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.
