Lucille Ball's contribution to Star Trek.

[Baitball Blogger]

How Lucille Ball Helped Star Trek Become a Cultural Icon

The journey to get Star Trek: The Original Series on television was a long and arduous one, but series creator Gene Roddenberry had help from an unlikely heroine. Without the help of this woman and her studio, the franchise may have stalled and never seen the light of day. And so, as we spare a thought today for “The Cage,” the original pilot for The Original Series shot on this day in 1964, we must also remember to think fondly of the incomparable Lucille Ball.

Ball is, of course, most familiar to the world as the comedic star of I Love Lucy, the show she produced and starred in alongside her husband Desi Arnaz. The success of the sitcom, which ran for six years, allowed her and her husband to purchase their own studio, Desilu Productions. When Arnaz and Ball divorced in 1960 she took over the studio herself, making her one of the most powerful women in Hollywood.

Four years later, Roddenberry came to Desilu with an idea for a pilot that would grow into Star Trek. Ball bought the series, even if she didn’t quite understand it; allegedly, she thought the title referred to a group of traveling USO performers during WWII. Author Marc Cushman wrote of the actress in Inside Star Trek: The Real Story that, "She may have initially misunderstood the Star Trek concept, but TV's ‘wacky redhead,’ known for playing a character that had always had a harebrained scheme up her sleeve, had learned well from Desi Arnaz. He had been called crazy many times by Industry insiders, but always proved his critics wrong.”

snip

Without the support of Ball, “The Cage” would have been the end of Star Trek. Second pilots are rarely commissioned, not without someone with some power backing them up. NBC could have passed on Trek overall, but Ball, who believed in the project, stepped in and saved the day in a move that would’ve made every Starfleet captain proud. The comedian is one of many talented women who are among the many reasons that the Star Trek has endured into the 21st century. Ball is simply one of the first.






https://www.startrek.com/news/how-lucille-ball-helped-star-trek-become-a-cultural-icon

[Lovie777]

1. K & R . . .

[niyad]

2. Thank you for this fascinating bit of Star Trek history.

I had heard for many years that she was always the brains behind the studio.

[Baitball Blogger]

3. I just learned about it today.

I did a google search and came up with the article which is about 2 years old, but, still new news to me.

[Chainfire]

4. Very interesting, and the first I heard of it.

[iluvtennis]

5. I learned something new today - thank you for this post...a trekkie for life. n/t

[ProfessorGAC]

6. Same, Same, & Same

I had never heard this story!

[iluvtennis]

8. :-)

[AZ8theist]

7. I didn't know that...

But I'm a big fan of the original series.
And since my wife is a big fan of Lucy, I think she'll be impressed with this factoid....

[FailureToCommunicate]

9. I met, and chatted with Gene Roddenberry, at a World Future Society conference once...

long ago. He was bringing a "bloopers" reel videotape from the popular show, and didn't want to let it out of his sight. So, he and I talked during the afternoon I was showing it to attendees.

How was it? "Fascinating"

Though he didn't mention the Desilu Studio support, and I never thought to ask, about the tenuous beginnings of Star Trek.

[Wounded Bear]

10. Interesting...and kind of surprising...nt

[GETPLANING]

11. She was an under-rated beauty and under-appreciated genius.

[thucythucy]

22. And attacked by conservatives as a communist or communist sympathizer.

[AllaN01Bear]

12. without desilou studios , there wouldnt be star trek, id probably be a different person.

[ShazzieB]

17. God, me, too, Bear!

Star Trek had a profound influence on me as a young person. I was in high school when the original series first aired, and I can't begin to express how much it meant to me.

That, and the Beatles, were the two strongest influences on my formative years.

[reACTIONary]

19. I'd say the same and add...

... also true for 'I love Lucy'.

[lark]

13. She was such a pioneering woman in television.

Funny as hell as well.

[Auggie]

14. Notice too, the measurable drop-off in quality between seasons 2 and 3 ...

which occurred when Desilu was sold to Gulf+Western/Paramount in 1967. Same goes with Mission Impossible and Mannix—scripts and production values, most notably. Huge credit to Ball and Desilu. Their productions (Star Trek special effects aside) were better than average.

[AllaN01Bear]

21. there was a lot of script material drop off during that period . that was when the

studio execs were giving themselves raises .

[TeamProg]

15. Cool, thanks nt

[Beacool]

16. As a Trekkie I had heard that story.

Lucy was not just a talented pretty face, she was smart and savvy too. She gave Roddenberry the chance that others had denied him.

Thank you, Lucy!!!

[hunter]

18. Nah, she knew what she was doing. Anything else was part of her act.

She'd occasionally hang out with some crazy rocket scientists and engineers.

I've got family photos.

During World War II my Hollywood grandma was USO and my grandpa was Army Air Corp.

Later my grandpa was an Apollo Project engineer. Bits of his metal landed men on the moon.

It's said he made Lucille Ball laugh once or twice.

My grandparents adored her.

[reACTIONary]

20. +10, thanks! nt

[wryter2000]

23. I was living in Upstate New York when it came out

The local station didn't carry it for about half of the first season. I later caught up with those episodes in syndication. I guess they hadn't been convinced until the series caught on elsewhere.

I had heard about her part in making the show possible.