What do you think "Gene Roddenberry" would think about with "Discovery?"

[Nyotarules]

If Discovery made money for the Roddenberry household he would love it!

 

[Mad Jack Wolfe]

What's wrong with being a goofball? The world needs more people who just want to have fun.

It was not meant as a compliment.

 

[The Wormhole]

Roddenberry was a visionary

That's where I stopped taking you seriously.

Yes, Roddenberry didn't want to turn Star Trek into a dumb down action movie or even something else.

TOS was intended to be an action show. Says so in the damn writer's guide. It was the alcoholic mentally ill latter-day Roddenberry who suddenly thought of Star Trek as some sort of uber-utopian wet-dream where everyone gets along with each other and spends twenty minutes soul-searching and teching the tech.

IMO, The Orville is a lot closer to the spirit of TOS than any Star Trek spin-off has been.

What would Roddenberry think? Where's my check?

Exactly. And assuming he was satisfied with how much money he was pulling in, he'd go back to his drink.

 

[Jayson1]

That's where I stopped taking you seriously.

TOS was intended to be an action show. Says so in the damn writer's guide. It was the alcoholic mentally ill latter-day Roddenberry who suddenly thought of Star Trek as some sort of uber-utopian wet-dream where everyone gets along with each other and spends twenty minutes soul-searching and teching the tech.

IMO, The Orville is a lot closer to the spirit of TOS than any Star Trek spin-off has been.

Exactly. And assuming he was satisfied with how much money he was pulling in, he'd go back to his drink.

I don't want to put words in someone's mouth but since every sentence that starts by saying something like this, ends with someone trying to do that thing they said they didn't want to do I will simply say that he might being going with the idea that Roddenberry the human being was the visionary and that wasn't reflected in his shows, except maybe TNG.

Also it is possible for a human being to be a visionary and also be a flawed human being. Being a visionary I don't think it means you are also a saint. Walt DIsney was a visionary and it's kind of common knowledge now that he was a horrible human being.

Jason

 

[The Wormhole]

I didn't say being a visionary is the same as being a saint. However, Star Trek, especially the stuff Roddenberry brought to the table is highly derivative, and IMO, it's more the result of Gene Coon that TOS caught on and endured. Coon was the one who took Roddenberry's ideas and developed them, and indeed it is Coon who is responsible for creating much that is considered the foundations of the franchise such as Starfleet, the Federation, and the Prime Directive, as well as the Klingons and the Romulans.

 

[Jayson1]

I didn't say being a visionary is the same as being a saint. However, Star Trek, especially the stuff Roddenberry brought to the table is highly derivative, and IMO, it's more the result of Gene Coon that TOS caught on and endured. Coon was the one who took Roddenberry's ideas and developed them, and indeed it is Coon who is responsible for creating much that is considered the foundations of the franchise such as Starfleet, the Federation, and the Prime Directive, as well as the Klingons and the Romulans.

I know but I was thinking about it from his view on the world. I think he might have actually believed that humans could someday get along with each other and have no conflict and some of the stuff that seems far fetched might actually be possible if humans try and make it happen.

Jason

 

[Amalak]

Dude, you're talking like Best of both worlds is the only good part about Star Trek The Next Generation. I like all of it!! Well, not every single episodes or aspects but all of it in general. TNG was a great success. 7 seasons of great entertainment not just 2 episodes!

Yes, Roddenberry didn't want to turn Star Trek into a dumb down action movie or even something else. So what? This scientific, futuristic, optimist, moral/ethical edge is what make Star Trek different than all the TV shows and action movies out there. In that aspect, it's similar to only a few shows like Doctor Who, Stargate, Sliders, etc.

I don't think every TV shows and movies should be like Star Trek, but they shouldn't be like all action, some drama, heroism but no brain movies either and I'm a fan of action movies! Roddenberry was right into holding Star Trek to some principles because this is what made Star Trek unique and a one of the biggest,most popular and recognizable franchise in history.

Personally, I don't mind if they turn Star Trek into a darkgrim, dystopian future, action movie, but still I wonder why they have to do that to Star Trek (beside for the money of course). Why not make their own TV shows/Movies? Like the new Battlestar Galactical did (if you forget the old ones). Game of Thrones, Rome and Spartacus are some of my favorite TV series. So was the original Total Recall movie. There's blood, sex, gore, drama, action, etc. But I'm very glad Star Trek TNG was not exactly like those TV shows/movies.

Star Trek TOS and TNG were a bit like Doctor Who and Stargate for me. They have a futuristic, scientific, optimistic intellectual edge and I'm very happy about it. Beside for the money, why turn Star Trek specifically into a darkgrim dystopian future tv shows like 90% of Sci-fi movies/tv series and 90% of regular action movies? I love Star Trek TNG, Orville, Doctor Who, Game of Thrones and Spartacus. They are all their own thing and Roddenberry was 100% right to try to keep it that way (as any creator of a TV series/Movies). Don't like it? Make your own TV shows like Game of Thrones, Stargate and Battlestar Galactical did. So every shows have their unique edge. No I don't want Game of Thrones to be more optimistic about the future (or their made up past), it doesn't fit Game of Thrones but it fit Star Trek very well.

Roddenberry's vision is what make Star Trek unique to me. But not every shows should be like Star Trek, nor should all TV shows be like Game of Thrones.

Are you comparing Discovery to Game of Thrones?

 

[McDuff]

Are you comparing Discovery to Game of Thrones?

Of course, just look how quickly they got rid of one of the main character, Captain Georgiou, reminiscing GoT.... I was just comparing 2 great but very different tv shows.

 

[Armus]

Yes, he would have said the lighting sucks.

 

[CorporalClegg]

He'd have one thing to say: "When do I get the check?"

 

[Blamo]

Thing is Roddenberry's TNG is different from Roddenberry's TOS. In TOS you had a lot of things Roddenberry didn't want in the TOS movies and TNG, like irrational conflict between crew, racism, a flawed star fleet, a star fleet that was certainly written as a military.

Balance of Terror is an excellent example of a lot of things Roddenberry would come to dislike.

As for Message of Hope, we're two episodes into a serialised story. Starting out a story with "everything is going to be fine" is not the best way to go about a drama. Just like the "message of hope" came at the end of the older stories, same probably goes for Discovery except it's strewn out across the season.

 

[donners22]

Since he liked Star Trek VI and said so just prior to his passing, I'd assume he'd like Discovery.

Accounts of that seem mixed. Some have said that he was so out of it at the time that he didn't really know what was going on.

He certainly had some arguments with Meyer - who openly admits breaking the Roddenberry mould for the series - over the course of its production.

I'd be most surprised if '90s Roddenberry would have been happy with openly racist Starfleet officers.

 

[Vger23]

Accounts of that seem mixed. Some have said that he was so out of it at the time that he didn't really know what was going on.

He certainly had some arguments with Meyer - who openly admits breaking the Roddenberry mould for the series - over the course of its production.

I'd be most surprised if '90s Roddenberry would have been happy with openly racist Starfleet officers.

I'm going off of what the reports said regarding his reaction...otherwise it's all speculation.

And based on what we know (not what we conjecture or assume about the man's preferences)...I surmise that if he liked TUC, he'd like DSC. Because they're very similar thus far.

To your point though, he'd probably like DSC more...since there were no openly racist Starfleet officers in it. So your point is well taken.

 

[Albinator]

I think he's looking down and loving it. There's a quote I read recently where he said he hoped that Trek would far outlive him, and that after he was gone, he hoped future generations of filmmakers would take the mantle. He even hoped that these filmmakers would bring new viewpoints, and new ideas, and hoped they would keep Trek fresh and evolving to stay relevant.

I've tried desperately to dig up the quote again (not just text, but the article it was printed in), but to no avail. If anyone can find it, please do so. It's quite refreshing to hear, particularly from someone as ego-driven as he was.