In August 1966, Star Trek
had a problem. The producers Bob Justman and John Black wanted to open the show with a brief 15-second narration from William Shatner. For over a week, they exchanged memos with Gene Roddenberry on the proposed narration. The memos have been released, and show alternate wording of the opening monologue. One version, proposed by John Black, was:
“Space…the final frontier…endless…silent…waiting. This is the
story of the United Space Ship Enterprise…its mission…a five year
patrol of the galaxy where no man has gone before…a STAR TREK.
Another version, proposed by Bob Justman, was:
“This is the story of the Starship Enterprise. It’s [sic] mission: to advance
knowledge, contact alien life and enforce intergalactic law…to
explore the strange new worlds where no man has gone before.”
Roddenberry ultimately wrote the narration a mere hour before Shatner recorded those now historic lines. Here are some of the original memos (click them to enlarge):
Isn’t it weird to see a different phrasing on the opening? Or would the alternate versions of the opening narration have been better?
[Via Letters of Note via The Daily What-Geeks]
<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="41125 ">1 Comment
I never knew that. Wow, one hour before he recorded it? Geesh. Well, I like the second one, but not the first. Ultimately, the one they used was the best.