The Legacy of Gene Roddenberry — beyond “Star Trek”

Few remember, but Gene Roddenberry was more than just the father of Star Trek.

Along with the popular series The Lieutenant, Roddenberry also created a number of other series.

Many of his significant television properties, aside from Star Trek, materialized after the initial demise of what is now known as “The Original Series,” and prior to the development of Star Trek: The Motion Picture, which ignited the feature film franchise in 1979.

The more recognizable of these non-Trek projects were several unsold made-for-TV science fiction pilots including Genesis II, Questor, Planet: Earth, Strange New World, and Spectre.

The most unique of these was Spectre, a two-hour gothic tale directed by Clive Donner for 20th Century Fox. Shot in England with Norway Productions in late 1976 under Roddenberry’s watchful eye (and airing one year later in May), Spectre was co-written by classic Trek’s Samuel A. Peeples, who penned the original Trek’s second pilot, “Where No Man Has Gone Before.”

Spectre featured an interesting two-man paranormal investigative team: criminologist William Sebastian, played by Robert Culp (formerly of I Spy), and his alcoholic physician Dr. Hamm Hamilton, portrayed by Gig Young.