Roddenberry's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

Eugene Wesley "Gene" Roddenberry (August 19, 1921 – October 24, 1991) was an American screenwriter and producer of several television series, best known for his work in creating the Star Trek franchise. He began a writing career while he was a Sergeant in the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) and his first work to be bought by a network was The Secret Defense of 117, although it took four years to be broadcast.[1] During that time, he wrote four episodes of the police procedural Highway Patrol under the pseudonym "Robert Wesley",[2] as the LAPD required employees to seek formal permission to work a second job.[3] After leaving the force, he wrote for several series, such as Have Gun – Will Travel but wanted to become a producer.[4]

He wrote pilots for a series of his own, but these were turned down by the studios until he began work on The Lieutenant. This ran for a single season on NBC on Saturday nights. While involved in that series, he began working on a science fiction premise that became Star Trek.[5] He oversaw the production of the series for the first two seasons, but following budget cuts and the move to an unfavorable timeslot for the third season, he stepped back from working on Star Trek but remained credited as an executive producer.[6] Following the cancellation of the series, he wrote and produced his first feature film, Pretty Maids All in a Row.[7] He also produced several new science fiction pilots: Genesis II (also re-worked into a second pilot, called Planet Earth),[8] The Questor Tapes and Spectre.[9] Of these, Questor was approved to go to a full season, but following disagreements between Roddenberry and the studio over suggested changes, it was canceled.[8]

Star Trek was resurrected twice, first as an animated series,[10] and then as Star Trek: The Motion Picture.[11] The studio brought in a new producer for the sequel to the film, to which Roddenberry demanded creative control or else he would refuse an executive producer credit, instead only willing to be credited as creative consultant. This credit started with Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and continued through to Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.[12][13] He took Star Trek back to television during the late 1980s, with Star Trek: The Next Generation. In order to maintain complete control, he decided to release the series directly into broadcast syndication in order to avoid the interference of networks.[14] Following his death in 1991, two of his 1970s science fiction ideas were re-worked, resulting in Earth: Final Conflict and Andromeda.[15][16]

Films

Year Title Credited as Notes Ref.
Executive consultant Producer Writer
1971 Pretty Maids All in a Row Yes Yes [7]
1979 Star Trek: The Motion Picture Yes Also wrote novelisation [11]
1982 Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan Yes [12]
1984 Star Trek III: The Search for Spock Yes [17]
1986 Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home Yes [18]
1989 Star Trek V: The Final Frontier Yes Yes (Executive) [19]
1991 Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country Yes [20]

Television

Year Title Credited as Notes Ref(s)
Writer Producer Creator
1954–56 Highway Patrol Yes Five episodes (four as Robert Wesley) [4]
1954 Mr. District Attorney Yes Six episodes (as Robert Wesley) [21]
1956 I Led Three Lives Yes Two episodes (as Robert Wesley) [21]
1956 Dr. Christian Yes One episode [22]
1956 Natchez Yes Television film [23]
1956 The Secret Defense of 117 Yes Broadcast as part of Chevron Hall of Stars
Also called The Secret Weapon of 117 		[1]
1956–57 The West Point Story Yes Yes Eleven episodes [24]
1957 Kaiser Aluminum Hour Yes Episode: "So Short a Season" [22]
1957 The Jane Wyman Show Yes Episode "The Perfect Alibi" [22]
1957 Boots and Saddles Yes Four episodes [22]
1957–63 Have Gun – Will Travel Yes 24 episodes [24]
1958 Harbor Command Yes One episode [4]
1958 Sam Houston Yes One episode (unsold pilot) [22]
1958 Jefferson Drum Yes Four episodes [22]
1959 The Night Stick Yes Yes One episode (unsold pilot), also known as The Big Walk [25]
1960 333 Montgomery Yes Yes One episode (unsold pilot) [25]
1960 Alcoa Theatre Yes One episode [26]
1960 Hotel de Paree Yes One episode [citation needed]
1960 The DuPont Show with June Allyson Yes One episode [27]
1960 Wrangler Yes [22]
1960 The Detectives Yes Two episodes [22]
1961 Whiplash Yes Four episodes [28]
1961 Target: The Corruptors! Yes One episode [22]
1961 Two Faces West Yes One episode [29]
1961 Shannon Yes Two episodes [22]
1962 Defiance County Yes One episode (unsold pilot), also known as Ty Cooper [30]
1962 Dr. Kildare Yes One episode [29]
1962 A.P.O. 923 Yes One episode (unsold pilot) [31]
1962 GE True Yes One episode [31]
1962 Naked City Yes One episode [32]
1962 The Virginian Yes One episode, Roddenberry story, Howard Browne teleplay [29]
1963 The Lawbreakers Yes One episode [28]
1963–64 The Lieutenant Yes Yes Yes One season [33]
1965 The Long Hunt of April Savage Yes One episode (unsold pilot) [34]
1966–68 Star Trek Yes Yes Yes Three seasons [35]
1967 Police Story Yes One episode (unsold pilot) [36][37]
1971 Alias Smith and Jones Yes One episode, same story as The Virginian [19]
1973 Genesis II Yes Yes Yes Pilot/Television film [38]
1973–74 Star Trek: The Animated Series Yes Yes Two seasons, also credited as executive consultant [10]
1974 Planet Earth Yes Yes Pilot/Television film [8]
1974 The Questor Tapes Yes Yes Yes Pilot/Television film [39]
1977 Spectre Yes Yes Yes Pilot/Television film [9]
1987–94 Star Trek: The Next Generation[n 1] Yes Yes Yes Seven seasons
Credited posthumously from midway through season five onwards 		[14]
1997–2002 Earth: Final Conflict Yes Yes Credited posthumously
Five seasons 		[15]
2000–05 Andromeda Yes Yes Credited posthumously
Five seasons 		[16]

Annotations

  1. ^ The episode "Unification" was dedicated to Roddenberry following his death.[40]

References

  1. ^ a b Alexander 1995, p. 143.
  2. ^ Alexander 1995, p. 137.
  3. ^ Alexander 1995, p. 127.
  4. ^ a b c Alexander 1995, p. 162.
  5. ^ Alexander 1995, p. 204.
  6. ^ Alexander 1995, pp. 342–343.
  7. ^ a b "Review: 'Pretty Maids All in a Row'". Variety. December 31, 1970. Archived from the original on January 12, 2015. Retrieved March 25, 2015.
  8. ^ a b c Van Hise 1992, p. 65.
  9. ^ a b Van Hise 1992, p. 68.
  10. ^ a b Engel 1994, p. 158.
  11. ^ a b Engel 1994, p. 193.
  12. ^ a b Alexander 1995, p. 500.
  13. ^ Alexander 1995, p. 501.
  14. ^ a b Alexander 1995, p. 546.
  15. ^ a b "Roddenberry's Wife Picks up the Banner". Rocky Mountain News. Denver]. January 18, 1998. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved March 22, 2015.
  16. ^ a b Schlosser, Joe (January 17, 2000). "Gene Roddenberry's 'Andromeda'". Broadcasting & Cable. Archived from the original on January 31, 2013. Retrieved April 15, 2015.
  17. ^ Alexander 1995, p. 511.
  18. ^ Alexander 1995, p. 526.
  19. ^ a b Alexander 1995, p. 565.
  20. ^ Clark, Noelene (June 10, 2011). "'Star Trek': Nicholas Meyer Explains his Roddenberry Regret". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on January 3, 2015. Retrieved March 28, 2015.
  21. ^ a b Alexander 1995, pp. 557–558.
  22. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Alexander 1995, p. 166.
  23. ^ Alexander 1995, p. 165.
  24. ^ a b Engel 1994, p. 16.
  25. ^ a b Van Hise 1992, p. 130.
  26. ^ Engel 1994, p. 17.
  27. ^ Engel 1994, p. 37.
  28. ^ a b Parkin 2017, p. 29.
  29. ^ a b c Alexander 1995, p. 563.
  30. ^ Van Hise 1992, p. 131.
  31. ^ a b Alexander 1995, p. 560.
  32. ^ Alexander 1995, p. 562.
  33. ^ Alexander 1995, pp. 201–202.
  34. ^ Alexander 1995, p. 564.
  35. ^ Castenada, Ruben (October 25, 1991). "Gene Roddenberry, Creator of Star Trek Series, Dies". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved April 15, 2015.
  36. ^ Engel 1994, p. 71.
  37. ^ Engel 1994, p. 115.
  38. ^ Van Hise 1992, p. 61.
  39. ^ Van Hise (1992), p. 63.
  40. ^ DeCandido, Keith (June 27, 2012). "Star Trek: The Next Generation Rewatch: 'Unification, Part I'". Tor.com. Archived from the original on April 9, 2015. Retrieved April 15, 2015.

Sources

External links

Gene Roddenberry
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