demillo@uwmacc.UUCP (Rob DeMillo) (05/12/85)
> "The Soft Weapon" is a rehash of Niven's > short story.... "The Soft Weapon" (surprise!). I believe Niven > actually did the screenplay for it although I can't swear to it. Niven > has also done short stories for at least one other Saturday morning > programme... the short story entitled "Tag Team" on the "Land of the > Lost" series. > -- > > > UUCP: ...{decvax,ihnp4,allegra}!seismo!trwatf!root - Lord Frith > ARPA: trwatf!root@SEISMO > Yes, I believe that Niven did, in fact, write the screenplay. That was one of the fascinating things about the ST animated episodes: there seemed to be a LOT of SF authors that wrote the screenplays for it. (David Gerrold and Theodore Sturgeon, to name two.) In many ways, I found the animated episodes more enjoyable (or at least AS enjoyable) as the originals. Even tho the half hour format often caused the plot to be brutally chopped down, the animated format allowed the writers to do what they do best: write! They could write without having to worry about whether or not what they wrote could be translated to the screen due to budget concerns. The result were some timely plots, interesting topics, and relatively well-written dialogue. Any comments about this out there? Whenever I delve into the world of StarTrek (which I do a lot less these days than I did several years ago) I find that the animated episodes tend to be "forgotten." A season of degredation for StarTrek: reduced to a cartoon. The episodes are hardly ever mention, and never (to my knowledge) referenced by books or movies to come after it. I, for one, concider the animated a true "forth season" of StarTrek, where the integrety of the original series was NEVER compromised.... ...am I alone? -- --- Rob DeMillo Madison Academic Computer Center ...seismo!uwvax!uwmacc!demillo / =|-- = \ = [][][] "...I don't know what this thing does, but it's pointing in your direction."