Gene Roddenberry Interview (August 14, 1988) 

His childhood disability was mentioned on William Shatner's 1993 book, Star Trek Memories.

He talked about it in a Star Trek audio recording special (Inside Star Trek) where he did various interviews with cast members including DeForest Kelly, as well as William Shatner, and the actor who played Sarek, Spock's father (both as their Star Trek characters). He spoke of his early childhood disability and how he found an escape through reading fiction and fantasizing about the things he read, and how puberty seemed to heal his disability. He also interviewed Isaac Asimov about their personal history and views on science fiction.

Well said.

Don't forget "The Lieutenant". A very underrated show.

*I just found the Spectre pilot a couple of years ago. That had massive potential.*

How could he have created those last 2 shows? He died in 1991.

@@stevenrowan9244 idea Gene Roddenberry came up with in the 1970’s we’re used to make the two shows after his death. Both have Bajel as a producer

@Bobbie Charles Andromeda is a space opera television series, based on unused material by Gene Roddenberry,

Now people live in boxes and call them homes!

me too!

My parents bought a new freezer when I was a kid and I played in that box for over a week.

Me and my sister actually did watch Star Trek TOS from inside a big cardboard box! We did pretend it was various vehicles.

Me too 🚀

without a doubt

indeed, it let us know how creepy and degenerate gene roddenberry was.

@@jacktoc1 Star Trek saved me from a liife of misery... nothing creepy or degenerative about that. Why would you even say such things? GR was a very creative writer and producer, he was not perfect and he had his flaws but he was a caring human being who left a positive mark on the world that shows we can all reach for greatness... what have you done?

@@davidlyttle3139 I'm glad to hear you were saved, and I get it, the series can be very inspiring for people. I also grew up waiting every Wednesday for 8 pm to finally come around so I could watch TNG with my family, and later DS9 and VOY. I am greatfull to Gene for developing the idea and fighting for it (also his income), but a lot of what made ST, well ST, was due to a collaborative effort, not solely Gene. If you're willing to do some research instead of just fanboy raging from your high horse cuz Daddy Roddenberry gave you the feels, then you'd discover all the other people you should be greatfull to as well. And my comment is based off of the last 10 minutes, when he has his back to the camera, so they can get shots of the interviewer asking questions. His faux responses are indicative of what actually goes on in his mind, and veer into weird tangents about being a rapist, and affectionately touching little girls..... He literally could have said anything else, he knew his responses were going to be edited out, which is what gave him license to ramble about such things in an odd way, hence my comment about him being creepy. Just rewatch the last ten minutes and maybe you'll get where I'm coming from. I don't know for sure if he was a creep, but that's the feeling I get when watching that part. If you don't agree, well hey, it's just an opinion. Happy to hear you found solace in something tho 👍🏻

@@jacktoc1 You mean there is anyone Creepier or Hollier than thou art ?

No such thing as "ahead of time" he was just one of the firsts to get things towards a different direction so to speak.

@@anthonygarcia8749 You have to take into account when this show was made, the latter part of the 1960s, you didn't have all different races, men and women, even aliens working together on an equal basis, on a ship, maybe it could be seen in a hospital at the time. It foresaw the dangers of technology, even predicted the cell phone, that's being ahead of your time.

A pilot and former police officer...i expected a cynical view on life, as do i, but ...his strenght to kept positive attitude sure is an inspiration.

@@davidvalensi8616 and currently warp research, photon and phaser, medical scanner ..all inspired by startrek

A sentiment that you're not alone in, my friend. 🖖 If only Mr. Kurtzman had understood any of Gene Roddenberry's message and intentions...

And expantion of science. Currently, "geordie's visor" only able to help the legally blind/not 100% but someday the full blind could be ensign geordie la forge, chief engineer of a starship too! Live long and prosper

I wish he had been able to predict the modern woke liberal. And then provided a humane method of removing them to another galaxy so they can stop ruining the whole world.

Agreed

OMG...SAY WORD👍

206 bones.

Read "Star Trek Creator". I doubt a man on the spectrum could sleep with as many women as Gene did. Or juggle his wife whom he was cheating on with Majel while cheating on both with Nichelle Nichols. Not autistic at all.

he was very much autistic

Same. I used markers to draw on the controls, and cut a square window for the view-screen, covered with plastic wrap! Thanks to Gene and NASA

Not shocking at all. He was a big cocaine and meth head.

Shatner and Nimoy had some disputes with him during the show’s production, and Nimoy in particular had a lawsuit against him and Paramount over merchandising royalties that threatened his participation in the first movie. But all of that had been long-settled by the time of Roddenberry’s death. The other members of the cast pretty much straight-up adored him, as did the cast of TNG.

​@@michaelhall2709Except Majel, NONE of the original cast came to his funeral. That's how much they hated him. He treated most of them quite badly. Read the Wikipedia entries or the many books by cast members.

@@alamedavigilante I did read them, and you’re just plain wrong. Apparently you never attended a convention where Kelley, Nichols, Takei, and Koenig spoke fondly of Roddenberry years after he could have had any possible effect on their careers, but I did. That isn’t to make the claim that Gene Roddenberry was a saint, but facts are facts. De Kelley even wrote a poem about him, and Nichols a song, which she later recorded. May I respectfully suggest that if you blindly trust Wikipedia as a source of information you’ll probably wind up holding mistaken opinions about a lot of things, and of much greater import than the subject of Star Trek.

you have no idea what the reality was. he was barely involved & totally quit after season 2. spent most of his time trying to make money from merchandising. Gene Coon was much more involved. other people wrote the scripts. wasn't even his idea, copied from other movies & books.

I prefer it in the raw. More real insights to be gained.

absolutely atrocious interviewer

His responses were creepy even out of context you can see that it made the interviewer uncomfortable. No one should be making jokes about wanting to be a rapist.

Most likely b.s.; his professional career was a synthetic creation.

People were sent home after 30 B17 missions. He didn't do 89. It's called bullshitting.

@@ingurlund9657 Evidence? He received the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal before being honorably discharged in 1945. Also you are wrong. In 1943 the USAAF in Europe determined that heavy bomber crews would be rotated home after 25 missions over enemy territory after first trying a one-year tour or a tour consisting of a pre-determined number of flight hours. HE DIDN'T FLY IN EUROPE After Pearl Harbor, Roddenberry was sent to the Pacific Theater where he flew with the 394th Bomb Squadron, 5th Bombardment Group of the Thirteenth Air Force. He personally piloted a B-17E Flying Fortress named the "Yankee Doddle."

@@ingurlund9657 How many missions did you fly ?

@@zodden01 Gene Roddenberry said he based the character of Spock on former L.A.P. D. Chief William Parker, of whom he served under when he was a detective on the L.A.P.D. during the early 1950s. Roddenberry claimed Parker was the most unfeeling, soulless human being he ever met. Parker even spoke in a monotone-type voice that Roddenberry had envisioned for the character of Spock.

How are you holding up?

@@sergiosatelite467 Very well actually, Had surgery on the most painful part. What do you think of Star Trek TOS and those who choose to attack Roddenberry rather than appreciating his contributions?

@@davidlyttle3139 glad you are doing well. I haven’t heard the criticisms of Roddenberry. I’ve seen in his wiki that he was more of a traditional “ladies man”-in the not so commendable sense of that phrase-than I’d like. And I’ve been rewatching this interview in bits so I don’t remember the creepier bits at the end. But I think history will see Rodenberry as one of the greatest visionaries of the 20th century. I’m obsessed with the philosophy of John Dewey and though Star Trek is never perfect this is the most humanistic portrayal in pop culture of what human beings can be. I’m something of a late comer to it, but I love it almost like a flexible religion. What do you think?

@@sergiosatelite467 I think we need a religion of space exploration, whose tenets are devoted to filling the technological gap between the world of today and the world of Star Trek and increasing human presence on the moon and on near-earth space O'Neill colonies. We will never discover something akin to warp drive while most of humanity is Earthbound.

@@davidlyttle3139 yeah. Well, space exploration is key but every religion needs a bit of meat and potatoes content wise. Btw, I finished rewatching and now I know what you were referring to with regards to genes rather creepy comments. I think he was, as it is said now days, in the spectrum or something. Don’t think he was even aware of how he’s words could be interpreted.

Where can I find more information about that?🤩

It's totally normal.

@@LordsofMedia I really hope thats sarcasm

I wish they would have gone into more about the actors Gene worked with, like his wife, William, Lenord, Deforest etc., they seemed to go beyond acting, directing, and production. They all had a profound effect on millions of people. Gene was up there with H G Wells, Jules Verne and even Mark Twain.

other people wrote the scripts & he left after season 2

@MonkeyZorr one can be funny and creepy. That was just creepy

@MonkeyZorr youre pretty twisted if you think talk of being a rapist when you grow up and how into the devil you are comes off as "humorous". that was something else, something dark, that we weren't meant to see, showing a side of GR that most never even knew existed.

@@jacktoc1 not to mention all the pedophiley stuff from earlier in the interview.

You can almost see its panties.

MonkeyZorr Nope, it was inappropriate weird ass behavior. Nothing humorous about it. Why don’t you look up in a dictionary how to behave like a gentleman in mixed company.

What you mean the devil stuff? Haha can't you get a joke? It's maybe not that funny but it's just a gag

He was probably stoned and trying to hard to be provocative.

@MonkeyZorr HUMOUR? lol He spoke about looking up little girls skirts. That's not humour, and while I'm sure he would not have said that today, He still said it.

​@@rebeccaedwards3784 To be generous, I suppose (as a rather sensual animal) Roddenberry was reminiscing about his delight in the novelty of beholding daughters when they were cute and tiny. Though even if that's correct, I do accept that it probably isn't tactfully conveyed.

UpDownLeft11 the interviewer was more than tactful. Roddenberry in the end was a sex maniac and a deviant in the reverse banter

sportsmedia25 As you can see Hollywood producers can be closet sex maniacs. He’s not just that of course. He was a brave artist as well as being a weak man.

i think you guys have it wrong. this was raw footage meant to be edited so that the reverse shots and forward facing shots would naturally flow together. Notice how she asks the exact same questions at the end, and he responds with short nonsense answers because the reverse shot is only on screen long enough to make that bridge between shots

​@@Lifesizemortal Yeah of course but it's still super weird.

@@hellunltd2071 Yeah..but according to a lot of people he had a long history of harassment and womanizing

"strange creepy genius". Yeah a little like Harvey Weinstein.

Leonard Nimoy confirmed in interviews that Gene Roddenberry was indeed a very odd individual. He said that Roddenberry had a very strange sense of humour. He and Roddenberry never became friends and never really got along together.

Oddly the only Star Trek movie he really worked on was the first one.

Especially the last eight minutes or so - so creepy and gross!

I would call him a visionary. Genius would probably be a better fit for Gene L. Coon.

From Emergency!

@@RA-VEN8 that’s the one 🙂

A&W 😆 Just like the Federation.

I gather Leonardo was more engineer than prophet. It's worth considering mankind's spacefaring several years prior to _Star Trek._

also, he liked looking up little skirts and talking about his erections. so, theres that.

Roddenberry had a vision of ferengi space orgies . Let's be serious here if you read up on it he had some of rhe ideas but a lot of it was just his kinks Gene l Coon was the one that made women more than eye candy, created the kingdoms and more and more it seems fashioned early star trek into what it was. Later show show runners codified it Roddenberry is more bob Kane than Bill finger

His space ship was like the balloon that Cyrano had going to the moon. The distant future will be nothing like that.

INT "what do you wanna be when you grow up?" GR "a rapist" Evil_smart Rising "hilarious" youre twisted

I didnt mean being a rapist was twisted, i meant hearing that from gene roddenberry was hilarious. Its like hearing grandma say she ran over 12 people or something like that.

@@jacktoc1 Its who its coming from not the action, and i didnt mean grandma literally ran over 12 people, just hearing a grandma say that would be quite humorous. I promise you im not a psycho(or a newtrek viewer).

@@evil_smartrising1346 gotcha. it was very surprising to hear what came from his mind.

Very funny and some people are pussies and have no sense of dark humor.

Wtf indeed

thats the appropriate response

Yeah I already knew he was gross but damn. If it helps look up Gene L Coons contributions to star trek. The more I read about him the more it seem he made star trek what it is

Grow up.

@@LordsofMedia Uhh huh SO people who are disgusted by people talking about how they perved out on their daughters need to grow up? Sure thing

@@LordsofMedia you posted your daily mantra in the comment section again...

I felt exactly the same. another hero bites the dust.

and a creep

And a detective

@@jacktoc1 as if you're a saint yourself

And a sex addict. Always had a woman on the side. See his Wikipedia page.

nobody is perfect. even yourself. in fact, a man who is open and truthful about his shortcomings is a man who is attempting to improve his own flaws. either way, he's dead, and your disappointment means absolutely nothing compared to his accomplishments.

While it's interesting that he chose to use that for filler talk while they were setting up scenes for the interview, I don't think that was his own true personal feelings--or, at least I certainly wouldn't judge it as such. But, only he and God knows at this point.

“Disappointed” Another SJW / purity zealot weighs in. I love all you judgemental fucks who have lived your lives perfectly and never lied.

Personally I am more freaked about the part where he talks about his daughters

Roddenberry was living with his wife, maintaining a separate establishment for his girlfriend, Majel Barrett, and hitting on all the young actresses who appeared on Star Trek as guest performers. An account of the early days of Star Trek by one of its producers, Herbert Solow, includes a description of Roddenberry's behaviour. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Y71QWWEJQ0w.html

he had a dirty sense of humor but it's sometimes the funniest kind

Cry me a river.

@@mitrooper Go play in traffic cretin.

Apparently woke carried weight even in those days.

Wrong. He died cause was a big cocaine and meth fiend. Do research. Google.

I hate your kind of liberal. Instead of looking at the positivity of historical figures, you choose to focus on what they got wrong. Fuck off, man.

He was self admittedly imperfect. He had a vision. MLK, Kennedy all had affairs. I can't condone it, but humanity isn't good bad, black and white. I'm not perfect. However, I dream of a better world for the Next Generations. Lame, I know.

The guy had a wonderfully idea in which many folks expanded upon it and helped bring that universe to life. Fyi - "Nurse Chapel" also started out as his mistress. And look up what happened to Grace Lee Whitney before she left the tv show. Great recollections on this video: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Y71QWWEJQ0w.html

There was a hispanic in ther first pilot. The Cage had a navigator named Jose Tyler who the network ordered replaced along with the entire cast.

@@davidlyttle3139 Yes, I remember that, then he was gone. BTW, Hispanic is spelled with a capital "H".

Really thats typically how most discover Trek, maybe not always by TNG, then it can be the 6 movies too

When I watched Star Wars at age 13, I was thought how it related to WW-ll and what the British suffered at the hands of Germany the Imperial forces much like Hitler equalled Darth Vader, in my opinion. Imagine the World today if Hitler had commanded the Fleets that Darth Vader did, Storm Troopers armed with powerful weapons.

My experience was almost exactly the same. I was a Star Wars kid and couldn't stand Star Trek the original. But once I finally saw Next Generation as an adult I fell in love and felt the same way. its really so much more than just a space show, its about a philosophy and mindset and approach to the world. Its still television, it still has its cheesy moments and bad episodes but on the whole not may shows speak to me the way TNG does

The original Star Trek is very good. I like the first Star Trek series and the first 3 released Star Wars movies (4, 5, 6 in the series) equally much and I like basically nothing of both franchises that is produced later.

What are treasure!

Frank I'm sorry to say that it was me who wrote that letter to you. I was on Gene's staff at the time. Live long and prosper though.

@@tmuxor LO MISMO, HERMANO!!! PONE UN LINK CON TU CARTA, ¿LA FIRMA ERA ORIGINAL, O LA HACIAS TU?.- Saludos cordiales, vida larga y prospera!!!

I wrote a letter to his personal secretary Susan Sackett back in the '70s asking her what if any where their plans to bring back the show and that's when she wrote me back to my surprise and tipped me off to the possibility of a Star Trek movie.

@@goodwilj HOLA! ¿UN LINK CON TU CARTA, Y LA RESPUESTA?, Y ¿LA FIRMA ERA ORIGINAL?.- Saludos cordiales, vida larga y prospera!!!

his dream was his personal fantasy

Gene Roddenberry said he based the character of Spock on former L.A.P. D. Chief William Parker, of whom he served under when he was a detective on the L.A.P.D. during the early 1950s. Roddenberry claimed Parker was the most unfeeling, soulless human being he ever met.

@@rayjr62 ¿cual es la fuente?

Yeah, wow, that was wild.

Well his father met his mother when she was 14, they got married at 16, so why would Gene not grow up with an understanding of the fact that girls ripen into women and their status as sexual beings blossoms at an age numerous years sooner than the law says they should? Four years is an eternity for a child but not so long for a parent, so when your daughter is ten, you need to be thinking about the kinds of things she's going to start wanting to do when she's 14, at which point she won't want to wait another four years to do those things, despite her having never even thought about them now. He needs to watch for very early signs of whether she's going to be precocious, rebellious, or otherwise difficult to protect and guide and shepherd toward her maturation into a complete person. You can't shelter her too much, nor can you let her too recklessly pursue her own selfish and short-sighted desires; you have to let her make her own decisions, yet help ensure she chooses wisely. If you just refuse to notice this aspect of her being, you'll cause almost as much harm as if you take an unhealthy interest in it.

Yeah wtf is this shit?

@@quicksilvertongue3248You sound about as fucked up as Roddenberry does, here.

@@ColorfulBoxOfCrayonsExactly! It has been suggested that the way he acted here was due to too much LSD use. This would certainly have never made it to air. He was also considered to be the prime suspect as to who sexually assaulted Grace Lee Whitney. All she would reveal, was that it was a Desilu studio 'executive,' who was going through a divorce, at the time, which he was. She was just avoiding a possible libel suit, by omitting the name. But he was notorious as a womanizer, so it's a no-brainer.

Haha no. Pure luck.

@@zebunker ...but was it though? 🤔

I've never seen Gene's face until now, and I'm 37. I'm a bit short on words because he looks a lot like my dad and reminds me of my dad and grandfather, who are both deceased. He is a very kind spoken and honorable man - I had not realized who was such a powerful influence on human equality rights.

Gene does seem very fatherly so I wish his family has a wonderful father's day this Sunday June 20

Actually his later health problems were a result of his lifetime drug abuse habits. Cocaine, barbiturates and more. Read about it.

Roddenberry was a pill-popper - took all sorts of uppers, downers, washed em down with booze, tried some coke on the side - I’m in no way bashing his life-choices or work, but his decades of late-night partying + self-medicating while at the typewriter wrought havoc on his insulin-metabolism, his kidneys, and eventually his mental/cardiovascular health. Wasn’t a sudden thing.