Herbert F . Solow Herbert " Herb " Franklin Solow was a studio executive serving , originally on behalf of Desilu Studios , on the first and second season s of the original " Star Trek " show , , officially credited as " Executive in Charge of Production " . As assistant to Vice - President of Programs Oscar Katz , both men were seeking new television properties for their employer . " The Original Series " . Hired on 1 April 1964 , Katz , who was very inexperienced with West Coast studio production and business , almost immediately hired former acquaintance Herb Solow as his assistant , and – before they even had the time to settle into their new offices – it was to them that Gene Roddenberry made his original early April 1964 " Wagon Train To The Stars " - pitch ( the in lore famed exact phrase was actually coined by Samuel A . Peeples before the Desilu pitch occasion , not Roddenberry , who had called it " a " " Wagon Train " " concept " , but typically , was by him appropriated as his own nevertheless ) . Desilu picked up the proposition and together with Roddenberry , the studio executives made the rounds of the television networks to reciprocally pitch the proposition to them , ultimately finding Solow ' s former employer NBC interested in early May 1964 . Prior to this pitch , it was Katz who took Roddenberry to CBS , the network that traditionally aired Desilu ' s television productions , but , not backed - up on that occasion by Katz ( already foreshadowing things to come ) , Roddenberry seriously botched his presentation on that occasion . ( " " , 1st ed , pp . 21 - 25 , 28 - 32 ) Dismayed , as CBS represented the best chance " Star Trek " had , due to the network ' s longstanding relationship with Desilu ( CBS aired Ball ' s own " I Love Lucy " show ) , Solow subsequently took over after being informed of this . He thoroughly groomed , prepared , and coached Roddenberry for his next , very last - chance , meeting with NBC the following month , as well as taking an active part in the presentation . Additionally , Solow instructed Roddenberry to keep quiet when not required to speak ( which , given Roddenberry ' s predilection to the contrary , was excruciating for him ) , as NBC was wary due to their previous dealings with Roddenberry on " The Lieutenant " , and , most notably , to drop the " Wagon Train To The Stars " pitch - line Roddenberry had used on the previous pitching occasions . This eventually resulted in success , but " " ( i ) t was Herb ' s tenacity and Herb ' s presentation that sold the series , " " as NBC executive Jerry Stanley later conceded . ( " " , 1997 , pp . 13 - 23 ) Solow was subsequently heavily involved with the studio oversight and marketing to NBC of the two pilot episodes , and . While not a science fiction fan , Solow strongly believed in Roddenberry ' s format , which he considered a more adult counter balance to the somewhat juvenile " Lost in Space " series of CBS . After the production of the two pilot episodes and after NBC had in effect ordered the series , Solow had to vigorously defend " Star Trek " in early February 1966 before Desilu ' s conservative Board of Executives who , balking at the costs of three expensive series in development , virtually unanimously , save for executive Bernard Weitzman , wanted to proceed with " Mission : Impossible " and " The Long Hunt of April Savage " ( also brought in for Desilu by Katz and Solow , the former ordered by CBS , and the latter , also produced by Roddenberry , ordered by ABC ) only . Katz was also a board member , but was not present as he was already on his way out . Fortunately , Solow – unlike Katz not a board member , nor would he ever be – managed to get the studio head , Lucille Ball , on his side and who , as Chairwoman had the power to overrule her board , which she did by approving the continuation of " Star Trek " with a mere nod towards Solow , or as author Marc Cushman had put it succinctly , " " That was all " Star Trek " needed . A nod of Lucille Ball . " " Incidentally , Ball ' s then husband Gary Morton ( usually handling the studio ' s business and financial affairs ) also opposed " Star Trek " as co - chairman of the board . ( " " , 1st ed , pp . 32 , 94 ) One of the other 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 . " " On 6 March 1966 , both " Mission Impossible " and " Star Trek " were alloted space on the Desilu facility , while Katz was let go three days later . 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 . During the production of the two pilot episodes , it was discovered that Katz , who had no prior experience with television production , was unsuited for the position and was subsequently let go . At the start of the production of the regular series and before he had to defend " Star Trek " for the Board , Solow was promoted into his position instead with the official title " Vice - President of Programs " . Unlike Katz , Solow was a very hands - on executive and closely collaborated during his entire tenure on " The Original Series " with producers Roddenberry and Robert Justman in particular . As he had described in his reference book " " and corroborated by Justman on several occasions ( amongst others in the reference book " Star Trek Memories " ) , his input was especially required to keep Roddenberry ' s perceived eccentricities in check and to run interference for him and the upper echelons of the studio and the network . ( " " , 1997 , pp . 25 - " et al . " ) Solow ' s primary responsibilities however , were to safeguard the , often tenuous , finances of his employer and it was he , frequently against his grain , who had to inform Justman that budgets had to be dialed down . On the other hand he shared Justman ' s appreciation of the " Star Trek " production team , and had no qualms for example , of immediately approving Justman ' s suggestion of promoting Art Director Matt Jefferies , who Solow likewise held in the highest regard . ( " " , 1997 , p . 169 ) Previously , directly after the production of the second pilot , it was Solow who had managed to get Jefferies ( who until then was only allowed to work in Hollywood as set designer ) inducted into the Art Directors Union . ( " " , p . 114 ) While the first season of " The Original Series " was in production , Solow has claimed that he , after having saved his creation , also saved the career of Roddenberry ; Lucille Ball – by then well known for her character trait of valuing moral propriety after her marriage with Desi Arnaz ( which had fallen apart partly due to his philandering ) , and expecting this of her staff and employees as well – found out that the married Roddenberry had an illicit affair with Majel Barrett . This kind of behavior she could not abide with , and wanted to fire the both of them on the spot . Ironically , Ball had wanted to do something similar , albeit at the opposite end of the spectrum , with " Mission : Impossible " co - stars Barbara Bain and Martin Landau , when she found out that the two were actually a married couple , and wanted to fire them as she suspected a severe case of nepotism , which she could not abide with either . And indeed , this had been the additional reason for Ball for wanting to fire Roddenberry as well , as she had also became aware that he had surreptitiously sneaked an as a blonde disguised Barrett back into the " Star Trek " production ( as nurse Christine Chapel ) against the express wishes of NBC . Through an intermediary , her personal publicist Howard McClay , Solow had a tough time to convince Ball otherwise . ( " " , 1997 , p . 223 ; " " , 1st ed , pp . 25 - 27 ) Halfway through the pre - production of the second season , Desilu was sold to the conglomerate Gulf + Western , formalized on 27 July 1967 , which choose to merge their acquisition with the hitherto relatively small television department of their subsidiary , Paramount Pictures , to form Paramount Television . While most former Desilu executives were let go , Solow was asked to remain in the employment of the new owner , which he agreed to by becoming " Vice - President of Programs Paramount Television " , answerable to his new boss , Paramount Television President John T . Reynolds . Nevertheless , Solow found himself increasingly dissatisfied with the more businesslike approach Gulf + Western financial executives wanted to impose on the production of the television series he was responsible for , including " Star Trek " , which in practice resulted in ever increasing budget cuts and near obligatory creative meddlement . It was therefore that Solow choose to tender his resignation just prior to the slated start of the regular production on the series ' third season . Solow ' s departure had consequences for Roddenberry as well , as the latter was now no longer able to maintain his position and , and though he was still officially " on staff " , he was effectively superseded by Fred Freiberger . ( " " , 1997 , pp . 365 - " et al . " ) Per Hollywood union rules , studio executives are formally not entitled to official production credits , as they , as overhead , are not supposed to be involved with the actual creative aspects of productions , they being the purview of producers as highest factual operation managers . Yet , Solow , together with his successor for the third season , Douglas S . Cramer ( displayed on the penultimate end title credit card of each regular episode ) and ' s Lindsley Parsons , Jr . , hold the rare distinction of becoming the only " Star Trek " - affiliated studio executives receiving one , that of " Executive ( Vice President ) in Charge of Production " , displayed in the former two cases on the penultimate end title credit card of each regular series episode , whereas a fourth studio executive , Bill Heath , held the credit of " Post Production Executive " for the " Original Series " first season . How intimate the working relationship between Solow and Justman was during the former ' s tenure on " The Original Series " , was exemplified when Justman , responsible for selecting the stills over which the end credits were to be projected for the regular series run , decided to perform an in - joke on his superior , " " My favorite one was the one I finally chose for Herb , the last credit prior to the closing Desilu logo . This was the only credit I never changed as long as Herb ran the Desilu operation . I used a close - up of Balok , the monster from , lit , enchantingly , with color washes of angry red and bilious green , and positioned his credit , " Executive in Charge of Production , " so that it appeared just below the creature ' s wildly glaring eyes . " " Received in good nature , Solow nevertheless , managed to deprive Justman his chuckles , as the latter ruefully clarified , " " I thought it a fitting tribute , as did Herb , who thanked me profusely , thereby depriving me of some heavy - duty gloating . I still have the original credit , and display it , in my office at home , suitably framed in the cheapest , junkiest black frame I could find . " " ( " " , 1997 , pp . 194 - 195 ) In 1972 , Herb Solow repeated what he had done for Gene Roddenberry in 1964 by arranging , and taking him to , a meeting with then Paramount President , Frank Yablans , to pitch his first idea for a feature film , tentatively called " The Cattlemen " . The idea was based on the story outline called " A Question of Cannibalism " , one of the twenty - five earliest " Star Trek " story outlines developed in 1964 as back - up for the original pilot episode " The Cage " . Yablans was interested , but , very much aware of Roddenberry ' s " Original Series " reputation and of his utter failure as producer to control the antics of director Roger Vadim for the 1971 movie " Pretty Maids All in a Row " in particular ( which caused the movie to run over - time and over - budget , and for which Solow had actually hired Roddenberry as script writer and producer in the first place ) , emphatically refused to have him serve as producer , only willing to hire him as writer . Through his attorney Leonard Maizlish , Roddenberry countered with demanding a hitherto near - unprecedented US $ 100 , 000 writer ' s fee ( which he had actually received for " Pretty Maids " , courtesy Herb Solow ) , which Yablans dismissed as unacceptable and subsequently trashed the entire proposition . It was the very last time both men met in person , ending , despite all the frictions , a friendship which had lasted for nine years . ( " " , 1997 , pp 420 - 421 ) Setting the record straight . When Solow published the " Inside Star Trek : The Real Story " reference book in 1996 together with the by him highly valued Justman ( with whom he co - produced and hosted the subsequent book - based documentary ) , they voiced for the first time a far more critical view on the series ' creator , Roddenberry , than was hitherto commonplace . While he liked Roddenberry on a personal level and had emphatically endorsed his " Star Trek " creation , willing to overlook some of his personal failings , he most definitely took a dimmer view on Roddenberry ' s other failings , notably his tendencies for self - promotion – corroborated by Justman and , at a later stage , by Spock performer Leonard Nimoy , albeit in far more subdued wordings – which according to Solow took the form of spin - doctoring " Star Trek " history by claiming credit where credit was not due , redacting actual events for personal gain through manipulating information dissemination to " Star Trek " fandom and even accusing him of " absconding " Desilu property , most conspicuously unused shot footage , for the purpose of selling these through his company Lincoln Enterprises at " Star Trek " conventions . Of Roddenberry , Solow has said in this regard , " " I worked with Gene for about 3 years , it took us over 2 years to get the show on the air . I then worked with Gene when he wrote and produced a movie for me at MGM . I liked Gene very , very much , at the beginning we worked very professionally . I didn ' t know Gene personally , and I found that when I knew him socially , Gene was different , and our working relationship became strained . I last worked with Gene in 1972 , so my comments regarding him end at that date . " " In regard to setting the record straight in a more even - keeled manner where NBC ' s role in the cancellation of the " Original Series " was concerned , Solow later remarked , " " I only took him to a meeting with me once . Once was enough . . . Gene set about making NBC the heavy , the villain with regard to everything : schedule , ratings , program practices ( censor ) , publicity , etc . , thus playing to the fans . He felt that the fans were more important than the network . He cast himself as god and NBC as some demonic force from the other side . . . The networks ( I use the plural as they all speak to each other ) felt differently . . . Gene went ahead and created a villain ( NBC ) with the help of fans – people with a financial interest in fandom . " " ( " " , p . 212 ) In turn however , it was his debunking of Bjo Trimble ' s famous " spontaneous " fan letter writing campaign that saved " Star Trek " for a third season as being surreptitiously orchestrated by Roddenberry , that earned Solow the particular wrath of the more puritanical elements of " Star Trek " fandom , and thereby becoming the " heavy " as far as they were concerned , one of them going truly overboard by calling Solow a " self - aggrandizing , wannabe vulture " . It actually was Roddenberry ' s spin - doctoring " Star Trek " history into the " Roddenberry Myth " in the 1970s - 1980s " Star Trek " convention circuit , that increasingly troubled Solow as he later stated , " " My displeasure grew over the years as he reinvented the origins of " Star Trek " , further enlarging the " Star Trek " legend and the Gene Roddenberry myth . While there is no denying that Gene created the root , the core from which the series grew , there were other important contributors to its growth : Gene Coon , Bob Justman , Matt Jefferies , and me " [ also including Spock performer Leonard Nimoy as the " brightest of all stars in the " Star Trek " universe " ] " . Unfortunately , the credit for our contributions was washed away in the wake of Gene ' s disinclination to honor them , and by doing so , he assumed their authorship . " " ( " " , 1997 , p . 430 ) Soon - to - be wife Yvonne Fern Solow has related an incident , that only reinforced Solow ' s " displeasure " , " A couple of years ago two academics approached my husband with an article they had written about the inception and origin of one of his television shows . They asked if he would look it over for them and correct any errors . Now this article was ready to go to press – to Oxford University Press , to be specific . They had done their “ research ” as they called it . My husband was stunned when he read it . Not only did their research consist of talking to people who were never involved in any aspect of the inception or origin of what they were writing about ( my husband is the only person left on planet earth who was not only there but absolutely fundamental to and absolutely in charge of the entire show [ " remark : Justman had already passed away by the time Fern made the comment " ] but the books they read were nonsense books written by other people who weren ’ t there . There were not just a few mistakes in the article – it was a horrendous parade of misinformation from beginning to end . Herb worked on it for days – and not only did they never thank him , never send him a copy of the finished article or even acknowledge that the last draft bore little resemblance to the first ( he has all their correspondence and all their " work " ) but they argued with him about the facts as he was correcting it ! These are people who teach other people , who perpetuate myths without calling them myths and consider themselves not only non - fiction but also responsible scholarly writers ! ( . . . ) Hence the necessity to go " inside " . " At the time , no reliable post - cancellation production history of " Star Trek " had become available to the general public , aside from the by Roddenberry - sanctioned publications and his convention appearances , and " scholarly writers " had solely these to rely on . It was for these reasons that Solow was enticed to embark upon the " Inside Star Trek " project , the first of its kind , finding a willing participant in Robert Justman . Solow himself had remarked on another occasion , " After I left Desilu and went on to MGM and doing a lot of TV series and motion pictures , I dropped out of the STAR TREK world and was not a part of it whatsoever . I would read about it and hear about it , and I had last spoken to Gene in ' 72 , although I kept in touch with Bob as a friend . About three years ago , I began hearing about writers writing books about what went on during the original series ' production . They didn ' t really know what went on with us . I was the one who was there and knew what really happened , so I thought I should write a book and put out the real story . One book out there seemed to say that I never came to work some days and didn ' t have any involvement in Star Trek whatsoever " [ remark : having had Oscar Katz mistaken for Solow ] " . I felt it had come time to write a book about my involvement in Star Trek , and what really happened , so I enlisted Bob Justman and we wrote a book . " " The book does address the myth , it does not necessarily address the man , since we were talking in the book of our first - hand experiences with Gene , from about ' 64 to ' 72 . Gene did have a definite failing , I felt and feel , in that he rarely , if ever , gave credit to anyone else who contributed anything to Star Trek . It was not a definite saying that he did everything at that time ( in the ' 60 ' s ) , but he would never attribute anything to anyone else . So , by default , the vibes he was sending out in his lectures and interviews , that if you don ' t talk to the people who are giving you help , then you ' re saying you did it yourself . There were a number of people who made major contributions to Star Trek , and in the book we try to point that out , not just by saying so , but by reproducing letters from Bob , Gene , me , etc . laying [ out ] just who made what contributions and when . " Ironically , while Solow – as a " studio suit " considered a justified target by Trekdom – became fandom ' s scapegoat , very few fans dared to attack Justman , who was every bit as critical of Roddenberry as Solow was , due to his revered status in " Star Trek " history . Nevertheless , the book has since then become accepted as an authoritative production reference source by the less puritanical elements of Trekdom . Together with his by - now wife Yvonne , Solow has co - authored a subsequent , " Star Trek " - related reference book , the 1997 " " . Upon completing the work of putting his recollections on paper , and having had his say , Solow sold off his personal " Star Trek " collection still in his possession in the first specialized " Star Trek " auction , the 2001 Profiles in History : " The Star Trek Auction " . In the " Errand of Fury " book series , Colonel West is on the staff of an Admiral Herbert Solow , named after the executive . Career outside " Star Trek " . Herbert Solow got started in show business in an inauspicious fashion , starting in the mailroom of the William Morris Agency in New York City shortly after his graduation from Dartmouth College in 1953 . After his promotion to the position of talent agent in 1956 , Solow moved to NBC as Program Director of California National Productions which included managing the NBC Film Division . In 1960 Solow was transferred to Los Angeles , shortly before NBC , responding to government regulations dissolved the NBC Film Division . Solow then joined CBS as Director of Daytime Programs for the West Coast , and then subsequently returning to NBC a year later as Director of Daytime Programs . He left his NBC Daytime Programs position and joined Desilu Studios in early 1964 , hired by Oscar Katz as his assistant and who was urgently charged to find new television properties to develop , as the studio found itself in dire straits with only one property , " The Lucy Show " , left in production at the time . Appointed Vice President of Programs a year later , Solow personally oversaw the development , sales , and production of " Star Trek " , " Mission : Impossible " , the western series " The Long Hunt of April Savage " – which , while ordered by ABC network , was not further developed as a series after its pilot episode – and , at a later stage , " Mannix " . Katz and Solow were arguably a bit too successful in their original assignment , as the small , ailing studio found itself at the start of 1966 suddenly confronted with the development of three new series at once , and which is why the studio ' s Board of Directors , fearing , not entirely unfounded , that the studio would financially overstretch itself , wanted to forgo on the further development of " Star Trek " initially , the notion eventually nixed by Lucille Ball . Ironically , the fears of the Board were somewhat allayed when ABC canceled " April Savage " , before production of the regular series was slated to start . After he had quit his job at Paramount Television , Solow joined Metro - Goldwyn - Mayer as Vice President of Television Production , overseeing the development and series production of " Medical Center " , " The Courtship of Eddie ' s Father " ( produced by and co - starring James Komack ) , and " Then Came Bronson " ( produced by Robert Justman and Robert Sabaroff ) . After this , Solow was appointed Vice President of Worldwide Motion Picture and Television Production for MGM ( whom Roddenberry had approached first with his " Star Trek " proposal , back in 1964 ) . It was during this stint that he hired Roddenberry to write ( " and " arranged for his hefty $ 100 , 000 writer ' s fee , which came as a godsend for the at that time near destitute Roddenberry , effectively saving his bacon for a second time after staving off his dismissal from Desilu in 1966 / 1967 ) and produce the theatrical film , " Pretty Maids All in a Row " , based on the novel by Francis Pollini and directed by Roger Vadim . The film featured James Doohan , William Campbell and Dawn Roddenberry in the cast . Other films made under his helm included Robert Altman ' s " Brewster McCloud " ( 1970 , with Sally Kellerman , William Windom , Rene Auberjonois , John Schuck and Bert Remsen ) , Michelangelo Antonioni ' s " Zabriskie Point " ( 1970 , with Paul Fix and Lee Duncan ) , " Kelly ' s Heroes " ( 1970 , with Perry Lopez , Tom Troupe and David Hurst ) , " The Strawberry Statement " ( 1970 , with Kim Darby and Bert Remsen ) , " Alex in Wonderland " ( 1970 , with Dick Geary ) and " The Gang That Couldn ' t Shoot Straight " ( 1971 , with Harry Basch , James Sloyan and directed by James Goldstone ) . In 1973 , he left MGM to become an independent filmmaker and formed Solow Productions . He co - created and produced the television series " Man from Atlantis " . He was also involved in the production of the English movie " Brimstone and Treacle " . His last feature film production was " Saving Grace " , co - starring Edward James Olmos . Solow is a member of the Writers Guild of America and the Directors Guild of America and serves on the Foreign Film , Documentary , and Special Effects Committees of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences . He is currently an independent writer - producer and also lectures on television and film production . Upon his retirement from the motion picture industry , Solow and his wife , parents of two sons and two daughters , were by 2005 living in south - west Wales , UK , where he was a part - time lecturer at the media department of the then University of Wales , Lampeter ( following his wife , who , learning Welsh , had accepted a position as Writer - in Residence ) , returning to Malibu in 2010 . ( " Carpe Articulum , Literary Review " , pp . 24 - 55 )