Month: September 2008

Sept. 8, 1966: Liftoff for the Starship Enterprise

1966: Star Trek makes its network television debut.

Given the cultural impact and enormous franchise spawned by the original Star Trek series, it’s hard to believe that the show lasted just three seasons — 80 episodes — and was canceled by NBC in 1969 because of low ratings. But if network numbers-crunching and the short-sightedness of advertising sponsors doomed it, Star Trek’s long-term survival, evidenced by its ongoing syndication, not to mention the numerous TV spinoffs and feature-length films it inspired, is both a vindication of and a tribute to its creator and executive producer, Gene Roddenberry.

And Roddenberry was a guy badly in need of vindication. His career began promisingly: Roddenberry wrote scripts for some popular 1950s TV shows like Naked City, Highway Patrol and Have Gun, Will Travel. But the original Star Trek TV series, as well as the first feature-length film, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, were conspicuous successes in an otherwise unremarkable and often problematic association with Hollywood.

The commercial success of the first Star Trek movie would spawn other films and a new TV series, Star Trek: The Next Generation, although Roddenberry’s involvement with those projects was diminished. But if his relationship with the industry had its rough patches, his reputation as a futurist and visionary — which begins and ends with Star Trek — is assured. The original show’s most visionary aspects were social, not scientific, and that had everything to do with the times. The country was in turmoil, embroiled in Vietnam and the growing civil rights movement. Roddenberry said later that these events influenced many of the themes, as well as the multicultural makeup of the crew.

Roddenberry remained in demand on the lecture circuit to the end of his life, speaking not only at universities but at some other pretty significant places, too, including the Smithsonian Institution and NASA.

Star Trek’s impact on popular culture is matched by only a handful of other television shows, and surpassed by precious few.

The original cast members on the USS Enterprise’s 1966 flight deck became household names: Capt. James T. Kirk (William Shatner), First Officer Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy), Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy (DeForest Kelley), Chief Engineer Montgomery “Scotty” Scott (James Doohan), Communications Officer Nyota Uhura (Nichelle Nichols) and Helmsman Hikaru Sulu (George Takei). Navigator Pavel Chekov (Walter Koenig), who joined the cast in the second season to give the Russians their due in space, was also a popular character.

Phrases like “Beam me up, Scotty” and “Live long and prosper” and “to boldly go …” entered the lexicon, and the show’s cult following, kept visibly alive by the numerous and rollicking Star Trek conventions, remains strong to this day. An 11-foot model of the starship Enterprise is on display at the Smithsonian. On the tech front, the communicator used by Enterprise crew members is said to have been the inspiration for the flip-open cellphone.

Because of all the spinoffs that resulted from it, Roddenberry’s Star Trek is often referred to as The Original Series. For a lot of us who came of age watching Shatner chewing on all that alien scenery and nibbling on all those alien necks, it was The Only Series.

Source: Wired

Current Mood: Amused

London’s brothel industry has spread to “every corner” of the city, according to a charity’s report.

Brothels in the city offer sex for as little as £15, and some are charging £10 extra for unprotected intercourse, the Poppy Project in Southwark found. Its report said 85% of brothels in the city operated in residential areas and researchers posing as sex buyers found brothels in all 33 London boroughs.

The study was compiled by the Poppy Project, which provides education about prostitution and helps victims of sex trafficking. Researchers posing as potential punters telephoned 921 brothels that had advertised in local newspapers. They found on average 28 brothels in each borough.

Together the brothels generated between £50m to £130m a year, the researchers estimated.

Campaigners insisted this was just “the tip of the iceberg” as the only source of information was newspaper adverts, as opposed to websites or phone box cards. Many operated through legitimate businesses – licensed as saunas or massage parlours – though the vast majority were in private flats in residential areas.

The report found 77 different ethnicities among women being offered for sex, many from areas such as eastern Europe and south-east Asia. The average age of the women was 21. Several places offered “very, very young girls” but did not admit to having underage girls available.

According to the researchers, the average price for full sex was about £62.

Co-author Helen Atkins said: “This research shows the disturbing prevalence of the sex industry in every corner of London – fuelled by the demand for prostitution services. “Multi-media misrepresentations of commercial sex as a glamorous, easy and fun career choice for girls and women further contribute to the ubiquity of London’s brothel industry. However, for most women involved in prostitution, the reality is a cycle of violence and coercion, perpetuated by poverty and inequality.”

Source: BBC

£15??? Jaysus!