Longtime TV producer/executive Herb Solow recently passed away at the age of 89. Herb was a "behind the scenes" guy involved with so many shows but the one most-often mentioned is the original Star Trek.
As his obit in Variety noted, "Solow was brought in by Lucille Ball after her divorce from Desi Arnaz to help revive Desilu Studios, where he helped develop and sell Star Trek to NBC — after CBS originally turned it down because it already had Lost in Space — as well as Mission: Impossible and Mannix to CBS. If you recall his name, it may be from this end-credit on Star Trek…
I could go on and on about other things he did. Among the other shows that might never have seen the light of a TV tube if not for Herb were Medical Center, The Courtship of Eddie's Father, Then Came Bronson and Man From Atlantis.
At various times in his career, he was an agent at the William Morris Agency, the head of Worldwide Motion Pictures and Television Production at MGM, Vice-President at Paramount Pictures Television, and at Desilu Studios, Vice-President for Live-Action Production at Hanna-Barbara and Director of Daytime Programs for NBC and CBS.
He was well-respected and well-liked in the industry and he did so much, I feel uneasy about mentioning one of his really minor achievements but I must: In 1976, a team of two young TV writers made their first-ever sale to this man, Herb Solow. Those two writers were Mark Evanier and Dennis Palumbo. Thank you, Herb.