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The original television show Star Trek was never expected to become a cultural icon that has remained steadfast for 50 years. The show debuted in 1966 depicting the crew on the Starship Enterprise working to save humanity, and has become a cult classic. We could not start this feature without the following monologue as Captain Kirk said: “Space, the final frontier. These are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise.” So cue the music, and the memories of the Starship Enterprise, and its mission. How did a show that was only on for four years become such a success? Star Trek was created by Gene Roddenberry, and was ahead of its time. They used devices that looked like cell phones (flip phones), and used computers, along with space explorations, something we’re currently familiar with with. The show also introduced the first African American woman on television. Nichelle Nichols played Lieutenant Uhura, and shared television's first interracial kiss--something never seen before on television, pretty much like most of crew. Let us join the journey of the Enterprise and look at some facts.

The Beginning

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The first pilot of the Star Trek was rejected, but the production company and studio, Desilu—wanted the show to continue, and they moved forward. Desilu was created by Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball, and the along with Paramount, the show aired in 1966 on NBC. The show was cancelled after low ratings at 79 episodes in 1969. It exploded in popularity after it went into syndication during the ‘70s, and it grew to become a franchise that was unstoppable. Roddenberry said: "Star Trek speaks to some basic human needs: that there is a tomorrow — it's not all going to be over with a big flash and a bomb; that the human race is improving; that we have things to be proud of as humans. No, ancient astronauts did not build the pyramids — human beings built them, because they're clever and they work hard. And Star Trek is about those things." Certainly, it struck a nerve.

Spock

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Leonard Nimoy, who played the famous Vulcan Spock, scared television executives as he appeared to look like a demon. Spock was a Science Officer on the Enterprise. Originally, Spock’s skin color was supposed to be red. But since television was still black-and-white, it made the skin way too dark, so they changed it to a light yellow. Spock also didn’t eat or drink, and this perturbed people as well! The character soon became legendary, with the Vulcan greeting, and the Vulcan nerve pinch, but Nimoy didn’t enjoy being typecast. However, he did admire Spock in other ways. “I am not Spock. But given the choice, if I had to be someone else, I would be Spock. If someone said, 'You can have the choice of being any other TV character ever played,' I would choose Spock. I like him. I admire him. I respect him, so live long and prosper.”

Low Budgets and Other Facts

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The budget was very low for the show. A teleportation scene was used due to the lack of money as landing shots would be too expensive. The show was so broke that they used the sets from The Andy Griffith Show, where Captain Kirk is seen walking in front of Floyd’s shop. Another fact: Roddenberry wanted the Enterprise to fly upside down and studied other shows like Buck Rogers, Gizmodo reported. “The Enterprise is usually shown with its saucer section and nacelles upwards. But the model they originally made was top-heavy, so it swung upside down on its cord so the saucer and nacelles were down. Roddenberry liked it better that way, leading to tons of arguments. Roddenberry had told the designers the Enterprise should have "no flames, no fins--no rockets." It worked--the USS Enterprise would be admired for five decades for its unique design.

Diverse Characters

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Gene Roddenberry said he wanted to create a group of diverse characters, and shared his vision of the show before he died in 1990. He attained this vision with Spock, Uhura, Bones, Scotty, James Kirk, and Khan. Other notables were: Garth of Izar, The Gorn, T’Pring, and the Talosians. “Star Trek was an attempt to say that humanity will reach maturity and wisdom on the day that it begins not just to tolerate, but take a special delight in differences in ideas and differences in life forms," shared Roddenberry. "If we cannot learn to actually enjoy those small differences, to take a positive delight in those small differences between our own kinds, here on this planet, then we do not deserve to go out into space and meet the diversity that is almost certainly out there.”

Concerns after First Pilot

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The original show starred Jeffery Hunter, as Captain Pike, not William Shatner, who replaced him as Captain Kirk after the Pike character was dropped from the first pilot. After the original pilot, executives thought the show had too much sexuality. “The producers used the network's concerns about sexuality to their advantage — they would deliberately put sexy stuff into episodes for the network to freak out about, so the censors wouldn't notice other things. For example, in the episode "A Private Little War," the producers deliberately put in a scene of Kirk having an open-mouth kiss with a half-naked woman, so the network could throw a fit about that, and not notice the blatant Vietnam allegory,” Author Herb Solow and Robert Justman shared in Inside Star Trek.

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