By Donald H. Harrison
SAN DIEGO — It is almost becoming a genre in itself. Instead of journeying through space, the final frontier, in a quest for exploration, people intimately associated with Star Trek explore the various permutations of the old television series in a quest for self-exploration.
We recently had Captains, in which William Shatner, who made the role of Captain James T. Kirk famous, asked those who succeeded him as a Star Trek commanding officer their takes on what it all meant. And now, airing at 8 p.m., Wednesday, Nov. 30 on the Science cable channel, we have Trek Nation in which the son of the late Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, who was too rebellious as a teenager to pay much attention to the work of his father, tries to learn what papa was really like. Trek Nation’s airing coincides with the 45th anniversary of the original Star Trek.
Rod Roddenberry’s mother, the late actress Majel Barrett, who was the voice of the ever-present computer in all the Star Trek series, had little enlightening to report. Roddenberry was a notorious womanizer, and Barrett accepted him, notwithstanding this well-known flaw. She was able to do so by not asking too many questions.
On the other hand, perhaps his father’s adultery was the reason for Rod’s rebelliousness as a teenager, and for his apparent indifference to a phenomenon that made his father, in the minds of many of his contemporaries, a cultural hero.
This issue is not probed too deeply. But we can see how much Rod desired that his relationship with his father had been different when he interviews the actor Will Wheaton, who played the teenager Wesley Crusher on Star Trek: The Next Generation. Wheaton reported to Rod that when fans criticized the notion of a teenager living and even having responsibilities on the Starship Enterprise, Roddenberry Sr. flew into a rage, telling them it was not what they wanted that was important; it was his vision. The creator defending his creation was not unlike a father coming to the defense of his son, and one could see young Roddenberry wince over the relationship he never had.
There are celebrity interviews woven through the 2-hour (not counting commercials) odyssey. Nichelle Nichols, who played Lt. Uhura, told of planning to quit the original Star Trek series in order to return to her first love, musical theatre. No less a personage than the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., asked her not to do so, confiding that he was a fan of Star Trek, especially because Nichols was not playing a black role, but a major role–one in which she was treated as an equal. Star Trek, according to Nichols, was one of the only television shows King permitted his children to watch. The importance of the TV series so emphasized to her, she remained as the Enterprise‘s navigational officer.
Another fascinating segment is Rod’s interview with Star War‘s creator George Lucas, who said he first became aware of Star Trek after the first series had been cancelled and it went into syndication around the world. Asked about the rivalry some fans of the two franchises feels, Lucas said they really are different kinds of shows. Star Trek, he said graciously, is more science fiction–that is, intellectual, in its approach–whereas Star Wars is more “space opera,” meaning it is action-oriented, rather than intended to probe the great questions of philosophy.
In meetings with writers and cast members of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Rod learned that his father became wedded to the idea that in future centuries humankind is able to put violence and conflict behind itself. Thus an old standby in television script writing– an ongoing conflict between regular cast members — was not permitted, much to the frustration of some of the series’ writers. After Roddenberry died in 1991, however, some of these restrictions were lifted.
Rick Berman took over the creative direction of the franchise, and in his office was a bust of Roddenberry — with a blindfold over its eyes. The concept was that there were some plots in such subsequent series as Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager and Star Trek: Enterprise, creator Roddenberry would not have wanted to see or hear.
The 2009 Star Trek movie postulated changes in the time line that permitted movie maker J.J. Abrams to “reboot” the series– that is, to change some of the back stories of Captain James T. Kirk, Mr. Spock, and the other characters in the first television series and allow them to veer off in new directions.
Rod brought to Abrams a gift, a little-known piece of film footage in which his dad said he hoped someday someone would do exactly that, allowing Star Trek to benefit from the technology and moral awareness of a future time.
In the end, Rod and his viewers do know a lot more about Roddenberry and the series that made him famous. But I found myself wondering whether for Rod the pain of a less-than-ideal father-son relationship will ever subside.
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Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted at donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com