Star Trek was an attempt to say that humanity will reach maturity and wisdom on the day that it begins not just to tolerate, but take a special delight in differences in ideas and differences in life forms. […] If we cannot learn to actually enjoy those small differences, to take a positive delight in those small differences between our own kind, here on this planet, then we do not deserve to go out into space and meet the diversity that is almost certainly out there.

He later followed in his father's footsteps joining the Los Angeles Police Department to provide for his family but began focusing on writing scripts for television. In 1970 Paramount agreed to sell him all rights to Star Trek but Roddenberry could not afford the $150000 ($887000 today) price. ) Roddenberry talked of writing a second Trek novel based on his rejected 1975 script of the JFK assassination plot but he died before he was able to do so.

Additionally the popularity of the Star Trek universe and films inspired the parody/homage film Galaxy Quest (1999) as well as many books video games and fan films set in the various "eras" of the Star Trek universe. The Star Trek franchise Roddenberry created has produced material for over four decades producing six television series 726 episodes and eleven films with a twelfth film currently in post-production and scheduled for a May 2013 release. He is best known for creating the original Star Trek television series and thus the Star Trek science fiction franchise.