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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. To fans, they were the Great Bird of the Galaxy and the First Lady of Star Trek. To their friends and co-workers, Gene Roddenberry and Majel Barrett Roddenberry were, perhaps, slightly less mythic figures with their own very human quirks, but still beloved and admired. In this panel from the TrekTalks 5 telethon in support of the Hollywood Food Coalition, Gene and Majel are remembered by those who knew them. Podcast hosted by Earl Green & Ashley Thomas TrekTalks panel hosted by John Champion Panel guests: Fred Bronson, Denise Crosby, Ernie Over, Rod Roddenberry 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 Memories of Gene Roddenberry and Majel Barrett Roddenberry from those who knew and worked with them 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.
Following the first crewed test flight earlier in the year, SpaceX launches the first operational Crew Dragon flight to the International Space Station, with astronauts Michael S. Hopkins, Victor J. Glover, Sôichi Noguchi, and Shannon Walker aboard. This is also the first long-duration mission for the Crew Dragon, which will see the spacecraft remain docked to the station for several months before returning to Earth.
American cable channel AMC broadcasts the second episode of its six-part remake of The Prisoner, starring Jim Caviziel as Number Six and Sir Ian McKellen as Number Two. With its more modern imagery and less ambiguous storytelling style, the remake proves to be controversial with fans of the original 1960s Prisoner.
American cable channel AMC broadcasts the first episode of its six-part remake of The Prisoner, starring Jim Caviziel as Number Six and Sir Ian McKellen as Number Two. With its more modern imagery and less ambiguous storytelling style, the remake proves to be controversial with fans of the original 1960s Prisoner.
The 756th episode of Doctor Who (the 58th since the series’ revival) airs on BBC1. Lindsey Duncan guest stars in a special episode that goes on to win a Hugo Award (the first Doctor Who Hugo awarded to someone other than incoming showrunner Steven Moffat).
The 51st episode of Gene Roddenberry’s Earth: Final Conflict, airs in syndication, starring Robert Leeshock, Jayne Heitmeyer, Von Flores, and Richard Chevolleau.
The 119th episode of Chris Carter’s modern-day science fiction series The X-Files airs on Fox, starring Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny. Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad) guest stars in an episode written by future Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan.
Fox airs the 30th episode of Tracy Torme’s alternate-universe science fiction series Sliders, starring Jerry O’Connell, John Rhys Davies, Sabrina Lloyd, and Cleavant Derricks. Anthony Tyler Quinn (Boy Meets World) guest stars.
The week-long national syndication window opens for the 30th episode of the fantasy series Highlander, starring Adrian Paul (War Of The Worlds), Stan Kirsch, Jim Byrne, and Philip Akin.
The seventh episode of the superhero series The Flash, based on the DC Comics character, airs on CBS, starring John Wesley Shipp and Amanda Pays. Jonathan Brandis (seaQuest DSV) guest stars.
Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched on a mission involving a classified Defense Department payload, staying in Earth orbit for nearly five days. Atlantis’ crew on this flight consists of Commander Richard Covey, Pilot Frank Culbertson, and mission specialists Robert Springer, Carl Meade and Charles Gemar.
NBC airs the 15th episode of Donald Bellisario’s science fiction series Quantum Leap, starring Scott Bakula and Dean Stockwell. Russ Tamblyn (West Side Story, Twin Peaks) guest stars.
Modeled closely after the American Space Shuttle, the Soviet-built orbiter Buran lifts off for its first and only voyage into space. Still in the testing stages, Buran flies completely unmanned, with ground controllers at Baikonur Cosmodrome guiding the vehicle’s every move. With no large engines of its own (unlike NASA’s shuttle fleet), Buran is lifted into orbit solely by the giant Energia booster, makes two orbits, and returns home as a glider. A second flight is scheduled, but before it can take place, the Soviet Union collapses. Buran never flies again.
The 652nd episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Lynda Bellingham, Michael Jayston and Honor Blackman guest star; Bonnie Langford debuts as new TARDIS traveler Melanie.
CBS airs the eighth episode of a revival of Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone. James Coco, Piper Laurie, and Morgan Freeman star in an episode comprised of three short stories, including an adaptation of Ray Bradbury’s short story, The Burning Man.
The sixth episode of James D. Parriott’s lighthearted sci-fi series, Misfits Of Science, airs on NBC, starring Dean Paul Martin, Kevin Peter Hall, and Courteney Cox. Sondra Currie (The Hangover) guest stars.
The 537th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. This story introduces Matthew Waterhouse as new companion Adric, and is the first part of a trilogy based on the dimension of E-space.
Columbia Pictures releases the Steven-Spielberg-written-and-directed science fiction film Close Encounters Of The Third Kind in American theaters, starring Richard Dreyfuss, Teri Garr, Melinda Dillon, and François Truffaut. A movie about contact with alien life set in modern-day America, Close Encounters (often abbreviated to CE3K) it a genuine hit in its own right, cementing Spielberg’s future connection to the genre and proving that the sudden surge of interest in science fiction was not attributable only to Star Wars.
The 413th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Michael Sheard (The Empire Strikes Back) and Gabriel Woolf guest star in an episode regarded by many fans as one of the series’ all-time classics.
ABC airs the 11th episode of Sid & Marty Krofft’s The Lost Saucer, starring Jim Nabors (The Andy Griffith Show, Gomer Pyle USMC) and Ruth Buzzi (Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In).
ABC airs the seventh episode of Kolchak: The Night Stalker, based on Jeff Rice’s novel and the 1972 TV movie The Night Stalker, starring Darren McGavin. Tom Skerritt and Stanley Adams guest star.
NASA and the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration launch NOAA-4, a weather satellite intended to operate in a near-polar low Earth orbit. NOAA-4 is based on the already-flown ITOS satellite design, and will operate without any major malfunctions through November 1978.
NASA launches Explorer 48, renamed Small Astronomy Satellite B, from an Italian-owned offshore launch platform off the coast of Kenya. SAS-B is a smaller spacecraft than NASA’s larger Orbiting Astronomical Observatory (OAO) series, but can be aimed very precisely at any gamma ray sources that it detects. One of those sources turns out to be the pulsar remnant of a massive supernova, a discovery later named Geminga. An electrical fault will end SAS-B’s functionality in June1973, and it will re-enter Earth’s atmosphere in 1976.
The 64th episode of Gene Roddenberry’s science fiction series Star Trek airs on NBC. This marks the first appearance of the Tholians and, though they will be mentioned frequently in later Star Trek spinoffs, the last appearance until the 21st century spinoff series Star Trek: Enterprise.
The 128th episode of Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone airs on CBS. Cedric Hardwicke, Ian Wolfe, and Robbie the Robot (Forbidden Planet) star in an episode written by Serling.
Applause publishes Steve Kozak’s non-fiction book A Disturbance In The Force: How And Why The Star Wars Holiday Special Happened, a behind-the-scenes chronicle of the cultural, legal, and technical hurdles that led to the infamous 1978 variety special often considered one of the Star Wars franchise’s lowest moments. The book is a companion to the documentary film of the same name, with which the author was also involved. 
Following the first crewed test flight earlier in the year, SpaceX launches the first operational Crew Dragon flight to the International Space Station, with astronauts Michael S. Hopkins, Victor J. Glover, Sôichi Noguchi, and Shannon Walker aboard. This is also the first long-duration mission for the Crew Dragon, which will see the spacecraft remain docked to the station for several months before returning to Earth.
Streaming service Apple TV premieres the fifth episode of Ronald D. Moore’s fictional alternate history of the American space program, For All Mankind, starring Joel Kinnaman, Michael Dorman, and Sarah Jones. Sonya Walger (Lost, Flashforward) guest stars. 
Disney Music releases the soundtrack from the second episode of The Mandalorian streaming series, composed by Ludwig Goransson (The Mandalorian, Black Panther). 
Streaming service Disney+ premieres the the second episode of Jon Favreau’s The Mandalorian, the first live-action TV series set in the Star Wars universe, starring Pedro Pascal and Nick Nolte. 
The CW airs the 52nd episode of The Flash, a modern-day reboot of DC Comics’ superhero starring Grant Gustin.
Big Finish Productions releases the 180th Doctor Who audio drama in its main monthly range, starring Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred. 
The 46th episode of The Sarah Jane Adventures airs on CBBC, starring Elisabeth Sladen (Doctor Who). 
American cable channel AMC broadcasts the second episode of its six-part remake of The Prisoner, starring Jim Caviziel as Number Six and Sir Ian McKellen as Number Two. With its more modern imagery and less ambiguous storytelling style, the remake proves to be controversial with fans of the original 1960s Prisoner. 
American cable channel AMC broadcasts the first episode of its six-part remake of The Prisoner, starring Jim Caviziel as Number Six and Sir Ian McKellen as Number Two. With its more modern imagery and less ambiguous storytelling style, the remake proves to be controversial with fans of the original 1960s Prisoner. 
The 756th episode of Doctor Who (the 58th since the series’ revival) airs on BBC1. Lindsey Duncan guest stars in a special episode that goes on to win a Hugo Award (the first Doctor Who Hugo awarded to someone other than incoming showrunner Steven Moffat). 
Fox airs the eighth episode of Joss Whedon’s science fiction series Firefly, starring Nathan Fillion. 
UPN airs the 152nd episode of Star Trek: Voyager. Megan Gallagher (Nowhere Man) guest stars. 
The week-long national syndication window opens for the 97th episode of Xena: Warrior Princess, starring Lucy Lawless and Renee O’Connor. 
The 51st episode of Gene Roddenberry’s Earth: Final Conflict, airs in syndication, starring Robert Leeshock, Jayne Heitmeyer, Von Flores, and Richard Chevolleau.
The 119th episode of Chris Carter’s modern-day science fiction series The X-Files airs on Fox, starring Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny. Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad) guest stars in an episode written by future Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan.
Fox airs the 30th episode of Tracy Torme’s alternate-universe science fiction series Sliders, starring Jerry O’Connell, John Rhys Davies, Sabrina Lloyd, and Cleavant Derricks. Anthony Tyler Quinn (Boy Meets World) guest stars.
The week-long national syndication window opens for the 28th episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Richard Kiley guest stars. 
The week-long national syndication window opens for the 30th episode of the fantasy series Highlander, starring Adrian Paul (War Of The Worlds), Stan Kirsch, Jim Byrne, and Philip Akin.
The week-long national syndication window opens for the 160th episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. 
The seventh episode of the superhero series The Flash, based on the DC Comics character, airs on CBS, starring John Wesley Shipp and Amanda Pays. Jonathan Brandis (seaQuest DSV) guest stars.
Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched on a mission involving a classified Defense Department payload, staying in Earth orbit for nearly five days. Atlantis’ crew on this flight consists of Commander Richard Covey, Pilot Frank Culbertson, and mission specialists Robert Springer, Carl Meade and Charles Gemar.
The 694th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Dinsdale Landen, Alfred Lynch and game show host Nicholas Parsons (in a rare dramatic role) guest star.
NBC airs the 15th episode of Donald Bellisario’s science fiction series Quantum Leap, starring Scott Bakula and Dean Stockwell. Russ Tamblyn (West Side Story, Twin Peaks) guest stars.
Modeled closely after the American Space Shuttle, the Soviet-built orbiter Buran lifts off for its first and only voyage into space. Still in the testing stages, Buran flies completely unmanned, with ground controllers at Baikonur Cosmodrome guiding the vehicle’s every move. With no large engines of its own (unlike NASA’s shuttle fleet), Buran is lifted into orbit solely by the giant Energia booster, makes two orbits, and returns home as a glider. A second flight is scheduled, but before it can take place, the Soviet Union collapses. Buran never flies again.
UK regional broadcaster TVS airs the tenth episode of Richard Cooper’s alternate-history series Knights Of God, portraying a struggle between oppressive government and rugged resistance fighters in a post-civil-war UK. 
The 652nd episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Lynda Bellingham, Michael Jayston and Honor Blackman guest star; Bonnie Langford debuts as new TARDIS traveler Melanie.
CBS airs the eighth episode of a revival of Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone. James Coco, Piper Laurie, and Morgan Freeman star in an episode comprised of three short stories, including an adaptation of Ray Bradbury’s short story, The Burning Man.
The sixth episode of James D. Parriott’s lighthearted sci-fi series, Misfits Of Science, airs on NBC, starring Dean Paul Martin, Kevin Peter Hall, and Courteney Cox. Sondra Currie (The Hangover) guest stars.
ITV airs the tenth episode of the horror anthology series Hammer House Of Horror. Ray Lonnen (The Sandbaggers), Rosalyn Landor (The Devil Rides Out) and Paul Darrow (Blake’s 7) guest star in an episode written by David Fisher (Doctor Who). 
The 537th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. This story introduces Matthew Waterhouse as new companion Adric, and is the first part of a trilogy based on the dimension of E-space.
Columbia Pictures releases the Steven-Spielberg-written-and-directed science fiction film Close Encounters Of The Third Kind in American theaters, starring Richard Dreyfuss, Teri Garr, Melinda Dillon, and François Truffaut. A movie about contact with alien life set in modern-day America, Close Encounters (often abbreviated to CE3K) it a genuine hit in its own right, cementing Spielberg’s future connection to the genre and proving that the sudden surge of interest in science fiction was not attributable only to Star Wars. 
The 413th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Michael Sheard (The Empire Strikes Back) and Gabriel Woolf guest star in an episode regarded by many fans as one of the series’ all-time classics.
ABC airs the 11th episode of Sid & Marty Krofft’s The Lost Saucer, starring Jim Nabors (The Andy Griffith Show, Gomer Pyle USMC) and Ruth Buzzi (Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In). 
ABC airs the seventh episode of Kolchak: The Night Stalker, based on Jeff Rice’s novel and the 1972 TV movie The Night Stalker, starring Darren McGavin. Tom Skerritt and Stanley Adams guest star. 
The tenth episode of the TV spinoff of Planet Of The Apes premieres on CBS. Beverly Garland guest stars. 
NASA and the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration launch NOAA-4, a weather satellite intended to operate in a near-polar low Earth orbit. NOAA-4 is based on the already-flown ITOS satellite design, and will operate without any major malfunctions through November 1978.
The 20th episode of The Six Million Dollar Man is broadcast on ABC, starring Lee Majors and Richard Anderson. Farley Granger guest stars.
The ninth episode of Leslie Steven’s “spy-fi” series Search airs on NBC, starring Hugh O’Brian and Burgess Meredith. Bill Bixby (The Incredible Hulk) and Deanna Lund (Land Of The Giants) guest star. 
NASA launches Explorer 48, renamed Small Astronomy Satellite B, from an Italian-owned offshore launch platform off the coast of Kenya. SAS-B is a smaller spacecraft than NASA’s larger Orbiting Astronomical Observatory (OAO) series, but can be aimed very precisely at any gamma ray sources that it detects. One of those sources turns out to be the pulsar remnant of a massive supernova, a discovery later named Geminga. An electrical fault will end SAS-B’s functionality in June 1973, and it will re-enter Earth’s atmosphere in 1976.
The 64th episode of Gene Roddenberry’s science fiction series Star Trek airs on NBC. This marks the first appearance of the Tholians and, though they will be mentioned frequently in later Star Trek spinoffs, the last appearance until the 21st century spinoff series Star Trek: Enterprise. 
The 69th episode of Irwin Allen’s science fiction series Lost In Space premieres on CBS, starring Guy Williams, June Lockhart, and Jonathan Harris.
The 128th episode of Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone airs on CBS. Cedric Hardwicke, Ian Wolfe, and Robbie the Robot (Forbidden Planet) star in an episode written by Serling.
ABC airs the 69th episode of the supernatural anthology series One Step Beyond, hosted and directed by John Newland. Mike Kellin guest stars.