#herb solow

[lyricsoffreedom]

Herb Solow, the man who oversaw the development, sales, and production of Star Trek, Mission: Impossible, and Mannix.

[theyboldlywent]

Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry (top and left) and Herb Solow (bottom, right) spend time with the dancers who appeared in Star Trek’s first pilot, “The Cage.” It was, obviously, a very different time. 

Despite being credited as “Executive in Charge of Production” on the first two season of Star Trek and being co-author of Inside Star Trek: The Real Story, Solow’s place in getting the show on the air has been widely ignored by Trek fandom and journalists covering the series’ early years. While not a fan of science fiction himself, he strongly believed in the format proposed by Roddenberry, as it offered an alternative to Lost in Space’s juvenalia.

To help sell the show to NBC after it failed to find a place with CBS, Solow instructed the Trek mastermind to keep quiet unless spoken to due to his previous interactions with the network while making The Lieutenant. Also, and perhaps most critically, Solow told the other man to lose the “Wagon Train to the Stars” pitch that hadn’t found the show a home so far. 

NBC executive Jerry Stanley said that “It was Herb’s tenacity and Herb’s presentation that sold the series.”

His hard work didn’t stop at finding the show a home. Solow was very involved in the production of “The Cage” and “Where No Man Has Gone Before” and went to bat in front of Desliu’s executive board when the series order came through. They were understandably trepidatious at the prospect of producing three expensive series at the same time,* but Solow managed to get studio head Lucille Ball on his side, and she overruled the board’s conservative stance to push the show into production.

(For the record: Desilu Vice-President of Programs Oscar Katz is the gentleman whose whereabouts are being questioned. He was fired during production of “Where No Man Has Gone Before.”)

*The other two series being Mission: Impossible and The Long Hunt of April Savage. It’s not hard to guess which one lost out.

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[benikoumori]

Star Trek Memories 78

THE DYSFUNCTIONAL FAMILY Surprisingly throughout the period of time when Spock was becoming something of a national phenomenon, Leonard's relationship with the studio and Gene were growing increasingly distant. This made no sense to Leonard, who felt betrayed, since his efforts and benefited the show and the studio much more fully than anyone could have imagined. He hadn't been praised or congratulated; instead, the folk running the show seemed to go out of their way to create a distance. Leonard explains: *** Actors are always looking for a home, and when Star Trek came along, that's precisely what I thought I'd found. I'd spent fifteen years, from about 1950 to 1965, feeling like a visiting distant cousin who'd come and work on other people's sets for two or three days, and then be told, "Okay, you're done, please leave." I'd find myself envying the regular casts and crews of these shows and feeling like they led really blessed life. Y'know, this steady working relationship of running characters, running crew members, writers and producers could really be seen an a sort of family. As a great on these shows, you're allowed to visit for a day or two, share a couple of meals and play a couple of scenes, but then you're gone and someone else fills that guest spot. You might find a haven for a moment, but you never find a home. I was in desperate need of that home, and for the stability and familiarity that this sort of family could provide. So when Star Trek came along and we started working, I thought, "Wow! A new family's being created here, and I'm a valid member! I'm not a guest anyone!" We were forming a group of people who'd be working together and learning together, going through similar experiences, creating together. I thought it was terrific. Gene were the days where they'd write your name on the dressing-room door with chalk and just wipe it off three days later, or sit you down on a canvas chair that's got a piece of masking tape stuck on it with your name attached. One of the things that made me feel good about Star Trek early on was that they painted my name onto my own personal parking space. I know that sounds funny, but to me it really signified that this working relationship was going to be at least semipermanent. It would take a bit of effort to remove that paint. In this family construct, I felt like Bill and I were brothers, that Roddenberry was a sort of father figure, as were the studio heads at Desilu. Weeks went by, we'd gotten on the air and when the Spock character really started to take off, I was very proud, and in a way I felt as though I were pleasing Daddy; it was like pleasing your parents at report-card time. You know you've done a good job, and you hope and even assume that your parents will say, "Well done, son," and give you a nice pat on the back. I guess that's what I was expecting. Instead, the father figures on Star Trek took on an attitude that I'd never anticipated, becoming suddenly and irrationally paranoid. They kept saying, "That son of a bitch is gonna want more money. He's going to start dictating to us about where and how and when he will do a scene." They saw Spock's drawing popularity as somehow threatening to them, and I had a really tough time with that. It sent me to therapy. I had a big investment going here in that after fifteen years of struggling, looking for a home, I'd finally found one, and even though I was doing my best to please, I found myself being told, "You're a problem for us." In effect, "We don't like you here." I could not understand that. I mean, I came to work every day, knowing my lines and hitting my marks, and in terms of audience reaction, I was really bringing something to this party. I was expecting love, kindness and support, but what I got instead were hostility and avarice. *** "Hostility and avarice" are words perfectly chosen in that they really do describe the "father figures" shift in attitude toward Leonard. However, rather than try to describe how these feelings became manifest around the increasingly popular actor, it would be much more meaningful to illustrate them. Any number of examples exist, but two, in particular, bear retelling. The first example comes over Leonard's simple request for a telephone in his dressing room, and before I go any further, I've got to explain that throughput the run of Star Trek, our main stage had ONE phone line. As a result, it became almost impossible to get calls in or out. This frustrated everyone, and after a particularly aggravating series of missed message and waiting for the phone, Leonard made his request: *** We were all stuck in a situation that found forty people trying to survive all day with one telephone and none of us had phones in our dressing rooms. Finally, when it was getting really hectic for me, I said to one of the production people, "I need a phone in my dressing room, and I'll pay for it." "Sure, no problem," they said, but as the days passed, nothing happened. And I kept asking about this phone and being told, "We're working on it." Several more days went by, a week, and another, and by now I was getting really angry. "Where the hell is the phone?!" I yelled. "Uh... well... uh, Mr.Spock wants to talk to you about that." So now Herb Solow, Desilu's "executive in charge of production," comes down to the stage, and we sat in my dressing room having this ridiculous conversation in which I said, "I need a phone, I can't handle my business on that stage phone." "You can't have it, it's not in your contract." "I know that, I'm not asking you to give it to me, I'll pay for it myself. I'll pay for the installation and the bill." "Nope, can't do it." "Why?" "Because then all the other actors will want one." "And...?" "And they'll think I'm paying for yours." "I'll tell them that I'm paying for it myself." "They won't believe you. The answer is still no." *** Certainly this was an irrational argument on Solow's part, but it serves to perfectly illustrate the studio's paranoid unwillingness to deal with the growing popularity of Spock and the man who played him. There was even a point where the studio went so far as to send Leonard a memo that officially denied him access to the studio's pencil writing supply Leonard had requested some writing utensils so that he could answer a bit of his fan mail, and was told that such items were not part of his contract. One would assume Solow was riding Leonard in this especially nasty manner in the hopes of keeping him under control should his popularity continue to grow. You know the attitude: "Give him a phone and he'll want a car." Finally, with all the problems Leonard faced in getting the studio to provide him with such simple things as pencils, paper clips and a phone, you can imagine the kind of economy-sized headaches he suffered through in attempting to secure an air conditioner for his sweltering office. You see, between Star Trek's first and second season, Leonard was able to renegotiate his contract, get a rise and a couple of perks as well. One of these was a converted dressing room that he could use as an office. At about the same time, Leonard had hired a lovely young woman named Theresa Victor to coordinate his fan mail, travel arrangements and personal arrangements. She'd work in the new office space all day while Leonard was out shooting. Between set-ups, Leonard would check in with Theresa, sign a few pictures and attend to personal business whenever he got the chance. This seemed like a perfect working situation, but it quickly became apparent that there was a problem. That's because while the studio had indeed fulfilled its part of the bargain by furnishing Leonard with an office, it was a strictly no-frills situation. The office was small and shabbily furnished, but what really drove Leonard crazy was the fact that this tiny office, which bore only two tiny windows and no breeze, always became stiflingly, unbearably hot long before lunchtime. This obviously rendered the place virtually unusable for the better part of each workday. With that in mind, Leonard sweatily and repeatedly complained to the front office about the situation, and after being stalled for several days, he was once again met with hostility instead of humanity. Told that "your contract calls for office space, but makes no specific provisions for air conditioning," Leonard's request was denied. Now steaming both literally and figuratively, Leonard was not least bit mollified when the studio offered a compromise, opening up its miserly purse strings wide enough to Leonard's office digs with a tiny, used and completely inefficient window-mounted exhaust fan. Two days later, Los Angeles gets hit with a mid-july heat wave, and as the mercury stretches for 105 degrees, Leonard finally cracks. Then, with a gleam in his eye, he hatches a plan. "Lie down on the floor," he tells Theresa, and with a puzzled look, she obliged. "Okay," he continues, "now whatever you do, don't move." Leonard then gets on the phone, calls the studio's medical personal and in a frantic voice pleads, "Help, I just got back to my office, and my secretary's been overcome by the heat! She's passed out and we need your help! Come quick!" Leonard hangs up and Theresa cracks up, but by the time the medics arrive the pair has composed themselves sufficiently to convincingly portray heat prostration. The medical types immediately begin applying cold compresses to Theresa's head, and while she begins "reviving" Leonard runs around the office saying things like "Thank God I got here in time, or this could have been a lot worse." News of this "near disaster" quickly rises upstairs to the studio heads, and in no time, a large, shiny new air conditioner arrives at Leonard's office door, and it's installed and humming happily puffing large, freon-chilled breezes throughout Leonard and Theresa's office. Leonard's guerilla tactics had won the battle, although his relationship with the studio had deteriorated even further. THE DYSFUNCTIONAL FAMILY 驚くべき事にスポックが国家的な事案になっていっていた時、レナードとジーンやスタジオの関係には益々距離が出来いたんだ。 レナードにはこういった感覚はなかった、お願いをしている感じだったんだ、彼の努力は誰が考えるよりもスタジオの為になる物だったのだから。 彼は賞賛や祝福を受ける事はなかった。 その代わりにショーの運営側は距離を置くようになっていったんだ。 レナードに説明してもらおう。 *** 俳優とは常に家を探しているものでスタートレックがやって来た時は正にそれを私は見つけたんだと思ったんだ。 1950年から1965年の15年間は遠くのいとこを訪ねているような感覚だった、仕他の人々とセットで2日か3日仕事をしてこう言われる、"よし、終わりだ、帰っていいよ"と。 私はそういったショーのレギュラーキャストやクルー達が神に祝福されているように感じられて羨んだよ。 そう、キャラクターという定職や運営するクルー達、作家やプロデューサーはある意味家族だからだ。 そんなショーに彼はゲストとして2日か3日訪問し、2、3の食事や2、3のシーンを共有できますして、彼が去った後は他の誰かがゲストとなるんだ。 彼はひとときの安息所は見つけるだろうが決して家を見つけたわけではない。 私には家と言うものが本当に必要だった、この家族の様な物から受け取る事が出来る親密さや安定が。 スタートレックがやって来て仕事として始まった時、私はこう考えた、"わぉ! 私がメンバーの新しい家族がここで作られるんだな! ゲストの誰かではないんだな!" 私達はグループとして一緒に仕事をして、一緒に学んで、同じ経験を通して一緒に創り上げて行くんだ。 それは素晴らしい事だと、私は考えた。 その日だけ彼らは彼の更衣室のドアにチョークで名前を書き3日後には拭き消してしまったり、彼が座るキャンバスチェアにマスキングテープで君の名前が貼り付けられるんだ。 スタートレックで私が嬉しくなったものの1つが初めの頃に私自身の駐車スペースとしてペンキで名前が書かれた事だった。 おかしげに聞こえるとは知っているけれど私にはこの仕事の関係が少なくとも半永久的な物を意味していたんだ。 ペンキを消すにはちょっとした努力がいるからね。 私とビルが兄弟で父親はロッデンベリーやDesilu のスタジオヘッド達という家族構成だ。 週毎に放送がされ、スポックと言うキャラクターがスタートを切り、私はとてみ誇らしかった、私は父親を喜ばせたのだと感じていた。 両親に成績表を見せる喜びの様だったんだ。 彼は知ってるんだ、いい仕事をしたと、彼は両親がこう言ってくれるのではないかとさえ期待した、"Well done, son (でかした)" そして素晴らしい褒め言葉をくれるのではないかと。 私が予想していたのはそういった事だった。 代わりにスタートレックの父親達は私が予想だにしていなかった態度をとった、突然の不合理な妄想を。 彼らは言い続けた、"あいつはもっと金を寄越せと言ってる。 彼のシーンの時いちいちどうするか口を出してくる" スポックの人気が成長するにつれ彼らはそれを驚異とみなした、私には本当にきつい時間だったよ。 それは私をセラピーに行かせる程だった。 ここでの事は15年家を探して奮闘していた私がついに見つけた場所だった、私は喜ばせたかった、だが私は自分に言われていることに気づいてしまった、曰く"君は我々のお荷物だ"と。 実際は、"君が此処にいる事を私達は好まない"だったか。 私はそれを理解出来なかった。 私はただ毎日仕事に出て台詞を覚えて作品を創り、視聴者の反応によってこの祭りに担ぎ出されただけだったんだ。 私が予期していたのは愛情や親愛だった、だが私が得たのは敵意と強欲だった。 *** "敵意と強欲" という言葉のチョイスは完璧だ、彼らは"父親像"から態度を変えレナードに相対したんだ。 けれどそういうある俳優を囲んでいく感覚をより描いて行くことにも意義があるだろう。 多くの例が存在する中で特に形を変えて2つの物がある。 ひとつ目の例はレナードの単純なリクエストだった、彼の更衣室に電話を引きたいという物だ、その前に説明しておこう僕達のメインスタジオには電話が1台しかなかった。 結果電話をかけたり受けたりだとかが殆ど不可能だったんだ。 皆が不満を抱える中でレナードがリクエストをしたのは待っていた電話を受け取れない事が続きとりわけ腹を立てての事だったんだ。 *** 更衣室に電話を持っている者は誰もおらず私達40人はは毎日1台の電話に集って何とか勝ち取ろうとしている有様だった。 そうして私が本当に忙しくなってしまった時、私は製作部に言った、"更衣室に電話を引きたいんだ、費用は私が払うから"と。 "いいよ、問題ない" 彼らはこう言ったが日が経っても何も起きなかった。 私は電話について聞き続けた、が返って来るのは、"やってるよ"だった。 数日経ち一週間経ち更に過ぎて私は本当に怒ってしまった。 "電話は何処だ?!" 私は吠えた。 "ああ... ええと...うん、Mr.スポックが話がしたいと" Desilu の"製作部役員"であるハーブ.ソローがスタジオへやって来て私達は私の更衣室で馬鹿げた会談を持つこととなった、私はこう言った、"電話がいるんだ、スタジオの電話では仕事が出来ない" "君の契約にはない事だからね、それは出来ないんだ" "それは分かってます、私はくれと言っているんではないんです、私が自分で払いますから。 設置と請求を私が" "いや、それは出来ない" "何故?" "他の俳優達も欲しいと言い出すだろうからだ" "というと... ?" "彼らは私が君に払っていると考えるだろう" "彼らには私が話します、私が払っているのだと" ,"彼らは君を信じないだろう。 答えとしてはノーだ" *** 確かにこれはスポックやそれを演じる者の成長していく人気をスタジオは快く思っていないとはっきり思ってしまうソロー側の不合理な議論だ。 更にこう言った事もあった、レナードが彼のファンレターへの返信に使う筆記用具を求めた時、彼の契約にはそういった記載は無いとスタジオのペンや鉛筆の供給を公式に拒否するメモを彼らは送っていた。 彼の人気が増え続けているが故にレナードはこう言った特別扱いを求めているのだとソローが思い込んだ結果だった。 そうこう言った具合にだ、"電話を与えたら彼は車も欲しがるぞ" 最終的に彼は鉛筆やペーパークリップ、電話、など供給関係の全てでぶつかる事になったんだけど彼に特大の頭痛をもたらしたのは彼の茹だる様な暑さのオフィスにエアコンを確保しようとする試みだった。 知っての通りスタートレックの第1通り第2シーズンの間にレナードは契約の再協議をして昇給と2、3の特権を手にできたんだ。 そのひとつが更衣室の代わりにオフィスを使えるという物だった。 同じ時レナードはテレサ.ビクターという名前の可愛らしい秘書を雇いファンレターや旅行の手配、個人的な手配事を任せる様になっていた。 彼女はレナードが撮影に出ている間１日中新しいオフィスで仕事をしていた。 セットアップの間レナードはテレサとサインが必要な写真や仕事のチャンスとなる様な出席事をチェックしていた。 この状況は仕事をする上で完璧な様に見えたのだけれどそこには問題がある事がじき明らかになってしまった。 スタジオは約束を果たしたわけだがそれはレナードにオフィスを提供するというだけの物で厳密にただの飾りも無い物だったんだ。 オフィスは小さく家具付きだったけれどみすぼらしい物だったけれど、本当にレナードを苛立たせたのはこの小さなオフィスには窓が小さな2つだけで微風すらない常に息の詰まる様な感じでランチタイムのずっと以前に耐えられない程暑くなってしまうという事だった。 それは明らかに平日の大半をその場で過ごせなくさせる物だったんだ。 そういった事から汗まみれのレナードはこの状況にはついての不平を繰り返しフロントに訴えてた、その数日後彼は人間味の代わりに敵意で応じられてしまった。 "君の契約にはオフィスだけだ、エアコンという特別な支給品の記載は無い"と言われレナードのリクエストは拒否されてしまった。 文字通りにも比喩的にも湯気を立てたレナードにスタジオは妥協を提供したけどレナードは少しも宥められはしなかったんだ、しみったれた財布を精一杯開けた結果がレナードのオフィスの窓に取り付けるちっぽけで使い古された能率の悪い換気扇だったからだ。 その2日後、7月半ばのロサンゼルスを熱波が襲い水銀は105度まで伸び上がってしまった時、レナードは壊れた。 その時ある計画が浮かんだ彼の眼が輝いた。 "床に横になってくれ" 彼がテレサにそう言った、困惑した様子ながら彼女は受け入れた。 "よし" 彼は続けた、"何があっても動かないでくれよ" そしてレナードは電話を取り上げスタジオの医師へ半狂乱の嘆願をおこなった、"助けてくれ、私がオフィスへ戻ったら秘書が熱中症で倒れてるんだ! 彼女の意識がないんだ助けてくれ! 急いで!" レナードが電話を切りテレサは爆笑した、医師が到着する頃には熱で倒れた様を演出するに十分なほど落ち着いていたけどね。 医師は直ぐテレサの頭に冷湿布を貼り始め彼女は"生き返り"始めた、レナードはオフィスを駆け回りこんな事を言った、"此処に来た事を神に感謝します、もっと悪くなる事も有り得たんだ" この"災害の様な"ニュースは素早くスタジオヘッドへ上げられ間を置かずして大きな輝くエアコンがレナードのオフィスのドアに到着し、設置されたそれは盛大に唸りを上げレナードとテレサのオフィス中に冷たい風を吹いていた。 レナードはゲリラ戦法で戦いに勝ったけれど彼とスタジオとの関係は更に悪化してしまった。

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https://www.facebook.com/335685819784937/photos/a.337119432974909.77900.335685819784937/454142144605970/?type=1&theater

[theyboldlywent]

Herb Solow poses next to Leonard Nimoy at a holiday party for Star Trek's cast and crew. As the Executive in Charge of Production for Desilu during the first and second seasons of Star Trek, Herb Solow was responsible for the development, sales and production of the series along with Mission Impossible and Mannix. After pitching the show to CBS (who rejected it for the sake of Lost In Space,) Solow successfully sold the series to NBC. However, nobody had bothered to tell the studio's owner, Lucille Ball, what the show was about. In an interview, Solow revealed that it she thought Star Trek was going to be a show about USO performers trekking across the globe, entertaining America's troops and sailors. When Solow corrected her in a board meeting, everyone realized that she'd green-lit the purchase and production of the show without ever having read any of the pitch documents — she just trusted her team that much! Thankfully, Solow was able to handle the debacle and Star Trek continued production.

[theyboldlywent]

Desilu VP of Production Herb Solow and Leonard Nimoy at a party, date unknown.