David the Contributor speaking. Today is Star Trek day, commemorating the air date of The Original Series’ first episode back in 1966.
Where to begin on this one? Well, Star Trek is a pop culture behemoth, while also somehow still retaining enough niche-ness to stay special for its nerdy fans – a feature that most likely comes from its general hugeness and expansive…ness. I mean, there’s like 5 Star Trek series running in tandem on Paramount Plus right now, come on.
Digression aside, Star Trek: The Original Series really had to fight tooth and nail to stay on the air. NBC was ready to cancel it after season 2, but fans campaigned enough to save TOS until its demise at the end of season 3.
Watching The Original Series now is often hit-or-miss, what with the Klingons’ original racially-insensitive makeup and Kirk’s many, er, romantic escapades. But there’s many more episodes full of unique sci-fi premises, goofy fight scenes, and surprisingly progressive political dialogue (for the 1960’s) that it’s worth a watch.