What would Roddenberry think?

[Sci]

Considering how he practically went into his grave complaining about how he didn't like the direction Star Trek was heading in, I don't think he'd really like the way Star Trek is today. What do you think he'd say? About Enterprise? Voyager? XI? Something tells me he's rolling around in his grave, but I wouldn't know, being among the living...

I neither know nor care. In his later years, Gene Roddenberry was a horrible writer. He was much better during the TOS era.

 

[JustKate]

Didn't that perfectibility really come out in TNG?

For a while? Sure - although even early on there were glimpses of...exceptions. For the entire run of the show? Definitely not. Can you imagine GR approving "The Drumhead" or allowing one of his captains to be assimilated by the Borg? Maybe I'm dead wrong, but I can't.

I think he must have approved those. The only firsthand I have of his involvement was from when I pitched there at the end of 1990, but he was having some kind of fit over the season 4 cliffhanger with Worf and klingons, so if he was involved to that degree then, he'd've had say on those other earlier ones as well.

It was a big enough deal that Piller couldn't take my pitch and had to go placate him and I got shunted off to Jeri Taylor. The only real detail I remember was Piller telling the secretary, 'you don't give him the early outlines' or words to that effect.

I have no idea. According to Wiki - if there's a better source (and surely there must be), I don't have access to it - GR had full control only over TNG's first season. Then, Wiki says, the 1988 WGA strike "prevented him from taking an active role in production of the second season, and forced him to hand control of the series to producer Maurice Hurley. While Roddenberry was free to resume work on the third season, his health was in serious decline, and over the course of the season, he gradually ceded control to Rick Berman and Michael Piller."

If this is accurate, and that is a big "if," I don't see how he could have approved either "The Drumhead" (season 4) or "Best of Both Worlds (season 4-season 5). Although I guess that depends partly on one's definition of "approved."

Can you imagine GR ... allowing one of his captains to be assimilated by the Borg? Maybe I'm dead wrong, but I can't.

That one I can imagine his approving, because, in the end, Picard was rescued, survived and recovered. But if assimilation were the end of that story, I would agree w/ you.

Maybe. I guess it's possible. But if so, he surely wouldn't have wanted his captain to remain wounded thereafter, and Picard surely was, demonstrating this more than once.

And I also kind of agree Sci that it doesn't really matter. I mean...sure, GR had the idea. Yaaaaay for that (really). But in the end, Trek is more than GR, the vision wasn't just GR's, and that's all there is to it.

 

[Mysterion]

Definitely not. Can you imagine GR approving "The Drumhead" or allowing one of his captains to be assimilated by the Borg? Maybe I'm dead wrong, but I can't.

Yeah, that'd be just ridiculous. He would have sooner approved stories where the captain is split into two different personalities, or has his body taken over by a disgrintuled female former Starfleet officer, or voluntarily let his (and his staff) body be taken over by aliens from another galaxy, or let the captain get amnesia, knock up a native girl and live as the king of a tribe of indians for a few months, or...

 

[JustKate]

^ Those strike you as being on the same order of magnitude as "The Drumhead," which showed a Federation in which lots of otherwise good people were ready to start a witch-hunt, and a captain of the Enterprise being assimilated by the Borg? Helpless? Wounded for years after by this experience? Huh. Interesting.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

I think he would have been reasonably pleased with Enterprise, Voyager and XI.

Probably so. He'd have been particularly pleased to see the original series characters outlast the actors.

 

[Hambone]

Didn't that perfectibility really come out in TNG?

In TOS it seems more assumed rather than in your face, plus the crew argues more, which was forbidden pretty much on TNG.

I think one of the big mistakes Star Trek made was returning to Earth. I recall reading (in The Making of Star Trek?) where Roddenberry said that by Kirk's time, Earth was a paradise; all technology and manufacturing was underground and the entire surface was natural parkland. He also said we'll (the audience) never know, because we'll never go there.

I take this as meaning that in Roddenberry's future, life on Earth was practically perfect; a utopia. Life aboard a starship, on the other hand, was a little more seat-of-your-pants. This was reflected in Kirk's command style.

I'm pretty surprised that the TNG 1st season episode "Conspiracy" ever got made, with Roddenberry still executive-producing at this point. Trouble on Earth? Within Starfleet Command itself? Interesting.

 

[Aike]

He would have loved Gaila, Seven and T´Pol.

 

[RyuRoots]

Personally, I wouldn't give a flying targ what Roddenberry would think. I respect him for creating the world of Star Trek, but honestly, most of the best of Trek came when Roddenberry didn't have the reigns on it.

 

[Phily B]

I don't care, he did a great job with TOS and the other films but if he had control like Lucas (as someone else pointed out) he would probably have killed Trek before Voyager/Enterprise were even on the drawing board.

 

[DestinyCaptain]

Gene would think "where's my check"???

 

[JarodRussell]

He didn't want a war story, he didn't want Starfleet to be corruptible (hence in TNG Conspiracy it was about Aliens invading, and not normal humans doing the damage, and he also hated Star Trek 6 for that reason), he hated it when they made the characters prejudiced.


I'm sure he would hate Abrams take on Kirk, Spock & Co. Not the redesign/reboot itself, because he was open to that, but to the way the characters are acting in the movie.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

I'm sure he would hate Abrams take on Kirk, Spock & Co. Not the redesign/reboot itself, because he was open to that, but to the way the characters are acting in the movie.

He'd love it.

 

[3D Master]

He would hate STXI for going against everything that Star Trek stood for, and rightly so.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

No, he'd be very pleased by it, and rightly so.

Bob Justman thought everything about the project was great.

 

[JarodRussell]

I love the way how you present your opinion as absolute fact.

 

[JustKate]

^ To be absolutely fair, Jerod...so did you.

I'm just kidding. I mean, we're all - including me, of course - just stating our opinion here, unless somebody has had contact with Gene on the Other Side and hasn't mentioned it.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

I mean, we're all - including me, of course - just stating our opinion here, unless somebody has had contact with Gene on The Other Side and hasn't mentioned it.

Exactly. The close congruence of Roddenberry's opinions with the opinions of each poster is just effing staggering.

This kind of thread is pretty masturbatory.

 

[SFRabid]

He would have been very happy with Jeri Ryan and Jolene Blaylock.

 

[Nerys Myk]

He would hate STXI for going against everything that Star Trek stood for, and rightly so.

You got a list?

 

[Argus Skyhawk]

Roddenberry would have liked much of modern Trek, especially the movies and episodes that I liked. On the other hand, I cannot imagine him liking the movies and episodes that I didn't like. Still, he would be especially pleased that even in 2009 fans are still talking about his creation, and using cool internet handles like "Skyhawk" and "Argus". On the other hand, he would have been very disappointed that so many fans have chosen to have avatars with no tigers in them. Yes, tigerless avatars would have saddened him greatly, and rightly so.