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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.
The 818th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1 (the 119th episode since the series’ revival), starring Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman. Colin McFarlane guest stars in part one of a two-part story.
Cable channel Disney XD premieres the first full episode of the series Star Wars: Rebels, a CGI animated storyline falling between the original and prequel trilogies of the Star Wars saga, featuring a cell of rogue Rebels fighting the totalitarian Empire. Though technically in the same continuity as its predecessor, Star Wars: Clone Wars, Rebels is the first Disney-produced Star Wars project following the studio’s acquisition of Lucasfilm in 2012. The first episode is roughly 43 minutes in length, a typical length for hour-long US television drama, but most future episodes (except for select “event” stories) will run 22 minutes long.
Japan’s unmanned Kaguya spacecraft, also known as SELENE, enters a polar orbit around Earth’s moon with an average altitude of 62 miles. Billed by Japanese space agency JAXA as the most significant lunar mission since the Apollo era, Kaguya carries numerous science experiments, though the public is most captivated by video transmitted back to Earth from two on-board HDTV cameras supplied by television network NHK. Kaguya conducts accurate gravitational mapping of the far side of the moon for the first time, and its own terrain camera obtains high-resolution mapping data, which will later be shared with Google for an online 3-D map of the moon.
Sci-Fi Channel airs the 12th episode of the quirky modern-day science fiction series Eureka, starring Colin Ferguson, Salli Richardson, Debrah Farentino, Joe Morton, and Matt Frewer. (In the UK and elsewhere, this series is retitled A Town Called Eureka.) Tamlyn Tomita (Babylon 5, Star Trek: Picard) guest stars in the first season finale.
The ninth webisode of Battlestar Galactica: The Resistance, a serialized story set immediately prior to the third season of Ronald D. Moore’s re-imagining of Battlestar Galactica, premieres on the Sci-Fi Channel’s website.
UPN broadcasts the seventh episode of the supernatural crime comedy series Special Unit 2, starring Michael Landes (Lois & Clark: The New Adventures Of Superman) and Alexondra Lee (Party Of Five). Pauley Perrette (NCIS) guest stars in the second season premiere.
The first episode of James Cameron & Charles H. Eglee’s cyberpunk series Dark Angel, starring Jessica Alba and Michael Weatherly, premieres on Fox. Though Cameron’s name is used to heavily promote the new series, the feature-length pilot is directed by David Nutter (The X-Files). Stanley Kamel (Monk) and John Savage guest star.
The 80th episode of Joss Whedon’s supernatural series Buffy The Vampire Slayer, starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, airs on the WB network. James Marsters, Anthony Stewart Head, and Alyson Hannigan also star. Amber Benson guest stars.
The third episode of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures Of Superman airs on ABC, starring Dean Cain and Teri Hatcher. Tracy Scoggins (Babylon 5) and Larry Linville (M*A*S*H) guest star.
The second episode of Highlander: The Raven, starring Amanda Gracen and Paul Johannson, airs in syndication; the series is a spinoff from Highlander: The Series.
Ballantine Books releases a slightly revised American edition of David Bassom’s non-fiction behind-the-scenes book “Creating Babylon 5“, originally published in 1996 in the UK. The book features an introduction by series creator J. Michael Straczynski, extensive interviews with the show’s cast and crew, brief episode synopses, and numerous photos. A sticker is affixed to the cover after printing (but before nationwide distribution) to remind purchasers that the series is moving to cable network TNT in 1998.
The fourth episode of Neil Gaiman and Lenny Henry’s modern-day fantasy series Neverwhere airs on BBC2, starring Gary Bakewell, Laura Fraser, Hywel Bennett, and Paterson Joseph. Peter Capaldi (The Thick Of It, Doctor Who) guest stars.
Virgin Publishing releases the hardcover non-fiction book Doctor Who: The Eighties by David J. Howe, Mark Stammers, and Stephen James Walker, a coffee table book covering the final decade of the 20th century series.
The fifth episode of science fiction series Deadly Games is broadcast on UPN, starring James Calvert, Cynthia Gibb, and Chrstopher Lloyd (Taxi, Back To The Future); Leonard Nimoy serves as the series’ executive producer. Anthony Michael Hall and Kathy Ireland guest star.
The week-long American syndication window opens for the first episode of Gerry Anderson’s sci-fi police series Space Precinct, produced in the UK with an international cast. Ted Shackelford and Rob Youngblood star; Bert Kwouk guest stars. The series will not air in the UK until a later date.
The 26th episode of the supernatural crime series Forever Knight airs in syndication, starring Geraint Wyn-Davies, Catherine Disher, Nigel Bennett, and John Kapelos. Stephanie Morganstern guest stars.
Russia launches the Soyuz TM-20 mission to space station Mir, carrying cosmonauts Alexander Viktorenko and Yelena Kondakova, and German astronaut Ulf Merbold, who will remain for only a month to conduct experiments in orbit. A glitch in the automated docking system forces Viktorenko to assume manual control for the docking with Mir, a problem which will plague future Mir crews. Viktorenko and Kondakova remain aboard Mir for 169 days, returning to Earth in March 1995 with the new space endurance world record holder, Dr. Valery Polyakov, who has spent 437 days in orbit.
China Records releases the Art of Noise album Below The Waste, the group’s final album of new material for a decade. Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens feature on the single “Yebo!”
The inaugural flight of Space Shuttle Atlantis takes the newest orbiter on a four-day Defense Department mission (the specifics of which remain classified). Manning Atlantis for this flight are Commander Karol Bobko, Pilot Ronald Grabe, and mission specialists David Hilmers, Robert Stewart and William Pailes.
NBC premieres the first episode of James D. Parriott’s time travel series Voyagers!, starring Jon-Erik Hexum and Meeno Peluce. Ed Begley Jr. guest stars as Wilbur Wright in the pilot episode, written and directed by Parriott.
NBC airs the fourth episode of the Marvel animated series Spider-Man And His Amazing Friends, starring the voices of Dan Gilvezan (Transformers), Kathy Garver (Family Affair), and Frank Welker (Scooby-Doo, Transformers, The Smurfs).
Pinball manufacturer Stern Electronics establishes a firm foothold as a maker of video games with the paranoia-inducing coin-op Berzerk. Featuring voice synthesis disturbingly similar to the voices of Battlestar Galactica’s Cylon warriors, and a bouncy, smiling killer named Evil Otto who appears with little or no warning, Berzerk becomes a cult classic (even meriting a serenade on Buckner & Garcia’s 1982 album Pac-Man Fever).
The 23rd episode of Star Blazers, an English rewrite and dub of the 1974 anime series Space Battleship Yamato, premieres in syndication across the U.S.
The United States government reorganizes ESSA (the Environmental Science Services Administration) into NOAA or the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration, an agency responsible for weather prediction and research and for functions involving oceanic conditions, coastal fisheries, and then-current investigations of a potential Alaskan oil pipeline.
The 22nd episode of Larry Cohen’s science fiction series The Invaders, starring Roy Thinnes and produced by Quinn Martin’s QM Productions, is broadcast on ABC. Richard Anderson (The Six Million Dollar Man, The Bionic Woman) guest stars.
The 35th episode of Irwin Allen’s adventure series Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea airs on ABC, starring Richard Basehart and David Hedison. Philip Pine guest stars.
Astronaut Wally Schirra is the third American to orbit Earth, aboard the Mercury 8 capsule (nicknamed Sigma 7). He remains in orbit for just over nine hours in the cramped quarters of the Mercury spacecraft before splashing down.
The first episode of the British science fiction series A For Andromeda, created and written by John Elliot and astronomer Fred Hoyle, premieres on the BBC, starring Esmond Knight and Julie Christie. Despite being considered a seminal early British science fiction series, much of A For Andromeda, including this episode, no longer exists in the BBC’s archives.
The 82nd episode of Sam Rolfe’s western series Have Gun – Will Travel is broadcast on CBS in the United States, starring Richard Boone. This episode is written by future Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, a frequent writer in the series’ early seasons.
The 50th episode of ABC’s science fiction anthology series, Tales Of Tomorrow, airs on ABC. Much of the second season is missing, including this episode.
The third episode of The Adventures Of Superman airs in syndication, based on the comic by Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel. George Reeves, Phyllis Coates, and Jack Larson star. Phillip Pine guest stars.
The 818th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1 (the 119th episode since the series’ revival), starring Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman. Colin McFarlane guest stars in part one of a two-part story.
Cable channel Disney XD premieres the first full episode of the series Star Wars: Rebels, a CGI animated storyline falling between the original and prequel trilogies of the Star Wars saga, featuring a cell of rogue Rebels fighting the totalitarian Empire. Though technically in the same continuity as its predecessor, Star Wars: Clone Wars, Rebels is the first Disney-produced Star Wars project following the studio’s acquisition of Lucasfilm in 2012. The first episode is roughly 43 minutes in length, a typical length for hour-long US television drama, but most future episodes (except for select “event” stories) will run 22 minutes long. 
The 48th episode of The Sarah Jane Adventures airs on CBBC, starring Elisabeth Sladen (Doctor Who). 
Cartoon Network airs the second episode of the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars. 
Cartoon Network airs the first episode of the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars. This project is unrelated to – and canonically supersedes – the earlier series of Genndy Tartakovsky animated shorts. 
The first episode of BBC Radio’s adaptation of Douglas Adams’ Dirk Gently novels is first broadcast on BBC Radio 4, starring Harry Enfield as Dirk. 
Japan’s unmanned Kaguya spacecraft, also known as SELENE, enters a polar orbit around Earth’s moon with an average altitude of 62 miles. Billed by Japanese space agency JAXA as the most significant lunar mission since the Apollo era, Kaguya carries numerous science experiments, though the public is most captivated by video transmitted back to Earth from two on-board HDTV cameras supplied by television network NHK. Kaguya conducts accurate gravitational mapping of the far side of the moon for the first time, and its own terrain camera obtains high-resolution mapping data, which will later be shared with Google for an online 3-D map of the moon.
Sci-Fi Channel airs the 12th episode of the quirky modern-day science fiction series Eureka, starring Colin Ferguson, Salli Richardson, Debrah Farentino, Joe Morton, and Matt Frewer. (In the UK and elsewhere, this series is retitled A Town Called Eureka.) Tamlyn Tomita (Babylon 5, Star Trek: Picard) guest stars in the first season finale.
The ninth webisode of Battlestar Galactica: The Resistance, a serialized story set immediately prior to the third season of Ronald D. Moore’s re-imagining of Battlestar Galactica, premieres on the Sci-Fi Channel’s website. 
Michael Giacchino’s soundtrack to the second season of Lost is released on Varese Sarabande Records. 
Reprise Records releases Lindsey Buckingham‘s fourth solo album, Under The Skin, featuring the single “Show You How”. 
The second episode of the Star Trek prequel spinoff Enterprise premieres on UPN. 
UPN broadcasts the seventh episode of the supernatural crime comedy series Special Unit 2, starring Michael Landes (Lois & Clark: The New Adventures Of Superman) and Alexondra Lee (Party Of Five). Pauley Perrette (NCIS) guest stars in the second season premiere.
Film Score Monthly releases the complete soundtrack from the 1969 science fiction movie The Illustrated Man by Jerry Goldsmith (the movie itself having been inspired by the short stories of Ray Bradbury). 
The first episode of James Cameron & Charles H. Eglee’s cyberpunk series Dark Angel, starring Jessica Alba and Michael Weatherly, premieres on Fox. Though Cameron’s name is used to heavily promote the new series, the feature-length pilot is directed by David Nutter (The X-Files). Stanley Kamel (Monk) and John Savage guest star.
The 80th episode of Joss Whedon’s supernatural series Buffy The Vampire Slayer, starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, airs on the WB network. James Marsters, Anthony Stewart Head, and Alyson Hannigan also star. Amber Benson guest stars.
The third episode of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures Of Superman airs on ABC, starring Dean Cain and Teri Hatcher. Tracy Scoggins (Babylon 5) and Larry Linville (M*A*S*H) guest star.
The second 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 Showtime premieres the tenth episode of Stargate SG-1. 
Ballantine Books releases a slightly revised American edition of David Bassom’s non-fiction behind-the-scenes book “Creating Babylon 5“, originally published in 1996 in the UK. The book features an introduction by series creator J. Michael Straczynski, extensive interviews with the show’s cast and crew, brief episode synopses, and numerous photos. A sticker is affixed to the cover after printing (but before nationwide distribution) to remind purchasers that the series is moving to cable network TNT in 1998. 
The fourth episode of Neil Gaiman and Lenny Henry’s modern-day fantasy series Neverwhere airs on BBC2, starring Gary Bakewell, Laura Fraser, Hywel Bennett, and Paterson Joseph. Peter Capaldi (The Thick Of It, Doctor Who) guest stars.
Virgin Publishing releases the hardcover non-fiction book Doctor Who: The Eighties by David J. Howe, Mark Stammers, and Stephen James Walker, a coffee table book covering the final decade of the 20th century series. 
The fifth episode of science fiction series Deadly Games is broadcast on UPN, starring James Calvert, Cynthia Gibb, and Chrstopher Lloyd (Taxi, Back To The Future); Leonard Nimoy serves as the series’ executive producer. Anthony Michael Hall and Kathy Ireland guest star.
The week-long national syndication window opens for the 47th episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Salome Jens guest stars; former Star Trek: TNG cast member Jonathan Frakes directs. 
The week-long American syndication window opens for the first episode of Gerry Anderson’s sci-fi police series Space Precinct, produced in the UK with an international cast. Ted Shackelford and Rob Youngblood star; Bert Kwouk guest stars. The series will not air in the UK until a later date. 
The 26th episode of the supernatural crime series Forever Knight airs in syndication, starring Geraint Wyn-Davies, Catherine Disher, Nigel Bennett, and John Kapelos. Stephanie Morganstern guest stars.
Russia launches the Soyuz TM-20 mission to space station Mir, carrying cosmonauts Alexander Viktorenko and Yelena Kondakova, and German astronaut Ulf Merbold, who will remain for only a month to conduct experiments in orbit. A glitch in the automated docking system forces Viktorenko to assume manual control for the docking with Mir, a problem which will plague future Mir crews. Viktorenko and Kondakova remain aboard Mir for 169 days, returning to Earth in March 1995 with the new space endurance world record holder, Dr. Valery Polyakov, who has spent 437 days in orbit.
China Records releases the Art of Noise album Below The Waste, the group’s final album of new material for a decade. Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens feature on the single “Yebo!” 
The inaugural flight of Space Shuttle Atlantis takes the newest orbiter on a four-day Defense Department mission (the specifics of which remain classified). Manning Atlantis for this flight are Commander Karol Bobko, Pilot Ronald Grabe, and mission specialists David Hilmers, Robert Stewart and William Pailes.
NBC premieres the first episode of James D. Parriott’s time travel series Voyagers!, starring Jon-Erik Hexum and Meeno Peluce. Ed Begley Jr. guest stars as Wilbur Wright in the pilot episode, written and directed by Parriott.
NBC airs the fourth episode of the Marvel animated series Spider-Man And His Amazing Friends, starring the voices of Dan Gilvezan (Transformers), Kathy Garver (Family Affair), and Frank Welker (Scooby-Doo, Transformers, The Smurfs).
Pinball manufacturer Stern Electronics establishes a firm foothold as a maker of video games with the paranoia-inducing coin-op Berzerk. Featuring voice synthesis disturbingly similar to the voices of Battlestar Galactica’s Cylon warriors, and a bouncy, smiling killer named Evil Otto who appears with little or no warning, Berzerk becomes a cult classic (even meriting a serenade on Buckner & Garcia’s 1982 album Pac-Man Fever). 
The 41st episode of Star Blazers, an English rewrite and dub of the 1974 anime series Space Battleship Yamato, airs in syndication across the U.S. 
Mattel Electronics releases the Auto Racing cartridge for the Intellivision home video game system. 
The 23rd episode of Star Blazers, an English rewrite and dub of the 1974 anime series Space Battleship Yamato, premieres in syndication across the U.S. 
The second episode of the animated science fiction series Battle Of The Planets, Rescue Of The Astronauts, airs nationwide in syndication. The series is a translation and English dub of the anime series Kagaku Ninjatai Gatchaman. 
Doubleday publishes Stephen King‘s novel The Stand. It goes on to be nominated for Best Novel in the following year’s World Fantasy Awards. 
ITV airs the third episode of Raven, starring Phil Daniels (Quadrophenia) and Shirley Cheriton (EastEnders). 
The 60th episode of The Six Million Dollar Man is broadcast on ABC, starring Lee Majors and Richard Anderson. Flip Wilson guest stars.
The United States government reorganizes ESSA (the Environmental Science Services Administration) into NOAA or the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration, an agency responsible for weather prediction and research and for functions involving oceanic conditions, coastal fisheries, and then-current investigations of a potential Alaskan oil pipeline.
The 22nd episode of Larry Cohen’s science fiction series The Invaders, starring Roy Thinnes and produced by Quinn Martin’s QM Productions, is broadcast on ABC. Richard Anderson (The Six Million Dollar Man, The Bionic Woman) guest stars.
The 35th episode of Irwin Allen’s adventure series Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea airs on ABC, starring Richard Basehart and David Hedison. Philip Pine guest stars.
ABC airs the 35th episode of Leslie Stevens’ anthology series The Outer Limits. Peter Lind Hayes and Joan Freeman star.
Astronaut Wally Schirra is the third American to orbit Earth, aboard the Mercury 8 capsule (nicknamed Sigma 7). He remains in orbit for just over nine hours in the cramped quarters of the Mercury spacecraft before splashing down.
The first episode of the British science fiction series A For Andromeda, created and written by John Elliot and astronomer Fred Hoyle, premieres on the BBC, starring Esmond Knight and Julie Christie. Despite being considered a seminal early British science fiction series, much of A For Andromeda, including this episode, no longer exists in the BBC’s archives.
The 82nd episode of Sam Rolfe’s western series Have Gun – Will Travel is broadcast on CBS in the United States, starring Richard Boone. This episode is written by future Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, a frequent writer in the series’ early seasons. 
The 29th episode of The Adventures Of Superman airs in syndication, starring George Reeves, Noel Neill, and Jack Larson. Lawrence Dobkin guest stars.
The 50th episode of ABC’s science fiction anthology series, Tales Of Tomorrow, airs on ABC. Much of the second season is missing, including this episode.