Star Trek Lives! So What.
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| Title: | Star Trek Lives! So What. |
| Creator: | J.R. Wilson |
| Date(s): | July 1978 |
| Medium: | |
| Fandom: | Star Trek: TOS |
| Topic: | |
| External Links: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Star Trek Lives! So What. is a 1978 essay by J.R. Wilson.
It was printed in Sol Plus #5.
The topic is was fans and their power, the cuts to the space program in the United States, Gene Roddenberry influence, Star Trek as a blueprint for a better future, and fan campaigns.
Excerpts
No doubt most of you are still rejoicing at Paramount's decision to raise Star Trek from the grave. After all, I can think of only one other TV series ever to undergo such a rebirth. Which means ST is now right up there with — Dragnet.
So what?
Well maybe, if Roddenberry is given everything he wants, the quality of TV entertainment will go up a tad — on some stations, at least. Then again, it may not be enough to offset the lowering brought about by Space: 1999 on many of those same stations.
All in all, however, this resurrection will have little lasting effect on the future of civilization.
Yet this unusual recycling of a show that went off the air eight years ago does prove how much influence can be exerted by a relative handful of rabid, never-say-die fanatics. In fact, it is a stunning testimonial to what can be accomplished by determined people who refuse to surrender, who believe strongly enough to keep on going no matter how high the odds or seemingly impossible the goal.
And that demonstration may well have lasting effect if ST and SF fans have the guts to take up a new fight, one that makes getting ST back on the air look like child's play.
How many of you can tell me what two major (to most of you, at least) happenings took place within two weeks of each other in the first part of July, 1969?
July 3, 1969: — Turnabout Intruder was aired — the last new ST episode the world would see for nine years.
July 16, 1969: — Apollo left Terra for the Sea of Tranquility, Luna.
It was almost prophetic. NASA and ST had enjoyed their greatest years together. The series continued to live in reruns and so did NASA, for while, at least.
But public enthusiasm for the space program quickly waned. We had beaten the Russians, we had walked on the moon. So what? With the exception of Apollo 13, everything went so smoothly it became routine, even dull to many people.
Other problems pushed the space program further and further down the list of priorities. The NASA budget was slashed and slashed. Thousands of aerospace workers, scientists, technicians and other skilled and creative people lost their jobs.
Eight years pass and ST is making a comeback — but what of NASA? Today, frankly, the general public doesn't give a damn. To most, the space program is a waste of money, foolish, worthless. What's in it for me? they ask. What did the space program ever do for me?
The question is: Are ST fans willing to settle for the rebirth of a fantasy filmed on a sound stage in Hollywood? Or are you willing to tackle a real job — getting the American people to realize what the space program has meant and will mean to them personally, to each and every one as individuals?
NASA is trying. New efforts at public education are being made every day by a corps of dedicated, enthusiastic men and women working for the space program throughout the country.
"To boldly go where no man has gone before." Has a nice ring to it, doesn't it? The problem is, you can't get there aboard ST's Enterprise — but you can at least get a start aboard NASA's Enterprise.
What has all this to do with you? What can you, a lone individual, do to get the space program back to the high priority status it deserves?
Ask Gene Roddenberry. He could tell you what you can do. He's seen what you can do. Only now, instead of writing to Paramount or NBC, write to your congressman, senator — and President. The same rules apply: be polite, reasonable, thoughtful and sincere. Don't send petitions or form letters or Xerox copies. But if every ST and SF fan wrote such letters, if each of you made the effort, you could change the course of human history.
It's taken eight years of such dedication to bring back a quality effort at fictionalized space travel. What would you be willing to give for the real thing?