A Brief History
On September 8, 1966, Americans in love with science fiction were treated to the most iconic space-oriented television show of all time when Star Trek made its debut on NBC.
Digging Deeper
In the days before cable or satellite television, VHS or DVDs, Americans usually only had 3 television channels to choose between. Better-equipped households might also have gotten the PBS station on ultra high frequency (UHF) television. TV shows were a much bigger deal in those days, with each show having much less competition than now.
Detailing the adventures of Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock and the crew of the Enterprise, the original Star Trek ran for three seasons, though it was nearly cancelled during its second season, however, public outcry kept the show around for its third and final season. The original series was followed by a short-lived animated series and 6 feature films that had mostly the same characters and actors playing them.
Other more recent television versions included Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek Deep Space 9, Star Trek: Voyager and Star Trek: Enterprise. All in all, well over 700 episodes aired. Another 4 feature films based on Star Trek: The Next Generation have been made, as well as 2 more films based on the original series as a “reboot.” A third “reboot” film is planned for 2016. So far 6 television series independent of the franchise and several independent Star Trek films called “fan films” have also been made.
The Star Trek phenomenon also spawned comic books, magazines, novels, all sorts of toys and games, logo T-shirts and sweat shirts, Halloween costumes and 2 traveling exhibits of memorabilia. The merchandising franchise is owned by CBS and is worth billions of dollars. There was even a Star Trek-themed attraction in Las Vegas from 1998 to 2008. Star Trek conventions bring special appearances by the old actors and are attended by thousands of fans called “Trekkies.”
Needless to say, anything this popular also draws spoofs and skits galore, even as far away as Germany! Please watch the above Youtube video for an example of this.
History and Headlines Fact: The original series exposed American audiences to the first interracial kiss on a television show.
The original Star Trek series has become the most persistent cult favorite television show, and the actors from that series have become icons: William Shatner (Capt. Kirk); Leonard Nimoy (Mr. Spock); DeForest Kelly (“Bones”); George Takei (Mr. Sulu); Patrick Doohan (“Scotty”); Walter Koenig (Chekov); and Nichelle Nichols (Lt. Uhura) have become as familiar to Americans as family members.
Question for students (and subscribers): How has Star Trek touched your life? Did you play with Star Trek toys or carry a Star Trek lunch box to school? Did you use the “Vulcan death grip” on your little brother? When was the last time you ordered someone to “Beam me up, Scotty!”? Please let us know in the comments section below this article.
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For another interesting event that happened on September 8, please see the History and Headlines article: “Infamous Pardons.”
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Block, Paula, Terry Erdmann, et al. Star Trek: The Original Series 365. Harry N. Abrams, 2010.
<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="4762 http://www.crackedhistory.com/?p=4762">78 Comments
It’s crazy that just in the 1960’s there were only 3 channels, in now a days we could over 1,000+ channels as well as all sorts of movies.Crazy how much technology has advanced.
I did not realize how long ago Star Trek began.
It’s interesting that it was so hard to keep Star Trek running as a television show, even though it was very popular. I guess at that time there was more money going into production than was coming in from viewers and so on.
I do not like Star Trek at all. Just is not a very interesting show to me. That is all they play on SciFi.
I am not a fan of Star Trek…
My dad has a bunch of Star Trek DVDs. I’m not a fan though.
I have never been into Star Trek but the movies do make a lot of money.
I have actually never seen the television show, or the movies of Star Trek.
I have never heard of Star Terk.
I’ve never really been a fan of Star Trek, I always preferred Star Wars.
SyFy fan fiction has always been around and it started becoming popular with the Twilight Zone but personally I think it really took off and people knew about it once Star Trek appeared.
I think si-fi is interesting but really isn’t my style
Beam me up, Soctty!
i never seen any of the star trek movie, never was appealing to me
I am guilty of never seeing Star Trek or any of its sequels. Same goes for Star Wars. I know, shameful.
Ive been meaning to watch the newer star trek movies- i guess i really should now.
I’ve seen the new Star Trek movies and my mom has seen the old versions. We bond over how the same franchise is still going strong today!
I do not think the Star Trek movies would interest me but I know plenty of people who enjoy the films.
I never truly got into Star Trek, but I am not surprised how much money they made off this movie! This is still a classic today.
As a huge Star Trek fan this was very interesting to learn about. I have watched everything from the original series to the newest movie and everything in between.
I am not a huge Star Trek fan. I’m definitely a Star Wars fan!
I love watching Star Trek. I have watched every TV episode and all the movies. There are re-runs on TV everyday. Big fan!
I have never watched a full episode of Star Trek, nor have I seen any of the movies. It just wasn’t something I’ve ever enjoyed.
I have seen Star Trek on TV before but I never found it entertaining. Maybe it is something you have to start by watching the first episode to get into watching it.
I know that these movies make a lot of money but there is no way that I would watch Star Trek.
I am not interested in Star Trek but I know it is very popular.
I have never had any interest in Star Trek.
I have never seen Star Trek, but it has been something I would be interested in watching.
The most surprising thing about this article was that Star Trek is the most popular cult television and Star Wars was not.
I watched a lot of Star Trek as a kid. We had three channels, 3,5,8. Another great show was Lost in Space.
I am not a stat treks fan but it is so interesting and crazy to see how much money they earned.
Overall, I have never really considered myself a star trek fan. I had a friend in high school who was a pretty big fan and would probably enjoy reading this article.
I always got Star Trek and Star Wars mixed up, which might be terrible to say, but I just never was too much of a fan of either of them. It’s fascinating how popular Star Trek became and how much money was earned.
My brother and I used to love Star Trek! I dressed up as Spock for Halloween once because I liked him so much.
Being completely honest I have never watched Star Trek and probably never will. I do find it interesting how popular this franchise is as a whole even today.
The movie of Star Trek was too old for me. I have only watched the poster. The screenwriter was great. The movie was very famous at that time.
I never hear about Star Trek maybe I was not born in the US. But it should be so much memories for people grew up in the US.
Star Trek is definitely a favorite in the U.S. I feel like almost everyone knows what Star Trek is even if they have never seen it.
I’ve heard of Star Trek and this was interesting to learn more about it.
I had never known that he first interracial kiss was on this show, interesting.
I’ve watched Star Trek, and it was interesting to read more about this show.
I did not realize that this show was so popular. I also did not know that it contained the first interracial kiss.
I love sci-fy and a ton of the movies and shows. I knew that Star Trek was popular but I never realized that it was as big of a show that it was.
I always watched Star Trek with my older brother. He was way more into Sci-fi, and Star Trek. But I loved it, it was really cool when I watched it. It is also a great memory.
I have never watch Star Trek. It is amazing how popular it was, I never knew!
I’ve never been interested in Star Trek or Star Wars, so I guess I didn’t realize just how big of a craze it was!
My roommate is a hardcore Star Trek fan, but I am not.
I love Star Wars, but I could never get into Star Trek. Interesting to learn that it had the first interracial kiss though.
Star Trek is very popular and has made a lot of money
Star Trek has always been one of my favorites! Kirk over Picard!
I grew up on Star Trek! My brother and I were big fans. A quote I still use is “he’s dead Jim”, as said by Bones. “Trouble with Tribbles” was my favorite because it was such a silly storyline.
We use to sit as a family and watch these episodes over and over again. The special effects were awesome.
I enjoyed these shows when I was younger! I love how we are still able to watch them on netflix and as reruns on some stations!
At my grandmother’s we had a Star Trek projector with those little disks you put in and you could turn to see on the wall. I spent many Saturday afternoons watching Star Trek: The Next Generation.
I have never been a fan of Star Trek but I know many do and it is very popular.
I have never seen Star Trek or been into movies like that, but I know a lot of people that love them.
I’m a Star Wars guy never liked Star Trek.
Star Trek was one of my favorite shows growing up and I had some of toys when I was a kid.
I never watched Star Trek or had any Star Trek toys. That is one major show that I never got into or any of my family ever got into. I always have thought that the show was cheesy. I did like Shatner on Rescue 911 growing up though.
Star Trek has achieved great fame, I know several people whom are obsessed with the show/movies. Personally I have never seen a single episode of this show.
I have never personally watched Star Trek, but I will say that Star Trek is considered one of the best sci-fi classics of all time!
I loved watching Star Trel, however, I am more of a Star Wars fan. I did not know Star trek was the series that had the first kiss on t.v.
I never got into Star Trek but they say it was one of the best sci fi shows. My dad watched them all and has all on tapes so I heard all about it
Star Trek really is an iconic TV series that has even inspired other shows such as StarGate. The fact that the series is still worth billions of dollars today, owned by CBS, and is compared to even Star Wars speaks volumes about the series.
I remember growing up and watching Star Trek with my Dad. I even attended Star Trek conventions with him also.
I never realized that the actual shows that were played on television were not as many as today. I am not a fan of Star Trek but I could see why so many people loved it. They did not have much to choose from.
I have never seen Star Trek not my type of show, I know that trekkies are very dedicated to the series though.
I never watched the tv shows but I really enjoyed the new movies that recently came out. My uncle used to do the Vulcan death grip to our heads…it’s just something he did and we laughed.
Growing up my dad always watched the t.v. shows, but I never paid attention. I have been wanting to watch the newer movie that came out.
I actually never watched Star Trek was never my type of show, but I know it was and still is a popular show.
My brother is a huge Star Trek fan! I have never seen the original shows, but I enjoy the movies.
I remember this being popular with my older brothers when I was growing up. I still get the characters all mixed up. I am not a huge science fiction fan.
As I looking at this interesting article, this is similar to the star war film that made in nowadays.
It’s crazy to think that Star Trek is still so popular today.
I used to watch the newer ones on TV when I was little but never really knew what was going on.
Star Trek really is an iconic TV series. The fact that the series is still worth billions of dollars today, and is compared to even Star Wars speaks volumes about the series.
I never really realized how popular Star Trek was. I have never seen the series nor did I read the comics or have any Star Trek toys.
I have watched Star Trek a few times with my dad before because he really enjoys it, but I never knew that it dated back so early with the original series. And it was almost cancelled! Many people would have been disappointed.