Gene-ology: A Mission Log Look into Gene Roddenberry's Works

Welcome to Gene-ology, a podcast by Roddenberry Entertainment that dives deep into the early TV writing works of Gene Roddenberry. To fans, they were the Great Bird of the Galaxy and the First Lady of Star Trek.  To their friends and co-workers, Gene Roddenberry and Majel Barrett Roddenberry were, perhaps, slightly less mythic figures with their own very human quirks, but still beloved and admired...

Welcome to Gene-ology, a podcast by Roddenberry Entertainment that dives deep into the early TV writing works of Gene Roddenberry. It features Lee Marvin in front of a high-tech viewscreen, but this is no starship - Gene-ology opens its investigation into a very unusual foray into "true crime" with Gene Roddenberry adapting the particulars of a notorious Seattle murder case into dramatic form.  It...

Welcome to Gene-ology, a podcast by Roddenberry Entertainment that dives deep into the early TV writing works of Gene Roddenberry. With his own show just months away from launching, Gene Roddenberry racks up one last rodeo, so to speak - his final script for a TV western, and a fairly prestigious one at that, with famous faces and a message or two along for the ride with The Virginian. Hosted by E...

Welcome to Gene-ology, a podcast by Roddenberry Entertainment that dives deep into the early TV writing works of Gene Roddenberry. One sweltering day in Hell's Kitchen in the 1930s.  One policeman.  Five wanted men.  Five bullets left.  And no one in the crowd who wants to help call for backup.  Gene Roddenberry collaborated on a single episode of the anthology series G.E. True in 1962, and it's a...

Welcome to Gene-ology, a podcast by Roddenberry Entertainment that dives deep into the early TV writing works of Gene Roddenberry. There are a million stories in the Naked City, and Gene Roddenberry told just one of them - but it was an unusual specimen for 1962 prime time, a story that decisively put women , including some with future involvement in Star Trek , at the forefront of a complex, chal...

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...

Welcome to Gene-ology, a podcast by Roddenberry Entertainment that dives deep into the early TV writing works of Gene Roddenberry. Target: The Corruptors! was a short-lived crime drama that unfolded from the perspective of an ace newspaper reporter. Gene turned in a single script that was significantly altered prior to broadcast, resulting in him receiving only a story credit. Find out what happen...

Welcome to Gene-ology, a podcast by Roddenberry Entertainment that dives deep into the early TV writing works of Gene Roddenberry. Gene steps up to the pilot plate once again with a script closer to home than any of his westerns: a script about World War II with a former pilot who served in World War II. Despite writing what he knew, "A.P.O. 923" somehow fell short. You can watch the A.P.O. 923 pi...

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 & A...

Welcome to Gene-ology, a podcast by Roddenberry Entertainment that dives deep into the early TV writing works of Gene Roddenberry. Gene Roddenberry wrote more episodes of Have Gun - Will Travel than the people who created the show, and his streak ends here, just weeks away from the end of the show. Paladin knows quite a bit about art, and he knows what he likes, but does he like settling an old gr...

Welcome to Gene-ology, a podcast by Roddenberry Entertainment that dives deep into the early TV writing works of Gene Roddenberry. Tricked into a job that supposedly involves representing an innocent man from hanging at McNaab Prison, Paladin finds that he's traded places with the condemned, and everyone's so eager for an execution to no one hears his explanation that he's the wrong man in the "Ca...

Welcome to Gene-ology, a podcast by Roddenberry Entertainment that dives deep into the early TV writing works of Gene Roddenberry. Summoned to the town of Tablerock to deal with a dangerous gunman, Paladin instead finds himself defending the accused in a court system that's rigged against him. Will any kind of justice be served after the "Trial At Tablerock"? It's a challenging Have Gun - Will Tra...

Welcome to Gene-ology, a podcast by Roddenberry Entertainment that dives deep into the early TV writing works of Gene Roddenberry. Paladin rides into town not looking for a fight for once, but a misguided old friend of his may give him one anyway, with tragic results. Our look at Gene Roddenberry's final Have Gun - Will Travel episodes continues with a visit to the Marshal of Sweetwater. Hosted by...

Welcome to Gene-ology, a podcast by Roddenberry Entertainment that dives deep into the early TV writing works of Gene Roddenberry. Paladin is accosted by a man who needs the gunslinger to break up his impending nuptials. But why is a gunman needed for that job? And how hard could the job possibly be? We begin covering Gene Roddenberry's last few scripts for Have Gun - Will Travel with "Taylor's Wo...

Welcome to Gene-ology, a podcast by Roddenberry Entertainment that dives deep into the early TV writing works of Gene Roddenberry. We finish finally getting to watch Mr. District Attorney for ourselves, and after picking the best episode of these three, we try to narrow down: what was the best episode of Mr. District Attorney written by fledgling writer Gene Roddenberry? Hosted by Earl Green & Ash...

Welcome to Gene-ology, a podcast by Roddenberry Entertainment that dives deep into the early TV writing works of Gene Roddenberry. When the podcast started, we had only the scripts to cover for Gene's first TV writing job on Mr. District Attorney. But now we've gotten to see the shows themselves, we get to ask ourselves: do Gene's first TV creations improve when they're on film? Hosted by Earl Gre...

Welcome to Gene-ology, a podcast by Roddenberry Entertainment that dives deep into the early TV writing works of Gene Roddenberry. Gene-ology rewinds to a show from 1957, Gene's sole contribution to the medical drama (but apparently also crime drama) Dr. Christian. When felonious brothers kidnap the good doctor to perform a life-saving surgery, will he honor his oath or risk a deadly delay until h...

Welcome to Gene-ology, a podcast by Roddenberry Entertainment that dives deep into the early TV writing works of Gene Roddenberry. When we last investigated Gene's scripts for a historically-based western about Sam Houston, we had no idea if it had been filmed.  Now we know that it was - and we've seen it!  How does "Warrior: The Story of Sam Houston" differ from the "Destiny and the Raven" script...

Welcome to Gene-ology, a podcast by Roddenberry Entertainment that dives deep into the early TV writing works of Gene Roddenberry. Content warning: domestic violence No writer in the history of the medium has a batting average of a thousand, but this last work Gene Roddenberry did for the late '50s western Jefferson Drum is an especially challenging script from the archive, with messages that are...

Welcome to Gene-ology, a podcast by Roddenberry Entertainment that dives deep into the early TV writing works of Gene Roddenberry. Gene's third script for Jefferson Drum seems to be setting up a tale of redemption and forgiveness... until those options are abruptly removed from the table. Join us in trying to interpret one of the most challenging pieces of Gene's early work: "The Poet." Hosted by...

Welcome to Gene-ology, a podcast by Roddenberry Entertainment that dives deep into the early TV writing works of Gene Roddenberry. Someone new has ridden into town to hold court at the card tables at Big Ed's and get between plenty of fools and their money.  She might get between Jefferson Drum and his heart.  Another of Gene's Jefferson Drum scripts from 1958 turns out to be surprisingly ahead of...

Welcome to Gene-ology, a podcast by Roddenberry Entertainment that dives deep into the early TV writing works of Gene Roddenberry. It's a quick rewind to 1958 for Gene's recently-unearthed scripts from the obscure western Jefferson Drum. But for a show from nearly 70 years ago, the extraordinary episode "Law & Order" feels uncomfortably like it was written about right now. Hosted by Earl Green & A...

Welcome to Gene-ology, a podcast by Roddenberry Entertainment that dives deep into the early TV writing works of Gene Roddenberry. DeForest Kelley appeared in Gene scripts in Boots and Saddles, Shannon, and the unsold legal drama pilot 333 Montgomery.  It's obvious Gene was a DeForest Kelley fan.  In this supplemental episode, we welcome another DeForest Kelley fan, Trek Files host Larry Nemecek,...

Welcome to Gene-ology, a podcast by Roddenberry Entertainment that dives deep into the early TV writing works of Gene Roddenberry. Gene Roddenberry's second Shannon script was entirely his own, and both its main guest star and its concepts are clear signs of things to come in both the 21st and 23rd centuries. We hitch a ride with "The Pickup" for a glimpse into Gene's future you won't want to miss...

Welcome to Gene-ology, a podcast by Roddenberry Entertainment that dives deep into the early TV writing works of Gene Roddenberry. Assigned to polish another writer's premise for the '60s action show Shannon, Gene Roddenberry turns in a script that hits all the necessary action beats but leaves questions about the characters and their beverage choices. Hosted by Earl Green & Ashley Thomas About Ge...