Star Trek Turns 60: How a Canceled Space Show Predicted Our Future and Changed TV Forever

Sixty years ago today, a low-budget space western with philosophical questions premiered on NBC. Star Trek only lasted three seasons before the network pulled the plug. But in those three years, it planted a seed that grew into one of the biggest entertainment franchises in history. It survived because Lucille Ball’s studio Desilu paid for a second pilot when the network wanted to walk away, and because reruns turned a canceled show into a cultural phenomenon that never stopped growing.

The show broke ground in ways we still feel today. It aired the first interracial kiss on American television in 1968. It put a diverse crew on the bridge at a time when that was a risk, not a trend. And it painted a picture of the future that wasn’t doom and gloom. It saw humanity solving problems, exploring new worlds, and living in peace. That optimism inspired real engineers and astronauts, and it predicted the flip phone decades before we were all carrying them in our pockets.

Now a new Star Trek movie is in the works, with directors Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley at the helm. It’s reportedly set further in the future with new characters, which sounds like a smart way to honor the old while welcoming the new. Are you a lifelong fan, or did you discover Kirk and Spock through your parents or grandparents?