The Trouble with Tribbles by David Gerrold

Author:David Gerrold [Gerrold, David]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: BenBella Books

CHAPTER SIX

Aboard the Good Ship Enterprise

I finally worked up my courage and asked if I could visit the set. Gene was almost surprised that I had bothered to ask.

Ande, Gene’s secretary, told me how to find soundstage 9. It was very close by. She told me if I had any questions to ask Charlie Washburn, the second assistant director. (I do not know what a second assistant director does, but Charlie always seemed very busy. A lot of paper passed through his hands; obviously, he was responsible for seeing that a lot of production information was in the right place at the right time.)

On this particular day, they were shooting an episode called “The Doomsday Machine,” written by a fellow named Norman Spinrad. I’d been introduced to him earlier, so I was glad to recognize at least one person on the set who I could pretend I knew.

Norman is a quietly brilliant human being who has done much to overcome the handicap of a New York accent. He has a head of hair like an explosion of schizophrenic Brillo, his taste in clothing is somewhere between Little Richard and Wally Cox, and his language suggests that he was one of the people who taught Norman Mailer how to cuss; but all of these things are virtues in Hollywood. The important thing is that Norman Spinrad is a good writer. ‘The Doomsday Machine,” a modern-dress retelling of Ahab and the whale, was one of STAR TREK’s best episodes. (In my humble opinion, of course.)

Norman would disagree with me. He felt his story had been ruined by interminable rewrites. Not having followed the progress of his script and not being experienced in the ways of television, I could only listen and nod and wonder what would happen to me and my story. Aside from a couple of feeble protestations that so far all of Gene Coon’s suggestions to me had seemed correct, I kept my mouth shut and my eyes open.

William Shatner and William Windom were rehearsing a scene from the show. Windom, playing Commodore Decker, was trying to describe the giant planet-killing doomsday machine to Captain Kirk. Or rather, to William Shatner—who had this incredible grin across his face that suggested he was waiting for a straight line. Sure enough:

Windom: “Jim, it was huge! It had a maw—”

Shatner: “A maw? Did you see its paw?”

Groans from the crew. They were looking for things to throw.

And it got worse. Let it be know that William Shatner, when presented with the opportunity, will rattle off an unbelievable number of really putrid jokes, each worse than the last. And he will do this until forcibly stopped.

Later though, he did something that has stuck in my mind ever since, something that suggests just how experienced an actor he actually is.

They were about to shoot the scene where Kirk witnesses Decker’s death. Marc Daniels, the director for this episode, suggested that Kirk show his grief and pain by lowering his face. At the same time, Jerry

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.