These Are the Voyages: Season 1 – 3
In the 1980s Gene Roddenberry and Robert H. Justman gave Marc Cushman permission to write the definitive history of the first Star Trek. They backed their stamp of approval by providing documentation never before shared with the public. These are the Voyages, published in three volumes – one designated for each season of TOS – will take you back in time and put you into the producers’ offices, the writers’ room, onto the soundstages, and in front of your TV sets for the first historic broadcasts. Included are hundreds of memos between Roddenberry and his staff, production schedules, budgets, fan letters, behind-the-scenes images, and the TV ratings, documenting the making of each episode of the “Classic 79” in staggering detail. Buckle your seat belts, the trek of a lifetime begins here.
From the Author
Marc Cushman interviewed Gene Roddenberry for a TV special about the Star Trek phenomenon in 1982. Cushman interviewed Roddenberry at that time and again in 1989 when he pitched the story for the episode “Sarek,” for Star Trek: Next Generation. Roddenberry gave Cushman all the Star Trek: TOS scripts and showed him the immense amount of documents he had saved from the production of the series. He suggested Cushman take the research for the TV special, expand on it by utilizing the gigantic “show files,” and turn it into a book. Cushman was too busy with his own career as a screenwriter and director to begin work on the book until after Gene had passed, but, during those years, continued to collect interviews from the creative staff (Bob Justman, D.C. Fontana, John D.F. Black), as well as members of the production crew, the cast, and guest players. He began writing the book in 2007. And it was meant to be only one book. Six years later, filled with memos, production schedules, budgets, and Nielsen TV ratings, this “biography of a TV series” was over 2,000 pages in length, and had to be divided into three books (one for each season of TOS).
Johnny Jay Says: This is an excellent book series that delivers an in-depth and fascinating look at the creation, production, airing, and eventual cancellation of Star Trek: TOS. These books are a must for fans of the show, and I give them the highest recommendation and rating.
