Question on Richard Arnold and his role

[RonG]

Reading about Richard Arnold and his role on behalf of Roddenberry (vetting manuscripts, no sequels, recurring plots/characters, etc), I was wondering if there's any information on 2 points - both in general and specifically related to Trek books:

1. was Arnold really working verbatim from Roddenberry's instructions or did he have some leeway in "interpreting" Roddenberry's wishes?

2. was there a reason for not including recurring characters and plots? was this related to rights and payment for usage of original characters?

thanks!

 

[Christopher]

1. was Arnold really working verbatim from Roddenberry's instructions or did he have some leeway in "interpreting" Roddenberry's wishes?

I'm not sure anyone really knows but Arnold himself. He'd probably say he was being true to "Gene's vision," but I suspect he filtered it through his own inclinations.

2. was there a reason for not including recurring characters and plots? was this related to rights and payment for usage of original characters?

No, tie-ins are work-for-hire, so all rights belong to the studio. Arnold (and Roddenberry?) reportedly just didn't want tie-in characters and storylines overshadowing the canon elements.

 

[RonG]

Thanks Christopher

 

[Therin of Andor]

Richard originally volunteered at Paramount, as Gene's gopher, and also did studio tours when fans came to visit GR.

He finally went on the payroll after the flush of incoming cash due to the success of ST IV, and the preparation for TNG. He took over the vetting of licensed tie-ins (from Susan Sackett) halfway through Vonda McIntyre's writing of the ST IV novelization. The tight timeframe was difficult enough, but RA started objecting to her adding any extra material to the book that wasn't already in the script.

And yeah, RA saying he was working "verbatim from Roddenberry's instructions" is completely open to interpretation. For example, RA had always disliked TAS, now suddenly eliminated from the tie-ins after the 1989 memo, but I have seen many interview quotes with GR himself, pre-1989, about his approval and appreciation of TAS back in the day. RA didn't like the idea of licensed novels and comics adding their own ideas, especially authors borrowing new characters from each other.

I have heard the authors say that GR wasn't very interested in their work at all. The only book I recall GR congratulating was "Enterprise: The First Adventure". I do remember that he was supposedly angered by a convention flier that called Diane Duane "the creator of the Rihannsu", and then RA using this quote to stop the other authors using "Rihannsu" to describe Romulans.

Re "related to rights and payment for usage of original characters": this probably was true regarding the use of Arex and M'Ress in the DC Comics. Filmation was being wound down and sold off from 1988, and rights and future ownership of all of Filmation's back catalog of shows was in flux. Eventually, CBS was established as the rights holder for TAS, but when the DC Comic lines returned from hiatus with the ST V one-shot adaptation and a restart of the ongoing comic, M'Ress had to become M'yra - and Arex had to become Ensign Fouton. They even inherited the plots that Peter David had announced for the TAS characters. So not just because RA didn't like TAS, or that GR no longer approved, but because TAS material had to be off the table until the rights issues were clarified. Which they were, eventually. TAS references returned from the novelization of "TNG: Unification", coincidentally(?) the episodes that were being made when Roddenberry passed away.

 

[GeorgeKirk]

Richard Arnold is a tedious ass whose memorized Star Trek trivia knowledge afforded him a brief period of usefulness in the pre-Internet era. This is a guy who, with a straight face, demanded that Peter David cut a romance for Kirk from one of his DC Comics stories because "Captain Kirk is not interested in women". He knew/knows a lot about Star Trek, but he never understood Star Trek.

Imagine if he'd been responsible for vetting The Wrath of Khan. "Kirk doesn't have a son!" he'd huff. "And killing any of the regulars--especially Spock--is not allowed!"

The early novels were great because they were allowed to be weird and different. They weren't always good, but Star Trek has never felt so experimental than in books like The Entropy Effect, Corona, or The Final Reflection. Richard Arnold helped to kill that. Maybe the onset of the TNG era would have killed it anyway, but Richard Arnold has a permanent spot on my shit list for helping it to happen.

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

Richard Arnold is a tedious ass whose memorized Star Trek trivia knowledge afforded him a brief period of usefulness in the pre-Internet era. . . . Richard Arnold has a permanent spot on my shit list for helping it to happen.

Don't mince words, Geordie; what do you really think?

 

[F. King Daniel]

He knew/knows a lot about Star Trek, but he never understood Star Trek.

That describes a LOT of Trek fans, the ones obsessed with minutiae over story.

 

[Therin of Andor]

He knew/knows a lot about Star Trek, but he never understood Star Trek.

Sure he does.

But RA was determined that TOS stay being TOS. He was one of the fans who disliked TAS, even though - or because - it attempted things that TOS could not. When in a position to do so, he made sure that licensed tie-in novels, comics and games no longer deviated from what he (as filtered via GR) believed represented TOS and TNG. Tie-in authors were not supposed to add their own creativity (eg the Rihannsu). He did stop some embarrassing errors getting through, such as cover art, but did seem to quash what some fans saw as their favourite elements of the previous licensed tie-ins.

I would have loved to have had his job, but I know, without a doubt, that my own biases would have shown through. Jean Lorrah's, garamet's and AC Crispin's Trek novels would have had some fun Andorians for a start!

 

[F. King Daniel]

Andorians are everywhere in modern Trek. Picard had them, Disco has them and there's Jennifer on Lower Decks. Good time to be a fan of them!

 

[Therin of Andor]

Andorians are everywhere in modern Trek. Picard had them, Disco has them and there's Jennifer on Lower Decks. Good time to be a fan of them!

Exactly, but they took their time... Rick Berman complained that TOS Andorians were "hokey" in 1988, so technology had to catch up.

 

[Christopher]

But RA was determined that TOS stay being TOS. He was one of the fans who disliked TAS, even though - or because - it attempted things that TOS could not. When in a position to do so, he made sure that licensed tie-in novels, comics and games no longer deviated from what he (as filtered via GR) believed represented TOS and TNG. Tie-in authors were not supposed to add their own creativity (eg the Rihannsu). He did stop some embarrassing errors getting through, such as cover art, but did seem to quash what some fans saw as their favourite elements of the previous licensed tie-ins.

Whatever happened to exploring the strange and new? What made Star Trek worthwhile was that it innovated rather than just rehashing the familiar. Okay, it mostly just distilled ideas from decades of prose science fiction, but it was the first non-anthology science fiction TV series to introduce those elements and approach the genre as an adult drama, it broke new ground in visual effects and production values for television, and it dared to push the envelope in social commentary, sexuality, etc. To me, fans who think they're honoring ST by insisting it remain exactly what it was decades ago and never try anything that isn't cozy and familiar are actually betraying everything that defines it.

 

[Therin of Andor]

Whatever happened to exploring the strange and new? What made Star Trek worthwhile was that it innovated rather than just rehashing the familiar.

Totally agree, but RA did not seem to believe that this was the realm of the media tie-in.

 

[Desert Kris]

Reading through this thread has made me reflect on the focus of my Star Trek reading choices. I went old school, TOS only. I was curious about how writers might develop the TOS-only setting within the novels. I included TOS movies in my consideration of TOS-era as a whole. Books like The Final Reflection, Dwellers in the Crucible, Dreadnaught! and Battlestations! suggested to me that I was ready to explore other eras Star Trek that I gave up on in the past.

I drifted away from DS9 back in the day, because I had a prejudicial attitude toward what I thought Star Trek could or should be. Years later I was fine with the JJ Abrams movies, and have kept up with Discovery and am up-to-date with Picard. One of the benefits of reading the old TOS novels is that they were a factor in getting me to approach DS9 and give it a fair chance. The novels suggested to me that I didn't need the crutch of ST stories anchored by TOS characters or the adventures of the crew of a ship called Enterprise.

 

[Damian]

I do get the impression that Arnold was not a very popular guy among novel writers (and tie in authors in general).

I can understand some parameters. And I can understand wanting tie-ins to stay consistent with the on screen canon. But it sounds like he took it way too far.

It seems like since then there sounds like there is a good relationship among writers and the PTBs. The writers seem to have a good deal of freedom to write what they want with reasonable parameters (such as the before mentioned staying consistent with canon). I don't know how it compares to writing for other franchises, but it sounds like most of our authors are happy with the current editors and people at CBS/Paramount.

It's just a shame Arnold had to take things too far and stifle freedom to write stories unnecessarily.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

Arnold had a Q&A in Star Trek Magazine, where he'd answer questions people had about the Star Trek universe, and he could be a real jackhole. I remember one time he wrote, emphatically, that (from memory), "There is no such character as Elias Vaughn!" when someone wrote in asking about the DS9 novels.

 

[JD]

Sure he does.

But RA was determined that TOS stay being TOS. He was one of the fans who disliked TAS, even though - or because - it attempted things that TOS could not. When in a position to do so, he made sure that licensed tie-in novels, comics and games no longer deviated from what he (as filtered via GR) believed represented TOS and TNG. Tie-in authors were not supposed to add their own creativity (eg the Rihannsu). He did stop some embarrassing errors getting through, such as cover art, but did seem to quash what some fans saw as their favourite elements of the previous licensed tie-ins.

I've never understood this kind of attitude, part of what I love about for tie-ins is that they often can do things you couldn't see on the TV shows.
This kind of reminds me of something I saw with a Supernatural novel. The book, Heart of the Dragon by @KRAD, follows three storylines, one focused on the main characters, brothers Sam and Dean Winchester, one focused on their parents, and another on their grandparents as they all deal with the same threat different points. I saw a bunch of people on Goodreads or Amazon had given in one star reviews, just because they were mad it had storylines focused on characters other than the Winchester bros., which shocked me, because to me that would be the whole appeal of the novel.

 

[Christopher]

I've never understood this kind of attitude, part of what I love about for tie-ins is that they often can do things you couldn't see on the TV shows.
This kind of reminds me of something I saw with a Supernatural novel. The book, Heart of the Dragon by @KRAD, follows three storylines, one focused on the main characters, brothers Sam and Dean Winchester, one focused on their parents, and another on their grandparents as they all deal with the same threat different points. I saw a bunch of people on Goodreads or Amazon had given in one star reviews, just because they were mad it had storylines focused on characters other than the Winchester bros., which shocked me, because to me that would be the whole appeal of the novel.

Some people see novelty as intriguing and welcome, others see it as disturbing and wrong. It's hard for the two types to understand each other.

Although it always surprises me how many people in the latter category count themselves as fans of Star Trek, a franchise whose literal mission statement is to seek out the strange and new. You'd think that would select pretty strongly for the former group.

 

[Greg Cox]

It seems like since then there sounds like there is a good relationship among writers and the PTBs. The writers seem to have a good deal of freedom to write what they want with reasonable parameters (such as the before mentioned staying consistent with canon). I don't know how it compares to writing for other franchises, but it sounds like most of our authors are happy with the current editors and people at CBS/Paramount.

Arnold was before my time, but his replacement, Paula Block, is pretty much the gold standard when it comes approving tie-ins for licensors in that she always wanted to work with the authors to produce the best books possible. John Van Citters of CBS has also always been very supportive of the book line.

In my experience, there are two kinds of people in these kind of positions: the folks who regard the tie-in books as a necessary evil and see their jobs as damage control; and the folks who are enthusiastic about the books and supportive of the authors, while still making sure the books fit in with the larger franchise.

 

[tomswift2002]

Arnold had a Q&A in Star Trek Magazine, where he'd answer questions people had about the Star Trek universe, and he could be a real jackhole. I remember one time he wrote, emphatically, that (from memory), "There is no such character as Elias Vaughn!" when someone wrote in asking about the DS9 novels.

I'd like to see them bring Elias Vaughn into the TV shows.

 

[Damian]

Arnold was before my time, but his replacement, Paula Block, is pretty much the gold standard when it comes approving tie-ins for licensors in that she always wanted to work with the authors to produce the best books possible. John Van Citters of CBS has also always been very supportive of the book line.

In my experience, there are two kinds of people in these kind of positions: the folks who regard the tie-in books as a necessary evil and see their jobs as damage control; and the folks who are enthusiastic about the books and supportive of the authors, while still making sure the books fit in with the larger franchise.

Well it's good for Star Trek that they seem to fall into the latter category. In fact it seems with the current show runners they even see value with the tie-ins.

And for CBS/Paramount, it was the tie ins that kept Star Trek alive and moving when there were no new shows on the air. Perhaps in the totality of the Star Trek franchise it wasn't much, but it was something to keep the fans engaged until new shows came around.