Star Trek: The Original Series

It is said that if you scratch any Sci-Fi fan a little, you will find a fan of Star Trek: The Original Series (TOS). From now on, I mean TOS when I say Star Trek.

I bought Star Trek DVDs
I recently bought seasons 1-3 of TOS from Amazon, where they were priced very well. Yes, I know that the remastered editions would be coming out soon, but I couldn't resist the urge to make a good deal on a program I secretly love.

My attachment to Star Trek is purely emotional. I have always liked watching some Star Trek and then looking at the heavens on a moonless, cold night. I can't watch Star Trek just any time though, but when I'm in the mood for it, I enjoy the simplistic plots, the well-rounded but non-complex main characters. It's like talking to an old friend. Sure there are blemishes and irritating mannerisms, but you've grown used to them so much that they only register when you're grumpy. That's why I watch Star Trek when I'm not grumpy or peeved.

The Cast
Why has Star Trek become such an important part of pop culture worldwide? The series was a failure. It hardly had any original ideas. The science in Star Trek was woefully wrong, and rather funny. The acting was ordinary, and even campy: I still laugh at the macho statements of James T. Kirk (William Shatner, now known as the Priceline.com guy). The bloodshot eyes of DeForest Kelley ("Bones") were those of an sardonic alcoholic. You could relate to these guys. And then there was the satanic Mr. Spock, who was admirably logical for the 1960s. The most iconic Star Trek actor was the beautiful black woman Uhura (Nichelle Nichols), at the time when segregation was the norm in the Southeast. There was Chekov with his thick Russian accent and Scotty with his thick Scottish accent. There was a Japanese fellow called Sulu who occasionally had a role to play. These things were revolutionary for their times, but the force behind Star Trek, Gene Roddenberry wanted a diverse cast.

Reasons for iconic status
In my opinion, the success of Star Trek stemmed from being a simple show. Every episode was like a fable, and it had a message. All messages were simple. The plot was straight forward: Kirk was the brawn (and occasionally the brain), Spock was the brains and Bones was there for commentary. Kirk was irresistible and kissed all pretty women. Spock collected samples and conducted analysis. It was a soap opera where space was used for dramatic effect. Warp Speed got them anywhere in the universe in a short time. Teleportation meant they didn't have to show 2001-like landing scenes. Trouble often arose when the flip-open communicator was lost or just wouldn't work. Star Trek succeeded because it had believable characters, progressive storylines and good pacing that kept viewers engaged. It was loved because it was optimistic and cheerful, even when discussing very serious matters. It's a difficult balance to be both relevant and optimistic.

Conclusions
Of course, the fans loved the series obsessively, and a massive franchise was born. There have been many movies and sequels, some of them good (The Wrath of Khan) and some bad (Voyager). But most ideas can be found in TOS. For the Star Trek franchise and for most other science fiction. It was done first in Star Trek.

Here's a link to the summaries of every TOS episode by Eric Weisstein.