Lucille Ball: Star Trek’s Godmother?

Even though not all Star Trek fans have known her importance on the existence of Star Trek, would Star Trek in its current beloved form still exist today if not for Lucille Ball?

By: Ringo Bones 

Without the help of Lucille Ball, Gene Roddenberry’s Star Trek would have been the most brilliant still-born idea in 1960s Hollywood. But what do I Love Lucy and Star Trek have in common? 

Back in 1964, Star Trek creator Gene Rodenberry found a home for his still fledgling science fiction series at Desilu Productions, the studio founded in 1951 by the husband and wife team of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz who became television superstars in the 1950s with the groundbreaking sitcom I Love Lucy and hence the name Desilu - which is a contracted combination of Desi and Lucy. By 1964, the couple divorced and Lucille Ball became the sole owner of the lucrative studio making her a true Hollywood player – which was a rarity for a woman in the 1960s. But some within her studio weren’t very excited by Roddenberry’s ideas. Ball took a liking to the writer and the Star trek concept and it was her influence that would eventually keep the show alive when most other shows would have been scrapped by the powers-that-be. 

In 1965, Roddenberry got a pilot order from NBC and produced the original Star Trek pilot titled “The Cage”. It was rejected by the network execs because it was deemed “too cerebral” and for most pilots that’s where the story would have ended. Luckily for Roddenberry, he had Ball on his side. The story goes that Ball still thought that the Star Trek idea had legs and used her considerable influence in television to push for NBC to give Roddenberry a second chance. The network made the exceedingly rare move of ordering a second pilot from Roddenberry who overhauled almost the entire cast of characters from “The Cage” and eventually produced “Where No Man Has Gone Before”. The pilot was accepted, the show was given a series order and the rest is history. So if it weren’t for the Hollywood clout, and eye for story, of an iconic redheaded comedienne-turned-mogul, we might not have Star Trek as we now it today.

Is Star Trek A Religion?

Though science fiction literature outsiders may see it as such but is Gene Roddenberry’s Star Trek a “religion-in-itself”?

By: Ringo Bones

Strange how it is that during the first decade of the 21^st Century, the most vocal critics that I know of the malfeasance behind former US President George W. Bush’s “War on Terror” are dyed-in-the-wool Star Trek fans. Despite of his service during World War II and a first-hand working knowledge of the most devastating weapons at the time – Gene Roddenberry was a former US Army Air Cops bomber pilot – he is surprisingly pacifist when it comes to his views on America’s military adventurism at the height of the Cold War.

Before he passed away back in October 24, 1991, Star trek creator Gene Roddenberry had a very profound statement about a degree of a civilization and its ability to wage was in which he quoted: “The strength of a civilization is not measured by its ability to fight wars, but rather by its ability to prevent them.” Which, If you ask me, is quite a far cry from former US President Bush’s “neo-conservatives” in the White house and Capitol Hill had done after 9/11 and the ensuing chaos that resulted in the Persian Gulf that we are still feeling until this very moment.

Many had described Gene Roddenberry’s “religious belief” as “secular humanism”. In actuality, secular humanism is a non-religious worldview rooted in science, naturalistic philosophy and humanist ethics. Rather than faith, doctrine, or mysticism, secular humanists use reason, compassion, and common sense to find solutions to human problems. Secular humanists promote universal values such as integrity, benevolence, fairness, and responsibility, and believe that with reason, an open marketplace of ideas, good will and tolerance, progress can be made toward building a better world for ourselves and future generations. And I think it is a “religion” I can definitely subscribe to.   

Is the Star Trek Franchise Pro Dalai Lama and Pro Free Tibet?

As it was with Gene Roddenberry as it is now with J.J. Abrams, has the Star Trek franchise always been pro Dalai Lama and pro Free Tibet?


By: Ringo Bones


Whether he really intentionally showed it or not, the truth can be self-evident for some Trekkers and Trekkies whether – during his lifetime – Gene Roddemberry was ever sympathetic with the causes of His Holiness, The Fourteenth Dalai Lama of Tibet. From Roddenberry’s frequent use of the Sino-Indian War of 1962 as a creative science fiction literary tool to various Star Trek episodes mimicking the Dalai Lama’s exile into Dharamsala, India after Tibet was unlawfully annexed by the Beijing Government back in 1959. But is this proof enough that Gene Roddenberry is pro Dalai Lama and pro free Tibet?

Tales about strategically insignificant political and spiritual figures being pursued by an imperialist power with utter disregard of that imperialist power’s own eventually limited military resource. Like not following aspects of Sun Tsu’s Art of War when it comes to leaving alone strategically insignificant targets to fulfill the desired main objective. Like that Star Trek: Enterprise episode titled Fallen Hero. Where the Vulcan Ambassador named V’Lar - a strategically insignificant target - was pursued by corrupt alien agents with no regards to their limited resource.

J.J. Abrams even exploited this apparently “inexplicable” link of the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan Freedom cause to the Star Trek franchise. Like his decision to use one of the songs of the Beastie Boys – an unabashed Tibetan Freedom and Milarepa Fund supporters – titled Sabotage as part of the soundtrack of the latest Star Trek movie. Future moves to make the Star Trek franchise even pro Dalai Lama and pro Tibetan Freedom Movement would probably involve guest appearance of traditional Tibetan musicians and dancers. Like Yungchen Lhamo, Nawang Khechog and Chaksampa to make guest appearances in coming Star Trek episodes, movies and even on official Star Trek conventions.

Of Gene Roddenberry and the Geneva Convention

Using one of his episodes on the original 1960’s Star Trek series as an example, does Gene Roddenberry have reservations about our currently existing Geneva Convention?


By: Vanessa Uy


I hope that the Gene Roddenberry estate won’t sue me for doing a long-distance psychoanalysis on him akin to what some shrinks did with Barry Goldwater back in the 1960’s. But more often than not, the question whether Gene Roddenberry has reservations about the Geneva Convention does come up in hardcore Trekkie circles.
For the benefit of those Trekkies who still don’t know what Eugene Wesley “Gene” Roddenberry does for a living before the success of Star Trek, here are the pertinent facts, which could also serves as a basis in support of our current discussion.

Gene Roddenberry acquired first-hand knowledge on the action-adventure workings of Star Trek when he joined the US Army Air Corps back in 1941 (the US Air Force is a post-WW II entity). He flew many combat missions on board the B-17 Flying Fortress over the Pacific theatre with the 394th Bomb Squadron 5th Bomber Group which he was honored with the Distinguished Flying Cross and Air Medal. After World War II, he enlisted in the police force before quitting to find a more lucrative job to support his family. Then came the successful breakthrough of Star Trek, and the rest is history – so to speak.

Many Trekkies that I know of harbor a belief that Gene Roddenberry is somewhat dissatisfied with our current Geneva Convention because of an episode on the original Star Trek series titled “A Taste of Armageddon”. On this particular episode, two warring parties – through a binding but arcane agreement or treaty – made war neat and painless. Especially when it comes to damage inflicted on their respective cultures and civilizations by sending their citizens – who were designated as dead by a supercomputer modeling a thermonuclear attack – into a “disintegration chamber” were they are killed and their bodies disposed of in a neat and efficient manner. When Captain Kirk, who visited this particular civilization became one of the casualties and was sentenced / designated to die for real in their civilization-safe arcane war. This resulted in Captain Kirk breaking the Prime Directive (a set of protocols Starfleet Personnel must follow like non-interference of alien cultures and practices etc.) to save his crew members who got embroiled in the arcane conflict. Captain Kirk’s “cowboy diplomacy” caused the war between the two civilizations to turn real – as opposed to being just a simulation on a supercomputer. Sadly, Gene Roddenberry have not shown on that particular episode how Starfleet Headquarters reacted on Captain Kirk’s “cowboy diplomacy” or if the captain is ever punished or reprimanded.

Using this example, one might conclude that this is Gene Roddenberry’s critique on the Geneva Convention and it’s effects on every post-World War II low-level conflicts. I too believe that our current Geneva Convention is somewhat hypocritical in it’s oversight and the arbitrary legislation of “Rules of War” on every number of low-level civil conflicts that happen after World War II. Like the prohibition of soldiers to use tear gas to flush out entrenched combatants. The US Army was reprimanded for their violation of the Geneva Convention on their use of tear gas on NVA regulars and the Vietcong during the Vietnam War, while the use of dioxin contaminated defoliants like Agent Orange were allowed. Or why the 5.56mm X 45mm rounds used in M-16 rifles weren’t banned by the Geneva Convention despite causing inhumane levels of suffering by allowing personnel hit by the said round to die slowly. The legal precedents of banning the use of the 5.56mm X 45mm round is already established – i.e. the legislation of banning the use of dum-dum bullets back in 1901 for example. This example even has an analogue in the Star Trek universe like Klingon and Romulan Disruptor-type weapons killing “inhumanely” compared to Federation approved Phasers.

An excellent example of the arcane way the Geneva Convention legislates laws – which gained widespread press exposure during the late 1990’s – was the ban on the use of laser-based weapons in the battlefield that temporarily blinds enemy combatants. Which to me is utter hypocrisy. If I was a soldier for example, it is ok for me to stab my enemy in the heart with a shovel or trowel. But under the Geneva Convention, it is illegal for me to temporarily blind my enemy for half an hour or so that I can take my enemy as a prisoner. During the 1990’s the Geneva Convention’s adverts are all over the major news channels like BBC and CNN with the tagline: “Even wars have limits.” Wars have limits all right, but it is the poor enforcement of existing Geneva Convention legislated laws (the sensible one’s anyway) that’s killing civilians. The April 1994 incident in Rwanda is a case in point.

Gene Roddenberry and the Sino - Indian War: An Unexplained Fixation?

Is Gene Roddenberry’s somewhat frequent (though never overwrought) references to the Sino – Indian war on his various works somewhat propped up his mythical status?


By: Vanessa Uy


From Star Trek to the Earth: Final Conflict TV series, Gene Roddenberry’s use of the “apocryphal escalation” of the Sino – Indian Border Conflict of late 1962 which he refers to as the “S-I War” has become one of his most distinctive “literary tools”. The “SI War” always fires up my personal imagination because none of the Trekkies (Star Trek fans) I met so far (except one) really know what started this conflict and it’s historical significance. Have I finally found a topic that should be a “required reading” by all Trekkies, yet majority of them squirm away from it? But first, allow me to discuss the historically factual version of the Sino – Indian Conflict.

During the annexation of Tibet by the Peoples Republic of China back in 1951, His Holiness the Dalai Lama of Tibet was forced into exile in India. The Dalai Lama’s choice of seeking political / spiritual asylum in India where many of his followers live angered Beijing because the Dalai Lama’s status as a spiritual leader still continues and thus Beijing labeled him as a “strategic threat”. The Beijing government threatened the then Prime Minister of India Jawaharlal Nehru to surrender the Dalai Lama to them or suffer the consequences. Prime Minister Nehru held his ground even when thousands of Chinese troops massed along the Chinese – Indian border which lead to the largely forgotten Sino – Indian Conflict of late 1962. But it is a big deal back then because the worlds largest democracy by population namely: India and the worlds largest Socialist / Communist country by population namely: China. Are on the brink of full-scale war, which is likely to attract intervention by Cold War era superpowers namely the US and the then USSR.

Does the Sino – Indian Border Conflict of 1962 remind you of how the Trojan War started? The war supposedly revolves around Helen of Troy but in truth the war was really about vying control of the lucrative “trade routes” of the Mediterranean Sea. Adventure stories from the Ancient Greeks which violates every rule of Sun Tsu’s “Art of War” – like conserving precious resources when conducting a campaign – seems to gain “blockbuster status” to us in the Western World. Mao Zedong’s famous “Red Book” was purportedly based on “The Art of War” by Sun Tsu, and yet even the Beijing Government fell into this trap by engaging a border conflict with India with the threat of the US and NATO being drawn into the conflict. Didn’t Sun Tsu point out that the best way to win a war is to deny a battle? By labeling His Holiness the Dalai Lama of Tibet a greater threat than he actually is, China would have squandered precious manpower and materiel on a conflict with dubious political significance. Even today, the Sino – Indian War / Border Conflict of 1962 is largely forgotten unless you are a hard core “Trekky” with serious interest on the subject. The row over the Dalai Lama between China and India did inspire many a Star Trek TV episodes from the Original Series to Star Trek: The Next Generation and other related Star Trek TV series like Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and the latest Enterprise TV series which stars Scott Bakula.

But the “apocryphal escalation” of the Sino – Indian war of 1962 – which is often used by Gene Roddenberry – is what gave the world the story about the “Eugenics Wars” that gave rise to Ricardo Montalban’s character “Khan” of Star Trek II The Wrath of Khan. The “S-I War” in Earth: Final Conflict and related variants of the theme that is used in Enterprise. Like the three – part episode “Borderland,” “Cold Station 12,” and “The Augments” which explained the origin of various Star Trek characters like Khan, Dr. Arik Soong, the great – great – great – grandfather of Data’s creator Dr. Noonien Soong.

In my opinion, every one of us – not just “Trekkies” should re-examine the events surrounding the Sino – Indian War of 1962. This is so because our current “operation” to capture Osama Bin Laden and to restore the Rule of Law in Afghanistan is fought in a terrain not unlike that of the Sino – Indian War of 1962. This terrain is so hostile even for casual tourist and explorers that to conduct military maneuvers on such an environment borders on insanity. I once played a military simulation exercise / game similar to the terrain found on the Khyber pass and trust me, if the overexertion doesn’t wear you down the resulting “minor” injuries will. And we haven’t yet taken into account the low prevailing barometric pressure.

In Gene Roddenberry’s lifetime (sadly, he passed away on October 24, 1991) the geopolitical antics of China almost drove anyone - who cares about these events – into a nervous breakdown of sorts because China invaded Vietnam on February 17, 1979 by launching a major attack along their 500 mile border. Chinese forces supported by artillery and tanks were able to invade four Vietnamese provinces. Plus China’s subsequent claim of the oil rich Spratley Islands which almost give the Beijing Government “reasons” to annex the Philippines. Even at present with the Beijing Government’s complicity of the ongoing genocide in the Darfur Region of Sudan. Yet despite threats of boycotting the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics, China continues her intransigence with regards to her “Foreign Policy”. If Gene Roddenberry is following these events from the afterlife, his “I told you so” could probably create a new Sci-Fi TV series.

Some “Trekkies” would be asking right now ”What does this all mean?” Well, even though Gene Roddenberry was only seen as an “entertainer” during the 1960’s. To me, he did contribute something to resolve the bitter issues in one of the most tumultuous period of America’s history. Gene Roddenberry might not be as vocal as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. when it comes to Civil Rights issues, yet most of the issues presented in the original Star Trek series were about Civil Rights issues. When the late President John F. Kennedy inspired Americans to go to the Moon, Gene Roddenberry did his part too in inspiring not just the American people but everyone who saw Star Trek. Gene Roddenberry’s views about the Sino – Indian War of 1962 was probably his way of reminding all of us not to forget what George Santayana said about studying history.