theLogBook.com is a chronicle of how we used to imagine the future – an ever-expanding logbook of what our entertainment, our culture, and even our brightest minds thought would happen. It’s nostalgia – and some real history – that gives factual context to the fiction, cultural context to the factual, and always looks to the future.
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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.
The 863rd episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1 (the 164th episode since the series’ revival), starring Jodie Whittaker, Bradley Walsh, Mandip Gill, and Tosin Cole. Sacha Dhawan guest stars in part two of the season 12 finale.
The 16th 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. Chad L. Coleman (The Orville) and Sam Huntington (Being Human) guest star.
Having traveled to the International Space Station as part of the Expedition 43 crew, astronaut Scott Kelly and cosmonaut Mikhail Korniyenko return to Earth after their heavily-publicized “One-Year Mission”, along with cosmonaut Sergey Volkov. Though the duration of the “One-Year Mission” is closer to 11 months, Kelly has broken the American record for continuous time spent in space. NASA hopes medical data gathered during his stay will help to keep future astronauts healthy, both physically and mentally, on long-term flights to such future destinations as Mars.
The 18th episode of the Marvel Cinematic Universe series Agent Carter, starring Hayley Attwell as Agent Peggy Carter, is broadcast on ABC. Wynn Everett (The Newsroom) guest stars in the final episode of the series.
Former Star Trek and Battlestar Galactica visual effects supervisor Gary Hutzel dies. His duties as a visual effects coordinator on Star Trek: The Next Generation led to a supervisory role on both that series and its spinoff, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Hutzel’s work continued in the 21st century re-imagining of Battlestar Galactica and its own spinoff series, Caprica. His other credits include the movie Spy Kids and the Syfy series Defiance. Mr. Hutzel was 60.
British toymaker Character Options releases a boxed set of action figures based on characters from the 2007 Doctor Who Christmas episode, Voyage Of The Damned.
Space Shuttle Columbia lifts off on the 108th shuttle flight, the third Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission. Numerous enhancements are carried aboard the shuttle to replace existing parts on the decade-old orbiting telescope, including new cooling systems and a new set of solar power arrays. Aboard Columbia for her 27th flight are Commander Scott Altman, Pilot Duane Carey, Payload Commander John Grunsfeld, and mission specialists Nancy Currie, James Newman, Richard Linnehan and Michael Massimino.
Space Shuttle Columbia makes her final landing at the end of this 11-day mission.
Julian Knott releases a limited CD pressing of Space Adventures: Music from Doctor Who, 1963-1971, an expanded CD of a cassette previously issued in 1987 by the Reference Department of the Doctor Who Appreciation Society, gathering vintage production music library tracks used in 1960s Doctor Who.
The 110th episode of Chris Carter’s modern-day science fiction series The X-Files airs on Fox, starring Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny. Veronica Cartwright (Alien) guest stars.
The first episode of the time-travel/crime series Crime Traveller premieres on BBC1, created and written by Anthony Horowitz (Foyle’s War), starring Michael French (Casualty) and Chloe Annett (Red Dwarf).
Fox airs the tenth episode of Tracy Torme’s alternate-universe science fiction series Sliders, starring Jerry O’Connell, John Rhys Davies, Sabrina Lloyd, and Cleavant Derricks. Christopher Neame and Nicholas Lea (The X-Files) guest star in the second season premiere.
ABC premieres the first episode of Hypernauts, created by Christy Marx (Jem) and Ron Thornton (the visual effects artist behind the CGI of Babylon 5), and starring Marc Daniel (Fast Track) and Carrie Dobro (Crusade).
Premium cable channel Showtime airs the 30th episode of The Outer Limits, a revival of Leslie Stevens’ 1960s science fiction anthology series. Robert Foxworth (The Questor Tapes) and Teryl Rothery (Stargate SG-1) guest star.
The 24th episode of Roger Price’s rebooted science fiction series The Tomorrow People is broadcast on ITV in the U.K. (and will appear later on Nickelodeon in North America), starring Kristian Schmid, Alexandra Milman, and Christian Tessier. Clive Merrison and Danny John-Jules (Red Dwarf) guest star.
The week-long national syndication window opens for the 35th episode of Babylon 5. Richard Moll (Night Court) and Jeff Conaway (Grease, Taxi) guest star.
The 14th episode of Roger Price’s rebooted science fiction series The Tomorrow People is broadcast on ITV in the U.K. (and will appear later on Nickelodeon in North America), starring Kristian Schmid, Naomie Harris (Spyfall), and Christian Tessier. Christopher Benjamin (Doctor Who) and Mac McDonald (Red Dwarf) guest star.
The ninth episode of a modern reboot of Dan Curtis’ gothic horror series Dark Shadows is broadcast on NBC, starring Ben Cross, Lysette Anthony, Roy Thinnes (The Invaders), and Jean Simmons. Adrian Paul (Highlander) guest stars.
Former Bourgeois Tagg frontman Brent Bourgeois releases his first solo album on Charisma Records, getting some minor airplay with singles “Dare To Fall In Love” and “Can’t Feel The Pain” (the latter featuring Fleetwood Mac veteran Christine McVie). The only other former Bourgeois Tagg member in evidence on the album is guitarist Lyle Workman, who continues recording with Bourgeois even when he jumps tracks to Christian music several years later.
Welsh toymaker Dapol, renowned as a top model train manufacturer for the past five years, releases the second wave of 3 3/4″ action figures based on characters from Doctor Who, including current companion Ace, the fourth Doctor as played by Tom Baker and, infamously, a figure of Davros with one arm too many (!). More variations are added to Dapol’s long-running series of Dalek toys as well.
NASA launches Earth resource observation satellite Landsat 5, virtually identical to the Landsat 4 satellite launched in 1982. Like Landsat 4, Landsat 5 is capable of sending real-time data to Earth through the Tracking & Data Relay Satellite (TDRS) system. Landsat 5 becomes the longest-operating Earth observation satellite, outliving its anticipated three-year design life by a factor of ten and not becoming inoperable until 2013; by the time it was shut down, Landsats 7 and 8 had been launched. Among the events Landsat 5 witnessed from orbit were a tsunami that killed nearly a quarter million people along Indonesia’s coastlines in 2004, and the 1986 meltdown of the Chernobyl nuclear reactor in the Soviet Union.
The 619th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Anthony Ainley appears as the Master, and Peter Wyngarde guest stars. Otherworldly location filming has been done at Lanzarote in the Canary Islands for this story.
The 596th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Valentine Dyall appears as the Black Guardian with Cyril Luckham reprising the role of the White Guardian. This concludes the 20th season’s “Guardian/redemption of Turlough” trilogy.
The 570th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Many fans of the series consider this the “last pure historical story” – the Doctor and his companions are merely witnesses to events that have no other science fiction influence.
ITV airs the tenth episode of Roald Dahl’s anthology series Tales Of The Unexpected, hosted by the author himself and adapted from his short stories. Timothy West and Susan George guest star in the second season premiere.
“Splinter Of The Mind’s Eye“, the first print fiction follow-up to George Lucas’ Star Wars, is published by Ballantine Books. Written by Alan Dean Foster – who had ghost-written the novelization of Star Wars published under Lucas’ name – “Splinter” originates as a concept for a low-budget movie follow-up in the event that the movie bombs. By the time of its publication, it’s readily apparent to all that the movie has succeeded, and that a sequel will be coming, leaving “Splinter”‘s status in the storyline uncertain. The cover artwork is by Ralph McQuarrie, whose pre-production illustrations were of vital importance during the making of the original movie.
Despite the fact that a useful – and rare – alignment of the large outer planets will make a “Grand Tour” possible, NASA has only thus far funded a stripped-down version of the ambitious original Grand Tour plan, a pair of Mariner Jupiter/Saturn ’77 unmanned space probes (later renamed Voyager). Jet Propulsion Laboratory admits that scientists and mission planners have drawn up a “Uranus option” to extend the mission of one of the vehicles to reach Uranus four or five years after a Saturn encounter and gravity assist, and are making modifications to one of the vehicles to permit this contingency. (NASA has yet to approve continuing the MJS’77 program long enough to reach Uranus.) Mission planners also admit that a visit to Uranus could give the vehicle another gravity assist toward Neptune, while admitting that the odds of the vehicle surviving a journey to Neptune with its ability to gather images and scientific data intact would require “a miracle.”
The 275-pound, 18-foot filming “miniature” of the starship Enterprise from Star Trek arrives at the Smithsonian, but it’s just as well that its planned display in the National Air & Space Museum won’t open until 1976: having suffered years of mishandling and barely-adequate storage at Paramount, with a final round of damage occurring during shipping, television’s most famous spaceship arrives in need of extensive repairs. Both of the round caps of the Enterprise’s warp engines are missing, and the intricate lighting setup built into the engines has been destroyed as a result, and the “radar dish” at the bottom of the model is missing as well. The Enterprise model will undergo extensive restoration and repainting for three months at the Smithsonian’s Maryland facility.
NBC airs the 28th episode of Rod Serling’s Night Gallery, an anthology series of original short plays and short story adaptations hosted by Serling himself. Laurence Harvey and William Windom guest star.
The 52nd episode of Gene Roddenberry’s science fiction series Star Trek premieres on NBC. A tale of patriotism perverted into a belief system, The Omega Glory is one of three Roddenberry scripts originally pitched to NBC as potential pilot episodes before the start of filming on season one.
For the second year running, NBC makes an announcement over the closing credits of Star Trek, reassuring viewers that NBC has picked up the show for a third season. Where the second season’s renewal was brought about by a substantial fan letter-writing campaign (with guidance from Gene Roddenberry), the third season pickup comes after fans stage protest marches outside NBC’s headquarters in Burbank and New York, having gotten word (from Star Trek fan Bjo Trimble, by way of Roddenberry) that the series is likely to be cancelled. The renewal is a double-edged sword, however: in the fall, NBC will move the series to Friday nights, a time slot where it’s virtually guaranteed to be cancelled at the end of its third season.
Absolutely no generative AI was used in the creation of the content on this website. It’s mostly just some guy named Earl.
Streaming service Disney+ releases the the 17th episode of Jon Favreau’s The Mandalorian, starring Pedro Pascal. Katee Sackhoff and Carl Weathers guest star in the third season premiere. 
The CW airs the 21st episode of Superman & Lois, starring Tyler Hoechlin, Elizabeth Tulloch, Jordan Elsass, and Alex Garfin.
The seventh episode of Armando Iannucci’s sci-fi comedy Avenue 5 premieres on HBO, starring Hugh Laurie (House), Josh Gad, Lenora Crichlow (Being Human), Nikki Amuka-Bird (Jupiter Ascending), and Zach Woods (The Office, Silicon Valley). Ethan Phillips (Star Trek: Voyager) and Paterson Joseph guest star. 
The 863rd episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1 (the 164th episode since the series’ revival), starring Jodie Whittaker, Bradley Walsh, Mandip Gill, and Tosin Cole. Sacha Dhawan guest stars in part two of the season 12 finale.
The 129th episode of Arrow, a modern-day reboot of DC Comics’ Green Arrow superhero starring Stephen Amell, airs on the CW.
The 16th 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. Chad L. Coleman (The Orville) and Sam Huntington (Being Human) guest star.
Having traveled to the International Space Station as part of the Expedition 43 crew, astronaut Scott Kelly and cosmonaut Mikhail Korniyenko return to Earth after their heavily-publicized “One-Year Mission”, along with cosmonaut Sergey Volkov. Though the duration of the “One-Year Mission” is closer to 11 months, Kelly has broken the American record for continuous time spent in space. NASA hopes medical data gathered during his stay will help to keep future astronauts healthy, both physically and mentally, on long-term flights to such future destinations as Mars.
The 18th episode of the Marvel Cinematic Universe series Agent Carter, starring Hayley Attwell as Agent Peggy Carter, is broadcast on ABC. Wynn Everett (The Newsroom) guest stars in the final episode of the series.
Former Star Trek and Battlestar Galactica visual effects supervisor Gary Hutzel dies. His duties as a visual effects coordinator on Star Trek: The Next Generation led to a supervisory role on both that series and its spinoff, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Hutzel’s work continued in the 21st century re-imagining of Battlestar Galactica and its own spinoff series, Caprica. His other credits include the movie Spy Kids and the Syfy series Defiance. Mr. Hutzel was 60.
British toymaker Character Options releases a boxed set of action figures based on characters from the 2007 Doctor Who Christmas episode, Voyage Of The Damned. 
ABC airs the 39th episode of the J.J. Abrams-produced series Lost. Mira Furlan (Babylon 5) and Michael Emerson guest star. 
Space Shuttle Columbia lifts off on the 108th shuttle flight, the third Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission. Numerous enhancements are carried aboard the shuttle to replace existing parts on the decade-old orbiting telescope, including new cooling systems and a new set of solar power arrays. Aboard Columbia for her 27th flight are Commander Scott Altman, Pilot Duane Carey, Payload Commander John Grunsfeld, and mission specialists Nancy Currie, James Newman, Richard Linnehan and Michael Massimino.
UPN airs the 137th episode of Star Trek: Voyager. Kim Rhodes (The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, Supernatural) guest stars. 
BBC Music releases Geoffrey Burgon‘s soundtrack from the 1975 Doctor Who story Terror Of The Zygons; Burgon’s music from The Seeds Of Doom is also included. 
Baen Books publishes the ninth novel in the Honor Harrington series, “Ashes Of Victory” by David Weber. 
The week-long national syndication window opens for the 164th episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. William Sadler and Adrienne Barbeau guest star. 
Julian Knott releases a limited CD pressing of Space Adventures: Music from Doctor Who, 1963-1971, an expanded CD of a cassette previously issued in 1987 by the Reference Department of the Doctor Who Appreciation Society, gathering vintage production music library tracks used in 1960s Doctor Who. 
The 110th episode of Chris Carter’s modern-day science fiction series The X-Files airs on Fox, starring Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny. Veronica Cartwright (Alien) guest stars.
The first episode of the time-travel/crime series Crime Traveller premieres on BBC1, created and written by Anthony Horowitz (Foyle’s War), starring Michael French (Casualty) and Chloe Annett (Red Dwarf). 
Highbridge Audio releases the audio drama Star Wars: Dark Forces: Soldier For The Empire, based on the lore of the video game Dark Forces. Randal Berger stars as Kyle Katarn. 
Bellchant Records releases a selection of highlights from Roger Bellon‘s soundtracks from Highlander: The Series. 
Fox airs the tenth episode of Tracy Torme’s alternate-universe science fiction series Sliders, starring Jerry O’Connell, John Rhys Davies, Sabrina Lloyd, and Cleavant Derricks. Christopher Neame and Nicholas Lea (The X-Files) guest star in the second season premiere.
ABC premieres the first episode of Hypernauts, created by Christy Marx (Jem) and Ron Thornton (the visual effects artist behind the CGI of Babylon 5), and starring Marc Daniel (Fast Track) and Carrie Dobro (Crusade). 
Premium cable channel Showtime airs the 30th episode of The Outer Limits, a revival of Leslie Stevens’ 1960s science fiction anthology series. Robert Foxworth (The Questor Tapes) and Teryl Rothery (Stargate SG-1) guest star.
The 24th episode of Roger Price’s rebooted science fiction series The Tomorrow People is broadcast on ITV in the U.K. (and will appear later on Nickelodeon in North America), starring Kristian Schmid, Alexandra Milman, and Christian Tessier. Clive Merrison and Danny John-Jules (Red Dwarf) guest star.
The week-long national syndication window opens for the 35th episode of Babylon 5. Richard Moll (Night Court) and Jeff Conaway (Grease, Taxi) guest star. 
The week-long national syndication window opens for the 142nd episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. James Cromwell guest stars. 
The 95th episode of the syndicated series Superboy, starring Gerard Christopher and Stacy Haiduk, airs. This episode is a clip show.
The ninth episode of a modern reboot of Dan Curtis’ gothic horror series Dark Shadows is broadcast on NBC, starring Ben Cross, Lysette Anthony, Roy Thinnes (The Invaders), and Jean Simmons. Adrian Paul (Highlander) guest stars.
Former Bourgeois Tagg frontman Brent Bourgeois releases his first solo album on Charisma Records, getting some minor airplay with singles “Dare To Fall In Love” and “Can’t Feel The Pain” (the latter featuring Fleetwood Mac veteran Christine McVie). The only other former Bourgeois Tagg member in evidence on the album is guitarist Lyle Workman, who continues recording with Bourgeois even when he jumps tracks to Christian music several years later. 
Welsh toymaker Dapol, renowned as a top model train manufacturer for the past five years, releases the second wave of 3 3/4″ action figures based on characters from Doctor Who, including current companion Ace, the fourth Doctor as played by Tom Baker and, infamously, a figure of Davros with one arm too many (!). More variations are added to Dapol’s long-running series of Dalek toys as well. 
NASA launches Earth resource observation satellite Landsat 5, virtually identical to the Landsat 4 satellite launched in 1982. Like Landsat 4, Landsat 5 is capable of sending real-time data to Earth through the Tracking & Data Relay Satellite (TDRS) system. Landsat 5 becomes the longest-operating Earth observation satellite, outliving its anticipated three-year design life by a factor of ten and not becoming inoperable until 2013; by the time it was shut down, Landsats 7 and 8 had been launched. Among the events Landsat 5 witnessed from orbit were a tsunami that killed nearly a quarter million people along Indonesia’s coastlines in 2004, and the 1986 meltdown of the Chernobyl nuclear reactor in the Soviet Union.
The 619th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Anthony Ainley appears as the Master, and Peter Wyngarde guest stars. Otherworldly location filming has been done at Lanzarote in the Canary Islands for this story. 
The 596th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Valentine Dyall appears as the Black Guardian with Cyril Luckham reprising the role of the White Guardian. This concludes the 20th season’s “Guardian/redemption of Turlough” trilogy. 
Midway releases the arcade video game Mappy, licensed from Namco, the Japanese developers behind Pac-Man. 
The 570th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Many fans of the series consider this the “last pure historical story” – the Doctor and his companions are merely witnesses to events that have no other science fiction influence. 
ITV airs the tenth episode of Roald Dahl’s anthology series Tales Of The Unexpected, hosted by the author himself and adapted from his short stories. Timothy West and Susan George guest star in the second season premiere.
“Splinter Of The Mind’s Eye“, the first print fiction follow-up to George Lucas’ Star Wars, is published by Ballantine Books. Written by Alan Dean Foster – who had ghost-written the novelization of Star Wars published under Lucas’ name – “Splinter” originates as a concept for a low-budget movie follow-up in the event that the movie bombs. By the time of its publication, it’s readily apparent to all that the movie has succeeded, and that a sequel will be coming, leaving “Splinter”‘s status in the storyline uncertain. The cover artwork is by Ralph McQuarrie, whose pre-production illustrations were of vital importance during the making of the original movie. 
Despite the fact that a useful – and rare – alignment of the large outer planets will make a “Grand Tour” possible, NASA has only thus far funded a stripped-down version of the ambitious original Grand Tour plan, a pair of Mariner Jupiter/Saturn ’77 unmanned space probes (later renamed Voyager). Jet Propulsion Laboratory admits that scientists and mission planners have drawn up a “Uranus option” to extend the mission of one of the vehicles to reach Uranus four or five years after a Saturn encounter and gravity assist, and are making modifications to one of the vehicles to permit this contingency. (NASA has yet to approve continuing the MJS’77 program long enough to reach Uranus.) Mission planners also admit that a visit to Uranus could give the vehicle another gravity assist toward Neptune, while admitting that the odds of the vehicle surviving a journey to Neptune with its ability to gather images and scientific data intact would require “a miracle.”
The 391st episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1.
The sixth episode of The Six Million Dollar Man is broadcast on ABC, starring Lee Majors and Richard Anderson. Gary Collins (The Sixth Sense) guest stars. 
The 275-pound, 18-foot filming “miniature” of the starship Enterprise from Star Trek arrives at the Smithsonian, but it’s just as well that its planned display in the National Air & Space Museum won’t open until 1976: having suffered years of mishandling and barely-adequate storage at Paramount, with a final round of damage occurring during shipping, television’s most famous spaceship arrives in need of extensive repairs. Both of the round caps of the Enterprise’s warp engines are missing, and the intricate lighting setup built into the engines has been destroyed as a result, and the “radar dish” at the bottom of the model is missing as well. The Enterprise model will undergo extensive restoration and repainting for three months at the Smithsonian’s Maryland facility. 
NBC airs the 28th episode of Rod Serling’s Night Gallery, an anthology series of original short plays and short story adaptations hosted by Serling himself. Laurence Harvey and William Windom guest star.
ABC airs the 49th episode of Irwin Allen’s sci-fi series Land Of The Giants, starring Gary Conway, Don Matheson, Deanna Lund, and Don Marshall. 
The 237th episode of Doctor Who airs on the BBC. This is the second appearance of the Ice Warriors.
The 52nd episode of Gene Roddenberry’s science fiction series Star Trek premieres on NBC. A tale of patriotism perverted into a belief system, The Omega Glory is one of three Roddenberry scripts originally pitched to NBC as potential pilot episodes before the start of filming on season one. 
For the second year running, NBC makes an announcement over the closing credits of Star Trek, reassuring viewers that NBC has picked up the show for a third season. Where the second season’s renewal was brought about by a substantial fan letter-writing campaign (with guidance from Gene Roddenberry), the third season pickup comes after fans stage protest marches outside NBC’s headquarters in Burbank and New York, having gotten word (from Star Trek fan Bjo Trimble, by way of Roddenberry) that the series is likely to be cancelled. The renewal is a double-edged sword, however: in the fall, NBC will move the series to Friday nights, a time slot where it’s virtually guaranteed to be cancelled at the end of its third season.