Science Fiction (18 Jan. 2011)

This episode looks at the development of the science fiction genre on US television in the 1950's and 1960's. Gene Roddenberry had long been working as writer in television but realized ... See full summary »

Director:

Steve Boettcher

Writer:

Mike Trinklein

Stars:

Angela Cartwright, Veronica Cartwright, Michael Dunn

Cast

Episode credited cast:
Angela Cartwright	...	Herself
Veronica Cartwright	...	Herself
Michael Dunn	...	Alexander in Star Trek: Plato's Stepchildren (archive footage)
Mark Goddard	...	Himself (archive footage)
Kelsey Grammer	...	Narrator
Peter Graves	...	Himself
Jonathan Harris	...	Himself (archive footage)
Van Heflin	...	Fred Staples in Patterns (archive footage)
Dennis Hopper	...	Peter Devlin in The Lieutenant: To Set It Right (archive footage)
Jeffrey Hunter	...	Christopher Pike in Star Trek: The Cage (archive footage)
DeForest Kelley	...	Himself (archive footage)
Marta Kristen	...	Herself
Martin Landau	...	Himself
Cloris Leachman	...	Mrs. Fremont in Twilight Zone: It's a Good Life (archive footage)
June Lockhart	...	Maureen Robinson in Lost In Space (archive footage)

Storyline

This episode looks at the development of the science fiction genre on US television in the 1950's and 1960's. Gene Roddenberry had long been working as writer in television but realized that the industry was not prepared to deal with major social issues such as race relations, drug addiction and war. By setting his stories in a fictional future, he was able to do that and thus Star Trek was born. Somewhat surprisingly, its greatest competition came from Lost in Space produced by Irwin Allen who was also responsible for The Time Tunnel and Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. The classic series Twilight Zone set a very high bar that the others had to follow.

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Genres:

Documentary

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Details

Release Date:

18 January 2011 (USA)

Company Credits

Did You Know?

Connections

Features Lost in Space: Deadliest of the Species (1967)

User Reviews

train wreck in space

Season 1 of Pioneers of Television struck a tone of nostalgia and thoughtful insight that was really special. Season 2 begins with this absolute train wreck. This could be a primer on how not to make a documentary.

With so much great footage to work with, and endless promotional and publicity materials to illustrate the narration, why on earth is so much of the doc made up of hokey, completely unconvincing "re-enactments"? These boring intrusions really break the mood. They're an embarrassment.

The writing is also off, nowhere near the quality of Season 1. The background music is often ridiculously inappropriate. And perhaps some of these talking heads (Shatner, Nimoy, et. al.) have already told their anecdotes one time too may; they seem stale.

This show does not have the stature of PBS programming. It feels like something from a third-tier cable outfit with commercials for Chamwow. This is out of my TiVo queue.