Unit 2: Why Star Trek? Star Trek and The Business of Network Television/The Business of Cable Television

Star Trek and The Business of Network Television

To what extent did the business model of network television enable Star Trek: The Original Series to appeal to such a wide range of audiences? In ways did that same model constrain it?

Due to major national differences in the broadcasting landscape, I would first like to contrast the situation in Germany and the U.S. and explain terms relating to this, and then answer the question posed.

In Germany, where I live, there is a different television system. There are public broadcasters that are financed mainly by broadcasting fees and to a small extent by advertising revenues. For example, ARD / Das Erste (Arbeitsgemeinschaft der öffentlich-rechtlichen Rundfunkanstalten der Bundesrepublik Deutschland) has been broadcasting since 1952, ZDF (Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen) since 1963, and ARD's third programs, i.e. regional stations such as SWR (Südwestrundfunk) since the mid to late 1960s. In the 1980s, there was a fundamental change: private broadcasting was permitted and, as a result, the dual broadcasting system became established. Today, the market share of private broadcasters is only slightly higher than that of public broadcasters. (https://www.vau.net/arbeitsgemeinschaft-fernsehforschung-agf/content/tv-zuschauermarktanteile-2016) In the 2010s, streaming services became more important, most of which are U.S. providers.

The situation is different in the USA. There are considerably more TV stations there than in Germany, which means that the TV market is more fragmented. However, most stations are affiliated with one of the five major broadcast networks and thus also adopt the parent company's basic approach. The commercial networks are NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX and The CW. In addition, there is the public broadcasting network PBS, which has affiliate stations in every state.

The media development of the moving picture is as follows: Around 1900, the success story of cinema began; in the 1930s, several transmission paths for television programs emerged; and in the 1950s, television became the leading medium by making this medium accessible to a broad segment of the population. (Mitchell Stephens: Broadcast News, Thomson, Wadsworth 2005.) From 1964, color television was broadcast. (https://stephens.hosting.nyu.edu/History%20of%20Television%20page.html) In the 1970s, cable television emerged, giving media companies the opportunity to establish their own channels, which led to an increase in the number of stations and also expanded the television market in terms of content (special-interest offerings). However, since cable television is comparatively expensive due to the infrastructure required, it is particularly important here to keep customers, i.e., viewers, interested, even through commercial breaks. In addition, the broadest possible audience should be addressed, adults as well as children, the whole family.

The advantage of Network Television's business model was that, once produced, Star Trek could be shown to a broad audience throughout the network, potentially leading to more fans. Furthermore, profits could be increased by selling the program to other networks or even overseas. For example, Star Trek - The Original Series was broadcast in the U.S. on NBC on 9/8/1966, but in Germany it was not broadcast until 5/27/1972 on ZDF, which is also possibly due to the dubbing, among other things.

The business model was limited by the fact that a broad audience was to be addressed and the original idea for Star Trek, as seen in the first pilot, had to be modified. Among other things, this production was considered too top-heavy and thus did not appeal to the large audience. Some changes were made for the second pilot. These concerned, for example, the post of 1st officer, which had previously been held by a woman, but was now given to a man in patriarchal tradition. The actress Majel Barrett was henceforth only allowed to play the role of a nurse. The new captain was played by William Shatner, who was more able to carry the audience along. In addition, more action was to be shown. Furthermore, the costumes were changed, from blue or beige uniforms to uniforms in more vivid, bright colors: Yellow (command and navigation), Red (engineering, communications and security) and Blue (science and medicine), denoting the wearer's field of activity.  Of course, for the target group of children, this is much more appealing.

 

Overview of uniforms: chronological order from Enterprise to Discovery

Various uniforms from the year 2254

Star Trek and The Business of Cable Television

Which pilot best addresses the contemporary societal issues from when it was produced while taking the most advantage of the television format on which it was shown? Rank the episodes you watch in numerical order where 1 is the episode that best answers the question prompt.

Creating a ranking list is a difficult task. Everyone's viewing habits are shaped by what they grew up with. Therefore, TOS has a difficult stand with me, because it has always seemed outdated to me; in terms of equipment, storyline and behavior of the characters, as well as special effects. Nonetheless, I took on the task and came up with the following order.

1. "Caretaker." Star Trek: Voyager (1995)

2. "Encounter at Far Point." Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987)

3. "Broken Bow." Star Trek: Enterprise (2001) 

4. "Emissary." Star Trek: Deep Space 9 (1993).

5. "The Vulcan Hello." Star Trek: Discovery (2017)

6. "The Cage." Star Trek: The Original Series (1965).

7. "Where No Man Has Gone Before." Star Trek: The Original Series (1966)

I lay out the reasons for my sorting below:

"The Cage." Star Trek: The Original Series (1965)

Addressed contemporary issues: emancipation vs. machismo, violence, Orientalism (Westernized view of the world), 

In the first pilot episode for TOS, you can clearly see that it's a child of its time: the doctor behaves like a bartender promoting alcohol as medicine. Captain Pike is a depressed, resigned worker who doesn't want his position and responsibility, 

He says quite early on that he is not used to women on the bridge, thus immediately addressing the gender inequality that was unmistakably a problem of the time. This macho captain doesn't even know how to behave towards an emancipated career woman, the first officer of his spaceship. The crew, like the landing party and the downed, exhibits little to no diversity. They are all white males. Only one woman named Vina is on the planet, who is attractive and white, scantily clad and sexy. Her job is to be of service to the men's recovery, "Don't worry. You will feel much better soon.", her wishes are "to please you", "be everything you wish". She repeats "Let me please you.". Ultimately, a career woman is portrayed as a robot, not a woman, She is described as emotionally deficient, but intelligent, who secretly fantasizes about the protagonist, so ultimately she is just weak and has low drives. In the end, the woman Vina chooses illusion and the man, the captain chooses reality, which cements the division into strong and weak sex. And Yeoman Colt also seems to choose the career only transitionally until she finds a husband. This reflects that women of the time also often went to college only to find a spouse.

In addition, the statement "blast half the continent" highlights how violence trumps sophistication at this time. In times of the cold war the episode was shot and a nuclear war was considered possible. So also in the episode "The Cage" a planet is shown, which became uninhabitable by such a war on the surface. Nevertheless, the aliens, the Talosians, although they themselves have fought a nuclear war, consider the humans to be too violent.

Similarity between the Talosian and human species is also seen in the desire for exploration, such as other life forms. At the time of filming, there was a race for space, showing that this was an important contemporary theme.

The Vulcan Spock acts like a human, only his ears (and eyebrows) deviate slightly and he yells on the bridge without cause. Thus, one could interpret this as a human-centeredness and that humans very clearly present themselves as the crown of creation.

"Where No Man Has Gone Before." Star Trek: The Original Series (1966)

On a positive note, the 2nd pilot episode for TOS, titled "Where No Man Has Gone Before," takes up an eternally topical issue, namely what is morally and ethically correct behavior. This is evident in the behavior of Captain Kirk.

The role of the woman is clearly weaker than in "The Cage", where there was still a strong woman, the first officer. Here, however, the portrayal of women as the weaker sex is taken to the extreme: In a risky situation, Yeoman Smith seeks refuge with the navigator Ltd. Cmdr. Mitchell, who immediately takes her hand.

Spock typical Vulcan, emotionless, controlled, but shouting around.

Women as object of desire, when advances are not welcome negative, snapped reaction "freezer" (Ltd. Cmdr. Gary Mitchell=navigator over Dr. Elizabeth Dehner=psychiatrist)

No diversity, all white/Caucasian.

In fearful situation, Yeoman Smith seeks refuge with, he immediately grabs her hand

Portrayal of weak women, only tasks typical for women, naive ("he is not evil" directly after the murder, then transformation)

Dr. defends mutation, others (Spock) fear/see risk

humanity, standing up for each other, not abandoning each other

Moral-ethical question: what is right behavior?

oversimplified ending

"Encounter at Far Point." Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987)

Topics:

• Morally right behavior always current
• Inherited guilt?
• Empathy
• Brutality
• Human rights/violation
• Atomic age
• Historical review
• Drug use
• Kindness to children/hate of children
• Emancipation: Chief Medical Officer Commander Dr. Beverly Crusher: single mother and career woman with PhD who is good with her child; also two strong women on bridge: Chief of Security Lieutenant Natasha "Tasha" Yar and Counselor Deanna Troi.

"Emissary." Star Trek: Deep Space 9 (1993)

Topics:

• Religiousness, part of identity and reason for cohesion.
• Cardassian troop withdrawal US and Russian troop withdrawal after collapse of USSR and end of Cold War.
• Country is left without orientation and self-organization, shortly before civil war
• Change of occupying power
• Xenophobia towards Odo
• Transition from a human-centered worldview to a very pluralistic one: Bajorans, Cardassians, shapeshifters, Trill, Ferengi and many others appear. Acceptance and tolerance are important values that help with communication and living together on the space station.

"Caretaker." Star Trek: Voyager (1995)

Topics:

• AI, the Doctor
• Emancipation, Janeway first captain in series
• Fight Maquis against Cardassians
• Overpowering overseer
• Climate change on the 4th planet
• Water & food shortage vs. waste by Neelix
• Colleagues as family at work
• Reliance on superbeings & dependence
• Rebellious pubescents
• Underground 
• Plant trends: succulents & alocasia
• Destructive 
• Compatible biomolecular pattern
• Artificial insemination/propagation
• Indigenous population USA, tribe, spirituality
• Prime directive: do not interfere in foreign affairs
• Espionage/covert investigator Tuvok

"Broken Bow." Star Trek: Enterprise (2001)

Themes encountered in the episode: internal political stability, external sabotage, acceptance of others (races), emancipation vs. patriarchy, genetic manipulation, communications technology & alien language, euthanasia

Contemporary events: Human genome project completed in 2000, Soyuz TM-31 mission launches first crew to International Space Station in 2000, also shown in opening credits, discussions about euthanasia, Taliban & Afghan civil war

A positive aspect of the pilot episode of Star Trek: Enterprise is that current events are included and processed. For example, in the year prior to its release, the Human Genome Project to decode the human genome was completed. In 1996, news went around the world about Dolly the sheep, which was cloned from adult cells. "Broken Bow" takes on the subject of genetic engineering and the ethical and moral debates surrounding it through the introduction of the Cabal organization, made up of genetically engineered Suliban soldiers. Suliban are a humanoid race and at the time of its creation, its similarity to Taliban, an Islamist terrorist group, was repeatedly pointed out. Despite all the differences (https://www.mail-archive.com/startrek-fr@unification-online.org/msg10387.html), there are similarities (Uwe Meyer: We only want to be your partners. Star Trek: Enterprise – politisch-ideologische Dimensionen einer Fernsehserie zwischen Kaltem Krieg und war on terror (=Bd. 3, Kulturelle Identitäten. Studien zur Entwicklung der europäischen Kulturen der Neuzeit, hrsg. v. Sonja Fielitz), Frankfurt a.M. 2008 (Univ. Diss. München 2007), S. 118.) : both Cabal and Taliban use a high level of violence, which provides a high level of cohesion within the organization. In addition, the external image is similar: it does not play a major role for either group. Mullah Omar, the Taliban leader, avoids public appearances. The shape-shifting Suliban can make themselves invisible.

Looking at the promotional banner for the series, it is clear that the cast reflects contemporary conditions in society. Seven characters can be seen. Of these, only two are women, whereas three are recognizably white cis men. In fact, if you look at the actors, there are four. It sticks out somewhat negatively that Travis Mayweather, the only African-American character is placed lower in the picture and also has a low rank as an ensign. At least he is portrayed competently as a pilot. Hoshi Sato (Linda Park, the actress, is from South Korea.) is also only an ensign and is portrayed in the course of the pilot episode as oversensitive and incompetent, hearing sounds that are supposedly not there and having trouble not speaking Klingon perfectly right away.

Thus, the pilot episode for Star Trek: Enterprise shows some interesting parallels to contemporary events and addresses current social conditions, even if not in a usual positive utopia.

• Behavior towards T'Pol not sexist, rather anti-Vulcan, turns out that way in the end, she proves herself and is then accepted despite her different nature, becomes asset to
• Commander Charles Tucker III (Trip) high rank, best friend of Archer, men's club, one of the three protagonists besides Archer and T'Pol
• Archer: hands-on and down-to-earth, but soooo not a diplomat. Reminds a bit of Kirk
• Trope: green-skinned space babe, even extraterrestrial women have to be sexy, tightly escorted, entertainment could be different
• Sarin could yes measure trustworthiness other than kissing, makes herself attractive to Archer
• man as hero, Archer saves T'Pol and gets wounded
• Sexy scene between T'Pol and Trip, mutual decontamination
• Bechdel (Wallace) test = sexism test, male to female actor ratio 2.5:1 or 12% female; bestanden
• Archer xenophobic towards Vulcans, unquestioned
• This runs largely unquestioned through the rest of the series and undermines the Star Trek values of diversity, diplomacy, and inclusion.
• reflect problems in our society, such as intolerance of people of color and men's club structures at the workplace

"The Vulcan Hello." Star Trek: Discovery (2017)

Topics: 

• Emancipation: 2 women in senior positions (captain and 1st officer).
• Intersectional feminism: captain of Asian descent, 1st officer POC.
• Measuring biodata: zuru measures breath, etc. People wear trackers to everything
• Intercultural communication: title gives away how Vulcans greet Klingons, with violence, because that gives them respect and respect leads to peace
• Communication addressed on multiple levels, as Klingon is not dubbed, but only available as translated subtitles.
• Racial affiliation: a white Klingon

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