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

Gene-ology examines the last produced script Gene Roddenberry wrote for the western series Boots & Saddles, one which happened to mark his first collaboration with one DeForest Kelley.  But did Gene's script land a knockout punch? Guest starring Jeff Gauntt as Captain "Shank" Adams and Larry Nemecek as Captain Merriweather

Gene Roddenberry's short stint as a writer on the 1957-58 western Boots & Saddles continues in his second script, "The Prussian Farmer", which thrusts a pacifistic retired soldier into a situation where he may have to fight once more. Guest starring John Billingsley as Franz Mueller, Bonita Friedericy as Mrs. Mueller, and Jeff Gauntt as Captain "Shank" Adams

Gene-ology jumps tracks to another late '50s western, Boots & Saddles, where Gene wrote a number of scripts chronicling the exploits of the Fifth Cavalry, including "The Gatling Gun", tackling the thorny issue of ageism. Guest starring Jeff Gauntt as Captain "Shank" Adams, Kyle Clark as Colonel Hays, and Kerstan Szczepanski as Colonel Parker.

Gene-ology examines the Have Gun - Will Travel episode "Alice", a challenging, impressively nuanced Gene Roddenberry script that may be notable for what it avoids saying as much as for what it does say.

Paladin's next job may require him to do something he finds morally questionable. If he turns it down, innocent people may start dying. Gene-ology covers "El Paso Stage", Gene's only script from season 4 of Have Gun - Will Travel.

Gene-ology gives Gene Roddenberry's "Charley Red Dog" episode of Have Gun - Will Travel a fresh watch and finds the classic Roddenberry elements, messages aplenty for the audience, and a hard-to-ignore casting issue.

Gene's scripts for Have Gun - Will Travel continue with a third season entry that seems to be about the unlikeliest of antagonists: a "Tiger" is loose in Texas!  But is it truly a threat, or will someone else show Paladin their real stripes first?

Gene-ology keeps hopping through Gene Roddenberry's scripts for Have Gun - Will Travel, examining "The Golden Toad", a tale dropping Paladin between two families fighting over the rights to what they believe is buried treasure...a treasure they're willing to kill for.

Framed for murder, Paladin walks a tightrope between justice and revenge, and even if he establishes the truth, someone dies at the hands of "The Posse", a grim but much-loved episode of Have Gun - Will Travel written by Gene Roddenberry.

Do you hear all the giggling cover from that covered wagon winding its way through Oregon?  That's the sound of "Les Girls", one of the episodes Gene Roddenberry wrote for Have Gun - Will Travel, with a storyline and subject matter that Star Trek reused and expanded upon.

Gene-ology continues examining Gene Roddenberry's early TV scripts, including Have Gun - Will Travel's "Episode In Laredo", encompassing topics from toxic masculinity, to parental responsibility, to the futility of bloodshed, to possible pathways to peace paved with potatoes.

Paladin responds to an urgent request for help from Roy Carter, whose own lack of urgency is strange considering that a man's life is at risk.  Gene-ology examines Gene Roddenberry's final script for the second season of Have Gun - Will Travel, "The Return of Roy Carter".

Beaten up and robbed, Paladin must make a fresh start at a nearby ranch while he looks for his attackers. It turns out they work for his new boss, "Maggie O'Bannion", and they're robbing her blind too.  How much does Paladin risk to reveal the truth?  And...is he seriously hitting on his new boss!?

Trouble brews in Moon Ridge as Paladin tries to sort through supernatural superstitions and possibly the involvement of some meddling kids, as Gene-ology examines "The Monster of Moon Ridge", another Gene Roddenberry script from Have Gun - Will Travel.

Gene-ology explores the early TV writing of Gene Roddenberry, including "Juliet", a 1959 episode of "Have Gun - Will Travel" that has potentially interesting ideas to explore, but fixates on a relationship that would be problematic in 1959...or now.

Gene-ology's coverage of Gene Roddenberry's scripts from "Have Gun - Will Travel" continues in an episode that opens with Paladin already in a very tough spot - and then someone asks him to save her life.  Unless a better offer comes along for one of them.  Next exit: "The Road to Wickenburg".

As Gene-ology continues examining Gene Roddenberry's scripts from "Have Gun - Will Travel", Paladin and several others face a situation that demands an answer to the question: which is more important, justice or revenge?

At the end of a month-long string of Gene Roddenberry scripts on "Have Gun - Will Travel", "Ella West" arrives with a curious stew of mixed messages for Earl and guest host Ashley Thomas to sort through.

Gene-ology will cover Gene's Have Gun - Will Travel episode "Ella West"... after we get back on track from some persistent real life stuff.  Thanks for your patience, and feel free to catch up on past episodes at podcasts.roddenberry.com .

"Helen of Abajinian" wasn't just a largely comedic episode of Have Gun -- Will Travel, but its Gene Roddenberry script was an award winner, among other firsts.

If you're dreaming of a Have Gun -- Will Travel Christmas, Gene-ology has you covered - not only did the show's first season contain a special Yuletide episode, but "The Hanging Cross" was written by Gene Roddenberry.

Gene-ology joins Paladin on a hunt for "The Yuma Treasure", the second episode Have Gun -- Will Travel written by Gene Roddenberry, but how closely do we need to look at the episode's dialogue?

Have camel, will travel?  Gene-ology begins its ride alongside Paladin by examining Gene's first episode of Have Gun -- Will Travel, "The Great Mojave Chase".

Gene-ology's travels with The Man From Texas conclude as we examine Gene Roddenberry's second unmade script for this unrealized series, "Exile", before we embark upon our coverage of Have Gun -- Will Travel. Guest starring Cody Banning as Sam Houston, Robert Parson as Secretary Burnett, and Earl Green as Major Barrington

Gene-ology continues exploring Gene Roddenberry's unmade western series about the life of Sam Houston in the first of two unproduced scripts, "Destiny and the Raven". Guest starring Cody Banning as Sam Houston, Zeke Sidwell as Major Reeves, and Todd Allen Fischer as Bearley