Star Trek copies Babylon 5 yet again!

[OmahaStar]

From Trek Today

By Michelle
August 1, 2006 - 7:52 PM

For the first time, bound volumes of scripts from all five live Star Trek shows plus the animated series will be released in limited edition printings to celebrate the franchise's 40th anniversary.

Roddenberry.com has teamed with CafePress.com to produce bound volumes of original Star Trek TV scripts to be released each month over the next three years. Special edition merchandise including rare photos of Gene Roddenberry and autographs from his son Eugene Roddenberry, Jr. will accompany each volume.

The books for the first season will be sold prior to December 31st and will include limited edition anniversary cover art. The first volume, containing the script for the original Star Trek pilot episode "The Cage", will be available as of August 8th and will be accompanied by a new foreword by Roddenberry, Jr.

After "The Cage", the first volumes of original series scripts will be released in September. All books will arrive shrink-wrapped for protection.

For ordering information, visit CafePress.com.

Gee, wonder where they got that idea?

[Joe Nazzaro]

I'm sure it's nothing more than a coincidence (cough, cough, Deep Space Nine). To tell you the truth, if I was a writer from another genre show and read the USA Today story about how much money was to be had by publishing scripts, I'd be digging my scripts out of the attic as well.

Franky, the thing that interests me is which scripts are going to be published, and which versions. Many of the first-season scripts were reportedly subjected to arbitrary rewrites by people such as Roddenberry's lawyer who I don't think was a member of the WGA. So under the separation of rights deal, the individual writers should be able to publish their original scripts, which could well be very different than what ultimately aired. So this could all get very interesting, especially when you consider how many first-season scripts were released under pseudonyms- some of Tracy Torme's episodes come to mind, but I think there may have been others.

[Jan]

Interesting point, Joe. In fact, the reason I first got interested in scripts in the first place was from noticing that there were often substantial differences between the James Blish episode short story books and what showed up on my TV. It was mentioned that the stories were based on scripts so I wanted to find out what that was all about. Much much later I learned that there were often many rewrites done by...apparently anybody who wanted to.

Oh, and it seems to me that at least the TNG scripts were published in the past.

(sung to the tune of "Where angels go, trouble follows":

Where B5 goes, Star Trek follows...

Jan

[frulad]

The only TREK episode script that I'm interested in owning - Harlan Ellison's original version of "The City On The Edge Of Forever" - has already been published. And is sitting on my bookshelf.

Can't think of any other script I'm that interested in reading...

[Joe Nazzaro]

I was just looking at some of the pseudonyms used in the early seasons of TNG: Hide and Q is credited to Roddenberry and C.J. Holland, which is actually Maurice Hurley because of Roddenberry's rewrites. Tracy Torme put The Royale under Keith Mills and Terry Devereaux for Manhunt. Plus since many of the early TNG scripts are credited to two or three different writers, it would be interesting to see how they secure the rights from all of these writers, particularly if sme of them don't want their bastardized shooting scripts published. Maybe, like Ellison, they'd prefer people to see their original drafts.

[Jan]

I wonder just how knowledgeable some writers are about their rights. When asked (via his blog) about publishing his B5 scripts recently, PAD replied that since he didn't own the copyright, he didn't think he could do so without making some kind of deal with WB. The questioner responded with the info about the WGA Separation of Rights but there was no response. Now if somebody as experienced as PAD can think that, one wonders about others.

Heck, there's no trouble at all finding Trek scripts online, either. I wonder why anybody'd want to buy the script books--for Roddenberry Jr.'s autograph? He wasn't even born when TOS was on, for Pete's sake!

Jan

[frulad]

I wonder just how knowledgeable some writers are about their rights. When asked (via his blog) about publishing his B5 scripts recently, PAD replied that since he didn't own the copyright, he didn't think he could do so without making some kind of deal with WB. The questioner responded with the info about the WGA Separation of Rights but there was no response. Now if somebody as experienced as PAD can think that, one wonders about others.

Yeah, that was me in PAD's blog's most recent open question thread. Kind of frustrating that we want to give him money, he's unaware that he can take it from us.

[Jan]

Hopefully he read your response, Frulad. I'd hoped to try to meet Larry DiTillio at Comic-Con to ask about his scripts but wasn't able to.

There are a couple of TNG scripts I'd like to see-'Inner Light' and 'Darmok' for instance. Of course I found them online almost immediately. I've bookmarked them to read this weekend. I doubt if I'd care enough for them to watch for the one-month window that they'll be available, though.

Jan

[Satai Delenn]

Personally it doesn't bother me if the scripts make money for them why not ?Although I won't be buying them I found a site probably the same one that Jan found and read all the ones I wanted too.So I won't be wasting my money I have read what I want already.

[frulad]

Upon further reflection, I would be interested in reading some of those scripts that were developed back in the 80s when POaramount was going to launch a fourth network with a Trek revival as its flagship show. When the idea was abandoned, the pilot was reworked into Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

I have a copy of a two-parter that saw the Enterprise going deep into the Klingon space over some political thing or another. Quite a good read as I recall.

I'd be interested in reading some of the others. (Though I think a few of them were later dug out and reworked into Next generation scripts due to some writer's strike, if memory serves...)

[OmahaStar]

Upon further reflection, I would be interested in reading some of those scripts that were developed back in the 80s when POaramount was going to launch a fourth network with a Trek revival as its flagship show. When the idea was abandoned, the pilot was reworked into Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

I have a copy of a two-parter that saw the Enterprise going deep into the Klingon space over some political thing or another. Quite a good read as I recall.

Those are from Star Trek: Phase II, which was set to go into production in the mid 70s.

I'd be interested in reading some of the others. (Though I think a few of them were later dug out and reworked into Next generation scripts due to some writer's strike, if memory serves...)

"The Child" - which opened season 2 - and "Devil's Due" were the two that I'm aware of which were re-written and became TNG scripts.

[Dr Maturin]

Upon further reflection, I would be interested in reading some of those scripts that were developed back in the 80s when POaramount was going to launch a fourth network with a Trek revival as its flagship show. When the idea was abandoned, the pilot was reworked into Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

I have a copy of a two-parter that saw the Enterprise going deep into the Klingon space over some political thing or another. Quite a good read as I recall.

I'd be interested in reading some of the others. (Though I think a few of them were later dug out and reworked into Next generation scripts due to some writer's strike, if memory serves...)

This may help you out:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0671568396/104-4481010-7194345?v=glance&n=283155

I believe there is a full draft script for the pilot and maybe some others. I do know that there are episode descriptions.

[frulad]

Just remembered that some of the test footage for the aborted series showed up on the ST:TMP DVD.

[Dr Maturin]

Just remembered that some of the test footage for the aborted series showed up on the ST:TMP DVD.

That truly was an awful movie.

[Karachi Vyce]

The only TREK episode script that I'm interested in owning - Harlan Ellison's original version of "The City On The Edge Of Forever" - has already been published. And is sitting on my bookshelf.

Can't think of any other script I'm that interested in reading...

And that was published years ago, before the Bab 5 scripts being available. So wouldn't this be Trek ripping off Bab 5 ripping off Trek?

I've got that particular scriptbook, BTW. Not really because I'm a big fan of Trek, or a fan of scriptbooks. Harlan Ellison is just one of my favorite authors of all time and a major inspiration for me. Plus he's a surly old bastard, which I can admire.