Fantastic interview; grateful to DC Fontana for many scripts and details, especially the creation of the Romulan Commander (Joanne Linville) in The Enterprise Incident, despite all the problems with that episode (commented on by her and also described by David Gerrold in The World of Star Trek). DC Fontana also mentions the fact that there was no good way back in the day for ordinary viewers to record episodes - I knew that excruciating pain of "never seeing Star Trek again" and am sure it fueled the passion of the campaign to extend Star Trek and the fan fiction phenomenon, which originated with Star Trek TOS. (And thank goodness for videos and DVDs.)
Awesome stories! Loved this interview! As a young Trekkie, I'm glad I stumbled upon this via Twitter. Learned so much of the writing history of some of my fave sci fi shows. She keeps the stories moving!
I'm still relatively young so will use comic book analogy. D.C. Fontana was for Star Trek, what Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko was for MARVEL. Gene Roddenberry's vision wouldn't have reached such heights without her being part of it. Thank you very much, Dorothy! ❤
I am so glad interviews like this are making the rounds on youtube. Hard to believe I won't be seeing her any more, after 40-some years. Still making a lot of mental adjustments, emotional processing. Yes, hard to believe.
DC Fontana is tremendous. All that focus and exceptional hard work. And she doesn't mince words - just write. Want to be a good writer? Write. Want to be a better writer? Write more. Write faster. Write better. I also write by hand on those delicious yellow legal pads. I respect her and her process. Thank you so much for simply writing the best stories. I've grown up with them.
I'm glad they covered a lot more than just the usual STAR TREK stuff which she is so well-known for. We watched her BIG VALLEY episodes with her at one of our "movie nighst" not all that long ago. Again, great storytelling. Character-driven with solid flow and turns. She certainly shared a LOT of stories on all the various series shows she worked on over the decades, including, of course, many stories about her years on the original STAR TREK as well as the animated series and TNG.
I got to meet DC not that long ago at a con. She did not do many con's but she came out to a comicon even with George (Mr.Sulu) I don't put his last name cause I can't spell it. Now Dorothy was a very special lady. I got the chance to talk to her privately for almost 25 minutes. Now keep in mind I am 29 year old born in 1990 I grew up with seasons 4-5 of Deep space nine and Season 1-2 of Voyager for my Star Trek and grew up watching reruns of Star Trek TNG and TOS I did not get introduced to DC Until I was mid teen age years. I had no clue she was female until I was early 20s and I loved her work but had no clue why she hid she was a girl so I asked her. She told me how life was back in the earl to mid 1960's and that woman could not be taken as real ligit writers for science fiction so she went gender neutral. I was apuled. But I truly loved our talk. The one part of the talk I found hard was her recount of Gene. I know a lot about who Gene truly was as a person now. I have talked to a lot of people who has said the truth about him being a bit of a dick and a bit sexiest but to here Dorothy say that Gene tried to push her put of Star Trek completely and how he tried to push out her ideas of Spoke in TNG and how he tried to get ride of her and make her contributions less to Star Trek then they had been and tried to wash the work she had done clean I was angry. Star Trek was created by four people Gene Coone Gene Roddenberry Dorothy C Fontana and the lady who owned the studeo I forget her name lol. But without then four we never would have had Star Trek and TNG never would have happened without Gene Roddenberry or without Rick Berman or Micheal and Deise Okoda there is a family that makes star Trek happen thats what we are missing today in discovery
@@djackson4657 have you ever watched a single bit of Rick Berman Trek. He was in charge of Trek through most of the TNG era that is most commonly refured too by most fans and by Lorereloded as the passifistic era of star trek. We had a litteral hotel in space. The Enterprise D was a hotel in space with family's flying around in dangerous areas of space yes Deep Space Nine had elimients of war but the fans wanted something new and I am a huge Deep Space Nine fan but it is not all War there is still lots of strong eliments of true star trek and Voyager keep very strong to exploring because they were in delta quadrent in new unexplored space and they had some fights but never any wars and Enterprise for the first two season that Rick controled never had War it was after they took Enterprise away from him and frankley made it better with a fresh face and perspective that Enterprise got its thired season (war based) and rick was not as involed in season three or four of Enterprise as people think! So give your head a shake with out Rick Berman we would have had no Star Trek after the death of Gene
If D.C. Fontana saw any Discovery or Picard she probably thought...uh, what is this? Its cool that she mentioned Lou Morheim, one of the architects of the great Outer Limits.
I hadn't seen the end of this interview until today. Aside from the rest of this huge history covering so many years, I'm glad to hear her mention my brother and the "tale of the tail"---the ALIEN Halloween show for Bob and Kathy Burns. (I was in charge of making the costume and suggested she work with my brother---and that's how I first met her, not even knowing who she was. She was simply "Dorothy", a friend of Kathy and Bob's... Who could've known what would come from that "tail"? )
Love how she is just so pragmatic about the sexist world of the '50's. She was focussed in what she wanted to do/be. Amazing role model. Love this interview, but not the interviewer. Should have been a woman first off, but he is 1/2 patronizing, 1/2 robotic. Thankfully Ms. Fontana is such a good speaker & open & interesting.
I always knew I would like the episode if I saw "D.C. Fontana" in the credits.
As a Trekkie I thank this woman for her accomplishments
Fantastic interview; grateful to DC Fontana for many scripts and details, especially the creation of the Romulan Commander (Joanne Linville) in The Enterprise Incident, despite all the problems with that episode (commented on by her and also described by David Gerrold in The World of Star Trek). DC Fontana also mentions the fact that there was no good way back in the day for ordinary viewers to record episodes - I knew that excruciating pain of "never seeing Star Trek again" and am sure it fueled the passion of the campaign to extend Star Trek and the fan fiction phenomenon, which originated with Star Trek TOS. (And thank goodness for videos and DVDs.)
really interesting interview, I'm intimidated by her career, what an inspiring woman!
Awesome stories! Loved this interview! As a young Trekkie, I'm glad I stumbled upon this via Twitter. Learned so much of the writing history of some of my fave sci fi shows. She keeps the stories moving!
Original Star Trek is really the only Star Trek. Her name is on a number of those great shows.
Thanks for posting.
Thanks DC!
I'm still relatively young so will use comic book analogy. D.C. Fontana was for Star Trek, what Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko was for MARVEL. Gene Roddenberry's vision wouldn't have reached such heights without her being part of it. Thank you very much, Dorothy! ❤
I am so glad interviews like this are making the rounds on youtube. Hard to believe I won't be seeing her any more, after 40-some years. Still making a lot of mental adjustments, emotional processing. Yes, hard to believe.
How does this not have more views?
Amazing woman, amazing story. hope she writes a book. SOON! we need her knowledge documented
May wings of angles guide you to your rest. R.I.P. to an unsung woman of inspiration. I hope you have found a piece of peace. 🖖✌️😔
Read Marc Cushman's 'These are the voyage's' TOS season's 1-2-3 and learn just how important this woman was to Star Trek.
THE BEST INTERVIEW I EVER SEEN!
DC Fontana is tremendous. All that focus and exceptional hard work. And she doesn't mince words - just write. Want to be a good writer? Write. Want to be a better writer? Write more. Write faster. Write better. I also write by hand on those delicious yellow legal pads. I respect her and her process. Thank you so much for simply writing the best stories. I've grown up with them.
Thanks for Trek D.C. !
At 27:20, she refers to "Tomorrow is Yesterday", but she really means "This Side of Paradise". But we Trekkers already know this.
Love interest ??? Druging some one is against the law, that is not a love interest.
I caught that also!
Yep!
I'm glad they covered a lot more than just the usual STAR TREK stuff which she is so well-known for.
We watched her BIG VALLEY episodes with her at one of our "movie nighst" not all that long ago. Again, great storytelling. Character-driven with solid flow and turns.
She certainly shared a LOT of stories on all the various series shows she worked on over the decades, including, of course, many stories about her years on the original STAR TREK as well as the animated series and TNG.
Rest In Peace Dorothy. Your Legacy Will Outlive Us All.
I got to meet DC not that long ago at a con. She did not do many con's but she came out to a comicon even with George (Mr.Sulu) I don't put his last name cause I can't spell it.
Now Dorothy was a very special lady. I got the chance to talk to her privately for almost 25 minutes. Now keep in mind I am 29 year old born in 1990 I grew up with seasons 4-5 of Deep space nine and Season 1-2 of Voyager for my Star Trek and grew up watching reruns of Star Trek TNG and TOS I did not get introduced to DC Until I was mid teen age years. I had no clue she was female until I was early 20s and I loved her work but had no clue why she hid she was a girl so I asked her. She told me how life was back in the earl to mid 1960's and that woman could not be taken as real ligit writers for science fiction so she went gender neutral. I was apuled. But I truly loved our talk. The one part of the talk I found hard was her recount of Gene. I know a lot about who Gene truly was as a person now. I have talked to a lot of people who has said the truth about him being a bit of a dick and a bit sexiest but to here Dorothy say that Gene tried to push her put of Star Trek completely and how he tried to push out her ideas of Spoke in TNG and how he tried to get ride of her and make her contributions less to Star Trek then they had been and tried to wash the work she had done clean I was angry. Star Trek was created by four people Gene Coone Gene Roddenberry Dorothy C Fontana and the lady who owned the studeo I forget her name lol. But without then four we never would have had Star Trek and TNG never would have happened without Gene Roddenberry or without Rick Berman or Micheal and Deise Okoda there is a family that makes star Trek happen thats what we are missing today in discovery
Rick Berman ruined Trek , all his shows are just about wars,
@@djackson4657 have you ever watched a single bit of Rick Berman Trek. He was in charge of Trek through most of the TNG era that is most commonly refured too by most fans and by Lorereloded as the passifistic era of star trek. We had a litteral hotel in space. The Enterprise D was a hotel in space with family's flying around in dangerous areas of space yes Deep Space Nine had elimients of war but the fans wanted something new and I am a huge Deep Space Nine fan but it is not all War there is still lots of strong eliments of true star trek and Voyager keep very strong to exploring because they were in delta quadrent in new unexplored space and they had some fights but never any wars and Enterprise for the first two season that Rick controled never had War it was after they took Enterprise away from him and frankley made it better with a fresh face and perspective that Enterprise got its thired season (war based) and rick was not as involed in season three or four of Enterprise as people think! So give your head a shake with out Rick Berman we would have had no Star Trek after the death of Gene
I will take Berman over Alex Klutzman any day of the week.
Number one write ✍️❤❤❤
If D.C. Fontana saw any Discovery or Picard she probably thought...uh, what is this? Its cool that she mentioned Lou Morheim, one of the architects of the great Outer Limits.
Rest In Peace, D.C. Fontana
I hadn't seen the end of this interview until today. Aside from the rest of this huge history covering so many years, I'm glad to hear her mention my brother and the "tale of the tail"---the ALIEN Halloween show for Bob and Kathy Burns. (I was in charge of making the costume and suggested she work with my brother---and that's how I first met her, not even knowing who she was. She was simply "Dorothy", a friend of Kathy and Bob's... Who could've known what would come from that "tail"? )
A remarkable lady with a remarkable talent, what a lady !
REST IN PEACE DC
Rest in peace
Thank you, "D.C." - Rest in Peace. We'll miss you.
RIP, DC. You are missed.
Rest In Peace
Shes right up there with Sinatra & Springsteen in terms of contributions to American culture & art
Is there any way to contact this incredible author?
Star Trek "Mirror Mirror " ❤❤❤❤Her!
RIP
roddenberry got many ideas from channelling ETs...(?)
"Imagine if they knew one of the writers was a woman ?"
A sad day.
Love how she is just so pragmatic about the sexist world of the '50's. She was focussed in what she wanted to do/be. Amazing role model. Love this interview, but not the interviewer. Should have been a woman first off, but he is 1/2 patronizing, 1/2 robotic. Thankfully Ms. Fontana is such a good speaker & open & interesting.
Her name makes me think she’s a cartoon, female version of Indiana Jones