Gene Roddenberry's 100th birthday is on August 19, 2021, and while the creator is no longer living, there's plenty of cause for celebration. Roddenberry is responsible for the creation and success of the Star Trek franchise, and in acknowledgment of that and his legacy, Roddenberry Entertainment and a good deal of celebrities attached to the franchise will celebrate that in a very awesome way.
On May 12, the #thinkTREK campaign began sharing the top 100 quotes of Gene Roddenberry with one a day all the way up to his 100th birthday. Over 60 celebrities, creatives, and those in the scientific community will share quotes alongside Roddenberry Entertainment in honor of the creator. There will also be videos released as well, which can be found on Roddenberry Entertainment's social media.
As for the celebrity names set to participate, the list is quite extensive. In terms of Star Trek actors, LeVar Burton, Michelle Yeoh (who is set to lead the upcoming Section 31 spinoff), George Takei, Alison Pill, Santiago Cabrera, Michelle Forbes, Jonathan Frakes, Jerry O’Connell, and Brenda Strong are on board, to name just some. Celebrities outside the world of Trek include Bill Nye and Kevin Smith, who definitely have the sci-fi cred to be affiliated despite not having appeared in any of the shows.
Accompanying the quotes and videos will also be a limited podcast called Quoting Gene Roddenberry, which will also run for 100 days. The podcast (hosted by actress Rachel True and blogger Trent Vanegas) will do a daily reading of the Roddenberry quote and then have a lively deconstruction of the phrase and Roddenberry's intention behind the words. The podcast will also feature celebrity guests. Current guests announced so far include actor Ming Chen, actress Mary Chieffo, Oscar-nominated screenwriter Josh Olson with more are on the way.
The celebration may be a lot to keep tabs on, but luckily for those with an Alexa, it's a bit easier. Star Trek fans who have the smart device will be able to get Gene Roddenberry's quote of the day with the prompt "Alexa, play the Rodenberry daily quote.” No doubt that will come in handy for some, as it would be quite a challenge to stay on top of each and every day of content that is planned to roll out over the coming months.
Gene Roddenberry's 100th birthday celebration has a lot of fanfare, though it's hard to say it's not justified given his tremendous gift to the world. Star Trek is still one of the major science-fiction franchises in the world and may very well continue to be for the 200th birthday celebration of Gene Roddenberry. It's a franchise to be celebrated, so it's safe to say its creator deserves some recognition as well.
Those looking to celebrate Star Trek in the days leading to Gene Roddenberry's birthday should certainly consider a Paramount+ subscription. The service has all the Trek new and old available to stream, as well as the movies. I'm sure that's enough to last someone 100 days, if not much longer.
