Today's update:
DEMOCRATS THUMP GOP IN 1970 MIDTERM ELECTIONS
November 4, 1970
Democrats expanded on their majorities in Congress yesterday in both houses, creating a near super-majority in the House of Representatives and reaching the 58 senator mark in the Senate. Democrats won 25 seats in the House, expanding their majority to 268 seats. They defeated Republican incumbents in traditionally GOP-leaning suburban areas, where the Vietnam War is largely unpopular. A more liberal majority appears to be in control in the House, boosting Morris Udall's chances of winning the speakership over Carl Albert, with John McCormack, the previous speaker, retiring. Democrats won Senate seats in California, Hawaii, New York, Ohio and Illinois, while holding onto their vulnerable incumbent, Joseph Tydings, in Maryland. John Tunney defeated incumbent Republican senator George Murphy in California, and Adlai Stevenson III defeated Ralph Tyler Smith in a special election in Illinois. Hiram Fong in Hawaii lost his seat to Democrat Cecil Heftel, and Democrat Howard Metzenbaum has apparently defeated Robert Taft Jr. in a very close race in Ohio, which is headed for a potential recount. Perhaps the most interesting race was in New York, where conservative firebrand James L. Buckley was favored to win election over placeholder Republican senator Charles Goodell and Democrat Richard Ottinger. However, New York's Democratic lean and excellent turnout in New York City put Ottinger over the top. Democrats held the Texas seat thought vulnerable, with Lloyd Bentsen defeating George H.W. Bush in the conservative, but still Democratic state. In Florida, the Democrats also held the seat vacated by retiring Spessard Holland, with Lawton Chiles defeating Republican William Cramer. Republicans won seats in Connecticut, where Lowell Weicker ran on an anti-war platform, and in Tennessee, where Albert Gore. Sr was defeated by Bill Brock. President Nixon was upset with the results, reportedly telling his chief of staff H.R. Haldeman that "the pointy heads and eggheads who watch Star Trek and the hippies who love the Beatles outvoted our base who watches Gunsmoke and Bonanza."
KISSINGER, THO TO MEET IN PARIS
November 5, 1970
President Nixon's national security adviser Henry Kissinger and North Vietnamese representative Le Duc Tho will meet in Paris later this month in efforts to hammer out a settlement over the expanding Vietnam War. Kissinger is expected to tell Tho that bombing of North Vietnamese cities, including the capital Hanoi, will resume unless the North Vietnamese agree to peace. The North Vietnamese position was weakened recently by the American and South Vietnamese capture of Tchepone in neighboring Laos, which largely cut the Ho Chi Minh trail aiding the Viet Cong in the South. This, combined with fewer Chinese arms to the North, has placed them in a vulnerable position for the first time in years, and they are seeking a settlement that guarantees elections for both states in early 1971 with a unification election to be held four years later, in 1975. Kissinger prefers the separate election option for both nations in 1971 but with no unification elections down the line, fearing a North Vietnamese electoral victory would cause all of Vietnam to go Communist. Talks have also resumed with China over a possible state visit by President Nixon, but the Chinese are reticent to invite Nixon unless they believe a lasting peace has taken hold in Vietnam.
THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN OF STAR TREK TALK TO TV GUIDE
November 6, 1970
TV Guide is happy to secure this interview with the Star Trek ensemble cast. They discussed their Emmy wins, relationships within the cast, and the improved relationship with Paramount studio head Doug Cramer. Cramer also agreed to be interviewed with the cast.
TV Guide: It is a pleasure to talk to the entire cast of Star Trek. You have certainly made waves in the past four years.
Shatner: It is a pleasure to talk to TV Guide. We're the most popular show of the 1960s according to your poll.
TV Guide: We were stunned when Star Trek won that poll, and it foretold future Emmy success for the series.
Shatner: It sure did, and Leonard cashed in on that success.
Nimoy: It was the greatest honor of my career to win an Emmy playing Spock. The work I had to place into that role was phenomenal, but I'm about to leave for Mission: Impossible and hopefully an easier role.
TV Guide: No pointy ears on Mission, we think.
Nimoy: (Laughs) No pointy ears, but they might put me in other disguises because it's a spy show.
TV Guide: We heard there was some trouble among the cast.
Doohan: I settled that with a couple of smacks on Bill (Shatner, Doohan and Nichols laugh). Nichelle also got in a lick on Bill.
Nichols: I won't say how I hit Bill though.
Takei: We thought it was a stunt between Kirk and Scott in their characters. We had no idea it was real until Jimmy was legitimately hitting Bill and Nichelle jumped in with a kick.
Koenig: We perform a lot of fight scenes on Star Trek, sometimes between cast members, so of course we thought Jimmy and Bill were playing around. But they fought for real for a bit, and Gene [Roddenberry] had to save Jimmy's job.
Kelley: That was some of the highest drama I've seen on a set in all my years of acting. I'm glad it's past us and we're all friends again. Bill learned a lesson from that.
Shatner: Agreed, Dee. I learned to respect my colleagues more after that incident.
TV Guide: With that all behind you, how are you getting along with the studio? I know Shatner went public about Paramount not treating the cast well.
Shatner: Well I had to go public at the time. Contract negotiations were going poorly, we just lost our longtime producer Bob Justman, who was a friend to all of us, and we were not being treated like stars on a top television program, in the way James Arness gets treated with carte blanche over at Gunsmoke. So I stood up for everyone. Doug Cramer hated it at the time, but he loves Star Trek now. He wishes he could take it back.
TV Guide: We actually have Doug Cramer with us for this interview.
Cramer: I had you guys do the impossible for two years, and you won an Emmy for Best Dramatic Series. Your show is going to go down as an all-time classic, and if you ever make movies, they will be of the epic variety, like the Ten Commandments with Cecil B. DeMille directing. If you ever want to make a TV movie, I will gladly produce it for you and back the cast up with a representative salary.
Shatner: Why thank you, Doug.
Cramer: You're very welcome. Star Trek has become a great property for Paramount. I have never been surprised more by the popularity of a television show in all my years in the business.
Nimoy: Mr. Cramer, that is because no television series in history places the attention to detail in all of its aspects of production like Star Trek. We ensure that everything is as perfect as possible, from the sets, to the costumes, to the scripts, to the characters.
Takei: Even for the smaller parts, we assume our characters, who are completely different from who we are in real life, and play them so realistically that the television audience thinks we are actually the characters.
Nichols: I know, I get called Uhura all the time on the street.
Koenig: Same thing here, everyone thinks I'm Pavel Chekov, when I'm actually Walter Koenig (everyone laughs). People don't know that I don't speak with a Russian accent in real life, except for my family.
Doohan: I think Bill and Leonard have it hardest. They have to put everything into Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock.
Shatner and Nimoy: No {expletive], Jimmy. (Everyone laughs).
Kelley: I'm not actually a doctor, but everyone thinks I'm a doctor (everyone laughs). I've received fan mail from medical students that said they were inspired by me to be doctors.
Doohan: Same here, Dee. I get fan mail from aspiring engineers because they love Mr. Scott.
Nichols: I don't get fan mail from anyone who is aspiring to be a switchboard operator (Everyone laughs).
Koenig: I get fan mail from people who think I'm Davy Jones from the Monkees with a Russian accent.
TV Guide: Are you going to make movies someday?
Shatner: We don't know. Doug has invited us back for one television movie, but I'm not sure I want to play Captain Kirk on the big screen. I might be too old by the point Star Trek makes it to movie theaters. I heard that Gene Roddenberry might replace me with Tom Selleck if it ever gets that far.
Nimoy: I don't mind putting on the ears again for a couple of months to make movies. Who knows, maybe I'll direct a couple of them someday.
Kelley: We'd be glad to make movies, but in several years it might be time for a new cast to carry on what we started if Star Trek continues as a movie franchise.
TV Guide: That'll be a wrap.
Cast: Thank you for interviewing us for TV Guide.
