I saw the TV Movie/intended-pilot The Questor Tapes for the first time as a teenager at a Star Trek convention and actually really liked it. From that one obscure film began my geek love with the careers of Robert Foxworth, John Vernon and Mike Farrell. It even had Majel Barret Roddenberry and Walter Koenig in it! A few years, and maybe another three or four viewings, later I tuned in for the premiere of Star Trek: The Next Generation and was surprised to see Questor himself as a member of the crew of the Enterprise. Well, not really, but there was enough there in Data to recognize that the earlier android was an inspiration for the latter one. Now The Questor Tapes is getting a dust off and is being brought back, hopefully in a way that Gene would approve of. Gene’s son, Rod, is developing a new pilot with Imagine Entertainment. The production company, founded by Ron Howard and Brian Grazer, is already responsible for some fantastic TV series (such as personal favorites Lie To Me, Arrested Development and Sports Night) so them being involved is a definite plus.
The announcement of the development deal was made at the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame induction ceremony where Rod Roddenberry accepted the posthumous honor, presented by Seth MacFarlane, on his father’s behalf.
“My father always felt that Questor was the one that got away,” said Rod Roddenberry. “He believed that the show had the potential to be bigger than Star Trek.”
Rod Roddenberry will develop the project along with Roddenberry Productions COO Trevor Roth and Imagine Television’s President David Nevins and EVP of Development Robin Gurney. The team is currently in negotiations with writer, producer and show runner Tim Minear (Lois & Clark, The X-Files, Angel, Dollhouse) to produce. More information regarding Questor can be found at www.roddenberry.com. For upcoming news, follow Roddenberry Productions on Twitter at http://twitter.com/RoddenberryProd and friend “Roddenberry Prod” on Facebook.
4 responses to “Gene Roddenberry’s ‘Questor’ Gets Reactivated”