{"id":131455,"date":"2016-09-08T08:06:36","date_gmt":"2016-09-08T14:06:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2016\/09\/08\/a-golden-anniversary-for-the-show-that-changed-sf.html"},"modified":"2016-09-09T00:44:03","modified_gmt":"2016-09-09T06:44:03","slug":"a-golden-anniversary-for-the-show-that-changed-sf","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2016\/09\/08\/a-golden-anniversary-for-the-show-that-changed-sf.html","title":{"rendered":"A Golden Anniversary for the show that changed SF"},"content":{"rendered":"

It's hard to believe, but it was 50 years ago today that the first episode of Star Trek<\/i> 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.<\/p>\n

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<\/i> never made it on the air. <\/p>\n

It's possible to overstate the case: thoughtful SF and TV drama as a whole existed before Star Trek.<\/i> 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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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\n<\/a>
\nWhat if Star Trek Had Never Existed?<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

View on Google+<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 … Continue reading “A Golden Anniversary for the show that changed SF”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[106,360],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-131455","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-plusposts","category-media-tv-star-trek"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":128344,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2015\/10\/18\/the-50-greatest-sci-fi-tv-shows-kinda-sorta-more-or-less-redux.html","url_meta":{"origin":131455,"position":0},"title":"The 50 Greatest Sci-Fi TV Shows (kinda-sorta more-or-less) (Redux)","author":"***Dave","date":"Sun 18-Oct-15 11:20am","format":false,"excerpt":"So this is based on an article from a Popular Mechanics (!) article on \"The 50 Greatest Sci-Fi Shows Ever\" [http:\/\/www.popularmechanics.com\/culture\/movies\/g156\/the-50-greatest-sci-fi-tv-shows]. See here [https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2015\/10\/17\/the-50-greatest-sci-fi-tv-shows-kinda-sorta-more-or-less.html] for caveats and comments on that list. I've decided to do my own force ranking (thanks +Stan Pedzick), working within the same list (to do otherwise\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/TV%2BGuide%2BSF.jpgimgmax%3D660.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":130718,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2016\/05\/21\/hey-maybe-star-trek-beyond-wont-suck-either.html","url_meta":{"origin":131455,"position":1},"title":"Hey, maybe "Star Trek: Beyond" won't suck, either","author":"***Dave","date":"Sat 21-May-16 5:36am","format":false,"excerpt":"After the Ghostbusters reboot second trailer came out looking like a possibly-maybe-better movie than the first trailer did, Star Trek: Beyond has something that -- besides spoiling a whole bunch of stuff, it seems -- feels like an action-adventure SF movies that I might actually enjoy watching. View on Google+","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10080,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2006\/09\/08\/the_original_series.html","url_meta":{"origin":131455,"position":2},"title":"The Original Series","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 8-Sep-06 8:57am","format":false,"excerpt":"Okay, it gets poked fun at a bit today -- but when Star Trek debuted forty years ago (!) tonight ... egads. SF on TV to that time had...","rel":"","context":"In "Star Trek"","block_context":{"text":"Star Trek","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/media\/franchises\/media-tv-star-trek"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/images\/startrek-tos-cast.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":128482,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2015\/11\/02\/star-trek-boldly-goes-where-you-have-to-pay-separately-for-it.html","url_meta":{"origin":131455,"position":3},"title":"Star Trek boldly goes where you have to pay separately for it","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 2-Nov-15 10:36pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Dear CBS -- I'm tickled that you are starting up a new Star Trek TV series, and I'm sure it will be interesting.I'm also sure I won't be watching it if you are confining it (after the premiere episode) to your separate $5.99\/month streaming service. Did the Ferengi suggest this\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":26809,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2012\/03\/03\/trying-to-give-some-animated-perspective-to-my-daughter.html","url_meta":{"origin":131455,"position":4},"title":"Trying to give some animated perspective to my daughter","author":"***Dave","date":"Sat 3-Mar-12 4:19am","format":false,"excerpt":"So I'm trying to explain to my daughter why the \"Star Trek\" animated series was such an incredibly awesome thing to people who were starved for \"Star Trek\" (or any TV SF taken seriously) in a world before VCRs and DVDs and DVRs and cable and the like.Having only seen\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":135135,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2017\/10\/21\/serialized-tv-danger-extremes.html","url_meta":{"origin":131455,"position":5},"title":"On serialized TV and the danger of extremes","author":"***Dave","date":"Sat 21-Oct-17 12:04am","format":false,"excerpt":"Babylon 5 was not the first TV show to play with serialized stories -- the idea that the events of one episode might effect later episodes, and that a TV series was actually a long novel not just a series of incidents -- but it set a precedent for SF\/Fantasy\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/Star-Trek-TOS-Guardian-of-Forever.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131455","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=131455"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131455\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":131484,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131455\/revisions\/131484"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=131455"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=131455"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=131455"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}