Desilu

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Desilu Productions, also credited as Desilu Studios, was the production company that started the Star Trek-franchise with the production of the, initially, un-aired 1965 pilot television episode "The Cage", and the Star Trek: The Original Series television series which began airing in September 1966.

History

Desilu Productions was formed in 1950 by Lucille Ball and her then-husband, Desi Arnaz. The name, a portmanteau of the couple's first names, was originally applied to the Ball-Arnaz ranch. The success of the television show I Love Lucy enabled Desilu to grow and expand throughout the 1950s. When RKO Pictures went bankrupt in 1957, Desilu bought its studios and location facilities. They produced a number of shows, including The Andy Griffith Show, and also lent their facilities for various other projects, such as My Favorite Martian, I, Spy, My Three Sons and The Untouchables. In 1962, Desilu signed a six-year agreement with Paramount to a show based on Paramount Pictures properties. After the breakup of the Ball-Arnaz marriage, Desilu remained successful. In 1962, Ball bought out Arnaz and became the first woman ever to run a major Hollywood studio, albeit a reluctant one, as Ball was first and foremost an entertainer, and did not really want to be a business woman. It was shortly after her second marriage to comedian Gary Morton in 1961, that she gladly left the minutiae of the studio's business and financial affairs to her new husband by naming him Co-Chairman of the Board of Directors. Her solo success continued unabated until 15 February 1967, when Ball announced she would sell Desilu to Gulf+Western, which was formalized on 27 July 1967.

Like most Hollywood studios during the 1950s and 1960s, Desilu had a stable of annually-contracted actors and behind-the-scenes production staffers. Such talent moved from production to production as needed on the studio lot in question – though in slow times either employee could be "rented" out by the studio to other studios or production companies – , and were paid a fixed salary, usually determined by the powerful Hollywood labor unions, instead of a per-production fee. This labor system was a left-over stemming from the traditional "Hollywood Studio System", which was essentially outlawed by the US Supreme Court in 1948 for antitrust violation reasons. However, that entailed an industry reform which could not be achieved overnight (television studios lagged somewhat behind the motion picture studios), and only in the late 1960s was the transformation in labor relationships from tenure to a per production contracted relationship between any studio and such employees completed permanently, meaning both production staffers and performers became independent contractors, free to offer their services to whichever studio required them. A notable Star Trek-related example was Majel Barrett, who at first began tenure at Desilu in 1958. [1] Template:Brokenlink On the production side, it was Matt Jefferies, employed by the studio in 1960 (and one of the staffers who was occasionally rented out), who had been the most notable Star Trek-related example. (Star Trek: The Original Series Sketchbook, p. 114) The transformation for Desilu was completed after it had become Paramount Television in 1967.

Ball and Katz at the 1964 Desilu shareholders meeting

Howver, by April 1964, Desilu found itself in dire straits as The Lucy Show was the studio's only remaining self-made production, even though other shows were still produced on the studio lot as consignments from other production companies, such as the Bing Crosby Productions' television series Ben Casey. Oscar Katz and his assistant Herb Solow (soon promoted to studio production head in Katz' stead) were hired to search for writers with new and interesting concepts and develop them into series ideas, in order to safeguard the future existence of the ailing studio. This the Katz/Solow duo did with much gusto, as evidenced by Katz proudly boasting at his first Desilu shareholders meeting in May 1964, where he informed the assembly that no less than twenty-two television propositions were under advisement. (Los Angeles Times, 14 May 1964) Amongst the ones contracted were two ambitious writer/producers: Gene Roddenberry with Star Trek and Bruce Geller with Mission: Impossible. Both series went into production for the 1966-67 television season. (Inside Star Trek: The Real Story, 1997, pp. 5-14)

Desilu had a first-refusal agreement with CBS (which aired the Desilu produced television productions, including Ball's own The Lucy Show), which is why Star Trek was pitched to that network first. However, CBS refused to buy it, opting for Irwin Allen's more family-oriented series, Lost in Space instead. When CBS passed on the show, only then was NBC approached. (Inside Star Trek: The Real Story)

Yet, Katz and Solow were arguably too successful in their assignment, as the studio found itself unexpectedly confronted with the production of three expensive television properties, which aside from Star Trek and Mission Impossible (ordered by network CBS), also included the western series The Long Hunt for April Savage (ordered by network ABC), all of them brought in by Katz and Solow, where there had only been one before, the The Lucy Show show. The conservative board of directors feared, not entirely unjustified, that the small studio would financially overstretch itself. Vigorously defended by Solow, and despite the fact that Star Trek series was already ordered by NBC, after the second pilot episode, "Where No Man Has Gone Before", had been produced, virtually the entire Desilu Board of Directors voted to cancel Star Trek in February 1966 nevertheless, board member Bernard Weitzman being the sole exception. Yet, as Chairwoman of the Board, Lucille Ball had the power to override her board, and this she did with a mere nod of her head towards Solow. "That was all Star Trek needed," as author Marc Cushman had succinctly put it, "A nod of Lucille Ball." (These Are the Voyages: TOS Season One, 1st ed, pp. 32, 94) One of the nay-sayers on the board, studio accountant Edwin "Ed" Holly, later conceded, "If it were not for Lucy, there would be no 'Star Trek' today." [2] Ironically, the fears of the board were somewhat allayed by the subsequent cancellation of April Savage (the pilot episode of which produced by Roddenberry) by ABC in March 1966 after all. For all intents and purposes, and contrary to widely held beliefs in Star Trek-lore, this was factually the very first time that the Original Series came exceedingly close to cancellation.

Desilu mainly operated on the facilities bought from RKO, which included the main Gower Street studio in Hollywood, next door to Paramount Pictures, where most of the regular Star Trek series was filmed (on Stages 9 and 10, which became Paramount Stage 31 and Stage 32 after the merge). It also consisted of a studio in Culver City, where the two Star Trek pilots were filmed, and the 40 Acres backlot - most famous for being "Mayberry" in The Andy Griffith Show - , which served as a filming location for many episodes.

The act of selling Desilu to Gulf+Western on 27 July 1967, brought the studio under the same parent company as its next-door neighbor – Paramount Pictures. The event was commemorated the next day by a dramatic ceremony in which Ball cut a ribbon of film stock which had replaced a long-standing wall between the two production companies. At the time of the ceremony "Mirror, Mirror" was being filmed. (Desilu: The Story of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, p. 297) Lucille Ball left the Desilu lot the very same day, directly after the ownership transfer ceremony, never to return.

Star Trek was a bone of contention in the transition between Desilu and Gulf+Western. Ed Holly once recalled a post-sale conversation he had with Charles Bluhdorn, chairman of Gulf+Western:

"Just a week or so after the merger, when Bluhdorn had started seeing the cost figures, he called me in the middle of the night. All I heard was 'What did you sell me? I'm going to the poorhouse!' I said, 'Charlie, you must be looking at Star Trek and Mission: Impossible. Those shows are costing almost to the dollar what our projections showed they would cost. You and your people made the judgment that that was all right." (Desilu: The Story of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, p. 298)

For a brief time, Desilu continued to act as its own subdivision of Gulf+Western, but by December 1967, Gulf+Western fully merged Desilu with Paramount, being transformed into Paramount Television. This gradual transition resulted in several different forms of copyright for episodes of the second season of Star Trek. Hence, the initial episodes of the season bear a Desilu logo and copyright, while episodes of the latter half of the second season bear a Desilu logo but a Paramount copyright.

Desi Arnaz

Desi Arnaz (2 March 1917 – 2 December 1986; age 69) was a singer and actor best known for his starring role on I Love Lucy. He co-founded Desilu with his wife Lucille Ball. She bought his shares of the company in 1961, three years before Star Trek joined their studio. His son-in-law, Laurence Luckinbill appeared as Sybok in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier.

Staff

note: this list is currently incomplete

• Desilu Executive staff († - Member of the Board of Directors) associated with Star Trek: The Original Series era until the acquisition of Desilu by Gulf+Western in July 1967. Of the executive staff, only Holly and Solow are known to be retained after the acquisition.
  • Fred Henry Ball† - Vice-President in Charge of Real Estate
  • Lucille Ball† - Chairwoman of the Board, President Desilu Studios
  • Wilbur Hatch - Vice-President in Charge of Music Department
  • Bill Heath - Vice-President in Charge of Post Production
  • Edwin Holly† - Vice-President in Charge of Financial Affairs
  • Oscar Katz† - Vice-President in Charge of Production (1964-1966; TOS: "The Cage", "Where No Man Has Gone Before")
  • Gary Morton† - Co-Chairman of the Board
  • Argyle Nelson† - Vice-President in Charge of Production Assets
  • Ed Perlstein - Assistant Vice-President in Charge of Business Affairs
  • Herbert F. Solow - Assistant Vice-President in Charge of Production (1964-1966), Vice-President in Charge of Production (1966-1967)
  • Bernard Weitzman† - Vice-President in Charge of Business Affairs
• Desilu Production staff originally associated with Star Trek: The Original Series, both prior and after the acquisition of Desilu by Gulf+Western
  • Franz Bachelin - Art Director (1964; TOS: "The Cage", "The Menagerie, Part II")
  • John D.F. Black - Associate Producer / Story Editor (1966)
  • Rolland M. Brooks - Art Director (1965-1967)
  • Steven W. Carabatsos - Story Editor (1966-1967)
  • Wah Chang - Production Designer/Prop Builder (subcontractor/uncredited) (1964-1967)
  • Gene L. Coon - Producer-Head Writer (1966-1967)/ Writer (1968-1969)
  • Alexander Courage - Music Composer/Conductor (1964-1966, 1968)
  • George Duning - Music Composer
  • Irving A. Feinberg - Property Master (1966-1969)
  • D.C. Fontana - Writer (1966)/Story Editor (1967-1968)/Script Writer (1968-1969)
  • Jerry Finnerman - Director of Photography (1966-1968)
  • Gerald Fried - Music Composer
  • Pato Guzman - Production Designer (1964)
  • Byron Haskin - Producer (1964)
  • Al Jacoby - Assistant Property Master (1966-1969)
  • John Jefferies - Set Designer (1964, 1967-1969)
  • Matt Jefferies - Set Designer (1964-1965; TOS: "The Cage", "Where No Man Has Gone Before")/Production Designer (1966; TOS: "Mudd's Women", "The Naked Time", "Charlie X", "The Man Trap" and series' version of "Where No Man Has Gone Before")/Art Director (1966-1969)
  • Robert Justman - Assistant Director (1964-1965)/Producer (1965-1968)
  • Sol Kaplan - Music Composer
  • Joe Lombardi - Special Effects (1964)
  • John Meredyth Lucas - Producer/Writer (1967-1968)
  • Edward K. Milkis - Post-production Supervisor (1966-1967)/Associate Producer (1968-1969)
  • Bob Overbeck - Special Effects (1965)
  • James A. Paisley - Production Supervisor (1964-1965; TOS: "The Cage", "Where No Man Has Gone Before", "The Menagerie, Part II")
  • Samuel A. Peeples - Writer (1965)
  • Gregg Peters - Assistant Director (1966-1967)/Unit Production Manager (1967-68)
  • Fred Phillips - Makeup Artist (1964, 1966-1968)
  • Gene Roddenberry - Executive Producer/Writer (1964-1968)
  • Jim Rugg - Special Effects (1966-1969)
  • George A. Rutter - Script Supervisor
  • Fred Steiner - Music Composer
  • William Ware Theiss - Costume Designer (1964-1969)
  • Craig Thompson - Office Manager Post-Production
  • Andrea Weaver - Women's Costumer

Appendices

Further reading

• Inside Star Trek: The Real Story, June 1996
• The Story of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, Coyne S. Sanders & Tom Gilbert, HarperCollins Publishers, August 2001
• These Are the Voyages: TOS Season One and Season Two, August 2012-March 2014

Related topics

• Star Trek corporate history

External links

• Desilu at Wikipedia
• Template:IMDb-link
• Template:IMDb-link
• Desi Arnaz at Wikipedia
• Template:IMDb-link