Remembering Star Trek Writer DC Fontana, 1939-2019 (people.com) 25
Long-time Slashdot reader sandbagger brings the news that D. C. Fontana, an influential story editor and writer on the original 1960s TV series Star Trek, has died this week. People reports:
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.
Fontana was one of four Star Trek writers who re-wrote Harlan Ellison's classic episode The City on the Edge of Forever , and her profile at IMDB.com credits her with the story or teleplay for 11 episodes of the original series. In the 1970s Fontana worked on other sci-fi television shows, including Land of the Lost, The Six Million Dollar Man, and the Logan's Run series.
Fontana later also wrote an episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, three episodes of Babylon 5, and even an episode of the fan-created science fiction webseries Star Trek: New Voyages.
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.
Fontana was one of four Star Trek writers who re-wrote Harlan Ellison's classic episode The City on the Edge of Forever , and her profile at IMDB.com credits her with the story or teleplay for 11 episodes of the original series. In the 1970s Fontana worked on other sci-fi television shows, including Land of the Lost, The Six Million Dollar Man, and the Logan's Run series.
Fontana later also wrote an episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, three episodes of Babylon 5, and even an episode of the fan-created science fiction webseries Star Trek: New Voyages.
The world (Score:2)
The world is a poorer place without her.
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
What about Robert Walker?
She wrote some great Star Trek episodes (Score:2)
I'm not sure that "Encounter at Farpoint" was one of them, but I'll give her a mulligan on that one. All in all I enjoyed the episodes she wrote - she is part of what made The Original Series great.
Re:She wrote some great Star Trek episodes (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm not sure that "Encounter at Farpoint" was one of them, but I'll give her a mulligan on that one. All in all I enjoyed the episodes she wrote - she is part of what made The Original Series great.
Considering Encounter at Farpoint was supposed to be a single-part episode and at the last minute had to become a double-length episode, I think she did pretty well. In that frantic re-write, she created Q.
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She really was one of the Olympians of Trek. One of the most important writers and all around conceptualists for the franchise.
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That’s true - Q was a great character!
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Agreed! He was a great foil for Picard. The witty banter back and forth [youtube.com] was priceless.
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It did remarkably well for a first episode. First episodes are always weird. The actors are new to their characters, the writers are new to the series, the crew are new to the look and feel of the show.
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Re:She wrote some great Star Trek episodes (Score:5, Insightful)
93 Escort Wagon opined:
I'm not sure that "Encounter at Farpoint" was one of them, but I'll give her a mulligan on that one. All in all I enjoyed the episodes she wrote - she is part of what made The Original Series great.
I'm sure it wasn't. OTOH, her script for Encounter at Farpoint (a.k.a. "Planet of the Joggers") was handicapped by having to defer to Roddenberry - and by the last-minute decision to stretch the episode to fill a two-hour time slot.
Dorothy Fontana was a key part of what made ST:TOS the landmark for science fiction on TV that it is. If you want to grasp how important her contribution was, simply contrast the Spock of the pilot (i.e. - the one we see in the flashback sequences in what became "The Menagerie," who was, at best, a mere sketch of a character) with the nuanced, complex, and conflicted half-human Spock who became such a cultural icon that Leonard Nimoy titled the second volume of his autobiography "I Am Spock" - after having called the first volume "I Am Not Spock" in protest over his perception that the role had ended his career as a actor.
Can you imagine Star Trek with the shouty, frozen-faced, wannabe martinet Spock of the pilot, instead of the calm, loyal, hyper-competent life partner of James Tiberius Kirk we all know and admire?
Me neither.
So, thank you, D. C., from the bottom of my heart, for what you did to start the revolution that's seen science fiction grow into the cultural juggernaut it has become.
You rocked ...
Re: She wrote some great Star Trek episodes (Score:2, Interesting)
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Different writers have different strengths; some are great plotters, some excel at dialog, and others at character development.
Isaac Asimov for much of his career was a technically passable writer who wrote about big, intriguing ideas. Think about how you enjoy an Asimov story; by in large you don't quote the characters or fantasize being them, you think about the story set up and pay off. Characters had names and just barely enough backstory to allow them to move the story forward. It was only late in his
News flash: they are all going to die (Score:2)
If you care about the writers and actors and producers and gaffers and janitors who worked on Star Trek, say something to them while they are alive. Not much point after they're gone. It's a statistical/historical fact that at least 98.2% of all people who have ever lived will die. Yes I know, I cried too when I heard the news.
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"I can make you ALL go away...any time I want to!"
– Charlie X
Ghost Story episode 'Alter-Ego' (Score:2)
This was one of the best episodes of the series. (And most disturbing) She wrote the teleplay. The episode is on Youtube.