That Wacky Redhead

[Falkenburg]

Put all false modesty aside, Brainbin. No 'Ordeal' exists, nor could fairly be imagined.

These kind of well-reasoned alternate developments are what we look for in ATLs.
(If I may make so bold as to presume to speak for more than myself? )

Splendid Update, as ever.

Falkenburg

 

[Barbarossa Rotbart]

It seems that you really hate Shatner.

 

[Electric Monk]

It's super weird to read about all the fanfiction staples I already know in an alternate universe (confession: I have totally written fanfiction, which you could easily enough find online… be nice, I was younger then ) and I'm impressed by how little it's changed in one sense.

I will bring up the Who fandom fanfiction as I do believe it's started up in zines by this point IOTL. It gets somewhat overlooked and despite not reading any of it I imagine American Doctor Who will spark a vastly bigger fandom than IOTL.

It is interesting to note that science fiction helped popularize fanficion helped along first by Xerox copiers and later the Adobe/Apple laser printer/desktop publishing revolution. I don't think anybody has done a broad history of fanfiction, it would be an interesting field to cover. Web rot has killed much of the early online stuff alas.

As for Star Trek, it's a fitting send off and I'm very curious as to where you go now that the centrality of Star Trek to the timeline is over for the time being.

The potential scandals of an in the closest elected George Takai is somewhat worrisome (although funny, given the "homosexual ring" that was a small factor in Reagan's '68 Presidential bid) but what the heck, a gay Asian-American Governor/President is as cool as it is unlikely.

It seems that you really hate Shatner.

The hairpiece was always an egomaniac after all. A couple extra years probably would not help . The true question of course is when will the wig be revealed! Seriously though it's possible this earlier humbling after greater success might give us the "reformed" Shatner of the OTL modern era somewhat sooner.

 

[DTF955Baseballfan]

Interesting fanfiction stuff. I see work and real life get you the same way. But you've made it into '73, anyway.

About Happy Days, a couple comments.

First, Henry Winkler can easily appear as a bit part on some other series. As just one example, look at all the character actors and acttresses who end up on the couch in The Bob Newheart Show. Then again, that could keep him as a character actor...unless he went to school to become a producer then. Of coruse, he wouldn't have the money to start his own company, so it is still tricky without him as the Fonz. It truly is very laden with butterflies.

That said, someone who has a lot of talent will get recognized somehow, I would think. Which brings me to Robin Williams. I would think that, since Brainbnin says "Happy Days" will get produced somehow, that Mork and Mindy becomes possible, but even without that, there are three possibilities.

1. A Mork and Mindy type show develops around Robin Williams, but it's done as a straight comedy/parody. Think about it -with all the Mooshot Lunacy, there are bound to be people who try to parody it. What better than a farcical comedy surrounding first contact with an alien species, but the alien is not your typical alien. It need not even be a straight sitcom.

2. Mork and Mondy could be developed as a sitcom to try to lure the female audience, if there's some demographics person who thinks women aren't as turned on to sitcoms. Yes, the series would probably become too comedic with Robin Williams in it, but it could have more overtones of romance, with Williams not reporting to Orson but instead sort of a "fish otu of water" type of thing.

3. Mork and Mindy could be developed close to OTL with Robin Williams as a guest on some other show. For instance, back tot he first idea, can you picture Mork as one of Bob Newheart's patients?

I think something like Mork and Mindy therefore has potential. I mean, not all aliens are going to fit the stereotypes.

 

[vultan]

A far more benign, though just as fiercely debated, pastime among the fans was deciding which of the 135 or so episodes of Star Trek represented the show's very best. Polls were very common throughout the early 1970s, and many yielded similar, or even identical, results. Below is a list of the ten most frequently appearing episodes on "best-of" lists:

• "The City on the Edge of Forever"
• "Amok Time"
• "The Trouble with Tribbles"
• "Journey to Babel"
• "The Enterprise Incident"
• "Joanna"
• "Yesteryear"
• "The Sleepers of Selene"
• "The Borderland"
• "These Were the Voyages"

(Only the first two of those episodes are made in substantially the same form as IOTL. The next three are superficially similar, though with moderate differences, mostly for the better. All subsequent episodes were not made IOTL, though "Yesteryear" loosely resembles the animated series episode of the same name. Among those episodes that just missed the cut: "Balance of Terror", "Mirror, Mirror", "The Doomsday Machine", "The Tholian Web", and "Bondage and Freedom". Unlike IOTL, "The City on the Edge of Forever" is not widely regarded as the best episode of the series; the greater diversity in subject matter of those most acclaimed episodes hamper any consensus, but "These Were The Voyages", by virtue of being a suitably grand finale, probably gets the overall nod.)

Sad to see my personal favorite, "Arena", not on that list. Still, I suppose it's been overshadowed by later, better efforts.

Leonard Nimoy spent most of late 1971 in rehab for his alcoholism, hoping to turn his life around after his tumultuous years on Star Trek. Mr. Spock, who had won him three Emmy awards, was the most iconic on the program, and Nimoy was very ambivalent about his success. Though he admired the ideals of the series, and the depth and appeal of his character, he was not Spock. After his stint in rehab had ended, he sought solace and spiritual guidance in his faith. (As Nimoy has done throughout his life IOTL. It seemed only logical that he would do so ITTL, after having hit rock bottom.) The one temporal activity that had stirred his passions in recent years had been directing, and he opted to continue with that, rather than acting, once he got clean. (Simple cause-and-effect: he gets into directing earlier, he decides to stick with it. His relative youth – he is only 40 years old in 1971 – combined with this being the height of the New Hollywood Era helps.) He managed to get some assignments on other Desilu shows, thanks to his close association with Solow and Justman; and he soon discovered that he had a real knack for comedy. (As he does IOTL. What does it mean, exact change?)

You probably already addressed it, but I'm bad at reading (): how is Mission: Impossible different in the later seasons with Nimoy's absence?

James Doohan embraced the convention circuit like none other. His acting career was effectively over with the end of Star Trek, for he,

like so many of his castmates, had become profoundly typecast. To his surprise, though, he was offered work – in his native Canada; the CBC had invited him to host an informative series about space exploration (Think Cosmos, but on a lower budget, and with a much stronger emphasis on present and potential future means of space travel. Moonshot Lunacy in action.), and even offered him a flexible schedule to maintain his US residence and continue his convention rounds. This was not enough, however, to prevent the breakdown of his second marriage, which ended in divorce in 1973. (It ended in 1972 IOTL – I'm going to allow that being Mrs. Scotty had more allure ITTL.) Doohan was also able to sway the court of public opinion against William Shatner; with his vividly-told horror stories, he served as something of a star witness for the prosecution. The feud between the two Canadians became the stuff of legend.

What's the name of the series? Maybe an Americanized clone, with either Sagan hosting or Sagan working behind the scenes with some other minor celebrity (or major one- see today's Morgan Freeman series on the Science Channel) will appear by the end of the decade.

George Takei was perhaps the most successful of the entire cast in the early 1970s – with the proviso that his achievements were in a very different occupation from the one for which he was known. It was fitting, given that his career trajectory matched that of the Governor of California, former B-movie actor Ronald Reagan. Takei served as a delegate to the 1972 Democratic National Convention, re-nominating the incumbent President and Vice-President on that party’s ticket. (Takei was chosen as an alternate delegate IOTL; his greater fame serves as a more robust springboard for his political advocacy, and it also helps that the Democrats hold the White House.) He also campaigned vigorously for Hubert H. Humphrey, helping him to (narrowly) win the Golden State in the election that year. Intensely interested in civic planning, Takei decided to run for the Los Angeles City Council, winning the 10th District seat in a landslide in the election of 1973, at the age of 36. (He came in second IOTL, losing the vacant seat to David S. Cunningham, Jr., by about 1,600 votes. He never sought elected office again.) His campaign was not without controversy, though not for any of the typical reasons; KNBC, the LA-area station which aired syndicated reruns of Star Trek in that market, suspended all airings of episodes featuring Takei for the duration of the campaign in accordance with the FCC Equal-Time Rule. (Something similar happened IOTL; the animated Star Trek series, airing in first-run at the time, had to reschedule an episode which featured his character because of it.) Mr. Sulu was absent from only 29 out of 135 shows, which would become immortalized as the "Campaign Episodes". (About half of those episodes are from the second season, during which, as IOTL, Takei was on leave, filming The Green Berets with John Wayne.)

POTUS Takei?

Question: would he be a more Scoop Jackson-style Democrat? Pro-Civil Rights, pro-New Deal/Great Society, but hawkish as far as the Cold War goes? (I think we can agree he wouldn't get along too much with fellow Democrats William Proxmire and Walter Mondale as far as space exploration goes, at least from a personal standpoint.)

Walter Koenig had two children with his wife Judy Levitt, both born during his run on Star Trek: a son, in 1968, and a daughter, in 1970. (Only the son, Andrew

– later known as Boner on "Growing Pains" – was born IOTL. The couple's stronger financial security and the increased optimism of the early 1970s result in the decision to have one more child.) Koenig gamely attempted to continue his television career after Star Trek, with predictably limited success; he increasingly spent his time acting on stage, along with writing, which began as a mere hobby. (Koenig wrote the animated series episode "The Infinite Vulcan" IOTL, and has written other pieces as well. His more comfortable lifestyle ITTL avails him the opportunity to try his hand at writing as a semi-professional early on.)

Hmm... in OTL, he did appear on Babylon 5 quite regularly, especially later on. Despite being financially better off, think he might get drawn back into film/TV sci-fi later on anyway?

Without a doubt, the biggest reality check was written out to the star, William Shatner, who found himself utterly unable to find work after Star Trek had ended. His reputation as a bloated, narcissistic egotist – perhaps the biggest working in television, which was certainly saying something – preceded him. His third and final album of spoken-word "music", The Enterprising Man, bombed upon release, with even die-hard Trekkies avoiding it like the plague. For all the veneration bestowed upon his iconic character of Captain James T. Kirk, it did not extend to him personally. Even his one supposedly unimpeachable virtue

– his status as a family man and beloved father – was challenged when his wife, Gloria Rand, took him to the cleaners in a very messy, and very public, divorce, toward the end of the show's run. (Shatner and Rand divorced in 1969 IOTL– his greater success has postponed the inevitable. But as IOTL, once it becomes clear that Star Trek is finished, Rand wants out. What changes is that the divorce goes from the mere footnote of OTL to a major story in the supermarket tabloids ITTL.) Before too long, he was reduced to shilling for margarine and grocery store chains.

YOU CAN'T STOPTHE SHAT!!!1!

----

Fantastic stuff, Brainbin- as usual. Eager for more!

 

[Orville_third]

Did James Blish write the short story versions of the episodes as OTL? (I recall coming across them in my middle school library- and I loved them.)
So Gerrold will be the non-drawing equivalent of Mike Okuda as well?

 

[John Fredrick Parker]

Finally caught up! On the whole, I really like the TL -- though when I saw the Star Trek / Doctor Who crossover, I thought "Sweet Jesus, he's merged the Trek-verse with the Whoniverse -- what has Brainbin wrought? " Commenting on more recent updates...

George Takei was perhaps the most successful of the entire cast in the early 1970s – with the proviso that his achievements were in a very different occupation from the one for which he was known. It was fitting, given that his career trajectory matched that of the Governor of California, former B-movie actor Ronald Reagan. Takei served as a delegate to the 1972 Democratic National Convention, re-nominating the incumbent President and Vice-President on that party’s ticket. (Takei was chosen as an alternate delegate IOTL; his greater fame serves as a more robust springboard for his political advocacy, and it also helps that the Democrats hold the White House.) He also campaigned vigorously for Hubert H. Humphrey, helping him to (narrowly) win the Golden State in the election that year. Intensely interested in civic planning, Takei decided to run for the Los Angeles City Council, winning the 10th District seat in a landslide in the election of 1973, at the age of 36. (He came in second IOTL, losing the vacant seat to David S. Cunningham, Jr., by about 1,600 votes. He never sought elected office again.) His campaign was not without controversy, though not for any of the typical reasons; KNBC, the LA-area station which aired syndicated reruns of Star Trek in that market, suspended all airings of episodes featuring Takei for the duration of the campaign in accordance with the FCC Equal-Time Rule. (Something similar happened IOTL;[/FONT] the animated Star Trek series, airing in first-run at the time, had to reschedule an episode which featured his character because of it.) Mr. Sulu was absent from only 29 out of 135 shows, which would become immortalized as the "Campaign Episodes". (About half of those episodes are from the second season, during which, as IOTL, Takei was on leave, filming The Green Berets with John Wayne.)

This will be an interesting political career to follow... especially when George comes out.

 

[Glen]

Shatner really was hated. I don't think that Brainbin has done anything to change this.

DC Fontana writing for Doctor Who would be very interesting.

I liked the George Takei victory - it was unforeseen yet makes perfect sense.

 

[e of pi]

James Doohan embraced the convention circuit like none other. His acting career was effectively over with the end of Star Trek, for he, [/FONT]like so many of his castmates, had become profoundly typecast. To his surprise, though, he was offered work – in his native Canada; the CBC had invited him to host an informative series about space exploration (Think Cosmos, but on a lower budget, and with a much stronger emphasis on present and potential future means of space travel. Moonshot Lunacy in action.), and even offered him a flexible schedule to maintain his US residence and continue his convention rounds.

This sounds like a show I would love to see. I can't wait to see what comes of this.

 

[John Fredrick Parker]

Does School House Rock still exist TTL?

 

[Brainbin]

Thank you all for your many comments! They're all so much fun for me to read. Since it took me longer than expected to hammer out the final production appendix for Star Trek, allow me to start by responding to those comments made prior to its posting:

True, but it produced some all time stinkers, like Dad's a Dog, American Girl, and Thicke of the Night, the utter copycattedness of Family Ties and Growing Pains (Just switching around the gender and birth order {but not the respective political stances} of the teenage children), plus terribly overated Made-for-TV Movies that tried to substitute soundtrack for plot.

And as we all know, the 1970s were replete with such timeless classics as "The Brady Bunch Hour", "Supertrain", "Hello, Larry", "Three for the Road", and, of course, the many, many frighteningly awful cartoon shows produced in this decade, at the height of the Filmation reign of terror. Don't try to play that game with me, Kalvan. Every decade has its share of schlock

And he jumped his shark when he turned into Stefan Urkel.

Indeed he did, though I would pin it to when Stefan became a separate individual. Way to torpedo the point of the show, you guys!

Are you calling his interviews in Kung Fu/Tai Chi and Black Belt in the wake of The Forbidden Kingdom and the First Emperor trilogy complete lies?

Granted, I'm not the Jackie Chan expert that many of you are, and I should have known that, at some point, Chan would have opined the desire to go "straight". But as far as I'm concerned, actions speak louder than words. When the remake of The Karate Kid is one of your straightest Hollywood roles, I think it's time to resign yourself to a career as a comedic actor. I'm not going to count his Chinese-language work, because obviously it's easier to play "heavy" roles in your mother tongue.

Great!

Since there seems to be a demand for it, I might elucidate further upon that point in the next cycle.

Oh, Brainbin - what have you done?!?!

I did what I had to do

Wouldn't decades worth of butterflies in the entertainment industry (ESPECIALLY in science fiction programming) probably preemptively kill off Stargate anyway? Heck, less than three years' worth of butterflies in my timeline necessitated giving the original Stargate movie a completely different cast.

But in all seriousness, vultan hits the nail on the head here. So many butterflies will have accumulated by the early 1990s that it's difficult to say what might happen. And indeed, at this time, I have no plans of going past 1986, partly for that very reason.

I think that far more challenging than butterflying away OTL stars and hit shows will be creating alternate hits, with stars that are unknowns IOTL. Pop culture success in any TL is so contingent on low-probability events that it would be hard to make an ATL feel plausible.

Thanks for the vote of confidence, Chuck Though you're absolutely right, of course.

Well, Brainbin, sorry to be your Devil's Advocate again - honestly, I was just curious as to what alternate history Winkler might have absent being the Fonz.

Who else would do it if you didn't, Glen? (Don't answer that.)

Problem is this - Gerry Marshall will still be involved in TTL's Happy Days. He is the one who wanted the Fonzie character as a foil to Ritchie. Here's the thing - Marshall totally planned for this to be some sort of muscle-bound Italian guy, but despite this, Henry Winkler still auditioned for it (implying he went after this), and his performance completely won over and changed Gerry Marshall's whole concept for Fonzie. So here's the thing - unless you get Henry Winkler a serious acting gig that would interfere him auditioning for this show, I think you get OTL Fonzie. Now, as mentioned, a lot of things can happen given the time of the POD, but I think this is something you are going to have to want to do and not something that flows naturally from the POD. So, what is the story of Henry Winkler ITTL? He's going to need one...

You raise some interesting points that are worth addressing. Now, I think you may be advocating a little too strongly for Winkler - success in the industry is all about being in the right place at the right time, and - among other things - the United States will have been governed by a different administration for several years by the time that any auditions for the part are held. Winkler has an MFA from Yale, and he may well decide that the stage is more to his liking. But I will definitely address most, if not all, of your points in due time.

I'd be interested in knowing which ones you have in mind. After "HSB" until "West Wing", I don't recall one. (I'll admit my recall is far from perfect.)

To be fair, I was focusing mostly on the sitcom side of the ledger. But there were definitely some other prominent dramatic series in the 1980s. From the delightfully trashy ("Dynasty"), to the darkly tragicomic ("St. Elsewhere"), to everything in between ("L.A. Law").

I don't. He did. I only ask, "Does he get the chance?"

We'll have to see about that.

I've heard he wanted "straight" roles. (Don't ask where...)

Kalvan seems to agree with you. Once again, I say that actions speak louder than words.

Well said. Think about this, too. The producers of "The Godfather" didn't want the cast Coppola did. They did extensive screen-testing. Who did they end up with? The cast Coppola had asked for from the start...

All right, I'll tell you what. In The Godfather ITTL, Coppola's desired cast will prevail as well. How about that?

One other thing: Have you thought at all about the shows that would survive TTL that didn't OTL, & what happens to them & their stars? I stumbled on this, & it made me wonder if it, or shows like it, would last TTL. (This one doesn't strike me as a survivor anyhow, but...) To be clear, I'm not suggesting you reconstruct the entire TV schedule every year, just if you had any passing comments.

I did actually look at "The Good Guys" briefly, if only because it would be neat to have Gilligan and Stanley Zbornak find success in a different show. But yes, I have been plotting rough network schedules for every season. Remember The Rating Game? I've been making similar drafts for subsequent cycles, though not quite as detailed and carefully formatted. And several other shows have been saved ITTL. Look at "The Bill Cosby Show". That's prevented the Cos from moving to NYC to star in "The Electric Company", for example.

Put all false modesty aside, Brainbin. No 'Ordeal' exists, nor could fairly be imagined.

Well, in all fairness, it was a bit of an ordeal to write. I had to make sure that everything was just right.

These kind of well-reasoned alternate developments are what we look for in ATLs.
(If I may make so bold as to presume to speak for more than myself? )

You may always be so bold, if it's in service of delivering praise

Splendid Update, as ever.

Thank you very much. I cannot help but be touched

It seems that you really hate Shatner.

Glad you're still reading, Barbarossa! It's been a while. I'm not sure if you've seen our discussion of potential alternate results for the West German election of 1969. I would very much like to hear your thoughts about that situation. Now as to Shatner, as others have already pointed out, he was quite a piece of work in this era. It's only been in more recent years that he has successfully rehabilitated his image. And I do like Shatner... now. I think he's actually learned something. At the very least, he's come to terms with his many faults.

It's super weird to read about all the fanfiction staples I already know in an alternate universe (confession: I have totally written fanfiction, which you could easily enough find online… be nice, I was younger then ) and I'm impressed by how little it's changed in one sense.

I had the good sense to keep all of my juvenilia fan fiction away from prying eyes. And a good thing, too, because they were awful.

I will bring up the Who fandom fanfiction as I do believe it's started up in zines by this point IOTL. It gets somewhat overlooked and despite not reading any of it I imagine American Doctor Who will spark a vastly bigger fandom than IOTL.

Excellent point. Expect a strong feedback loop between the two fandoms. In the early 1970s ITTL, I would call the Star Trek and Doctor Who fan communities about equally strong in the United Kingdom. (There is still "new" Star Trek to be seen, as they're a couple of years behind; Doctor Who is also not yet the institution that it would become in later years.) In the United States, Star Trek is still far stronger, as they've both made about the same proportional gains compared to OTL. Canada is probably somewhere in the middle.

It is interesting to note that science fiction helped popularize fanficion helped along first by Xerox copiers and later the Adobe/Apple laser printer/desktop publishing revolution. I don't think anybody has done a broad history of fanfiction, it would be an interesting field to cover. Web rot has killed much of the early online stuff alas.

The problem with a comprehensive history of fan fiction is that, for most of recorded history, what we now call "fan fiction" was basically indistinguishable from original literature. The burgeoning of copyrights created the modern definition. Which has, of course, created a legal "grey area" (notably, no U.S. court has ever ruled on the legality of fan fiction), which even many authors have given a wide berth (many writers refuse to read fan fiction, for fear of facing accusations of plagiarism in their later works). It's all a proverbial minefield.

As for Star Trek, it's a fitting send off and I'm very curious as to where you go now that the centrality of Star Trek to the timeline is over for the time being.

Thank you very much. I hope to fill that void with a wide variety of events. The overall intention is for a barrage of posts to create a more comprehensive picture of how the people of TTL see the world, and how that perspective differs from OTL.

The potential scandals of an in the closest elected George Takai is somewhat worrisome (although funny, given the "homosexual ring" that was a small factor in Reagan's '68 Presidential bid) but what the heck, a gay Asian-American Governor/President is as cool as it is unlikely.

Very unlikely. As in, it's not going to happen. He's only on city council right now, and I don't think he's capable of a Theodore Roosevelt-style ascent. Otherwise, he probably would have run for elected office more than just the one time IOTL. He has also served on a number of committees and advisory panels, which tells me that he's definitely more of a legislative mind than an executive one.

The hairpiece was always an egomaniac after all. A couple extra years probably would not help . The true question of course is when will the wig be revealed! Seriously though it's possible this earlier humbling after greater success might give us the "reformed" Shatner of the OTL modern era somewhat sooner.

All very true. The bigger they are, the harder they fall; Shatner definitely had a harder fall ITTL.

Interesting fanfiction stuff. I see work and real life get you the same way. But you've made it into '73, anyway.

Welcome back! It's been a while. Nice to see that this latest update has drawn out some of my old regulars.

First, Henry Winkler can easily appear as a bit part on some other series. As just one example, look at all the character actors and acttresses who end up on the couch in The Bob Newheart Show. Then again, that could keep him as a character actor...unless he went to school to become a producer then. Of coruse, he wouldn't have the money to start his own company, so it is still tricky without him as the Fonz. It truly is very laden with butterflies.

Excellent suggestion. Clearly, Henry Winkler has his share of defenders on this thread, and I don't blame any of you. Fonzie is one of the most iconic characters in television history, due in large part to Winkler's pitch-perfect portrayal. Even phx likes him! If that's not consensus, I don't know what is But there are a great many TTL possibilities for him that don't involve the black leather jacket.

That said, someone who has a lot of talent will get recognized somehow, I would think. Which brings me to Robin Williams.

I'll sidestep your "Mork and Mindy" discussion, to address Robin Williams directly. Many of you are old enough to remember that he was a breath of fresh air when he first hit the scene in the late 1970s, and for those of you who, like me, were born well after his breakthrough: even if you don't like him, or find him overrated, or stale, I don't think that anyone can dispute that he is the best at what he does. Even if he doesn't find himself a vehicle in the vein of "Mork and Mindy", I definitely see him hitting the mainstream, perhaps in the old-fashioned way (as a manic, high-energy counterpart to the drier, more acerbic comedians of the era). IOTL, he was a favourite of Johnny Carson, and was even invited to be one of this last official guests (alongside Bette Midler, the one whom everybody actually remembers). A standup appearance on The Tonight Show could be his ticket. It certainly was for many other comedians.

Sad to see my personal favorite, "Arena", not on that list. Still, I suppose it's been overshadowed by later, better efforts.

I lamented cutting a lot of first-season episodes from the Top 10, but I felt that it accentuated the contrast from OTL (where such lists often have at least three or four entries from the first season), by demonstrating that the show got better with time. Though, to be fair, "Arena" was never on that list, as I've never seen consensus describe it as one of the best. But we are in the same boat, because I was also forced to drop my own favourite episode, "The Doomsday Machine", from the list.

You probably already addressed it, but I'm bad at reading (): how is Mission: Impossible different in the later seasons with Nimoy's absence?

Since Landau and Bain stuck around after season three ITTL, it's basically more of the same; strengthened by the higher budget and the tighter quality control, thanks to the continued existence of Desilu. There is a dip in quality in later seasons (as is so often the case with long-running shows), which has a convenient scapegoat in the replacement of Peter Lupus by Sam Elliott after the fifth season.

What's the name of the series?

"The Final Frontier", also known as "Into the Final Frontier" (because Doohan always ends his opening narration with that phrase).

Maybe an Americanized clone, with either Sagan hosting or Sagan working behind the scenes with some other minor celebrity (or major one- see today's Morgan Freeman series on the Science Channel) will appear by the end of the decade.

Keep that thought close to your vest for a while. Though I will say that Sagan is definitely going to stick to his "wonders of the universe" style. Though he'll no doubt approve of "The Final Frontier", he definitely strikes me as more of a "big picture"-type.

POTUS Takei?

Not even close. Sheesh, you guys, one offhand mention of Reagan... please take the reference at face value

Question: would he be a more Scoop Jackson-style Democrat? Pro-Civil Rights, pro-New Deal/Great Society, but hawkish as far as the Cold War goes?

I like that comparison. Consider it done.

(I think we can agree he wouldn't get along too much with fellow Democrats William Proxmire and Walter Mondale as far as space exploration goes, at least from a personal standpoint.)

To be fair to Takei, he had a genuine passion for civic planning issues, and he'll focus on that during his tenure on city council. If and when he seeks higher office, then yes, he'll obviously meet popular expectations as a strong advocate of the space program.

Hmm... in OTL, he did appear on Babylon 5 quite regularly, especially later on. Despite being financially better off, think he might get drawn back into film/TV sci-fi later on anyway?

Anything's possible

YOU CAN'T STOPTHE SHAT!!!1!

Don't worry, I know far better than to count him out. To quote the man himself: Has Been... Might Again

Fantastic stuff, Brainbin- as usual. Eager for more!

Thanks so much! I'm just as eager to bring it to you

Did James Blish write the short story versions of the episodes as OTL? (I recall coming across them in my middle school library- and I loved them.)

He did indeed. And they are indeed considered just fine, but Gerrold - who became a professional science-fiction novelist IOTL - would obviously like to have a spin at adapting his own scripts, as he surely would have done things differently. Also, Blish usually worked from early draft scripts, with many details being changed for the final product. So he does have legitimate concerns in that sense. Also, Gerrold, privy to the entire story development process, can add ideas that were too expensive or time-consuming to realize on the show itself.

So Gerrold will be the non-drawing equivalent of Mike Okuda as well?

Ouch, what an insulting analogy! Suffice it to say that Desilu won't pull the Blish adaptations out of publication, or treat the Gerrold versions as the "new normal", thereby forcing consumers to read them. Also, Gerrold actually worked on Star Trek, and knows how the show ran, and understands it; in contrast to some Johnny-come-lately who never worked on the series but somehow seems to think that he's "qualified" because he was involved with later iterations I'm sorry, this is a very sensitive issue with me; can you tell?

Finally caught up! On the whole, I really like the TL -- though when I saw the Star Trek / Doctor Who crossover, I thought "Sweet Jesus, he's merged the Trek-verse with the Whoniverse -- what has Brainbin wrought?

Thank you As to the crossover, I devised that as a "carrot" to attract audiences; as it turns out, the timeline managed to get a good deal of attention anyway. But I went ahead with it because, well, hey, somebody has to!

This will be an interesting political career to follow... especially when George comes out.

And who knows when that will be? There's only one way to find out!

Shatner really was hated. I don't think that Brainbin has done anything to change this.

Absolutely. I'm hewing very close to OTL with regards to Shatner. He had a giant ego that desperately needed deflation.

DC Fontana writing for Doctor Who would be very interesting.

We'll have to see where Fontana's career will take her. She's fielding an awful lot of offers in this era.

I liked the George Takei victory - it was unforeseen yet makes perfect sense.

Thank you. That's exactly what I like to hear

This sounds like a show I would love to see. I can't wait to see what comes of this.

Thanks, e of pi! That was actually one of my oldest ideas, and I look forward to putting it in action.

Does School House Rock still exist TTL?

Yes, the children of TTL will still learn all about conjunctions and legislation, in musical form.

Coming up next time, a look at the other twenty-one hours in a day, and what happens to be on the air then!

 

[Unknown]

Richard Dean Anderson, IIRC, got his start on General Hospital as Jeff Webber in the 1970s and left in 1981.

Maybe he stays on in TTL (assuming General Hospital isn't canceled--it came pretty close in the 1970s)?

BTW, Brainbin, a lot of General Hospital's late 1970s and 1980s stuff is at youtube.com (let's hope, if you get to it, that the mob characters don't take over the show, IMO).

 

[Glen]

Who else would do it if you didn't, Glen? (Don't answer that.)

I shall refrain from adding names to the list...

You raise some interesting points that are worth addressing. Now, I think you may be advocating a little too strongly for Winkler - success in the industry is all about being in the right place at the right time, and - among other things - the United States will have been governed by a different administration for several years by the time that any auditions for the part are held. Winkler has an MFA from Yale, and he may well decide that the stage is more to his liking. But I will definitely address most, if not all, of your points in due time.

There is enough room for change, of course, but I am saying that I think there is a good chance that Winkler would try out for the show, and that if that happens you will get the Fonz. So it's something that could recur in this timeline. If you don't want it to happen, then just have him doing something else at the time that would preclude getting involved in the show. In this particular instance I'm not so much advocating for either to happen, just saying what could happen again, and what I think you need to demonstrate if it doesn't happen - you've done such a good job of showing how the changes are chaining off the original POD, don't just butterfly the Fonz - if he won't show, then give a clear chain of events changing it.

I wonder if Stallone will get cast as Arthur Fonzerelli instead.

Absolutely. I'm hewing very close to OTL with regards to Shatner. He had a giant ego that desperately needed deflation.

Yeah - I had a pretty reliable source into Trek fandom as a friend in high school in the 1980s, and it was amazing the crap that was being talked about Shatner at the time, well before it came out in the general public. And I can tell you for a fact one of the sources for that really was Doohan. Basically what I am saying here to your readers, Brainbin, is that you are actually showing things very much akin to OTL in this regard.

We'll have to see where Fontana's career will take her. She's fielding an awful lot of offers in this era.

It would be interesting to see her as a Doctor Who writer, but really, I'd be fine if she didn't as well. Just do something interesting with her.

 

[Glen]

Found this little tidbit:

"Arthur "Fonzie" Fonzarelli's character was originally to be named Arthur Maschiarelli (creator Garry Marshall's real last name) and nicknamed "Mash." When ABC first picked up the show, they had Marshall change the character's name because they felt that "Mash" might remind people of "M*A*S*H' (1972)', a popular show on a rival network."

Ergo, there will NOT be a Fonz ITTL! There may, however, be a Mash!

More later...

 

[Glen]

Found this little tidbit:

"Arthur "Fonzie" Fonzarelli's character was originally to be named Arthur Maschiarelli (creator Garry Marshall's real last name) and nicknamed "Mash." When ABC first picked up the show, they had Marshall change the character's name because they felt that "Mash" might remind people of "M*A*S*H' (1972)', a popular show on a rival network."

Ergo, there will NOT be a Fonz ITTL! There may, however, be a Mash!

More later...

Here's another interesting one -

"Its ratings were so low at the end of its first season that it came close to being cancelled. Then Henry Winkler's "Fonzie" character started to catch on with viewers, the ratings took a turn for the better, and the show wound up running ten years."

So if you DON'T have Henry Winkler playing "The Mash" it is very likely that the show is a one season wonder then canceled.

 

[Glen]

Here's another interesting one -

"Its ratings were so low at the end of its first season that it came close to being cancelled. Then Henry Winkler's "Fonzie" character started to catch on with viewers, the ratings took a turn for the better, and the show wound up running ten years."

So if you DON'T have Henry Winkler playing "The Mash" it is very likely that the show is a one season wonder then canceled.

I found these bits here - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070992/trivia

 

[John Fredrick Parker]

Excellent point. Expect a strong feedback loop between the two fandoms. In the early 1970s ITTL, I would call the Star Trek and Doctor Who fan communities about equally strong in the United Kingdom. (There is still "new" Star Trek to be seen, as they're a couple of years behind; Doctor Who is also not yet the institution that it would become in later years.) In the United States, Star Trek is still far stronger, as they've both made about the same proportional gains compared to OTL. Canada is probably somewhere in the middle...

As to the crossover, I devised that as a "carrot" to attract audiences; as it turns out, the timeline managed to get a good deal of attention anyway. But I went ahead with it because, well, hey, somebody has to!

I'm wondering if you realize what you've done -- if the Enterprise and Doctor Who now exist in the same universe, it's now inevitable that fans clamor to see the Klingons doing battle with the Daleks...

 

[Glen]

I'm wondering if you realize what you've done -- if the Enterprise and Doctor Who now exist in the same universe, it's now inevitable that fans clamor to see the Klingons doing battle with the Daleks...

Oh, I think he realizes - he will try to ignore it.

Hmmm, has anyone noticed the similarities between Ogrons and Klingons?

 

[Orville_third]

Ouch, what an insulting analogy! Suffice it to say that Desilu won't pull the Blish adaptations out of publication, or treat the Gerrold versions as the "new normal", thereby forcing consumers to read them. Also, Gerrold actually worked on Star Trek, and knows how the show ran, and understands it; in contrast to some Johnny-come-lately who never worked on the series but somehow seems to think that he's "qualified" because he was involved with later iterations I'm sorry, this is a very sensitive issue with me; can you tell?

Sorry if you misunderstood. Okuda did a good job on the new stuff, but I apologize if he didn't do so well on the old stuff. Sorry for the bad impression. It was not intended as an insult. (I was just comparing their roles as compilers.)

 

[John Fredrick Parker]

On Takei's political career -- I know he won't be President, but I'm hoping that doesn't mean a US congressional career is out of the running (potentially even, dare I say, US Senator...)