Post-Gene

November 15, 1991

Bob Greenberger called my wife and said he’d heard I was knocking at Death’s Door. Myra said that it was more like I was playing handball on Death’s Stoop, which is probably the more accurate.

It was kind of like having a college curriculum of illness–majoring in bronchitis, minoring in pneumonia, with the extra credit of a week’s worth of 103 fever. Fortunately they gave me enough medication so that I was completely doped up (casual acquaintances would not have been able to tell the difference) plus they served up a helping of threats–the doctor warned that if I didn’t get better they’d hospitalize me. I hate hospitals. I hate IVs and those stupid gowns and the total lack of control over one’s existence. I am terrified of dying in a hospital. I want to die in a Porsche.

At any rate, I am much better now. My thanks to my editors for staying off my back while I was flat on it, and also for the nice flowers from the “Hulk” and “X-Factor” offices.

In fact, I recovered sufficiently to fulfill my obligation of attending–albeit it with a limited schedule–the Dreamwerks Convention in Harrisburg, PA. This was, naturally, the first “Star Trek” convention I attended since the death of Gene Roddenberry.

Fans seemed pensive. The question on everyone’s minds, the question that was asked of all the guests, was this: What’s going to happen to “Star Trek” now that Gene Roddenberry is gone?

Now I’m not connected with the TV show or the movies. My guess is worth no more than anyone else’s, and less than some. But for what it’s worth, here’s what I think is going to happen in regards to the TV show and movies:

Nothing.

Look, Gene’s death–while a loss to many fans, an unhappy event for his family and friends, and sad to me since I owe so much of my career to the existence of “Star Trek”–did not exactly come as a surprise to anyone who was up on recent events. He’d had heart trouble, at least one stroke, was wheelchair-bound in all his recent public appearances, and was seventy years old. Not to sound cold, but he was not in good health. It wasn’t the kind of death that takes your breath away and sends you into shock, like Carol’s was.

The mark of a good executive is that, if he goes off to lunch and gets hit by a truck, he has matters well enough organized and subordinates well-versed in the ins and outs of the company so that the business can go on without a hitch. Roddenberry was, as near as I can tell, a good executive in that respect.

From all reports, Roddenberry’s day-to-day involvement in “Next Gen” had diminished consistently over the past year or two. The program was pretty much in the hands of producer Rick Berman and, more recently, he was aided by Michael Pillar. In recent month–again, from what I understand through sources–he didn’t have much to do with the series at all. He simply wasn’t up to it.

But now with Roddenberry gone, fans seem concerned that “Trek” is going to change substantially. I do not share this concern. It’s not like Berman and Pillar have been aching to turn the Enterprise into a space-going cat house, or want to transform the Federation into galactic warmongers, and the only thing stopping them was Gene. One can presume that if Gene hired them, it’s because they were people who shared his views of what “Trek” was supposed to be.

If anything, “Next Gen” leans towards overcaution. Storylines and events of more daring occur in an average episode of “L.A. Law” or “China Beach” (now in reruns on “Lifetime”) than in the average season of “Next Generation.” It’s been that way even with Roddenberry’s token-to-non-existent participation, and will probably stay that way.

The reason for this is that no one is quite sure just how the “Trek” phenomenon came about, but they do know they’ve managed to capture, for a quarter of a century, lightning in a bottle. No one wants to be the cluck who does something that dislodges the cork and lets the lightning escape. So they proceed with extreme wariness, and as a result, the characters have not substantially grown or developed since the pilot episode, with the possible exception of Worf. Data is no closer to understanding humans than he ever was; Riker’s still a stiff; anytime Troi is in danger of getting a good scene, it goes to Guinan; Picard is still imperious although Patrick Stewart’s acting elevates the character somewhat; Geordi has trouble with girls and Bev Crusher keeps trying to say something significant to the Captain but never does. This is characterization?

I think I can safely predict that Geordi will not, out of frustration, turn to alcohol; that Riker and Troi won’t get married, and so on. I mean, it took them five seasons to get around to doing something fans had been asking to see since the first season–a major crossover with the original series. I foresee no dramatic changes in the future.

As for the movies, Roddenberry did not write, direct or produce a “Star Trek” movie since the first one. In fact, he strongly disagreed with the direction the films were taking…which did nothing to stop them from becoming more and more popular with the fans (with the exception of the beleaguered ST 5). The fans are attentive and respectful of Roddenberry’s philosophies, but on the other hand, they know what they like. And now Ralph Winters is producing the “Trek” films as Trek VI looks forward to its opening date of December 6. (It was moved up from December 13 so as not to go toe-to-toe with “Hook.” That’s fine by me. It was bad enough when “Star Trek: The Motion Picture” opened on Pearl Harbor Day, inviting jokes about major bombings. But opening “Trek VI” on Friday the 13th? C’mon.)

What would “Trek” be like without Roddenberry? Guys, we’ve already seen “Star Trek” without Gene Roddenberry. For quite a few years there, while Gene was producing TV pilots that didn’t sell, and Leonard Nimoy was loudly proclaiming in print “I am Not Spock” (I keep waiting for the sequel entitled, “Oh Hëll, I Admit It, I’m Spock. For $4.5 million, I’ll Be Carmen Miranda”) “Star Trek” was doing just fine, thank you. Conventions were a tremendously booming business, packing in as many people as the fire marshals would allow, and “Star Trek” novels and reference work were selling to appreciative, eager audiences. Because “Star Trek” transcended its origins, becoming a massive social event, then business phenomenon, and now moving into the realm of cultural mythos.

The only place where Roddenberry’s death may make a major difference is in the licensed product, such as novels and comic books. The Paramount licensing division is populated by people who are generally reasonable and sane. However there were certain middle-management individuals, working directly for Gene Roddenberry, who were also part of the approval process and had a rather…odd…philosophy of what comics and novels should be like. One individual in particular, who shall go nameless, would make such pronouncements as, “Captain Kirk is no longer interested in pursuing relations with women” or “This story proposal will be too complicated for fans to understand.”

However, in order to give his curious opinions the force of law, he would always make sure the memos carried Gene Roddenberry’s name on them. The individual knew that his own opinions could be laughed off as totally ludicrous, but no one was going to muck with Roddenberry. Even though all involved were certain the memos couldn’t be coming from Gene (since they were frequently inconsistent with things he said in person) they still carried his name. And Roddenberry, busy with the TV show or his own ill health, simply didn’t have the time to get involved or do more than quickly initial memos.

That practice of affixing Gene’s name is, of course, no longer feasible. And as a result, it’s possible that some of the more oppressive strictures placed on the licensed material might evaporate. That would be nice to see.

Licensed material aside: Will there be TV or movie “Trek” without Gene? My guess is yes, for so long as such endeavors generate money for Paramount. In the long run it doesn’t matter even if the basic philosophies do change. They could do a new series where the Federation crumbles completely and everyone is at war with everyone else. Sure, it would be nothing like “Trek” is now, but “Trek” now is nothing like it was and fans still accept it, because it says “Star Trek” right in the opening credits and that must, in the words of Captain Picard, Make it so.

As for Gene Roddenberry–I mourn his passing, but only to the degree that it affects those who love him. I’m much more interested in celebrating the legacy he’s left behind–millions of fans, American heros of almost mythic stature, and a lot of new lives, including the three in this house who came about because their parents met at a “Star Trek” convention.

And just remember…

“Star Trek” fans do it on Impulse.

Peter David, writer of stuff, remembers thinking, “Boy, I wish I could find some way of just taking a week or two off from writing.” Thus proving once again that you should beware of what you wish for, lest you get it.