RIP DC Fontana (1 Viewer)

[RobertR]

She contributed greatly to the original Star Trek.

https://www.startrek.com/news/dc-fontana-1939-2019

 

[dpippel]

 

[Sam Favate]

She was a huge talent, and this is an immense loss. She wrote so many of Star Trek's best moments. Let's not forget that she used her initials, D.C., instead of her first name, Dorothy, because in those days, it was thought that women just didn't write science fiction. Deep Space Nine paid tribute to that fact in one of their greatest episodes, Far Beyond the Stars, in which Nana Visitor's 20th century character used her initials when writing for the science fiction magazine.

 

[joshEH]

She contributed greatly to the original Star Trek.

And she was one of the TNG series co-creators, to boot.

The sad fact is, whatever genius Roddenberry had was lost by the late '80s, due to his deteriorating neurological health and his drug and alcohol problems. His reputation depended on the people around him who were carrying him...and either letting him take the credit for their work, or having it taken from them. D.C. Fontana, David Gerrold, and Justman were really TNG's co-creators -- and under industry rules, Fontana and Gerrold *should* have been given onscreen creator-credits, thanks to their work on the series bible, and Fontana's co-writing of the TNG pilot-script, but were not.

 

[Nelson Au]

She was a major contributing architect in the development of Spock and Star Trek TOS, TAS and TNG.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I don’t even know where to start. She helped stabilize the original show and wrote the defining characteristics for many of the players. It was an immense contribution to history and if the wider world doesn’t know her name as easily as they know the name Roddenberry, I certainly do.

I am extra appreciative of the flawed but invaluable Star Trek Vault release from a couple years ago as she had some wonderful interview segments included there. My hardest challenge for the evening will be deciding which episode(s) to watch to honor her.

 

[AcesHighStudios]

Several of her episodes are my favorite of the original series. And I think "This Side of Paradise" is one of the finest hours in the history of television.

 

[Sam Favate]

Y'know, Paramount and/or CBS really should have come to her 10 or 15 years ago and just given her all the money to be put in charge of Star Trek. She would have been the best guiding hand.

 

[Bryan^H]

To see one of my favorite science fiction writers pass away hurts more than I thought it would. Strangely, I just watched the Star Trek episode from season 2 "By any other Name" the night before she passed, and thinking how solid and enjoyable that episode is. I also love "Catspaw", and "That Which Survives" Just fantastic, classic Star Trek.


But her talent went far beyond Star Trek. With the high point of my "Six Million Dollar Man" viewing her episode "Straight On Til Morning" stood out, and still does as one of the high points of that series. Likewise with Land of the Lost, in which "Elsewhen' is by far the best episode of the series, and goes deeper, scarier, and more thought provoking than any Saturday morning kid show should have ventured.

She was bold, gifted, and had an imagination bigger than the stars. A genuine one of a kind talented writer has passed away, and I can't help feeling both thankful for her contributions, and immensely sad.​

 

[BobO'Link]

In my many readings over the years I came to the realization and opinion that Ms. Fontana was more Star Trek than Roddenberry and that without her contributions there may have never been anything beyond the original series, for which she contributed greatly and was instrumental in its success.

Roddenberry may have been the creator but for me he was just a name. It's writers like Ms. Fontana who *were* Star Trek.

 

[Johnny Angell]

Deep Space Nine paid tribute to that fact in one of their greatest episodes, Far Beyond the Stars, in which Nana Visitor's 20th century character used her initials when writing for the science fiction magazine.

That is so cool and well deserved.