Star Trek Premiers on TV

I never watched it. 2 reasons.
I was too young to follow it.
My brother wouldn't leave it on. He would get up and change the channel saying We're not watching this crap.

I don't know what he put on instead.

I didn't get into it until, in 1979, I read, The Making of Star Trek.

Then I watched it to see how Gene Roddenberry made his vision a reality.
 
Key Hollywood industry power types due to envy, hated the success of Star Trek because it meant less likely success for prime time soap operas and situational comedies they preferred. Thus made sure it was cancelled after season 3 by manipulating its evening time slots and having affiliates ignore broadcasts. Although one can read it was about ratings, that was just an excuse because after 2 highly rated seasons, TV execs purposely moved it into a doomed time slot and when that indeed lowered ratings, used that as a lame excuse despite protests to immediately end it without more chances. The real truth here:

Star Trek: The Real Reason Why NBC Cancelled The Original Series Revealed?
 
I missed it when it first showed up. It was a time of my life when I didn't own a TV or even care if I had one. But in graduate school, a buddy of mine invited me to supper at his apartment when daily reruns of StarTrek coincided with supper. I was enthralled. I didn't realize TV could be so exciting, creative, and thoughtful, So for the rest of the year we would eat hamburgers and watch an episode of StarTrek Mondays through Fridays.
 
Actor status as of October 2024 - (red still living, black deceased):

William Shatner b. 3/21/31 current age 93
Leonard Nimoy 3/26/31 - 2/27/15 at age 83
DeForest Kelley 1/20/20 - 6/11/15 at age 79
James Doohan 3/3/20 - 7/20/05 at age 85
George Takei b. 4/20/37 current age 87
Walter Koenig b. 9/14/36 current age 88
Nichelle Nichols 12/28/32 - 7/30/22 at age 89
Majel Barrett 2/23/32 - 12/18/08 at age 76
 
I didn't have the opportunity to watch the original series when it first aired. I did watch Doctor Who with my children when it was screened on free to air TV. I found it to be both entertaining and sometimes thought provoking.

Later, when I was teaching the Computing Studies syllabus to junior high school girls, the Intelligent Systems lobe required an examination of the way robots were depicted in literature and films versus the nature and function of actual robots. It also required me to introduce the girls to the I Robot short stories of Issac Asimov. Together we watched the Dr Who episodes "Robots of Death" and went to the movies to see The Lawnmower Man.

At the same time, the Original Series of Star Trek was rescreened on Australian TV. For professional reasons I watched the episodes, some of which were quite hilarious. The special effects were very unsophisticated, especially the episode where a man scrabbling around under a piece of carpet was supposed to be a dangerous being that inhabited a mine ???

However, I became hooked on Star Trek and have followed every incarnation of the story, including later series and all of the movies. From a hokey beginning, Roddenberry's creation developed into something rather special with plot lines that can appeal to every age group.
 
I was enjoying an all expenses paid period in "Veeet Nam" at that time. My Mom watched it, however, and told me about it. Watched some of it when my ship came back to San Diego from WestPac but never became a fan.
 

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