Back row, left to right: James Doohan as Scotty, Walter Koenig as Chekov,
Majel Barrett as Nurse Chapel, Nichelle Nichols as Uhura,
and George Takei as Sulu. Front row: DeForest Kelley as McCoy,
William Shatner as Kirk, and Leonard Nimoy as Spock.
The show was created by Gene Roddenberry (1921-1991), a former combat pilot in World War II and a Los Angeles police officer. He pitched it to the network as "Wagon Train to the stars," in essence a Western in space. But with his ship's Captain, he was inspired by C.S. Forester's novels about Captain Horatio Hornblower, and he liked to call his adventures "Hornblower in space."
The show had a pilot filmed in December 1964, titled "The Cage." NBC passed on the story, but approved the concept, and asked for a 2nd pilot. Except for Leonard Nimoy as Spock, it was a completely new cast that filmed "Where No Man Has Gone Before" in July 1965. The show was picked up, although that 2nd pilot didn't air until September 22, 1966, the 3rd episode to air.
As for the pilot, here's the affiliates you could have watched it on, if you were in what would now be considered a "major league" city (note that not all of these are still NBC affiliates, or operating under the same call letters):
* Channel 2: WGRZ, Buffalo; WSB, Atlanta; KPRC, Houston; KUTV, Salt Lake City.
* Channel 3: KYW, Philadelphia; WKYC, Cleveland; KSNV, Las Vegas; KCRA, Sacramento.
* Channel 4: WNBC, New York; WRC, Washington; WBZ, Boston; WDIV, Detroit; WTMJ, Milwaukee; WSMV, Nashville; WDAF, Kansas City, KFOR, Oklahoma City; WOAI, San Antonio; KCNC, Denver; KNBC, Los Angeles; KRON, San Francisco.
* Channel 5: WLTW, Cincinnati; WMC, Memphis; WMAQ, Chicago; KSDK, St. Louis; KXAS, Dallas; KING, Seattle.
* Channel 6: WFBM, Indianapolis; WDSU, New Orleans.
* Channel 7: WSVN, Miami.
* Channel 8: WFLA, Tampa; KGW, Portland, Oregon.
* Channel 9: WSOC, Charlotte.
* Channel 10: KGTV, San Diego.
* Channel 11: WBAL, Baltimore; WIIC, Pittsburgh, WTVD, Raleigh.
* Channel 12: WTLV, Jacksonville; KPNX, Phoenix.
The series depicted the USS Enterprise, a Starfleet starship with a crew of 430, representing the United Federation of Planets, a galactic version of the United Nations, headquartered on Earth, at some unspecified point in the future.
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Since they didn't want to be locked into an exact time, they obscured this with the clever use of "Stardates." Despite at least 2 episodes suggesting that the series took place around 200 years later, later series would definitively place it 300 years in the future -- i.e., the 1st episode took place in the year 2266.
The ship's mission, partly invoking the late President John F. Kennedy's "New Frontier," was written by Roddenberry, and recited near the start of each episode by William Shatner:
* Channel 2: WGRZ, Buffalo; WSB, Atlanta; KPRC, Houston; KUTV, Salt Lake City.
* Channel 3: KYW, Philadelphia; WKYC, Cleveland; KSNV, Las Vegas; KCRA, Sacramento.
* Channel 4: WNBC, New York; WRC, Washington; WBZ, Boston; WDIV, Detroit; WTMJ, Milwaukee; WSMV, Nashville; WDAF, Kansas City, KFOR, Oklahoma City; WOAI, San Antonio; KCNC, Denver; KNBC, Los Angeles; KRON, San Francisco.
* Channel 5: WLTW, Cincinnati; WMC, Memphis; WMAQ, Chicago; KSDK, St. Louis; KXAS, Dallas; KING, Seattle.
* Channel 6: WFBM, Indianapolis; WDSU, New Orleans.
* Channel 7: WSVN, Miami.
* Channel 8: WFLA, Tampa; KGW, Portland, Oregon.
* Channel 9: WSOC, Charlotte.
* Channel 10: KGTV, San Diego.
* Channel 11: WBAL, Baltimore; WIIC, Pittsburgh, WTVD, Raleigh.
* Channel 12: WTLV, Jacksonville; KPNX, Phoenix.
The series depicted the USS Enterprise, a Starfleet starship with a crew of 430, representing the United Federation of Planets, a galactic version of the United Nations, headquartered on Earth, at some unspecified point in the future.
The ship's mission, partly invoking the late President John F. Kennedy's "New Frontier," was written by Roddenberry, and recited near the start of each episode by William Shatner:
Space: The final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its five-year mission: To explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before!
The show ran for 3 years, and led to a brief animated series and 6 movies. It has spun off several connected TV series.
Of the main cast, pictured above:
* DeForest Kelley, who played the Chief Medical Officer, Lieutenant Commander Leonard H. McCoy, a.k.a. "Bones," died in 1999, at the age of 79.
* James Doohan, who played the Chief Engineer, Lieutenant Commander Montgomery Scott, a.k.a. "Scotty," died in 2005, at 85.
* Majel Barrett, Roddenberry's wife, who played Nurse Christine Chapel (her rank was never stated on the original series), and also voiced the computers on every starship in every show for as long as she lived, died in 2008, at 76.
* Leonard Nimoy, who played the ship's half-human and half-Vulcan First Officer and Science Officer, Commander Spock, died in 2015, at 83.
* Nichelle Nichols, who played the Communications Officer, Lieutenant Nyota Uhura, is still alive, at 88, but not well, and has retired from public appearances.
* George Takei, who played the Chief Helmsman, Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu, is 84.
* Walter Koenig, who played a navigator, Ensign Pavel Chekov, is also 84. His character was created when the Soviet Union objected to the fact that, despite their pioneering status in spaceflight, there were no Russians in the Enterprise crew. Koenig said, "When they thought I was Russian, 22 and single, I got more mail than anybody except Leonard (Nimoy). When they found out I was American, 31 and married, the mail dried up."
* And William Shatner, who played Captain James T. Kirk, is 90.
*
September 8, 1966 was a Thursday. The next day, the science fiction series The Time Tunnel and the superhero show The Green Hornet debuted.
This was the off-season for the NFL, the AFL, the NBA and the NHL. And, wouldn't you know it, Thursday often being a travel day in Major League Baseball, no games were scheduled for this day. So I can't do a "Scores On This Historic Day" feature.
Don't blame me, blame the leagues.