Today is the 50th anniversary of the debut of the original "Star Trek" television series. Yep, the episode titled "The Man Trap" aired on NBC on this date in 1966.
I wasn't alive. Like many my age, I discovered the show in reruns. That's how it became a cult hit anyway -- the initial run received mediocre ratings and ho-hum reviews during three seasons (a fervent letter writing campaign made the third season a reality).
I remember when I was a kid and the reruns were on Sunday nights at 11 p.m.* on KMTV (and sometimes 6 p.m. Saturdays). I couldn't stay up and watch on Sundays during the school year, but I could during the summer.
I loved the show.
A big part of the appeal for me is the look (the eye-popping color screams 1960s). Another part is the fact that it feels incredibly immersive, despite being low budget and sporting cheesy special effects.
It's like the older episodes of "Doctor Who" in that regard (another show I love).
I've also enjoyed the various "Star Trek" movies and TV series like "Star Trek: The Next Generation."
"Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" is awesome, and J.J. Abrams's "Star Trek" reboot (2009) is one of my favorite movies.
By the way, if you haven't watched this "Honest Trailer" (where the narrator refers to 2009's "Star Trek" as "Abrams's 'Star Wars' demo reel") give it a view...it's fun:
"Star Trek" holds a special place in my heart.
A lot of retrospective pieces this week are talking a lot about how it promoted peace during the Cold War...blah, blah, blah...
Did these people actually watch the show? Sure, there were peaceful resolutions in certain episodes, but the crew of the Enterprise stirred up a lot of sh!t during the initial five-year mission.
Some of the retrospective stuff sounds like hindsight mumbo-jumbo.
The 1960s "Star Trek" was cool because it took science fiction seriously, and it presented the virtues of a smart and eclectic crew working in concert to solve problems.
"Star Trek" is available on various streaming services. It also airs on MeTV Saturday evenings (they will be showing "The Man Trap" and the unaired pilot "The Cage" on Sept. 10 -- http://metv.com/shows/star-trek ...)
By the way, my favorite ST episode is "The Doomsday Machine"...
One other note...
A number of years ago, Paramount remastered the original series' negatives in hi-definition (for a blu-ray release and HD broadcasts). They also made the decision to spruce up the special effects scenes with newly-created digital footage.
Now, before you hit the panic button, they worked really hard to create space shots and effects that stay true to the 1960s look.
Netflix has the HD episodes (with the new FX shots) on their streaming platform. Others (like CBS All Access) have the original standard definition episodes.
* It aired at 10:30 p.m. in the 1970s, but was on at 11 p.m. by the time I started watching in the early 1980s.
Read yesterday's blog post: The Headphone Conundrum
I'd give my favorite episode to "The Trouble With Tribbles." It was fun and happy episode, mostly, at least until they ate the poisoned grain.
ReplyDeleteFor most important episode, I'll give it to "Devil In The Dark" for being the first episode where humans intrude on another species and become the evil interlopers. A juxtaposition not often explored until then, because Earth was usually the planet being invaded by an aggressive and dangerous group of aliens.