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Aye, Captain

 Today is the birthday of Gene Roddenberry, born in El Paso, Texas in 1921. He was working as a TV writer and producer at NBC, writing scripts for Highway Patrol, Have Gun – Will Travel, and other series, before creating and producing his own television series, The Lieutenant. Then, in 1964, he got the idea for a new series about space exploration — "a Wagon Train to the stars," as he described it — and shopped it around to several studios, most of which were uninterested. Desilu Productions finally expressed an interest, and NBC agreed to air it. The pilot of his new show, Star Trek, about the voyages of the Starship Enterprise and its crew, aired on September 8, 1966. Roddenberry's wife, Majel Barrett, provided the voice for the Enterprise's computer. Ratings were never great, and it only aired for three seasons. It got a major push toward cancellation in season 3 when NBC tried to put it on Monday at 7:30 to build an audience, but an enraged George Schlatter insisted on retaining that time for Rowan and Martin's Laugh-in. Star Trek went to 10 PM Friday, Roddenberry resigned as show runner, and budget cuts followed. That led to stupider shows, compromised characters, and cancellation. In 2011, the decision to cancel Star Trek by NBC was ranked number four on the TV Guide Network special, 25 Biggest TV Blunders But it was a huge success in syndication and kicked off a major science fiction franchise.

Star Trek was the first sci-fi series to depict a generally peaceful future, and that came from Roddenberry's fundamental optimism about the human race. "It speaks to some basic human needs," he said in 1991, "that there is a tomorrow — it's not all going to be over in a big flash and a bomb, that the human race is improving, that we have things to be proud of as humans. No, ancient astronauts did not build the pyramids — human beings built them because they're clever and they work hard. And Star Trek is about those things."
For that reason, I vastly preferred it to Star Wars (well, and also Star Wars is incredibly stupid and cartoonish). And I more or less despise J. J. Abrams for turning Star Trek into Star Wars Light. When J. J. Abrams comes knocking, Hollywood should turn out the lights and pretend they're not home.
Roddenberry was raised a Southern Baptist; however, as an adult, he rejected religion, and considered himself a humanist. He began questioning religion around the age of 14, and came to the conclusion that it was "nonsense". As a child, he served in the choir at his local church, but often substituted lyrics as he sang hymns. Roddenberry said of Christianity, "How can I take seriously a God-image that requires that I prostrate myself every seven days and praise it? That sounds to me like a very insecure personality."
In the late 1980s, Roddenberry was afflicted by the first manifestations of cerebral vascular disease and encephalopathy, culminating in 2 strokes in 1989 and 1991. On October 24, 1991 he died of cardiac arrest in the elevator going up to his doctor's office. Two days short of a year later, a portion of his ashes flew on the Space Shuttle.
Judy Jove Landau
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