Herbert F. Solow, TV Exec Behind ‘Star Trek’ and ‘Mission: Impossible,’ Dies at 89

[Y2kTheNewOldies]

Herbert F. Solow, the TV production executive who helped make “Star Trek” and “Mission: Impossible” a reality, died on Thursday, his wife, Dr. Harrison Solow, confirmed. He was 89.

A graduate of Dartmouth, Solow got his start in showbiz in 1953, working up the ranks at William Morris, starting as a mail room worker and secretary before becoming an assistant and later a talent agent representing stars and filmmakers like Ingmar Bergman. Later, he moved from the agency world to production, taking a brief stop in NBC’s film division before moving to CBS, where he worked on developing daytime soap operas and game shows.

Herbert F. Solow, TV Exec Behind 'Star Trek' and 'Mission: Impossible,' Dies at 89

TV production head launched two of the most iconic shows of the 60s and made Lucille Ball's Desilu Productions a Hollywood titan in the process

www.thewrap.com

RIP

 

[landtuna]

I always wondered how the same man could make Mission Impossible (the original) and then a piece of junk like Star Trek. One was so good and the other so bad.

 

[davideduardo]

I always wondered how the same man could make Mission Impossible (the original) and then a piece of junk like Star Trek. One was so good and the other so bad.

Yes, and one still has enormous following and another does not. The one that still lives on in its original version is, of course, Star Trek. The original Mission Impossible is dated by the changes in technology, production values and special effects.

 

[Ccook55]

Solow died November 19 of last year.

 

[landtuna]

Yes, and one still has enormous following and another does not. The one that still lives on in its original version is, of course, Star Trek. The original Mission Impossible is dated by the changes in technology, production values and special effects.

As for the 'dated' subject......in the 50's (when I grew up mostly) I was reading a series of books called "Tom Swift". These were science fiction concerning (mostly) space travel. They had bunches of preliminary 'tools of the future' as did Star Trek. What made them different was that Tom Swift actually had believable story lines and not the cartoonish crap that ST did. Remember the Tribbles? Or the Giant Green Hand. And space ships that looked like the lobby of a 4-star hotel? And the planets that coincidentally had atmospheres the astronauts could breathe.....and about the same gravity as Earth? No, Star Trek, in all its several forms was just plain stupid. Not as stupid as Lost in Space but darn close.