Gene Roddenberry Non-Trek Pilots

[Theta Sigma]

After the demise of the original Star Trek in 1969, Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry tried out five non-Trek pilots none of which led to a series.

They were the following:
Genesis II (1973)
The Questor Tapes (1974)
Planet Earth (1974)
Strange New World (1975)
Spectre (1977)

Thanks to a comment made by jfmaho at the Doctor Who Forum, I got prompted to have a look for them at Youtube.

I have just finished Genesis II:
YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.

Genesis II sees a scientist Dylan Hunt (Alex Cord) as part of an experiment was placed in suspended animation but wakes up in the future in which the world he has found in is very different from the one he has known as it has become a post-apocalyptic world.

Alex Cord brought in a good performance as Dylan Hunt and Genesis II looked interesting viewing.

Also in it is Gene Roddenberry's wife Majel Barrett (Christine Chapel, Lwaxana Troi and Computer voice in the Star Trek shows and movies).

CBS declined to pick Genesis II as a series, opting instead for the Planet of the Apes series.

Genesis II was later reworked as Planet Earth & Strange New World. The name Dylan Hunt was again used for Planet Earth but this time was played by John Saxon as Alex Cord was unavailable. For Strange New World, Saxon played a different named character.

I saw Planet Earth about a decade ago when I borrowed it from my local video library and I remembered that looked interesting as well.

Planet Earth:
YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.

As I have been reminded by the Wikipedia article Planet Earth also featured Diana Muldaur who previously had a guest role in the original Star Trek and later on played Dr Kate Pulaski in season 2 of The Next Generation.

Eventually two Gene Roddenberry non-Trek TV series did get made but after Gene Roddenberry's death in 1991. They were Earth: Final Conflict & Andromeda, with the lead character for the latter also called Dylan Hunt.

 

[Theta Sigma]

The Questor Tapes:
YouTube - questor tapes

The Questor Tapes is about an android called Questor who attempts to find his creator to ask him about his programming.

It is quite obvious that the android Questor played by Robert Foxworth was a precursor to Data in Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Robert Foxworth brings a very sincere performance as Questor with a good performance from Mike Farrell (BJ in M*A*S*H) as Jerry Robinson.
Very interesting the premise that was presented here and it is too bad a series did not happen.

In fact reading from Wikipedia, a series was greenlighted with a 13-episode go-ahead before the television movie was aired but was abandoned due to conflict between Roddenberry and NBC and Universal:

"However, conflict between Roddenberry and both Universal and NBC over the content of the proposed series doomed it, most notably ignoring the revelation at the end of the TV movie and eliminating the key character of Jerry Robinson. These changes were too much for Roddenberry, who abandoned the project. No episodes were produced."

 

[Theta Sigma]

Strange New World:
YouTube - Strange New World Gene Roddenberry

Although this was the third version of the story that began as Genesis II & then as Planet Earth, Gene Roddenberry, as I found out whilst watching it, was not involved with Strange New World, having opted out.
Like Planet Earth, Strange New World stars John Saxon playing a similar character to Dylan Hunt in Planet Earth. With no involvement from Gene Roddenberry, Saxon played the differently named Anthony Vico, his character got a change of name for fear of litagation.
Strange New World is divided into two stories, the first is just atrocious while the second was slightly better. Overall it was no great loss that this was not picked up as a series.

 

[Theta Sigma]

Spectre:
YouTube - Spectre 1977

To my surprise I expected Spectre to be science fiction but instead it is in the supernatural genre.

Starring Robert Culp as William Sebastian and Gig Young as Dr "Ham" Hamilton in a partnership that is like that of Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson.

Not surprising that the cast also includes a brief appearance from Roddenberry's wife Majel Barrett but I did find surprising the presence of John Hurt and Gordon Jackson as a result of this being filmed in the UK.

It is a very creepy story and would have been interesting how the storylines would have been developed as a series.