Gene Roddenberry, like everyone, has their demons. It how you deal with them that matters. I will always love the fact that he brought Star Trek into my life, but as you said "Truth is truth". Peace and long life my friend 🖖
@@TriAngulumAudioStudios Kind of like poor D.C. Fontana. God forbid if a woman were to be a writer for a show. Maybe Gene Roddenberry's vision is coming into sight, we just need to keep our eyes on the horizon, the horizon of the stars that lead to enlightenment. 🖖
Everyone is complicated, including our icons, idols, and heroes. Gene Roddenberry is not an exception. Hearing things like this gives me a better appreciation of him and his work.
Ii was using a friend's cabin upstate New York and in meditation I saw a face that I didn't recognize. Later while watching the news, the image reappeared as the newscaster said, 'Today one of America's greatest TV creators died--Gene Roddenberry died.' I had watched every episodes of Star Trek, and felt how important his vision was. It was October 24, 1991, a date I shall never forget.
I remember seeing an interview with someone (DeForrest Kelley?) who said the only time Gene wore a tie was if he had to fly somewhere, then he'd wear his Pan Am tie because he'd most likely get invited up to the cockpit then end up in first class.
#truth...Gene Roddenberry may have invented/created Star Trek but it was Harve Bennett who kick started the movie franchise with The Wrath of Khan. Ironically he was not a Star Trek fan and neither was Nicholas Meyer. Yet between them along with Leornard Nimoy they wrote, produced and directed the greatest Star Trek film in the franchise. If it wasn't for Harve Bennett you wouldn't have TNG. If anything Harve Bennett should be credited as the man who saved Star Trek
Wrath of Khan kick starting the franchise is a myth. The Motion Picture made more money at the box office than Wrath of Khan did (meaning more people saw it). The only reason Wrath was more profitable was because its budget was so much smaller. TMP was hella expensive, but it most DEFINITELY was NOT a failure. What Wrath did was appeal more to the general audience. Also remember, Paramount had already green-lit the second Star Trek series (Phase II) a full decade before Next Generation. It didn't happen because Star Wars was so insanely popular that Paramount (and every movie studio, quite frankly) wanted a piece of the pie. This is why they threw so much money at the motion picture project. Not something you do with a franchise you have no faith in. Nor do you make a sequel if it wasn't already popular. So, no, Harve Bennett didn't "save" Star Trek, he just made it more accessible to the casual viewer. Something that the same people would bitch about in the 2000's "how dare you dumb down Star Trek?" while propping the simplistic revenge plot up on such a high pedestal.
@@TriAngulumAudioStudios very true and I've always seen the strength of Star Trek coming from producers, writers and showrunners who aren't trekkers. Rick Berman wasn't a fan when he became showrunner on TNG neither was Steven Behr when he took over as showrunner on DS9. JJ Abrams wasn't a trekker when he agreed to direct the 2009 reboot. By having non fans working behind the scenes has brought so much depth to Star Trek and taken the franchise in new and interesting directions
@@k1productions87 TMP made money because it was a cultural event, the return of a major franchise. But like Phantom Menace two decades later, it was soon generally regarded as a disappointment, being too slow and lacking human interest. The studio rightly saw that continuing in the vein of TMP would be disastrous.
Harve Bennett not only produced, he also wrote The Search for Spock and co-wrote The Voyage Home. Sadly he started to step back from the franchise after that, otherwise the series might have continued more strongly than it did.
Thank you! Sometimes it does yes, there's a lot of material and conflicting material at that... So to find the truth can be very tedious! But in the end I feel it's worth it! :)
Susan Sackett's (Gene's longtime secretary) book will tell you EXACTLY what kind of man Roddenberry was, and she was trying to be nice.
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I knew about the affairs deal, but got me a bit shocked on the credits taken from others. Still, sounds quite like many others from the time or even today, and I like it more that way, idols are not good for people's health.
Rodenberry wrote many episodes of "Have Gun, will Travel", which I have on DVD and enjoy watching. I could usually tell or suspect when the script was a Roddenberry script as it would have elements of fantasy or greater depths of man's conflicts and behavior.
I'm not upset. If fact, I applaud you making this video and saying what needed to be said. I saw Gene as a visionary but never a god and I knew he was just a man. After rewatching early TNG episodes, I understand what Maurice Hurley meant when he called Gene's ideas of the future wacky-doodle.
Nice episode. I'm a fan since childhood and I'm ok with this, though I've never revered him, I've also never really looked behind the stories. You tell it in a very good way. Keep up the good work.
Roddenberry and Asimov died when I was young, but I revered them as "idols" more for their creative prowess and what they brought to sci-fi, even if I didn't really appreciate either of them until almost 5-7 years later
I believe that David Gerrold was the one that coined the phrase the Great Bird of the Galaxy when referring to Gene Roddenberry. It was based on a line that Sulu had said to yeoman Rand after she brought him food as he messed around in the botany lab.
I've heard a lot worse about Gene, but never any sources. I would welcome more videos like this, not just about Gene Roddenberry either, I'd like videos about Rick Bermen, or whoever.
Rick Berman, and maybe to a lesser extent Michael Piller, also do not get as much credit as they deserve for the continued success of TNG and launching both DS9 and Voyager following Roddenberry's death.
There is the Old adage about. Printing the truth or printing the myth. People have been living with the myth so long it becomes the truth. And its only now people are seeing it. Gene Roddenberry was an ideas man, in the same way someone would come up with the idea of building a house he lay a few foundations but have experts actually carry out out the work. But when talking to people it would "I built the house" not "We"
As a Star Trek fan, I have long had a negative view of Gene Roddenberry the more I learned about him. I think he was a jerk for his affairs and leaving his wife for Majel Barrett. I read many accounts of him taking credit for the contributions of other collaborators. I think he got a lot of his ideas from the movie "Forbidden Planet," which preceded the original series a decade earlier. I thought that was underhanded how he managed to take half of the royalties from Alexander Courage with those throwaway lyrics.
I enjoy the videos you put out there. Sure, it did sting maybe a little to hear some of the things presented, however, it also made Gene Roddenberry seem more relatable in my mind as well, as a real person, just like the rest of us. Good luck and I wish you continued support on your channel. Keep them coming, please! :)
Thank you so much! And although this video is about the negative aspects of Roddenberry's character, he was a good man. But far too many people forget that he was a man, faults and all and that other people deserved rightful credit that they never received...
@@TriAngulumAudioStudios you're more than welcome! Like you said, give credit where credit is due. And your channel deserves credit for just putting it out there. Thank you so much for replying to my comment.. You made my day!!!! :) (now, do you know the winning lotto numbers to top off the highlight of my day?) lol Thanks again!!
@@TriAngulumAudioStudios since you were so kind to respond pleasantly and all I used your channel as a "guinea pig" to share a video and channel properly for the first time... Hopefully you get even more faithful viewers!!!
My personal cheif value is ''objectivity'' you Sir, are a worthy advocate for it. Great video, as always. It is a good complement to the one Jessie Gender did on the misoginy in startrek.
I was a bout to write that in the comment section, well done 14:01 Ps: a video about the Earth - Romulan war would be interesting. It's such interesting topic (and would make a great show) unfortunately not really coverd
LOL well I cant miss a trick right? ;) :P And yes, the Earth Romulan War IS on my to do list and Ive actually done preliminary research in to the topic, the unfortunate part is there isnt a LOT of canon info on it, and that makes it difficult to cover...
umm those lyrics are hideous it's ok about the 1st officer thing, a decade later the world would get a strong female 1st officer in Ellen Ripley. Roddenberry seems like a creative guy but didn't necessarily contribute as much to his franchise versus say someone like John Carpenter
Great video it would have been great 2 have a season 4 of TOS. I'm glad that I'm a Star Trek fan cause my life is better & I thank Gene Roddenberry & all the other people who created the greatest franchise EVER
What I learned from this is that like every great franchise, Star Trek was a collaborative exercise. But unlike certain other creators of certain other franchises, Gene was a bit of a git. But he did create one of the most enduring TV shows of all time, so he can be forgiven for that.
It would be a weird contradiction for fans to want more well rounded and faceted characters within fiction but recoil at facts that show that very thing about an actual man. Who was no doubt a character. Nice vid dude, as always.
These are things i have sensed for years and now i know some of the truth and it doesn’t surprise me one bit.....i still love star trek and enjoy watching
I knew most of these. Gene was Gene. It doesn't take away from what he created but shows that we should be certain we Iknow the difference between admiration and worship. I am pretty sure if he got into any of the same shenanigans today there would be quite a bruhaha.
So the Great Bird of the galaxy was in fact a cock among the hens! This was a really great watch, it's funny how similar this story is to the story of George Lucas in that others had a hand in creating what we eventually saw.
Historically the most successful people became that way by surrounding themselves with talented but less egotistic individuals. for example Steve Jobs and Thomas Edison...
I've been hearing about Gene L. Coon naming Klingons after some Dragnet actor, who was an actual cop named Clingan? Is this true? Some sites even claim that Clingan worked with Roddenberry in the LAPD.
While I'd already known of the "female captain isn't believable" myth the dressed as a cop to hand over the Star Trek bible was new to me. According to "Pioneers of Primetime" I was aware that it was Lucille Ball who chose to greenlight the series (becoming in a sense Star Trek's godmother), but going through Memory Alpha I already knew that Roddenberry wanted lyricist credit, which annoyed Courage and caused him to stop writing musical scores for TOS. It was an eye-opening look at some details I hadn't known before
In the 60s copyright law in the UK stated whoever created a television character or prop owned the copyright. So Matt Jeffries who created the Enterprise would own the copyright to the Enterprise and would receive royalties every time it would be used in TOS
It's always fascinating to see the truth behind the myth. And I had NO IDEA about Gene having an open relationship and the real story about female Number One.
I appreciate this vid. Good work. Though, it didn't diminish Roddenberry to me. I knew the man wasn't perfect... as a matter of fact, he had a drug habit that contributed to his relatively early demise that you didn't talk about... but the future he envisioned makes him a god to me. Gods, the real ones, are never perfect, but their contributions are overwhelmingly good.
As a huge fan of film and television music, I feel obligated to mention that Alexander Courage was Jerry Goldsmith's understudy. Mr. Goldsmith was asked to write the theme to Star Trek but was already busy working on another television show. Goldsmith recommended Courage. The full piece that is the Star Trek theme is an amazing piece. It was cut very short and had that terrible voice added in the second season.
Though you are correct about Goldsmith you incorrect about Mrs Normans voice being added season 2... She was added in season 1's theme and then removed in Season 2 for budgetary reasons... That will all be covered in the 4th part of Star Trek The Early Years in my Back Trek series!
It's so interesting to me. Nichele was messing around with Gene at the Exact Same Time and got her job the Exact Same Way yet SHE is a Star Trek goddess to the fans and Majel and her character Christine Chapel are mostly reviled. Funny, how the network didn't object to Nichelle Nichols. This is why I always stuck up for the Chapel Character and continue to do so.
I already noticed years ago how some people within the ST community tended to UNHEALTHILY revere the man to a ridiculous degree and things like that, when someone takes something a way too seriously, always put me off. And I did not need to see a video like the one of yours here, David, to sense that something was off and bloated out of proportions. Later on, I began stumbling upon people here and there who revealed to me a little bits of the truth of how some things really were back in the day with Gene and Star Trek. I also saw myself that certain things, such as TMP era films and TNG, usually improved when he stopped being involved. However, I also always despised people who tended to largely discredit him and throw as much dirt on him as possible. Your video nicely rounds this all up. :-) P.S. - During the last three years I gradually grew to hate when someone utters a variation of, "this is not in accordance with Gene's vision". YUCK!!! And this is not his fault!
OOhhhh I hate it when someone says that too! First it's egotistical to assume we know what he would feel about something. Second, he was a little nutty when it came to TNG and so what would a mad mans vision really be? And how much would it mean?
The "vision" would be highly self-contradictory. In the little documentary about ST:ENT I posted onto your FB group recently, Rick Berman said something like this: "When one of the (ENT) writers wanted to blow someone's legs off, I felt the need to step in and stop this in order to preserve Gene's vision." And I think, WTF?!!! On TOS they were killing off (not only) redshirts left and right to show the magnitude of danger at hand. And the writers Black, Sussman, and the actor Billingsley (Dr. Phlox) well-pointed it out, that friggin' contradictory nonsense. And that was not all!!
@@subraxas Gene's "vision" is indeed contradictory. In the original series bible, the importance of action and entertainment were emphasised. By the 80s Gene regarded himself as a visionary, and insisted on things like the "no conflict" rule. He also put a counsellor on the TNG bridge because he was in thrall to his psychiatrist. So you can say anything is Gene's vision and be correct.
This doesn't bother me but to think of him as "perfect" he had a lot of help. Yes he could come up with good ideas however watch Star Trek TNG with his involvement and post his involvement and you'll see how perfect he wasn't. When a show improves without him then God falls. His involvement with TMP hurt that as well.
Actually... what hurt TMP was Paramount's demands, and the massive budget they threw at it. If TMP was allowed to focus more on the story and characters, it would have done so much better. But what we got instead was starship porn. Though don't get me wrong, I loves me some good starship porn :P
@@k1productions87 I doubt the studio was against "story and characters". What they wanted was something to compete with Star Wars, not a rip-off of Space Odyssey.
@@k1productions87 Watch some of Leonard Nimoys interviews where he said he and William Shatner tried to help with the production and a lot of ideas were shot down by Gene.
Hate to say it, but after he died, Star Trek was allowed to breathe. TNG got less boring, and even had more conflict and war, and DS9 turned out brilliantly. I'm sure he wouldn't have allowed Voyager, or Enterprise. We all know he'd crap a cat if he saw what the Kelvin timeline was, or Discovery.
Roddenberry almost has a halo-effect in the Star Trek community. He created a really great idea for a show. Most of the really good episodes and movies we think about were written by someone else. He does not sound like someone I would want to work with or for. Taking 50% of the theme song writer's royalties and writing credits for things he didn't write are great examples of why. He doesn't sound like a good person at the core level.
@@TheCharlesJackson Majel Barrett played the computer voice from TOS to Voyager, and up to the first JJ Abrams movie. (In Enterprise, the NX-O1 didn't use a voice, so as to make it appear less advanced. Barrett played the 23rd century Defiant's voice in the Mirror episode. She spoke only one word. "Working...")
Would you consider taking a closer look at TOS season 3? I think it's not as bad as people say, partly because a lot of the production (cast, crew, sets, writers) remained the same. Fred Freiberger went on to produce season 2 of Space 1999, and _that_ was a real travesty - he changed the look of the show, got rid of some popular actors, and gave the opening credits a glitzy 70s look which dated quickly.
Hmmm well Season 2 and 3 is the focus of Part 4 of the Back Trek series and Im currently in the process of writing it... Season 3 not being as bad though is looking pretty grim being all the the things that happened during that season to the detriment of the show...
If you want outright attacks on Gene try The City on the Edge of Forever by Harlan Ellison. It opens with a series of essays and interviews by Ellison He rails hard on Gene. I found it wildly entertaining. Afterward, you get the various drafts of the script Ellison wrote read by Trek alumni like Levar Burton. Great stuff
I would love to have Peter Weir direct a Star Trek film. Now for those who don't know...Peter Weir likes to cast against type when it comes to his films. He cast Harrison Ford in Witness, the late Robin Williams in Dead Poet Society and Jim Carrey in The Truman show.... so just imagine who he would cast as Kirk or Spock!
You sure that Gene Roddenberry and George Lucas aren't long lost cloned brothers? The description you give Roddenberry is almost identical to that of Lucas!
Trash just terrible horrible bad bad bad. Not really but I always tell you how great the video was thought I'd change it up a little. Also I learned a few things about Gene Roddenberry I didn't know.
@@TriAngulumAudioStudiosHa ha! The let's disguise Magell Barrette in a blonde wig story is partially true. She did use her maiden name to get the part but the network figured it out in a day. Like u said, a minor role so she got it anyway.
If Roddenberry had it wished having Star Trek back at its original time slot it would probably limped into the 4th season. I'm one of the few to say that NBC did the right thing in pulling the plug after 3 seasons and why I said this if the 3rd season was awful then the 4th season would have been even worse with a more smaller budget, weaker scripts and maybe firing some of the cast members and perhaps from 1 to a half hour format . So better to end it sooner rather then later when it becomes more unbearable to watch. Enjoyed all your UA-cam videos very informative
Our Gene, which art in space Hallowed be thy name Thy universe come Thy imagination be done in Earth as it is in space Give us this day our daily episode And forgive us our fanfictions As we forgive them that write against us And lead us not into temptation But deliver us from bad scripts. Energize.
I just wish people could realize that post TOS Star Trek succeeded because of people other than Gene, when they start bitching about "Gene's Legacy" with newer movies or series. Oh they'll fawn all over TNG (from season 3 onward) and DS9, but then forget WHY those were so good. It wasn't because of Gene Roddenberry...
@@k1productions87 Star Trek, IMO, was good with Mr. Roddenberry, but really hit its stride when his involvement was minimal to none, but before late DS9 and latter shows where it took on a strong technophobic, xenophobic, corrupt, dystopian future of never ending wars vibe.
Yes that's all pretty much spot on. Referencing your sources helps the validity of your presentation. The ranting forward and several ST writers afterward of the bound book release of the three versions of Harlan Ellison's "City on the Edge of Forever" in the 90s puts Gene into perspective. I met Gene in 1981 and he was telling all these embellished stories, always with him being the progressive civil rights and women's rights hero. Much of a Hawkeye Pierce bigger than life guy by then. Oh "Mudd's Women" according to the WGA was fair for GR to claim a credit on. It was a rewrite of a comic episode of "Have Gun" that GR wrote over half a decade earlier. He also pitched that, The Cage, and The Omega Story for his pilot ideas before other writers came aboard. By the time Star Trek finally aired, Desilu had several major dramas and coproduced many other comedies through Paramount. It was slim in 1962, bit rich by 1965. Half of remembered US 60s television was Desilu/Paramount.
S Tho: "I met Gene in 1981 and he was telling all these embellished stories, always with him being the progressive civil rights and women's rights hero." I never met him, but I heard recordings of him from speeches and interviews portraying himself the same way.
It's true. Also, the Federation was not Gene Roddenberry's invention either. Roddenberry wasn't interested in having a multi racial utopia. He was sexist and misogynist. He belittled women and used them as eye candy in the Star Trek series. Some people forgive him because they grew up with Star Trek. I also grew up with the program but a pig is a pig is a pig.
As with most of these people that have to pitch these shows, scripts and ideas to studios, writers, TV executives, they are part bullshit artists, part diplomat, part creative genius and sometimes the lines are blurred! While I fully acknowledge Gene's creative genius, but he was an immature bullshit artist extraordinaire!
How could you say such nasty, horrible things about the great, great Gene The Visionary? You mean, mean person ! ! ! ! I'm notifying UA-cam!! :-D :-D :-D :-P
This isnt about people going unnoticed, it's about Roddenberry taking credit for things he had nothing to do with at all... It's a horrible and despicable trait and shouldn't just be brushed aside with a "that's life" comment...
My contention is that Gene is now long dead and incapable of rebutting any of these allegations. It's very convenient that so many people waited until after he was gone to start dropping all of these truth bombs and defaming his character, but I suppose that's par for the course in the entertainment world. Everyone will throw you to the wolves as soon as you're no longer of any use to them or can't be perceived as a threat anymore. I also find it a bit voyeuristic and distasteful that so many people are willing to judge him for his romantic affairs and tribulations in his personal life when he was clearly a man from a different era and such things really have no bearing on the quality of his work or the legacy of Star Trek as a whole. It just comes across as trashy tabloid gossip rather than earnest speculation or discussion. I don't think the man is a saint or a great genius but I'm certainly not about to condemn him as a phony or a chauvinist either.
I believe much of Gene's personality was driven by fear, specifically of personal failure as measured by financial disaster. He spent a lot of time on relatively small schemes for making money like the royalties mentioned in this video, but also IDIC medallion sales and other trinkets and endless small ways of grabbing a buck. To be fair, he was providing for his family and their future, but he walked a fine line of shady. At the same time, he inspired generosity and love from so many people he never met. Every human has flaws. If only we could all be flawed like Gene, wouldn't the world be a better place?
Gene was never a hero, and honestly, treating him like some sort of "fallen god" is wrong. He was never good enough to be an idol to fall from that position.
HEY DUDE!!!! PLEASEEEEEE tell your audience to READ or LISTEN ON AUDIBLE to "The 50 Year Journey", its a down and dirty complete history of the series so far. Read it yourself if you havent, but it sounds like you may have! cheers!
Definitely get the Bob Justman book which is great. Though Lucille Ball is mentioned here, one of Justmans best stories is how at a board meeting Lucy demanded to know about the “South Seas” show Desilu was doing. Justman had no idea until she explained she thought “Star Trek” meant movie stars going on long-distance USO tours to the south Pacific.
@3:03 The idea that a second pilot was unprecedented is a myth in itself. There were over a half dozen series before Trek that had second pilots. It was rare, but not unheard of.
Of course he was a storyteller that is what made him the legend he is today otherwise he would be just a guy who wrote good stories. The Great bird of the Galaxy a womanizer, hmmm I am slowly starting to see who exactly Captain Kirk was modeled after.
I appreciate this essay, but I'm actually surprised at how kind it was. There's no mention of how Gene credited only himself for the creation of TNG, even though just as much credit, if not more so is owed to David Gerrold. Plus, I'm really surprised at how Grace Lee Whitney's implied accusations aren't brought up. There are a few other things, but I can't tell if they're his fault, someone else's, or if I'm reading too much into things.
Well first, Graces accusations were never against Roddenberry, so no need for them to be mentioned here... And second, this video is just a sampling of bad behaviors, not a complete list!
@@TriAngulumAudioStudiosVery well, I accept that this is just a sampling. But although Grace never stated the name of the criminal, her clues as to who it was, were less than subtle. She definitely meant Gene. Granted, the only two people who knew for a fact of what happened, would have been Grace and the executive she referred to and they're both dead(even if it wasn't Gene, the executive is probably long gone by now). With that stated, I believe her.
No she didnt... If you read her autobiography she is clear that it was a "Studio Exec," something Roddenberry never was! Which means it was either an Exec at Desilu or NBC... I discuss it in my History Overview of TOS Season 1! So before casting stones, and falsely accuse someone of something horrendous, know the facts! 🙄
I deleted your nonsense message, as you are trying desperately to accuse someone of something that simply isnt true... You can find reasons to fit him to it all you want, but the main fact is she was clear that it was a STUDIO EXECUTIVE, not a Star Trek producer. That disqualifies him right off the bat. So again, next time get your facts right BEFORE accusing anyone of anything! (THREAD CLOSED- NO further comments will appear to prevent OP from creating drama and accusing an innocent person of a crime they didn't commit based on the violated's own words... Shameful)
8:15 - Really? Roddenberry took a 50/50 royalty split on that? He couldn’t request a 75/25 royalty split?!? And even so, how do ya figure that composing music versus writing lyrics would not be a 50-50 split anyway.
Gene Roddenberry, like everyone, has their demons. It how you deal with them that matters. I will always love the fact that he brought Star Trek into my life, but as you said "Truth is truth".
Peace and long life my friend 🖖
Yeah, like I said, this video isnt to diminish his contributions to Trek, but to acknowledge the contributions made by others!
@@TriAngulumAudioStudios
Kind of like poor D.C. Fontana. God forbid if a woman were to be a writer for a show. Maybe Gene Roddenberry's vision is coming into sight, we just need to keep our eyes on the horizon, the horizon of the stars that lead to enlightenment. 🖖
Appreciate your meticulous research delivered with a kind voice, and sensitivity to us fans. I appreciate Star Trek more.
Thank you so much for your support! :)
Everyone is complicated, including our icons, idols, and heroes. Gene Roddenberry is not an exception. Hearing things like this gives me a better appreciation of him and his work.
And you got the whole of this video :) Well done :)
Hearing that he's a credit stealing thief makes you like him more? Fanboys are so weird...
Ii was using a friend's cabin upstate New York and in meditation I saw a face that I didn't recognize. Later while watching the news, the image reappeared as the newscaster said, 'Today one of America's greatest TV creators died--Gene Roddenberry died.' I had watched every episodes of Star Trek, and felt how important his vision was. It was October 24, 1991, a date I shall never forget.
I remember seeing an interview with someone (DeForrest Kelley?) who said the only time Gene wore a tie was if he had to fly somewhere, then he'd wear his Pan Am tie because he'd most likely get invited up to the cockpit then end up in first class.
That doesnt surprise me!
Well he WAS a pilot after all! (Military & then commercial for a while!)
#truth...Gene Roddenberry may have invented/created Star Trek but it was Harve Bennett who kick started the movie franchise with The Wrath of Khan. Ironically he was not a Star Trek fan and neither was Nicholas Meyer. Yet between them along with Leornard Nimoy they wrote, produced and directed the greatest Star Trek film in the franchise. If it wasn't for Harve Bennett you wouldn't have TNG. If anything Harve Bennett should be credited as the man who saved Star Trek
There are a LOT of people all through out Trek's history that deserve a LOT more credit then what they've ever received!
Wrath of Khan kick starting the franchise is a myth. The Motion Picture made more money at the box office than Wrath of Khan did (meaning more people saw it). The only reason Wrath was more profitable was because its budget was so much smaller. TMP was hella expensive, but it most DEFINITELY was NOT a failure. What Wrath did was appeal more to the general audience.
Also remember, Paramount had already green-lit the second Star Trek series (Phase II) a full decade before Next Generation. It didn't happen because Star Wars was so insanely popular that Paramount (and every movie studio, quite frankly) wanted a piece of the pie. This is why they threw so much money at the motion picture project. Not something you do with a franchise you have no faith in. Nor do you make a sequel if it wasn't already popular.
So, no, Harve Bennett didn't "save" Star Trek, he just made it more accessible to the casual viewer. Something that the same people would bitch about in the 2000's "how dare you dumb down Star Trek?" while propping the simplistic revenge plot up on such a high pedestal.
@@TriAngulumAudioStudios very true and I've always seen the strength of Star Trek coming from producers, writers and showrunners who aren't trekkers. Rick Berman wasn't a fan when he became showrunner on TNG neither was Steven Behr when he took over as showrunner on DS9. JJ Abrams wasn't a trekker when he agreed to direct the 2009 reboot. By having non fans working behind the scenes has brought so much depth to Star Trek and taken the franchise in new and interesting directions
@@k1productions87 TMP made money because it was a cultural event, the return of a major franchise. But like Phantom Menace two decades later, it was soon generally regarded as a disappointment, being too slow and lacking human interest. The studio rightly saw that continuing in the vein of TMP would be disastrous.
Harve Bennett not only produced, he also wrote The Search for Spock and co-wrote The Voyage Home. Sadly he started to step back from the franchise after that, otherwise the series might have continued more strongly than it did.
Very cool behind the scenes video! The research (and all the biographies) must have gotten tedious from time to time. Very much appreciated, man!
Thank you! Sometimes it does yes, there's a lot of material and conflicting material at that... So to find the truth can be very tedious! But in the end I feel it's worth it! :)
Susan Sackett's (Gene's longtime secretary) book will tell you EXACTLY what kind of man Roddenberry was, and she was trying to be nice.
I knew about the affairs deal, but got me a bit shocked on the credits taken from others. Still, sounds quite like many others from the time or even today, and I like it more that way, idols are not good for people's health.
Yeah when I first uncovered that it shocked me as well!
Rodenberry wrote many episodes of "Have Gun, will Travel", which I have on DVD and enjoy watching. I could usually tell or suspect when the script was a Roddenberry script as it would have elements of fantasy or greater depths of man's conflicts and behavior.
The irony here is that Star Trek spent so much time promoting healthy scepticism of gods and idols...
I'm not upset. If fact, I applaud you making this video and saying what needed to be said. I saw Gene as a visionary but never a god and I knew he was just a man. After rewatching early TNG episodes, I understand what Maurice Hurley meant when he called Gene's ideas of the future wacky-doodle.
Thank you for the support :)
If you haven't already check out an interesting documentary called Chaos on the Bridge.
Indeed I have :) Great Doc!
Nice episode. I'm a fan since childhood and I'm ok with this, though I've never revered him, I've also never really looked behind the stories. You tell it in a very good way.
Keep up the good work.
Thank you so much, and ill continue to do my best :)
Roddenberry and Asimov died when I was young, but I revered them as "idols" more for their creative prowess and what they brought to sci-fi, even if I didn't really appreciate either of them until almost 5-7 years later
I believe that David Gerrold was the one that coined the phrase the Great Bird of the Galaxy when referring to Gene Roddenberry. It was based on a line that Sulu had said to yeoman Rand after she brought him food as he messed around in the botany lab.
I've heard a lot worse about Gene, but never any sources. I would welcome more videos like this, not just about Gene Roddenberry either, I'd like videos about Rick Bermen, or whoever.
Thank you for the suggestion and the support :)
Rick Berman, and maybe to a lesser extent Michael Piller, also do not get as much credit as they deserve for the continued success of TNG and launching both DS9 and Voyager following Roddenberry's death.
@@TriAngulumAudioStudios I hope we will eventually get a video about Gene and TNG?
It's been years since I learned something new about Star Trek. This video was very interesting!
Thank you so much :)
There is the Old adage about. Printing the truth or printing the myth. People have been living with the myth so long it becomes the truth. And its only now people are seeing it. Gene Roddenberry was an ideas man, in the same way someone would come up with the idea of building a house he lay a few foundations but have experts actually carry out out the work. But when talking to people it would "I built the house" not "We"
As a Star Trek fan, I have long had a negative view of Gene Roddenberry the more I learned about him. I think he was a jerk for his affairs and leaving his wife for Majel Barrett. I read many accounts of him taking credit for the contributions of other collaborators. I think he got a lot of his ideas from the movie "Forbidden Planet," which preceded the original series a decade earlier. I thought that was underhanded how he managed to take half of the royalties from Alexander Courage with those throwaway lyrics.
It's sad to say that gods have feet of clay.
I enjoy the videos you put out there. Sure, it did sting maybe a little to hear some of the things presented, however, it also made Gene Roddenberry seem more relatable in my mind as well, as a real person, just like the rest of us. Good luck and I wish you continued support on your channel. Keep them coming, please! :)
Thank you so much! And although this video is about the negative aspects of Roddenberry's character, he was a good man. But far too many people forget that he was a man, faults and all and that other people deserved rightful credit that they never received...
@@TriAngulumAudioStudios you're more than welcome! Like you said, give credit where credit is due. And your channel deserves credit for just putting it out there. Thank you so much for replying to my comment.. You made my day!!!! :) (now, do you know the winning lotto numbers to top off the highlight of my day?) lol Thanks again!!
LOL I use my powers only for good :P :P Thank you so much for the support :)
@@TriAngulumAudioStudios since you were so kind to respond pleasantly and all I used your channel as a "guinea pig" to share a video and channel properly for the first time... Hopefully you get even more faithful viewers!!!
Oh? Thank you, where did you share it? :)
Please do many, many more of these!
Thank you :)
Thank you for this wonderful posting!
You are very welcome!
...woahhh roddenberry was banging Uhura and at the same time Majol barret was his mistress and god knows who else???...the guy had "SpaceBalls"
LOL Apparently :P
My personal cheif value is ''objectivity'' you Sir, are a worthy advocate for it. Great video, as always.
It is a good complement to the one Jessie Gender did on the misoginy in startrek.
Thank you so much :)
Great video, I agree that people need to be credited for their creations.
Me too!
@@TriAngulumAudioStudios Tell me where the bad man touched you.
Sorry wha?
@@TriAngulumAudioStudios You said "#MeToo" so I wanted to listen and believe...
I was a bout to write that in the comment section, well done 14:01
Ps: a video about the Earth - Romulan war would be interesting. It's such interesting topic (and would make a great show) unfortunately not really coverd
LOL well I cant miss a trick right? ;) :P And yes, the Earth Romulan War IS on my to do list and Ive actually done preliminary research in to the topic, the unfortunate part is there isnt a LOT of canon info on it, and that makes it difficult to cover...
@@TriAngulumAudioStudios that's true, they really didn't cover it really. But great that you're in it
Great content, thank you for enlightening us.
Thank you :) And thank you for the support :)
umm those lyrics are hideous
it's ok about the 1st officer thing, a decade later the world would get a strong female 1st officer in Ellen Ripley.
Roddenberry seems like a creative guy but didn't necessarily contribute as much to his franchise versus say someone like John Carpenter
Yeahhhh they ARE pretty bad :S
Ripley was a Warrant Officer. Kane was the first officer.
Great video it would have been great 2 have a season 4 of TOS. I'm glad that I'm a Star Trek fan cause my life is better & I thank Gene Roddenberry & all the other people who created the greatest franchise EVER
What I learned from this is that like every great franchise, Star Trek was a collaborative exercise. But unlike certain other creators of certain other franchises, Gene was a bit of a git. But he did create one of the most enduring TV shows of all time, so he can be forgiven for that.
Indeed he did, as the vid says, I didnt make this to diminish the man, only to bust myths and give credit where credit was due!
@@TriAngulumAudioStudios it was a very cool video, and I learned something about the inner workings of Trek.
It would be a weird contradiction for fans to want more well rounded and faceted characters within fiction but recoil at facts that show that very thing about an actual man. Who was no doubt a character. Nice vid dude, as always.
I didn't know that Gene and Booger from Revenge of the Nerds had so much in common. Sci-fi nerds obsessed with woman. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 Great video.
LOL Thank you :)
I see the prototype for the Michael Myers mask lol. I can SO see it!
I would have stuck with Nichelle and dropped the other two. For real.
These are things i have sensed for years and now i know some of the truth and it doesn’t surprise me one bit.....i still love star trek and enjoy watching
Truth is ALWAYS the most important thing :)
I knew most of these. Gene was Gene. It doesn't take away from what he created but shows that we should be certain we Iknow the difference between admiration and worship. I am pretty sure if he got into any of the same shenanigans today there would be quite a bruhaha.
Today no one would stand for it!
Wow this popped up in my feed! I don’t think I ever saw it!
Surprise!!!
@@TriAngulumAudioStudios it’s great to review your older videos and see how much your Channel has grown.
Lol perhaps for you :P
So the Great Bird of the galaxy was in fact a cock among the hens! This was a really great watch, it's funny how similar this story is to the story of George Lucas in that others had a hand in creating what we eventually saw.
LOL Cock among Hens LOL
Only difference, is that George Lucas was smart enough to get more out of his franchise. He got billions from the house of mouse.
Paul A Burrows ..he was a man of huge 'Spaceballs'!!
Historical irony- the studio that initially produced Star Trek was run by a guy with the last name Solo.
Solow!
Historically the most successful people became that way by surrounding themselves with talented but less egotistic individuals. for example Steve Jobs and Thomas Edison...
Ah yes, but MOST do give credit where credit is due!
I've been hearing about Gene L. Coon naming Klingons after some Dragnet actor, who was an actual cop named Clingan? Is this true?
Some sites even claim that Clingan worked with Roddenberry in the LAPD.
While I'd already known of the "female captain isn't believable" myth the dressed as a cop to hand over the Star Trek bible was new to me. According to "Pioneers of Primetime" I was aware that it was Lucille Ball who chose to greenlight the series (becoming in a sense Star Trek's godmother), but going through Memory Alpha I already knew that Roddenberry wanted lyricist credit, which annoyed Courage and caused him to stop writing musical scores for TOS. It was an eye-opening look at some details I hadn't known before
In the 60s copyright law in the UK stated whoever created a television character or prop owned the copyright. So Matt Jeffries who created the Enterprise would own the copyright to the Enterprise and would receive royalties every time it would be used in TOS
It's always fascinating to see the truth behind the myth.
And I had NO IDEA about Gene having an open relationship and the real story about female Number One.
Yes i agree :)
Gene was a womanizer, but that was common in the 1960s
I appreciate this vid. Good work.
Though, it didn't diminish Roddenberry to me. I knew the man wasn't perfect... as a matter of fact, he had a drug habit that contributed to his relatively early demise that you didn't talk about... but the future he envisioned makes him a god to me. Gods, the real ones, are never perfect, but their contributions are overwhelmingly good.
As a huge fan of film and television music, I feel obligated to mention that Alexander Courage was Jerry Goldsmith's understudy. Mr. Goldsmith was asked to write the theme to Star Trek but was already busy working on another television show. Goldsmith recommended Courage. The full piece that is the Star Trek theme is an amazing piece. It was cut very short and had that terrible voice added in the second season.
Though you are correct about Goldsmith you incorrect about Mrs Normans voice being added season 2... She was added in season 1's theme and then removed in Season 2 for budgetary reasons... That will all be covered in the 4th part of Star Trek The Early Years in my Back Trek series!
I stand corrected
All good :)
It's so interesting to me. Nichele was messing around with Gene at the Exact Same Time and got her job the Exact Same Way yet SHE is a Star Trek goddess to the fans and Majel and her character Christine Chapel are mostly reviled. Funny, how the network didn't object to Nichelle Nichols. This is why I always stuck up for the Chapel Character and continue to do so.
I already noticed years ago how some people within the ST community tended to UNHEALTHILY revere the man to a ridiculous degree and things like that, when someone takes something a way too seriously, always put me off.
And I did not need to see a video like the one of yours here, David, to sense that something was off and bloated out of proportions.
Later on, I began stumbling upon people here and there who revealed to me a little bits of the truth of how some things really were back in the day with Gene and Star Trek.
I also saw myself that certain things, such as TMP era films and TNG, usually improved when he stopped being involved.
However, I also always despised people who tended to largely discredit him and throw as much dirt on him as possible.
Your video nicely rounds this all up. :-)
P.S. - During the last three years I gradually grew to hate when someone utters a variation of, "this is not in accordance with Gene's vision". YUCK!!!
And this is not his fault!
OOhhhh I hate it when someone says that too! First it's egotistical to assume we know what he would feel about something. Second, he was a little nutty when it came to TNG and so what would a mad mans vision really be? And how much would it mean?
The "vision" would be highly self-contradictory.
In the little documentary about ST:ENT I posted onto your FB group recently, Rick Berman said something like this:
"When one of the (ENT) writers wanted to blow someone's legs off, I felt the need to step in and stop this in order to preserve Gene's vision."
And I think, WTF?!!! On TOS they were killing off (not only) redshirts left and right to show the magnitude of danger at hand.
And the writers Black, Sussman, and the actor Billingsley (Dr. Phlox) well-pointed it out, that friggin' contradictory nonsense. And that was not all!!
@@subraxas Gene's "vision" is indeed contradictory. In the original series bible, the importance of action and entertainment were emphasised. By the 80s Gene regarded himself as a visionary, and insisted on things like the "no conflict" rule. He also put a counsellor on the TNG bridge because he was in thrall to his psychiatrist. So you can say anything is Gene's vision and be correct.
Nicely done 👍
Thank you
Thank you for making the video 😊
You are very welcome :)
So Gene was basically following in Stan Lee's footsteps and steal other people's credit
Wouldnt it be the other way around? :P
Never heard the story about majel's surname or the police uniform one.
I like to try and add something new to everyone's life ;) :P
TriAngulum Audio Studios and you have my gratitude for that.
Thanks for the video, he was a creative genius, but he was also a self serving jerk
This doesn't bother me but to think of him as "perfect" he had a lot of help. Yes he could come up with good ideas however watch Star Trek TNG with his involvement and post his involvement and you'll see how perfect he wasn't. When a show improves without him then God falls. His involvement with TMP hurt that as well.
Actually... what hurt TMP was Paramount's demands, and the massive budget they threw at it. If TMP was allowed to focus more on the story and characters, it would have done so much better. But what we got instead was starship porn. Though don't get me wrong, I loves me some good starship porn :P
@@k1productions87 I doubt the studio was against "story and characters". What they wanted was something to compete with Star Wars, not a rip-off of Space Odyssey.
@@k1productions87 Watch some of Leonard Nimoys interviews where he said he and William Shatner tried to help with the production and a lot of ideas were shot down by Gene.
Would you happen to know who wrote the novelization of "Star Trek: The Motion Picture"?
Yes Gene Roddenberry himself did!
@@TriAngulumAudioStudios Thank you for answering! (There are fan theories about a ghostwriter and given this video I could not help but wonder.)
@@enterprise-h312 No problem, and it may be possible... When my Back trek series gets to the motion Picture Ill try and find out :)
Hate to say it, but after he died, Star Trek was allowed to breathe. TNG got less boring, and even had more conflict and war, and DS9 turned out brilliantly. I'm sure he wouldn't have allowed Voyager, or Enterprise. We all know he'd crap a cat if he saw what the Kelvin timeline was, or Discovery.
4:40 I recognise this picture but can't remember who the guys are! Can you remind me who they are?
The best part: 6:06
Dancing cop.
It is important when you look up to someone that you look up to their good qualities. But note and reject their bad.
Roddenberry almost has a halo-effect in the Star Trek community. He created a really great idea for a show. Most of the really good episodes and movies we think about were written by someone else. He does not sound like someone I would want to work with or for. Taking 50% of the theme song writer's royalties and writing credits for things he didn't write are great examples of why. He doesn't sound like a good person at the core level.
Wait, Female Number 1 became Troi's mom in TNG?
Indeed she did, guess who made that happen? :P
As well as the voice of the computers
@@TriAngulumAudioStudios Gene the player, himself! 😂
@@CardboardSliver the computer too!?!?!? That one really caught me off guard!
@@TheCharlesJackson Majel Barrett played the computer voice from TOS to Voyager, and up to the first JJ Abrams movie.
(In Enterprise, the NX-O1 didn't use a voice, so as to make it appear less advanced.
Barrett played the 23rd century Defiant's voice in the Mirror episode. She spoke only one word. "Working...")
Would you consider taking a closer look at TOS season 3? I think it's not as bad as people say, partly because a lot of the production (cast, crew, sets, writers) remained the same. Fred Freiberger went on to produce season 2 of Space 1999, and _that_ was a real travesty - he changed the look of the show, got rid of some popular actors, and gave the opening credits a glitzy 70s look which dated quickly.
Hmmm well Season 2 and 3 is the focus of Part 4 of the Back Trek series and Im currently in the process of writing it... Season 3 not being as bad though is looking pretty grim being all the the things that happened during that season to the detriment of the show...
If you want outright attacks on Gene try The City on the Edge of Forever by Harlan Ellison. It opens with a series of essays and interviews by Ellison He rails hard on Gene. I found it wildly entertaining. Afterward, you get the various drafts of the script Ellison wrote read by Trek alumni like Levar Burton. Great stuff
I would love to have Peter Weir direct a Star Trek film. Now for those who don't know...Peter Weir likes to cast against type when it comes to his films. He cast Harrison Ford in Witness, the late Robin Williams in Dead Poet Society and Jim Carrey in The Truman show.... so just imagine who he would cast as Kirk or Spock!
I'll ask a question. Out of all those episodes and feature films did Roddenberry ever make an on screen appearance?
Well he did do intercomm voices, including the one in Charlie X complaining about how the meatloaves turned in to turkeys!
Every time you say Solo I think of Star Wars lol.
LOL I would never soil the sanctity of this channel like that :P
@@TriAngulumAudioStudios lol right
Amusing to show a picture of Bettie Page to represent Rodenberrys first wife - one would think there’s a real shot of her somewhere.
You sure that Gene Roddenberry and George Lucas aren't long lost cloned brothers? The description you give Roddenberry is almost identical to that of Lucas!
Trash just terrible horrible bad bad bad. Not really but I always tell you how great the video was thought I'd change it up a little. Also I learned a few things about Gene Roddenberry I didn't know.
LOL well thanks for keeping it fresh? :P
First to watch and comment again! Super excited! Still loving your content and channel! Keep up the wonderful work!
Thank you so much! I appreciate all the support :)
I bet Geen never forgave them after after Season 3. Could you do a video of the Star Trek vs Star Wars on Truth or Myth next?
Is the myth true that Gene once tried created a cereal called Rodden's Berries?
LOL Ill have to do weeks of research on that one and get back to you :P
@@TriAngulumAudioStudiosHa ha! The let's disguise Magell Barrette in a blonde wig story is partially true. She did use her maiden name to get the part but the network figured it out in a day. Like u said, a minor role so she got it anyway.
The Mr. Pete Channel needs 700 subs! 😂😂😂😂
TriAngulum Audio Studios Roddenberry was married to Bettie Page?! Whaaat?!
@@TheMrPeteChannel "Rodden's Berries" sounds more like a trek themed porn parody!
If Roddenberry had it wished having Star Trek back at its original time slot it would probably limped into the 4th season. I'm one of the few to say that NBC did the right thing in pulling the plug after 3 seasons and why I said this if the 3rd season was awful then the 4th season would have been even worse with a more smaller budget, weaker scripts and maybe firing some of the cast members and perhaps from 1 to a half hour format . So better to end it sooner rather then later when it becomes more unbearable to watch. Enjoyed all your UA-cam videos very informative
Our Gene, which art in space
Hallowed be thy name
Thy universe come
Thy imagination be done in Earth as it is in space
Give us this day our daily episode
And forgive us our fanfictions
As we forgive them that write against us
And lead us not into temptation
But deliver us from bad scripts.
Energize.
This is meant as a comic relief, not to start a religion ;-)
The more I learn about this stuff the more Roddenberry looks like a real AH.
Thank you for this video...if nothing else I've confirmed the correct pronunciation of Majel Barrett's 1st name.
LOL You're very welcome :)
The best thing Gene ever did for Star Trek is create it; the second best thing he ever did for Trek was die, so it could grow beyond him.
I think the big problem was that Gene began to believe his own stories, and that harmed Trek...
I just wish people could realize that post TOS Star Trek succeeded because of people other than Gene, when they start bitching about "Gene's Legacy" with newer movies or series. Oh they'll fawn all over TNG (from season 3 onward) and DS9, but then forget WHY those were so good. It wasn't because of Gene Roddenberry...
TOS fans will crap all over DS9 because it "goes against everything Gene wanted".
War
Crew conflict
Warships
And doubting his perfect Utopia.
Berman and Piller had a bust of Gene on the desk...with a blindfold over its eyes so he wouldn't see DS9.
@@k1productions87 Star Trek, IMO, was good with Mr. Roddenberry, but really hit its stride when his involvement was minimal to none, but before late DS9 and latter shows where it took on a strong technophobic, xenophobic, corrupt, dystopian future of never ending wars vibe.
Yes that's all pretty much spot on. Referencing your sources helps the validity of your presentation. The ranting forward and several ST writers afterward of the bound book release of the three versions of Harlan Ellison's "City on the Edge of Forever" in the 90s puts Gene into perspective. I met Gene in 1981 and he was telling all these embellished stories, always with him being the progressive civil rights and women's rights hero. Much of a Hawkeye Pierce bigger than life guy by then.
Oh "Mudd's Women" according to the WGA was fair for GR to claim a credit on. It was a rewrite of a comic episode of "Have Gun" that GR wrote over half a decade earlier. He also pitched that, The Cage, and The Omega Story for his pilot ideas before other writers came aboard.
By the time Star Trek finally aired, Desilu had several major dramas and coproduced many other comedies through Paramount. It was slim in 1962, bit rich by 1965. Half of remembered US 60s television was Desilu/Paramount.
S Tho: "I met Gene in 1981 and he was telling all these embellished stories, always with him being the progressive civil rights and women's rights hero."
I never met him, but I heard recordings of him from speeches and interviews portraying himself the same way.
It's true. Also, the Federation was not Gene Roddenberry's invention either. Roddenberry wasn't interested in having a multi racial utopia. He was sexist and misogynist. He belittled women and used them as eye candy in the Star Trek series. Some people forgive him because they grew up with Star Trek. I also grew up with the program but a pig is a pig is a pig.
As with most of these people that have to pitch these shows, scripts and ideas to studios, writers, TV executives, they are part bullshit artists, part diplomat, part creative genius and sometimes the lines are blurred! While I fully acknowledge Gene's creative genius, but he was an immature bullshit artist extraordinaire!
How could you say such nasty, horrible things about the great, great Gene The Visionary?
You mean, mean person ! ! ! !
I'm notifying UA-cam!!
:-D :-D :-D :-P
I know right? Im horrible :P
@@TriAngulumAudioStudios :-D
Typical when many people are involved...a lot of people go unnoticed.
This isnt about people going unnoticed, it's about Roddenberry taking credit for things he had nothing to do with at all... It's a horrible and despicable trait and shouldn't just be brushed aside with a "that's life" comment...
My contention is that Gene is now long dead and incapable of rebutting any of these allegations. It's very convenient that so many people waited until after he was gone to start dropping all of these truth bombs and defaming his character, but I suppose that's par for the course in the entertainment world. Everyone will throw you to the wolves as soon as you're no longer of any use to them or can't be perceived as a threat anymore. I also find it a bit voyeuristic and distasteful that so many people are willing to judge him for his romantic affairs and tribulations in his personal life when he was clearly a man from a different era and such things really have no bearing on the quality of his work or the legacy of Star Trek as a whole. It just comes across as trashy tabloid gossip rather than earnest speculation or discussion. I don't think the man is a saint or a great genius but I'm certainly not about to condemn him as a phony or a chauvinist either.
So according to Nichelle it was ok for Gene to cheat on his wife with her but not if a third woman was involved. Guess we know how she got her job
It would be highly ironic to treat gene like a god when he constantly produced stories about debunking god myths.
I believe much of Gene's personality was driven by fear, specifically of personal failure as measured by financial disaster. He spent a lot of time on relatively small schemes for making money like the royalties mentioned in this video, but also IDIC medallion sales and other trinkets and endless small ways of grabbing a buck. To be fair, he was providing for his family and their future, but he walked a fine line of shady. At the same time, he inspired generosity and love from so many people he never met. Every human has flaws. If only we could all be flawed like Gene, wouldn't the world be a better place?
The answer to your question is "no".
Gene was never a hero, and honestly, treating him like some sort of "fallen god" is wrong. He was never good enough to be an idol to fall from that position.
HEY DUDE!!!! PLEASEEEEEE tell your audience to READ or LISTEN ON AUDIBLE to "The 50 Year Journey", its a down and dirty complete history of the series so far. Read it yourself if you havent, but it sounds like you may have! cheers!
What a Ferengi
Gene Roddenberry vs George Lucas:
Which creator was more detrimental to their IPs?
Not sure as I am not a Star Wars fan what so ever!
Definitely get the Bob Justman book which is great. Though Lucille Ball is mentioned here, one of Justmans best stories is how at a board meeting Lucy demanded to know about the “South Seas” show Desilu was doing. Justman had no idea until she explained she thought “Star Trek” meant movie stars going on long-distance USO tours to the south Pacific.
Yes, I go over ALL that in my Back Trek Historical Overview Series!
great! :) tri
Thanks lil buddy :)
All of those but the last made sense. That last one sounded like Gene said, "renew my show or I'll hold my breath and pout real hard."
Gene gave an ultimatum to save Star Trek, NBC wouldnt back down so he really had no choice!
He always creeped me out
LOL
@3:03 The idea that a second pilot was unprecedented is a myth in itself. There were over a half dozen series before Trek that had second pilots. It was rare, but not unheard of.
I dont know where you get your info, but a simple google search proves you wrong!
Of course he was a storyteller that is what made him the legend he is today otherwise he would be just a guy who wrote good stories. The Great bird of the Galaxy a womanizer, hmmm I am slowly starting to see who exactly Captain Kirk was modeled after.
I appreciate this essay, but I'm actually surprised at how kind it was. There's no mention of how Gene credited only himself for the creation of TNG, even though just as much credit, if not more so is owed to David Gerrold. Plus, I'm really surprised at how Grace Lee Whitney's implied accusations aren't brought up. There are a few other things, but I can't tell if they're his fault, someone else's, or if I'm reading too much into things.
Well first, Graces accusations were never against Roddenberry, so no need for them to be mentioned here... And second, this video is just a sampling of bad behaviors, not a complete list!
@@TriAngulumAudioStudiosVery well, I accept that this is just a sampling. But although Grace never stated the name of the criminal, her clues as to who it was, were less than subtle. She definitely meant Gene. Granted, the only two people who knew for a fact of what happened, would have been Grace and the executive she referred to and they're both dead(even if it wasn't Gene, the executive is probably long gone by now). With that stated, I believe her.
No she didnt... If you read her autobiography she is clear that it was a "Studio Exec," something Roddenberry never was! Which means it was either an Exec at Desilu or NBC... I discuss it in my History Overview of TOS Season 1! So before casting stones, and falsely accuse someone of something horrendous, know the facts! 🙄
I deleted your nonsense message, as you are trying desperately to accuse someone of something that simply isnt true... You can find reasons to fit him to it all you want, but the main fact is she was clear that it was a STUDIO EXECUTIVE, not a Star Trek producer. That disqualifies him right off the bat. So again, next time get your facts right BEFORE accusing anyone of anything!
(THREAD CLOSED- NO further comments will appear to prevent OP from creating drama and accusing an innocent person of a crime they didn't commit based on the violated's own words... Shameful)
Why the picture of Bettie Page?
It isnt, it's Genes wife who had a Page hairstyle at the time!
8:15 - Really? Roddenberry took a 50/50 royalty split on that? He couldn’t request a 75/25 royalty split?!? And even so, how do ya figure that composing music versus writing lyrics would not be a 50-50 split anyway.