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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.
Streaming service Disney Plus releases the eighth episode of WandaVision, created for TV by Jac Schaeffer and starring Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Bettany, and Kathryn Hahn.
Cable channel Disney XD airs the 69th episode of the series Star Wars: Rebels. Lars Mikkelsen, Ian McDiarmid (Star Wars Episode III), Adrienne Wilkinson (Xena: Warrior Princess) and Malcolm McDowell (A Clockword Orange, Star Trek: Generations) guest star.
Cable channel Disney XD airs the 68th episode of the series Star Wars: Rebels. Lars Mikkelsen, Ian McDiarmid (Star Wars Episode III), Adrienne Wilkinson (Xena: Warrior Princess) and Malcolm McDowell (A Clockword Orange, Star Trek: Generations) guest star.
The CW airs the 45th episode of Legends Of Tomorrow, starring Caity Lotz, Brandon Routh, Maisie Richardson-Sellers, and Tala Ashe. Arthur Darvill (Doctor Who) and Neal McDonough guest star.
Actor Bill Paxton, who played both starring and supporting roles in movies such as Aliens, The Terminator, Predator 2, Weird Science, Apollo 13, Twister, and Tombstone, dies at the age of 61. Paxton worked behind the scenes in the early years of his career, alternating between working for legendary B-movie director Roger Corman, and playing small roles on screen. He directed the film clip for the Barnes & Barnes song “Fish Heads” (which was co-written and performed by Bill Mumy). Paxton died from complications that arose during heart surgery.
The 37th episode of Arrow, a modern-day reboot of DC Comics’ Green Arrow superhero starring Stephen Amell, airs on the CW. Caity Lotz (Mad Men, Legends Of Tomorrow) and Alex Kingston (Doctor Who) guest star.
The 17th episode of Tim Kring’s sci-fi/superhero series Heroes airs on NBC, starring Adrian Pasdar, Jack Coleman, Ali Larter, Masi Oka, Hayden Panettiere, and Milo Ventimiglia. George Takei (Star Trek), Christopher Eccleston (Doctor Who) and Eric Roberts (Doctor Who) guest star.
The 115th episode of Joss Whedon’s supernatural series Buffy The Vampire Slayer, starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, airs on UPN. James Marsters, Anthony Stewart Head, and Alyson Hannigan also star.
Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski reveals online that the Sci-Fi Channel has decided to pass on the B5 spinoff/sequel series Crusade for budgetary reasons, effectively ending any chance that the show will bounce back from its cancellation by cable network TNT. Warner Bros. continues to try to find a new home for the series, which has yet to air a single episode, but with actors’ contracts expiring with the halt of production and Stracynzski considering offers to write and produce other projects, Crusade never progresses past its 13 completed episodes. TNT schedules those episodes for a summer run.
NBC airs the 67th episode of Donald Bellisario’s science fiction series Quantum Leap, starring Scott Bakula and Dean Stockwell. Harrison Page (Supertrain, Sledge Hammer!), T’Keyah Crystal Keymah (In Living Color), and Eriq La Salle (ER) guest star.
CBS airs the 18th episode of Ron Koslow’s fantasy series Beauty and the Beast, starring Linda Hamilton, Ron Perlman, and Roy Dotrice. James Avery (Fresh Prince of Bel-Air) guest stars.
NOAA’s GOES-7 Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite is launched from Cape Canaveral into a geosynchronous orbit now designated GOES-EAST to monitor weather patterns over the United States. Originally intended for a 1986 launch, GOES-7 has been kept on the ground by the investigation into the destruction just after launch of its predecessor, GOES-G. GOES-7 will become the first of the GOES satellites to operate in both the GOES-EAST and GOES-WEST orbits, and will be retired from active weather-watching duty in 1999, becoming a communications relay satellite until it is decommissioned in 2012.
Gottlieb introduces the arcade game Reactor in the United States, a unique trackball-driven game with thumping synthesized hard rock musical accompaniment.
The fifth episode of the series Salvage 1 airs on ABC, starring Andy Griffith, Joel Higgins (Silver Spoons), and Trish Stewart. Richard Jaeckel (Spenser For Hire) guest stars in an episode that is decidedly more sci-fi than most of the series.
The second episode of Harold Jack Bloom’s sci-fi series Project UFO airs on NBC, portraying fictionalized investigations into what the show claims are actual cases from the U.S. Air Force’s Project Blue Book investigations. William Jordan (Beyond Westworld) and Caskey Swaim star. BarBara Luna (Star Trek, Buck Rogers In The 25th Century) guest stars.
The 312th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Roger Delgado and Clive Morton guest star. This is the first appearance of the Sea Devils, identified here as an offshoot of the Silurian species.
The recently-rechristened Environmental Sciences Service Administration launches, with the help of NASA, ESSA-9, the latest in a constellation of weather satellites. ESSA-9 is the last weather satellite to carry the ESSA designation, as the government reorganizes ESSA into a new agency, NOAA, the following year. ESSA-9 remains in service until 1972.
The 81st episode of Irwin Allen’s adventure series Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea airs on ABC, starring Richard Basehart and David Hedison. Terry Becker guest stars.
The 23rd episode of the time travel sitcom It’s About Time, created by Sherwood Schwarz (I Dream Of Jeannie) and starring Frank Aletter, Jack Mullaney, and Imogene Coca, is broadcast on CBS. Alan Oppenheimer guest stars.
The 106th episode of Doctor Who airs on the BBC. This is part four of the story now collectively known as The Massacre, and introduces the new companion, Dodo Chaplet, in its last scene. This episode is missing from the BBC’s archives.
Streaming service Disney Plus releases the eighth episode of WandaVision, created for TV by Jac Schaeffer and starring Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Bettany, and Kathryn Hahn.
Cable channel Disney XD airs the 69th episode of the series Star Wars: Rebels. Lars Mikkelsen, Ian McDiarmid (Star Wars Episode III), Adrienne Wilkinson (Xena: Warrior Princess) and Malcolm McDowell (A Clockword Orange, Star Trek: Generations) guest star. 
Cable channel Disney XD airs the 68th episode of the series Star Wars: Rebels. Lars Mikkelsen, Ian McDiarmid (Star Wars Episode III), Adrienne Wilkinson (Xena: Warrior Princess) and Malcolm McDowell (A Clockword Orange, Star Trek: Generations) guest star. 
The CW airs the 45th episode of Legends Of Tomorrow, starring Caity Lotz, Brandon Routh, Maisie Richardson-Sellers, and Tala Ashe. Arthur Darvill (Doctor Who) and Neal McDonough guest star.
Actor Bill Paxton, who played both starring and supporting roles in movies such as Aliens, The Terminator, Predator 2, Weird Science, Apollo 13, Twister, and Tombstone, dies at the age of 61. Paxton worked behind the scenes in the early years of his career, alternating between working for legendary B-movie director Roger Corman, and playing small roles on screen. He directed the film clip for the Barnes & Barnes song “Fish Heads” (which was co-written and performed by Bill Mumy). Paxton died from complications that arose during heart surgery.
The documentary film The Farthest, chronicling the gestation, launch, operation, and resulting discoveries of the Voyager uncrewed spacecraft, is released. 
The 37th episode of Arrow, a modern-day reboot of DC Comics’ Green Arrow superhero starring Stephen Amell, airs on the CW. Caity Lotz (Mad Men, Legends Of Tomorrow) and Alex Kingston (Doctor Who) guest star.
Big Finish Productions releases the second Doctor Who audio drama in its Fourth Doctor Adventures range, starring Tom Baker and Louise Jameson. 
The fifth episode of the Battlestar Galactica spinoff series Caprica, a non-space-based tale of the creation of the Cylons over half a century before the events seen in Galactica, premieres on cable channel Syfy. 
The 17th episode of Tim Kring’s sci-fi/superhero series Heroes airs on NBC, starring Adrian Pasdar, Jack Coleman, Ali Larter, Masi Oka, Hayden Panettiere, and Milo Ventimiglia. George Takei (Star Trek), Christopher Eccleston (Doctor Who) and Eric Roberts (Doctor Who) guest star. 
The 42nd episode of the Star Trek prequel spinoff Enterprise premieres on UPN. 
The 115th episode of Joss Whedon’s supernatural series Buffy The Vampire Slayer, starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, airs on UPN. James Marsters, Anthony Stewart Head, and Alyson Hannigan also star.
JOS Record releases a newly expanded version of John Scott’s soundtrack from the 1980 science fiction film The Final Countdown. 
Westwood Studios and Electronic Arts release a CD of Frank Klepacki‘s soundtrack from the Westwood computer game Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun. 
The 83rd episode of Gene Roddenberry’s Earth: Final Conflict, airs in syndication, starring Robert Leeshock, Jayne Heitmeyer, and Von Flores.
Big Finish Productions releases the 17th Doctor Who audio drama in its main monthly range, starring Paul McGann and India Fisher. 
Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski reveals online that the Sci-Fi Channel has decided to pass on the B5 spinoff/sequel series Crusade for budgetary reasons, effectively ending any chance that the show will bounce back from its cancellation by cable network TNT. Warner Bros. continues to try to find a new home for the series, which has yet to air a single episode, but with actors’ contracts expiring with the halt of production and Stracynzski considering offers to write and produce other projects, Crusade never progresses past its 13 completed episodes. TNT schedules those episodes for a summer run.
Sci-Fi Channel premieres 
Pay cable channel Showtime premieres the 41st episode of Stargate SG-1. 
Showtime airs the 93rd episode of The Outer Limits, a revival of the 1960s science fiction anthology series. 
UPN airs the 60th episode of Star Trek: Voyager. 
The 18th episode of Lawrence Hertzog’s paranoid spy-fi thriller Nowhere Man, starring Bruce Greenwood (Star Trek), airs on UPN. Dwight Schultz guest stars. 
UPN airs the 34th episode of Star Trek: Voyager. 
The week-long national syndication window opens for the 53rd episode of J. Michael Straczynski’s science fiction series Babylon 5. Majel Barrett Roddenberry (Star Trek) and Vaughn Armstrong (Star Trek: Enterprise) guest star. 
The 36th episode of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures Of Superman airs on ABC, starring Dean Cain and Teri Hatcher. Bronson Pinchot guest stars.
NBC airs the 67th episode of Donald Bellisario’s science fiction series Quantum Leap, starring Scott Bakula and Dean Stockwell. Harrison Page (Supertrain, Sledge Hammer!), T’Keyah Crystal Keymah (In Living Color), and Eriq La Salle (ER) guest star.
Fox Network airs the 18th episode of Kenneth Johnson’s sci-fi cop series Alien Nation, starring Gary Graham and Eric Pierpoint. 
CBS airs the 18th episode of Ron Koslow’s fantasy series Beauty and the Beast, starring Linda Hamilton, Ron Perlman, and Roy Dotrice. James Avery (Fresh Prince of Bel-Air) guest stars.
NOAA’s GOES-7 Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite is launched from Cape Canaveral into a geosynchronous orbit now designated GOES-EAST to monitor weather patterns over the United States. Originally intended for a 1986 launch, GOES-7 has been kept on the ground by the investigation into the destruction just after launch of its predecessor, GOES-G. GOES-7 will become the first of the GOES satellites to operate in both the GOES-EAST and GOES-WEST orbits, and will be retired from active weather-watching duty in 1999, becoming a communications relay satellite until it is decommissioned in 2012.
CBS premieres the first episode of the fantasy/comedy series Wizards and Warriors, starring Jeff Conaway (Grease, Babylon 5), Walter Olkewicz, Duncan Regehr, and Julia Duffy (Newhart). Tim Dunigan (Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future) guest stars. 
Gottlieb introduces the arcade game 
The fifth episode of the series Salvage 1 airs on ABC, starring Andy Griffith, Joel Higgins (Silver Spoons), and Trish Stewart. Richard Jaeckel (Spenser For Hire) guest stars in an episode that is decidedly more sci-fi than most of the series.
The second episode of Harold Jack Bloom’s sci-fi series Project UFO airs on NBC, portraying fictionalized investigations into what the show claims are actual cases from the U.S. Air Force’s Project Blue Book investigations. William Jordan (Beyond Westworld) and Caskey Swaim star. BarBara Luna (Star Trek, Buck Rogers In The 25th Century) guest stars.
The 448th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. John Bennett, Trevor Baxter and Christopher Benjamin guest star. 
The sixth episode of The Sixth Sense airs on ABC, starring Gary Collins. William Shatner (Star Trek) guest stars.
The 312th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Roger Delgado and Clive Morton guest star. This is the first appearance of the Sea Devils, identified here as an offshoot of the Silurian species. 
The recently-rechristened Environmental Sciences Service Administration launches, with the help of NASA, ESSA-9, the latest in a constellation of weather satellites. ESSA-9 is the last weather satellite to carry the ESSA designation, as the government reorganizes ESSA into a new agency, NOAA, the following year. ESSA-9 remains in service until 1972.
The 81st episode of Irwin Allen’s adventure series Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea airs on ABC, starring Richard Basehart and David Hedison. Terry Becker guest stars.
The 23rd episode of the time travel sitcom It’s About Time, created by Sherwood Schwarz (I Dream Of Jeannie) and starring Frank Aletter, Jack Mullaney, and Imogene Coca, is broadcast on CBS. Alan Oppenheimer guest stars.
The 106th episode of Doctor Who airs on the BBC. This is part four of the story now collectively known as The Massacre, and introduces the new companion, Dodo Chaplet, in its last scene. This episode is missing from the BBC’s archives.
The 21st episode of Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone airs on CBS. Vera Miles stars in an episode written by Serling.