True Trek History To Be Penned
2 min read
A new book chronicling the history of Star Trek, The 50 Year Mission: The Complete Uncensored, Unauthorized Oral History of Star Trek, will debut in 2016.
Published by Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin’s Press, The 50 Year Mission will be written by Edward Gross and Mark A. Altman.
A press release described the book as follows: “Unlike other books which have been written by fans for fans, The 50 Year Mission is an incisive, no-holds-barred look at five decades of Star Trek, told exclusively by the people who were there, in their own words, sharing stories they’ve never told before. The authors have covered the franchise for over three decades and have assembled the ultimate guide to a television classic celebrating its fiftieth anniversary in 2016, and which serves as the final word on the first five decades of this unique pop culture phenomena.
“The 50 Year Mission unveils the oftentimes shocking true story of the history of Star Trek and chronicles the trials, tribulations – and Tribbles – that have remained deeply buried secrets…until now. The 50 Year Mission will include the voices of over two-hundred-and-fifty television and film executives, programmers, creators and stars (including every Star Trek captain) who were all a part of Star Trek‘s ongoing fifty year voyage; a mission that has spanned from the original classic series to the animated show, the many attempts at a Star Trek relaunch in the 1970s, the feature films, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, Enterprise, and J.J. Abrams‘ reimagined film series.
“While there have been numerous books written about Star Trek, most have either been studio-licensed publications that glossed over the franchise’s real history, or books that have relied on the reporting of others. The 50 Year Mission goes inside the making of the franchise, in the words of the people who were actually there, who decades later are finally ready to tell the real story behind the making of an indelible television institution.”
About The Author
> Uncensored, Unauthorized Oral
My mind always automatically translates this as meaning unsubstantiated, unverified (and unverifiable) hearsay.
Let me guess–more Shatner/Takei platitudes?
At least I’m glad a 50-year retrospect book isn’t going to be focusing solely on TOS.
Yeah Takei just cant leave it!
This book feels like it is trying to ride the coattails of the recent *excellent* and thoroughly researched book “These Are the Voyages” by Marc Cushman. Well, three books – each one chronicling a single season of TOS. These books are also not “authorized” by the studio, but Cushman had access to reams of material from TOS and he’s done a superb job of assembling it (and interviews) into a master work.
I’ll buy this book if it includes an extended account of exactly what the hell was going on with Voyager. It was obvious 18 years ago that things were very wrong behind the scenes; it came through in the quality of the show, we heard of the dissatisfaction of a number of the actors (Beltran was very open about ripping the series toward the end), and we heard Ron Moore’s account of what a dysfunctional environment he ran into during his brief stint in the sixth season. Altman himself reported rumors in the old Sci-Fi Universe about how the UPN execs hated Voyager and was very open about what he thought of it. The “Voyager Companion” volume, unlike those of all its predecessor series, included virtually no behind-the-scenes information on the show at all. We’re long overdue for the real story of this series.
The Jennifer Lien Expulsion passing out of the realm of spin, hearsay, myth, legend, and outright prevarication. At last……