美国国家公共电台 NPR Much More Than A 5-Year Mission: 'Star Trek' Turns 50

Much More Than A 5-Year Mission: 'Star Trek¹' Turns 50

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And today, one of the most enduring franchises³ in TV and movie history celebrates its 50th birthday. "Star Trek" debuted⁴ on NBC in 1966. It was cancelled after three seasons, and then blossomed into a pop culture phenomenon. NPR TV critic Eric Deggans says "Star Trek" survived through a mix of luck, creativity and boundless⁵ devotion on the part of its fans.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: (As character) Space, the final frontier.

ERIC DEGGANS, BYLINE⁶: Those opening notes were a welcome, familiar sound to any fan of science fiction television in the late 1960s and '70s. They signaled the start of a series that was unlike any other adventure on television, a show with social commentary disguised as space action called "Star Trek." But there was one member of the cast who never expected it to last very long - George Takei, who fans know as Hikaru Sulu, the pilot of the starship. Takei first revealed his pessimism⁷ to James Doohan, who played ship's engineer Scotty.

GEORGE TAKEI: When we were shooting the pilot, Jimmy Doohan said to me, well, George, what do you think about this? And I said, I smell quality, and that means we're in trouble (laughter).

DEGGANS: Takei worried that "Star Trek" creator Gene⁸ Roddenberry had developed a show that was too good to speak to a mass TV audience.

TAKEI: The Starship Enterprise was a metaphor⁹ for Starship Earth, the diversity of this planet - people of different backgrounds, different cultures, different races all coming together. He coined the phrase infinite diversity in infinite combinations.

DEGGANS: At a time when scripted TV rarely dealt directly with the turbulence¹⁰ of the times, "Star Trek" set its social messages against a space opera backdrop. Swashbuckling Captain Kirk led the Starship Enterprise. By his side was cerebral¹¹ first officer Mr. Spock and emotional Southerner, Dr. McCoy. But there were subtle messages. As the end of state-sanctioned segregation¹² rattled¹³ America, Roddenberry featured TV's first interracial kiss. Aliens forced Captain Kirk to smooch his African-American communications officer, Lieutenant¹⁴ Uhura.

NICHELLE NICHOLS: (As Lieutenant Uhura) I'm so frightened, Captain. I'm so very frightened.

WILLIAM SHATNER: (As Captain Kirk) That's the way they want you to feel - makes them think that they're alive.

DEGGANS: After that episode aired, Takei, who was gay but was not public about it back then, asked Roddenberry if he would consider addressing gay issues on "Star Trek."

TAKEI: He said to me that the episode in which we had a black-white kiss - that show was literally¹⁵ blacked out in the American South. If that happens again, I'll be off the air. He said, I'm afraid that issue will do that.

DEGGANS: Takei wasn't far off in his original prediction. NBC cancelled "Star Trek" after two seasons. They brought it back, thanks to a letter-writing campaign from fans, but cancelled it for good after its third season. But the show had made enough episodes to play in syndicated reruns, and the fan base grew.

RICHARD ARNOLD: It's one of the few places you can go to get those positive visions of the future.

DEGGANS: That's Richard Arnold, a fan who met Roddenberry at one of the first "Star Trek" conventions in the '70s. He wound up working for him, serving as his assistant and Trek archivist until Roddenberry died in 1991. Arnold says in the '70s, Paramount¹⁶ Studios, which then owned "Star Trek," couldn't decide whether to make a new show, a low-budget movie, a TV movie or something else. Then, in May, 1977, this came along.

ARNOLD: Gene used to say this - if it hadn't been for "Star Wars," they never would have gone big-budget on the first movie. There wouldn't have been a series of movies. It was hard to get it across to the network executives and the studio executives that "Star Trek" had any value other than a kids' show.

DEGGANS: "Star Trek" took on new life on screen. A feature film series starred the show's original cast from television, then a new series launched on syndicated TV. There were spinoffs of that show and even more movies, including three recent reboot films with younger actors playing the characters from the original series. Over the years, "Star Trek" became a pop culture institution because fans demanded it. Their support allowed Roddenberry's vision to triumph over the objections of clueless TV or film executives.

George Takei fought a similar conflict over the fate of Sulu, the character he once played. Actor John Cho, who plays Sulu in the new films, told Takei they would show Sulu with a male partner in the latest movie, "Star Trek Beyond." The decision was intended as a tribute to Takei's current fame as an advocate on gay issues, but Takei suggested they create a new gay character instead.

TAKEI: Gene Roddenberry created Sulu as a heterosexual, and that, too, reflected the times that we were in in the '60s. It's not about me...

DEGGANS: It's about Roddenberry's legacy¹⁷, he says. When he finally saw the film, Takei said Sulu and his partner were shown in the briefest of moments.

TAKEI: That's it? They didn't even kiss? And John told me that they did shoot that kissing scene.

DEGGANS: But it does not appear in the finished film. Cho said in an interview with vulture.com that the kissing scene was cut from the movie. Paramount did not return repeated requests for comment. Those discussions, however they're resolved, are the true legacy of "Star Trek," which set a groundbreaking example five decades ago that modern producers are still trying to match. I'm Eric Deggans.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "STAR TREK")

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "STAR TREK")

(SOUNDBITE OF JOHN WILLIAMS SONG, "STAR WARS MAIN TITLE")

1 trek   

vi.作长途艰辛的旅行；n.长途艰苦的旅行

参考例句：

• We often go pony-trek in the summer.夏季我们经常骑马旅行。
• It took us the whole day to trek across the rocky terrain.我们花了一整天的时间艰难地穿过那片遍布岩石的地带。

2 browser   

n.浏览者

参考例句：

• View edits in a web browser.在浏览器中看编辑的效果。
• I think my browser has a list of shareware links.我想在浏览器中会有一系列的共享软件链接。

3 franchises   

n.（尤指选举议员的）选举权( franchise的名词复数 )；参政权；获特许权的商业机构（或服务）；（公司授予的）特许经销权v.给…以特许权，出售特许权( franchise的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• TV franchises will be auctioned to the highest bidder. 电视特许经营权将拍卖给出价最高的投标人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Ford dealerships operated as independent franchises. 福特汽车公司的代销商都是独立的联营商。 来自辞典例句

4 debuted   

初次表演，初次登台（debut的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• In late 2003 a full-size SUV, the Pathfinder Armada, debuted. 2003年末，全尺寸SUV的探路者无敌舰队，推出。
• The album debuted at number two and quickly went platinum. 专辑一亮相就荣登排行榜第二名，很快就取得了白金销量。

5 boundless   

adj.无限的；无边无际的；巨大的

参考例句：

• The boundless woods were sleeping in the deep repose of nature.无边无际的森林在大自然静寂的怀抱中酣睡着。
• His gratitude and devotion to the Party was boundless.他对党无限感激、无限忠诚。

6 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

7 pessimism   

n.悲观者，悲观主义者，厌世者

参考例句：

• He displayed his usual pessimism.他流露出惯有的悲观。
• There is the note of pessimism in his writings.他的著作带有悲观色彩。

8 gene   

n.遗传因子，基因

参考例句：

• A single gene may have many effects.单一基因可能具有很多种效应。
• The targeting of gene therapy has been paid close attention.其中基因治疗的靶向性是值得密切关注的问题之一。

9 metaphor   

n.隐喻，暗喻

参考例句：

• Using metaphor,we say that computers have senses and a memory.打个比方，我们可以说计算机有感觉和记忆力。
• In poetry the rose is often a metaphor for love.玫瑰在诗中通常作为爱的象征。

10 turbulence   

n.喧嚣，狂暴，骚乱，湍流

参考例句：

• The turbulence caused the plane to turn over.空气的激流导致飞机翻转。
• The world advances amidst turbulence.世界在动荡中前进。

11 cerebral   

adj.脑的，大脑的；有智力的，理智型的

参考例句：

• Your left cerebral hemisphere controls the right-hand side of your body.你的左半脑控制身体的右半身。
• He is a precise,methodical,cerebral man who carefully chooses his words.他是一个一丝不苟、有条理和理智的人，措辞谨慎。

12 segregation   

n.隔离，种族隔离

参考例句：

• Many school boards found segregation a hot potato in the early 1960s.在60年代初，许多学校部门都觉得按水平分班是一个棘手的问题。
• They were tired to death of segregation and of being kicked around.他们十分厌恶种族隔离和总是被人踢来踢去。

13 rattled   

慌乱的，恼火的

参考例句：

• The truck jolted and rattled over the rough ground. 卡车嘎吱嘎吱地在凹凸不平的地面上颠簸而行。
• Every time a bus went past, the windows rattled. 每逢公共汽车经过这里，窗户都格格作响。

14 lieutenant   

n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员

参考例句：

• He was promoted to be a lieutenant in the army.他被提升为陆军中尉。
• He prevailed on the lieutenant to send in a short note.他说动那个副官，递上了一张简短的便条进去。

15 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

16 paramount   

a.最重要的，最高权力的

参考例句：

• My paramount object is to save the Union and destroy slavery.我的最高目标是拯救美国，摧毁奴隶制度。
• Nitrogen is of paramount importance to life on earth.氮对地球上的生命至关重要。

17 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。