I first watched Star Trek (now called The Original Series – TOS) with my father. He let me stay up to watch it. I was eight in 1966. We didn’t have a color TV then, so the crew’s yellow, red, and blue costumes and all the colorful blinking lights were lost on us. All those color choices were designed to sell big, expensive color sets. We didn’t get a color set until 1972. By then Star Trek was gone, and it would be years before I saw it again in reruns.
But my father and I were loyal viewers. It was, I think, my first appointment television. My ass was on that couch when that cold open appeared. Every. God. Damned. Week. My father was its target demographic. A 38-year-old man with a degree in Electronic Engineering served in the Navy in WWII. The Enterprise and its crew felt just familiar enough to make their missions seem plausible.
But the show ran on a network that made color TVs (NBC was owned by General Electric) and it was produced by Desi Arnez. It only ever had the one job—to make money. That meant attracting viewers so the network could sell ads. After 3 years, the numbers didn’t add up and TOS was DOA.
Over the years, I watched all the movies and shows. Every single one. Multiple times. And fans like me made the Star Trek numbers add up. Star Trek became an unlikely jewel in the crown of Paramount. So when Paramount changed hands, it was always one of its selling points.
Just recently, Larry Ellison bought Paramount for his kid. And the Ellisons pledged their fealty to our MAGA king. Larry seems enthusiastic about the more authoritarian aspects of our current administration. He showed that enthusiasm by firing Stephen Colbert and gutting CBS News. So, yeah. It’s not great.
It’s hard to enjoy a science fiction show about a utopic future without scarcity, where the galactic federation promotes freedom and justice, while that show is owned by champions of the other thing. It feels like Star Trek has become an opiate for the masses, keeping them safely asleep, while stormtroopers kill our neighbors in the street.
I wish that was hyperbole. But it’s not.
I’ve been incredibly saddened to have to boycott Paramount and miss out on the latest Star Trek series, Starfleet Academy. What I’ve seen on social media looks great. But I’ can’t hope for that future while my subscription dollars are going to a company fighting against it.
So, sixty years this year.
I don’t see the Ellisons selling Paramount for decades. And I don’t see them changing their political philosophy ever. That means Star Trek belongs to them for the rest of my life. And THAT means I’m done with Star Trek.
It breaks my heart.
But there are new stories to be written. So, I’ll write them.