Thursday, February 23, 2012

STAR TREK--He Walked Among US--NORMAN SPINRAD'S LONG-LOST UNPRODUCED CLASSIC STAR TREK SCREENPLAY


I and CBS have agreed to resolve our disputes concerning the ownership of the Work; as part of the settlement between the Parties, the Parties have agree that there will be no further comment; and CBS is considering opportunities to offer licensed copies of the Work.

Because of the above, I can no longer comment on  the He Walked Among Us screenplay myself.   But I can still respond to general questions about screenwriting and si forth on this page.





This screenplay was commissioned by Gene Roddenberry as a vehicle for Milton Berle as a serious actor and he also sent me to an overgrown backlot village set he wanted to to try to write into the script too.


It was written in 1967 and lost for 45 years.

This original version was rewritten into an unfunny comedy by the line producer Gene Coon apparently unaware that Uncle Miltie was also a serious dramatic actor and a good one. It t was so bad that I complained to Roddenberry.

"This is so lousy, Gene, that you should kill it!" I told him. "You can't, you shouldn't, shoot this thing! Read it and weep!"

Gene did, and he agreed with me. I killed my second Star Trek, which, down through the years has cost me tens of thousands of dollars in lost residuals.

I thought the text of my original version--written on a typewriter!--was lost forever until recently a fan asked me to autograph a faded copy he had bought somewhere. I did, and in return he sent me a pdf off a scan, and that's what I've put on Amazon, not a great copy maybe, but the only one that exists or probably can exist.