Posted on 09/02/2015 5:26:11 AM PDT by DFG
Leonard Nimoys death in February brought to a close his unusual career continually playing a single role for half a century. Between 1966, when the television show Star Trek premiered, and 2013, when the movie Star Trek Into Darkness hit the screens, Nimoy portrayed the franchises beloved first officer, Mr. Spock, in two TV series and eight films.
As he acknowledged, the key to Star Treks longevity and cultural penetration was its seriousness of purpose, originally inspired by creator Gene Roddenberrys science fiction vision. Modeled on Gullivers Travels, the series was meant as an opportunity for social commentary, and it succeeded ingeniously, with episodes scripted by some of the eras finest science fiction writers. Yet the development of Star Treks moral and political tone over 50 years also traces the strange decline of American liberalism since the Kennedy era.
(Excerpt) Read more at claremont.org ...
Even Sheldon Cooper made fun of Wesley Crusher
#20 He was involved but not fully. He was a known drug addict who could not be entrusted with running a tv show. Others like Gene Coon and later Rick Berman ran the shows.
He was quite the writer. He got hooked on drugs of all sorts. He also constantly cheated on his wives and girlfriends which explains some of the scripts.
His Wiki entry is quite interesting. He did much more then Star Trek.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_Roddenberry
He was lucky to have survived as long as he did.
Wiki: longstanding recreational use of legal and illicit drugs, including alcohol,[198] cannabis, diazepam, secobarbital, methylphenidate, Dexamyl, and cocaine (which he had used regularly since the production of Star Trek: The Motion Picture).[162] The effects of these substances were compounded by deleterious interactions with diabetes,[198] high blood pressure, and antidepressant prescriptions.
Star Trek writer reveals ugly side of working with Roddenberry on the sci-fi classic
http://www.blastr.com/2014-9-15/star-trek-writer-reveals-ugly-side-working-roddenberry-sci-fi-classic
"He's dead..." :)
Sponsoring FReepers are contributing
$10 Each time a New Monthly Donor signs up!
Get more bang for your FR buck!
Click Here To Sign Up Now!
The first two years of Star-Trek used the finest science fiction writer out there—The quality of the writting was great.
the less roddenburry was involved the better it became.
PC always killed good stories.
Return of the Archons
seemed more about a 1984 with a two minute hate at each festival.
Political Correctness where the government decided the government was the only decider.
________________________________________
Scene from Horror Hotel (aka City of the Dead), a film about witchcraft and devil worship in 1600s New England.
________________________________________
Same film. But many other such films of the time (1960-70s) depicted Satanists dressed in hooded robes.
That was due to the addition of fellow UNC-Chapel Hill alumnus Michael Pillar to the writing staff. He created the Borg storyline and the focus on action that saved ST:TNG. It's not too much of an overstatement to say that Pillar saved the Star Trek franchise at a critical time when it was languishing.
Roddenberry died in 1991, just before Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country came out, if I remember correctly. It was one of the two (Avengers was the other) movies I’ve ever waited in line to buy tickets. The Star Trek Next Generation TV show was on from 1987 to 1994.
Now, Gene certainly became full of himself and his peace-loving ways were evident, but I don’t know if his death had anything to do with the increase of the show’s stature, concept, or quality.
DS9 was one of the best ST TV series. It wasn’t the ‘Wagon Train to the Stars’, but it was full of political intrigue, action, and good story lines (and acting) by all the major characters.
What’s wrong with Commander Sisko?
bump
but unlike Star Wars, Bill Murray didn't have to make up inane lyrics (with humorous results.)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.