He’s dead, Jim.

You know the color’s going on the set when the redshirts are greyshirts. Very nostalgic, though, as we had a black and white set until late in the Nixon administration. The Wonderful World of Color in black and white. Long Maine winters, grey skies, white snow, slush. Even the birch trees were white on grey. The Northern Lights splashed colors on the horizon like the smudge of pink creeping into the bottom of the screen. I walked into the den. Dad was in his favorite chair, watching Star Trek. I’d never seen it. Bones appeared in an alley, screaming about assassins and murderers. A tramp dropped a milk bottle. It shattered and milk flowed in perfect white. Bones screamed and grabbed the tramp by the skull, measuring. That’s all I remember. I missed out on the Beatles too. Maine was squaresville. They showed us Maine propaganda films in school. Mom passed me the mashed potatoes. Maine has the greatest potatoes I announced. My parents laughed. Non-believers. Not of the body. Back here on the tv set, in glorious black and white, Lurch is an alien. Korby is an android. And Sherry Jackson defies gravity.

Sherry Jackson and friend.

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