Lucille Ball: Mother of Science Fiction Classic Star Trek
What do they have in common? Lucille Ball.
The wacky red head comedian along with Cuban born husband Desi Arnaz not only gave us a ground breaking comedy classic, but with their studio Desilu brought to TV audiences the science fiction masterpiece Star Trek. If Gene Roddenberry was its loving father, Lucy was its nurturing, entertainment savvy mother.
It was 1964. Seven years earlier, America had said goodbye to the Ricardos as I Love Lucy ended. Through careful business dealings, Desi and Lucy had amassed an enormous fortune and Desilu, their studio created in 1951 produced everything from sitcoms to spy shows. Gene Roddenberry, a former LA police officer turned screenwriter was pitching a new television series about a galaxy traveling starship or as he described it "wagon train to the stars."
Some at Desilu balked at Roddenberry's sci-fi concept, thinking it was childish fare or mere escapist action oriented science fiction like Flash Gordon or Buck Rogers. While Roddenberry may have gained inspiration from those two pioneering sci-fi properties, he invested thoughtfulness, intellectual stimulation and philosophy into Star Trek that caught the attention of Lucille Ball. She both liked Gene Roddenberry and felt his idea had huge potential. After rejecting the pilot, The Cage as being "too cerebral" - it's said Lucy stood firmly behind the show, prompting NBC to order a second pilot - something exceedingly rare in the television business.
Star Trek premiered on NBC in 1966. After three seasons, the network canceled the show citing dismal ratings. Shortly thereafter, executives realized the most valuable audience segment - the favored demographic of males 18-49 were primary viewers. This is advertising gold. If NBC had known this fact before cancellation, Star Trek may have had additional seasons
In syndication, Star Trek saw new life and lived long and prospered. Fans who missed Captain Kirk's adventures loved the reruns, while new generations discovered it. The rest is history, as in television, film and book publishing history. It spun off four additional programs and at this count ten feature films with an eleventh being produced and directed by JJ Abrams and scheduled for release in December 2008.
Evidently Lucy not only knew funny, she knew great science fiction too.
Published by Will Stape
Will is an Emmy Award nominated screenwriter. He also writes extensively for magazines and the web. Will penned episodes for the TV shows, "Star Trek: The Next Generation" & "Deep Space Nine." In 2010... View profile
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- Lucy stood by Star Trek after NBC rejected the first pilot.
- Desilu was the studio Lucille Ball and husband Desi Arnaz created in 1951.
- I Love Lucy & Star Trek are both classic TV shows.
6 Comments
Post a CommentInteresting, I never knew of this connection. Lucy was a great lady.
As a Lucy fan and original Trek fan as a kid, I really enjoyed this fact-ridden yet entertaining article. It's also fun to hear of presumed flops turn into such huge successes - making the nay-sayers eat hat. Awesome read, William, Thanks!
This is a great historic article. I remember seeing the connection in a roll by of credits. This article clearly explains everything. Thank you!
This one I DID know. Lucy was one smart cookie!
I had heard about this previously as a rumor. Thanks for verifying it. Lucy was a very powerful lady at a time when women weren't supposed to be powerful. She was way ahead of her time.
I never knew this.