Mark A. Altman

Great listen for a carload of Trekkies on a trip. Or several in our case. This is a huge Studs Terkel-style oral history of those involved in the making of Star Trek and the Trek phenomenon. What I learned--Hollywood has always been a mess. It is a miracle they accomplish or make anything. They also have a horrible track record of missing what is obvious to fans. Gene Roddenberry was kind of an a**hole and difficult to work with. Sometimes difficult creative people need their ideas taken away and worked on by others. And Star Trek VI is the worst Star Trek movie. I really didn't need that last one confirmed, but nice to know. We will most likely pick up the next volume. But right now--I need a break.… (plus d'informations)

This one was just as fun as the first one. Roddenberry was, it seems, even more of an ass toward the end of his life, and, for a brief period of time after he passed, much of the conflict seemed to pass with him.

But it's Star Trek, and, interestingly, for a show about a future where there is no greed or conflict amongst those in the Federation, there sure as hell was behind the scenes, and I wonder, had some of that been smoothed over, would the shows have been better? Or worse?

Hard to say, but listening to the actors, the writers, the directors, the producers, and all the others involved in the day-to-day of the creation of the various series and movies, this is a nasty, fun ride through all of the last 25 years of this crazy, wonderful thing that is Star Trek.… (plus d'informations)