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Gene-ology 92 – A Distant Thunder – Gene-ology: A Mission Log Look into Gene Roddenberry's Works

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.
  1. Gene-ology 92 – A Distant Thunder
  2. Gene-ology 91 – To Wear A Badge
  3. Gene-ology 90 – A.P.O. 923
  4. Gene-ology 89 – Defiance County
  5. Gene-ology 88 – The Savages
A minor arcade sleeper hit gets translated to the #Atari2600 - and then languishes in unreleased obscurity. Should it have seen the light of day in the '80s? Time for Pleaides for the VCS to get the Phosphor Dot Fossils test flight. #retrogaming Phosphor Dot Fossils at theLogBook.com is one of the web's oldest archives of vintage console, computer, and arcade games; there was also a 2-DVD documentary of the same name, covering the early history of video games, produced in 2008 and 2009. And these days? PDF aims to bring a more laid-back, less-caffeinated, less-profanity-spewing experience to the retro video game longplay video. There's a complete updated list of videos at https://www.thelogbook.com/pdf-on-youtube/ Check out my other projects and podcasts: Select Game: Expanded Memories of the Odyssey2 podcast - http://www.thelogbook.com/selectgame/​ Retrogram podcast - http://www.thelogbook.com/retrogram/​ And you can also find me at Roddenberry Podcasts co-hosting Mission Log: Gene-ology - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjXp3_SMi9LSg2rcgIayf30A0bVUb2yGc And, of course, the site that started it all, combining sci-fi, retro video games, book, music and toy reviews, and all sorts of retro-futurist fun: https://www.thelogbook.com Help support the site, the videos, and the podcasts at https://www.patreon.com/thelogbook/​ or https://www.ko-fi.com/thelogbook/​ - many many thanks to everyone who has supported theLogBook.com's podcasting and videocasting endeavours! The theme music is the "Phosphor Dot Fossils Theme" by Earl Green.
Phosphor Dot Fossils: Pleiades (Atari 2600, 1983 [unreleased prototype])
Beedy beedy beedy, look out for all those generators sticking out of the ground, Buck! Buck Rogers flies low over the perilous Planet Of Zoom as the #Atari5200 version of this arcade sleeper hit gets the Phosphor Dot Fossils once-over. #retrogaming Phosphor Dot Fossils at theLogBook.com is one of the web's oldest archives of vintage console, computer, and arcade games; there was also a 2-DVD documentary of the same name, covering the early history of video games, produced in 2008 and 2009. And these days? PDF aims to bring a more laid-back, less-caffeinated, less-profanity-spewing experience to the retro video game longplay video. There's a complete updated list of videos at https://www.thelogbook.com/pdf-on-youtube/ Check out my other projects and podcasts: Select Game: Expanded Memories of the Odyssey2 podcast - http://www.thelogbook.com/selectgame/​ Retrogram podcast - http://www.thelogbook.com/retrogram/​ And you can also find me at Roddenberry Podcasts co-hosting Mission Log: Gene-ology - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjXp3_SMi9LSg2rcgIayf30A0bVUb2yGc And, of course, the site that started it all, combining sci-fi, retro video games, book, music and toy reviews, and all sorts of retro-futurist fun: https://www.thelogbook.com Help support the site, the videos, and the podcasts at https://www.patreon.com/thelogbook/​ or https://www.ko-fi.com/thelogbook/​ - many many thanks to everyone who has supported theLogBook.com's podcasting and videocasting endeavours! The theme music is the "Phosphor Dot Fossils Theme" by Earl Green.
Phosphor Dot Fossils: Buck Rogers: Planet Of Zoom (Atari 5200, 1983)
Space school's out for summer! And Fansets is right on top of it for those who are working on their #StarTrek #StarfleetAcademy cosplay, or just want to channel Captain Ake and lounge around barefoot on the bridge. Be aware, I may talk about the show itself too. Opinions expressed in this video are mine alone, and do not necessarily reflect any of my employers or clients. Check out my other projects and podcasts: Select Game: Expanded Memories of the Odyssey2 podcast - http://www.thelogbook.com/selectgame/​ Retrogram podcast - http://www.thelogbook.com/retrogram/​ And you can also find me at Roddenberry Podcasts co-hosting Mission Log: Gene-ology - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjXp3_SMi9LSg2rcgIayf30A0bVUb2yGc And, of course, the site that started it all, combining sci-fi, retro video games, book, music and toy reviews, and all sorts of retro-futurist fun: https://www.thelogbook.com Help support the site(s), the videos, and the podcasts at https://www.patreon.com/thelogbook/​ or https://www.ko-fi.com/thelogbook/​ - many many thanks to everyone who has supported theLogBook.com's podcasting and videocasting endeavours! The theme music "Lowrider" by Jahzzar (CC-BY-SA). Find more of his music at https://www.betterwithmusic.com.
Voyages Of Shelf-Discovery: Fansets Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Combadge Magnetic Pin
Was it a game? Was it educational? Was it raising an army of future Chyron operators for local TV stations to hire? The intriguing, only-one-of-its-kind #Odyssey2 title Keyboard Creations! get the Phosphor Dot Fossils tryout. #retrogaming Phosphor Dot Fossils at theLogBook.com is one of the web's oldest archives of vintage console, computer, and arcade games; there was also a 2-DVD documentary of the same name, covering the early history of video games, produced in 2008 and 2009. And these days? PDF aims to bring a more laid-back, less-caffeinated, less-profanity-spewing experience to the retro video game longplay video. There's a complete updated list of videos at https://www.thelogbook.com/pdf-on-youtube/ Check out my other projects and podcasts: Select Game: Expanded Memories of the Odyssey2 podcast - http://www.thelogbook.com/selectgame/​ Retrogram podcast - http://www.thelogbook.com/retrogram/​ And you can also find me at Roddenberry Podcasts co-hosting Mission Log: Gene-ology - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjXp3_SMi9LSg2rcgIayf30A0bVUb2yGc And, of course, the site that started it all, combining sci-fi, retro video games, book, music and toy reviews, and all sorts of retro-futurist fun: https://www.thelogbook.com Help support the site, the videos, and the podcasts at https://www.patreon.com/thelogbook/​ or https://www.ko-fi.com/thelogbook/​ - many many thanks to everyone who has supported theLogBook.com's podcasting and videocasting endeavours! The theme music is the "Phosphor Dot Fossils Theme" by Earl Green.
Phosphor Dot Fossils: Keyboard Creations! (Odyssey2/Videopac, 1981)
A rundown of the evolving branding of (now extinct) Fort Smith, Arkansas UPN affiliate KFDF, with the odd logo that was adopted early at the end of 1996. This installment of Infinite Sheep gets a little bent out of shape. #localtv could be weird, y'all. Infinite Sheep is a series of reminiscences (usually short) of life in the last days of analog, locally-owned broadcast TV and radio. You can also find me at Roddenberry Podcasts co-hosting Mission Log: Gene-ology - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjXp3_SMi9LSg2rcgIayf30A0bVUb2yGc And, of course, the site that started it all, combining sci-fi, retro video games, book, music and toy reviews, and all sorts of retro-futurist fun: https://www.thelogbook.com Help support the site, the videos, and the podcasts at https://www.patreon.com/thelogbook/​ or https://www.ko-fi.com/thelogbook/​ - many many thanks to everyone who has supported theLogBook.com's podcasting and videocasting endeavours! The theme music is "Please Listen Carefully" by Jahzzar (betterwithmusic.com), licensed under Creative Commons CC-BY-SA.
Infinite Sheep: Rebranding KFDF (1996)
Why did the old fella cross the road? Because he was running from a Road Pizza and/or trying not to become one. An obscure #AppleII oddity gets the Phosphor Dot Fossils treatment. #retrogaming Phosphor Dot Fossils at theLogBook.com is one of the web's oldest archives of vintage console, computer, and arcade games; there was also a 2-DVD documentary of the same name, covering the early history of video games, produced in 2008 and 2009. And these days? PDF aims to bring a more laid-back, less-caffeinated, less-profanity-spewing experience to the retro video game longplay video. There's a complete updated list of videos at https://www.thelogbook.com/pdf-on-youtube/ Check out my other projects and podcasts: Select Game: Expanded Memories of the Odyssey2 podcast - http://www.thelogbook.com/selectgame/​ Retrogram podcast - http://www.thelogbook.com/retrogram/​ And you can also find me at Roddenberry Podcasts co-hosting Mission Log: Gene-ology - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjXp3_SMi9LSg2rcgIayf30A0bVUb2yGc And, of course, the site that started it all, combining sci-fi, retro video games, book, music and toy reviews, and all sorts of retro-futurist fun: https://www.thelogbook.com Help support the site, the videos, and the podcasts at https://www.patreon.com/thelogbook/​ or https://www.ko-fi.com/thelogbook/​ - many many thanks to everyone who has supported theLogBook.com's podcasting and videocasting endeavours! The theme music is the "Phosphor Dot Fossils Theme" by Earl Green.
Phosphor Dot Fossils: Road Pizza (Apple II, 1983)
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Published On: March 20, 1984

Odyssey²Like many other companies tied into the video game business – whose profits seem to be in an endless downward spiral – North American Phillips (formerly Magnavox) closes down production of Odyssey² hardware and software, and reassigns staff programmers to other products, including Phillips’ stand-alone word processor, VideoWriter, though few of the company’s former game designers remain with that project for long.
Published On: March 20, 1983

Special BulletinNBC premieres the two-hour TV movie Special Bulletin, presented in the style of a live breaking news report, and conceived, written, and directed by Ed Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz (later creators of the late ’80s series Thirtysomething). As is often the case with fictional presentations produced in the style of a news broadcast, some audience members are genuinely alarmed by the movie, despite frequent on-screen disclaimers advising those watching that it is just a movie. Read more

Published On: March 20, 1967

SoundtrackDot Records releases the Leonard Nimoy‘s album Mr. Spock’s Music From Outer Space, a collection of songs both in and out of character as Spock. Aside from providing material for future Golden Throats albums, this record sparks a feud between Nimoy and Roddenberry; Roddenberry claims co-writing credit on the Star Trek theme (which is featured on the LP) and credit for creating Mr. Spock, and demands – to coin a phrase – a piece of the action. Read more

Absolutely no generative AI was used in the creation of the content on this website.
It’s mostly just some guy named Earl.

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