#17 "Star Trek: The Next Generation" - Behind the Scenes - Part 2

Suzanne opens this episode with some brief gushing over

Chris Hemsworth in Ron Howard’s Rush, a film she and Bob

both recommend this year along with Dallas Buyers Club.

After mentioning the ongoing Hollywood-Santa Barbara

connection—with a nod to the Santa Barbara International Film

Festival soon coming to their neighborhood—Bob admits that he

 may not have been the “perfect fit” as writer-producer

on Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Bob confesses his frustration with the “downward spiral of politics”

among the show’s executives and producers, and reveals

his ironic point of view about writing for one of

television’s cultural holy grails. 

With a focus on the show’s characters and storylines,

Bob’s year as a writer-producer was colored by

his irreverent take on all things technical...to the point that

he wrote Samaritan Snare, an episode featuring an alien culture

that was the antithesis of The Star Fleet.

Giving a couple of dialogue quotes from the episode,

Bob points to an old grammar school joke he employed

in the script, and admits to simply “having some fun” among

all the behind-the-scenes drama on the Paramount Studios lot.

Suzanne then points out the remarkable connection between

I Love Lucy and the original Star Trek, following that up with

the announcement of Bob’s recent award from the Writers Guild

for having been named for “outstanding television writing”

on the show...and a moment later teases Bob with “where’s the money?”