Schlock, it certainly was, but  the cast mix was progressive for the mid-late 1960s; TV was still pretty white-bread and stereotypical back then. The cast included:

  • James Tiberius Kirk, Captain, and an American (from Ohio, but we all know he’s really Canadian)
  • Pavel Andreievich Chekhov, an Ensign, and a Russian (starting in the 2nd season (1967-68); remember, this was during the Cold War)
  • Nyota Uhura, Lieutenant, the Communications Officer, and one of the first characters of African descent to be on a TV show
  • Hikaru Sulu, Lieutenant, Helmsman, of Asian (Japanese) descent (note: in the 2nd pilot he was a physicist).

Moreover, in the 1st pilot episode a woman was second in command (‘Number One‘: the actress ended up with a much smaller role as Nurse Christine Chapel; apparently, the Network Executives were stuck in the past with the rest of us). I think that the only character that survived the 1st pilot episode was Spock; I suppose you could say he lived long and prospered.

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