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Welcome to Gene-ology, a podcast by Roddenberry Entertainment that dives deep into the early TV writing works of Gene Roddenberry. Is this the best television script Gene Roddenberry wrote prior to creating Star Trek? Gene's singular episode of the popular medical drama Dr. Kildare is a powerful story full of rich characters and raw emotions – the bedrock of great television drama. Hosted by Earl Green & Ashley Thomas About Gene-ology Gene-ology explores Gene Roddenberry's early television scripts, including his lesser-known works before Star Trek using the Mission Log format popularized by Roddenberry Podcasts. We analyze the themes, writing style, and cultural impact of his scripts, and we even unearth stories from the Roddenberry archives that were never produced. Join us as we trace the roots of Gene's creative genius. In This Episode A breakdown of key moments and themes in "A Distant Thunder". Exploring Gene Roddenberry's evolving style and storytelling. How this episode ties into the broader TV landscape of the time and reflects the early seeds of Roddenberry's visionary work. Guest stars and unique production elements that bring this episode to life. Special Segment: Dramatic Recreation Since this script is not available to the public, we've brought it to life with a dramatic recreation! Special guests Jeff Gauntt and Bonnie Gordon perform a key section of the script. Listen in as they bring the story to life in this exclusive performance. Join the Conversation What did you think of this episode? Share your thoughts, theories, and favorite moments in the comments or reach out to us on social media or email us at missionlog@roddenberry.com Did you know Roddenberry Podcasts is on YouTube? Find the video versions of your favorite shows like Mission Log: Prodigy, Mission Log: The Orville, as well as exclusive content only available on YouTube. Subscribe now! https://www.youtube.com/@RoddenberryEntertainment?sub_confirmation=1 Follow us on Social Media: INSTAGRAM https://www.instagram.com/roddenberrypodcasts BLUESKY https://bsky.app/profile/roddenberrypod.bsky.social THREADS https://www.threads.net/@roddenberrypodcasts FACEBOOK https://www.facebook.com/MissionLogPod Our shows are part of the Roddenberry Entertainment family. For more great shows and to learn how we live the legacy of Gene Roddenberry, the creator of Star Trek, follow us here: RODDENBERRY PODCASTS https://www.instagram.com/RoddenberryPodcasts RODDENBERRY ENTERTAINMENT https://www.instagram.com/RoddenberryOfficial RODDENBERRY FOUNDATION https://www.instagram.com/TheRoddenberryFoundation Support the Show For as little as $1 a month, you can gain access to our Mission Log Discord Community! There, we continue the discussion with dedicated channels and a weekly video chat with the hosts. Become a member of our Patreon today! https://www.Patreon.com/MissionLog Subscribe and Stay Tuned Be sure to subscribe to Gene-ology for more deep dives into Gene Roddenberry's early works. New episodes are released regularly as we uncover more of Gene's television legacy. – Gene-ology is produced by Roddenberry Entertainment. Executive producer Eugene "Rod" Roddenberry. Visit https://Podcasts.Roddenberry.com for more great content. Edited by Earl Green.
On “First Contact Day”, La-La Land Records releases Star Trek Collection: The Final Frontier, a 4-CD box set collecting frequently-requested and previously unreleased music from Star Trek: The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise, as well as premiering new recordings of unused Jerry Goldsmith music from Star Trek: The Motion Picture. The label claims this is their final Star Trek CD release, which proves to be somewhat inaccurate.
Honor Blackman, who rose to fame portraying Cathy Gale in the second and third seasons of The Avengers, dies at the age of 94. Despite her success in The Avengers, she left her starmaking role behind to graduate to big screen spy antics in the James Bond film Goldfinger. Other movie roles included Jason And The Argonauts and Bridget Jones’s Diary, with TV roles in Danger Man, The Saint, Columbo, The Upper Hand, and a guest starring role in parts 9-12 of the 1986 Doctor Who story The Trial Of A Time Lord.
The 21st episode of the science fiction series The Expanse, based on the series of novels by James S.A. Corey (a pseudonym for writers Ty Franck and Daniel Abraham), is broadcast on cable channel Syfy. Terry Chen (Continuum) guest stars.
The enigmatically titled internet short film Project Yellow Sphere debuts, revealed to be a semi-serious, six-minute live-action-plus-CGI proof-of-concept trailer for a potential Pac-Man movie. Shot and produced entirely at commercial production house Steelehouse Productions in Tulsa, Oklahoma, it’s the closest anyone has gotten to mounting a long-talked about Pac-Man film.
Space Shuttle Discovery is launched on the 131st shuttle flight, a 15-day resupply mission to the International Space Station. Equipment and experiment packages are transferred to the station from a logistics module in the shuttle cargo bay. The joint portion of the flight features the largest female astronaut contingent in orbit at any one time to date, with three of Discovery’s six crewmembers plus station astronaut Tracy Dyson. Aboard Discovery for her 38th flight are Commander Alan Poindexter, Pilot James Dutton, and mission specialists Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger, Rick Mastracchio, Naoko Yamazaki, Clayton Anderson and Stephanie Wilson.
Oscar-winning actor Charlton Heston dies at the age of 84. Renowned for a string of tough-guy roles in major big-screen epics that earned him an Academy Award for best actor in 1959’s Ben-Hur, Heston appeared in other blockbusters such as El Cid and The Ten Commandments; genre fans may know him best for two SF films, Soylent Green and the 1968 smash hit Planet Of The Apes. His outspoken political views were on display as much as his acting skills, ranging from marching to Washington with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to serving as president of the National Rifle Association. He had also served as a past president of the Screen Actors’ Guild.
The 741st episode of Doctor Who (the 43rd since the series’ revival) airs on BBC1. Kicking off the fourth season of the revived series, this episode brings back Catherine Tate’s character from The Runaway Bride (2006’s Christmas special episode) as the Doctor’s new companion. The season’s running theme – the return of Rose – is also introduced in this episode with a cameo appearance by Billie Piper, though fan sites have already reported her presence at location filming.
Bridging the gap between Star Wars Episode II and Episode III, Cartoon Network premieres the 17th mini-episode of Genndy Tartakovsky’s The Clone Wars animated shorts.
The 38th episode of James Cameron & Charles H. Eglee’s cyberpunk series Dark Angel, starring Jessica Alba and Michael Weatherly, airs on Fox. Ashley Scott (Birds Of Prey, Jericho) and Rekha Sharma (Battlestar Galactica) guest star.
Film Score Monthly releases a limited edition CD of the soundtrack from the 1971 Charlton Heston science fiction movie The Omega Man, whose music was composed by Ron Grainer (best known for his UK TV themes, such as Doctor Who and The Prisoner). The limited pressing of 3,000 copies sells out in record time; an unlimited pressing with slightly different content will be re-released by FSM’s Retrograde Records label in 2008.
The week-long national syndication window opens for the 165th episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. This is the beginning of a tightly-serialized eight-episode run-up to the series finale, an unprecedented story arc in Star Trek terms.
The 16th episode of Highlander: The Raven, starring Amanda Gracen and Paul Johannson, airs in syndication; the series is a spinoff from Highlander: The Series.
Pay cable channel HBO airs the second episode of its heavily-promoted docudrama From The Earth To The Moon, chronicling NASA’s quest to reach the moon, and two episodes debut each Sunday of the show’s run. The second episode is devoted to the tragic Apollo 1 fire and its aftermath. Nick Searcy stars as Deke Slayton, with Mark Rolston as Gus Grissom, musician/actor Chris Isaak as Ed White, and David Andrews as Frank Borman. Kevin Spacey, Mason Adams and John Slattery (Mad Men) guest star.
Pay cable channel HBO premieres the first episode of its heavily-promoted docudrama From The Earth To The Moon, executive produced by actor Tom Hanks (Apollo 13) through Ron Howard’s Imagine Films. The series chronicles NASA’s quest to reach the moon, and two episodes debut each Sunday of the show’s run. The first episode covers Sputnik through the Gemini program. The cast includes Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad), Brett Cullen, Cary Elwes (The Princess Bride), Chris Isaak, and Dan Lauria (The Wonder Years).
The sixth episode of the time-travel/crime series Crime Traveller is broadcast on BBC1, created and written by Anthony Horowitz (Foyle’s War), starring Michael French (Casualty) and Chloe Annett (Red Dwarf). Ken Bones (Doctor Who) guest stars.
Fox airs the 15th episode of Tracy Torme’s alternate-universe science fiction series Sliders, starring Jerry O’Connell, John Rhys Davies, Sabrina Lloyd, and Cleavant Derricks. Rebecca Gayheart (Earth 2) guest stars.
Premium cable channel Showtime airs the 32nd episode of The Outer Limits, a revival of Leslie Stevens’ 1960s science fiction anthology series. Jessica Steen (Captain Power) guest stars in an episode written by Alan Brennert.
The first episode of the science fiction police series Mann & Machine, co-created by Dick Wolf and Robert de Laurentiis, is broadcast on NBC, starring David Andrews and Yancy Butler. Samantha Eggar guest stars.
Space Shuttle Atlantis lifts off on a mission to deploy the orbiting Gamma Ray Observatory satellite. When the high-gain antenna fails to deploy on GRO, the first unplanned spacewalk since 1985 is conducted, with two of the astronauts manually releasing the antenna. Manning Atlantis for nearly six days are Commander Steven Nagel, Pilot Kenneth Cameron, and mission specialists Jerry Ross, Jay Apt and Linda Godwin.
The 17th episode of the superhero series The Flash, based on the DC Comics character, airs on CBS, starring John Wesley Shipp and Amanda Pays. Michael Champion and Jeffrey Combs (Re-Animator, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) guest star.
The 14th episode of Richard Carpenter’s fanciful retelling of the Robin Hood legend, Robin Of Sherwood, airs on ITV, starring Jason Connery, Mark Ryan, Judi Trott, and Nickolas Grace. Richard O’Brien (The Rocky Horror Picture Show) guest stars in the third season premiere, which also introduces Jason Connery (son of James Bond actor Sean Connery) as Robert of Huntingdon, who takes on the mantle of Robin Hood for the remainder of the series following Michael Praed’s departure.
Mixing video highway hypnosis and a strangely hummable theme song, Japanese video game Tube Panic, from the makers of Crazy Climber and Moon Cresta, first appears in American arcades. Players have to fight motion sickness to keep blasting away at bad guys. The game achieves minor cult status but fails to become a smash hit at a time when arcade manufacturers desperately need one.
ITV airs the 15th episode of Roald Dahl’s anthology series Tales Of The Unexpected, hosted by the author himself and adapted from his short stories. Miriam Margolyes guest stars in the first episode not based on a Dahl short story.
The first weekly episode of The Amazing Spider-Man airs on CBS, starring Nicholas Hammond and Robert F. Simon. Joanna Cameron (The Secrets Of Isis) and Robert Alda guest star. This is part one of a two-part story.
The two-man crew selected to become the second group of occupants for the Soviet Union’s Salyut 4 space station nearly rockets into disaster. Interstage connectors, intended to open simultaneously to allow the third stage of the booster to carry the Soyuz spacecraft into orbit, fail to open on cue, leaving the third stage dragging the dead weight of the spent second stage, changing the trajectory of the entire vehicle. The Soyuz capsule carrying cosmonauts Vasili Lazarev and Oleg Makarov is blasted free, and the two men experience acceleration of 23 Gs as the capsule roars toward a bruisingly rough emergency landing. As if that’s not bad enough, the Soyuz capsule lands perilously close to the USSR’s border with China, and rescue crews spend over 24 hours looking for the crew. The usually secretive Soviet space agency reluctantly reveals details of the mission to NASA, with whom they are collaborating ahead of the historic Apollo-Soyuz joint launch.
The 396th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. This episode marks the first-ever appearance of Davros in the series, as well as the first attempt to nail down an origin story for the Daleks themselves.
The 242nd episode of Doctor Who airs on the BBC. This is the second story written by Robert Holmes, and is the most recent Doctor Who story to be missing entire episodes from the BBC’s archives.
The 30th episode of Irwin Allen’s adventure series Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea airs on ABC, starring Richard Basehart and David Hedison. Torin Thatcher guest stars in an episode revolving around the Loch Ness Monster.
On “First Contact Day”, La-La Land Records releases Star Trek Collection: The Final Frontier, a 4-CD box set collecting frequently-requested and previously unreleased music from Star Trek: The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise, as well as premiering new recordings of unused Jerry Goldsmith music from Star Trek: The Motion Picture. The label claims this is their final Star Trek CD release, which proves to be somewhat inaccurate. 
Honor Blackman, who rose to fame portraying Cathy Gale in the second and third seasons of The Avengers, dies at the age of 94. Despite her success in The Avengers, she left her starmaking role behind to graduate to big screen spy antics in the James Bond film Goldfinger. Other movie roles included Jason And The Argonauts and Bridget Jones’s Diary, with TV roles in Danger Man, The Saint, Columbo, The Upper Hand, and a guest starring role in parts 9-12 of the 1986 Doctor Who story The Trial Of A Time Lord.
The 132nd episode of Arrow, a modern-day reboot of DC Comics’ Green Arrow superhero starring Stephen Amell, airs on the CW.
The 21st episode of the science fiction series The Expanse, based on the series of novels by James S.A. Corey (a pseudonym for writers Ty Franck and Daniel Abraham), is broadcast on cable channel Syfy. Terry Chen (Continuum) guest stars.
The enigmatically titled internet short film Project Yellow Sphere debuts, revealed to be a semi-serious, six-minute live-action-plus-CGI proof-of-concept trailer for a potential Pac-Man movie. Shot and produced entirely at commercial production house Steelehouse Productions in Tulsa, Oklahoma, it’s the closest anyone has gotten to mounting a long-talked about Pac-Man film. 
Perseverance Records releases the late Elmer Bernstein‘s score from the 1989 sci-fi film Slipstream. 
Space Shuttle Discovery is launched on the 131st shuttle flight, a 15-day resupply mission to the International Space Station. Equipment and experiment packages are transferred to the station from a logistics module in the shuttle cargo bay. The joint portion of the flight features the largest female astronaut contingent in orbit at any one time to date, with three of Discovery’s six crewmembers plus station astronaut Tracy Dyson. Aboard Discovery for her 38th flight are Commander Alan Poindexter, Pilot James Dutton, and mission specialists Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger, Rick Mastracchio, Naoko Yamazaki, Clayton Anderson and Stephanie Wilson.
Oscar-winning actor Charlton Heston dies at the age of 84. Renowned for a string of tough-guy roles in major big-screen epics that earned him an Academy Award for best actor in 1959’s Ben-Hur, Heston appeared in other blockbusters such as El Cid and The Ten Commandments; genre fans may know him best for two SF films, Soylent Green and the 1968 smash hit Planet Of The Apes. His outspoken political views were on display as much as his acting skills, ranging from marching to Washington with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to serving as president of the National Rifle Association. He had also served as a past president of the Screen Actors’ Guild.
The 741st episode of Doctor Who (the 43rd since the series’ revival) airs on BBC1. Kicking off the fourth season of the revived series, this episode brings back Catherine Tate’s character from The Runaway Bride (2006’s Christmas special episode) as the Doctor’s new companion. The season’s running theme – the return of Rose – is also introduced in this episode with a cameo appearance by Billie Piper, though fan sites have already reported her presence at location filming. 
ABC airs the 42nd episode of the J.J. Abrams-produced series Lost. Bruce Davison (Harry And The Hendersons, X-Men) and Michael Emerson guest star. 
Bridging the gap between Star Wars Episode II and Episode III, Cartoon Network premieres the 17th mini-episode of Genndy Tartakovsky’s The Clone Wars animated shorts. 
The 63rd episode of Farscape airs on the Sci-Fi Channel, starring Ben Browder and Claudia Black. 
The 38th episode of James Cameron & Charles H. Eglee’s cyberpunk series Dark Angel, starring Jessica Alba and Michael Weatherly, airs on Fox. Ashley Scott (Birds Of Prey, Jericho) and Rekha Sharma (Battlestar Galactica) guest star.
Pay cable channel Showtime airs the 104th episode of Stargate SG-1. 
Film Score Monthly releases a limited edition CD of the soundtrack from the 1971 Charlton Heston science fiction movie The Omega Man, whose music was composed by Ron Grainer (best known for his UK TV themes, such as Doctor Who and The Prisoner). The limited pressing of 3,000 copies sells out in record time; an unlimited pressing with slightly different content will be re-released by FSM’s Retrograde Records label in 2008. 
The week-long national syndication window opens for the 165th episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. This is the beginning of a tightly-serialized eight-episode run-up to the series finale, an unprecedented story arc in Star Trek terms. 
The 16th episode of Highlander: The Raven, starring Amanda Gracen and Paul Johannson, airs in syndication; the series is a spinoff from Highlander: The Series. 
Pay cable channel HBO airs the second episode of its heavily-promoted docudrama From The Earth To The Moon, chronicling NASA’s quest to reach the moon, and two episodes debut each Sunday of the show’s run. The second episode is devoted to the tragic Apollo 1 fire and its aftermath. Nick Searcy stars as Deke Slayton, with Mark Rolston as Gus Grissom, musician/actor Chris Isaak as Ed White, and David Andrews as Frank Borman. Kevin Spacey, Mason Adams and John Slattery (Mad Men) guest star. 
Pay cable channel HBO premieres the first episode of its heavily-promoted docudrama From The Earth To The Moon, executive produced by actor Tom Hanks (Apollo 13) through Ron Howard’s Imagine Films. The series chronicles NASA’s quest to reach the moon, and two episodes debut each Sunday of the show’s run. The first episode covers Sputnik through the Gemini program. The cast includes Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad), Brett Cullen, Cary Elwes (The Princess Bride), Chris Isaak, and Dan Lauria (The Wonder Years). 
The sixth episode of the time-travel/crime series Crime Traveller is broadcast on BBC1, created and written by Anthony Horowitz (Foyle’s War), starring Michael French (Casualty) and Chloe Annett (Red Dwarf). Ken Bones (Doctor Who) guest stars.
Fox airs the 15th episode of Tracy Torme’s alternate-universe science fiction series Sliders, starring Jerry O’Connell, John Rhys Davies, Sabrina Lloyd, and Cleavant Derricks. Rebecca Gayheart (Earth 2) guest stars.
Premium cable channel Showtime airs the 32nd episode of The Outer Limits, a revival of Leslie Stevens’ 1960s science fiction anthology series. Jessica Steen (Captain Power) guest stars in an episode written by Alan Brennert.
Fox airs the third episode of Sliders, Tracy Torme’s alternate-universe science fiction series. 
The week-long national syndication window opens for the 144th episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. 
The first episode of the science fiction police series Mann & Machine, co-created by Dick Wolf and Robert de Laurentiis, is broadcast on NBC, starring David Andrews and Yancy Butler. Samantha Eggar guest stars.
Space Shuttle Atlantis lifts off on a mission to deploy the orbiting Gamma Ray Observatory satellite. When the high-gain antenna fails to deploy on GRO, the first unplanned spacewalk since 1985 is conducted, with two of the astronauts manually releasing the antenna. Manning Atlantis for nearly six days are Commander Steven Nagel, Pilot Kenneth Cameron, and mission specialists Jerry Ross, Jay Apt and Linda Godwin. 
The 17th episode of the superhero series The Flash, based on the DC Comics character, airs on CBS, starring John Wesley Shipp and Amanda Pays. Michael Champion and Jeffrey Combs (Re-Animator, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) guest star.
The 14th episode of Richard Carpenter’s fanciful retelling of the Robin Hood legend, Robin Of Sherwood, airs on ITV, starring Jason Connery, Mark Ryan, Judi Trott, and Nickolas Grace. Richard O’Brien (The Rocky Horror Picture Show) guest stars in the third season premiere, which also introduces Jason Connery (son of James Bond actor Sean Connery) as Robert of Huntingdon, who takes on the mantle of Robin Hood for the remainder of the series following Michael Praed’s departure.
Mixing video highway hypnosis and a strangely hummable theme song, Japanese video game Tube Panic, from the makers of Crazy Climber and Moon Cresta, first appears in American arcades. Players have to fight motion sickness to keep blasting away at bad guys. The game achieves minor cult status but fails to become a smash hit at a time when arcade manufacturers desperately need one. 
The third episode of Brian Daley’s radio drama adaptation of the science fiction blockbuster Star Wars airs on National Public Radio stations in the U.S. Ann Sachs stars as Princess Leia and Brock Peters (To Kill A Mockingbird) stars as Darth Vader. This is a very different telling of the events leading up to Star Wars than what is depicted in the movie Rogue One. 
ITV airs the 35th episode of the anthology series Tales Of The Unexpected. Nigel Havers guest stars in the fourth season premiere.
The fifth episode of Douglas Adams’ breakthrough radio science fiction comedy series The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy is first broadcast on BBC Radio. Roy Hudd guest stars. This is the first of two episodes co-written by John Lloyd, though his contributions are frequently downplayed by Adams in later years. 
The first weekly episode of The Amazing Spider-Man airs on CBS, starring Nicholas Hammond and Robert F. Simon. Joanna Cameron (The Secrets Of Isis) and Robert Alda guest star. This is part one of a two-part story. 
The two-man crew selected to become the second group of occupants for the Soviet Union’s Salyut 4 space station nearly rockets into disaster. Interstage connectors, intended to open simultaneously to allow the third stage of the booster to carry the Soyuz spacecraft into orbit, fail to open on cue, leaving the third stage dragging the dead weight of the spent second stage, changing the trajectory of the entire vehicle. The Soyuz capsule carrying cosmonauts Vasili Lazarev and Oleg Makarov is blasted free, and the two men experience acceleration of 23 Gs as the capsule roars toward a bruisingly rough emergency landing. As if that’s not bad enough, the Soyuz capsule lands perilously close to the USSR’s border with China, and rescue crews spend over 24 hours looking for the crew. The usually secretive Soviet space agency reluctantly reveals details of the mission to NASA, with whom they are collaborating ahead of the historic Apollo-Soyuz joint launch.
The 396th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. This episode marks the first-ever appearance of Davros in the series, as well as the first attempt to nail down an origin story for the Daleks themselves.
The ninth episode of The Six Million Dollar Man is broadcast on ABC, starring Lee Majors and Richard Anderson. Steve Forrest guest stars. 
The 242nd episode of Doctor Who airs on the BBC. This is the second story written by Robert Holmes, and is the most recent Doctor Who story to be missing entire episodes from the BBC’s archives.
The 57th episode of Irwin Allen’s science fiction series Lost In Space premieres on CBS, starring Guy Williams, June Lockhart, and Jonathan Harris.
The 30th episode of Irwin Allen’s adventure series Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea airs on ABC, starring Richard Basehart and David Hedison. Torin Thatcher guest stars in an episode revolving around the Loch Ness Monster.
ABC airs the 50th episode of the supernatural anthology series One Step Beyond, hosted and directed by John Newland. John Hudson guest stars.
The 83rd episode of The Adventures Of Superman airs in syndication, starring George Reeves, Noel Neill, and Jack Larson.