It's hard to believe, but it was 50 years ago today that the first episode of Star Trek aired on NBC television. Presaging airing order weirdness for future SF shows, the first episode was "The Man-Trap," not the (second) pilot that had sold the series.
The article below tries to speculate on what science fiction — on TV, in the movies, and fandom itself — would have been like had Star Trek never made it on the air.
It's possible to overstate the case: thoughtful SF and TV drama as a whole existed before Star Trek. Though to modern eyes The Original Series seems in turn weirdly action-oriented and preachy in turn, it was considered quite cerebral for its era (too cerebral for the network suits). Just as TV as a whole has matured over the decades and dramas have gotten more sophisticated, on the whole, one can assume SF, like other genres, would have had later opportunities.
That said, the direction of future SF on TV would have been quite different. While ST:TOS didn't prove that SF could be a success on TV (quite the opposite), it did influence everything that came after (as a model or counter-model), and the core of fandom that was built around it, and stayed loyal to it, shaped the future how science fiction in the media, especially once kids raised on TOS started coming to power in the media itself. And that fandom created the model which exists today, in turn influencing how media companies engage with fans.
I don't think Gene Roddenberry had any idea in the beginning what he was creating, or its seminal influence, but create it he did, alongside a huge raft of talented men and women as writers, producers, directors, technicians, and, of course, actors. Here's to all of them.
Kinda shocked there wasn't a Google Doodle today.
+Stan Pedzick Good point. They did one four years ago (https://www.google.com/doodles/46th-anniversary-of-star-treks-1st-broadcast); maybe they aren't allowed to repeat.