Shorter update for tonight:
RODDENBERRY MULLING NEW STAR TREK SERIES WITH SELLECK AS LEAD
April 16, 1972
Gene Roddenberry, having lost William Shatner to other endeavors, Leonard Nimoy to movie fame, DeForest Kelley to
Columbo, and Nichelle Nichols to Broadway, is considering a new Star Trek pitch to NBC, with Tom Selleck replacing Shatner in the starring role. Roddenberry believes that Selleck is a strong draw to television viewers, especially a female audience that is attracted by his above-average looks. "I think that Tom can be the captain of the Enterprise and be just as successful as Bill Shatner was," Roddenberry said. "Tom has the charm and charisma to lead his own series, and he portrayed the youthful, dashing Decker extremely well in the last half of the last season." Selleck is looking beyond Star Trek to other roles, and considers the matter of the science fiction series closed, unless it reappears on the big screen in the future. "Mr. Selleck appreciates Mr. Roddenberry's decision to cast him in the Star Trek series, and it allowed my client to achieve a greater amount of fame that he can utilize for other television series and perhaps a movie career," Selleck's agent told the Reporter. So it appears that Roddenberry's chances to achieve liftoff with a new Star Trek series are unlikely at this time, when reading the tea leaves.
NOBODY WANTS SHATNER IN A MAJOR MOVIE ROLE
April 19, 1972
William Shatner isn't very busy these days, or at least not busy in the way he would like to be. Aside from a few guest roles in
Mission: Impossible,
Hawaii Five-O,
Marcus Welby, M.D., and the TV movie
Hound of the Baskervilles, no major Hollywood director is knocking on the former Captain Kirk's door to star in a major movie. "I feel it's very disappointing that Hollywood is looking me over," Shatner said. "I like my guest roles, including the time I got to team up with Leonard Nimoy again, but I'm not being appropriately considered for a star of my stature." Shatner wanted a starring role in
The Poseidon Adventure, because he felt like he was qualified to play another captain, but was passed over for Leslie Nielsen. He was also interested in appearing as Liza Minnelli's love interest in
Cabaret, but
Cabaret director Bob Fosse preferred Michael York in the role. Shatner's most notable appearance in any medium in 1972 was in the Star Trek TV movie "In Thy Image." "I'm a little frustrated," Shatner said. "I'd like to escape Captain Kirk once and for all and take my place up there in big films, but nothing is happening right now. I wonder if all anyone will remember me for is Kirk."
MUSKIE WINS PENNSYLVANIA PRIMARY, HUMPHREY ENDS CAMPAIGN
April 26, 1972
Edmund Muskie continued to establish himself as the frontrunner in the Democratic primary, defeating his former running mate on the top of the last Democratic ticket, Hubert Humphrey, Alabama governor George Wallace, and South Dakota senator George McGovern in the pivotal Pennsylvania primary. Muskie garnered 37% of the vote, with Wallace finishing a strong second at 28%. Humphrey, who determined that Pennsylvania was make-or-break for him, finished third in the Keystone State with 20%, with McGovern struggling at 14% in the rear. Fearing a Wallace win in July, Humphrey dropped out of the presidential race after his third-place finish to endorse Muskie. "Unfortunately, the result in Pennsylvania means that I cannot continue as a candidate for President," Humphrey said in front of a crowd of sad supporters. "I wholeheartedly endorse my good friend from Maine, Mr. Muskie, as the candidate to lead our party into the fall campaign." Wallace saw the second place finish as an avenue for him to lock down the South and possibly win Ohio, holding its primary next week. "Our campaign to bring the Democratic Party back to its roots is working," Wallace said to his audience. George McGovern, despite seeing the handwriting on the wall, will attempt to soldier on. "I will not leave this campaign until I am out of money," McGovern said. "The ideals of this campaign are far too important." Muskie, who looks better than even odds to face President Nixon in November, told his supporters that "the win tonight was the most important of my campaign. If I can win in Ohio next week, I believe I will surely be our party's nominee."
MARTIN COOPER INVENTS PORTABLE TELEPHONE
May 1972 edition
Motorola engineer Martin Cooper has devised a gadget right out of Star Trek or Dick Tracy: a portable telephone. Cooper presented his invention with his mentor, John Francis Mitchell, at a press conference in New York. The portable telephone, which weighs approximately four pounds, possesses keys to dial telephone numbers instead of the traditional rotary method used in telephones connected by cord. "This is one of the most important inventions of our time," Cooper said. "I saw Captain Kirk's communicator and Dick Tracy's watch, and wanted to make those parts of fiction real, and we accomplished that." Cooper believes that over the years, the large, relatively clunky cellular phone can be shrunk down to the size of that famous flip communicator from Trek. "With advances in microchip technology, I believe that we can make this relatively large portable phone significantly smaller, and much easier for the everyday person to carry around in their pockets," Cooper said. "We could also design smaller versions of paging devices, which were invented by Bell Communications a decade ago." Mitchell then interjected, "I should know. I was part of designing the Bellboy paging system."
