• 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!

Gene Roddenberry, deep down

Status
Not open for further replies.
They're Star Trek's most heavily developed culture. How aren't they part of the core?

They only were in 7 episodes of the original series (3 from season 3), admittedly IMO the first being one of Trek's best episodes, a nice recurring rival but I don't think integral-then they appeared more, in different forms, later and I think became (even) more popular.

The Federation was Gene Coon's idea. Gene Roddenberry just had the Enterprise in service to "United Earth." It was Gene Coon who thought the Federation up.

Alright, that is a significant, integral aspect of the whole concept and Coon deserves credit for that.
 
Roddenberry was a writer and editor but more than anything a producer, a position that combines creative and managerial and deal-making skills. He created and produced something very successful, and even though it was a team effort, he still deserves credit as an original driving force, I can't deny that to him. Hollywood producers often have a reputation for sleaziness and dishonesty, too, so if that fits for GR at least he's not unique.

What GR had that was unique, though, was a channel of self-promotion, starting with TMoST and extending into other tie-in publishing and a fan/convention grapevine, that went largely unchallenged for a long time. And the way he chose to present himself in those channels was above all as a creative visionary who frequently struggled with the network suits and bean-counters and censors who just didn't care about creativity and art. When a lot of times his struggles were just his personal business interests clashing with other business interests.

So he got to set up his own image for a long time and a lot of people bought in to that. And when another side of the story started to come out, some didn't want to hear it. But it should be no surprise that as time went by that original narrative would be challenged, because it was so one-sided to begin with.
 
So you're saying he wasn't a creative visionary who wrote some if not the best episodes of Star Trek?
 
"Turnabout Intruder" comes to mind. :)

("Story by Gene Roddenberry.")

To be fair, nobody bats 100 all the time. Even Hitchcock had his turkeys.

While it is one of my favorites, "The Omega Glory" gets beaten up on quite a bit by fandom. Written by Gene Roddenberry, I believe.
 
Very favorable things or bad things strung together. would you like to be judged like that?

I take it this is pointed at me?

I want to be judged based on the actions I take. We have more than enough evidence for everything I have posted, except for the rape. Which is something we will likely never know for sure now that Grace Lee Whitney is gone.
 
Omega Glory was quintessential Star Trek. Hence, we're talking about it 50 years after it premiered. There must be something to it. Could it be that the Comms and the Yangs were all higher life forms playing with our conventions and replaying our history. I think so.
 
Omega Glory is something of a personal favourite, but consensus is generally that it was a dud...
 
"Turnabout Intruder" comes to mind. :)

("Story by Gene Roddenberry.")

To be fair, nobody bats 100 all the time. Even Hitchcock had his turkeys.

I have always liked 'Turnabout Intruder'....particularly Sandra Smith's acting. The story does have its problems, though, including ridiculously stereotypical 'womanish' things.

As for Hitchcock, I really don't like 'The Man Who Knew Too Much' but I do like his final one, 'Family Plot', which a lot of people don't.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Sign up / Register


Back
Top