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Welcome to Gene-ology, a podcast by Roddenberry Entertainment that dives deep into the early TV writing works of Gene Roddenberry. Is this the best television script Gene Roddenberry wrote prior to creating Star Trek? Gene's singular episode of the popular medical drama Dr. Kildare is a powerful story full of rich characters and raw emotions – the bedrock of great television drama. Hosted by Earl Green & Ashley Thomas About Gene-ology Gene-ology explores Gene Roddenberry's early television scripts, including his lesser-known works before Star Trek using the Mission Log format popularized by Roddenberry Podcasts. We analyze the themes, writing style, and cultural impact of his scripts, and we even unearth stories from the Roddenberry archives that were never produced. Join us as we trace the roots of Gene's creative genius. In This Episode A breakdown of key moments and themes in "A Distant Thunder". Exploring Gene Roddenberry's evolving style and storytelling. How this episode ties into the broader TV landscape of the time and reflects the early seeds of Roddenberry's visionary work. Guest stars and unique production elements that bring this episode to life. Special Segment: Dramatic Recreation Since this script is not available to the public, we've brought it to life with a dramatic recreation! Special guests Jeff Gauntt and Bonnie Gordon perform a key section of the script. Listen in as they bring the story to life in this exclusive performance. Join the Conversation What did you think of this episode? Share your thoughts, theories, and favorite moments in the comments or reach out to us on social media or email us at missionlog@roddenberry.com Did you know Roddenberry Podcasts is on YouTube? Find the video versions of your favorite shows like Mission Log: Prodigy, Mission Log: The Orville, as well as exclusive content only available on YouTube. Subscribe now! https://www.youtube.com/@RoddenberryEntertainment?sub_confirmation=1 Follow us on Social Media: INSTAGRAM https://www.instagram.com/roddenberrypodcasts BLUESKY https://bsky.app/profile/roddenberrypod.bsky.social THREADS https://www.threads.net/@roddenberrypodcasts FACEBOOK https://www.facebook.com/MissionLogPod Our shows are part of the Roddenberry Entertainment family. For more great shows and to learn how we live the legacy of Gene Roddenberry, the creator of Star Trek, follow us here: RODDENBERRY PODCASTS https://www.instagram.com/RoddenberryPodcasts RODDENBERRY ENTERTAINMENT https://www.instagram.com/RoddenberryOfficial RODDENBERRY FOUNDATION https://www.instagram.com/TheRoddenberryFoundation Support the Show For as little as $1 a month, you can gain access to our Mission Log Discord Community! There, we continue the discussion with dedicated channels and a weekly video chat with the hosts. Become a member of our Patreon today! https://www.Patreon.com/MissionLog Subscribe and Stay Tuned Be sure to subscribe to Gene-ology for more deep dives into Gene Roddenberry's early works. New episodes are released regularly as we uncover more of Gene's television legacy. – Gene-ology is produced by Roddenberry Entertainment. Executive producer Eugene "Rod" Roddenberry. Visit https://Podcasts.Roddenberry.com for more great content. Edited by Earl Green.
Streaming service Disney Plus releases the ninth and final episode of WandaVision, created for TV by Jac Schaeffer and starring Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Bettany, and Kathryn Hahn. The series sets up both a spinoff for Hahn’s character, as well as a lead-in to future feature film Doctor Strange And The Multiverse Of Madness, to be released in 2022.
Streaming service CBS All Access debuts the seventh episode of Star Trek: Picard, starring Patrick Stewart, Michelle Hurd, Santiago Cabrera, Alison Pill, and Evan Evagora. Jonathan Frakes and Marina Sirtis reprise their Star Trek: The Next Generation characters, Will Riker and Deanna Troi.
Cable channel Disney XD airs the 71st episode of the series Star Wars: Rebels. Lars Mikkelsen, Ian McDiarmid (Star Wars Episode III), Gina Torres (Firefly), and Malcolm McDowell (A Clockword Orange, Star Trek: Generations) guest star in the series finale.
Cable channel Disney XD airs the 70th episode of the series Star Wars: Rebels. Lars Mikkelsen, Ian McDiarmid (Star Wars Episode III), Gina Torres (Firefly), and Malcolm McDowell (A Clockword Orange, Star Trek: Generations) guest star.
The CW airs the 46th episode of Legends Of Tomorrow, starring Caity Lotz, Brandon Routh, Maisie Richardson-Sellers, and Tala Ashe. Arthur Darvill (Doctor Who) and Neal McDonough guest star.
The 38th episode of Arrow, a modern-day reboot of DC Comics’ Green Arrow superhero starring Stephen Amell, airs on the CW. Caity Lotz (Mad Men, Legends Of Tomorrow) guest stars.
To allay public fears that the next level might not be reached, NASA offers an explanation for an enigmatic 2010 image from the Hubble Space Telescope, showing a galaxy cluster, Abell 68, approximately 2,000,000,000 light years away. In the middle of that cluster, however, is what appears to be an alien from the video game Space Invaders. NASA explains that it’s a visual artifact of gravitational lensing caused by the gravity influence of the foreground galaxies upon the light of galaxies further away in the image. Earth breathes easy once more.
The U.S. Air Force launches a second unmanned X-37B spacecraft into Earth orbit atop an Atlas V rocket. Designated USA-226, this is the second Boeing-built X-37B to reach orbit, and is the first to remain in orbit for over a year, re-entering the atmosphere and successfully conducting an automated landing in June 2012. This X-37B also features a solar panel array that is deployed from its cargo compartment, allowing it to generate constant power during its classified 15-month mission.
The sixth episode of the Battlestar Galactica spinoff series Caprica, a non-space-based tale of the creation of the Cylons over half a century before the events seen in Galactica, premieres on cable channel Syfy. James Marsters (Buffy: The Vampire Slayer, Angel) and Patton Oswalt guest star.
The 18th episode of Tim Kring’s sci-fi/superhero series Heroes airs on NBC, starring Adrian Pasdar, Jack Coleman, Ali Larter, Masi Oka, Hayden Panettiere, and Milo Ventimiglia. Malcolm McDowell (A Clockwork Orange) and Zachary Quinto (Star Trek) guest star.
The first Electric Light Orchestra album is re-released in the UK in an expanded, remastered form, featuring numerous previously unreleases mixes and other curiosities. This two-disc edition is a British exclusive, though copies inevitably make their way across the Atlantic to die-hard fans.
The 116th episode of Joss Whedon’s supernatural series Buffy The Vampire Slayer, starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, airs on UPN. James Marsters, Anthony Stewart Head, and Alyson Hannigan also star.
An unusual paralyzing condition strikes actor David Prowse, first leaving one of his arms paralyzed and then his back, robbing him of his ability to walk. Prowse, who portrayed Darth Vader in the original Star Wars trilogy, has made numerous other larger-than-life appearances (including a brief guest shot as the legendary Minotaur in a 1972 episode of Doctor Who), and has lately been a frequent guest on the convention circuit. A spokesman for Mr. Prowse says that doctors have ruled out a stroke as the cause of his condition, but still have yet to identifty what exactly has happened.
Though its extended mission was cut short by a mishap in 1994, NASA’s ill-fated Clementine lunar orbiter returned data with significant implications for further manned visits to the moon. NASA announces that craters near the north and south poles of Earth’s moon may harbor enough water ice to allow long-term colonization, and could also be used to create propellant on-site. While this promising announcement occurs as the 30th anniversary of the first manned moon landing approaches, any further manned visits exist strictly on paper.
Actor Jake Lloyd, who will gain fame as the face of the young Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, is born in Colorado. His brief acting career is dominated by his role as the boy who will become Darth Vader, and he eventually gives up acting.
The Soviet Union’s unmanned Venera 14 space probe successfully lands on the planet Venus, its landing module enduring almost an hour in temperatures of nearly 900 degrees Fahrenheit and air pressure nearly 100 times that experienced at sea level on Earth. A soil sampling experiment is thwarted by an unforseen problem, namely the lens cap of Venera 14’s camera popping off and landing precisely where its sampling arm was designed to gather Venusian soil for testing.
Attempting to build a TV franchise onto the 1973 hit movie Westworld, the first episode of Beyond Westworld airs on CBS, starring Jim McMullan and James Wainwright. Cassandra Peterson (later better known as Elvira) guest stars.
Atari releases the computer game Star Raiders for the Atari 400 and 800 home computer systems, programmed by Doug Neubauer. This is a very early example of a game in the first-person “cockpit” space shooter genre gaining wide popularity.
The sixth episode of the series Salvage 1 airs on ABC, starring Andy Griffith, Joel Higgins (Silver Spoons), and Trish Stewart. Richard Jaeckel (Spenser For Hire) and Severn Darden (Battle For The Planet Of The Apes) guest star.
The unmanned NASA/JPL space probe Voyager 1 makes its closest approach to the giant planet Jupiter, a little over 200,000 miles away. While Voyager’s higher-resolution cameras trump any of the Pioneer images of Jupiter, the real revelation proves to be Jupiter’s four largest moons, revealing a smooth-but-cracked icy surface on Europa, craters on Ganymede and Callisto, and the colorful mountains of Io, whose biggest secret goes undiscovered until a few days after Voyager 1’s closest flyby.
NASA launches Landsat 3, the latest in a constellation of satellites derived from the design of the experimental Nimbus weather satellites. This is the last Landsat to use the Nimbus framework, and the last to be managed exclusively by NASA; Landsat 3 remains in service through 1983.
At Anvil Studios in Denham, England, John Williams and the London Symphony Orchestra convene for the first recording session for the Star Wars soundtrack. Over the course of the next 11 days, and with director George Lucas in attendance in the recording booth, all of the music for Lucas’ movie is rehearsed and recorded. Williams and Lucas had been introduced by their mutual friend Steven Spielberg, with whom Williams had worked on 1975’s Jaws (whose score had gone on to win Williams his second Oscar); Lucas’ original plan was to “score” Star Wars entirely with classical pieces. The first scene scored by Williams and the LSO is the rapid-fire chase through the Death Star, culminating in Luke and Princess Leia swinging across a chasm; other pieces recorded on the first day include the death of Obi-Wan Kenobi and the iconic theme music.
The first weekly episode of Future Cop airs on ABC, starring Ernest Borgnine (McHale’s Navy), Michael J. Shannon, and John Amos (Good Times), based on a successful pilot movie aired in May 1976.
Future Star Trek: Enterprise co-star Jolene Blalock is born in California. After a career in modeling, she will move into acting, with her role as Enterprise’s resident Vulcan crew member T’Pol standing out as her most recognized work. She will also appear in such TV series as Legend Of The Seeker, G vs. E and Stargate SG-1.
The 82nd episode of Irwin Allen’s adventure series Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea airs on ABC, starring Richard Basehart and David Hedison. Michael Dunn (Star Trek: Plato’s Stepchildren) guest stars.
The 24th episode of the time travel sitcom It’s About Time, created by Sherwood Schwarz (I Dream Of Jeannie) and starring Frank Aletter, Jack Mullaney, and Imogene Coca, is broadcast on CBS. Alan DeWitt guest stars.
British broadcaster ABC premieres the first episode of Pathfinders To Venus, a follow-up series to Pathfinders In Mars, produced by future Doctor Who creator Sydney Newman. George Colouris and Gerald Flood (City Beneath The Sea) star; the script is written by Malcolm Hulke (Doctor Who) and Eric Paice (Star Maidens). Though the original master tape of this episode was later wiped for reuse, film recordings of all eight episodes will be recovered and released on DVD in the 21st century.
Streaming service Disney Plus releases the ninth and final episode of WandaVision, created for TV by Jac Schaeffer and starring Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Bettany, and Kathryn Hahn. The series sets up both a spinoff for Hahn’s character, as well as a lead-in to future feature film Doctor Strange And The Multiverse Of Madness, to be released in 2022.
Streaming service CBS All Access debuts the seventh episode of Star Trek: Picard, starring Patrick Stewart, Michelle Hurd, Santiago Cabrera, Alison Pill, and Evan Evagora. Jonathan Frakes and Marina Sirtis reprise their Star Trek: The Next Generation characters, Will Riker and Deanna Troi. 
The CW airs the 106th episode of The Flash, a modern-day reboot of DC Comics’ superhero starring Grant Gustin. 
Cable channel Disney XD airs the 71st episode of the series Star Wars: Rebels. Lars Mikkelsen, Ian McDiarmid (Star Wars Episode III), Gina Torres (Firefly), and Malcolm McDowell (A Clockword Orange, Star Trek: Generations) guest star in the series finale. 
Cable channel Disney XD airs the 70th episode of the series Star Wars: Rebels. Lars Mikkelsen, Ian McDiarmid (Star Wars Episode III), Gina Torres (Firefly), and Malcolm McDowell (A Clockword Orange, Star Trek: Generations) guest star. 
The CW airs the 46th episode of Legends Of Tomorrow, starring Caity Lotz, Brandon Routh, Maisie Richardson-Sellers, and Tala Ashe. Arthur Darvill (Doctor Who) and Neal McDonough guest star.
The 38th episode of Arrow, a modern-day reboot of DC Comics’ Green Arrow superhero starring Stephen Amell, airs on the CW. Caity Lotz (Mad Men, Legends Of Tomorrow) guest stars.
To allay public fears that the next level might not be reached, NASA offers an explanation for an enigmatic 2010 image from the Hubble Space Telescope, showing a galaxy cluster, Abell 68, approximately 2,000,000,000 light years away. In the middle of that cluster, however, is what appears to be an alien from the video game Space Invaders. NASA explains that it’s a visual artifact of gravitational lensing caused by the gravity influence of the foreground galaxies upon the light of galaxies further away in the image. Earth breathes easy once more.
The U.S. Air Force launches a second unmanned X-37B spacecraft into Earth orbit atop an Atlas V rocket. Designated USA-226, this is the second Boeing-built X-37B to reach orbit, and is the first to remain in orbit for over a year, re-entering the atmosphere and successfully conducting an automated landing in June 2012. This X-37B also features a solar panel array that is deployed from its cargo compartment, allowing it to generate constant power during its classified 15-month mission.
The sixth episode of the Battlestar Galactica spinoff series Caprica, a non-space-based tale of the creation of the Cylons over half a century before the events seen in Galactica, premieres on cable channel Syfy. James Marsters (Buffy: The Vampire Slayer, Angel) and Patton Oswalt guest star. 
BBC2 airs the 22nd episode of Russell T. Davies’ science fiction series Torchwood, a more adult-themed spinoff of Doctor Who. Nerys Hughes guest stars. 
The 18th episode of Tim Kring’s sci-fi/superhero series Heroes airs on NBC, starring Adrian Pasdar, Jack Coleman, Ali Larter, Masi Oka, Hayden Panettiere, and Milo Ventimiglia. Malcolm McDowell (A Clockwork Orange) and Zachary Quinto (Star Trek) guest star. 
The 151st episode of Stargate SG-1 airs on the Sci-Fi Channel, starring Richard Dean Anderson, Amanda Tapping, Michael Shanks, and Christopher Judge.
The Jars Of Clay album The Eleventh Hour is released, featuring the single “I Need You”. 
The first Electric Light Orchestra album is re-released in the UK in an expanded, remastered form, featuring numerous previously unreleases mixes and other curiosities. This two-disc edition is a British exclusive, though copies inevitably make their way across the Atlantic to die-hard fans. 
The 116th episode of Joss Whedon’s supernatural series Buffy The Vampire Slayer, starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, airs on UPN. James Marsters, Anthony Stewart Head, and Alyson Hannigan also star.
An unusual paralyzing condition strikes actor David Prowse, first leaving one of his arms paralyzed and then his back, robbing him of his ability to walk. Prowse, who portrayed Darth Vader in the original Star Wars trilogy, has made numerous other larger-than-life appearances (including a brief guest shot as the legendary Minotaur in a 1972 episode of Doctor Who), and has lately been a frequent guest on the convention circuit. A spokesman for Mr. Prowse says that doctors have ruled out a stroke as the cause of his condition, but still have yet to identifty what exactly has happened. 
Sci-Fi Channel premieres the 29th episode of Lexx. Nigel Bennett (Forever Knight) guest stars as Prince. 
Sci-Fi Channel premieres the 17th episode of Lexx. Louise Wischermann guest stars as Lyekka. 
Pay cable channel Showtime premieres the 42nd episode of Stargate SG-1. 
Though its extended mission was cut short by a mishap in 1994, NASA’s ill-fated Clementine lunar orbiter returned data with significant implications for further manned visits to the moon. NASA announces that craters near the north and south poles of Earth’s moon may harbor enough water ice to allow long-term colonization, and could also be used to create propellant on-site. While this promising announcement occurs as the 30th anniversary of the first manned moon landing approaches, any further manned visits exist strictly on paper.
The 27th episode of the science fiction comedy Red Dwarf airs on BBC 2. Boy, am I glad to see you. 
The 14th episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000 airs on KTMA, an independent TV station in Minneapolis, starring Joel Hodgson, Trace Beaulieu, and Josh Weinstein. 
Actor Jake Lloyd, who will gain fame as the face of the young Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, is born in Colorado. His brief acting career is dominated by his role as the boy who will become Darth Vader, and he eventually gives up acting.
CBS airs the second episode of the fantasy/comedy series Wizards and Warriors, starring Jeff Conaway (Grease, Babylon 5), Walter Olkewicz, Duncan Regehr, and Julia Duffy (Newhart). Tim Dunigan (Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future) guest stars. 
The Soviet Union’s unmanned Venera 14 space probe successfully lands on the planet Venus, its landing module enduring almost an hour in temperatures of nearly 900 degrees Fahrenheit and air pressure nearly 100 times that experienced at sea level on Earth. A soil sampling experiment is thwarted by an unforseen problem, namely the lens cap of Venera 14’s camera popping off and landing precisely where its sampling arm was designed to gather Venusian soil for testing.
NBC airs the 28th episode of Buck Rogers In The 25th Century. 
Attempting to build a TV franchise onto the 1973 hit movie Westworld, the first episode of Beyond Westworld airs on CBS, starring Jim McMullan and James Wainwright. Cassandra Peterson (later better known as Elvira) guest stars. 
Atari releases the computer game Star Raiders for the Atari 400 and 800 home computer systems, programmed by Doug Neubauer. This is a very early example of a game in the first-person “cockpit” space shooter genre gaining wide popularity. 
The sixth episode of the series Salvage 1 airs on ABC, starring Andy Griffith, Joel Higgins (Silver Spoons), and Trish Stewart. Richard Jaeckel (Spenser For Hire) and Severn Darden (Battle For The Planet Of The Apes) guest star.
The unmanned NASA/JPL space probe Voyager 1 makes its closest approach to the giant planet Jupiter, a little over 200,000 miles away. While Voyager’s higher-resolution cameras trump any of the Pioneer images of Jupiter, the real revelation proves to be Jupiter’s four largest moons, revealing a smooth-but-cracked icy surface on Europa, craters on Ganymede and Callisto, and the colorful mountains of Io, whose biggest secret goes undiscovered until a few days after Voyager 1’s closest flyby.
NASA launches Landsat 3, the latest in a constellation of satellites derived from the design of the experimental Nimbus weather satellites. This is the last Landsat to use the Nimbus framework, and the last to be managed exclusively by NASA; Landsat 3 remains in service through 1983.
The 449th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. John Bennett, Trevor Baxter and Christopher Benjamin guest star.
At Anvil Studios in Denham, England, John Williams and the London Symphony Orchestra convene for the first recording session for the Star Wars soundtrack. Over the course of the next 11 days, and with director George Lucas in attendance in the recording booth, all of the music for Lucas’ movie is rehearsed and recorded. Williams and Lucas had been introduced by their mutual friend Steven Spielberg, with whom Williams had worked on 1975’s Jaws (whose score had gone on to win Williams his second Oscar); Lucas’ original plan was to “score” Star Wars entirely with classical pieces. The first scene scored by Williams and the LSO is the rapid-fire chase through the Death Star, culminating in Luke and Princess Leia swinging across a chasm; other pieces recorded on the first day include the death of Obi-Wan Kenobi and the iconic theme music.
The first weekly episode of Future Cop airs on ABC, starring Ernest Borgnine (McHale’s Navy), Michael J. Shannon, and John Amos (Good Times), based on a successful pilot movie aired in May 1976. 
Future Star Trek: Enterprise co-star Jolene Blalock is born in California. After a career in modeling, she will move into acting, with her role as Enterprise’s resident Vulcan crew member T’Pol standing out as her most recognized work. She will also appear in such TV series as Legend Of The Seeker, G vs. E and Stargate SG-1.
The 82nd episode of Irwin Allen’s adventure series Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea airs on ABC, starring Richard Basehart and David Hedison. Michael Dunn (Star Trek: Plato’s Stepchildren) guest stars.
The 24th episode of the time travel sitcom It’s About Time, created by Sherwood Schwarz (I Dream Of Jeannie) and starring Frank Aletter, Jack Mullaney, and Imogene Coca, is broadcast on CBS. Alan DeWitt guest stars.
The 107th episode of Doctor Who airs on the BBC. This is part two of the story now collectively known as The Ark. 
British broadcaster ABC premieres the first episode of Pathfinders To Venus, a follow-up series to Pathfinders In Mars, produced by future Doctor Who creator Sydney Newman. George Colouris and Gerald Flood (City Beneath The Sea) star; the script is written by Malcolm Hulke (Doctor Who) and Eric Paice (Star Maidens). Though the original master tape of this episode was later wiped for reuse, film recordings of all eight episodes will be recovered and released on DVD in the 21st century.