Gene Roddenberry is best known for Star Trek, but in the ’60s and ’70s he tried to launch several other shows that could have also become sci fi TV greats if the networks they aired on had given them a chance.
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Gene Roddenberry became a sci fi legend upon creating Star Trek in the 1960s, and after that show was cancelled he would remain closely involved with the franchise in the years that followed. He shepherded the animated revival in the early ’70s and worked on a live-action reboot for television that ultimately morphed into the 1979 feature film. But during the time that he remained busy with ongoing Trek projects, he also worked on several pilots for potential new shows. all of which are detailed below. Sadly, none of these ever went to series, but almost all are currently available to watch on DVD or on streaming in case you want to get a glimpse of what they could have offered if the shows had been picked up. And perhaps at some point one or more will get rebooted as Roddenberry definitely has name recognition and most of these still have the potential to develop into strong sci fi entries.
Assignment: Earth (1968)
Aired: March, 1968
Starring: Robert Lansing, Teri Garr, April Tatro
As Star Trek was airing its second season back in 1967-68, Gene Roddenberry was uncertain whether the show would survive into a third year and started developing a new series idea to have something in the pipeline in case of cancellation. This would be titled Assignment: Earth and would focus on the character Gary Seven who is a human sent back in time from the 24th century to defeat the shape-changing aliens known as the Omegans who are trying to change Earth’s history in order to defeat it in the future. Seven would act as a private investigator as his cover–running The 7 Agency–and the human Roberta Hornblower (from contemporary Earth) would be his secretary and assist him with missions.
Roddenberry had planned on doing a 20-minute presentation film and he had convinced well-known actor Robert Lansing to take the lead role. NBC was not interested in the idea, though, and Roddenberry instead incorporated it as an episode of Star Trek where it would act as a back-door pilot and possibly get picked up to series if the ratings were strong enough. The concept was tweaked a bit, and Gary Seven would no longer be fighting aliens. He had been sent to Earth at a time of great strife in order to protect humans from their biggest threat: themselves. Roberta Lincoln (renamed and played by Teri Garr) was still part of the story and the shape-shifting cat Isis was added to the mix, though mostly just as a teaser for a character that would be better developed in the series.
The episode was titled “Assignment: Earth” and capped off Star Trek‘s second season. The ratings were not high enough to convince NBC to pick the show up, but Trek did get the third season renewal which kept Roddenberry busy for the next year. Assignment: Earth would be revisited in novels and comics over the years, and some of the concepts were carried over to Roddenberry’s failed pilot The Questor Tapes (see below), but nothing more ever came from it.
Should It Be Rebooted? Absolutely. Considering the current political environment in this country and globally, the idea of an advanced society trying to save humans from themselves would be quite appropriate. It is actually quite surprising that the character as well as the aliens he worked for have not appeared in any of the sequels/spin-offs from the original series up to this point. So maybe now is the time to rectify that.
Where Can You Watch It? As this is an episode from the original series, it is included with the DVD and Blu-ray releases of the second season. And TOS is currently streaming on Paramount+ and Pluto TV.
You can read more about Assignment: Earth at this link, and the fan site www.AssignmentEarth.ca has tons of additional information about the pilot.
Genesis II (1973)
Aired: CBS, 1973
Starring: Alex Cord, Mariette Hartley, Ted Cassidy
Gene Roddenberry’s first project after Star Trek was the 1973 pilot Genesis II which starred Alex Cord and familiar Trek face Mariette Hartley. Cord plays Dylan Hunt, a scientist who undergoes an experiment with suspended animation but ends up doing the Buck Rogers thing and waking up in an unexpected future where the world has been ravaged by war. There, he hooks up with the group known as PAX who have preserved the technology from the past and who seek to rebuild the world by peaceful means. They control a vast underground “subshuttle” system, and the series premise would have had them making contact with new pockets of civilization each week in a sort of “Land Trek” twist on Roddenberry’s previous show.
The pilot aired as a movie-of-the-week, and additional scripts were written in case it was picked up. But CBS chose to pass on the show, instead greenlighting the Planet of the Apes series which only lasted half a season (more on that one at this link). Gene Roddenberry was not quite done with this concept just yet, though (see below).
Should It be Rebooted? Yes. Of all the failed Roddenberry pilots, this is probably the one that would best work as an ongoing series. As mentioned above, it would follow a similar format to Trek with a society-of-the-week focus, just on Earth instead of in space. And there are plenty of story arcs that could be worked in as well. Roddenberry made a second attempt to get this show going, which failed as well. But there is plenty of potential with this concept.
Where Can You Watch It? The pilot has been released on DVD and Blu-ray and is available from Amazon.com and Warner Archives.
You can read more about Genesis II and Planet Earth at this link.
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The Questor Tapes
Aired: NBC, January 1974
Starring: Robert Foxworth, Mike Farrell, Lew Ayres
This pilot followed a super-intelligent, super-strong android named Questor who is brought online only to discover that he has lapses in his memory banks. His creator Dr. Vaslovik has disappeared, so Questor goes searching for him assisted by human companion Jerry Robinson. Along the way, Questor discovers that he was built for a much greater purpose. Robert Foxworth played the android and he was definitely channeling Spock from Star Trek: TOS while also laying much of the groundwork for the Data character that would eventually appear on Star Trek: TNG (and he also originated the “fully functional” line). A pre-M*A*S*H Mike Farrell was also along for the ride as the person who helped Questor relate to the human race.
The pilot was actually greenlit to series, but disagreements between Roddenberry and NBC led to the project getting cancelled and left us with only the television movie that set up the show’s premise. One of the sticking points with NBC was that they wanted to drop Farrell’s character from the series, but remember they originally did not want Spock on TOS. The Questor Tapes delivered vintage Gene Roddenberry (with Trek veteran Gene L. Coon also assisting on the script) and still holds up pretty well today (it does not rely too heavily on sfx), so it is certainly worth a look.
Should It Be Rebooted? Yes. In many ways, this premise is similar to Assignment: Earth with a super-intelligent being trying to help guide humans on the right path. And like that one it would also fit well in the current political climate (a pairing up of Seven with Questor would be interesting as well). Several years back, Roddenberry’s son Eugene was working on a revival of this property, but I have not heard anything on that front for some time. But this is one that has plenty of potential and should get the reboot treatment.
Where Can You Watch It? The pilot has been released on DVD and is available from Amazon.com and Warner Archives.
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Planet Earth
Aired: ABC, 1974
Starring: John Saxon, Diana Muldaur, Ted Cassidy
When the first pilot for Genesis II did not fly at CBS, Roddenberry reworked the concept a bit for ABC and tried again with Planet Earth (Star Trek also had a second pilot before it went to series). This time around, B-Movie mainstay John Saxon stepped in as Dylan Hunt and they tinkered with a few other aspects of the concept as well (i.e., PAX was more technologically advanced), but it was still basically the same setup. This movie has not dated as well as the first with its very 70s feminism-gone-wrong theme, but it has its good moments and the core concept remains strong. John Saxon delivered more of a Captain Kirk-like performance as Dylan Hunt vs Alex Kord’s rather brooding portrayal. Though Genesis II did have an edgier feel than the second pilot.
ABC decided not to pick this one up to series, though there was one more last stab at the concept. Strange New World arrived on ABC in 1975 and had similarities to Genesis II and Planet Earth but should not be considered a direct continuation from those two. Gene Roddenberry had bowed out at that point and his name was not attached to the new pilot. ABC did not pick up that one either, closing the book on a Genesis II-type series happening in the ’70s.
Should It Be Rebooted? Sure. The tweaks that Planet Earth made with PAX as a more technologically advanced organization might work better for an ongoing series. And the Kirk-like version of Dylan Hunt might be more palatable to audiences. But both Genesis II and its follow-up had plenty of strengths to carry them into a series. One of the linear networks or streaming services should definitely consider taking a flyer on a reboot of these properties.
Where Can You Watch It? The pilot has been released on DVD and Blu-ray and is available from Amazon.com and Warner Archives.
You can read more about Genesis II and Planet Earth at this link.
Spectre
Aired: May, 1977
Starring: Robert Culp, Gig Young, John Hurt
For Gene Roddenberry’s final attempt at a TV pilot in the ’70s, he stepped away from his sci fi safety blanket and took a shot at a supernatural television series. It followed two detectives, William Sebastian played by Robert Culp and Dr. “Ham” Hamilton played by Gig Young, as they investigated activity relating to the supernatural and paranormal. There was very much a Holmes and Watson dynamic between the two and they tried to offer rational explanations for the mysterious phenomena they were investigating. The show had promise and the two leads did a very good job in their roles (with John Hurt making an appearance as well), but the finished product had some warts. Roddenberry wrote the script with Samuel A. Peeples (who had previously written for Star Trek), but the pilot was much less polished than either Genesis II or The Questor Tapes. And while the telefilm had its moments, it devolved into bad camp by the end. Nor has it dated well in the years since.
Not surprisingly, this was not picked up to series and has mostly become a television obscurity since it initially aired in 1977. In fact, it is not well known even among fans of Roddenberry’s work. It did get a theatrical release in Europe which had some added scenes and included some nudity. But that did little to improve the quality of the film.
Should It Be Rebooted? Probably not. The core concept is good and might have worked if it was picked up to series in the late ’70s. Perhaps this one could have succeeded where the well-remembered Kolchak: The Night Stalker failed. But there is not much reason to drag this one out for a reboot when there are much better Roddenberry properties available. The supernatural drama has been done to death, especially over the past twenty years. So leave this one as the obscurity it is (though at least give it a DVD release) and focus instead on the failed pilots mentioned above.
Where Can You Watch It? This pilot has never received the DVD or Blu-ray treatment nor is it streaming anywhere that I am aware of. You can catch it on YouTube from time to time, but the video quality may be poor.
You can read about more sci fi TV shows that were cancelled before they began at this link.
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Note that “Roberta Hornblower” eventually became “Roberta Lincoln” on the actual STAR TREK ep.
Oops! Thanks for catching that. Corrected now.
I have a copy of the Spectre novel. Brought back fond memories from childhood.
Actually,after some tweaking,Genesis ll and Planet Earth finally DID make it to series television in the form of Andromeda, with Kevin Sorbo in the role of Dylan Hunt,so over and out on that. The other shows should definitely get reboots for the exact reasons stated in the article. Any suggestions for Questor,et al?
Andromeda only had vague connections to Genesis II and Planet Earth. I would much rather see a direct reboot set on Earth with PAX and the subshuttles.
I think the only element they really have in common is the name Dylan Hunt. Andromeda’s story was really more of a “what if the Federation in Star Trek collapsed” kind of premise versus one of post-apocalyptic earth