0No, this is not going to become a regular thing… but I had to give you another excerpt from I Am Spock. Before I do so, however, let me just say that the way this book is written… you might call Leonard Nimoy crazy. Crazy as in apparently he had regular conversations in his head with second personality named Spock? XD (This in no way lessens my love for the man.)
Anyhow, this is from the filming of the V’Ger movie, ST:TMP.
Finally the last day of filming arrived; we were scheduled to shoot the final “tag” scene on the Enterprise bridge. The dialog called for Kirk to tell McCoy that he (the doctor) would be returned to Earth, where he’d been planning to retire. McCoy refuses the offer on the grounds that, once on board, he might as well stay. Kirk then turns to Spock and offers to return him to Vulcan; Spock declares that that is unnecessary, since his business on Vulcan is finished. The implication was that the crew was together again and would fly off together toward the next adventure. It made sense and was a neat wrap-up, but not particularly fun.
In the final rehearsal before filming, I at last heard a Spock voice in my head that captured the right “feel” of the characters and relationships form the series.
So I decided to take a chance. With the cameras rolling and Bob Wise and Gene Roddenberry watching, our scene began in earnest. Kirk delivered his line, and McCoy gave the appropriate response; then Kirk turned to Spock and offered to return him to Vulcan.
And I – or rather, Spock – replied, “I have decided to stay with the Enterprise, Captain. If Dr. McCoy is to remain on board, my presence here will be essential.”
It drew a good laugh on the set – but when I saw the whispered conversation between Gene and Bob Wise behind the camera, I knew it was doomed. Bob walked over with the decision: “The feeling is that the joke is inappropriate in light of what’s gone before.”
The scene was filmed as written.
Also, I’d like to remark here that Spock wasn’t in the initial screenplay for ST:TMP. Roddenberry told Nimoy, “…when the five year mission was over, Spock returned to Vulcan to purge himself of all vestiges of human emotion. And in his effort to achieve pure logic, he winds up suffering the Vulcan equivalent of a nervous breakdown.”
Nimoy responded, “I’m not sure how many of our audience would look forward to seeing Spock mentally disabled.”
They ended up coming to an agreement in order to get Leonard on board with the movie (for legal reasons).
… Can you imagine a Star Trek movie of the original cast without Spock? What? Epic fail, Paramount!
SPOCK: I was dead on the Genesis planet… yet you came back for me. Why?
NIMOY: Because the good of the one outweighed the good of the many… or the few.
SPOCK: I do not understand.
NIMOY: Because I missed you, Spock. Because I’m sorry I let you be killed off, okay?!
SPOCK: In that case… apology accepted.
I have to stop reading this book. It’s too damn entertaining!
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