Star Trek Magazine – July 2019

I

ama documentofStarTrek; a first-

generationfanwhowastherefrom

dayone:September1966.I watched

theentirefirstseasoninblack-and-white

becausewedidn’thavea colorTVuntil

mid-Season2. Myparentsbrokedown

andboughtonetokeepmehomeon

Thursdaynights.Nokidding:I was

watchingat a friend’shousebecausethey

hada colorTV,andwedidn’t.Onceyou’d

seenStarTrekincolor,therewasnogoing

back.Prettywild,huh?

Seeinga showincolorwassucha

treat– it madeblack-and-whiteTVlook

likestoneknivesandbearskins!Nowwe

carrycolorTVsaroundinourpockets.It’s

greattobelivinginthefuture...minus

theflyingcars.(Whata messthatwould

havebeen!)

WhenNBCplannedtocancelStar

Tr e kduringSeason2, I waspartofthe

resistance,formingmyownlocalSaveStar

Tr e kcommittee.I organizedthekidsto

writelettersandmailthemtoRockefeller

Center.Wewrotethousandsofletters.It

gotmeanarticlebyHarveyAronsonin

NewYorkNewsday. I was14,andbringing

a ruckustoNBCwithouttheinternet.

Whenthenetworkfinallyacquiesced

inthefaceofunprecedentedaudience

mobilization,theyannounced on air

during“Assignment:Earth”that Star Trek

wouldbeback,andthatwecould please

stopnow.Fansweredoinghigh fi ves in

frontofthetelevision(eventhough there

werenohighfivesyet).Atthat tender age,

StarTrekhadtaughtmetobe proactive.

That’sa lessonI neverforgot.

BeyondtheLens

StarTrekwashelpingtochange me into

anadult.It enticedmetodiscover that

I couldhaveanimpactonthe outside

world.Then,somethingreally big

happened.Stephen(Poe)Whitfi eld’s book,

The World Premiere of

Star Trek: The Motion Picture

(I Was There)

Doug Drexler’s

A BRIEFA BRIEF HISTORY OF...HISTORY OF...

Star Trek Magazine columnist and Trek design legend Doug Drexler takes a

meander down memory lane to 1979, and the Washington world premiere

of Star Trek: Th e Motion Picture – in the process unearthing some little-seen

photos he took at the time...

ALL PHOTOS © DOUG DREXLER UNLESS OTHERWISE STATED

01

A BRIEF HISTORY OF...