A Star Trek T.V movie was discussed as well as the new show entitled ‘ Star Trek: Phase II‘. Paramount Studios were so amazed by the reaction that they started considering bringing the series back somehow. Suddenly there were Star Trek Conventions being held worldwide, the cast was in demand to make guest appearances and the show had found a new lease of life. The themes were still present in this cartoon show. An animated show was commissioned that featured almost all of the original cast in a voice only capacity. Far from fading into television history, Star Trek became a worldwide phenomenon. It became a family time tradition to sit in front of the T.V every week when a new episode debuted. With the advent of syndication, Star Trek was brought to the rest of the world who embraced it with glee. It was all over for the crew of the U.S.S Enterprise. Sadly, the series was cancelled after three years. Creator Gene Roddenberry who also produced the series didn’t shy away from any controversial subject matter, choosing to incorporate them into the series and its storylines. A simple tale of humans travelling amongst the stars, looking for new life forms and new civilisations went on to become a cultural phenomena, with its tales of the ship’s crew mixed in with social commentary of what was happening in the world and confronting issues like racism, interracial relationships and the Hippie movement alongside episodes dealing with Nazi Germany and oppression. Star Trek: The Original Seriesonly ran for three seasons but burned itself into our minds. T.V got in on the act with series like ‘The Twilight Zone’ and ‘The Outer Limits’ but it wasn’t until the 1960s that the best and most loved and revered science fiction programme hit U.S screens. Most were rifts on the theme of communism and the villains almost always bore more than a passing resemblance to the Russians. Many others were made that couldn’t quite enter into the classic territory (I’m Looking at you Santa Claus VS The Martians and Plan 9 From Outer Space) but many of them are still viewed to this day as being films we can sit and watch on a wet Saturday afternoon on T.V, with a hot cup of coffee and some snacks. Classics like ‘This Island Earth’, ‘Invaders From Mars’, ‘Forbidden Planet’, ‘War Of The Worlds’ and ‘The Day The Earth Stood Still’ filled the cinemas around the globe. Classics like Fritz Lang’s ‘Metropolis’ or ‘The Shape Of Things To Come’ firmed up the genre until Hollywood went full hog in the 1950s. Films started to appear, at first silent pictures but finding their way to our hearts with the advent of talking films. Celebrated fiction writers like H.G Wells wrote fantastical stories of alien life and mankind’s attempts to meet them, either by his own design or by a forced meeting with alien invaders. Mankind was always looking to the stars, wondering what was out there, were we alone or was there intelligent life out there. Its visuals of a rocket ship landing directly into the eye of the man in the moon was a revelation. One of the first films made was a short film about man travelling to the moon. Science fiction has been in our cinematic lives since the late 1800s. Carl takes a retrospective look at Star Trek: The Motion Picture as the movie approaches its 40th anniversary
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