60 Years Ago Today NBC Launched STAR TREK!!
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This summer marks the 10th Anniversary of that major announcement from JJ Abrams and Paramount Pictures: James Kirk (Chris Pine) would finally meet his father George (Chris Hemsworth) in a big-screen sequel to Star Trek Beyond.
I am – Hercules!!
About 14 months before The Grim Reaper ended Hedda Hopper’s long, long gossip career forever, the rumor maven introduced the phrase “Star Trek” to the public. The topic of her Nov. 25, 1964 column was actress Susan Oliver getting painted slave-girl green for “The Cage.”
Days later the Dec. 12, 1964, edition of TV Guide revealed big-screen Jesus and “Searchers” star Jeffrey Hunter was shooting a Desilu science fiction series.
When “The Cage” didn’t sell the show, series creator Gene Roddenberrry offered Hunter the chance to reprise Capt. Christopher Pike for the second pilot, but Hunter elected not to participate.
(What middle initial would Gary Mitchell have chosen for Pike’s gravestone?)
The William Shatner version of “Star Trek” almost arrived on NBC eight months earlier than it did. TV Guide reported in late May 1965 that Shatner had replaced Hunter and that the network was considering “Star Trek” as a midseason replacement for its 1965-66 season.
Shatner’s pilot episode, “Where No Man Has Gone Before,” first aired 14 months after its July 1965 filming, and a lot happened in those 14 months. In the days before VCRs and The Internet,
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