Norway Corporation
Encyclopedia
Norway Corporation, also called Norway Productions, was a motion picture and television production company established by Gene Roddenberry
. Norway Corporation is best known for having been the production company that brought Star Trek
to television on the NBC
network in association with Desilu Studios, which later became part of Paramount Television
.
, a 1963-1964 NBC and MGM Television
series about the United States Marine Corps
that starred Gary Lockwood
as Lieutenant William Rice, was the first series he created and produced. Several future cast members of Star Trek first worked with Roddenberry as regular or guest cast members of The Lieutenant.
while working on The Lieutenant. Desilu's vice president of production, Herbert F. Solow, purchased the series concept and made a production deal with Roddenberry in April 1964. Roddenberry pitched the show as "Wagon Train
in space," even though it owed more to C. S. Forrester's writings about Horatio Hornblower
than to any western.
Having squandered money on a series of failed pilots
over the course of the early 1960s, Desilu had become severely cash-poor and was desperate to regain its past success. Although NBC rejected the first pilot, its executives were impressed favorably enough to commission an unprecedented second pilot, which the network picked up for the 1966-67 season. Star Trek premiered on September 8, 1966. Star Trek's end credits listed the show as a "Desilu Prouduction in association with Norway Corporation."
Star Trek suffered from declining ratings throughout its three year run; from the premiere to the final episode, Star Trek's ratings had dropped more than fifty percent. Before production began on the third season of Star Trek, Roddenberry had offered to demote himself to the position of line producer
and personally supervise production of the show. In return, he wanted NBC to move the series to Monday nights at 7:30PM. But at the last minute, mainly because George Schlatter
would not allow Rowan & Martin's "Laugh-In" to be rescheduled from its then-current 8:00PM time slot to 8:30PM, NBC decided to move the show back to Friday nights at ten, and Roddenberry, almost completely burned out from his struggles with the network and the studio, effectively left the series.
for Saturday mornings. Star Trek: The Animated Series
premiered on NBC television in 1973. Roddenberry delegated most production chores to D.C. Fontana, who was credited as Associate Producer-Story Editor. The Animated Series was a joint production between Filmation Associates and Norway Corporation, with Paramount Television also taking a hand in the production. The overall approach to the Animated Series was, essentially, to proceed with storytelling almost exactly as the company had with the original live-action production.
Roddenberry, however, later denied that much of the material in the stories told in the Animated Series actually counted towards canon for Star Trek
.
Of the five, Genesis II, Planet Earth, and Spectre were credited as being produced by Norway Corporation.
Some sources have credited Norway Corporation as having produced Star Trek: The Motion Picture
and Star Trek: The Next Generation
. Although Roddenberry served as Executive Producer
on both the film and series, there is no evidence that he did so using Norway Corporation as his production company.
Gene Roddenberry
Eugene Wesley "Gene" Roddenberry was an American television screenwriter, producer and futurist, best known for creating the American science fiction series Star Trek. Born in El Paso, Texas, Roddenberry grew up in Los Angeles, California where his father worked as a police officer...
. Norway Corporation is best known for having been the production company that brought Star Trek
Star Trek
Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...
to television on the NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
network in association with Desilu Studios, which later became part of Paramount Television
Paramount Television
Paramount Television was an American television production/distribution company that was active from January 1, 1968 to August 27, 2006.Its successor is CBS Television Studios, formerly CBS Paramount Television...
.
Origins
Gene Roddenberry decided to become a producer as a direct result of his frustrations with his work as a television writer and the difficulty he faced in adding anything substantial to his stories. The LieutenantThe Lieutenant
The Lieutenant is an American television series, the first created by Gene Roddenberry. It aired on NBC on Saturday evenings in the 1963-1964 television schedule. It was produced by Arena Productions, one of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's most successful in-house production companies of the 1960s. Situated...
, a 1963-1964 NBC and MGM Television
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...
series about the United States Marine Corps
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
that starred Gary Lockwood
Gary Lockwood
Gary Lockwood is an American actor probably best known for his iconic 1968 role as the astronaut Dr. Frank Poole in 2001: A Space Odyssey.-Early life:...
as Lieutenant William Rice, was the first series he created and produced. Several future cast members of Star Trek first worked with Roddenberry as regular or guest cast members of The Lieutenant.
Star Trek
Roddenberry developed his idea for Star TrekStar Trek
Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...
while working on The Lieutenant. Desilu's vice president of production, Herbert F. Solow, purchased the series concept and made a production deal with Roddenberry in April 1964. Roddenberry pitched the show as "Wagon Train
Wagon Train
Wagon Train is an American Western series that ran on NBC from 1957–62 and then on ABC from 1962–65...
in space," even though it owed more to C. S. Forrester's writings about Horatio Hornblower
Horatio Hornblower
Horatio Hornblower is a fictional Royal Navy officer who is the protagonist of a series of novels by C. S. Forester. He was later the subject of films and television programs.The original Hornblower tales began with the 1937 novel The Happy Return Horatio Hornblower is a fictional Royal Navy...
than to any western.
Having squandered money on a series of failed pilots
Television pilot
A "television pilot" is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell the show to a television network. At the time of its inception, the pilot is meant to be the "testing ground" to see if a series will be possibly desired and successful and therefore a test episode of an...
over the course of the early 1960s, Desilu had become severely cash-poor and was desperate to regain its past success. Although NBC rejected the first pilot, its executives were impressed favorably enough to commission an unprecedented second pilot, which the network picked up for the 1966-67 season. Star Trek premiered on September 8, 1966. Star Trek's end credits listed the show as a "Desilu Prouduction in association with Norway Corporation."
Star Trek suffered from declining ratings throughout its three year run; from the premiere to the final episode, Star Trek's ratings had dropped more than fifty percent. Before production began on the third season of Star Trek, Roddenberry had offered to demote himself to the position of line producer
Line producer
A line producer is the key manager during the daily operations of a motion picture production.The line producer supports the vision given by the director but does not have direct influence on the creative expression or narrative of the film....
and personally supervise production of the show. In return, he wanted NBC to move the series to Monday nights at 7:30PM. But at the last minute, mainly because George Schlatter
George Schlatter
George Schlatter is an American television producer and director, best known for Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In and founder of the American Comedy Awards....
would not allow Rowan & Martin's "Laugh-In" to be rescheduled from its then-current 8:00PM time slot to 8:30PM, NBC decided to move the show back to Friday nights at ten, and Roddenberry, almost completely burned out from his struggles with the network and the studio, effectively left the series.
Star Trek: The Animated Series
In 1972, Roddenberry was approached by Filmation Studios about the possibility of an animated version of Star TrekStar Trek
Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...
for Saturday mornings. Star Trek: The Animated Series
Star Trek: The Animated Series
Star Trek: The Animated Series is an animated science fiction television series set in the Star Trek universe following the events of Star Trek: The Original Series of the 1960s...
premiered on NBC television in 1973. Roddenberry delegated most production chores to D.C. Fontana, who was credited as Associate Producer-Story Editor. The Animated Series was a joint production between Filmation Associates and Norway Corporation, with Paramount Television also taking a hand in the production. The overall approach to the Animated Series was, essentially, to proceed with storytelling almost exactly as the company had with the original live-action production.
Roddenberry, however, later denied that much of the material in the stories told in the Animated Series actually counted towards canon for Star Trek
Star Trek
Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...
.
After Star Trek
Roddenberry created several science-fiction television series program concepts after Star Trek. Five of these concepts had pilot films produced; none, however, were picked up for series production. These pilots were:- The Questor TapesThe Questor TapesThe Questor Tapes is a 1974 television movie about an android with incomplete memory tapes who is searching for his creator and his purpose. Conceived by and executive produced by Gene Roddenberry, the script is credited to Roddenberry and fellow Star Trek alumnus Gene L. Coon.A novelization,...
, which starred Robert FoxworthRobert FoxworthRobert Heath Foxworth is an American film, stage and television actor.-Early life and career:Foxworth was born in Houston, Texas, the son of Erna Beth , a writer, and John Howard Foxworth, a roofing contractor...
alongside Mike FarrellMike FarrellMichael Joseph "Mike" Farrell is an American actor, best known for his role as Captain B.J. Hunnicutt on the television series M*A*S*H . He is an activist for politically liberal causes....
, - Genesis II, which starred Alex CordAlex CordAlex Cord is an American actor who is perhaps best known for portraying the role of Archangel on the television series Airwolf.-Biography:...
and Mariette HartleyMariette HartleyMary Loretta "Mariette" Hartley is an American character actress.-Personal life:Hartley was born in Weston, Connecticut, the daughter of Mary Ickes “Polly” , a manager and saleswoman, and Paul Hembree Hartley, an account executive. Her maternal grandfather was psychologist John B...
, - Planet EarthPlanet Earth (TV pilot)Planet Earth was a science fiction television movie that was created by Gene Roddenberry, written by Roddenberry and Juanita Bartlett . It first aired on April 23, 1974 on the ABC network, and starred John Saxon as Dylan Hunt. It was presented as a pilot for what was hoped to be a new weekly...
, which starred John SaxonJohn Saxon (actor)John Saxon is an American actor who has worked on over 200 projects during the span of sixty years. Saxon is most known for his work in horror films such as A Nightmare on Elm Street and Black Christmas, both of which feature Saxon as a policeman in search of the killer...
alongside Janet MargolinJanet MargolinJanet Margolin was an American theater, television and film actress.- Early life :Margolin was born in New York City, the daughter of Benjamin Margolin, an accountant who was born in Russia and was founder and president of the Nephrosis Foundation, now the Kidney Foundation of New York...
with Ted CassidyTed CassidyTheodore Crawford Cassidy , known as Ted Cassidy, was an American actor who performed in television and films. At 6 ft 9 in in height, he tended to play unusual characters in offbeat or science-fiction series such as Star Trek and I Dream of Jeannie...
, and Diana MuldaurDiana MuldaurDiana Muldaur is an Emmy-nominated American film and television actress.-Career:Born in New York City, but raised on Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, Muldaur started acting in high school and continued on through college, graduating from Sweet Briar College in Virginia in 1960. She studied acting...
, - Strange New World, and
- The made-for-television film Spectre, which was to be a backdoor pilot.
Of the five, Genesis II, Planet Earth, and Spectre were credited as being produced by Norway Corporation.
Some sources have credited Norway Corporation as having produced Star Trek: The Motion Picture
Star Trek: The Motion Picture
Star Trek: The Motion Picture is a 1979 American science fiction film released by Paramount Pictures. It is the first film based on the Star Trek television series. The film is set in the twenty-third century, when a mysterious and immensely powerful alien cloud called V'Ger approaches the Earth,...
and Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry as part of the Star Trek franchise. Roddenberry, Rick Berman, and Michael Piller served as executive producers at different times throughout the production...
. Although Roddenberry served as Executive Producer
Executive producer
An executive producer is a producer who is not involved in any technical aspects of the film making or music process, but who is still responsible for the overall production...
on both the film and series, there is no evidence that he did so using Norway Corporation as his production company.