All right— I admit it. I’ve been doing so much talking lately out loud that my blogging and word-bits have fallen off.
And that little Discovery finale hoopla kinda took up a lot of bandwidth this week to start.
But I really, really hope you ALL get a load of what we found in Gene’s archives for the fourth episode of The Trek Files, from Rodddenberry podcasts— it’s been getting a lot of exposure around the interwebs. I won’t write or push every file we talk about, either— but this is amazing.
A prototype TNG was ready in 1986, in case an aging Gene just would not get aboard the new show. But he finally did, and this well-fleshed premise by writer-producer Greg Strangis (later to launch War of the Worlds as a series for the new Paramount syndicated TV effort) was relegated to a dark corner, where it would not accidentally filter into anyone creative mind that could be liable for then paying residuals for major concepts.
Because Gene’s show (hashed out with David Gerrold and Bob Justman and, for a time, Dorothy Fontana) is the one that emerged. The whole Picard & Data & Worf thing.
But oh my — the snapshot in time for 1986 Trek… the language about women characters… and even odd unaware echoes up to Discovery!
And it’s the first time Dave Rossi, the last man standing from the “Berman era” on the Paramount lot (now in Paramount Parks R&D) makes the first of several appearances as my guest! All in 15 minutes.
As with all The Trek Files weekly Tuesday episodes, you can see and download the document before you listen in on Facebook … or via your podcatcher of choice at RPN. Just be sure to come back and comment on the Facebook thread!
But hey— if 15 minutes is not enough for you, stay tuned for the next The Ready Room on trek.fm, when Chris Jones has me me on to talk much more about all the angles and levels to this Trek archeology and its meaning today.
Meanwhile, kudos to many of our media friends for spreading the word about this real jaw-dropper — and the deeper dives, like Brian’s at TrekMovie.
And, of course, until you get Dorothy Fontana‘s first episode on the show, I’m keeping our TTF “launch party” going and the party favor, as well.
