Gene Roddenberry Eugene " Gene " Wesley Roddenberry , sometimes referred to as the " great bird of the galaxy " is best known as the creator of the science fiction television series " " , beginning the long running " Star Trek " franchise . Roddenberry ' s remains ( some of his ashes in a small capsule , about the size of a lipstick ) were the first to be launched into Earth ' s orbit , where they orbited the Earth until they burned up while reentering the Earth ' s atmosphere . History . Early life . Roddenberry was born in El Paso , on to Caroline Glen Roddenberry and Eugene Edward Roddenberry , and spent his childhood in the city of Los Angeles . His father was a World War I veteran and a police officer , whom he described as a " bigoted Texan " . ( " " , 1997 , p 14 ) Still , he had a begrudging respect for his father who , self - taught and stemming from a dirt poor background , possessed a keen intellect and an uncanny ability to see things to come , and only shortly before his father ' s death , Roddenberry came to see his father in a new light , ironically through " Star Trek " , " " Two elderly ladies wrote from Jacksonville , Florida when the original series was on NBC . They had watched " Star Trek " , saw my name , and wrote that they could have predicted that I would have done something like " Star Trek " because I talked of such futuristic things when they had met me on my way to Europe to fight in World War I . They thought they had discovered my father and what he was doing long after he came back from the Great War . They thought I was my father . . . To have them say about my father – that he held such thoughts when they knew him – was exiting . . . It made me proud that , in spite of not being formally educated , he had dreamed such dreams . " " ( " The Humanists " , Vol . 51 , issue 2 , March / April 1991 , pp . 6 - 7 ) Nevertheless , Gene ' s son , Rod Roddenberry has later related a family story that his grandfather was less than enamored by his son ' s creation and how he , after " Star Trek " had aired on 8 September 1966 , " ( . . . ) " went up and down the block , knocking on everybody ' s door , apologizing for his crazy son , who would put on that ridiculous show . " " ( " " ) His mother on the other hand , was a devout Baptist and dragged young Roddenberry and his younger siblings , Bob and Doris , to each and every religious gathering she was able to , with the consent of his father , who otherwise was anti - religious . Somewhat traumatized by the experiences , Roddenberry has cited this circumstance as the root cause for his atheistic world views . ( " The Humanists " , Vol . 51 , issue 2 , March / April 1991 , pp . 6 - 7 ) In his high school days , a classmate lent him a copy of " Astounding Stories " , which was to be the start of Roddenberry ' s fascination with science fiction . ( " The Making of Star Trek " ) He studied three years of policemanship and then transferred his academic interest to aeronautical engineering and qualified for a pilot ' s license . He volunteered for the United States Army Air Corps , and was ordered into training as a flying cadet when the United States entered the Second World War in 1941 . Ordered to the South Pacific , Second Lieutenant Roddenberry flew missions against enemy strongholds . In all , he took part in approximately 89 missions and sorties , on one occasion surviving a serious crash upon take - off . He was decorated with the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal . His pilot days were a source of pride for Roddenberry and , with the exception of Harold Livingston , he famously got along well with others who shared a similar background . It was in the South Pacific where he first began writing . He sold stories to flying magazines , and later poetry to publications , including " The New York Times " . When the war ended , he joined the Pan American World Airways . During this time , he also studied literature at Columbia University . Roddenberry married his first wife , Eileen Anita Rexroat on in community of property , the latter of which to haunt Roddenberry for the remainder of his life . The marriage turned out to be a very unhappy one , in no small part due to Roddenberry ' s notorious philandering , both real and imagined . He continued flying until he saw television for the first time . Correctly estimating television ' s future , he realized this new medium would need writers . He acted immediately , he went to Hollywood . He left his flying career behind , a decision aided by a 1947 incident , when Roddenberry ' s Pan Am airplane crashed in the Syrian Desert , leaving only him and seven others surviving . ( ; " The Star Trek Compendium " , p . 7 ) Although the accident really happened , Roddenberry largely exaggerated it in later life , claiming that he single - handedly rescued the survivors from the wreckage , fought raiding Arab tribesmen , and walked across the desert to the nearest phone and called for help . The tale as recounted by Roddenberry was reminiscent of events depicted in the 1965 movie " The Flight of the Phoenix " . ( " " , 1997 , p . 14 ) Television . Roddenberry arrived in Hollywood only to find television industry still in its infancy , with few openings for inexperienced writers . He joined the Los Angeles Police Department . While working his way up the LAPD ranks , he wrote his first script in . Later he sold scripts to shows such as " Goodyear Theater " , " The Kaiser Aluminum Hour " , " Four Star Theater " , " Dragnet " , " The Jane Wyman Theater " , and " Naked City " . Established as a writer , Sergeant Roddenberry turned in his badge and became a full - time writer in , much against the wishes of his wife Eileen , who preferred the steady income of a public servant to support a family of four , as two daughters had entered into the fray by that time . ( " " , p . 141 ) Three years later , on 13 February 1959 , Roddenberry established his production company Norway Corporation , through which he from here on end handled his business and legal dealings with the motion picture industry . Roddenberry , hired young attorney Leonard Maizlish , to handle the legal aspects of his production company . From now on Roddenberry ' s life - long attorney , Maizlish was yet to have his presence felt on " Star Trek " . At a later point in time Roddenberry also hired newly graduated Mort Kessler to handle the accountancy and taxation aspects for both himself as private person , as well as for his businesses . In the process Morton became a close family friend of Roddenberry and his second wife Majel , and their son Rod , for whom Kessler continued to provide his services after Roddenberry had passed away , until his own retirement . ( " Trek Nation " ) In , Roddenberry began producing his first television series , " The Lieutenant " at MGM . " The Lieutenant " co - starred Gary Lockwood , and included many future " Star Trek " - alumni in guest roles , such as Leonard Nimoy , future wife Majel Barrett , Nichelle Nichols , James Gregory , Leslie Parrish and Madlyn Rhue . However , the series lasted only one season , and was canceled in the spring of . It was during this period in time that Roddenberry started his illicit affair with Majel Barret . ( " Star Trek Memories " , p . 14 ) Already known of having marital problems as well as having been a " ladies man " with the LAPD secretarial staff during his police days , which otherwise remained unsubstantiated ( " " , pp . 123 , 163 ) , Roddenberry concurrently started a romantic affair with Nichols , who in her own words therefore became " the other woman to the other woman " . Save for Barrett , the Nichols - Roddenberry pair kept their relationship a closely guarded secret ( though not closely enough as rumors of his romantic dalliances , " including " the one he had with Nichols , abounded on the " Original Series " stages throughout the entire production run , as related in the reference book , " " ) , because of the possible impact their interracial relationship could have had on Roddenberry ' s career . Ultimately , Nichols decided to break off the relationship at the start of the " Original Series " , in order to make room for Barrett as well as falling in love with another man herself , even though Roddenberry wanted to continue an " open " relationship with both women at the same time . Nichols remained close friends with Roddenberry , and out of respect for him , did not came forward with the particulars until after his death . ( " Beyond Uhura " , pp . 130 - 133 ) " Star Trek " . When " The Lieutenant " ended , Roddenberry began planning for his next series , a science fiction - adventure show entitled " Star Trek " . He wrote his series proposal , " Star Trek is . . . " , in . Initially proposed for MGM , the studio , although initially enthusiastic , refused to buy it . ( " The Star Trek Compendium " , p . 10 ) Finally Roddenberry sold his by now dubbed " Wagon Train To The Stars " - pitch idea to Oscar Katz and Herb Solow of Desilu in early . The in lore later famed exact phrase was actually coined by Writer Samuel A . Peeples ( an acquaintance from Roddenberry ' s earlier television days ) shortly before the Desilu pitch occasion , not Roddenberry , who had called it " a " Wagon Train " concept " , but typically , was by him appropriated as his own nevertheless . ( " " , 1st ed , pp . 21 - 25 , 28 - 32 ; " " , 1997 , pp . 15 - 16 ) It was Katz who accompanied " mumbling exotic " Roddenberry , as Solow had typified him , in late April 1964 to the pitch he had arranged at television network CBS , Katz ' s former employer , shortly after Desilu had bought Roddenberry ' s premise . However , on that occasion , Katz took a backseat and an awkward and hopelessly unprepared Roddenberry , left to his own devices , seriously bumbled his presentation . " " Somebody said you could dress Gene in a tailored suit and five minutes later he ' d look like a saggy , baggy elephant . " " , soon - to - be collaborator D . C . Fontana said of Roddenberry , not without affection . ( " " , 1st ed , p . 28 ) Much later , Katz himself recalled the meeting as " frosty " , " " We were in a dining room with six or seven executives , one of whom questioned us rather closely about what we were going to do with the show . We answered his questions and it turned out that his interest was due to the fact that they were developing a science fiction show of their own . " " ( " " ) Much to the later chagrin of Roddenberry , who felt that his brain had been picked , this show turned out to be ' s " Lost in Space " . Unsurprisingly , CBS was not interested , as ABC had previously been due to the fact that they already had another Allen science fiction show , " Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea " , in development themselves . The pilots . Dismayed , as CBS represented the best chance " Star Trek " had , due to the network ' s longstanding relationship with Desilu ( CBS aired Ball ' s own " I Love Lucy " show ) , Solow subsequently took over after being informed of this . He thoroughly groomed , prepared , and coached Roddenberry for his next , very last - chance , meeting with NBC the following month , as well as taking an active part in the presentation . Additionally , Solow instructed Roddenberry to keep quiet when not required to speak ( which , given Roddenberry ' s predilection to the contrary , was excruciating for him ) , as NBC was wary due to their previous dealings with Roddenberry on " The Lieutenant " , and , most notably , to drop the " Wagon Train To The Stars " pitch - line Roddenberry had used on the previous pitching occasions . This eventually resulted in success , but " " ( i ) t was Herb ' s tenacity and Herb ' s presentation that sold the series . " " , as NBC executive Jerry Stanley later conceded . Yet , the first pilot , , was rejected by NBC , pronounced " too cerebral " as famously coined by Roddenberry later on , even though he was not even allowed to attend the pilot ' s presentation ( nor did he ever meet NBC management in person again after the original pitch ) . This should have been the end of " Star Trek " there and then , but , in a for the industry hitherto unprecedented move , the network ordered a second pilot , which eventually led to the series being picked up by them . ( " " , 1997 , pp . 13 - 23 ) In 1965 , after " The Cage " and before he started on the second " Star Trek " pilot , Roddenberry also produced two other pilots for Desilu : " The Long Hunt of April Savage " , a western created by Sam Rolfe , starring Robert Lansing , and produced and co - wrote " Police Story " , featuring DeForest Kelley , Grace Lee Whitney , directed by Vincent McEveety , with music by Alexander Courage . However , neither of them were picked up to become a series , though " April Savage " came close as network ABC actually picked up the series , but decided to cancel the series after all , before regular series production was slated to begin . Season One . After the second " Star Trek " pilot was picked up by NBC , Roddenberry entered into a formal contract with Desilu on 18 May 1965 where it was specified that he was entitled , besides his regular salary , to 26⅔ % of the net profits derived from the series , which , as it turned , were not to materialize for him personally in the coming two decades . However , neither Roddenberry nor " Star Trek " were out of the woods yet . Unexpectedly confronted with the production of three expensive television properties , which aside from " Star Trek " and " April Savage " also included " " , all of them brought in by Katz and Solow ( who were specifically hired to do so , in order to safeguard the future existence of the ailing studio ) , where there had only been one before , the " I Love Lucy " show , the conservative board of directors feared , not unjustified , that the small studio would financially overstretch itself . Vigorously defended by Solow ( who wisely had left Roddenberry out of the meeting as the latter had seriously bumbled his " Star Trek " pitch to network CBS two years earlier , but who firmly believed in the show ) , and despite the fact that " Star Trek " was ordered by NBC , the entire Desilu board virtually unanimously voted to cancel " Star Trek " in February 1966 nevertheless . Yet , as Chairwoman of the Board , Lucille Ball had the power to override her board , and this she did with a mere nod of her head towards Solow . " " That was all Star Trek needed , " " as author Marc Cushman had succinctly put it , " " A nod of Lucille Ball . " " ( " " , 1st ed , pp . 32 , 94 ) One of the nay - sayers on the board , studio accountant Edwin " Ed " Holly , later conceded , " " If it were not for Lucy , there would be no ' Star Trek ' today . " " Ironically , the fears of the board were somewhat allayed by the subsequent cancellation of " April Savage " . For all intents and purposes , and contrary to widely held beliefs in " Star Trek " - lore , this was factually the very first time that the " Original Series " came exceedingly close to cancellation . Once on the air however , " Star Trek " developed a loyal following . Much later , influenced by a fan write - in campaign , NASA even named its prototype space shuttle " Enterprise " , in recognition of the ship that Roddenberry conceived for the series . Having already vigorously worked the press for months to raise awareness for the new series , Roddenberry , one week before the regular series started its run on television , in person presented his creation to the general public at the 1 – 5 September 1966 " " in Cleveland , Ohio , promoting the new " Star Trek " series , as well as presenting the audiences the first two pilot episodes for the series , " The Cage " ( uncut original version ) and " Where No Man Has Gone Before " ( revised version , as this episode was already slated to air ) . It was there that Roddenberry discovered his knack for showmanship , as he – in complete contradiction to his dealings with studio and network " suits " – , quickly established a rapport with audiences , not few of them ( such as Allan Asherman , Isaac Asimov ( famously shushed - up by Roddenberry when the former turned out to be a bit too rambunctious at the presentation ) , as well as John and Bjo Trimble , the latter two yet to play a role of note later on ) becoming " Trekkie s " soon thereafter . Much later Roddenberry had admitted to stage fright , " " I was nervous , particularly when I saw them watching other films that were shown before , and stomping and laughing . " " However , there was no laughing and stomping during his showing , and Asherman recalled being whispered to by one of the attendees , " " He did say this was for television , didn ' t he ? " " Met with a stunned silence , Roddenberry continued , " " I finally got to my feet and said , " Is anybody going to say whether they like it or not ? " , and it was only afterward that the applause began . " " However , Roddenberry did also add , " " I remember calling up the studio and saying , " I really think we may have something here , " and the studio ' s reaction was , " Well , so a thousand goofs who go to science fiction convention like it ? That means nothing in television . " " The only person he could have possibly called at the time was his boss Herb Solow ( Katz was already fired by Desilu ) , the very same person who had saved his creation from cancellation in the first place , only a half year previously . Having made his recollections in 1988 and exemplary for his predilection to " embellish " events to his own advantage , Roddenberry ' s parting remark was an intentional slight of Solow , who , understandably , was not amused when informed . ( " The Star Trek Interview Book " ; " The Star Trek Compendium " , 1993 , pp . 1 - 3 ) Nevertheless , Roddenberry ' s ability to establish a , to most accounts , genuine , warm rapport with fans served him well in the years to come . Having attended multiple " Star Trek " conventions in his boyhood , Raphael Sbarge later recalled having witnessed Roddenberry give a lecture at one such event ; " " During his speech he said something like , ' One day we ' ll be able to go out , get any movie we want , put it in our television and watch it at will . ' I remember thinking , ' My God , how does he know these things ? He ' s so amazing . ' Here was this man who conceived all this and is someone who touched people ' s imaginations in a very profound way . " " ( " TV Zone " , Special # 29 , pp . 26 - 27 ) By late November 1966 , when the first season production was nearing its end , studio and Roddenberry were led to believe that " Star Trek " was not doing well in the ratings by a chagrined NBC , and Roddenberry sensed the possibility of a cancellation in the air . He discussed the matter with Harlan Ellison ( with whom he was still on good terms at that time ) and together , both men decided upon a campaign to save " Star Trek " . Ellison organized " The Committee " , an advisory group of the foremost science fiction writers of the time through which a letter - campaign was organized . Science fiction fans ( general , not specifically Trekkies alone ) started to write in , and a veritable contemporary who ' s who of science fiction made their favorable opinions known in numerous publications , chief amongst them , renowned author Isaac Asimov , with whom Roddenberry would strike up an enduring friendship , stemming from this period . On 9 March 1967 , a NBC announcer broadcast over the closing titles of that , " " Star Trek will be back in the fall . And please don ' t write any more letters . " " Thus was born the myth in " Star Trek " - lore that a letter campaign had saved the series for the first time . Actually , NBC had already decided to continue with the series before the campaign had even gathered steam , and Herb Solow had always been doubtful that the letter campaign had anything to do with this . He was informed by his former NBC colleagues that the network was fully aware that the relatively modest campaign was organized and artificial , and was merely considered a nuisance as the network had a standing policy to answer each and every letter sent to them . Reassured by some of his former colleagues , sincerely or not , that NBC was proud to air " Star Trek " , Solow could not get his suspicion confirmed that the decision was inspired by NBC ' s holding company RCA , which was selling color television sets at the time and who had commissioned the A . C . Nielsen Company ( the rating company ) to investigate the popularity of these sets among the public . " Star Trek " was still one of the few full color television series being aired at the time . ( " " , 1997 , pp . 299 - 307 ) The networks policy of answering each and every letter however , was to come back in full force to bite them in the behind not too long afterwards . Initially , Roddenberry served as the sole line producer on " Star Trek " , working with associate producers Robert Justman and John D . F . Black . Aside from producing the series , Roddenberry was responsible for most of the rewriting done on scripts , which was necessary for getting stories into shape and merging them into the " Star Trek " format , as most writers weren ' t familiar with the series and its unique concept at the beginning . Justman described Roddenberry as actually being a much better re - writer than writer . Yet , many writers and even Black , whose script for got rewritten without asking for his permit , got awry with Roddenberry for what they considered to be a butchering of their work . However , most famous became his decades long feud with Harlan Ellison , who only months earlier had helped Roddenberry with the first " Save " Star Trek " " campaign , over the rewrites of his episode , arguably the most famous " Star Trek " episode of them all . ( " " , " " ) After Black ' s departure from the series in , Roddenberry , unable to cope with the demands of serving as sole producer and re - writer , hired Gene L . Coon to serve as line producer and stepped back to the position of executive producer . While still largely overseeing production and occasionally doing re - writes , most of the re - writing was now Coon ' s responsibility . Under Coon ' s watch , the series developed into what is now considered the classic " Star Trek " formula ( including the introduction of such concepts as the United Federation of Planets , the Prime Directive and , most notably , the Klingon s ) , and also diverged into more light - hearted action - adventure than Roddenberry ' s dramatic approach . ( " " , " " , " " ) In mid - season two , Coon left the series , mainly because of his dispute with Roddenberry ( but equally due to his impending burnout ) , who disliked his new , more comical approach to the series , and was replaced by John Meredyth Lucas . Season Two . On 27 July 1967 , the acquirement of Desilu by Gulf + Western was formalized , and the studio was absorbed into Paramount Pictures to become Paramount Television . The new owners considered cancellation of " Star Trek " , which was in the pre - production stage of season two , but decided to push ahead as the season was already ordered by NBC . Still , near the conclusion of that season , cancellation was made definitive by NBC nevertheless . However , and much to the dismay of NBC , it found itself subsequently and suddenly confronted with a public outcry in the form of the famed , massive letter campaign , complemented by a deluge of phone - ins and unusually large picket - lines at both the New York City headquarters , and the Burbank , California , location , the likes of which , no network or studio had ever been confronted with before ( years later , it turned out that the cancellation was an East Coast decision , the West Coast actually wanted to continue with " Star Trek " ) . The ultimate saving of " Star Trek " constituted the by Roddenberry secretly funded and coordinated letter - writing campaign , initiated by Bjo Trimble and her husband in late - and early - , which succeeded in making a shell - shocked NBC buckle and to renew , albeit reluctantly , " Star Trek " for a third season . Ironically , the funding Roddenberry provided , was not even his own ; He managed to claim the money as business expenses from the studio . For decades , network and public were led to believe that it was a spontaneous action organized by Trekkies , but Justman and Solow debunked the " spontaneous " nature of the campaign in their book " Inside Star Trek : The Real Story " . Roddenberry – with Trimble and his future wife Majel Barrett – also founded Lincoln Enterprises in 1967 , which specialized in selling " Star Trek " memorabilia to fans . Years later , in 2004 , Bjo Trimble has stated , " " Actually , John & Bjo Trimble set up the original Lincoln Enterprises . Neither Gene nor Majel had any idea how to set up a mail - order business , while the Trimbles have put together several such businesses . At Creation Grand Slam , Eugene Roddenberry acknowledged our efforts with a big hug & thanks . He is very like his father , who also believed in big bear hugs . " " , having added to Herb Solow that Roddenberry founded the company in order to " . . . give Majel something to do . " ( " " , 1997 , p . 400 ) One such memorabilia was unused , spliced up clips from the series ' original 35mm film trims , which was taken by Roddenberry from the Desilu vaults . Solow was especially angered by this , accusing Roddenberry with stealing studio property for his own gain . ( " " , 1997 , pp . 400 - 401 ) This actually was somewhat circumferentially hinted at by Majel Barret herself , when she later stated in a 1993 , with half - truths interlaced , interview , " " Lincoln has been in existence for probably almost a hundred years . It was originally Lincoln Publishing and it was owned by another gentleman many , many years before . His attorney was Leonard Maislich " [ sic . ] " . For some reason or another he gave the incorporation to Leonard . I don ’ t know how it basically happened , but it really belonged to Leonard Maislich until he gave it to me in the early eighties . It [ Lincoln ] was merely set up for Gene to handle fan mail for Star Trek . " " ( " Strange New Worlds " magazine , issue 10 , Oct / Nov 1993 ) No records of a " hundred years " old " Lincoln Publishing " are known to exist and the " gentleman " in question was actually Roddenberry himself as Maizlish had been his life - long attorney . By transferring title to his attorney ( who had somehow managed to antedate the company ' s establishing date to 6 April 1962 through proxy Mort Kessler – hence Barrett ' s " has been in existence for probably almost a hundred years " remark ) , Roddenberry had thrown up a smokescreen if the studio ever decided to pursue the matter legally , which however , they never did . As already implied by Trimble and Barrett themselves , there was another , personal reason as well to proceed in this matter , as it was also meant to hide the Lincoln revenues from Roddenberry ' s soon - to - be ex - wife Eileen as well . It was for these reasons why Lincoln Enterprises was " not " established as a subsidiary of Roddenberry ' s official production company Norway Corporation , but as a separate entity , and also explaining why the early , original short - lived company name " Star Trek Enterprises " was changed to " Lincoln Enterprises " . Unsurprisingly , and not entirely unjustified , as the original Roddenberry couple was still legally married at the time of the incorporation of Lincoln Enterprises , Eileen later found out , and sued all involved parties for damages , resulting in that Maizlish was actually found guilty of " conspiracy to commit fraud " for his part in the deception , though it assessed no punitive damages against him . Kessler , incidentally , settled out - of - court with Eileen . Even staunch Roddenberry supporter Trimble could not refrain herself from calling Roddenberry a " conniver " at one point , though she had been quick to add that connivers succeed in Hollywood , and that she had always found him charming . Testament to Roddenberry ' s renowned amiable side of his character , the latter sentiment was shared by countless others . Season Three and cancellation . After " Star Trek " was saved from cancellation and the third season was commenced , Roddenberry promised to return to the show as line producer , if NBC promised him a new , more family - oriented timeslot of Mondays 7 : 30PM , but threatened to pull out if the network did not do so . Roddenberry grossly overestimated his value as perceived by network and studio , and since he did not possess the political and diplomatic skills – nor would he ever have – to deal with upper network or studio echelons ( Herb Solow had always ran interference for Roddenberry and the network and studio , but the former had left the production by now ) , the network was only too happy to call his bluff . When the network finally doomed " Star Trek " to the " graveyard slot " of Fridays 10PM , Roddenberry , having stated at the time to a newspaper , " " If the network wants to kill us , it couldn ' t make a better move . " " ( " Toledo Blade " , 15 August 1968 ) and his bluff gone awry , felt that he had no choice but to back out from the series . With Fred Freiberger serving as line producer , Roddenberry – while keeping his title and salary of executive producer – relocated his office to the far side of the former Desilu lot ( as it was now the Paramount lot ) , and , despite the written promise he had made to the cast and production staff on 28 March 1968 to the contrary , recused himself entirely from managing the show in its third and last year , having completely lost heart according to Solow and Justman . Justman said that the decline of script quality was mainly due to the fact that " the Roddenberry touch " was gone . Exemplary of this was that Roddenberry could no longer be bothered to read or revise scripts , which he had done so vigorously in the previous two seasons , often to the chagrin of writers . He did made half - hearted efforts to make himself available , but only when Freiberger and the other producers specifically sought out his advise . However , sensing his non - commitment , even that little decreased significantly as the season progressed . Justman in particular felt deeply disappointed by Roddenberry , feeling that he was one of the few staffers left , alongside Gregg Peters , Edward K . Milkis and , to a lesser degree , Leonard Nimoy and Gene Coon ( who had returned on an occasional basis as writer only ) , to continue being the " keepers of the flame " . Unlike so many others , including , somewhat hypocritically , Roddenberry himself , Justman has never faulted Freiberger or his writing staff , as they were entirely new to " Star Trek " , genuinely doing what they could under difficult circumstances ( arguably in retaliation for the letter campaign , the studio and network had considerably slashed the production budget to a level Solow felt the series could no longer be produced at , leaving the production in protest because of it ) , but has cited Roddenberry ' s defection , as the direct cause for him leaving the series exhausted himself , shortly before the end of the production . ( " " ) NBC canceled " Star Trek " in February 1969 definitely . Production on the series ceased in June of that year , leaving the entire production at US $ 4 . 7 million in debt . ( " " , p . 399 ) This time around there was no letter campaign of any significance , no picketing , no anything of the kind , not even a wrap party , only a small subdued get - together when the very last episode , , wrapped , after which cast and crew simply faded away . Charged with the post - production editing of the last episodes , Ed Milkis was the very last senior production staffer left on the otherwise empty lot . ( " " , 1997 , pp . 413 - 414 ) By that time and already contracted in July 1968 , Roddenberry had deserted " Star Trek " completely , having left months earlier and was fully engaged in writing the scripts for two proposed " Tarzan " movies for production company , even having gone for an extended stay in Mexico to scout for locations , though he was still on the payroll of Paramount Television . ( " " , 1997 , p . 406 ) His 168 - page " Tarzan " script would have seen a return to the original source material by having the story take place in the Victorian era , but also featuring " tasteful " nudity and sex , which he felt were " important to the mythos " . The project was canceled before casting was even considered . Still his notion for the Victorian age setting was later adopted for the acclaimed , multi - award nominated 1984 movie " Greystoke : The Legend of Tarzan , Lord of the Apes " . Though " Star Trek " - lore has it that Roddenberry staunchly held on to his complete faith in his creation , this was , aside from him deserting the third season , further contradicted during the divorce proceedings from his wife , as it showcased the despondency he felt over the apparent failure of his creation . The considerable level of his despondency was evidenced by the fact that he , during the proceedings , offered to sell Eileen his share of " Star Trek " for US $ 1 , 000 in exchange for waiving the rights of any and all revenues from future projects Roddenberry might embark on . Eileen declined , astonishingly perhaps in hindsight , but understandable at the time as the " Original Series " was not to turn in a profit for the coming decades , that is , for Roddenberry at least . Even as late as 1972 , Roddenberry reiterated the offer to his by now ex - wife in a subsequent alimony hearing , but again she declined . Represented by Maizlish , Roddenberry ' s divorce was finalized in July 1969 . Roddenberry actually had already left the couple ' s house the year previously , on 9 August 1968 , a mere two weeks after the first marriage of their daughter Darleen . In effect , he had planned to divorce his wife even earlier , but postponed that action as he felt that he would not have enough time and energy to deal with both the divorce and the production of " Star Trek " , which had been renewed for a second season . ( " " , pp . 352 - 353 ) After " Star Trek " was canceled , Paramount Television wanted to sell Roddenberry all rights and title to the series for US $ 100 , 000 - $ 150 , 000 in 1970 , but he , knee - deep steeped in the fallout of his bitter " and " costly divorce from Eileen , was nowhere near able to raise this amount on his own . It was around that time that Paramount discovered that Roddenberry was selling " Star Trek " merchandise through Lincoln Enterprises , which was formally an illegal endeavor , as he simply did not own the brand . Yet , both parties struck a deal , which allowed Roddenberry to continue in return of a percentage of the sales , as Paramount also started to realize that their " Star Trek " property was not a too bad one to have after all . Not yet having a well oiled " Star Trek " marketing machine of their own , Lincoln Enterprises suited the studio well in raising the awareness of their increasingly profitable " Star Trek " brand . ( " " , p . 2 ; " " , p . 220 ) For " Star Trek " s 25th anniversary , two months before his death , Roddenberry gave " TV Guide " a list of his top ten favorite episodes . One might assume that these most clearly represented his vision of what " Star Trek " should be : Other works . After the original " Star Trek " had ended , and the " Tarzan " project had failed , Roddenberry ventured on numerous subsequent projects , virtually all of them turning out to be failures . Hired by his former Desilu boss Herb Solow ( who was fond of Roddenberry , but could not abide with his antics when it interfered with production ) , he produced and wrote the screenplay for ' s , lukewarmly received , 1971 MGM film , " Pretty Maids All in a Row " , which featured James Doohan , William Campbell , and his daughter Dawn Roddenberry in the cast . Solow arranged for Roddenberry a hitherto unheard - of writer ' s fee of US $ 100 , 000 dollar . However , as producer , Roddenberry was woefully inept in controlling the antics of director Vadim , causing the production to run both over - time and over - budget . It further marred his reputation as producer , and it came back later to haunt him . " Pretty Maids " was the first of only two major theatrical motion pictures Roddenberry ever worked on . ( " " , 2nd ed , p 420 ) The favor Solow provided Roddenberry , by arranging his , for the times , substantial writer ' s fee , came as a godsend for the Roddenberry / Barrett couple , as they were now down on their luck , eking out a meager existence through the Lincoln Enterprises memorabilia sales , supplemented by " Star Trek " convention s attendance fees only , and also explaining why Roddenberry made the second offer to sell his ex - wife his share in " Star Trek " . At the time Roddenberry faced a US $ 2 , 000 monthly alimony obligation , as well as a mortgage . ( " " , p . 140 ) Roddenberry had himself stated in an interview , " " For a couple of years our only income was lecture fees I got from colleges where kids still loved " Star Trek " , even though it was not a commercial success . " " In 1973 , he wrote and produced a science fiction pilot entitled , which featured Mariette Hartley , Ted Cassidy , Percy Rodriguez and his now - wife , Majel in the cast , costumes by William Ware Theiss , and was photographed by Jerry Finnerman . It was not picked up as a series , and a year later Roddenberry made another pilot out of the same idea , titled . This time Robert Justman served as producer , Marc Daniels as director , and the cast included Diana Muldaur , Ted Cassidy , Majel Barrett , Craig Hundley , Patricia Smith , and again costumes by Theiss . However , this pilot wasn ' t picked up by the network either , nor was its final variant , the 1975 pilot . Concurrently in 1973 , Roddenberry made another failed sci - fi pilot , " The Questor Tapes " , which starred Robert Foxworth as an android , Questor , searching for his origins and creator . The pilot was directed by Richard Colla and also featured Majel Barrett and Walter Koenig . It was co - written by fellow " Star Trek " producer Gene L . Coon . " The Questor Tapes " was not picked up as a series , although its basic concept was reworked into the character of Data in " Star Trek : The Next Generation " . Actually , Foxworth ' s lead role was promised by Roddenberry to Leonard Nimoy , but overruled by the studio , Roddenberry failed to inform Nimoy of this , who had to learn this from a third party . Nimoy , already preparing for the role , never forgave Roddenberry for this and the already strained relationship between the two men , which had started amicably enough at the beginning of " The Original Series " , accelerated its decent in animosity . It was an example of Roddenberry ' s recurrent character flaw of being unable to be the bearer of bad news , which Robert Justman and David Gerrold , among others , were to be confronted with as well . ( " " , 1997 , p 420 ) Before returning to " Trek " , Roddenberry made a fourth unsuccessful TV pilot , " Spectre " in 1977 , about a detective involved in witchcraft and other occult phenomena . This pilot was co - written by Samuel A . Peeples , again featuring Majel Barrett , and which again demonstrated that Roddenberry has never shied away from nepotism . Despite the failure of " Genesis II " and " The Questor Tapes " , both productions earned its creator a 1974 and 1975 Hugo Award nomination in the category Best Dramatic Presentation respectively nevertheless , the latter shared with Coon and Colla . The series that was and was not . Former " Original Series " writer D . C . Fontana reported in the fanzine " Star - Borne " of that , " " Paramount . . . [ is ] enormously impressed by the quantity ( and quality ) of fan mail they continue to receive . The possibility seems to be slowly developing of a Star Trek feature movie for theatrical release , aimed at becoming the new Star Trek television pilot . . . on the network front , NBC still expresses great interest in doing Star Trek in some form . Both NBC and Paramount continue to receive a great deal of mail and have had to assign secretaries for the sole job of answering it . " " NBC ' s surprising complete turnaround ( as it were they who had canceled the live - action precursor in 1969 , purportedly for poor ratings performance ) not only stemmed from the spectacular resurgence of the " Original Series " in syndication , but also from its own accounting department . Shortly before Fontana ' s report , NBC had replaced its old Nielsen rating system with a new and updated one . When they ran the original " Original Series " figures through their new system they found out much to their surprise that it had not only reached full penetration into their most coveted target audience , the male population between 18 and 45 , but also that the series had been one of the most successful series , the network had ever aired . The sickening realization hit upon the dismayed network executives , that they had slaughtered the goose that laid the golden eggs , something that every " Star Trek " fan at the time could have told them , and which they actually had done in the first place . Hurriedly approaching Roddenberry to see if the series could be revitalized , turned out to be unfeasible , as Paramount had only a few months earlier cleared out their warehouses from the vast majority of the remaining " Star Trek " production assets , they either being scrapped , given away or simply stolen . Recreating them , calculated at US $ 750 , 000 , was deemed far too cost - prohibitive . It did however , lead to NBC ordering the creation of in 1973 . ( " Star Trek - Where No One Has Gone Before " , pp . 51 - 52 ) On that series Roddenberry officially served as " Executive Consultant " with Fontana as " Executive Producer " , but in practice both fulfilled the latter function . The series was however lukewarmly received at best by the fans , the animated format considered too far off the beaten track of its live - action progenitor as far as they were concerned . Even though the series received an Emmy Award , which its precursor had not , and due to the fact that NBC marketed the series as a children ' s program , it was already canceled after a one and a half seasons . Roddenberry came to agree with the fans and " officially " declared the series apocryphal , to be removed from canon at his own request in 1988 . Earlier that year , Roddenberry had already approached Paramount with the idea for a " Star Trek " ( live - action ) feature film , and in the following years the concept went through several revisions and various incarnations ( see : ) , from feature film to television movie to series , and back again . Yet , in 1976 , " Star Trek " creator Roddenberry was for the very first time purposely left out by the studio as an executive producer for a proposed movie project called , " " . This marked the first time that Roddenberry was effectively cut out in a creative role for a " Star Trek " production entirely , though Jon Povill kept him continuously abreast of the production by consulting with him . ( " " , p . 17 ; " " , p . 27 ) Even though that project did not come to fruition , it nevertheless , for Roddenberry at least , did foreshadow things to come . It turned out that it had been studio head Barry Diller who had insisted on leaving Roddenberry out ; two years previously , newly appointed Diller had approached Roddenberry for what turned out to be " The God Thing " movie project . Grossly overestimating his self importance , Roddenberry decided to play studio politics by holding out on him for the better part of six months , as he had become aware of the renewed interest in " Star Trek " of Diller ' s boss , Charles Bluhdorn , the highest executive of holding conglomerate Gulf + Western . Diller , newly appointed and not willing to affront his boss and his new found infatuation , played along – for the time being . However , by playing games with Diller , by all accounts a formidable executive himself , Roddenberry had arguably made the biggest assessment error in his career . Endowed with a long memory , a thoroughly antagonized Diller was not done with Roddenberry yet , not by a long shot . ( " The Keys to the Kingdom " , Chapters 2 , 5 ; " " , pp . 9 , 48 ) By , " Star Trek " was to become a television series again . Paramount attempted to launch a new series , tentatively titled " " , to be the " flagship " program for their planned television network . This time around , construction on the sets , costumes and studio model s was actually started , beginning in July , and the writers ' and directors ' guide was published in August . The original cast , except for Leonard Nimoy ( officially for reasons of not willing to commit to the strains of a weekly show , but in reality because of his strained relationship with Roddenberry ) , returned to reprise their roles , along with several new characters , such as Lt . Xon , who would be taking Spock ' s place , first officer Willard Decker , and navigator Lt . Ilia . As work was being finished on the sets and costumes , Paramount abandoned the plans for the new network , and eventually the new " Star Trek " series . Reportedly influenced by the success of " Star Wars " and " Close Encounters of the Third Kind " , they decided to turn the television series into . " The Motion Picture " and feature films . " The Motion Picture " began production in , on which Roddenberry served as producer with director Robert Wise as uncredited executive producer . Production time and costs went highly over the expected , largely exceeding the pre - calculated budget , ending up with the final number of US $ 44 - $ 45 million , which made " The Motion Picture " the second most expensive film at the time , after . Former Paramount studio executive Jeffrey Katzenberg described the project as " a runaway train " . ( " " ) Despite earning US $ 82 million in domestic gross revenue , the total gross came as a disappointment to the studio , considering the over - budget costs incurred . In one respect Gene Roddenberry was undoubtedly responsible for the over - budget expenditures , which largely stemmed from his incessant and increasingly vicious battles with the aforementioned Harold Livingston , together with Robert Goodwin the by Barry Diller appointed line - producers ( already for " Phase II " with the express intent to keep Roddenberry on a tight leash , and over the by him preferred Robert Justman ) , made responsible for the script . Unable to let go of his vision of " Star Trek " – of which he was now zealously protective – and stubbornly adhering to storylines he himself , and nobody else , had conceived , Roddenberry was almost from the start at loggerheads with Livingston , resulting in a continuous series of increasingly vicious battles over story outline and script rewrites and re - rewrites , often performed surreptitiously by Roddenberry . The ongoing creative battle lasted for almost two years and proved to be particularly detrimental to the production , aside from entirely destroying the relationship between the two men . Having resigned no less than three times from the production , Livingston had later tersely stated on the occasion of his first departure , " " By the time I left , Gene and I were ready to kill one another . I couldn ' t stand the son of a bitch , so I left . " " However , by early October 1978 , Wise ( thoroughly fed up with the production delays due to Roddenberry ' s inability to turn in a completed script ) , Shatner , Nimoy , and Katzenberg staged , what can only be described as a coup , and effectively removed Roddenberry from creative control , which was entirely handed over to the recently reappointed Livingston . From there on end , Roddenberry was executive producer in name only . ( " Star Trek Movie Memories " , 1995 , pp . 67 , 97 , 105 - 111 ) While many other and more prominent factors interplayed with the overexeeded costs as well , publicly , the studio solely blamed Roddenberry – considered a thorn in their side since the days of " The Original Series " – for the failure , which provided a good opportunity for them to remove him from creative ( movie ) control once and for all . The studio publicity tactics , effectively deflecting any costs responsibility from themselves and Director Wise , worked like a charm ; For the remainder of his life , the US $ 45 million " Motion Picture " price - tag stuck to Roddenberry ' s name like glue , as no sentence mentioning both him and the film was ever published without having the figure also quoted in the very same sentence . Yet , not everyone bought into the studio line , as Roddenberry was not without his staunch supporters , like the author couple Judith and Garfield Reeves - Stevens , who have claimed in their reference book " The Art of Star Trek " ( p . 156 ) that , " " ( T ) o be fair , the movie itself cost only $ 25 million to make . The extra $ 20 million or so represented all the cost Paramount had occurred over the years on all the other STAR TREK projects that were not made . " " As Reeves - Stevens ' " 25 million " were already taken up by the visual effects production and set construction alone , their statement should be considered as manipulative as those of the studio , albeit on the opposite end of the spectrum . ( see : ) In what can be described as a ploy to tie - in the fan base as well as to defang Roddenberry , the studio gave him a contract , his own office and the formal title of " Executive Consultant " for the subsequent five , which meant that directors and creative staff could ask for his opinion on the projects , but his advice was not needed to be taken . Whether or not Roddenberry realized it at the time , by signing this contract , his creation was effectively taken away from him ; Barry Diller finally had his pound of flesh . From the start , Roddenberry spent his time by incessantly writing unsolicited story outlines ( over time he became increasingly single - minded , fixated on a time travel story involving the Kennedy assassination ) , script drafts , annotations , memos and the like , no one ever really read ( but inundating the offices of subsequent production teams nevertheless ) , and continuously trying to reintegrate himself with the creative development of the subsequent five " Star Trek " films , only to be ignored by the studio and production staff alike . David Gerrold typified his new position as " an emeritus status " , but added that he was concurrently from now on considered by the industry as " a has - been " . ( " " ) And indeed , none of the directors and producers actually consulted for real with Roddenberry regarding their projects , especially Producer Harve Bennett ( who loathed Roddenberry , but who became quite adept at routinely answering Roddenberry ' s memo tsunamis with noncommittal replies on auto - pilot ) and Director Nicholas Meyer ( with whom Roddenberry had a vicious run - in shortly before his death , over perceived racism in regard to the Klingon s in . ) , both responsible for the three most successful outings of the " Original Crew " films , , and " The Undiscovered Country " , which were the ones , somewhat unsurprisingly , that were most vehemently , but unsuccessfully , resisted by Roddenberry . While acknowledging this state of affairs as " speculation " , an opposing view was again proffered by the Reeves - Stevens ' author couple , who have stated in their book " " ( p . 3 ) that , " " ( t ) he real reason for Paramount ' s concern about keeping Roddenberry tied to each " Star Trek " film was that every executive involved with the productions shared the maddening knowledge that no one had the slightest idea why " Star Trek " was a success . . . except Gene Roddenberry . Without his input , there was always the chance that the next movie wouldn ' t capture whatever it was that made " Star Trek " so enticing . " " While Roddenberry supporters Reeves - Stevens ' certainly did have a point where the studio executives themselves were concerned , their assertion was by he time of their writings already proven wrong by the directors , producers and screenwriters ( most notably Performer / Writer / Director Nimoy , who most definitely had a thorough understanding of what made " Star Trek " " tick " , arguably even more so than Roddenberry himself did ) of the subsequent five movies , all of them , save the by William Shatner co - written / directed , , highly successful and produced without any creative input from Roddenberry , and each of them actually opposed by him in varying degrees of vehemence . Roddenberry being put out to pasture , it effectively was the Nimoy - Bennet - Meyer triumvirate that became the keeper of the " Star Trek " movie flame in the decade following " The Motion Picture " . ( " Cinefantastique " , Vol 22 # 5 , pp . 39 - 42 ) Most ironically , it was the least successful one , Shatner ' s fifth movie , " The Final Frontier " , which approximated Roddenberry ' s atheistic world view the most and which was very reminiscent of his own 1975 original " The God Thing " movie script , heavily reworked later on to become " In Thy Image " , ultimately the basis for " The Motion Picture " . However , not being written by him personally , the movie was vehemently resisted by Roddenberry nonetheless , going even as far as having his attorney Maizlish prepare legal procedures against co - writer Shatner . Legal procedures did not materialize however – his movies deal stipulations simply did not allow for them – , but a thoroughly chagrined Roddenberry ordained the movie as being " apocryphal " , readily accepted by the more puritanical elements of " Star Trek " fandom . ( " Star Trek FAQ 2 . 0 " , chapter 13 ; " Star Trek Movie Memories " , 1995 , pp . 283 - 284 ) Richard Arnold , who was working at Roddenberry ' s office at the time , was present when the first story outline was delivered to Roddenberry as a FYI , later explaining to Shatner why Roddenberry reacted as he did , " " So when you came along , though it was years later , with very similar themes , Gene was really hurt . I think it hurt Gene ' s ego that you finally going to tell the story that he wanted to tell ten years earlier . You were about to succeed where he had failed . At the time , Gene ' s secretary , Susan was making matters worse by walking around the office stating things like " I can ' t believe it ! He stole your idea . Bill ' s an asshole . Bill ' s a bastard . " So that did not help , and additionally , I know there was a fairly legitimate concern on Gene ' s part that your sense of humor " [ remark : in regard to the way the secondary cast was eventually portrayed in the movie ] " was a little different than had ever been visualized before . " " While Susan Sackett ' s reaction might be construed as personally motivated , she actually had , in all fairness , a point ; Shatner himself has related how he had stumbled upon Roddenberry ten years earlier when the latter was busy writing " The God Thing " , and was on that occasion given a beat for beat expose on the story . Arguably , some of that may have had nestled in Shatner ' s subconscious . ( " Star Trek Movie Memories " , 1995 , pp . 46 - 49 , 289 - 291 ) Though Shatner had already implied as much in his memoirs , Arnold ' s remarks confirmed that Shatner had not communicated with Roddenberry even once , during the entire production of the movie . By the time " The Undiscovered Country " went into production , Roddenberry ' s stature within the movie franchise had whithered considerably , being only provided lip - service at best – that is , if people could be even bothered to make the effort at all – and was all - around considered a nuisance , to be lived with as an unfortunate fact of life , or as Richard Arnold has put the prevalent studio attitude at the time , " " We ' re happy to use your name and your creation , but don ' t call us , we ' ll call you . " " ( " Star Trek Movie Memories " , 1995 , p . 367 ) Exemplary of this was , when Roddenberry expressed concerns about turning Saavik in to a traitor in the movie , feeling that she had become a too beloved character in his universe . When informed of this , Director Meyer ( who had no love lost for Roddenberry ever since he came aboard for " Wrath of Khan " , which was so obtusely opposed by the former ) derisively remarked , " " I wrote the character of Saavik in " STAR TREK II " . That wasn ' t a Gene Roddenberry character . If he doesn ' t like what I ' m doing , maybe he should give the money he ' s [ making off my films ] back . Then maybe I ' ll care what he has to say . " " Without bothering to get back to Roddenberry , Meyer pushed ahead , but eventually changed the character after all , for reasons entirely unrelated to Roddenberry ' s concerns . ( " Cinefantastique " , Vol 22 # 5 , p . 31 ) Essentially " bumped upstairs " to become stuck in the studio ' s equivalent of the " Bermuda Triangle " , Roddenberry as " Star Trek " creator , was still compensated handsomely by the studio though , having profited little , if any , from " The Original Series " previously , save for the revenues stemming from memorabilia sales through Lincoln Enterprises and his " Star Trek " conventions attendance fees . ( " " ) Actually , around the time Roddenberry entered into the subsequent movies deal with Paramount ( a different one than his 1978 " Motion Picture " net profit sharing contract , itself revised from the 1965 " Original Series " contract , allowing for a possible new television series , that however never materialized ) , he was at loggerheads with the studio over the " Original Series " net profit sharing agreement . Previously , he had surrendered any and all legal title to " The Original Series " , save for his " Created By " - credit , in return for a full third of the profit made by that series through syndication , according to author James Van Hise . But by 1981 , Roddenberry was still led to believe by the studio that the " Original Series " was still deeply in the red by as much as US $ 1 million dollar – or US $ 500 , 000 by 1982 , again according to Van Hise ( " " , p . 58 ) – as supposedly " proven " by doctored account statements handed over to him . Roddenberry instructed his attorney Maizlish to start legal proceedings in order to be given access to Paramount ' s records , seemingly to no avail at the time . " " The greatest science fiction in show biz is in the accounting " " , Roddenberry declared chagrined , referring to the infamous " " industry phenomenon ( for a more detailed treatise on the phenomenon , please refer to Paramount Pictures : Footnote 2 ) . ( " " , issue 43 , p . 14 ) Roddenberry had justified reasons to be suspicious , as it seemed unlikely that the by " Variety " magazine of 2 December 1991 reported net syndication profit of US $ 78 million dollar in early 1987 was only realized in the intervening six years . While it was at the time unknown what the outcome of the legal proceedings were , it was very much conceivable that Roddenberry and the studio settled their " Original Series " accounts on that occasion , since it marked the first time that Roddenberry actually became affluent because of " Star Trek " ( or at all for that matter , as it also ended his hitherto tenuous personal financial situation ) , as was evidenced by the substantial estate that his wife Majel left upon her death in 2009 . That this had actually been the case , became apparent in the California Court of Appeal transcripts of 30 September 1994 , docket number B074848 , chronicling the ongoing battles between Roddenberry ( after his death , wife Majel and son Rod ) and his first wife Eileen , who for decades fought tooth and nail to claim half of all the " Star Trek " revenues . The document specified that Roddenberry received his very first " Original Series " US $ 850 , 000 profit distribution from Paramount in June 1984 , followed by disbursements of US $ 1 , 842 , 000 in February 1986 , US $ 780 , 000 in June 1986 , US $ 924 , 000 in January 1987 and US $ 945 , 000 in July 1987 . Of this amount Roddenberry transferred close to $ $ 2 million dollar to his ex - wife , withholding $ 750 , 000 , ostentatiously on behalf of their two daughters . Unsurprisingly , Eileen sued him for more ; to paraphrase Spock , the court transcripts made for " fascinating " reading . Incidentally , Eileen ' s case was decided on 16 April 1996 , when it was ruled that she was , and always had been , only entitled to half the revenues stemming from " The Original Series " , not those of any later " Star Trek " productions , and the court concluding that the decades - long proceedings had been a waste of time , by scathingly stating that " " ( t ) his is a case that should never have been " " . Norway Corporation was given a punitive award , payable to Eileen , as they only transfered the shortfall of the " Original Series " revenues a mere few days before the trial ' s start . However , before the ruling , the studio had from June 1988 until then , on the basis of previous lawsuits , split Roddenberry ' s profit share , including those for the movies and " The Next Generation " and transferred a full third directly to Eileen when making profit share disbursements ( having received a total of US $ 7 . 8 million dollar by January 1993 ) , and it has not become clear whether or not she had to restitute those pertaining to the movies and " Next Generation " , or that they were to be settled with the shortfall of those from the " Original Series " , of which she had only received a third . Roddenberry had already been dead for almost five years by the time of the final ruling . " The Next Generation " . In , with " Star Trek " s 20th anniversary coming soon , and hitting the theaters , then Paramount Television Group President Mel Harris decided it would be profitable to launch a brand new " Star Trek " series . Originally and obviously , studio executives wanted to create the series without Roddenberry ' s involvement , but eventually agreed that " Star Trek " creator Roddenberry should be on board for the project . There were two overriding reasons for resurrecting Roddenberry from the studio ' s " Bermuda Triangle " ; Firstly , long before the official announcement was made that a new " Star Trek " reincarnation was to be aired , word had already leaked out that this reincarnation was to feature an entirely new crew , and outraged " Trekkies " actually picketed the studio for what they perceived as blasphemy for even considering a " Star Trek " without the " Original Crew " , attracting media attention . Having Roddenberry aboard in an official capacity would at least allay some of their concerns . But secondly , and even more importantly , there were also legal issues to consider . While Roddenberry had surrendered all legal title to the original " Star Trek " , there was that one notable exception : his " created by " credit . No new " Star Trek " incarnation could ever be created without his consent in his lifetime . Not having him involved would have most assuredly resulted in his veto , and , contrary to the movies , this time he did indeed had a very strong legal base to block any and all development of a new " Star Trek " production . Simply put , the studio actually needed Roddenberry this time around . ( " " ) Roddenberry and his lawyer , Leonard Maizlish agreed on a deal with the studio , which included a " handsome share " for Roddenberry , according to Paramount Network Television President John S . Pike . Pike ' s " handsome share " consisted of a US $ 1 million dollar sign - on bonus , besides a considerable regularly salary , which consisted of US $ 9 , 000 per episode , multiplied for eight syndication runs , augmented with US $ 5 , 000 legal / administrative fee per episode for Norway Corporation . This amounted to US $ 77 , 000 per episode or over US $ 2 million per season . Additionally Roddenberry arranged a profit sharing deal , where it was stipulated that he was to receive 35 % of the adjusted gross ( not net as back in 1965 , thereby avoiding the " Hollywood accounting " trap ) profits derived from the series . Roddenberry celebrated his return to " Star Trek " by purchasing a new , US $ 100 , 000 Rolls - Royce . Incidentally , the studio declared " The Next Generation " " in the profit " on 21 January 1993 , after his death , and announced the start of profit distribution , followed by a US $ 6 . 8 million disbursement ( nicely conforming to the by Paramount President Brandon Tartikoff reported gross " Next Generation " profit of US $ 25 million in 1992 ) to Norway " and " Eileen Roddenberry the following month . ( " " ; " " , p . 220 ; " " , p . 155 ; ) Noted for his loyalty to co - workers he implicitly trusted ( already evidenced by his time and again hiring of actors he had worked with before , for his numerous projects over the past decades ) , Roddenberry , back again at the helm , was determined to bring back as many production staff members from " The Original Series " as possible to develop and produce the new show , which he had actually already intended to do , and partially did , on the ten years earlier , but ultimately abandoned " Phase II " television series . These included producers Robert Justman , Edward Milkis , as well as writers David Gerrold and D . C . Fontana , all of them brought in first by Roddenberry in to form the original production nucleus for the new series , to be followed by several others at later times . ( " " , pp . 9 - 11 ) premiered in in first - run syndication with the two - hour pilot . For all his Human fallacies and / or creative , political and interpersonal shortcomings , Roddenberry has also been renowned throughout his life for his more likable character traits as well as for his good - natured practical jokes , which occasionally back - fired on him . Affable and amiable to persons he himself liked and trusted , Roddenberry had an uncanny knack of endearing himself to people . This was exemplified by his glee to be reunited with his " Original Series " veteran friends , when he walked into the offices of Fontana , Milkis , Gerrold and Justman one day , early in the production of " The Next Generation " , and handed them a US $ 5 , 000 bonus each . To Justman , Roddenberry said on the occasion , " " I want you to have it because you deserve it – even more . " " Though Justman left after the first season on the account of Maizlish , he had nothing but praise for Roddenberry himself , when he , also referring to the bonus incident , added , " " It was wonderful working with Gene again , though . He was affectionate like he had never been before . Gene was really , really affectionate , almost as if — no , I think it was because he sensed that his end wasn ' t that far off , and he had a second chance at a relationship with me that never could have happened otherwise , and he wanted to make up for some of the disappointments he had caused me . " " Aside from Roddenberry " deserting " the " Original Series " in its third season , Justman was also referring to him not being invited back to " Phase II – The Motion Picture " , though Roddenberry had actually intended to do so . He was however , overruled by the studio , but , typically , Roddenberry could not bear to inform Justman of this himself , not returning his phone - calls when the latter reported for work . ( " " , issue 228 , p . 59 ; " " , 1997 , pp . 432 - 433 ) In mid - Season 1 , Roddenberry appointed Maurice Hurley as showrunner , and , while still being active overseeing the series , with his failing health , he eventually largely retired from daily production business . Hurley was responsible for keeping Roddenberry ' s " vision of the future " and his dictums for the show intact , and at first he did so , which however , led to conflicts with the writing staff , most notably Herbert J . Wright . " " That ' s just the way it is . " Star Trek " is not like any other show because it is " one " unique vision , and if you agree with Gene Roddenberry ' s vision for the future , you should be locked up somewhere , " " Hurley declared at the time , " " It ' s wacky doodle , but it ' s his wacky doodle . If you can ' t deal with that , you can ' t do the show . There are rules on top of rules on top of rules . There are some people who have a deep history with Gene , whose eggs are bruised easily . People get confused about who really is " Star Trek " , and that messes people ' s heads up . " Star Trek " is Gene Roddenberry and nobody else . " " ( " " , issue 152 , p . 29 ) Aggravated by the , the tail end of the first season and most of the second season was marred by infighting among the writing staff , in which Hurley had center stage . Mel Harris , who unlike all of his ( preceding ) studio executive colleagues , was a Roddenberry supporter ( in public at least ) , had been on record stating , " " [ W ] e had a hard time keeping writers on the show . . . [ A ] lot of the writers that were available [ in 1986 ] were coming off of cop shows and . . . wanted to do bang - bang , shoot - tern - ups or car chases , let ' s have the space ship run around and . . . shoot the bad guys , and Gene had to go back in and rewrite many , many of the early scripts because they simply didn ' t fit the premises that were outlined in this bible . " " The first season could be described as a huge turmoil and struggle for power , which were in no small part due to Roddenberry ' s ill health , aggravated by alcohol and substance abuse ( when starting his work on the new series , Roddenberry had to be admitted for months on a weekend basis in October 1986 into a La Costa , San Diego , rehab center to kick his habits ) . Maizlish , arguably overzealously protecting his client ' s interests , convinced an ailing and increasingly paranoid Roddenberry that others were lurking to stab him in the back , and managed to get rid of all the " Original Series " veterans who initially worked on the show . Going as far as rewriting scripts without any license or permit , and secretly lurking into other people ' s offices , Maizlish was considered a main destructive force behind the scenes , and eventually got banned from the Paramount lot . ( " " , " " ) Whether or not Maizlish had his client ' s interests truly at heart , he " had " done him a great disfavor as the departure of the " Original Series " veterans had a profound effect on Roddenberry according to Gerrold , " " Gene was crying because all of his friends were gone . It was because Maizlish chased them away . " " Considering the deep emotional attachment Roddenberry had for his " Original Series " friends , who were the very first staffers he had brought in to form the original October 1986 production nucleus for " The Next Generation " , has made Maizlish ' s attitude towards Gerrold , Fontana , Justman and Milkis all the more inexplicable . The now friendless Roddenberry was subsequently left dangerously exposed to studio politics at which he was notoriously inept . Already during the first two seasons of " The Original Series " , it had been Herb Solow who ran interference for Roddenberry and the studio , but once the former was gone , so was Roddenberry , and during the production of " Phase II " – " The Motion Picture " , Roddenberry again had his share of run - ins with the studio . ( " " , 1997 , pp . 371 - 375 ) " " Gene didn ' t like Rick " [ Berman ] " , at all . But Rick was installed on the show by the studio as a way to keep a control on the show . . . to keep the budgets in line , make sure that the scripts were done . Ultimately , Berman ended up in control rather than Maizlish because Berman played the politics of the studio more effectively . " " , Gerrold elaborated further . And indeed , " keeper of the flame " Hurley too , came to revise his stance , as he increasingly found Roddenberry ' s dictums too " wacky doodle " himself – especially after he caught Roddenberry violating his own dictums during one of his script rewrites – , coming to perceive them as lacking in dramatic story telling potential . Inevitably , this led to vicious clashes between Roddenberry and Hurley himself during the second season . ( " " ) Roddenberry , undoubtedly experiencing a severe case of " déjà vu " from his previous dealings with Harold Livingston during the production of " Phase II - The Motion Picture " , became deeply embroiled with Hurley as well as with other writers , who wrote stories he felt were not in concordance with his vision on " Star Trek " . From the third season onward , Berman ( originally appointed as " Supervising Producer " by the studio , who , besides Harris , had all but forgotten Roddenberry ' s behavior during the production of " The Motion Picture " , to " watch over " Roddenberry ' s antics ) and Michael Piller were made executive producers , and became responsible for running the series , and eventually the entire franchise . " Deep Space Nine " . Gene Roddenberry lived long enough to become aware that a second spin - off series was in the making , but did not live long enough to see the series , eventually dubbed , premiere . As realized the new series spawned criticism from purist fans for its far darker and grittier setting , arguing that it was not in line with Roddenberry ' s vision for his " Star Trek " universe . Nevertheless , series creator Rick Berman has stated on numerous occasions that he had done so with Roddenberry ' s full blessing , " I was asked to create and develop a series that would serve as a companion piece to " The Next Generation " for about a year and a half , and then TNG would go off the air and this new show would continue . So I asked Michael Piller to get involved , and we put our heads together . I really never had the opportunity to discuss any ideas with Gene . This was very close to the end of Gene ' s life , and he was quite ill at the time . But he knew that we were working on something , and I definitely had his blessing to develop it . " ( " " ) Yet , on one occasion for a January 1993 " Los Angeles Times " interview , Berman did slip that Roddenberry had never known what the series exactly entailed , when he conceded , " " He was not well at the time . He was quite ill , and I never got a chance to tell him what the ideas were , what they were about . But I definitely discussed things with him enough to know that he trusted me and had given me his blessings , " " hastening to add that , " " Our Starfleet officer s are still Starfleet officers in the true Roddenberry spirit . There is no conflict between them , " " but by , " ( . . . ) " twisting the location of the show a little bit to this strange uncomfortable place , by adding a back story where we have alien characters who are not at all that crazy about having our people there , it allows us numerous new vehicles of conflict that make the stories a lot more compelling . " " Considering Roddenberry ' s history with " Star Trek " , fans did have a point that , had he lived in good health , " Deep Space Nine " would arguably have been featured differently , if at all . Still , Bjo Trimble , herself an influential first hour fan ( aside from being a close personal acquaintance of Roddenberry in the late 1960s because of " Star Trek " ) , and while conceding that wife Majel was of the same critical mind , proffered an opposing view in August 1999 , " " I feel that Gene might have come to like DS9 , had he lived to see it . There might have been some changes . Majel recently said that GR would have hated the war in DS9 , but frankly I am amazed that she cannot see the same theme in much of what Gene did , including his recent " discovery " of " Earth : Final Conflict " . The only reason there were not full battles in early " Trek " is lack of funds to pull it off , and lack of technology to show it . Otherwise , GR would certainly have added it ; he knew what audiences liked , " " but somewhat contradicted herself when she concurrently added , " " I don ' t know about " Voyager " ; I can ' t see where it ' s going , and I don ' t feel GR would have liked that . I don ' t think he would have liked the last couple of movies " [ note : which included the battle heavy , but highly successful ] " ; they were very far removed from the " Trek " Gene came up with . " " " The End " . Having already suffered a series of minor strokes , Roddenberry was struck by the severest yet in September 1989 upon the conclusion of the second season of " The Next Generation " , leaving him incapacitated in a wheelchair , and effectively ending his operational involvement with " The Next Generation " . It necessitated Roddenberry to hire Ernie Over as an additional personal assistant , besides Susan Sackett , to help him move around . On shortly before celebrating the 100th episode of " The Next Generation " the Producers Building at the former Desilu studio lot was renamed " Gene Roddenberry Building " . Paramount Television president Mel Harris held a speech and during the ceremony William Shatner and Patrick Stewart said a few words about Roddenberry . On 22 October 1991 , Roddenberry was present at the avant - premiere screening of the nearly finished " The Undiscovered Country " movie , giving the assembly a thumbs up when he was wheeled back to his office . True to form , once there he immediately instructed Maizlish to start legal actions against Leonard Nimoy and Nicholas Meyer at once , to have fifteen minutes of the more militaristic aspects cut from the movie . ( " Star Trek Movie Memories " , 1995 , p . 394 ) Two days later Gene Roddenberry passed away , succumbing to cardiac arrest , and dying as he had lived the past quarter of a century , fighting tooth and nail each and every person who had the gall to violate his vision of his universe he alone – and no one else – had created . At the time of his passing , Roddenberry was survived by his wife Majel , their son Eugene " Rod " Roddenberry Jr , his two grown daughters from his previous marriage to Eileen ( who never remarried ) , Dawn and Darleen Roddenberry ( both sisters had uncredited appearances as two of the unnamed Only girls in the " Original Series " episode ; Darleen tragically perished , almost to the day , four years later in a car accident ) , two grandchildren by Darleen , his mother Caroline and sister Doris , both of whom he provided for as well in his will . Daughter Dawn seemed to have inherited her mother ' s predilection for litigation as she attempted in June 1996 to sue her stepmother , Majel Barrett , for mismanaging her father ' s affairs in his ailing days , yet withdrew the suit the day before it was set to go to court , as she stood to lose any and all inheritance as specifically stipulated in her father ' s will in case of contesting . Legacy . Roddenberry served as a member of the Writers Guild Executive Council and as a Governor of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences . He held three honorary doctorate degrees : Doctor of Humane Letters from Emerson College ( 1977 ) , Doctor of Literature from Union College in Los Angeles , and Doctor of Science from in Potsdam , New York ( 1981 ) . In 1985 , Roddenberry became the very first television production staffer to be honored with his own star on the famed " Hollywood Walk of Fame " . ( " Star Trek and American Television " , p . 35 ) The legacy of " Star Trek " , as created by Gene Roddenberry , continues to grow as the newest series , , has joined , and . " The Next Generation " evolved into a feature film series , debuting in 1994 with and closing in with . A new , alternate reality was created with the newest installments , , , and . Other shows of Roddenberry ' s design include " Earth : Final Conflict " and " Andromeda " , the latter of which based on the aforementioned television pilots " Genesis II " of 1973 , and its 1974 and 1975 reworked versions , " Planet Earth " and " Strange New World " , respectively . The ashes of Roddenberry were aboard the space shuttle " Columbia " during its start from the Kennedy Space Center on . Eugene Roddenberry , Jr . currently heads the Roddenberry . com website which is also the main site for Lincoln Enterprises , and is " Consulting Producer " for the fan film series " Star Trek : New Voyages " . Roddenberry canon . A minority of purist fans advocate a " " to denote what episodes " Star Trek " s creator approved of as " official . " Defining such a concept is elusive , as Roddenberry was known to change his views over the years . " The Original Series " would seem to be part of this canon , comprising 80 episodes , including the un - aired first pilot " The Cage " . He rejected " The Animated Series " as apocryphal , along with elements of two films , " The Final Frontier " , and " The Undiscovered Country " . At the time of his death , 110 episodes of " The Next Generation " had completed production , from " Encounter at Farpoint " through . This leaves roughly 116 episodes of " Star Trek " , including the first four films and most of films five and six , as part of the supposed Roddenberry canon . Adhering to this view would mean rejecting - 116 episodes , including roughly - 6 films , as there have been - episodes of " Star Trek " produced to date , and films . Trivia . Gene Roddenberry had a second cousin twice removed named Mary Sue Roddenberry . Ironically , and probably by sheer coincidence , the widespread fan fiction term " " , which is used to describe overly perfect original female characters , has its origins in the person of Lt . Mary Sue , a character in the satirical 1974 short " Star Trek " story by Paula Smith called " A Trekkie ' s Tale " . Roddenberry gave his middle name to one of the characters of " Star Trek : The Next Generation " – Wesley Crusher . ( " " , p . 14 ) His middle name was also used as the last name of the TOS character Robert Wesley , which was also a pseudonym Roddenberry used in his early writing career . ( ) In addition , after his death , the creators of " Voyager " used Roddenberry ' s full first name as the middle name of reformed renegade officer Thomas Eugene Paris . ( ) In , an illustration of Gene Roddenberry was seen when Data was assimilating the Dixon Hill novels . This illustration was the copy of a photo of Gene Roddenberry . Credits . Roddenberry receives a " Created by " credit on episodes of " The Original Series " and " The Next Generation " . In addition he is credited on all episodes of " Deep Space Nine " , " Voyager " , " Enterprise " , and " Discovery " , all the movies , and many " Star Trek " computer games such as and " " , via the phrase " Based upon " Star Trek " , created by Gene Roddenberry " . The first two " Next Generation " episodes aired after his death , and begin with the title card " Gene Roddenberry 1921 – 1991 " . Also , the film " The Undiscovered Country " begins with the credit , " For Gene Roddenberry " . The credits for end with " In memory of Gene Roddenberry and Majel Barrett Roddenberry " . Several other " Trek " related products , including the video game " " include special thanks credits in honor of Roddenberry . Roddenberry also receives credit for writing lyrics to the " Original Series " main title theme , although these lyrics were never recorded in connection with the series . In the reference book " Inside Star Trek : The Real Story " ( 1997 , p . 185 ) , Herb Solow and Robert Justman allege that Roddenberry , who had no musical experience of any kind , wrote words to Alexander Courage ' s theme for the show solely to accrue royalties that were required to be paid to the lyricist . In doing so , he effectively cut Courage ' s royalties in half , as the composer would otherwise have received all royalties accruing from the theme . Courage was outraged on this , and left the production , only to return to score two episodes in the third season as a courtesy to Robert Justman . However , Courage , mellowed over the years , has stated in his twilight years , " " There wasn ' t any rift , really , with Gene . What happened with Gene was a I got a phone call once . . . it was Gene ' s lawyer , [ Leonard ] Maizlish . He said , " I ' m calling you to tell you that since you signed a piece of paper back there saying that if Gene ever wrote a lyric to your theme that he would split your royalties on the theme . " Gene and I weren ’ t enemies in any sort of way . It was just one of those things . . . I think it was Maizlish , probably , who put him up to doing it that way , and it ' s a shame , because actually if he ' d written a decent lyric we could have both made more money . " " Having corresponded with Courage at a later point in time , this was another example of Roddenberry ' s more amiable character traits ; whenever he felt that he had aggrieved someone , he often felt the need to make amends afterwards , like he had done with Robert Justman as described above . The Roddenberry / Maizlish duo had actually tried to do something similar with Leonard Nimoy ' s first vinyl album recording , " Mr . Spock ' s Music From Outer Space " , which marked the beginning of the descent into animosity of the relationship between Roddenberry and Nimoy . With Nimoy however , Roddenberry was not able to mend fences , due to a continuous series of subsequent incidents ( such as in the instance of " The Questor Tapes " , mentioned above ) , which kept bedeviling any possible chance of reconciliation . After " The Motion Picture " , were he finally had his pound of flesh by " conspiring " against Roddenberry , Nimoy broke off any communication between them , and both were not seen together afterwards , save for the official studio press presentations for the subsequent five " Original Crew " films , which Nimoy was contractually obligated to do . Nimoy has attended the " Gene Roddenberry Building " commemorative event , though not speaking to , or of him , but avoided conventions where Roddenberry was present . In one of his last live interviews before his own death , the 2013 documentary " " , Nimoy exhibited the deep disdain he still felt for Roddenberry by scoffingly laughing aloud at the statement that Roddenberry was " the creator of " Star Trek " " . According to " Cinefantastique " , Nimoy issued , through his spokesperson , a very terse one - sentence platitude , making himself unavailable to the press for commentary the subsequent months and did not attend Roddenberry ' s funeral . Multiple other sources , including Herb Solow in " Inside Star Trek " , relate stories of Nimoy being in attendance . ( " Cinefantastique " , Vol 22 # 5 , p . 42 ; " Inside Star Trek " , p . 237 ; ) Roddenberry also credited himself as the co - author of the reference book " The Making of Star Trek " , receiving half the royalties , which was written by Stephen E . Whitfield , and given to Roddenberry to make his corrections and edits , though he had never the time to do so , because of production deadlines . While virtually every other person ( like the above - mentioned Courage ) , before or after , who had been cajoled out of their royalty shares in a similar way by Roddenberry , became livid with him , Whitfield ( " aka " Stephen Edward Poe ) , was " the " proverbial exception . Not minding surrendering half the book royalties , Whitfield got along very well with Roddenberry , not in the least due to their shared aviation background , and was grateful for the chance he was given to start his writing career as a book author . The fact that he had written the very first " Star Trek " reference book ( and a very successful one at that ) had been a source of immense pride for him for the remainder of his life . ( " " , 1997 , pp . 401 - 402 ) While without a shadow of a doubt conceived by him , Roddenberry had in the convention circuit of the late 1970s also tried to lay claim of being the " real " designer of the starship " Enterprise " . He backed up his claim in the early 1980s by selling reproductions of early color concept art of the ship through Lincoln Enterprises as the twelve - piece " The Evolution " poster set . This color art he had acquired in late 1964 by begging for it from the actual designer of the " Enterprise " , Matt Jefferies , who had gifted it to him . ( " Star Trek Memories " , 1995 , p . 48 ) Astonishingly , in an effort to lend credence to his claim , Roddenberry ( of whom not a single verified piece of artwork is known to exist ) had even been brazen enough to forge a " Eugene W . Roddenberry " signature in Jefferies ' writing style onto several pieces of the art . Unfortunately for Roddenberry , this did not fly , as Jefferies was already too well known as the ship ' s designer even by then , but fortunately for him , Jefferies has never seemed to mind . The sale of the poster set ceased shortly after its original offering . " Star Trek " awards . During his career Gene Roddenberry received the following awards and nominations for his work on " Star trek " , Emmy Awards . As Producer , Roddenberry received the following Emmy Award nominations in the category Outstanding Dramatic Series : Hugo Awards . As Writer , Roddenberry received the following Hugo Award nominations and wins : Saturn Awards . As Writer and Producer , Roddenberry received the following Saturn Awards : Writers Guild of America Awards . As Writer , Roddenberry received the following Writers Guild of America Award nomination in the category Best Written Dramatic Episode : Interviews . Interviews of Roddenberry were part of the following specials :