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The Questor Tapes (1974 TV movie)
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Krel
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PostPosted: Wed Aug 02, 2017 12:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Pow wrote:
On the other hand, he had a 20-year run between the 2 networks he appeared on, fame & fortune. So he should have appreciated all that since few folks ever achieve these things.

Oh, he had fame and fortune for awhile before TV. His attitude might have come from how the notice was delivered. Networks were (and maybe still are) notorious for not telling the actors, but rather letting them find out from other sources.

Actors have found out about cancellations from their Agents, from the trade papers, news papers, TV Guide, broadcasts on tv/radio. Some have found out when the script for the next episode wasn't delivered. Some have found out when they went to their dressing room, only to find out that it isn't their's any longer. Some have found out when the Guard at the studio gate gave their condolences on the canning of the show.

My favorite was the actor that went to the cafeteria to order a sandwich named after him, only to find out the sandwich wasn't on the menu any longer. He laughed that the cafeteria staff knew about the show's cancellation before the actors! Laughing

David.
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Wed Aug 02, 2017 4:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

And then there's James Comey, who was on a trip in California when he saw a story on the news about how the star of The Apprentice had said . . . "You're fired!" Very Happy

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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
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Last edited by Bud Brewster on Mon Jul 11, 2022 12:24 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Pow
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 22, 2018 8:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Gene Roddenberry once told a story about a discussion he had with a TV network executive.

Gene was producing a sci-fi pilot for television called Genesis II.

The exec was all excited because his network had just run the movie Planet Of The Apes on television. It was the first time the movie appeared on TV, it received smash ratings.
The exec loved the concept of the talking apes.

Gene, putting on the exec, said that he was developing the concept of a talking turtle for GII.

When he realized that the exec was taking him seriously Roddenberry couldn't believe it.
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Custer
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 23, 2018 5:41 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Talking turtles? Now there's an idea that could never catch on! Shocked

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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 11, 2022 12:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Pow wrote:
Gene Roddenberry said in an interview that the network wanted to alter too much of Questor for a weekly series.

Firstly they wanted to eliminate Q's human companion.

Secondly they were going to turn it into a Fugitive-like premise with Q on the run from the government all the time.

That's a common problem whenever one show with a distinctive premise is a hit, like The Fugitive. The clueless "suits" want to clone the concept and rake in the dough. Rolling Eyes
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Pow
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 11, 2022 6:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ah yes, the old trope of people on the run from the nefarious bad guys on television series.

The Immortal (ABC?1970~1971).

Kung Fu (ABC/1972~1975).

Run, Joe, Run (1974).

Run, Buddy, Run (1966~1967).

The Incredible Hulk (CBS? 1978~1982).

Starman (ABC/1986~1987).

Nowhere Man (UPN/1995~1996).

And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

Notice how producer Irwin Allen had 3 of his TV science fiction series utilizing a "lost" theme on them?

Lost In Space, CBS, 1965~1968. There's our lost theme right there in the show's title.

The Time Tunnel, ABC, 1966~1967. Scientists Tony & Doug are tumbling along the infinite corridors of time and never know just what era they'll end up in. Viewers just know that it will be precarious for Newman & Philips every week.

Land of the Giants, ABC, 1968~1970. Here, the intrepid crew of the Earth ship Spindrift are stranded on some unknown world that parallels their Earth in many ways.
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Pow
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 06, 2022 9:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Wikipedia: Originally Gene Roddenberry wanted Leonard Nimoy for the role of Questor. Nimoy was interested but Universal Studios went ahead without Roddenberry's knowledge and cast the role with Robert Foxworth. Gene was furious.

Thoughts: Interesting that Gene & Leonard wanted to work together on what could have become a weekly TV series. Gene & Leonard had a very strained relationship during Star Trek.

Thoughts: Much as I admire Nimoy as an actor and a man, I would not have cared to see him in this particular role. Questor is an emotionless android. Didn't we just watch Nimoy as an alien with repressed emotion for 3 seasons on Trek? Kind of history repeating itself here. I realize that had Questor become a weekly show that the plan was to watch the alien android develop emotions along the way, but still, watching Lennie doing a character again with little emotion wouldn't have been all that compelling for me. Been there, done that.

Wiki: In 1975 The Questor Tapes was nominated for a Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation.

NBC wanted lots of action with this production. They felt it should emulate The Fugitive & be a clone of The Six Million Dollar Man. Both of those concepts were not what Gene wanted for his vision of Questor.

Roddenberry saw Questor more as a science-fiction Kung Fu that would delve into intellectual & philosophical ideas.

Vaslovik: "Since the dawn of this world, we have served this species called Man. We protect, but we do not interfere [Star Trek's Prime Directive concept]. Man must make his own way. We guide him, serve him . . . aid him. But always without his knowledge."

Of all of Gene Roddenberry's television movie-pilots, Dorthey Fontana was fondest of Spectre. She did end up liking The Questor Tapes when she did the novelization of the teleplay.

Thoughts: Spectre was my least favorite TV-pilot from Gene. The premise was cool and had great potential, but the TV-movie was a big yawn for me.

Wiki: Gene L. Coon completed a primary draft of the Questor script. Sadly, he was stricken with lung cancer and died soon after writing it at just 49 years old.

Although Roddenberry clashed with the network over the production, he was ultimately quite satisfied and pleased with the final result according to his wife.

TrekMovie.com Review: The Questor Tapes is a worthy effort from Roddenberry & Coon, two people interested in peace and international cooperation. Both Genes knew the reality of war having served and seen action in World War II. It avoids any real violence and takes a Gandhi figure and makes him a hero. It combines cold logic and human morality into a tool for justice and empathy.

From its graham cracker-esque leading man to its colorless environments to its slow pacing and overly intellectual script, everything about this TV-movie is a harbinger of Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Like that feature film, The Questor Tapes has some interesting cinematography and a killer soundtrack.

Walter Koenig has the saddest cameo ever as Darrow's (John Vernon) assistant. He is in only two scenes, and it's a wide shot with Walter wearing an enormous mustache making him unrecognizable.

Thoughts: While that is unfortunate for Walter, it may have been just what the producers wanted. They might not have wanted the audience to see "Chekov" and be reminded of Star Trek for this original science fiction TV-movie. They might have wanted Questor to stand on its own.

The interesting title sequence for Questor utilizes two different kinds of fonts.

Composer Gil Melle scored Questor. He would also score The Andromeda Strain & Kolchak: The Night Stalker.
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 07, 2022 4:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

__________________________________________________

You're right, Mike. And I consider it a lazy way to give a series the conflict that every good story needs.

They frame the series around either the "lost" or the "fleeing" premise, and then they give the characters a new situation each week that basically amounts to a subplot with the main premise.

The problem is that this tethers the series to a short leash; the episodes can wander around within the limited area the leash restricts it to, but by the end of the episode it has to be pulled back to the main premise.

The characters are either lost or fleeing from something.

Even a show like Route 66 had a little of this flavor, except in that case the premise wasn't a leash that yanked the characters back, it was a restriction on how long they could stay in one place! Shocked

Martin Milner and George Maharis had the freedom to roam around at will, and this is the polar opposite of the "lost or fleeing" premises.

And yet, what they were NOT free do was just settle down and become permanent residents, because of the premise of the show was "two guys in a Corvette, roaming around America".

In that respect, Star Trek TOS, TNG, and Enterprise shared the same basic premise as Route 66. In all four series, the characters (and the wonderful modes of travel) were obligated to stay on move.

By gum, I just realized that my novel, The Wishbone Express — a story about two guys with a snazzy starship who roamed the galaxy in search of adventure — was just as inspired by Route 66 as is was by Star Trek! Cool




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~ The Space Children (1958)
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