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Of the three creators of the Star Trek legend, only two remain after Gene Roddenberry's death in 1991. Now those two survivors-Executive in Charge of Production Herb Solow and Co-producer Bob Justman-have combined their memories and their talents to recall and describe the experience that was, "absolutely, the best time of our lives."
Which is not to say there were no disappointments, frazzled relationships, mishaps, or other trials and tribulations in the creation of Star Trek. Along with Roddenberry, Solow and Justman participated in almost every aspect of the famous series's birth, life, and death.
Inside Star Trek, told partly in Solow's voice, partly in Justman's voice, and stitched together with a neutral-voiced continuity (possibly a computer?) is fascinating reading. Everything is there: assembling a staff; dealing with both the network and the studio; fighting, losing, and winning the endless battles over actors, characters, writers, scripts, directors, budgets-all the myriad details involved in a weekly television production.
What perhaps wasn't so obvious 30 years ago seems incredibly clear now, as one reads about those earlyi days. Roddenberry, Solow, and Justman were creating much more than a science fiction series; they were creating the future. Inside Star Trek is nostalgia, is trivia, is history-true. But it is also an inside look at how some of our own todays began, in 1966-with a dream of what the future might be and the will and the energy to create words and images to give it form and substance.
Robert C. Jones is a writer in Warrensburg, Missouri.
©1996, ProMotion, inc.
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