Gene Roddenberry clashed with NBC over the skyrocketing production costs, primarily due to the intricate Star Trek spaceship design.
Chaos On The Bridge: Create or Recreate?
Although the Star Trek franchise is now a cultural phenomenon, it had a rocky beginning. Thanks to Gene Roddenberry's belief in the fairy tale, it survived and continues to thrive. When it was first introduced to the world in the form of Star Trek: The Original Series, the show faced problems due to its reported high production costs, fueled in large part by Roddenberry's meticulous attention to detail.
His insistence on a hyper-realistic depiction of the USS Enterprise led to significant budget challenges as well as a battle with the network, which nearly derailed the project before it even started. Despite these financial obstacles, Star Trek eventually overcame all challenges placed in its way to become a global phenomenon.
In The Making of Star Trek by Stephen E. Whitfield, Star Trek fans get a behind-the-scenes look at how Gene Roddenberry, the visionary behind the franchise, butted heads with NBC over skyrocketing costs.
