David Gerrold on TNG and the Behind-the-Scenes Drama

[Ryan Thomas Riddle]

David Gerrold speaks frankly on his time on TNG and the behind-the-scenes drama, especially around "Blood and Fire."

See: http://trekmovie.com/2014/09/12/exc...nflicts-with-roddenberry-berman-jj-trek-more/

 

[CorporalCaptain]

Great read.

Part 1, which focuses on TAS and TAS, also has a some stuff on TNG and gay characters in Trek.

 

[Maurice]

Gerrold trying to take credit for "Tiberius" as Kirk's middle name is lame-O. Tiberius was the middle name of Gary Lockwood's character in Roddenberry's The Lieutenant well before Trek. Gene reused names any number of times ("Noonien Singh/Noonian Soong" anyone?). Let's hope this is a case of cryptomnesia on his part.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

Gerrold trying to take credit for "Tiberius" as Kirk's middle name is lame-O. Tiberius was the middle name of Gary Lockwood's character in Roddenberry's The Lieutenant well before Trek. Gene reused names any number of times ("Noonien Singh/Noonian Soong" anyone?). Let's hope this is a case of cryptomnesia on his part.

According to what's here and the referenced interviews, Fontana could corroborate or contradict at least some of his version of events, if she even remembers.

 

[Ryan Thomas Riddle]

My disappoint with the piece is with the lack of journalism in it — it's just another blog Q&A. I know I shouldn't expect much from Trekmovie in that regard. But Gerrold makes statements about the incident that would've been nice to have another source or two, whether it's an quote from another article or one from Berman —*even a noted attempt to reach Berman for comment would've been nice.

Gerrold is very much a person who believes any article should have at least two sources. I know this first hand because I had a conversation about it when I meet him at WonderCon years ago. So it's rather disappointing that this article seems rather one sided. Now, I'm not defending anyone here or excusing anyone's behavior. But the truth isn't one-sided, and it's usually somewhere in the fuzzy middle.

And it is possible to write something very journalistic in entertainment news. I did that very thing when it came to Superman's copyright. (http://comicsbulletin.com/never-ending-battle-truth-justice-and-supermans-copyright/)

Guess, I'm more disappointed not about what Gerrold said but rather at the missed opportunity to write a truly great article about "whatever happened to 'Blood and Fire'."

 

[Trek Survivor]

Gerrold comes across as incredibly bitter and resentful. Also calling TNG a "second rate show" - come on.

Also, I resent the attack on Berman as a "homophobe". I think the reason 'Blood And Fire' didn't get anywhere was because it just wasn't very good. Enough details/script have been released now to form an opinion on it.

 

[ALF]

I'd like to read his reactions and reflections on how he thought Phase II handled Blood and Fire.

 

[Christopher]

Gerrold comes across as incredibly bitter and resentful. Also calling TNG a "second rate show" - come on.

I think he meant that as long as it was under Maizlish's sway, it would never have been anything but second-rate. It's generally agreed that TNG didn't really become a first-rate show until Michael Piller came aboard in season 3.

Also, I resent the attack on Berman as a "homophobe". I think the reason 'Blood And Fire' didn't get anywhere was because it just wasn't very good. Enough details/script have been released now to form an opinion on it.

More than that -- it's been novelized as part of Gerrold's Star Wolf series and adapted as a Phase II fan film.

I've read the novel, and I don't think its quality was low compared to most of TNG's first season, so I don't think that makes sense as a reason for its abandonment. And it's hard to overlook the fact that in all the years Berman was producing Trek, we never got a gay character, except for a couple of gender-bending aliens in episodes like "Rejoined" and "Warlord." Gerrold's language is rather harsh, but I'm not convinced that makes him wrong.

 

[Maurice]

The novel may not be indicative of the quality of the teleplay, however.

His fanfilm Phase II version certainly isn't his best work.

 

[JeffinOakland]

Gerrold seems like an embittered former employee who resents not having been treated like "the talent" while he was w ST.

 

[BeatleJWOL]

Can't we just all agree that ratings are pretty much worthless and leave it at that?

 

[Ryan Thomas Riddle]

The novel may not be indicative of the quality of the teleplay, however.

His Phase II version certainly isn't his best work.

The novel was much, much better. It was more exciting. The drama much more naturalistic and the stakes higher for a captain.

 

[Maurice]

Can't we just all agree that ratings are pretty much worthless and leave it at that?

Where are ratings discussed in this thread?

 

[Takeru]

His Phase II version certainly isn't his best work.

You're very diplomatic, I usually call it a POS script. If the TNG version was similar to that I can see why it was never produced, it was horrendous! Two gay guys take over the show and are exposed to space slug AIDS and one of them dies.
Not only is it bad because the regular cast is sidelined in favor of guest stars, it's also offensive because the gay relationship ends with a tragedy. Of course they had similar things happen to straight couples but there's a difference between how you treat some of countless straight couples and how you treat one of exactly one gay couple.
I haven't read the novel and honestly, after seeing the filmed version I'm not interested.

 

[Christopher]

^I've always gathered that the fact that two male characters were in a relationship was a minor part of the story, just alluded to in passing.

 

[Takeru]

^I've always gathered that the fact that two male characters were in a relationship was a minor part of the story, just alluded to in passing.

I have no idea about the novel or the original TNG script. But it's certainly not alluded to in passing in the fanfilm, it starts with the two guys making out and planning their wedding, that scene goes on for about 10 minutes.

 

[Christopher]

^Then the fan film has definitely been rewritten from the original, because there's obviously no way anyone writing a TV script in 1987 would've believed that could possibly get on the air.

Damn, I used to have a book that summarized a bunch of unfilmed Trek scripts including "Blood and Fire," but I don't have it anymore, and I can't seem to find a detailed summary of the original TNG script online. Although I have found that there are disputes about whether it was a good script or not.

 

[OmahaStar]

^ The fan film version was not only re-written to take place during TOS instead of TNG, it was also expanded to two parts, was it not? As Gerrold says, in the TNG version, there would have been those two lines in passing, and no other gay content. That alone was enough to get the script shelved. In the decades since then, we've had exactly zero gay characters on screen in Star Trek. My, how far we've come.

 

[MikeH92467]

The problem is that I don't see any way in a TV episode to make just a passing reference. The Phase II story turned into "look at them! they're gay!"

 

[doubleohfive]

Another piece to recall is that the fan film script was also re-written/adapted by Carlos Pedraza, who had written for many years on the fan film series Hidden Frontier, which (rightfully) never shied away from portraying gay relationships the same way most productions would show heterosexual relationships. I'm not saying the failure of Phase II's "Blood and Fire" fan film scripts is due to this, nor am I saying that it is all on Pedraza, just that this influence is also a factor to consider.

But, as with most fan films (Phase II in particular) they just didn't know when to stop. Just about every fan film out there has the same problem. They don't know how to edit themselves and some (again, Phase II in particular) do not know how or are unable to take constructive criticism meant for the betterment of their work. This is probably also an element to consider when reviewing "Blood and Fire," and certainly not because of how they chose to portray the relationship between Peter Kirk and Alex Freeman.

On it's own "Blood and Fire" the fan film suffers greatly from being expanded into two parts as well as being produced by a fan film compay that has no clue when to dial back their "everything-in-the-kitchen-sink" approach to Star Trek.

The result is a film overloaded with poorly conceived callbacks to all kinds of bits and pieces from the franchise as a whole (Most egregious is Tasha Yar's grandmother, who plays a significant role in the shows simply because they managed to get Denise Crosby for the role; the character is otherwise completely forgettable) and the majority of Part 2 has all the drama taking place on the bridge with the Klingons (who had been pursuing the Enterprise throughout) just watching the whole thing transpire on the viewscreen.

In other words, IT WAS BORING.