The Greatest Sci Fi TV Shows of All Time: Star Trek (1966)

The Greatest Sci Fi/Fantasy TV Shows: Considering the case for the sci fi and fantasy television shows that should be counted among the greatest of all time.

What Is It?

This series followed the crew of the USS Enterprise on their five-year mission to explore new worlds, make contact with alien civilizations, and also patrol the area of the galaxy that is governed by the United Federation of Planets.  (Read more about the show at this link.)

Aired: NBC, 1966-69, 3 Seasons Totaling 79 Episodes (Plus the Unaired Pilot)

Staring: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, Nichelle Nichols, James Doohan, George Takei, Walter Koenig

Created By: Gene Roddenberry

Argument to Count It as One of the Greatest Sci Fi TV Shows:

Star Trek arrived on television at a time when science fiction was trying to differentiate itself from fantasy in that medium and to get beyond the perception that it was a genre targeted mostly at younger viewers. Sci fi TV in the 1950s had delivered kid-friendly space operas like Captain Video and his Video Rangers, Space Patrol, Tom Corbett Space Cadet, and more which did not have much appeal for adult viewers. The late 50s and early 60s offered some more mature entries in the genre like Men Into Space, The Twilight Zone, and The Outer Limits, and Star Trek followed that trend. It delivered an episodic series that often followed alien-species-of-the-week stories, but those were used to stage morality plays that offered social commentary and/or philosophical insights. In addition, science fiction writers were brought on to create stories that respected the genre.

The vision of creator Gene Roddenberry is another important factor that drove this series and helped it stand out in Prime Time. He gave us a setting where humans have overcome their own failings and created a society that has achieved much of its potential. At a time when the real world was experiencing great strife, Star Trek suggested that there was hope and offered a brighter future that we could believe in. The people of Earth had learned to live together and get past petty differences and constant turmoil and they had moved out to the stars to explore the universe.

In addition, the cast of the show helped to bring everything together. William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, and Deforest Kelly provided the central core of characters that most of the stories revolved around, but James Doohan, Nichelle Nichols, George Takei, Walter Koenig, and the rest were just as essential to the series. They added diversity and a fleshed-out crew and have all since become iconic figures in sci fi TV.

Star Trek offered intelligent sci fi stories in a medium known for appealing to the lowest common denominator, and it also had a first-rate cast and a strong internal direction that ultimately led to a franchise that is still alive today, and it deserves to be considered one of the greatest genre entries of all-time if not the best.

Argument Against:

Despite all that the original series accomplished, it has not dated well. One of the goals of the show was to create an inclusive world where all are accepted as equals, but the sexism of its time is still quite apparent with Kirk as the ultimate alpha male and most women relegated to secondary roles. The show also has a tendency to descend into heavy-handed moralizing or bad camp or both when at its worst. Many of the special effects have not held up well over the years, and even with the addition of CGI to clean things up, it still looks very cheesy to modern eyes. Its place and importance in the history of sci fi television cannot be denied, but some could argue that the show does not hold up as well when compared to continuations like Star Trek: The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine or more accomplished recent genre entries like the Battlestar: Galactica reboot, The Expanse, and For All Mankind.

Johnny Jay’s Take:

Say what you will about how cheesy the original Trek looks today, I still consider it one of the best sci fi TV shows of all time if not the holder of the crown. For me, it is a toss-up between this and the original Twilight Zone, and few other shows come close. Star Trek not only delivered intelligent sci fi in a vapid Prime Time landscape, it also changed the game and set a high standard for genre entries to follow. After the ’60s, sci fi TV shows drew heavily on Trek and TZ and they continued to mature in the years that followed despite resistance from the networks that were averse to the genre. Many of the imitators fell short, but those that understood the true vision of shows like Trek and TZ have succeeded at delivering some of the better sci fi shows on television, whether or not they lasted for multiple seasons. Trek is still my go-to space-based show, and I can re-watch episodes today and still enjoy and appreciate them.

Where Can You Watch It?

The original series, along with most of the entries in the franchise, are mostly relegated to the Paramount+ streaming service these days. There is a live-streaming Star Trek channel on Pluto TV which is free with ads and that runs episodes of TOS plus TNG, DS9, and Voyager. The original series is also widely available on DVD and Blu-ray and you can purchase it VOD.

Do you consider Star Trek: The Original Series one of the greatest sci fi TV shows of all time, or is it overrated and a product of its era? Chime in with your thoughts below.

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