Brown Sugar Cinnamon.
Seriously.
It was the only flavor of Pop-Tarts that I would tolerate. All the others had fruit in them. Who wanted fruit when you could have sugar? Stupid ..
The important thing was, they were part of a trinity, the culinary leg of a table of entertainment where I sat during the fall of 1967 and on through the winter, finally ending after a full year. It was then that the corporate mobsters of NBC brought the magic to an end.
In 1965, CBS released a series that would last 4 seasons. Described as "James Bond in a saddle," it was meant to give the dying genre of Westerns a new twist. "The Wild, Wild West" married Q-styled technical creativity with horses and single action Colts, and would ultimately contribute to the rise of a fascinating cultural phenomenon known as Steampunk.
I ate it up. Loved it. Friday night, 7:30, there was no doubt where I'd be.
But after a year it got even better.
On September 8, 1966, Michael Zaslow, who later went on to villainous fame as Roger Thorpe and dubious fame as maestro David Renaldi, gained the utterly unique distinction of becoming the first crewman, Lt. Darnell, to die on-screen under the command of James T. Kirk of the U.S.S. Enterprise.
And the poor dude wasn't even wearing a red shirt . . .
The sixth episode to be filmed, "The Man Trap" was the first to be aired because, as one cast member explained it years later, the studio heads considered it "proper science fiction" with a monster running around killing people. Ironically, the first episode produced after the two pilots - the first time such a thing had happened in television - titled "The Corbomite Maneuver" contained a kind alien that served the Enterprise command crew a delicious drink called Tranya while guests aboard his ship. Captain Balock, a tiny little creature wearing a bald skull cap and serving drinks, was played by Clint Howard. He had a bear in another screen life, and a brother who used to go fishing with Andy Griffith and who later burned Buddy Ebson on a mountainside. Just try to figure out that reference . .
Oh, and the cast member that spilled the beans about the studio heads?
His name was Leonard Nimoy.
In the second season of "Star Trek," its time slot was moved from Thursday night to Friday night at 8:30 - right after "The Wild, Wild West." It was a year of heavenly Friday nights for a kid who thoroughly enjoyed the escape provided by the silly campiness of an overdressed Secret Service agent and his improbable Go-Go Gadgets and then the occasionally brilliant and sometimes inane stories of space travel where everyone spoke English and sound traveled in space. I tried to make those two Pop-Tarts last as long as I could, but they were usually gone before the bank robber was replaced by the visage of Jim West facing his first crisis of the episode. No matter. Spock would soon be along to save the Captain by cross-circuiting to B.
He became a role model. I never thought of him as an alien. Instead, he was a human who had advanced to what they should be. Well, hey - I was 11, okay?
Let's be honest: the show revolved around him. This, proving once again the ineptitude of the studio heads who told Gene Roddenberry after the production of the second pilot to "lose the guy with the ears."
His casting was probably more brilliant than the actual process of choosing him. He was perfect in the role. The voice with its mild gravel, the one eyebrow rising to say a silent "Well, whaddya' know" or maybe "Fascinating," the stone face, the gift of making a goatee look totally awesome, hands that riveted a room's attention merely by steepling his first two fingers or using them to caress those of a Romulan Commander, the incongruity as he'd ". . advise ya's ta' keep dialin', Oxmix," the pathos he induced by saying nothing more than "He knows, Doctor. He knows," and the hilarity in the same episode by asking "We have a what, Captain?"
He was unforgettable. And will remain so.
He once fought against his role fame, writing a book titled "I Am Not Spock" nine years after the series ended, and then embracing it in 1995 with "I Am Spock."
From his own childhood experience, he created one of the two most iconic actions of the series, the Vulcan salute. As a young boy attending synagogue, he was admonished to turn away from the bema with the rest of the congregation as the rabbis would close the service with a blessing. But being a little boy, one day he stole a peek and saw the men with both hands raised, fingers parted between the middle and ring and the thumb held apart from the index. In this, the rabbis were forming the shape of the Hebrew letter Shin, used to represent the name of God, Shaddai. In "Amok Time" when Spock was to return to his home planet, it was realized that something uniquely Vulcan was needed as the First Officer's heritage would be greatly developed in his encounters with his people. The Vulcan salute, and the noble admonition to "Live long, and prosper" were born.
The other iconic action? What Leonard and others affectionately referred to as the FSNP - the Famous Spock Neck Pinch, something Spock bemoaned never being able to teach Kirk.
Leonard's "Spockness" never ceased to become greater as the years passed. Although most of the Trek movies were poor affairs, he managed to pull off some worthy moments in "The Journey Home," silencing an arrogant punk with the aforementioned FSNP, hilariously wondering how playing cards would help, and producing a head-shaking assurance that the promised power would be ready in one damn minute.
In this man's opinion, he was never better than in his appearances in "Star Trek: The Next Generation." Combined with the final appearances of Mark Leonard, the episodes of Spock's cowboy diplomacy and Picard's supplication to Sarek for help in determining what his once-dead son was up to had moments of goose-bump poignancy, particularly as the aging but tireless Spock is seen on the verge of tears as he finally reconciles with his father through the priceless memories of Picard.
He had other roles. Even played opposite Shatner once in his run as T.J. Hooker. There was the hosting of "In Search Of . . . " and the narration of "Destiny in Space "
But as he said years ago, he was Spock. I agree.
Leonard? If I ever get to drive an Audi, you can be sure you were part of the decision.
And I'm glad you lived long, and prospered.
