Why trek

[The Master™]

And there was mention of a Captain Robert April before Pike - and he was played by Gene Roddenberry at the time... But Captain April never made it to the screen...

Jeffrey Hunter couldn't continue in the series, because he was off to be Jesus of Nazareth (film or series, I can't remember)... Wonder if he ever regretted it...

[Syn]

the series that i love the most is, Star Trek: Next Generation. Captian Piccard was one of the best Captians that was ever created. I found the whole show to be better than the other ones.

[Rahl Windsong]

Originally Posted by Princess Ivy

why startrek? why has it been such a huge hit? with such a large following. what factors helped it to cross over from seventies cult to mainstream? why do you watch it and love it? or hate it?

Because it offered a hopeful future and that is what the majority of people want to hear. The Star Trek universe had evolved beyond all of its problems like hunger, disease, etc and no longer was monetary gain the goal of the population. Where humanity became one and not a bunch of seperate races with different skin colors and languages.

All of that translates to if aliens show up will it be like that? People wanted to believe all of that therefore Star Trek became very popular.

Rahl

[j. d. worthington]

That's a pretty good summation. It's certainly what Roddenberry had in mind, which might account for some of the didacticism.

[kyektulu]

I never used to like Star Trek untill my other half moved in and took charge of the remote.

Yet I love it now!

Well Next Generation and Voyager anyway, I am trying Enterprise but dont like Deep Space 9 with a passion!

Dont worry I wont become a member of the Klingon religion, lol.

[LeoCrow]

i think that the background of this series is the most important thing. they travel in space to satisfy their curiosity, to explore, instead of searching for money or any kind of profit. and they help selflessly when they can, whithout aspiring to gain something by it.
also it may have been the first series that treats science fiction seriously and not as a laughable idea. it respected it's viewers and it's creators really liked what they were doing

[j. d. worthington]

Originally Posted by The Master™

Jeffrey Hunter couldn't continue in the series, because he was off to be Jesus of Nazareth (film or series, I can't remember)... Wonder if he ever regretted it...

Film: King of Kings, I believe. And, if I remember, Jeff Hunter didn't live too long after; or am I mistaking him for someone else?

And there were other intelligent sf series before Star Trek: Science Fiction Theatre, Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits, but some of these were crippled by small budgets and limited special effects technology. They were also anthology series rather than dealing with continuing characters. On that, ST was, I believe, the first intelligent sf series to get wide distribution, rather than being in select areas. ST also tended to be (predominately) more upbeat and hopeful, reflecting Roddenberry's outlook, while the others frequently had a large proportion of "cautionary tales", with bitter or tragic endings.

On that note: ST's optimism was not only pervasive (and, frankly, unrealistic), but largely cosmetic or on a surface level, whereas The Outer Limits often dealt with courage or compassion in the face of overwhelming odds without providing a last-moment overturning of those odds. The effects were atrocious, some of the rewrite tended to be clunky, but the heart of these stories still pack quite a punch by getting down at the nitty-gritty of human emotion and fallibility -- often uncomfortable ground for a lot of people. Which is not to run-down ST, for which I still have a great fondness; it, like Tolkien, is sort of a mythology for the modern (I am not equating one to the other, simply saying that they have this in common); the earlier series tended to have more of the "emotional realism" of tragedy. Both have their place, and can be enjoyed for what they are; but I think that a large amount of ST's popularity is that it is at heart a "feel-good" series: no matter how grim things get, there's always light at the end of the tunnel, and that comforts people. The others often offered a bleaker vision, though emphasizing the value of ethics even in no-win situations; very much as, in another genre, Serling offered up in Requiem for a Heavyweight: there's no way Mountain is going to win; he's a stumble-bum up against a very old, very adroit and totally amoral machine; but he has dignity and loyalty, he has a code he maintains even when it makes him and all he's ever stood for a laughingstock, even in his own eyes in the end; that's why it hits so hard. You see a very good man defeated on every level, with even his best traits used against him, but you respect and feel for him without pitying him, because he has dignity. Star Trek didn't tend to go there much, it offered more simplistic stories; but these have strong appeal (and rightly so); I think this may be the key to why it continues to have popularity despite its flaws.

[Rahl Windsong]

I thought the original Star Trek also had some quite famous writers for different episodes? Like Isaac Asimov?

[Coops]

Originally Posted by Rahl Windsong

I thought the original Star Trek also had some quite famous writers for different episodes? Like Isaac Asimov?

Asimov never had a connection to Star Trek. You may be thinking of Harlan Ellison.

[steve12553]

Originally Posted by j. d. worthington

Film: King of Kings, I believe. And, if I remember, Jeff Hunter didn't live too long after; or am I mistaking him for someone else?

No mistake JD. Jeffery Hunter did pass away in 1969. King of Kings was released in 1961. His decision not to continue as Captain Pike was apparently just a desire for a movie career in general.

[Paige Turner]

I loved Star Trek as a kid. It was pretty much the only time I'd rather watch TV than go out and play, but some of the stories drove me nuts. I was crazy about outer space, but the episodes where they ended up on planets exactly like some period of Earth history were so boring. Gangland Chicago, Ancient Rome, Nazi Germany, 1776 America, that Liberace guy who turned out to be an eight-year-old… bleh.

The Gorns, the Doomsay Machine, Nomad, Kolinaar, giant parasitic brain cells; that was the Star Trek I loved. (Those were also the shows with valuable life lessons to offer. Now, take my department head. If I had no knowledge of giant parasitic brain cells, I might not be be able to explain his behaviour…)

edit: Ooh, and the Horta. LOVE the Horta. (Leonard Nimoy's Emmy moment. "Cry! For the children!" Wow.)

[steve12553]

Originally Posted by Paige Turner

edit: Ooh, and the Horta. LOVE the Horta. (Leonard Nimoy's Emmy moment. "Cry! For the children!" Wow.)

"The Devil in the Dark" was broadcast about a week ago in the new form where they've digitized some of the special effects. Made it more like I remembered it. Clean and bright rather than fuzzy with age.Yeah, it was a classic. Still fun to watch after all these years. When they were first broadcast I was 13 and still held out a lot of hope for humanity. Star Trek was a beacon of hope for the future. 200 years from now we were still alive and out exploring the stars. Forty years later, I'm a lot more cynical, much wiser as to the way the world works, but sometimes I like to pretend there still is hope. Maybe for an hour on a Saturday night.

[carrie221]

Originally Posted by steve12553

"The Devil in the Dark" was broadcast about a week ago in the new form where they've digitized some of the special effects. Made it more like I remembered it. Clean and bright rather than fuzzy with age.Yeah, it was a classic. Still fun to watch after all these years. When they were first broadcast I was 13 and still held out a lot of hope for humanity. Star Trek was a beacon of hope for the future. 200 years from now we were still alive and out exploring the stars. Forty years later, I'm a lot more cynical, much wiser as to the way the world works, but sometimes I like to pretend there still is hope. Maybe for an hour on a Saturday night.

I like star trek because the good guys win in the end... (well the ones not wearing red shirts)

That ep was good.

[steve12553]

Originally Posted by carrie221

I like star trek because the good guys win in the end... (well the ones not wearing red shirts)

That ep was good.

That particular episode must have lost 4 red shirts (I hope none of them was named Guy.)