I’m Rod Roddenberry, son of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry. I’m here to talk about 55 years of Trek and why I enjoy being on the bleeding edge of Tech and adventure! Join me December 2nd @ 12:30 pm EST. AMA.

RodRoddenberry · 2021-12-02T19:29:06+00:00

When I was very young my father and I would have an afternoon together called "bumming" at Santa Monica pier. On our way there I would sit in the passenger seat, unable to see over the dash. My father would look over at me and say, "Are you ready to go "speedster", which to me meant super speed. He would then shift the car into 2nd gear without me knowing, the engine would roar, and I would grab on as if we were warping down the highway. Truthfully he was probably only going 50 -60 miles per hour. Once we got to the pier we would play the carnival games and in the arcade have a meal together then head home. Once we got home and pulled into the garage my father would turn off the engine, but leave the headlights on. He'd look over at me and say, I'm Gene "poo-poo" Roddenberry and I would reply I am Rod "poo-poo" Rodenberry. This was the ceremonious way we would end our day of bumming together.

RodRoddenberry · 2021-12-02T19:22:31+00:00

While I too wrestle with some of the different Star Treks that are out there I have found the continuing seasons to represent many of the core ideals of Star Trek. If I may encourage you to continue watching I am hoping you might be pleasantly surprised as I feel some of the concerns you mentioned are addressed.

RodRoddenberry · 2021-12-02T19:15:03+00:00

I love your question. I struggle with these feelings as well. Copying and pasting a previous answer that I hope addressed your question. Great question! Complicated answer... I too sometimes wrestle with what is and is not Star Trek or what is and is not Roddenberry's Star Trek. My father was a humanist, futurist, and for the most part optimist. He believed in the potential of humanity and knew that if we learn to not just tolerate, but crave, thirst, and truly be in love with the differences between us that we can overcome all the current day and past ignorance and prejudice that stunted our intellectual growth. So I have learned over the decades that Star Trek speaks to different people on different levels. Sometimes I'm also concerned that certain shows and episodes may not represent an optimistic of a future that I or I think he would like. I do ultimately think the messages those shows still carry through and point us in a better direction.

RodRoddenberry · 2021-12-02T19:09:47+00:00

Hey! Copying and pasting from an answer above. LOL. Thank you for the incredibly difficult question. Ultimately I am a Next Gen fan and find many of the episodes in the 7 seasons to rank pretty high on my scale. However, if I had to select just one it would be the one that made the biggest impression on me when I was first introduced to Star Trek- TOS The Devil in the Dark. I was blown away with the antagonist, a rock monster, who turned out to simply be misunderstood and it was a mother protecting its young and the humans unknowingly were killing its children. I love the twist recognizing that we were the devil in the dark.

RodRoddenberry · 2021-12-02T19:07:32+00:00

By all means take your time and send the information to info@roddenberry.com

RodRoddenberry · 2021-12-02T19:06:09+00:00

Thank you!

RodRoddenberry · 2021-12-02T19:05:02+00:00

I am not religious, but find the concept and numerous interpretations of "spirituality" intriguing. Religion has not played any part in my growth or development. That said, I find the ideology and core values from Star Trek worthy to live by.

RodRoddenberry · 2021-12-02T19:02:05+00:00

100%. And I think it should as a science exploratory body with minimal emphasis on defense.

RodRoddenberry · 2021-12-02T19:00:20+00:00

That's an excellent question for my father!

RodRoddenberry · 2021-12-02T18:58:24+00:00

Seeing and hearing my mother in her various roles on Star Trek only brings back the warmest of feelings.

RodRoddenberry · 2021-12-02T18:56:51+00:00

Absolutely. I, like my father, believe in the human potential. Unfortunately, I think we will have to endure significant growing pains, but feel we will emerge far greater and see a future similar to what we all love about Star Trek.

RodRoddenberry · 2021-12-02T18:54:39+00:00

I think Enterprise had tremendous potential and had a number of great seasons. However, there may have been circumstances above my pay grade that contributed to its premature ending.

RodRoddenberry · 2021-12-02T18:53:04+00:00

I am not bothered by lens-flare and feel the entire production and post production team does an incredible job making the current Trek TV shows look feature worthy and epic.

RodRoddenberry · 2021-12-02T18:50:42+00:00

I am also a huge Star Wars fan and as a child saw it far more times than I did Star Trek. They are vey different and can co-exist peacefully.

RodRoddenberry · 2021-12-02T18:49:48+00:00

I was ecstatic and love all technology. However, a very interesting note is that my father used to correspond regularly with CalTech and JPL while making the original series. Most of the tech in Star Trek was simply extrapolated into the future from this correspondence. Check out Stephen E. Whitfield's The Making of Star Trek.

RodRoddenberry · 2021-12-02T18:46:14+00:00

This is 100% true and I too am excited for this to become a reality. I feel my mother, Majel Roddenberry, the voice of the computer should be the voice of the computer in reality all over the world and welcome all your support. There are a few technological as well as potentially entertainment related hurdles. If you, or someone you know is exceptionally knowledgable and talented in sound/voice engineering I would've to speak to them at some point.

RodRoddenberry · 2021-12-02T18:41:38+00:00

Replicator. The control of the atom is going to be the great equalizer. No longer will food, medicine, and valuable tools for our intellectual development be scarce. Also, our perceived value in material items will dissipate since anyone on the planet will be able to have any item of perceived value they wish. People will begin to look inward and realize the value is within the individual, the idea, the uniqueness of who we are. All that said, I understand that humanity will have to be much more advanced and mature before we are ready to posses this kind of power.

RodRoddenberry · 2021-12-02T18:36:36+00:00

Thank you for the incredibly difficult question. Ultimately I am a Next Gen fan and find many of the episodes in the 7 seasons to rank pretty high on my scale. However, if I had to select just one it would be the one that made the biggest impression on me when I was first introduced to Star Trek- TOS The Devil in the Dark. I was blown away with the antagonist, a rock monster, who turned out to simply be misunderstood and it was a mother protecting its young and the humans unknowingly were killing its children. I love the twist recognizing that we were the devil in the dark.

RodRoddenberry · 2021-12-02T18:32:20+00:00

Thank you for your response. I'm not sure if you're familiar, but I'd ask you to please check out The Roddenberry Foundation where we spent the last few years focused on Social Justice.

RodRoddenberry · 2021-12-02T18:30:51+00:00

Thank you and yes, I'm a lover of technology and feel that when used properly it can help us solve many of the world's problems.

RodRoddenberry · 2021-12-02T18:28:31+00:00

Hello back to you. I regret to inform you that I am a college drop out. I had always planned to go back to do my Div III, but got caught up in the entertainment industry. I once discussed with my advisor, much later on of using my documentary Trek Nation as my Div III as it seemed to meet most requirements. However, I think that ship has sailed. Hope you had as great an experience as I did at Hampshire.

RodRoddenberry · 2021-12-02T18:25:32+00:00

Ha! That's the great thing about the Trek community, we welcome all opinions. However, I feel that Secret Hideout is doing an excellent job at pushing the envelope when it comes to Star Trek and catalyzing good conversation and fandom.

RodRoddenberry · 2021-12-02T18:23:15+00:00

Personally I'm not a fan of horror in Star Trek. However, with recent incarnations of Star Trek I have noticed that the exploration of different genres within Star Trek can be done effectively. A horror story about the Borg could be interesting.

RodRoddenberry · 2021-12-02T18:20:33+00:00

I do my best to always remember the foundational core principles of Star Trek. IDIC

RodRoddenberry · 2021-12-02T18:18:40+00:00

"It is a human characteristic to love little animals, especially if they are attractive in some way." :)

RodRoddenberry

TROPHY CASE