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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. There are a million stories in the Naked City, and Gene Roddenberry told just one of them – but it was an unusual specimen for 1962 prime time, a story that decisively put women, including some with future involvement in Star Trek, at the forefront of a complex, challenging story. 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 "The Rydecker Case". 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. 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.
The 887th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1 (the 188th episode since the series’ revival), starring Ncuti Gatwa and Varada Sethu. This is the first episode of the revived series’ 15th season (Disney+ again gives its own numbering, calling this its second season).
The 22nd episode of the science fiction series The Expanse, based on the series of novels by James S.A. Corey (a pseudonym for writers Ty Franck and Daniel Abraham), is broadcast on cable channel Syfy. Terry Chen (Continuum) guest stars.
NASA announces the results of a bidding process for soon-to-be-retired Space Shuttle vehicles by institutions across the country. The original test vehicle, Enterprise, will be removed from the Smithsonian and replaced by the space-flown Discovery, while Atlantis will become the centerpiece of a new exhibit at NASA’s own Kennedy Space Center. Endeavour will be handed over to the California Science Museum in Los Angeles, while Enterprise’s new home will be in New York City’s Intrepid Museum. Institutions not selected to receive one of the shuttles, including NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, almost immediately claim that the selection process has been swayed by politics. None of the vehicles will be transported from Kennedy Space Center to their new locations until the following year.
The 55th episode of the science fiction comedy Red Dwarf airs on BBC 2. This is the conclusion of a three-part story commissioned by UK comedy channel Dave. The story receives sharp criticism for completely breaking down the “fourth wall”, and for borrowing heavily from the movie Blade Runner. Despite the fan criticism, Dave begins putting together financing to a full season of six episodes, which won’t appear until 2012.
The 742nd episode of Doctor Who (the 44th since the series’ revival) airs on BBC1. Peter Capaldi and Tracey Childs guest star, and future series star Karen Gillan makes an appearance (though not in the later role of Amy Pond).
The 39th episode of James Cameron & Charles H. Eglee’s cyberpunk series Dark Angel, starring Jessica Alba and Michael Weatherly, airs on Fox. Ashley Scott (Birds Of Prey, Jericho) and Kandyse McClure (Battlestar Galactica) guest star.
The week-long national syndication window opens for the 166th episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. This episode continues a tightly-serialized eight-episode run-up to the series finale. Louise Fletcher guest stars.
The 17th episode of Highlander: The Raven, starring Amanda Gracen and Paul Johannson, airs in syndication; the series is a spinoff from Highlander: The Series.
The 39th episode of Gene Roddenberry’s Earth: Final Conflict, airs in syndication, starring Robert Leeshock, Lisa Howard, Von Flores, and Richard Chevolleau.
Welsh toy company Dapol announces the release of a series of limited edition Doctor Who “Millennium Daleks”. Essentially the same mold and tooling as with their existing Dalek action figures, these Daleks have an assortment of glittery, colorful paint jobs (not matching anything seen on television).
Pay cable channel HBO airs the fourth episode of the docudrama From The Earth To The Moon, chronicling NASA’s quest to reach the moon, and two episodes debut each Sunday of the show’s run. The fourth episode dramatizes the flight of Apollo 8. David Andrews (A Nightmare On Elm Street, Terminator 3) and Tim Daly (Wings) guest star.
Pay cable channel HBO airs the third episode of its heavily-promoted docudrama From The Earth To The Moon, chronicling NASA’s quest to reach the moon, and two episodes debut each Sunday of the show’s run. The third episode dramatizes the preparations for the critical launch of Apollo 7. Mark Harmon (NCIS), Peter Horton (thirtysomething) and Ann Magnuson guest star.
The seventh episode of the time-travel/crime series Crime Traveller is broadcast on BBC1, created and written by Anthony Horowitz (Foyle’s War), starring Michael French (Casualty) and Chloe Annett (Red Dwarf). Gawn Grainger guest stars.
The 69th episode of Chris Carter’s modern-day science fiction series The X-Files airs on Fox, starring Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny. Charles Nelson Reilly and William Lucking guest star.
Premium cable channel Showtime airs the 33rd episode of The Outer Limits, a revival of Leslie Stevens’ 1960s science fiction anthology series. Michael Gross (Tremors, Family Ties) guest stars in an adaptation of a Larry Niven short story.
The second episode of the science fiction police series Mann & Machine, co-created by Dick Wolf and Robert de Laurentiis, is broadcast on NBC, starring David Andrews and Yancy Butler. Richard Burgi and Kate Hodge (She-Wolf Of London) guest star.
The 18th episode of the superhero series The Flash, based on the DC Comics character, airs on CBS, starring John Wesley Shipp and Amanda Pays. Lenny von Dohlen (Twin Peaks, Red Dwarf) guest stars.
The 15th episode of Richard Carpenter’s fanciful retelling of the Robin Hood legend, Robin Of Sherwood, airs on ITV, starring Jason Connery, Mark Ryan, Judi Trott, and Nickolas Grace. Richard O’Brien (The Rocky Horror Picture Show) guest stars.
After a month of delays due to damage and a change in the flight schedule, Space Shuttle Discovery returns to orbit for a week-long flight. A Canadian communications satellite and the LEASAT-3 satellite are redeployed, but LEASAT continues to malfunction despite multiple attempts to active and launch it. Discovery’s crew on this flight consists of Commander Karol Bobko, Pilot Donald Williams, mission specialists Rhea Seddon, Jeffrey Hoffman and David Griggs, and payload specialists Charles Walker and Senator Jake Garn, the first member of the U.S. Congress to fly in space while in office. This flight’s return to the runway at Kennedy Space Center marks the first time a shuttle orbiter experiences significant damage upon landing, including a blowout of one of its landing gear wheels.
Safely in orbit, the cargo bay doors are opened for the first time on Space Shuttle Columbia, revealing that some of the shuttle’s protective thermal tiles are already missing. (A later post-landing inspection reveals that more than 100 tiles are damaged, and 16 tiles are completely lost, all probably due to unexpected vibration during launch.) NASA deems the damage non-critical and gives the go-ahead for a landing, even though it’s impossible to see what damage may have been done to the more critical tiles on the shuttle’s underbelly.
Space Shuttle Columbia lifts off on the shuttle system’s first flight into a space, with Commander John Young (a Gemini/Apollo veteran) and Robert Crippen aboard, the first two-man American crew since the Gemini program’s final flight in 1966. It’s a true test flight in every sense of the word – every previous American manned spacecraft had been flown unmanned first to verify safety and spaceworthiness, making the shuttle’s first flight a case where everything has to go perfectly the first time.
ITV airs the 16th episode of Roald Dahl’s anthology series Tales Of The Unexpected, hosted by the author himself and adapted from his short stories. Ron Moody (Into The Labyrinth) guest stars.
The sixth episode of Douglas Adams’ breakthrough radio science fiction comedy series The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy is first broadcast on BBC Radio. This is the second episode co-written by John Lloyd, though his contributions are frequently downplayed by Adams in later years. Due to the unexpected popularity of the six-episode series, the BBC asks Adams for more Hitchhiker’s Guide, but in the interim he has also taken on a new full-time job as script editor of Doctor Who, making it harder to simultaneously write another six-episode radio series.
The second episode of The Amazing Spider-Man airs on CBS, starring Nicholas Hammond and Robert F. Simon. Joanna Cameron (The Secrets Of Isis) and Robert Alda guest star. This is part two of a two-part story.
The 397th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. This episode marks the first-ever appearance of Davros in the series, as well as the first attempt to nail down an origin story for the Daleks themselves.
The 243rd episode of Doctor Who airs on the BBC. This is the second story written by Robert Holmes, and is the most recent Doctor Who story to be missing entire episodes from the BBC’s archives.
The 31st episode of Irwin Allen’s adventure series Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea airs on ABC, starring Richard Basehart and David Hedison. J.D. Cannon guest stars.
The Soviet Union scores another technological victory, launching cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin aboard Vostok 1 into a single orbit of Earth lasting a little over 100 minutes. After that orbit, Gagarin’s Vostok return capsule carries him safely through the atmosphere; he then triggers an ejection seat which punches him out of the capsule, at which point he parachutes to the ground.
The 14th episode of H.G. Wells’ The Invisible Man, based on Wells’ story, airs on ITV; this episode will air in September 1959 in the U.S. on CBS. Lisa Daniely and Deborah Watling (Doctor Who) star. Future Doctor Who producer Barry Letts, an actor at this point in his career, has a small role in the second season premiere.
The 887th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1 (the 188th episode since the series’ revival), starring Ncuti Gatwa and Varada Sethu. This is the first episode of the revived series’ 15th season (Disney+ again gives its own numbering, calling this its second season).
theLogBook.com releases the 24th episode of the Retrogram podcast, hosted by Earl Green, covering the following shows from the week of January 12th, 1981:
The 133rd episode of Arrow, a modern-day reboot of DC Comics’ Green Arrow superhero starring Stephen Amell, airs on the CW.
The 22nd episode of the science fiction series The Expanse, based on the series of novels by James S.A. Corey (a pseudonym for writers Ty Franck and Daniel Abraham), is broadcast on cable channel Syfy. Terry Chen (Continuum) guest stars.
NASA announces the results of a bidding process for soon-to-be-retired Space Shuttle vehicles by institutions across the country. The original test vehicle, Enterprise, will be removed from the Smithsonian and replaced by the space-flown Discovery, while Atlantis will become the centerpiece of a new exhibit at NASA’s own Kennedy Space Center. Endeavour will be handed over to the California Science Museum in Los Angeles, while Enterprise’s new home will be in New York City’s Intrepid Museum. Institutions not selected to receive one of the shuttles, including NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, almost immediately claim that the selection process has been swayed by politics. None of the vehicles will be transported from Kennedy Space Center to their new locations until the following year.
The 55th episode of the science fiction comedy Red Dwarf airs on BBC 2. This is the conclusion of a three-part story commissioned by UK comedy channel Dave. The story receives sharp criticism for completely breaking down the “fourth wall”, and for borrowing heavily from the movie Blade Runner. Despite the fan criticism, Dave begins putting together financing to a full season of six episodes, which won’t appear until 2012. 
The 742nd episode of Doctor Who (the 44th since the series’ revival) airs on BBC1. Peter Capaldi and Tracey Childs guest star, and future series star Karen Gillan makes an appearance (though not in the later role of Amy Pond). 
ABC airs the 43rd episode of the J.J. Abrams-produced series Lost. Wayne Pygram (Farscape) and Michael Emerson guest star. 
Pay cable channel Showtime premieres the sixth episode of J. Michael Straczynski’s post-apocalyptic series Jeremiah. Robert Moloney (K-9) guest stars. 
The 64th episode of Farscape airs on the Sci-Fi Channel, starring Ben Browder and Claudia Black. 
The 39th episode of James Cameron & Charles H. Eglee’s cyberpunk series Dark Angel, starring Jessica Alba and Michael Weatherly, airs on Fox. Ashley Scott (Birds Of Prey, Jericho) and Kandyse McClure (Battlestar Galactica) guest star.
Pay cable channel Showtime airs the 105th episode of Stargate SG-1. Tony Amendola and Rick Worthy guest star.
The week-long national syndication window opens for the 166th episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. This episode continues a tightly-serialized eight-episode run-up to the series finale. Louise Fletcher guest stars. 
The 17th episode of Highlander: The Raven, starring Amanda Gracen and Paul Johannson, airs in syndication; the series is a spinoff from Highlander: The Series. 
The 39th episode of Gene Roddenberry’s Earth: Final Conflict, airs in syndication, starring Robert Leeshock, Lisa Howard, Von Flores, and Richard Chevolleau.
Welsh toy company Dapol announces the release of a series of limited edition Doctor Who “Millennium Daleks”. Essentially the same mold and tooling as with their existing Dalek action figures, these Daleks have an assortment of glittery, colorful paint jobs (not matching anything seen on television).
Pay cable channel HBO airs the fourth episode of the docudrama From The Earth To The Moon, chronicling NASA’s quest to reach the moon, and two episodes debut each Sunday of the show’s run. The fourth episode dramatizes the flight of Apollo 8. David Andrews (A Nightmare On Elm Street, Terminator 3) and Tim Daly (Wings) guest star. 
Pay cable channel HBO airs the third episode of its heavily-promoted docudrama From The Earth To The Moon, chronicling NASA’s quest to reach the moon, and two episodes debut each Sunday of the show’s run. The third episode dramatizes the preparations for the critical launch of Apollo 7. Mark Harmon (NCIS), Peter Horton (thirtysomething) and Ann Magnuson guest star. 
The seventh episode of the time-travel/crime series Crime Traveller is broadcast on BBC1, created and written by Anthony Horowitz (Foyle’s War), starring Michael French (Casualty) and Chloe Annett (Red Dwarf). Gawn Grainger guest stars.
The 82nd episode of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures Of Superman airs on ABC, starring Dean Cain and Teri Hatcher. 
The 69th episode of Chris Carter’s modern-day science fiction series The X-Files airs on Fox, starring Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny. Charles Nelson Reilly and William Lucking guest star.
Fox premieres the 19th episode of the military science fiction series Space: Above And Beyond. Rapper Coolio and David Duchovny (The X-Files) guest star. 
Premium cable channel Showtime airs the 33rd episode of The Outer Limits, a revival of Leslie Stevens’ 1960s science fiction anthology series. Michael Gross (Tremors, Family Ties) guest stars in an adaptation of a Larry Niven short story.
Fox airs the fourth episode of Sliders, Tracy Torme’s alternate-universe science fiction series. 
The week-long national syndication window opens for the 11th episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. This episode is written by Sam Rolfe of Have Gun, Will Travel fame. 
Reprise Records releases the Julianna Raye’s debut album Something Peculiar, produced by Jeff Lynne of ELO fame. 
The second episode of the science fiction police series Mann & Machine, co-created by Dick Wolf and Robert de Laurentiis, is broadcast on NBC, starring David Andrews and Yancy Butler. Richard Burgi and Kate Hodge (She-Wolf Of London) guest star.
The 18th episode of the superhero series The Flash, based on the DC Comics character, airs on CBS, starring John Wesley Shipp and Amanda Pays. Lenny von Dohlen (Twin Peaks, Red Dwarf) guest stars.
Scotti Bros. releases “Weird Al” Yankovic‘s fifth album, Even Worse, featuring the single “Fat” (inspired by Michael Jackson’s single “Bad”). 
The 15th episode of Richard Carpenter’s fanciful retelling of the Robin Hood legend, Robin Of Sherwood, airs on ITV, starring Jason Connery, Mark Ryan, Judi Trott, and Nickolas Grace. Richard O’Brien (The Rocky Horror Picture Show) guest stars.
After a month of delays due to damage and a change in the flight schedule, Space Shuttle Discovery returns to orbit for a week-long flight. A Canadian communications satellite and the LEASAT-3 satellite are redeployed, but LEASAT continues to malfunction despite multiple attempts to active and launch it. Discovery’s crew on this flight consists of Commander Karol Bobko, Pilot Donald Williams, mission specialists Rhea Seddon, Jeffrey Hoffman and David Griggs, and payload specialists Charles Walker and Senator Jake Garn, the first member of the U.S. Congress to fly in space while in office. This flight’s return to the runway at Kennedy Space Center marks the first time a shuttle orbiter experiences significant damage upon landing, including a blowout of one of its landing gear wheels.
I.R.S. Records releases R.E.M.‘s debut album Murmur, featuring the single “Radio Free Europe”. 
Safely in orbit, the cargo bay doors are opened for the first time on Space Shuttle Columbia, revealing that some of the shuttle’s protective thermal tiles are already missing. (A later post-landing inspection reveals that more than 100 tiles are damaged, and 16 tiles are completely lost, all probably due to unexpected vibration during launch.) NASA deems the damage non-critical and gives the go-ahead for a landing, even though it’s impossible to see what damage may have been done to the more critical tiles on the shuttle’s underbelly.
The fourth episode of Brian Daley’s radio drama adaptation of the science fiction blockbuster Star Wars airs on National Public Radio stations in the U.S. Mark Hamill stars as Luke Skywalker, and Thomas Hill stars as Uncle Owen. 
ITV airs the 36th episode of the anthology series Tales Of The Unexpected. Siobhan McKenna guest stars.
Space Shuttle Columbia lifts off on the shuttle system’s first flight into a space, with Commander John Young (a Gemini/Apollo veteran) and Robert Crippen aboard, the first two-man American crew since the Gemini program’s final flight in 1966. It’s a true test flight in every sense of the word – every previous American manned spacecraft had been flown unmanned first to verify safety and spaceworthiness, making the shuttle’s first flight a case where everything has to go perfectly the first time.
The sixth episode of Douglas Adams’ breakthrough radio science fiction comedy series The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy is first broadcast on BBC Radio. This is the second episode co-written by John Lloyd, though his contributions are frequently downplayed by Adams in later years. Due to the unexpected popularity of the six-episode series, the BBC asks Adams for more Hitchhiker’s Guide, but in the interim he has also taken on a new full-time job as script editor of Doctor Who, making it harder to simultaneously write another six-episode radio series. 
The second episode of The Amazing Spider-Man airs on CBS, starring Nicholas Hammond and Robert F. Simon. Joanna Cameron (The Secrets Of Isis) and Robert Alda guest star. This is part two of a two-part story. 
The 397th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. This episode marks the first-ever appearance of Davros in the series, as well as the first attempt to nail down an origin story for the Daleks themselves.
The 11th episode of The Six Million Dollar Man is broadcast on ABC, starring Lee Majors and Richard Anderson. William Shatner (Star Trek) guest stars. 
BBC1 airs the 28th episode of Doomwatch. This episode no longer exists in the BBC’s archives.
The 243rd episode of Doctor Who airs on the BBC. This is the second story written by Robert Holmes, and is the most recent Doctor Who story to be missing entire episodes from the BBC’s archives.
The 58th episode of Irwin Allen’s science fiction series Lost In Space premieres on CBS, starring Guy Williams, June Lockhart, and Jonathan Harris.
The 31st episode of Irwin Allen’s adventure series Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea airs on ABC, starring Richard Basehart and David Hedison. J.D. Cannon guest stars.
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation premieres the first episode of the science fiction series The Stranger, starring Ron Haddrick.
The Soviet Union scores another technological victory, launching cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin aboard Vostok 1 into a single orbit of Earth lasting a little over 100 minutes. After that orbit, Gagarin’s Vostok return capsule carries him safely through the atmosphere; he then triggers an ejection seat which punches him out of the capsule, at which point he parachutes to the ground.
ABC airs the 51st episode of the supernatural anthology series One Step Beyond, hosted and directed by John Newland. Robert Douglas guest stars.
The 14th episode of H.G. Wells’ The Invisible Man, based on Wells’ story, airs on ITV; this episode will air in September 1959 in the U.S. on CBS. Lisa Daniely and Deborah Watling (Doctor Who) star. Future Doctor Who producer Barry Letts, an actor at this point in his career, has a small role in the second season premiere.
The 84th episode of The Adventures Of Superman airs in syndication, starring George Reeves, Noel Neill, and Jack Larson.