Editing Gene Roddenberry (section)

===Early career===
Roddenberry was promoted to head writer for ''[[The West Point Story (TV series)|The West Point Story]]'' and wrote ten scripts for the first season, about a third of the total episodes.<ref>[[#alexander1995|Alexander (1995)]]: p. 160</ref> While working for Ziv, in 1956, he pitched a series to [[CBS]] set aboard a [[cruise ship]], ''Hawaii Passage'',<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Gross |editor1-first=Edward |editor2-last=Altman |editor2-first=Mark A. |editor2-link=Mark A. Altman |title=The Fifty-Year Mission: The Complete, Uncensored, Unauthorized Oral History of Star Trek: The First 25 Years |date=June 2016 |publisher=[[Thomas Dunne Books]] |location=New York, NY |isbn=978-1-250-06584-1 |page=66 |edition=1st |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CCN3CgAAQBAJ&q=%22gene+roddenberry%22+%22hawaii+passage%22&pg=PA66 |access-date=May 12, 2019 |chapter=Gene had been a big fan of 1961's Master of the World. But less known is that five years earlier, in 1956, Gene had pitched an idea for a new series called Hawaii Passage, which followed the adventures of a cruise ship, her captain, and senior officers. What was different here was that Gene referred to the ship as one of the characters, unheard of at the time.}}</ref> but they did not buy it, as he wanted to become a [[Producer (television)|producer]] and have full creative control. He wrote another script for Ziv's series ''[[Harbourmaster (TV series)|Harbourmaster]]'' titled "Coastal Security" and signed a contract with the company to develop a show called ''Junior Executive'' with [[Quinn Martin]]. Nothing came of the series.<ref>[[#alexander1995|Alexander (1995)]]: pp. 162–164</ref>
[[File:Leonard Nimoy mid 1960s.JPG|thumb|right|upright|[[Leonard Nimoy]] first worked with Roddenberry on ''The Lieutenant''.]]
He wrote scripts for a number of other series in his early years as a professional writer, including ''[[Fireside Theatre|The Jane Wyman Show]]'', ''[[Bat Masterson (TV series)|Bat Masterson]]'' and ''[[Jefferson Drum]]''.<ref name=alex167/> Roddenberry's episode of the series ''[[Have Gun – Will Travel]]'', "Helen of Abajinian", won the [[Writers Guild of America]] award for Best Teleplay in 1958.<ref name="reginald1052"/> He also continued to create series of his own, including a series based on an agent for [[Lloyd's of London]] called ''The Man from Lloyds''. He pitched a police-based series called ''Footbeat'' to CBS, Hollis Productions, and [[Screen Gems]]. It nearly made it into [[ABC (TV station)|ABC]]'s Sunday-night lineup, but they opted to show only [[Western (genre)|Western]] series that night.<ref name=alex167>[[#alexander1995|Alexander (1995)]]: pp. 166–167</ref>

Roddenberry was asked to write a series called ''Riverboat'', set in 1860s Mississippi. When he discovered that the producers wanted no black people on the show, he argued so much with them that he lost the job.<ref>[[#vanhise1992|Van Hise (1992)]]: p. 13</ref> He also considered moving to England around this time, as <!-- Not knighted until 1969. -->[[Lew Grade]]<!-- Much more likely the affiliated ITC (aimed at the US market) rather than the previously listed Associated Television (UK domestic ITV contractor), but no confirmation & source not online. --> wanted Roddenberry to develop series and set up his own production company.<ref>[[#alexander1995|Alexander (1995)]]: p. 170</ref> Though he did not move, he leveraged the deal to land a contract with Screen Gems that included a guaranteed $100,000, and became a producer for the first time on a summer replacement for ''[[The Ford Show|The Tennessee Ernie Ford Show]]'' titled ''[[Wrangler (TV series)|Wrangler]]''.<ref>[[#alexander1995|Alexander (1995)]]: p. 175</ref>

Screen Gems backed Roddenberry's first attempt at creating a pilot. His series, ''The Wild Blue'', went to pilot, but was not picked up. The three main characters had names that later appeared in the ''Star Trek'' series: Philip Pike, Edward Jellicoe, and James T. Irvine.<ref>[[#alexander1995|Alexander (1995)]]: pp. 179–180</ref> While working at Screen Gems, an actress, new to Hollywood, wrote to him asking for a meeting. They quickly became friends and met every few months; the woman was [[Majel Barrett|Majel Leigh Hudec]], later known as Majel Barrett.<ref>[[#alexander1995|Alexander (1995)]]: p. 181</ref> He created a second pilot called ''333 Montgomery'' about a lawyer, played by [[DeForest Kelley]].<ref name=hise15>[[#vanhise1992|Van Hise (1992)]]: p. 15</ref> It was not picked up by the network but was later rewritten as a new series called ''Defiance County''. His career with Screen Gems ended in late 1961,<ref>[[#alexander1995|Alexander (1995)]]: p. 182</ref> and shortly afterward, he had issues with his old friend [[Erle Stanley Gardner]]. The ''[[Perry Mason]]'' creator claimed that ''Defiance County'' had infringed his character [[Doug Selby]].<ref>[[#alexander1995|Alexander (1995)]]: p. 186</ref> The two writers fell out via correspondence and stopped contacting one another, though ''Defiance County'' never proceeded past the pilot stage.<ref>[[#alexander1995|Alexander (1995)]]: p. 195</ref> The project finally wound up as the NBC series ''[[Sam Benedict]]'' with [[Edmond O'Brien]] in the title role, produced by MGM. E. Jack Neuman took the creator's credit; claiming the character was based on real-life San Francisco lawyer [[Jake Ehrlich]].<ref>https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0507862/ {{User-generated source|certain=yes|date=August 2022}}</ref><ref>https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055703/trivia/?ref_=tt_trv_trv {{User-generated source|certain=yes|date=August 2022}}</ref>
[[File:MONY Gene Roddenberry.JPG|thumb|left|Roddenberry appearing in an advertisement for MONY in 1961]]
In 1961, he agreed to appear in an advertisement for [[MONY]] (Mutual of New York) as long as he had final approval.<ref>[[#alexander1995|Alexander (1995)]]: p. 198</ref> With the money from Screen Gems and other works, he and Eileen moved to 539 South Beverly Glen, near [[Beverly Hills]].<ref>[[#alexander1995|Alexander (1995)]]: p. 200</ref> He discussed an idea about a multi-ethnic crew on an [[airship]] traveling the world, based on the film ''[[Master of the World (1961 film)|Master of the World]]'' (1961), with fellow writer [[Christopher Knopf]] at [[MGM]]. As the time was not right for science fiction, he began work on ''[[The Lieutenant]]'' for Arena Productions. This made it to the [[NBC]] Saturday night lineup at 7:30&nbsp;pm<ref name=alex201/> and premiered on September 14, 1963. The show set a new ratings record for the time slot.<ref>{{harvp|Engel|1994|p=25}}</ref> Roddenberry worked with several cast and crew who would later join him on ''Star Trek'', including [[Gene L. Coon]], star [[Gary Lockwood]], Joe D'Agosta, [[Leonard Nimoy]], [[Nichelle Nichols]], and Majel Barrett.<ref name=alex201>[[#alexander1995|Alexander (1995)]]: pp. 201–202</ref>

''The Lieutenant'' was produced with the co-operation of [[the Pentagon]], which allowed them to film at an actual Marine base. During the production of the series Roddenberry clashed regularly with the [[United States Department of Defense|Department of Defense]] over potential plots.<ref>{{harvp|Engel|1994|p=26}}</ref> The department withdrew its support after Roddenberry pressed ahead with a plot titled "[[To Set It Right]]" in which a white and a black man find a common cause in their roles as Marines.<ref>{{harvp|Engel|1994|p=28}}</ref><ref name=nichols122/> "To Set It Right" was the first time he worked with Nichols, and it was her first television role. The episode has been preserved at the [[Museum of Television and Radio]] in New York City.<ref name=nichols122>[[#nichols1994|Nichols (1994)]]: p. 122</ref> The show was not renewed after its first season. Roddenberry was already working on a new series idea. This included his ship location from ''Hawaii Passage'' and added a [[Horatio Hornblower]] character, plus the multiracial crew from his airship idea. He decided to write it as science fiction, and by March 11, 1964, he brought together a 16-page pitch. On April 24, he sent three copies and two dollars to the [[Writers Guild of America]] to register his series. He called it ''Star Trek''.<ref name=alex204>[[#alexander1995|Alexander (1995)]]: p. 204</ref>