From the new Steve Shives video about the cancellation of SFA and the legacy of Alex Kurtzman.
Gene's words can technically only be applied directly and literally to the shows he had direct influence in and direct reaction to, otherwise it's potential misapplication. Since Gene didn't create or participate in SFA, we don't and can't know how Gene would have reacted to
any series made after his death. Based on what he has said in other matters, he'd perhaps loathe what DS9 turned into, calling it no less "apocryphal" than STV TFF*. But, again, what I just wrote falls into the identical category and for all we know he'd embrace the Dominion War, "In the Pale Moonlight", et cetera. But we don't know either way, and never will.
More to putting up random quotes, here's a bunch more quotes and not taken from a youtube reaction channel but from a literary source that directly deals with it all:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/43942.Gene_Roddenberry
There are several of interest, and while anyone can say anything, here's one of the funner ones:
“If man is to survive, he will have learned to take a delight in the essential differences between men and between cultures. He will learn that differences in ideas and attitudes are a delight, part of life's exciting variety, not something to fear.”
― Gene Roddenberry
Which begs a question - which came first, that one or the one that the YouTube channel host put up for viewers to freeze-frame? Or both, simultanous, perhaps? At what point did one morph into the other? By him or somebody else? We don't know. Let's continue down the bunnyhole: Did Gene even give a damn about the axed show until finding out how successful Trek was in syndication? He certainly felt a need to retcon and wipe out
elements of TOS he didn't like for TNG (often with the same people who helped make TOS), made 20 years later...
Add to more irony upon the heap of ironies, AI told me this:
Gene Roddenberry did not initially treat Star Trek as his primary passion, shifting his focus toward it only after its popularity grew in syndication during the 1970s. While he was a strong advocate for his idealistic, utopian vision, his early, restrictive creative guidelines (no interpersonal conflict) actually hindered the series.
and this
Gene Roddenberry did not dismiss Star Trek during its original run, but he became intensely protective and protective of its legacy only after it found popularity in syndication during the 1970s. While the show was airing (1966–1969), he was active but struggling with network censorship; the post-cancellation, massive, cult-like popularity shifted his attitude toward "protecting" his vision, leading to a much tighter, sometimes controlling, grip on the franchise during the TNG era.
Accuracy
or lack thereof presiding, let's just take those and the quotes at face value for the moment and then think into it for an entertainment-driven thrill. Why would he also do stuff like this if he sincerely believed about humanity uniting?
Now, I know of at least one decent answer, but instead of going down that rabbit hole as the dichotomy is as profound, I'll keep on track with this quoted reply for now:
As much as the concept of Star Trek has taken hold and has many fans and fanatics (trekkers and trekkies), the creator was a flawed person.
^^this, since some of the best Trek didn't involve his vision but entertainment is invariably subjective to the audience, which may as well be a herd of cats. But the flaws and sheer complexity of him are what make him the most interesting...
And yet,
Answer (1 of 2): Star Trek had a limited audience during its original run. It wasn’t even a good candidate for syndication, since it only had 79 episodes, and conventional wisdom said you needed a minimum of 100 episodes. But Paramount wanted to try to recoup the costs of absorbing Desilu Studios...
www.quora.com
The show was saved when Gene Roddenberry organized sci-fi fans into writing letters to praise the show. Because of the letters, the show was kept on for a second and third season. However, by the third season the network was determined to destroy the show, and they put it on Friday night at 10 pm.
That's pretty cool that Gene was really doing it for the fans! Again, he was very complex.
But, when all is said and done and here's the true controversial opinion that some might have: It's just a tv show, just like any other show with fanbases that discuss episodes and those who made it (the writers, actors, creators, etc, each show took many). Like it or not, it's entertainment first and foremost. Even though there's little that's controversial about it.
* Here's another quote:
“I handed them a script and they turned it down. It was too controversial. It talked about concepts like, 'Who is God?' The Enterprise meets God in space; God is a life form, and I wanted to suggest that there may have been, at one time in the human beginning, an alien entity that early man believed was God, and kept those legends. But I also wanted to suggest that it might have been as much the Devil as it was God. After all, what kind of god would throw humans out of Paradise for eating the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. One of the Vulcans on board, in a very logical way, says, 'If this is your God, he's not very impressive. He's got so many psychological problems; he's so insecure. He demands worship every seven days. He goes out and creates faulty humans and then blames them for his own mistakes. He's a pretty poor excuse for a supreme being.”
― Gene Roddenberry
Doesn't it read surprisingly close to TFF in some ways? Is it possible that that quote was about TFF in an earlier form, before it was rewritten and he merely disliked the rewrites? Well, we can't conjecture too much but it's interesting that the quote shown there was the synopsis for Phase II's premiere, "The God Thing", which was rejected for being... too controversial. In the end, I don't think even humanity's most renowned script writer ever of all time could have remolded that a consistent, solid storyline.)
