Inside Star Trek: The Real Story

[Therin of Andor]

Though one thing lately that has really p*ssed me off in regards Gene Roddenberry is the fact that he blamed working on Star Trek and the long hours for the failure of his marriage at the time.

He was already making TV shows long before Star Trek. GR wrote for "Have Gun, Will Travel", among numerous other series, and produced shows like "The Lieutenant".

The news that Majel Barrett was his actually his mistress didn't really break during TOS, but after the series ended and they began appearing at conventions together, got married, and had "Little Rod". But when GR was speaking at his university lectures and ST conventions, and asked about the early days of ST, he's hardly going to say, "Oh yes, you see I had this mistress at the time, and I cast her as the female lead of 'The Cage' - and used the ol' traditional Hollywood casting couch to select all our female guest stars."

I doubt GR actually blamed ST itself for the state of his first marriage, but blaming the rigors of Hollywood TV production in general, sure! And that would be perfectly correct.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

No, it wouldn't be correct. Individuals respond differently to those "rigors" depending upon their character. GR's philandering and his eventual preference for Barrett, not the way in which he made his living, led to the end of his first marriage.

 

[Mr_Homn]

God forbid we should have an episode where an android tries to convince someone not to call off her wedding. Oh wait, we did. Now that's sci-fi soap!

aren't soaps filled to the brim with drama and seriousness?

that episode very light hearted and comedy driven. i don't see it as being soapish at all... sure if you read the summary out of the tv guide and take it out of context, it might sound that way, but it doesn't play out that way on screen.

 

[GNDN]

^ Melodramatic maybe?

Not you, the episode... and yes, I did enjoy it.

 

[Mysterion]

^ Melodramatic maybe?

Melodrama is just real life with the boring parts taken out.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

God forbid we should have an episode where an android tries to convince someone not to call off her wedding. Oh wait, we did. Now that's sci-fi soap!

aren't soaps filled to the brim with drama and seriousness?

that episode very light hearted and comedy driven. i don't see it as being soapish at all... sure if you read the summary out of the tv guide and take it out of context, it might sound that way, but it doesn't play out that way on screen.

It is a good point that Data's Day has a lot of comedy. I believe In Theory, Brothers, and New ground have less comedy, and also many qualities in common with the soap opera.

 

[Mr_Homn]

God forbid we should have an episode where an android tries to convince someone not to call off her wedding. Oh wait, we did. Now that's sci-fi soap!

aren't soaps filled to the brim with drama and seriousness?

that episode very light hearted and comedy driven. i don't see it as being soapish at all... sure if you read the summary out of the tv guide and take it out of context, it might sound that way, but it doesn't play out that way on screen.

It is a good point that Data's Day has a lot of comedy. I believe In Theory, Brothers, and New ground have less comedy, and also many qualities in common with the soap opera.

Yeah, the show sure did have a lot of range. You could classify any number of episodes as all sorts of genres if you want to.

But by no means would I label TNG as a whole "soap opera-ish"... especially in relation to other incarnations of trek.

IMO DS9 strayed into soap territory much more often.

 

[Captain Robert April]

That's the beauty of the Star Trek format. You can tell any kind of story within the framework.

It's the main reason I go ballistic when I hear claptrap like "Star Trek is a sci-fi saga like Star Wars."

In the immortal words of Penn Jillette, BULLSHIT!

There are stories within Star Trek that qualify as sagas (ST II - IV, or "Best of Both Worlds" for instance). Also comedies, melodramas, romances, satires, war stories, etc., etc.

Star Wars, on the other hand, is one big sprawling six episode epic story about the rise, fall, and ultimate redemption of Anakin Skywalker.