John D.F. Black obit

John D.F. Black(1932-2018)

 He was not on the list.

John D.F. Black attended Carnegie Melon University and served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War. He was a writer and producer, known for Star Trek (1966), Mission: Impossible (1966), Hawaii Five-0 (1968), Charlie's Angels (1976) & Murder She Wrote (1987). He co-wrote the well know Star Trek original series opening monologue that begins: "Space...the final frontier." John was married to Mary Leah "Mibs" Keefe from Peoria, IL, with whom he had three sons: Shawn Dennis Black, Geoffrey Washburn Black & Christopher John Black. He died on November 29, 2018.

Black began his writing career in the late 1950s with the horror film The Unearthly (1957, featuring Arthur Batanides). After that, he worked on several television shows. In 1964, he won a Writer's Guild award for an episode of the television series Mr. Novak (in which Walter Koenig incidentally guested). Gene Roddenberry invited him to visit his home following the ceremony, a kind of impromptu audition that turned into a job offer. Black served as the first Executive Story Consultant, and also worked as an Associate Producer (along with the more famous Robert H. Justman). He met his future wife, then Mary Stilwell, while working there.

His writing contribution to Star Trek: The Original Series was limited to a single episode, "The Naked Time", that was later reprised as an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. He once said the hardest part of his supervisory job was dealing evenhandedly with writers – both those who intimidated him, like Theodore Sturgeon, and those he felt weren't living up to the show's standards. Black left the series when he got a big-money contract from Universal Pictures. [1] The last episode he worked on as associate producer was "Miri", although as a writer he also contributed to the script of "The Menagerie, Part I" and "The Menagerie, Part II".

Black was mainly responsible for the famous opening speech for The Original Series, which was developed by him and Justman from Roddenberry's original idea. (Inside Star Trek - The Real Story)

According to Justman and Herb Solow's book, Inside Star Trek: The Real Story, Black didn't get along well with Roddenberry. He often felt badly that the Star Trek creator completely rewrote scripts by authors Black held in high regard, like Richard Matheson or Harlan Ellison, especially as Roddenberry promised them their work won't be meddled with. A week after he finished the script for "The Naked Time", Black discovered that Roddenberry rewrote it without consulting with him, or even telling him about it. Black was disappointed and never again had the same positive disposition for the series. When he left the show, he celebrated the fact that he no longer worked for Roddenberry. (Inside Star Trek: The Real Story, p. 139; These Are the Voyages: TOS Season One, p. 265-267)

Black also wrote the original "envelope" script for "The Menagerie", originally titled "From the First Day to the Last". However, Roddenberry completely rewrote it and took sole on-screen credit for the two-parter. Black filed a Writers' Guild grievance over payment and screen credit, but his claims were denied. (Inside Star Trek: The Real Story, p 251)

Following his tenure on Star Trek, he continued working as a writer and producer until about 1978, returning only three times after that: to collaborate on two Next Generation episodes, an episode of Hell Town (featuring Jeff Corey), and an episode of Murder, She Wrote. History repeated itself when Black left the production of The Next Generation. Black questioned some rewrite instructions from Gene Roddenberry for the episode "Justice" and was asked to leave. Worley Thorne took over and rewrote "Justice". (Creating the Next Generation, p. 46)

In a 2006 review of "The Naked Now", Wil Wheaton complained about the lines Black provided for his character Wesley Crusher: "In fact, John D.F. Black – who I didn't realize at the time hated me – also wrote "Justice", where he gave me the awesome line, "We're from Starfleet! We don't lie!" Thanks for that one, too, Mr. Black."  In fact, Black received screen credit for "The Naked Now" only for his story, originally pitched for The Original Series, dated 12 May 1967, on which the episode was based.

Director

Farrah Fawcett, Kate Jackson, and Jaclyn Smith in Charlie's Angels (1976)

Charlie's Angels

6.6

TV Series

Director

1977

1 episode

 

Writer

Safe at Home

written by

ReleasedTV Series

1985

1 episode

 

Angela Lansbury in Murder, She Wrote (1984)

Murder, She Wrote

7.2

TV Series

story byteleplay by

1987

1 episode

 

Michael Dorn, Jonathan Frakes, Gates McFadden, Marina Sirtis, Brent Spiner, LeVar Burton, and Patrick Stewart in Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987)

Star Trek: The Next Generation

8.7

TV Series

story by

1987

2 episodes

 

Robert Blake in Hell Town (1985)

Hell Town

7.0

TV Series

written by

1985

2 episodes

 

The Clone Master (1978)

The Clone Master

5.6

TV Movie

written by

1978

 

Farrah Fawcett, Kate Jackson, and Jaclyn Smith in Charlie's Angels (1976)

Charlie's Angels

6.6

TV Series

teleplay bywritten by

1977

5 episodes

 

Jo Ann Harris, Shelly Novack, and Robert Stack in Most Wanted (1976)

Most Wanted

6.7

TV Series

written by

1977

1 episode

 

Man from Atlantis (1977)

Man from Atlantis

6.5

TV Series

written by

1977

1 episode

 

Johnny Staccato (1959)

Delvecchio

6.6

TV Series

story by

1977

1 episode

 

Survival

6.1

Writer

1976

 

The Streets of San Francisco (1972)

The Streets of San Francisco

7.3

TV Series

written by

1973–1976

3 episodes

 

Jack Warden in Jigsaw John (1976)

Jigsaw John

6.8

TV Series

writer

1976

1 episode

 

A Shadow in the Streets

7.1

TV Movie

Writer

1975

 

Cathy Lee Crosby in Wonder Woman (1974)

Wonder Woman

4.6

TV Movie

developed for television bywritten by (creator)

1974

 

Louis Gossett Jr. in The Fuzz Brothers (1973)

The Fuzz Brothers

8.6

TV Movie

Writer

1973

 

Robert Hooks in Trouble Man (1972)

Trouble Man

6.7

written by

1972

 

Kam Fong, Al Harrington, Jack Lord, and James MacArthur in Hawaii Five-O (1968)

Hawaii Five-O

7.4

TV Series

written byteleplaystory by ...

1968–1972

10 episodes

 

James Coburn in The Carey Treatment (1972)

The Carey Treatment

6.1

screenplay (as James P. Bonner)

1972

 

Do Not Fold, Spindle or Mutilate (1971)

Do Not Fold, Spindle or Mutilate

6.4

TV Movie

teleplay

1971

 

Getting Together (1971)

Getting Together

7.2

TV Series

written by

1971

1 episode

 

Thief (1971)

Thief

6.3

TV Movie

Writer

1971

 

Richard Roundtree in Shaft (1971)

Shaft

6.6

screenplay by

1971

 

Michael Constantine, Lloyd Haynes, Denise Nicholas, and Karen Valentine in Room 222 (1969)

Room 222

7.7

TV Series

written by

1970–1971

6 episodes

 

Barbara Bain, Martin Landau, Peter Graves, Peter Lupus, and Greg Morris in Mission: Impossible (1966)

Mission: Impossible

7.9

TV Series

story bywritten byteleplay by

1968–1971

3 episodes

 

The Bill Cosby Show (1969)

The Bill Cosby Show

6.1

TV Series

written by

1971

1 episode

 

Mannix (1967)

Mannix

7.4

TV Series

written by

1971

1 episode

 

Edward Asner, Valerie Harper, and Mary Tyler Moore in The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970)

The Mary Tyler Moore Show

8.3

TV Series

written by

1970

1 episode

 

James Drury, Doug McClure, and John McIntire in The Virginian (1962)

The Virginian

7.6

TV Series

writerteleplay

1963–1970

2 episodes

 

The F.B.I. (1965)

The F.B.I.

7.4

TV Series

storyteleplay bywritten by

1968–1969

3 episodes

 

Leif Erickson, Linda Cristal, Henry Darrow, Cameron Mitchell, and Mark Slade in The High Chaparral (1967)

The High Chaparral

7.6

TV Series

story

1969

1 episode

 

Three Guns for Texas (1968)

Three Guns for Texas

5.7

written by

1968

 

Nancy Kwan and Doug McClure in Nobody's Perfect (1968)

Nobody's Perfect

6.0

writer

1968

 

Insight (1960)

Insight

7.4

TV Series

written by

1966–1967

3 episodes

 

Stuart Whitman in Cimarron Strip (1967)

Cimarron Strip

7.1

TV Series

story by

1967

1 episode

 

Emily Banks, Bobby Darin, and Don Galloway in Gunfight in Abilene (1967)

Gunfight in Abilene

5.6

screenplay

1967

 

Ben Gazzara in Run for Your Life (1965)

Run for Your Life

7.6

TV Series

writer

1966

1 episode

 

Star Trek (1966)

Star Trek

8.4

TV Series

written by

1966

3 episodes

 

Laredo (1965)

Laredo

7.5

TV Series

written by

1965–1966

7 episodes

 

James Franciscus in Mr. Novak (1963)

Mr. Novak

7.4

TV Series

writerstoryteleplay

1964–1965

6 episodes

 

Kraft Suspense Theatre (1963)

Kraft Suspense Theatre

7.7

TV Series

story (as John d.f. Black)

1963

1 episode

 

Angela Lansbury and Tuesday Weld in The Eleventh Hour (1962)

The Eleventh Hour

7.6

TV Series

writer

1963

1 episode

 

David Janssen in The Fugitive (1963)

The Fugitive

8.1

TV Series

written by

1963

1 episode

 

Our Man Higgins (1962)

Our Man Higgins

6.8

TV Series

written by

1963

1 episode

 

Combat! (1962)

Combat!

8.4

TV Series

written by

1963

1 episode

 

Abel Fernandez, Nicholas Georgiade, Paul Picerni, and Robert Stack in The Untouchables (1959)

The Untouchables

8.0

TV Series

written by

1962–1963

3 episodes

 

Empire (1962)

Empire

7.7

TV Series

story by

1963

1 episode

 

Lawman (1958)

Lawman

8.1

TV Series

teleplaywriter

1961–1962

9 episodes

 

Have Gun - Will Travel (1957)

Have Gun - Will Travel

8.4

TV Series

written by (as John Black)

1962

1 episode

 

Surfside 6 (1960)

Surfside 6

7.9

TV Series

storyteleplay

1961–1962

2 episodes

 

Johnny Staccato (1959)

Johnny Staccato

7.9

TV Series

writer

1959–1960

 

John Carradine and Allison Hayes in The Unearthly (1957)

The Unearthly

3.3

screenplay (as Geoffrey Dennis)

1957

 

Producer

The Clone Master (1978)

The Clone Master

5.6

TV Movie

producer

1978

 

Man from Atlantis (1977)

Man from Atlantis

6.5

TV Series

producer

1977

1 episode

 

A Shadow in the Streets

7.1

TV Movie

producer

1975

 

Cathy Lee Crosby in Wonder Woman (1974)

Wonder Woman

4.6

TV Movie

executive producer

1974

 

Louis Gossett Jr. in The Fuzz Brothers (1973)

The Fuzz Brothers

8.6

TV Movie

producer

1973

 

Robert Hooks in Trouble Man (1972)

Trouble Man

6.7

executive producer

1972

 

Star Trek (1966)

Star Trek

8.4

TV Series

associate producer

1966

10 episodes

 

Script and Continuity Department

Chuck Huber, Grant Imahara, Vic Mignogna, Christopher Doohan, Michele Specht, Kipleigh Brown, Todd Haberkorn, Kim Stinger, Steven Dengler, Wyatt Lenhart, and Cat Roberts in Star Trek Continues (2013)

Star Trek Continues

8.1

TV Series

script consultant

2015

1 episode

 

Soundtrack

Farrah Fawcett, Kate Jackson, and Jaclyn Smith in Charlie's Angels (1976)

Charlie's Angels

6.6

TV Series

lyrics: "Hi There, Hello", "Chrysanthemum Festival Girls"

1977

1 episode

 

Self

Star Trek: Inside the Roddenberry Vault (2016)

Star Trek: Inside the Roddenberry Vault

7.5

Self

2016

 

50 Years of Star Trek (2016)

50 Years of Star Trek

6.8

TV Movie

Self - Associate Producer of Star Trek

2016

 

To Boldly Go ... Season One

7.1

Video

Self

2004

 

Sergio Kato in Birth of a Timeless Legacy (2004)

Birth of a Timeless Legacy

7.1

Video

Self

2004

 

Sci Fi Visionaries

7.3

Video

Self

2004

 

Farrah Fawcett, Kate Jackson, and Jaclyn Smith in TVography: Charlie's Angels - Girls with Guns (2002)

TVography: Charlie's Angels - Girls with Guns

6.1

TV Movie

Self

2002