In North America in the mid-late 60's was a period of social change. A tv show like Star Trek would appeal to a wide range of audiences for many of the same reasons it is appealing today. People enjoy the future-forward premise, the different ways of organising human activity, and peaceful relations. Given the long and violent past of most people having a show focus on a peaceful future is an experiment in idealism. While the mission of exploration still harkens back to "manifest destiny" and genocidal imperialism communicating with and understanding different perspectives and histories was also a humanistic view propelled by the disastrous effects of WWII and is a prominent feature of post-colonialist theory. So a tv show that presented these and other kinds of human stories on a, relatively, equal platform, unlike any other show in mainstream communications was appealing. The same model, however, due to its corporate backbone prevented investment as it was too risky and might lose corporate sponsorship. Additionally, now with digital media it is far less expensive to produce shows like these. Sci-fi shows are readily distributed. Most are not as ground-breaking as Star Trek but they are appealing for similar reasons upon which the original show was based.
"There is no human problem which could not be solved if people would simply do as I advise." - Gore Vidal
Sunday, April 07, 2019
Star Trek "business model"
To what extent did the business model of network television enable Star Trek: The Original Series to appeal to such a wide range of audiences? In ways did that same model constrain it?
In North America in the mid-late 60's was a period of social change. A tv show like Star Trek would appeal to a wide range of audiences for many of the same reasons it is appealing today. People enjoy the future-forward premise, the different ways of organising human activity, and peaceful relations. Given the long and violent past of most people having a show focus on a peaceful future is an experiment in idealism. While the mission of exploration still harkens back to "manifest destiny" and genocidal imperialism communicating with and understanding different perspectives and histories was also a humanistic view propelled by the disastrous effects of WWII and is a prominent feature of post-colonialist theory. So a tv show that presented these and other kinds of human stories on a, relatively, equal platform, unlike any other show in mainstream communications was appealing. The same model, however, due to its corporate backbone prevented investment as it was too risky and might lose corporate sponsorship. Additionally, now with digital media it is far less expensive to produce shows like these. Sci-fi shows are readily distributed. Most are not as ground-breaking as Star Trek but they are appealing for similar reasons upon which the original show was based.
In North America in the mid-late 60's was a period of social change. A tv show like Star Trek would appeal to a wide range of audiences for many of the same reasons it is appealing today. People enjoy the future-forward premise, the different ways of organising human activity, and peaceful relations. Given the long and violent past of most people having a show focus on a peaceful future is an experiment in idealism. While the mission of exploration still harkens back to "manifest destiny" and genocidal imperialism communicating with and understanding different perspectives and histories was also a humanistic view propelled by the disastrous effects of WWII and is a prominent feature of post-colonialist theory. So a tv show that presented these and other kinds of human stories on a, relatively, equal platform, unlike any other show in mainstream communications was appealing. The same model, however, due to its corporate backbone prevented investment as it was too risky and might lose corporate sponsorship. Additionally, now with digital media it is far less expensive to produce shows like these. Sci-fi shows are readily distributed. Most are not as ground-breaking as Star Trek but they are appealing for similar reasons upon which the original show was based.
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