Star Trek: Know all about Gene Roddenberry, the creator of Star Trek

For every Star Trek fan, Gene Roddenberry was more than just the creator of their beloved show. He was a visionary who dreamt of a utopian world and strived to make a difference in society with his creativity and imagination. Roddenberry created Star Trek: The Original Series that graced the screen almost 60 years ago.

The space adventure show was known for boldly showcasing diversity, choosing peace over war, and having a just society for all. A theme that was uncommon on television during the time. His progressive ideas not only influenced the television landscape but also science fiction in general.

During its initial run, The Original Series did not garner much attention. However, the broadcast syndication of the show introduced it to a wider audience worldwide and got the show a cult following. Roddenberry’s original vision of the series made way for the beginning of the Star Trek universe, which ranged from comics, animated series, and movies to many spinoff shows. Today, Star Trek is one of the most profitable and celebrated franchises.

As per Time, Roddenberry spoke about the idea that led to the creation of The Original Series:

"Television was so tightly censored that science fiction was the only way to escape the taboos in politics, religion or anything else that was controversial. I really don’t consider myself a science-fiction writer, but I’m interested in what’s happening on this planet and what may happen. In our society, we’re treating man less and less like an individual and more like a social organism."

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How it started for Roddenberry

Born in 1921, Gene Roddenberry was a native of Texas. During World War II, he went on to fly the B-17 Flying Fortress on 89 combat missions as an Army Air Force pilot across the South Pacific. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and Air Medal. After he left the US Army, he joined Pan American Airlines as a commercial pilot. But he always dreamt of being a writer in Hollywood. He decided to move to Los Angeles to work on his ambition.

He joined the Los Angeles Police Department, all the while writing scripts for various shows that he hoped would one day make it to the screen. He got his first break with The Lieutenant, which premiered in 1963 on NBC. The show was based on US Marines. Many of the cast members on the show, such as Leonard Nimoy, Nichelle Nichols, Gary Lockwood, Walter Koenig, and Majel Barrett, would later go on to be part of Star Trek as well.

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Creating the Star Trek Universe

Roddenberry’s time in the Air Force inspired him to put together a space adventure series that will be led by pilots and scientists whose mission was to bring peace and justice to the galaxy. Thus, Star Trek was born.

In 1964, Roddenberry first pitched the idea of Star Trek to various networks, such as MGM, who rejected it. Later, Desilu Productions, with Lucille Ball, decided to develop the show for NBC. When it came to Star Trek, Roddenberry was strict with his specific vision for the setting and the cast. From the props to the costumes, Roddenberry had a detailed blueprint.

Roddenberry wanted Captain Kirk’s ship to have a distinctive appearance and features, something no one had seen before. Along with designer Matt Jefferies, he would go on to create the iconic USS Enterprise. The model of USS Enterprise NCC -1701 would be later donated by Paramount Studios to the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in 1974.

Star Trek debuted on television in 1966. The show explored subjects such as gender equality, anti-racism, and unity. He cast the Canadian actor William Shatner in the role of James T. Kirk, the youngest captain of the USS Enterprise, along with James Doohan as the Scottish chief engineer Montgomery Scott, George Takei as the Japanese lieutenant Sulu, and Nichelle Nichols as the African-American senior bridge officer Uhura. He later cast Leonard Nimoy as Mr. Spock, a half-human, half-Vulcan officer on board the Enterprise.

Per Time, Roddenberry said:

"I felt we couldn’t do a space show without at least one person on board who constantly reminded you that you are out in space and in a world of the future. NBC finally agreed to do the second pilot with Spock in it, saying, ʻWell, kind of keep him in the background'."

Ironically, Mr.Spock became one of the significant characters on the show.

When the first episode, The Man Trap, was aired in 1966, the series did not receive favorable reviews. Thanks to the numerous letter-writing campaigns from fans requesting the network not to cancel the show, a third season was greenlit for production, albeit with a lower budget. Even Roddenberry stepped back to a much smaller role in the production. But the ratings continued to dwindle, and the series was ultimately canceled.

Nonetheless, Star Trek: The Original Series was a trailblazer show. The first interracial kiss on screen between William Shatner, who portrayed Captain Kirk, and the senior bridge officer Uhura, played by Nichelle Nichols, was one of the most shocking moments on television during the time. Nichols, who wanted to leave the series at one point, later recalled how Martin Luther King Jr asked her to stay on as he felt that her character was important for the African-American community, which did not have much representation on screen.

With 79 episodes across three seasons, Star Trek was sold for re-runs in syndication. It was an instant success as the show gathered a loyal following. To keep up with the momentum of the frenzy around The Original series, Paramount decided to make a feature film in 1979 titled Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Despite the movie getting a lukewarm response, they created a second film titled Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Paramount’s gamble paid off, and the movie went on to become a box office success and critics' favorite.

The Star Trek universe expanded further with Star Trek: The Next Generation in 1987, which had Patrick Stewart as Captain Jean-Luc Picard. The franchise went on to have several projects under the umbrella of Star Trek, such as the spinoff shows Deep Space Nine, Voyager, Enterprise, Discovery, Picard, Prodigy, and Strange New Worlds. The franchise also had animated series, comics and movies. Currently, another spinoff show titled Starfleet Academy on Paramount+ is under development.

While loyal Trekkies will point out that many of the subsequent projects in the Star Trek universe did not keep up with Roddenberry’s ideologies, all projects have gone on to achieve success, making it one of the most profitable franchises in Hollywood.

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Gene Roddenberry’s legacy

In 1985, Roddenberry became the first television writer to have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his influence in television and films.

Roddenberry passed away in 1991 at the age of 70. His influence on space science was much more than one could comprehend. He became the first person from Earth whose ashes were sent to space and returned back on board the space shuttle Columbia in 1992.

Adding to the list of his posthumous honors, The International Astronomical Union (IAU) named a crater on Mars after him. There is also an asteroid named after him called 4659 Roddenberry.

Other accolades include the induction of his name into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame inductee in 2007 and the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Hall of Fame in 2010.

His son, Rod Roddenberry, as part of his 100th birthday celebrations in 2021, created an initiative called thinkTREK, intended to inspire people with his father’s ideologies. Various celebrities took to social media to quote Gene Roddenberry’s famous words. Academy Award-winning Whoopi Goldberg quoted his words:

"I believe in humanity. We are an incredible species. We’re still just a child creature, we’re still being nasty to each other. And all children go through those phases. We’re growing up, we’re moving into adolescence now. When we grow up — man, we’re going to be something!"

Rod Roddenberry, who is the CEO of Roddenberry Entertainment, said at an event hosted by Variety in June 2022:

"The Enterprise and the crew weren’t out exploring the galaxy, looking just for weird looking aliens. They were for species that looked at the universe in a different way than we did. Because up to that point, humanity had finally come together and realized that it’s our diversity that makes us special."

He added:

"We realized working together, we can do so much more. And so now we were trying to find people who looked at the universe in a different way, because we knew that we could grow and evolve by hearing something we’d never heard before. And whether we agreed with it or not, it was the hearing of that, the analyzing of it and the taking pieces out of it that we agreed with and incorporating into our own that allowed us to grow."

Read More: Star Trek: A look at some of the iconic lines by Captain Kirk in The Original Series

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