This Week: How D.C. Fontana Helped Star Trek Live Long and Prosper

Gene Roddenberry’s name is synonymous with Star Trek, but he relied on a team to bring his vision to life. Most of his writers were men with one exception: Dorothy Fontana. Professionally, she went by D.C. Fontana to counter the belief that women couldn’t write genres like war, Westerns or sci-fi. Fontana became story editor and wrote some of the most beloved episodes of The Original Series, became the de facto showrunner on The Animated Series, and helped launch The Next Generation. She excelled at building character relationships and alien species – especially Vulcans – and worked closely with Leonard Nimoy to develop Spock. I talk with writers and podcasters Jarrah Hodge, Ian Spelling, Brian Drew and Laurie Ulster about how Fontana quietly shaped a franchise and influenced generations of fans through Star Trek’s 60th anniversary.