NCIEO Home Page (Map): Introductory Information: Shamless Plugs:

Classic Icon

THE NITPICKER'S GUIDE FOR CLASSIC TREKKERS
(ISBN 0-404-50683-2, $12.95)

Place an order for this volume
Place an order for Part I of the audio version
Place an order for Part II of the audio version
Place an order for Part III of the audio version
Place an order for Part IV of the audio version

(Please note: Amazon.com does not have the various parts of audio version accurately identified. The links above will take you to the correct screens for each part listed. If instead, you attempt a search for the four different parts of the audio version using Amazon.com's search engine, you are on your own!)


Overview

The Nitpickers's Guide for Classic Trekkers covers every episode of Star Trek and the first six Star Trek movies (the ones that feature the original cast). It also contains fourteen side bars including the Captaincy Aptitude Test and The Intragalactic Trek Awards. It was released in November, 1994.


Comments

No one ever expects to write a book and only sell two copies but it was very gratifying to see the positive response from the fans when the NextGen Guide made it out the door and onto bookstore shelves.

So now, it's January of 1994, the NextGen Guide is selling well and I need another book project. Well, I had always been a big fan of the original Star Trek series (it was the only television show that we watched as a family when I was growing up in the Philippines) and so, The Nitpicker's Guide for Classic Trekkers seemed like the next logical step. Steve proposed it to Jeanne. Jeanne said, "Sure, let's shoot for an April 1995 release date." It was January of 1994, after all. It takes a while to get a book to market. That's when I raised my hand.

"Um . . . I think it would be better," I said, "if we could be out in time for the Christmas sales this year." Please understand what I was proposing. I was proposing that the Dell put a book on the shelf in only eleven months, a book that I hadn't even started writing yet! For book publishers, this is fast. Normally, it takes about eighteen months to get a book published after it's turned into the editor.

I told Jeanne that I was willing to bury myself in Classic Trek for five months and get the book written if she could work the angles on her side and get it through production. She started lobbying. Dell responded beautifully. (Hey, they're business people. They know a good plan when they hear one.) Normally, the schedules for producing a book are set somewhat end to end. In this case, all the production departments at Dell started working on the book simultaneously while I was writing it.

I delivered the manuscript to Jeanne on May 15, two weeks ahead of schedule and she ran with it. Steve Ettlinger not only worked as agent on the book but as book producer as well-- coordinating the copy editing, typesetting, proof reading and indexing. We hit all our dealines and the book hit the shelves in time for the Christmas sales.

A final note, there are some things about the Classic Guide that I really, really enjoy. I still laugh every time I read the Intragalactic Trek Awards and I wrote it! And, the closing stills always give me a chuckle every time I think about them. (If you have a Classic Guide and haven't done it yet, read the last line of each closing stills section in sequence. While I have enjoyed working on all the Guide, the Classic Guide was the most fun to write . . . so far).


Selected Passage, Pages 112-116

The City on the Edge of Forever

Star Date: 3134.0

When time disturbances from an uncharted planet buffet the ship, McCoy injects himself with cordrazine by accident. The heavy dosage induces extreme paranoia and McCoy flees to the surface. Kirk and Spock follow him down with a security team but soon make an astonishing discovery. A living machine is the source of the temporal ripples. It is the "Guardian of Forever" and can serve as a gateway to any time or place. To demonstrate, the Guardian begins projecting Earth's history. At this point, the drug crazed McCoy leaps through the portal. Suddenly, all communication with the Enterprise ceases. Evidently, McCoy has changed the past and radically altered history.

The Guardian replays Earth history again and Kirk and Spock follow McCoy, arriving in the year 1930. A turn of events leads them to the 21st Street Mission run by Edith Keeler, a true visionary. By accessing Spock's tricorder recordings, the pair learns that her peace movement will eventually stall the United States' entry into World War II, allowing the Nazis to win. They also determine that McCoy kept Keeler from dying in an auto accident. When the moment comes, Kirk restrains McCoy and himself. The captain has fallen in love with Keeler. As she dies, the Guardian returns them to their own time stating, "all is as it was."

Ruminations

This was a great episode and the creators did a very nice job on the shape and look of the Guardian of Forever.

Great Lines

"I am endeavoring, ma'am, to construct a mnemonic memory circuit using stone knives and bearskins."--Spock to Keeler after she asks about his invention.

Great Moments

The end of this episode is gripping--the sudden happy reunion of Kirk and McCoy immediately overpowered by Kirk's necessity to restrain his friend from saving Keeler, then McCoy's accusatory questioning and finally Kirk's angry retreat from the Guardian of Forever.

Trivia Questions

1. Why does Spock need a block of platinum?

2. What is the number of Edith Keeler's apartment?

Syndication Cuts

o Just after encountering the Guardian of Forever, Kirk asks Spock what it is. When Spock replies "Unbelievable," Kirk responds, "That's funny." The editors made a good choice in cutting out these two lines. I suppose it was meant to be humorous but it doesn't work.

o When Spock comments that they have no past or future, a reaction shot from Kirk and an admission by Uhura that she is frightened.

o Reaction shots of Scott and Uhura when Kirk and Spock prepare to jump into the portal.

o The front section of the scene where Spock almost gets hit by a car.

o After escaping from the policemen, Kirk and Spock run down a street before turning and running across the front of The 21st Street Mission.

o A few comments between Kirk and Spock after meeting Keeler and the pair receiving their meal and finding a seat.

o After Keeler's speech, Kirk and Spock handing in their plates.

o An establishing shot of the building that houses Kirk and Spock's "flop."

o Kirk and Spock sweeping and a reaction shot of the two men working at the table before Spock points out the fine tools one of the men uses.

o Following a commercial break, an establishing sequence with a milk delivery cart and an old man stealing a bottle of milk from the doorstep just as McCoy arrives. This edit destroyed a perfectly good trivia question. What was the name of the company that delivered the milk? Windin Dairy Farm.

o Kirk and Keeler walking up her stairs and discussing the future.

o Establishing shot of McCoy walking past Walt's Restaurant before going into The 21st Street Mission. (Another perfectly good trivia question down the drain.)

o After a commercial break, an establishing shot of The 21st Street Mission before the scene changes inside to Keeler looking through a file cabinet drawer as McCoy awakes.

o The first time I watched the uncut version, I made a note to talk about the awful music that the creators used under two key scenes--Kirk's catch of Keeler as she starts to fall down the stairs and Kirk' restraint of McCoy after the truck kills Keeler. The music on the uncut version sounds like something from a 1930s radio program. It is true to the period but very distracting because it sounds so dated. Turns out, somebody had the same viewpoint as I did! The syndicated version has different music at these two spots.

Plot Oversights

o After McCoy injects himself with the cordrazine, Kirk and Spock stand and watch, apparently dumbfounded. Even when McCoy begins screaming, they still stand and watch. Why doesn't Spock pinch him? I would expect this type of emotional behavior from Kirk but not from Spock. And--as long as we're on the topic of McCoy on the bridge pumped full of drugs--does anyone else find it amazing that McCoy can throw off Spock's grip and run away so easily?

o To access the tricorder recordings of Earth's history, Spock builds the 20th century equivalent of a mnemonic memory circuit. He manages to playback Keeler's obituary from 1930 as well as a meeting that Keeler has with President Roosevelt in 1936. From this he deduces that Keeler is the focal point in time that has drawn all three Starfleet officers. One question: How could Spock see Keeler's obituary? The Vulcan begins recording the Guardian's playback of history. As the playback nears the timeframe of the Great Depression, McCoy jumps through and saves Keeler from dying. The Enterprise instantly disappears because McCoy has changed history. Wouldn't the Guardian's playback change instantly as well? (Remember that Spock's tricorder also records the meeting between Keeler and Roosevelt in 1936.) If the Guardian's playback instantly changes then there would be no obituary since McCoy saved Keeler's life. (I suppose the Guardian could have helped Spock out a little and included the obituary anyway to give the Vulcan some clue as to what they were suppose to do.)

o And speaking of the recording of the obituary, why does Spock tell Kirk that he doesn't know exactly when Keeler will die? Don't obituaries usually have this information in fairly precise detail?

Equipment Oddities

o While leaving the bridge, McCoy doesn't wear a utility belt--the kind the crew uses to hold their phasers and communicators. Neither does he wear one when manipulating the controls in the transporter room although he does grab a phaser from the transporter chief. Yet, when he is captured on the surface of the planet, McCoy suddenly wears a belt. An additional oddity exists with the transporter chief. He wears a belt when McCoy first approaches but doesn't when the security guards find him. The only solution to both these oddities is that McCoy headed for the transporter pads, changed his mind, came back, got the belt, put it on and then manipulated the controls a second time to beam himself down to the surface. Of course, this entire sequence occurred while we weren't looking.

o Somehow, McCoy makes it to 20th century Earth with a hand phaser. Look at the sequence of events. McCoy goes crazy. He attacks the transporter chief and takes his phaser. He transports himself to the surface of the planet. Kirk, Spock, Scott, Uhura and a security detail follow. The security people grab the doctor. Spock pinches him. Everyone looks at the Guardian replaying Earth's history. McCoy wakes up, runs for the portal and jumps in. He has no time to grab a phaser from anyone. The only phaser he possibly could have is the one he stole from the transporter chief. In other words, the security team didn't bother to disarm McCoy after Spock pinched him?

o Why doesn't Uhura use her tricorder to locate McCoy on the planet's surface?

o It's cheap shot time! The Guardian's playback of Earth's history occurs twice. During the first run through, McCoy jumps through the portal. During the second, Kirk and Spock do the same. Since Kirk and Spock arrive at The 21st Street Mission before McCoy, they must have entered the time stream prior to the doctor. The Guardian of Forever claims that its review of history can only proceed at one rate. With this statement, the creators give hard-nosed nitpickers an absolute standard by which to judge if the scene is executed correctly. Since the playback of Earth's history proceeds at a fixed rate the timing of both sessions must be identical. A persnickety nitpicker can choose a scene that occurs in both sessions--for instance, a cannon blast followed by infantry charging up a hill--and time from this spot, first, to the entry of McCoy and, second, to the entry of Kirk and Spock. The time for Kirk and Spock must be less than that for McCoy. Of course . . . it isn't! About 25 seconds elapse from the infantry charge to McCoy's entrance of the Guardian. Compare that to 56 seconds from the infantry charge to the entrance of the Guardian by Kirk and Spock. (Now, I don't know why anyone would bother to time this in the first place. No one could possibly expect the creators to look after these types of details, could they?)

o Spock's tricorder has a little playback screen but the screen can only playback what the tricorder recorded if the tricorder is hooked up to a computer. Does this seem right?

Continuity and Production Problems

o During Edith Keeler's speech at The 21st Street Mission, Kirk looks at Spock and freezes for a moment. If you watch carefully, you'll see that this footage actually comes from a close-up of Kirk several seconds later. In that close-up he looks at Spock and begins talking. Evidently, the creators needed an extra reaction shot and grabbed it from the close-up.

o At one point, Keeler stumbles down the stairs to her apartment and Kirk catches her. After the stumble, she wears both shoes. Then, she thanks Kirk for saving her and continues up to her apartment. Suddenly she's only wearing one shoe and the other one is nowhere to be seen.

Trivia Answers

1. To construct a duodynetic field core.

2. 33.

Closing Stills

o Enterprise leaving Earth-like planet, "Miri"

o Galileo preparing for departure, "The Galileo Seven"

o Kirk and Keeler, "The City on the Edge of Forever"

o Spock's circuitry shorting out, "The City on the Edge of Forever"

o Kirk Spock and the Guardian of Forever, "The City on the Edge of Forever"

o Gorn, "Arena"

o Buildings, Deneva, "Operation--Annihilate!"

o Vina, skilled exotic dance artist by night, baker of cookies by day, collector of aluminum cans by morning, assistant of little old ladies who wish to cross the street by afternoon and all-around nice person by evening, "The Cage"

Place an order for this volume
Place an order for Part I of the audio version
Place an order for Part II of the audio version
Place an order for Part III of the audio version
Place an order for Part IV of the audio version

(Please note: Amazon.com does not have the various parts of audio version accurately identified. The links above will take you to the correct screens for each part listed. If instead, you attempt a search for the four different parts of the audio version using Amazon.com's search engine, you are on your own!)


All orders are processed through:

Amazon.com Logo

Amazon.com is pleased to have the Nitpicker Central Internet Extention Office in the family of Amazon.com associates. We've agreed to ship books and provide customer service for orders we receive through special links on the Nitpicker Central Internet Extention Office.

Amazon.com associates list selected books in an editorial context that helps you choose the right books. We encourage you to visit the Nitpicker Central Internet Extention Office often to see what new books they've selected for you.

Thank you for shopping with an Amazon.com associate.

Sincerely,

Jeff Bezos
President
Amazon.com Books

P.S. We guarantee you the same high level of customer service you would receive at Amazon.com. If you have a question about an order you've placed, please don't hesitate to contact us.


Links of Interest

Bantaam Doubleday Dell (BDD) Home Page

BDD's Spectra Science Fiction Forum (http://www.bdd.com/spectra)

BDD's Star Wars Forum (http://www.bdd.com/starwars)