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STURGEON, THEODORE (1918–1985). American writer.
Film based on his work: "Once Upon a
Planet" (1973), episode of Star Trek (animated); "A Matter of
Minutes," "A Saucer of Loneliness" (1986), episodes of Twilight
Zone.
Granted, his contributions to television were hardly extensive and
not always memorable. It is interesting to note that he was invited
to write the premiere episode of the early anthology series Tales
of Tomorrow, but the episode is apparently lost and beyond critical
scrutiny. One suspects that his scripts for The Invaders and
Land of the Lost were necessarily unremarkable, given their
series' limitations. As for the television movie Killdozer,
well, if fast-paced adventures featuring has-been television actors
is your cup of tea, Killdozer will provide precisely the sort
of entertainment you're looking for, but its story of a runaway bulldozer
with a murderous mind of its own had already been done, and done much
better, in Richard MATHESON's and Steven
SPIELBERG's Duel (1971).
Sturgeon does merit recognition, however, as a major force behind
the success of Star Trek, significantly contributing to its
mythos in two crucial episodes. He displayed his imagination in "Amok
Time": while writer D. C. FONTANA was
endeavoring to make Spock seem just as human as everyone else, Sturgeon
insisted upon his alienness, and he crafted a story that strikingly
established Spock's bizarre sexuality and distinctive Vulcan culture
without in any way diminishing his appeal as a sympathetic character.
In that episode, he also wrote one of the series' standard catchphrases,
the Vulcan greeting "Live long and prosper."
Sturgeon displayed his compassion in "Shore Leave": uniquely
realizing that a starship crew would need some place to unwind and
enjoy themselves, Sturgeon created a wonderful world where anything
they imagined could come to life, providing any sort of illusory experience
they might desire. And, whereas Gene RODDENBERRY
would have employed such a story to deliver pompous jeremiads about
the dangers of living in a dream world (as in his episode "The
Menagerie"), Sturgeon insists that this sort of vacation is both
harmless and desirable, and he concludes the episode with Kirk officially
designating the world as a regular locale for shore leave. While Sturgeon's
vision was initially betrayed by a sequel episode of the animated
Star Trek series recasting the planet as a dangerous deathtrap,
a mellower Roddenberry later bowed to Sturgeon's wisdom, placed a
small version of the "shore leave" planet in his new Enterprise,
and renamed it the Holodeck, providing everyone in the later Star
Trek series with a delightful place to relax and get away from
the grim business of battling the evil forces of the galaxy. Theodore
Sturgeon always loved his characters, and the Holodeck should properly
be regarded as Sturgeon's kindly gift to the Star Trek family.
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