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[Gates McFadden] At the dawn of the '70s,
Star Trek looked like a doomed mission.
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Officially canceled, Gene Roddenberry's
wagon train to the stars
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had come to a halt.
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It was the beginning of years
out in the cold.
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The only hope for Star Trek lay in
a mysterious, unknown parallel universe,
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otherwise known as Saturday mornings.
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What are you talking about?
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So beam aboard and hold on tight
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as we boldly go into the depths
of Star Trek.
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And you can see it all from here
in The Center Seat.
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[Captain Kirk] These are the voyages
of the starship Enterprise.
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Its five-year mission:
to explore strange, new worlds.
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Yes, there was a Star Trek
animated series.
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It was not a fever dream.
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I don't understand.
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It was, you know, like finding a whole
missing season of the original series.
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I watched the animated series religiously
when it came on. I was very excited.
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What was interesting is
the darn thing won an Emmy.
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[bell dings]
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[McFadden] The story of how
Kirk and his crew
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went from three to two dimensions
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is the story of
Star Trek's greatest demotion.
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The original series was canceled in 1969.
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The third season,
the ratings just weren't there,
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and NBC moved the show around so much.
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[McFadden] Roddenberry had
been promised a prime time 8:00 PM slot,
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but Star Trek
would sink to the depths of late night,
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to die a quiet death.
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So they gave Star Trek
10:00 on Friday night.
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So Gene quit the show.
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[McFadden]
Star Trek had lost its creator,
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its time slot,
and the backing of its network.
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But even drifting through the abyss,
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the show still had
the backing of a loyal band,
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the very first members
of a brand-new species:
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Trekkies.
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[Rich Schepis]
You had the first convention,
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the Star Trek convention in New York City,
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and it just became a phenomenon
all of a sudden.
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[McFadden]
Away from prime time,
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NBC had inadvertently scattered
the seed of Star Trek
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through syndication,
and it had taken root.
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Star Trek was growing in popularity
in syndication. It had taken off.
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People who hadn't seen it originally
got a chance to see it
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on kind of a daily basis
after school or after work.
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And a whole new audience was born.
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As soon as Star Trek
hit the after-school market,
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you know, the audience has doubled.
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[McFadden] Reruns had connected Star Trek
with a new legion of fans.
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Like this guy.
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My name is Fred Bronson.
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[McFadden]
And when it came to their favorite show,
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Trekkies weren't going
to stand by and watch it die.
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I marched on NBC to protest
the cancelation of Star Trek.
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The fans refused to let the show die,
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and they were determined
to bring it back on.
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[McFadden] Their protests were too late
to spare the original series,
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but they had caused ears
to perk up at NBC.
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[Aaron Harvey] In early 1973,
Gene had a meeting with NBC,
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and they expressed interest
in wanting to bring Star Trek back.
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[McFadden]
The question was, how?
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[Marc Cushman]
Because they had destroyed the sets,
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they had given away the Enterprise
to the Smithsonian Institute,
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and the expense was just too high.
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[McFadden] They needed
a cheaper version of Star Trek,
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and it just so happened that someone
working in a little-known studio
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had thought of one
about four years earlier.
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[Harvey]
The animated series came about in 1973,
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but a lot of people don't know that it
was actually originally pitched in 1969.
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[McFadden]
The animation house Filmation
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had conceived
a kind of junior version of Star Trek
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and took it to NBC.
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[Harvey] It was going to be
a Starfleet Academy show.
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Each of the crew members
of the Enterprise
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having basically a cadet
in training with them.
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Spock was going to have
a Vulcan named Steve.
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[laughter]
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[McFadden] Sadly, Steve the Vulcan
never came to be.
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Gene Roddenberry didn't see Star Trek
as just an educational tool,
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but he was intrigued
by the possibilities of animation.
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He liked animation because his big thing
was you can animate lava.
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He'd always wanted to do lava,
apparently, on the original series.
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Go!
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[McFadden] Of course,
Gene had a much bigger goal
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than simply indulging
his love of molten rock.
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[Cushman] His ultimate goal was to get
Star Trek back into production,
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and he felt that the animated series,
if it did really well,
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would bring that about.
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[McFadden]
But fans hungry for more
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had no interest
in a smaller serving of Star Trek,
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let alone one ordered from the kids' menu.
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And there was a lot of resistance.
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The audience was very unhappy.
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[Harvey] At conventions,
people were passing around petitions
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to stop the animated series
from coming to television
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because it wasn't real Star Trek.
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[Larry Nemecek] There were a lot of people
who thought that a cartoon show
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would be the death
of any kind of Star Trek revival
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because it wasn't real life,
it wasn't live-action.
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And you know,
and then we'd say to them,
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"Yeah, but you're getting more Star Trek.
Shut up."
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[laughs]
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[McFadden] Gene had his own concerns,
not wanting to see
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his sophisticated sci-fi creation
reduced to child's play.
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Gene really just was not interested
in a kiddie version of Star Trek.
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[McFadden] But desperate
to keep the franchise alive,
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he agreed to an animated series.
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The only thing that convinced him
was the idea
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we will do real Star Trek
as an animated series.
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[McFadden] To guarantee that,
Gene brought in
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one of the original series'
most respected writers to run the show.
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Dorothy Fontana
came aboard as the producer.
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[Bob Kline]
She was the guiding force.
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She was the one that
really wanted this to be wonderful.
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[McFadden] Dorothy, or D.C. Fontana,
was a very talented screenwriter.
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But as a woman, she could
not yet afford to trade on her name.
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[David Gerrold] In those days,
it wasn't common
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for a woman to be a scriptwriter.
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Women were hiding
behind their initials,
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V.N. McIntyre and C.L. Moore
and D.C. Fontana,
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because there was this belief
that women couldn't write.
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I was trying and I had an agent,
but people, they were saying,
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"Oh, I don't think she can write our show.
I don't know."
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"But why not?"
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"Well, she's a woman."
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"Okay, fine."
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So I wrote it a Ben Casey,
and I put "D.C. Fontana" on it.
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They'll at least read it
without knowing I'm a woman.
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That helped me get in that door.
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But there were very few actual
women writers doing action-adventure.
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[Nichelle Nichols]
She was a great writer.
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The stuff she wrote was just so darn good.
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Star Trek,
she knew what she was doing.
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She was a fan.
That was her show.
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[McFadden] Not only was she a woman
who was young and in charge of men,
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she also had the intimidating task
of marshaling
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some of the foremost minds
in science fiction.
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Gene and Dorothy brought in
all these amazing talents
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of science fiction authors:
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Harlan Ellison, Theodore Sturgeon,
Larry Niven.
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Dorothy Fontana invited me to write
a Star Trek cartoon,
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and that sounded like fun.
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[McFadden] But Gene Roddenberry
kept a hand on the tiller.
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[Harvey]
He still had the last word,
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much like anybody who's creative
has that need to want to influence
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whatever is going out,
if it's under your name.
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[Larry Niven]
Gene Roddenberry's big breakthrough,
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he used science fiction writers
instead of scriptwriters,
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and taught them how to do the scripts.
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[McFadden]
But D.C. Fontana and Gene Roddenberry
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were united by the same prime directive.
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Gene said,
"We're gonna do Star Trek in a cartoon.
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We're gonna do it as Star Trek."
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[Gerrold]
Dorothy, she brought in Star Trek writers,
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and she said, "Write a Star Trek episode."
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"And we can show things
that we could not do live-action,
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so you can be a little broader
in what you design."
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[D.C. Fontana]
The glory of the animated show
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was we could do anything on any planet,
any kind of creature,
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any sort of situation
that you could dream of
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that could be drawn
was there on the film.
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[McFadden] So for years
after first floating the idea,
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Filmation was contracted to create a new
animated universe for a Star Trek cartoon.
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Filmation was an animation company
out of Reseda, California.
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[McFadden]
Which had grown from humble beginnings
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to become part of a cartoon cartel.
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Very humble beginnings.
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[Harvey] They literally had
a mannequin dressed up
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just so it looked like
there was somebody at the front desk.
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They were doing industrial films
and religious cartoons,
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but it just wasn't making it.
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DC Comics came to them when
they were just about ready to shut down.
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Look! Up in the sky!
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[McFadden] And oddly enough,
Filmation was saved by Superman.
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"We want you to do the Superman cartoon."
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They actually started
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the first superhero cinematic universe
on television.
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[Fred Bronson]
Lou Scheimer and Norm Prescott
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made the decisions
and ran the company,
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and it was a well-oiled machine.
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[McFadden]
Dorothy Fontana's first challenge
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was convincing the original cast
of something
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that even most fans didn't believe,
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that an animated Star Trek
was worth doing.
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[Bronson] If you had somebody else
doing the voice
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of Captain Kirk or Mr. Spock,
that just wouldn't have been right.
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[McFadden]
But even if she could convince them,
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could she afford them?
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Originally, they did talk to everybody,
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and they realized that
the budget wasn't supporting it.
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You had somebody like Shatner and Nimoy,
the amount of salary that they commanded,
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it just became a very expensive show.
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[McFadden] The producers' solution,
the Enterprise key crew would return.
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But for two of the actors,
an honorable discharge.
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Can you give us any more?
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They, for cost savings, were going to have
Majel Barrett and James Doohan...
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Aye.
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...voice Nichelle Nichols' role
and George Takei.
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[McFadden]
But NBC had underestimated
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the esprit de corps
of the Enterprise crew.
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[Harvey]
When Nimoy was in the studio,
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Leonard realized that Nichelle Nichols
and George Takei, two people of color,
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were not going to be in Star Trek.
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[McFadden]
Leonard didn't need his Vulcan logic
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to realize this wasn't right.
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And Nimoy, when he was there,
he said, "Where's George?"
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And they were like,
"What do you mean?"
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"Well, why isn't George back?
Why isn't Nichelle back?"
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And they told him,
"We don't have the money for it."
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[Cushman] When he found that out, he said,
"I will not come back and do this show
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unless you bring back
the entire original cast."
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Yes, that's quite true.
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[McFadden]
Before a single frame had been drawn,
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Star Trek: The Animated Series
was already in need of reanimating.
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[Spock]
Captain, we're underway.
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[McFadden] Day one of recording
for Star Trek: The Animated Series
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would prove to be one of the few days
the whole cast would gather in one studio.
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Well, almost the whole cast.
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The day they had
the first recording session
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with William Shatner
and Leonard Nimoy,
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DeForest Kelley,
James Doohan,
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but no Nichelle Nichols,
no George Takei.
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We came here
looking for some friends.
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And Leonard was very upset.
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[Schepis] George and Nichelle,
they represented diversity in Star Trek,
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and Leonard felt very strongly that if
you're going to continue to do Star Trek,
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you need to have their representation,
that Pan-Asian character,
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the African American character
on the bridge,
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how powerful those two roles were.
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And so he made it known to Filmation
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that if Nichelle and George
were not gonna be part of this,
232
00:10:54,905 --> 00:10:56,365
neither was he.
233
00:10:56,448 --> 00:10:58,368
[McFadden]
The producers relented.
234
00:10:58,450 --> 00:11:00,700
Well, obviously,
they did not wanna lose Leonard Nimoy.
235
00:11:00,786 --> 00:11:03,786
[McFadden] George Takei
and Nichelle Nichols were enlisted.
236
00:11:03,872 --> 00:11:04,792
Standing by, sir.
237
00:11:04,873 --> 00:11:06,383
[Bronson]
I wrote the press release,
238
00:11:06,458 --> 00:11:09,708
and my press release
didn't say that Leonard Nimoy was upset.
239
00:11:09,795 --> 00:11:12,505
My press release said,
"Nichelle Nichols and George Takei
240
00:11:12,589 --> 00:11:15,719
added to the cast of
Star Trek: The Animated Series."
241
00:11:15,801 --> 00:11:17,551
[McFadden]
And really, it's just as well.
242
00:11:17,636 --> 00:11:19,006
Let me tell you something.
243
00:11:19,179 --> 00:11:22,969
Star Trek, to me, is the type of show
244
00:11:23,058 --> 00:11:28,148
where you can close your eyes
and listen to it.
245
00:11:28,230 --> 00:11:33,110
And it's beautiful because
you're dealing with voices of people
246
00:11:33,193 --> 00:11:37,113
who are trained in whatever, you know,
a character they're doing,
247
00:11:37,197 --> 00:11:40,947
but they're trained voices, and so
it's lovely when they come together.
248
00:11:41,034 --> 00:11:43,584
[McFadden]
Well, it would almost be lovely.
249
00:11:43,662 --> 00:11:46,582
Nimoy had managed to get
most of the band back together,
250
00:11:46,665 --> 00:11:48,875
but there was still one player missing.
251
00:11:48,959 --> 00:11:50,749
Phasers armed and ready, sir.
252
00:11:50,836 --> 00:11:53,296
I wasn't going to be
in the animated series.
253
00:11:53,380 --> 00:11:57,880
I didn't know that. I found that out
from a fan at a convention in L.A.
254
00:11:57,968 --> 00:12:00,138
Chekov as supposed to be
a part of the animated series.
255
00:12:00,220 --> 00:12:04,430
They drew the character, but they
couldn't afford to bring everybody back.
256
00:12:04,516 --> 00:12:07,726
[McFadden] It was a double blow for
the descendant of Russian immigrants,
257
00:12:07,811 --> 00:12:10,311
who perhaps more
than any of the original cast
258
00:12:10,397 --> 00:12:11,397
needed the work.
259
00:12:11,481 --> 00:12:13,651
[Walter Koenig]
After Star Trek, I didn't work at all.
260
00:12:13,733 --> 00:12:16,953
You know, I spend three or four years
never having the phone ring,
261
00:12:17,028 --> 00:12:19,818
resorting to writing
and actually writing for television.
262
00:12:19,906 --> 00:12:22,696
[McFadden] So Roddenberry
threw Walter a bone.
263
00:12:22,784 --> 00:12:26,204
He asked me if I'd like to write one
of the episodes of the animated Star Trek.
264
00:12:26,288 --> 00:12:29,618
[McFadden] With all the original cast
now playing a hand
265
00:12:29,708 --> 00:12:32,788
and Nimoy signed on,
Star Trek: The Animated Series,
266
00:12:32,878 --> 00:12:37,088
known simply as Star Trek,
was starting to look like Star Trek.
267
00:12:37,174 --> 00:12:38,474
Just like that, Captain?
268
00:12:38,550 --> 00:12:40,220
So it would appear, Mr. Sulu.
269
00:12:40,302 --> 00:12:41,432
Star Trek was back.
270
00:12:41,511 --> 00:12:42,431
Wonderful!
271
00:12:42,512 --> 00:12:45,602
They handled the animated series
like they did the original series.
272
00:12:45,682 --> 00:12:48,392
They got the same writers,
the same voice cast.
273
00:12:48,477 --> 00:12:49,767
The animation department
274
00:12:49,853 --> 00:12:52,523
used Matt Jefferies' blueprints
for the Enterprise.
275
00:12:52,606 --> 00:12:54,146
So they made Star Trek.
276
00:12:54,232 --> 00:12:57,442
[Captain Kirk]
Captain's Log, Stardate 5554.4.
277
00:12:57,527 --> 00:13:01,907
[McFadden]
Make that "Start date 9-15-1973."
278
00:13:01,990 --> 00:13:06,750
The animated series set out
to go where no Star Trek had gone before.
279
00:13:06,828 --> 00:13:07,658
Where?
280
00:13:07,746 --> 00:13:10,576
[McFadden]
To Saturday-morning kids' cartoons.
281
00:13:10,665 --> 00:13:12,285
When we talk about the animated series,
282
00:13:12,375 --> 00:13:14,165
we always make a point
of saying "animated."
283
00:13:14,252 --> 00:13:15,962
We don't say
"Saturday-morning cartoons."
284
00:13:16,046 --> 00:13:18,966
[McFadden] And yet that's exactly where
the Enterprise found itself,
285
00:13:19,049 --> 00:13:21,719
rubbing shoulders with
Saturday-morning celebs,
286
00:13:21,801 --> 00:13:23,891
like the Jetsons, the Bradys,
287
00:13:23,970 --> 00:13:28,390
a pair of crime-fighting dogs,
and civic-minded superheroes.
288
00:13:28,475 --> 00:13:31,895
The funny thing about the animated series
was it was too good for Saturday morning.
289
00:13:31,978 --> 00:13:36,358
Ugh, I've got a hangover
to shame all previous hangovers.
290
00:13:36,441 --> 00:13:38,611
[McFadden] With the nation's
most impressionable minds
291
00:13:38,693 --> 00:13:42,823
now in their care, Star Trek producers
naturally played it safe
292
00:13:42,906 --> 00:13:47,286
by sticking with gentle, easily understood
materials suitable for kids,
293
00:13:47,369 --> 00:13:48,499
like suicide.
294
00:13:48,578 --> 00:13:52,328
All unsuccessful Orion missions
end in suicide.
295
00:13:53,375 --> 00:13:55,665
That was not for kids.
It should not have been for kids.
296
00:13:55,752 --> 00:13:59,842
[McFadden] It was a subject matter
rarely dealt with on network TV anywhere.
297
00:13:59,923 --> 00:14:02,593
But Star Trek
had its own hot take for kids,
298
00:14:02,676 --> 00:14:04,836
called "The Pirates of Orion."
299
00:14:04,928 --> 00:14:06,348
Destroy the Enterprise.
300
00:14:06,429 --> 00:14:09,309
And the only way to do that
is to destroy ourselves too.
301
00:14:09,391 --> 00:14:13,141
Suicide bombings,
to even think about that in those days.
302
00:14:13,228 --> 00:14:15,728
Your ship will be destroyed.
303
00:14:15,814 --> 00:14:16,824
But so will yours.
304
00:14:16,898 --> 00:14:22,028
Having those stories be
that mature and fun to watch
305
00:14:22,112 --> 00:14:25,872
from a story standpoint
was just splendid.
306
00:14:25,949 --> 00:14:28,579
We're not going to let you commit suicide.
307
00:14:28,660 --> 00:14:31,330
Disarm the self-destruct system.
308
00:14:31,413 --> 00:14:35,383
[McFadden] Dorothy Fontana was determined
to continue Star Trek's mission,
309
00:14:35,458 --> 00:14:38,708
and that meant an intrepid approach
to subjects like death.
310
00:14:38,795 --> 00:14:41,335
Murderer! You've killed Spock!
311
00:14:41,423 --> 00:14:45,093
[Bronson] Because they wanted it
to hit adults as well as children
312
00:14:45,176 --> 00:14:49,716
and also to honor what Star Trek was,
was never to dumb it down.
313
00:14:49,806 --> 00:14:54,096
[McFadden] But in just the second episode,
Dorothy Fontana went much further
314
00:14:54,185 --> 00:14:58,105
with her own life lesson
for an unsuspecting audience.
315
00:14:58,189 --> 00:15:00,649
"Yesteryear" is by far
everybody's favorite episode.
316
00:15:00,734 --> 00:15:03,034
That is a brilliantly written episode.
317
00:15:03,111 --> 00:15:03,951
One of the best.
318
00:15:04,029 --> 00:15:08,029
It would be in the top five episodes
of all time, of any series.
319
00:15:08,116 --> 00:15:11,196
[McFadden] A half-hour cartoon
was putting the backbone
320
00:15:11,286 --> 00:15:15,036
into the backstory of
Star Trek's most loved characters.
321
00:15:15,123 --> 00:15:17,793
"Yesteryear" represented everything
that Gene and Dorothy wanted to do
322
00:15:17,876 --> 00:15:19,086
with the animated series.
323
00:15:19,169 --> 00:15:24,049
[Harvey] "Yesteryear"
is kind of a seminal history
324
00:15:24,132 --> 00:15:25,592
of the Spock character.
325
00:15:25,675 --> 00:15:28,885
What Spock became,
a lot of it is due to that episode.
326
00:15:28,970 --> 00:15:33,390
[McFadden] Writer Dorothy Fontana returned
to her perennial Star Trek theme,
327
00:15:33,475 --> 00:15:34,725
time.
328
00:15:34,809 --> 00:15:37,899
[Captain Kirk] We are in orbit
around the planet of a time vortex,
329
00:15:37,979 --> 00:15:40,359
the focus of all the timelines
of our galaxy.
330
00:15:40,440 --> 00:15:43,940
Dorothy was very excited about the fact
that there was a wide-open canvas.
331
00:15:44,027 --> 00:15:47,197
They could go back in time and tell
the story about Spock's childhood.
332
00:15:47,280 --> 00:15:48,280
What happened?
333
00:15:48,365 --> 00:15:49,695
[McFadden]
In "Yesteryear,"
334
00:15:49,783 --> 00:15:54,083
the Enterprise crew discover
a rip in the fabric of spacetime.
335
00:15:56,331 --> 00:15:59,171
They go back in time
and when they return to our time,
336
00:15:59,250 --> 00:16:02,460
nobody knows who Mr. Spock is.
337
00:16:02,545 --> 00:16:03,455
Who's he, Jim?
338
00:16:04,464 --> 00:16:06,054
What do you mean, who's he?
339
00:16:06,132 --> 00:16:07,972
When we were in the time vortex,
340
00:16:08,051 --> 00:16:10,801
something appears to have
changed the present as we know it.
341
00:16:10,887 --> 00:16:13,387
[McFadden]
His mission is immediately obvious.
342
00:16:13,473 --> 00:16:17,063
Spock has to go back in time
to fix things.
343
00:16:17,143 --> 00:16:19,983
So they use the Guardian of Forever
to send him back in time,
344
00:16:20,063 --> 00:16:21,693
to basically save himself.
345
00:16:21,773 --> 00:16:25,443
I wish to visit the planet Vulcan,
30 Vulcan years past.
346
00:16:25,527 --> 00:16:27,777
Spock goes back in time
and sees himself as a child.
347
00:16:27,862 --> 00:16:29,862
You could never be a true Vulcan.
348
00:16:29,948 --> 00:16:34,738
He helps himself through
a maturity test in the Vulcan Forge,
349
00:16:34,828 --> 00:16:35,908
their desert.
350
00:16:35,995 --> 00:16:38,115
[Spock] A personal ordeal
upon which I embarked
351
00:16:38,206 --> 00:16:40,996
was meant to determine
the course my life would take.
352
00:16:41,084 --> 00:16:44,554
This was the time that
he basically tried to prove himself
353
00:16:44,713 --> 00:16:45,923
by doing the kahs-wan.
354
00:16:46,005 --> 00:16:48,465
A survival test,
traditional for a young male.
355
00:16:48,550 --> 00:16:51,760
[McFadden] And the episode
even referenced some backstory
356
00:16:51,845 --> 00:16:54,215
that had been set up
in the original series.
357
00:16:54,305 --> 00:16:59,475
No, I-Chaya, this is my own test.
358
00:16:59,561 --> 00:17:00,691
I have to do it alone.
359
00:17:00,770 --> 00:17:03,360
[Harvey]
They had mentioned in the original series
360
00:17:03,440 --> 00:17:07,240
in "Journey to Babel"
that Spock had a childhood pet, a sehlat.
361
00:17:07,318 --> 00:17:08,528
Sehlat?
362
00:17:08,611 --> 00:17:11,281
It's sort of a...
a fat teddy bear.
363
00:17:11,364 --> 00:17:14,084
And McCoy goes,
"Oh, really? You had a teddy bear?"
364
00:17:14,159 --> 00:17:15,949
A teddy bear?
365
00:17:16,035 --> 00:17:18,865
And so we finally got to see
Spock's sehlat.
366
00:17:18,955 --> 00:17:22,745
I-Chaya, what if I'm not a true Vulcan
like they say?
367
00:17:22,834 --> 00:17:26,464
[McFadden] The shaggy look
of Spock's previously unimagined pet
368
00:17:26,546 --> 00:17:28,666
owed something
to the musings of fans.
369
00:17:28,757 --> 00:17:33,257
[Harvey] The fanzine Spockanalia
had a lot of fan art.
370
00:17:33,344 --> 00:17:37,394
Alicia Austin had speculated
on what a sehlat would look like,
371
00:17:37,474 --> 00:17:43,104
and the illustrators at Filmation
used that as the basis for their design.
372
00:17:43,188 --> 00:17:46,818
[McFadden] But this fat teddy bear
brought to life by fans
373
00:17:46,900 --> 00:17:49,780
was now to be sacrificed
on the altar of life's lessons.
374
00:17:49,861 --> 00:17:50,701
[roars]
375
00:17:50,779 --> 00:17:54,029
[Harvey]
Spock, he is attacked by a mountain lion.
376
00:17:54,115 --> 00:17:57,905
I-Chaya tries to prevent him
from being attacked
377
00:17:57,994 --> 00:18:00,464
and unfortunately is mortally wounded.
378
00:18:00,538 --> 00:18:01,868
They try to save I-Chaya.
379
00:18:01,956 --> 00:18:04,576
They go back to the city
and bring back a healer.
380
00:18:04,667 --> 00:18:08,757
I can prolong his life...
but he will be in pain.
381
00:18:08,838 --> 00:18:11,418
Or I can release him from life.
382
00:18:11,508 --> 00:18:13,298
It tackled the idea of euthanasia.
383
00:18:13,384 --> 00:18:16,894
[Harvey] So Spock had to choose
between letting his pet die
384
00:18:16,971 --> 00:18:19,811
or having him be alive in great pain.
385
00:18:19,891 --> 00:18:20,891
And he made the decision.
386
00:18:20,975 --> 00:18:22,475
Release him.
387
00:18:22,560 --> 00:18:26,020
It is fitting he dies
with peace and dignity.
388
00:18:26,105 --> 00:18:27,765
[McFadden]
And so an adolescent Spock
389
00:18:27,857 --> 00:18:30,857
decides his pet
can't live long and prosper.
390
00:18:30,944 --> 00:18:34,534
Dorothy was really concerned that
people might have a problem with this.
391
00:18:34,614 --> 00:18:37,284
[McFadden] Somehow,
Star Trek had conspired to air
392
00:18:37,367 --> 00:18:41,037
one of the most controversial issues
in American society,
393
00:18:41,120 --> 00:18:43,040
on children's television.
394
00:18:43,122 --> 00:18:44,712
And NBC was really worried about this,
395
00:18:44,791 --> 00:18:47,251
showing a pet dying
on Saturday-morning television,
396
00:18:47,335 --> 00:18:49,955
and NBC actually got
a flood of telephone calls
397
00:18:50,046 --> 00:18:53,126
thanking them for tackling
such a difficult subject
398
00:18:53,216 --> 00:18:55,506
on Saturday-morning television
with their kids watching.
399
00:18:55,593 --> 00:18:58,973
[Harvey] It really cemented
the character of Spock
400
00:18:59,055 --> 00:19:02,095
and how he treats
his Vulcan and human side.
401
00:19:02,183 --> 00:19:03,943
[McFadden]
The theme of sacrifice
402
00:19:04,018 --> 00:19:08,608
was something Spock was destined
to explore to its logical conclusion.
403
00:19:08,690 --> 00:19:12,530
It's logical.
The needs of the many outweigh...
404
00:19:12,610 --> 00:19:13,950
The needs of the few.
405
00:19:14,028 --> 00:19:18,118
I give you credit, human,
you are not afraid to die.
406
00:19:18,199 --> 00:19:20,579
[McFadden] But when it came
to embracing the big issues,
407
00:19:20,660 --> 00:19:23,660
the animated series had only just begun.
408
00:19:28,293 --> 00:19:31,383
[McFadden] Star Trek: The Animated Series
had shown a willingness
409
00:19:31,462 --> 00:19:35,132
to slaughter the sacred cows
of Saturday-morning cartoons,
410
00:19:35,216 --> 00:19:37,756
and it was just getting started.
411
00:19:37,844 --> 00:19:39,804
[Schepis] "The Slaver Weapon"
is a real interesting episode.
412
00:19:39,888 --> 00:19:43,468
First of all, the only time any characters
die on the animated series.
413
00:19:43,558 --> 00:19:47,598
I give you credit, human,
you are not afraid to die.
414
00:19:47,687 --> 00:19:51,187
Characters die. They end up being killed
by their actions in the episode.
415
00:19:51,274 --> 00:19:52,154
[groans]
416
00:19:54,819 --> 00:19:55,819
[McFadden]
Don't blame the writer.
417
00:19:55,904 --> 00:19:59,204
If there was a rule about this,
no one told Larry.
418
00:19:59,282 --> 00:20:04,952
To my knowledge, I don't think they
had barred killing from children's shows.
419
00:20:05,038 --> 00:20:06,458
Kids aren't used to seeing that
Saturday morning.
420
00:20:06,539 --> 00:20:08,419
[McFadden]
A bold choice of subject matter
421
00:20:08,499 --> 00:20:10,839
was not all that distinguished the series
422
00:20:10,919 --> 00:20:12,629
because an animated Star Trek
423
00:20:12,712 --> 00:20:15,722
could do things
its predecessor could only dream of.
424
00:20:15,798 --> 00:20:17,298
Commander Bem,
what are you doing here?
425
00:20:17,383 --> 00:20:18,513
[chuckles]
426
00:20:18,593 --> 00:20:21,303
[Gerrold] We could write a character
that splits himself into parts.
427
00:20:21,387 --> 00:20:24,847
In those days, you couldn't do
those alien characters live-action,
428
00:20:24,933 --> 00:20:27,063
but you could do
on the animated show,
429
00:20:27,143 --> 00:20:29,193
so we got a lot
of very interesting aliens.
430
00:20:29,270 --> 00:20:31,770
An uncharted star system ahead, Captain.
431
00:20:31,856 --> 00:20:33,226
[McFadden]
For the first time,
432
00:20:33,316 --> 00:20:36,436
the original series Star Trek cast
was expanded,
433
00:20:36,527 --> 00:20:38,447
and new crew members made an entrance.
434
00:20:38,529 --> 00:20:39,909
[whistles]
435
00:20:39,989 --> 00:20:42,579
I really liked the alien character
who was at the helm.
436
00:20:42,659 --> 00:20:44,239
[McFadden]
That would be this guy.
437
00:20:44,327 --> 00:20:47,247
You can have Lt. Arex
or Lt. M'Ress.
438
00:20:47,330 --> 00:20:49,750
[purrs] Lt. M'Ress here.
439
00:20:49,832 --> 00:20:50,962
[McFadden]
And so Star Trek fans
440
00:20:51,042 --> 00:20:53,882
got to meet
a purring communications officer.
441
00:20:53,962 --> 00:20:55,172
[purrs]
442
00:20:55,254 --> 00:20:58,934
[McFadden]
And a tripodal lute-playing navigator.
443
00:20:59,008 --> 00:21:03,098
M'Ress was cat-like. I always
thought of Arex as kind of a camel.
444
00:21:03,179 --> 00:21:05,599
Anybody keeping a trace
on the Captain and Mr. Spock?
445
00:21:05,682 --> 00:21:08,852
What I was trying to do
with that character
446
00:21:08,935 --> 00:21:10,725
was to make him humanoid
447
00:21:10,812 --> 00:21:14,902
and make him an appealing
and accessible-looking character.
448
00:21:14,983 --> 00:21:15,863
Hey, wait a minute.
449
00:21:15,942 --> 00:21:18,952
He was a truly alien character
that you could not have seen on
450
00:21:19,028 --> 00:21:21,158
the live-action television series,
and I loved that.
451
00:21:21,239 --> 00:21:23,619
[McFadden]
Ron Moore wasn't the only one.
452
00:21:23,700 --> 00:21:26,330
I always feel that
the animated series is like
453
00:21:26,411 --> 00:21:30,831
if the original series had
an unlimited special effects budget
454
00:21:30,915 --> 00:21:33,745
and was renewed for a fourth season.
455
00:21:33,835 --> 00:21:34,835
I absolutely love it.
456
00:21:34,919 --> 00:21:36,629
I know that it has its detractors.
457
00:21:36,713 --> 00:21:40,593
Their opinions are absolutely valid,
but for me, I'm crazy about it.
458
00:21:40,675 --> 00:21:41,545
I think it's great.
459
00:21:41,634 --> 00:21:43,224
[both laugh]
460
00:21:43,302 --> 00:21:46,722
[Gerrold] You could do the M'Ress makeup
if you want in live-action,
461
00:21:46,806 --> 00:21:49,386
but it would be three hours
in the makeup chair
462
00:21:49,475 --> 00:21:52,305
every day that
you wanna use that character,
463
00:21:52,395 --> 00:21:54,515
and it would be a budget thing,
so you don't want to do that.
464
00:21:54,605 --> 00:21:56,855
I mean, Spock was spending
an hour in the chair
465
00:21:56,941 --> 00:21:58,321
getting his ears put on.
466
00:21:58,401 --> 00:22:00,571
We weren't getting
Disney level of animation,
467
00:22:00,653 --> 00:22:04,123
but we were getting to do
a much broader palette of Star Trek.
468
00:22:04,198 --> 00:22:07,828
[McFadden] While animation
meant a world of new possibilities,
469
00:22:07,910 --> 00:22:09,580
it was not without its limits.
470
00:22:09,662 --> 00:22:11,962
It was all hand-done,
artists sitting there,
471
00:22:12,040 --> 00:22:14,540
painting in the cells
and all of that stuff.
472
00:22:14,625 --> 00:22:17,545
The one big technological advance we had
473
00:22:17,628 --> 00:22:20,508
was you could Xerox
the black-and-white cells
474
00:22:20,590 --> 00:22:22,930
that were standard cells
for backgrounds
475
00:22:23,009 --> 00:22:24,339
or maybe facial expressions,
things like that.
476
00:22:24,427 --> 00:22:27,967
You could Xerox those, but they still
had to be painted in by hand by artists.
477
00:22:28,056 --> 00:22:31,136
Animators were cutting corners
every way they could.
478
00:22:31,225 --> 00:22:34,975
They gave it a low budget,
not thinking it was gonna be popular.
479
00:22:35,063 --> 00:22:38,233
[McFadden] Director Bill Reed
became adept at using a system
480
00:22:38,316 --> 00:22:42,066
Filmation had perfected
to deliver with a smaller budget.
481
00:22:42,153 --> 00:22:45,663
The thing that saved Filmation
was the stock program.
482
00:22:45,740 --> 00:22:50,330
The stock system was a cornerstone
of all of the Filmation products.
483
00:22:50,411 --> 00:22:54,831
[Bill Reed] The main characters
each had a stock scene of close-up,
484
00:22:54,916 --> 00:22:58,086
a medium shot, a walk, and a run,
485
00:22:58,169 --> 00:23:00,379
and those were used over and over again.
486
00:23:00,463 --> 00:23:03,513
[McFadden] And so Mr. Spock
became Mr. Stock.
487
00:23:03,591 --> 00:23:04,511
Most logical.
488
00:23:04,592 --> 00:23:08,762
[McFadden] Lending the animated
first officer even more Vulcan serenity.
489
00:23:08,846 --> 00:23:12,016
Spock is looking into his viewer.
That's a stock scene.
490
00:23:12,100 --> 00:23:13,770
You can spot a stock scene
491
00:23:13,851 --> 00:23:16,771
because they use the same setup
over and over again.
492
00:23:16,854 --> 00:23:18,694
It saved them a lot of money.
493
00:23:18,773 --> 00:23:22,153
[upbeat music playing]
494
00:23:22,235 --> 00:23:25,065
[Schepis] I love those scenes of Spock
and Kirk running and the music because
495
00:23:25,154 --> 00:23:27,994
because it's the same
Kirk-Spock running scene every time.
496
00:23:28,074 --> 00:23:28,954
I just love it.
497
00:23:29,033 --> 00:23:30,453
Oops!
498
00:23:31,369 --> 00:23:32,199
Amazing.
499
00:23:34,247 --> 00:23:37,417
[Bronson] The animation it,
may seem a little primitive.
500
00:23:37,500 --> 00:23:41,840
But back then, it might have been
a little cut below some other animation,
501
00:23:41,921 --> 00:23:43,711
but it wasn't that far off.
502
00:23:43,798 --> 00:23:45,128
I think it was a product of its time.
503
00:23:45,216 --> 00:23:48,136
[McFadden] However clunky
Captain Kirk's groove may have seemed,
504
00:23:48,219 --> 00:23:53,019
there was no denying his 2D likeness
was a dead ringer for the real thing.
505
00:23:53,099 --> 00:23:56,099
This is Captain James T. Kirk
of the starship Enterprise,
506
00:23:56,185 --> 00:23:57,685
representing the Federation of Planets.
507
00:23:57,770 --> 00:23:59,360
[McFadden]
Spock was spot-on too,
508
00:23:59,438 --> 00:24:01,858
and Bones looked like the real McCoy.
509
00:24:01,941 --> 00:24:02,781
McCoy here.
510
00:24:02,859 --> 00:24:06,029
[McFadden] It was all thanks
to the keen eye of one man.
511
00:24:06,112 --> 00:24:09,162
[Kline] Herb Hazelton
was really important to the show,
512
00:24:09,240 --> 00:24:12,700
in that he designed
all of the prime characters.
513
00:24:12,785 --> 00:24:17,115
I mean, he was a fine artist.
He drew people better than anyone.
514
00:24:17,206 --> 00:24:21,376
He worked from photographs
to create these likenesses,
515
00:24:21,460 --> 00:24:23,550
just the way an artist
would draw from a model.
516
00:24:23,629 --> 00:24:25,669
[Schepis] For a little television show
with a quick turnaround
517
00:24:25,756 --> 00:24:29,046
for all these episodes,
what they did was pretty impressive.
518
00:24:29,135 --> 00:24:30,675
It looked like Star Trek.
519
00:24:30,761 --> 00:24:32,431
But something was changed.
520
00:24:32,513 --> 00:24:36,523
[McFadden] The animated series
was Star Trek in all its true colors.
521
00:24:36,601 --> 00:24:38,691
Except when it came to true colors.
522
00:24:38,769 --> 00:24:40,729
There are some interesting color choices.
523
00:24:40,813 --> 00:24:41,863
Most peculiar.
524
00:24:41,939 --> 00:24:46,239
[McFadden] Producer D.C. Fontana
knew fandom did not like random.
525
00:24:46,319 --> 00:24:48,319
[Nemecek] "This ain't no other
Saturday-morning show.
526
00:24:48,404 --> 00:24:49,414
People care about this.
527
00:24:49,488 --> 00:24:52,778
We will be drowned in letters
if you put the wrong color here."
528
00:24:53,618 --> 00:24:56,288
[McFadden] Sure enough,
there were quibbles over tribbles.
529
00:24:56,370 --> 00:24:58,580
Captain, these are safe tribbles.
530
00:24:58,664 --> 00:24:59,964
You know, you've got pink tribbles.
531
00:25:00,041 --> 00:25:00,881
[grunts]
532
00:25:00,958 --> 00:25:03,958
[McFadden] So what was behind
this kaleidoscope of color?
533
00:25:04,045 --> 00:25:06,665
[Gerrold] The tribbles are pink
in "More Tribbles, More Troubles"
534
00:25:06,756 --> 00:25:09,716
because the man who chose the colors
was colorblind.
535
00:25:09,800 --> 00:25:11,640
Aren't you going to sit down, sir?
536
00:25:11,719 --> 00:25:13,299
I think I'll stand.
537
00:25:13,387 --> 00:25:16,427
[McFadden] That would explain it
if the truth were that simple.
538
00:25:16,515 --> 00:25:20,265
So color blindness on the animated series
is one of those fun urban legends.
539
00:25:20,353 --> 00:25:23,523
[McFadden] Right.
Would a colorblind person paint like this?
540
00:25:23,606 --> 00:25:26,896
Well, yes, the art director
did have some color blindness issues.
541
00:25:26,984 --> 00:25:29,494
[McFadden]
That's art director Don Christensen.
542
00:25:29,570 --> 00:25:31,700
Don Christensen was colorblind.
543
00:25:31,781 --> 00:25:33,951
He wasn't the one
choosing the color palette.
544
00:25:34,033 --> 00:25:35,203
That was Irv Kaplan.
545
00:25:35,284 --> 00:25:38,704
And that was his color palette of choice.
546
00:25:38,788 --> 00:25:40,158
He loved to use those colors.
547
00:25:40,248 --> 00:25:44,878
[Kline] I disagreed with Irv every time
he painted something pink or red
548
00:25:44,961 --> 00:25:49,591
or that was just outrageous
for that character.
549
00:25:49,674 --> 00:25:51,764
He did pick out
some pretty strange colors.
550
00:25:51,842 --> 00:25:54,102
You're saying we can't escape?
551
00:25:54,178 --> 00:25:57,428
[McFadden] Which meant some
of Star Trek's more menacing villains
552
00:25:57,515 --> 00:25:59,305
were surprisingly pretty in pink.
553
00:25:59,392 --> 00:26:01,852
We are prepared to go to war
if we have to.
554
00:26:01,936 --> 00:26:04,806
When you saw
the purple-pink Klingon uniforms,
555
00:26:04,897 --> 00:26:06,857
the Kzinti from "The Slaver Weapon."
556
00:26:06,941 --> 00:26:08,281
Identify yourself.
557
00:26:08,359 --> 00:26:10,779
[Kline]
That was one of the famous situations
558
00:26:10,861 --> 00:26:14,321
where Irv Kaplan decided
they needed to have pink outfits,
559
00:26:14,407 --> 00:26:18,867
and it was just astonishing to me that
that was his solution. [laughs]
560
00:26:18,953 --> 00:26:19,873
[groans]
561
00:26:19,954 --> 00:26:22,714
[McFadden] Dorothy Fontana,
who had little control over art direction,
562
00:26:22,790 --> 00:26:25,750
found she could only apologize
to her writers.
563
00:26:25,835 --> 00:26:28,455
It was like, "No! It can't be!"
564
00:26:28,546 --> 00:26:30,126
I thought that was just fine.
565
00:26:30,214 --> 00:26:32,594
[Schepis] Larry was, like, totally okay
with it because he's like,
566
00:26:32,675 --> 00:26:36,345
"Well, there's orange and red vegetation
on the Kzinti homeworld anyway."
567
00:26:36,429 --> 00:26:38,099
I'm not sure I can take
too much of this.
568
00:26:38,180 --> 00:26:41,890
[McFadden] But on at least one occasion,
it was the color yellow
569
00:26:41,976 --> 00:26:44,436
that raised eyebrows
in the screening room.
570
00:26:44,520 --> 00:26:48,110
Ted Cortez and I would go over
to Filmation to view the episodes.
571
00:26:48,190 --> 00:26:49,690
You know,
he did it for broadcast standards.
572
00:26:49,775 --> 00:26:51,775
I did it for publicity.
573
00:26:51,861 --> 00:26:56,371
We'd sit there in front of a Moviola,
crowded in, watching the episode,
574
00:26:56,449 --> 00:26:59,329
and we're watching the one called
"Once Upon a Planet,"
575
00:26:59,410 --> 00:27:02,710
which was the sequel to
"Shore Leave" from the original series.
576
00:27:02,788 --> 00:27:06,458
There's a scene where Dr. McCoy
is out in a field,
577
00:27:06,542 --> 00:27:08,422
like in a Southern plantation,
578
00:27:08,502 --> 00:27:12,762
and I'm looking, and I see a yellow stream
coming out of him...
579
00:27:12,840 --> 00:27:15,260
hitting the ground.
580
00:27:15,343 --> 00:27:17,093
And it goes on.
I said, "Wait a minute."
581
00:27:17,178 --> 00:27:19,348
I turned to Ted and said,
"What did we just see?"
582
00:27:19,430 --> 00:27:20,510
He said, "I don't know."
583
00:27:20,598 --> 00:27:23,888
So we asked them to roll it back.
584
00:27:25,478 --> 00:27:27,398
And we look. He's taking a piss.
585
00:27:27,480 --> 00:27:29,020
Ted said, "You can't do that!"
586
00:27:29,106 --> 00:27:32,606
And they said, "We know,
we just put it in for you." [laughs]
587
00:27:32,693 --> 00:27:33,783
[McFadden]
But an unpalatable palette
588
00:27:33,861 --> 00:27:37,161
would prove to be
the least of the producers' concerns.
589
00:27:37,239 --> 00:27:40,449
It doesn't matter. It's gonna be seen once
on Saturday-morning cartoons.
590
00:27:40,534 --> 00:27:41,414
And who cares?
591
00:27:41,494 --> 00:27:42,794
[McFadden]
Because where the animated series
592
00:27:42,870 --> 00:27:47,880
was about to take its young viewers
was wholly uncharted territory.
593
00:27:53,339 --> 00:27:55,219
I want to protect her,
594
00:27:55,299 --> 00:27:58,049
hold her in my arms.
595
00:27:58,135 --> 00:28:01,215
There were two things that
Gene Roddenberry always had notes for,
596
00:28:01,305 --> 00:28:03,465
for the writers for Star Trek episodes.
597
00:28:03,557 --> 00:28:05,137
He wanted to have more relationships.
598
00:28:05,226 --> 00:28:07,556
[McFadden]
Just like its live-action sibling,
599
00:28:07,645 --> 00:28:10,355
the animated series
wasn't afraid of live-action...
600
00:28:10,439 --> 00:28:12,019
-Love?
-Yes.
601
00:28:12,108 --> 00:28:14,278
[McFadden]
Nor one other big thing.
602
00:28:14,360 --> 00:28:15,740
The other one was God.
603
00:28:15,820 --> 00:28:19,160
Excuse me,
I'd just like to ask a question.
604
00:28:20,991 --> 00:28:22,951
What does God need with a starship?
605
00:28:23,035 --> 00:28:24,535
[Gerrold]
This was Gene's story.
606
00:28:24,620 --> 00:28:27,790
Whenever the story got bogged down
or he didn't know what to do,
607
00:28:27,873 --> 00:28:29,083
he said, "Let them meet God."
608
00:28:29,166 --> 00:28:30,956
Magic.
609
00:28:31,043 --> 00:28:33,593
[Schepis] Larry Brody,
who wrote "The Magicks of Megas-Tu,"
610
00:28:33,671 --> 00:28:36,221
knew that Gene
would love a God story.
611
00:28:36,298 --> 00:28:37,838
So he pitched the story with God in it.
612
00:28:37,925 --> 00:28:40,335
[McFadden]
But on network television in the '70s,
613
00:28:40,428 --> 00:28:43,098
God might find an audience
on Sunday morning,
614
00:28:43,180 --> 00:28:45,720
but not Saturday-morning cartoons.
615
00:28:45,808 --> 00:28:49,478
But NBC said, "No, no, no, no.
The crew's not meeting God.
616
00:28:49,562 --> 00:28:52,312
But you know what?
You can meet the devil instead."
617
00:28:52,398 --> 00:28:54,148
It is not logical.
618
00:28:54,233 --> 00:28:55,693
[laughs] Which is crazy.
619
00:28:55,776 --> 00:29:00,816
[McFadden] To the writers of Star Trek,
this was a temptation too good to resist.
620
00:29:00,906 --> 00:29:06,366
Ah, humans.
Lovely, primitive humans.
621
00:29:06,454 --> 00:29:09,214
Can't you do anything right?
622
00:29:09,290 --> 00:29:11,920
[Nemecek] "The Magicks of Megas-Tu"
is an episode
623
00:29:12,001 --> 00:29:15,961
that the newest generation of fandom
is all kind of, like, woke up to.
624
00:29:16,046 --> 00:29:18,716
Call me Lucien.
Call me friend.
625
00:29:18,799 --> 00:29:21,799
Oh, my God, it's Kirk, Spock,
and the devil! What?! What?!
626
00:29:21,886 --> 00:29:24,966
[McFadden] The character of Lucien
certainly looked the part,
627
00:29:25,055 --> 00:29:27,925
but Star Trek's devil
was no traditional Satan.
628
00:29:28,017 --> 00:29:31,597
Never could I abandon those
who come to rollick with me.
629
00:29:31,687 --> 00:29:33,147
[McFadden]
He was less devilish.
630
00:29:33,230 --> 00:29:37,230
I knew eventually
humans would come searching for me.
631
00:29:37,318 --> 00:29:39,028
[McFadden]
More devilishly charming.
632
00:29:39,111 --> 00:29:40,651
[laughs]
633
00:29:40,738 --> 00:29:45,578
Captain, good Captain,
always so curious!
634
00:29:45,659 --> 00:29:50,039
That must be why I've always
liked you Earthlings so much!
635
00:29:50,122 --> 00:29:53,082
Eight-year-old kids were watching
this on Saturday morning. [laughs]
636
00:29:53,167 --> 00:29:57,797
Let us leave this vessel
and go where true delights lie!
637
00:29:57,880 --> 00:29:59,920
Wait a minute,
you're glorifying the devil?
638
00:30:00,007 --> 00:30:02,047
[McFadden]
Not only did Star Trek dare to give Satan
639
00:30:02,134 --> 00:30:05,474
an acceptable, even child-friendly face,
640
00:30:05,554 --> 00:30:08,024
it went to bed with him
on the big issues.
641
00:30:08,098 --> 00:30:10,518
To isolate someone like Lucien,
642
00:30:10,601 --> 00:30:13,351
that's the same
as sentencing him to death.
643
00:30:13,437 --> 00:30:16,977
Kirk was defending the devil
in a courtroom, basically.
644
00:30:17,066 --> 00:30:19,776
He's a living being,
an intelligent life form.
645
00:30:19,860 --> 00:30:23,780
Would you defend him still
if you knew he had another name too?
646
00:30:23,864 --> 00:30:24,954
Lucifer!
647
00:30:25,032 --> 00:30:27,202
He's like, "Hey, no, he's a good guy."
648
00:30:27,284 --> 00:30:30,834
[McFadden] And what better thing to do
with a good guy then share a drink?
649
00:30:30,913 --> 00:30:33,673
Why I love the episode
is because it's not the devil.
650
00:30:33,749 --> 00:30:36,289
[McFadden] And if this handsome devil
wasn't enough,
651
00:30:36,377 --> 00:30:38,377
how about a side of the occult?
652
00:30:38,462 --> 00:30:42,682
[Schepis] Inhabitants of Megas-Tu
had hoofed feet, had horns.
653
00:30:42,758 --> 00:30:45,718
They actually were on Earth
during the 1600s,
654
00:30:45,803 --> 00:30:47,603
and they could do magic.
655
00:30:47,680 --> 00:30:53,600
That idea that Lucian was something evil
was because humanity made him that way.
656
00:30:53,686 --> 00:30:59,316
When the aliens put our crew on trial,
it looks like we're in ancient Salem.
657
00:30:59,400 --> 00:31:04,410
We are gathered here today,
good citizens, to see justice done.
658
00:31:04,488 --> 00:31:08,448
The whole idea of Salem and the witches,
it probably triggered something
659
00:31:08,534 --> 00:31:12,084
in people about Satanism or witchcraft.
660
00:31:12,162 --> 00:31:14,832
[McFadden]
The idea of Satan on the bridge
661
00:31:14,915 --> 00:31:17,585
proved a bridge too far
for some Southern viewers.
662
00:31:17,668 --> 00:31:22,168
[Bronson] A lot of people, especially
in religious areas, the Bible Belt,
663
00:31:22,256 --> 00:31:25,006
took offense to it
and complained to NBC.
664
00:31:25,092 --> 00:31:27,472
They mobilized,
they called, they hammered NBC.
665
00:31:27,553 --> 00:31:30,513
They did not get a lot
of positive phone calls for this episode.
666
00:31:30,598 --> 00:31:34,348
The funny thing is, is that NBC
was the one that said, "Make it the devil.
667
00:31:34,435 --> 00:31:35,305
That'll be okay."
668
00:31:35,394 --> 00:31:38,444
[McFadden]
Following the outcry, NBC caved.
669
00:31:38,522 --> 00:31:42,942
"The Magicks of Megas-Tu"
got pulled because 40 rabid Baptists
670
00:31:43,027 --> 00:31:44,397
wrote in letters of protest.
671
00:31:44,486 --> 00:31:46,566
"How can you make the devil
a nice guy?"
672
00:31:46,655 --> 00:31:51,285
They actually did make some adjustments
from the time it aired originally.
673
00:31:51,368 --> 00:31:54,158
It's one of those things that,
with a little hindsight
674
00:31:54,246 --> 00:31:56,916
and a fresh filter,
you're thinking, "What?"
675
00:31:56,999 --> 00:31:59,209
It was just a trippy episode.
676
00:31:59,293 --> 00:32:01,213
[McFadden]
But the trip was just beginning.
677
00:32:01,295 --> 00:32:05,415
Star Trek had other children's
television taboos in its sights.
678
00:32:09,053 --> 00:32:11,313
These are the most beautiful women
in the galaxy.
679
00:32:11,388 --> 00:32:12,968
Oh, sorry, sir.
680
00:32:13,057 --> 00:32:14,097
Are you injured?
681
00:32:14,183 --> 00:32:17,233
No. No, I'm-I'm fine.
682
00:32:17,311 --> 00:32:19,901
[McFadden] Adult themes
were surprisingly interwoven
683
00:32:19,980 --> 00:32:24,400
throughout the animated series,
including the most adult of them all.
684
00:32:24,485 --> 00:32:27,445
My world, there's a lot of females,
not so many men.
685
00:32:27,529 --> 00:32:30,489
Come we find a man attractive,
we say so.
686
00:32:30,574 --> 00:32:31,704
I'm sayin' so.
687
00:32:31,784 --> 00:32:34,584
[McFadden] Whether it was
Friday night or Saturday morning,
688
00:32:34,662 --> 00:32:38,332
Captain Kirk would still
be a sex object, even in 2D.
689
00:32:38,415 --> 00:32:40,455
You're more handsome than ever.
690
00:32:40,542 --> 00:32:42,092
It goes back to that whole idea of Kirk
691
00:32:42,169 --> 00:32:45,209
being that, you know, ladies' man
from the original series.
692
00:32:45,297 --> 00:32:46,627
How do you find me?
693
00:32:46,715 --> 00:32:48,545
Mm... fascinating.
694
00:32:48,634 --> 00:32:49,894
[McFadden]
In "The Jihad"...
695
00:32:49,968 --> 00:32:51,798
It definitely wouldn't
get that title today.
696
00:32:51,887 --> 00:32:55,217
[McFadden] Lara, the expert hunter,
brings sexual tension
697
00:32:55,307 --> 00:32:57,517
where no sexual tension
had gone before.
698
00:32:57,601 --> 00:32:59,851
You know, she's flirting with him
the whole episode.
699
00:32:59,937 --> 00:33:01,857
But we're not here
on a pleasure trip, Lara.
700
00:33:01,939 --> 00:33:04,899
All the more reason to take
what pleasure there might be in it.
701
00:33:04,983 --> 00:33:06,493
[chuckles]
702
00:33:06,568 --> 00:33:08,948
It's hilarious because, again,
it's adult subject matter.
703
00:33:09,029 --> 00:33:11,819
If we were together,
the trip would be easier.
704
00:33:11,907 --> 00:33:14,277
You know, she says something
about "we can make green memories."
705
00:33:14,368 --> 00:33:18,288
And if anything happened, why, uh,
we'd have some green memories.
706
00:33:18,372 --> 00:33:20,502
You know, she's talking about
making green memories and Kirk's like...
707
00:33:20,582 --> 00:33:23,922
-I already have a lot of green memories.
-Oh.
708
00:33:24,002 --> 00:33:26,462
[McFadden] In case you're wondering
about green memories,
709
00:33:26,547 --> 00:33:29,627
it's true, Kirk had formed a few
over the years.
710
00:33:29,717 --> 00:33:32,637
[Schepis] I can only imagine a kid
talking to Mom and Dad and going,
711
00:33:32,720 --> 00:33:34,560
"Mom, what's a green memory?"
712
00:33:34,638 --> 00:33:36,888
It was on purpose,
but it wasn't like a plot.
713
00:33:36,974 --> 00:33:38,144
"Oh, we'll fix them."
714
00:33:38,225 --> 00:33:40,595
I think they wanted
to tell great stories.
715
00:33:40,686 --> 00:33:42,806
Goodbye, James Kirk.
716
00:33:42,896 --> 00:33:43,976
Too bad.
717
00:33:44,064 --> 00:33:46,574
[McFadden] But telling great stories
meant having great scripts,
718
00:33:46,650 --> 00:33:49,900
and Dorothy was about
to run out of those.
719
00:33:49,987 --> 00:33:52,817
Star Trek: The Animated Series
wouldn't have turned out the way it did
720
00:33:52,906 --> 00:33:54,776
if there wasn't a writers' strike
at the time.
721
00:33:54,867 --> 00:33:58,577
[McFadden] But being a writer herself,
Dorothy knew a clever workaround.
722
00:33:58,662 --> 00:34:02,462
[Harvey] The Guild rule,
you could not write live-action television
723
00:34:02,541 --> 00:34:06,421
if there was a strike,
but you could do one animated episode.
724
00:34:06,503 --> 00:34:07,423
Yes, that's right.
725
00:34:07,504 --> 00:34:10,974
[McFadden] Dorothy exploited
this little-known loophole in union rules
726
00:34:11,049 --> 00:34:14,299
to keep her writers working
and the show in production.
727
00:34:14,386 --> 00:34:18,176
Dorothy approach people who had written
original Star Trek and said,
728
00:34:18,265 --> 00:34:22,555
"Hey, you can't write anything right now,
but you can do this animated show."
729
00:34:22,644 --> 00:34:25,194
[McFadden]
As the animated series was a unique gig,
730
00:34:25,272 --> 00:34:28,732
it was a chance for pigeonholed riders
to flex their muscles.
731
00:34:28,817 --> 00:34:30,647
It was enticing to somebody
like David Gerrold,
732
00:34:30,736 --> 00:34:32,856
who was able to do his Bem character.
733
00:34:32,946 --> 00:34:34,156
[McFadden]
This David Gerrold.
734
00:34:34,239 --> 00:34:36,199
I always wanted to do Bem.
735
00:34:36,283 --> 00:34:39,663
So with the animated show, they said,
"You know, we can do Bem now."
736
00:34:39,745 --> 00:34:42,745
[Captain Kirk]
Honorary Commander Ari bn Bem.
737
00:34:43,248 --> 00:34:45,878
[McFadden]
Bem stood for "bug-eyed monster."
738
00:34:45,959 --> 00:34:49,459
Because we don't have to build a costume,
it's easier to draw this character.
739
00:34:49,546 --> 00:34:52,256
This one must disassemble.
740
00:34:52,341 --> 00:34:56,801
That was an idea that came over
from the original series into animation.
741
00:34:56,887 --> 00:34:59,427
[McFadden]
Also picked up from the original series,
742
00:34:59,515 --> 00:35:02,175
Star Trek's continuing mission
for diversity.
743
00:35:02,267 --> 00:35:03,937
Gentlemen, we've just been
through one civil war.
744
00:35:04,019 --> 00:35:05,689
Let's not start another.
745
00:35:05,771 --> 00:35:07,651
[Schepis] Gene Roddenberry
didn't do an interview saying,
746
00:35:07,731 --> 00:35:09,361
"Hey, we've got a black woman
on our bridge.
747
00:35:09,441 --> 00:35:12,031
Hey, we've got a Japanese American
on our bridge."
748
00:35:12,110 --> 00:35:12,950
They just did it.
749
00:35:13,028 --> 00:35:15,158
[McFadden]
The animated series did it too,
750
00:35:15,239 --> 00:35:16,409
and did more.
751
00:35:16,490 --> 00:35:19,950
Infinite diversity
in infinite combinations.
752
00:35:20,035 --> 00:35:21,695
[Harvey]
The characters all got something to do.
753
00:35:21,787 --> 00:35:23,707
They didn't have to just be one-liners.
754
00:35:23,789 --> 00:35:26,789
All right, you lovelies, hold together.
755
00:35:26,875 --> 00:35:28,125
[McFadden]
In this universe,
756
00:35:28,210 --> 00:35:31,510
Star Trek's minorities
could even take control.
757
00:35:31,588 --> 00:35:33,508
Lt. Uhura, place the ship on yellow alert.
758
00:35:33,590 --> 00:35:35,510
Aye, sir, yellow alert.
759
00:35:35,592 --> 00:35:38,802
Lt. Uhura had a whole lot more
to do than she did in the original series,
760
00:35:38,887 --> 00:35:39,717
when you look at it.
761
00:35:39,805 --> 00:35:41,265
Fire!
762
00:35:41,348 --> 00:35:44,808
She actually finally got
to take control of the Enterprise.
763
00:35:44,893 --> 00:35:46,023
What are you doing?
764
00:35:46,103 --> 00:35:47,773
Taking command of this ship.
765
00:35:48,897 --> 00:35:52,727
When she read the script,
she yelled out loud, "Finally!"
766
00:35:52,818 --> 00:35:54,988
I am assuming command
of the Enterprise.
767
00:35:55,070 --> 00:35:57,700
Uhura got to captain the damn bridge.
768
00:35:57,781 --> 00:36:01,121
It was so satisfying and I loved it.
769
00:36:01,201 --> 00:36:04,161
[McFadden] And while the show
was among the first on many fronts,
770
00:36:04,246 --> 00:36:09,126
including Kirk's split-focused
interracial kiss with Lt. Uhura,
771
00:36:09,209 --> 00:36:11,839
there was one notable
and unexpected first
772
00:36:11,920 --> 00:36:13,590
the animated series could claim.
773
00:36:13,672 --> 00:36:16,682
A legend of a winged serpent god
who came from the skies,
774
00:36:16,758 --> 00:36:17,888
bringing knowledge.
775
00:36:17,968 --> 00:36:21,008
It was one of the first times
that they actually brought in
776
00:36:21,096 --> 00:36:23,426
Native American culture
into Star Trek.
777
00:36:23,515 --> 00:36:25,975
[McFadden] Writer Russell Bates
was invited to introduce
778
00:36:26,059 --> 00:36:28,899
his own culture
into the Star Trek universe.
779
00:36:28,979 --> 00:36:30,649
[Schepis]
He was a Native American.
780
00:36:30,731 --> 00:36:33,781
Dorothy wanted him to write something
towards his experiences.
781
00:36:33,859 --> 00:36:35,569
Aye, sir, warp factor two.
782
00:36:35,652 --> 00:36:37,782
So that's how we have
Ensign Walking Bear.
783
00:36:37,863 --> 00:36:39,073
Mr. Walking Bear.
784
00:36:39,156 --> 00:36:41,066
[Schepis]
The first Native American in Starfleet.
785
00:36:41,158 --> 00:36:42,448
[Walking Bear]
I am a Comanche, Captain.
786
00:36:42,534 --> 00:36:44,704
Another one of those
groundbreaking moments for Star Trek.
787
00:36:44,786 --> 00:36:47,366
[McFadden]
On a Saturday morning in the '70s,
788
00:36:47,456 --> 00:36:50,576
the kind of ethnic culture
that American kids encountered
789
00:36:50,667 --> 00:36:52,917
was usually no more than phooey.
790
00:36:53,003 --> 00:36:54,803
♪ Hong Kong Phooey ♪
791
00:36:54,880 --> 00:36:56,880
♪ Number one super guy ♪
792
00:36:56,965 --> 00:37:00,465
Not the best portrayal
of people of color, unfortunately.
793
00:37:00,552 --> 00:37:02,762
We work only to create peace.
794
00:37:02,846 --> 00:37:06,216
[McFadden] The humble animated officer
Ensign Walking Bear
795
00:37:06,308 --> 00:37:10,228
was light years beyond earlier brushes
with Native American cultures.
796
00:37:10,312 --> 00:37:12,652
Give him the medicine badge.
797
00:37:14,399 --> 00:37:17,489
[McFadden] The episode entitled
"How Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth"...
798
00:37:17,569 --> 00:37:19,659
Which is a quote from King Lear.
799
00:37:19,738 --> 00:37:23,448
How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is
to have a thankless child.
800
00:37:23,533 --> 00:37:25,583
[McFadden]
...went on to win an Emmy for...
801
00:37:25,661 --> 00:37:28,161
Outstanding daytime children's
television series.
802
00:37:28,246 --> 00:37:31,826
[McFadden] The Emmy ceremony itself
was also outstanding.
803
00:37:31,917 --> 00:37:35,167
This was the first and last year
that the Emmys were done on a boat.
804
00:37:35,253 --> 00:37:37,013
[Monty Hall] They told me this
is really the way to do a show.
805
00:37:37,089 --> 00:37:39,969
Well, I suppose it is, but what
I wouldn't do for a cooling breeze.
806
00:37:40,050 --> 00:37:41,260
-Yeah. [laughs]
-Jeez.
807
00:37:41,343 --> 00:37:45,183
[McFadden] Well, it was the '70s,
and they simply didn't know any better.
808
00:37:45,263 --> 00:37:47,183
[Harvey]
Lou Scheimer heard that the winner
809
00:37:47,265 --> 00:37:49,055
was actually Captain Kangaroo.
810
00:37:49,142 --> 00:37:53,652
Lou got drunk, and they announced
that Star Trek has won the Emmy.
811
00:37:53,730 --> 00:37:57,530
To all those great,
great people who produce for us
812
00:37:57,609 --> 00:38:00,949
in the art of animation at Filmation
those wonderful shows.
813
00:38:01,029 --> 00:38:02,819
He is about ready to fall over.
814
00:38:02,906 --> 00:38:04,116
Thank you very, very much.
815
00:38:04,199 --> 00:38:05,029
[crowd cheering]
816
00:38:05,158 --> 00:38:07,198
The animated series, to this day,
whatever you think about it,
817
00:38:07,285 --> 00:38:10,325
is the only Star Trek to win an Emmy
as a program.
818
00:38:10,414 --> 00:38:12,714
[McFadden] Star Trek shows
have won twice for makeup,
819
00:38:12,791 --> 00:38:16,211
but the animated series stands alone
for writing honors.
820
00:38:16,294 --> 00:38:18,094
Despite the accolades,
821
00:38:18,171 --> 00:38:21,971
this chapter was always going to be
Star Trek's least watched.
822
00:38:22,050 --> 00:38:24,720
[Bronson] We did get high praise
from television critics.
823
00:38:24,803 --> 00:38:27,763
I think they saw that children
could appreciate the show.
824
00:38:27,848 --> 00:38:29,518
Adults could appreciate the show.
825
00:38:29,599 --> 00:38:32,849
The stories had the quality
that the original series had.
826
00:38:32,936 --> 00:38:36,436
[McFadden] The L.A. Times called
Star Trek: The Animated Series
827
00:38:36,523 --> 00:38:38,823
"A Mercedes in a soapbox derby."
828
00:38:39,026 --> 00:38:41,146
I like the fact that
they said it was a Mercedes.
829
00:38:41,236 --> 00:38:44,026
[McFadden] Nonetheless,
Saturday-morning cartoons
830
00:38:44,114 --> 00:38:47,494
was not a race this Mercedes
was destined to win.
831
00:38:51,329 --> 00:38:54,669
[McFadden] For a kids' show,
Star Trek: The Animated Series
832
00:38:54,750 --> 00:38:56,670
had achieved something very grown-up.
833
00:38:56,752 --> 00:39:01,672
It won an Emmy as best children's show,
and there was nothing children about it.
834
00:39:01,757 --> 00:39:03,927
[McFadden]
That was something the original series
835
00:39:04,009 --> 00:39:06,929
never managed in 79 episodes.
836
00:39:07,012 --> 00:39:11,982
Nevertheless, this upstart cartoon would
suffer the same fate as its mothership.
837
00:39:13,143 --> 00:39:18,323
After 22 episodes over two seasons,
the show was retired.
838
00:39:18,398 --> 00:39:21,028
The animated series
was not canceled for bad ratings.
839
00:39:21,109 --> 00:39:23,819
It just was a point
where we have enough episodes,
840
00:39:23,904 --> 00:39:27,784
and now we can run these forever
and it doesn't cost us any more money.
841
00:39:27,866 --> 00:39:30,576
[McFadden] The animated adventures
had found an audience,
842
00:39:30,660 --> 00:39:32,750
but it was the wrong audience.
843
00:39:32,829 --> 00:39:37,169
Star Trek might have actually continued if
it didn't have sort of this dual identity
844
00:39:37,250 --> 00:39:41,300
of being a children's program
and original Star Trek at the same time.
845
00:39:41,379 --> 00:39:43,419
[announcer]
The Star Trek USS Enterprise gift set
846
00:39:43,507 --> 00:39:45,547
with five Star Trek action figures.
847
00:39:45,634 --> 00:39:48,014
[Harvey] The advertisers
didn't quite know what to do with it.
848
00:39:48,095 --> 00:39:50,755
Are you advertising to the dad
that's watching the show with the kids?
849
00:39:50,847 --> 00:39:52,847
Or are you advertising to the kid
that wants the toy?
850
00:39:52,933 --> 00:39:54,433
[announcer]
Star Trek action figures sold separately.
851
00:39:54,518 --> 00:39:57,058
It's kind of charming when you see
some of the toys back in the day
852
00:39:57,145 --> 00:39:59,185
that, you know, they have
a mustard-yellow Kirk,
853
00:39:59,272 --> 00:40:00,652
and you're like,
"Eh, that's not really correct."
854
00:40:00,732 --> 00:40:02,232
But you know,
what are you gonna do?
855
00:40:02,359 --> 00:40:04,279
"Ah, stupid kids, they don't care."
856
00:40:04,361 --> 00:40:07,361
[McFadden] Well, it certainly
didn't stop them from buying them.
857
00:40:07,447 --> 00:40:11,537
Mego Toys in the mid '70s
becomes one of the best-selling toy lines.
858
00:40:11,618 --> 00:40:14,368
They sold $12 million worth of toys
the first year.
859
00:40:14,454 --> 00:40:17,044
[McFadden]
And while it sold a lot of toys,
860
00:40:17,124 --> 00:40:21,804
can an obscure kids' cartoon
that ran for just two seasons
861
00:40:21,878 --> 00:40:24,668
legitimately be part
of the Star Trek legacy?
862
00:40:24,756 --> 00:40:28,176
Today, you often hear the refrain
of "that's not Star Trek."
863
00:40:28,260 --> 00:40:31,180
[McFadden] This debate goes
all the way back to the beginning.
864
00:40:31,263 --> 00:40:35,643
That started in 1973, when they
announced the animated series.
865
00:40:35,725 --> 00:40:39,855
You had that loud vocal minority saying,
"Don't do this to my show that I love."
866
00:40:40,647 --> 00:40:44,027
People took out newspaper ads
asking that they not put
867
00:40:44,109 --> 00:40:47,609
Star Trek: The Animated Series
on the air because it's a cartoon.
868
00:40:47,696 --> 00:40:48,606
It's not real Star Trek.
869
00:40:48,697 --> 00:40:50,157
[McFadden]
There was one true fan
870
00:40:50,240 --> 00:40:53,540
who really was dedicated
to proving that idea wrong.
871
00:40:53,618 --> 00:40:55,038
Someone special.
872
00:40:55,120 --> 00:40:58,330
Dorothy, of course,
was fiercely protective of Star Trek.
873
00:40:58,415 --> 00:41:00,165
[McFadden]
But in the male-dominated world
874
00:41:00,250 --> 00:41:04,960
of fast-turnaround cartoons,
Dorothy Fontana was on her own.
875
00:41:05,046 --> 00:41:07,716
No one is thinking
they're upholding the legacy
876
00:41:07,799 --> 00:41:09,889
of some already undervalued show,
877
00:41:09,968 --> 00:41:13,558
and Dorothy, just trying
to enforce Star Trek continuity
878
00:41:13,638 --> 00:41:15,178
from the original series.
879
00:41:15,265 --> 00:41:19,555
For the first several episodes,
she didn't see final cuts of the shows
880
00:41:19,644 --> 00:41:22,064
and was totally blocked out
of the process,
881
00:41:22,147 --> 00:41:24,017
and it was a real frustration point
for her.
882
00:41:24,107 --> 00:41:28,357
She knows there's a little controversy
about people seeing these animated shows
883
00:41:28,445 --> 00:41:30,605
as a consolation prize for revival,
884
00:41:30,697 --> 00:41:34,827
so the last thing she wants
is any fan to be upset.
885
00:41:34,910 --> 00:41:37,750
And so Dorothy made sure it was Star Trek.
886
00:41:37,829 --> 00:41:40,369
[McFadden] After all,
that's what it says on the can,
887
00:41:40,457 --> 00:41:42,327
but is it canon?
888
00:41:42,417 --> 00:41:45,047
This whole debate about canon
for the animated series is just amazing.
889
00:41:45,128 --> 00:41:46,798
The animated series is canon.
890
00:41:46,880 --> 00:41:48,470
[Nemecek]
A lot of us took it as canon.
891
00:41:48,548 --> 00:41:50,338
We just kind of, you know,
held our nose a couple of times
892
00:41:50,425 --> 00:41:52,465
and kind of tried to look the other way
on a couple of areas.
893
00:41:52,552 --> 00:41:55,312
[McFadden]
Well, after all, it was for kids.
894
00:41:55,388 --> 00:41:57,518
Dorothy says it's canon.
She treated it as canon.
895
00:41:57,599 --> 00:42:02,559
She felt that the animated series
was the unofficial 4th season
896
00:42:02,646 --> 00:42:03,896
of the original series.
897
00:42:03,980 --> 00:42:07,860
[McFadden] Some might see
a cartoon Trek as a crime against canon,
898
00:42:07,943 --> 00:42:12,363
but there's no denying the
animated series checked a load of boxes.
899
00:42:12,447 --> 00:42:13,367
Like original cast.
900
00:42:13,448 --> 00:42:15,698
It's the voices. It's those guys.
901
00:42:15,825 --> 00:42:16,985
Nothing's changed.
902
00:42:17,077 --> 00:42:19,197
-[bell dings]
-[McFadden] Check, but not Chekov.
903
00:42:19,287 --> 00:42:21,827
Mr. Chekov.
Join us in the transporter room.
904
00:42:21,915 --> 00:42:24,455
Walter Koenig didn't make the cut
for this show.
905
00:42:24,542 --> 00:42:28,962
[McFadden] And while Walter did get to add
to the series by writing an episode...
906
00:42:29,047 --> 00:42:29,877
"The Infinite Vulcan."
907
00:42:29,965 --> 00:42:32,295
[McFadden]
...after that, Chekov checked out.
908
00:42:32,384 --> 00:42:35,104
When I got done with the animated show,
they offered me a second one.
909
00:42:35,178 --> 00:42:36,678
I just turned that down.
910
00:42:36,846 --> 00:42:37,926
[McFadden]
For young Walter,
911
00:42:38,014 --> 00:42:41,064
it was tough to hear the criticism
about the episode.
912
00:42:41,142 --> 00:42:44,442
When I did hear
comments about the episode,
913
00:42:44,521 --> 00:42:49,991
the complaint was a 50-foot Spock,
you know. [scoffs]
914
00:42:50,068 --> 00:42:52,398
[McFadden]
It seemed like fans just preferred
915
00:42:52,487 --> 00:42:54,447
their favorite Vulcan human-sized,
916
00:42:54,531 --> 00:42:57,201
and Walter couldn't help
but take it personally.
917
00:42:57,284 --> 00:43:00,374
I said to myself, "Well, I guess
it was a pretty lousy episode,"
918
00:43:00,453 --> 00:43:02,833
and I just left it at that.
919
00:43:02,914 --> 00:43:04,714
And then I read this book.
920
00:43:04,791 --> 00:43:08,131
[McFadden] The same book that
Aaron happens to be holding right here.
921
00:43:08,211 --> 00:43:14,181
This very handsomely done book
about animated Star Trek.
922
00:43:14,259 --> 00:43:16,759
[McFadden]
Written by a couple of great guys.
923
00:43:16,845 --> 00:43:21,805
And Dorothy Fontana
said it was the show she liked best.
924
00:43:21,891 --> 00:43:23,771
Can you imagine that?
925
00:43:23,852 --> 00:43:27,902
I've been going along all these years
thinking that it was really a bad show,
926
00:43:27,981 --> 00:43:29,901
and she said she really liked it.
927
00:43:29,983 --> 00:43:33,073
[McFadden] Unfortunately,
Walter's work also had
928
00:43:33,153 --> 00:43:34,993
someone else's fingerprints all over it.
929
00:43:35,071 --> 00:43:37,201
Explain it to me, sir. Explain it to me.
930
00:43:37,282 --> 00:43:39,782
[McFadden] Because Gene Roddenberry
wanted too many rewrites.
931
00:43:39,868 --> 00:43:41,788
I got crazy with it.
932
00:43:41,870 --> 00:43:44,210
Gene is the master rewriter.
933
00:43:44,289 --> 00:43:46,879
[McFadden] Which is another check
on the canon checklist.
934
00:43:46,958 --> 00:43:49,498
If it has Gene Roddenberry's name on it,
it's canon.
935
00:43:49,586 --> 00:43:50,746
-[bell dings]
-[McFadden] Check.
936
00:43:50,837 --> 00:43:52,837
He put his name on it,
and he collected his paycheck.
937
00:43:52,922 --> 00:43:53,972
-[bell dings]
-[McFadden] Another check.
938
00:43:54,049 --> 00:43:54,879
It's canon.
939
00:43:54,966 --> 00:43:56,256
[McFadden]
Original writers?
940
00:43:56,343 --> 00:43:59,053
It was written by the writers
that wrote the original stories.
941
00:43:59,137 --> 00:43:59,967
[bell dings]
942
00:44:00,055 --> 00:44:01,965
[McFadden]
And they weren't the only returnees.
943
00:44:02,057 --> 00:44:03,977
[Harvey]
You have a lot of returning characters.
944
00:44:04,059 --> 00:44:04,889
[bell dings]
945
00:44:04,976 --> 00:44:08,556
You have Sarek and Amanda.
You have Harry Mudd.
946
00:44:08,646 --> 00:44:10,436
Captain Kirk.
947
00:44:10,523 --> 00:44:12,193
[Harvey]
You have Cyrano Jones.
948
00:44:12,275 --> 00:44:13,435
What can I do for you?
949
00:44:13,526 --> 00:44:16,646
You even have fictional characters
like Alice in Wonderland
950
00:44:16,738 --> 00:44:17,858
from the "Shore Leave" planet.
951
00:44:17,947 --> 00:44:20,327
I beg your pardon,
but did you see a white rabbit?
952
00:44:20,408 --> 00:44:23,408
There's just so many
returning bits and pieces.
953
00:44:23,495 --> 00:44:25,865
[McFadden]
Not to mention sequels.
954
00:44:25,955 --> 00:44:28,205
These tribbles don't reproduce,
they just get fat.
955
00:44:28,291 --> 00:44:29,131
[bell dings]
956
00:44:29,209 --> 00:44:31,089
"More Tribbles, More Troubles,"
that's a sequel.
957
00:44:31,169 --> 00:44:33,839
"Once Upon a Planet" is a sequel
to "Shore Leave."
958
00:44:33,922 --> 00:44:36,012
[McFadden]
Some of them were even prequels.
959
00:44:36,091 --> 00:44:38,091
[screams]
960
00:44:38,176 --> 00:44:42,846
Without the animated series, a huge chunk
of what Spock is would not have existed.
961
00:44:42,931 --> 00:44:43,771
[bell dings]
962
00:44:43,848 --> 00:44:48,598
The animated series is becoming more canon
because they're using stuff from it.
963
00:44:48,686 --> 00:44:51,726
[Schepis] They have taken the ideas
from the animated series,
964
00:44:51,815 --> 00:44:53,225
like the rec room holodeck.
965
00:44:53,316 --> 00:44:54,146
[bell dings]
966
00:44:54,234 --> 00:44:57,454
Just imagine what it was like,
no engines, no computers.
967
00:44:57,529 --> 00:45:00,199
[Cushman] There were a lot of things
that came out of the animated series
968
00:45:00,281 --> 00:45:02,661
that became part
of the Star Trek universe.
969
00:45:02,742 --> 00:45:04,162
Unbelievable.
970
00:45:04,244 --> 00:45:06,504
[McFadden]
Including another animated series
971
00:45:06,579 --> 00:45:09,499
that would join the fleet 46 years later.
972
00:45:09,582 --> 00:45:12,382
[Kline] Watching Lower Decks ,
I was very excited to see
973
00:45:12,460 --> 00:45:16,420
a species relative of Lt. Arex appears.
974
00:45:16,506 --> 00:45:17,666
This is no joke, sir.
975
00:45:17,757 --> 00:45:19,837
[McFadden]
And let's not forget this little gem.
976
00:45:19,926 --> 00:45:22,756
This is Captain James Tiberius Kirk.
977
00:45:22,846 --> 00:45:26,216
The animated series is where
we got on-screen Tiberius.
978
00:45:26,307 --> 00:45:29,597
James Tiberius.
979
00:45:29,686 --> 00:45:30,516
Kirk.
980
00:45:30,603 --> 00:45:32,193
Well, that convinces me.
981
00:45:32,272 --> 00:45:34,652
So these stories still hold up.
982
00:45:34,732 --> 00:45:37,192
Each story has an idea.
983
00:45:37,277 --> 00:45:38,357
There's a reason why
they're telling this story.
984
00:45:38,445 --> 00:45:41,525
It's a Star Trek idea.
It continues the story.
985
00:45:41,614 --> 00:45:43,624
What was important
about the animated series
986
00:45:43,700 --> 00:45:46,660
is that it was a big
and very important stepping stone
987
00:45:46,744 --> 00:45:48,044
to getting Star Trek back.
988
00:45:48,121 --> 00:45:50,041
-Captain.
-I appreciate the welcome.
989
00:45:50,123 --> 00:45:53,133
[Bronson] Anyone associated with Star Trek
can hold their head up high
990
00:45:53,209 --> 00:45:55,459
if they worked on the animated series.
991
00:45:55,545 --> 00:45:59,715
It was a quality product that won an Emmy
and won the hearts of Star Trek fans.
992
00:45:59,799 --> 00:46:00,929
My dear friend Spock.
993
00:46:01,009 --> 00:46:02,889
It's good to have a friend like you.
994
00:46:02,969 --> 00:46:05,099
The animated series is Star Trek.
995
00:46:05,180 --> 00:46:06,010
Exactly.
996
00:46:06,097 --> 00:46:10,517
[Bronson] It was a smart show where
they had ideas about all kinds of things:
997
00:46:10,602 --> 00:46:13,522
life and death, women's issues, diversity.
998
00:46:13,605 --> 00:46:17,185
They were all worked into the stories,
and they were not talking down to kids.
999
00:46:17,275 --> 00:46:21,645
And that's one of the reasons
why 50 years later we're still interested,
1000
00:46:21,738 --> 00:46:24,618
talking and watching the animated series.
1001
00:46:24,699 --> 00:46:25,739
[McFadden]
But you know what?
1002
00:46:25,825 --> 00:46:28,745
There's a lot more Star Trek
to talk about.
1003
00:46:29,704 --> 00:46:31,794
[theme music playing]
1004
00:46:31,844 --> 00:46:36,394
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