Chapter 121: September 1977
Our first TNG update, believe it or not, involving one of the actors in the series, LeVar Burton. A fight over tax cuts that goes nowhere in Congress, despite Reagan begging for them. George Foreman wins the heavyweight title again. And a retrospective from Gene Roddenberry. A short update for tonight, but hopefully a good one.
LEVAR BURTON WINS EMMY FOR ROOTS
September 12, 1977
Twenty-year old LeVar Burton is now a big time star. Burton won an Emmy for his portrayal of Kunta Kinte in the first episode of the Roots miniseries. Roots actors comprised all four nominations, which included Louis Gossett, Jr. for his portrayal of Fiddler, John Amos as Toby, and Ben Vereen as "Chicken" George Moore. However, it was the youngest of the four in Burton who came away with the statue. "I was honored to be selected as one of the main characters in Alex Haley's incredible saga, and I am overwhelmed with winning this award," Burton said in his acceptance speech. "I want to share this Emmy with Louis, John and Ben, as they are all just as deserving as I am and I wish there could be four statues, one for each of us." Kunta Kinte is characterized as a free man from West Africa who was enslaved and shipped to what is now the United States under the harshest of circumstances on an inhuman slave ship. The entire saga starts with Kinte and describes how he and his descendants lived their lives as slaves, who eventually became free men at the end of the series, over a hundred years after Kinte's enslavement. "I think we educated millions of Americans who did not know about our experience as African-Americans, and it will be one of my most incredible memories, working on this project," Burton said as he concluded his speech.
FOREMAN KNOCKS OUT NORTON TO RECLAIM HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE
September 18, 1977
George Foreman proved that there is life in the heavyweight division after Muhammad Ali's retirement by knocking out heavyweight champion Ken Norton in the 10th round of their fifteen round bout at Yankee Stadium last night. Foreman was largely in control for most of the night, hurting Norton in the fourth with a very hard right hand, and knocking down the former champion in the seventh. Norton did everything he could to avoid the Foreman power, but Big George was relentless, and he eventually forced the stoppage with another big right hand right on the button. Referee Arthur Mercante counted out Norton, and the title was Foreman's for a second time. When asked about his victory, Foreman said, "I thank God for giving me this opportunity. Without Him, there would be no chance of this happening. I had a revelation after the Young fight that I would be heavyweight champion again, and thankfully, it came true." Howard Cosell at ringside for the fight, said that Foreman was back at his dominating best and proposed two possible opponents: Earnie Shavers and Larry Holmes. "A fight between Foreman and Shavers could be the hardest hitting matchup in heavyweight history," Cosell opined. "A Holmes fight would be a classic, as they have different styles, and styles make fights."
REAGAN WANTS MORE TAX CUTS: CONGRESS SAYS NO
September 22, 1977
President Ronald Reagan's efforts to pass a second tax cut in Congress have been dismissed out of committee by Democrats in both the House and Senate. "One tax cut is enough, and that should work out well for American families," said Speaker of the House Morris Udall in a press conference. "President Reagan wants to slash the public safety net by reducing Medicare and Social Security taxes in this proposal, and there is no way we will accept that. Plus, he is demanding a tax cut for the highest bracket above the middle class, which is unacceptable." Vice President Tower derided the Democrats for their refusal to accept Reaganomics, the new economic plan proposed by the President. "Democrats are the tax and spend party that want to take money out of the hardworking American man and woman's pockets, while President Reagan and I want to put more money in your pockets," the Vice President said. Senate Majority Leader Robert Byrd would consider the tax cuts, only if it was paired with spending. "We can negotiate another middle class tax cut as long as Social Security and Medicare are expanded," Byrd said. "Otherwise, a second tax cut is dead on arrival in the Senate."
And finally, an update from Gene Roddenberry:
When filming wrapped, Bill Shatner was concerned that we would lose our spot as the top science fiction saga to Star Wars, which was making a lot of money in theaters at the time. I told Bill, "there's a place for Star Wars and there's a place for what we do. The movie-going crowd will love both stories. I have confidence that we will be able to compete." As it proved, I was correct, and Star Trek made almost as much money as Star Wars, leading to some serious comparisons between the fans of the two franchises. Because we succeeded so dramatically, Paramount wanted me to write a second Star Trek film with similar themes, lots of space battles, and a comic book villain. I refused, and wrote a story similar to City on the Edge of Forever where the Enterprise crew, against their own desires, is transported back to 1963 and has to keep the timeline intact, which unfortunately included not interfering in President Kennedy's assassination. Paramount didn't like me very much for that, so I re-proposed Planet of the Titans, which had a Klingon battle scene. Paramount said they would produce it as a television movie, which I disapproved of, but we eventually got it done in for broadcast in 1980. That should have been the second feature film, but Paramount was not keen on my ideas, and they brought in Harve Bennett to produce the next three films. I left the Star Trek universe altogether in 1980 to produce Battleground Earth, which had a four season run.
NOTE: Foreman knocked out Norton in 1974 in round 2 of their only fight, which was the last fight before he lost to Ali in Zaire (Rumble in the Jungle). Foreman never fought Shavers or Holmes IRL.
NOTE: Reagan's tax cuts were passable in a Republican Senate IRL, but would have a much more difficult time negotiating them through a fully Democratic Congress. Reagan believed that "we must hold down the tax burden on current and future workers" for Social Security. At times, he thought it should be a voluntary program to pay into, before he became President.
NOTE: Louis Gossett Jr. won the Emmy for Roots in 1977 in the category Burton was nominated in.
LEVAR BURTON WINS EMMY FOR ROOTS
September 12, 1977
Twenty-year old LeVar Burton is now a big time star. Burton won an Emmy for his portrayal of Kunta Kinte in the first episode of the Roots miniseries. Roots actors comprised all four nominations, which included Louis Gossett, Jr. for his portrayal of Fiddler, John Amos as Toby, and Ben Vereen as "Chicken" George Moore. However, it was the youngest of the four in Burton who came away with the statue. "I was honored to be selected as one of the main characters in Alex Haley's incredible saga, and I am overwhelmed with winning this award," Burton said in his acceptance speech. "I want to share this Emmy with Louis, John and Ben, as they are all just as deserving as I am and I wish there could be four statues, one for each of us." Kunta Kinte is characterized as a free man from West Africa who was enslaved and shipped to what is now the United States under the harshest of circumstances on an inhuman slave ship. The entire saga starts with Kinte and describes how he and his descendants lived their lives as slaves, who eventually became free men at the end of the series, over a hundred years after Kinte's enslavement. "I think we educated millions of Americans who did not know about our experience as African-Americans, and it will be one of my most incredible memories, working on this project," Burton said as he concluded his speech.
FOREMAN KNOCKS OUT NORTON TO RECLAIM HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE
September 18, 1977
George Foreman proved that there is life in the heavyweight division after Muhammad Ali's retirement by knocking out heavyweight champion Ken Norton in the 10th round of their fifteen round bout at Yankee Stadium last night. Foreman was largely in control for most of the night, hurting Norton in the fourth with a very hard right hand, and knocking down the former champion in the seventh. Norton did everything he could to avoid the Foreman power, but Big George was relentless, and he eventually forced the stoppage with another big right hand right on the button. Referee Arthur Mercante counted out Norton, and the title was Foreman's for a second time. When asked about his victory, Foreman said, "I thank God for giving me this opportunity. Without Him, there would be no chance of this happening. I had a revelation after the Young fight that I would be heavyweight champion again, and thankfully, it came true." Howard Cosell at ringside for the fight, said that Foreman was back at his dominating best and proposed two possible opponents: Earnie Shavers and Larry Holmes. "A fight between Foreman and Shavers could be the hardest hitting matchup in heavyweight history," Cosell opined. "A Holmes fight would be a classic, as they have different styles, and styles make fights."
REAGAN WANTS MORE TAX CUTS: CONGRESS SAYS NO
September 22, 1977
President Ronald Reagan's efforts to pass a second tax cut in Congress have been dismissed out of committee by Democrats in both the House and Senate. "One tax cut is enough, and that should work out well for American families," said Speaker of the House Morris Udall in a press conference. "President Reagan wants to slash the public safety net by reducing Medicare and Social Security taxes in this proposal, and there is no way we will accept that. Plus, he is demanding a tax cut for the highest bracket above the middle class, which is unacceptable." Vice President Tower derided the Democrats for their refusal to accept Reaganomics, the new economic plan proposed by the President. "Democrats are the tax and spend party that want to take money out of the hardworking American man and woman's pockets, while President Reagan and I want to put more money in your pockets," the Vice President said. Senate Majority Leader Robert Byrd would consider the tax cuts, only if it was paired with spending. "We can negotiate another middle class tax cut as long as Social Security and Medicare are expanded," Byrd said. "Otherwise, a second tax cut is dead on arrival in the Senate."
And finally, an update from Gene Roddenberry:
When filming wrapped, Bill Shatner was concerned that we would lose our spot as the top science fiction saga to Star Wars, which was making a lot of money in theaters at the time. I told Bill, "there's a place for Star Wars and there's a place for what we do. The movie-going crowd will love both stories. I have confidence that we will be able to compete." As it proved, I was correct, and Star Trek made almost as much money as Star Wars, leading to some serious comparisons between the fans of the two franchises. Because we succeeded so dramatically, Paramount wanted me to write a second Star Trek film with similar themes, lots of space battles, and a comic book villain. I refused, and wrote a story similar to City on the Edge of Forever where the Enterprise crew, against their own desires, is transported back to 1963 and has to keep the timeline intact, which unfortunately included not interfering in President Kennedy's assassination. Paramount didn't like me very much for that, so I re-proposed Planet of the Titans, which had a Klingon battle scene. Paramount said they would produce it as a television movie, which I disapproved of, but we eventually got it done in for broadcast in 1980. That should have been the second feature film, but Paramount was not keen on my ideas, and they brought in Harve Bennett to produce the next three films. I left the Star Trek universe altogether in 1980 to produce Battleground Earth, which had a four season run.
NOTE: Foreman knocked out Norton in 1974 in round 2 of their only fight, which was the last fight before he lost to Ali in Zaire (Rumble in the Jungle). Foreman never fought Shavers or Holmes IRL.
NOTE: Reagan's tax cuts were passable in a Republican Senate IRL, but would have a much more difficult time negotiating them through a fully Democratic Congress. Reagan believed that "we must hold down the tax burden on current and future workers" for Social Security. At times, he thought it should be a voluntary program to pay into, before he became President.
NOTE: Louis Gossett Jr. won the Emmy for Roots in 1977 in the category Burton was nominated in.
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