Steven W. Carabatsos
| Steven W. Carabatsos | |
|---|---|
| Born | October 2, 1938 |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Cornell Law School |
| Occupation | Screenwriter |
Steven W. Carabatsos (born October 2, 1938) is an American screenwriter, who was also the story editor on Star Trek between the tenures of John D. F. Black and D. C. Fontana.
Steven W. Carabatsos grew up in Manhattan, where he attended Hunter College on the Upper East Side. Following his graduation, he attended Cornell Law School.
While at Cornell, he wrote a spec script for the medical drama Ben Casey. Producer Jack Laird purchased the script for use, and when he moved onto the college-based drama Channing, he hired Carabatsos to ensure that the scripts remained college orientated. Carabatsos described himself as "technical adviser in charge of rah-rah", and corresponded with his younger brother (then at college) as well as visiting colleges in the Los Angeles area in order to keep up with current trends.
Following the departure of John D. F. Black as story editor, Carabatsos was hired as his replacement in August 1966. To welcome him to the production team, the show's creator, Gene Roddenberry, decided to prank him. When Carabatsos arrived for his first day, Roddenberry had arranged for a weather balloon to be inflated inside his office, preventing him from opening the door and getting inside. The joke was only revealed after Carabatsos struggled with the door for a while.
While his contract stipulated that he would be allowed to write one episode in addition to his re-writing duties as story editor, Carabatsos found it difficult to fit his own writing around his main duties. His first job on the show was to re-write Harlan Ellison's script for "The City on the Edge of Forever" in order to bring it within budget. Ellison later accused Carabatsos of "taking a chainsaw" to the script, with multiple changes made including the addition of the Guardian of Forever and the change to initial setup wherein Doctor Leonard McCoy is overdosed with adrenaline. Roddenberry did not like Carabatsos' version, and asked Ellison to conduct a further re-write.
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