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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.
Actor Luke Perry, at the time a current regular on the CW’s Riverdale series and a former teen heartthrob from his years as one of the stars of Fox’s Beverly Hills 90210 throughout the 1990s, dies at the age of 52 several days after suffering from a major stroke. Among his many high-profile series roles were HBO’s acclaimed prison drama Oz, and the starring role in Jeremiah, Showtime’s early 21st century adaptation of a popular post-apocalyptic comic book, adapted by Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski. He also had a minor part in the 1997 genre cult classic The Fifth Element, and was one of the stars of the 1992 movie Buffy The Vampire Slayer, upon which the later TV series was based. His first TV role – albeit uncredited – was in an episode of 1982’s short-lived time travel series Voyagers!.
Cable channel Disney XD airs the 52nd episode of the series Star Wars: Rebels. Lars Mikkelsen (House Of Cards, Sherlock) and Genevieve O’Reilly (reprising her role of Mon Mothma from Rogue One: A Star Wars Story) guest star.
The designer and builder of the original R2-D2 props/costumes for Star Wars, roboticist and former toy designer Professor Tony Dyson, is found dead in Malta. Using Ralph McQuarrie’s artwork as his guide, Dyson built eight full-size R2 units for the 1977 film, some of them remote-controlled marvels of electronics, and others hollow shells to be operated by actor Kenny Baker. Dyson’s other film credits included Superman II and the James Bond film Moonraker. He provided other specialized droids for the original trilogy, and later formed a droid builders’ club in the UK, though he was legally forbidden by Lucasfilm to use his original 1976 design specifications. Some of his proteges went on to build R2 units for Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Mr. Dyson was 68.
NOAA’s GOES-15 Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite is launched from Cape Canaveral into geosynchronous orbit to monitor weather patterns over the United States. In accordance with NOAA’s policy of having standby weather satellites already in orbit before their predecessors are decommissioned, GOES-15 is held in reserve until late 2011, when it will become the primary GOES-WEST satellite. It remains in orbit on active weather-watching duty.
The co-creator of the seminal “paper-and-dice” role playing game Dungeons & Dragons dies at the age of 69. Gary Gygax helped to devise the D&D system with Dave Arneson in 1974, and the game instantly took off, with players adoring its simultaneous escapism and complexity, and parents – usually having heard horror stories of a few bad apples – protesting the game vigorously. D&D created its own little empire for publisher TSR Inc., and numerous add-ons and imitations followed (including virtually the entire metal miniature gaming industry), influenced video and computer games, and inspired an animated series (whose production he was involved in) and movies. He still received – and enjoyed – fan mail from avid D&D players past and present.
Oscar-winning Film and TV composer Leonard Rosenman dies at the age of 83. Known for such movie scores as East Of Eden and Rebel Without A Cause (both starring James Dean), he also created the music for pivotal SF movies such as Fantastic Voyage, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, Ralph Bakshi’s animated rendition of Lord Of The Rings, Beneath The Planet Of The Apes and Battle For The Planet Of The Apes. He also scored episodes of TV’s original Twilight Zone, Amazing Stories and The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, among a great many others, including National Geographic and Jacques Cousteau specials.
British toymaker Character Options releases a wave of three action figure double-packs from the Doctor Who spinoff The Sarah Jane Adventures. Made in scale with the company’s popular range of Doctor Who toys, the spinoff characters do not sell well enough to justify the manufacture of a second series of figures.
The 170th episode of Stargate SG-1 airs on the Sci-Fi Channel, starring Richard Dean Anderson, Amanda Tapping, Michael Shanks, and Christopher Judge. Isaac Hayes (South Park) guest stars.
The 47th episode of the science fiction comedy Red Dwarf airs on BBC 2. At the conclusion of this episode, the main characters are sentenced to time in “the tank,” where they remain for much of the rest of the season.
Crew members of space station Mir and Russian ground controllers practice manual remote control of an unmanned Progress supply vehicle near the station. Where most previous Progress spacecraft have automatically docked using the KURS radar system, Russia is now seeking alternatives, as the Ukraine-made KURS hardware is proving too expensive to keep buying for non-reusable vehicles. During Mir Commander Vasily Tsibliev’s attempt to redock Progress M33, the remote control signal is interrupted, leaving the ten-ton Progress barreling toward the station. Fortunately, it narrowly misses Mir, though the remote control issue will resurface more dramatically with the next Progress craft to visit the space station.
Space Shuttle Columbia lifts off on the 61st shuttle mission, a two-week visit to Earth orbit carrying two cargo-bay-mounted experiment systems operated primarily from the ground. Crew members participate in experiments involving the side-effects of long-term space travel. The crew for Columbia’s 16th flight consists of Commander John Casper, Pilot Andrew Allen, and mission specialists Pierre Thuot, Charles Gemar and Marsha Ivins.
NBC airs the 68th episode of Donald Bellisario’s science fiction series Quantum Leap, starring Scott Bakula and Dean Stockwell. Carla Gugino (Chicago Hope, Threshold) guest stars.
The first episode of George Lucas’ historical adventure series The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles premieres to great fanfare on ABC, starring Sean Patrick Flannery. Margaret Tyzack (Quatermass) and Oliver Ford Davies (Star Wars Episode I) guest star in the feature-length series premiere.
The 43rd episode of the horror anthology series Freddy’s Nightmares is broadcast in syndication in North America, hosted by Robert Englund in character as Freddy Krueger.
The 59th episode of a revival of Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone airs in syndication. Pamela Bellwood (Dynasty) stars in an episode written by Christy Marx (Jem And The Holograms).
CBS airs the 19th episode of Ron Koslow’s fantasy series Beauty and the Beast, starring Linda Hamilton, Ron Perlman, and Roy Dotrice. Josh Blake guest stars.
The 18th episode of the science fiction series The Powers Of Matthew Star airs on NBC, starring Peter Barton and Louis Gossett Jr. John Vernon (Animal House) guest stars.
ABC premieres the first episode of the cop show spoof Police Squad, in color, starring Leslie Nielsen and created by the Zucker-Abrams-Zucker team behind the hit movie Airplane! Despite the same team’s success on the big screen (with the same star), ABC seems to have little idea how to promote the series, which eschews such prime-time comedy conventions as laugh tracks, and Police Squad proves short-lived, though it will inspire a more successful movie franchise, The Naked Gun, also starring Nielsen.
As it nears its closest approach to the planet Jupiter, NASA’s Voyager 1 space probe detects the first likely signs of a ring system around Jupiter’s equatorial region. Barely visible until Voyager 1 is behind the planet and can see them through scattered sunlight, the rings are only about 20 miles thick, but are over 150,000 miles in diameter. The lead time between Voyager 1’s visit and Voyager 2’s later flyby allows ground controllers to plan a better observation campaign for Voyager 1’s sister ship, and the rings are observed in more detail by the later Galileo and New Horizons missions.
The science fiction TV movie-of-the-week Man From Atlantis airs on NBC, starring Patrick Duffy and Belinda J. Montgomery. Created by Mayo Simon and classic Star Trek veteran Herbert F. Solow, Man From Atlantis centers around a mysterious man from the ocean (Duffy) discovered by humans, who find he is willing to live among them and coexist for peaceful purposes. Three more TV movies will follow, each successful enough for NBC to greenlight a weekly series in the 1977-78 season.
NBC airs the 41st episode of Night Gallery, an anthology series of original short plays and short story adaptations hosted by Rod Serling. Lesley Ann Warren guest stars in Leonard Nimoy’s directorial debut.
The 313th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Roger Delgado and Clive Morton guest star. This is the first appearance of the Sea Devils, identified here as an offshoot of the Silurian species.
BBC2 airs the 34th episode of science fiction anthology series Out Of The Unknown. Written by Brian Hayles (creator of Doctor Who’s Ice Warriors), the story stars Bernard Horsfall and Geoffrey Palmer. This episode no longer exists in the BBC’s archives.
British broadcaster ABC airs the 112th episode of the spy-fi series The Avengers, starring Patrick Macnee and Diana Rigg. Ronnie Barker (The Two Ronnies) guest stars.
The 26th episode of the spy-fi series Adam Adamant Lives! airs on BBC1, starring Gerald Harper and Juliet Harmer. Along with much of the rest of the second season, this episode is missing from the BBC’s archives.
The ninth episode of Sydney Newman’s spy series The Avengers, starring Ian Hendry and Patrick Macnee, airs on UK broadcaster ABC. This episode is now missing from the archives, but will be recreated in audio form in the 21st century by Big Finish Productions.
The 22nd episode of Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone airs on CBS. Claude Akins and Barry Atwater star in an episode written by Serling that is generally regarded as one of the high points of the entire series.
Actor Luke Perry, at the time a current regular on the CW’s Riverdale series and a former teen heartthrob from his years as one of the stars of Fox’s Beverly Hills 90210 throughout the 1990s, dies at the age of 52 several days after suffering from a major stroke. Among his many high-profile series roles were HBO’s acclaimed prison drama Oz, and the starring role in Jeremiah, Showtime’s early 21st century adaptation of a popular post-apocalyptic comic book, adapted by Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski. He also had a minor part in the 1997 genre cult classic The Fifth Element, and was one of the stars of the 1992 movie Buffy The Vampire Slayer, upon which the later TV series was based. His first TV role – albeit uncredited – was in an episode of 1982’s short-lived time travel series Voyagers!.
The 152nd episode of Arrow, a modern-day reboot of DC Comics’ Green Arrow superhero starring Stephen Amell, airs on the CW.
Cable channel Disney XD airs the 52nd episode of the series Star Wars: Rebels. Lars Mikkelsen (House Of Cards, Sherlock) and Genevieve O’Reilly (reprising her role of Mon Mothma from Rogue One: A Star Wars Story) guest star. 
The designer and builder of the original R2-D2 props/costumes for Star Wars, roboticist and former toy designer Professor Tony Dyson, is found dead in Malta. Using Ralph McQuarrie’s artwork as his guide, Dyson built eight full-size R2 units for the 1977 film, some of them remote-controlled marvels of electronics, and others hollow shells to be operated by actor Kenny Baker. Dyson’s other film credits included Superman II and the James Bond film Moonraker. He provided other specialized droids for the original trilogy, and later formed a droid builders’ club in the UK, though he was legally forbidden by Lucasfilm to use his original 1976 design specifications. Some of his proteges went on to build R2 units for Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Mr. Dyson was 68.
NOAA’s GOES-15 Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite is launched from Cape Canaveral into geosynchronous orbit to monitor weather patterns over the United States. In accordance with NOAA’s policy of having standby weather satellites already in orbit before their predecessors are decommissioned, GOES-15 is held in reserve until late 2011, when it will become the primary GOES-WEST satellite. It remains in orbit on active weather-watching duty.
The co-creator of the seminal “paper-and-dice” role playing game Dungeons & Dragons dies at the age of 69. Gary Gygax helped to devise the D&D system with Dave Arneson in 1974, and the game instantly took off, with players adoring its simultaneous escapism and complexity, and parents – usually having heard horror stories of a few bad apples – protesting the game vigorously. D&D created its own little empire for publisher TSR Inc., and numerous add-ons and imitations followed (including virtually the entire metal miniature gaming industry), influenced video and computer games, and inspired an animated series (whose production he was involved in) and movies. He still received – and enjoyed – fan mail from avid D&D players past and present.
Oscar-winning Film and TV composer Leonard Rosenman dies at the age of 83. Known for such movie scores as East Of Eden and Rebel Without A Cause (both starring James Dean), he also created the music for pivotal SF movies such as Fantastic Voyage, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, Ralph Bakshi’s animated rendition of Lord Of The Rings, Beneath The Planet Of The Apes and Battle For The Planet Of The Apes. He also scored episodes of TV’s original Twilight Zone, Amazing Stories and The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, among a great many others, including National Geographic and Jacques Cousteau specials.
British toymaker Character Options releases a wave of three action figure double-packs from the Doctor Who spinoff The Sarah Jane Adventures. Made in scale with the company’s popular range of Doctor Who toys, the spinoff characters do not sell well enough to justify the manufacture of a second series of figures. 
Sci-Fi Channel airs the 50th episode of Ronald D. Moore’s re-imagining of Battlestar Galactica. 
Sci-Fi channel airs the ninth episode of Ronald D. Moore’s re-imagining of Battlestar Galactica. Kate Vernon guest stars. 
Sci-Fi Channel airs the 16th episode of Stargate Atlantis. Amanda Tapping (Stargate SG-1) guest stars as Colonel Samantha Carter. 
The 170th episode of Stargate SG-1 airs on the Sci-Fi Channel, starring Richard Dean Anderson, Amanda Tapping, Michael Shanks, and Christopher Judge. Isaac Hayes (South Park) guest stars. 
The 47th episode of the science fiction comedy Red Dwarf airs on BBC 2. At the conclusion of this episode, the main characters are sentenced to time in “the tank,” where they remain for much of the rest of the season. 
UPN airs the 86th episode of Star Trek: Voyager. 
Cable channel TNT premieres the 95th episode of J. Michael Straczynski’s science fiction series Babylon 5. 
UPN airs the 85th episode of Star Trek: Voyager. 
Crew members of space station Mir and Russian ground controllers practice manual remote control of an unmanned Progress supply vehicle near the station. Where most previous Progress spacecraft have automatically docked using the KURS radar system, Russia is now seeking alternatives, as the Ukraine-made KURS hardware is proving too expensive to keep buying for non-reusable vehicles. During Mir Commander Vasily Tsibliev’s attempt to redock Progress M33, the remote control signal is interrupted, leaving the ten-ton Progress barreling toward the station. Fortunately, it narrowly misses Mir, though the remote control issue will resurface more dramatically with the next Progress craft to visit the space station.
The week-long national syndication window opens for the 18th episode of Xena: Warrior Princess. Tim Thomerson guest stars as Meleager. 
Space Shuttle Columbia lifts off on the 61st shuttle mission, a two-week visit to Earth orbit carrying two cargo-bay-mounted experiment systems operated primarily from the ground. Crew members participate in experiments involving the side-effects of long-term space travel. The crew for Columbia’s 16th flight consists of Commander John Casper, Pilot Andrew Allen, and mission specialists Pierre Thuot, Charles Gemar and Marsha Ivins.
NBC airs the 68th episode of Donald Bellisario’s science fiction series Quantum Leap, starring Scott Bakula and Dean Stockwell. Carla Gugino (Chicago Hope, Threshold) guest stars.
The first episode of George Lucas’ historical adventure series The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles premieres to great fanfare on ABC, starring Sean Patrick Flannery. Margaret Tyzack (Quatermass) and Oliver Ford Davies (Star Wars Episode I) guest star in the feature-length series premiere.
The 43rd episode of the horror anthology series Freddy’s Nightmares is broadcast in syndication in North America, hosted by Robert Englund in character as Freddy Krueger. 
The 17th episode of the syndicated Alexander and Ilya Salkind-produced Superboy series, starring John Haymes Newton and Stacy Haiduk, airs.
The 59th episode of a revival of Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone airs in syndication. Pamela Bellwood (Dynasty) stars in an episode written by Christy Marx (Jem And The Holograms).
CBS airs the 19th episode of Ron Koslow’s fantasy series Beauty and the Beast, starring Linda Hamilton, Ron Perlman, and Roy Dotrice. Josh Blake guest stars.
The 18th episode of the science fiction series The Powers Of Matthew Star airs on NBC, starring Peter Barton and Louis Gossett Jr. John Vernon (Animal House) guest stars.
ABC premieres the first episode of the cop show spoof Police Squad, in color, starring Leslie Nielsen and created by the Zucker-Abrams-Zucker team behind the hit movie Airplane! Despite the same team’s success on the big screen (with the same star), ABC seems to have little idea how to promote the series, which eschews such prime-time comedy conventions as laugh tracks, and Police Squad proves short-lived, though it will inspire a more successful movie franchise, The Naked Gun, also starring Nielsen. 
The ninth episode of Watermark Radio’s syndicated sci-fi radio drama Alien Worlds is broadcast across the U.S., created by Lee Hensen and starring Roger Dressler, Linda Gary, and Corey Burton (Star Wars: The Clone Wars). Janet Waldo (Battle Of The Planets) guest stars. 
As it nears its closest approach to the planet Jupiter, NASA’s Voyager 1 space probe detects the first likely signs of a ring system around Jupiter’s equatorial region. Barely visible until Voyager 1 is behind the planet and can see them through scattered sunlight, the rings are only about 20 miles thick, but are over 150,000 miles in diameter. The lead time between Voyager 1’s visit and Voyager 2’s later flyby allows ground controllers to plan a better observation campaign for Voyager 1’s sister ship, and the rings are observed in more detail by the later Galileo and New Horizons missions.
The 478th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Milton Johns and John Arnatt guest star. This is the first appearance of the Sontarans since 1975.
The 55th episode of The Bionic Woman, starring Lindsay Wagner and Richard Anderson, airs on NBC. Nehemiah Persoff guest stars.
The science fiction TV movie-of-the-week Man From Atlantis airs on NBC, starring Patrick Duffy and Belinda J. Montgomery. Created by Mayo Simon and classic Star Trek veteran Herbert F. Solow, Man From Atlantis centers around a mysterious man from the ocean (Duffy) discovered by humans, who find he is willing to live among them and coexist for peaceful purposes. Three more TV movies will follow, each successful enough for NBC to greenlight a weekly series in the 1977-78 season. 
Bantam Books publishes Star Trek: The New Voyages, edited by Sondra Marshak and Myrna Culbreath, an anthology of fan-written Star Trek fiction, with accompanying introductions by several of the show’s cast and Gene Roddenberry himself. 
The 18th episode of The Tomorrow People is broadcast on ITV. 
NBC airs the 41st episode of Night Gallery, an anthology series of original short plays and short story adaptations hosted by Rod Serling. Lesley Ann Warren guest stars in Leonard Nimoy’s directorial debut.
The seventh episode of The Sixth Sense airs on ABC, starring Gary Collins. Lucie Arnaz and Lee Majors (The Six Million Dollar Man) guest star.
The 313th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Roger Delgado and Clive Morton guest star. This is the first appearance of the Sea Devils, identified here as an offshoot of the Silurian species.
BBC2 airs the 34th episode of science fiction anthology series Out Of The Unknown. Written by Brian Hayles (creator of Doctor Who’s Ice Warriors), the story stars Bernard Horsfall and Geoffrey Palmer. This episode no longer exists in the BBC’s archives.
The 152nd episode of Doctor Who airs on the BBC. This story sees the return of the Cybermen in a completely redesigned, more menacing form.
British broadcaster ABC airs the 112th episode of the spy-fi series The Avengers, starring Patrick Macnee and Diana Rigg. Ronnie Barker (The Two Ronnies) guest stars.
The 26th episode of the spy-fi series Adam Adamant Lives! airs on BBC1, starring Gerald Harper and Juliet Harmer. Along with much of the rest of the second season, this episode is missing from the BBC’s archives.
The ninth episode of Sydney Newman’s spy series The Avengers, starring Ian Hendry and Patrick Macnee, airs on UK broadcaster ABC. This episode is now missing from the archives, but will be recreated in audio form in the 21st century by Big Finish Productions.
The 22nd episode of Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone airs on CBS. Claude Akins and Barry Atwater star in an episode written by Serling that is generally regarded as one of the high points of the entire series.