Star Trek Creator Gene Roddenberry Was Also Behind This Forgotten 5-Season Sci-Fi Series

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

The late Gene Roddenberry (whose ashes are now in space) is best known for creating "Star Trek," with the original sci-fi TV series providing the foundation for a global franchise that has spawned numerous films, books, comics, video games, and more. But while "Star Trek" is Roddenberry's most famed television creation, it's far from his only one. Long before he became the "Great Bird of the Galaxy," the screenwriter penned forgotten military drama, "The Lieutenant, while his post-"Star Trek" productions included the ill-fated sci-fi TV film "Genesis II" and "Planet Earth."

Even after Roddenberry's death, his ideas continued to be brought to life on the small screen thanks to his widow, Majel Barrett Roddenberry, who unearthed the late screenwriter's notebooks of unused material and put the pieces together to create pitchable projects. Not only did these discoveries lead to one of the best sci-fi shows of the 2000s, "Andromeda," it also resulted in the creation of another brilliant and forgotten sci-fi series: "Earth: Final Conflict."

Originally titled "Gene Roddenberry's Battleground: Earth" (renamed to avoid confusion with the book series by L. Ron Hubbard), "Earth: Final Conflict" is a sci-fi action series that ran for five seasons, from 1997 to 2002. The cast included Kevin Kilner ("Home Alone 3"), Von Flores ("Johnny Mnemonic), Leni Parker ("Screamers"), Richard Chevolleau ("Narc"), Jayne Heitmeyer ("Maps to the Stars"), and Robert Leeshock ("General Hospital").

The series is set on Earth in the near future, where a race of aliens known as Taelons (or Companions) arrives under a banner of peace, with a limited number taking up residence and becoming part of Earth's culture. However, while the Taelons share some of their highly advanced technology with humanity — leading to the near-eradication of pollution, war, and disease within three years — some humans are suspicious of their true motives. As a result, a resistance movement forms among skeptical humans who seek to discover the Taelons' intentions and prevent their growing influence on humanity.

While the show doesn't have enough critical reviews for a Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score, it has a Popcornmeter score (audience rating) of 60%, with its first season boasting a 100% Popcornmeter score and viewers describing it as a "must watch" for sci-fi lovers.

While similarities have been drawn to the '80s sci-fi series "V," Gene Roddenberry initially conceived the premise for "Battleground: Earth" in 1976, with plans to turn it into a TV series. However, despite 20th Century Fox reportedly expressing interest, the screenwriter's busy schedule prevented him from producing a pilot before his death.

Following Roddenberry's death in 1991, his widow, Majel Barrett Roddenberry, began developing her late husband's concept for "Battleground: Earth" into "Earth: Final Conflict" based on his archives. She then acted as executive producer on the project (and starred in 11 episodes as Dr. Julianne Belman), alongside David Kirschner (producer on "An American Tail"), with the series produced in association with Tribune Entertainment and Atlantis Films.

Speaking to Cinefantastique Magazine in 1997 — ahead of "Earth: Final Conflict's" debut in October the same year– Majel Barret Roddenberry said of the show: "We're going to have a lot of fun with it, and yet we're going to be talking about the same things that Gene always talked about, love, hate, war, the same themes that Gene always used."

"Because a good story always starts with people," she continued. "It has nothing to do with science or technology. Gene never did know anything about that. But he knew people, so that's what he wrote about. We're providing story lines because Gene had so many stories that we are utilizing besides the pilot." 

All five seasons of "Earth: Final Conflict" are available to watch on Prime Video.