Anybody here remember the 1971 when Disney live action file "The Barefoot Executive"? it starred Kurt Russell as a mailroom clerk for a major TV network. He discovers his girlfriend's pet chimp (it was a different era) has the uncanny ability to predict if a TV show will be hit or a flop. Hi-jinks ensue when people want to abuse this uncanny ability. Early in the story when Russell's character, Steven Post, first starts to notice this "knack", the chimp gives a raspberry when Post switches the channel to a sci-fi show. A week or two later he learns this show was cancelled by the network, one called UBC, one which uses a pie wedge of several colors as part of its logo. Just is it's somewhat reasonable to assume this mythical broadcasting company is a stand-in for NBC, I wonder if the canned sci-fi show was a riff upon Star Trek. Does anybody recall what was the name of this made up space opera? The slapstick comedy was released in March 1971 which suggests scripting and filming took place in late 1970. At that time, star trek had reached only a few syndicated markets, not yet saturating local affiliates where it would truly gain its popularity. In the eyes of casual viewers and "the industry" they probably and earnestly felt it was a "flop", or at least not a ratings slam dunk. I thought this flick might be available upon Disney+ since it does offer the "Dexter Riley" films starring Kurt Russell. That way I would have checked myself. But it's not there, apparently dropped after initially being in the queue when the streaming service first launched.
There was Ark II and the chimp “Adam.” https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ark_II But NBC had this: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._Smith_(TV_series) There were lots of crazy live-action programs then:
I wonder if you understood my question. I don't really care about shows featuring chimps, monkeys or other primates (not counting humans). That's Jayson's feti...ahem, interest. I want to know what was the name of the made up space opera that got cancelled (as a plot progression device) in "The Barefoot Executive". Actually, what I'd really like is a clip of that scene, what kind of spaceship was shown on the TV in that sequence? I can't recall if it was only a brief FX shot or if the movie went to the trouble of depicting "crew" in wardrobe on the TV. Again, if it were part of the archive of Disney+ (and supposedly it WAS listed when the streaming service when it first started), I'd simply watch it myself. But Disney decided to drop it.
The answer maybe Star Journey if the poorly-formatted transcript on this page is accurate (pdf, relevant part on pages 13 and 14): https://www.scripts.com/script-pdf/19725
^Star Journey is correct. The music heard is even quite evocative of TOS. "You mean to tell me we can't watch Star Journey all on account of that crummy chimp?!"
Thanks, @BK613 ! Wait... If you recall the music, does that mean you recently watched the flock? Was it just a sequence if of spaceships appearing on the TV or was there any footage of characters in costume? So... Star Journey... Seems like it's a pretty safe bet the movie was specifically riffing on Star Trek. I long suspected that but without any empirical evidence, I began to wonder if I was experiencing a mandela effect.
I believe (but don't quote me on it) there's just one quick shot of a spaceship. And it's not Enterprise-like, it's (IIRC) more like...Thunderbird 1-ish. I've got the DVD somewhere, so I could theoretically double-check for you, but I'm not 100% sure I know where it is.
That's what I vaguely remember from the 1970s when I last saw it. While tempting to accept the offer, it's not important enough to put you through that effort. Just having a couple of people confirm it with a transcript as proof has satisfied my curiosity. Again, thanks!
Looks like it's from an episode of a Disney TV show of the1950s*. That's Von Braun with the model (Lunar Reconnaissance Ship RM-1): https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0351298/mediaviewer/rm449187584?ref_=ttmi_mi_all_sf_11 *(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_and_the_Moon )
@Tosk , please tell me you did NOT go to the trouble of hunting that "buried" DVD, loading it, playing it, initiating a screen capture, saving the image, postiing it online and finally generating this post! That makes so much bloody sense! Why go to the trouble of creating effects footage when one already has vast amounts of material in their "vaults"? Well, this thread turned out far more fruitful than I expected!
And it was something that was easier to 'get away with' given that the ephemeral nature of the medium at the time (no home video playback).
Having learned this information, I decided to see if Disney+ had this special. Oddly, no. Making it particularly odd was that the streaming service doe have "DisneyLand: Man in Space" and "DisneyLand: Mars and Beyond". I watched the "Man in Space" episode to see if might show that miniature. It didn't. I've yet to watch "Mars and Beyond". On a lark, I Googled "Disneyland Man and the Moon". To my surprise, somebody uploaded all three space travel themed episodes to YouTube between 6 and 7 years ago and they still exist, yet to be yanked! So, with that in mind, here are all three specials for anybody curious. Man in Space, broadcast March 9, 1955 Man and the Moon, broadcast December 28, 1955 (Werner von Braun reveals his speculative "moon shop" at the 30 minute 55 second mark, and the shot used for "Star Journey" in 'The Barefoot Executive" appears at exactly the 36 minute mark.) Mars and Beyond, broadcast December 4, 1957 (this is the one that brilliantly spoofs 1950s alien invasion films by depicting the secretary of a pipe smoking professor kidnapped and whisked to Mars. It also contains the segment speculating upon martian lifeforms.) I hope the moderators will forgive my going "link crazy", but I feel the material ties into the discussion.
@Redfern Thanks for those. Very interesting that Man and the Moon speculative trip. Especially the narrator and the alert sound...
I, too, smiled realizing the narrator was Dick Tufeld (I kept expecting him to say, "This is Alpha Control...") and chuckled at the choice of klaxon. Whenever you get around to watching the first presentation, "Man in Space", take note of the voice of Willy Ley starting at the 12 minute mark. I honestly think noted voice actor Paul Frees patterned the voice of Ludwig von Drake after Ley.
I knew I should have titled the thread "What was the sci-fi show cancelled in 'The Barefoot Executive'?"
I remember seeing The Barefoot Executive in theater at age 9, and being confused at the Star Journey reference. I was familiar (and obsessed) with Star Trek from the afternoon reruns, but I didn't yet grasp the concept of a fictional show within a fictional movie. So I was alarmed that there could be a show called Star Journey and I didn't know about it. Similarly, my first-ever glimpse of Saturday Night Live was in 1976. I heard some Star Trek-like talk coming from the TV and leapt out of bed. It was their now-famous sketch. (Again) I didn't realize it was a comedy spoof show, and with these strangers playing a scene in Star Trek uniforms, I was urgently confused. How can this be happening?