• Welcome! The TrekBBS is the number one place to chat about Star Trek with like-minded fans.
    If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

David Gerrold was not invited to the premiere. Seems unhappy about it.

That's true. What's tacky is to surf on your laurels for 50 years and, on top of that, come across as a perennial crank on social networks. The only guy I know who can pull off the perennial crank act is Harlan Ellison, because as bitter as he may be, he expresses it with a wit and flourish which Gerrold lacks. Kind of ironic considering that Gerrold is known for writing a comedy episode...
Meh.. he sounded let down and that he's going to move on. I guess they couldn't invite everybody and maybe they didn't want to invite someone who wasn't a 'yes' person.
 
If Mack was helping them out, he should have been there. Beyer should have made noise to make it happen. Or the EP's.

Who's to say she didn't? But the guest list on a premiere is about promoting the work, and doesn't necessarily reflect the preferences of even the producers. Hollywood has its own hierarchies.

Um... You're a Trek fan, and you don't know who David Gerrold is?

Gerrold wrote one episode out of 700 or so across seven television series and thirteen movies. Give him a break if he didn't recognize Gerrold's name.
 
Thanks, guys.

I had a "career" as a screenwriter almost thirty years ago that lasted an eye-blink; I certainly wouldn't expect anything ever from the studio other than my residuals.

It's not actually at all weird for someone who watches TV and movies not to know who Gerrold or any other writer is - or directors or producers for that matter. Most people have vaguely heard of one or two. It just seems odd to us because we're so into it.
 
Last edited:
Um... You're a Trek fan, and you don't know who David Gerrold is?

There are different levels of fandom and dedication to a franchise. One can be a fan without knowing every writer of Trek by name. I don't know most episode names so when you guys talk about episodes I am lost until I look it up. I know them by "the episode where we first saw the Borg" but not the name. That doesn't mean I am not a fan of the series. heck I have never managed to sit through all of Voyager.
 
Almost certainly the case. The theater's capacity is 800, and I imagine that studio VIPs and the great and the good of Hollywood whom none of us know from Adam would take up a decent chunk of it. The producers and actors from Discovery would also have taken up a chunk. After that, it's just prioritizing for publicity reasons. Casts of the prior shows get invited before writers no one would recognize, hot pop-sci personalities get invited before tie-in writers, and so on, and so forth. Invites would have less to do with what someone has done for the franchise in general or DSC in particular, and who's more likely to get a pull-quote on a website or local paper's TV section.

That is a good point. They were parading the VIPs on teh blue carpet so for that group of people you want people who will be recognizable. Not "here's the guy who wrote the discovery novel which will be out in a few weeks" or 'here's the guy who wrote a tribble episode 50 years ago". They want people where people will go "oooh... that Kirk" and so forth.
 
That is a good point. They were parading the VIPs on teh blue carpet so for that group of people you want people who will be recognizable. Not "here's the guy who wrote the discovery novel which will be out in a few weeks" or 'here's the guy who wrote a tribble episode 50 years ago". They want people where people will go "oooh... that Kirk" and so forth.

They did invite Bjo, and John Trimble. Even a lot of fans today probably have no idea who that is.
 
There are different levels of fandom and dedication to a franchise. One can be a fan without knowing every writer of Trek by name.

I don't necessarily know every writer by name. But I do know the names of those who played a larger role in the development of TOS and Trekdom as a whole. Maybe it's also due to my familiarity with sci-fi literature, but Gerrold is one of those standouts from TOS who wrote a classic episode that introduced an iconic Trek species. There would be no Tribbles without his work.

None of this excuses his rant about not being invited, mind you.
 
The fact that David Gerrold expected an invite to this and is outraged he didn't get one is insane, but I do think Wil Wheaton not getting an invite is odd. If you're planning a premiere, the more actors you can get there, the better. I could see having to cut some of the least notable actors, but Anthony Montgomery was there! I see no logic that excludes Wil Wheaton and includes Anthony Montgomery.

They did invite Bjo, and John Trimble. Even a lot of fans today probably have no idea who that is.

Yeah, but the Trimble's are an easy little blurb for media coverage -- it's not the hook, but it's a nice additional paragraph to help flesh out any articles that might get written. I had completely forgotten they existed, they probably last crossed my conscious mind somewhere around 1995, but I did get a big smile on my face when I scrolled past their pic and remembered them. And it shows there was a thoughtfulness and an awareness of history in the assemblage of the guest list, which is nice to see.
 
Aside from his overtly expressed undiplomatic attitudes toward the franchise over the years, I think it's a sad day when Trek fans don't even know who David Gerrold is.

Kor
 
Aside from his overtly expressed undiplomatic attitudes toward the franchise over the years, I think it's a sad day when Trek fans don't even know who David Gerrold is.

Kor
Why? Shouldn't Trek look forward as much as back?
 
The fact that David Gerrold expected an invite to this and is outraged he didn't get one is insane, but I do think Wil Wheaton not getting an invite is odd. If you're planning a premiere, the more actors you can get there, the better. I could see having to cut some of the least notable actors, but Anthony Montgomery was there! I see no logic that excludes Wil Wheaton and includes Anthony Montgomery.

Do we know for a fact that Wheaton didn't get an invitation? Or did he get one, and chose not to attend? The number of B-list celebs there not directly connected to Discovery suggests that it was an "I'll pass" decision for most.

If I were sending out party invitations where space is limited, I'd send the first batch to those I really want there, and when they turn me down, I send them out to group B. I'm sure someone at CBS thought the same thing.
 
Hey, has anyone heard anything at all about the show from Nicholas Meyer during the run-up to release? Rod Roddenberry?

Rod Roddenberry spoke about Discovery and his role on the show at the recent Hawaii Con. Full report here: https://blackgirlnerds.com/exciting-talk-star-trek-discoverys-rod-roddenberry/

Do we know for a fact that Wheaton didn't get an invitation? Or did he get one, and chose not to attend? The number of B-list celebs there not directly connected to Discovery suggests that it was an "I'll pass" decision for most.

If I were sending out party invitations where space is limited, I'd send the first batch to those I really want there, and when they turn me down, I send them out to group B. I'm sure someone at CBS thought the same thing.

Also there is the possibility of a scheduling conflict on Wheaton's part. Of course, this is all speculative and I'll take Gerrold at a grain of salt until Wheaton says something himself.
 
If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Sign up / Register


Back
Top