekly TV series on the ABC network. But when people think of the original Battlestar Galactica, they think of it being a rip off of Star Wars, or being outdated and very stuck in the style of the 1970s. But it’s actually a ground-breaking show. It brought cinematic special effects to TV and told a story that was very unique for the time. In addition to being a unique TV experience, Battlestar Galactica also stoked the fires for more science fiction. When it was cancelled after the 1st season, there was a fan campaign to get it back on the air, which shows how loyal sci-fi fans had become. So BG kept fans excited for more sci fi, which kept the audience yearning for more when Star Trek hit the big screen. If it suffers, it’s only because it was ahead of its time. The TV production and story telling techniques of 1978 weren’t ready for a large scale show like Battlestar Galactica. Look at Ronald D. Moore’s 2003 version. While he updated it, the core of the show remained the same and the 1978 version is very much alive and well in that 2003 version. Of course, Ron Moore is a Star Trek alum from the 1990s. Another Trek alum on Battlestar Galactica was John Kolicos. In 1967, he played the first ever Klingon, Kor. And if you’re talking ties, you have to mention Jonathon Harris. Even though he wasn’t in Trek, he did play Dr. Smith on Lost in Space. In BG he lent his voice to the Cylon character Lucifer.

Just three weeks after the premier of Star Trek The Motion Picture, the decade of the 1980s began. With the new decade came an explosion in popularity for the Star Trek franchise and it all happened with The Motion Picture. For most critics and moviegoers, though, the film was a disappointment. It didn’t live up to the expectations. But luckily, the film brought in enough money for Paramount executives to consider making a sequel. It kicked off what would become an incredible, multi-million dollar franchise throughout the ‘80s and into the ‘90s. The film proved to Paramount that a substantial audience would come out and see a Trek film, which urged them to make more.

Since 2009 there has been three new Star Trek movies, one new series with another four reportedly in development. Yet enthusiasm for the franchise among die hard fans is low. What’s going on? We’ll explore what is going on in Star Trek today in this episode. What's Going on? When it comes to connected TV and film universes, Star Trek was the first franchise to do it. Not Marvel. But that might not happen anymore. And it all has to do with who owns Star Trek. But trying to figure out which corporate entity owns the property can get a bit confusing. And it’s been that way from the beginning. A lot of people think Gene Roddenberry and his production company Norway were the original owners. They weren’t. The original owner was Desilu Studios and in 1968 Paramount Pictures, itself owned by Gulf + Western, purchased Desilu and Star Trek along with it. In 1994, Viacom purchased Paramount for $9.75 Billion! Star Trek was still controlled and operated by Paramount, the franchise essentially had a new owner. This next fact seems unrelated, but it isn’t. In 2000, Viacom merged with CBS Corporation. Interestingly, Viacom was created by CBS back in 1952 as the network’s syndication division. Then it was called CBS Films but was later renamed Viacom. It was spun off into its own company in 1971. Back to the year 2000, and Viacom was then owned by National Amusements. The majority owner of that company was Sumner Redstone. In 2005, Redstone decided to break Viacom apart into two companies, essentially undoing the 1999 merger. The entity known as Viacom became CBS Corporation. It owned all TV and radio divisions, along with Simon and Schuster publishing. CBS would also own all of the television properties, including Star Trek. The head of the new CBS Corporation was Les Moonves. The second company created was a new version of Viacom. It held Paramount studios, MTV and BET networks. Viacom with Paramount, retains the Star Trek feature film library, and according to some, the rights to make new feature films. But the exact terms of the rights, and who can do what are not clearly known. And this is where things get a bit murky. But you needed this background to follow and understand what’s happening today.

Throughout the run of 70s Trek we’ve been telling you about what happened in the 1970s. But how did we get our information? We did a lot of digging and looked at multiple sources for each episode. This week we tell you about those sources. Anyone who has written a research paper in high school or college will remember that there are two types of sources: Primary and Secondary. Primary sources are those that are original to the event in question. They provide firsthand evidence or testimony to what happened or what people were thinking. These include court documents, newspapers articles, autobiographies, corporate memos, letters and even photos or videos. Secondary sources are those written after the fact either using primary sources, or using other secondary sources. Here on 70s Trek, we used primary sources when we could. But most were secondary sources.

In this episode of 70s Trek, it's part 2 of our conversation with author Marc Cushman as he tells us stories from his new book, These Are the Voyages: Gene Roddenberry and Star Trek in the 1970s, Volume 1. Cushman wrote three volumes on The Original Series entitled, These Are the Voyages. Each was an episode by episode examination of the production of each and every show. They are a must read for any Star Trek fan. Now Cushman brings the same research to the decade of the 1970s as he tells the story of how Star Trek came back from network cancellation. His book is the perfect companion to 70s Trek.

The 1970s were a fascinating time. In fact, they brought about the Star Trek franchise. Without the ‘70s, Trek would not have had the success it experienced in the ‘80s, ‘90s and beyond. That’s why it’s so interesting that a new book is being released about Star Trek in the the decade of the 1970s. To quote a most popular Vulcan, this book is “Fascinating.” This week we have an interview with March Cushman, the man who wrote, “These Are the Voyages: Gene Roddenberry and Star Trek in the 1970s, Volume 1.” Prior to writing this volume, Marc wrote the book...or books...on Star Trek The Original Series...literally. His 3-volume set on that show, “These are the Voyages,” are a must read for any Star Trek fan. This week on 70s Trek, we have an interview with the author, Marc Cushman.

Star Trek The Motion Picture not only marked the return of Trek, but it also changed The Star Trek universe in multiple ways. In fact, it would never be the same again. In some ways those changes were good and in some ways they caused problems. Consider the conundrum that the new Klingon foreheads represented! But the film took the universe in a completely new direction. The Animated Series was very much a continuation of The Original Series. Meanwhile, Phase II was to be an evolution of the 60s show. But The Motion Picture revolutionized what Star Trek was so it could compete with other science fiction franchises such as Star Wars. The impact of those changes was felt in every version of Star Trek that followed in the 1980s, ‘90s and early 2000s.