A month ago Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry was inducted into the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences TV Hall of Fame. Video from the gala event is now online, where you can see uber-Trek fan (and Family Guy creator) Seth MacFarlane giving a loving tribute to Roddenberry. Check out the video and photos below.
Gene Roddenberry Inducted into TV Hall of Fame
On January 21st the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (the same people behind the Emmys) held their 19th induction ceremony for their TV hall of fame. The Academy inducted actress Candice Bergen, designer Charles Lisanby, announcer Don Pardo, comedians Dick and Tom Smothers, game-show producer Bob Stewart and Gene Roddenberry. The ceremony was hosted by Amy Poehler.
Dick Smothers, Tom Smothers, Candice Bergen, John Shaffner, Amy Poehler, Bob Stewart, Charles Lisanby, Don Pardo and Rod Roddenberry (Mathew Imaging)
Well-known Star Trek fan and successful TV writer/producer Seth MacFarlane (Family Guy, American Dad) was chosen to give the presentation for Roddenberry, you can watch that below. Go here to see the video in which MacFarlane gives a very loving tribute to the man he calls his “hero.”
After giving his tribute to Roddenberry, MacFarlane presented the honor to Gene’s son Rod Roddenberry. More info, pictures and a recap, visit emmys.tv.
Rod Roddenberry with the Hall of Fame Award he accepted for his father, the late Gene Roddenberry. (Mathew Imaging)
Videos and photos: Academy of Television Arts and Sciences
Wow, teleprompter much, Amy?
Congrats, Mr. R.
Seth hit the nail on the head with that speech.
What a beautiful speech from Seth.
Nicely done Mr. MacFarlane! When you get a chance, that nugget about “Star Trek not being about special effects, action etc, but about the people”, please pass that along to J.J. Abrams and company.
Very nicely done. Though every time I hear his voice, I just hear Brian.
#4 – ditto!
#4.
Maybe you should watch the whole movie. Not just the trailer.
Gads, Amy’s better than a sleeping pill. And just a little eye rolling at the mention of Star Trek eh?
A very fitting speech.
Yeah, that one episode with Teri Garr..(.except she wasn’t on the ship).
a beautiful speech from mcfarlane, highlighting all the things that roddenberry’s star trek showed us were important, and that abrams’ star trek mocked.
Congratulations! Well deserved. Seth was hilarious.
Wow, what an appropriate speech that very well sums up what Star Trek is about…
Ah the negatives are fun. Any Star Trek is good Star Trek as far as I’m concerned. Loosen up and enjoy!
Seth hit many of the high notes about Star Trek but failed to demonstrate one of the positive aspects of Trek for me–regardless of his or Gene’s personal view of religion Trek did show great respect for a person’s (or race’s) religious views without the kind of underlying hatred evident in Mr. MacFarland’s speech. In that regard, he fails to truly honor the spirit of Trek created by Mr. Roddenberry (whether or not his personal views were closer to Mr. MacFarland’s or the one more evident in Trek).
I consider myself a part of the so-called “religious right” but would not associate myself with those personalities that have become the “straw men” of the whole movement (or “philosophical belief system”). I enjoy Trek because of many of the qualities Mr. MacFarland mentioned and were evident in Mr. Roddenberry’s vision for Trek and often find common ground there with my own supernatural, religious beliefs. DS9 (while post-Roddenberry) was a great example of how religion was acknowledged in a positive manner (while for dramatic effect many of the religious leaders always seemed to represent the worst of the Prophets–and presumably was a subtle slam against our own fallible religious leaders of today).
I am glad that Mr. Roddenberry received this great honor. Mr. MacFarland said many of the right things about him and the vision of Trek. Now, I can only hope Seth will seek to honor the spirit of Trek by showing more respect toward those he evidently strongly disagrees with.
#15,
“I condemn false prophets, I condemn the effort to take away the power of rational decision, to drain people of their free will — and a hell of a lot of money in the bargain. Religions vary in their degree of idiocy, but I reject them all. For most people, religion is nothing more than a substitute for a malfunctioning brain.” (Gene Roddenberry)
I guess Roddenberry didn’t honor the spirit of Trek either, huh?
Gene had a right also to his beliefs and that can be said to everyone of us as well.
Awesome speech Seth! Gene would have been proud. I had no idea Seth was such a big fan of Star Trek and understands it completely.
The problem with making a Star Trek movie; is that Star Trek is so deep and layered that to make a 2 hour movie that appealed to the masses, is like trying to sell sushi to everyone. I think JJ and company did quite well with ST09 despite the impossible task of selling sushi to everyone.
Star Trek will always work best on TV, and books because you can cover so many deep philosophical topics and issues, whereas in a 2 hour movie, you are forced to take on a save the earth story with a antagonist and protagonist tied in with action sequences and explosions to satisfy the average movie goer. I am sure Bob, Alex and D can pull it off but this is something that is very challenging.
#16
Religion is a great operating system for mankind, you have to keep in mind operating systems are not compatible with one another. To each their own, you have to admit there are lots of similarities amongst all religions.
They all teach to treat each other with respect yet at the same time, so many wars has been fought over beliefs and accounts of what happened in the past or specific facts about creation etc. Live a good life, treat others like how you wish to be treated, contribute to society, replicate and pass on your knowledge to your offspring and replicate.
We are only here on this realm of existence for a very brief period of time, surely you want to have as much fun while playing in this mmo.
@4
What are you talking about. That was the precise point of the new movie and why it worked.
Ron Moore’s theological bent showed up in DS9 and has now come into full bloom with BSG and Caprica.
It’s getting a little tiresome, frankly.
BTW, nice tribute.
I’m a fan of Seth MacFarland, I think he’s a very funny, bright guy. Of course he’s a Star Trek fan! Nice tribute to Mr. Roddenberry.
I still maintain that JJ & Co hit the nail on the head with their movie. Thank God, Trekmovie is an equal opportunity forum, eh?
For better or worse, religion (at least what is called religion today) is as much a part of man as science, math, art, music, and so forth. None of these things are agreeable to every single human being. It’s just that human beings don’t know how to disagree without wanting to slaughter each other…
Bread and Circuses – Re-watch it – Portrays Christianity in a very positive light.
Loved the speech, a true description of the best show on TV and also liked the nod to how soon they cancelled it! TOS deserved MANY more seasons!
I have to say though, the “gay guys” line made me squee. Possible Kirk/Spock reference, anyone?
(no offence to the anti-slashers, though, kay?)
I’m an agnostic who respects other people’s religious views, and it surprises me whenever someone says (like Seth, in his otherwise wonderful speech) that Trek expressed Roddenberry’s disdain for religion, because I always thought Trek expressed respect for different cultures and ideas.
For example, in the TOS episode “Bread and Circuses”, when Uhura hears the Roman announcer trying to mock the sun worshippers, but failing. She explains, “Don’t you understand. It’s not the sun up in the sky, but the Son of God.” And Kirk replies how wonderful it would be to see it all happen over again.
The TOS Enterprise even had a chapel.
True, the general outlook of the main characters was decidedly secular humanist, but there were many instances in all the series where religion was treated with respect.
@18: “…is like trying to sell sushi to everyone…”
Love this simile.
Great speech from Seth! I kind of wish he’d sang, though.;)
There are 11 movies, not 10 Seth LOL… j/k.. Great speech!
MacFarlane said something like “Star Trek gave us, not the murder of the week or the disease of the week, but the idea of the week.” That’s essentially why I prefer it to any other television show out there, even though its execution was often uneven.
It’s a shame that such a talented and influential writer/producer such as MacFarlane, who clearly gets the core of what Trek is about, is not actually doing the next Star Trek or Trek-type show. Instead we get Family Guy, which essentially throws out as many jokes and references as possible in the hopes that some of them will stick. Sigh.
No one deserves this more than the “Great Bird of the Galaxy”
I’m getting tired of all the Seth MacFarlane news. Family guy is funny but somehow Seth is a big bore. I never understood how that happens.
Seth McFarlane is an interesting guy. I actually like his public persona better than his art – I find Family Guy mostly insipid and obvious, but in interviews I’ve seen, Seth has proven to be an intelligent and well-spoken guy. A strange dichotemy.
@28 – “It’s a shame that such a talented and influential writer/producer such as MacFarlane, who clearly gets the core of what Trek is about, is not actually doing the next Star Trek or Trek-type show. Instead we get Family Guy…”
Maybe his talents ar writing are not as grand as one might assume, if Family Guy and American Dad are any indicator. Makes me kinda glad he’s not doing any serious Trek – though I’d be interested to see his TWOK parody if Paramount would let him do it.
Seth’s tribute to the Great Bird is classy and funny, and to the point.
Don’t forget about DS9! Oh wait, too much religiosity right Seth?
To paraphrase Miles Davis, “Is Amy Poehler necessary?” Aren’t actors supposed to AT LEAST be good at reading things with some degree of emotion?
I like Seth MacFarlane. He really seems to get Trek. He even has some love for TNG, which is a common love of mine. He get’s that it was the casualness of TNG that was what set it apart from TOS. A lot has been made of the technobabble aspect and I know that it was sometimes a bit much, but I also think that it didn’t make the show bad. At it’s core it was still Trek. It dealt with the human condition in a sci-fi setting. And it portrayed a positive future for mankind.
But I really dislike Family Guy. And I think it is a real stretch for Seth to make even joking comparisons between his show and Trek.
Is it just me, or does anyone else out there think that Seth MacFarland should direct a TNG movie? He clearly loves the show, and I think he would do everything to honor the series if he made a movie.
35#
I think he would do a good job. It’s always good to have a filmmaker who is also a fan behind the camera. Otherwise, you get ST:Nemesis!
#4 already said it, so I’ll just nod.
It’s funny, I have many Trek articles that mention little Rod as a baby and child back during the early 70’s, it’s kind of weird now seeing him grown up!
Watching Seth’s speech made me realize how important it is that JJ go back to Roddenberry’s vision with the next one. Don’t get me wrong, Star Trek 09 was a good movie, a great movie, but it lacked the core of what makes a great Star Trek movie, and that was the core of Gene’s vision. I still think that can be there in a movie that has the same mass appeal that 09 did. Great speech, though, Seth, really nailed it I think.
Seth is such a hateful person… satire or not, his sudden Trek binge is really bothersom… does he even have any idea what Star Trek is about? Certainly Jean-Luc Picard didn’t go on blatantly insulting tirades just because Riker disagreed with him.
I know I know, it was a nice speech… still, I just find him to be very immature and hateful, and obviously unaware of the hypocrisy of hating people and groups whom he claims are hateful.
ummm the teleprompter should be infront of the stage, not next to it…so yeah i guess amy should look like shes reading something cos its not that subtle..unless you all have eyes on the sides of you heads cut the lady some slack. lol
nice speech, even tho have never seen star trek.
#39: “I still think that can be there in a movie that has the same mass appeal that 09 did.”
Other movies keep proving it for them; eventually it’ll be proven, re-proven, and re-proven to the point where the suits will consider it safe.
#40: “… does he even have any idea what Star Trek is about?”
Unless someone else wrote his speech, he’s clearly got an inkling :)
23. CSM – February 24, 2010
Bread and Circuses – Re-watch it – Portrays Christianity in a very positive light.
And “The Ultimate Computer” makes reference to “the laws of God…and man”
I’d like to see Seth MacFarlane mock the character he played on “Enterprise”. Or better yet, reunite the cast of that show and do an episode in the same vain as what they did with the TNG cast.
Nice speech. I might not have chosen MacFarlane (He’s a satirist and naturally they tend to push buttons with people by way of celebrating the First Amendment). I like the guy fine, but he’s at least a little bit polarizing. Indeed, his initial disposition towards preferring Bones seems fitting – since Bones provided that role on the Enterprise – the guy who “said what was on his mind”, consequences be damned.
But he’s a good public speaker, and that’s what’s important. Confidence and a nice baritone voice ought to be required for speeches.
It is a great shame those that despise their Creator the most are politically associated, knowingly or otherwise, with those that most wantonly destroy his creation. While it is cliche among the godless Left that “religion kills” this is, in fact, a canard. One need only look into the actual facts surrounding the greatest slaughters of history to see the common element, the rejection of Christ’s teaching:
– Robespierre and the Terror avec Madame Guillotine (he got his just dessert in the end).
– Lenin and the Bolshevik Revolution perhaps 10,000,000 murdered in all.
– Stalin is in a class by himself with perhaps 60,000,000 murders and unnatural deaths attributable to him, not including war casualties when the Soviet Union was allied with the USA and United Kingdom.
– Mao Tse Tung and more than 80,000,000 murders and unnatural deaths during his Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution, not to mention their own Gulag system’s unknowable victims.
– Pol Pot and perhaps another 2,000,000 murders.
– Hilter, the ex-Roman Catholic, was one of the underachievers in the mass murder category with a mere 4 – 8,000,000 deaths attributable to him, including war casualties.
All these bloody men had one thing in common: rejection of Christianity in favor of their own will to power. The sins of the Roman Catholic church (and I speak with Huguenot blood) are de minimus in comparison and she has worked very hard in penance and restitution for historical sins against Mankind.
Further, I submit many of those that flout a fashionable disdain for “religion” are equally capable of such monstrosity, but for the circumstances and opportunity to act on their most violent impulses. If it is one’s own will that is controlling, one will do what one can when one wishes, no?
Gene Roddenberry’s “Star Trek”, indeed the fashionable atheism of many here, would be impossible except for the congenial Christianity of their host civilization, as an earlier poster alluded. The Soviet Union, Maoist China, and today’s intolerant “others” testify to this simple fact.
Once upon a time it was considered gracious to acknowledge the beneficence of a man’s host, even if he be an opponent. To mock him to his face was considered “fighting words” and the subject of “turn the other cheek” if not an invitation to duel. Sadly, that decency too has passed from our common Western virtue, cast into the same dustbin Robespierre murderously sent the Religious and Noble of France to her — and our — everlasting loss.
“Be careful what you wish, for you may get it”.
Sincerely,
C.S. Lewis
#42 and 23 – And “Who Mourns for Adonais” mentions that humans have “outgrown” the need for gods. Don’t try and paint a religious patina on Trek because of Daystrom’s personal beliefs (who was portrayed as a wacko remember) and Kirk’s interest in an historical parallel. Roddenberry was never bashful about his distaste for imaginary friends and superstition, and to try and pretend otherwise is doing his memory a great disservice.
#45
You sure are a postive guy. (Sarcasm). I think you just proved to everyone that you can ruin a thread with your trolling.
“Hitler, the ex-Roman Catholic, was one of the underachievers in the mass murder category with a mere 4 – 8,000,000 deaths attributable to him, including war casualties.”
I guess Hitler was something of a disappointment, then? Your statement is not only offensive, but proves how callous you are towards all those who died in the second World War. You owe everyone an apology.
And the rest of your post is completely inflammatory as well. You have no right blaming “leftists” for the ills of humanity. You sir just displayed ignorance and arrogance at its worst. Keep your trolling to yourself.
Well, ryanhuyton, it ain’t faithful Catholics supporting the act of infanticide all over the world, that’s for sure.
I too believe that Seth is a talented guy, but many of the things he does on “Family Guy” is low and easy cheap comedy. I’d love to see him actually challenge himself by producing something with more depth or of more intellectual value that he praises Roddenberry for doing.
i love you seth, and you gave a really heartfelt speech about roddenberry, but cake farts? really? i don’t recommend people look that one up!! haha