Gerrold on 'Blood And Fire'

Years after it was first proposed and written, David Gerrold's Blood and Fire will finally see the light of day, arriving sometime before Halloween.

As reported by DoorQ.com, working on Blood and Fire was enjoyable for Gerrold. "I have never had such an incredibly wonderful production experience on any show I've been on," said Gerrold. "the passion, the enthusiasm, the commitment, the dedication, the people there, not just the cast, the crew behind-the-scenes...And then there were moments of such passion, such drama and excitement, in front of the camera, not behind the camera, where Bobby Quinn Rice, James Cawley, Denise Crosby, Bill Blair, all of our actors just brought their characters to life with such drama. I mean, there were times we had tears running down our cheeks just watching."

The storyline concerns "a plague so horrible that Starfleet had issued standing orders not to attempt rescue of any infected ship but to destroy it immediately." And Blood and Fire is also noteworthy for including a gay couple. The inclusion of the couple was part of the reason that it didn't appear when first written, as it made some studio executives nervous. This time, however, audiences seem to be more receptive. "We screened a rough cut of it the other night, the audience loved it," said Gerrold. "The audience had a great time and I was very satisfied that we got at least ninety-per-cent of what I intended on the screen."

Gerrold expects Internet fans will enjoy Blood and Fire too. Emails are already arriving after a preview was made available. As expected, some are negative, asking "Why are you putting gay characters in 'Star Trek?'" Gerrold has an easy answer for that. "Because Gene promised and we're keeping that promise." He added that "Such emails "[give] me a sense of 'this is why we had to do the episode.'"

Blood and Fire may touch those who are gay and feel alone and/or ostracized. Gerrold hopes that those fans will reach out after seeing Blood and Fire. "The emails that I think would be the most rewarding to receive, because this is a breakthrough episode including gay characters, would be to get something from say like a fifteen-year-old kid or a twenty-three-year old or somebody even who is still in the closet at age thirty and who says, 'Thank you for doing this, thank you for letting us know that gay people are part of human society, that we're part of the crew too, that we're here too. Thank you for showing our relationships honestly.' And I think that would be the email that touched me the most because being alone and not knowing that other people share who you are, share your feelings, being alone with that is a very scary way to be and if somebody says you know look here, love exists and it's cherished and honored and respected, man, that's the email I want to get because in my life, I've had the experience of knowing enormous love of all kinds, friends, family, my son and just incredible...but I think that when we deny ourselves the opportunity to have loving relationships with each other, we're denying what being human is all about."

To see the video interview, head to the link located here.

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