#TodayinTVHistory 1966, Star Trek premieres. The iconic science-fiction television series was created by Gene Roddenberry and follows the adventures of the crew of the starship USS Enterprise. It later acquired the retronym of Star Trek: The Original Series (TOS) to distinguish it from the myriad of spinoffs and continuation series. The show is set roughly 200 years from nw and starred William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk, Leonard Nimoy as First Officer and Science Officer Spock, DeForestKelley as Chief Medical Officer Leonard McCoy, James Doohan as Egineer Montgmery "Scotty Scott, George Takei as Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu, Nichelle Nichols as Lieutenant Nyota Uhura, Walter Koenig as Ensign Pavel Chekov, and Majel Barrett-Roddenberry (she later wed the series creator in 1969) as Christine Chapel. While the show initially enjoyed high ratings, by the end of the first season the average ratings dropped and NBC threatened to cancel the show during its second season. The show's fan base, led by Bjo and John Trimble, conducted an unprecedented "Save Star Trek" letter-writing campaign, petitioning the network to keep the show on the air. The series was renewed but moved from prime-time to the so-called "Friday night death slot." In protest of the time slot and significant budget cuts, Roddenberry resigned as producer and reduced his direct involvement in Star Trek. Despite another letter-writing campaign, NBC canceled the series after three seasons and 79 episodes. However, 50+ years later, the cultural impact Star Trek has had is beyond what anyone in 1969 could have imagined. "Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise. Its five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before. " #StarTrek#CaptainKirk#Spock#Uhura#Bones#Scotty#generoddenberry#startrekday
The Paley Center for Media
#TodayinTVHistory 1966, Star Trek premieres. The iconic science-fiction television series was created by Gene Roddenberry and follows the adventures of the crew of the starship USS Enterprise. It later acquired the retronym of Star Trek: The Original Series (TOS) to distinguish it from the myriad of spinoffs and continuation series. The show is set roughly 200 years from nw and starred William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk, Leonard Nimoy as First Officer and Science Officer Spock, DeForestKelley as Chief Medical Officer Leonard McCoy, James Doohan as Egineer Montgmery "Scotty Scott, George Takei as Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu, Nichelle Nichols as Lieutenant Nyota Uhura, Walter Koenig as Ensign Pavel Chekov, and Majel Barrett-Roddenberry (she later wed the series creator in 1969) as Christine Chapel. While the show initially enjoyed high ratings, by the end of the first season the average ratings dropped and NBC threatened to cancel the show during its second season. The show's fan base, led by Bjo and John Trimble, conducted an unprecedented "Save Star Trek" letter-writing campaign, petitioning the network to keep the show on the air. The series was renewed but moved from prime-time to the so-called "Friday night death slot." In protest of the time slot and significant budget cuts, Roddenberry resigned as producer and reduced his direct involvement in Star Trek. Despite another letter-writing campaign, NBC canceled the series after three seasons and 79 episodes. However, 50+ years later, the cultural impact Star Trek has had is beyond what anyone in 1969 could have imagined. "Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise. Its five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before. " #StarTrek #CaptainKirk #Spock #Uhura #Bones #Scotty #generoddenberry #startrekday
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