Carey Wilber (June 26, 1916 – May 2, 1998) was an American journalist and television writer born in
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...
. He began his career in the live days of television, and wrote for a variety of programs over the next three decades, including ''
Captain Video and His Video Rangers
''Captain Video and His Video Rangers'' is an American science fiction television series that aired on the DuMont Television Network and was the first series of its genre on American television.
The series aired between June 27, 1949, and Apr ...
'', ''
The Asphalt Jungle
''The Asphalt Jungle'' is a 1950 American film noir heist film directed by John Huston. Based on the 1949 novel of the same name by W. R. Burnett, it tells the story of a jewel robbery in a Midwestern city. The film stars Sterling Hayden and Lo ...
'', ''
Lost In Space
''Lost in Space'' is an American science fiction television series, created and produced by Irwin Allen, which originally aired between 1965 and 1968 on CBS. The series was inspired by the 1812 novel ''The Swiss Family Robinson.'' The series fo ...
'', ''
The Time Tunnel
''The Time Tunnel'' is an American color science fiction TV series written around a theme of time travel adventure starring James Darren and Robert Colbert. The show was creator-producer Irwin Allen's third science-fiction television series and ...
'', ''
Bonanza
''Bonanza'' is an American Western television series that ran on NBC from September 13, 1959, to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 432 episodes, ''Bonanza'' is NBC's longest-running western, the second-longest-running western series on U ...
'', and ''
Maverick
Maverick, Maveric or Maverik may refer to:
History
* Maverick (animal), an unbranded range animal, derived from U.S. cattleman Samuel Maverick
Aviation
* AEA Maverick, an Australian single-seat sportsplane design
* General Aviation Design Bureau ...
''. Wilber wrote the "Ice Princess" storyline for the daytime serial ''
General Hospital
''General Hospital'' (often abbreviated as ''GH'') is an American daytime television soap opera. It is listed in ''Guinness World Records'' as the list of longest-running television shows by category, longest-running American soap opera in pro ...
'' in 1981. He died in
Seattle, Washington
Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...
.
Star Trek
Wilber wrote the original story for, and co-wrote the teleplay of, the ''
Star Trek
''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into vari ...
'' episode "
Space Seed
"Space Seed" is the twenty-second episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series ''Star Trek''. Written by Gene L. Coon and Carey Wilber and directed by Marc Daniels, it first aired on February 16, 1967.
In the e ...
." The general plot had originally been created by Wilber for the series ''Captain Video and His Video Rangers'', which featured humans from
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece ( el, Ἑλλάς, Hellás) was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity ( AD 600), that comprised a loose collection of cult ...
who were preserved in cryogenic suspension and resurrected. During the conception and writing of the episode numerous changes were made as producer
Bob Justman
Robert Harris "Bob" Justman (July 13, 1926 – May 28, 2008) was an American television producer, director, and production manager. He worked on many American TV series including '' Lassie'', ''The Life of Riley'', '' Adventures of Superman'' ...
felt that it would be too expensive to film. Despite this, and due to the support of NBC executives, Justman gave a series of notes to Wilber for him to redraft the proposal. Eventually it was passed to
Gene L. Coon to revise, and the final draft was also revised by series creator
Gene Roddenberry
Eugene Wesley Roddenberry Sr. (August 19, 1921 – October 24, 1991) was an American television screenwriter, producer, and creator of ''Star Trek: The Original Series'', its sequel spin-off series ''Star Trek: The Animated Series,'' and ''Sta ...
. These revisions include the marooning of the criminals at the end of the episode, and the change of the primary villain from a Nordic character to a
Sikh
Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism, Sikhism (Sikhi), a Monotheism, monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Gu ...
. Roddenberry attempted to claim the primary writing credit for "Space Seed", a request that was turned down by the
Writers Guild of America
The Writers Guild of America is the joint efforts of two different US labor unions representing TV and film writers:
* The Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE), headquartered in New York City and affiliated with the AFL–CIO
* The Writers Guil ...
.
Filmography
Films
Television
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilber, Carey
Writers from Buffalo, New York
1916 births
1998 deaths