Inside Star Trek (Star Trek for-profit LP)

Title:	Inside Star Trek
Creator:
Date(s):	1977
Medium:	LP album
Fandom:	Star Trek: TOS
Language:	English
External Links:
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Inside Star Trek is a Star Trek: TOS for-profit LP.

It features Gene Roddenberry interviewing William Shatner, DeForest Kelley, Mark "Sarek" Lenard, and Isaac Asimov and explores Star Trek - the show, the people, and the ideas behind it.

an ad in The Clipper Trade Ship #13

article and photos from Star Trektennial News #17 (1976)

It was sold by Columbia Records, but had a relationship with Nova Enterprises, a fan-run merchandising company, something that touches upon fandom and profit. From Nova Enterprises:

On INSIDE STAR TREK, creator Gene Roddenberry reveals the behind-the-scenes story of his legendary television show for the very first time! Hear, in Gene's own words, and those of of the Enterprise's top guns, never-before revealed tales about the origins of the series, and its place in the history of science fiction.

INSIDE STAR TREK is a full-length, long-playing album devoted to STAR TREK, in the actual words and voices of the people who made it happen. What was Spock's childhood like? Was there really a feud between STAR TREK's two stars? When did the network executives start to invade Federation territory? How did struggles with network censors affect the U.S.S. Enterprise, her crew, and the planets around them? Why was STAR TREK taken off the air? How did Kirk's personality affect William Shatner? What was the philosophy behind the show?

These are but a few topics explored on INSIDE STAR TREK! The album is scheduled for release on October 15th, and yours will be sent to you in a corrugated cardboard mailer. To obtain your copy, just send $6.95 (New York City & State residents please add sales tax) to us, along with your name and address. Do you know someone who would like to receive INSIDE STAR TREK as a gift? We will gladly mail this historic album for you to your favorite Trekker at no additional cost. INSIDE STAR TREK is probably the most important STAR TREK documentary ever recorded, and we at Nova take pleasure in being able to offer it to you. Why not order yours, today!

Comments by Mark Lenard

Mark Lenard who portrayed both The Romulan Commander as well as Sarek, Spock's father, had this to say in mid-1976:

I did part of a record with Gene Roddenberry in New York. He's making a Star Trek record - you probably know more about this that I do - and on it are so far, I guess, Leonard Nimoy, Bill Shatner, Isaac Asimov, and me as Sarek. We have a session together in which Sarek is beamed down, and the conversation is mainly a lengthy discourse by me as Sarek about Spock: How and why he was conceived, and the difficulty of the conception between an Earth creature...an Earth woman in this case - or are they all creatures? I don’t know.... An Earth woman and a Vulcan...and what magical processes had to be gone through to make this come about, since it had never been accomplished before, so Spock is the first. Spock's childhood and how difficult it was, and what it meant, being half-human/half-Vulcan -- the philosophical implications of this kind of union - and the future, all that. It was kind of interesting, and I assume that many of you, when this record comes out, will be getting it - or at least someone will get it you can share it amongst yourselves.

Fan Comments

The album "Inside STAR TREK" features Gene Roddenberry interviewing William Shatner, DeForest Kelley, Mark "Sarek" Lenard, and Isaac Asimov, Gene Roddenberry explores Star Trek - the show, the people, and the ideas behind it.

Although this is a hard-to-find album by Columbia Records, it is well-worth pestering some record shop to order it or find it hidden in the stock.

Here are just a small few of the highlights of the album:

"William Shatner Meets Captain Kirk:" William Shatner said of his role as Captain, ". . . what essentially comes out is William Shatner saying the lines that were Written for me to say in a situation that I was placed in . . ." He went on further to say that he was mostly just acting the role of Captain.

"McCoy's RX for Life": DeForest Kelley says that McCoy has influenced his personality because ". . . he has some human qualities that are really worth emulating." Kelley said that Star Trek really gave hope to people, especially terminally ill patients, ". . . somehow if you believe it will happen, it will happen."

"A Letter from a Network Censor": Roddenberry reads a "typical" memo about a script, "The Bible" submitted to a network censor. He points out in several witty parts that the Bible wouldn't be respectable for "Family Hour viewing."

"The Star Trek Dream": The last section of this record sums up Roddenberry's feelings. How he became first connected with science-fiction, from his childhood of being handicapped. He expressed his feelings that if he had been a normal child he probably would not have gone on to become a writer. "Ah, how lovely all our daughters are inside, how fearless all our sons. If only we could see it," seems to sum up the dreamer's creed; it isn't what someone looks like, but what they think and can give that matters."

To sum up this review, I'd like to say it was probably the best $6.10 I've ever spent. If you don't have this album I urge you to go out and borrow, beg, or buy a copy. It is informative as well as entertaining, and humorous, too. If your record store doesn't have it on the shelves, ask a clerk if it's in the back or to order it especially for you.

This fine record features Mr. Roddenberry speaking on Star Trek -- the behind-the-scenes struggles, the philosophy of the show, and Questor, Much of it is taken from talks he gave at college campuses throughout the country and Includes several humorous anecdotes. He also speaks with Shatner, Kelly, and Lenard. Mark Lenard is identified only as Ambassador Sarek, and speaks of the problems inherent in a human-Vulcan marriage, and the problems of raising the offspring of such a marriage. This is interesting, as it goes a bit —but only a bit—deeper into a subject the show only briefly touched upon.

1 hesitate to reveal more than just an outline of what this album contains, as then you'd be deprived of the pleasure of hearing it for yourself. There is a new, pleasing arangement of the Star Trek theme, and sound effects from the show are heard throughout the album. Gene Roddenberry reveals, for the umpteeth time, the origin of Spock and his ideas for the personalities of some of the other characters.

As to Shatner and Kelly — Shatner speaks of how much of him was Kirk, and vice versa, how much Kirk affected him (not much), the rumors of trouble between himself and Leonard Nimoy, he turns around and asks Mr, Roddenberry why he pulled out of the third season (the network lied to him, he was tired), what would he do if he had it to do over, etc. Then Roddenberry resumed asking the questions. I found it interesting that Shatner refers to the Star Trek crew as a "family", and remembers the sound effects Gene plays for him. He (Shatner) takes on the Kirk personality, and Gene says "you are in 20th century earth...how would you help?" Shatner/Kirk says the Prime Directive is the best way. He also answers the question of why Kirk got a new girl every week.

Mr. Roddenberry speaks of some network objections to Questor, such as the implication that the android "does it" with a human female. The story is very amusing, especially when Gene speaks of the intelligence (?!) level of network execs.

Deforest Kelly spoke of some of the same things Shatner did to influence of character on self, for example. He spoke much of the hope and optimism embodied in the show, and of his' personal optimism. He also speaks of how the role of McCoy influenced him to look at medicine today, and his thoughts on the subject are fascinating, Mr. Roddenberry tells of the Star Trek philosophy, the "ST Phenomenon", why Star Trek went over as big, and last as long as it has. Gene reveals himself to be an intelligent and sensitive man.

Gene speaks with Isaac Asimov, and gets the latter's description of science fiction, and the difference between SF and fantasy. He speaks of his favorites among the books he's written, both fiction and nonfiction, and tells the most common mistakes of young (or starting) science fiction writers. And he points to Star Trek as the only science fiction show where the people who put it together actually knew their science facts —"and it shows". The album has Gene Roddenberry reading a fictional — but typical, of the type he's received — memo a network censor would send back on a script — and he uses the Bible as the "script". It comes across as funny, but also sad—to think people with that type of mentality govern what we see on tv.

Mr. Roddenberry speaks of how his childhood illnesses -- breathing and eye troubles—helped turn him into the man he is today, how he turned to books, and learned to dream—arid make his dreams come true.

In conclusion —the dust jacket is well designed, and the album is well worth getting.