Star Trek is just a television show.
On the face of it this is pretty self-evident. But is there something more going on here? I'd say yes largely depending on your perspective. Because if it were really just another disposable and eminently forgettable and meaningless television show would we be here discussing/debating/arguing over it more than forty years later?
Firstly, I'm talking about Star Trek the original series (1966-69) and not the franchise that was spawned of it out of increasing interest during the '70s and the collection of spinoff films during the '80s.
Is Star Trek TOS just another television show? Or on some level(s) does it actually have any genuine significance? Does it matter in some way?
Star Trek's overall approach to science fiction drama/adventure wasn't new. It's approach was already familiar to fans of science fiction literature, a handful of decent to good SF films and previous anthology series like The Twilight Zone and the The Outer Limits. But Star Trek brought that execution to a broader audience than could ever be reached by print and film.
On the face of it Star Trek shouldn't be remarkable. Almost all its ideas and concepts were already well established before the show came along. Star Trek's novelty was bringing so many familiar (to SF fans) ideas into a fresh coherent whole and beaming it through the then still young medium of television. On the face of it it seemed like mostly escapist entertainment yet with a more serious straightforward approach.
But something was different. Star Trek inspired countless people to go on to pursue interesting and ambitious careers and goals. It reflected ideas that resonated with successive generations of viewers. It became an archetypal template for how to do SF adventure/drama that would influence successive films and television series. It would be recognized and acknowledged by respected science fiction writers. It became assimilated and ingrained in the broader public consciousness.
Many shows are remembered, but few are actually remembered and influential.
Star Trek has been with us for so long and in some form or other that many can easily dismiss it as something that is just always there. And Star Trek TOS is often judged by the the merits of the successive spinoffs and films rather than its own merits and impact when it was new.
How many remember a time before Star Trek and decades before Trek became commonplace with little to distinguish it from the plethora of other sci-fi available on television and film? Back in the '60s and '70s it was a lot easier to see how distinctly different Star Trek was from anything remotely comparable. Star Trek didn't just reflect a future and ideas that were interesting. It reflected ideas and a kind of future we wanted to be realized. It was almost like a blueprint that spelled out this is where we want to go. This is what we can aspire to.
There are many surface things that can be fairly criticized about Star Trek and yet none of that diminishes why so many people have embraced it and it's effect on the broader public consciousness.
And so is Star Trek just another television show?
On the face of it this is pretty self-evident. But is there something more going on here? I'd say yes largely depending on your perspective. Because if it were really just another disposable and eminently forgettable and meaningless television show would we be here discussing/debating/arguing over it more than forty years later?
Firstly, I'm talking about Star Trek the original series (1966-69) and not the franchise that was spawned of it out of increasing interest during the '70s and the collection of spinoff films during the '80s.
Is Star Trek TOS just another television show? Or on some level(s) does it actually have any genuine significance? Does it matter in some way?
Star Trek's overall approach to science fiction drama/adventure wasn't new. It's approach was already familiar to fans of science fiction literature, a handful of decent to good SF films and previous anthology series like The Twilight Zone and the The Outer Limits. But Star Trek brought that execution to a broader audience than could ever be reached by print and film.
On the face of it Star Trek shouldn't be remarkable. Almost all its ideas and concepts were already well established before the show came along. Star Trek's novelty was bringing so many familiar (to SF fans) ideas into a fresh coherent whole and beaming it through the then still young medium of television. On the face of it it seemed like mostly escapist entertainment yet with a more serious straightforward approach.
But something was different. Star Trek inspired countless people to go on to pursue interesting and ambitious careers and goals. It reflected ideas that resonated with successive generations of viewers. It became an archetypal template for how to do SF adventure/drama that would influence successive films and television series. It would be recognized and acknowledged by respected science fiction writers. It became assimilated and ingrained in the broader public consciousness.
Many shows are remembered, but few are actually remembered and influential.
Star Trek has been with us for so long and in some form or other that many can easily dismiss it as something that is just always there. And Star Trek TOS is often judged by the the merits of the successive spinoffs and films rather than its own merits and impact when it was new.
How many remember a time before Star Trek and decades before Trek became commonplace with little to distinguish it from the plethora of other sci-fi available on television and film? Back in the '60s and '70s it was a lot easier to see how distinctly different Star Trek was from anything remotely comparable. Star Trek didn't just reflect a future and ideas that were interesting. It reflected ideas and a kind of future we wanted to be realized. It was almost like a blueprint that spelled out this is where we want to go. This is what we can aspire to.
There are many surface things that can be fairly criticized about Star Trek and yet none of that diminishes why so many people have embraced it and it's effect on the broader public consciousness.
And so is Star Trek just another television show?
