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D.C. Fontana

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D.C. Fontana ( 25 March 1939 – 2 December 2019 ; age 80) was a writer and script editor who had the distinction of being one of the few people to have worked on Star Trek: The Original Series , as well as Star Trek: The Animated Series , Star Trek: The Next Generation , and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine . Deep Space Nine was her favorite Star Trek spinoff. She especially liked the show's strong characters. When writing, Fontana often used pseudonyms, including Michael Richards and J. Michael Bingham .

Fontana worked as a writer for a few television series before Star Trek , then briefly worked as Gene Roddenberry 's secretary, before she became a writer on the show. The first episode she penned was " Charlie X ", based on a premise by Roddenberry entitled "The Day Charlie Became God". Fontana wrote several notable Original Series episodes, including " Tomorrow is Yesterday " and " Journey to Babel ". Also, after the departure of Steven W. Carabatsos , she was promoted to story editor (after successfully re-writing " This Side of Paradise "). At the age of 27, Fontana became the youngest story editor in Hollywood at the time, and also one of the few female staff writers. ( Star Trek: The Original Series 365 , introduction) She remained in this capacity until the end of the second season .

She left the story editor position before the third season went into production: " I had told Gene Roddenberry that I did not wish to continue on Star Trek as story editor because I wanted to freelance and write for other series. I did, however, want to continue to do scripts for Star Trek . Gene was agreeable to this, and I was given a contract in February of 1968 which called for a guarantee of three scripts, with an option for three more. Whenever anyone has asked why I chose to leave Star Trek 's story editorship, I have always given this reply. " [1]

However, Fontana was very unhappy with the rewrites done on her third season scripts, including " The Enterprise Incident " and " The Way to Eden " (originally submitted as "Joanna" by Fontana, featuring Doctor McCoy 's daughter ). [2]

Fontana's other noticeable contribution to The Original Series was her discovery and introduction to Gene Roddenberry of costume designer William Ware Theiss . [3] During her years on the Original Series she was an active contributor to the officially endorsed fanzine Inside Star Trek , for which she conducted interviews with several key production staffers, most notably the one with Theiss, the only published one on record.

Four years after the end of the Original Series , she became the associate producer and story editor of Star Trek: The Animated Series , for which she also wrote the episode " Yesteryear ".

In early October 1986, nearly two decades after leaving the original Star Trek , Fontana, together with her Original Series co-workers David Gerrold , Edward K. Milkis , and Robert H. Justman , were brought back by Roddenberry to form the original production nucleus to help out with the pre-production of Star Trek: The Next Generation . ( Star Trek: The Next Generation - The Continuing Mission , pp. 9-11) Serving as Associate Producer on the first thirteen episodes of the first season , Fontana was – along with Gerrold – mainly responsible for being a story editor and story consultant. She co-wrote the pilot, " Encounter at Farpoint " with Roddenberry, earning a Hugo Award nomination, co-invented the " LCARS " concept, and wrote four other episodes of the season, before departing (along with all the Original Series production staff veterans) due to the meddlings of Roddenberry's lawyer, Leonard Maizlish . Unlike her fellow writer Gerrold, Fontana had chosen not to elaborate on the conditions under which she had left the production; that was until 2014, when she unequivocally identified Maizlish as the malefactor for her decision to do so, in William Shatner 's documentary, William Shatner Presents: Chaos on the Bridge . Then Research Consultant, Richard Arnold confirmed in the documentary, " I think he [Maizlish] thought he was speaking with Gene's voice, but I think Gene never heard the way he spoke to other people. Gene had these wonderful relationships with people who worked with him on the Original Series, like Dorothy Fontana, and Leonard was horrible to Dorothy. "

Returning to the live-action franchise for a short time later on, she also penned DS9 : " Dax ", her last involvement with Star Trek , in which a great deal of Jadzia Dax ' backstory was fleshed out. In the DS9 episode " Far Beyond the Stars ", the character Kay Eaton , who had to pose as a male to get her science fiction stories published, was an homage to Fontana. The Enterprise episode " First Flight " also honored her work on the episode " Tomorrow is Yesterday " by including her name (along with that of the episode's director, Michael O'Herlihy , on a mission patch for the Earth-Saturn probe (a copy of which was sent to Fontana by Michael Okuda ).

In 2006, she gave an interview in Star Trek Magazine  issue 128 , pp. 42-48 in which she talked about writing for three Star Trek series. She notes how unhappy she was with the way Roddenberry re-wrote the episodes they wrote together. She used the pseudonym "J. Michael Bingham" for " The Naked Now ", as she was especially unhappy with the episode. She liked writing " Dax " much more.

Outside of Trek , Fontana wrote scripts for dozens of shows, including [{{fullurl:Wikipedia:[Babylon 5}} [Babylon 5 ] and Earth: Final Conflict . In a 1974 episode scripted for The Six Million Dollar Man , "The Rescue of Athena One", Fontana pays homage to Star Trek by having Lee Majors' character of Colonel Steve Austin speak the line " Space... it really is the final frontier, isn't it? " In 1974, she wrote the novelization of Roddenberry's TV pilot The Questor Tapes . In 1977, she served as story editor for the fourteen-episode TV series version of Logan's Run , which featured scripts written by a number of TOS alumni including Harlan Ellison and John Meredyth Lucas (Fontana also co-wrote several episodes herself). The series featured a character named Rem, a sentient, very Human-like android. The character was not in the original film or novel but it bore a strong resemblance to Roddenberry's earlier Questor character, and elements of Rem were later incorporated into the character of Data in TNG.

Fontana wrote the stories of the video games Star Trek: Bridge Commander , Star Trek: Legacy and Star Trek: Tactical Assault all with Derek Chester, and an episode of the fan production Star Trek: New Voyages , the episode "To Serve All My Days" in 2006, on which she worked alongside Jack Treviño and Ethan H. Calk . She also contributed the basic concept for the unpublished video game Star Trek: Secret of Vulcan Fury . When the game was cancelled, she still wanted to tell the story as a novel. [4]

• 1 Star Trek credits
• 2 Hugo Award nomination
• 3 Bibliography
• 4 Outside Star Trek
• 5 Star Trek interviews
• 6 External links

Star Trek credits [ ]

• " Charlie X " (teleplay)
• " Tomorrow is Yesterday "
• " This Side of Paradise " (teleplay; story with Nathan Butler )
• " Friday's Child "
• " Journey to Babel "
• " By Any Other Name " (teleplay with Jerome Bixby )
• " The Ultimate Computer " (teleplay)
• " The Enterprise Incident "
• " That Which Survives " (story, as Michael Richards)
• " The Way to Eden " (story with Arthur Heinemann , as Michael Richards)
• TAS : " Yesteryear "
• " Encounter at Farpoint " (with Gene Roddenberry )
• " The Naked Now " (teleplay; story with John D.F. Black , as J. Michael Bingham)
• " Lonely Among Us " (teleplay)
• " Too Short A Season " (teleplay with Michael Michaelian )
• " Heart of Glory " (story with Maurice Hurley and Herbert Wright )
• DS9 : " Dax " (teleplay with Peter Allan Fields )

Hugo Award nomination [ ]

• 1988 Hugo Award nomination in the category Best Dramatic Presentation for TNG : " Encounter at Farpoint ", shared with Gene Roddenberry and Corey Allen

Bibliography [ ]

• Behind the camera: John Dwyer – issue 1, July 1968, pp. 12-14
• Behind the camera: William Ware Theiss – issue 6, December 1968, pp. 5-8 and issue 7, January 1969, pp. 4-8
• Behind the camera: Charles Washburn – issue 9, March 1969, pp. 3-6
• Behind the camera: Walter M. Jefferies – issue 12, June 1969, pp. 2-5
• Boarding the Enterprise: Transporters, Tribbles and the Vulcan Death Grip in Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek (2006) – collaborator
• Star Trek: The Original Series 365 (2010) – preface
• Vulcan's Glory (1989)
• Star Trek: Year Four - The Enterprise Experiment (2008)

Outside Star Trek [ ]

• The ABC Afternoon Playbreak: Season 2, Episode 2: A Special Act of Love (starring Diana Muldaur ) (1973)
• The Questor Tapes (1974)
• Logan's Run (story editor) (1977-78)

Star Trek interviews [ ]

• The Official Star Trek: The Next Generation Magazine  issue 2 , p. 8, "For the Love of Star Trek ", interviewed by Edward Gross
• William Shatner Presents: Chaos on the Bridge , 2014

External links [ ]

• D.C. Fontana, 1939-2019 at StarTrek.com
• D.C. Fontana at the Internet Movie Database
• D.C. Fontana at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• D.C. Fontana at SF-Encyclopedia.com
• Interview at EmmyTVLegends.org
• Remembering Legendary STAR TREK Writer D.C. Fontana at TrekCore
• D.C. Fontana at the ISBN Database
• D.C. Fontana at Wikipedia
• 2 ISS Enterprise (NCC-1701)

D.C. Fontana (1939-2019)

Script and continuity department.

IMDbPro Starmeter See rank

• 3 wins & 2 nominations

• 1987–1988 • 5 eps

• 1966–1969 • 11 eps

• 2006 • 1 ep

• 1969 • 1 ep

• Writer (as Dorothy Fontana)

• story by (as Dorothy Fontana)

• 20 episodes

• teleplay by
• consulting producer
• associate producer
• 12 episodes

• 22 episodes
• script consultant
• 31 episodes
• In-development projects at IMDbPro

Personal details

• France's national library catalogue
• Star Trek_homage
• J. Michael Bingham
• March 25 , 1939
• Sussex, New Jersey, USA
• December 2 , 2019
• Los Angeles, California, USA (after a brief illness)
• Dennis Skotak October 17, 1981 - December 2, 2019 (her death)
• 2 Interviews

Did you know

• Trivia Was advised by Gene Roddenberry to use her initials (D.C.) on her initial scripts for Star Trek (1966) instead of her first name (Dorothy), because at the time, networks were often biased against female writers. She ended up becoming one of the show's most prolific writers with 11 episodes to her name, as well as contributing to several Star Trek spin-off series.
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D.C. Fontana, who helped shape 'Star Trek' as its first woman writer, dies at 80

D.C. Fontana, the pioneering TV writer who significantly shaped the "Star Trek" universe, in particular the character of Spock and his home planet, Vulcan, has died at 80.

Fontana died Monday night after a brief illness, the American Film Institute, where Fontana was a senior lecturer, said in a statement. CBS Studios and the "Star Trek" production company confirmed the announcement.

No further details were made public.

Dorothy Catherine Fontana — she used her initials, "D.C.," so producers during the 1960s wouldn't know she was a woman — was perhaps second only to Gene Roddenberry, the series' creator, in molding the sprawling "Star Trek" story-telling empire.

Fontana, the first female writer on the show, wrote or co-wrote some of the most notable episodes of the original series, which ran from 1966 to 1969, and, with Roddenberry, co-wrote the pilot for its revival as "Star Trek: The Next Generation" in 1987.

"The galaxy will miss you," Dan and Kevin Hageman, the developers of a CBS/Nickelodeon animated "Star Trek" series scheduled to debut next year, said on Twitter.

So sad to lose D.C. Fontana. She will always be a huge voice in the Star Trek universe. The galaxy will miss you. pic.twitter.com/cFlx0fOMku — Dan & Kevin Hageman (@brothershageman) December 3, 2019

Michael Okuda, a graphic designer on several of the "Star Trek" properties beginning in the 1980s, said he was "heartbroken."

" Dorothy Fontana brought humanity to the world of Star Trek ," Okuda said Tuesday on Twitter, adding: "Star Trek's universe just got a little bit smaller with the passing of D.C. Fontana."

Fontana started as Roddenberry's secretary when he created the TV series "The Lieutenant," which ran for one season. When he created "Star Trek," he assigned her to write the teleplay for the series' second episode, "Charlie X," about a teenage boy with special powers who creates chaos aboard the USS Enterprise after he is rescued from a crashed cargo ship.

Fontana was especially significant in developing the character of Mr. Spock, the half-Vulcan, half-human science officer who struggles to repress his emotions.

" Spock kind of spoke to me because of his problematic interior," she said in a 2016 interview with the SyFy network. "'How do I be a Vulcan? How do I be a human?'"

Fontana further fleshed out Spock in the episode "Journey to Babel," which introduced the characters of his Vulcan father and his human mother, who would appear throughout the "Star Trek" stories personifying the warring halves of their son's interior life.

"I began to speculate what kind of Vulcan would marry a human, what kind of relationship did they have to each other and to their son," she said in an interview during the early 2000s with the comic book historian Marv Wolfman.

When, after almost 20 years, Roddenberry revived "Star Trek" on the small screen under the name "The Next Generation," he personally assigned Fontana to develop the teleplay for the pilot, "Encounter at Farpoint."

In a 2007 interview with Entertainment Weekly, she said she chose to include an unannounced appearance by DeForest Kelley as Dr. McCoy from the original series "because I thought we should have a connection with the old show ."

Fontana wrote two more episodes of "The Next Generation," along with episodes or stories for another "Star Trek" spinoff, "Deep Space Nine," as well as "Star Trek" video games and animated series.

Her other credits included dozens of episodes of other series, like "Bonanza," "The High Chaparral," "Kung Fu," "The Waltons" and "Dallas." But her primary work was in science fiction.

In addition to the "Star Trek" franchise, she was credited with writing or co-writing numerous episodes of "The Six Million Dollar Man," "The Fantastic Journey," "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century," "The War of the Worlds," "Babylon 5," "Earth: Final Conflict" and, notably, "Logan's Run," for which she was the story editor.

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Her last writing credit was for "To Serve All My Days," a 2006 episode of the web series "Star Trek: New Voyages," in which Walter Koenig reprised his role as Chekhov from the original "Star Trek" series and movies.

In recent years, Fontana had been a senior lecturer at the American Film Institute. She was twice awarded lifetime honors by the Writers Guild of America, in 1997 and 2002.

She is survived by her husband, the Academy Award-winning visual effects cinematographer Dennis Skotak.

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D.C. Fontana, First Female ‘Star Trek’ Writer, Dies at 80

Ms. Fontana, who was part of the “Star Trek” universe from its early days, was best known for her work on Spock, the half-human, half-Vulcan Starfleet officer portrayed by Leonard Nimoy.

By Liam Stack

D.C. Fontana, who helped craft the lore of the 1960s television series “Star Trek” and developed one of its signature characters, Spock, as the show’s first female writer, died on Tuesday at a hospital in Burbank, Calif. She was 80.

Her husband and only immediate survivor, Dennis Skotak, said the cause was cancer.

Ms. Fontana was part of the “Star Trek" universe from its early days, working alongside the show’s creator, Gene Roddenberry , as a story editor and writer.

The original series, which had its premiere in 1966, introduced audiences to Captain Kirk, the United Federation of Planets and the Starship Enterprise. But Ms. Fontana was best known among fans for her work on Spock, the half-human, half-Vulcan Starfleet officer portrayed by Leonard Nimoy.

Spock was torn between the emotionality of his human side and a Vulcan’s zealous commitment to logic. That narrative tension powered much of the series and several of the feature films that followed.

“From Day 1 she was there helping Gene, in the early days, as a confidante,” Mr. Skotak said. “Captain Kirk always found a way to solve whatever problem they were facing — using Dorothy’s words in a lot of cases,” using Ms. Fontana’s given name.

In a 2013 interview with StarTrek.com , the franchise’s official website, Ms. Fontana said she thought her greatest contribution to the franchise had been “primarily the development of Spock as a character and Vulcan as a history/background/culture from which he sprang.”

She fleshed out the character’s back story as the child of a human mother and a Vulcan father while she was a story editor and associate producer for “ Star Trek: The Animated Series ” in the 1970s. She later wrote, with Mr. Roddenberry, the pilot that launched “Star Trek: The Next Generation” in 1987.

Dorothy Catherine Fontana was born on March 25, 1939, in Sussex, N.J. She was raised by a single mother in Totowa, N.J., and dreamed of becoming a novelist, she said in an interview with the Writers Guild Foundation in 2014.

After high school, she studied to become a secretary at Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey. She told the foundation that she had thought that clerical work would be a good day job for an aspiring novelist, but that her goals had changed when she became a secretary at Columbia Pictures’ television arm, which was based in New York.

“I was seeing scripts come across our desks for the various shows we had on the air at the time and I thought, ‘I can write this,’ like so many fools before me,” she said. “I had watched television for years and years and kind of got the idea of how stories were structured.”

When her boss died of a heart attack, leaving her jobless after just two months, she decided to move to California, in December 1959, to see if she could break into television writing. She achieved early success selling scripts to western series , which were popular in the early 1960s, including “The Tall Man,” “Shotgun Slade” and “Frontier Circus.”

Ms. Fontana told StarTrek.com in 2013 that her big break came when she was hired to be the secretary to Del Reisman, the associate producer of a show called “The Lieutenant.” She was soon reassigned to work for another producer, whose secretary had been hospitalized for two months because of complications from an appendectomy: Gene Roddenberry.

When “The Lieutenant” went off the air, Mr. Roddenberry sold “Star Trek” to Desilu Productions and asked Ms. Fontana to work for him there as a production secretary. But her role soon expanded.

“She would read the scripts and retype them and things like that,” Mr. Skotak said. “Then she thought, ‘I should try writing these, because I have some ideas.’”

Mr. Roddenberry recognized her ambition, as well as her record of writing for westerns, and asked her to pick which story she wanted to write from the production outline for “Star Trek’s” first season. Her first script, about the ship’s encounter with a mysterious human teenager who possesses strange powers, became the series’ second episode.

Ms. Fontana wrote for all three seasons of the original series. She later wrote for other science fiction shows, including “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine,” “The Six Million Dollar Man” and “Babylon 5,” as well as influential series outside that genre like “Bonanza,” “Dallas” and “The Waltons.”

In her later years, Ms. Fontana taught at the American Film Institute. Mr. Skotak, her husband, a special effects designer, said she had continued to teach at the institute until just a few weeks before her death.

“She was a very, very tough lady,” he said. “She carried a phaser with her right up to the end.”

Speaking to StarTrek.com in 2013, Ms. Fontana reflected on what it was like to be a female writer in Hollywood in the 1960s. While working on “Star Trek,” she said, she did not realize that she had gone where no woman had gone before.

“At the time, I wasn’t especially aware there were so few female writers doing action adventure scripts,” she said. “There were plenty doing soaps, comedies, or on variety shows. By choosing to do action adventure, I was in an elite, very talented and very different group of women writers.”

Liam Stack is a general assignment reporter. He was previously a political reporter based in New York and a Middle East correspondent based in Cairo. More about Liam Stack

SCIFI for your WIFI

Remembering Star Trek’s D. C. Fontana

D. C. Fontana, (1939-2019), photograph taken February 2016, San Diego, C, {photo credit Larry Nemecek}

D.C. Fontana, the Queen of SciFi on TV

March 25, 2024, would have been Dorothy Catherine Fontana ‘s 85th birthday. The remarkable writer and mentor, and screenwriter of some of Star Trek’s most famous episodes, passed away in 2019.

Let’s take a minute to look back on her extraordinary career. Scriptwriter D.C. Fontana was one of the most important women in Sci-Fi television. She was story editor for Star Trek and wrote ten episodes for the show. She was associate producer and story editor for Star Trek: The Animated Series , although she wrote only one episode for the Saturday morning cartoon. She also wrote two episodes of The Six Million Dollar Man , one episode of Fantastic Journey , and one episode of the live action Saturday morning show Land of the Lost .

Ms. Fontana also wrote three episodes of Logan’s Run and one of Buck Rogers in the 25th Century . When Star Trek returned to our television screens in 1986, she became associate producer and story editor for Star Trek: The Next Generation , writing five episodes for Next Gen. Fontana wrote one episode each for He-Man and the Masters of the Universe , War of the Worlds , The Legend of Prince Valiant , and Star Trek: Deep Space 9 . She went on to write three episodes of Babylon 5 . She wrote one episode of Hypernauts , one of ReBoot , and one episode each of Earth: Final Conflict, Sulver Surfer, and BeastWars: Transformers . The last Star Trek related script D.C. Fontana wrote was an episode of the web-series Star Trek: The New Voyages .

Miz Dorothy and the Westerns

Although D. C. Fontana is best remembered today for her science fiction scripts, no TV scriptwriter can afford to limit herself to one genre. She also wrote a good many western scripts.

• The Tall Man two episodes
• Frontier Circus one episode
• Shotgun Slade one episode
• The Road West one episode
• The Big Valley two episodes
• Lancer two episodes
• High Chaparral two episodes
• Bonanza two episodes
• Here Come the Brides one episode (technivally a northwestern rather than a western, but it was set in the 1860s)
• Kung Fu one episode

Her first novel was a western Brazos River , with Harry Sanford. Her first interest had been horror.

D.C.’s Books

Dorothy Fontana had originally hoped to become a novelist. She became secretary to TV scriptwriter Samuel A, Peeples, this led to her becoming a scriptwriter herself. Her titles include:

• The novelization of The Questor Tapes .
• Murder in Los Angeles (co-written)
• Brazos River (co-written with Harry Sanford)
• The Star Trek novel Vulcan’s Glory ( Star Trek book #44 )
• Futurus Rex, co-written with Lynn Barker

She also wrote and sang filk songs, and SCIFI.radio has some of her stuff in rotation.

Awards and Honors

In private life, D.C. Fontana was Mrs. Dennis Slotak. She was married to the Oscar-winning visual effects expert from 1981 until 2019. In 2002, the Writer’s Guild of America awarded D.C. Fontana the Morgan Cox Award posthumously. The Museum of Pop Culture inducted her into its Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame. She was inducted into the American Screenwriters Guild twice, in 1997 and again in 2002.

She is remembered as the writer who did the most to develop Vulcan culture, as well as a friend and mentor to many. We still miss her.

Susan Macdonald is the author of the children’s book “R is for Renaissance Faire”, as well as 26 short stories, mostly fantasy in “Alternative Truths”, “Swords and Sorceress #30 ”, Swords &Sorceries Vols. 1, 2, & 5, “Cat Tails” “Under Western Stars”, and “Knee-High Drummond and the Durango Kid”. Her articles have appeared on SCIFI.radio’s web site, in The Inquisitr, and in The Millington Star. She enjoys Renaissance Faires (see book above), science fiction conventions,  Highland Games, and Native American pow-wows.

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About the author.

Susan Macdonald

Susan Macdonald is the author of the children's book "R is for Renaissance Faire", as well as 26 short stories, mostly fantasy in "Alternative Truths", "Swords and Sorceress #30", Swords &Sorceries Vols. 1, 2, & 5, "Cat Tails" "Under Western Stars", and "Knee-High Drummond and the Durango Kid". Her articles have appeared on SCIFI.radio's web site, in The Inquisitr, and in The Millington Star. She enjoys Renaissance Faires (see book above), science fiction conventions,  Highland Games, and Native American pow-wows.

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An American writer best known for her work on Star Trek (1966-1968), Fontana wrote 11 episodes of the original series and went on to write for Star Trek: The Animated Series (1973), Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987-1988) and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993). Her other notable credits included Bonanza (1969-1970) and Logan’s Run (1977-1978).

Read DC Fontana's New York Times obituary .

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D.c. fontana, pioneering ‘star trek’ writer, dies at 80.

Dorothy Catherine "D.C." Fontana, the first female writer for 'Star Trek' who created a number of classic episodes, has died, according to the sci-fi property's official site. She was 80.

By Ryan Parker , Aaron Couch December 3, 2019 11:18am

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Dorothy Catherine “D.C.” Fontana, the first female writer for Star Trek who penned a number of classic episodes, has died Monday evening following a short illness, according to the science fiction property’s official site . She was 80.

A trailblazer for female writers in sci-fi television, Fontana crafted numerous stories for the original Star Trek TV series, including 1967’s “Journey to Babel,” which introduced Spock’s father Sarek and mother Amanda. The episode was credited with allowing audiences to see Star Trek ‘s characters as more than just their jobs but as actual people.

Fontana also went on to work on the animated series, and she penned the classic 1973 episode “Yesteryear,” in which Spock travels back in time to rescue a younger version of himself.

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In 1987, Fontana helped launch a new era of Star Trek when she co-wrote “Encounter at Farpoint , ” the two-part pilot for Star Trek: The Next Generation , which introduced the world to Patrick Stewart’s Captain Picard and earned a Hugo nomination, which she shared with co-writer and Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry.

“She was a pioneer. Her work will continue to influence for generations to come,” William Shatner said Tuesday via Twitter.

Fontana wrote under the name “D.C.” to help prevent discrimination based on her gender when submitting pitches around Hollywood. She already was a working writer who had sold a few scripts when she first met Roddenberry, who at the time was overseeing the NBC military series  The Lieutenant . In 1963, Fontana was working as a production secretary to one of the producers of The   Lieutenant , and she ended up reporting directly to Roddenberry when his secretary was hospitalized for two months.

Soon after, Roddenberry brought her along to Star Trek to work as his production secretary and asked her to choose a story to write for season one. “Charlie X,” an episode about the Enterprise picking up an unstable teen boy with powerful mental abilities,   would become her first sci-fi credit and would make her a rare breed at the time: a woman who wrote sci-fi TV stories.

“At the time, I wasn’t especially aware there were so few female writers doing action adventure scripts,” Fontana recalled in 2013. “There were plenty doing soaps, comedies, or on variety shows. By choosing to do action adventure, I was in an elite, very talented and very different group of women writers.”

She also contributed to Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , and worked on the web series Star Trek: New Voyages . In addition to Star Trek , Fontana’s credit included such shows as  The Waltons ,  Bonanza  and  The Six Million Dollar Man , among others.

In recent years, she worked as a lecturer in the Screenwriting department at the American Film Institute Conservatory. At the end of her writing classes, Fontana would often pose a single question to her MFA students and invite them to respond verbally or follow-up with an answer after class. The question was “Why write?” Many students found this to be critical to their education and self-development.

Fontana was nominated for a WGA Award for co-writing an episode of the 1969-70 NBC series  Then Came Bronson . The WGA honored her with the Morgan Cox Award in 1997 and and 2002.

She is survived by her husband, Oscar-winning visual effects artist Dennis Skotak.

Trilby Beresford contributed to this report. 

Dec. 3, 1:02 p.m. A previous version misspelled the name of Spock’s father, Sarek.

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‘Star Trek’ Writer D.C. Fontana Dies at 80

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Dorothy Catherine Fontana, a writer on the original “ Star Trek ” series who had a long association with the franchise, died Dec. 2. She was 80.

Fontana’s death was confirmed by the official “Star Trek” website, which described her as “the legendary writer who brought many of ‘Star Trek’s’ greatest episodes to life.” The website reported that she died after a brief illness but offered no other details.

Fontana was active in the Writers Guild of America for many years, and most recently worked as a lecturer for the American Film Institute.

A native of New Jersey, Fontana was the rare example of a female scribe on the original NBC edition of the enduring sci-fi franchise, although she used the gender-blind screen credit of “D.C. Fontana.” She was credited with creating key elements of the “Star Trek” mythos, including the details on the backstory of Mr. Spock’s upbringing by his human mother Amanda and Vulcan father Sarek.

All told, Fontana had writing credits on 11 episodes of the original “Star Trek,” which ran for three seasons from 1966-69. The list included the standout 1967 installments “Journey to Babel” (which introduces Spock’s parents) and “This Side of Paradise” (in which Spock and other members of the Enterprise crew get goofy after being sprayed with flower spores). Some of Fontana’s episodes were credited to a pseudonym Michael Richards.

Popular on Variety

Fontana decided to mask her gender with her screen credit in order to avoid discrimination as she sought work in what was then a decidedly male-dominated business. Her introduction to TV writing came after she landed a job as a secretary to Roddenberry in 1961.

“I wrote a ‘Ben Casey’ spec script, with the byline ‘D.C. Fontana,’ ” Fontana told NorthJersey.com in 2016. “Figuring they can’t turn me down because I’m a woman, because they wouldn’t know. And I had my agent turn it in, and it was bought. From then on I thought, ‘You know what, this is the best way to go. I’m going to go with D.C. Fontana.’ “

Fontana went on to work as a writer and associate producer on the 1970s animated “Star Trek” series. In 1987 she teamed with “Star Trek” creator Gene Roddenberry to write “Encounter at Farpoint,” the two-hour premiere episode for “Star Trek: The Next Generation.” She wrote additional episodes of “Next Generation” and “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.” She also penned “Star Trek”-themed novels, including “Questor Tapes” and “Vulcan’s Glory.”

Writers on the latest incarnation of the “Star Trek” universe — “Star Trek: Discovery” — paid tribute to Fontana, calling her “a huge part of the Trek family” in a tweet.

We're sad to hear of the passing of Dorothy Catherine "D.C." Fontana. She was a remarkable writer and a huge part of the Trek family, having worked on TOS, TAS, TNG, and DS9. https://t.co/m3TOewrQVv https://t.co/SWz4i2KWWf — Discovery Writers (@StarTrekRoom) December 3, 2019

Earlier in her career, Fontana penned episodes of such series as “The Wild Wild West” and “Ben Casey.” After the original “Star Trek” ended, she worked on a range of 1970s primetime series including “The Streets of San Francisco,” “Bonanza,” “Kung Fu,” “The Six Million Dollar Man,” “Logan’s Run,” “The Waltons” and “Dallas.”

Fontana was feted for her years of service to the WGA with honorary awards in 1997 and 2002.

Fontana is survived by her husband, cinematographer Dennis Skotak. The family requests that donations be made in Fontana’s name to the Humane Society, Best Friends Animal Society or the American Film Institute.

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Trailblazing 'Star Trek' Writer D.C. Fontana Dies at 80: 'She Was a Pioneer'

Dorothy Catherine "D.C." Fontana is known for further developing the famous character, Spock

Dorothy Catherine Fontana, a writer on the original Star Trek series, has died. She was 80 years old.

Fontana, who went professionally by “D.C.,” passed away “peacefully” on Monday after fighting a brief illness, the American Film Institute, where she was a senior lecturer, announced Tuesday in a press release obtained by PEOPLE.

The writer is credited with developing the Spock character’s backstory and “expanding Vulcan culture,” SyFy reported of her massive contribution to the beloved sci-fi series. Fontana was the one who came up with Spock’s childhood history revealed in “Yesteryear,” an episode in Star Trek: The Animated Series , on which she was both the story editor and associate producer.

As the outlet pointed out, Fontana was also responsible for the characters of Spock’s parents, the Vulcan Sarek and human Amanda, who were introduced in the notable episode “Journey to Babel.”

In fact, Fontana herself said that she hopes to be remembered for bringing Spock to life.

“Primarily the development of Spock as a character and Vulcan as a history/background/culture from which he sprang,” she said in a 2013 interview published on the Star Trek official site, when asked what she thought her contributions to the series were.

With Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, she also penned the episode “Encounter at Farpoint,” which launched The Next Generation in 1987. The episode introduced Captain Picard, played by Patrick Stewart , and earned the writing pair a Hugo Award nomination.

Not only was Fontana responsible for creating much of Star Trek canon, she also “helped blaze a trail for female writers in sci-fi television,” the official website said in its obituary. “Fontana’s credits to Star Trek cannot be understated, both as a writer of great stories and as a trailblazer for other women.”

Fontana’s agent, Cary Kozlov, tells PEOPLE that while she is recognized as a trailblazer in the industry, she “considered herself a writer first and foremost.”

“I was Ms. Fontana’s film and TV literary agent for more than a dozen years,” Kozlov says. “Although, she has been often recognized as a trailblazer for women in screenwriting during a time when the industry was still considered strictly a ‘boys’ club, she usually would just shrug that off or the idea of a ‘glass-ceiling’ and never really embraced that when I’d raise the subject. For the most part, she just considered herself a writer first and foremost and just one of the guys. But deep down inside, I think Dorothy really enjoyed the recognition.

“I will miss her dearly not only as a client, but as a true friend,” Kozlov adds.

In the 2013 interview, Fontana said that though she was a writer in Hollywood in the 1960s, she didn’t necessarily think of herself as a rarity — but instead felt she was part of “an elite” group.

“At the time, I wasn’t especially aware there were so few female writers doing action adventure scripts,” she said. “There were plenty doing soaps, comedies, or on variety shows. By choosing to do action adventure, I was in an elite, very talented and very different group of women writers.”

RELATED VIDEO: William Shatner Believes Captain Kirk Would Be ‘Running Wild’ in Quentin Tarantino’s ‘Star Trek’

And for her work in the genre, Fontana is remembered for breaking ground for women in science fiction.

William Shatner , who famously portrayed Captain James Kirk in the Star Trek universe, mourned the loss of Fontana on Twitter on Tuesday, calling her a “pioneer.”

“ She was a pioneer ,” he said. “Her work will continue to influence for generations to come.”

In addition to her many Star Trek contributions, Fontana’s writing credits include episodes on The Waltons , Bonanza , Babylon 5 and The Six Million Dollar Man.

The writer is survived by husband Dennis Skotak, Variety reported , and the family is asking that donations be sent to either the Humane Society, Best Friends Animal Society or the American Film Institute in lieu of flowers.

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D.C. Fontana, famed writer for Star Trek, dies at 80

Credit: Albert L. Ortega/Getty Images

D.C. Fontana, the famed TV writer best known for Star Trek: The Original Series  and who blazed a trail for storytelling and women in science fiction, died Monday after a brief illness. She was 80.

The American Film Institute announced today the news of Fontana's passing.

Fontana, whose full name was Dorothy Catherine, wrote several episodes of Star Trek (some under the pseudonym Michael Richards) and was most noted for creating Spock’s backstory and expanding Vulcan culture. In the episode “Journey to Babel,” she established the characters of Spock’s father Sarek and mother Amanda. In the “Yesteryear” episode of Star Trek: The Animated Series, for which Fontana served as story editor and associate producer, she created Spock’s childhood history.

Born on March 25, 1939, in Sussex, N.J., Fontana began writing horror adventure tales in the fifth grade that featured her classmates as characters. After graduating from New Jersey's Fairleigh Dickinson University, she became a secretary for the head of Screen Gems in New York. She sold her first story for the TV western  The Tall Man  in June 1960.

“I was 21 years old and have been writing ever since,” Fontana said in an interview in 2018.

Other TV writing credits included episodes of The Six Million Dollar Man, Land of the Lost, Babylon 5, and Star Trek: The Next Generation, among many others. Her last produced writing credit was an episode of the web series Star Trek: New Voyages entitled “To Serve All My Days,” starring Walter Koenig (Chekov in TOS ).

In addition to her work for TV, Fontana also wrote novels, including Vulcan’s Glory and The Questor Tapes. She also wrote a Trek comic book and several science fiction video games.

Fontana served on the board of directors for the Writers Guild of America West for two terms. She won the Morgan Cox Award for Guild Service twice: once in 1997 and again in 2002.

Most recently, Fontana was a senior lecturer at the American Film Institute.

Following the news of her death, the official Star Trek Twitter page paid tribute to Fontana:

https://t.co/4kPK1NYbPA is deeply saddened to report the passing of Dorothy Catherine “D.C.” Fontana, the legendary writer who brought many of Star Trek’s greatest episodes to life. https://t.co/X6iWoz2HdK — Star Trek (@StarTrek) December 3, 2019

She is survived by her husband, Oscar-winning visual effects cinematographer Dennis Skotak. In lieu of flowers, her family asks that donations be made to the Humane Society, Best Friends Animal Society, or the American Film Institute in her memory.

• Star Trek: The Original Series

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Star Trek Episode So Raunchy Writer Demanded Their Name Be Removed

Posted: April 24, 2024 | Last updated: April 25, 2024

Most people consider writing for Star Trek an honor, and some of the biggest movers and shakers in Hollywood (including Battlestar Galactica reboot creator Ronald D. Moore) owe their careers to their time working on The Next Generation. In the early days of TNG, though, the show was very stressful for writers, and one episode got rewritten by Gene Roddenberry so aggressively that its writer, an Original Series veteran, had her name removed. That episode was “The Naked Now,” Roddenberry added so much raunchiness that screenwriter D.C. Fontana didn’t want to be associated with the script.

The Naked Now

For the most part, Star Trek: The Next Generation was never considered a raunchy show, but “The Naked Now” was not your usual episode. It was written as a follow-up to The Original Series episode “The Naked Time,” and the newer ep features a virus that makes anyone who contracts it (including, weirdly enough, the android Data) act like a drunken frat bro. Perhaps because it was a followup to Captain Kirk’s adventures, Roddenberry asked veteran TOS writer D.C. Fontana to tackle this script.

Claims Roddenberry Wanted More Raunchiness

While we don’t know the exact details of her original story, it’s clear that Fontana didn’t want “The Naked Now” to be a raunchy s** romp. According to her, Roddenberry extensively rewrote her script, adding two “scenes of sexual content” she objected to. She also alleged that the Star Trek creator added “other scenes which…debased the female characters of the series.”

The Awkward Data And Yar Pairing

One example of this was almost certainly the infamous scene where Tasha Yar seduces Data (the virus infects both of them). After Yar asks, Data confirms that he is “fully functional…in every way” and that he is “programmed in multiple techniques” for “a broad variety of pleasuring.” Keep in mind this was the first episode of TNG after the pilot, and fans were stuck watching the fiercely independent new female character act like a horny teenager at the thought of turning the galaxy’s most advanced android into a glorified s** toy.

Roddenberry’s Issues With Women

Fontana claims that what Roddenberry did to her “Naked Now” script was standard operating procedure and that after a writer turned in a second draft, “no matter how good a script appeared to be, it would be rewritten by Gene Roddenberry.” Furthermore, she said that “if possible, scenes of sexual content would be inserted into the script.” That may sound like a shocking fact about the Star Trek creator, but keep in mind this is the guy who wanted Deanna Troi to have three boobs and for the Ferengi to have canonically huge genitals.

Hidden Shame

Standard procedure or not, Fontana wanted to let Roddenberry and others know how much she hated what her script for “The Naked Now” became. To that end, she sent a “frankly worded memo of content” to the powers that be, but her comments were completely ignored. After that, she made sure that her name was removed from the script and that the onscreen credit for “J. Michael Bingham” was actually a pseudonym she had chosen to use.

Picard Finally Gave Dr. Crusher More To Do

While some fans have learned to embrace the cheesiness of “The Naked Now,” Fontana is correct in that its overt raunchiness makes for some cringe-inducing scenes. There may also be substance to her accusation that Roddenberry’s added scenes “debased” the female characters: notably, the show never seemed to find much for Dr. Crusher and Counselor Troi to do, especially given how many great storylines their male counterparts received. Fortunately, the writing for everyone got better over the course of TNG, and Crusher, in particular, belatedly got her due in the final season of Picard.

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RETRO INTERVIEW: D.C. Fontana Talks About Making 'Journey To Babel'

In this vintage video interview, the legendary Trek scribe talks about one of TOS' most renowned episodes.

In a wide-ranging interview, legendary writer Dorothy "D.C." Fontana talked at length about her work on The Next Generation , Deep Space Nine , and Star Trek: The Animated Series . In this special excerpt, Fontana talks about writing the classic The Original Series episode "Journey to Babel."

Stay tuned to StarTrek.com for more details! And be sure to follow @StarTrek on Facebook , Twitter , and Instagram .

One Star Trek: The Original Series Episode Had The Cast Swimming In Their Sweat

Vasquez Rocks is located in the northern part of Los Angeles County about 25 minutes away from Downtown L.A. via the 14 freeway. It's close enough to the city to be easily accessed by car, but far away enough to look like a remote wilderness. The park's celebrated rock formations look eerie, ancient, and alien from certain angles, making it a popular place for film and TV productions going back to the 1930s.

Trekkies likely recognize Vasquez Rocks as an oft-reused filming location, serving as a variety of alien worlds for various "Star Trek" projects . The park was featured in the "Original Series" episodes "Shore Leave" (December 29, 1966), "Arena" (January 19, 1967), "The Alternative Factor" (March 30, 1967), and "Friday's Child" (December 1, 1967). Later, Vasquez Rocks would serve as Vulcan "Star Trek III: The Search for Spock" and "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home," released in 1983 and 1984 respectively.

Fans of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" would recognize Vasquez Rocks from the episode "Who Watches the Watchers?" (October 16, 1989), and the park would later be seen playing alien worlds in the "Star Trek: Voyager" episodes "Initiations" (September 4, 1995) and "Gravity" (February 3, 1999). It was in the "Enterprise" episode "Unexpected" (October 12, 2001). "Star Trek" characters wouldn't visit Vasquez Rocks on Earth — that is, the park wouldn't play itself — until the "Star Trek: Picard" episodes "Maps and Legends" and "The End is the Beginning," both from 2020. No natural monument is more closely tied to the franchise.

And what was shooting at Vasquez Rocks like? Horrible. In a 2013 interview with StarTrek.com , actor Michael Dante recalled playing the part of Maab in "Friday's Child," and he only remembered that Vasquez Rocks reached 117 degrees the day of filming.

Michael Dante vs. Vasquez Rocks

"Friday's Child" sees Captain Kirk (William Shatner) traveling to the planet Capella IV to negotiate a mining contract with the violent, but honorable, locals. Kirk has to convince the Capellans to give their ore to the Federation and not to a visiting Klingon (Tige Andrews) who would use it for nefarious purposes. During the negotiations, a civil war breaks out, with Maab (Dante) killing the Capellan leader and usurping the throne. Maab also wants to kill the pregnant queen Eleen (Julie Newmar) , forcing Dr. McCoy (DeForest Kelley) to protect her. The episode features a lot of outdoor fighting, silly regal costumes, and over-the-top acting. Eleen eventually names her child after Kirk and McCoy.

Dante had to wear an outsize blonde wig to play Maab, as well as an uncomfortable-looking headpiece that covered his neck and ears (see above). The regal costumes looked to be made of disused theatre curtains and wool. As itchy as they appear, however, Dante said they were also filled with sweat:

"The weather [stands out]. It was 117 degrees at Vasquez Rocks, where we were filming. The outfits we had, they couldn't breathe. There weren't any openings in the clothing. They were all tight, with boots. I was 180 pounds at that time — and I'm still 180 pounds, which I'm very proud of — but I lost seven pounds in one day. I literally lost muscle. I looked at myself in the mirror when I got home and I said, 'I can't believe what happened.'"

Sweating too much doesn't actually reduce muscle mass, but one can indeed lose several pounds of water a day if they don't rehydrate in a hot climate. Keep the canteen full, kids.

As one can see in the above picture, Dante also had to wear giant furry boots, which are not ideal for desert hiking. What's more, the boots he wore weren't porous or vented, allowing them to catch every drop of Dante's sweat. "It was just so hot. The water was oozing out of us. Every time I'd take a step in my boots, there'd be a swooshing sound, and that was perspiration that went down to my boots," he recalled.

"Friday's Child" was written by longtime "Star Trek" luminary D.C. Fontana, who said that she wanted to write a character like Eleen who didn't want to have children. Such a conceit would have been novel on 1960s TV, and Fontana's script was kept largely intact for filming. Other writers added the Klingon character, but Eleen remained the same. Weirdly, there is a dark moment in "Friday's Child" when Dr. McCoy realizes that he needs to be more forceful and angry with Eleen in order to gain her respect. Her species values aggression, and McCoy was too gentle. To show his strength, he smacks Eleen across the face. It might be the only instance in "Star Trek" of a main character punching a pregnant woman. Perhaps ickily, it worked.

Regardless, Datne said he has rewatched his episode since the 1960s and feels that, dramatically, it holds up pretty well. He was told "Star Trek" was just a Western in space , and he played Maab accordingly. Dante retired from acting in the late 1980s and hosted a syndicated interview radio show from 1995 until 2007. He is still alive and well at 92. 

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Jonathan Frakes Sees Opportunities With Streaming Star Trek Movies, Weighs In On “Filler Episodes”

| April 25, 2024 | By: Laurie Ulster 69 comments so far

Earlier this week, TrekMovie’s All Access Star Trek podcast team spoke to director and Star Trek: The Next Generation (and Picard ) star Jonathan Frakes along with Deep Space Nine star Armin Shimerman, DS9 guest star Kitty Swink, and television writer/producer Juan Carlos Coto, brother of late  Enterprise  writer/producer Manny Coto. They had all gathered together to talk about the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network and their team Trek Against Pancreatic Cancer for the Purple Stride walk this Saturday, April 27th. During the wide-ranging chat, Frakes weighed in some some of the latest Star Trek news.

Frakes talks Lower Decks and 2-hour streaming movie format

Jonathan Frakes had some thoughts regarding the future of Lower Decks , reacting to the recent news that the upcoming fifth season of the animated series will be its last . He directed the Lower Decks / Strange New Worlds “Those Old Scientists” crossover, and when asked if he thought there could be another crossover episode, he saw it as a possibility:

“I think the show did so well. You know, [co-showrunner] Akiva [Goldsman] would would certainly take the swing like that. I think [co-showrunner] Henry Alonso Myers would too. I’m not sure how Paramount Plus or Alex [Kurtzman] would feel about it, but it worked.”

After some talk about whether or not Lower Decks could be revived like Prodigy was on Netflix, Frakes brought up that a new format could offer possibilities:

“I do know that there’s a lot of positive energy around the Michelle Yeoh Section 31 movie. So that 2-hour format is now on the table for Star Trek going forward.”

Frakes agreed that in addition to  Lower Decks , this format could also be a home for Terry Matalas’ Star Trek: Legacy pitch for a spin-off of the third season of Picard. When asked, Frakes said “of course” Matalas has spoken to him about Legacy . If Legacy did transform into a streaming movie, Frakes doesn’t expect he would direct, predicting Terry would “hire himself” to helm it as he did for the season 3 finale.

Jonathan Frakes in season 2 of  Lower Decks

Frakes weighs in on “filler episodes”

One of the recent hot topics around Star Trek centers around comments from executive producer Alex Kurtzman about how the modern streaming era of 10-episode seasons forces them to “really make sure that every story counts,” noting he has talked to writers who worked on earlier incarnations of Trek with 26-episode seasons who lamented having to do “filler episodes.” When the subject of filler episodes was brought up, Frakes said of TNG:

“The only filler I thought was real was when they clearly did a clip show [“Shades of Gray”]. That was a piece of shit.”

Frakes agreed with Juan Carlos Coto (a writer and showrunner on the ABC series 9-1-1 ) who said filler episodes were “never intentional.” They pointed out that budgets get spent at the beginning and end of seasons, so “in the middle, there’s a lot of talking.” As Frakes admitted, some of the best material had to be saved for the right time:

“We made 26 episodes a year, they had a set budget for the year and you split it up 26 ways or however they saw fit… and you got to save stuff for the cliffhanger… Like ‘Best of Both Worlds,’ Picard is Locutus and we’re about to fucking blow up the ship and kill him.”

Shelby (Elizabeth Dennehy) and Riker (Jonathan Frakes) in the final moments of “Best of Both Worlds” season 3 cliffhanger finale

If you can, please join Purple Stride, donate to the cause, or both. If you can’t, please spread the word via social media and word of mouth. For more info visit the Trek Against Pancreatic Cancer participation and donation page

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Imagine Deep Space Nine, with 10 episodes per season and how forced and unrealistic many of the storylines and character developments would look.

Cheers to the “filler” episodes !

“Duet”, probably the best episode of Season 1, was a filler episode.

I don’t really count that as “filler”, since it advanced the evolution of Kira’s character. Now, “Looking for Par’Mach…” is filler. Sure, we get to see more Klingon culture, but I could do without the BDSM implications of said culture.

But it the moment dax and word became a couple so not a ‘filler’ ep

I think “Duet” is a bottle episode, but not a filler episode. But we are having a hard time defining filler episodes here at TrekMovie for that reason! “Duet” was a really important episode for Kira’s character that changed her in some way, and was, I’m guessing, a story they really wanted to do. I love “Explorers,” but that strikes me as more of a DS9 filler than “Duet.”

Bottle shows are money savers. Filler shows go back to the writer’s room.

You have to cram 26 episodes into a season. Episodes are being broken while others are being written while others episodes are in pre-production while others are being filmed while others are in various stages of post production. It’s the I Love Lucy chocolate assembly line. You need ideas. At times, any ideas. Some will work well, some will fail, some will have done better if more time, but we can’t worry about that now because we need to keep moving.

If season 1 of DS9 were ten episodes, instead of eighteen, we probably would have lost Q-Less, Move Along Home, and Dramatis Personae off the bat. Duet would have been kept. There would have been more time for the writers to write and write well. We may have gotten other gems that there was never time to develop.

DS9 did an amazing job later in its run running a tight ship with 26 episodes, far more than the other shows, and shorter seasons would have been sad for us – I’d have preferred 52 episodes a season, but the producers would have died. It’s about balance.

Duet was one of my favourite episodes of DS9, filler or bottle or whateverI don’t care it was a high point of the show.

Absolutely. DS9 for me still the number 1 Star Trek show. And it is because of these long story arcs and filler episodes.

Every episode is so thoughtful. This is why my expectations are higher watching the new shows, specially Discovery and Picard.

Great script. Brilliant character development. Connections. Issues. Actors. Producers. The whole thing is truly a masterpiece.

Yes to both points. TBH I don’t mind a more serialized approach like Discovery and Picard, but the so-called “filler” episodes do add a lot to the characters and world-building they can do. Yes, some of them aren’t great, but I’d gladly take that along with the great episodes that can stem from the “filler.”

And I really do think Lower Decks could thrive with a movie format, or even just hour-long specials similar to South Park.

I like the idea of multi-episode streaming movies, viewed online. What are the current series long shows like Discovery, if not that? Multi-part shows, streamed online over 8-10 weeks, loosely or tightly inter-connected. SNW’s breaks that mold a little bit with more seeming stand-alone episodes, albeit connected by the underlying plot threads – Pikes knowledge of his demise, for example.

It’s frequently commented that many seasons of the current shows feel stretched. Movie format suits the kind of storytelling modern Trek wants to do (which is emulate modern action movies).

I love this man so much and hope to see him back as Riker again someday. I would love a Legacy TV movie.

And I agree with him, I don’t look as most shows making filler episodes. As long as they give us good stories and character development I will watch them all. It doesn’t mean every episode is great of course but every viewer will judge it on their own. What people consider filler to them will be an impactful episode to others.

All I know is while none of these shows are perfect I watch TNG, TOS and Enterprise religiously and those shows have way more solid episodes than bad ones in my book.

Everything he touches, turns out amazing.

Thunderbirds has entered the chat, LOL!

I was going to leave it as a snarky comment, but come on. Everyone loves Frakes.

Best episodes. First Contact. Hope Frakes and Ira Steven Behr could direct Berman era movies.

I would love for Behr to be involved again on some level with Star Trek. Still one of the best writers to ‘this day! He and Frakes teaming up to do a movie would be amazing!

If he comes back, will be for the Return of the Sisko! :D I am an optimist. Really hope Avery is just having fun just waiting for the right time and the right script.

Yes totally agree!!! That would be fantastic.

Yep fully agree. The way people view an episode is always different. And yeah there have been tons of ‘filler’ episodes that have become pretty iconic in their own right.

The classic shows have all generally aged well because there are so many episodes and you get such a wide range of stories and character driven episodes fans have gotten to appreciate that sadly the new shows rarely have time for and never get to focus on secondary characters.

People have been complaining about the extreme lack of character development of the Discovery bridge crew for five seasons now. With more episodes and not about the galaxy being in jeopardy every season maybe we could’ve gotten at least a few Detmer or Owo focused stories.

And it’s just fun to turn on a random TOS or VOY episode that is really harder to do with the new stuff.

And yes Frakes is amazing! He embodies the Star Trek spirit like no other!

Yes this is it exactly! The ‘filler’ episodes gave us a wide range of character development this new stuff just does a passing glance at because it’s too serialized and plot driven. In the golden era of Trek you got both. DS9 hello?

Those shows can really slow down and give us some great stuff. One of my favorite Enterprise episodes is Shuttlepod One. I adore it because you get real insight into Reed and Trip. It’s no way an episode like that could ever be made today because they don’t have the room and there isn’t enough shooting or explosions.

BTW, a little off topic but have you been watching this season of Discovery at all? Any thoughts? I don’t think I’ve seen a single post from you about any of the season or episodes so far.

I just watched the first episode of the season a week ago. It was OK but just not for me. I really only watched it because it connected to The Chase, one of my favorites.

I said I would try and watch the next episode but no motivation. Discovery just isn’t for me I guess. I still haven’t finished watching seasons 3 and 4 either lol.

But I hear others are really enjoying it though. Good for them. 😊

How about yourself dear? Maybe I might try it again later when it’s over and if I hear good things about the ending.If not, no bother. I haven’t looked in any of the threads on this board discussing the season.

I am enjoying it for the most part: certainly more than I thought I would lol.

But it’s still Discovery and there are still scenes of people discussing their feelings or just a lot of back and forth discussions that feel pretty aimless or just there to pad the episode. I really didn’t like the last episode at all but the one before that one was great and felt like the type of story you would get out of a Berman era show.

So it’s up and down but I do think a lot people are liking it overall including this board which says a lot lol.

I’m still a little nervous it may not stick to landing by the end but we only have 5 more episodes and then the show is done for good. Wow.

Good to know. I do know the show is trying to connect more to classic Star Trek like TNG and DS9. That’s a big positive at least and maybe why more people are excited about it right now. But are a lot of people watching it this season? No one I know online is really talking about it as much like before but maybe just where I lurk on social media.

Hopefully it will end well for its fans.

Yeah that seems to be a topic in a number of places and if a lot of people are watching the season since discussion over it seems to be generally down this season. The only answer real answer I have is I have no clue.

But it was cancelled for a reason, maybe a lot of people were already watching it less in season 4 like yourself. If that’s true not a shock less are watching it now. It’s going to take more than latching your season to a 30 year old TNG episode to get those people back if they already left

Well regardless who is watching I do hope they are enjoying it. I may try and give it another chance at some point.

Oh however I have started watching Prodigy for the first time and you were so right! That show is phenomenal!! I just thought I was too old for it but it’s so much fun and loving Janeway with the new characters!

I’m on episode 9 now but can’t wait to finish it. I’m really excited when the real Janeway shows up but Hologram Janeway is so much fun too. The new characters really feel fleshed out as well and loving the storyline. This feels like Star Trek of old again. I’m so happy you and others convinced me to watch it.

I really can’t wait for season 2 seeing how great season 1 is so far. 😊

Wow that’s amazing news! 😀

I’m so happy to hear that. Yeah Prodigy is great. It doesn’t mean everyone loves it and it obviously didn’t get that many viewers (but I think due to calling it a kids show and why people like you stayed away) but the show just has so much heart and why I love it.

This is the show I’m most excited to see again and can’t wait to see the kids on the Voyager A with Admiral Janeway and the Doctor.

And see there is something you like in NuTrek after all!

Haha indeed!

Prodigy does an amazing job with its characters and manage to tell fun and interesting stories. I thought I wasn’t going to like Dal or Gwynn much and they became very lovable once I realize everything they been through and becoming more of a team. Jangom Pog cracks me up and Rok is adorable.

I also love it has a strong connection to Voyager. I’m very excited to have the real Janeway back too. It’s proof I shouldn’t judge something until I see it but I never thought it was bad just not for me.

That’s great to hear, Legacy. I was similarly surprised upon first viewing of PRO, at the quality of the show’s writing, visuals and overall Trek ‘feel.’ It’s a rare example of modern Trek done Right.

So true Danpaine. There is so much of NuTrek I feel they either get wrong or too focused on action and big stakes instead of just telling a solid story which Prodigy really seems to do.

I don’t need another story about trying to destroy the galaxy. This show is more my speed and makes this old bird really appreciate the Star Trek I fell in love with again.

Get ready for the next 11 episodes. You will be surprised how great is Prodigy. Can’t wait to watch Season 2 on Netflix.

I’m going to watch the next few episodes this weekend. It’s only gotten stronger. And I peeped ahead with some of the surprises and happy Captain Jelico and the Xindi makes an appearance. I know just small cameos but still happy to see them back. I don’t know what happens next in the story so can’t wait!

Will season 2 come out this year? I really hope so now. We need more quality Trek like this show.

It’s been confirmed by Netflix it will debut this year at least but zero word on when.

So great to hear! Without a doubt this show has a new fan and I’ll be watching season 2 the day it drops!

I truly can’t wait now and nearly done with season 1. 🙂

Yes you are so right! I just finished episode 14 this weekend and it’s just so much fun. I was excited to see Admiral Janeway back and shrieked when the Xindi appeared lol. One of my favorite species in Star Trek.

The story just feels so well thought out and loving how they are handling all the characters in it. I’m going to try and finish the rest of it by this weekend.

I can’t believe I didn’t bother to watch this until now.

Great to see more Prodigy love. It’s my favorite of the new shows. I love how it walks the line of being a very unique take on the franchise, while capturing the heart and soul of the older shows. The serialized story works well as a connective tissue and giving their adventure long-term stakes, but having done a rewatch in a random order made me realize just how well a lot of the episodes work on their own (once you get past the initial part connecting to the main story).

Now I just need Netflix to hurry up and release it, lol.

Yes I really appreciate how the episodes still feel very episodic but the main story connects very well. That was the problem I had with Discovery and Picard. I felt the serialized story fell apart halfway through but there are not enough episodic stories to keep me invested.

Right now Prodigy is doing both. I’m very surprised how solid the story telling is here.

I watched the silver age of Star Trek as a kid. Now that I’m older, I appreciate the hard work that the great Rick Berman, Brannon Braga, Michael Piller, and others did. They worked tirelessly around the clock to bring the audiences the best stories and best productions they could with what they had. I don’t use or believe in “filler episodes. ”

If I was going to use that concept, I would use it to describe Disco, Picard, and SNW. These three shows have a beginning and end but nothing substantial in the middle….it’s like they are filling in stuff to get to the end.

I so agree with you dear. I really appreciate all the amazing shows we got in the 90s. It was such a great time to be a fan and I been watching Trek since the 60s. So many great stories and characters.

I think people like Berman, Piller, Moore, Braga etc gets more praise today to see how many quality stories they produced with half the time and money these new shows gets now (and still nowhere as compelling or thoughtful as we got back then).

I did really enjoy Picard season 3 but it’s still not nearly as good as TNG was but it at least tried to be.

Season 3 was more like an extended TNG movie to me and it was a lot better than 3 of the 4 TNG movies with a much better send off for every character than Nemesis.

Yeah I loved the send off they got in season 3. It’s just a much more and satisfying ending than what we got in Nemesis.

I just loved the last episode so much and will always feel special to me. It was a great Trek season overall even if it still wasn’t perfect.

Yes fully agree season 3 felt like a movie and gave us some great drama and twists. I actually like most of the TNG movies minus Generations (hated how it killed Kirk) but they are below the TOS movies but still far above the JJ reboot movies for me. I barely even count those as canon, but my opinion only of course.

Even though I liked it more than others, Nemesis was a real let down as well so it was nice to give them a better ending on this show.

Did Frakes threw some shade towards Kurtzman about crossover episodes? or am I misunderstanding his comments there. In any case I am also of the camp that apart from clip shows, which should never exist, fillers can be the best episodes of any series. I mean I rewatch the “filler” episodes much more, episodes like “Duet” from DS9, “Timeless” from Voyager, “The Inner Light” from TNG. Even in other series for example like Stargate or Farscape I usually prefer the excellent filler episodes rather than the ongoing serial ones. Or in the X-Files. I think that show had some phenomenal “filler” episodes.

I agree with pretty much everything except calling Timeless a filler episode. It was anything but because that was Voyager’s 100th episode and was supposedly one of the most expensive to shoot that year.

And you can’t bring Geordie on and call it that. 😉

Thanks for clearing that up actually, I knew Takei’s episode “Flashback” was an anniversary episode but didn’t realize till now that “Timeless” was actually the 100th episode.

If you go to a Star Trek Jeopardy special event, you will beat everyone. Totally forgot Timeless was the 100th episode, which by the way, it was one of my favorite VOY episodes.

“ If you go to a Star Trek Jeopardy special event, you will beat everyone.”

Unless it involves correctly spelling the given name of the D’s chief engineer.

Lol thanks but there are plenty of things I don’t remember and Timeless was a big deal at the time. And I listen to The Delta Flyers which did an amazing job going through the entire show and Timeless was one they really discussed in-depth.

I think Frakes did indeed throw Kurtzman under a bus there. “Those Old Scientists” is receiving a lot of accolades, so that tracks.

If Duet and (in particular) TIL are “filler” episodes, the term is meaningless.

“Filler” and “bottle episode” are getting used interchangeably lately. The Inner Light I’d say is neither. Duet is definitely a bottle episode.

YASSSS!!! Filler and bottle are getting bandied about nilly-willy.I said this when Battlestar started on SciFi and people griped about the short seasons. Even in the best of 22-26 episode seasons, I’ve always said there’s room to cut 12 hours of filler, whether it’s an entire episode or just meandering subplots.

Standalone EPs on ‘x files’ became more effective than the on the going alien invasion arc

DS9’s “Far Beyond the Stars” was a filler, and it’s still one of the best episodes of television ever. So don’t tell me that filler episodes can’t be great.

I disagree about “Far Beyond the Stars” was a filler. That was not cheap with the new sets and everything. I think a DS9 filler episode is more like “Rivals.” That one was very bad.

Sorry, friend, but “Far Beyond the Stars” was NOT a filler episode. That goddamn thing MEANT something. Filler episodes are just fluff… like the one where Quark gets the sex change.

“Far Beyond the Stars” was absolutely not filler but an AMAZING episode, unexpected, thought provoking, and considered by many to be one of the best episode of DS9.

I always welcome reading about an interview with Frakes, he’s a gem of the franchise. And I say let the films come. More opportunities to bring in variety (and hopefully quality) as to content, writers, directors. If one sucks they can move on to another in a different direction. Good interview.

It really depends on the episode in question. If the “filler” serves to advance the story or the evolution of the characters, then what could be seen as a “filler” isn’t really a “filler”, if that makes any sense. Ultimately, it all depends on the budget.

I’m glad that Frakes is basically the unofficial spokesman for all things ‘Trek, as far as the live aspects of the franchise. BTW, does LeVar Burton and any other ‘Trek alumni do work for the franchise, either in front of the camera or behind the scenes?

Not that I’m aware of. Robert Duncan McNeill was in talks to direct for “Discovery,” but the push for more diverse directors (women and POC) meant he wasn’t what they were looking for. He didn’t seem to have hard feelings about it from the interview I read over at Trekcore. A shame — I always thought he was a great director and it would’ve been interesting to see what he brought to the table. (Then again, I’m biased as I share a birthday with Robbie and saw great potential in the Tom Paris character before TPTB milk-toasted him.)

Roxann Dawson is another Trek actor/director whose name I see pop up on the odd TV drama from time to time, too. No idea why she hasn’t done any modern Trek or if she was even interested in doing so.

As for LeVar Burton I VAGUELY recall he was a bit vocal about where Star Trek was going during his “Enterprise” directing days and has been critical of the franchise’s direction since. Maybe he just wasn’t interested.

If Legacy gets green-lit, it will probably be a series of movies. I LOVED PICS3, but nostalgia can only get you so far. I don’t know if Par+ wants to pay the TNG cast the big bucks. I’d encourage everyone to watch the HECK out of the S31 movie. If Par+ sees good viewership, they’ll make more of them.

YES – back in 1990 I saw George Takei at a convention in Boston; we all agreed Star Trek V (released months earlier) was not very good but George asked us to keep going to see it and buy the VHS when it came out — it was a way to send a message to Paramount we wanted MORE Star Trek.

Respectfully of course, I don’t feel it’s the consumer’s job to ‘watch the heck’ out of something, hoping more product will be made as a result. If the Sec. 31 film is good enough to deserve another watch, then I will. If it’s bad or mediocre I’m not going to revisit it. Simple. It’s their job to properly entertain us, we’re the ones paying the bill every month.

No one does ‘filler’ EPs if they can help it. Mr frakes was right about “shades of grey’, knocked together to get TNG s2 over and done with.

LOVE Jonathan Frakes. Would love to meet him!

Fun discussion topic — not looking for arguments but suppose it’s inevitable here, LOL. There are many definitions of ‘filler episode.’

As a discussion point, regardless if an episode is considered good/great/bad, what are some examples (in any Trek series) that you consider to be a ‘filler’ episode and why?

Discussion topic :)

‘filler’ and ‘bottle episodes’ are two different things. Yes, a bottle episode CAN be filler but often is NOT. Filler is just filler — can be beloved, but still filler.