Changes: Robert Butler

Revision as of 14:39, 14 December 2013

Template:Realworld

Robert "Bob" Butler (born 17 November 1927; age 96) directed the original series' first pilot episode, "The Cage". Butler was born in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California from Irish Catholic parents. [1] He has built a long career in television, directing episodes of over 90 television series, notably The Twilight Zone (including "The Encounter" starring George Takei), Hogan's Heroes, The Fugitive, Batman (including two episodes guest-starring Frank Gorshin as The Riddler), Gunsmoke and Remington Steele. Butler seems to have made something of a specialty of directing the pilots of hugely successful series. Not only did he shoot the first ever Star Trek episode but he also directed the pilots of Lois & Clark (starring Teri Hatcher), Moonlighting (with cinematography by Jerry Finnerman), and Hill Street Blues (starring James B. Sikking).

Butler was chosen by Gene Roddenberry to work on the first pilot for Star Trek after he has directed some episodes of Roddenberry's previous series, The Lieutenant (starring Gary Lockwood). However Butler, not a fan of science fiction, was quite dissatisfied with Roddenberry's production decisions and the show itself, so he declined to direct more episodes (including "The Menagerie, Part I" and "The Menagerie, Part II"). He called the series "too square-jawed, heroic" for his taste, and opted for something more like The Twilight Zone. Butler wanted to add some dirt and rust to the sets (like they did later in Star Wars and Deep Space Nine), but Roddenberry opted for the Enterprise to be perfectly clean and shiny. He also thought the title Star Trek to be pretentious and advised Roddenberry to change it, but he refused. [2] (Star Trek Magazine Issue #6)

Star Trek credits

TOS:
- "The Cage"
- "The Menagerie, Part I" (archive footage, uncredited)
- "The Menagerie, Part II" (archive footage)

External links

Template:IMDb-link
Robert Butler (director) at Wikipedia
Interview at the Archive of American Television

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 {{realworld}}
+{{Sidebar crew|
+| Name              = Bob Butler
+| image             = Robert Butler.jpg
+| image2            = Oliver Roddenberry Butler Justman filming The Cage.jpg
+| imagecap2         = Butler (second from right) on the set of {{e|The Cage}}
+| Birth name        = Robert Butler
+| Gender            = Male
+| Date of birth     = {{d|17|November|1927}}
+| Place of birth    = Los Angeles, California
+| Date of death     =
+| Place of death    =
+| Awards for Trek   =
+| Roles             = [[:Category:Directors|Director]]
+}}
 '''Robert "Bob" Butler''' {{born|17|November|1927}} directed the [[TOS|original series]]' first pilot episode, {{e|The Cage}}. Butler was born in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California from Irish Catholic parents. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4iTR_WB-KEQ] He has built a long career in television, directing episodes of over 90 television series, notably ''The Twilight Zone'' (including "The Encounter" starring [[George Takei]]), ''Hogan's Heroes'', ''The Fugitive'', ''Batman'' (including two episodes guest-starring [[Frank Gorshin]] as The Riddler), ''Gunsmoke'' and ''Remington Steele''. Butler seems to have made something of a specialty of directing the pilots of hugely successful series. Not only did he shoot the first ever ''[[Star Trek]]'' episode but he also directed the pilots of ''Lois & Clark'' (starring [[Teri Hatcher]]), ''Moonlighting'' (with cinematography by [[Jerry Finnerman]]), and ''Hill Street Blues'' (starring [[James B. Sikking]]).
-Butler was chosen by [[Gene Roddenberry]] to work on the first pilot for ''Star Trek'' after he has directed some episodes of Roddenberry's previous series, ''The Lieutenant'' (starring [[Gary Lockwood]]). However Butler was quite dissatisfied with Roddenberry's production decisions and the show itself, so he declined to direct more episodes (including {{TOS|The Menagerie, Part I}} and {{TOS|The Menagerie, Part II}}). [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lMXYr3SnJQ]
+Butler was chosen by [[Gene Roddenberry]] to work on the first pilot for ''Star Trek'' after he has directed some episodes of Roddenberry's previous series, ''The Lieutenant'' (starring [[Gary Lockwood]]). However Butler, not a fan of science fiction, was quite dissatisfied with Roddenberry's production decisions and the show itself, so he declined to direct more episodes (including {{e|The Menagerie, Part I}} and {{e|The Menagerie, Part II}}). He called the series "too square-jawed, heroic" for his taste, and opted for something more like ''The Twilight Zone''. Butler wanted to add some dirt and rust to the sets (like they did later in ''[[Star Wars]]'' and ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine|Deep Space Nine]]''), but Roddenberry opted for the ''Enterprise'' to be perfectly clean and shiny. He also thought the title ''Star Trek'' to be pretentious and advised Roddenberry to change it, but he refused. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lMXYr3SnJQ] (''[[Star Trek Magazine]] Issue #6'')
-{{stub-production}}
 === ''Star Trek'' credits ===
@@ Line 12: / Line 25: @@
 ** {{e|The Menagerie, Part II}} (archive footage)
 </div>
-==External link==
+==Further reading==
+*"Robert Butler, King of 'The Cage'", [[Edward Gross]], ''[[Starlog (magazine)|Starlog]]'', issue 117, April 1987, pp. 54-55
+== External links ==
 * {{IMDb-link|page=nm0125111}}
+* {{Wikipedia|Robert Butler (director)}}
+* [http://www.emmytvlegends.org/interviews/people/robert-butler Interview] at the [http://www.emmytvlegends.org/ Archive of American Television]
 [[es:Robert Butler]]