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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 1, 1978)
daily nebraskan Wednesday, february 1, 1978 Star Trek sans Mr. Spock may prove less enterprising By Pete Mason Entertainment editor I have some good news and some bad news. First, the good news. Star Trek is coming back. Now for the bad news. At this writing, the show is Spock-less. The word is that Star Trek will return as a syndicated series with all the original cast except Leonard Nimoy. The whole Star Trek phenomenon is one of the strangest chapters in television history. During its three-year run, the show barely broke even in the ratings. In the end it lost the race -and all hell broke loose. NBC was deluged with angry mail. "Bring Back Star Trek' groups formed all television. review over the country. Corporate executives and Nielsen disciples scratched their heads and wondered where all those viewers suddenly had come from. They certainly weren't indicated in the ratings. That was in 1970. Today they're still scratching their heads. The show went into syndication soon after the network dropped it, and it since has commanded a hefty percentage of the viewing audience wherever it plays. What the hey. . .? It isn't really hard to understand why the "Trekkies" have hung on for so long. First, at its best, Star Trek was excellent television. The show attracted such renowned sci-fi writers as Theodore Sturgeon and Harlan Ellison-hence, fine screenplays. Second, it had Spock. Star Trek would have been a good show with or without the Vulcan first officer. But whatever extra, intangible something there was which gave Star Trek its fanatical following can be attributed to his charac ter alone. All the main characters on the bridge of the United Starship Enterprise were heroes and each displayed his heroism every week. Dr. McCoy dedicated himself to medicine, life and the unassailable fact that there is nothing more important than the integrity of the human heart. Capt. Kirk held one things above all others: his responsibility to his crew and his mistress, the Enterprise. Scotty believed only in the ship's engines and good scotch, while Sulu, Chek ov and Uhura dedicated their lives to the captain and the service. All were heroes, each with distinctive qualities. And then there was Spock. Spock un doubtedly is one of the most unique and complex characters ever developed for tele vision. Half human-half Vulcan, Spock was a sort of Dr. Jekyll-Mr. Hyde held in check. His Vulcan side was stoic, analytical and devoid of emotion. It was in constant con flict with his human side. When through some sort of external stimulus, the human part of Spock ap peared, it gushed out in a fury, much to his later embarrassment. This is the stuff real heroes are made of. It was this conflict between emotion and total cool which attracted the audience and quickly made Spock a cult leader. Interest ingly enough, Spock's character is essen tially the same as television's current cap tain of cool, the Fonz. At first Nimoy reveled in the character's popularity. He once appeared on the To night Show in make-up and played the Spock part to the hilt, not once answering a question as Leonard Nimoy. . After the show was dropped, the Spock legend lived on. Nimoy went to the Star Trek conventions and sat for the fan maga zine interviews. But Nimoy is an actor who is serious about his craft and began to realize he could be forced into a hole he never could crawl out of. In the last few years, he has done work on and off of Broadway to ex- " V" 1 V ' ' W & Y-: ' n n oOrts and cellent reviews. So it's not hard to understand why Nimoy refused to revive Spock in a new series when approached by Star Trek's creator, Gene Roddenberry. As of this writing, he still is adamant in his refusal. In light of rumors that the new series will have a new alien on the bridge, a ques tion remains. Will the show attract the faithful fans who have been waiting years for its return? My guess is no. Roddenberry always has been faithful to the basic concepts and the integrity of the original program. Often in the last few years, when he has been asked to compromise while negotiating for a fuD4ength movie or for complete authority over scripts, writers and ideas, he has refused. That's why it seems inconceivable to me that he would give the go-ahead without the ingredient that made Star Trek a com plete and perfect recipe -Spock. Everything is up in the air now. If any one knows when the show will begin, he's not talking. There hasn't been mention of the show in any of the trade papers for weeks. I don't want to see Star Trek without Spock. I suppose that, on the coattails of Star Wan and Close Encounters, the show could survive for awhile. But I have too many good memories of the original. Star Trek already is etched into tele vision's history book. There would be nothing sadder than seeing its return re duced to an Lisignificant, antidimactic footnote. My advice to Roddenberry is to bury Star Trek for good if all efforts to recruit Nimoy are in vain. Most Trekkies would rather have fond memories than a half hearted resurrection. New drummer, bassist help Mitchell expand musically By Jeff Taebel Joni Mitchell's music at the beginning of her career was characterized by lilting vocals, which usually were supported by her simple guitar or piano accompaniments. album review But despite her talents for writing melodies and lyrics, her songs were con fined to somewhat conventional structures. With the release of Blue, her fourth album, she began experimenting with a free -form songwriting style, achieving mixed results. After Blue, she signed with David Geffen's Asylum label and embarked on a new phase of her career. Her first Asylum album, For The Roses, featured a full band and marked the begin ning of her musical association with saxophonist Tom Scott. She followed this album with two successful releases, Court and Spark and Miles of Ateles, which fea tured Scott and the L.A. Express. After Miles Of Aisles, Mitchell again changed direction with her next two albums, The Hissing of Summer Lawns and Hejira. Both featured more spacious 'I arrangements and a return to free-flowing song style. On her latest effort, a two-record set entitled Don Juan's Reckless Daughter, Mitchell musically stretches out with the help of L.A. Express drummer John Guerin and Jaco Pastorius, the incomparable Weather Report bassist. The first thing one notices is the amazing sound quality of this three-piece outfit. Mitchell's guitar sounds crisp and bright as it plays off Guerin 's light, understated drumming. Pastorius roams freely provid ing the bass and lead, and adds his unique touch. With this dynamic back-up, Mitchell's vocals soar, especially on up-tempo num bers, such as Talk To Me," which high lights side one. Side two consists entirely of 'Yaprika Plains, which features Wayne Shorter on soprano sax. The lyrics are interesting but demand more attention than the music. Although it is hard for the song to maintain its impact for 16:30 occasional orchestral interludes add a nice touch. Side three is made interesting by a rhythmic instrumental called "The Tenth World. This drum-dominated piece features Weather Report percussionists Manolo Badrena and Alejanro Acuna. The Tenth World is followed by "Dreamland, another rhythm number on which Mitchell and Chaka Khan sing, accompanied only by the percussionists and Pastorius, Don Alias and Airto. The song's engaging lyrics and unique arrange ment create a flowing musical effect The album's final side begins with the spirited title song on which Mitchell and Pastorius excel instrumentally. Mitchell's guitar phrasing and Pastorius incredibly imaginative bass work push the vocals to new heights. This song is followed by. a somewhat disappointing "Off Night Backstreet, which features guest vocalists J JX Souther and Glen Frey. The number seems to painfully slug along. It is not one of Mitchell's strongest vocal or lyrical outings. The album is concluded in fine fashion with The Silky Veils of Ardor." Appro priatcly, it is performed by only Mitchell. Her guitar and vocal blend beautifully. As the vocal gen try drops at the end, one realizes that although Mitchell's music does not work listeners into t frcwy, it does have a unique musical and lyrical sense. One can speculate, that her continued experimentation and collaboration with artists like Pastorius and Shorter could only result in the production of more fine albums. UNL music students present clarinet, piano recitals today Photo courtesy of Atylum Records Joni Mitchell Two women UNL School of Musk stu dents will present free, public recitals to day at 3:30 p n. Gail Hiddleston, a senior, win play two selections on the dairnet: Chorus No. 2 by H. Vflh-Lobos and Sonata in E Flat by Johannes Brahms. Hiddleston will perform in the Choral Room of Westbrook Music Building and wul be accompanied by Mary Indermuehle on piano and Chris Erickson on flute. PrisciHa Kliewer, a graduate piano stu dent, wiH perform in Sheldon Art Gallery Auditorium. Her program includes Sonata in F Major, K. 332 by Wolfgang Mozart, Krcis kriana. Opus 16 by Robert Schumann and Images, Series I by Claude Debussy. l!ewer has played several of these selections in master classes with Mozart expert Thomas Rkhncr, concert artist Claude Frandk and William Race, head of the keyboard division of the University of Texas School of Music in Austin.