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The ‘banned’ Star Trek episode predicting a united Ireland in 2024 

Ellen Kenny

11.13 3 Mar 2024

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The ‘banned’ Star Trek episode...

A banned 1990 episode of Star Trek predicting a united Ireland in 2024 has been beamed back into conversation. 

The January 1990 episode The High Ground features a conversation between two of the main characters , played by Patrick Stewart and Brent Spinner.

Discussing instances when terrorism has worked in the past, the robot Data noted that Ireland was unified in 2024.  

"Yet there are numerous examples of when it was successful," Data said. "The independence of the Mexican state from Spain, the Irish unification of 2024, and the Kenzie rebellion."  

This scene has been shared widely on social media – especially as 2024 got closer – but little is known about the controversy it generated.  

In an interview with the BBC, sci-fi writer Melinda M Snodgrass said she had no idea the backlash her episode would receive.  

"Writing for television is like laying track for a train that's about 300 feet behind you,” she said. “You really don't have time to stop."  

Troubles in Northern Ireland

When The High Ground first aired in the US in 1990, the UK and Ireland were still in the depths of the Troubles, with the 1994 ceasefire and the 1998 Good Friday Agreement still years away.  

While the episode was due to air in the UK in 1992 , there was so much concern about the conversation between the two characters that the entire episode was not broadcast on BBC or RTÉ.  

Satellite broadcaster Sky reportedly aired an edited version in 1992, cutting out the reference to a united Ireland.  

The High Ground was not shown by the BBC until September 29 th , 2007.  

I have a deep soulful need for the start of the political process of Northern Ireland leaving the UK, just to fulfil a silly Star Trek prophecy pic.twitter.com/2bGMQISO5l — slosh maiden (@tallgaytay) May 17, 2023

This was not the only instance of censorship from the BBC at the time due to the Troubles. From 1988 to 1994, there was a ban on broadcasting the voices of certain Northern Irish people, particularly members of Sinn Féin.  

The voice of Gerry Adams, for example, was dubbed over by actor Stephen Rea, who later was nominated for an Oscar.  

This is also not the only instance a sci-fi show has inadvertently predicted political and national upheaval.  

The Beast Below, a 2010 episode of Doctor Who was set on a spaceship housing the entire UK.  

However, when asked where the Scottish people are, a resident of the space station said Scotland became independent and “wanted their own ship”.  

Many online have said this line predicted the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, although this referendum failed.  

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Star Trek episode buried for 34 years over ‘Irish unification in 2024’

The episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation was not shown on the BBC for 17 years after it was made

Data, an android on Star Trek, was known for his analytical skills and lack of emotion rather than courting controversy.

However, his reference to the “Irish unification of 2024” following a successful terrorism campaign caused the BBC to delay showing an episode of The Next Generation for 17 years.

And even when it was finally given approval in 2007, it was buried in a 2.40am graveyard slot and is not thought to have been repeated since.

In the episode Data refers to the unification of Ireland as evidence that armed rebellions can be successful

Melinda M Snodgrass, who was responsible for writing the episode, which was first shown in the United States in 1990, said that she was unaware of the controversy it had caused at the time.

“Writing for television is like laying track for a train that’s about 300 feet ­behind

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star trek the creator episode

Masters of the Air

During WWII, five miles above the ground and behind enemy lines, ten men inside a bomber known as a "Flying Fortress" battle unrelenting flocks of German fighters.

'Masters of the Air's Stalag Luft III Was a World-War Era Prison Camp

The POW camp seen at the end of Part 6 and featured as the backdrop for Part 7 in Masters of the Air is based on the real-life war prison known as Stalag Luft III. It was installed in March 1942 and located on what was then the western border of Poland in the city of Zagan. At the time, it was under the control of Hitler and the Nazi regime and one of six POW camps of its kind operated by the German Luftwaffe . Initially, the sprawling city of barbed wire and wooden huts was designated to house British members of the Royal Air Force but later expanded to keep American pilots who were shot down and captured behind enemy lines. At its peak, it grew to occupy over 60 acres of land and held 10,000 members of the RAF and USAF. Of the total population, 7,500 of the POWs were American pilots and soldiers.

What Was Life Like at Stalag Luft III For the POWs?

It wasn't a five-star hotel at Stalag Luft III, to say the least, but it wasn't as deplorable as what other prisoners experienced during the war . According to 100th Bomb Group pilot Robert Wolff , “I met more people from our group in that prison camp than I did when I was on active duty.” Wolff described an average day at Stalag Luft III, noting that the day began at 6 in the morning. They were given a breakfast that was only some bread filled with sawdust. Lunch was usually a light potato soup, and for dinner the prisoners were served a meat and potato roll.

Food was one of the greatest concerns in the overcrowded POW camps.​​​​​ Officers in Stalag Luft III were not expected to work. Austin Butler's character Gale "Bucky" Cleven , who was an astrophysicist in real life, actually taught advanced calculus to the other members of the "Bloody 100th" to pass the time. Other activities included soccer, cricket, softball, volleyball, golf, and ice hockey. The airmen's situation was clearly not as dire, dreadful, and deadly as the Jewish concentration camps like Auschwitz, Dachau, and many other horrifying sites .

Masters of the Air poster featuring cast

The True Story Behind 'Masters of the Air's "Bloody 100th"

'the great escape' is based on stalag luft iii.

Charles Bronson as Danny

In 1943-1944, there was an actual escape attempt that was led by Roger Bushell, a Royal Air Force pilot who had been shot down over France during the attempt to evacuate British forces at Dunkirk . In the spring of 1943, Bushell assembled more than 600 POWs, and they began building three tunnels with the code names of Tom, Dick, and Harry. Each tunnel was built to extend more than the length of a football field all the way to the protection of the treeline outside the camp’s perimeter fence. The men had to scavenge for months around Stalag Luft III for the necessary materials.

The 1963 film The Great Escape , starring Steve McQueen , Richard Attenborough, James Garner , and Charles Bronson is highly fictionalized, but the building of the tunnels and their names are based on a real-life story. By March 1944, the tunnels were complete, and the plan was for 200 men to escape, but only 76 made it out and then were faced with navigating their way back home . The Nazis caught 73 escapees and executed 50 of them.

How Accurate Is 'Masters of the Air's Portrayal of Stalag Luft III?

According to the episode summary for Masters of the Air Part 7, Gale "Buck" Cleven and John "Bucky" Egan, along with the rest of the men imprisoned at Stalag Luft III, will face the daunting task of trying to establish some kind of communication with the outside world while under the watchful eye of the Nazi forces. If depicted accurately, the men of the 100th will not face a deadly situation, but instead will be subject to strict supervision similar to the prisons found in the United States at the time.

Masters of the Air streams a new episode every Friday night on Apple TV+ in the U.S.

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star trek the creator episode

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http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Recap/StarTrekS2E3TheChangeling

Recap / Star Trek S2 E3 "The Changeling"

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Original air date: September 29, 1967

The episode starts off as most episodes start off: with the Enterprise on its way to a planet for Kirk to screw around with. Only, this time … there's no planet. The entire system they were assigned to go to has had all of its organic life forms vaporized , leading the crew to wonder just what the hell is going on. The answer comes in the form of a tiny vehicle firing massive amounts of plasma energy at the ship, resulting in a weak retaliation and the most ludicrous exchanges known to mankind:

Spock: Our shields absorbed (the) energy equivalent to 90 of our photon torpedoes . The energy used in repulsing this first attack reduced our shielding power 20% . (Kirk orders a single photon torpedoes launched, It does nothing .) Spock: No effect. The target absorbed (the) full energy of our torpedo. Kirk: [incredulous] Absorbed it? ... What could've absorbed that much energy, and survived??

Um … yeah. The Enterprise can absorb 450 torpedo hits , but Kirk is stunned when the other vehicle absorbed the detonation of one torpedo. note  Either they assumed it was a spaceborne Glass Cannon , or that something as small as two meters in length shouldn't be able to withstand that kind of attack.

Anyway, Kirk orders a hail to the probe, which inexplicably stops its attacks. After some exchanges of Translator Microbes , the probe, called "Nomad", ceases hostilities, referring to Kirk as " The Creator " in the process. It's brought aboard, against the concerns of Scotty , and is let loose on the ship. This can't possibly go wrong, can it? I mean, it's not possibly like it's able or willing to Kill All Humans and — oh, wait, it's shown to have the power to annihilate an entire planet's worth of organics, and tells the crew that its mission is to "sterilize all imperfect biological organisms". Right then, moving on …

The big three converge over what exactly Nomad is and what it's doing; it seems like the probe wasn't , in fact, able or willing to cause The End of the World as We Know It , in the first place, and its creator — Jackson Roykirk — programmed it for simple deep space exploration. By its own admission, Nomad clearly had an incident with what it calls "The Other", which altered its structure and programming, causing it to become Bender's non-alcoholic and more abusive ancestor and mistaking Kirk for its builder. Unfortunately, by the time they realize this, Nomad has already been lured to the bridge by the siren's song of Uhura, which confuses it and causes it to wipe her memory when it can't discern the logic of "music". And it kills Scotty, too, when he tries to interfere, but the machine fixes him right up afterwards, so it's no big deal. Of course, with Uhura's brain now wiped, we get a hilarious re-education subplot involving her trying to read "The dog has a ball". note  Unfortunately, the broadcast version of the remastered episode has severely truncated the scene where Uhura is re-learning how to read.

With time running out, and information on what happened to Nomad still scanty, Spock somehow manages to mind-meld with the thing. It turns out "The Other" is a probe called "Tan-Ru", sent by an alien society to collect and sterilize soil samples as a prelude to colonization, and they combined during a self-repair attempt into the current Nomad. How that gave it the ability to nuke a world is left to the imagination, and there is no time to speculate, as Nomad has shut down the life support systems of the ship, threatening everyone on board. After confronting the killer probe and confirming that its death orders have no loophole, Kirk does what he does best: confuse a computer to death, by dropping the Logic Bomb that Nomad isn't perfect as it mistook him for its long-dead creator. This melts down two computers — Nomad itself, and Spock's brain, as Kirk was never one for flawless logic, but luckily they're able to beam the probe off the ship before it blows itself up.

The Tropeling:

  • A.I. Is a Crapshoot : Nomad, a deep-space probe, clearly had an incident with what it calls "The Other", quickly revealed to be an alien probe named Tan-Ru, which altered its structure and programming, causing it to become self-aware . Part of its new programming includes the sterilization of life as a prelude to alien colonization, corrupted from Tan-Ru's original mission. Spock: (mind-melding into a Machine Monotone ) I am Nomad. I am performing my … function. Deep emptiness … it approaches … collision … damage … blackness. … I am the Other. I am Tan-Ru … Tan-Ru … Nomad … Tan-Ru … error. Flaw. Imperfection. Must … sterilize. ( Beat ) Rebirth … we are complete … much power … gan ta nu ik-ta Tan-Ru … the Creator … instructs … search out … identify … sterilize imperfections. … We are Nomad … we are Nomad … we are complete. We are instructed … our purpose is clear … sterilize imperfections … sterilize imperfections … Nomad — sterilize — sterilize — NOMAD — STERILIZE —
  • A Million Is a Statistic : A planetary population of four billion, sterilized by Nomad, isn't mentioned again in the episode.
  • Back from the Dead : Scotty.
  • Nomad claims that its mission is non-hostile, after having killed the inhabitants of four worlds .
  • Spock claims that Kirk was just testing Nomad's memory banks, because he realised that Nomad's assumption that Kirk was The Creator was the only thing stopping it from 'purging' the 'biological infestation' on Enterprise .
  • Blue-and-Orange Morality : Nomad is simply a computer carrying out (the garbled remnants of) its programming and that of Tan-Ru.
  • Bread, Eggs, Breaded Eggs : Nomad and Tan-Ru's programming is a rare dramatic example. Nomad's orders: Seek out new life forms. Tan-Ru's orders: Collect soil samples and sterilize them. Final result : Seek out and sterilize imperfect life forms.
  • Continuity Nod : The song Uhura sings is "Beyond Antares", which she'd sung in full back in "The Conscience of the King" .
  • Cooldown Hug : Kirk gives Spock one after a Mind Meld goes bad.
  • Creator Cameo : Marc Daniels, the director of the episode, appears as the photo of Jackson Roykirk (at 17 minutes and 48 seconds into the episode, to be precise).
  • Death is Cheap : Scotty is killed by Nomad, then revived by it in a matter of minutes no worse for wear.
  • Early-Installment Weirdness : The Enterprise is stated as passing warp 10 and then warp 15. Later series would establish warp 10 as the absolute maximum way to quantify speed and as infinite speed . This has led to fanon that in between TOS & TNG, the method of calculating warp speed was changed.
  • Easy Amnesia : Nomad claims he's completely erased Uhura's mind, yet she is nearly "re-educated" by the end of the episode. It implies that Nomad didn't actually erase Uhura's memories, but simply blocked her access to them, another strike against the machine's supposed "perfection".
  • "Eureka!" Moment : In the final confrontation with Nomad, Kirk, after confirming several times that Nomad will "sterilize" anything that is imperfect or in error without exception, decides to convince the probe that it itself is imperfect, and by its own logic should be eliminated .
  • Exact Words : Kirk asks Nomad if he destroyed the system where they found him. He answers truthfully, "Not the 'system', but the biological infestation ."
  • Fusion Dance : Spock's mind-meld with Nomad reveals that, after their collision long ago, Nomad and Tan-Ru underwent one of these as they merged and self-repaired. The "new" Nomad kept the Earth probe's name, the alien probe's power and hardware, and a blend of each other's programming (settling on "search out … identify … sterilize imperfections ").
  • Gone Horribly Right : Nomad upgrades the Enterprise 's engines, causing it to reach warp 10 and then warp 15 . However, the ship starts to break down because it is not designed to travel that fast, and so Kirk demands the upgrades reversed.
  • Hates Being Touched : Nomad. Trying to touch it is not a good idea. Whether or not this is because it interprets any contact as an attack is not known. It will, however, allow itself to be touched (e.g. by Spock) if Kirk orders it to do so, because it believes that Kirk is its Creator.
  • I'm Standing Right Here : Bones is clearly offended when Nomad says that he "functions erratically".
  • "It" Is Dehumanizing : Nomad refers to everyone, human or Vulcan, as a "unit".
  • It Runs on Nonsensoleum : How Nomad packs so much power into a couple-metres-long probe is never really explained.
  • Jewish Mother : Invoked by Kirk, with tongue firmly in cheek, mock-mourning the probe that thought Kirk had created it: "You saw what it did to Scotty. What a doctor it would have made. [beat] My son, the doctor."
  • Just Testing You : After Kirk asks Nomad why Nomad refers to him as "The Creator", Spock quickly interrupts, telling Nomad that "The Creator was just testing your memory banks".
  • Little "No" : Spock: My congratulations, Captain. A dazzling display of logic. Kirk: You didn't think I had it in me, did you, Spock? Spock: No, sir.
  • In the climax, Kirk convinces Nomad that it is itself imperfect by revealing that its creator, Jackson Roykirk, is dead and that Nomad mistook Kirk for him. Then he says that Nomad made another error by not discovering the first error, and then committed a third error by not sterilizing itself after the first two. This sends Nomad into a Villainous Breakdown that leads to its self-destruction.
  • Also subverted earlier in the episode. Nomad came to see that Kirk (who it still thought was its Creator) also qualified as an "imperfect" being. When Kirk asked it how an imperfect being could have created a perfect machine, Nomad simply concluded that it had no idea.
  • Machine Monotone : Spock slowly takes on this speech pattern as he mind-melds with Nomad, and even as he backs away from the probe, showing the gradual Mind Rape inflicted by the probe's powerful artificial intelligence.
  • Spock says "… Nomad … sterilize …" over and over again after a mind meld gone wrong with the probe NOMAD.
  • Nomad, after Kirk gives it a Logic Bomb , causing the probe to repeatedly shout "error", "analyze", "examine", "faulty" and so on in a progressively higher and more distorted tone until it self-destructs.
  • Mistaken Identity : Nomad thinks Kirk is his creator, Dr. Jackson Roykirk.
  • Oh, Crap! : When Kirk, angry over Nomad referring to the redshirts he "sterilized" as "biological units", answers, "I'm a biological unit and I created you!" This confuses Nomad, and Kirk realizes that he was foolish to say it, as it now leaves everyone open to "sterilization".
  • Only Mostly Dead : Scotty, but he gets better thanks to Nomad's intervention.
  • Only Sane Man : Scotty is the only crew member who objects to bringing a planet-sterilizing superweapon aboard the ship. McCoy, to an extent, is also all kinds of apprehensive.
  • Pintsized Powerhouse : Nomad, five hundred kilograms and a metre or two long, can knock out the Enterprise shields with just three blasts.
  • Scotty is zapped by Nomad but revived, whereas every other Red Shirt it attacks is completely vaporized.
  • Nurse Chapel somehow survives trying to stop Nomad from accessing Kirk's medical records as well, being only stunned. It happened off screen, so we don't know exactly how threatening she was to Nomad.
  • Kirk also reveals at one point that he is a "biological unit" and thus imperfect, but his status as the Creator in Nomad's mind means Nomad never seriously tries to "sterilize" him.
  • Poke in the Third Eye : The mind-meld with the probe's artificial mind goes seriously wrong, to the point that Spock is sent into a near-catatonic state as Nomad takes control of the meld. Kirk, who Nomad fortunately respects as its "Creator", has to order Nomad to let go of Spock and drag the Vulcan out into the corridor to recover.
  • P.O.V. Cam : We get a couple of them from Nomad. Once when he follows a leery Bones to sickbay, and once when he walks off with some disgruntled guards.
  • Reaction Shot : When Kirk drops the Logic Bomb , the camera briefly cuts to Nomad; it doesn't visibly react, but one can easily imagine that it's thinking "WTF?" after the Wham Line .
  • Red Shirt : One of the highest body counts in the series, as Nomad vaporizes four security guards when he breaks confinement and kills (or at least incapacitates) two others.
  • Robo Speak : This is how Nomad talks.
  • Screen Shake : And it's a doozy, with the entire bridge crew hurled back and forth as Nomad's opening shot hits the shields.
  • Significant Name Overlap : It's downplayed, but James T. Kirk and Jackson Roykirk have some naming similarities, such as their first initials and the last (or all) four letters of their surnames. This is enough for Nomad, with its garbled programming, to mistake Kirk for Roykirk as its "Creator", and eventually lead to its own self-destruction after the mistake is clearly identified.
  • Snap Back : Uhura is back to normal by the next episode, despite last being seen being taught to read again and only being able to speak Swahili. An earlier draft of the script had Nomad explaining that it had not purged her brain completely — her memories and experiences were intact, but her ability to express language was wiped. This line was probably cut for time. They probably taught her Swahili first because it was her original language. (By the way, she first says Sikumbuka — "I can't remember" — then ina mbwa ni tufe, "the dog has a ball.") The James Blish novelization still has this version.
  • Speaks in Binary : Nomad while in space. It later changes to a mathematical message requesting language equivalence.
  • This Cannot Be! : Kirk when told the entire population of the system has been destroyed, then when told that Nomad just absorbed the energy of a detonating photon torpedo with no damage.
  • Title Drop : When Kirk discusses with Spock the old notion of a changeling — a creature left in place of a baby by the Fair Folk .
  • Too Dumb to Live : You would think that after the deaths of the first couple of redshirts , the others would quit firing on the damn thing. But they don't.
  • Touched by Vorlons : Nomad's destructive abilities were enhanced after the impact with an alien probe.
  • Unexplained Recovery : Scott was tempting fate, wearing that red shirt in every episode. He got better, but at least four other Redshirts weren't so lucky.

star trek the creator episode

  • Villainous Breakdown : Kirk's Logic Bomb to Nomad leaves the probe shaking and erratically shouting "Error", "Analyze", "Must sterilize" and variations thereof in a rising and distorted voice, as it builds up to self-destruct.
  • Weapon of Mass Destruction : Nomad counts as one, after its fusion with Tan-Ru.
  • We Come in Peace — Shoot to Kill : Kirk assures Nomad that they mean no harm, moments after firing a photon torpedo at it. And then Nomad, in a major Refuge in Audacity moment, states that its own mission is non-hostile, moments after pummeling the Enterprise with powerful energy bolts.
  • What Measure Is a Non-Human? : Inverted. Nomad wants to kill anything that's too human. Spock is spared because he is so much more "orderly" than the human crew members. Spock seems almost flattered to be described as such.
  • Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds : Aw, he's just a little lost robot doing what he thinks he was programmed to do!
  • Writers Cannot Do Math : The range to Nomad when it is firing at Enterprise is given as 90,000 km, and the plasma bolts are travelling at Warp 15. They shouldn't be taking several seconds to impact, they should be covering that distance in a tiny fraction of a second.

Video Example(s):

Captain kirk and nomad.

Captain Kirk exploits Nomad's belief that it is perfect and programming to eliminate imperfections by pointing out something it overlooked: In mistaking Kirk for its creator, it is itself imperfect, and thus must eliminate itself.

Example of: Logic Bomb

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Published Jan 18, 2014

Remembering "Datalore" 26 Years Later

star trek the creator episode

Do you remember where you were on January 18, 1988? If you were a Star Trek: The Next Generation fan at the time, odds are you were watching the debut of “ Datalore ,” season one’s 13th episode. It was a vital TNG hour, and for several reasons. It, of course, introduced the character of Lore, Data’s “evil twin,” with Brent Spiner doing double duty as both Data and Lore. It was the last episode written by Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry. It was the fourth of 13 TNG episodes directed by Rob Bowman and is considered both one of his best efforts and one of the show’s most memorable outings.

StarTrek.com caught up with Spiner and Bowman recently for separate “Datalore”-specific interviews. Spiner provided some intriguing insight, but cited the passage of time – and the fact that he may never have actually seen the finished episode – for any foggy memories. Bowman, who was scouting a location for an upcoming episode of Castle when we caught up with him, was almost savant-like in offering details, anecdotes and context. Here’s what they had to say beginning with Brent Spiner.

star trek the creator episode

How important to you and the evolution of Data was the introduction of Lore?

SPINER: I enjoyed the opportunity to play a different character. I always enjoyed playing Lore because it gave me the chance to cut loose a bit. I would've loved to do a Lore episode where he didn't even come into contact with the Enterprise and Data. Just to see what the heck he was doing when he wasn't wreaking havoc on his brother. What went on in an ordinary day in the life of Lore?

The "evil twin" idea for this episode was reportedly your suggestion. Had you taken the idea to Gene Roddenberry? To Rick Berman? And was it in response to a script draft you didn't like, or just an idea you'd wanted to see realized for a while?

SPINER: The idea wasn't mine. Maybe someone is confusing that with my desire to play Dr. Soong after the character was already written. They originally thought of Keye Luke for the role, but I talked Rick into using me instead. Lore was completely Gene's idea as far as I remember. And, being that it was 26 years ago, I'm not sure of anything.

star trek the creator episode

What do you remember most about the challenges of playing both roles, especially when you were supposed to be interacting with yourself?

SPINER: Really the challenges were mostly technical, (such as) trying to imagine where the other "me" was in the frame. But, as I've said before, it gave me the opportunity to work with my favorite actor.

What kind of input did you get from Rob Bowman?

SPINER: Rob was very helpful in every way. He's a very creative and skilled director and he came to us with loads of enthusiasm. That was very surprising for a director who still had grape punch around his mouth. I mean, after all, he was about nine when he directed this episode. I joke, but he was our youngest director. We called him, "the kid.”

When was the last time you saw the episode, and how well do you feel it holds up?

SPINER: I honestly can't be sure I ever watched the episode. Maybe I did. But, it was 26 years ago. And, I'd have to watch it now to tell you whether it holds up. And I intend to. Right after I watch all of Breaking Bad .

Rob, y ou were not supposed to direct this episode. At the time, how disappointed were you that you didn't wind up helming " The Big Goodbye "?

star trek the creator episode

BOWMAN: I wanted “The Big Goodbye” because Rick had told me that world was coming up in a script and I was a very big fan of the genre as a young film student. And it was such a departure that I thought it would be fun. I thought it would have something to add and offer to the series, but they told me that it wasn’t ready, but that “Datalore” was. So I went the other way with it. I went to Brent and I said, “Look, they’re giving this to us, and it feels like we’re getting second-tier material, but let’s show ‘em.” I remember making a pact with Brent that we were going to make it a great show, that we were going to try very hard and not deliver less than the very best we could. I know that’s what everybody was expecting anyway. And, by the way, I thought Joe Scanlon did a fantastic with “The Big Goodbye.” I was very impressed, me being a young director, with a lot of the things he did there. I thought, “Wow, that’s really sophisticated and smart, and I don’t know if I would have done that.” So, in the end, both shows ended up with the right guy. And, luckily, “Datalore” has hung around as one of the favorites.

It’s why we’re on the phone now. How far along was the script by the time you got on the episode?

BOWMAN: It was a work in progress. And, if memory serves, it was too long, but what it didn’t have in it was the attitude that Brent was going to bring to Lore, which added a lot of dynamics to it. That was one of the concerns with the episode, would it be compelling and interesting and dramatic and dynamic? The first time I saw Brent play Lore, I knew we had it. I asked him during prep, while he was shooting the show before it, if he had a “Lore face.” He showed me his Lore face and I sort of put that in my pocket, thinking, “Oh, nobody knows how great this is going to be.”

The TNG Companion says that the "evil twin" idea was Brent’s. Brent, however, said it was Gene Roddenberry’s. Do you know where the idea came from?

BOWMAN: No. I don’t know.

star trek the creator episode

The evil twin device has been used a million times in films and shows. So, in what ways did you think you could use that would be fresh and new?

BOWMAN: Data is very reliant, reliable, dependable and predictable, and he also operates within very strict parameters, particularly behavioral parameters. So when you have somebody (like Lore) who is behaviorally unlocked and unrestricted, and petulant and very enigmatic, you don’t know what’s going to happen. So you’ve got the complete polar opposites, predictability and reliability and completely unpredictability and unreliability, untrustworthy. And, all embodied within the same external visage, it’s very creepy to see some version of Data behave almost willfully antagonistic, which is not something we’d ever expect from Data. Lore had none of Data’s very positive character attributes. He was completely narcissistic, which is a dangerous attribute and not at all like Data. So it created a lot of conflict.

Give us an anecdote about Brent differentiating Data and Lore.

star trek the creator episode

BOWMAN: You had to ask, even when Lore is being sincere, can you trust him? Does he have an agenda? Can you trust his word? No, you never could. And I remember there was a shot at the end of some scene where somebody winds up on the floor. The last shot of the scene is a slight Dutch angle where Lore stands up, in close-up. I was looking for just a scent of wickedness to convey to the audience, a privileged point of view that would not be to the other characters in the scene as they were walking out the room, that Lore was up to something, again, narcissistically. I ended up using a piece (of footage shot) right after I said “Cut,” because Brent had just finished having so much fun playing Lore that his glee, relishing what he had done, was in his eyes. That’s the shot that’s in the show. That was after “Cut.” You could see that it was Brent thinking, “That was a lot of fun to play,” and it was so much different than the very rigid, compliant Data.

This was the last episode Roddenberry was credited with having a hand in writing. Did you get any input from him?

BOWMAN: No, certainly not that I recall. My very first episode, earlier that season, which was “ Where No Man Has Gone Before ,” he came down on my second or third day and was very pleased with what he was seeing. From that point on I didn’t see him too much for the rest of the show. They’d go find him in his office now and then, but he certainly left me alone, which I took as a compliment.

At the end of the day, in what ways did the introduction of Lore help develop/humanize Data?

star trek the creator episode

BOWMAN: Well, because of Lore’s unpredictability and narcissism – as I think back to my own thoughts at the time – it created a question in Data about who he was. And the question was, “Is there any of that in me?” To me, it almost brought a degree of increased humility into Data because he knew a part of him was in Lore and vice versa. The fear of becoming that kind of person, instead of being pristine and perfect, which I believe Data thought he was before, without him being egotistical about it, gave him something to think about. He might have some internal flaws that hadn’t surfaced yet or some behavioral characteristics genetically, and I think that was a humbling thing for Data -- and for Brent deciding who the two were. It was interesting in that Data didn’t want to be like Lore, but he loved his brother in spite of his flaws. That’s what I remember of thinking about in terms of how Lore affects Data from this point forward.

How does the episode hold up all this time later?

BOWMAN: I haven’t seen it in a long time. Brent’s performance will hold up forever.

Last question: Do you have a photographic memory? If someone 26 years from now comes to you from the official Castle site and asks you to remember details from season four, episode 16, do you think you’ll be able to do it?

BOWMAN: (laughs). I might.

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‘star trek’ writer ron moore reveals fight behind classic ‘next generation’ episode.

As "Redemption Part I" turns 30, Moore shares why 'Trek' creator Gene Roddenberry pushed back against the Worf-centric story.

By Phil Pirrello

Phil Pirrello

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STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION, Michael Dorn

“When I started at Star Trek , the Klingons were already part and parcel of the franchise. But when you really broke it down, you didn’t know that much about them.”

Star Trek fans can thank writer Ronald D. Moore for helping us get to know more about the franchise’s iconic villains, as he was “the Klingon Guy” on Star Trek: The Next Generation whenever the series wanted to mine the popular alien race for more story and drama. Moore’s crowning achievement in that regard was “Redemption, Parts I and II.” “Part I” served as the season four finale in 1991 and the series’ 100th episode. In this epic installment, the Enterprise’s Klingon officer Worf (Michael Dorn) is forced to choose between Starfleet and his people when a civil war threatens to tear the Klingon Empire apart. This landmark episode, which celebrates its 30th anniversary on June 17, almost never happened — thanks in large part to an internal conflict behind the scenes that mirrored the one audiences would see onscreen.

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The source of this conflict? Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry.

“I remember that Gene was not fully on board with the idea,” Moore tells The Hollywood Reporter . “He didn’t really see Worf as a primary character. [ TNG ] was about Picard. He was the Captain. This was the first time that Next Gen — that Star Trek , really — had ever done a big war story like this. And this was going to be the series’ 100th episode on top of it. So, we had to fight somewhat to get the episode going.”

Executive producer Rick Berman and late TNG showrunner Michael Piller helped run interference on that front to get the episode greenlit, as they did earlier in season four for another Moore-scripted episode, “Family.” In fact, Piller and the staff originally planned for the “Redemption” Klingon civil war arc to be the cliffhanger for season three. But the episode was pushed in favor of what would become the popular Borg storyline “ The Best of Both Worlds .”

Once the episode was officially approved, Moore leaped at the chance to continue the Klingon world-building that he started with the Klingon-centric season three episode “Sins of the Father.” In fact, Moore’s first official writing assignment involving Klingons — apart from his Worf-focused spec episode, “The Bonding” — occurred very early in his tenure with TNG .

Recalls Moore: “Michael Piller — on my first week — because he knew I was a fan, and he was new to the show and Trek and was trying to get his feet under him, he said: ‘Just write me a memo on who the Klingons are.’ So I was like, ‘OK! I’m going to write you a memo on who the Klingons are.'”

That memo helped lay the foundation for “Redemption,” whose events would impact the next 30 years of Star Trek .

“[That is something] that I did not really expect,” Moore reveals. “It is kind of funny because, when I started at Star Trek , there were only a handful of episodes of The Original Series at the time that focused on them. And they make a cameo appearance, essentially, in Star Trek: The Motion Picture , and are the villains in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. They were just kind of ‘the bad guys’ of Star Trek . And you never really learn that much about them.”

What we learn about the Klingons in “Redemption” is that the villainous Duras sisters are manipulating politics on their homeworld and working in secret with the Romulans to help their ascent to power.

“They are great characters; I really enjoyed writing them,” Moore says. “They were these big, Shakespearean characters that you could really take some big swings with. Michael was the one who initially came up with the idea of having these two sisters be the foil and the people pulling the strings behind this Klingon power grab.”

The siblings would go on to appear in the first Next Gen feature film, 1994’s Star Trek: Generations .

The character that Moore did have a hand in creating for the first half of this two-parter, the half-Romulan, half-human Sela (former TNG regular Denise Crosby), appears in the cliffhanger’s final scene, a shocker that TNG spent most of the season setting up. Sela — the offspring of an alternate timeline version of Crosby’s Tasha Yar character and a Romulan — first appeared in shadow during season four’s “The Mind’s Eye,” a Geordi [La Forge, played by LeVar Burton]-centric episode with a twisty, Manchurian Candidate -esque story where the Romulans conspire with Klingons in an assassination plot. Crosby had the idea for Sela during production on the classic season three episode “Yesterday’s Enterprise,” and Moore and the rest of the TNG writing staff used the events leading up to “Redemption” as a way to introduce fans to that character. In fact, Moore says that revealing Sela, and building up the Klingon mythos, was to use “Redemption” as a means to tear it all down.

“That was definitely the intent. It was like, ‘OK, now let’s just get into it.’ At that point in the series, we were at a place where we could really mess with it. Give them a civil war, and let’s really get into how the power struggles with leadership would really work,” says Moore. “And explore the great Klingon [family] houses, and the great dynasties and histories. Especially the rules of the planet and how they conduct warfare. I loved writing that two-parter. It was just really fun to go off into that world.”

Thanks to Moore’s work, the world he helped build still looms large in the Trek universe.

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10 star trek sequels to past episodes.

TNG, DS9, and Voyager have a surprising number of episodes that are sequels to earlier episodes of Star Trek.

  • Star Trek episodes occasionally feature sequels to earlier episodes, allowing for a cohesive continuity in the franchise.
  • The Berman era shows frowned upon serialization but had a surprising number of sequel episodes to maintain continuity.
  • Star Trek: The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, and Voyager all have standalone episodes that can be enjoyed by new viewers.

There are a surprising number of Star Trek episodes that are essentially sequels to earlier episodes, either within the same show, or on other shows in the same era. In Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Voyager , and earlier seasons of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, the common practice was that each episode of Star Trek was a single, stand-alone story that didn't require too much foreknowledge of earlier events in the Star Trek timeline . In a time before streaming, when it was harder to watch a show from the very beginning, any Star Trek episode could be someone's first, so this ensured that new viewers weren't lost.

While serialization was generally frowned upon in the 1980s and 1990s trio of Star Trek shows, episodes occasionally cropped up that directly referenced events of earlier episodes. Guest characters returned, sometimes years later, to tie up the loose ends that were left dangling in their earlier appearances. Characters' memories were triggered by being in similar situations. Unlike multi-part episodes or the miniature arcs that later happened on DS9 and Voyager , sequel episodes happen long after the consequences of earlier episodes have had time to develop , sometimes after years have passed.

Star trek enterprise archer the next generation picard captain burnham

How To Watch All Star Trek TV Shows In Timeline Order

10 star trek: voyager season 6, episode 17 - "spirit folk", sequel to star trek: voyager season 6, episode 11 - "fair haven".

In the 19th-century Irish town of Fair Haven, rumors abound that mysterious "Outsiders" may be magical spirit folk. Lt. Tom Paris (Robert Duncan McNeill) controls the weather, Ensign Harry Kim (Garrett Wang) once turned Maggie O'Halloran (Henriette Ivanans) into a cow, and Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) may have bewitched Michael Sullivan (Fintan McKeown). Of course, Fair Haven is Tom's holodeck program that ran constantly before a massive power drain erased all but 10% of its original code in "Fair Haven". "Spirit Folk" sees Fair Haven's residents witness a few too many "miracles" as their home is rebuilt, cluing them in to the truth of their existence.

With only six episodes between each installment, "Fair Haven" has the shortest amount of time until its sequel, "Spirit Folk".

9 Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 6, Episode 19 - "Lessons"

Sequel to star trek: the next generation season 5, episode 25 - "the inner light".

Star Trek TNG Inner Light Picard

In Star Trek: The Next Generation 's outstanding "The Inner Light", an alien probe causes Captain Picard to live the life of Kamin, a family man on the dying planet Kataan, within the span of about 20 minutes. Picard's experience as Kamin is profound, but rarely addressed on-screen until "Lessons". Jean-Luc's romance with the musical head of stellar sciences, Lt. Commander Nella Daren (Wendy Hughes), prompts Picard to confess that he does know how to play the Ressikan flute. After bonding with Nella through musical duets, Picard reveals he acquired the flute from the probe, and knowledge of how to play it from living as Kamin , garnering Nella's sympathy.

8 Star Trek: Voyager Season 7, Episodes 9 & 10 - "Flesh & Blood"

Sequel to star trek: voyager season 4, episodes 18 & 19 - "the killing game".

janeway confronts hirogen voyager flesh and blood

The predatory Hirogen commandeer the USS Voyager in "The Killing Game", turning the holodecks into their personal playgrounds to hunt Voyager's crew as unwilling prey. Despite the fact that holodecks were used to harm Captain Janeway and Voyager's crew , Janeway believes that Starfleet hologram technology can actually help the Hirogen continue their sacred hunt without killing anyone else. The Hirogen believe the hunt is meaningless if their prey don't feel pain, so "Flesh & Blood" reveals that the Hirogen programmed their holograms to be sentient . Star Trek: Voyager season 7 explores the personhood of holograms, so it's up for debate whether that's any different than hunting organic people.

7 Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 6, Episode 26 - "Descent, Part 1"

Sequel to star trek: the next generation season 5, episode 23 - "i, borg".

Jonathan Del Arco portraying Hugh in Star Trek TNG

Star Trek: The Next Generation closes its sixth season with "Descent, Part 1", the first half of a two-part episode that sees the USS Enterprise crew face off against a new type of Borg, detached from the greater Borg Collective. These new, emotional Borg call themselves as "I" instead of "we", and call each other by name -- in other words, they're individuals. A year earlier, in "I, Borg", Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton) repaired and befriended a lone drone, Hugh (Jonathan del Arco). The concept of individuality was introduced to the Borg after Hugh returned to the Collective , but instead of becoming hopeful individuals, other Borg respond to liberation with vengeance.

star-trek-enemy-aliens-became-heroes

8 Star Trek Enemy Aliens Who Became Heroes

6 star trek: voyager season 5, episode 3 - "false profits", sequel to star trek: the next generation season 3, episode 8 - "the price".

Janeway and Tuvok talk to Ferengi in Voyager False Profits

In Star Trek: The Next Generation 's "The Price", negotiations over ownership of a stable wormhole near Barzan II attract the attention of Ferengi delegates Arridor (Dan Shor) and Kol (J.R. Quinonez). While the wormhole is said to connect to the Gamma Quadrant, a test flight finds Kol and Arridor stranded in the Delta Quadrant after the surprisingly un stable wormhole vanishes before they can turn around. Seven years later, in Star Trek: Voyager 's "False Profits", the similarly stranded USS Voyager crew is surprised to discover Arridor and Kol (Leslie Jordan) so far from home, but less surprised that the Ferengi are swindling the pre-warp Takarians by using replicator technology to pose as important religious figures.

5 Star Trek: Voyager Season 5, Episode 18 - "Course: Oblivion"

Sequel to star trek: voyager season 4, episode 24 - "demon".

Janeway's duplicate in the Star Trek: Voyager episode

Star Trek: Voyager' s "Course: Oblivion" opens with the long-awaited wedding of Tom Paris and B'Elanna Torres (Roxann Dawson) , and the celebration of upgrades that will shorten the USS Voyager's journey home to only 2 years. All is not well for long, however, as a mysterious radiation sickness befalls Voyager's crew, and one by one they, along with the ship, suffer total cellular degradation. Over a year ago, in "Demon", Voyager encountered biomemetic "silverblood" organisms that were allowed to replicate the USS Voyager and its crew , but Voyager left the Demon-class natives on their home planet. Surely the silverbloods didn't forget that they're not the real Voyager crew and set a course for Earth ... right?

4 Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season 3, Episode 9 - "Defiant"

Sequel to star trek: the next generation season 6, episode 24 - "second chances".

Star Trek TNG Thomas Riker Second Chances

In Star Trek: Deep Space Nine 's "Defiant", Commander Will Riker (Jonathan Frakes) pays a visit to the Deep Space Nine station while ostensibly on vacation, and befriends Major Kira Nerys (Nana Visitor). Kira agrees to give Riker a tour of the USS Defiant, but as soon as they're aboard, Riker turns against Kira, revealing he isn't Will, but Thomas . Several years earlier, the USS Enterprise discovered a second Will Riker had materialized from a reflected transporter beam, who elected to rename himself Thomas Riker to pursue his own Starfleet career. DS9 reveals that hadn't worked out, so Thomas Riker joined the Maquis and intended to steal the Defiant by posing as Will.

3 Star Trek: Voyager Season 7, Episode 19 - "Q2"

Sequel to star trek: voyager season 3, episode 11 - "the q & the grey".

In "The Q and the Grey", Q (John de Lancie) comes to the USS Voyager with intentions to procreate with Captain Janeway, believing that a Q-human hybrid will reunite the fractured Q Continuum. Repulsed by the idea, Janeway convinces Q that the Continuum would be better served by Q's union with Miss Q (Suzie Plakson) . The product of that union arrives four years later in "Q2", as the intolerable adolescent Q Junior (Keegan de Lancie), who has only sown chaos instead of bringing peace to the Continuum. Bringing Junior to Voyager is a test, as most things are with Q, to see if Junior can learn anything from "Aunt Kathy" and Starfleet ideals.

That family resemblance is genuine: Q Junior is played by John de Lancie's actual son, Keegan de Lancie.

Star Trek John de Lancie Q TNG Voyager DS9 Picard

Every Q Star Trek Appearance Ranked Worst To Best

2 star trek: the next generation season 6, episode 12 - "ship in a bottle", sequel to star trek: the next generation season 2, episode 3 - "elementary, my dear data".

Lt. Reginald Barclay (Dwight Schultz) accidentally releases the holographic Professor James Moriarty (Daniel Davis) from an unusual program that's been continually running within the ship's computer. Moriarty has been trapped inside the computer, fully conscious while awaiting the development of technology that would let him leave the holodeck. Moriarty insists on leaving the holodeck and the Enterprise, despite being acutely aware he's a hologram. This holographic Moriarty gained sentience four years earlier , when Lt. Commander Data (Brent Spiner) solved Sherlock Holmes' mysteries too easily, and the holodeck altered Holmes' adversary Moriarty to become Data's intellectual equal.

1 Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 7, Episode 15 - "Lower Decks"

Sequel to star trek: the next generation season 5, episode 19 - "the first duty".

Star Trek: The Next Generation 's "Lower Decks" shifts the perspective from the USS Enterprise's senior staff to four junior officers: the go-getting Ensign Sam Lavelle (Dan Gauthier), Vulcan engineer Ensign Taurik (Alexander Enberg), Nurse Alyssa Ogawa (Patti Yasutake), and Ensign Sito Jaxa (Shannon Fill). Sito accepts a dangerous espionage mission as part of a personal redemption arc , after previously appearing as a Starfleet Academy cadet. Sito, like Cadet Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton), was a member of the elite Nova Squadron, which collectively agreed to cover up the irresponsible actions of Cadet Nick Locarno (Robert Duncan McNeill) that led to the death of teammate Joshua Albert.

Star Trek: Lower Decks season 4, episode 10 "Old Friends, New Planets" could be considered the third installment of this arc, with the return of Nick Locarno and the memory of Sito Jaxa having a profound impact on Lt. Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome).

Although serialization was generally frowned upon in the Berman era of Star Trek shows, the surprising number of sequel episodes proves that there was still a relatively cohesive continuity in Star Trek: The Next Generation , Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , and Star Trek: Voyager . DS9 embraced serialization, as the events of individual DS9 episodes built on each other, shaping the story of the Dominion War. Star Trek: Voyager also started to take on a continuity of its own, with character relationships progressing in miniature arcs. Thanks to the use of sequel episodes to maintain continuity, Star Trek showed that actions have consequences, intended or otherwise.

Star Trek: The Next Generation , Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , and Star Trek: Voyager are streaming on Paramount+.

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Harlan Ellison wrote Star Trek’s greatest episode. He hated it.

The famously cantankerous science-fiction legend died this week. The story of “City on the Edge of Forever” represents his career in miniature.

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Share All sharing options for: Harlan Ellison wrote Star Trek’s greatest episode. He hated it.

Harlan Ellison in 1977

Harlan Ellison, the legendary, legendarily irascible speculative fiction writer who died this week at age 84 , wrote the greatest episode of Star Trek ever made. And he hated it.

“The City on the Edge of Forever” aired on April 6, 1967, late in the original series’ first season , and won acclaim for capturing everything Star Trek could do at its best while suggesting weighty themes and emotional depths only hinted at in previous episodes. It won the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation and the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Episodic Drama on Television. Ellison accepted both. Neither salved his bitterness that the episode had been rewritten.

At the Hugos he dedicated the award to “the memory of the script they butchered, and in respect to those parts of it that had the vitality to shine through the evisceration.” “The City on the Edge of Forever” that aired may have been praised by virtually everyone who saw it, but it wasn’t his “City on the Edge of Forever,” and a compromised triumph was no triumph at all for Ellison. Ellison would spend the next several decades being publicly aggrieved by “City on the Edge of Forever.”

Was the reaction overkill? Of course. Overkill was part of Ellison’s persona. He held grudges. He deployed lawsuits liberally, sometimes successfully. (He’s now acknowledged in the credits of The Terminator thanks to one such suit.) He boasted of assaulting his publisher in the ’80s . And many never looked at him the same way after he groped author Connie Willis at the Hugos in 2006, for which he apologized — then grew angry when the apology wasn’t immediately accepted.

Ellison was famous for his contributions to science fiction and American literature, which extend well beyond his Star Trek script. But he was also famous for his grievances. The story of “The City on the Edge of Forever” represents that duality in miniature, and helps explain what made him both a beloved and divisive figure.

Star Trek ’s best episode is credited to Harlan Ellison alone. It was a lie he would not let stand.

Leonard Nimoy (as Mr. Spock), DeForest Kelley (as Dr. McCoy) and William Shatner (as Captain James T. Kirk) stand in front of The Guardian Of Forever

Here’s the version of “The City on the Edge of Forever” that’s been seen by countless viewers since 1967: After administering a small dose of a dangerous drug to Lt. Sulu (George Takei), Dr. McCoy (DeForest Kelley) accidentally administers a massive dose to his own abdomen after getting knocked about when the Enterprise hits some interference from a strange time distortion.

Driven temporarily mad, McCoy beams down to the nearest planet, home to the Guardian of Forever, a talking portal that allows visitors to travel through time and space. When McCoy uses it to travel back to Depression-era New York, the Enterprise ’s landing party learns their ship has disappeared. Whatever McCoy has done has distorted history in such a way that the universe as they know it has ceased to exist.

Captain Kirk (William Shatner) and Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy) give chase, in time learning that McCoy has changed time by saving the life of Edith Keeler (Joan Collins), the near-saintly proprietor of a soup kitchen. If allowed to live, her idealistic message of pacifism and tolerance will delay the United States’ entry into World War II, allowing Hitler to develop the atomic bomb, win the war, and dominate the Earth — shutting the door on the hopeful future imagined throughout the series.

And so, as Spock says twice in the episode — first as a question then as a statement arrived at through cold, hard logic — Edith Keeler must die. The only problem: Kirk has fallen in love with her and isn’t sure he can bring himself to let her die. But, after reuniting with McCoy, he does just that, stopping the doctor from saving Edith from a truck that strikes her down in the street.

Many elements contribute to the episode’s greatness. The Guardian’s planet is an eerie, dreamlike place, one that inspires Kirk to comment, with understated poetic flair, “These ruins stretch to the horizon.” Journeyman director Joseph Pevney wisely lets the atmosphere, both of the alien world and 1930s New York, do a lot of the work.

Then there’s Shatner, who, often justifiably, gets a lot of flak for laying it on thick, but his performance here is measured. His love for Edith feels real, far removed from the flings seen in previous episodes. So does his heartbreak.

Yet much of the brilliance can be traced back to the script. Star Trek had raised philosophical issues before, but few as thorny as whether taking one life can be justified in the name of a greater good. And not just any life: Kirk falls for Edith because she’s virtuous and beautiful and finds him charming, sure, but also because she’s the living embodiment of the utopian principles he’s sworn to uphold as a member of Starfleet.

She believes in humanity’s potential to overcome hatred and selfishness, in the possibility of the better future in which Kirk lives. But to make that future possible, he has to let her die. She has the right message at the wrong time. It’s a Kobayashi Maru scenario in the form of a tragic romance.

It’s a near-perfect episode of television, recognized as such from the moment it aired. The credits bore only one name: Harlan Ellison.

Ellison knew it was a lie. He’d seen the script through several drafts, only to have it reworked, at Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry’s insistence, by D.C. Fontana, Gene Coon, Steven W. Carabatsos, and Roddenberry himself. Ellison asked his name be taken off, but backed down. It would be the last time he backed down on this matter.

Most writers would sit back, take the praise, and keep quiet about the sausage-making process. Ellison wasn’t most writers, telling anyone who’d listen what had happened to his script, all the alterations and adjustments that made it lesser than the version he’d dreamed up. In 1975, during a short-lived rapprochement with Roddenberry, Ellison published the original version in his collection Six Science Fiction Plays , allowing the curious to compare and contrast the version they knew with the version that might have been.

Ellison’s version shares much of the filmed version’s bone structure. The time travel, Edith Keeler, the central moral question are all there. But it also contains a murderous drug-dealing crew member (an element Roddenberry found out of sync with his vision of an idealized future and a squeaky clean Starfleet), alternate-universe space pirates summoned into existence by the altering of time, 9-foot aliens (who would become the much more budget-friendly talking portal), and a World War I veteran named Trooper.

Most significantly, at the climactic moment, Kirk can’t bring himself to let Edith die. It’s Spock who makes the choice. Ellison saw Kirk as a man who, at a critical juncture, couldn’t let the love of his life die to save the universe. Roddenberry thought otherwise. The question of which feels truer to Kirk, and to Trek , serves as a litmus test for fans of the show.

Without Ellison’s talent and imagination, “The City on the Edge of Forever” wouldn’t have existed. Applying the butterfly effect to its absence — appropriate, given the episode’s plot — the Star Trek we know today wouldn’t have been possible without the ripples of complexity and moral ambiguity Ellison helped introduce to the series. (Not that Ellison had anything nice to say about the later series.)

But Ellison, whose early history includes multiple stories of running away from home, could seemingly never live comfortably in any world, even a world he helped create, be it Star Trek or the larger world of speculative fiction, which he helped shape with his work and his championing of other writers. Because Ellison could always imagine a better world, one in which “The City on the Edge of Forever” aired without evisceration, one in which the same sort of piggish shortsightedness that led to that evisceration wasn’t allowed to run rampant in so many aspects of life, one in which everyone finally saw he was right.

Reflecting on “The City on the Edge of Forever” years later, Ellison wrote, “The solitary creator, dreaming his or her dream, unaided, seems to me to be the only artist we can trust.” Ellison did a lot of that sort of dreaming. Sometimes the dreams went astray.

Ellison always had to have the last word. And then he’d just keep talking.

Ellison’s adventures in the TV trade — there would be more, and more frustrations — prompted him to write about television for the Los Angeles Free Press, unsparing observations collected in the influential 1970 book The Glass Teat and its sequel, The Other Glass Teat . It also assured he’d keep prose as his primary profession, helping to shepherd and elevate the literary careers of others.

The landmark collection Dangerous Visions , a collection of stories from science fiction stars and stars-to-be, appeared the same year as “The City on the Edge of Forever.” Again, Dangerous Visions followed in 1972. (A long-promised third volume never arrived.) He mentored Octavia Butler and others. He wrote. And wrote. And wrote. In a 2013 interview with the Guardian , Ellison put his tally at around 1,800 short stories, novellas, essays, and scripts. Today, “The City on the Edge of Forever,” both the filmed teleplay and Ellison’s original drafts, represent only a tiny fraction of his output and influence.

star trek the creator episode

But even with his version of “The City on the Edge of Forever” available for the world to read, the matter felt unsettled for Ellison. It didn’t help that Roddenberry was out there telling his version of the story, claiming that Ellison’s script was filled with budget-breaking elements and that he had Commander Scotty dealing drugs.

Ellison knew better. The pirates were added at Roddenberry’s insistence and Scotty never dealt drugs in any drafts. He didn’t even appear in any drafts. Then there was all that money others were making from the episode, money that seemed never to find its way to Ellison.

This would not stand. So in 1995, four years after Roddenberry’s death, Ellison published “The City on the Edge of Forever” again, this time as a standalone book titled The City on the Edge of Forever: The Original Teleplay . The book includes two treatments for the episode; Ellison’s final draft of the screenplay; testimonials from Fontana, Kelley, Nimoy, and others; and a new introduction from Ellison designed to set the record straight.

The opening sets the tone:

“Speak no ill of the dead? Oh, really? Then let’s forget about a true introductory essay to this book. Let’s give a pass to setting the record straight. Let’s just shrug and say, ah, what the hell, it’s been more than thirty years and the bullshit has been slathered on with a trowel for so damned long, and so many greedy little pig-snouts have made so much money off those lies, and so many inimical forces continue to dip their pig-snouts in that Star Trek trough of bullshit that no one wants to hear your miserable bleats of “unfair! unfair” … that it ain’t worth the price of admission, Ellison.”

And so it goes for 90 profane, repetitive, discursive, hilarious, pitiless, insightful pages. It’s, in its own way, classic Ellison, who turned interviews into monologues. Smart interviewers generally knew to get out of his way and just let him talk. In the end, Ellison always had the last word. And then he just kept talking.

Ellison was sometimes too much, and too much in ways that are hard to excuse; offenses committed out of an excess of passion are still offenses. But, oh, that passion. Ellison simply had to fight back against every perceived slight and loss. He even had to fight back against any wins that weren’t on his own terms. He left behind miles of scorched earth and a towering body of work. He reshaped science fiction and changed the way his readers looked at the world. It wasn’t enough. Nothing ever was.

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A Writers' Strike Nearly Sunk Star Trek: TNG's The Neutral Zone Episode

Star Trek: The Next Generation The Neutral Zone

In the "Star Trek: The Next Generation" episode "The Neutral Zone" (May 16, 1988), the U.S.S. Enterprise-D encounters a seemingly abandoned cryo-pod floating out in the galaxy. On board are three humans, frozen since the 20th century. When they are thawed, Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart) takes a Roddenberrian opportunity to lecture them, explaining that their outmoded ideas about capitalism and selfishness are dead in the 24th century. Picard's dialogue is partly utopian but mostly condescending, meant more for TV viewers in 1988 than directed toward his scene partners.

The episode's B-plot involved a visit to the titular Neutral Zone between Federation space and the Romulan Star Empire. There, the Enterprise investigates the destruction of a remote outpost, perhaps the result of Romulan malfeasance. "The Neutral Zone" was the first time Trekkies had seen Romulans since the original series, re-establishing them as a major threat in the galaxy. It also set up the Romulans as more secretive and dastardly than audiences had seen before. The writing isn't great, but "The Neutral Zone" established some key elements of "Star Trek" lore.

There's a reason the writing wasn't great. It seems that the makers of the episode only had days to finish their script before a writers' strike was scheduled to begin, and they just had to go with what they had rather than take the time to smooth out dialogue and make the story stronger. The teleplay for "The Neutral Zone" was credited to Maurice Hurley, and it was a rushed first draft that he banged out in a day and a half (basing his idea on a pitch by freelancers Deborah McIntyre and Mona Clee).

The making of "The Neutral Zone" is related in the book "Star Trek: The Next Generation 365" by Paula Block and Terry J. Erdmann.

The writers' strike of 1988

In 1988, the WGA was striking because producers had used some snaky legalese to bilk them out of royalties. Writers wanted a raise in their residuals, despite producers' claims that TV shows did poorly in syndication and that writers should be paid in decreasing percentages. The writers also demand more creative control over certain projects, including casting and selection of directors. The previous WGA agreement was set to expire on February 29, 1988, and no new deal had been negotiated. By March 7, the strike was in full swing. It would last all the way until August 7 — 153 days — making it the longest strike in WGA history. As those who recall the 2023 WGA strike can see, the AMPTP has always been in the game of stiffing writers.

According to Block's and Erdmann's book, "Star Trek: The Next Generation" hadn't stocked up several scripts in preparation for the strike. Other shows at the time were careful to stock up a library, prepping for an indefinite period when writers wouldn't be able to offer alterations or new stories. "Next Generation" was so rushed in its early days that it didn't have time to similarly prepare. Indeed, the first season of the show was notoriously rocky, with many scripts being written and re-written in private by authors who were trying to exert control over the series. Gene Roddenberry's lawyer, the widely loathed Leonard Maizlish, infamously swiped completed scripts from Roddenberry's office and altered them for unknown reasons.

Additionally, Hurley was famously difficult to get along with; he was the producer who hated actor Gates McFadden and had her character, Dr. Beverly Crusher, removed from the show's second season. When Hurley was fired, McFadden returned.

And it shows

The rushed writing on "The Neutral Zone" really shows. "Star Trek: The Next Generation 365" pointed to a notoriously odd exchange between Worf (Michael Dorn) and Commander Riker (Jonathan Frakes), wherein they encounter a piece of space debris that might have come from Earth. Riker, in a bizarre contradiction of his character, suggests just leaving it behind. Finding a piece of space debris, a Trekkie would argue, is exactly the kind of mystery that the Enterprise would be enthused about solving.

The two stories also don't intersect very well. The A-plot about 20th-century humans trying to form lives in the 24th century was intriguing enough without the investigation of a possible Romulan attack. Also, as noted above, the moralizing committed by the Enterprise crew toward their unfrozen friends is ham-fisted in the worst possible way. One might expect that kind of mawkish writing from a first draft.

It seems that the original plan for "The Neutral Zone" was far more ambitious. In Harry Nemeck's "The Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion," it was revealed that "The Neutral Zone" was initially conceived as a two-part episode that would have ended on a cliffhanger wherein the Enterprise and the Romulans have to team up to fight a common enemy. That enemy was going to be the Borg , the malevolent cyborgs that would ultimately be introduced in the season 2 episode "Q Who" (May 8, 1989). That would have been quite an epic two-parter. However, since "Next Generation" was so poorly organized (and because the writers' strike took effect), that story was abandoned.

Many Trekkies agree that "Next Generation" didn't hit its stride until its third season.

NEWS... BUT NOT AS YOU KNOW IT

The Star Trek episode ‘banned’ after predicting a ‘united’ Ireland

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The Star Trek episode The High Ground.

A Star Trek episode released in 1990 has only ever been screened in Ireland once over concerns about a single line .

The original season of the sci-fi series first hit screens in 1966 and ran for three years.

It was then followed by Star Trek: The Next Generation , which aired from 1987 until 1994.

However nearly 35 years after it aired, one episode from the franchise’s second series is still ‘banned’ .

Titled The High Ground, the 12 th episode of the third season sees a crew member of the Federation Starfleet starship USS Enterprise-D taken hostage by terrorists who hope Federation involvement will help them win concessions for their cause.

In one scene android character Data, played by actor Brent Spiner, spoke about the ‘Irish unification of 2024’ as an example of violence successfully achieving a political aim.

The Star Trek episode The High Ground.

Originally shown in the US in 1990, there was so much concern over the exchange that the episode was not broadcast on the BBC or Irish public broadcaster RTÉ.

At the time, US TV shows often debuted internationally several years after their original broadcast.

Two years later, satellite broadcaster Sky reportedly aired an edited version, cutting the crucial scene.

The episode was then shown by the BBC on September 29 2007, however BBC Archives has said it believes that is the only time it’s ever been aired.

The decision not to air the episode came at a time when deadly conflict continued to rage in Northern Ireland, with the Provisional IRA – a paramilitary group with the aim of ending British rule in Northern Ireland – one of its main protagonists.

Now, in 2024, Sinn Féin, which emerged as the political wing of the IRA, is the largest party in the devolved Stormont assembly.

Reflecting on the episode, writer Melinda M Snodgrass told the BBC she had no clue at the time how the episode would still be so divisive decades later.

The Star Trek episode The High Ground.

‘We became aware of it later… and there isn’t much you can do about it,’ she said.

‘Writing for television is like laying track for a train that’s about 300 feet behind you. You really don’t have time to stop.’

But she added: ‘Science fiction is incredibly important because it allows people to discuss difficult topics – but at arm’s length.’

The episode, which was based on the theme of terrorism, saw the Starship Enterprise’s chief medical officer Dr Beverly Crusher is abducted by the separatist Ansata group, who use murder and violence to pursue their aim of independence.

In it, Data commented: ‘I’ve been reviewing the history of armed rebellion, and it appears that terrorism is an effective way to promote political change.’

Captain Jean-Luc Picard, played by Patrick Stewart responded: ‘Yes it can be, but I have never subscribed to the theory that political power flows from the barrel of a gun.’

The Star Trek episode The High Ground.

However, the android then added: ‘Yet there are numerous examples of when it was successful. The independence of the Mexican state from Spain, the Irish unification of 2024, and the Kenzie rebellion.’

The exchange then saw Data ask whether it would be ‘accurate to say that terrorism is acceptable when all options for peaceful settlement have been foreclosed?’.

‘Data, these are questions that mankind has been struggling with throughout history. Your confusion is only human,’ the Captain shared.

Snodgrass said her script’s parallels to what was unfolding in Northern Ireland at the time was deliberate.

‘I was a history major before I went to law school and I wanted to get into that; discuss the fact that one man’s freedom fighter is another man’s terrorist,’ she said.

‘I mean, these are complicated issues. And when do people feel like their back is so much against the wall that they have no choice but to turn to violence? And is that actually ever justified?’

A Republicans holds an Irish Flag as he stands next to a line of police during clashes in the Oldpark area of north Belfast, northern Ireland, on August 9, 2015.

She added that what they wanted to say at the time was: ‘If we’re talking and not shooting, we’re in a better place.’

The episode was initially due to air in the UK in 1992, two years before the IRA ceasefire and six before the Good Friday Agreement.

From 1988 until 1994, a ban was enforced on broadcasting the voices of members of certain groups from Northern Ireland on TV and radio.

The BBC’s press office said it had spoken to ‘a number of people’ about why a ban may have been implemented but was unable to get this information ‘as it dates quite far back’.

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The Changeling

The Changeling

  • A powerful artificially intelligent Earth probe, with a murderously twisted imperative, comes aboard the Enterprise and mistakes Capt. Kirk for its creator.
  • The Enterprise encounters a powerful energy force that has apparently killed all human life in a solar system with over one billion inhabitants. They identify the culprit as a small space probe that had its origins on Earth. Called Nomad, it merged with another and, as a result, took on a new mission to destroy all biological beings as being imperfect. It believes Captain Kirk to be its creator and, as such, has spared the Enterprise and its crew, at least temporarily. — garykmcd
  • Years ago, a brilliant scientist named Jackson Roykirk created a space probe named Nomad, whose mission was to seek out new life forms in the Universe. Once Nomad was out in space, it collided with a powerful Probe named Tan Ru (an alien probe of great power) whose mission was to find and sterilize large soil samples which were tainted on planets, and the programs of the two probes became mixed. Now Nomad is a million times more powerful, and instead of seeking out new life, it thinks its mission is to sterilize imperfect life. The Enterprise is flying through space when they are hit by a powerful jolt with as much power as 90 of their photon torpedoes. Each jolt reduces the Enterprise's shield protective power by 20%. The speed of the jolts is warp 15, which means that the ship cannot outrun the threat. Photon torpedoes from the Enterprise have no effect on their target, from where the jolts seem to be originating. The target simply absorbed the energy of the torpedoes. It is Nomad, and it keeps firing. Kirk panics and gets on the loudspeaker. "This is Captain James T Kirk. Please stop." Suddenly Nomad stops. Nomad asks Kirk to beam aboard its ship, but Kirk says they cannot as the Nomad vessel is too small. Basically the whole ship is 1 meter, 500 kgs and cylindrical across. They ask Nomad to beam their officers aboard instead but this is a machine, not a ship. It beams over and Kirk and Spock try to figure it out. There are no sensor readings as the machine has a protective shield around it. Nomad says that its source of power has changed since its point of origin and much was taken from the "other". Nomad calls Kirk "The Creator" (As Kirk reveals he is from Earth) and Kirk figures out that Nomad is mistaking him for Jackson Roykirk, the man who created Nomad, since their names are similar sounding. It is possible that the Nomad's memory banks were badly damaged in the accident and it only had parts of its creators name left. "Good" thinks Kirk "Now we have an edge." But Nomad is floating around the ship causing havoc. It hears Uhura singing and says "What is that?" She says "It's singing." Nomad says "Think about singing." And then he sucks her intelligence out of her head. She has to be retrained from kindergarten. Then Scotty tries to interfere with Nomad, and Nomad flips him over a railing. McCoy says "He's dead" to Kirk. Kirk is now shocked. But Nomad asks if he should repair the "unit" meaning Scotty, and he resurrects him (after taking the human biological schematics from McCoy). But Uhura can't be repaired by Nomad because her brain was wiped out not her body. Kirk has to get rid of this damn machine. Kirk asks Nomad to lower its defenses, so Spock can scan it. Spock gets some references for a collision with the "other", but it is insufficient. To gain knowledge he performs a mind meld with the Nomad. Spock discovers the complete truth about the Nomad. But in the mind meld, Nomad also learned about Earth and its location from Spock and knows that it is full of imperfect biological beings. Nomad will attack Earth and sterilize it. Kirk uses logic to convince Nomad that he is wrong because he mistook Kirk for Jackson Roykirk, then he says to Nomad "Since you are imperfect, you must sterilize yourself." And they beam Nomad off the ship just before he explodes into a million pieces. On the bridge, Kirk says to McCoy. "You know that Nomad thought I was its Daddy. Think of how proud I am. You saw how he resurrected Scotty. My Son the Doctor."

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The Star Trek episode 'banned' for 34 years after it boldly ventured into the world of politics by predicting Ireland would unify in 2024

  • The High Ground, released in 1990, was only broadcast once in the UK in 2007

A Star Trek episode that made reference to an 'Irish unification in 2024' is still banned in Ireland.

Episode 12 of series three, titled The High Ground, was released in 1990, and involves a terrorist organisation taking a crew member of the Federation Starfleet starship USS Enterprise-D hostage in a bid to further their aims.

But a controversial moment in which an android character named Data, played by Brent Spiner, cites the 'Irish unification in 2024' as an example of a political aim achieved through violence, meant the episode only been shown once in Ireland in the 34 years since its release.

So great was the concern over the line's possible ramifications that the episode, which was first broadcast in the US, was neither shown on the BBC or Ireland's RTV network.

A redacted version was aired on Sky without the sensitive line in 1992. 

The High Ground was finally broadcast on the BBC on September 29 2007, in what is thought to be its only transmission.

READ MORE: Michelle O'Neill: The teen mum and daughter of a jailed IRA terrorist who became the glamorous face of republicanism and Northern Ireland's first nationalist First minister

Apart from Irish unification, Data gives two other examples of violence successfully achieving a political cause: Mexico's independence from Spain, and the Kenzie rebellion (an event in the Star Trek universe). 

The decision not to air the episode in 1990 reflects the febrile political situation at the time, during the Troubles in Northern Ireland, amid terrorist threats from the Provisional IRA, which had stated aims to liberate the region from British rule.

Over three decades later and Northern Ireland has elected its first republican First Minister, Michelle O'Neill, the region's leader of Sinn Fein - a party with roots as the political arm of the IRA.

Last month, the devolved administration, Stormont was up and running with the return of power-sharing after a two-year hiatus.

Melinda M Snodgrass, who wrote the Star Trek episode, said that the story deliberately resembled the Northern Ireland situation in the 90s.

She said that she wanted to explore the idea that 'one man's freedom fighter is another man's terrorist'.

Star Trek's original season first hit screens in 1966 and ran for two years.

It returned for a second series, Star Trek: The Next Generation, which aired between 1987 and 1994. 

The BBC said it was unable to ascertain exactly why a ban was implemented, given that it 'dates far back'. 

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Gene Roddenberry

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Gene Roddenberry ( 19 August 1921 – 24 October 1991 ; age 70), sometimes referred to as the " great bird of the galaxy ", was an American filmmaker and TV producer, best known as the creator of the science fiction television series Star Trek , beginning the long running Star Trek franchise . Roddenberry's remains (some of his ashes in a small capsule, about the size of a lipstick) were the first to be launched into Earth's orbit, where they orbited the Earth until they burned up while reentering the Earth's atmosphere.

  • 1 Gene Roddenberry quotes
  • 2.1 Early life
  • 2.2 Television
  • 2.3.1 The pilots
  • 2.3.2 Season One
  • 2.3.3 Season Two
  • 2.3.4 Season Three and cancellation
  • 2.3.5 Aftermath
  • 2.4 Other works
  • 2.5 The series that was and was not
  • 2.6 The Motion Picture and feature films
  • 2.7 The Next Generation
  • 2.8 Deep Space Nine
  • 2.9 "The End"
  • 3.1 Roddenberry canon
  • 6.1 Emmy Awards
  • 6.2 Hugo Awards
  • 6.3 Saturn Awards
  • 6.4 Writers Guild of America Awards
  • 7 Interviews
  • 8 Further reading
  • 9 External links

Gene Roddenberry quotes

" I would like to write and create other things. I would hate to have just Star Trek on my tombstone. "

History [ ]

Early life [ ].

Roddenberry was born in El Paso, on 19 August 1921 to Caroline Glen Roddenberry and Eugene Edward Roddenberry ( 28 August 1896 – 4 December 1969 ; age 73), and spent his childhood in the city of Los Angeles. His father was a World War I veteran and a police officer, whom he described as a "bigoted Texan". ( Inside Star Trek: The Real Story , 1997, p 14) Still, he had a begrudging respect for his father who, self-taught and stemming from a dirt poor background, possessed a keen intellect and an uncanny ability to see things to come, and only shortly before his father's death, Roddenberry came to see his father in a new light, ironically through Star Trek , " Two elderly ladies wrote from Jacksonville, Florida when the original series was on NBC. They had watched Star Trek , saw my name, and wrote that they could have predicted that I would have done something like Star Trek because I talked of such futuristic things when they had met me on my way to Europe to fight in World War I. They thought they had discovered my father and what he was doing long after he came back from the Great War. They thought I was my father...To have them say about my father – that he held such thoughts when they knew him – was exiting ... It made me proud that, in spite of not being formally educated, he had dreamed such dreams. " ( The Humanists , Vol. 51, issue 2, March/April 1991, pp. 6-7) Nevertheless, Gene's son, Rod Roddenberry has later related a family story that his grandfather was less than enamored by his son's creation and how he, after Star Trek had aired on 8 September 1966, "(…) went up and down the block, knocking on everybody's door, apologizing for his crazy son, who would put on that ridiculous show. " ( Star Trek: The True Story )

His mother on the other hand, was a devout Baptist and dragged young Roddenberry and his younger siblings, Bob and Doris, to each and every religious gathering she was able to, with the consent of his father, who otherwise was anti-religious. Somewhat traumatized by the experiences, Roddenberry has cited this circumstance as the root cause for his Humanistic world views. ( The Humanists , Vol. 51, issue 2, March/April 1991, pp. 6-7)

In his high school days, a classmate lent him a copy of Astounding Stories , which was to be the start of Roddenberry's fascination with science fiction. ( The Making of Star Trek [ page number? • edit ] ) He studied three years of policemanship and then transferred his academic interest to aeronautical engineering and qualified for a pilot's license. He volunteered for the United States Army Air Forces, and was ordered into training as a flying cadet when the United States entered the Second World War in 1941.

Ordered to the South Pacific, Second Lieutenant Roddenberry flew missions against enemy strongholds. In all, he took part in approximately 89 missions and sorties, on one occasion surviving a serious crash upon take-off. He was decorated with the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal. His pilot days were a source of pride for Roddenberry and, with the exception of Harold Livingston , he famously got along well with others who shared a similar background. Other pilots among Star Trek personnel included James Doohan , Franz Bachelin , Michael Dorn , Matt and John Jefferies , Harold Livingston and Stephen Edward Poe .

It was in the South Pacific where he first began writing. He sold stories to flying magazines, and later poetry to publications, including The New York Times . When the war ended, he joined the Pan American World Airways as a commercial pilot. During this time, he also studied literature at Columbia University.

Roddenberry married his first wife, Eileen Anita Rexroat on 20 June 1942 in community of property, the latter of which to haunt Roddenberry for the remainder of his life. The marriage turned out to be a very unhappy one, in no small part due to Roddenberry's notorious philandering, both real and imagined.

He continued flying until he saw television for the first time. Correctly estimating television's future, he realized this new medium would need writers. He acted immediately, he went to Hollywood. He left his flying career behind, a decision aided by a 1947 incident, when Roddenberry's Pan Am airplane crashed in the Syrian Desert, leaving only him and seven others surviving. ( The Star Trek Compendium , p. 7) Although the accident really happened, [1] Roddenberry largely exaggerated it in later life, claiming that he single-handedly rescued the survivors from the wreckage, fought raiding Arab tribesmen, and walked across the desert to the nearest phone and called for help. The tale as recounted by Roddenberry was very reminiscent of the fictional events as depicted in the 1965 movie The Flight of the Phoenix . ( Inside Star Trek: The Real Story , 1997, p. 14)

Television [ ]

Roddenberry arrived in Hollywood only to find television industry still in its infancy, with few openings for inexperienced writers. He joined the Los Angeles Police Department. While working his way up the LAPD ranks, he wrote his first script in 1951 . Later he sold scripts to shows such as Goodyear Theater , The Kaiser Aluminum Hour , Four Star Theater , Dragnet , The Jane Wyman Theater , and Naked City . Established as a writer, Sergeant Roddenberry turned in his badge and became a full-time writer in 1956 , much against the wishes of his wife Eileen, who preferred the steady income of a public servant to support a family of four, as two daughters had entered into the fray by that time. ( Star Trek Creator: The Authorized Biography of Gene Roddenberry , p. 141)

Three years later, on 13 February 1959, Roddenberry established his production company Norway Corporation , through which he from here on end handled his business and legal dealings with the motion picture industry. [2] Roddenberry, hired young attorney Leonard Maizlish , to handle the legal aspects of his production company. From now on Roddenberry's life-long attorney, Maizlish was yet to have his presence felt on Star Trek . [3] At a later point in time Roddenberry also hired newly graduated Mort Kessler to handle the accountancy and taxation aspects for both himself as private person, as well as for his businesses. In the process Morton became a close family friend of Roddenberry and his second wife Majel , and their son Rod, for whom Kessler continued to provide his services after Roddenberry had passed away, until his own retirement. ( Trek Nation )

In 1963 , Roddenberry began producing his first television series, The Lieutenant at MGM . The Lieutenant co-starred Gary Lockwood , and included many future Star Trek -alumni in guest roles, such as Leonard Nimoy , future wife Majel Barrett, Nichelle Nichols , James Gregory , Leslie Parrish and Madlyn Rhue . However, the series lasted only one season, and was canceled in the spring of 1964 .

It was during this period in time that Roddenberry started his illicit affair with Majel Barret. ( Star Trek Memories , p. 14) Already known of having marital problems as well as having been a "ladies man" with the LAPD secretarial staff during his police days, which otherwise remained unsubstantiated ( Star Trek Creator: The Authorized Biography of Gene Roddenberry , pp. 123, 163), Roddenberry concurrently started a romantic affair with Nichols, who in her own words therefore became "the other woman to the other woman". Save for Barrett, the Nichols-Roddenberry pair kept their relationship a closely guarded secret (though not closely enough as rumors of his romantic dalliances, including the one he had with Nichols, abounded on the Original Series stages throughout the entire production run, as related in the reference book , Inside Star Trek: The Real Story [ page number? • edit ] ), because of the possible impact their interracial relationship could have had on Roddenberry's career. Ultimately, Nichols decided to break off the relationship at the start of the Original Series , in order to make room for Barrett as well as falling in love with another man herself, even though Roddenberry wanted to continue an "open" relationship with both women at the same time. Nichols remained close friends with Roddenberry, and out of respect for him, did not came forward with the particulars until after his death. ( Beyond Uhura , pp. 130-133)

Star Trek [ ]

When The Lieutenant ended, Roddenberry began planning for his next series, a science fiction-adventure show entitled Star Trek . He wrote his series proposal, Star Trek is... , in March 1964 . Initially proposed for MGM, the studio, although initially enthusiastic, refused to buy it. ( The Star Trek Compendium , p. 10) Finally Roddenberry sold his by now dubbed "Wagon Train To The Stars"-pitch idea to Oscar Katz and Herb Solow of Desilu in early April 1964 . The in lore later famed exact phrase was actually coined by Writer Samuel A. Peeples (an acquaintance from Roddenberry's earlier television days) shortly before the Desilu pitch occasion, not Roddenberry, who had called it "a "Wagon Train" concept", but typically, was by him appropriated as his own nevertheless. ( These Are the Voyages: TOS Season One , 1st ed, pp. 21-25, 28-32; Inside Star Trek: The Real Story , 1997, pp. 15-16) It was Katz who accompanied "mumbling exotic" Roddenberry, as Solow had typified him, in late April 1964 to the pitch he had arranged at television network CBS , Katz's former employer, shortly after Desilu had bought Roddenberry's premise. However, on that occasion, Katz took a backseat and an awkward and hopelessly unprepared Roddenberry, left to his own devices, seriously bumbled his presentation. " Somebody said you could dress Gene in a tailored suit and five minutes later he'd look like a saggy, baggy elephant. ", soon-to-be collaborator D.C. Fontana said of Roddenberry, not without affection. ( These Are the Voyages: TOS Season One , 1st ed, p. 28) Much later, Katz himself recalled the meeting as "frosty", " We were in a dining room with six or seven executives, one of whom questioned us rather closely about what we were going to do with the show. We answered his questions and it turned out that his interest was due to the fact that they were developing a science fiction show of their own. " ( Star Trek Creator: The Authorized Biography of Gene Roddenberry [ page number? • edit ] ) Much to the later chagrin of Roddenberry, who felt that his brain had been picked, this show turned out to be Irwin Allen 's Lost in Space . Unsurprisingly, CBS was not interested, as ABC had previously been due to the fact that they already had another Allen science fiction show, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea , in development themselves.

The pilots [ ]

Gene Roddenberry and Herb Solow

On the set of "The Cage" with Solow (r) and three extras, "lamenting" the absence of Katz

Dismayed, as CBS represented the best chance Star Trek had, due to the network's longstanding relationship with Desilu (CBS aired Ball's own I Love Lucy show), Solow subsequently took over after being informed of this. He thoroughly groomed, prepared, and coached Roddenberry for his next, very last-chance, meeting with NBC the following month, as well as taking an active part in the presentation. Additionally, Solow instructed Roddenberry to keep quiet when not required to speak (which, given Roddenberry's predilection to the contrary, was excruciating for him), as NBC was wary due to their previous dealings with Roddenberry on The Lieutenant , and, most notably, to drop the "Wagon Train To The Stars" pitch-line Roddenberry had used on the previous pitching occasions. This eventually resulted in success, but " (i)t was Herb's tenacity and Herb's presentation that sold the series. ", as NBC executive Jerry Stanley later conceded. Yet, the first pilot, " The Cage ", was rejected by NBC, pronounced "too cerebral" as famously coined by Roddenberry later on, even though he was not even allowed to attend the pilot's presentation (nor did he ever meet NBC management in person again after the original pitch). This should have been the end of Star Trek there and then, but, in a for the industry hitherto unprecedented move, the network ordered a second pilot, which eventually led to the series being picked up by them. ( Inside Star Trek: The Real Story , 1997, pp. 13-23)

In 1965, after "The Cage" and before he started on the second Star Trek pilot, Roddenberry also produced two other pilots for Desilu: The Long Hunt of April Savage , a western created by Sam Rolfe , starring Robert Lansing , and produced and co-wrote Police Story , featuring DeForest Kelley , Grace Lee Whitney , directed by Vincent McEveety , with music by Alexander Courage . However, neither of them were picked up to become a series, though April Savage came close as network ABC actually picked up the series, but decided to cancel the series after all, before regular series production was slated to begin.

Season One [ ]

After the second Star Trek pilot " Where No Man Has Gone Before " was picked up by NBC, Roddenberry entered into a formal contract with Desilu on 18 May 1965 where it was specified that he was entitled, besides his regular salary, to 26⅔% of the net profits derived from the series, which, as it turned, were not to materialize for him personally in the coming two decades. [4] However, neither Roddenberry nor Star Trek were out of the woods yet. Unexpectedly confronted with the production of three expensive television properties, which aside from Star Trek and April Savage also included Mission: Impossible , all of them brought in by Katz and Solow (who were specifically hired to do so, in order to safeguard the future existence of the ailing studio), where there had only been one before, the I Love Lucy show, the conservative board of directors feared, not unjustified, that the small studio would financially overstretch itself. Vigorously defended by Solow (who wisely had left Roddenberry out of the meeting as the latter had seriously bumbled his Star Trek pitch to network CBS two years earlier, but who firmly believed in the show), and despite the fact that Star Trek was ordered by NBC, the entire Desilu board virtually unanimously voted to cancel Star Trek in February 1966 nevertheless. Yet, as Chairwoman of the Board, Lucille Ball had the power to override her board, and this she did with a mere nod of her head towards Solow. " That was all Star Trek needed, " as author Marc Cushman had succinctly put it, " A nod of Lucille Ball. " ( These Are the Voyages: TOS Season One , 1st ed, pp. 32, 94) One of the nay-sayers on the board, studio accountant Edwin "Ed" Holly, later conceded, " If it were not for Lucy, there would be no 'Star Trek' today. " [5] Ironically, the fears of the board were somewhat allayed by the subsequent cancellation of April Savage . For all intents and purposes, and contrary to widely held beliefs in Star Trek -lore, this was factually the very first time that the Original Series came exceedingly close to cancellation. Once on the air however, Star Trek developed a loyal following. Much later, influenced by a fan write-in campaign, NASA even named its prototype space shuttle Enterprise , in recognition of the ship that Roddenberry conceived for the series.

Having already vigorously worked the press for months to raise awareness for the new series, Roddenberry, one week before the regular series started its run on television, in person presented his creation to the general public at the 1–5 September 1966 " Tricon World Science Fiction Convention " in Cleveland, Ohio, promoting the new Star Trek series, as well as presenting the audiences the first two pilot episodes for the series, "The Cage" (uncut original version) and "Where No Man Has Gone Before" (revised version, as this episode was already slated to air). It was there that Roddenberry discovered his knack for showmanship, as he – in complete contradiction to his dealings with studio and network "suits" – , quickly established a rapport with audiences, not few of them (such as Allan Asherman , Isaac Asimov (famously shushed-up by Roddenberry when the former turned out to be a bit too rambunctious at the presentation), as well as John and Bjo Trimble , the latter two yet to play a role of note later on) becoming " Trekkies " soon thereafter. Much later Roddenberry had admitted to stage fright, " I was nervous, particularly when I saw them watching other films that were shown before, and stomping and laughing. " However, there was no laughing and stomping during his showing, and Asherman recalled being whispered to by one of the attendees, " He did say this was for television, didn't he? " Met with a stunned silence, Roddenberry continued, " I finally got to my feet and said, "Is anybody going to say whether they like it or not?", and it was only afterward that the applause began. " However, Roddenberry did also add, " I remember calling up the studio and saying, "I really think we may have something here," and the studio's reaction was, "Well, so a thousand goofs who go to science fiction convention like it? That means nothing in television. " The only person he could have possibly called at the time was his boss Herb Solow (Katz was already fired by Desilu), the very same person who had saved his creation from cancellation in the first place, only a half year previously. Having made his recollections in 1988 and exemplary for his predilection to "embellish" events to his own advantage, Roddenberry's parting remark was an intentional slight of Solow, who, understandably, was not amused when informed. ( The Star Trek Interview Book ; The Star Trek Compendium , 1993, pp. 1-3)

Nevertheless, Roddenberry's ability to establish a, to most accounts, genuine, warm rapport with fans served him well in the years to come. Having attended multiple Star Trek conventions in his boyhood, Raphael Sbarge later recalled having witnessed Roddenberry give a lecture at one such event; " During his speech he said something like, 'One day we'll be able to go out, get any movie we want, put it in our television and watch it at will.' I remember thinking, 'My God, how does he know these things? He's so amazing.' Here was this man who conceived all this and is someone who touched people's imaginations in a very profound way. " ( TV Zone , Special #29, pp. 26-27)

By late November 1966, when the first season production was nearing its end, studio and Roddenberry were led to believe that Star Trek was not doing well in the ratings by a chagrined NBC, and Roddenberry sensed the possibility of a cancellation in the air. He discussed the matter with Harlan Ellison (with whom he was still on good terms at that time) and together, both men decided upon a campaign to save Star Trek . Ellison organized "The Committee", an advisory group of the foremost science fiction writers of the time through which a letter-campaign was organized. Science fiction fans (general, not specifically Trekkies alone) started to write in, and a veritable contemporary who's who of science fiction made their favorable opinions known in numerous publications, chief amongst them, renowned author Isaac Asimov, with whom Roddenberry would strike up an enduring friendship, stemming from this period. On 9 March 1967, a NBC announcer broadcast over the closing titles of " The Devil in the Dark " that, " Star Trek will be back in the fall. And please don't write any more letters. " Thus was born the myth in Star Trek -lore that a letter campaign had saved the series for the first time. Actually, NBC had already decided to continue with the series before the campaign had even gathered steam, and Herb Solow had always been doubtful that the letter campaign had anything to do with this. He was informed by his former NBC colleagues that the network was fully aware that the relatively modest campaign was organized and artificial, and was merely considered a nuisance as the network had a standing policy to answer each and every letter sent to them. Reassured by some of his former colleagues, sincerely or not, that NBC was proud to air Star Trek , Solow could not get his suspicion confirmed that the decision was inspired by NBC's holding company RCA, which was selling color television sets at the time and who had commissioned the A. C. Nielsen Company (the rating company) to investigate the popularity of these sets among the public. Star Trek was still one of the few full color television series being aired at the time. ( Inside Star Trek: The Real Story , 1997, pp. 299-307) The networks policy of answering each and every letter however, was to come back in full force to bite them in the behind not too long afterwards.

Initially, Roddenberry served as the sole line producer on Star Trek , working with associate producers Robert H. Justman and John D.F. Black . Aside from producing the series, Roddenberry was responsible for most of the rewriting done on scripts, which was necessary for getting stories into shape and merging them into the Star Trek format, as most writers weren't familiar with the series and its unique concept at the beginning. Justman described Roddenberry as actually being a much better re-writer than writer. Yet, many writers and even Black, whose script for " The Naked Time " got rewritten without asking for his permit, got awry with Roddenberry for what they considered to be a butchering of their work. However, most famous became his decades long feud with Harlan Ellison, who only months earlier had helped Roddenberry with the first "Save Star Trek " campaign, over the rewrites of his episode " The City on the Edge of Forever ", arguably the most famous Star Trek episode of them all. ( These Are the Voyages: TOS Season One , Inside Star Trek: The Real Story [ page number? • edit ] )

After Black's departure from the series in August 1966 , Roddenberry, unable to cope with the demands of serving as sole producer and re-writer, hired Gene L. Coon to serve as line producer and stepped back to the position of executive producer. While still largely overseeing production and occasionally doing re-writes, most of the re-writing was now Coon's responsibility. Under Coon's watch, the series developed into what is now considered the classic Star Trek formula (including the introduction of such concepts as the United Federation of Planets , the Prime Directive and, most notably, the Klingons ), and also diverged into more light-hearted action-adventure than Roddenberry's dramatic approach. ( These Are the Voyages: TOS Season One , These Are the Voyages: TOS Season Two , Inside Star Trek: The Real Story [ page number? • edit ] ) In mid- season two , Coon left the series, mainly because of his dispute with Roddenberry (but equally due to his impending burnout), who disliked his new, more comical approach to the series, and was replaced by John Meredyth Lucas .

Season Two [ ]

On 27 July 1967, the acquirement of Desilu by Gulf+Western was formalized, and the studio was absorbed into Paramount Pictures to become Paramount Television . The new owners considered cancellation of Star Trek , which was in the pre-production stage of season two, but decided to push ahead as the season was already ordered by NBC. Still, near the conclusion of that season, cancellation was made definitive by NBC nevertheless. However, and much to the dismay of NBC, it found itself subsequently and suddenly confronted with a public outcry in the form of the famed, massive letter campaign, complemented by a deluge of phone-ins and unusually large picket-lines at both the New York City headquarters, and the Burbank, California, location, the likes of which, no network or studio had ever been confronted with before (years later, it turned out that the cancellation was an East Coast decision, the West Coast actually wanted to continue with Star Trek ). The ultimate saving of Star Trek constituted the by Roddenberry secretly funded and coordinated letter-writing campaign, initiated by Bjo Trimble and her husband in late- 1967 and early- 1968 , which succeeded in making a shell-shocked NBC buckle and to renew, albeit reluctantly, Star Trek for a third season . Ironically, the funding Roddenberry provided, was not even his own; He managed to claim the money as business expenses from the studio. For decades, network and public were led to believe that it was a spontaneous action organized by Trekkies, but Justman and Solow debunked the "spontaneous" nature of the campaign in their book Inside Star Trek: The Real Story .

Roddenberry – with Trimble and his future wife Majel Barrett – also founded Lincoln Enterprises in 1967, which specialized in selling Star Trek memorabilia to fans. Years later, in 2004, Bjo Trimble has stated, " Actually, John & Bjo Trimble set up the original Lincoln Enterprises. Neither Gene nor Majel had any idea how to set up a mail-order business, while the Trimbles have put together several such businesses. At Creation Grand Slam, Eugene Roddenberry acknowledged our efforts with a big hug & thanks. He is very like his father, who also believed in big bear hugs. " [6] (X) , having added to Herb Solow that Roddenberry founded the company in order to "give Majel something to do . " ( Inside Star Trek: The Real Story , 1997, p. 400) One such memorabilia was unused, spliced up clips from the series' original 35mm film trims, which was taken by Roddenberry from the Desilu vaults. Solow was especially angered by this, accusing Roddenberry with stealing studio property for his own gain. ( Inside Star Trek: The Real Story , 1997, pp. 400-401) Majel Barret later hinted in a 1993 interview, " Lincoln has been in existence for probably almost a hundred years. It was originally Lincoln Publishing and it was owned by another gentleman many, many years before. His attorney was Leonard Maislich [sic.] . For some reason or another he gave the incorporation to Leonard. I don’t know how it basically happened, but it really belonged to Leonard Maislich until he gave it to me in the early eighties. It [Lincoln] was merely set up for Gene to handle fan mail for Star Trek. " ( Strange New Worlds magazine, issue 10, Oct/Nov 1993 [ page number? • edit ] )

No records of a "hundred years" old "Lincoln Publishing" are known to exist and the "gentleman" in question was actually Roddenberry himself as Maizlish had been his life-long attorney. By transferring title to his attorney (who had somehow managed to antedate the company's establishing date to 6 April 1962 through proxy Mort Kessler – hence Barrett's "has been in existence for probably almost a hundred years" remark [7] ), Roddenberry had thrown up a smokescreen if the studio ever decided to pursue the matter legally, which however, they never did. As already implied by Trimble and Barrett themselves, there was another, personal reason as well to proceed in this matter, as it was also meant to hide the Lincoln revenues from Roddenberry's soon-to-be ex-wife Eileen as well. It was for these reasons why Lincoln Enterprises was not established as a subsidiary of Roddenberry's official production company Norway Corporation, but as a separate entity, and also explaining why the early, original short-lived company name " Star Trek Enterprises " was changed to " Lincoln Enterprises ". Unsurprisingly, and not entirely unjustified, as the original Roddenberry couple was still legally married at the time of the incorporation of Lincoln Enterprises, Eileen later found out, and sued all involved parties for damages, resulting in that Maizlish was actually found guilty of "conspiracy to commit fraud" for his part in the deception, though it assessed no punitive damages against him. Kessler, incidentally, settled out-of-court with Eileen. [8] Even staunch Roddenberry supporter Trimble could not refrain herself from calling Roddenberry a "conniver" at one point, though she had been quick to add that connivers succeed in Hollywood, and that she had always found him charming. [9] Testament to Roddenberry's renowned amiable side of his character, the latter sentiment was shared by countless others.

Season Three and cancellation [ ]

After Star Trek was saved from cancellation and the third season was commenced, Roddenberry promised to return to the show as line producer, if NBC promised him a new, more family-oriented timeslot of Mondays 7:30PM, but threatened to pull out if the network did not do so. Roddenberry grossly overestimated his value as perceived by network and studio, and since he did not possess the political and diplomatic skills – nor would he ever have – to deal with upper network or studio echelons (Herb Solow had always ran interference for Roddenberry and the network and studio, but the former had left the production by now), the network was only too happy to call his bluff. When the network finally doomed Star Trek to the "graveyard slot" of Fridays 10PM, Roddenberry, having stated at the time to a newspaper, " If the network wants to kill us, it couldn't make a better move. " ( Toledo Blade , 15 August 1968) and his bluff gone awry, felt that he had no choice but to back out from the series. With Fred Freiberger serving as line producer, Roddenberry – while keeping his title and salary of executive producer – relocated his office to the far side of the former Desilu lot (as it was now the Paramount lot), and, despite the written promise he had made to the cast and production staff on 28 March 1968 to the contrary, recused himself entirely from managing the show in its third and last year, having completely lost heart according to Solow and Justman. ( Inside Star Trek: The Real Story [ page number? • edit ] )

Justman said that the decline of script quality was mainly due to the fact that "the Roddenberry touch" was gone. Exemplary of this was that Roddenberry could no longer be bothered to read or revise scripts, which he had done so vigorously in the previous two seasons, often to the chagrin of writers. He did made half-hearted efforts to make himself available, but only when Freiberger and the other producers specifically sought out his advise. However, sensing his non-commitment, even that little decreased significantly as the season progressed. Justman in particular felt deeply disappointed by Roddenberry, feeling that he was one of the few staffers left, alongside Gregg Peters , Edward K. Milkis and, to a lesser degree, Leonard Nimoy and Gene Coon (who had returned on an occasional basis as writer only), to continue being the "keepers of the flame". Unlike so many others, including, somewhat hypocritically, Roddenberry himself, Justman has never faulted Freiberger or his writing staff, as they were entirely new to Star Trek , genuinely doing what they could under difficult circumstances (arguably in retaliation for the letter campaign, the studio and network had considerably slashed the production budget to a level Solow felt the series could no longer be produced at, leaving the production in protest because of it), but has cited Roddenberry's defection, as the direct cause for him leaving the series exhausted himself, shortly before the end of the production. ( Inside Star Trek: The Real Story [ page number? • edit ] )

NBC canceled Star Trek in February 1969 definitely. [10] Production on the series ceased in June of that year, leaving the entire production at US$4.7 million in debt. ( Star Trek Creator: The Authorized Biography of Gene Roddenberry , p. 399) This time around there was no letter campaign of any significance, no picketing, no anything of the kind, not even a wrap party, only a small subdued get-together when the very last episode, " Turnabout Intruder ", wrapped, after which cast and crew simply faded away. Charged with the post-production editing of the last episodes, Ed Milkis was the very last senior production staffer left on the otherwise empty lot. ( Inside Star Trek: The Real Story , 1997, pp. 413-414)

Aftermath [ ]

By the time the Original Series was definitively cancelled, Roddenberry had in effect already deserted Star Trek completely. Contracted previously in July 1968, he had left months earlier and was already fully engaged in writing the scripts for two proposed Tarzan movies for production company National General Pictures , even having gone for an extended stay in Mexico to scout for locations, though he was still on the payroll of Paramount Television. ( Inside Star Trek: The Real Story , 1997, p. 406) His 168-page Tarzan script would have seen a return to the original source material by having the story take place in the Victorian era, but also featuring "tasteful" nudity and sex, which he felt were "important to the mythos". The project was canceled before casting was even considered. [11] Still his notion for the Victorian age setting was later adopted for the acclaimed, multi-award nominated 1984 movie Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes .

Though Star Trek -lore has it that Roddenberry staunchly held on to his complete faith in his creation, this was, aside from him deserting the third season, further contradicted during the divorce proceedings from his wife, as it showcased the despondency he felt over the apparent failure of his creation. The considerable level of his despondency was evidenced by the fact that he, during the proceedings, offered to sell Eileen his share of Star Trek for US$1,000 in exchange for waiving the rights of any and all revenues from future projects Roddenberry might embark on. Eileen declined, astonishingly perhaps in hindsight, but understandable at the time as the Original Series was not to turn in a profit for the coming decades, that is, for Roddenberry at least. Even as late as 1972, Roddenberry reiterated the offer to his by now ex-wife in a subsequent alimony hearing, but again she declined. Represented by Maizlish, Roddenberry's divorce was finalized in July 1969. [12] Roddenberry actually had already left the couple's house the year previously, on 9 August 1968, a mere two weeks after the first marriage of their daughter Darleen . In effect, he had planned to divorce his wife even earlier, but postponed that action as he felt that he would not have enough time and energy to deal with both the divorce and the production of Star Trek , which had been renewed for a second season. ( Star Trek Creator: The Authorized Biography of Gene Roddenberry , pp. 352-353)

After Star Trek was canceled, Paramount Television wanted to sell Roddenberry all rights and title to the series for US$100,000-$150,000 in 1970, but he, knee-deep steeped in the fallout of his bitter and costly divorce from Eileen, was nowhere near able to raise this amount on his own. It was around that time that Paramount discovered that Roddenberry was selling Star Trek merchandise through Lincoln Enterprises, which was formally an illegal endeavor, as he simply did not own the brand. Yet, both parties struck a deal, which allowed Roddenberry to continue in return of a percentage of the sales, as Paramount also started to realize that their Star Trek property was not a too bad one to have after all. Not yet having a well oiled Star Trek marketing machine of their own, Lincoln Enterprises suited the studio well in raising the awareness of their increasingly profitable Star Trek brand. ( Star Trek: The Next Generation - The Continuing Mission , p. 2; NBC: America's Network , p. 220)

For Star Trek 's 25th anniversary , two months before his death, Roddenberry gave TV Guide a list of his top ten favorite episodes. One might assume that these most clearly represented his vision of what Star Trek should be:

  • " Amok Time "
  • " Balance of Terror "
  • " The City on the Edge of Forever "
  • " The Devil in the Dark "
  • " The Enemy Within "
  • " The Menagerie, Part I " and " The Menagerie, Part II "
  • " The Naked Time "
  • " The Return of the Archons "
  • " Where No Man Has Gone Before "
  • " The Trouble with Tribbles "

Other works [ ]

After the original Star Trek had ended, and the Tarzan project had failed, Roddenberry ventured on numerous subsequent projects, virtually all of them turning out to be failures. Hired by his former Desilu boss Herb Solow (who was fond of Roddenberry, but could not abide with his antics when it interfered with production), he produced and wrote the screenplay for Roger Vadim 's, lukewarmly received, 1971 MGM film, Pretty Maids All in a Row , which featured James Doohan , William Campbell , and his daughter Dawn Roddenberry in the cast. Solow arranged for Roddenberry a hitherto unheard-of writer's fee of US$100,000. However, as producer, Roddenberry was woefully inept in controlling the antics of director Vadim, causing the production to run both over-time and over-budget. It further marred his reputation as producer, and it came back later to haunt him. Pretty Maids was the first of only two major theatrical motion pictures Roddenberry ever worked on. ( Inside Star Trek: The Real Story , 2nd ed, p 420) The favor Solow provided Roddenberry, by arranging his, for the times, substantial writer's fee, came as a godsend for the Roddenberry/Barrett couple, as they were now down on their luck, eking out a meager existence through the Lincoln Enterprises memorabilia sales, supplemented by Star Trek conventions attendance fees only, and also explaining why Roddenberry made the second offer to sell his ex-wife his share in Star Trek . At the time Roddenberry faced a US$2,000 monthly alimony obligation, as well as a mortgage. ( Gene Roddenberry: The Myth and the Man Behind Star Trek , p. 140) Roddenberry had himself stated in an interview, " For a couple of years our only income was lecture fees I got from colleges where kids still loved Star Trek , even though it was not a commercial success. " [13]

In 1973, he wrote and produced a science fiction pilot entitled Genesis II , which featured Mariette Hartley , Ted Cassidy , Percy Rodriguez and his now-wife, Majel in the cast, costumes by William Ware Theiss , and was photographed by Jerry Finnerman . It was not picked up as a series, and a year later Roddenberry made another pilot out of the same idea, titled Planet Earth . This time Robert Justman served as producer, Marc Daniels as director, and the cast included Diana Muldaur , Ted Cassidy, Majel Barrett, Craig Huxley , Patricia Smith , and again costumes by Theiss. However, this pilot wasn't picked up by the network either, nor was its final variant, the 1975 pilot Strange New World .

Concurrently in 1973, Roddenberry made another failed sci-fi pilot, The Questor Tapes , which starred Robert Foxworth as an android, Questor, searching for his origins and creator. The pilot was directed by Richard Colla and also featured Majel Barrett and Walter Koenig . It was co-written by fellow Star Trek producer Gene L. Coon. The Questor Tapes was not picked up as a series, although its basic concept was reworked into the character of Data in Star Trek: The Next Generation . Actually, Foxworth's lead role was promised by Roddenberry to Leonard Nimoy, but overruled by the studio, Roddenberry failed to inform Nimoy of this, who had to learn this from a third party. Nimoy, already preparing for the role, never forgave Roddenberry for this and the already strained relationship between the two men, which had started amicably enough at the beginning of The Original Series , accelerated its decent in animosity. It was an example of Roddenberry's recurrent character flaw of being unable to be the bearer of bad news, which Robert Justman and David Gerrold , among others, were to be confronted with as well. ( Inside Star Trek: The Real Story , 1997, p 420) Before returning to Trek , Roddenberry made a fourth unsuccessful TV pilot, Spectre in 1977, about a detective involved in witchcraft and other occult phenomena. This pilot was co-written by Samuel A. Peeples, again featuring Majel Barrett, and which again demonstrated that Roddenberry has never shied away from nepotism.

Despite the failure of Genesis II and The Questor Tapes , both productions earned its creator a 1974 and 1975 Hugo Award nomination in the category Best Dramatic Presentation respectively nevertheless, the latter shared with Coon and Colla.

The series that was and was not [ ]

USS Enterprise three foot model in Gene Roddenberry's office

Roddenberry in his Paramount office in the early 1970s

Former Original Series writer D.C. Fontana reported in the fanzine Star-Borne of 22 June 1972 that " Paramount ... [is] enormously impressed by the quantity (and quality) of fan mail they continue to receive. The possibility seems to be slowly developing of a Star Trek feature movie for theatrical release, aimed at becoming the new Star Trek television pilot ... on the network front, NBC still expresses great interest in doing Star Trek in some form. Both NBC and Paramount continue to receive a great deal of mail and have had to assign secretaries for the sole job of answering it. " [14]

NBC's surprising complete turnaround (as it were they who had canceled the live-action precursor in 1969, purportedly for poor ratings performance) not only stemmed from the spectacular resurgence of the Original Series in syndication , but also from its own accounting department. Shortly before Fontana's report, NBC had replaced its old Nielsen rating system with a new and updated one. When they ran the original Original Series figures through their new system they found out much to their surprise that it had not only reached full penetration into their most coveted target audience, the male population between 18 and 45, but also that the series had been one of the most successful series, the network had ever aired. The sickening realization hit upon the dismayed network executives, that they had slaughtered the goose that laid the golden eggs, something that every Star Trek fan at the time could have told them, and which they actually had done in the first place. Hurriedly approaching Roddenberry to see if the series could be revitalized, turned out to be unfeasible, as Paramount had only a few months earlier cleared out their warehouses from the vast majority of the remaining Star Trek production assets, they either being scrapped, given away or simply stolen. Recreating them, calculated at US$750,000, was deemed far too cost-prohibitive. It did however, lead to NBC ordering the creation of Star Trek: The Animated Series in 1973. ( Star Trek - Where No One Has Gone Before , pp. 51-52)

On that series Roddenberry officially served as "Executive Consultant" with Fontana as "Executive Producer", but in practice both fulfilled the latter function. The series was however lukewarmly received at best by the fans, the animated format considered too far off the beaten track of its live-action progenitor as far as they were concerned. Even though the series received an Emmy Award , which its precursor had not, and due to the fact that NBC marketed the series as a children's program, it was already canceled after a one and a half seasons. Roddenberry came to agree with the fans and "officially" declared the series apocryphal, to be removed from canon at his own request in 1988. [15] (X)

Earlier that year, Roddenberry had already approached Paramount with the idea for a Star Trek (live-action) feature film, and in the following years the concept went through several revisions and various incarnations (see: Star Trek: The Motion Picture : Production history ), from feature film to television movie to series, and back again.

Yet, in 1976, Star Trek creator Roddenberry was for the very first time purposely left out by the studio as an executive producer for a proposed movie project called, Star Trek: Planet of the Titans . This marked the first time that Roddenberry was effectively cut out in a creative role for a Star Trek production entirely, though Jon Povill kept him continuously abreast of the production by consulting with him. ( Star Trek Phase II: The Lost Series , p. 17; The Making of Star Trek: The Motion Picture , p. 27) Even though that project did not come to fruition, it nevertheless, for Roddenberry at least, did foreshadow things to come. It turned out that it had been studio head Barry Diller who had insisted on leaving Roddenberry out; two years previously, newly appointed Diller had approached Roddenberry for what turned out to be The God Thing movie project. Grossly overestimating his self importance, Roddenberry decided to play studio politics by holding out on him for the better part of six months, as he had become aware of the renewed interest in Star Trek of Diller's boss, Charles Bluhdorn , the highest executive of holding conglomerate Gulf+Western. Diller, newly appointed and not willing to affront his boss and his new found infatuation, played along – for the time being. However, by playing games with Diller, by all accounts a formidable executive himself, Roddenberry had arguably made the biggest assessment error in his career. Endowed with a long memory, a thoroughly antagonized Diller was not done with Roddenberry yet, not by a long shot. ( The Keys to the Kingdom , Chapters 2, 5; Return to Tomorrow - The Filming of Star Trek: The Motion Picture , pp. 9, 48)

By June 1977 , Star Trek was to become a television series again. Paramount attempted to launch a new series, tentatively titled Star Trek: Phase II , to be the "flagship" program for their planned television network. This time around, construction on the sets, costumes and studio models was actually started, beginning in July, and the writers' and directors' guide was published in August. The original cast, except for Leonard Nimoy (officially for reasons of not willing to commit to the strains of a weekly show, but in reality because of his strained relationship with Roddenberry), returned to reprise their roles, along with several new characters, such as Lt. Xon , who would be taking Spock 's place, first officer Willard Decker , and navigator Lt. Ilia .

As work was being finished on the sets and costumes, Paramount abandoned the plans for the new network, and eventually the new Star Trek series. Reportedly influenced by the success of Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind , they decided to turn the television series into Star Trek: The Motion Picture .

The Motion Picture and feature films [ ]

Gene Roddenberry and Jesco von Puttkamer

With Jesco von Puttkamer on the set as scientific consultant

The Motion Picture began production in 1978 , on which Roddenberry served as producer with director Robert Wise as uncredited executive producer. Production time and costs went highly over the expected, largely exceeding the pre-calculated budget, ending up with the final number of US$44-$45 million, which made The Motion Picture the second most expensive film at the time, after Superman: The Movie . Former Paramount studio executive Jeffrey Katzenberg described the project as "a runaway train". ( William Shatner Presents: Chaos on the Bridge )

Despite earning US$82 million in domestic gross revenue, the total gross came as a disappointment to the studio, considering the over-budget costs incurred. In one respect Gene Roddenberry was undoubtedly responsible for the over-budget expenditures, which largely stemmed from his incessant and increasingly vicious battles with the aforementioned Harold Livingston, together with Robert Goodwin the by Barry Diller appointed line-producers (already for Phase II with the express intent to keep Roddenberry on a tight leash, and over the by him preferred Robert Justman), made responsible for the script. Unable to let go of his vision of Star Trek – of which he was now zealously protective – and stubbornly adhering to storylines he himself, and nobody else , had conceived, Roddenberry was almost from the start at loggerheads with Livingston, resulting in a continuous series of increasingly vicious battles over story outline and script rewrites and re-rewrites, often performed surreptitiously by Roddenberry. The ongoing creative battle lasted for almost two years and proved to be particularly detrimental to the production, aside from entirely destroying the relationship between the two men. Having resigned no less than three times from the production, Livingston had later tersely stated on the occasion of his first departure, " By the time I left, Gene and I were ready to kill one another. I couldn't stand the son of a bitch, so I left. " However, by early October 1978, Wise (thoroughly fed up with the production delays due to Roddenberry's inability to turn in a completed script), Shatner, Nimoy, and Katzenberg staged, what can only be described as a coup, and effectively removed Roddenberry from creative control, which was entirely handed over to the recently reappointed Livingston. From there on end, Roddenberry was executive producer in name only. ( Star Trek Movie Memories , 1995, pp. 67, 97, 105-111)

While many other and more prominent factors interplayed with the overexeeded costs as well, publicly, the studio solely blamed Roddenberry – considered a thorn in their side since the days of The Original Series – for the failure, which provided a good opportunity for them to remove him from creative (film) control once and for all. The studio publicity tactics, effectively deflecting any costs responsibility from themselves and Director Wise, worked like a charm; For the remainder of his life, the US$45 million Motion Picture price-tag stuck to Roddenberry's name like glue, as no sentence mentioning both him and the film was ever published without having the figure also quoted in the very same sentence. Yet, not everyone bought into the studio line, as Roddenberry was not without his staunch supporters of his own, like the author couple Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens , who have claimed in their reference book The Art of Star Trek (p. 156) that, " (T)o be fair, the movie itself cost only $25 million to make. The extra $20 million or so represented all the cost Paramount had occurred over the years on all the other STAR TREK projects that were not made. " As Reeves-Stevens' "25 million" were already taken up by the visual effects production and set construction alone , their statements were as equally manipulative as those of the studio, albeit on the opposite end of the spectrum. (see: Star Trek: The Motion Picture : Costs and revenues )

In what can be described as a ploy to tie-in the fan base as well as to defang Roddenberry, the studio gave him a contract, his own office and the formal title of "Executive Consultant" for the subsequent five Star Trek films , which meant that directors and creative staff could ask for his opinion on the projects, but his advice was not needed to be taken. Whether or not Roddenberry realized it at the time, by signing this contract, his creation was effectively taken away from him; Barry Diller finally had his pound of flesh. From the start, Roddenberry spent his time by incessantly writing unsolicited story outlines (over time he became increasingly single-minded, fixated on a time travel story involving the Kennedy assassination, obsessing over it until his dying day), script drafts, annotations, memos and the like, no one ever really read (but inundating the offices of subsequent production teams nevertheless), and continuously trying to reintegrate himself with the creative development of the subsequent five Star Trek films, only to be ignored by the studio and production staff alike. David Gerrold typified his new position as "an emeritus status", but added that he was concurrently from now on considered by the industry as "a has-been". ( William Shatner Presents: Chaos on the Bridge ) And indeed, none of the directors and producers actually consulted for real with Roddenberry regarding their projects, especially Producer Harve Bennett (who loathed Roddenberry with a passion [16] , but who became quite adept at routinely answering Roddenberry's memo tsunamis with noncommittal replies on auto-pilot) and Director Nicholas Meyer (with whom Roddenberry had a vicious run-in shortly before his death, over perceived racism in regard to the Klingons in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country . [17] (X) ), both responsible for the three most successful outings of the Original Crew films, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan , Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home and The Undiscovered Country , which were the ones, somewhat unsurprisingly, that were most vehemently, but unsuccessfully, resisted by Roddenberry.

While acknowledging this state of affairs as "speculation", an opposing view was again proffered by the Reeves-Stevens' author couple, who have stated in their book Star Trek: The Next Generation - The Continuing Mission (p. 3) that, " (t)he real reason for Paramount's concern about keeping Roddenberry tied to each Star Trek film was that every executive involved with the productions shared the maddening knowledge that no one had the slightest idea why Star Trek was a success…except Gene Roddenberry. Without his input, there was always the chance that the next movie wouldn't capture whatever it was that made Star Trek so enticing. " While Roddenberry supporters Reeves-Stevens' certainly did have a point where the studio executives themselves were concerned, their assertion was by he time of their writings already proven wrong by the directors, producers and screenwriters (most notably Performer/Writer/Director/Producer Nimoy, who most definitely had a thorough understanding of what made Star Trek "tick", arguably even more so than Roddenberry himself did) of the subsequent five films, all of them, save the by William Shatner co-written/directed, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier , highly successful and produced without any creative input from Roddenberry, and each of them actually opposed by him in varying degrees of vehemence. Roddenberry being put out to pasture, it effectively was the Nimoy-Bennet-Meyer triumvirate that became the keeper of the Star Trek film flame in the decade following The Motion Picture . ( Cinefantastique , Vol 22 #5, pp. 39-42)

Roddenberry however, was in particular opposed to the militaristic tone Meyer introduced in his Star Trek universe, and it was only posthumously revealed by Susan Sackett that it had been her late boss who intentionally tried to torpedo The Wrath of Khan by surreptitionally leaking the news to press and fandom that Spock was to die in the yet-to-be released film, hoping the backlash (which indeed ensued) would convince the studio to cancel the film and reconsider his own Kennedy assassination time-travel film pet obsession he tried to peddle to the studio – vainly as it ultimately turned out. It went a long way in explaining the very adversarial relationship Meyer and Roddenberry henceforth had until the latter's death in 1991. The Wrath of Khan went on to arguably become the most beloved and best known outing of the entire film franchise, as well as becoming a pop-culture phenomenon in its own right. Roddenberry's attempt to sabotage the film only served to further strenghten the studio brass' conviction of their "wisdom" to put Roddenberry out to pasture. ( Star Trek: The Journey to the Silver Screen – Chapter 3: "The Genesis Effect: Engineering The Wrath of Khan" )

Most ironically, it was the least successful one, Shatner's much reviled fifth film, The Final Frontier , which approximated Roddenberry's atheistic world view the most and which was very reminiscent of his own 1975 original The God Thing film script, heavily reworked later on to become In Thy Image , ultimately the basis for The Motion Picture . However, not being written by him personally, the film was vehemently resisted by Roddenberry nonetheless, going even as far as having his attorney Maizlish prepare legal procedures against co-writer Shatner. Legal procedures did not materialize however – his films deal stipulations simply did not allow for them – , but a thoroughly chagrined Roddenberry ordained the film as being "apocryphal", readily accepted by the more puritanical elements of Star Trek fandom. ( Star Trek FAQ 2.0 , chapter 13; Star Trek Movie Memories , 1995, pp. 283-284) Richard Arnold , who was working at Roddenberry's office at the time, was present when the first story outline was delivered to Roddenberry as a FYI, later explaining to Shatner why Roddenberry reacted as he did, " So when you came along, though it was years later, with very similar themes, Gene was really hurt. I think it hurt Gene's ego that you finally going to tell the story that he wanted to tell ten years earlier. You were about to succeed where he had failed. At the time, Gene's secretary, Susan was making matters worse by walking around the office stating things like "I can't believe it! He stole your idea. Bill's an asshole. Bill's a bastard." So that did not help, and additionally, I know there was a fairly legitimate concern on Gene's part that your sense of humor [remark: in regard to the way the secondary cast was eventually portrayed in the film] was a little different than had ever been visualized before. " While Susan Sackett's reaction might be construed as personally motivated, she actually had, in all fairness, a point; Shatner himself has related how he had stumbled upon Roddenberry ten years earlier when the latter was busy writing The God Thing , and was on that occasion given a beat for beat expose on the story. Arguably, some of that may have had nestled in Shatner's subconscious. ( Star Trek Movie Memories , 1995, pp. 46-49, 289-291) Though Shatner had already implied as much in his memoirs, Arnold's remarks confirmed that Shatner had not communicated with Roddenberry even once, during the entire production of the film.

By the time The Undiscovered Country went into production, Roddenberry's stature within the film franchise had whithered considerably, being only provided lip-service at best – that is, if people could be even bothered to make the effort at all – and was all-around considered a nuisance, to be lived with as an unfortunate fact of life, or as Richard Arnold has put the prevalent studio attitude at the time, " We're happy to use your name and your creation, but don't call us, we'll call you. " ( Star Trek Movie Memories , 1995, p. 367) Exemplary of this was, when Roddenberry expressed concerns about turning Saavik in to a traitor in the film, feeling that she had become a too beloved character in his universe. When informed of this, Director Meyer (who had no love lost for Roddenberry ever since he came aboard for Wrath of Khan , which was so obtusely opposed by the former) derisively remarked, " I wrote the character of Saavik in STAR TREK II . That wasn't a Gene Roddenberry character. If he doesn't like what I'm doing, maybe he should give the money he's [making off my films] back. Then maybe I'll care what he has to say. " Without bothering to get back to Roddenberry, Meyer pushed ahead, but eventually changed the character after all, for reasons entirely unrelated to Roddenberry's concerns. ( Cinefantastique , Vol 22 #5, p. 31)

Essentially "bumped upstairs" to become stuck in the studio's equivalent of the "Bermuda Triangle", Roddenberry as Star Trek creator, was still compensated handsomely by the studio though, having profited little, if any, from The Original Series previously, save for the revenues stemming from memorabilia sales through Lincoln Enterprises and his Star Trek conventions attendance fees. ( William Shatner Presents: Chaos on the Bridge ) Actually, around the time Roddenberry entered into the subsequent films deal with Paramount (a different one than his 1978 Motion Picture net profit sharing contract, itself revised from the 1965 Original Series contract, allowing for a possible new television series, that however never materialized), he was at loggerheads with the studio over the Original Series net profit sharing agreement. Previously, he had surrendered any and all legal title to The Original Series , save for his "Created By"-credit, in return for a full third of the profit made by that series through syndication , according to author James Van Hise . But by 1981, Roddenberry was still led to believe by the studio that the Original Series was still deeply in the red by as much as US$1 million – or US$500,000 by 1982, again according to Van Hise ( The Man Who Created Star Trek: Gene Roddenberry , p. 58) – as supposedly "proven" by doctored account statements handed over to him. Roddenberry instructed his attorney Maizlish to start legal proceedings in order to be given access to Paramount's records, seemingly to no avail at the time. " The greatest science fiction in show biz is in the accounting ", Roddenberry declared chagrined, referring to the infamous " Hollywood accounting " industry phenomenon. ( Starlog , issue 43, p. 14) Roddenberry had justified reasons to be suspicious, as it seemed unlikely that the by Variety magazine of 2 December 1991 reported net syndication profit of US$78 million in early 1987 was only realized in the intervening six years. While it was at the time unknown what the outcome of the legal proceedings were, it was very much conceivable that Roddenberry and the studio settled their Original Series accounts on that occasion, since it marked the first time that Roddenberry actually became affluent because of Star Trek (or at all for that matter, as it also ended his hitherto tenuous personal financial situation), as was evidenced by the substantial estate that his wife Majel left upon her death in 2009.

That this had actually been the case, became apparent in the California Court of Appeal transcripts of 30 September 1994, docket number B074848, chronicling the ongoing battles between Roddenberry (after his death, wife Majel and son Rod) and his first wife Eileen, who for decades fought tooth and nail to claim half of all the Star Trek revenues. The document specified that Roddenberry received his very first Original Series US$850,000 profit distribution from Paramount in June 1984, followed by disbursements of US$1,842,000 in February 1986, US$780,000 in June 1986, US$924,000 in January 1987 and US$945,000 in July 1987. Of this amount Roddenberry transferred close to $$2 million to his ex-wife, withholding $750,000, ostentatiously on behalf of their two daughters. Unsurprisingly, Eileen sued him for more; to paraphrase Spock, the court transcripts made for "fascinating" reading. [18] (X)

Incidentally, Eileen's case was decided on 16 April 1996, when it was ruled that she was, and always had been, only entitled to half the revenues stemming from The Original Series , not those of any later Star Trek productions, and the court concluding that the decades-long proceedings had been a waste of time, by scathingly stating that "(t)his is a case that should never have been" . Norway Corporation was given a punitive award, payable to Eileen, as they only transfered the shortfall of the Original Series revenues a mere few days before the trial's start. However, before the ruling, the studio had from June 1988 until then, on the basis of previous lawsuits, split Roddenberry's profit share, including those for the films and The Next Generation and transferred a full third directly to Eileen when making profit share disbursements (having received a total of US$7.8 million by January 1993), and it has not become clear whether or not she had to restitute those pertaining to the films and Next Generation , or that they were to be settled with the shortfall of those from the Original Series , of which she had only received a third. [19] Roddenberry had already been dead for almost five years by the time of the final ruling.

The Next Generation [ ]

Douglas Grindstaff and Gene Roddenberry

Roddenberry with his former Original Series Sound Effects Editor Douglas Grindstaff at a 20th anniversary celebration

In 1986 , with Star Trek 's 20th anniversary coming soon, and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home hitting the theaters, then Paramount Television Group President Mel Harris decided it would be profitable to launch a brand new Star Trek series. Originally and obviously, studio executives wanted to create the series without Roddenberry's involvement, but eventually agreed that Star Trek creator Roddenberry should be on board for the project.

There were two overriding reasons for resurrecting Roddenberry from the studio's "Bermuda Triangle"; Firstly, long before the official announcement was made that a new Star Trek reincarnation was to be aired, word had already leaked out that this reincarnation was to feature an entirely new crew, and outraged "Trekkies" actually picketed the studio for what they perceived as blasphemy for even considering a Star Trek without the Original Crew , attracting media attention. Having Roddenberry aboard in an official capacity would at least allay some of their concerns. But secondly, and even more importantly, there were also legal issues to consider. While Roddenberry had surrendered all legal title to the original Star Trek , there was that one notable exception: his "created by" credit. No new Star Trek incarnation could ever be created without his consent in his lifetime. Not having him involved would have most assuredly resulted in his veto, and, contrary to the movies, this time he did indeed had a very strong legal base to block any and all development of a new Star Trek production. Simply put, the studio actually needed Roddenberry this time around. ( William Shatner Presents: Chaos on the Bridge )

Roddenberry and his lawyer, Leonard Maizlish agreed on a deal with the studio, which included a "handsome share" for Roddenberry, according to Paramount Network Television President John S. Pike . Pike's "handsome share" consisted of a US$1 million sign-on bonus, besides a considerable regular salary, which consisted of US$9,000 per episode, multiplied for eight syndication runs, augmented with US$5,000 legal/administrative fee per episode for Norway Corporation. This amounted to US$77,000 per episode or over US$2 million per season. Additionally Roddenberry arranged a profit sharing deal, where it was stipulated that he was to receive 35% of the adjusted gross (not net as back in 1965, thereby avoiding the "Hollywood accounting" trap) profits derived from the series. Roddenberry celebrated his return to Star Trek by purchasing a new, US$100,000 Rolls-Royce. Incidentally, the studio declared The Next Generation "in the profit" on 21 January 1993, after his death, and announced the start of profit distribution, followed by a US$6.8 million disbursement (nicely conforming to the by Paramount President Brandon Tartikoff reported gross Next Generation profit of US$25 million in 1992) to Norway and Eileen Roddenberry the following month. ( William Shatner Presents: Chaos on the Bridge ; Gene Roddenberry: The Myth and the Man Behind Star Trek , p. 220; Star Trek: The Next Generation - The Continuing Mission , p. 155; [20] (X) )

Gene Roddenberry still

Roddenberry publicity shot on set of The Next Generation

Noted for his loyalty to co-workers he implicitly trusted (already evidenced by his time and again hiring of actors he had worked with before, for his numerous projects over the past decades), Roddenberry, back again at the helm, was determined to bring back as many production staff members from The Original Series as possible to develop and produce the new show, which he had actually already intended to do, and partially did, on the Phase II television series, started ten years earlier, but ultimately abandoned. These included producers Robert Justman, Edward Milkis, as well as writers David Gerrold and D. C. Fontana, all of them brought in first by Roddenberry in October 1986 to form the original production nucleus for the new series, to be followed by several others at later times. ( Star Trek: The Next Generation - The Continuing Mission , pp. 9–11) Star Trek: The Next Generation premiered in September 1987 in first-run syndication with the two-hour pilot " Encounter at Farpoint ". For all his Human fallacies and/or creative, political and interpersonal shortcomings, Roddenberry has also been renowned throughout his life for his more likable character traits as well as for his good-natured practical jokes, which occasionally back-fired on him. Affable and amiable to persons he himself liked and trusted, Roddenberry had an uncanny knack of endearing himself to people. This was exemplified by his glee to be reunited with his Original Series veteran friends, when he walked into the offices of Fontana, Milkis, Gerrold and Justman one day, early in the production of The Next Generation , and handed them a US$5,000 bonus each. [21] To Justman, Roddenberry said on the occasion, " I want you to have it because you deserve it–even more. " Though Justman left after the first season on the account of Maizlish, he had nothing but praise for Roddenberry himself, when he, also referring to the bonus incident, added, " It was wonderful working with Gene again, though. He was affectionate like he had never been before. Gene was really, really affectionate, almost as if — no, I think it was because he sensed that his end wasn't that far off, and he had a second chance at a relationship with me that never could have happened otherwise, and he wanted to make up for some of the disappointments he had caused me. " Aside from Roddenberry "deserting" the Original Series in its third season, Justman was also referring to him not being invited back to Phase II – The Motion Picture , though Roddenberry had actually intended to do so. He was however, overruled by the studio, but, typically, Roddenberry could not bear to inform Justman of this himself, not returning his phone-calls when the latter reported for work. ( Starlog , issue 228, p. 59; Inside Star Trek: The Real Story , 1997, pp. 432-433)

Roddenberry, ET interview

Roddenberry interviewed by Entertainment Tonight in 1991.

In mid- Season 1 , Roddenberry appointed Maurice Hurley as showrunner, and, while still being active overseeing the series, with his failing health, he eventually largely retired from daily production business. Hurley was responsible for keeping Roddenberry's "vision of the future" and his dictums for the show intact, and at first he did so, which however, led to conflicts with the writing staff, most notably Herbert J. Wright . " That's just the way it is. Star Trek is not like any other show because it is one unique vision, and if you agree with Gene Roddenberry's vision for the future, you should be locked up somewhere, " Hurley declared at the time, " It's wacky doodle, but it's his wacky doodle. If you can't deal with that, you can't do the show. There are rules on top of rules on top of rules. There are some people who have a deep history with Gene, whose eggs are bruised easily. People get confused about who really is Star Trek , and that messes people's heads up. Star Trek is Gene Roddenberry and nobody else. " ( Starlog , issue 152, p. 29) Aggravated by the 1988 Writers Guild of America strike , the tail end of the first season and most of the second season was marred by infighting among the writing staff, in which Hurley had center stage. Mel Harris, who unlike all of his (preceding) studio executive colleagues, was a Roddenberry supporter (in public at least), had been on record stating, " [W]e had a hard time keeping writers on the show…[A] lot of the writers that were available [in 1986] were coming off of cop shows and ... wanted to do bang-bang, shoot-tern-ups or car chases, let's have the space ship run around and…shoot the bad guys, and Gene had to go back in and rewrite many, many of the early scripts because they simply didn't fit the premises that were outlined in this bible. " [22] (X)

The first season could be described as a huge turmoil and struggle for power, which were in no small part due to Roddenberry's ill health, aggravated by alcohol and substance abuse (when starting his work on the new series, Roddenberry had to be admitted for months on a weekend basis in October 1986 into a La Costa, San Diego, rehab center to kick his habits). Maizlish, arguably overzealously protecting his client's interests, convinced an ailing and increasingly paranoid Roddenberry that others were lurking to stab him in the back, and managed to get rid of all the Original Series veterans who initially worked on the show. Going as far as rewriting scripts without any Writers Guild of America license or permit, and secretly lurking into other people's offices, Maizlish was considered a main destructive force behind the scenes, and eventually got banned from the Paramount lot. ( William Shatner Presents: Chaos on the Bridge , Inside Star Trek: The Real Story ) Whether or not Maizlish had his client's interests truly at heart, he had done him a great disfavor as the departure of the Original Series veterans had a profound effect on Roddenberry according to Gerrold, " Gene was crying because all of his friends were gone. It was because Maizlish chased them away. " [23] Considering the deep emotional attachment Roddenberry had for his Original Series friends, who were the very first staffers he had brought in to form the original October 1986 production nucleus for The Next Generation , has made Maizlish's attitude towards Gerrold, Fontana, Justman and Milkis all the more inexplicable. The now friendless Roddenberry was subsequently left dangerously exposed to studio politics at which he was notoriously inept. Already during the first two seasons of The Original Series , it had been Herb Solow who ran interference for Roddenberry and the studio, but once the former was gone, so was Roddenberry, and during the production of Phase II – The Motion Picture , Roddenberry again had his share of run-ins with the studio. ( Inside Star Trek: The Real Story , 1997, pp. 371-375) " Gene didn't like Rick [Berman] , at all. But Rick was installed on the show by the studio as a way to keep a control on the show ... to keep the budgets in line, make sure that the scripts were done. Ultimately, Berman ended up in control rather than Maizlish because Berman played the politics of the studio more effectively. ", Gerrold elaborated further. [24]

And indeed, "keeper of the flame" Hurley too, came to revise his stance, as he increasingly found Roddenberry's dictums too "wacky doodle" himself – especially after he caught Roddenberry violating his own dictums during one of his script rewrites – coming to perceive them as lacking in dramatic story-telling potential. Inevitably, this led to vicious clashes between Roddenberry and Hurley himself during the second season. ( William Shatner Presents: Chaos on the Bridge ) Roddenberry, undoubtedly experiencing a severe case of déjà vu from his previous dealings with Harold Livingston during the production of Phase II: The Motion Picture , became deeply embroiled with Hurley as well as with other writers, who wrote stories he felt were not in concordance with his vision on Star Trek . From the third season onward, Berman (originally appointed as "Supervising Producer" by the studio, who, besides Harris, had all but forgotten Roddenberry's behavior during the production of The Motion Picture , to "watch over" Roddenberry's antics) and Michael Piller were made executive producers, and became responsible for running the series, and eventually the entire franchise.

Deep Space Nine [ ]

Gene Roddenberry lived long enough to become aware that a second spin-off series was in the making, but did not live long enough to see the series, eventually dubbed Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , premiere. As realized the new series spawned criticism from purist fans for its far darker and grittier setting, arguing that it was not in line with Roddenberry's vision for his Star Trek universe. Nevertheless, series creator Rick Berman has stated on numerous occasions that he had done so with Roddenberry's full blessing:

"I was asked to create and develop a series that would serve as a companion piece to The Next Generation for about a year and a half, and then TNG would go off the air and this new show would continue. So I asked Michael Piller to get involved, and we put our heads together. I really never had the opportunity to discuss any ideas with Gene. This was very close to the end of Gene's life, and he was quite ill at the time. But he knew that we were working on something, and I definitely had his blessing to develop it." ( Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion  (p. ? ))

Yet, on one occasion for a January 1993 Los Angeles Times interview, Berman did slip that Roddenberry had never known what the series exactly entailed, when he conceded, " He was not well at the time. He was quite ill, and I never got a chance to tell him what the ideas were, what they were about. But I definitely discussed things with him enough to know that he trusted me and had given me his blessings, " hastening to add that, " Our Starfleet officers are still Starfleet officers in the true Roddenberry spirit. There is no conflict between them, " but by " twisting the location of the show a little bit to this strange uncomfortable place, by adding a back story where we have alien characters who are not at all that crazy about having our people there, it allows us numerous new vehicles of conflict that make the stories a lot more compelling. " [25] Considering Roddenberry's history with Star Trek , fans did have a point that, had he lived in good health, Deep Space Nine would arguably have been featured differently, if at all.

Still, Bjo Trimble, herself an influential first hour fan (aside from being a close personal acquaintance of Roddenberry in the late 1960s because of Star Trek ), and while conceding that wife Majel was of the same critical mind, proffered an opposing view in August 1999: " I feel that Gene might have come to like DS9, had he lived to see it. There might have been some changes. Majel recently said that GR would have hated the war in DS9, but frankly I am amazed that she cannot see the same theme in much of what Gene did, including his recent "discovery" of Earth: Final Conflict . The only reason there were not full battles in early Trek is lack of funds to pull it off, and lack of technology to show it. Otherwise, GR would certainly have added it; he knew what audiences liked, " but somewhat contradicted herself when she concurrently added, " I don't know about Voyager ; I can't see where it's going, and I don't feel GR would have liked that. I don't think he would have liked the last couple of movies [note: which included the battle heavy, but highly successful Star Trek: First Contact ] ; they were very far removed from the Trek Gene came up with. " [26]

"The End" [ ]

Having already suffered a series of minor strokes, Roddenberry was struck by the severest yet in September 1989 upon the conclusion of the second season of The Next Generation , leaving him incapacitated in a wheelchair, and effectively ending his operational involvement with The Next Generation . It necessitated Roddenberry to hire Ernie Over as a personal assistant, in addition to Susan Sackett, to help him move around.

On 6 June 1991 shortly before celebrating the 100th episode of The Next Generation the Producers Building at the former Desilu studio lot was renamed "Gene Roddenberry Building". Paramount Television president Mel Harris held a speech and during the ceremony William Shatner and Patrick Stewart said a few words about Roddenberry.

On 22 October 1991, Roddenberry was present at the avant-premiere screening of the nearly finished The Undiscovered Country movie, giving the assembly a thumbs up when he was wheeled back to his office. Once there he immediately instructed Maizlish to start legal actions against Leonard Nimoy and Nicholas Meyer in order to have fifteen minutes of the more militaristic aspects cut from the movie. ( Star Trek Movie Memories , 1995, p. 394)

Two days later Gene Roddenberry passed away, succumbing to cardiac arrest. At the time of his passing, Roddenberry was survived by his wife Majel, their son Eugene "Rod" Roddenberry, Jr., his two grown daughters, Dawn and Darleen, from his previous marriage to Eileen (who never remarried), two grandchildren by Darleen, his mother Caroline, and his sister Doris. Darleen tragically perished four years later, almost to the day, in a car accident. Dawn seemed to have inherited her mother's predilection for litigation as she attempted in June 1996 to sue her stepmother, Majel Barrett, for mismanaging her father's affairs in his ailing days, yet withdrew the suit the day before it was set to go to court, as she stood to lose any and all inheritance as specifically stipulated in her father's will in case of contesting. [27] (X)

Roddenberry had also served, alongside his friend Isaac Asimov, on the initial advisory board of a project that eventually became the SyFy Channel . Both men however, had already died when the broadcaster was launched on 24 September 1992. [28]

Gene Roddenberry title card Unification part 1

Memoriam credit for Gene Roddenberry during the opening of TNG : " Unification I " and TNG : " Unification II "

Roddenberry star

Roddenberry's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

Columbia launch, 1992

The launch of the Columbia carrying the ashes of Roddenberry

Roddenberry served as a member of the Writers Guild Executive Council and as a Governor of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. He held three honorary doctorate degrees: Doctor of Humane Letters from Emerson College (1977), Doctor of Literature from Union College in Los Angeles, and Doctor of Science from Clarkson University in Potsdam, New York (1981).

In 1985, Roddenberry became the very first television production staffer to be honored with his own star on the famed "Hollywood Walk of Fame". ( Star Trek and American Television , p. 35)

The legacy of Star Trek , as created by Gene Roddenberry, continues to grow as the newest series, Star Trek: Lower Decks , has joined Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , Star Trek: Voyager , Star Trek: Enterprise , Star Trek: Discovery and Star Trek: Picard . The Next Generation evolved into a feature film series, debuting in 1994 with Star Trek Generations and closing in 2002 with Star Trek Nemesis . A new, alternate reality was created with the newest installments, Star Trek , Star Trek Into Darkness , and Star Trek Beyond .

Other shows of Roddenberry's design include Earth: Final Conflict and Andromeda , the latter of which based on the aforementioned television pilots Genesis II of 1973, and its 1974 and 1975 reworked versions, Planet Earth and Strange New World , respectively.

The ashes of Roddenberry were aboard the space shuttle Columbia during its start from the Kennedy Space Center on 22 October 1992 .

Roddenberry had the Gene Roddenberry Award named after him, the most pretigious of the FantastiCon Awards , founded by Koloth and Trelane performer William Campbell , and the award so christened by Campbell to express the fondness he always had for the Star Trek franchise. Ironically, one of its recepients became Michael Piller in 2000, who along with Rick Berman had usurped Roddenberry's position on The Next Genereration . The award however, went defunct upon the failing health and ultimate death of FantastiCon founder Campbell.

Roddenberry's native city, El Paso, Texas, has (re-)named its planetarium after him in 2001.

Eugene Roddenberry, Jr. currently heads the Roddenberry.com website which is also the main site for Lincoln Enterprises, and is "Consulting Producer" for the fan film series Star Trek: New Voyages .

Roddenberry canon [ ]

A minority of purist fans advocate a " Roddenberry canon " to denote what episodes Star Trek 's creator approved of as "official." Defining such a concept is elusive, as Roddenberry was known to change his views over the years. The Original Series would seem to be part of this canon, comprising 80 episodes, including the un-aired first pilot "The Cage". He rejected The Animated Series as apocryphal, along with elements of two films, The Final Frontier , and The Undiscovered Country . At the time of his death, 110 episodes of The Next Generation had completed production, from "Encounter at Farpoint" through " New Ground ". This leaves roughly 196 episodes of Star Trek , including the first four films and most of films five and six, as part of the supposed Roddenberry canon. Adhering to this view would mean rejecting 712 episodes, including roughly 7 films, as there have been 895 episodes of Star Trek produced to date, and 13 films.

Gene Roddenberry had a second cousin twice removed named Mary Sue Roddenberry . Ironically, and probably by sheer coincidence, the widespread fan fiction term " Mary Sue ", which is used to describe overly perfect original female characters, has its origins in the person of Lt. Mary Sue, a character in the satirical 1974 short Star Trek story by Paula Smith called "A Trekkie's Tale".

Roddenberry gave his middle name to one of the characters of Star Trek: The Next Generation – Wesley Crusher . ( Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion  (1st ed., p. 14)) His middle name was also used as the last name of the TOS character Robert Wesley , which was also a pseudonym Roddenberry used in his early writing career. ( Star Trek Encyclopedia  (1st ed., p. 374)) In addition, after his death, the creators of Voyager used Roddenberry's full first name as the middle name of reformed renegade officer Thomas Eugene Paris . ( Star Trek Encyclopedia  (3rd ed., p. 348))

In " The Big Goodbye ", an illustration of Gene Roddenberry was seen when Data was assimilating the Dixon Hill novels. This illustration was the copy of a photo of Gene Roddenberry.

Credits [ ]

Roddenberry receives a "Created by" credit on episodes of The Original Series and The Next Generation . In addition he is credited on all episodes of Deep Space Nine , Voyager , Enterprise , and Discovery , all the movies, and many Star Trek computer games such as the Elite Force series and Star Trek: Bridge Commander , via the phrase "Based upon Star Trek , created by Gene Roddenberry".

The first two Next Generation episodes aired after his death, " Unification I " and " Unification II " begin with the title card "Gene Roddenberry 1921 – 1991". Also, the film The Undiscovered Country begins with the credit, "For Gene Roddenberry". The credits for Star Trek end with "In memory of Gene Roddenberry and Majel Barrett Roddenberry". Several other Trek related products, including the video game Star Trek: 25th Anniversary include special thanks credits in honor of Roddenberry.

Roddenberry also receives credit for writing lyrics to the Original Series main title theme, although these lyrics were never recorded in connection with the series. In the reference book Inside Star Trek: The Real Story (1997, p. 185), Herb Solow and Robert Justman allege that Roddenberry, who had no musical experience of any kind, wrote words to Alexander Courage 's theme for the show solely to accrue royalties that were required to be paid to the lyricist. In doing so, he effectively cut Courage's royalties in half, as the composer would otherwise have received all royalties accruing from the theme. Courage was outraged on this, and left the production, only to return to score two episodes in the third season as a courtesy to Robert Justman. However, Courage, mellowed over the years, has stated in his twilight years, " There wasn't any rift, really, with Gene. What happened with Gene was a I got a phone call once...it was Gene's lawyer, [Leonard] Maizlish. He said, "I'm calling you to tell you that since you signed a piece of paper back there saying that if Gene ever wrote a lyric to your theme that he would split your royalties on the theme." Gene and I weren’t enemies in any sort of way. It was just one of those things...I think it was Maizlish, probably, who put him up to doing it that way, and it's a shame, because actually if he'd written a decent lyric we could have both made more money. " [29] Having corresponded with Courage at a later point in time, this was another example of Roddenberry's more amiable character traits; whenever he felt that he had aggrieved someone, he often felt the need to make amends afterwards, like he had done with Robert Justman as described above.

The Roddenberry/Maizlish duo had actually tried to do something similar with Leonard Nimoy's first vinyl album recording, Mr. Spock's Music From Outer Space , which marked the beginning of the descent into animosity of the relationship between Roddenberry and Nimoy. With Nimoy however, Roddenberry was not able to mend fences, due to a continuous series of subsequent incidents (such as in the instance of The Questor Tapes , mentioned above), which kept bedeviling any possible chance of reconciliation. After The Motion Picture , were he finally had his pound of flesh by "conspiring" against Roddenberry, Nimoy broke off any communication between them, and both were not seen together afterwards, save for the official studio press presentations for the subsequent five Original Crew films, which Nimoy was contractually obligated to do. Nimoy has attended the "Gene Roddenberry Building" commemorative event, though not speaking to, or of him, but avoided conventions where Roddenberry was present. In one of his last live interviews before his own death, the 2013 documentary Star Trek: The True Story , Nimoy exhibited the deep disdain he still felt for Roddenberry by scoffingly laughing aloud at the statement that Roddenberry was "the creator of Star Trek ".

According to Cinefantastique , Nimoy issued, through his spokesperson, a very terse one-sentence platitude, making himself unavailable to the press for commentary the subsequent months and did not attend Roddenberry's funeral. Multiple other sources, including Herb Solow in Inside Star Trek , relate stories of Nimoy being in attendance. ( Cinefantastique , Vol 22 #5, p. 42; Inside Star Trek , p. 237; [30] )

Roddenberry also credited himself as the co-author of the 1968 reference book The Making of Star Trek , receiving half the royalties, which was written by Stephen E. Whitfield , and given to Roddenberry to make his corrections and edits, though he had never the time to do so, because of production deadlines. While virtually every other person (like the above-mentioned Courage), before or after, who had been cajoled out of their royalty shares in a similar way by Roddenberry, became livid with him, Whitfield ( aka Stephen Edward Poe ), was the proverbial exception. Not minding surrendering half the book royalties, Whitfield got along very well with Roddenberry, not in the least due to their shared aviation background, and was grateful for the chance he was given to start his writing career as a book author. The fact that he had written the very first Star Trek reference book (and a very successful one at that) had been a source of immense pride for him for the remainder of his life. ( Inside Star Trek: The Real Story , 1997, pp. 401-402) A similar situation has applied to Susan Sacket's 1980 reference book The Making of Star Trek: The Motion Picture . Sackett had actually also written the 1991 reference book Star Trek: The First 25 Years , for which Roddenberry was this time slated as the primary author, though, again, he did not write a single syllable for this work either. However, this time around, Leonard Nimoy successfully torpedoed the publication for the book, as he purposely refused permission of the use of his imagery for the book – yet another stage in the ongoing battle between the two men.

While without a shadow of a doubt conceived by him, Roddenberry had in the convention circuit of the late 1970s also tried to lay claim of being the "real" designer of the starship Enterprise . He backed up his claim in the early 1980s by selling reproductions of early color concept art of the ship through Lincoln Enterprises as the twelve-piece "The Evolution" poster set. [31] This color art he had acquired in late 1964 by begging for it from the actual designer of the Enterprise , Matt Jefferies , who had gifted it to him. ( Star Trek Memories , 1995, p. 48) Astonishingly, in an effort to lend credence to his claim, Roddenberry (of whom not a single verified piece of artwork is known to exist) had even been brazen enough to forge a "Eugene W. Roddenberry" signature in Jefferies' writing style onto several pieces of the art. [32] Unfortunately for Roddenberry, this did not fly, as Jefferies was already too well known as the ship's designer even by then, but fortunately for him, Jefferies has never seemed to mind. The sale of the poster set ceased shortly after its original offering.

  • " The Cage "
  • " Mudd's Women " (Story) ( Season 1 )
  • " Charlie X " (Story)
  • " The Menagerie, Part I "
  • " The Menagerie, Part II "
  • " The Return of the Archons " (Story)
  • " Bread and Circuses " (with Gene L. Coon ) ( Season 2 )
  • " A Private Little War " (Teleplay with Gene L. Coon)
  • " The Omega Glory "
  • " Assignment: Earth " (Story with Art Wallace )
  • " The Savage Curtain " (Teleplay with Arthur Heinemann , Story) ( Season 3 )
  • " Turnabout Intruder " (Story)
  • Star Trek: The Motion Picture (story, uncredited)
  • " Encounter at Farpoint " (with D.C. Fontana ) ( Season 1 )
  • " Hide And Q " (Teleplay with C.J. Holland )
  • " Datalore " (Teleplay with Robert Lewin )
  • " The Cage " to " The Enemy Within " (producer)
  • " The Man Trap " (credited as executive producer and producer)
  • " Charlie X " to " Dagger of the Mind " (producer)
  • " Miri " to " The Menagerie, Part I " (executive producer)
  • " The Menagerie, Part II " (producer – credit for "The Cage")
  • " Shore Leave " to " The Omega Glory " (executive producer)
  • " Assignment: Earth " (producer)
  • " Spectre of the Gun " to " Turnabout Intruder " (executive producer)
  • TAS (executive producer)
  • Star Trek: The Motion Picture (producer)
  • (posthumous credit only from " Violations " to " Time's Arrow ")
  • TAS all episodes
  • Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
  • Star Trek III: The Search for Spock
  • Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
  • Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
  • " Charlie X " as the voice of the galley chef (uncredited) ( Star Trek Encyclopedia  (2nd ed., p. 73))
  • In addition, Roddenberry hosted the video release of " The Cage " and an image of him appeared as Captain Robert April in the Star Trek Encyclopedia  ( ? ed., vol. ? , p. ? ). He can also be heard (along with Majel Barrett and other production people) in the background intercom chatter in " Where No Man Has Gone Before " (and subsequent episodes reusing the same sound tracks).

Star Trek awards [ ]

During his career Gene Roddenberry received the following awards and nominations for his work on Star trek ,

Emmy Awards [ ]

As Producer, Roddenberry received the following Emmy Award nominations in the category Outstanding Dramatic Series:

  • 1967 for Star Trek: The Original Series , shared with Gene L. Coon
  • 1968 for Star Trek: The Original Series , sole nominee

Hugo Awards [ ]

As Writer, Roddenberry received the following Hugo Award nominations and wins:

  • 1967 Hugo Award win in the category Best Dramatic Presentation for TOS : " The Menagerie, Part I " and " The Menagerie, Part II ", shared with Marc Daniels
  • 1968 Hugo Award win in the category Special Award for Star Trek: The Original Series , sole nominee
  • 1980 Hugo Award nomination in the category Best Dramatic Presentation for Star Trek: The Motion Picture , shared with Harold Livingston , Alan Dean Foster and Robert Wise
  • 1988 Hugo Award nomination in the category Best Dramatic Presentation for TNG : " Encounter at Farpoint ", shared with D.C. Fontana and Corey Allen

Saturn Awards [ ]

As Writer and Producer, Roddenberry received the following Saturn Awards:

  • 1977 in the category Executive Achievement Award for Star Trek: The Original Series , sole nominee
  • 1980 in the category Life Career Award for Star Trek: The Motion Picture , sole nominee
  • 1992 in the category George Pal Memorial Award for Star Trek , sole nominee

Writers Guild of America Awards [ ]

As Writer, Roddenberry received the following Writers Guild of America Award nomination in the category Best Written Dramatic Episode:

  • 1967 for TOS : " The Return of the Archons ", shared with Boris Sobelman

Interviews [ ]

Interviews of Roddenberry were part of the following specials:

  • The Star Trek Saga: From One Generation To The Next , interviewed on 20 September 1988
  • TNG Season 1 DVD special feature "The Beginning"
  • TNG Season 1 DVD special feature "Memorable Missions"
  • TNG Season 2 DVD special feature "Mission Overview Year Two" (" Diana Muldaur ", " Whoopi Goldberg "), footage taken from The Star Trek Saga...
  • TNG Season 2 DVD special feature "Selected Crew Analysis Year Two", footage taken from The Star Trek Saga...
  • TNG Season 4 DVD special feature "Mission Overview Year Four" ("Celebrating 100 Episodes"), interviewed by Entertainment Tonight in 1991
  • TNG Season 5 DVD special feature "A Tribute to Gene Roddenberry" ("Gene Roddenberry Building Dedicated to Star Trek's Creator", "Gene's Final Voyage"), interviewed on 6 June 1991 and footage taken from The Star Trek Saga...
  • To Boldly Go
  • "Gene Roddenberry – The Creator of Star Trek: The Next Generation ", The Official Star Trek: The Next Generation Magazine  issue 1 , pp. 4-9, interviewed by Dan Madsen , John S. Davis and Dan Dickholtz
  • "Eternal Questions", The Official Star Trek: The Next Generation Magazine  issue 11 , p. 15

Further reading [ ]

  • The Man Who Created Star Trek: Gene Roddenberry , 1992
  • Gene Roddenberry: The Last Conversation , 1994
  • Gene Roddenberry: The Myth and the Man Behind Star Trek , 1994
  • Star Trek Creator: The Authorized Biography of Gene Roddenberry , 1994
  • Inside Trek: My Secret Life with Star Trek Creator Gene Roddenberry , 2002
  • These Are the Voyages: Gene Roddenberry and Star Trek in the 1970s, Volume 1 (1970-75) , 2019

External links [ ]

  • Gene Roddenberry at the Internet Movie Database
  • Gene Roddenberry: What Might Have Been..., Parts 1 , 2 , 3 and 4 at TVparty.com (detailed career overview for the period 1969-1977)
  • Gene Roddenberry Biography and Stories (X) at TV.com (X)
  • Gene Roddenberry at Wikipedia
  • Gene Roddenberry at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
  • Gene Roddenberry at SF-Encyclopedia.com

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COMMENTS

  1. "Star Trek" The Changeling (TV Episode 1967)

    The Changeling: Directed by Marc Daniels. With William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, James Doohan. A powerful artificially intelligent Earth probe, with a murderously twisted imperative, comes aboard the Enterprise and mistakes Capt. Kirk for its creator.

  2. The Changeling (Star Trek: The Original Series)

    "The Changeling" is the third episode of the second season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek. Written by John Meredyth Lucas and directed by Marc Daniels, it was first broadcast on September 29, 1967.. The crew of the USS Enterprise deals with a life-destroying space probe originally launched from Earth. The plot contains similarities to the later 1979 Star Trek film.

  3. "Star Trek" The Ultimate Computer (TV Episode 1968)

    The Ultimate Computer: Directed by John Meredyth Lucas. With William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, William Marshall. Kirk and a sub-skeleton crew are ordered to test out an advanced artificially intelligent control system - the M-5 Multitronic system, which could potentially render them all redundant.

  4. The Ultimate Computer

    "The Ultimate Computer" is the twenty-fourth episode of the second season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek. Written by D.C. Fontana (based on a story by Laurence N. Wolfe) and directed by John Meredyth Lucas, it was first broadcast on March 8, 1968.. In the episode, the crew of the Enterprise race to disable a rogue computer in total control of the ship.

  5. Gene Roddenberry

    Eugene Wesley Roddenberry Sr. (August 19, 1921 - October 24, 1991) was an American television screenwriter and producer who created the science fiction franchise Star Trek. Born in El Paso, Texas, Roddenberry grew up in Los Angeles, where his father was a police officer.Roddenberry flew 89 combat missions in the Army Air Forces during World War II and worked as a commercial pilot after the war.

  6. Star Trek (TV Series 1966-1969)

    Star Trek: Created by Gene Roddenberry. With Leonard Nimoy, William Shatner, DeForest Kelley, Nichelle Nichols. In the 23rd Century, Captain James T. Kirk and the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise explore the galaxy and defend the United Federation of Planets.

  7. The 'banned' Star Trek episode that promised a united Ireland

    The party's leader in Northern Ireland, Michelle O'Neill, became first minister last month and has predicted a referendum on Irish unity within a decade. She strikes a very different tone to Sir ...

  8. The 'banned' Star Trek episode predicting a united Ireland in 2024

    A banned 1990 episode of Star Trek predicting a united Ireland in 2024 has been beamed back into conversation.. The January 1990 episode The High Ground features a conversation between two of the ...

  9. The 'banned' Star Trek episode that promised a united Ireland

    When sci-fi writer Melinda M Snodgrass sat down to write Star Trek episode The High Ground, she had little idea of the unexpected ripples of controversy it would still be making more than three ...

  10. Star Trek episode buried for 34 years over 'Irish unification in 2024'

    The episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation was not shown on the BBC for 17 years after it was made. ALAMY. Alex Farber, Media Correspondent. Sunday March 03 2024, 11.00pm, The Times.

  11. The 'banned' Star Trek episode that promised a united Ireland

    While the series has legions of followers steeped in its lore, that one particular episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation has lived long and prospered in infamy. It comes down to a scene in which the android character Data, played by actor Brent Spiner, talks about the "Irish unification of 2024" as an example of violence successfully ...

  12. The True Story Behind 'Masters of the Air's POW Camp

    According to the episode summary for Masters of the Air Part 7, Gale "Buck" Cleven and John "Bucky" Egan, along with the rest of the men imprisoned at Stalag Luft III, will face the daunting task ...

  13. Star Trek S2 E3 "The Changeling" / Recap

    Original air date: September 29, 1967 The episode starts off as most episodes start off: with the Enterprise on its way to a planet for Kirk to screw around with. Only, this time … there's no planet. The entire system they were assigned to go to has had all of its organic life forms vaporized, leading the crew to wonder just what the hell is going on.

  14. The Changeling (episode)

    Rerun airdate: 17 May 1968. First UK airdate: 25 May 1970. Although never credited, this episode - which depicted an Earth-launched space probe that acquires almost unimaginable powers in the course of the search for its "Creator" - became the inspiration behind the first Star Trek film.

  15. Remembering "Datalore" 26 Years Later

    It was the last episode written by Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry. It was the fourth of 13 TNG episodes directed by Rob Bowman and is considered both one of his best efforts and one of the show's most memorable outings. StarTrek.com caught up with Spiner and Bowman recently for separate "Datalore"-specific interviews. Spiner provided ...

  16. Masters Of The Air Episode 6 Is A Horrifying Reminder Of The Hardest

    During the sixth episode of Masters of the Air, Major John Egan becomes a POW, and on his journey to Stalag Luft III, he sees something that is not only brutal to watch, but is reminiscent of one particularly difficult Band of Brothers episode. Masters of the Air and Band of Brothers were made 23 years apart, however the shows are interconnected via their creators, their settings, and the true ...

  17. 'Star Trek: The Next Generation' Episode Caused Fight with Creator

    Star Trek fans can thank writer Ronald D. Moore for helping us get to know more about the franchise's iconic villains, as he was "the Klingon Guy" on Star Trek: The Next Generation whenever ...

  18. The Star Trek episode 'banned' after predicting a 'united' Ireland

    A Star Trek episode released in 1990 has only ever been screened in Ireland once over concerns about a single line.. The original season of the sci-fi series first hit screens in 1966 and ran for ...

  19. 10 Star Trek Sequels To Past Episodes

    In Star Trek: The NextGeneration's outstanding "The Inner Light", an alien probe causes Captain Picard to live the life of Kamin, a family man on the dying planet Kataan, within the span of about 20 minutes.Picard's experience as Kamin is profound, but rarely addressed on-screen until "Lessons". Jean-Luc's romance with the musical head of stellar sciences, Lt. Commander Nella Daren (Wendy ...

  20. "Star Trek" The Changeling (TV Episode 1967)

    Nomad : You are the Kirk, the creator. You programmed my function. You programmed my function. Dr. McCoy : [outraged] Well, I'M not the Kirk.

  21. The Naked Now

    Star Trek: The Next Generation's creator, Gene Roddenberry, wanted to include an episode revealing the characters' motivations to the audience early on in the series. As a basis, he turned to the Star Trek: The Original Series episode "The Naked Time."

  22. V'ger

    V'ger was a massive entity and one of the most extraordinary lifeforms ever encountered by the United Federation of Planets. It generated enormous levels of power and threatened Earth with destruction until it found a way to evolve. V'ger chose its own name. Before the name of the vessel was discovered, Starfleet personnel referred to the ship as "the intruder". First detected when passing ...

  23. Harlan Ellison wrote Star Trek's greatest episode. He hated it

    Star Trek's best episode is credited to Harlan Ellison alone. It was a lie he would not let stand. ... at Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry's insistence, by D.C. Fontana, Gene Coon, Steven W ...

  24. A Writers' Strike Nearly Sunk Star Trek: TNG's The Neutral Zone Episode

    In the "Star Trek: The Next Generation" episode "The Neutral Zone" (May 16, 1988), the U.S.S. Enterprise-D encounters a seemingly abandoned cryo-pod floating out in the galaxy. On board are three ...

  25. Gene Roddenberry

    Gene Roddenberry (born August 19, 1921, El Paso, Texas, U.S.—died October 24, 1991, Santa Monica, California) was an American writer and television and film producer who created and served as executive producer of the popular science-fiction television series Star Trek (1966-69), which spawned other television series and a string of motion ...

  26. The Star Trek episode 'banned' after predicting a 'united' Ireland

    A Star Trek episode released in 1990 has only ever been screened in Ireland once over concerns about a single line. The original season of the sci-fi series first hit screens in 1966 and ran for ...

  27. "Star Trek" The Changeling (TV Episode 1967)

    a list of 26 titles created 14 Jul 2015. Star Trek TOS: About 30 Good Episodes. a list of 32 titles created 18 Feb 2020. Watched More Than Once. a list of 490 titles created 18 Aug 2013. a list of 71 titles created 4 months ago.

  28. The Star Trek episode 'banned' for 34 years after it boldly ventured

    A Star Trek episode that made reference to an 'Irish unification in 2024' is still banned in Ireland. Episode 12 of series three, titled The High Ground, was released in 1990, and involves a ...

  29. Gene Roddenberry

    Gene Roddenberry (19 August 1921 - 24 October 1991; age 70), sometimes referred to as the "great bird of the galaxy", was an American filmmaker and TV producer, best known as the creator of the science fiction television series Star Trek, beginning the long running Star Trek franchise. Roddenberry's remains (some of his ashes in a small capsule, about the size of a lipstick) were the first ...