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I was just a little kid, but I was a fan - - however, I was very loyal to "Lost in Space" so I was not going all out on Batman or Star Trek...also loved "Voyage to the Bottom of The Sea", "The Time Tunnel", "Land of the Giants", "The Invaders" ,
"The Man from U.N.C.L.E" (and the girl), "Wild, Wild West" (sci-fi western in pre-steampunk kinda way) etc..
I was one of those who wrote hadfulls of letters after the second season cancellation. I could pretty much quote the script of any episode after it went into syndication too. When I had a kid to babysit and their tv wasn't working, I brought my own tv since it wouldn't miss it.
But the best of all was that my friends and I were participating in its dedicated fandom before we knew it existed. We had two little groups, each with a reel to reel tape recorder. We'd do our own episodes and trade. Janice Rand always was there just to chase the Captain, or sometimes Spock. It was wonderful. Thinking back its really good that none of those would play now. I still remember the one with the giant popcorn machine beamed in by the bad guy which wouldn't go off... er, we had GOOD imaginations.
I went to the second Star Trek convention ever, in Los Angeles, the Fire Martial con, around 1970. They expected a couple hundred, then decided to run an ad during the repeat of the show in syndication.
They had two thousand people sold memberships. There would be more but they would only let in so many at a time. Wiser members of the con comittee had warned the one who did the ad and he didn't listen. But the mascarade was wonderful. There was the Rock monster, done to absolute detail. There were other very very well done costumes. And there was the costume NBC wouldn't allow... which was... a cape. She was 14 but looked like a ten year old. She was rushed off the stage and worse everyong thought it was a joke (she assumed a way different reaction). Just like the guy with the peanut butter coating as some comic character at an early Comic Con in San Diego inspired the rule a costume makeup must not rub or fall off on furnature, (the hotel wasn't thrilled) she inspired the rule that for hall or stage, wearing nothing wasn't a costume.
The best thing was discovering that we were not alone, that there were lots of other fans who wanted to play in the world, and discovering fan fiction was not our own invention.
I still have my badge from Equicon 1, even if you can't read my name anymore.
I still write fan fiction, even thought its more DS9 alternate history now since its really fascinating what would have been if they'd lost the Dominion war.
Star Trek has been an intergral part of my life since by mid teens and always will be. And it introduced me to fandom, which is my real family.
I'm really looking forward to the JJ Abrams alternate movies now that there is no Vulcan, and it can't roll out the same way it did in the other universe.
I was just a little kid, but I was a fan - - however, I was very loyal to "Lost in Space" so I was not going all out on Batman or Star Trek...also loved "Voyage to the Bottom of The Sea", "The Time Tunnel", "Land of the Giants", "The Invaders" ,
"The Man from U.N.C.L.E" (and the girl), "Wild, Wild West" (sci-fi western in pre-steampunk kinda way) etc..
I watched ALL of those. I read all the UNCLE books too, and was really mad when my full set of first editions dissapeared during a move. They were worth a chunk, but it was more than that, like a piece of childhood.
My mom had primed me to use my imaginations with a constant flow of science fiction and fantasy along with my addiction to history and biographies so I was ready to let it flow.
I'd love a channel with JUST the 60's shows, including the westerns. But at least Netflix has a lot of them.
One truism about "Star Trek" in the 1960s was that its ratings were mediocre. Some have since claimed that the show was actually more popular at the time because of errors in the way ratings were determined back them. Were any of you around back then and enjoyed the show in its original run?
I was around then and thoroughly enjoyed watching the original Star Trek series. Yes, the acting was lousy, but it was fun to watch. I had the hots for Dr. McCoy. "Dammit, Jim. I'm a doctor, not a magician!"
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I loved Star Trek passionately, and while it seems dated today in comparison to some of the amazing CGI-enhanced movies out now, it was pretty intense for it's time. What I also loved was finding out some of my favorite authors had written two of my favorite episodes. Harlan Ellison wrote City on the Edge of Forever ( though Roddenberry did rewrite it), and Robert Bloch (Psycho) wrote several episodes including the odd Catspaw.
I was a fan. I've always enjoyed topical shows, and for all the silliness, Star Trek subtly tackled a lot of controversial issues under the guise of science fiction.
Did you know that TV's first inter-racial kiss was on Star Trek? Of course, they had to play it as something Captain Kirk was "forced" to do by aliens who were controlling him. LOL as if Kirk had to be forced to smooch a hottie.
The episode where they met people who were half black and half white, but fought with each other because some had the black color on the left side and some had it on the right side had some nice political zingers.
Episodes where they had the chance to change history, but then realized it was important to let wars happen and allow history to play out were interesting.
Even The Trouble With Tribbles was topical--sure the gag was to dump a big pile of tribbles on Kirk but it was also an environmental message and was basically a retelling of the devastation that happened when rabbits were introduced to Australia.
But the best of all was that my friends and I were participating in its dedicated fandom before we knew it existed. We had two little groups, each with a reel to reel tape recorder. We'd do our own episodes and trade. Janice Rand always was there just to chase the Captain, or sometimes Spock. It was wonderful. Thinking back its really good that none of those would play now. I still remember the one with the giant popcorn machine beamed in by the bad guy which wouldn't go off... er, we had GOOD imaginations.
Oh, I love it!!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dockside
I loved Star Trek passionately, and while it seems dated today in comparison to some of the amazing CGI-enhanced movies out now
Why? Certainly the writing on Star Trek is amazingly superior to most of the crap that's on the movie screens and TVs these days. Glitz and flash do not a good story make.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Caladium
I was a fan. I've always enjoyed topical shows, and for all the silliness, Star Trek subtly tackled a lot of controversial issues under the guise of science fiction.
Excellent point; the show really does reflect the social upheaval of the 60s. Not only inter-racial kisses, but inter-species kisses!
The only social-commentary aspect where Star Trek really failed, IMO, is in portraying women. For the most part, women still played a subservient role, unless they were alien women -- the Romulan ship commander, for instance (who, alas, was still "weak" enough to be duped by a handsome man). While poor Uhura's being on the bridge was progress, she still was just a telephone operator. The show backed down from having a female as second in command, as portrayed in the pilot. And the women all wore those shockingly short skirts!
The most controversial thing on Star Trek may have been the outfits. Not only the short skirts, but also the outfits the alien women wore.
There was an epic battle over an episode where they wanted the alien women to wear outfits in which the upper half of the breasts were covered but the area underneath the breasts was exposed. It was supposed to make you think about how strange our customs area--why are we comfortable exposing breasts all the way down to the nipple, but are bothered to see the area underneath a breast, even though it's just skin?
I guess they went too far with that question, however--the censors said "No way Jose!" So they finally changed the costumes. I'm still not sure why those censors were so afraid to see the area underneath a breast. What do they think is under there? Moss?
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"Dammit, Jim. I'm a doctor, not a magician!"
