57 years ago, a Thursday, NBC aired the first episode of a new space show that would go on to transform society in ways big and small, inspire 11 spin-off series, several movie franchises and whole reams of novels, models, tie-ins and more.
It started as a pitch for " 'Wagon Train' to the stars" but became whole detailed fictional universes inspiring our own real one with a promise that we'll figure this all out and we'll be the better for it. That there's a whole universe out there.
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OK, Gene Roddenberry's pitch for Star Trek was Wagon Train to the stars.
Wagon Train was a very popular show but is almost unknown to modern audiences.
Here is a complete episode from 1963. I've only seen the teaser, never saw an episode before so this will be a new thing to me, and probably you too. I wonder how much we'll recognize?
Here is Wagon Train. Season 6, episode 34 (!) (Can you imagine their production turnaround?)
"Alias Bill Hawks"
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Wow, that was really good. So the wagon train is the Enterprise and the planet of the week are the small towns and personal dramas the eternally wandering wagon train encounter and remedy.
Looked up Joan Freeman. She's still with us, had an impressive guest star career right up into the late 1990s.
Also much respect for lead Terry Wilson. I recognized him from guest roles in later shows and movies, now I have context for those after he'd made some 267 50 minute episodes of Wagon Train.
I'm in my mid 60s now fellow citizen TheWholeTruthXX, and the original Star Trek was the inspiration for many future scientists, engineers, and humanitarians.
And simply kind and just and gentle people.
It helped me to discover that we are all delivered into a magnificent world of great promise that has never been accomplished, but only because we refuse to accept that we are one race.
The human race.
When I wrote "A Grand Challenge" I remember thinking of numerous episodes, from "A Taste of Armageddon" to "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield", and many between, as well as numerous other inspirational texts and shows, desperately trying to convey both the urgency and hope I felt when first viewing or reading them.
I did not succeed, but I did forward at least the beginning of a hope to move all of us beyond the everyday horrors of today.
ST
"A Grand Challenge
My friends, the simple truth is that we are wasting our precious time, resources, intellect, and passion. As a species we are just as aimless today as when our primitive ancestors first ventured out upon this earth.
Today I am proposing that for the first time in human history, we change that.
Radically.
More than any time in history, humanity needs a grand challenge. Not only to avert its extinction, but also to indelibly etch the common bond of mutual reliance and cooperation on current and future generations.
Fortunately, all of the forces that now seem to conspire against us can quickly be turned to our advantage.
For the first time in human history we actually possess technologies so advanced that any physical problem can potentially be solved.
And yet, I wonder, do we possess the will and wisdom to utilize them for our salvation instead of our destruction?
I propose that we find out.
So today I offer you a radical and stark choice between two future realities.
An aimless future of continued war and conflict, with all its accompanying suffering and death; or a limitless future dedicated to defeating suffering and death itself, with all its accompanying technological advancement and social evolution.
Yes indeed, I have a new plan, for all of you. A plan of hope. A plan of adventure. A plan of such extraordinary magnitude as to take the breath, and challenge the senses, of all who would consider it. A plan to bind our common people in hope, and finally free our conscience for noble purpose.
I propose that in the next three decades we at last end the scourge of human disease upon this Earth, and begin the inevitable adventure of humanity's migration beyond it.
We shall at last unlock the fundamental secrets of our biology so we may conquer any illness or defect at will, and we shall free ourselves from the bonds of our native home so we may evade global calamities, and begin the expansion of our species beyond this world.
No longer shall our survival be dependent upon the random and dispassionate forces of nature. No longer shall we quiver in anguish as we helplessly watch those we love suffer and die in agony from an endless list of human disease and dysfunction. No longer shall our globe be divided in constant turmoil and conflict while the hammer of fate hangs precariously balanced over all we know and love.
We shall at last take control of our future, our fate, and ourselves.
No other endeavor ever attempted by humankind will require more genius, dedication, compassion, and sacrifice.
And no other endeavor ever attempted by humankind will be more vital to the continued existence of our species.
I understand that for many this may initially seem like pure science fiction. This is to be expected since the scales of the threats we face reside within the scope of what we have always considered to be science fiction. However, in reality, all of these goals are well within our technological reach. They are the quickest, and I believe only, way for our species to battle both the physical and societal threats that will continue to confront us."
SearingTruth, A Future of the Brave, 2005
@adwright Love me some Star Trek - especially the original series, as hammy as it could be at times.
@adwright I remember Wagon Train! It was massively popular in Australia where I was growing up - and I presume around the world
@adwright@mastodon.social
Did you forget to thank Lucille Ball and Desilu Studios for funding the first (sorta failed) and second pilots?
@benhm3 Oh absotively not. If you search my timeline I've mentioned it several times, most recently in terms of my bingeing the classic Mission: Impossible which she also single-handedly saved from her economy-minded board.
@adwright My parents watched that first season of Star Trek, so I did too as a child and loved it, but that episode with the creature that had sucker tipped fingers freaked me out pretty badly
The first episode I saw was "The Enemy Within". Mum said there was this space show she thought I might enjoy. I was the kid used to write NASA and they'd treat me like an adult and send me these huge press release packs full of tech. That shit was like blood transfusions to middle of Hell me.
So I watched evil and good Kirk duke it out and I wasn't sure what to make of it but I was there next week. I built the AMT Enterprise model not long after. :)
@adwright Oh yeah! I definitely had that same model kit. I'd almost forgotten about it.