Star Trek Wouldn't Have Happened Without This Female TV Icon
To help commemorate the International Women's Day, we bring to your attention a story celebrating the real heroine behind the release of one of the most cult franchises out there, Star Trek, – Lucille Ball.
Few shows have the same tremendous cult following as Star Trek. But the only reason why the OG series even happened was a woman who has made TV history in the 1950's, Lucille Ball.
After reading this you will love Lucy even more (pun intended).
The actress behind classic groundbreaking I Love Lucy sitcom (1951-1957) not only has aided in basically inventing syndication by having the eponymous series filmed on quality tape and not broadcasted live, she has also turned herself into one of the most successful executives in history.
As far back as 1962 she became the first woman ever to run a major studio after buying out her ex-husbands Desi Arnaz's share in previously mutually owned Desilu Productions. She became probably the most powerful woman in Hollywood at the time.
What does it all have to do with Star Trek, you might ask? Stay tuned.
When Gene Roddenberry came first to pitch the idea of Star Trek in 1964 to Desilu, he couldn't have made a better choice.
The story has it, Ball at first misunderstood the plot of the proposed show, thinking it was about United Service Organizations' performers travelling with their shows during the WWII. She supported the Western-ish space opera nevertheless.
Ball had to go against some of the board members to make the pilot episode happen. And then the second one.
Here lies the true reason why Star Trek happened thanks to Ball: without her, "The Cage" would've become Star Trek's tombstone. Lucille Ball believed in the show with such passion that second pilot was commissioned, which is rare even nowadays.
The second pilot aired and the rest is history.
She acted as a true Starfleet captain, and for that we salute her.