Starlog Entry 2

Starlog Entry 2
Stardate 52920.2 - Promoted to Ensign

Business Model of Star Trek: The Original Series, Influencing audiences
 In its conception, Star Trek: The Original Series, was a product of the television networks of the time. This fact contributed to the popularity, and ultimately the cancellation, of the series.
   In 1962, the Telstar Communications Satellite was launched into space, which allowed Transatlantic communication for the first time. Because of this, Star Trek: TOS was able to reach an audience, and eventually gain popularity, all over the world.
   Once networks could broadcast to a much wider audience, they chose to focus their programming on family-friendly content, with gripping stories that made audiences want to watch through the commercials. The original pilot episode of Star Trek: TOS, aired in 1966,  did not adhere to many of those standards; it was deemed "too cerebral" by the network. As stated by Scott Mantz, "You could see the struggle between art and commerce with Start Trek right from the beginning."
   However, in an unusual move, the network called for a second pilot. Here, they made some changes to better fit what the network sought. The show changed the uniforms to include more color, added action sequences to the plot, and recast the captain. The recast captain, William Shatner, brought with him a charisma that brought the cast together in a way not seen in the original pilot. The network's request of these changes shaped how the series would proceed, showing audiences that Science Fiction TV could be engaging and exciting.
   Star Trek was originally produced by Desilu, owned by Lucille Ball. This fact allowed the series to survive longer than many planned. Lucille Ball was a strong advocate for the show, and "stuck her neck out for the production" many times. Desilu was "willing to foot the bill for the huge budget," and Ball physically helped the show when needed.
   Unfortunately, Desilu was sold to Paramount, which led to constraints placed upon Star Trek: TOS. The show no longer had an advocate in the board room, but they still had their high budget. The ratings of the show were decent, but not high enough to warrant the budget. Because of the change in production companies, Star Trek: TOS did not fit the new network's models to continue production, thus the show was cancelled.
   It was only after cancellation that networks started tracking demographics, of who watched their programming. It is assumed that Star Trek: TOS could have been renewed, had the network tracked their audience. Star Trek: TOS appealed to younger audience members, a network's target audience, who were deeply loyal to the show. Had they known this, Star Trek: TOS could have seen more seasons.
   The network business model of the time led to the creation of the show, as we all know it now: colored uniforms, action-driven plots, and memorable characters. That same model, however, also led to constraints placed upon the series, and those constraints ultimately led to cancellation.


To include my discussion post thoughts:

Two Rankings, for two different questions

discussion posted  by ksbarlow04

I don't think there is just one answer for both questions. I believe Star Trek: TNG, "Encounter at Far Point" used the television format on which it was shown the best. Syndication was new to the television world, and Star Trek used it to its full advantage, earning Paramount far more than what was considered average. I would rank TOS second; it used the recently developed transatlantic communication to its advantage. Deep Space Nine and Voyager followed TNG's path. Voyager took a risk with UPN, but did okay. I feel Star Trek: Discovery went in a wrong direction. It tried to do what TNG did, by using a new broadcast service. However, there was push back because it was yet another paid subscription service. I feel the series could have fared better using a different avenue. As for the societal issues, I feel that Star Trek: Voyager did a better job addressing these, primarily by having a female captain. This was aired during a fight for more women equality, and it seems to have the strongest visual to support that fight. Deep Space Nine did a similar thing by casing an African-American captain. Both of these show how Star Trek has always tried to push societal envelopes, and do what is progressive.

To sum up: 
Two ranking orders- 
Best use of television formats: 1. TNG 2. TOS 3. Voyager 4. DSN 5. Enterprise 6. Discovery 
Best address of contemporary societal issues: 1. Voyager 2. DSN 3. Discovery 4. TOS 5. TNG 6. Enterprise
(Rankings likely influenced by my personal preference