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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. In many ways presaging the likes of Matlock, Gene Roddenberry's unsold pilot script "Defiance County" not only pits a small-town prosecutor against his entire home town, but it also set up a showdown between Gene and one of his writing mentors. 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 Defiance County. 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 Alexander Mitchell, Duncan K. Fraser and Holly Amos 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 Amazon Prime releases the 56th 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). This is the fifth season finale.
Cable channel Disney XD premieres the 27th episode of the series Star Wars: Rebels, a CGI animated storyline falling between the original and prequel trilogies of the Star Wars saga.
The fifth episode of the Marvel Cinematic Universe series Agent Carter, starring Hayley Attwell as Agent Peggy Carter, is broadcast on ABC. John Glover (Brimstone, Smallville) guest stars.
The 12th episode of The Flash, a modern-day reboot of DC Comics’ superhero starring Grant Gustin, airs on the CW. Victor Garber (Alias, Legends Of Tomorrow) guest stars.
The 188th episode of Stargate SG-1 airs on the Sci-Fi Channel, starring Ben Browder, Amanda Tapping, Christopher Judge, Beau Bridges, and Michael Shanks.
Nichibutsu, originators of the 1980 arcade game Crazy Climber, releases the 3-D sequel/remake Crazy Climber 2000 for the Sony Playstation in Japan only. Though this is not the first PS1 Crazy Climber game, it is the first to allow players to use both the D-pad and the four action buttons as two D-pads, mimicking the two-joystick control scheme of the original arcade game.
The week-long national syndication window opens for the 37th episode of Xena: Warrior Princess. Bruce Campbell (Ash vs. Evil Dead) and Michael Hurst (Hercules: The Legendary Journeys) guest star.
The 15th episode of The Cape airs in syndication in North America, starring Corbin Bernsen and Adam Baldwin, presenting a fictionalized version of NASA’s shuttle program.
The 39th episode of Chris Carter’s modern-day science fiction series The X-Files airs on Fox, starring Gillian Anderson, David Duchovny, and Mitch Pileggi.
Space Shuttle Discovery lifts off on the 67th flight of the shuttle program, a history-making mission that sees Discovery conducting rendezvous maneuvers at the Russian space station Mir. Though the shuttle isn’t equipped to dock at Mir, the close flyby is a necessary step before a docking mission can take place, and Discovery’s crew includes a former Mir cosmonaut. The crew for this flight is Commander James Wetherbee, Pilot Eileen M. Collins, and mission Specialists Michael Foale, Janice Voss, Bernard Harris and Vladimar Titov.
Space Shuttle Discovery lifts off on the 60th flight of the shuttle program. During its eight days in orbit, Discovery hosts the first Russian cosmonaut ever to fly aboard an American spacecraft, initiating an ongoing agreement between the two countries’ space agencies that will eventually lead to shuttles visiting Mir and the construction of the International Space Station. Aboard Discovery for her 18th flight are Commander Charles Bolden, Pilot Kenneth Reightler, and mission specialists Jan Davis, Ronald Sega, Franklin Chang-Diaz and Sergei Krikalev.
The national syndication window opens for the second episode of Time Trax, co-created by Star Trek movie producer Harve Bennett, and starring Dale Midkiff. Jerry Hardin (The X-Files, Star Trek: The Next Generation) guest stars.
CBS airs the 31st episode of Ron Koslow’s fantasy series Beauty and the Beast, starring Linda Hamilton, Ron Perlman, and Roy Dotrice. Bruce Abbott (Re-Animator) guest stars.
Space Shuttle Challenger lifts off on a satellite delivery mission, but the launches of both satellites go awry when their boosters (the Payload Assist Modules designed to launch satellites from the shuttle) put them in the wrong orbits. A German satellite is retrieved, repaired, and placed back into its orbit. A few days after launch, a member of Challenger’s crew will become the first free-floating human satellite. On this flight, Challenger’s crew consists of Commander Vance Brand, Pilot Robert Gibson, mission specialists Bruce McCandless, Ronald McNair and Robert Stewart. This is the first shuttle flight to end on the runway at Kennedy Space Center, eliminating the need for a costly, time-consuming 747 ferry flight to retrieve the shuttle from Edwards Air Force Base.
ABC airs the 39th episode of Stephen J. Cannell’s superhero comedy series The Greatest American Hero, starring William Katt, Connie Sellecca, and Robert Culp. Soon-Teck Oh and Mako guest star. The series is pulled from ABC’s prime time schedule after this episode, leaving the final five episodes unaired until the series is syndicated later. The unaired episodes included guest appearances by Judson Scott (The Phoenix, Star Trek II), Rick Dees, and, in one of his earliest TV appearances, future Full House star Bog Saget.
ABC airs the 20th episode of Stephen J. Cannell’s superhero comedy series The Greatest American Hero, starring William Katt, Connie Sellecca, and Robert Culp.
The 502nd episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1, continuing the Key To Time storyline. John Woodvine (Knights Of God) and Lalla Ward guest star. Valentine Dyall makes his first appearance as the Black Guardian. This is the final six-part Doctor Who story to be broadcast.
NBC premieres The Fantastic Journey, a “sci-fi-lite” series featuring such Star Trek veterans as story editor D.C. Fontana and director Vincent McEveety, but dealing mainly with familiar concepts (the lost city of Atlantis, post-apocalyptic futures that look a lot like southern California, etc.). It lasts only ten episodes before it’s cancelled.
The fifth episode of The Changes airs on BBC1, adapting the novels of Peter Dickinson into a ten-part television serial starring Vicky Williams and Marc Zuber. The series was filmed in 1973, but has been held for broadcast until 1975.
The 18th episode of the horror anthology series The Evil Touch airs on Australia’s Nine Network, hosted by Anthony Quayle (Strange Report). (The series will later appear in the U.S. and elsewhere in first-run syndication.) Ray Walston (My Favorite Martian) guest stars.
The 335th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Jon Pertwee’s “Navy Lark” co-star Tenniel Evans guest stars, and making his first Doctor Who appearance is Ian Marter.
The 16th episode of Gerry Anderson’s live-action UFO series airs on ITV, starring Edward Bishop and Michael Billington. Wanda Ventham and Derren Nesbitt guest star.
The 21st episode of Irwin Allen’s science fiction series The Time Tunnel airs on ABC, starring James Darren and Robert Colbert. Whit Bissell and Lee Meriwether geust star.
The recently-rechristened Environmental Sciences Service Administration (previously the U.S. Weather Bureau) launches, with the help of NASA, the first “Operational TIROS” weather satellite, ESSA-1. Based on the architecture of the later TIROS satellites, this is intended to be the first fully-operational, long-life weather satellite, in the tradition of many of the long-lived TIROS weather satellites. But eight months into its operational lifetime, ESSA-1’s on board camera system fails, rendering it blind – it becomes useless as a weather satellite and is kept online for engineering experiments until spring 1967.
The eighth episode of Batman airs on ABC. George Sanders guest stars as Mr. Freeze. (This is part two of a two-part story; each week’s story unfolds in two half-hour episodes on Monday and Tuesday.)
UK broadcaster ATV Midlands airs the 19th episode of Gerry Anderson’s Supermarionation science fiction series Thunderbirds, featuring the voices of Shane Rimmer, David Graham, Sylvia Anderson, Ray Barrett, and Peter Dyneley.
The Soviet Union lands a palpable hit in the space race, claiming the first intact soft-landing of a man-made probe on another body in the solar system.Luna 9, a 200-pound sphere whose weighted base rolls to the correct orientation before opening petals exposing its camera and other instruments, proves that the lunar surface is dense enough to hold up heavy objects (previous scientific speculation has presented the possibility of a heavy lander sinking into a quicksand-like lunar surface).
ABC airs the 19th episode of Leslie Stevens’ anthology series The Outer Limits. Don Gordon and George Macready star in an episode written by Joseph Stefano.
The 52nd episode of Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone airs on CBS. Dick York (Bewitched) stars in an episode written by George Clayton Johnson (Logan’s Run).
The 92nd episode of The Adventures Of Superman airs in syndication, starring George Reeves, Noel Neill, and Jack Larson. This is the sixth season premiere.
Streaming service Amazon Prime releases the 56th 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). This is the fifth season finale.
Cable channel Disney XD premieres the 27th episode of the series Star Wars: Rebels, a CGI animated storyline falling between the original and prequel trilogies of the Star Wars saga. 
The 81st episode of Arrow, a modern-day reboot of DC Comics’ Green Arrow superhero starring Stephen Amell, airs on the CW.
The fifth episode of the Marvel Cinematic Universe series Agent Carter, starring Hayley Attwell as Agent Peggy Carter, is broadcast on ABC. John Glover (Brimstone, Smallville) guest stars.
The 12th episode of The Flash, a modern-day reboot of DC Comics’ superhero starring Grant Gustin, airs on the CW. Victor Garber (Alias, Legends Of Tomorrow) guest stars.
Intrada Records releases Gil Melle‘s avant-garde electronic soundtrack for the 1971 sci-fi movie The Andromeda Strain on CD. This is not an expanded version of the previously issued LP, but instead is simply the CD debut of the existing 1971 album. 
Sci-Fi channel airs the 28th episode of Ronald D. Moore’s re-imagining of Battlestar Galactica. Richard Hatch guest stars. 
Sci-Fi Channel airs the 35th episode of Stargate Atlantis. Peter Woodward (Crusade) guest stars. 
The 188th episode of Stargate SG-1 airs on the Sci-Fi Channel, starring Ben Browder, Amanda Tapping, Christopher Judge, Beau Bridges, and Michael Shanks. 
Big Finish Productions releases the 65th Doctor Who audio drama in its main monthly range, starring Colin Baker and Bonnie Langford. 
Nichibutsu, originators of the 1980 arcade game Crazy Climber, releases the 3-D sequel/remake Crazy Climber 2000 for the Sony Playstation in Japan only. Though this is not the first PS1 Crazy Climber game, it is the first to allow players to use both the D-pad and the four action buttons as two D-pads, mimicking the two-joystick control scheme of the original arcade game. 
UPN airs the 106th episode of Star Trek: Voyager. Lori Petty (VR.5, Tank Girl) guest stars. 
The week-long national syndication window opens for the 109th episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Kenneth Marshall (Krull) and Eric Pierpoint (Alien Nation) guest star. 
The week-long national syndication window opens for the 37th episode of Xena: Warrior Princess. Bruce Campbell (Ash vs. Evil Dead) and Michael Hurst (Hercules: The Legendary Journeys) guest star. 
The 15th episode of The Cape airs in syndication in North America, starring Corbin Bernsen and Adam Baldwin, presenting a fictionalized version of NASA’s shuttle program. 
The week-long national syndication window opens for the 72nd episode of J. Michael Straczynski’s science fiction series Babylon 5. This episode concludes the main Shadow War storyline with a philosophical discussion; some fans expecting a special effects firefight make their disappointment known. 
The 39th episode of Chris Carter’s modern-day science fiction series The X-Files airs on Fox, starring Gillian Anderson, David Duchovny, and Mitch Pileggi.
Space Shuttle Discovery lifts off on the 67th flight of the shuttle program, a history-making mission that sees Discovery conducting rendezvous maneuvers at the Russian space station Mir. Though the shuttle isn’t equipped to dock at Mir, the close flyby is a necessary step before a docking mission can take place, and Discovery’s crew includes a former Mir cosmonaut. The crew for this flight is Commander James Wetherbee, Pilot Eileen M. Collins, and mission Specialists Michael Foale, Janice Voss, Bernard Harris and Vladimar Titov.
Space Shuttle Discovery lifts off on the 60th flight of the shuttle program. During its eight days in orbit, Discovery hosts the first Russian cosmonaut ever to fly aboard an American spacecraft, initiating an ongoing agreement between the two countries’ space agencies that will eventually lead to shuttles visiting Mir and the construction of the International Space Station. Aboard Discovery for her 18th flight are Commander Charles Bolden, Pilot Kenneth Reightler, and mission specialists Jan Davis, Ronald Sega, Franklin Chang-Diaz and Sergei Krikalev.
The national syndication window opens for the second episode of Time Trax, co-created by Star Trek movie producer Harve Bennett, and starring Dale Midkiff. Jerry Hardin (The X-Files, Star Trek: The Next Generation) guest stars. 
The week-long national syndication window opens for the 111th episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. 
The 42nd episode of the syndicated series Superboy, starring Gerard Christopher and Stacy Haiduk, airs.
CBS airs the 31st episode of Ron Koslow’s fantasy series Beauty and the Beast, starring Linda Hamilton, Ron Perlman, and Roy Dotrice. Bruce Abbott (Re-Animator) guest stars.
The 612th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Peter Gilmore, William Lucas and Lesley Dunlop guest star.
Space Shuttle Challenger lifts off on a satellite delivery mission, but the launches of both satellites go awry when their boosters (the Payload Assist Modules designed to launch satellites from the shuttle) put them in the wrong orbits. A German satellite is retrieved, repaired, and placed back into its orbit. A few days after launch, a member of Challenger’s crew will become the first free-floating human satellite. On this flight, Challenger’s crew consists of Commander Vance Brand, Pilot Robert Gibson, mission specialists Bruce McCandless, Ronald McNair and Robert Stewart. This is the first shuttle flight to end on the runway at Kennedy Space Center, eliminating the need for a costly, time-consuming 747 ferry flight to retrieve the shuttle from Edwards Air Force Base.
ABC airs the 39th episode of Stephen J. Cannell’s superhero comedy series The Greatest American Hero, starring William Katt, Connie Sellecca, and Robert Culp. Soon-Teck Oh and Mako guest star. The series is pulled from ABC’s prime time schedule after this episode, leaving the final five episodes unaired until the series is syndicated later. The unaired episodes included guest appearances by Judson Scott (The Phoenix, Star Trek II), Rick Dees, and, in one of his earliest TV appearances, future Full House star Bog Saget.
ITV airs the 23rd episode of P.J. Hammond’s science fiction series Sapphire & Steel, starring David McCallum and Joanna Lumley.
The second episode of a vastly retooled Battlestar Galactica (or, depending on how you look at it, the show’s 23rd episode) premieres on ABC, continuing a three-part storyline.
The 502nd episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1, continuing the Key To Time storyline. John Woodvine (Knights Of God) and Lalla Ward guest star. Valentine Dyall makes his first appearance as the Black Guardian. This is the final six-part Doctor Who story to be broadcast.
The 28th episode of Wonder Woman airs on CBS, starring Lynda Carter and Lyle Waggoner. Ed Begley, Jr. guest stars.
NBC premieres The Fantastic Journey, a “sci-fi-lite” series featuring such Star Trek veterans as story editor D.C. Fontana and director Vincent McEveety, but dealing mainly with familiar concepts (the lost city of Atlantis, post-apocalyptic futures that look a lot like southern California, etc.). It lasts only ten episodes before it’s cancelled. 
The fifth episode of The Changes airs on BBC1, adapting the novels of Peter Dickinson into a ten-part television serial starring Vicky Williams and Marc Zuber. The series was filmed in 1973, but has been held for broadcast until 1975. 
The 18th episode of the horror anthology series The Evil Touch airs on Australia’s Nine Network, hosted by Anthony Quayle (Strange Report). (The series will later appear in the U.S. and elsewhere in first-run syndication.) Ray Walston (My Favorite Martian) guest stars.
The 335th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Jon Pertwee’s “Navy Lark” co-star Tenniel Evans guest stars, and making his first Doctor Who appearance is Ian Marter.
The 16th episode of Gerry Anderson’s live-action UFO series airs on ITV, starring Edward Bishop and Michael Billington. Wanda Ventham and Derren Nesbitt guest star.
The 192nd episode of Doctor Who airs on the BBC. This story sees the return of the Yeti, now in the modern-day London Underground. 
The 21st episode of Irwin Allen’s science fiction series The Time Tunnel airs on ABC, starring James Darren and Robert Colbert. Whit Bissell and Lee Meriwether geust star.
The recently-rechristened Environmental Sciences Service Administration (previously the U.S. Weather Bureau) launches, with the help of NASA, the first “Operational TIROS” weather satellite, ESSA-1. Based on the architecture of the later TIROS satellites, this is intended to be the first fully-operational, long-life weather satellite, in the tradition of many of the long-lived TIROS weather satellites. But eight months into its operational lifetime, ESSA-1’s on board camera system fails, rendering it blind – it becomes useless as a weather satellite and is kept online for engineering experiments until spring 1967.
The eighth episode of Batman airs on ABC. George Sanders guest stars as Mr. Freeze. (This is part two of a two-part story; each week’s story unfolds in two half-hour episodes on Monday and Tuesday.) 
UK broadcaster ATV Midlands airs the 19th episode of Gerry Anderson’s Supermarionation science fiction series Thunderbirds, featuring the voices of Shane Rimmer, David Graham, Sylvia Anderson, Ray Barrett, and Peter Dyneley.
The Soviet Union lands a palpable hit in the space race, claiming the first intact soft-landing of a man-made probe on another body in the solar system. Luna 9, a 200-pound sphere whose weighted base rolls to the correct orientation before opening petals exposing its camera and other instruments, proves that the lunar surface is dense enough to hold up heavy objects (previous scientific speculation has presented the possibility of a heavy lander sinking into a quicksand-like lunar surface).
ABC airs the 19th episode of Leslie Stevens’ anthology series The Outer Limits. Don Gordon and George Macready star in an episode written by Joseph Stefano.
The 52nd episode of Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone airs on CBS. Dick York (Bewitched) stars in an episode written by George Clayton Johnson (Logan’s Run).
The 18th episode of the science fiction drama series Men Into Space airs on CBS, starring William Lundigan.
ABC airs the third episode of the supernatural anthology series One Step Beyond, hosted and directed by John Newland. Lin McCarthy guest stars.
The 92nd episode of The Adventures Of Superman airs in syndication, starring George Reeves, Noel Neill, and Jack Larson. This is the sixth season premiere.