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Star Trek's Gay Episode Finally Gets Made
by Greg Hernandez
, Contributing Writer
March 14, 2007
Gerrold was with Roddenberry at a Star Trek convention when Roddenberry was asked whether there would be gay characters in Next Generation. Gerrold recalls him saying, "You're right, it's time we do that."
But Roddenberry was in fading health by that time, and he had less to do with the show's day-to-day operations than he had on the original Star Trek series that ran from 1966–69. So after reviewing Gerrold's completed script, the show's producers got cold feet.
"This script was written as a promise," says Gerrold, an associate producer on Next Generation who was largely credited with mapping out the new series. "There was a subtext that they were gay, but we treated them like they were really good friends. But someone does ask them: 'How long have you been together?' Well, a few people in the office went ballistic! A memo came down that said, 'We don't want to risk the franchise by having mommies calling the station because they saw gay people on Star Trek.'"
Frustrated by office politics and upset that the gay-themed episode had been shelved, Gerrold left the franchise that had meant to much to him. "I walked away disappointed at the stories that weren't going to be told," he says. "I wanted to recreate the spirit of the original series. The episode where you are up against some terrible threat [and] as long as you were fighting it and seeing [it] as an enemy, you were going the wrong way. The only way [to succeed] was to stop resisting and learn how to be friends."
Gerrold never forgot the episode that didn't get made, but he moved on to other things as the Star Trek franchise continued to thrive through the successful runs of Next Generation, Deep Space Nine and Voyager as well as feature films with the cast of the original series.
But with no Star Trek series on the air since the cancellation of Enterprise in 2005, several fan websites have helped to keep the Star Trek franchise alive by shooting their own episodes that are available for download. Among the most successful is Star Trek: New Voyages which has already shot three episodes; the most recent one features original cast member George Takei reprising his role of Capt. Sulu.
New Voyages is gearing up to begin filming its fourth episode in June, and it will be an updated version of Gerrold's "Blood and Fire." The gay characters in this version are Capt. Kirk's nephew, Peter Kirk, and his boyfriend, Lt. Alex Freeman.
"I knew about the script and the story, and I approached David [Gerrold] with an idea of using it in our series," says James Cawley, executive producer for New Voyages. "A few of the original elements were kept intact but changed to make it relevant to 2001 as opposed to 1987. I really feel this is something Gene Roddenberry wanted to do. He had promised there would be gay characters. That was the episode that was going to deliver. They never had the guts to tackle the issue, which is a shame. If we don't pick up his torch, it's never going to happen
by Greg Hernandez
, Contributing Writer
March 14, 2007
When David Gerrold left Star Trek: The Next Generation back in 1988, it was with a bit of a broken heart. He had penned an episode called "Blood and Fire" which dealt with an epidemic caused by a blood-borne pathogen that was an allegory for AIDS. The episode was to have featured the first openly gay couple in Star Trek history, something that Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry was said to fully support.
Gerrold was with Roddenberry at a Star Trek convention when Roddenberry was asked whether there would be gay characters in Next Generation. Gerrold recalls him saying, "You're right, it's time we do that."
But Roddenberry was in fading health by that time, and he had less to do with the show's day-to-day operations than he had on the original Star Trek series that ran from 1966–69. So after reviewing Gerrold's completed script, the show's producers got cold feet.
"This script was written as a promise," says Gerrold, an associate producer on Next Generation who was largely credited with mapping out the new series. "There was a subtext that they were gay, but we treated them like they were really good friends. But someone does ask them: 'How long have you been together?' Well, a few people in the office went ballistic! A memo came down that said, 'We don't want to risk the franchise by having mommies calling the station because they saw gay people on Star Trek.'"
Frustrated by office politics and upset that the gay-themed episode had been shelved, Gerrold left the franchise that had meant to much to him. "I walked away disappointed at the stories that weren't going to be told," he says. "I wanted to recreate the spirit of the original series. The episode where you are up against some terrible threat [and] as long as you were fighting it and seeing [it] as an enemy, you were going the wrong way. The only way [to succeed] was to stop resisting and learn how to be friends."
Gerrold never forgot the episode that didn't get made, but he moved on to other things as the Star Trek franchise continued to thrive through the successful runs of Next Generation, Deep Space Nine and Voyager as well as feature films with the cast of the original series.
But with no Star Trek series on the air since the cancellation of Enterprise in 2005, several fan websites have helped to keep the Star Trek franchise alive by shooting their own episodes that are available for download. Among the most successful is Star Trek: New Voyages which has already shot three episodes; the most recent one features original cast member George Takei reprising his role of Capt. Sulu.
New Voyages is gearing up to begin filming its fourth episode in June, and it will be an updated version of Gerrold's "Blood and Fire." The gay characters in this version are Capt. Kirk's nephew, Peter Kirk, and his boyfriend, Lt. Alex Freeman.
"I knew about the script and the story, and I approached David [Gerrold] with an idea of using it in our series," says James Cawley, executive producer for New Voyages. "A few of the original elements were kept intact but changed to make it relevant to 2001 as opposed to 1987. I really feel this is something Gene Roddenberry wanted to do. He had promised there would be gay characters. That was the episode that was going to deliver. They never had the guts to tackle the issue, which is a shame. If we don't pick up his torch, it's never going to happen
