To what extend did the business model of network television enable Star Trek: The Original Series to appeal to such a wide range of audiences? In what ways did that same model constrain it?
Star Trek appealed to a wide range of audiences, I believe, for predominately 2 reasons:
- It was syndicated. Because the networks had a daily cycle, as Prof. Weitekamp discussed, it was easy to know when Star Trek would be playing and ready yourselves for it. People had already gotten used to the sitting around model of entertainment with the radio that translated perfectly to television and thus most people in the household at the time would be able to watch it
- Not only was it by its nature syndicated and available for the whole family, which allowed for micro clusters of audience, but the very message of the show allowed it to reach the wider range of people: A series set in the far future which featured men and women standing in equal footing alongside each other, as well as people who were not white or even American. Anyone could see themselves standing on the Starship Enterprise. That the future was no bleak, and despite the real life bigotry of the times, or the fears of the Cold War hanging over head, the show reached out to all people.
Likewise, I think the way it was syndicated also hampered it somewhat. A show that could be missed, as I’m not sure reruns were as common or at all accessible as they are now, was not likely to have an actual continuity. Or at least continuity as we see by the time Next Generation rolls around where the show could have multiple part episodes and directly reference events that happened before it. The Original Series was therefore much more episodic and able to be enjoyed on a daily basis, but still able to be enjoyed even if missed without a backlog of things to have to know.
Klaw's Lair 